| “ | “Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom ....very much” | ” |
–Aelin to Rowan in Heir of Fire | ||
Powers & Abilities
- Enhanced Hearing
- Enhanced Speed
- Enhanced Healing (more so than mortals)
- Presence of elongated canines
- Secondary Animal Form: Due to her Fae heritage, Aelin is able to shift between two different forms. Her first form is her Fae form, and her secondary form is her human body, which acts as her animal form.
- Immortality/Long-Life: As a Demi-Fae, Aelin is entitled to go through the Settling - which will determine whether she becomes immortal and loses/retains her magic. Maeve informs Aelin that she is "likely five years away from Settling". Aelin will retain her full magic, her full Fae gifts, her shifting abilities, and the full extended life of the Fae, due to her great-grandmother's blood flowing through her veins. Mab's line was mentioned by Maeve to run true - so that her descendants will successfully transition into Fae when Settling.
- She is able to manipulate water - as shown when a pebble-sized droplet of water was lifted when she was with Rowan in Heir of Fire, and in Empire of Storms when she spun rivulets of water within a river in Terrasen.
- This power can be wielded weakly, due to the dimming bloodline from its source - her great-grandmother Mab.
- Water Affinity - inherited from Mab alongside her magic, Evalin tells Aelin that it reminds the bearer of their salvation, and their self-preservation. Aelin has inherited a drop of this magic, which can be used to heal others and herself. This healing magic is much stronger than the standard healing abilities of the Fae.
While Aelin delved deep into her Fire Magic at Skulls' Bay, she unconsciously let her magic touch the Amulet of Orynth. As a result, the Wyrdkey opened a door to another realm, from which Deanna was watching Erilea. Deanna then possessed Aelin, taking control of her body, magic, and Rowan's magic.
She proceeded to convert all of Aelin's Fire Magic to Moon-Fire. The Goddess's Moon-Fire was described as being the cold white light of the stars, light that was stolen from them, which would be so cold that it would burn.
This magic was able to easily burn through Anti-Magic physical properties, as evident when Deanna burned through the iron encasing Aelin's hand.
Aelin has learned to use wyrdmarks, with the help of the Walking Dead, a book she found in Adarlan's Castle Library. The spells generated from wyrdmarks are able to be used without Magic present since the Wyrd governs all life. Nehemia also showed Aelin her use of wyrdmarks, and stated that wyrdmarks use the power stored in the user's blood. As in, those with magic dormant in their veins can use their power to generate wyrdmarks. There is a limit to how much power one can use in their blood, as Aelin needed Dorian's help to close a portal. As of now, Aelin is capable of using the wyrdmarks for the following spells:
- Unlocking Doors - Aelin was able to unlock even an iron door, immune to magic, with wyrdmarks chalked up to the door, when she was about to face the Valg-possessed human captive under Adarlan's Castle
- Binding Spell - When Chaol was held by Manon Blackbeak, Aelin used his blood in the grass to form a binding spell that froze the Wingleader in place for a limited amount of time.
- Protection Spell - She was able to cover her body in wyrdmarks covered in blood - to ward off the Valg, and their powerful Valg Magic (when facing Dorian and the King)
- Portal Generation - When Nehemia passed away, Aelin strived to see her friend again, and so she created a portal via a dome of wyrdmarks from her blood, near Elena's Tomb.
- Locking Spell - She was able to seal the portal to the Valg realm near Elena's tomb, using Dorian's blood.
She originally thought that her well of magic was as great as Brannon Galathynius, her ancestor. In Heir of Fire, during the Battle of Mistward, while fighting Valg princes, she discovers what seems to be the bottom of her chamber of magic.
However, this is later proved to be just a threshold, as Aelin found out another 'bottom' when she delved into her power for a day - to prepare to face Maeve in Doranelle.
In Empire of Storms, she delves into her magic for three days, when preparing for a possible skirmish with the Valg at Skulls' Bay. Aelin then breaks through this barrier, when Deanna possesses her. She discovers that her magic is as great as Mala Fire-Bringer's - due to being her heir and descendant. When preparing for an inevitable encounter with either Maeve's or Erawan's forces as she sailed for the Stone Marshes, Aelin had hovered over her magic for days - still no burnout.
It was only until after she obliterated 500 ilken, that her well of magic reserves became drained - which Maeve took advantage of to leash her.
In Kingdom of Ash, Aelin has been delving into her power for three months to face and kill Maeve. Instead, she uses that power to stop a giant tidal wave from destroying Anielle.
When she forges the Lock later in the book, she loses her mortal body along with all but a single ember of fire magic, gifted to her by Mala Fire-Bringer as thanks for Aelin's attempt spare her daughter, Elena, and is left only with the drop of water passed down from her mother, as well as a fae body.Appearances
- The Assassin’s Blade (first appearance)
- Throne of Glass
- Crown of Midnight
- Heir of Fire
- Queen of Shadows
- Empire of Storms
- WHSmith Exclusive (mentioned only)
- Target Exclusive
- Barnes & Noble Exclusive
- Tower of Dawn
- Kingdom of Ash
- The World of Throne of Glass (set to appear)
- A Court of Silver Flame (mentioned only)
Gallery
- See more here
Aelin Galathynius’s royal portrait
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Development
In an interview prior to the series' debut, Maas discussed the process of creating her protagonist:
| “ | I grew up reading books like Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown and Garth Nix's Sabriel—both of which feature strong heroines, and both of which profoundly shaped my identity and empowered me. I started writing knowing I wanted to create books like that—mostly because that's what interests me and where my passion lies, but also because I'd love for some young woman to read [Throne of Glass] and feel empowered, too. | ” |
The story's teenage heroine, Aelin Galathynius, is introduced as an orphan who was raised and trained by an assassin. She is largely characterized as skilled, arrogant, and witty. While shaping her protagonist, Maas was inspired by the heroism of Arwen from The Lord of the Rings, and by the characterization of Velma Kelly from Chicago. Maas has stated that the latter's "arrogance and fierceness made me want to write about a woman like her—about a woman who never once said sorry for being talented and determined and utterly in love with herself." Maas ultimately designed Aelin as a highly capable character whose talents also form a basis for numerous faults. In interviews preceding the series' release, Maas noted her heroine's issues with "impatience" and "vanity". She also suggested that Aelin would grow while adjusting to her new role. In addition to Aelin's skills as an assassin, Maas wanted the character to have several traits and hobbies befitting her age, including a fondness for "shopping, books, and fine dining", as well as a "penchant for getting into trouble."
Relation to Rowan Whitethorn
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| Mab |
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| House Galathynius |
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| House Ashryver |
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| Rhoe G. |
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| Evalin A. |
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| Aelin G. |
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For a more detailed family tree, see the respective pages for each house.
Trivia
- In Queen of Glass Celaena ends up marrying Dorian
- Celaena is a name derived from Celaeno, which means "dark one," and is also a star in the constellation of Taurus and a member of the Pleiades.
- Sarah J. Maas said that Aelin's birthday is on the 3rd of May.
- The ornate ruby brooch that Aelin includes in her money pouch to Yrene was gifted to her by Arobynn Hamel for her sixteenth birthday.[2]
- Her identity as Celaena Sardothien was so carefully protected that very few people had ever seen what she actually looked like; when meeting clients, she always wore a mask, gloves, and black clothing, which revealed only her gender.[3] Because of this Arobynn used to introduce her to clients as his niece, Dianna Brackyn.
- When she was young, she was infatuated with Ben, Arobynn's second-in-command, and Archer Finn, a courtesan, whom she later kills.[4]
- She purposely broke her right hand at the age of twelve by slamming it in a door frame; Arobynn decided she needed to be more skilled at swordplay with her left hand and had offered to break it for her.[5]
- She learned to play the pianoforte when she was ten, under Arobynn's order that she finds at least one refined skill other than ending lives.
- Archer Finn used to call her by the nickname "Laena", which Celaena absolutely hated.
- She was 10 the first time she killed a man under Arobynn's order.
- Sarah J. Maas said that Aelin's favorite book genre is romance.
- Sarah J. Maas said that if Aelin was a writer, she would write smut and joked that she would also be the “Ultimate smut master”.
- In an interview with Sarah J. Maas, Maas stated that in the present time, Aelin would be a fan of the Outlander Series.
- She bears the mark of the Nameless from her ancestor Brannon.
- She adores extravagant clothes, expensive perfume, books, chocolate, and shoes.
- She claimed to hate the smell and taste of fish, but Rowan proved her wrong in Queen of Shadows by convincing her to try pan-fried trout, which she greatly enjoyed.
- She believed and tried to convince herself that her favorite color was blue, but Aelin admitted it was red as time passed.
- Aelin killed her first overseer by gutting him with a pickax when he pushed her too hard.
- AAG, Aelin's initials, is "Fire" in Hindi and Urdu.
- The name 'Aelin' might be derived from the Turkish name 'Aylin', which means 'of the moon', which is referenced in Empire of Storms when Deanna, goddess of the moon, possesses the body of Aelin to remind her that she belonged to the gods. It also may come from Irish 'Ailin' which means noble.
- ’Aelin’ could also be derived from the Sindarin Language from the Tolkien works (which Throne of Glass is known to pull inspiration from), which means ‘lake’, most likely paying homage to the water magic of her mother that she inherits a drop of. Both share the exact same spelling.
- Rowan states in Queen of Shadows that her scent smells like jasmine, lemon verbena, and crackling embers.
- Aelin, Dorian, and Chaol are the only three characters to get a point of view in the first book and a main point of view in six books, while other characters' points of view were all added in the following books.
- In Kingdom of Ash, Aelin, while falling through the worlds, comes in contact with a Fae couple who are most likely Rhysand and Feyre, from Sarah J. Maas' other series, A Court of Thorns and Roses.
References
- ↑ ToG character heights
- ↑ The Assassin's Blade: The Assassin and the Healer by Sarah J. Maas, pg. 86
- ↑ The Assassin's Blade: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord by Sarah J. Maas, pg. 11
- ↑ The Assassin's Blade: The Assassin and the Desert by Sarah J. Maas, pg. 145
- ↑ Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: Chapter 14, pg. 112