Lanfear
Lanfear is one of the primary antagonists of the
Wheel of Time fantasy series by
Robert Jordan. She is one of the
Forsaken.
Lanfear, which means
Daughter of the Night, was born Mierin Eronaile. She is considered to be the most powerful female of the Chosen, as the Forsaken call themselves. In her early life, she was involved in a relationship with
Lews Therin Telamon himself, but he broke it off when he realized Mierin desired only power. This seems to be true; even when serving the
Dark One, she seems to put her needs first, baffling her fellow Chosen. She is stunningly beautiful, even more so than
Graendal. She has dark eyes and pitch black, flowing hair and she is tall, only a hand shorter than
Rand al'Thor. She has always loved Lews Therin, even after he broke off with her. She believed he would have continued loving her if not for
Ilyena. She has transferred her love for Lews Therin to Rand, as well as the rest of her conflicted feelings.
When her affair with Lews Therin ended, she became a researcher at the Collam Daan, a world famous school in the
Age of Legends. With a team of experts, she headed the project to find a new source of power, one that both men and woman could use. It was the most important research of the Age; the possibilities were endless if it was discovered. However Mierin, thinking she had at last found this new source, actually stumbled upon the Dark One's prison, who had been sealed there since creation. Opening his prison, the Dark One was allowed to touch the Pattern; at this very instant, the Collapse had begun. In a sense, she achieved her goal of discovering a power useable by both men and women--the Dark One can allow his most faithful servants access to the
True Power, a power source similar to the
One Power but far more dangerous and corrupting. Soon after crashing Lews Therin and
Ilyena's wedding she pledged allegiance to the very thing she had released: the
Dark One. She chose her own name, Lanfear (the only original Forsaken to do so), and made public her betrayal in the
Hall of Servants itself. She considers herself the master of
Tel'aran'rhiod, even though
Moghedien could outstrip Lanfear in skill there.
When she awoke from the seal, she immediately sought
Rand al'Thor out as the
Dragon Reborn, the reincarnation of her former lover. She came to him under the guise of
Selene, a beautiful young woman, and sought to snare him by appealing to his strong desire to protect women who seem helpless. She often used her beauty to try and seduce Rand; she would constantly urge him to grasp glory and power, although he refused. She disappeared near
Cairhien, where she claimed to be from, but turned up again, posing as a peddler in the Waste named
Keille Shaogi, along with the Chosen
Asmodean, who was posing as the gleeman named Jasin Natael. Shielding
Asmodean after his battle with Rand at
Rhuidean, she allowed him only to channel a trickle of
saidin, enough to teach Rand to use the One Power. She confronted Rand at the end of
The Fires of Heaven, meaning to kill him after his apparent betrayal (presumably alluding to the fact that he had fallen in love with other women).
Moiraine Sedai tackled her while she was focusing on Rand, and they fell into the redstone
ter'angreal gateway, which subsequently melted, apparently killing them both.
Reincarnated by the Dark One, she is now
Cyndane, which in the
Old Tongue means "last chance". She is mind-trapped by
Moridin and now travels with him and
Moghedien, who is similarly trapped. Cyndane is the polar opposite of her former self. Whereas Lanfear was tall and beautiful, with dark eyes and pitch black hair, Cyndane is short if still pretty with silver hair and blue eyes, and she is also not as strong in the One Power as she was.
This lack of strength is noted by Graendal when she and Moghedien bring Moridin's summons. Aran'gar also expresses doubt as to whether she is really Lanfear during an audience in Knife of Dreams.
Cyndane expresses the same hatred for Rand that Lanfear did at the time of her death.
