Erawan · The full story
The thing under Morath
The war the whole saga is about, wearing another man's face for most of it.
What he actually is
Not a dark lord in the usual sense. Erawan is a parasite — the youngest of the three Valg Kings, a demon-god from another world, who helped conquer Erilea in the war the histories call the war to end all wars. He lost it. Elena Galathynius and Gavin Havilliard sealed him underground beneath the mountains of Morath and told the world they had killed him, because the truth — that he was only buried — was not a thing anyone could have lived alongside.
The crypt, and the face he wears
A thousand years later two young men find the crypt: the boy who becomes King of Adarlan, and Perrington. The King opens it with a Wyrdkey. Erawan takes Perrington, and one of his princes takes the King. This is why the series spends four books looking at the wrong villain. The tyrant burning Terrasen and outlawing magic is a man with something else driving him, and the Duke standing quietly at his shoulder is the thing itself.
How he makes an army
Wyrdstone collars, which let a Valg prince ride a living person and leave them present for all of it — Dorian Havilliard wears one and barely remembers his own name. Valg parasites fed into an entire army. Bred horrors in Morath's dungeons, and bone drums to make the sound the enemy hears first. At Morath he sanctions the forced breeding of Ironteeth witchlings with Valg demons, which is the point Manon Blackbeak and the Thirteen stop being able to serve him.
The keys
Everything he does is to get the three Wyrdkeys and open the Wyrdgate. He gets close: Kaltain Rompier carries one embedded in her arm at Morath until she cuts it out, hands it to Elide Lochart, and detonates herself in shadowfire to cover the escape. Aelin lets Maeve whip and cage her rather than risk the keys, having already slipped them to Manon. And in Kingdom of Ash, Dorian walks into Morath wearing Erawan's own face and takes the third key out of the tower while Maeve keeps him looking the other way.
Unmade
Brannon's vision sends Aelin to the Lock in the Stone Marshes; the keys go into the gate, and the gate closes forever, which strips what remains of the Valg king and queen. He is lured to the highest tower of Orynth. It is not a warrior who finishes him. Yrene Westfall — a healer, speared him to the ground with Damaris — pours her magic into him and pushes the blackness back until she can see the shrivelled Valg thing at the centre of it, and kills that. Dorian burns what is left.
The thing under Morath
The war to end all wars
Youngest of three Valg Kings, he helps conquer Erilea, loses, and is sealed under the mountains of Morath by Elena Galathynius and Gavin Havilliard.
The lie that held for a thousand years
Elena and Gavin tell the world they killed him. They buried him. The difference is the whole plot of five books.
The crypt opened
Two young men — the future King of Adarlan and Perrington — find the crypt. The King opens it with a Wyrdkey. Erawan takes Perrington.
The collar program
The Valg-ridden King infests his army with parasites and locks Dorian Havilliard in a Wyrdstone collar so a Valg prince can wear him.
The reveal
Dorian breaks the collar, kills the prince inside him and kills his father — who reveals, dying, that Erawan has been Perrington all along.
Morath unleashed
From Morath's keep he runs an endless army of Valg, bred horrors and enslaved Ironteeth, with bone drums to arrive before the soldiers do.
Kaltain's shadowfire
Kaltain Rompier cuts the Wyrdkey out of her own arm, gives it to Elide, and detonates in shadowfire rather than let him keep either.
Aelin takes the cage
She lets Maeve whip and seal her in an iron coffin rather than risk the keys — having already slipped them to Manon. He never gets them.
Dorian in his face
In Kingdom of Ash, Dorian walks into Morath disguised as Erawan himself and lifts the third key out of the tower while Maeve keeps him distracted.
The gate closes
The keys go into the Wyrdgate in the Stone Marshes and it shuts forever, stripping what power the Valg king and queen have left.
Unmade by a healer
Lured to Orynth's highest tower and speared with Damaris, he is unmade by Yrene Westfall — who pushes the black back until the real thing is visible, and kills it.
What he made
His
- The Wyrdstone collarsThey do not replace the wearer. They leave them inside, watching. Dorian wears one and can barely hold on to his own name.
- MorathThe keep built on top of the crypt he was sealed in. Breeding pens below, bone drums above.
- The WyrdkeysThree of them, and the gate they open. Everything he does for five books is an attempt to hold all three at once. He never does.
Gavin Havilliard, the mortal prince who had taken his war band into the depths of the Ruhnn Mountains to challenge the Dark Lord Erawan.
We're Caffeine and Curses. The Library started as my design research — I can't put Manon on a shirt without knowing which way the iron teeth snap — so we keep the notes here where everyone can use them. The pages are fan-made, not official; the licensed designs are in the shop.
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