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- ‘‘ Past is Present and Present is Past. The story goes round and round again. ’’
- —Rhian in A Crystal of Time[1]
Rhian is the son of Evelyn Sader and The School Master, the brother of R. Japeth Sader-Mistral. He is also the former King of Camelot. He debuted in Book 4, Quests For Glory.
Early Life[]
Though first believed to have been conceived of King Arthur and Grisella Gremlaine, it is implied in A Crystal of Time that Rhian, and his twin brother, Japeth, were born to Evelyn Sader and King Arthur, before Tedros was born. Evelyn attempted to accomplish this by using a "spansel," which she hung around Arthur's neck while he was sedated. Evelyn's original plan was to let Gremlaine use the spansel, but Gremlaine had refused at the last moment, because she loved Arthur too much to ruin his life. However, it is revealed in One True King that Gremlaine returned to stop her before she could actually use it, and that Rhian and Japeth were in reality fathered by The School Master
After Evelyn left Camelot, she and her sons lived in Foxwood, where Rhian was listed as the son of Levya and Rosamund, since Evelyn, or "Elle," as she called herself, spun the tale of her own danger, pleading the couple to lie about Rhian's identity.
However, since Evelyn had difficulty raising Japeth, she sent him to the Arbed House of the Foxwood Boys' School for Conservative Education, meant to reform Evil children. Although Rhian was Good, Evelyn sent him along with Japeth, to watch over him. Other boys in Arbed House at the time included his loyal friend, Kei, and Japeth's best friend and Rhian's "would be murderer," Aric, Lady Lesso's son.
Appearance[]
In Book 4, Rhian is described having tanned skin "the colour of amber", military-type cropped copper brown hair, and eyes that change colours between aqua blue to hazel "with the intensity of his stare". He was described as having strong bones and sensual lips. Upon first seeing him, Sophie thought that she had never seen such a beautiful boy in her life. Rhian is also tall and muscular. Somehow, his scent can be smelled--salt and sand, as if he'd been dewed from the mouth of a desert flower.
It is later revealed that Rhian has pale white skin covering his chest. The tanned skin was just a hoax for his role as the Lion[2]. Also, he has sea-green eyes. He, like his brother, has copper-brown hair, a strong brow bone, straight nose and dark brows
Outfits[]
- When Rhian first appears, he is wearing a dark blue jacket with a brilliant gold pattern, dark blue riding pants, and gold-lined boots. He also wears a gold Lion mask.
- In Sherwood Forest, he wears a black cut-off shirt and beige breeches.
- His outfit for his and Sophie's wedding is a belt of gilded lion heads and a high-collared white fur cape.
Personality[]
Rhian is first said to be loyal and obedient to his leaders, showing his bravery and courage to them, which earns Tedros's trust. He also is capable of keeping promises like how he made a promise to Tedros that Tedros will kill the Snake (a fake one) instead of him. Even so, he also breaks promises if his leader ordered him to do so, such as when Agatha told him to save Tedros, saying that she is his future Queen. His personality almost drastically changed after he revealed the truth.
After proposing Sophie to be his wife and receiving a gift from Tedros, which is Excalibur's lockbox key, he pulled the mighty sword in front of the crowd, revealing to be Tedros' half-brother and the true heir of Camelot, making him a manipulative "King" who earns people's trust in a short time. While appearing to be loyal, obedient and trustworthy, he is also manipulative, wicked and threatening throughout the fourth book.
Rhian is revealed to be both the 'Lion' and the 'Snake', and according to Hort, he "spat in the faces of both Good and Evil". However, we do know that Rhian is capable of making allies, since he had the "Snake," Kei, and the love of Ever and Never kingdoms.
Rhian also shows a manipulative side, where he only speaks half-truths. During his coronation speech, he also pretends to show his love to Sophie, while pressing the Excalibur against her spine to keep her from rebellling[3].
Despite this, Rhian has shown that he truly is Good and cares about the future of the Woods, as it is revealed in Book 5 that his final goal as the One King was to erase all evil from the roots and bring ordinary people to light.
Biography[]
Quests For Glory[]
During the events of the Four Point, Rhian fought and saved all leaders on each kingdom without Tedros, even kissing Sophie after fighting. When questioned by Sophie, Rhian claimed to be a loyal servant to Camelot, come to protect Tedros. Together with the crew of The Igraine, Rhian bravely defended the castle from the Snake's attack. After the "war," in which Rhian dealt the final blow against Tedros' wishes, Rhian had his men (which says something about his authority) present the Snake's body at the celebration.
During the celebration, he proposed to Sophie, which signified that Sophie as his fiancé. When he was offered a gift by Tedros, he asked for the key around Guinevere's neck, unlocked Excalibur's lockbox, seized the mighty sword and pulled it smoothly, declaring himself as the eldest son of King Arthur and come to claim his throne. Now a King, he ordered the guards to grab Merlin, Guinevere, Professor Dovey and the others away to the dungeon. He also said that Tedros was the real Snake faking his throne, declaring him as Camelot's enemy, and sentencing Tedros to death. On the stage with Sophie, he secretly pointed Excalibur's tip right at Sophie's spine while announcing the royal wedding starting in one week, so that she would act the part instead of fleeing or protesting. The crowd cheered for the success of the new king and the old's execution as Agatha, alone, fled far from the castle.
A Crystal of Time[]
After taking over Camelot's throne, Rhian made a coronation speech: he pledges that with Lionsmane he would make a "normal" people heroes; that the Storian, locked within School for Good and Evil, cannot be the true voice of the Woods; and that the impostor king Tedros must be executed[4]. He refers to the Tale of The Lion and the Snake, where the Lion needs an Eagle to succed, which prompts the debut of his liege: his own brother, Sir Japeth[5].
- ‘‘ In that old, obsolete school, two just llike us ruled over a pen. Two of the same blood who were at war with each other, Good and Evil. Now two of the same blood rule over a new pen. Not for Good. Not for Evil. But for the people. ’’
- —Rhian's final remarks for his coronation speech[6]
Later he tells Sophie that he avoids lying and explains that in Quests for Glory he didn't pledge alliegance to Tedros and his friends. He claims that he prefer blood ties rather than falling in love, which leads people to stupidity and blindness. Later Sophie hears Rhian telling his brother that Lionsmane should be used to give people hope which they didn't have.
During their conversation it is discovered that Japeth is afraid that Sophie would smite Rhian and make him not to believe him. Although Rhian denies being vulnerable to her charms, he takes her side when she is arguing with Japeth about altering his mother's dress. Later Rhian insults Sophie, telling her she is egoistic, attention absorbing and inane. All the same he allows her to choose one of prisoners who saves life as being her assistant. He also tells Sophie that he lies he has caught Agatha and he convinces all the monarchs that Tedros used to pay for Snake's attacks in order to weaken other kingdoms.
During Agatha's friends' attack, people figure out that he lied about Agatha being prisoned by him but later he manages to get back monarchs' trust and tries to convince them to pledge their allegiance to him by burning their rings but most of them deny doing it. During that conversation he forces Sophie to lie about Tedros and Agatha. When Sophie sets free, he believes that she was kidnapped by her former friends and trusts her after she comes back to Camelot intending to kill him and his brother.
As a result, Rhian tells Sophie the story of his life: his difficult relationship with his mother, sick jealousy of his brother and lack of disinterested loyalty from the people who surround him. He also claims that he wants to be One True King in order to make "normal" people feel important and to treat villian before they cross "the line from which there is no return" by giving them a friend or love. At the end of their conversation, he confesses love to Sophie and pledges that he would never give up on her.
Nevertheless, when Japeth hears Sophie trying to convince Rhian to get rid of him, he commands Sophie to leave Camelot and never come back. Later we learn that Rhian has always been called "the better brother" who everybody loves and who has a huge impact on people. According to Japeth, Rhian and his mother wanted his death and always found him a kind of burden. Japeth mentions that Rhian "always chooses other people than him" and treats him like a minion and takes an advance on him. Altough Rhian pledged Japeth bringing to life one person that he truly loves, he brings his promise when he figures out that Japeth means Aric, not their mother like Rhian hoped. That discovery causes a huge fight between twins in which Rhian tries to stop Japeth and orders Sophie to bring over guards to calm him, but because of Japeth's scims the plan failed. Just before his death, Rhian realises that after breaking his promise given to Japeth, their roles switched: Japeth is meant to be One True King while Rhian can be healed by Sophie's blood. Then Rhian dies when Japeth pulls Excalibur straight into his heart.
After his death, Rhian was brought to Necro Ridge and burried as the Snake[7]. Kei accompanied the burial, mourning and laud a rose on top of his grave[8].
Abilities[]
- He is said to have a roar as powerful as a lion's.
- He is extremely manipulative and clever
- He is a great swordsman, just like Tedros
- As said from Chaddick's POV, Rhian is extremely strong
- He has a gold fingerglow, the same colour as Tedros's
Relationships[]
Kei[]
It is assumed that Kei was working for Rhian and disguised as a guard to lock Tedros during the fight at the Four Point, as well as being his roommate at Foxwood Boys School for Conservative Education. In 'A Crystal of Time', Kei becomes Rhian's captain of the Camelot army, helping him recruit armies to break into the School for Good and Evil to hunt Agatha.
We learn later in the fifth book that Kei had always believed Rhian's claim to the throne, despite loving Camelot. At one point, Kei abandoned Rhian to become one of Tedros' guards, as he had been dreaming about it for a very long time and could not pass up the opportunity. Rhian felt betrayed by his lack of loyalty, but took him back anyways.
Kei was the one who mourned Rhian after his burial. While Kei noticed that Agatha and Tedros were also there, he did not attack, purposefully letting them know that the Snake is now king.
Aric[]
Aric was in Arbed house along with Rhian at his time in the Foxwood school. Despite being closely attached to Japeth, Aric loathed Rhian, and the feeling was mutual. Rhian even said that Aric had almost killed him with a scar on his head to prove the attack.
Tedros[]
While it was unknown he was in league with the Snake, Rhian acted as Tedros' liege and loyal knight, even going as far as to say that he wished to be Tedros' Lancelot. But once he pulled Excalibur he imprisoned Tedros, showing that all of that was a magnificent lie.
Rhian is Tedros' elder half-brother, yet he despises him and went to great lengths to take the throne of Camelot from him, as he attacked both Good and Evil to make Tedros look like a weak king so that he could rule the Woods himself.
Sophie[]
Rhian showed great interest in Sophie from the event at the Four Point, saying he saw her in The Tale of Sophie and Agatha and couldn't stop thinking about her. He then kissed her and gave her a rose.
Throughout 'Quests for Glory', Rhian and Sophie grow very close and were in a relationship. They went on a date to Beauty and the Feast in Sherwood Forest, one somewhat like a double date with Tedros and Agatha.
At the end of 'Quests for Glory', Rhian proposes to Sophie as a 'gift' to Tedros, and she says yes. However, when Rhian reveals his identity as the Snake and Tedros' half-brother and pulls Excalibur, he imprisons Sophie's friends and holds Excalibur's sword tip to her spine to make her play the part of his princess, which casts some doubt on their relationship, and he, later on, reveals that he never loved her.
Throughout 'A Crystal of Time', Rhian and Sophie develop an understanding for each others' history and feelings, confiding in each other leading to sharing a kiss here and there during their walk through the garden, even telling her he truly loves her. However, Japeth thinks Rhian chooses Sophie over him and saying he will never find love with her, causing Japeth to doubt Rhian's loyalty towards him.
Japeth[]
Japeth is Rhian's twin brother. The two don't seem to get along, due to their mother causing problems in the past by being a terrible parent. Another complication is Aric, as Rhian doesn't approve of Japeth's relationship with him, especially after Aric attacked Rhian. Sophie is another problem, as she stirs up trouble between them.
Quotes[]
"Who needs Tedros when they can have me?"
"I am your lion!"
"Authority comes from doing your job."
Extra Information[]
- Rhian is good at telling half-truths. Instead of proclaiming Tedros as the leader, he uses the terms “rightful king," "rightful queen," and then hails Tedros.
- He has a scar on his skull from when Aric attempted to kill him.
- ↑ A Crystal of Time, p, 55
- ↑ A Crystal of Time; p. 50
- ↑ A Crystal of Time; p. 30
- ↑ A Crystal of Time; pp. 33-37
- ↑ A Crystal of Time; p. 37
- ↑ A Crystal of Time, p. 37
- ↑ A Crystal of Time; p. 591
- ↑ A Crystal of Time; p. 598
| Fairy Tale Characters | |
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