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Amren (pronounced: Am-ren[2]) is a High Fae who lives in Velaris. She is the Second-in-command to the High Lord and Lady of the Night Court and is part of Rhysand's Inner Circle.
Quick Answers
What is the origin of Amren's powers in ACOTAR?
How did Amren escape from her millennia-long imprisonment?
What is the nature of the relationship between Amren and Varian?
How did Amren become the Second-in-command to the High Lord and Lady of the Night Court?
What does it mean that Amren was 'Made' into a High Fae body?
History[]
Pre-Series[]
Amren is an extremely powerful creature of unknown origins and a former inmate of the Prison. She is said to have escaped after a millennia long imprisonment by giving up “her grace and perfect immortality" to bind herself and her soul into a High Fae body thus being Made.
She is said to be older than even Prythian and is believed to have slipped into the world from a different realm when Prythian was forming, only to be trapped when the rift she came through closed at will. When Nesta Archeron asks her what she was, Amren replies that she was "a messenger and soldier-assassin for a wrathful god who ruled a young world."
Amren used to drink blood to sustain herself but since being "re-Made" by the Cauldron after her sacrifice to defeat Hybern she no longer needs blood to sustain her and eats regular food.
She hoards baubles and belongings, threatening unspecified but deadly punishment towards anyone who would try to steal them.
A Court of Mist and Fury[]
Amren is introduced to Feyre Archeron after Feyre takes up residence in the Night Court. She bickers often with Cassian, and scares Nuala and Cerridwen. Rhysand explains that Amren is his Second-in-Command, having gained the title soon after his ascension to High Lord. She is part of his Inner Circle and his political advisor.
At the dinner at the House of Wind, where Rhys introduces Feyre to his Inner Circle. Amren mentions that only once before was a human Made into an immortal. She remarks that it is interesting that it should happen again right as all the ancient players have returned. She tells Feyre that her very blood, her veins, her bones were Made. She is a mortal soul in an immortal body.
When Rhysand and Feyre decide to visit the Bone Carver, Amren offers Feyre a necklace that she claims helped her escape the Prison. She threatens to hunt her down if she does not return it. She claims the necklace will prevent the Prison from being able to hold Feyre. After successfully getting into and out of the Prison, Feyre tries to return the necklace to Amren. Amren reveals that it was actually just a piece of jewelry she found at the bottom of a drawer, given to her by Rhysand two hundred years before. She tells Feyre she gave it to her to help her find the strength and courage to face her fears in order to go underground to the Prison, then allows Feyre to keep it.
Feyre asks Rhysand what Amren's role would be in a war where his armies fail and Cassian, Azriel, and even Morrigan is gone. He replies that if that day comes, he "will find a way to break the spell on Amren and unleash her on the world. And ask her to end him first."
A Court of Wings and Ruin[]
When Feyre returned to Velaris the Inner Circle had a meeting at Amren's apartment, where Amren continues to translate the Book of Breathings. When Amren suggested using Feye's sisters to get to the Cauldron and she refused, Amren told her that she should stop acting like Tamlin, something that angered Mor, who told her never to say something like that again, which seemed to amuse Amren.
Later, when Nesta refused to train with Cassian, Nesta agreed to train on how to use the magic she stole from the Cauldron with Amren to see if they could discover a way to seal the fissures that were in the wall and they practiced for days.
After the attack, Varian, the prince of Adriata, sent a message to Amren warning her that the city was being attacked by Hybern, she quickly alerted Rhysand and he gathered his troops to march to the Summer Court.
When the High Lords agreed to hold the meeting, it was held at the Dawn Court Palace, as it was the closest place to the Middle. The meeting was attended by the seven High Lords with their delegations and after several discussions and altercations they agreed to join forces against Hybern, with the exception of the Autumn Court which left after Feyre showed that when the High Lords revived her, each High Lord gave her a bit of their power unknowingly.
During the second day of the meeting, they heard a great roar, and Nesta, who had a connection to the Cauldron, told them that the King had used it to destroy the Wall.
Tarquin told them that by coming to their aid he was nullifying the blood rubies that he had sent to Rhys, Feyre, and Amren, to which Cassian replied that he should not expect Amren to return it because Amren had grown fond of hers.
After the battle that broke out in the Winter Court, Amren arrived at the Night Court war camp at the same time Feyre and Mor were arguing, and upon learning about the subject of the discussion, she warned Feyre not to press Mor so hard.
Moments later she was found by Varian, who kissed her and took her to her tent where they spent the night together. While in the war camp, the Cauldron tricked Elain into posing as her ex-fiancé Graysen, and took her to the Hybern camp, from where she was rescued, along with Briar, by Feyre and Azriel with the help of Jurian (who proved that he had never actually been on Hybern's side but was a spy) and Tamlin, who also happened to be a spy.
Amren disagrees with Rhysand's plan to break the Bone Carver out of the Prison, not trusting the monster to obey orders. She later accepts it is necessary.
During the final battle with Hybern, knowing that the only way to win was to use their combined power to nullify the Cauldron's powers with the Book of Breathings, Nesta planned a distraction for the King to take him away from the Cauldron so Feyre and Amren could get closer to it. Amren makes her way to the hidden Cauldron with Feyre, who told her to place her hands on the Cauldron and Feyre did, only to be trapped by the visions the Cauldron began to give her, showing how the King used her father as a human shield and then broke his neck. Also how, when he was about to kill Nesta and Cassian, Elain emerges from behind him and stabs him in the neck with Azriel's sword, Truth-Teller and then Nesta uses the sword to cut off his head.
She seemingly betrays Feyre with this action as Amren doesn't start the spell to nullify the Cauldron. When the Cauldron frees Feyre, she tries to kill Amren for betraying her but Amren explains that the spell the Suriel told Feyre about was an unbinding spell for her, only she freed in her true form could wipe Hybern's army away, who was still fighting despite the fact that their King had died. She asks Feyre to be a conduit for the spell to work.
Varian arrives and begs Amren not to do this, but she sadly explains that she used to watch the humans in her world, and how they loved, and she now understands what it means because of him. She leaves a message for Rhysand and warns the two against moving when she's unbound, as it will attract her attention. She jumps into the Cauldron and Feyre uses the spell to unbind her.
Amren bursts from the Cauldron in her true form and breaks it apart. She appears as a being of pure light and fire, with burning feathered wings and a crown of light, and acknowledges Feyre and Varian before decimating Hybern's army. She burns herself away in the process. Varian is heartbroken.
The Cauldron, broken, begins leaking its essence into the world. Feyre and Rhysand use the last of their magic to fix it before it destroys reality, but Rhysand dies as the spell uses all his magic. The High Lords bring him back in the same way they did with Feyre after she begged them to, and when he wakes up he jokingly mentions they should pull Amren from the Cauldron before she catches a cold. Azriel, Varian, and Mor pull her out, and Rhysand explains that she was there when the Cauldron was healing, moving on to the afterlife. He says he reached out a hand and asked if she wanted to come back. When she opens her eyes Feyre notices that her eyes are normal, and realizes that Amren gave up her form and is now truly a High Fae.
Soon after, she attended a meeting called by Feyre in the ruins of the Archeron's Estate to renegotiate a new treaty between Fae and mortals.
Back in Velaris, Amren is irritated by the prospect of having to eat real food, and trades banter with Cassian before remarking to Nesta that she's surprised she didn't take the King of Hybern's head as a trophy. She is berated for making the joke in poor taste, but sarcastically states that she's entitled to say what she wants since she saved all their asses. She walks away, and Elain remarks that the new Amren is even crankier than the old one. Rhysand assures Feyre that Amren will remain his Second, and will probably develop some new terrible power to terrorize them with.
A Court of Frost and Starlight[]
After the end of the war against Hybern Amren was still adjusting to being a High Fae and all that it entailed. Amren stops drinking blood because she has a new body. When Amren eats normal food it sometimes makes her nauseous and so she is not as inclined to eat it. Amren also finds it very annoying that she has to use toilets like normal people and complains about it all the time.
Amren is now in a relationship with Varian and invites him to the Winter Solstice get-together. Varian dotes on Amren as well.
She also developed a friendship with Nesta being one of the only people who accept Nesta for who she is.
A Court of Silver Flames[]
TBA
House of Sky and Breath[]
- The following section contains details and spoilers for the Crescent City series
After Bryce Quinlan manages to escape the Asteri by opening a gate to travel through the worlds to reach Hel in order to request aid from the Princes, she accidentally lands somewhere in Velaris near the Sidra River instead, carrying with her the Starsword. Azriel finds her, blindfolds her, and flies her to a residence, carrying her to the living room.
A moment later, the doors to the foyer open and Amren, Cassian and Nesta enter the room. Bryce sees Amren first, who she remarks has angular eyes like Fury's. Bryce then has the idea to try to communicate with them in the only other language she knew, the ancient language of the Fae, of the Starborn. Amren stagers back, surprised to hear her speak the language as no one has spoken it in their world for fifteen thousand years, and the others gape. Amren notices the Starsword and nods to Azriel's knife, Truth-Teller, at his side. The knife is the twin to the sword as it glimmers with dark light in answer to the sword's white light. Amren whispers that the Starsword is actually Gwydion.
Bryce tells Amren she needs to find Prince Aidas or Apollion, the Prince of the Pit. She replies saying she doesn't know them and that their world is not Hel. At this moment, the front door opens again, Feyre enters the room first, Rhysand entering after her. Bryce pleads her case to Amren and she translates to the others. Feyre then asks Bryce for her name, and Amren translates the question. Bryce addresses Rhysand and Feyre noticing they possess an air of authority, and tells them her name. Rhysand steps forward, smiling slightly and introduces himself in the Old Language saying: "Hello, Bryce Quinlan. My name is Rhysand."
Appearance[]
Amren is described as small, being several inches shorter than Feyre. She is thin, has smooth, tan skin, chin-length, silky, straight, black hair, and a pretty face bordering on plain. Amren has angular silver eyes that seem to swirl like smoke under glass. After becoming truly High Fae, her eyes become a normal silver color. When Feyre first meets her, she feels like even Rhysand felt like a wisp of shadow compared to the power thrumming from her. Her voice can be soft, but is honed sharper than any blade. She has slim, small fingers.
Personality[]
Amren is said to be vain, cunning, and temperamental. She "likes to hoard her baubles and belongings like a firedrake in a cave." She has an infamous temper when provoked. However, she is shown to possess some caring qualities. For instance, she offers Feyre a necklace so that it could give her courage in The Prison. Besides that, Amren is selfless, as she sacrifices herself to save Prythian. She is very smart and develops a love of jigsaw puzzles.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Immortality: Amren possesses an infinite life span and has lived for many millennia. She is even believed to be older than Prythian.
- Illusion Manipulation: She can create visions and illusions in the minds of others by pointing her finger. The illusions can range from the feeling of choking, drowning, and nightmares becoming real.
- Death by Illusion: In many instances, people can die from Amren's illusions, believing them to be real.
- Healing: She is seen healing Cassian's wings at the end of A Court of Mist and Fury. However, her healing power is limited and was not enough to cure all of the damage Cassian sustained to his wings.
- Protective Ward Destruction: Amren can both sense and destroy protective wards, as she did during her visit to Adriata in the Summer Court to help Feyre retrieve half of the Book of Breathings.
- Flame and Light: In her true form, Amren is a being of pure light and fire, and can incinerate anything around her. This ability has limitations, as she burned herself away by using too much of this power.
- Levitation: Amren can levitate objects.
Abilities[]
- Multilingualism: Amren is known to speak the normal language spoken in Prythian and the Leshon Hakodesh, otherwise known as the Holy Tongue. It is unknown how many languages Amren can speak.
- Leadership: Amren is the Second-in-Command of the Night Court. She protected Velaris during the battle against Hybern, while Rhysand and Feyre were absent from the Court.
Relationships[]
Rhysand[]
Amren and Rhysand have a close relationship. Rhysand has a high respect for her and often buys her jewelry from the Velaris Palaces. Rhys confesses to Feyre that he was once stupid enough to invite her to his bed and she laughed herself hoarse and declined the offer. He tells Feyre that he is the most powerful High Lord in Prythian's history, and merely interrupting Amren is something he's only done once in the past century. When Rhys offered to make her his Second, no one had ever asked her before, so she said yes, to see what it might be like. She has since found that she enjoys it. As his Second, she is Rhys' political adviser, walking library, and doer of his dirty work.
Varian[]
After meeting in the Summer Court, Amren develops a complicated relationship with Varian. Varian's feelings towards her are divided between fear and interest. While, Amren is tempted by the prospect of a relationship, but decides not to start one.
After the blood rubies were sent to the Night Court, Varian sends her a ruby necklace, which calms Amren's anger and her desires to destroy Adriata. This necklace is seen on her nightstand as if she slept looking at it.
In A Court of Wings and Ruin he warned her that Adriata was being attacked and she told Rhysand to go with his army to help. After the battle that took place in the Winter Court she arrived at the Night Court camp where she was found a moment later by Varian, who kissed her and took her to her tent where they spent the night together. When Amren decided to unbind her true form, Varian was shattered and begged her not to, but she did it anyway. Amren indirectly says that she might love him before Feyre unbinds her. Varian is visibly relieved and happy when she emerges from the Cauldron later on and the two start a relationship.
In A Court of Frost and Starlight, Amren invites Varian to the Winter Solstice party and he brings her many presents from the Summer Court and eventually buys her more in Velaris.
Amren's Father[]
Amren reveals in A Court of Wings and Ruin, that she has a father in her realm. He is apparently very powerful, as she speculates whether he deliberately opened the rift in their world as a gift to her.
Trivia[]
- According to Lucien Vanserra, Amren is used as a bedtime story to scare young faeries into behaving.
- Amren is a supporter of a largely played sport in Velaris.
- The last time Armen and Mor had a fight, they left Rhysand's favorite mountain retreat in cinders.
- Sarah J. Maas has confirmed that Amren is an Old Testament Angel.[3] This explains her penchant for lamb's blood (a reference to the Jewish Passover holiday).
- Sarah J. Maas stated that Amren would be a Ravenclaw or Slytherin if she attended Hogwarts. Although she feel she fits more in the role of the headmaster.[4]
References[]
- ↑ A Court of Wings and Ruin
- ↑ World of Sarah J. Maas' Youtube: Pronunciation Guide
- ↑ Bonus interview in the special edition of A Court of Frost and Starlight
- ↑ A Court of Wings and Ruin Q&A session
Characters | ||
---|---|---|
Main Characters | Feyre Archeron · Rhysand · Nesta Archeron · Cassian · Azriel · Elain Archeron · Tamlin · Lucien Vanserra · Morrigan · Amren · Amarantha · King of Hybern | |
Supporting Characters | Alis · Andras · Beron · Bogge · Bone Carver · Bron · Cerridwen · Clare Beddor · Cresseida · Drakon · Devlon · Emerie · Eris · Graysen · Gwyneth Berdara · Feyre's Father · Hart · Helion · Ianthe · Isaac Hale · Isaac Hale's Wife · Jurian · Kallias · Keir · Koschei · Mercenary · Miryam · Mortal Queens · Mrs. Laurent · Naga · Nuala · Unnamed Summer Court Faerie · Tarquin · Suriel · Thesan · Tomas Mandray · Varian · Vassa · Weaver | |
Mentioned Characters | Aunt Ripleigh · Dark Mother · Feyre's Mother · Mother · Rhysand's Father · Rhysand's Mother · Rhysand's Sister · Nostrus · Queen of the Black Land · See more... |