Tundra
- "Restore our family's rank."
- — Tundra to Winter before the Diamond Trial, Winter Turning
Tundra is an adult female IceWing who was introduced in Winter Turning. Along with being the widow of Narwhal, she is a warrior of the First Circle and an advisor to Snowfall. She currently resides in the IceWing palace and is a member of the IceWing royal family.
Appearance
Tundra has cold, shimmering, stormy gray eyes[1] and wears a necklace of SkyWing teeth that makes a jittery, small clattering sound when she moves.[2] She has a cutting,[3] flat, "here is some information" voice.[4] According to Snowfall, her voice sounds "whale-blubbery."[5]
Personality
Tundra is sharp and demanding,[6] and dropped an expressionless mask over her features after glancing at Icicle's last place Circle ranking.[7] She is willing to take great risks for much greater gains.[8]
She also has no qualms in showing open admiration for Hailstorm and Icicle's accomplishments while demeaning Winter's.[9] It is implied that she wants Icicle to serve as her puppet-queen[10] and according to Winter, Tundra would've challenged Glacier for the throne if sister-in-laws were allowed to try for it.
Biography
The Jade Mountain Prophecy
| Moon Rising |
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| Icicle mentions her family in her thoughts here: "By the teeth of the Great Ice Dragon, this is boring as sand. I shall certainly tell Mother and Father and Aunt Glacier what a waste of time this entire school is." |
| Winter Turning |
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In the first chapter of the book, Tundra, Narwhal, Winter, Icicle, Hailstorm, three attendants, and one of Winter's uncles were all part of a hunting party. Tundra hissed for the attention of the others, announcing that whoever brought down the first polar bear would later sit beside the queen while she ate it. She shot a look at her daughter, Icicle. She told Winter that he should try harder while hunting during the tense meals shared with his family. She would compare him negatively to Hailstorm and Icicle. While Winter was out hunting, he paused, noticing that his prey, a female polar bear, has two cubs. He also watched a scavenger. Tundra flew towards him with Icicle and Narwhal following, shrieking at him to kill the bear. Winter attempted to do so but failed because he had hesitated too long. Winter remembered how she would make him do the IceWing guard stance perfectly every day before he could eat. According to him, this was not very fun. Later on in the book, when Winter woke up, she was waiting next to him and thanked him for bringing Hailstorm back, before saying it was the least he could do. She then complimented him by telling him that it was good that he had not apologized, showing some form of emotion towards her son. She was later seen as the dragon who scratches the names and moves them around the Circle rankings. |
| Talons of Power |
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| She was mentioned when Hailstorm asked about his parents' condition. Tundra was one of the five confirmed IceWings who had received the plague, another one being her husband Narwhal. |
| Darkness of Dragons |
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| In the epilogue, Winter said that Tundra never wanted to see him again after the death of her husband, Narwhal. |
The Lost Continent Prophecy
| The Dangerous Gift |
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| Tundra is shown reminding Snowfall about the Circle Ranks. She later is seen glaring at Crystal's name on the wall. After Snowfall leaves the Ice Kingdom, Tundra is mentioned many times throughout the book when Snowfall remembers the wall. When Snowfall returned to the Kingdom and came back to the Circle Rankings wall, Tundra greeted her. However, Snowfall soon destroyed the Circle Rankings using the gift of strength in front of her aunt, causing Tundra to scream desperately at her and faint. |
Relationships
Tundra is implied to have a negative relationship with Crystal, as shown when she glared at the rankings wall when her niece remained in high ranks.
Similar to her firstborn, Icicle is also Tundra's favorite dragonet since the former, is also a prodigy. However it's unknown if Tundra holds any affection towards Icicle as it's heavily implied in The Dangerous Gift that Tundra wanted Icicle to succeed Glacier instead of Snowfall so she (Tundra) could exploit her own daughter as a puppet-queen
Tundra has a negative relationship with Mink. When Snowfall left the Ice Kingdom for Sanctuary, Tundra had Mink serve as Snowfall's regent despite Mink's age and inexperience, since those traits made the young princess vulnerable to exploitation. Tundra (along with Permafrost) also placed a crown on their niece that was enchanted by Queen Diamond to make the wearer hate the NightWing tribe as much as she did. When Snowfall returned to the IceWing palace she discovered her aunt and uncle's attempts to usurp her and exploit Mink and forced them to surrender.
It has been implied that Tundra had feelings for her husband, as she was saddened by his death. The news hurt her to the point she ended up disowning Winter.
Tundra and Permafrost have a good relationship with one another. When Snowfall was in Sanctuary, they conspired together to exploit Mink as Snowfall's regent. Permafrost sided with Tundra in manipulating their niece into doing their bidding.
Tundra and Snowfall have a mutual dislike for one another. When Snowfall is working on the rankings, Tundra snaps at her niece to hurry up with the organization.
Snowfall is also well aware of her aunt's political ambitions. When Tundra learned that Icicle was imprisoned, Tundra was greatly upset due at least in part that she wanted Icicle to succeed Glacier as queen and not Snowfall. Tundra is apparently jealous of Snowfall's status as queen, and their relationship presumably worsened even more when Snowfall destroys the ancient Circle Rankings wall right in front of her. While Snowfall was at Sanctuary, Tundra attempted to usurp the former by appointed Mink as a puppet regent. When Snowfall returned, Tundra was forced to abandon her scheme by having Mink step down in favor of her sister.
Despite being mother and son, Tundra and Winter do not get along. Like Narwhal, Winter is her least favorite child due to him not being a prodigy like his siblings. She has no qualms showing open admiration for Hailstorm and Icicle's accomplishments while demeaning Winter's. She often criticized Winter by comparing him to his siblings. However, Tundra was slightly less critical of Winter than her husband, as she begrudgingly thanked him for rescuing Hailstorm, even though she stopped expressing her gratitude the following day. She (along with Narwhal) attempted to sacrifice Winter to the Diamond Trial so they wouldn't have to deal with him. Upon learning of Winter's survival, she was less than pleased, and in the wake of Narwhal's death, she did not hesitate to blame Winter for it, even though Narwhal's fate wasn't technically Winter's fault at all. Regardless, Tundra ended up disowning Winter due to Narwhal's death and her hatred of Winter. Even though Tundra is mean to him, Winter still cares about his mother.
Family Tree
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| Glacier | Several Dragons | Narwhal | Tundra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crystal | Snowfall | Mink | Hailstorm | Winter | Icicle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quotes
- "Hailstorm killed a polar bear on his first hunt. Icicle has killed three so far. You obviously need to try harder."
- ― to Winter (Winter Turning, page 3-4)
- "What is wrong with you? Are you hunting or sightseeing? Are you an IceWing or a RainWing? Kill that bear!"
- ― to Winter during a hunt (Winter Turning, page 6)
- "Good. […] No apologies. But now it is time to rise. There will be a ceremony in the courtyard in seven minutes that you must attend."
- ― to Winter (Winter Turning, page 252)
- "Thank you for bringing Hailstorm home […] It was the least you could do."
- ― to Winter (Winter Turning, page 252)
- "Restore our family's rank."
- ― to Winter before the Diamond Trial (Winter Turning, page 271)
Trivia
- The sound of Tundra's necklace always made Winter want to go and hide in a snowbank.[4] Snowfall described it as noisy instead.[11]
References
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 252
- ↑ Winter Turning, prologue
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 221
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Winter Turning, page 251
- ↑ The Dangerous Gift, page 297
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 202
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 258
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 264
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 2–6
- ↑ The Dangerous Gift, page 22
- ↑ The Dangerous Gift, page 17
