*This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we earn a small commission if you make a purchase through links on our site. This is at no additional cost to you.

As your resident Sarah J. Maas fan girl, I am here with what, some may call, a hot take…

Chaol is one of my all-time favorite Sarah J. Maas characters.

Actually, he is kind of just one of my favorite book characters of all time (one of my bookish boyfriends, if you will). And I felt this waaaaay before Tower of Dawn, so I am really an OG Chaol fangirl!

This post goes out to all my other Chaol stans who have been defending the Captain of the Guard from all the haters for YEARS! In this post, I’ve broken down all the character-defining and swoon-worthy moments throughout the whole Throne of Glass series, along with quotes and all my personal favorite moments! This post is a real deep dive, so buckle buckle up, babes.

This is my Chaol dissertation.

Also, this post will contain a butt ton of spoilers for the whole Throne of Glass series hehe!

Chaol has one of the best character arcs throughout the series, and I love watching him grow into the character that we see at the end of Kingdom of Ash. In the first book, Chaol is very rigid, and his loyalty is very much to the King of Adarlan. His relationship with Celaena in the first two books really opens up his worldview and gives him the opportunity to make a difference in the rebellion against the King.

Though Chaol does make a lot of wrong choices throughout the series, he’s able to redeem himself later in the series, especially in Tower of Dawn, where Chaol grows SO much as a character and as a person. Chaol’s an extremely loyal character, and his loyalty to Dorian is one of his best traits. His other best character trait is being a total hottie.

Okay, please read this post and tell me what YOU love about Chaol. This is a safe space for all us Chaol lovers because, let’s be real, there are a lot of haters out there. All I have to say to that is he has his own book and kiss my butt! Just kidding. But not really.

Throne of Glass

We are first introduced to Chaol Westfall, Captain of the Royal Gaurd, in chapter 1 of the first book in the series. Chaol, along with the Crown Prince, Dorian Havilliard (who is his childhood bestie), is in the slave camp Endovier. They’re there to retrieve Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan’s Assassin, to compete in a competition to become the King’s Champion (basically his murder bitch).

Chaol is very weary of Celaena at first, but one of my favorite parts of this book is the friendship that develops between them. This book mostly focuses on Celaena and Dorian, but Chaol’s true feelings for Celaena are sprinkled throughout. 

Celaena is put on Chaol’s horse on the journey from the slave camp to the castle, and the two do not really get along. When they arrive at the castle, Chaol is in charge of escorting her around the castle, and while Dorian is enchanted with her antics from the beginning, Chaol is much harsher with her. 

The first time we see through Chaol’s coldness towards Celaena is in chapter 9 when Chaol is taking Celaena to meet with the King, and he sees her be afraid for the first time. 

“‘Celaena.’ She blinked, her cheeks burning. Chaol’s features softened. ‘He is just a man’…He stopped a few feet from the guards. His eyes were rich, molten brown. ‘Yes?’ Her heartbeat steadied. ‘You look rather pretty today,’ was all he said before the doors opened, and they walked forward.”

I mean, I’m swooning. How is anyone more into Dorian in this book? Anyways,

Chaol begins to train with Celaena, and she’s surprised by his competence with fighting. In chapter 11, they train for the first time. From her time in Endovier, Celaena is out of shape, and Chaol is able to best her. Though she will never admit it to him, she is impressed with his fighting.

“Chaol chuckled at her agitation and pointed his sword at the rack, allowing her to get to her feet. ‘Pick another—something different. Make it interesting, too. Something that will make me sweat, please.’”

(Personally, loving the banter here.)

Chaol starts not only training Celaena but also dining with her before and after they go on their morning runs. In chapter 13, you can see Chaol’s internal conflict between enjoying getting to know her, but also not totally trusting her.

“He sipped from his goblet. Despite her arrogance, she was clever, and relatively kind, and somewhat charming. But where was that writhing darkness?…He’d be ready—when the time came, he’d be waiting. He just wondered which one of them would survive.” 

As Captain of the Guard, one of the main plot points Chaol follows in this book, along with training (and subtly flirting with Celaena), is investigating the bodies of the champions that are appearing in the castle throughout the book. 

Chaol and Celaena butt heads often, but a bigger plot point of their fighting is because Chaol insists that Celaena should stay in the middle of the competition and not show her true skills. 

We first see Chaol expressing his jealousy over Dorian and Celaena’s banter-filled relationship in chapter 19 when Chaol questions Dorian’s friendliness with “Sardothien,” and Dorian responds by asking Chaol if he is jealous. Chaol responds, “Dorian, I don’t like her.” But both myself and Dorian know that that is a LIE! 

Samhuinn (Chaol Gives Celaena The Ring)

In chapter 23, Chaol cancels his training with Celaena to observe the holiday Samhuinn. However, being an arrested assassin, she is not allowed to go to the festival with the rest of the guests, so Chaol offers to bring her a trinket from the revelry. 

When Chaol returns to Celaena’s door at the end of the party, he is met by Dorian, who is also trying to get a late-night visit with our girl Celaena. He reprimands Dorian for visiting her and being foolish, but let’s be real, he is just jealous!  He enters her room to find her sleeping and wakes her with the sound of his steps. 

“‘I brought you a present.’ He felt immensely foolish, and for a moment, considered running from her rooms.”

He gives her a ring that they were giving out to the women at the party, which she puts on and falls back asleep. 

“Then she was asleep, a hand upon her breast, the ring hovering over her heart. With a disgruntled sigh, the captain grabbed a blanket from the nearby sofa and tossed it over her. He was half tempted to remove the ring from her finger, but…Well, there was something peaceful looking about her. Rubbing his neck, his face still burning, he walked from her rooms, wondering how, exactly, he’d explain this to Dornin tomorrow.”

Another champion is found dead after the party, and another after the next test the champions compete in. Though Chaol is investigating the bodies (which are being torn apart!!), he is unable to solve the murders without the knowledge of the magic and evil that is truly at large in the castle. 

Chaol begins to truly see Celaena as a friend by chapter 35 as he watches her with Prince Dorian. He makes no move to stop them from being together even though she is potentially a threat to the Prince. 

“With each day, he felt the barriers melting. He let them melt. Because of her genuine laugh, because he caught her one afternoon sleeping with her face in the middle of a book, because he knew that she would win…While it terrified him to see her down there, a hand’s breadth from Dorian’s unprotected throat, what terrified him even more, was that he trusted her.”

Yulemas

(This world’s Christmas, basically) arrives, and there is a ball hosted at the castle, which Chaol is on guard for. During, however, Celaena sneaks in to spy on Nehemia. It is a masked ball, but of course our not-so-fun loving Captain of the Guard does not participate and has no mask on. Chaol notices Celaena immediately and keeps her with him for the evening. She asks him to dance and he says no, but we quickly learn that it’s for good reason.

“‘Would you like to dance with me?’ He laughed. ‘With you? No.’ She looked at the marble floor, her chest tight. ‘You needn’t be so cruel.’ ‘Cruel? Celaena, Perrington is just over there. I’m sure he’s not happy about you being here, so I wouldn’t risk drawing his attention any more than necessary.’ ‘Coward.’ Chaol’s eyes softened. “If he weren’t here, I would have said yes.’”

She teases him about not dancing with other women either, and he tells her, “I’m the Captain of the Gaurd—I’m not exactly a catch for any of them.” 

Her response is the first time she seems to realize her attraction to the Captian.

“‘Are you mad? You’re better than everyone in here. And you’re—you’re very handsome,’ she said, taking his hand in her free one.”

However, this sweet moment between the two is interrupted by Prince Dorian, who comes along and dances with Celaena despite the danger of calling attention. Some may find it romantic, but I personally find Chaol looking out for her to be far more romantic…………. 

Chaol watches them dance until his jealousy overwhelms him, and he leaves the ball. Bye!

The Final Test For The King’s Champion 

The final test is a series of duels with the remaining Champions, and the last one standing is the winner. When Celaena’s first duel is about to begin, she turns to Chaol to get her weapon. However, he doesn’t hand her just any sword, but his own.

“He drew his own band. The eagle-shaped pommel glinted in the midday sun. ‘Here,’ he said. She blinked at the blade, and slowly raised her face to look at him She found the rolling earthen hills of the north in his eyes. It was a sense of loyalty to his country that went beyond the man seated at the table. Far inside of her, she found a golden chain that bound them together.”

This is the moment I shed a single tear and start singing “Invisible String” by Taylor Swift.

Celaena ends up not taking Chaol’s sword but instead uses Nehemia’s weapon as a symbol of her standing up for Nehemia’s conquered country. It’s the thought that counts, and Chaol is a dream boat for offering it up. 

Celaena kicks some major butt on her first duel and now has to duel Cain (who is evil, might I add) but unknown to Celaena or Chaol, Celaena is drugged by Kaltain, which affects her ability to fight Cain. 

Celaena, drugged and beaten down by Cain, falls on the ground, about to lose the whole thing, when she hears Chaol’s voice telling her to get up. 

“She lifted her eyes to his face, and found his gaze lined with silver. ‘Get up,’ was all he said. And in that moment, somehow, his face was the only thing that mattered.”

And then she stands…

Well, she stands, and then the drug that Kaltain gave her opens up her mind to the world beyond, and demons attack her, but only she, Cain, and Nehemia can see the other world. With a little supernatural help (thanks dead queen Eleana!), she beats Cain and is announced the winner, being named the King’s Champion. 

When Celaena is named winner, Cain and the King exchange a glance, and no one but Chaol sees it. Cain pulls a dagger to strike down Celaena, but Chaol pulls his sword and kills Cain before he can kill Celaena. 

“Without thinking, without understanding, Chaol leaped between them and plunged his sword through Cain’s heart.”

Chaol checks on Celaena days after the duel to see how her recovery is going. He apologizes for not coming sooner. Cain was the first man Chaol ever killed, and he was frightened by how easy it was to kill him. Celaena thanks Chaol for saving her life. As he tries to leave the room, she embraces him. 

“‘Chaol,’ she said, grabbing his hand and whirling him to face her. She only saw the hunted gleam in his eyes before she threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly. He straightened, but she crushed around his neck and held him tightly. He straightened, but she crushed her body into his, even though it still aggravated her wounds to do so. Then after a moment, his arms wrapped around her, keeping her close to him, so close that as she shut her eyes and breathed him in, she couldn’t tell where he ended, and she began.”

Dorian walks in, and Chaol yeets himself out of there because how awkward. 

He returns to her room later and learns that Celaena has ended things with the Prince. The Guard and the Assassin celebrate her victory and her being one step closer to freedom.

“Their eyes met, and Chaol didn’t hide his smile as she grinned at him. Perhaps four years with her might not be enough.”

The book ends with Celaena and Chaol leaving the King’s chambers after being officially initiated into her new position. 

“She looked at his golden-brown eyes and all of the promises that lay within them and linked her arm with his as she smiled.”

Already within the first book, Chaol has changed a lot (in much more subtle ways than he will later on in the series). His relationship with Celaena helps him become a less rigid person and not such a blind servant of the King. His loyalty is both a strength and a weakness, but becoming loyal to Celaena helps him grow as a person. 

Crown of Midnight

This is the Chaol and Celaena book, and if you’re not into this paring at all, this book probably isn’t your favorite. Me being the Chaol simp that I am, I love this book!

His character arc throughout is SO good. I also love how fun this book, and some of my favorite scenes are in this book!!!

This book starts basically where we left off, though Celaena and Chaol are now closer as friends. We first see Chaol worrying about Celaena while she’s on her mission, when she walks into the castle with a decapitated head and plops it at the King’s feet! Chaol is still worried about the safety of his assassin bestie, though.

In chapter 2, when he and Celaena are alone:

“‘When you go away,’ he said, the distant torchlight illuminating the rugged planes of his face, ‘I have no idea what’s happening to you. I don’t know if you’re hurt or rotting in a gutter somewhere.’” 

“She didn’t have time to brace herself as he pulled her against him, his arms wrapping tightly around her.” 

And it’s little moments like this that make my Chaol-loving heart sing! Celaena is equally parts offended by him not trusting her to take care of herself and also loving their big fat hug. And that about sums up the overall vibe of this relationship!

Celaena begins spending a lot of time hanging out with Chaol in his room. Chaol’s trying to help with Celaena’s new assignment, which is to kill Archer Finn. Why the Captain of the Guard is helping the King’s Champion is a great question, and the only answer is that he wants to be close to her!

When they’re hanging out in his room, he confides in Celaena about the last girl he had feelings for and how she left him for Dorian’s cousin, Roland, because Chaol’s only a captain, not royalty. Celaena’s response is the first time she starts to show Chaol how she feels about him. 

“‘For what it’s worth, Chaol,’ she said. He faced her, his hands in his pockets. She gave him a slight smile. ‘If she picked Roland over you, that makes her the greatest fool who ever lived.’”

Chaol And Celaena Meet Archer Finn

In chapter 7, Celaena, not so accidentally, bumps into Archer Finn while she is accompanied by Chaol. Chaol is jealous of how well she knows Archer (which, like, that’s the dude she’s assigned to kill, chill a little), and after he leaves, she tells Chaol how much she hates that Archer calls her Laena. 

“‘You know I absolutely hate it when he calls me Laena, don’t you?’ A smile tugged at his lips, along with a flicker of relief. ‘So the next time I want to piss you off…’ ‘Don’t you even think about it.’ His smile spread, and the flicker of relief turned to something that punched him in the gut when she smiled back.”

In chapter 11, Celaena stops by Chaol’s rooms after being out again meeting with/stalking/plotting with Archer. Because it’s late, she thinks Chaol will not be awake, but he answers the door and seems to have been pacing. She passes on the information she learned, but he’s still clearly stressed out and keeps telling her to be careful, which she doesn’t exactly love to be told what to do. However, Chaol can’t help but warn her because he cares about her too much!

“But I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn’t, but I do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.”

Celaena Shows Up To Chaol’s Door Poisoned!

Chapter 13 starts with Carol’s inner monologue of panic over Celaena’s bloody and poisoned arrival at his door. Thankfully, she whispered the type of poison she was affected by, so he knows what to do. He quickly and secretly takes care of the whole situation and sends one of his men to find out what exactly went down. When Ress (straight-up homie of the guards) says that at the party (where Celaena was), it appeared that a man, Davis, was killed by his own poisoned dagger. Chaol is relieved to find out that Davis is already dead; otherwise, he would have gone to find and kill him himself. 

When Celaena wakes up and explains to Chaol what happened, he threatens to throw her in the dungeons, not for the murder but “for scaring the hell out of me!” which I just think is so cute. Celaena doesn’t remember much about how she got to Chaol’s rooms, just that she needed to be somewhere that was safe, “And somehow, she had wound up exactly where she knew she’d be safest.”

Celaena And Chaol Hold Hands For The First Time 

In chapter 15, Chaol and Celaena are attending dinner in the Great Hall, and Celaena is surprised to find Chaol sitting next to her. This dinner is special because they have Rena Goldsmith, a famous singer, performing for them this evening. Celaena is ALL about music, and when Rena dedicates a song about ancient Fae legends to the royal family (a risky move, girl!) Celaena is moved by the music. During the performance, Chaol reaches over and grabs her hand. 

“But then a warm, calloused hand grasped hers beneath the table, and she turned her head to find Chaol looking at her. He smiled slightly—and she knew he understood. So Celaena looked at her Captain of the Guard and smiled back.”

HER Captain of the Guard…HER!!!!! 

While this is going on, Dorian is watching from across the room and see’s what Celaena and Chaol are becoming. 

“But Celaena and Chaol just sat there, staring at each other. Not just staring but something more than that…She had never looked at him like that. Not once. Not even for a heartbeat…So Dorian closed his eyes, and took another long breath. And when he opened his eyes, he let her go.”

Chaol Dances With Celaena

Celaena and Chaol are both on guard duty at a ball that the King is hosting in chapter 17. She’s feeling pissed about it, and Chaol can tell, so he assigns her to an outside posting to literally cool off.  However, when Chaol goes to check on her, she has left her post and is dancing in the garden. When he goes to confront her about it, instead of reprimanding her about leaving her post, he instead asks her to dance 🕺

“There was only the music and Chaol.”

They waltz together, and Celaena asks him. 

“‘We’ll never be a normal boy and girl, will we?’ she managed to say: ‘No,’ he breathed, eyes blazing. ‘We won’t.’”

But I think this is where they first understand how much they love each other and how much they mean to one another.

“In that moment, after ten long years, Celaena looked at Chaol and realized she was home.”

Chaol Doesn’t Tell Celaena About Nehemia

This moment in chapter 19 ends up becoming a pivotal part of the dynamic between Celaena and Chaol. The chapter starts with Chaol being summoned by the King. In this moment, Chaol is glad that he hasn’t crossed a line with Celaena yet (well, more of a line than he has already crossed…). At this point in Chaol’s character arc, he’s completely driven by loyalty, even to a fault. His loyalty to the crown is very questionable given that the King is, ya know, a war criminal, but I digress. 

“Dorian and the king were where his loyalty lay. Without his loyalty, he was no one. Without it, he’d given up his family, his title, for nothing.”

His hold on his loyalty and pride is why he won’t let himself love Celaena just yet, and why later in this book (and in Heir of Fire), he chooses loyalty over what is actually right. 

The King tells Chaol that there has been a threat to Nehemia’s life but that he must not tell Celaena or Nehemia, and Chaol listens to the King. Later, this will bite him in the butt! 

Chaol Learns About Celaena’s Parents

In chapter 20, when Chaol goes to find Cealena in her room for their morning run, he’s met by Nehemia. When he asks where Celanena is, the princess tells him she has taken off and gone as far from the city as she could get in one day. When he asks why, Nehemia tells him, “because today is the tenth anniversary of her parents’ death.” 

Chaol is in her room waiting for her to return when the door opens, and Celaena slips into her room. Chaol tells her that he is there to keep her company, to which she responds that she doesn’t want company. 

“Want and need are different things…And despite his loyalty to the king, he couldn’t turn away from her—not today.”

Chaol cheers Celaena up by ordering chocolate cake. 

“He should step back, put more distance between them. But instead, he found himself reaching for her, a hand slipping around her waist and the other twining itself through her hair as he held her tightly to him. His heart thundered through him so hard he knew she could feel it.”

Chaol feels that he should not comfort her in this way and feels conflicted. He tries to shove his feelings for her down but cannot. 

Celaena And Chaol Almost Kiss

As they stand there holding each other, “his eyes flicking between her mouth and her eyes, the hand he had entwined in her hair stilling.” 

Then Celaena tells Chaol, “I can’t tell if I should be ashamed of wanting to hold you on this day, or grateful that, despite what happened before now, it somehow brought me to you.”

Chaol is taken aback by this and pulls away from Celaena, reminded of how many obstacles stand in the way of their being together. Then they eat that chocolate cake!

Chaol’s Birthday!

For Chaol’s birthday, Celaena planned a dinner for him to show him how much she cares for him. She keeps telling herself it’s a nice dinner between friends, but bffr girl…

Celaena takes Chaol to the rooftop of a shop in town, where she has prepared a dinner of all his favorite things. 

“‘No one has ever done anything like this for me.’ He shook his head in awe, looking back at the greenhouse. ‘No one.’

They have his favorite stew, and Chaol is touched by how much Celaena has paid attention to the things he likes and for all the attention to detail in this dinner. 

After dinner, Celaena finally tells Chaol the truth about the “assassinations” the King has sent her on: she has been faking their deaths and helping them escape this whole time. 

“He must have heard her incorrectly. Because there was no possible way that she could be that brash, that foolish and insane and idealistic and brave.”

They fight because Chaol says that the men she was supposed to kill were traitors of the crown, but the real reason he’s mad is that he’s scared the King will find out and that she will be killed. 

Celaena says that before the King finds out, she will be long gone and far away from the castle and this kingdom. And then Chaol tells her that he will go with her.

“‘We’ll find that place, then,’ he said quietly. ‘What?’ Her brows narrowed. ‘I’ll go with you.’” 

She argues that he loves his country, but he tells her, “I would be the greatest fool in the world to let you go alone,” and I’m just swooning!!! 

The line between them is very much being crossed now, and Chaol admits to himself that ever since he first met her in Endovier, he had been on a path to exactly this moment. 

Chaol And Celaena’s First Kiss

“He’d been walking towards this, walking to her. So Chaol brushed away her tears, lifted her chin, and kissed her.”

So, in chapter 23, Chaol and Celaena kiss for the first time (and the second ;)). They make out of the roof, and that leads to them going back to their room. Also, in the same chapter, Chaol and Celaena sleep together for the first time.

Celaena asks Chaol how long he’s had feelings for her, and he tells her that it was ever since Yulemas when he brought her the ring. 

Chaol Keeps Secrets From Celaena AGAIN! 

During chapter 26, the court is on a hunting party, and the King speaks to Chaol regarding Nehemia. Once again, he’s told not to tell anyone, and he chooses to obey that order. He is told that the King will be questioning the Prince of Eyllwe the following night, and he wants the room to be guarded. 

Chaol is thinking about keeping this secret from Celaena as he is sleeping next to her, and he goes out for a walk to get some fresh air. He thinks the King is testing his loyalty and feels conflicted, but he knows that his line is drawn if he is ever asked to kill Celaena. 

“He’d plunge his sword into his own heart before he would obey. His soul was bound to hers by some unbreakable chain. He snorted, imagining what his father would think when he learned that Chaol had taken Adarlan’s Assassin for his wife.”

He wants to marry her!! 

Anyways, after this thought, Chaol is knocked out and kidnapped! 

Celaena Rescues Chaol 

If you were thinking that Chaolaena was too good to be true, well……you’re right! When Celanea wakes up and Chaol is gone, she goes crazy, and when she gets the ransom note, she goes REAL CRAZY!

Chaol is sitting pretty all chained up, and he knows that Celaena will come for him and that the men who took him would rue the day. In Chapter 28, the shiiiiiii hits the fan. Celaena murders a bunch of the men to save Chaol, whom she loves, but she also learns what Chaol had been keeping from her. 

Celaena Learns The Truth About Chaol

In chapter 28, as Celaena is cutting down men left and right in the warehouse, Archer reveals himself and turns out to be behind the whole kidnapping. Celaena tells Archer he has one sentence to convince her not to kill them all, and he drops the doozy that he has been working with Nehemia. He tells her that Chaol is not trustworthy, that he kept the King’s secrets about Nehemia, and that she is being questioned by the King, but that they believe that she is not just being questioned but that her life is in danger. 

Celaena finds Nehemia’s dead body when she gets to the castle, and she blames Chaol for this happening. 

“He has known. She shattered completely, and launched herself at him.”

Celaena attacks Chaol in chapter 30 and scars his face with his nails. She tries to kill him, and Chaol’s heart breaks when he looks at the way Celaena is looking at him. 

“But the Celaena he know was gone. The girl he’d imagined as his wife, the girl he’d shared a bed with for the past week, was utterly gone.”

The only thing that stops her from killing Chaol is Dorian’s magic, though she does not know it at the time. I would definitely call this a messy breakup… 

Her last words to him being “You will never be my friend. You will always be my enemy.”

Chaol’s Father Visits The Castle

In chapter 36, Chaol’s father, the Lord of Anielle, arrives at the castle to meet with the King. He and Chaol have a real icy relationship: his dad hates that he has left his title in Anielle to work for the king. Chaol’s dad tries to get under his skin by mentioning his relationship with Celaena, but Chaol is NOT having it. 

“‘You talk to her—you so much as look in her direction,’ Chaol warned, ‘and, father or not, I’ll make you wish you never set foot in this castle.’” 

Also, it’s important that his dad is here, so keep this info tucked in your brain for later on!

Chaol Finds Celaena’s Will 

Weeks have passed, and Celaena is no longer in the dungeons; however, she and Chaol are still not on speaking terms. The first time they speak after she attacks him is in chapter 42. Chaol goes into Celaena’s room and is looking at her desk when he sees her will. He’s shocked to find that she left everything to him. 

“The world dropped out from beneath his feet. It was Celaena’s will. Signed two days before Nehemia’s death. And she’d given everything—every last copper to him.”

He’s surprised again by Celaena speaking, telling him that she isn’t going to change it. Chaol knows that she didn’t just leave it to him because she loved him, but because she knew that if he lost his job as Captain of the Guard, he would have to go back to his dad in Anielle, and that it would kill him. Chaol leaves her room and begins to cry.

“But when Chaol walked out, leaving that damning will behind him, he didn’t even make it to his own room. He barely made it into an empty broom closet before the sobs hit.”

Chaol And Dorian Go After Celaena 

Dorian comes to Chaol when he thinks that Celaena is in danger in chapter 48. When the two men make it up to her rooms, they find the hidden passage that she has been using to escape the castle in the last two books. The two of them run into the passage to try to find Celaena. When Chaol finds her, he finds her passed out, a portal (that Celaena opened to talk to her dead friend, but it backfired, clearly), and Archer chanting and summoning a giant monster. It’s also important to note that Celaena’s dog, Fleetfoot, is also down there. Chaol tells Dorian to leave (for his safety duh) and charges after the monster. 

Dorian and Celaena flee while Chaol stays behind to hold off the monster (so Celaena and Dorian can go after Archer, who has run away with the book with the spells to close the portal, not because they’re cowards) when Fleetfoot is snatched up by the monster and taken into the portal (it’s giving Stranger Things). Chaol, being the brave icon that he is, runs after the dog because he knows how much it means to Celaena. 

Chaol Finds Out Celaena Is Fae

When Celanea follows Chaol and Fleetfoot into the portal (after she KOs Dorian), she is transformed into her fae form. 

“No—she wasn’t human at all. Celaena was Fae.”

Chaol takes Fleetfoot out of the portal, and after Celaena destroys the monster, he goes back to pull Celaena out as well.  Celaena uses Dorian’s blood to close the portal, and then she runs after Archer to kill him, even though Chaol tries to stop her. Chaol watches Celaena kill Archer Finn in chapter 52. 

Chaol And Celaena Break Up (For Real This Time)

In chapter 52, after they are all safe and being healed, Celaena and Chaol finally talk for real. Chaol tells Celaena that he won’t tell anyone about the magic or her Fae form, and Celaena tells Chaol the truth about Archer being responsible for the death of Nehemia, but that it still didn’t change things between them. 

“‘But even though I know you’re not responsible,’ she said softly, ‘I still…When I look at you,; she whispered, ‘all I want to do is touch you. But what happened that night…I don’t know if I can ever forget it.’” 

Chaol tries to tell her that no matter what she is or who she is, he loves her, but she doesn’t let him say it. 

Chaol Makes A Deal With His Father

Chaol begins to worry about Celaena’s safety being Fae and being on this continent. He wants to do anything to keep her safe, which leads him to make a deal with his father, which, yes, will betray her trust but will also keep her safe.

He tells his dad that if he supports him with his plan to send the King’s Champion (Celaena) to Wendlyn, he will return home to Anielle and leave his position as Captain of the Guard. 

“But he could do this for her. Even if he never saw her again, even if she abandoned her duties as King’s Champion and stayed with the Fae in Wendlyn forever—as long as he knew that she was safe, that no one could hurt her…He’d sell his soul again and again for that.”

Chaol Says Goodbye To Celaena

Chaol goes to the dock to say goodbye to Celanea before she sets off for Wendlyn in chapter 56. She gives him the Eye of Elena and tells him to never take it off before whispering something in his ear. 

“‘What does that mean?’ He demanded. She smiled sadly. ‘You’ll figure it out. And when you do…When you do, I want you to remember that it wouldn’t have made any difference to me. It’s never made any difference to me when it came to you. I’d still pick you. I’ll always pick you.’”

Chaol tells her that he loves her, and her only response is that she is sorry. And Celaena gets on the ship and leaves Chaol standing on the dock.

Chaol Finds Out Celaena Is Aelin

In chapter 56, Chaol’s trying to work out what she whispered in his ear before she left (that her great-grandmother was Fae). Chaol goes over the genealogies when he sees a passage about the death of King Orlon Galathynius. He sees that the King and Queen of Terrasen were killed in his bed and that the fate of his daughter, Aelin, was unknown…

He looks further at the family tree and sees that Aelin’s great-grandmother, Mab, is Fae… 

“Celaena Sardothien was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, heir to the throne and rightful Queen of Terrasen…Celaena was the lost Queen of Terrasen. Chaol sank to his knees.” 

And that is the last of Chaol we see in Crown of Midnight. 

Heir of Fire 

This is the first book in the series where we see the cast of characters grow substantially. The POVs switch between Celaena and Rowan (who are in Wendlyn), Chaol, Dorrian, and Aedion (who are in Adarlan), and Maonon (who is in the Ferian Gap). Though Chaol still has a plot line in this book, it is much less prominent than in the first two books in the series. 

Chaol’s main internal struggle within this book is deciding where his loyalties lie and what he’s fighting for. He’s also still heartbroken over Celaena (who he now knows is truly Aelin), and he needs to learn to accept her for who she really is, while also accepting that they can never be together. 

It is also important to remember that at the end of the last book, Chaol made a deal with his father, that if he backed him up to send Celaena to Wendlyn then he would return to Anielle.

Aedion Ashryver arrives in the castle, and Chaol, with his new information about Celaena’s true identity, now knows that Aedion is Aelin’s cousin. Aedion is from Terassan but serves the King. When he appears before the King, Chaol is confused by his allegiance with the King, despite the King of Adarlan having conquered his kingdom. Chaol notices that he wears the same black ring that Roland, the King, and Perrington all wear, and begins to put together the meaning behind the rings. The reader knows that these rings give the King power over who wears the rings, but Chaol is still putting this together. 

Chaol begins to tail Aedion and notices weird behavior, such as all the parties that Aedion throws around town, which Aedion himself is never found at. In chapter 19, while he is tailing Aedion, Aedion captures him and threatens him. To try to keep Aedion from killing him on the spot, he tells Aedion that “Aelin is alive.”

He tells Aedion everything he knows about Celaena/Aelin, the real reason he sent her to Wendlyn, and also about the black rings from the King. Even though magic is gone, Aedion with his Fae genes could smell that the King’s black ring was STANKY, and so he has been wearing a fake this whole time. Chaol and Aedion agree to work together to try to find out information. Aedion is working with the rebels, and Chaol is trying to protect Dorian (and his secret magic) and Aelin. 

Chaol and Aedion use the apartment that Celaena left to Chaol in her will as a place to meet to talk. When one of the rebels, Ren, is injured, Chaol also lets Ren and his grandfather stay in the apartment. 

Chaol fears what will happen when Aedion and Aelin meet again. He’s also afraid for his kingdom, because Adarlan is still his home and his country. 

“Because this was still his kingdom. He was working for Dorian, not Aelin. And he didn’t know where all of this put him.”

Aedion And Chaol Start Plotting

Aedion and Chaol become “drinking buddies,” so it does not appear strange for them to be spending so much time together. In a tavern filled with soldiers from all different areas, the two of them find a man from Noll who tells them of the black tower that they were guarding for no reason they could understand. The man talks of headaches and darkness, and Chaol remembers both Kaltain and Roldan talking of headaches, as well as Celaena talking about the black material, which also gave her a headache when she was inside the bell tower. Aedion and Chaol are working to bring magic back to Adarlan, and they believe these black towers built by the King to be part of the spell that took magic from the land.

In Chapter 40, the little crew of rebels and Chaol are trading information, and they learn that there were pale men/ “monsters” sent to Wendlyn wearing black collars like pets. This sends Chaol into a tizzy because Wendlyn is where Aelin is, and there is no way for them to send a warning! Aedion once again questions Chaol’s role in the rebellion, and Chaol says that he only wants to help Dorian before he leaves for Anielle. Aedion hits him with a hard-hitting question.

“So you will fight alongside him, but not for what is right. Have you no free will, no wants of your own?” 

Chaol Quits His Job

Chaol leaves Aedion and tells the King that he is resigning and returning to Anielle with his father. 

In chapter 56, we not only see Chaol working with Dorian to test his theory about how the king is keeping magic out of Adarlan, but we also see Chaol meet Sorcha.  The only way that Chaol could get Dorian to agree to work with him is if he told him and Sorcha everything he knew. Chaol is surprised to find Dorian so happy with Sorcha (who is a healer), but he’s also very happy that Dorian is happy. 

To see if his theory connecting the three black towers built by the King is correct, Chaol uses a bowl of water in between three crystals to represent the three towers. He has Dorian focus his power on one of the crystals, and as Dorian does this, a triangle of power between the three crystals forms and freezes the water in the middle. Dorian realizes that this is, on some scale, how his father put a damper on magic, and he questions Chaol about working with the rebels. Chaol tells him that everything he is doing is to try to help Dorian. 

Chaol and Aedion learn of Aelin’s return in Wendlyn, and Chaol’s reaction is one of my favorite ways to prove his true character against all the haters who like to claim that he is an a-hole. 

“‘Eyllwe,’ Chaol breathed. ‘Send word to Eyllwe. Tell them to hold on—tell them to prepare.’ Perhaps it was the light, perhaps it was the cold, but Aedion could have sworn there were tears in the captain’s eyes as he said, ‘Tell them it’s time to fight back.’“

The King Figures Out Chaol’s Plan

In chapter 63, we see Chaol working on coming up with a plan for Dorian, Sorcha, and Aedion to get out of the castle when he leaves for Anielle. However, before he can set any of this in action, the King summons him immediately, and this is where the you-know-what hits the fan (and then splatters everywhere!!!).

Chaol knows that he is in deep when he, Sorcha, Aedion, and Dorian are all summoned before the King, and all the men on guard are not his men but the men in the wyvern uniforms he has seen around the city. 

The King reveals that he knows that Chaol and Aedion have been meeting together, but Aedion tries to take the fall for it. Still, when the King also reveals that Sorcha is found to be corresponding with rebels (we find out later that it was Ren), the King chops off her head, and the whole room really goes into a tizzy. 

This sparks Chaol into action, and he tells the King that he will no longer serve him.

“‘And I will not serve you a moment longer. There is one true king in this room—there always has been. And he is not sitting on that throne.’ Dorian stiffened. But Chaol went on. ‘There is a queen in the north, and she has already beaten you once. She will beat you again. And again. Because what she represents, and what your son represents, is what you fear most: hope. You cannot steal it, no matter how many you rip from their homes and enslave. And you cannot break it, no matter how many you murder.’” 

Dorian Reveals His Powers To Save Chaol

During this epic speech, the King orders his men to kill Chaol. Dorian uses his magic to save Chaol, which is what the King is going for, trying to bait Dorian into revealing his powers. Also, can I just say that Aelin’s whole frustration with Chaol in the next book is not really warranted after Chaol’s speech here…but whatever, let’s keep going. 

Dorian uses his magic to freeze everyone, giving Chaol a chance to run. Dorian tells him, “Run, and when you come back—burn this place to the ground.” Chaol runs because he understands that someone has to leave to get out and find Aelin so they can take down the King. Before he runs, he tells Dorian he loves him. It’s nice to see their brotherhood and friendship restored after the tension they had in the last two books. Then, Chaol flees the castle! 

Chaol’s last appearance in Heir of Fire is in chapter 65, where we see him meet up with Ren and fully join the rebellion—the two promise to each other to free both Aedion and the Prince.

And that’s where we leave off with Chaol in the third book in the series! 

Queen of Shadows 

Chaol’s back! This time in Queen of Shadows!

Chaol Meets with Arobynn

The first appearance of Chaol in Queen of Shadows is when Aelin sees him meeting with Arobynn in chapter 3. Aelin doesn’t know what the purpose of the meeting is (and neither does the reader), but we can see that Chaol is unharmed and also not under the control of a Valg demon. Aelin really could have used this blog post to know what Chaol got up to in the last book, because she is VERY behind on the now former Captain of the Guard. 

Chaol And Aelin Reunite 

Aelin is being followed by a woman, who we find out to be Nesryn Faliq, a part of the rebellion. After holding a knife to Nesryn’s neck, Aelin finds out that Chaol is now working with the rebels in Rifthold. 

“Three weeks ago, he abandoned his position at the castle and fled. To join our cause. The rebel cause.”

Chaol comes out of the dark alley with an injured man, and Aelin sees him for the first time since she sailed away to Wendlyn in Crown of Midnight. 

“Even from the distance, the captain’s eyes locked onto Aelin’s. He didn’t smile.”

And this is really the tone for the whole book between these two. They’re both pretty pissed and have some major issues with one another to work out… 

Aelin and Chaol walk with one another and catch up on everything the other had missed: Aedion’s captivity being a trap, Chaol working with Ren Allsbrook, and Fleetfoot being safe. Also, Chaol notices the empty spot on her finger where the ring he gave her use to be. He tells Aelin that he figured out who she was the day that she left. 

When he tells her about Dorian and Sorcha, Aelin thinks that he’s a coward and should have gotten them out, but I think she’s being a bit harsh tbh… 

Chaol tells Aelin that he learned something about magic (how to bring it back/how the king got rid of it), but he refuses to tell her and calls her “unpredictable.” This clearly doesn’t sit well with her. However, now it’s Chaol’s turn to get mad next when he learns that Aelin learned about the black collars in Wendlyn and didn’t send any kind of warning. 

Chaol takes off the Eye of Elena and throws it at Aelin. In return, Aelin takes the ring from her pocket and places it in Chaol’s hand while asking him why he was meeting with Arobynn. 

Chaol was meeting with Arobynn to get his help with killing the King of Adarlan. Aelin questions Chaol’s loyalty to the king, remembering him as blindly loyal to the monster that rules Adarlan, but our special boy has had some character development she isn’t aware of yet!

“Can you kill the king? When it comes down to it, could you kill your king?”

“Dorian is my king.”

Aelin leaves, and Chaol is feeling very depressed. He’s kinda depressed this whole book, to be honest.

“That woman—the woman he had loved…Perhaps she’d drowned in the cast, ruthless sea between here and Wendlyn. Perhaps she’d died at the hands of the Valg Princes. Or maybe he’d been a fool all this time, a fool to look at the lives she’d taken and blood she’d so irreverently spilled, and not be disgusted.” 

Chaol, at this point, even though he’s working with the rebels and fighting for his King, only thinks of himself as “nothing more than a nameless oath-breaker, a liar, a traitor.”

Chaol goes and pawns the ring that Aelin gave back to him for a handful of silver in chapter 7. 

Chaol Tells Aelin How To Bring Back Magic 

In Chapter 14, Chaol, along with some of the other rebels and Aelin, are at the town square watching executions. When the ax rises, Chaol becomes very triggered and is taken back to when Sorscha was beheaded. 

“Then Chaol was in another room, in the castle that had once been his home, listening to the thud of flesh and bone on marble, red mist coating the air, Dorian screaming—Oath breaker. Liar. Traitor. Chaol was all of those things now, but not to Dorian. Never to his true king.”

He tells Aelin to take out the clock tower and that it will free magic. He tells her of the Wyrdstone towers and the spell between the three towers the king had built. She thanks him, and he tells her that it’s for the sake of Dorian. Chaol asks Aelin not to kill Dorian; though Aelin believes Dorian is already gone, she agrees to try to get him out of the castle before killing him. 

Chaol Gets Mad At Aelin For Trying To Kill Dorian

In chapter 19, after the rescue of Aedion, Chaol confronts Aelin. Chaol didn’t trust Aelin not to kill Dorian, and he interfered with her resue of Aedion. 

“You’re a liar. And today was not exception. You had a sword over his head.” 

Aelin tells Chaol that she should have killed him because “Dorian is gone.” Chaol is hurt and Aelin tells him to go take his turn of watch on the roof.

Chaol Meets Rowan 

The first time Chaol meets Rowan is in chapter 33 of Queen of Shadows (and Chaol isn’t exactly impressed). 

“Conveniently, in all her storytelling, Aelin had forgotten to mention that the prince was so handsome. A handsome Fae Prince, whom she’d spent months living and training with—while Chaol’s own life fell apart, whole people died because of her actions.”

In this chapter, Chaol also realizes that he failed to learn that the missing prisoners that the rebels were trying to save had been taken to Morath. 

Chaol And Aelin’s Court Learn About Erawan

In chapter 50, Chaol, along with Aelin and her court, enters the Sin-Eater’s temple in the ruins of the Shadow Market. This section of the book is a LOT of exposition and Chaol is kinda just here to find out the truth about Erawan, the Valg Kings, and all the crap that is about to hit the fan. They read Gavin’s confessional, and they know that Erawan was never killed but just locked away for a time. They also retrieve hellfire, which they plan to use to destroy the Wyrdstone clock tower. 

When they are leaving the Sin-Eater’s temple, Chaol sees a moment of intimacy between Rowan and Aelin, and we see that he has begun to move on from loving her in that way.

“Chaol waited—waited for that twist and tug of jealousy, for the bite of it to sting him. But there was nothing. Only a flickering releif, perhaps, that…That Aelin had Rowan.”

He also feels good to not be fighting her and to be included with her court on this mission, even though they now know that war is coming to them. 

Lysandra Is Captured 

When Aelin finds out that Lysandra has been taken because of her bloodline and the magic that she holds, she and Chaol are both reminded of the death of Aelin’s last female friend, Nehemia. They’re taken back to that moment where Chaol’s betrayal of Aelin leads to her friend’s death, and I think through Chaol’s helping save Lysandra, that broken part of the friendship begins to heal… 

“Chaol noticed, then, where her eyes had focused on her face…To the scar on his face where she cut him the night Nehemia died…’We will get her back. We will save her. Together.’ Chaol just held Aelin’s gaze, his shoulders squaring as he said, ‘Never again.’”

Chaol Sees The Iron Teeth Witches For The First Time

After Aelin’s court and the rebels have secured Lysandra from the King’s prison wagon, they all see Manon and the thirteen for the first time. They’re there to meet with the King, and he has brought the Valg-possessed Dorian along with him in chapter 58. Chaol sees Dorian, and he becomes a bonehead with good intentions and decides that he is going to end Dorian’s suffering, but he wants to be the one to do it, to do right by HIS King. 

Chaol goes off mission and runs from the rest of the group towards Dorian, and DUH he’s captured by the Thirteen Witches and their Wyverns. 

Aelin and Rowan run after Chaol, and Aelin tells the Witches, “If you want a prize to give to the king, then take me.”

Though Chaol is kinda stupid here, it does lead to my favorite fight in the whole series between Manon and Aelin, so we can thank him for that. 

After the fight between the women where Aelin spares Manon’s life, Chaol presses his hand to Rowan’s wound, and they all leave the forest. 

Chaol apologies for going rogue in chapter 61. They take the injured Rowan to Chaol’s country house, and Fleetfoot greets them when they arrive. He approaches Aelin and tells her that he’s sorry, and why he tried to get to Dorian. 

“I just wanted to end it for him. You were right—all this time, you were right. But I wanted to do it myself. I didn’t know it would…I’m sorry.”

She asks him if he would really go through with it, and when he tells her yes, she tells him that they will do it together when they free magic. When she tells him this, he asks her if she really won’t make him stay back.

“How can I deny you that last gift to him?’ ‘I don’t blame you. If it had been Rowan with that collar around his neck, I would have done the same thing.’” 

When she tells him this, Chaol feels guilt for all the anger he had towards her at the beginning of the book, and I think at this point in their stories, they finally see the other’s perspective. 

Chaol And Aelin Talk It Out!

Aelin and Chaol are at her apartment getting ready for the next day where they will free magic and destroy the clock tower. When Chaol tells Aelin that he trusts her, she can’t help but look shocked, and this fills Chaol with shame for all that has gone down between them. Chaol admits that he was a fool to serve the King, and he tells Aelin that he doesn’t regret giving up his freedom to get her to Wendlyn. 

“‘I like to think I would have left someday.’ He needed to say that to her—had needed to say it from the moment she’d returned. ‘With me,’ she said, her voice hoarse. ‘You would have left with me—when I was just Celaena.’ ‘But you were never just Celaena, and I think you knew that, deep down, even before everything happened. I understand that now.’”

Chaol apologizes for Nehemia, and Aelin apologizes for the scar on his face and thanks him for sending her to Wendlyn. She tells Chaol that their friendship meant something to her, and that she told him who she really was because he was someone she could trust. Also, that she didn’t mean what she said on the docks before she went to Wendlyn, that she would “pick him”, because she has changed. Chaol isn’t hurt or mad when she tells him this; he tells her that she deserves to be happy. 

Nesryn And Chaol 

I’m a true hater of this random sidequest relationship, but it’s part of his arc, so I guess I’ll include it. Though it is disclosed with the introduction of Nesryn’s character that she and Chaol are exes, there is no real romantic interaction between them in this book till chapter 65.

Chaol laces his hand with Nesryn’s after telling her about the plans for the following day. 

“‘Maybe once all this…once everything is over,’ Chaol said hoarsely, ‘we could figure that out. Together.’”

She makes him promise that he will make it out of the castle the next day alive, and he tells her he promises. 

Chaol In The Attack Of The Glass Castle

Chaol is with Aelin, and as they approach the castle gate, Chaol sees the corpses of his men hanging from the iron gate. He sees Ress and Brullo, clearly tortured before they were killed and hung as a warning and a reminder to Chaol of all the people he has failed. He changes his plan and tells it to Aelin. 

“He told her what he needed to do. When he finished, she wiped away her tears as she gripped his hand and said, ‘I’ll make it count.’”

Chaol and Aelin arrive at the front door, and she tells the guard to tell the king that his Champion has returned and that she has a prize from him (Chaol).

Aelin tells the king that she’s back, and she completed his mission in Wendlyn and even caught the rebel leader, Chaol. However, the King already knows what’s up and calls the two of them out pretty fast… 

As the King and Aelin have an epic verbal standoff, Chaol calls out Dorian by his name. When the King mocks him, he draws Damaris, which Aelin has gifted to him.

In chapter 71, Aelin runs away with the Eye of Elena, and Dorian, still under the King’s control, follows her. Chaol draws his sword and blocks the King from following, saying, “This ends now.” 

Chaol’s thinking about how he has gotten here and his new plan he told Aelin when he saw his men dead at the gates. The OG plan was to get Dorian out after Manon left the message that Dorian was still inside himself, but when Chaol saw his men’s bodies, he changed the plan to him staying back to face the King, giving Aelin and Dorian time to get out. 

“For Redd. For Brullo. For Sorscha. For Dorian. For Aelin, and Aedion and their family, for the thousands massacred in those labor camps. And for Nesryn—who he’d lied to, who would wait for a return that wouldn’t come, for time they wouldn’t have together.”

The king’s power overtakes Chaol, and “When the pain came, he was not afraid.”

We find out that Chaol is not actually dead in chapter 78 when the king is finally freed of the Valg living inside him.

“Chaol is alive…Broken, but I didn’t make the kill. There was–a light around him. I left him alive.”

But, what was the light around Chaol? In chapter 83, we learn that Chaol had the Eye of Elena tucked inside his pocket, placed there by Aelin! 

Chaol Is Paralyzed From The Waist Down (And Reunited With Dorian!)

In chapter 84, Chaol wakes up, and he cannot feel his legs or toes. In this chapter, Chaol and Dorian are also reunited. 

“‘I didn’t realize I looked that bad,’ Dorian said, his voice raw. He knew then—that the demon inside the price was gone. Chaol wept.” 

Dorian names Chaol Lord Westfall on page 621, now that he’s King. 

The plan is for Chaol to go to the healer at the Torre Cesme along with Nesryn to try to heal his legs and make an ally of the Southern Continent for reinforcements in their army. 

Why Did The Eye Of Elena Start Working For Chaol?

In chapter 88, Dorian asks why the Eye of Elena worked for Chaol when the king tried to kill him, but he had been wearing it for months prior, and it did nothing. Aelin says, “Courage of the heart,” and that when Chaol stayed back to sacrifice himself for Aelin and Dorian, “that courage saved him, made the amulet come alive for him.” 

The trio of Aelin, Dorian, and Chaol go off on their separate adventure, which picks up in the next book!

Tower of Dawn 

Okay, Chaol girlies, buckle up because Tower of Dawn is THE Chaol book! As the OG Chaol girl when this book was announced, I was the unpopular opinion queen of the world, over the moon to sink my teeth into this 600-page book all about my BOY! 

The book starts with Chaol going to the Southern continent to visit the healers of the Torre Cesme and try to get aid in the war against Erawan, as well as to seek healing from the Torre Cesme. Nersyn also comes with him (she is so boring sorrrrrrry), and he is grumpy as can be. 

Chaol is named Hand of the King of Adarlan and Ambassador of Terrasen, which we learn in chapter 2 of Tower of Dawn. Nersyn has taken over the title of Captain of the Guard. The two meet with the Khaganate (the rulers of the Southern Contentment), and though they do not agree to join their cause, Chaol is given access to the healers. 

Kashin (one of the Princes of the Khaganate) tells Chaol that their youngest sister recently died. Though it appeared to be suicide, they suspect something foul of a dark nature…

Chaol is tasked to be on the lookout for an evil presence similar to what he has experienced with the Valg and such in Adarlan.

Chaol Meets Yrene

Chaol first meets Yrene in chapter 5 when Yrene visits the palace to do a physical assessment of his spinal injury. The meeting is prickly, at best. Yrene struggles to keep her composure around Chaol, knowing that he worked under the King of Adarlan, and Chaol, in his dark and twisty mood, is just a prick all the time. During the physical, Yrene writes the names of the last four generations of women in her family who had been killed by the King. 

When Yrene leaves Chaols room, he finds the paper. At first, he can’t make sense of the list of names, he puts it together and loses all hope that he will be healed by Yrene. 

“Chaol knew what had gone on in Fenharrow during their youth. Knew what Sorscha had endured there—and what she’d endured in Rifthold…No, Chaol realized as he held that piece of paper. Yrene Towers would not be returning.”

In chapter 8, Yrene returns to Chaol and tells him that she will work on his injury and try to get him walking agian. Yrene immediately notices that there is more tension between Chaol and Nesryn, which will be important later. 

When Yrene starts to use her magic on Chaol’s injury she can feel the presence of the dark magic the King of Adarlan left behind.

“And then that echo of nothingness…it seemed to awaken.”

Yrene is physically pushed back by the dark magic in Chaol’s injury and she tells him to tell her what he knows and is keeping from her. Chaol tells her of Erawan and the Valg. The only things he doesn’t tell her are the Wyrd keys and who inflicted his injury. 

Yrene tells Chaol that the reason she decided to help him heal is because she feared that when she returned to the Northern Continent to help heal people in the war, that not helping Chaol would be held against her by himself or Nersyn. He tells her that that is not the kind of people they are, which she counters by saying that he served someone who DID hold things against people and punish them for it.

Chaol admits to Yrene that he knew some of what the King was doing and that he let things go because he knew that there was a greater future for his kingdom if he could keep Dorian alive long enough to become the new king.

He tells her that what changed him from letting things slide was meeting someone who changed him and the path that he is now on (which WE know is Aelin)!

“So you may look at me with resentment, Yrene Towers, and I will not blame you for it. But believe me when I say that there is no one in Erilea who loathes me more than I do myself.”

Yrene tells him that he will have to face the emotional damage of his injury if he wants to heal, but at this point, Chaol is still not willing to talk through what has happened to him.

After Yrene experiences the Valg in the library of the Torre, she tells Chaol that she believes that something is hunting her because she is trying to heal him. Chaol tells Yrene that he is looking for a dark presence from Morath while he is here, per the Khaganate, who believe that their youngest sister’s death was foul play.  

In chapter 13, Yrene, while healing Chaol, gets a glimpse into Morath and Erawan’s pov (kinda like when Pippin grabs the Palantír). Chaol, being the sweetie that he is, tries to make sure Yrene is taken care of before himself after their grueling five-hour healing session. Yrene is still put off by Chaol’s past so she leaves, but she takes notice of Chaol’s reliance on the pain that occurs while she is healing him (this man has to wear a horse bit, and like not in a sexy way, but in a he-is-SCREAMING-from-pain kinda way…)

“Yet he had not asked her to stop. And part of Yrene wondered, as she trudged through the palace, if Lord Chaol had not asked her to stop just because he’d learned how to manage pain, but because he somehow felt he deserved it.”

Yrene is catching on to the self-hate here.

Chaol Vists The Torre For The First Time 

In chapter 14, Chaol rides a horse for the first time since his accident to the Torre to help teach the acolytes self defense with Yrene. Though it’s a struggle for him to get onto the horse, it gives Chaol some dignity back, something Yrene does consistently throughout the book. 

In chapter 15, Yrene tells Chaol how her mother was burned alive. This leads right into chapter 16 were we switch to Chaol’s perspective. As Yrene heals Chaol, he sees his trauma. And it’s A LOT!

As Chaol begins to think that all the physical and emotional pain is not worth even coming back from, we can see that the darkness IS feeding on those thoughts. Then, he sees a light through that darkness which is Yrene’s powers. 

“Perhaps it would be a mercy. He wasn’t entirely certain his presence—his presence beyond made any sort of difference. Not enough to warrant trying. Coming back at all. The darkness liked that. Seemed to thrive on that.”

Chaol’s First Signs Of Getting Feeling Back In His Legs

At the end of chapter 16, after Yrene has done another round of healing on Chaol, she tells him that she saw Morath and some of his memories from before he traveled to the Southern Continent. 

“But then I heard your screaming. Not out here, but…in there…And I realized that attacking that solid wall was…I think it was a distraction. A diversion. So I followed the sounds of your screaming. To you…It was so focused upon ripping you apart that it did not see me coming…I don’t know if it did anything, but…I couldn’t stand it. To watch to listen. I was startled when I leaped in, but I didn’t know if it would wait the next time. If it will remember. There’s a…sentence to it. Not a living thing, but as if a memory were set free in the world.”

After Chaol hears all this from Yrene, his only response is to apologize for what happened to her mother. Yrene and Chaol start to let down some walls with one another, and Chaol confides in Yrene about what happened with Sorcha and Dorian, telling him to run and how Chaol listened to that order to only regret that he ran and didn’t stay and protect Dorian. 

As they sit in his bed, Yrene whips her head up and calls him by his name for the first time when she sees him move his toes on his own. 

Nesryn And Chaol Breakup 

In chapter 21, Chaol and Yrene are sat together at dinner by Hasar (because Hasar wants Yrene to get information about Aelin from Chaol) and the cracks in Nesryn and Chaol finally start to come to the surface. Nesryn clearly likes Sartaq, and she can also see how Chaol is starting to feel about Yrene. Chaol tells Nesryn that he needs her with him, but she responds by asking “Do you?”

In chapter 24, Nesryn decides to leave with Sartaq, leaving Chaol a note telling him that she does not expect him to stay true to any promises he has made her, and likewise for herself. 

At the start of chapter 23, Chaol and Yrene begin another healing session. This time, we get a look into Chaol’s relationship with his father and the guilt he feels about leaving his mother and brother behind, as well as the men that got hurt after his father learned that they helped Chaol. We also see his guilt about the death of Nehemia and the information he withheld from Aelin. As he sees more things from his past that hurt him, he starts to give into the darkness until he is shown a memory from Yrene’s childhood where she’s learning about herbs with her mother. 

“For it was love that shaded the entirety of the world here, gilded it. Love and joy. Happiness.”

When he wakes from the pain, he can move his whole foot, and Yrene is moved to tears by seeing her mother again. 

She confindes in Chaol that her mother broke her healer’s oaths to never harm someone the night that Yrene fled. 

“She saw the solder grab me, and she…she leaped on him…She killed him. To buy me time to run. And I did. I left her. I ran…”

I think this is another way that Yrene and Chaol can help heal each other: because of their similar trauma and guilt for running when someone they loved put themself in harm’s way to save them. We can also see how much Yrene is helping Chaol when she tells him that he deserved better than how his father treated him.

“The words hit something sore and festering—something he had locked up and not examined for a long time.”

Chapter 23 ends with Chaol asking Yrene to stay and eat with him, and this time she does!

In Chapter 26, Chaol finds the letter that Nesryn left for him. He feels very guilty for using her as a crutch and for developing feelings for Yrene while still being with Nesryn. So, of course, he takes it out on Yrene later in the chapter. 

Yrene Is Hunted At The Palace

In chapter 27, Yrene makes her way back to Chaol’s room to tell him off for how he treated her during their healing session. On the way to his room, she hears footsteps behind her and realizes that she’s being followed/hunted by the Valg again. She gets to Chaol’s room in the nick of time. As they barricade themselves in his room, Chaol can hear the Valg calling for Yrene by her name. They learn that she’s being hunted because she is making too much progress healing the darkness within Chaol’s magic injury from the King of Adarlan. 

Chaol and Yrene decide to face the Valg together, but right when they open the door, the palace guards have scared off the Valg. 

In the next chapter, Prince Kashin offers to escort Yrene back to the Torre, but she declines saying that she feels safest staying with Chaol in his rooms. EEEEK! 

As Chaol watches Yrene sleep, he thinks about how she feels safest with him. He reflects about Shen (the guard with a prosthetic arm), and that he sees him “No less a man without that arm—no less a guard.” The next day, Chaol goes to the guard and asks to start training with him, and continues to train with him everyday before dawn. 

Chaol Tells Yrene About The Men He Lost 

Another turning point in Chaol’s healing is in chapter 33 when Yrene asks Chaol to stay for dinner at the Torre. After they share a meal, Yrene asks Chaol about his past and what it was like growing up training to become one of the King’s guards. This leads to Chaol telling her about Brullo and his other men who died during the events in Queen of Shadows. Chaol had not talked about them up to this point. 

“And somehow, talking about Brullo, the man who had been a better father to him than his own…It did not hurt, not as much. A lower, quieter ache, but one he could withstand. One he was glad to weather, if it meant honoring a good man’s legacy by telling his story.”

As Chaol rides back to his room at the palace, he feels lighter than he has since the battle of the glass castle. 

Chaol Stands!

Chaol stands for the first time since his injury in chapter 38. After Chaol was unable to get an audience with the Khagan because he couldn’t even get around the guards in his chair, he’s feeling very sorry for himself. Chaol tells Yrene that he wants to be able to walk again so that he can fight for his kingdom, and she simply responds by telling him to “get up”.

They are both in a mood and looking for a fight, so in between times of Yrene telling Chaol to “get up” (hehe that sounds dirty), they both start taking shots at each other. Chaol asks Yrene “if Kashin isn’t good enough for her, why would he be?”, as well as calling her out for being disappointed when she heard Nesryn was returning. Let’s just say things are heated!

Chaol takes things too far by telling Yrene that she hasn’t done anything with her pain and trauma all the years she’s been in the South after fleeing Adarlan. He knows he went to far the moment he says it. 

“Chaol felt the words hit their mark. Felt the stillness shudder through her body. Right as he pushed up—right as his weight adjusted and knees bent, and he found himself standing…She reached for the handle. Fumbled blindly for it. And if she left, if he let her walk out… Yrene pushed down the handle. And Chaol took a step towards her.” 

Chaol apologies and Yrene keeps moving away from her as he keeps walking towards her. Turns out she was goading him on purpose, trying to get him to get up and walk!! So, all is forgiven between them; so forgiven, in fact, that they kiss (eeeeek!!!) for the first time as soon as Chaol catches up to her (in chapter 39). 

“She was trembling. Not with fear, not as she looked up at him. And it was only when Yrene settled her hand on his chest, not to push him away but to feel the raging, thunderous heartbeat beneath, that Chaol lowered his head and kissed her.”

Chaol Tells Yrene About His Mens’ Death

In chapter 44, while away on Yrene’s birthday party trip, Chaol confides in Yrene about what happened last spring in Adarlan. He starts by telling her about the men he grew up with, and then tells her that they are all gone.

“‘Were,’ he breathed And there it was. That one word, swallowed by the loom and shade of the oasis, that he could barley stand. Were.” 

He tells her how they were tortured but none of them broke and gave up information about where to find Chaol. 

“It was my fault. The king—he did it to punish me. For running, for helping the rebels in Rifthold. He…it was all because of me.” 

Yrene And Chaol Sleep Together For The First Time

At the end of chapter 45, after Chaol gives Yrene the locket for her birthday, they have sex together for the first time (Chaol is a consent king, of course). 

“He realized that here, among the dune and stars…Here, in the heart of a foreign land…Here, with her, he was home.”

Chaol Is Healed By Yrene

Chaol is fully healed from his injury in chapter 55. Yrene decides that she’s going to end this now and fully heal Chaol from the darkness that is dwelling in his injury. 

We get a good look at the negativity that it is feeding on Chaol and what he thinks of himself at the beginning of the chapter (“traitor” and “oath breaker” being a common theme for him). He hates himself and wants to give up, having all of his failures played over and over in font of him, when he finally admits to himself that some part of him doesn’t want to fully heal because he deserves this darkness and pain. 

“He had made one promise. He had not broken it yet. To save them. His friend, his kingdom. He still had that. Even here at the bottom of this dark hell, he still had that.”

When Chaol wakes up in the next chapter, he has no pain and is fully healed, having gained back all the strength and movement in his legs and back. And truly, more than just his back is healed, because his heart is too <3 

Chaol tells Yrene that he loves her for the first time in chapter 56.

“Then it is a good thing, Yrene Towers, that I love you as well…From the moment you walked into the sitting room that first day…I think I knew, even then…You looked at me without an ounce of pity. You saw me. Not the chair or the injury. You saw me. It was the first time I’d felt…seen. Felt awake in a long time.”

Chaol Learns About Maeve’s Attack On Aelin

Chaol learns about the events of the ending of Emprire of Storms in chapter 59. The two return to the palace and are met by Hasar who bears the news from the Northern Continent of what has been going on with Aelin and the state of Adarlan. Chaol’s first thought is of Dorian: “Where can I find my king, my brother?” 

Hasar tells Chaol that Maeve’s armada was met with a favor Aelin had called in from the Silent Assassins of the Red Desert, and a favor from Wendlyn of an armada led by the Crown Prince Galan. Hasar reveals that Aelin also sent a letter to herself asking for help from one princess to another, promising “A better world.”

Duva Breaks Chaol’s Back Again

Chaol wants to convince the Khaganate to join Aeiln in the war, so he and Yrene head to the Torre to find out more information about Yrene’s theory of healing the Valg. At the Torre, they are looking for the Healing on High, Hafiza, and find her missing under sus circumstances. When they go into the tunnels of the library to search for her, they are met by Duva, who is possessed by a Valg Princess and holding Hafiza hostage. To make the stakes higher, she is also pregnant, and the Valg is threatening the baby, Hafiza, and Yrene!

The Valg princess who is possessing Duva admits to being the one who killed Tumelun, and that what she wants from Chaol and Yrene IS Yrene. In chapter 62, Duva tells them that Erawan has sent her here to bring Yrene, Silba’s heir, to him, and that she has a Valg ring for Yrene. 

Chaol fights Duva to protect the others, but it ends with Duva attacking him and the full brunt of the impact landing on his back, undoing all the work that Yrene had done on his back at the end of chapter 62. 

Chapter 63 starts with Duva beating the crap out of Chaol’s spine over and over again, and Chaol once again loses the feeling of his legs. 

Yrene Saves Chaol

In chapter 63, Yrene manages to get hold of a knife and pin Duva down to where she can end the fight and end Duva’s life. Yrene is conflicted because she swore to never take a life, and Duva’s baby would also die, but she WOULD take this life for Chaol. Her healing magic can sense that Chaol is dying, but Chaol calls out her name and tells her to stop and spare Duva. 

As Chaol is dying, the classic Sarah J. Maas trope occurs: Chaol doesn’t die, and instead comes back to life! The healers all come together to create a living chain of power and they bring Chaol back.

“The healers of the Torre lowered their hand, severing that bridge of contact, as Chaol’s feet moved. Then, his knees. And then his eyes cracked open, and he was staring up at Yrene, her tearing plopping onto his blood-crusted face. He lifted a hand to brush her lips. ‘Dead?’ ‘Alive,’ she breathed and lowered her face to his. ‘Very much alive.’ Chaol smiled against her mouth, sighing dee, and he said, ‘Good.’ Yrene raised her head, and he smiled up at her again, cracked blood sliding away from his face with the motion. And where that scar had once sliced down his cheek…only unmarred skin remained.”

Okay, I’m in tears over the scar for Crown of Midnight healing as such beautiful symbolism for Chaol healing from his past 🥲

However, Yrene’s healing of Chaol didn’t come with out a cost. Yrene and Chaol’s lives are now tied together, so if she dies, so does he. As well as that, Chaol’s use of his legs is tied to Yrene’s power, so when Yrene’s power is drained, he will be affected by his injury, causing him to still need use of a cane or the chair on some days.

However, Chaol no longer thinks of the chair as a prison, and you can see how much he has grown as a person and found his self worth from Yrene.

“‘Using the chair is not a punishment. It is not a prison,’ he said. ‘It never was. And I am as much of a man in that chair, or with that cane, as I am standing on my feet.’ ‘I wanted to heal you,’ she breathed. ‘You did,’ he said, smiling. ‘Yrene, in every way that truly matters… You did.’”

CUTE! Chaol is healed in his mind and we love that! Self love baby! I know I love Chaol enough for the both of us, but glad he feels that way about himself now too. 

Yrene Gets The Khagan To Send Aid To The Northern Continent! 

Yrene uses her theory of healing the Valg and is able to get the Valg princess out of Duva, who’s a little traumatized but delivers a healthy baby and is no longer possessed. The Khagan tells Yrene she can have anything she wants in return for saving his daughter, and she asks them to join the war. 

Chaol Gets Married 

Though we don’t get to read the actual wedding ceremony, we learn that Chaol and Yrene are now husband and wife in chapter 68.

The two newlyweds are on a ship sailing to the North to join the war. They’re accompanied by many healers from the Torre, as well as the Khaganate army, Nesryn, Sartaq, and the Ruk Riders. Chaol teasingly calls Yrene “Lady Westfall”, and I swoon every time I read it. 

Kingdom Of Ash

Chaol’s first appearance in Kingdom of Ash is in chapter 6. Chaol and Yrene are still traveling by boat from the Southern continent to the Northern continent. This first chapter with the two of them is essentially a recap for the readers of the events of Tower of Dawn. I feel like this is something Sarah always does, but it’s really nice for the reader to get a quick reminder, especially with how many characters we’re following by this last book! The chapter ends with the reader leaning that Yrene is pregnant, but Chaol doesn’t know yet. 

Chaol Decides To Return To Anielle 

In chapter 11, Chaol decides to put a pause on looking for Dorian and instead return to Anielle. During their scouting, the Ruk Riders see that Morath’s army is headed straight for his childhood home. Though it will be kinda traumatic to see his piece-of-crap dad, Chaol decides to go and warn/defend Anielle. This is another full-circle moment for Chaol because he chooses to serve and follow Dorian over his homeland and birthright. Now, he goes back and is able to work through all that.

Yrene, of course, tells him that she’s going with him, and this leads to some great confrontations between Chaol’s dad and Yrene.  

Chaol Returns Home To Anielle

Chaol and his crew arrive in Anielle in chapter 18. Yrene feels very defensive of Chaol because she has heard all about his relationship with his dad and has seen memories of his father from when she was healing Chaol. Chaol is reunited with his father, and it’s awkward. 

Not only does his dad call out Yrene for not being “noble” enough for their family but he also calls Chaol out for “turning his back on Anielle”. 

“Have you come back to bleed for Anielle, then? To bleed for this city at last?”

Yrene, however is having NONE of this bs and sets Chaol’s father straight. 

“I am the heir apparent to the Healer on High of the Torre Cesme. I came at your son’s behest, back to the lands of my birth, to help in this war, along with two hundred healers from the Torre itself. Your son spent the last several months foreign an alliance with the Khaganate, and now all of the Khagan’s armies sail to this continent to save your people. So while you sit here in your miserable keep, tossing insults at him, know that he has done what no other could do, and if your city survives, it will be because of him, not you.”

Chaol Learns About His Baby

Chaol learns that Yrene is pregnant at the end of chapter 40. Morath has arrived and is preparing to attack Anielle. Chaol tells his father that if he does not lead the men of Anielle, he will do it then, and his father responds by telling him that Yrene is pregnant. Chaol is shocked; his father observed Yrene’s mealtime sickness and how she often touches her belly, but Chaol hadn’t noticed. Before he can process or respond, Morath begins their attack on Anielle. 

Chaol And Aelin Reunite

The moment we all (at least myself) have been waiting two books for! Chaol and Aelin reunite in chapter 48 of Kingdom of Ash. As things are looking more and more dire for Anielle, Aelin, Rowan and the rest of her Cadre arrive in Chaol’s war tent. 

I LOVE this reunie, because not only does Chaol introduce Aelin to his wife, Yrene, but also you see how much these two have developed. They’re at a great place in their friendship and respect one another. 

After Yrene gives Aelin the note from Assassin’s Blade, thanking her and telling her all that she has done to become a healer since Aelin gave her the money to get out of Innish, Aelin returns the thanks for healing Chaol.

Aelin and Chaol introduce their spouses to each other, and it is SO cute. 

“But Aelin’s gaze fell upon the wedding band on Yrene’s finger, and when she glanced to Chaol, he grinned. ‘No longer Yrene Towers,’ Chaol said softly, ‘but Yrene Westfall.’” 

Aelin is full of joy, and she, in return, introduces Rowan to Yrene as her husband and mate. 

Yrene Tells Chaol She Is Pregnant

Yrene and Chaol finally talk about the baby in chapter 54, and it is ABOUT time. Chaol is taking care of Farasha in the stables, having a moment of quiet, when Yrene joins him. He tells her that he “knows”, and when she asks what he knows ,he simply places their joined hands on her belly. 

Chaol isn’t angry that Yrene hadn’t told him because he knew that she just didn’t want him to worry with, ya know, them being in the middle of a war and all. 

“‘I am happier than I can every express, Yrene, to share this with you. Anything you need, I am yours to command.’ Her lips twitched upward. ‘Dangerous words.’ But Chaol ran his thumb over her wedding band. ‘I’ll have to win this war quickly, then so I can have our house built by the summer.’”

Chaol Finds Letters From His Mom

Chaol’s father tries to make a bargain with Chaol, though Chaol tells him that his father has nothing he could possibly want. Chaol’s dad tries to barter with a trunk of letters, all addressed to him.

The letters are all from his mom who has been writing to him since the day he left, though his father kept them from being sent, instead letting his mother believe that Chaol never bothered to respond. 

“Years. Years of letters, from a mother he had not heard from, had believed hadn’t wanted to speak to him, had yielded to his father’s wishes.”

His father tells him the reason he did this was to punish Chaol for walking away from his birthright. 

Though his dad thinks these letters will work to get Chaol to barter with him, Chaol, for the first time, stands up to his father. 

“‘Keep the letters,’ he said, steering his chair back to the doors. ‘Now that she’s left you, it might be your only way to remember her…I don’t make bargains with bastards,’ Chaol said, smiling again as he entered the hall beyond. ‘I’m certainly not going to start with you.’”

We learn how he deep down wishes he could forgive his father when he talks to Gavriel about Aedion in chapter 73. I think this section is meaningful too, because Chaol, as a soon to be dad, can see the type of father he wants to be. 

“‘Because you are his father,’ he said. ‘And no matter what might lie between you, Aedion will always want to forgive you.’ There it was, his own secret shame, still warning within him after all his father had done. Even after the trunk full of his mother’s letters.”

Chaol And Dorian Reunite 

Chaol and Dorian are reunited (FINALLY) in chapter 91 of Kingdom of Ash. Chaol is part of Aelin’s army march north towards Terrasen, and Dorian sees the army when he’s flying overhead as a wyvern. Dorian doesn’t know that Chaol is with them, though he hopes. 

“The world went quiet. The approaching rider halted, another—a beautiful woman Dorian could only describe as golden—right behind. But Dorian stared at the rider before him. At the posture of the body, the commanding seat he possessed. And as Chaol Westfall dismounted and ran the last few feet towards Dorian, the King of Adarlan wept.”

The two brothers are back together, and I cry every time I read this part. I almost cried writing this quote because it’s tooooo presh.

Chaol introduces Yrene to Dorian and also tells him that Dorian is soon to be an uncle. 

Aelin, Dorian, and Chaol are all back together again, and it is a full-circle moment for this trio! 

The Vote Between Who Will Close The Gate

In the same chapter, Aelin proposes that they will vote between herself and Dorian as to who will be the one to sacrifice themself and close the gate to end this mess. Dorian suggests he should be the one to do it, and Chaol insists no. 

“I’d rather neither of my friends die. I’d rather none of this happen.”

It’s decided they will close the gate together, and when it comes time for that, in chapter 93, Chaol and Rowan go with Aelin and Dorian to be there for them. 

“In the moonlight, Chaol’s face was pale. ‘What do you need us to do?’ ‘Be here,’ Aelin said simply. ‘That’s enough.’” 

Yrene Saves The World

Chaol has been fighting the army of Morath alongside his best friend/brother Dorian (after he and Aelin close the gate but don’t kill Erawan blah blah blah, it has nothing to do with Chaol). Now, it’s time for Yrene to take action. Chaol at first objects in fear of her safety, but he knows that only she can end this. 

“‘You can’t.’ Yrene put her hands atop Chaol’s and brought them brow to brow. ‘You are my joy,’ was all she said to him. Her husband, her dearest friend, closed his eyes. The reek of Valg blood and metal clung to him, and yet beneath it—beneath it, that was his scent. The smell of home. Chaol at last opened his eyes, the bronze of them so vivid. Alive. Utterly alive. Full of trust, and understanding, and pride. ‘Go save the world, Yrene.’” 

Yrene leaves with Dorian, but before they leave, Chaol tells Dorian to “keep her safe”.

“Perhaps the only order, Yrene realized, he would ever give his king. Their king.”

In chapter 113, Dorian’s shape shifts to appear as Yrene, trapping Erawan in a Wyrdmark. Once he is trapped, Yrene uses her healing powers, which Dorian amplifies with his own magic to take down Erawan until he’s destroyed forever. 

“His dark power rose, a wave to devour the world. Yrene did not let it touch her. Touch any of them. Hope. It was hope that Chaol had said she carried with her. Hope that now grew in her womb. For a better future. For a free world.”

Chaol And Yrene Reunite

After Yrene saves the world like the baddie that she is, she’s reunited with Chaol in chapter 116. 

“Chaol slid his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck. ‘It’s over then,’ he said against her skin, unable to stop the shaking that took over, the mix of relief and joy and lingering, phantom terror.”

Chaol and Yrene can now start their life together with their new family, and are both so filled with joy for the life that is just beginning for them. 

Chaol Receives A Letter From His Mother

In chapter 120, Chaol receives a letter from his mother. However, he’s unable to read it until Yrene helps him. His mother tells him that she has always loved him from the moment he was born, and that his father told her what he did with the letters.

She says in the letter that she is proud of him, and it’s nice to see that Chaol, going forward, will have a healthy relationship with at least one of his parents. He tells Yrene they are going to need to build a bigger house, so hopefully, Yrene is cool with living with her mother-in-law 🤪

Chaol At The End Of The Throne Of Glass Series

Chaol and Dorian say goodbye to Aelin at the end of Kingdom of Ash as they prepare to return to their own kingdom. 

“Aelin looked at Chaol and Dorian and sobbed. Opened her arms to them, and wept as they held each other. ‘I love you both,’ she whispered. ‘And no matter what may happen, no matter how far we may be, that will never change.’” 

They promise the three of them will change the world together, and that they will all see each other again before Chaol, Yrene, and Dorian leave to return to Adarlan. 

And that is the last time we read about Chaol! It’s safe to assume that Chaol lives happily ever after because I want him to!!!

Anywho, what are your fave Chaol moments? Let me know below!!

Happy reading!

-Paisley

Other Articles From PaisleyReads: Is Aelin In House Of Flame And Shadow?