Colonel Aetos

Aetos protects Navarre’s hidden knowledge by intimidation rather than open explanation. When challenged about what truly happened beyond Navarre's border protections, he cannot name the hidden threat without exposing it himself, and he later threatens Violet with harm to both Sorrengail daughters if she shares too much.

As Basgiath’s commanding general, Aetos uses control of information and strict rule enforcement to pressure Violet’s circle. Allies route Xaden’s letter around him because they expect him to read anything addressed to Violet, and he makes clear that the Code of Conduct will be enforced to the letter.

Aetos treats Violet cordially when they meet near the Gauntlet stairs, praising her flight lines and passing along news that Mira asked about her. He also asks Violet to request permission for academic study of Andarna, explaining that scribes have failed to find useful information on feathertails.

After Resson, Aetos’s relationship with Violet is openly threatening. His warning makes Violet understand that Mira can be targeted if Violet tells the wrong people what really happened.

Dain’s bond with his father directly affects the Athebyne disaster. Dain tells Aetos about a memory he read from Violet involving Xaden going to Athebyne with his cousin, though Dain says he did not know the report would lead to an ambush.

Dain’s loyalty to his father breaks after Violet shows him the truth. When Varrish says Colonel Aetos will be disappointed in him for turning traitor, Dain answers that if his father already knows what Violet showed him, Dain is the one disappointed.

Aetos publicly disowns Dain during Violet’s treason hearing, saying he has no son. The act makes his break with Dain official in front of Navarrian authority.

Aetos treats Xaden as an enemy inside Basgiath’s chain of command. He denies Xaden’s requested exemption to Article Eight, says he does not want him at Basgiath, and frames him as Varrish’s murderer and a danger to the institution.

During the final War Games scenario, Aetos assigns Fourth Wing to the southeast and names Xaden’s headquarters outpost as Athebyne. The written order waiting there is in Aetos’s handwriting, tells Xaden’s group to survive if they can, and forces them into a lethal choice between obeying orders and saving Resson.

Aetos is identified as the officer effectively responsible for that year’s War Games setup. Xaden interprets the mission as punishment for his secret actions, and Violet remembers that Aetos was in charge when the orders were handed out.

When the Athebyne survivors return to Basgiath, Aetos reacts with anger and panic, arguing they should have been reported for desertion instead of death. General Sorrengail reads his handwriting on the orders and condemns his decision to empty a strategically important outpost beyond Navarre's border protections.

Aetos appears to be punished for the Athebyne fallout by reassignment to a coastal outpost, though he remains hostile as he leaves Basgiath’s daily command. He uses Xaden’s Southern Wing posting and the arrival of Major Varrish to show that Violet and Xaden are still vulnerable.

Violet concludes that Aetos sent the first-year assassin who tries to strangle her after the attacker repeats Aetos’s warning about secrets dying with their keepers. Xaden accepts her conclusion and says he is sorry he could not kill both the attacker and Aetos first.

Aetos continues to endanger Violet indirectly after leaving Basgiath by feeding information to Varrish. Varrish says Aetos told him Violet’s father had been writing a book on feathertails.

Aetos bursts into Battle Brief with riders, searches for Violet, and charges her with high treason against Navarre. When the pardon blocks punishment in the Senarium, he reveals his promotion and retaliates by assigning Violet’s second-year friends to Samara front duty.

Aetos invokes Article Eight, Section One to send six exhausted second-years into active service at Samara. Because only Basgiath’s commanding general can call cadets into wartime service, the order is legal, but Degrensi dismisses its military value because the fighting has already ended.

Aetos pushes his new authority into the commons meeting room by accusing the squad of disobeying orders, challenging Brennan’s and Xaden’s right to be present, and ordering Xaden and Garrick to leave for the Eastern Wing. He also announces that his belongings are going to the commanding general’s quarters, occupying Lilith Sorrengail’s former space.

Aetos’s occupancy of the commanding general’s quarters makes Violet’s parents’ old rooms warded space and blocks easy access to Violet’s father’s hidden research. Violet’s group has to plan the theft while Aetos is away in Calldyr, and Dain’s reconnaissance confirms that bringing others in safely is not possible while his father’s security is active.

At the great-hall briefing, Aetos tries to control Violet’s quest roster by claiming her chain of command and Melgren’s authority. He rejects fliers, cadets, and Xaden, but Halden silences him instead of allowing him to decide the mission party.

After the expedition returns, Aetos receives the party at Basgiath, warns that punishment for disobeying orders will be discussed, and has already opened a missive addressed to Violet. During the interrogations, he accidentally reveals that King Tauri has forbidden punishment because Aaric came back safely.