Aelin 1. When she was 8 her parents, family, and everyone she carried about died. Then Marion made a sacrifice for her, which might have been what she carried with her most because she felt like it was a pointless sacrifice, she almost didn’t get away. Aelin’s biggest weakness is arguably her loyalty to her friends, she would do anything for them do anything to keep them safe. One reason I believe this is because of is Marion’s sacrifice. She doesn’t want anyone else to make these sacrifices for her. She only barely got away because of the wyrdkey around her neck and Elena. Then of course Arobynn found her and took her in. Because someone wants to kill her, (she doesn’t know who at that point) and because she is the princess to be queen of Terrasen, Arobynn gives her the name Celaena Sardothein, and raises her as an assassin. This it’s self is another thing on the list, because she wished to become a healer.

2. Her training with Arobynn was nothing outside of torture, with Arobynn’s brutal methods one was to get her able to use a weapon easily with either hand, he had her break her own wrist. All of this led her to become the best assassin ever, (Adarlan’s Assassin) though she still vowed never to kill anyone from Terrasen. This went on for ten years.

3. just before she turned 17 She went on a mission to skulls bay, where she found out about Arobynn’s business in slave trades. Of course, Aelin being Aelin, she released the slaves and when she came back to the Assassin’s keep, Arobynn beat her and sent her packing to the Silent Assassins. And then of course when she got back (she turned 18 over the time) Arobynn pulled another lie on her and got her an avocation to kill this ‘slave dealer’ who turned out to actually be someone trying to save slaves. Aelin was crushed with this news, it was easily enough to convince her to use the money she’d gotten from the mute master to free herself from Arobynn. This brings up another thing he did, paying for her to have the best training, the best clothes, food, whatever she wanted, then turned around and said that she had to pay him back for all of this, and until then, she was bound to him. He also did this to Sam, his second favorite young assassin. (Aelin had to sell her horse to get the money to free him of his dept)

4. Sam died. Aelin and Sam now away from the Assassin’s keep couldn’t find and contracts, until they agreed to go after one of the most dangerous people in Adarlan, Rourke Farran. Sam walked right into a trap and was tortured and killed by Farran. This broke Aelin. The first person she had found since the downfall of Terrasen that she actually loved died, was killed, she failed him. She could barely move when she found out, then deciding to inflict her revenge on Rourke she jumped into Arobynn’s trap, and was sent to Endovier, where she worked as a slave.

5. Endovier, is a torture camp set up by the king of adarlan. Aelin was tortured there for a year, only trying to break free once, on the anniversary of her parents death. All of these events in Aelin’s life take place before the events of Throne of Glass, another thing to notice is I basically did a run through of Aelin’s life up to Endovier starting at Terrasens diminish. Yeah, Aelin doesn’t have the best life. But these events are what shape her as a character, they outline her loyalty and felt responsibility to her friends, and show what she had to go through. Another thing she carried is the ten years she was with the assassins, she wasn’t doing anything for Terrasen. She was the rightful queen of Terrasen, and felt like for those years she abandoned it, while others fought for it.

Arobynn:

*Aelin and Lysandra burst in and knock the kidnapper out*

Arobynn: Oh I knew you-

Aelin: Shut up bitch.

“The girl’s eyes flashed to hers. They were ringed with gold—stunning. Even with the bruises, the girl was alluring. Like wildfire, or a summer storm swept in off the Gulf of Oro.”

The Assassin and the Healer, chap. 4, p. 101

“Staying, running away to another land, avoiding her fate... she wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t be like Yrene, a living reminder of loss and shoved-aside dreams.”

The Assassin and the Healer, chap. 4, p. 107

“There was such irony, she realized, in them working together—the assassin and the healer. Two opposite sides of the coin.”

The Assassin and the Healer, chap. 4, p. 107

“Celaena hadn’t realized she was crying until she took a deep breath. Saying that she was sorry didn’t feel adequate. She knew what this sort of loss was like, and words didn’t do anything at all.”

The Assassin and the Desert, chap. 6, p. 181 (After Ansel’s story)

“Ansel needed to be here to learn all that these assassin‘s could teach, because Ansel wanted to do something with her life. Ansel had a purpose. And Celaena...”

The Assassin and the Desert, chap. 7, p. 184

“She looked to the open window, to the world beyond. For the first time in a long while she heard the song of a northern wind calling her home. And she was not afraid.”

The Assassin and the Desert, chap. 12, p. 225

“Of all the people in the world, only Arobynn knew the absolute truth.”

The Assassin and the Underworld, chap. 1, p. 233

“Tell me something, Celaena: do you trust Sam?”

“What sort of a question is that?”

“Arobynn casually slid his hands into the pockets of his silver tunic. “Have you told him the truth about where you came from? I have a feeling that’s something he’d like to know. Perhaps before he dedicated his life to you.””

The Assassin and the Empire, chap. 4, p. 374

“Celaena let him kiss her until she’d again forgotten the darn burden that would always haunt her.”

The Assassin and the Empire, chap. 4, p. 378

“She could have faced torture, endured the violations she could practically see in Farran’s eyes, but if she went to the king... She shoved the thought away, refusing to follow its path.”

The Assassin and the Empire, chap. 10, p. 414

“Every bite tasted like ash.”

The Assassin and the Empire, chap. 11, p. 420

“Footsteps suddenly thudded toward her from the table, and she heard the sound of weapons being angled. She recognized the footsteps before the king even reached her chair.”

The Assassin and the Empire, chap. 12, p. 424

“[The king] had already destroyed so much of Erilea—destroyed parts of her without even knowing it.”

The Assassin and the Empire, chap. 12, p. 424

“The breeze grew into a wind, and she closed her eyes, letting it sweep away the ashes of that dead world—of that dead girl.”