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Viktors are eternal beings born with a goal: to guard someone the Fates believe is destined to bring about great change or purpose. They are neither mortal nor god. Not all are aware of their duty, but the Fates will always put them with the one they are to safeguard. They are always reincarnated. When they die, their souls return to Mount Lotho, where the Arae give them a new mortal form and purpose with no memory of their previous lives. However, some viktors are predestined to figure out what they are and who they were sent to protect. Vikter is one of those.

Vikter had the last name of Ward instead of Wardwell in the time of the gods and was brought before Seraphena to apply a charm to keep her safe and unable to be taken from the Shadowlands. He explains to her that he is a viktor—the first.

His lifetimes between Sera’s and Poppy’s are unknown to me.

The first time I really took notice of Vikter was in the Red Pearl. There’s just something about him. He demands attention without even trying.

The night I set up Poppy and Casteel’s first meeting. Vikter arrived, and it upped my need to get Penellaphe out of the main area and into Hawke’s room. Which I did. The rest of that night, well, let’s just say I took some time for myself.

But back to Vikter’s story…

The following night, Vikter goes to Poppy and summons her to aid a Cursed. They help ease his passing.

When Poppy reveals that she hopes to be found unworthy so she won’t Ascend, Vikter tells her that no matter what she does, she will Ascend.

Knowing what we know now about Poppy’s journey, that statement is very interesting. Because she did, indeed, Ascend—when she died, and Casteel saved her. It just wasn’t in the way we all thought—at the hands of the Ascended.

When they find the Lady in Wait, Malessa, murdered, Vikter arrives after Commander Jansen deems the castle safe. He’s suffering from one of his migraine headaches, and Poppy eases his pain.

When Poppy’s guard, Rylan Keal, is murdered, Vikter arrives with another guard. We know that Jericho killed Rylan, but Vikter did not know that. Everyone was still under the impression that the Atlantians were targeting them. At Rylan’s ceremony, Vikter lights his pyre.

He makes his opinion known after the Duke agrees that Hawke can become Poppy’s new personal guard and then offers some sage advice to him. He also lays down the law about what Hawke can and cannot do with the Maiden.

As he trains with Poppy, they discuss her adventures coming to an end. When it’s time to bring in the new guard who is to take Rylan’s place, Vikter escorts her to the Royals to meet Hawke.

Later, after one of her lessons with the Duke, Hawke sends for him out of concern, and Vikter escorts Poppy back to her room.

When the Craven attack, he fights with the guards outside the Rise and sees Hawke also outside the Rise. It worries him that she’s been left alone, but he knows she can take care of herself. Unfortunately, upon his return, Hawke informs him that Poppy was on the Rise fighting during the attack. The next day, he trains her in hand-to-hand maneuvers.

Sometime later, after assisting with a Cursed and leaving Poppy behind, he escorts her to the Rite and hears Agnes’s concerns and warning. Once Hawke arrives, Vikter leaves to tell the commander what he overheard.

Just as Hawke and Poppy are leaving after their rendezvous under the willow, Vikter catches them and knows exactly what was going on. He dons his protective father figure hat and says they’ll spend time together over his dead body. After he dismisses Hawke, he lectures Poppy. She gets angry and tries to get him to understand, reminding him of everything she’s lost and all she’s been denied.

The Descenters attack the Rite, and Vikter tells Poppy to defend herself and not worry about hiding the fact that she can fight. He and Poppy defeat all their foes, but one rises from the floor and mortally wounds Vikter, plunging a sword through his chest, just above the heart.

As he’s dying, he tells Poppy she’s made him proud and apologizes for not protecting her, saying he failed as a man. He then asks her for forgiveness and passes away.

We know that he didn’t actually die. He merely returned to the Arae on Mount Lotho to await his rebirth.

That brings me some comfort.

The rest of these things were revealed after Vikter’s death:

Poppy recalls him telling her she shouldn’t consider the lives of those who hold a sword to her throat.

When he gave her the bloodstone and wolven-bone dagger on her sixteenth birthday, he said, “This weapon is as unique as you are. Take good care of her, and she’ll return the favor.”

Now that we know the dagger was made of Preela’s bones, that statement gives me goose bumps.

He once told Poppy: “I’m not untouched by it. Death is death. Killing is killing, Poppy, no matter how justified it is. Every death leaves a mark behind, but I do not expect anyone to take a risk I would not take. Nor would I ask another to bear a burden I refuse to shoulder or feel a mark I haven’t felt myself.”

He also said the mist is more than just a shield for the Craven. It fills their lungs since no breath does and seeps from their pores because no sweat can.

Since viktors cannot reveal their reasons or identity, Vikter was very deliberate about what he told Tawny in her shadowstone dream and what he asked her to relay for him—like the full prophecy, the fact that Poppy already knew the Consort’s name, and what would happen if someone with Primal power spoke it in the mortal realm.

POPPY AND CASTEEL

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