Dedelin
| Dedelin | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 by Heatherly
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| Abilities | Royal Locks | ||||||||||
| Titles | King of Idris | ||||||||||
| Residence | Bevalis | ||||||||||
| Nationality | Idrian | ||||||||||
| Homeworld | Nalthis | ||||||||||
| Universe | Cosmere | ||||||||||
“My friend, I must admit a weakness in myself. I will never be able to send Vivenna to be a hostage in that dragon’s nest of a city. ”
—Dedelin's confession to Lemex via letter[2]
Dedelin is the king of Idris on Nalthis.[3]
Appearance and Personality
“I didn't do it based on personal preference, no matter what people may think. I did what will be best for Idris when this war comes. ”
Described as old,[5] Dedelin wears simple, austere clothing despite being the King of Idris. He has the Royal Locks and usually keeps his hair black, though his control of his emotions is imperfect and sometimes a tinge of the red of anger or the white of fear will appear.[3]
He worships Austre, God of Colors, and considers the God King and the other Returned to be abominations. In accordance with these beliefs, he considers Awakening and the owning of Breath other than one's own to be wrong.[3]
He is an astute ruler and capable of putting the good of his kingdom before his own personal wishes and beliefs: he sends his daughter to honor the treaty with Hallandren, and he funds the purchasing of Breaths despite his Austrism-given convictions. He is also shown to be thoughtful and decisive as he ponders over the political and military implications of the treaty and seeks council; however, once his mind is made up, he acts decisively and cannot be persuaded to renege on his position. He is also a man of passion, however controlled, as seen in his streaks of red anger and the way he allows his love of Vivenna to dictate his response to the treaty.[3]
History
“If we send her, Yarda, we send her to her death. ”
More than twenty years before the events of the Pahn Kahl rebellion, Dedelin made a treaty with the Hallandren Court to keep it from invading Idris. This treaty said that he must send his daughter to marry the God King of Hallandren when Vivenna reached her twenty-second birthday. But although she was raised, educated, and trained for this purpose, he could not bring himself to let her go and decided to send Siri instead.[3]
A few weeks before he sent Siri to T'Telir, Dedelin sent Lemex there as his spymaster. He agreed to send Lemex funds to purchase Breath in order to further his role as an information source, since Lemex would need sufficient amounts of Breath to gain access to the Court of Gods. However, Dedelin was unaware that Lemex was already embezzling money from him.[2]
Relationships
Dedelin's children are Vivenna, Ridger, Fafen, and Siri. His chief friend and trusted military adviser is General Yarda.[3] His wife has been dead for over a decade, a result of a riding accident.[6]
Vivenna
Dedelin hesitates to send Vivenna to Hallandren, and though he thinks that he is doing the best thing for Idris, he still is biased and does love Vivenna more, partially because Vivenna reminds him of his wife.[6] Early on, he remarks that Vivenna is twice as devout as he is and has far more control over her hair than he does. This is a clear example of the way Dedelin treats Vivenna differently than Siri, which in turn affects both his and Vivenna's relationship with the youngest royal.[3]
Siri
Dedelin doesn't like it when Siri goes off on her own instead of attending her tutoring sessions, and often reprimands her firmly when she skips them. Siri's perception of herself is based around the way Dedelin views Vivenna, and how he praises her control, the total opposite of Siri [3] Though Dedelin disapproves of many of Siri's actions, he still loves her.[6] Siri is sarcastic about her actions and their implications, contradicts Dedelin constantly, unlike Vivenna.[4]
Trivia
- Brandon purposefully didn’t have Dedelin shown very much, as he didn’t want people to think he was a main character.[7]