SPOILER ALERT FOR THE THRONE OF GLASS SERIES BY SARAH J. MAAS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A CERTIFIED THERAPIST. I DID THIS FOR A PROJECT. SOURCES ARE AT THE BOTTOM. DO NOT DIAGNOSE YOURSELF!! IF YOU NEED HELP, REACH OUT TO THE PROPER PEOPLE. (I will leave some resources at the bottom as well).
For entertainment purposes only. I do not pretend to know the ins and outs of disorders.
Character Info
Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius is a character from the Throne of Glass
series, first making an appearance in Crown of Midnight at the very end of the book. Aelin is half-fae and half-human and is the rightful heir to the throne of Terrasen. Some of her many names include Celeana Sordothian, Lillian Gordiania, Diana Brackyn, Elentiya and Nameless. She married Rowan Whitethorn in the Empire of Storms but that wasn’t yet revealed until Kingdom of Ash during Rowan’s search for her.
While Aelin is crowned queen in Kingdom of Ash, however, during Queen of Shadows when Aelin tries to claim her title, the lords of her lands throw her past in her face.
Background
The king of Ardalan was a conqueror, and Terrasen was its greatest threat. So when Aelin was only eight years old, he sent multiple assassins to kill the royal family, the lords, ladies, and their heirs if they did not surrender. Aelin was the only survivor out of her immediate family, because Marion (Lady of Perranth) sacrificed herself to save Aelin, and shortly after, Terrasen fell to Ardalan.
Aelin spent the next ten years under the care of Arobynn Hamel, the King of Assassins, after finding her half-frozen on the banks of the Fluorine River. Giving her the name Celeana Sordothein, he offered her a chance to get free of her crown for a price: train with him and become the most feared assassin on the Northern continent. However, what Arobynn didn’t inform her was that Aelin would have to pay back every cent Arobynn spent on her, effectively putting another set of metaphorical shackles on her.
Behavior
During her time as Celeana, she was often characterized as insane, merciless, joyless, and vain. She blocks out the entirety of her life pre-arobynn hamel and doesn’t come to terms with her past until Queen of Shadows. This, according to psychology, is something called Dissociative Amnesia. Dissociative Amnesia is when the brain forgets about traumatic events that happened at any point in time. For Aelin, that would be losing everyone she knows and loves plus her kingdom in a single night. Her eight-year-old brain wasn’t ready to process the emotions and events so it forgot about it to protect Aelin from any potential psychotic break.
That’s only the beginning.
Unfortunately for Aelin, Arobynn Hamel is an abusive father-figure, and any time Aelin steps out of line (which is relatively frequently because she is rebellious) she is punished accordingly. Most of these punishments often result in severe beatings and mental manipulations. Often when dealing with Arobynn Hamel, Aelin refers to it as a dance of sorts.
And this is all before the first book, Throne of Glass, starts.
The book starts off with Aelin in Endovier, similar to WWII concentration camps. While there, she is whipped countless times, the overseers rubbing salt into her wounds (that she mined) then having her work in the Salt Mines with her wounds unaddressed. She learned Ellywe from the Ellywee people after them taking turns dressing her wound during lights out. When she gets out of Endovier, courtesy of Dorian (Crown Prince of Ardalan), she is forced to enter a competition for King’s Champion . The reward: after four years of service, she gains her freedom.
Since leaving Endovier, however, she grows a phobia of whippings, understandably so. In later books, when a member of her court is threatened by whipping, Aelin takes it instead, getting captured by Maeve, who then tortures her with mind magic, fire, and extremely brutal methods like burning her hands/feet off, cutting her apart piece by piece, having excellent healers heal her so she things it wasn’t real, and then do it all again. For three months. THREE MONTHS. That's not all; Maeve also manipulates her mind into having false realities to try to pry information from her. Aelin, being Brannon’s heir, has POWER. Like world-ending power. While she was at Maeve’s though, she was encased in an iron coffin, chains, mask, and gloves to keep that power at bay.
After her husband, Rowan, rescues her, she doesn’t believe it’s actually real, and doesn’t talk. At that point she’s gone through something horrific that she was one inch from breaking. She might’ve been depressed before but now she is significantly worse.
She has repressed guilt from abandoning her kingdom for ten years, she gains feelings of unworthiness because of her past as an assassin, after leaving Maeve’s clutches, she can barely eat and wakes up with nightmares and in flames (so much so that Rowan has to cut off her air supply to her flames and then douse her in water). This is called Major Depressive Disorder, and it lasts well past the last book, Kingdom of Ash, as Aelin and her court try to live in peace.
Sources: Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas, Healthline: MDD, Mayoclinic: Depression
(credits for the PowerPoint are NOT mine I did NOT make it)
Resources for mental health issues: SAMHSA, crisis hotlines, psyc central.
Happy Holidays! xx a.a. george
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