Therava is a Shaido Aiel Wise One. She can channel strongly; more so than most Aes Sedai.
Appearance and abilities[]
She has dark red hair with streaks of white and deep blue eyes. She is taller than most men, slim and is hawk-faced.
Galina Casban described Therava as a very strong channeler, even stronger than herself, and Galina is among the strongest of the modern Aes Sedai. Her level of strength is described by "The Wheel of Time Companion" as 12(+1), which is only two levels above Galina's level at 14(2).
Personality[]
Therava was considered extremely dangerous even by her fellow Shaido, who always knew to avoid her lest they risk suffering her wrath. She was a strong and silent woman and was never one to waste words or suffer fools lightly.
In battle she was completely fearless and was shown to be extremely skilled and powerful. Despite this, she appeared to not desire blood shed.
As a devoted Wise One, Therava was a proud and passionate crusader who fiercely upheld ancient Aiel teachings and thought that everyone in the world should be judged by them, holding Aiel culture to be superior. She had little to no interest in the world outside her own nation or its problems preferring instead to leave it to the rest of the world to sort out on their own and would only get involved if it directly concerned her or her tribe. That said, she often expressed just as much contempt for her fellow Shaido as she did for the rest of the world. Believing them to have grown weak in the short amount of time that Sevanna has taken charge and that the latter would eventually bring about their downfall. A belief that would eventually be confirmed.
Therava was extremely loyal to her clan, its customs, and its continued survival and was shown to take her responsibilities very seriously. After their crippling defeat in Knife of Dreams, Therava was left in charge and she immediately declared that they retreat back to Aiel Waste and recover their losses.
She also seemed content to not wage unnecessary wars or get involved in other peoples' disputes as she vowed that they would never leave the safety of their own territory again.
She had a strong, almost bitter rivalry with Sevanna, viewing her as a weak leader and a charlatan posing as a Wise One. She showed little respect for her or her plans and believed them to be foolish, selfish, petty, and ultimately a danger to the entire clan. She nonetheless followed her because the Shaido's laws commanded it. After Sevanna's defeat, Therava showed little concern over the situation and didn't seem to care if she'd been captured or killed so long as she didn't have to put up with her anymore.
Like Galina, she had a strong distrust in men, believing them to be unworthy of her time and attention. She had a strong desire and taste for torture and was possibly a sadomasochist and was not afraid to display her often abusive tendencies towards Galina in front of others after she had taken the latter as her gai'shain. Notably many of her fellow Shaido believed her to be to treating Galina too cruelly, but none of them dared say it to her personally.
Therava seems to be a high-ranking enforcer of the Shaido, as she is either universally feared or respected throughout her clan. She was easily the most powerful of the Shaido at the time of the events in the books and was considered the clan's protector and the main reason that they had survived this long.
Therava was shown to have a strange, almost crush-like, obsession with Galina. Perhaps sensing a kindred spirit, she was determined to take Galina as her gai'shain and was greatly displeased when Sevanna tried to prevent her from doing so. After Galina's escape Therava became enraged and ordered them to find and retrieve her at all costs.
After claiming her, Therava was extremely rough on Galina and didn't hesitate to punish her if she felt that Galina was trying to step out of line and indeed actually seemed to look forward to such things. It should be noted, however, that Therava never attempted to permanently hurt Galina and always made sure to never go too far physically or mentally. And even treated her rather fairly when she felt Galina had earned her rewards. She was nonetheless extremely sadistic, taunting Galina with the cruel nickname "Lina", despite knowing that Galina hated being referred to as such and had little problem with forcing her to do humiliating and often depraved tasks in private.
Despite the ancient laws set in place, Therava seemed to have no intention of ever releasing Galina from her servitude when the year and a day was up and took great pleasure in the thought of breaking her to the point where she would willingly agree to stay with her even if she did choose to release her.
After Galina's escape, Therava became determined to find and reclaim her and after recapturing her, made sure that Galina would never get away from her again. All of this shows that Therava was extremely possessive of Galina.
Activities[]
Dumai's Wells[]
Therava, along with Sevanna and Desaine, meet with the White Tower's Aes Sedai embassy about Rand al'Thor. When she and the others show up in Cairhien, they acknowledge that they are able to duplicate the weaves the Aes Sedai plan to use to bind Rand, then help murder Desaine.
When the Shaido Aiel attack the Aes Sedai holding Rand at the Battle of Dumai's Wells, Therava is present.
Nine days after the battle, Therava arrives with the other Shaido Aiel and a captured Galina Casban at Sevanna's tents. Sammael then appears disguised as Caddar with Graendal as Maisia by his side and opens gateways to scatter the Shaido across the world.
Therava along with all the channelling Wise Ones and the newly acquired Aes Sedai Galina Casban, go with Sevanna to Ghealdan. It is there that Therava is able to steal some of Sevanna's power and forces Galina to obey her by using a "binder" or Oath Rod.
After forcing Galina to obey her, Therava makes her gai'shain and takes her as her personal plaything, dressing her up in silk and jewelry and calling her "Lina" or "my little Lina."
Malden[]
The Shaido finally settle down in the town of Malden. When Alliandre, Faile and Maighdin are captured, Therava makes them spy on Sevanna.
She begins to argue with Sevanna over staying too long in Malden and moving on to a more fortified position. Sevanna over-rules her. Therava replies that Bendhuin has received permission to go to Rhuidean and that Sevanna may not speak for the clan chief much longer.
She allows Galina to ride if she returns before nightfall, because she knows she cannot run away. Galina was kidnapped, and thus is late, but this excuse does not work on Therava and she punishes Galina severely.
Later, when Therava finds out that the Oath Rod has been stolen she has the whole camp searched thoroughly.
The Shaido are defeated by Perrin's forces at the Battle of Malden and Sevanna is captured. Along with the other Shaido who managed to escape, Therava vows to return to the Aiel Waste, taking Galina with her. She vows never to return to the wetlands.