Hawthorn

"First we tried to talk her down. And second … we tried something else. I thought we could stop her. I thought we could save everyone. It wasn't supposed to make her powerful. I thought, if I found the plant and we used it on her … that we'd be able to control her."

— Hawthorn explaining to Cricket and Sundew about Wasp, The Poison Jungle

Hawthorn was an adult male LeafWing who was introduced in The Poison Jungle. He had very powerful leafspeak abilities and was banished by Queen Sequoia for failing to mind-control Queen Wasp using the breath of evil, which led to her having the ability to mind-control the HiveWings. He was impaled in the neck and killed by Willow using an extremely sharp thorn after he and the othermind threatened to infect all of Pantala, subsequently taking over it.

Description

Hawthorn was gigantic in size. He had long green wings and green eyes.

Personality

Hawthorn seemed to be friendly and was very excited to see other dragons after being alone for many years. When Sundew and the other dragons arrived, he became very chatty and even a little forceful when Nettle, Willow, Mandrake, Cricket, and Sundew all told him that they were in a hurry. Hawthorn showed he was something of a prideful dragon when he bragged about his use of the breath of evil, despite it ultimately granting Wasp mind-control. He believed his use of the breath of evil was justified and believed he had only messed up. When Sundew talked about bringing Hawthorn back, he became very anxious, even though he wanted to see other dragons again.

Hawthorn did not seem to be an evil dragon, and his fifty-year isolation had significantly affected him mentally, as the othermind mentioned Hawthorn began hearing voices and imagining his carvings talking back to him with leafspeak, even though they are not plants. A lack of socialization eventually forced him into relying on the only companion in his punishment, the othermind. He was shown not wanting to cause so much damage on purpose but was isolated for his failed plan. The othermind took advantage of this and eventually succeeded in making Hawthorn its primary host.

Biography

Pre-Series

When Queen Wasp started to threaten the LeafWings, Hawthorn started to become desperate and searched for a way to stop her. That was when he remembered the Legend of the Hive and went searching for the breath of evil. During a diplomatic event between Queen Wasp and Queen Sequoia, Hawthorn put it in Queen Wasp's food. When Hawthorn and Queen Sequoia realized that they unintentionally gave Queen Wasp mind-control powers, Queen Sequoia banished him to solitude to find a cure. Later, he used his powerful leafspeak and changed it to only work on HiveWings. While alone, the grasp of the othermind became a strong influence on Hawthorn.

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The Lost Continent Prophecy

The Poison Jungle

Hawthorn was taken over by the othermind through the consumption of breath of evil, which he discovered in the Eye of the jungle. He tested the breath of evil on himself, and upon discovering that he could control dragonbite vipers with it, he continued using the breath of evil. He eventually succumbed to the othermind because the othermind kept suggesting things that Hawthorn felt compelled to obey. Eventually, Hawthorn's mental state began to decay, becoming completely controlled by the othermind. He met with Cricket, Nettle, Sundew, Willow, Mandrake, and Bumblebee in the Eye of the jungle, offering them some tea. He told the story of his exile to the group and admitted he was why Wasp got her mind control power. He showed them his many carvings, including his most prized carving, which was actually the othermind seed. Hawthorn then began protecting the othermind by holding the seed it came from, saying it was a prized carving of his. He was eventually killed by Willow dropping a thorn through his neck to save Cricket.

The Dangerous Gift
Cinnabar mentioned Hawthorn when she told Io that it would take a while for the breath of evil to grow without Sundew or Hawthorn.

The Flames of Hope
Cottonmouth mentioned Hawthorn while going over dragons that wanted to use the othermind's power to control others when he and Sequoia tried to use it to control Wasp.

Relationships

Cricket

Upon meeting Cricket and the others traveling with her, Hawthorn initially thought that the tribes had achieved peace. However, Nettle explained why Cricket was with them, and Hawthorn felt sympathy for her condition, relating to her because they had both been cast out of their tribes for what they both felt were unreasonable things. He also appreciated Cricket's interest in scientific affairs and how she wants to help all three Pantalan tribes achieve peace. However, he still shrank away from her as his first instinct was to stay away from a HiveWing.

Dragonbite vipers

Hawthorn seemed fond of the snakes that kept him company through out his fifty-year exile. This was shown when he expressed that he did not want them killed. He used them as test subjects in his experiments with the breath of evil, and they guarded him either out of affection or most likely, because he used the breath of evil.

Sequoia

Hawthorn was very loyal towards Queen Sequoia, it was evident that he missed her very much and wanted to see her again. He had several carvings dedicated to her.

Sundew

Hawthorn seemed to like Sundew, but this is most likely a set-up by the othermind, as it wanted to control her because of her powerful leafspeak.

The Othermind

Hawthorn seemed very fond of the othermind, although this was likely a trick the othermind set up to control Hawthorn more easily. Hawthorn was very protective of his "favorite carving," which appears to be an egg with leaves on the top and bottom but is later revealed to be a depiction of the breath of evil's seed. He also seemed to follow the othermind's orders without a struggle, even when he was not actively controlled by it.

Quotes

"I'm Hawthorn, and those were my vipers. Who wants tea?"

― to Sundew and others

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"Lots of time on my talons, you know. No one else to talk to, so I thought I'd make some friends for myself. This one's my favorite. They're better company than you'd think. Thank goodness I have you, right?"

― to several dragons, about his carvings

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"That is certainly true, isn't it? I mean, that was her intention, sending me here. Quite a long time it's been, for me to be here studying it, all alone. I really should be an expert by now."

― to Sundew, about him being an expert on the breath of evil

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"If it works … I'm glad to know this wasn't all for nothing. And don't get me wrong. I know I deserved this. I told the queen I understood, and I meant it. This was the right punishment for me, the only punishment."

― to Cricket, about the heart of salvation

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"Didn't she tell you why I'm here? Because I'm the one who found the breath of evil after everyone thought it had been wiped out centuries ago. And I'm the one who gave it to Queen Wasp."

― to Sundew, about why he's in the Eye of the jungle

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"First we tried to talk her down. And second … we tried something else. I thought we could stop her. I thought we could save everyone. It wasn't supposed to make her powerful. I thought, if I found the plant and we used it on her … that we'd be able to control her."

― to Cricket and Sundew, about trying to avoid Queen Wasp's rule before the Tree Wars

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"She threatened our trees, HiveWing. The trees we loved, our homes and souls. We saw the war that was coming. We knew how dangerous she was, and we knew we couldn't give her the LeafWings. So we held a peace summit and I … I put it in her food that night."

― to Cricket, about how and why he gave Wasp the breath of evil

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"I told her what I wanted to do. She didn't stop me. But I can't say she exactly told me to do it. She could have stopped me, though. […] I found the plant; I slipped it into Wasp's food. That was me. Even if I did it with the noblest of intentions. At first, it seemed like nothing happened. […] So we thought we had failed. No harm done … a long-shot attempt at salvation that didn't work. It wasn't until later, when I saw her mind control, that I realized we must have caused it. I didn't know how she figured out what to do, or where she got the plant."

― to several dragons, about Wasp and the breath of evil

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"Those are mysteries I solved with science! Experimentation! Research! Investigation! All the careful procedures I wish I'd had time for back then. It's amazing what you can discover when you're alone for fifty years with nothing else to do."

― to Cricket

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"When I found the plant, it was barely hanging on. There was so little left, cut off from sunlight and slowly wasting away […] I altered it so that it would only work on HiveWings … those would be the minds it was drawn to. I wasn't sure how well I'd succeeded, but it seems I did well enough."

― about the breath of evil

References

de:Hawthorn fr:Aubépin ru:Боярышник