| SPOILER WARNING: This article has important plot information. Caution is advised! |
King Dorian Havilliard II is the first-born son of Georgina Havilliard and the late King Dorian Havilliard I. He is also Hollin Havilliard's elder brother. He is one of the main viewpoint characters of the series.
Biography
Throne of Glass
Aelin Galathynius, also going by Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan's Assassin, is sent to bow before Dorian after having been retrieved by Chaol Westfall from the salt mines of Endovier. During this encounter, Dorian informs Celaena of his plans for her: his father has made the decision to host a tournament to determine the new royal Champion of Adarlan, and she is to compete as Dorian's competitor and to win the contest, therefore officially becoming the royal Champion. If Celaena wins and serves the King, she will earn her freedom at the end of her contract in six years. As an extra incentive, Dorian offers to bargain with his father for a four-year contract instead. Celaena is reluctant at first, but eventually agrees after hearing Dorian's proposal and the true prize of winning. Dorian releases her from the mines and brings her along with himself and his court to Rifthold.[2]
During the progression of the Tournament, Dorian develops a friendship, and gradually, romantic relationship with the assassin. In the end, however, when she wins his father's tournament, she shortly breaks it off with him as she believes that their relationship wouldn't be suitable given their circumstances.
Crown of Midnight
Dorian's cousin, Roland, moves to Rifthold to accept a position in the Royal Council. Dorian harbours a great distaste for Roland, although he treats him with the necessary formalities. While giving him a tour of the castle and its grounds, they run into Celaena and Chaol, who are on their morning run. He introduces Celaena to Roland as Lillian Gordaina. When Chaol becomes aggressive, Dorian recognizes the signals and avoids confrontation by leaving with Roland.[3]
At Hollin's welcoming dinner, he notices the look Celaena and Chaol exchange, and he decides to let Celaena go.
At a ball (thrown for Hollin), he slips away from the crowd for a brief time and spies Celaena and Chaol dancing in the garden. He feels a pang of jealousy and sadness as he watches them. While he looks on, Nehemia approaches him and asks about Celaena; Dorian responds that he has let her go. Nehemia then broaches the subject of Calaculla, as the council is debating whether to increase the number of slaves there and Roland has prohibited her from attending to weigh in. She implores him to oppose the plan, and while Dorian hates the plan, he fears confronting his father. Before leaving to re-join the party, Nehemia places a finger on his chest, telling him that there is an ancient power inside, and that when it awakes, she will help him. At this, Dorian feels some power stir inside him, but he does not understand Nehemia's mysterious message.[3]
At the council meeting, the plan for the Calaculla labor camp is discussed. Most of the council supports the suggested action; Dorian, however, does not. Remembering what Nehemia said to him, he argues that the new slaves will need living quarters. When Roland rebutts that they could simply build more structures or use some old buildings, Dorian vehemently insists that the way to curb rebellion is not through oppression. He then storms out of the conference room and heads down a hall to cool down. Finally, in a secluded hallway, Dorian's rage boils over and he punches the wall. He is flabbergasted when the stone cracks under the blow and the nearby window shatters, but he is left untouched; he vomits in shock.
Thereafter, Dorian spends much of his time exploring his new abilities.[3]
Heir of Fire
After getting injured while using his magic, Dorian goes to the healers, and meets a young healer named Sorscha, who heals his wounds. She becomes suspicious about his injuries and he tells her that he is a magic wielder. She agrees to help him control his magic. Soon their relationship becomes romantic and they become lovers. Unfortunately for her, and him, their relationship is short-lived and results in a chain of destructive events, one of which leads him to being possessed by a Valg prince, using a Wyrdstone collar and Sorscha being beheaded for treason. [4]
Queen of Shadows
Dorian remains imprisoned in his own body. Due to the Wyrdstone collar that has been placed around his neck by his father, a Valg Prince has gained possession of control over his entire body. Aelin aspires to kill him throughout a large portion of the time Dorian is enslaved. However, after meeting Dorian, Manon discovers that the Valg Prince has not yet fully taken over his entire existence and informs Aelin, leading her to veer towards the other direction instead of killing him and to eventually save him from the Valg Prince.[5]
Dorian, with the help of Aelin, eventually destroys the prince inside him and the collar, regaining control of his own body. He kills his father and brings the glass castle down, unveiling the stone castle beneath it, and is ultimately crowned King of Adarlan.
Empire of Storms
After Adarlan is taken over Dorian and Rowan Whitethorn travel to Skull's bay where they meet the Cadre (excluding Conall, Vaughan and Lorcan Salvaterre) and wait for Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Aedion Ashryver and Lysandra to arrive. After Aelin secures that Dorian travels with Aelin, Aedion, Lysandra, Gavriel, Fenrys and Rowan on the ship. Where Manon also arrives after battling her Grandmother, Mother Blackbeak. Near the end of the book, Elide and Lorcan also join them and Elide explains that she and Manon only survived because of Kaltain Rompier. Dorian feels ashamed that he underestimated Kaltain, she had changed the tide of the war by giving Elide a Wyrd key and using her shadowfire to burn down a third of Morath, killing herself in the process.
Kingdom of Ash
Dorian, Manon and the rest of the Thirteen are off gathering the Crochans. After Dorian finds out he can shapeshift, he sneaks into Morath, where Maeve finds him. However he offers to marry her, and she lets him live, and even tells him her history and tries to help him bring down Erawan. All the while Dorian was setting up a trap and eventually left Maeve in a collapsing Morath with Erawan. He comes across Aelin & co and travels with them to Terassen. While they are near Endovier, Aelin and Dorian decide to forge the lock. In between the worlds, the former King of Adarlan, King Dorian I, (Dorian's father) takes his son’s place, as he wouldn't have survived forging the lock. Thus both Dorian and Aelin survive, although Aelin lost her human body and the majority of her fire powers, and Dorian's magic is no longer infinite.
As they arrive in Orynth, it seems impossible to win the battle. And everything spirales further down after Maeve and Erawan appear. Aelin went to talk to them alone, setting them up against each other. This distraction is used to kidnap Erawan inside and let Yrene "heal" the Valg out of him. Dorian, helping Yrene by joining their blood together, demands Erawan for his father's name (as Erawan was the one who wiped it from everyone's memory). Mistakenly, Erawan answers that the King's name "is his own" -- Dorian. He continues to explain that his father remembered his name once: when he held Dorian for the first time after he was born. After revealing this, Erawan dies. (Around the same time Aelin and her cadre are finishing off Maeve.)
Days after their victory Chaol, Yrene, Dorian and Manon are talking to each other; Yrene told Manon and Dorian to just marry already, at which Dorian wanted to apologise to Manon, but Manon answered that "they shall see", leaving Dorian baffled. Eventually, they came up with a solution: Manon is going to be rebuilding her kingdom in the Wastes, not so far off from Adarlan, and the other witches could handle her being gone (visiting Dorian) for a while.
A week after Aelin's coronation, they all leave Orynth to return to their own kingdoms to rebuild them. Dorian leaves with Chaol and Yrene to Adarlan.
Personality and traits
Before meeting Celaena, Dorian is a vain heartbreaker, a puppet of his tyrannical father. He is something of a flirt, but as time goes on, he departs from this lustful lifestyle, even turning down a party invitation from Aedion Ashryver.
Dorian is compassionate. This sympathy for others heightens over time, especially after seeing the conditions in Endovier. This compassion, combined with outrage and blossoming courage, pushes him to stand up to his father and many other important officials.
Dorian is also bright, having a curious mind and a love of reading. He is adept at solving problems and will search for the answers to questions even if no one else can or will help. He also possesses a great deal of loyalty, as he goes out of his way and endangers himself to protect his friends. As Aelin also does, he enjoys reading books, playing with puppies, and sword fighting.
Physical description
Dorian is tall (6'0) and lean with raven-black hair. His eyes are a sapphire blue that Celaena describes as "strikingly blue, the colour of the waters of the southern countries." Dorian has well-groomed dark eyebrows, and is very handsome. After having the Wyrdstone collar removed, Dorian has a permanent pale line on his tan neck.[5]
Powers and Abilities
| “ | Dorian didn't just have magic - he had raw magic. The rarest, and deadliest kind. Sheer, undiluted power, capable of being shaped into whatever form the wielder desired. | ” |
- Magic: Dorian possesses powerful, raw magical ability. Dorian's magic at first was a mystery because he was the only person who had access to his abilities during the 10 years magic had been taken away. Later it is discovered that Dorian's father, the King of Adarlan, was the person who froze all magic for everyone except his own extended family, so Dorian, like his father, was allowed to use it. He has been observed so far using magically enhanced strength, shielding, creating ice, wind, fire, lie detection, and magic hands. He also shows the ability to link his magic with others, shown when Aelin pulled from his raw power in Queen of Shadows and later when Yrene Towers fused her power with his in Kingdom of Ash.
- Strength: The first time Dorian uses his enhanced strength is in Crown of Midnight when Dorian punches a wall in rage at his father for not closing down the slave camps. The stone wall splinters under his punch and a window shatters leaving shards everywhere but in a circle around him.
- Shield: This is also the first time Dorian uses his shield. Another time Dorian is seen shielding is in the battle against Maeve's armada and he shields a line of ships.
- Ice: The first time Dorian is seen with ice is in Crown of Midnight before Nehemia awakens his magic. After a night of cold nightmares and worrying about his friends Dorian wakes and looks down where he was lying and sees a faint outline of ice, when he turns to look at it again, it's gone. Ice has become Dorian's most iconic magical feature. In Heir of Fire Dorian helps Chaol with an experiment on how to destroy the clock tower and ultimately free magic. Dorian freezes one tower which would freeze the others and freeze the bowl in the middle of them. Later on in Heir of Fire, Dorian exposes his magic to his father by saving Chaol's life from an arrow and tells him to run. Dorian then plunges the throne room into ice, but Dorian's father uses the power of a wyrdkey and overpowers Dorian's magic, turning him into a Valg slave which uses Dorian cold magic in horrible ways throughout Queen of Shadows. At the end of the fourth book, Dorian fights Aelin with his ice and is then freed from his collar but not before stabbing Aelin with an ice dagger. In Empire of Storms, Dorian displays his power at the Battle at Skulls bay by freezing a full-grown Sea Wyvern to death and then shattering it. Also in Empire of Storms, Dorian is one of the main magic-wielders fighting against the army of ilken 500 strong. His ice counters Aelin's fire and kills the fleeing Ilken. At the battle at the end of this novel, Dorian is fighting against the fae with his ice and other abilities.
- Wind: It is unknown what kinds of magic Dorian used to destroy the iconic Glass Castle at the end of Queen of Shadows but it is assumed that he used wind. In Empire of Storms when the court is at Skulls Bay, Dorian awakens and a breeze flutters into the room as his magic awakens as well, this shows that Dorian has use of wind power as well.
- Fire: Dorian's use of fire is seen first in Empire of Storms, it is a new power of his. It's first seen when Dorian walks into Manon's bedroom under their ship. She thinks he is walking in holding a torch but then realizes that Dorian is creating the fire for himself and it is encasing his hand without burning him. Later on in the battle against Maeve's armada, Dorian is fighting with ice and fire against the soldiers. In Kingdom of Ash, Dorian turns his body into pure fire, completely melting a wyvern as it attempted to swoop down and eat him during the skirmish between the Ironteeth and Crochan witches.
- Lie Detection: This is also a power of Dorian's that is briefly mentioned first in Empire of Storms. After the bloodhound tells Manon about her Thirteen, Dorian comes into Manon's room and tells her that he sensed the lie. Several other times Dorian mentions sensing a lie however it is unknown if this is his magic or the magic of Damaris, the Sword of Truth, he carries. This is seen later in Kingdom of Ash when Manon states she did not lead the Ironteeth to the Crochans. Dorian, through Damaris, knew this was a lie.
- Magic Hands:At first, this ability was introduced in Crown of Midnight directly after the discovered death of Princess Nehemia. Celaena Sardothien is throwing herself at Chaol Westfall in an attempt to kill him. But, in a desperate fling, Dorian freezes Celeana with his magical hands that are described as an extension of himself and he can feel everything that happens to them. In Empire of Storms these forgotten hands come up again when Manon Blackbeak falls off her wyvern, Abraxos, and Dorian jumps into the water to save her. When he visits her in her room Dorian flirts with her and teases her with his invisible hands. When Erawan's Bloodhound finds itself in Manon's room after taking Fenrys's form, Dorian snaps it's neck with his invisible hands and kills it, preventing it from hurting Manon physically and emotionally.
- Shapeshifting: During Kingdom of Ash Dorian experiments with his shapeshifting abilities. He starts off small, wanting his eyes to turn brown. However, he has much difficulty shifting. After a few tries, he succeeds, but the shifting is out of control. After a few days he has mastered shifting small parts of his body. He can shapeshift into a crow fairly easily and soon masters shapeshifting all of his body at once. Like into a mouse or a woman.
While forging the Lock with Aelin, he uses much of his magic before Aelin sends him back to their world. Dorian is left with his magic weakened and with a definite bottom.
Relationships
Dorian first met Aelin when they were children, prior to the conquest of Terrasen. His memories of that meeting remained hazy, but he remembered her as a precocious, wild girl, who had asked her older cousin, Aedion Ashryver, to teach Dorian a lesson after he had spilt tea on her.
The two of them develop a bond during the royal tournament, and within this period of time Dorian shares a friendly relationship with her, showering her with numerous gifts: books, sweets and a pet dog. They even share multiple kisses, although at the end Aelin rejects him, believing that they do not have any chances for a future, as Dorian is the Crown Prince of Adarlan.
Afterward, she and Dorian remain close friends. Each cares deeply about the other's safety, and they come to one another for advice.Chaol and Dorian have been best friends since early childhood, when Chaol had arrived at Rifthold with his father as the heir of Anielle. However, after Adarlan expanded their territories and the tribes of White Fang Mountains ceased to attack Anielle, Chaol's family was ready to leave back to their home. In order not to leave his best friend and Rifthold, Chaol decided to reject his noble title and was chosen to become the King's Captain of the Guard. Chaol has called Dorian his "best friend" and also said he loved him.
Sorscha had a crush on Dorian for six years, since she came to the Glass Castle, but she was certain that a relationship would never happen. However, Dorian took notice of her when he visited her to have some wounds bound. He recognizes her and asks for her name. When she tends another wound of Dorian's shortly afterward, he asks about her life, then sends a messenger the next day for tell him where her village was so he could mark it on his personal map of Erilea.
Sorscha later discovers that Dorian had magic powers and began helping him learn to control it. A relationship blossomed, and Dorian and Sorscha become lovers. Following the purge at Calaculla, Dorian, concerned for Sorscha's safety, panics and attempts to offer her money and supplies so she can flee, but Sorscha refuses, insisting that they stay together. Chaol and Aedion work on an escape plan for Dorian and Sorscha so they can leave the King behind together.
Eventually, Sorscha is revealed to have leaked information about the king to the rebels. Dorian attempts to bargain with the king for his lover's life, but the king callously beheads Sorscha, causing Dorian to fly into a fit of rage and grief and unleash his powers.
Dorian has a strained relationship with his father. For a long time, he disagreed with the King of Adarlan's brutality but remained silent so as not to anger him. One of the reasons Dorian yielded to his father was his desire to keep his spoiled brother, Hollin, from being named heir, as he believed Hollin would make a poor or even evil ruler, especially under the instruction of their father.
After the King's Tournament, Dorian begins to display some level of defiance towards his father. This attitude intensifies when Dorian, after a conversation with Nehemia, loses his temper in the council meeting about increasing the number of slaves in Calaculla and angrily tells the council that oppressing the conquered peoples will only spark more rebellions and create more rebel sympathizers. When Dorian learns of Chaol and Aedion's involvement with the rebel movement, he does not inform his father, but tells the two men to leave him out of it.
While Dorian works with Sorscha to control his magic, a romance blossoms between them - a romance that they must keep secret. After the slaughters at Endovier and Calaculla, Dorian begs Sorscha to leave the palace for fear of what his father will do if he discovers that Sorscha has been helping him, although she refuses to leave him. When the King discovers that Sorscha has been passing information about himself to the rebels, he orders Sorscha to be killed. Dorian screams in protest, and when Sorscha is killed, he loses control of his magic and attacks. The King then enslaves his eldest son with a Wyrdstone collar, which allows a demon to possess Dorian.While Dorian and Georgina's relationship is far less strained than Dorian and the King's, tension still exists between Dorian and his mother. He attends her parties, although he finds them dull; however, he may do this out of decorum rather than actual desire to be with her. Dorian also disapproves of Georgina's spoiling of Hollin, as it feeds into the boy's unpleasant personality. To Dorian's frustration, Georgina pressures him to find a wife, even going so far as to have a list of eligible ladies composed for him. Nevertheless, Georgina appears to care for Dorian, albeit in a rather shallow manner.
Fleetfoot is the pup of one of Dorian's dogs, who escaped and mated with an unknown male to conceive the litter that produced Fleetfoot. Dorian originally plans on painlessly putting the pup down because of her antisocial temperament, but at Celaena's bequest he promises to spare her life and find her a home. Dorian indeed places the pup in a home by giving her to Celaena as a Yulemas gift. When Celaena goes on her mission to Wendlyn, Dorian vows to look after Fleetfoot until she returns.
Manon, not knowing why she cares, visits Dorian after asking Asterin about love, hinting a future romance between the two. The two later meet again and continue to tease each other, leading into a romance between the two. After a few weeks of teasing, romance, and kissing, Dorian walks into Manon's room. Manon tells Dorian to "finish what he started". It is inferred that "what he started", was a night where they had kissed and Dorian had left saying "I'm not finished with you yet". Following, this, the two have sex.
Appearances
- The Assassin's Blade ( The Assassin and the Underworld) (first appearance)
- Throne of Glass
- Crown of Midnight
- Heir of Fire
- Queen of Shadows
- Empire of Storms
- Tower of Dawn (mentioned only)
- Kingdom of Ash
Gallery
- See more here
Trivia
- In the original version of Throne of Glass, Dorian's family name was DeHavilliard.
- Gavin Havilliard is Dorian's hero.
- Dorian breeds dogs.
- Dorian stole a berry pie from the castle kitchens when he was 11, ate the whole thing, and was sick for a day.
- Some characters have remarked that Dorian's room is very untidy; Dorian states that his is because he does not want the servants to move things around, making it difficult for him to find them again.
- Dorian is the masked man that Celaena dances with before Sam gets jealous.
- When he was a young boy every time Dorian behaved badly his parents punished him by forcing him to have dance lessons.