seladon ii of ha’rar is a member of the secretive humanoid short race species gelfling, known otherwise as the ghel - ifainnk or “those who live without knowledge of the future”. she hails from the region of skarith, a landmass south of and separated from the city of baldur’s gate by the black river, which additionally bisects the territory into northern and southern hemispheres. the eldest of three daughters, seladon is raised as the crown heir to the vapran all - maudra seat – a title that will effectively name her as queen of the gelfling race. as part of her training to one day inherit the title from her mother, she has been rigorously advised in the arts of battle strategy and political negotiation.
seladon’s quest as a companion is the silver queen, and spans all acts of the game. in it, seladon discovers the truth of the skeksis lords, an aberration race that holds subjugation over the gelfling and their skarith homeland, and grapples with the future of herself and her people. her story in act one serves as an alternate route to visiting the githyanki crèche, though to choose one over the other will drastically impact the player character’s approval rating with either seladon or lae’zel.
seladon prefers dialogue that takes the party down paths of least resistance, especially in the company of significant political or social leaders. in more casual contexts, she appreciates blunt, direct responses, and approves when the player character expresses understanding and respect for her position, as well as the amount of responsibility she has undertaken in her lifetime as crown heir. she also showcases a great deal of admiration for cordial interaction with children, such as rescuing arabella in act one and absorbing her into the camp in act two, saving mirkon from the harpies at the grove in act one, and allowing yenna to stay with the party in act three.
seladon generally dislikes dialogue options that incite conflict with an outside party or directly result in combat, especially when a diplomatic avenue is available. this extends to interactions between herself and the player character. she also, similarly to lae’zel and astarion, does not agree with aiding others for the sake of benevolence and will be quick to remark on how these distract from the greater mission at hand. if brea is present within the campaign, siding with her over seladon in an argument will greatly and negatively impact approval rating spanning act one and into act two.
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 .
once recruited by the party, seladon will begin to slowly dispense information about herself and her people, as the gelfling race has held very little contact with greater faerûn in the years since their conquest by the skeksis. when presented the option to sidetrack to the githyanki crèche located within the rosymorn monastery by lae’zel, she will suggest to visit skarith across the black river instead, citing her lords’ similar origins to the illithid as allowing them a better understanding of the parasites – and, the means to have them extracted. agreeing to take this route, whether outright or through later navigation to the skarith territory, will earn the player character her favor, while taking the party through the rosymorn monastery will result in a negative impact on the relationship.
upon crossing into skarith, the party will be met by the royal vapran paladins led by seladon’s middle sister tavra, who is relieved to discover the crown heir alive but immediately recognizes something corrupted within her. she escorts the group to the citadel in the gelfling capital of ha’rar where they meet with seladon and tavra’s mother, all - maudra mayrin. this results in a tense interaction between mother and daughter regarding her condition and the matter of her responsibilities, though mayrin will abide their passage into the stonewood territory to hold commune with the skeksis lords. throughout their trek, the party will come across areas of arcane blight within skarith’s wildlife, the cause of which is presently unknown.
at the castle of the crystal, group is once again escorted to a throne room, wherein they encounter the imposing skekso and his council of skeksis lords. seladon relays the events of the past weeks to the emperor, and agreement is made that she and her companions are of most dire condition. they are instructed to go with skektek the scientist, who claims he has the means of extracting the tadpoles without causing physical harm ; if a successful perception check is rolled at this time, the player will be able to ascertain that the skeksis are lying, though bringing this up serves only to make both seladon and skekso irritable.
upon reaching skektek’s laboratory, it will be revealed the skeksis have corrupted the living heart of thra, resulting in the blight the party encountered on their journey to the castle, and that skektek has fashioned draining chairs that will siphon a creature of their essence and allow it to be consumed by the skeksis lords for sustenance. at this point the garthim, an unnnatural amalgamation species created by the scientist, will make their entrance to aid in restraining the party members. combat is initiated as the group makes their escape, though the garthim are invulnerable and harming / outright killing gelfling members of the castle guard will result in disapproval from seladon. during their escape, she is attacked by one of the skeksis and endures three claw mark wounds up the left side of her face ; these will later scar and remain present through the remainder of the narrative.
that night, skekso opens a communication pathway between the castle and the encampment, speaking to seladon through the blue flame of the fire pit. he warns that spreading word of skeksis treachery will result in a war between themselves and gelfling kind, culminating in the total extermination of her species. he also claims that her mother has already been murdered by the general skekvar for her acts of treason against the skeksis, and that tavra has been taken hostage and is currently held in captivity within the castle ; any return to skarith to attempt to rescue her will result in the deaths of her and her traveling companions. left with no other choice, the party vacates the area come the morning and continues on their journey to the underdark.
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 .
if access is gained to ketheric’s chambers at moonrise towers, the party will find a map of skarith and outlined invasion plans for the area, laid alongside strategies for the invasion of waterdeep, baldur’s gate, and the sword coast as a whole. here, it is revealed that seladon was abducted as part of a plan concocted by the skeksis and the mindflayers to bring gelfing under total aberration control, with the royal family as their means to coax the public into implantation and incubation of illithid parasites. additional correspondence can also be found between ketheric and skekso confirming the murder of the all - maudra and death of tavra under skeksis custody, claiming that the middle sister incited an uprising among her fellow prisoners that resulted in the execution of her and everyone else involved. if seladon is in the party at this time, she will leave to return to camp and be unrecruitable again until the next long rest ; if she is not, the player character must break the news to her with the documentation as evidence, and she will again be unwilling to join campaign until the following long rest period.
at the end of act two, while the party is still present within the astral realm, they are able to navigate to a neighboring landmass and encounter mother aughra, the true mother god of skarith who has been imprisoned by the skeksis for nearly a thousand trine past. she relays her plight to the group, and if seladon is present, she will ask of her personally to return to skarith and usher her people into an age of gelfling liberation ; at this time, the player character will be able to persuade her into either accepting aughra’s mission or rebuking it, depending on approval and prior interactions. if seladon accepts, aughra will name her as one of her chosen, stating that she has already been able to project her consciousness to a select number of gelfing beyond the realm and bestowed them the same mission, chief among them seladon’s youngest sister brea.
𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 .
prior to reaching the lower city, contact will once again be established between skarith and the party’s encampment through the mythical gelfling blue fire, this time by a stonewood soldier named rian seeking counsel with seladon. he names himself a friend of brea’s and the lover of castle guard mira, who was among the first gelfling drained by the skeksis. he informs the de facto all - maudra that he leads the gelfling resistance in its current state and that mother aughra has established contact through dreamspace, an interim of the physical world and the astral realm, to make him aware of a dual glaive that will lead to skeksis downfall. though he has found one half of the blade in a forge within stone - in - the - wood, aughra has advised that the second piece was separated deliberately by the skeksis and may have been hidden someplace within baldur’s gate.
after the party is made aware of helsik and journeys to the devil’s fee, this second half of the dual glaive can be found on display as one of her hellish wares. when confronted for its acquisition, helsik will state that she may only part with it in trade for the gauntlets of hill giant strength from archdevil raphael’s house of hope. regardless of whether seladon is a member of the party at this time, she will keep this piece of the dual glaive in her inventory until campaign finale.
acquiring the second half of the dual glaive will prompt skekso to appear in the fire for the final time, confronting seladon for her aid of the resistance. here, he will offer her a choice : she may keep the dual glaive within her custody and potentially doom her people to extinction at skeksis doing, or she can swear fealty to her lords and hand the blade over following netherbrain’s destruction, continuing their subjugation over the gelfling but assuring that no more of her people will die than necessary to maintain their longevity. depending on prior character interaction, seladon can be persuaded to either continue assisting the gelfling rebellion, or to betray them and hand over the dual glaive.
𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 .
𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙉 𝙏𝙊 𝙎𝙆𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙃. if seladon makes the decision to return to skarith at any point in the narrative, whether it be through permanently leaving the party or player character persuasion, she will be drained and killed by the skeksis.
𝙎𝙆𝙀𝙆𝙎𝙄𝙎 𝙍𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 𝙃𝘼𝙉𝘿. seladon can be convinced at any point through player interaction that the skeksis are only pursuing the means to ensure their own survival, and to enable the gelfling resistance is to bring about the downfall of her societal structure as she knows it. if successful in this fearmongering, or if she is persuaded to both reject aughra’s call to rebellion and give the dual glaive over to the skeksis, she will be appointed to skeksis court as a representative of the gelfling people. she will not attend the epilogue at withers’ invitation, and if the player inquires of her, withers will share that the song of skarith has gone quiet, implying that seladon’s complacency has wrought a period of wartime and species extermination upon skarith.
𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘼𝙇𝙇 - 𝙈𝘼𝙐𝘿𝙍𝘼. if seladon accepts aughra’s call to rebellion and keeps the dual glaive to herself, she will return to the skarith lands to serve as the gelfling’s all - maudra and advisor in the resistance against skeksis subjugation. in the epilogue, she mentions that they are presently working to free aughra from the astral realm, as well as maintaining the front lines until the next great conjunction that will allow them to both heal the dark crystal and banish the skeksis from the skarith lands. once both these are enacted, seladon will be able to lead her people into an age of rejuvenation and reintegration of the greater faerûn area.
i’m really sorry about my behavior. you see, growing up, my family- *remembers blaming all my problems on other people is really annoying and unhealthy* i mean. i am responsible for all the evils of this world and i bear sins like the sky bears the stars
disclaimer. this post is not conceptualized or executed with the intention of anything other than character study ; i do not seek to, nor is it my goal to, further any stigma or misrepresentation of borderline personality disorder / class b personality disorders as a whole. i am not a mental health professional, nor am i diagnosed with bpd myself. all diagnostic criteria are pulled from the dsm - 5 as last updated by the national library of medicine on april 20th, 2024. it is also worth noting for clarity’s sake that not all symptoms mentioned in the post below are indicative of bpd, nor do all symptoms attributed to bpd below manifest uniformly amongst diagnoses. be normal.
frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
given the living arrangement and dynamic of the vapran all - maudra immediate family, seladon’s efforts to avoid abandonment stem mostly from an effort to ward off emotional neglect, as her mother, the all - maudra herself, is unable and unwilling to leave her position among the gelfling people as their ruler, and seladon and her younger sisters are restricted to the royal citadel in terms of living conditions.
this is most apparent in the third episode of season one following mayrin dispatching tavra to the stonewood and drenchen clan biomes in search of suspected murderers rian and gurjin, and brea being sent to the order of lesser service for a year’s term following her inciting a diplomatic incident between the vapra and the sifa clan. mayrin, mourning her daughters’ presences within the homestead, remarks that her children have all gone despite seladon and her attempts to coax mayrin into honoring her meetings with the sifan delegates. seladon initially turns away from this comment, though ultimately saves face and manages to convince her mother to honor her responsibilities as the all - maudra. mayrin rewards this with words of praise ( “you will be a great all - maudra some day” ) and physical touch, which grants seladon an apparent sense of relief and elation. when her mother finalizes their interaction hardly a minute layer with a disparaging remark about posture and the appearance of her wings, however, seladon withers and retreats in on herself.
another example of this effort to avoid perceived emotional abandonment occurs within episode five, following aughra summoning her designated resistance leaders to the dreamspace to share with them the truth of skeksis betrayal ; seladon is in attendance at aughra’s council, as is all - maudra mayrin. when mayrin says that she believes aughra and accepts her charge to undo gelfling subjugation at the political level, seladon immediately makes herself known and attempts to demoralize aughra in front of the other gelfling, and to particularly dissuade her from giving sway to her mother’s morality. mayrin makes her own attempt to corral her daughter’s emotions, which prompts an outburst from seladon implicating the all - maudra in a pattern of hot - and - cold emotional gratification, and misunderstanding and underestimation of her eldest child’s beliefs and autonomy ( “me! you never see me!” ). where seladon was able to stave off perceived abandonment in the aforementioned interaction, mayrin holds fast in her stance on the side of aughra’s rebellion, and the feelings of rejection this bestows in seladon will prove the catalyst for much of her character arc and the political trajectory of the narrative for the remainder of the series.
a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
again, this is a symptom most apparent in the dynamic between seladon and mayrin. while some may perceive the culmination of their relationship as slowly bubbling up throughout the first five episodes of the season, the intense shift in seladon’s perception of mayrin occurs following her mother’s murder at the hands of the skeksis. she may not be consistently approving of the actions her mother takes or the enablement she enacts upon her sisters, but prior to her death, seladon does not take a vocal stance against mayrin or her treatment / curation of their familial dynamic. on the contrary, she clearly holds her mother to highest esteem and looks to her repeatedly for guidance and approval in the earliest episodes of the series : she is always the sister closest to the throne when their mother holds court, the sister that spends the most private and individualized company with their mother, and the sister that runs to mayrin first when there is unrest within the citadel. seladon even expresses to her younger sister, tavra, in episode 3 that she does not feel strong or prepared enough to one day inherit mayrin’s title, as their mother’s expectations and harsh emotional conduct around her leads her to believe that she is constantly failing the royal lineage.
following episode five and mayrin’s murder by skekvar the general for stating that she will no longer be complacent in the face of their brutality, there is a sudden and extreme alternation in seladon’s opinion of her mother. named the new all - maudra and given skeksis approval for her loyalty, she proudly and openly calls her mother a traitor in front of her constituents and implies that her murder was deserved for spreading heresy ; when she faces pushback for this opinion, she only doubles down ( “for shame!” “for thra” ). she even denies mayrin her proper burial rites as dictated by thra, opting instead to burn her mother’s corpse on a funerary pyre to make an example of her and what fate should befall those that rise against the skeksis. this new internal narrative culminates in an especially volatile relationship with fara, the maudra of the stonewood clan, who arrives in ha’rar for seladon’s coronation and immediately sides with resistance sentiment, stating that the lords will pay for the death of her mother and fara’s lifetime friend.
seladon’s sisters have also been made subject to her pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, though not as explicitly or markedly as in the case of her mother, and especially in the dynamic between seladon and youngest vapra daughter brea. it can be surmised through context both in series and in the young adult novels authored by j.m. lee that all three siblings once held a loving, amicable relationship with one another ; however, come adulthood, seladon only does not exhibit hostility in the presence of tavra. in the earliest episodes of the series, her relationship with brea is very quickly made apparent as one of volatility, speaking of each other derogatorily both within one another’s company and outside of it, and quickly manifesting anywhere from standard sibling bickering to an outright fight. however, much the same as her shift in perception of mayrin following her murder, seladon turns to expression of explicit loathing towards brea for her affiliation with the resistance and her heretical beliefs towards the skeksis. she blames her sister for their mother’s death, and has the lords take custody of her for further penalization despite witnessing evidence of their brutality and disregard for gelfling life. this trend continues up until episode 9 when tavra is killed by the skeksil the chamberlain, and though their relationship is on a healthy, mending trajectory, it would not unrealistic to assume seladon could gradually shift to an idealization of brea as her only living family member and a leader of the resistance.
identity disturbance : markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
one of the first impressions the audience makes of seladon is a character of pompousness, self-righteousness, and callousness. however, the narrative makes quick work of painting her as someone who struggles with proper identity and self-esteem, especially in her interactions with her mother. attention is first called to this in the aforementioned scene between herself and mayrin over whether or not she should honor her meetings with the sifa, to which seladon notably remarks “mother, you have always told me you are the all - maudra first, a mother second. just as i am a princess first, a daughter second. if we allow matters of the heart to distract us from our duties, we have failed thra”. this illustrates a longstanding pattern of seladon being taught to value herself within the boundaries of her title alone, and never being allowed to formulate a personhood beyond mayrin’s crown heir ; if she is not up to standard as a princess, she is not up to standard as a gelfling. she provides further commentary on this with tavra in the same episode, in which she expresses grief over her mother not recognizing work level she maintains to one day assume the all - maudra title, and stating that she does not feel strong enough to persist under her mother’s scrutiny. it is also worth noting that tavra has to coax seladon into this moment of genuinity between sisters, saying “pretend all you want, seladon, but i see you”, further implying a history of seladon’s confidence and coldness as a performance that ontributes to the falsehood of self she frequently grapples with.
affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood, for example, intense episodic dysphoria, anxiety, or irritability, usually lasting a few hours and rarely more than a few days.
moments of reactive irritability are repeatedly exhibited by seladon throughout the series, though most prominently in earlier episodes and especially in response to brea’s antics. bey examples include when brea is late to the yearly vapran tithing made to the skeksis ( the first of which youngest daughter has ever been invited to ), when brea drugs a fifan elder to the point of memory loss, and when brea disturbs a secret chamber beneath the all - maudra’s throne and uncovers a stone golem that promises the truth of the skeksis' origins. all of these instances result in a snide comment made by seladon that instantly sours her and brea’s camaraderie, with the lattermost devolving into a full argument over the ethics of standing against the lords of the crystal that mayrin must immediately extinguish. seladon’s moods are also greatly exacerbated by her grief and the instability that falls upon the royal citadel following her mother’s murder in later episodes, and though she attempts to save face during many of her public interactions, this emotional upheaval frequently manifests in paranoia and explosive anger towards others. these will be expanded upon in the following paragraphs.
inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger, for example, frequent displays of temper, constant anger, or recurrent physical fights.
while present in episode five during aughra’s audience in the dreamspace, seladon’s difficulty maintaining her anger is most notable in episode 6, in which the remaining maudras have made the journey to support seladon’s ascension to the title of all-maudra. her dynamic with fara has already been made sour over her conduct following mayrin’s murder, though it furthers when fara and laesid, maudra of the drenchen clan, both make the decision to withhold their clan’s blessage of the new all - maudra – an event that the other maudras remark has never occurred before. when seladon refuses to yield the title, fara challenges her to a trial by air, whereby the victor of the race through raunip’s pass will be made holder of the living crown. while she initially accepts, seladon later rebukes the coronation entirely, claiming that the seat of the all - maudra has been soiled by her mother’s treachery ( another example of her volatile interpersonal relationships ). she decides that she will maintain her rule over the gelfling people but as a direct agent of the skeksis, as they are the ones who titled her, and there will be no trial by air / means of fara usurping her. when the stonewood maudra reacts in outrage and takes flight, seladon grabs hold of her by the ankle and physically pulls her out of the air, causing her to collapse on the throne room floor. the other maudras react with appropriate shock, and though seladon does not pursue her anger further in this moment, she does not express remorse to fara either.
another example that displays seladon’s anger occurs in episode 8 within the company of aughra herself. following the skeksis’ successful siege on and internment of the stonewood clan, aughra makes the journey to assess the damage and calculate the best plan of action going forward against her visions of a victorious gelfling resistance. at the same time, seladon is travelling to the castle of the crystal to hold audience with the skeksis, and the two come to verbal blows when their paths cross for the first time since the dreamspace. while aughra is able to hold her own temper in check despite seladon’s disavowal, seladon is unable to restrain herself from escalation, insulting the mother - god and even physically shoving past her to resume her mount and her journey to the castle ( though this would allow aughra to place one of her eyes on seladon’s dress and eavesdrop on her negotiations with the skeksis ).
it is imperative to mention that the dsm - 5 also outlines an alternative dimensional model for diagnosing symptoms of borderline personality disorder, stating that it “defines personality disorders in terms of personality functioning and pathological traits”, and “this approach acknowledges that individuals do not usually present with symptoms of just one personality disorder”. this alternative diagnostic criteria includes two characteristic difficulties : moderate or greater impairment in personality functioning manifested by problems in two or more areas ( identity, self-direction, empathy, or intimacy ), and four or more present personality traits ( emotional lability, anxiousness, separation insecurity, depressivity, impulsivity, risk - taking, or hostility ). while many of these symptoms can be present in those that do not possess bpd, seladon’s concept of self and interactions with others are impaired by her issues surrounding identity and self - direction, and there are even moments within the series where she expresses markedly low empathy for the conditions of those around her and her own self. these same aspects of her daily life are also hindered by an emotional lability and hostility that make themselves especially apparent in the latter half of the season, and an overall depressivity, anxiousness, and separation insecurity brought to culmination by her relationship with her mother and the impending pressures of the throne.
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