Darlin Sisnera

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Author: Ehlana Taravin

General

Darlin Sisnera is the King of Tear (KoD, Ch. 21). He was formerly in rebellion against the Dragon Reborn (LoC, Ch. 4), but now serves as Steward for the Dragon Reborn in Tear (WH, Ch. 13, Ch. 25).

He is not a particularly pretty man; he's well into his middle years, with a pointed beard, short-cropped dark hair, and eyes that are a startling, pretty blue, like pale, polished sapphires. He has dark skin and a too-long nose. He is half a head shorter then Rand (TDR, Ch. 54, ACoS, Ch. 35).

Darlin likes to wear expensive clothing with puff-sleeved coats (TDR, Ch. 54, ACoS, Ch. 35).

He is very good with his sword (TDR, Ch. 54).

Timeline

  • High Lord Weiramon tells Rand that Darlin fled the Stone of Tear together with High Lord Tedosian, High Lady Estanda. and some twenty or thirty minor lords. They had put their names on a letter of defiance and planned to start an open rebellion against Rand. Rand announces that as punishment for treason, their titles will be forfeited, their lands and estates confiscated, and he signs an arrest warrant for them with the penalty of death (LoC, Ch. 4).
  • Rand sits with the Aiel chiefs. They suggest going after Darlin and the rebels, but Rand thinks that going against Darlin and his rebels can wait, and that Sammael is more important (LoC, Ch. 4).
  • Elaida orders an agent of the Tower to be sent to negotiate with Lord Darlin and offer him kingship of Tear (ACoS, Prologue).
  • Caraline Damodred and Toram Riatin are camped outside the city of Cairhien. They issue a proclamation that Colavaere Saighan is a usurper, but they sit in their camp and do nothing. Darlin Sisnera and other Tairens arrive by ship and join them (ACoS, Ch. 3). Sometime after arriving, he asks Lady Caraline to marry him, but several days later she has still not given him an answer (ACoS, Ch. 35).
  • Rand, trusting his ta'veren "luck," takes Min out to look for the rebels' camp. They run into High Lady Caraline Damodred. Lord Darlin joins them and Lady Caraline introduces Rand to Darlin as Tomas Trakand, her cousin, and Min as his wife. Min views that Darlin will marry Caraline and that he will be a king someday. Caraline and Darlin take Rand and Min to the rebel camp; Min is upset with Rand for going with them (ACoS, Ch. 35).
  • Rand's ta'veren influence causes Darlin to confess to Rand that he think the Dragon Reborn is playing the role of King of Tear, and that all those who follow him do it out of flattery or fear. His only concern is to see Tear free and sovereign on its own (ACoS, Ch. 35).
  • Rand, Darlin, and the rest of the rebel camp are attacked by a strange and deadly fog. Rand uses balefire on the fog and Darlin realizes who Rand really is. While trying to escape, Darlin tries to kill Padan Fain after Fain stabs Rand with the Shadar Logoth dagger. However, Darlin misses and Fain runs off. Cadsuane, who is also with them, gets Darlin to help Rand when he becomes unconscious after being stabbed by Fain's dagger. They escape the fog and carry Rand back to the Sun Palace in Cairhien. Caraline and Darlin slip away (ACoS, Ch. 36).
  • Rand is worried about the continued rebellions in Tear and Cairhien and wonders where Caraline and Darlin went (TPoD, Ch. 21).
  • Elaida does not know where Caraline, Darlin, and Toram are, but she is confident that once she finds out, she will have Tear and Cairhien both "taken care of" (TPoD, Ch. 25).
  • Dobraine tells Rand and Min that Lady Caraline and the High Lord Darlin are in Lady Arilyn's palace under the protection of Cadsuane Sedai (TPoD, Ch. 27).
  • Min tells Rand about her viewing of Darlin: that he'll marry Caraline, one day he'll be a king, and that he'll die in bed, and Caraline will survive him (TPoD, Ch. 27).
  • Lord Dobraine tells Cadsuane Sedai that the Lady Caraline and the High Lord Darlin are no longer in Lady Arilyn's palace. They are on a river ship bound for Tear. He also informs her that under Rand's orders, Lord Darlin is to be the Lord Dragon's Steward of Tear (WH, Ch. 13).
  • Lord Darlin is in the Stone of Tear, and has announced that he is Rand's Steward in Tear. The rebels, however, haven't come out of Haddon Mirk to support him. Rand sends Rafela, Merana, Bera, and Kiruna to approach the rebels in Haddon Mirk to tell them that Darlin Sisnera is his Steward and the laws that Rand has already made are permanent. He agrees to let them negotiate away anything else as long as they end the rebellion (WH, Ch. 25).
  • Lord Darlin is besieged in the Stone of Tear by nobles who want the Dragon Reborn out of Tear completely. It is a very strange siege. The Stone has its own docks and Darlin's enemies cannot cut off supplies even though they hold the rest of the city. They seem content to sit and wait (CoT, Ch. 18).
  • Verin tells Cadsuane that High Lord Astoril has joined High Lord Darlin in defending the Stone against the rebels (CoT, Ch. 18).
  • Tedosian, Estanda, and Simaan say they will end the rebellion if Darlin is made king, and Rand agrees (KoD, Ch. 21).
  • When Rand returns, Darlin has prepared an army, but Rand tells him they will be going to Shayol Ghul (TGS, Ch. 42).
  • Darlin writes to Egwene telling her he is concerned by Rand's plan and will send some men to support her, but that he has to worry about the Seanchan so cannot send his whole army (ToM, Ch. 27).
  • Egwene promises to let him return to Tear if the Seanchan attack (ToM, Ch. 27).
  • When Rand announces countries will not be allowed to attack each other, Darlin opposes this (AMoL, Ch. 5)
  • After Moiraine talks sense into the rulers and Aes Sedai, he is the second to sign after Berelain (AMoL, Ch. 6).
  • He survives the Last Battle, and is found half dead in his command tent (AMoL, Epilogue).
  • When Rand is announced dead, Gregorin whispers to Darlin about how odd it is that Min isn't isn't upset at Rand's death. Darlin thinks that Min, as well as Elayne and Aviendha, are in shock (AMoL, Epilogue).

Relationships

Rand admires Darlin for opposing him openly from the start and not plotting behind his back like others (LoC, Ch. 4).

Like most Tairens, High Lord Darlin dislikes Aes Sedai (ACoS, Prologue).

Darlin is in love with Lady Caraline Damodred and wants to marry her. Min views that he will indeed marry her, but only after she has led him around on a merry chase (ACoS, Ch. 35; TPoD, Ch. 27).

Darlin is loyal to Rand, but he is willing to oppose him if Rand is going to do something dangerous (ToM, Ch. 27)

Miscellaneous

Min views that Lord Darlin is going to be a king, he will die in his bed, and his future wife, Lady Caraline, will survive him (ACoS, Ch. 35, TPoD, Ch. 27).

Quotes

The blue-eyed man certainly wore the puffy-sleeved coat, yellow with thread-of-gold stripes, but it was all undone, his shirt only half tucked into his breeches, and his feet bare. His short-cropped, dark hair was tousled, like that of a man roused hastily from sleep, but he did not fight like it. Five minutes ago he had come darting out from one of the tall, carved doors that lined this hall, a scabbardless sword in his hands, and Mat was only grateful the fellow had appeared in front of them and not behind. (Mat fighting Darlin; The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 54)

The man in the gold-striped coat sneered. "You will be honored to die on the blade of the High Lord Darlin, peasant, if I allow it so." It was the first time he had deigned to speak. "Instead, I think I will have the pair of you hung by the heels, and watch while the skin is stripped from your bodies - " (Darlin to Mat; The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 54)

Rand almost admired Darlin. The man had opposed him openly from the start, fleeing the Stone when it fell and trying to rouse resistance among the country nobles. Tedosian and Estanda were different. Like Hearne and Simaan, they had bowed and smiled, called him Lord Dragon and plotted behind his back. (Rand of Darlin; Lord of Chaos, Chapter 4)

Abruptly a tall black gelding with the look of a warhorse came crashing through the undergrowth, ridden by a man well into his middle years, with close-cropped hair and a pointed beard. Despite his yellow Tairen coat, the fat sleeves striped with green satin, eyes of a startling pretty blue looked out of his damp, dark face, like pale polished sapphires. Not a particularly pretty man, but those eyes made up for a too-long nose. He carried a crossbow in one leather-gauntleted hand, and brandished a broadhead bolt in the other. (Min thinking about Darlin; A Crown of Swords, Chapter 35)

Caraline Damodred drew herself up on her saddle, face cold enough to shame an Aes Sedai, but suddenly auras of red and white flashed around her and Darlin, and Min knew. The colors never seemed to matter, but she knew that they would marry -- after Caraline had led him a merry chase. More, to her eyes a crown suddenly appeared on Darlin's head, a simple golden circlet with a slightly curved sword lying on its side above his brows. The king's crown he would wear one day, though of what country, she could not say. Tear had High Lords instead of a king. (Min of Darlin and Caraline; A Crown of Swords, Chapter 35)

"I would have let him take Callandor from the Stone," Darlin said some time later, as they climbed a sparsely treed slope, "but I could not stand aside when he brought Aiel invaders into Tear." (Darlin; A Crown of Swords, Chapter 35)

Darlin snorted. "They [the other High Lords of Tear] cringe and lick his boots! I could have followed, if that was what he wanted, if...." With a sigh, he shook his head. "Too many ifs, Tomas. There is a saying in Tear. 'Any quarrel can be forgiven, but kings never forget.' Tear has not been under a king since Artur Hawkwing, but I think the Dragon Reborn is very like a king. No, he has attainted me with treason, as he calls it, and I must go on as I began. The Light willing, I may see Tear sovereign on its own land once more before I die." (Darlin; A Crown of Swords, Chapter 35)

"As for Darlin, aside from the fact that he'll marry Caraline, after she's wrung him out and hung him up to dry, all I can say is that one day he'll be a king. I saw the crown on his head, a thing with a sword on the front of it, but I don't know what country it belongs to. And, oh, yes. He'll die in bed, and she will survive him." (Min to Rand about her viewing of Darlin; The Path of Daggers, Chapter 27)

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