Rowan Whitethorn

Rowan Whitethorn is the legendary Fae prince and warrior from the northern Fae kingdom of Doranelle in Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series — a centuries-old soldier whose initial encounter with Aelin Galathynius is hostile before evolving into one of the series' central partnerships and romances. His age and experience give him a perspective on Aelin's situation that more contemporary figures cannot, and his own grief over his dead mate gives him an emotional wound that mirrors Aelin's losses.

Maas writes Rowan as one of the older and more experienced figures in a series full of exceptional warriors, giving him a gravitas and a specific kind of military authority that grounds the more dramatic elements of the later novels. His training of Aelin, and the relationship that develops through that process, follows the mentor-becomes-partner trajectory that Maas handles consistently well.

Rowan's loyalty — once given, absolute — is the character's most defining quality, and the later novels in the series test that loyalty against circumstances designed specifically to make it impossible to maintain. His role in the series' conclusion is one of its most emotionally weighted elements.

Begin with Throne of Glass (2012) and read in order through Kingdom of Ash.