This all backfires, however, when Goddard leads his crew and Rowan in a mass gleaning at a Tonist cloister. Rowan's training with Goddard consists mostly of practicing gleaning on live, paid volunteers, which effectively desensitizes Rowan to the act of killing. Goddard is fundamentally corrupt, and after kidnapping Esme, Xenocrates's illegitimate and illegal daughter, he blackmails Xenocrates into trying to get rid of Citra and make sure that Rowan will be the one to become a scythe. Volta confides in Rowan that Goddard sees Rowan as a challenge-Faraday was one of Goddard's biggest adversaries and his moral and ethical opposite, so being able to turn Rowan into a soulless killer would be a major victory for him. After Scythe Faraday self-gleans, Goddard offers to take on both Rowan and Citra's training, but he's only allowed to take Rowan. Goddard throws lavish parties regularly and hopes to bring scythes around to his way of thinking. Goddard technically follows the scythes' code of conduct to live simply and own nothing but their rings, robes, and gleaning journals, but gets around these technicalities by accepting 'donations' and granting wealthy homeowners immunity in exchange for letting him live in their mansions-though the homeowners have no choice in the matter. He's a cruel man who enjoys killing and is known for conducting mass gleanings with his crew of young scythes: Rand, Chomsky, and Volta. Goddard believes that gleaning should be public and iconic, as this is the only way for non-scythes to remember what it's like to be mortal. The antagonist of the novel, Scythe Goddard is a charismatic scythe who wears lavish blue robes encrusted with diamonds.

Scythe series