EWoT: Lanfear

Lanfear Biographical information Date of birth Age of Legends Date of death 999 NE Current status Dead Physical description Gender Female Height Tall Hair color Black Eye color Black Chronological and political information First mentioned TEOTW 42 First appeared TGH 16 Last appeared AMOL 49 Rank Chosen
	[Source]

Lanfear (LAN-feer; Old Tongue: Daughter of the Night), formerly known as Mierin Eronaile, was one of the thirteen Forsaken trapped at Shayol Ghul due to the Dragon's sealing. She died in 999 NE when Moiraine Damodred pushed her into the doorway ter'angreal of the Eelfinn. Lately, however, a new Forsaken known as Cyndane (Old Tongue: Last Chance), has appeared, and has been confirmed to be Lanfear reincarnated. She is known to the wolves as Moonhunter.

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 History 3 Activities 3.1 Release 3.2 Mistress of Disguises 4 Last Chance 4.1 Appearance 4.2 Activities 4.2.1 The puppet 4.2.2 Final plot 5 World of Dreams 6 Etymology 7 Notes

CharacteristicsEdit

Lanfear was quite tall, a little more than a hand shorter than Rand al'Thor, and had smooth, ivory-pale skin with long black hair and black eyes. She wore a white dress, divided for riding, with a silver belt. Her boots also had silver worked onto them.^[1][2]

She usually disguised her true face and age with the One Power. When masked, she looked about the age of Nynaeve al'Meara. In actuality she looked older, but not so much aged as more mature and riper.^[3] She was said to be as beautiful as Rahvin was handsome.

She rode a tall white mare, with a white saddle that was silver mounted.

In terms of personality, her defining feature was an insatiable lust for power. Her desire was taken to such an extreme that she desired to overthrow both the Dark One and the Creator using the Choedan Kal, believing that raw power would be all such a task required. Many of those who she interacted with, including several other Forsaken, have expressed the sentiment that she had a vastly overinflated opinion of herself. She was proud, arrogant, presumptuous, and self-absorbed, actively betraying both her allies and her master in order to gain more power for herself. She appears to have had a particularly strong rivalry with Ishamael, the most powerful of the Forsaken, though the rivalry appears fairly one-sided.

HistoryEdit

In the Age of Legends, Mierin Eronaile was a researcher at the Collam Daan, the huge floating university-sphere. When they were both young learners of the One Power, she was Lews Therin Telamon's lover. She was one of the strongest channelers of the time, as strong as a woman could be without aid.

But even though she was as strong in the Power as a woman could be, Mierin did not distinguish herself enough to earn the coveted third name. This presumably irked her, as she was quite power-hungry. Lews Therin himself eventually left her because she loved the prestige of being his lover more than she loved Lews Therin himself.

She was quite bitter over this, and made several blatant and public attempts to get him back from his wife Ilyena Therin Moerelle. Lews Therin, however, always rebuffed her advances, as he loved his wife and knew Mierin's character too well.

All changed when, in her research at the Collam Daan, she discovered an energy source, seemingly outside the Pattern, which could be tapped by both men and women equally, without the restrictions associated in the gender split of the True Source. Her Da'shain Aiel at the time was Charn.

The feats of the Age may have seemed legendary today, but the Aes Sedai of the time felt held back by the limits of saidar and saidin. With this new energy source, which could seemingly be tapped by both men and women equally, new and innovative things could be done, which could never have been done before.

However, it was sealed away, beyond reach from channelers of both sexes. With her research associate Beidomon, Mierin bored through the Pattern, and into the energy source so tantalizing - straight through into the Dark One's prison.

The resulting release destroyed the Collam Daan in an explosion of black fire. The Bore had been created, and the effects the Dark One had on the world would affect society at its basest level, and cause the Collapse.

Somehow, though, Mierin survived. Sometime later, during either the collapse of society that followed, or the War of Power, she pledged her soul to the dark entity that she had released. She pledged partly due to the power she would receive from the Shadow, and partly because she wished to have Lews Therin once again.

Mierin proclaimed her loyalty to the Shadow in the Hall of Servants itself, and chose her own new name, the only Chosen to ever do so - Lanfear, the Daughter of the Night. During the War of Power, she was responsible for tormenting many through their dreams, using her mastery of Tel'aran'rhiod. Like Ishamael, she was responsible for many plots to convert Lews Therin to the Shadow. Never a general, she contributed much to the Shadow nonetheless.

When Lews Therin sealed the Bore, she was sealed too, into a dreamless sleep.

ActivitiesEdit

ReleaseEdit

After being released, Lanfear began hunting for Rand al'Thor, Lews Therin reborn. She tracked him by tracing the effects of his being ta'veren on the Pattern. Lanfear spied on Rand's party as they hunted for the Horn of Valere, and was responsible for sending him, Hurin, and Loial into another world via a Portal Stone. There, she appeared to him in her younger form, a woman in distress named Selene,^[4] and was "rescued" by him from a herd of grolm. She led his party to another Portal Stone, and made him channel his way back to his world.

Mistress of DisguisesEdit

When she awoke from the seal, she immediately sought Rand out as the Dragon Reborn, the reincarnation of her former lover. She came to him under the guise of Selene, (pronounced: seh-LEEN) a beautiful young woman, and sought to snare him by appealing to his strong desire to protect women who seem helpless. She often used her beauty to try and seduce Rand; she would constantly urge him to grasp glory and power, although he refused. She disappeared near Cairhien, where she claimed to be from, but reappeared to both Perrin Aybara and Matrim Cauthon to try to seduce them with power and glory.

Among the wolves, she is known as Moonhunter.^[5]

She also seems to have appeared to Rand several times in his dreams and confronted him in Tear telling him that he would be hers again.

She masqueraded as Else Grinwell in the White Tower, rebuffing Mat and providing information to Nynaeve al'Meara, Elayne Trakand, and Egwene al'Vere about the belongings of the thirteen Black Ajah sisters which she had planted. She also appeared as a haggard old woman named Silvie to Egwene in Tel'aran'rhiod in the Heart of the Stone and gave her information about Callandor. Perrin later oversaw her chiding Ishamael for making "free use of her domain" (Tel'aran'rhiod), to which Ishamael merely laughed and reminded her of her subservience to the Dark One, which seemed to irritate her.

She returned again, posing as a peddler in the Aiel Waste named Keille Shaogi, along with the Chosen Asmodean, who was posing as the gleeman named Jasin Natael. Shielding Asmodean after his battle with Rand at Rhuidean, she allowed him only to channel a trickle of saidin, enough to teach Rand to use the One Power. Later she teamed up with Graendal, Sammael, and Rahvin to try and turn Rand to the Shadow, though Moghedien believed her true intentions to be far different. She confronted Rand at the end of The Fires of Heaven, meaning to kill him after his betrayal (discovering from Hadnan Kadere that he had slept with Aviendha). Moiraine Damodred tackled her while she was focusing on Rand, who, because he could not kill a woman, would not kill her. Moiraine and Lanfear fell into the twisted redstone doorframe, which subsequently melted, apparently killing them both. While the fall through the doorway itself did not kill Lanfear, Moridin later did in rescuing her from the Aelfinn and Eelfinn.

Last ChanceEdit

EWoT: Cyndane

Cyndane Biographical information Nationality Unknown nationality Date of death 1000 NE Current status Dead Physical description Gender Female Height Short Hair color Silver Eye color Blue Chronological and political information First appeared TPOD 12 Last appeared KOD 3 Last mentioned TGS Prologue Affiliation Moridin Rank Chosen
	[Source]

Reincarnated by the Dark One, she is now Cyndane, which in the Old Tongue means "last chance." She was mind-trapped by Moridin and now travels with him and Moghedien, who is also trapped. Her mindtrap was presumably created due to her flouting the Dark One's order that Rand al'Thor was not to be harmed.

Appearance Edit

Cyndane is the polar opposite of her former self. Whereas Lanfear was tall and beautiful with dark eyes and pitch black hair, Cyndane is short, if still pretty, with silver hair, blue eyes, and an impressive bosom.

Activities Edit

The puppet Edit

Her mindtrap forces her to obey any command given to her by Moridin, who appears to enjoy "playing" with her as punishment for her pride. Cyndane is not as strong in the One Power as Lanfear was. This is revealed to be a result of the Eelfinn granting her wish to make her stronger than any Aes Sedai. In her ignorance, she failed to realize that she was already stronger than any Aes Sedai, so the Finn fed off her ability to channel, making her weaker. However, they drained her too quickly and killed her.

This lack of strength is noted by Graendal when she and Moghedien bring Moridin's summons. Aran'gar also expresses doubt as to whether she is really Lanfear during an audience in Knife of Dreams.

Cyndane expresses the same hatred for Rand that Lanfear did at the time of her death. She also thinks to herself about previously offering to challenge the Dark One and the Creator with him,^[6] both things only Lanfear has done. She then thinks about how he has betrayed her by letting another woman use the Choedan Kal^[6]. Finally she thinks to herself that Alivia is stronger than she herself was before the Aelfinn and Eelfinn held her, which means Alivia must have an angreal because it isn't possible for a woman to be that strong without one,^[6] and Lanfear is the only character described as "as strong as a woman can be".

Final plot Edit

She participates in the Battle near Shadar Logoth where she is outmatched by Alivia and forced to retreat.

She attends the meeting with the other Chosen in Tel'aran'rhiod, which is made to look like the Ansaline Gardens. There she is told that Rand is not to be harmed and that Mat and Perrin are to be killed if found.

Later, after Rand's epiphany and the reintegration of Lews Therin's memories into his own, he finds Cyndane in a dream in considerable distress. She begs him for help and apologizes for everything she put him through before being dragged out of the dream by her torturer (most likely Moridin).

World of DreamsEdit

Despite Moghedien's prowess in Tel'aran'rhiod, Lanfear has always claimed it as her own domain. However, Moghedien's talent there surpasses Lanfear's. Moghedien does not make public issue of this because Lanfear is stronger than she is in the waking world.

Lanfear spends much time in the Wolf Dream communicating with Perrin Aybara and placing a subtle compulsion on him while seeming to aid his struggles against Slayer. However, Perrin throws off this compulsion at the last moment by reasserting his love for Faile and breaking Lanfear's neck in the Tel'aran'rhiod analog of the Pit of Doom just before she can kill Moiraine and take control of Rand.

EtymologyEdit

Lanfear is a variation of "l'enfer," French for the inferno or hell. Her pseudonym Selene is a reference to the Greek Goddess of the Moon.

NotesEdit

1. ↑ The Great Hunt, Chapter 16
2. ↑ The Great Hunt, Chapter 48
3. ↑ The Shadow Rising, Chapter 9
4. ↑ Lanfear's character is based on Selene.
5. ↑ The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 43
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Winter's Heart, Chapter 35