 You are the only person I care about,
the only person who reminds me I am alive. Not empty. And not alone. |
Maven Calore is the current King of Norta. He is Cal's half younger brother and the only child of Queen Elara to King Tiberias VI. Like his older brother and father, he is a burner and thus has the ability to control fire.
Biography
Red Queen
Maven was introduced at the Queenstrial alongside his brother, Prince Tiberias VII (Cal) and his mother, Queen Elara. After the disastrous event where Mare displayed her electrokinetic abilities in front of the Silver noble families, Maven is present with his family when she is taken before the king. Maven is betrothed to Mare by his father as part of the cover story that Mare is the missing Silver lady "Mareena Titanos", and their wedding will ultimately serve as a distraction from the growing insurrection mounted by the Scarlet Guard. Both Mare and Maven were not happy about this turn of events, with Maven admitting had never thought that he would be forced to marry, being the second prince, and had wanted the ability to choose a bride. With time, Maven and Mare grew close as she came to sympathize with the seemingly thoughtful and open-minded prince languishing in his older brother's shadow. When Mare secretly met with Diana Farley and swore allegiance to the Guard, she is surprised when Maven is brought to the meeting as he seemingly wanted to join the rebellion - he offers his access to royal court information and proceedings and displays his disagreement with his father's belief that Reds and Silvers should not be equal. The Guard is convinced and Maven supposedly swears by his family's colors to the Guard. He is later trusted to come to Naercey with Mare and witness the rebels operating out of the ruined city, which was a disguised Guard stronghold and sanctuary for Reds fleeing the lowered age of conscription.
Mare comes to believe that "Cal might be born to rule, but Maven was meant for it." as he seemingly wanted to change the existing social class system while Cal was against the idea, as it would lead to Norta's downfall. Plotting together to take control of Norta in a sneak attack on Archeon, the operations falls apart and both Mare and Maven were captured by Cal and brought before the king in the throne room.
It is here Maven's true colors and personality are revealed - while Maven himself stood back, Elara telepathically forces Cal to kill his own father, and Maven does not intervene and is silent. Maven had allegedly been at odds with his mother in front of Mare, but in truth Maven and Elara were in league the whole time - Elara has been planning to murder Tiberias VI, and have Cal blamed for it, allowing Maven to become the new King of Norta. Maven agreed to the plan as he claimed he had always hated his father and brother, as he was constantly overlooked and ignored by his father for Cal, and was tired of being the "forgotten prince". Maven then callously admitted to the devastated Mare she was used by him and Elara to infiltrate the Guard and gain information on their operations so as to end their threat to his kingdom.
As part of the plan, the moment his father was killed, surveillance was restored and Maven screamed in Cal's face he had killed their father - which with the arranged circumstances would fall together as they had planned. Cal and Mare were then immediately arrested by Cal's troops, who turned on him to support Maven, now the new king.
Maven, now newly crowned, visits Mare and Cal before their scheduled execution the next day - he taunts Cal in his triumph, only to be caught off-guard when Mare reveals she truly came to love and respect him, when his family did not. Maven immediately offered the chance to save Mare, offering her freedom and to become his "Red Queen", claiming he loved her. Mare refused, choosing to love neither Maven or Cal for their past actions. Disappointed, Maven revealed to Cal he had always been aware Elara had murdered Cal's mother Coriane Jacos, before departing.
At the Bowl of Bones, Maven gives a powerful speech to the Silver nobles and millions of Reds watching the ceremony on television, where he publicly shames his brother as a weak man and a traitor, who was seduced by Mare, publicly revealing her identity and her fake Silver heritage. Mare and Cal fought their executioners and ultimately managed to escape with Shade Barrow and Farley's team, leaving Maven angry and the Silver nobles in distress. Mare and Cal then vowed to kill Maven, no matter what.
Glass Sword
Maven quickly marshals an army of Silver soldiers, including his new betrothed Evangeline Samos and her brother Ptolemus Samos, as well as coerced Red soldiers, into attacking Naercey. Maven has new Snapdragon fighters bomb the ruins to wipe out the Guard stronghold, only to learn the city was evacuated after the failed attack on Archeon and the only rebels were Farley's surviving team, Cal and Mare. Maven confronts Mare personally, demanding the surrenders of the rebels and his brother, only for Mare to bring the jets down with her power and escape with Cal in the chaos to a Guard submarine waiting under the ruins. Maven screams at them as they flee there is nowhere he won't find them. After the city's destruction, Maven declared Cal and Mare fugitives wanted by the Crown for terrorism, treason and murder.
Colonel Farley has his operatives send word to Maven that Cal was in Guard custody. Maven offered a bargain - in exchange for his brother, who he still planned to execute, he agreed to reinstate the traditional age of conscription. While Farley, Cal and Mare knew Maven would never honor such a trade, the deal was agreed to by the Colonel as it was too good a chance to save thousands of underage Reds from the war-front. The deal fell through, however, with Mare and Cal escaping with a few others back to Norta, to continue the Guard's efforts on their own.
Maven and Elara work quickly to solidify Maven's position as king. Cal's loyalists are removed and eliminated, Maven deploys his security officers and armies to search for the Guard and he musters thousands of Red children into the poorly-trained and prepared Dagger Legion for the war with the Lakelanders. Maven also wants Mare back more than anything, and so pressures every smuggling ring and thief company known to search for her and capture the "lightning girl" in exchange the threats and intimidation criminal gangs are suffering by the Crown will cease.
Maven quickly realizes Mare and her team are searching for other Reds like her - ones with Silver abilities. He has one of the "Newbloods" hanged and awaits them with a team of soldiers. The ambush initially succeeds, with Maven using a prototype sounder device developed in secret to suppress and render Mare unable to use her ability - Maven take the opportunity of Mare's disorientation to brand her skin with the letter "M", as a reminder and display of dominance. The effort fails, however, when the device's settings work too well and cause Mare's powers to react violently, allowing them to escape.
Maven proceeds to intercept and imprison every Newblood, and in some cases killing them. Maven also leaves messages in the homes of Newbloods that Mare failed to rescue, taunting Mare that Cal would be dead soon, and he would ultimately get Mare back. Mare secretly retains them due in part of her feelings for him - often Mare remembers Maven as the boy he was, and not the king he became, and grew to miss the boy she loved.
After learning Corros Prison was secretly rebuilt to imprison Maven's Silver enemies and the captured Newbloods, Mare and Cal and their team infiltrated and attacked the prison, freeing thousands of Maven's enemies. At the end of the attack Elara is killed by Mare's lightning, a devastating event for Maven. The event also leads to civil war breaking out across Norta when Mare and the Guard reveal Maven's crimes against his fellow Silvers.
When Mare and Cal and their team journeyed to the Choke to intercept and liberate the Dagger Legion, Maven had his fighters shoot them down. Completely at his mercy and facing certain execution, Mare surrenders to Maven and offers her life and return to his captivity in exchange her friends would be spared.
A chained and humbled Mare is brought to Archeon - now restored, signifying Maven is still very much in power. Maven puts a jeweled collar around Mare's neck - the king whispering he will keep Mare alive as a trophy as revenge for his mother's death. At his command, Mare kneels before him.[1]
King's Cage
Now that Maven has control over Mare, he uses her as a tool to bring forth newbloods and turn Norta against the Scarlet Guard.
Maven uses Mare as a trophy and a sign of power over the Scarlet Guard, forcing her to denounce the rebellion to the Silver Elite and to the entire kingdom. Throughout, Mare manipulates him in kind, learning valuable information about the situation at hand in Norta and about Piedmont, an ally and adversary of Norta, and the plan between the two to defeat the Scarlet Guard, both being affected by the red rebellion. While her manipulation works in some aspects (learning about his lack of emotions and his distust of House Merandus, as well as learning about the princes of Piedmont), it also gets her into sticky situations (such as being kissed by him).
Maven forfeits his engagement to Evangeline in his marriage to the princess of the Lakelands, Iris Cygnet, a Silver with the ability of water manipulation. Two days before the royal marriage, Evangeline attempts to get Maven to change his mind, but to no avail. He proceeds to marry Iris, if only to end the war between Norta and the Lakelands.
Personality
Maven, at first, is depicted to be a lonely teenager, constantly overshadowed by his older brother. He is a Silver prince, but he wants to do the right thing and help free the Reds and make them equal with Silvers. He also says that he despises pageantry. A different side of him is shown as he grew closer to Mare, possibly even falling in love with her, and gets involved with the Scarlet Guard. However, at the end of the novel, he is revealed to be malicious and treacherous, turning against his brother and working with Elara to murder his father. No one really knows his true personality because his mother had warped and shaped his mind throughout the entirety of his life that even he does not know which parts of his mind are his own and what parts are made by her. He does not experience emotions and feelings the way other people do and because of that, he clings to the only person alive who he still cares for more than anything in the world, so much that he was willing to ignore the fact that she was the one who killed his mother, a woman who molded her son to be a monster but was still his mother nonetheless.
It's revealed in King's Cage that Maven doesn't feel love toward his father and brother and cannot dream. This is due to his mother, Elara Merandus, affecting his brain and cutting out parts of his personality that weren't required. He only feels love for Thomas, most of which is painful (made worse by attempts by Elara to remove those emotions) and Mare Barrow. Mare later states about Maven that there was a special type of love that his mother Elara could not remove about her from him.
Physical description
Maven is said to be tall, standing at around 6 feet, with a lean and fine-boned frame. He has very pale skin, thick black curls and pale blue eyes. He has a serious, regal look and sharp features. After the death of his mother, he becomes thinner, and bruise-like shadows appear under his eyes.
Abilities and Skills
Maven is a burner who can manipulate fire, but not create it. In order to utilize his ability at will, Maven must wear a metal bracelet that creates sparks, which he'll be able to turn into flames. Although he must be one of the strongest burners in Norta, he is not as skillful as his half-brother Cal in terms of strength or mastery of battle strategy. However, Maven is well-versed in the intricacies of court dynamics, and is very clever in choosing his words during speeches as well as normal conversations with his courtiers. Mare thought that although Cal might be born to rule, Maven was meant for it, acknowledging his ability to plan and scheme his way to make people do as he wills them.
Relationships
Mare Barrow: Maven was once betrothed to Mare by his parents, though they were forced together he seemed quite distraught at first, but as he spent more time with her around, and learned how to act well, didn't seem too bothered by it, and they became friends.
Maven then joined the Scarlet Guard and quickly betrayed them, Mare, and Cal. He was secretly in cahoots with his mother, Elara, and they killed the king, blaming it on Cal, and Maven became King.
Before Cal and Mare's execution, Maven begged Mare to come back to him, to give up the Scarlet Guard and be with him, showing that he actually cared for her.
In Glass Sword, Maven gives a series of notes to Mare, perhaps meaning that he wanted Mare back. And finally, at the end of the second book, Maven has captured Mare, and in King's Cage, Maven tells her how his mother couldn't erase certain feelings for someone, like his love for Mare, and that it only made it worse when she tried to make it disappear.
In King's Cage, Maven marries Iris Cygnet to secure an alliance with the Lakelanders.
Trivia
- The meaning of his name is "one who understands" and "expert."
- He tells Mare when he was 9 his father sent him to the war front to toughen him up and make him more like Cal. In reality, he was 12 when he was sent to the front and spent three years there. The reasoning, as far as we know, is the same.
- He allegedly befriended a Red named Thomas who died in the war. It is later revealed that Thomas died when Maven lost control of his abilities, but it is said that the fire was from an attack planned by the Lakelanders in which he burned while Maven didn't.
- He started plotting with his mother when Mare arrived.
- Maven does not dream.
- Maven is said to be Victoria Aveyard's second favorite main character.
- According to Victoria Aveyard, if our music still existed in the Red Queen's timeline, Maven would be listening to Hans Zimmer, John Williams, and film scores like Last of the Mohicans.
- Maven is bisexual.
References
- ā Aveyard, Victoria (February 10, 2015). Red Queen. HarperTeen. ISBN 9780062310637.