Rourke Farran

Quick Facts

Rourke Farran is the calculating second-in-command to Ioan Jayne in “The Assassin and the Underworld,” and the novella’s primary antagonist. A patient schemer with a predator’s grin, he engineers the downfall of Celaena Sardothien and Sam Cortland through a temporary alliance with Arobynn Hamel.

• Role: Jayne’s Second; later ascends to Crime Lord of Rifthold
• First appearance: Spotted outside Jayne’s townhouse, where he locks eyes with Celaena
• Signature look: Tall, broad-shouldered, slick black hair, fine gray tailoring; a pale, inhuman smile and bright, feline eyes
• Key relationships: Ioan Jayne (mentor/mark), Arobynn Hamel (co-conspirator), Celaena Sardothien (target/rival), Sam Cortland (victim/bait)

Who He Is

Farran is the underworld’s perfected predator: polished enough to pass in high society, ruthless enough to rule the gutters. He turns other people’s loyalties and loves into weapons, orchestrating events so that the blood on his hands is rarely seen—and never traced back.

He’s a dark counterpoint to the novella’s exploration of Morality and Justice. Where Celaena and Sam wrestle with codes and consequences, Farran rejects any ethic beyond victory. His smile—“nothing human in it”—isn’t just a look; it’s a thesis about a world where cruelty isn’t a means but a creed.

Personality & Traits

Behind the immaculate clothes is a man who delights in pain and power games. Farran’s intelligence gives shape to his violence: he prefers traps to brawls, paperwork to daggers, and a signature poison to a messy fight. Even his taste for adventure novels hints at self-mythologizing—he casts himself as the daring conqueror of Rifthold’s story.

• Sadistic: In the Vaults, he tortures a fighter for cheating Jayne, savoring the screams; later, he captures, tortures, and kills Sam to bait Celaena.
• Ambitious: From street orphan to Jayne’s Second, he won’t stop until he sits on the throne himself—using Celaena to eliminate Jayne and erase rivals in a single night.
• Cunning: He rigs Jayne’s house with gloriella smoke so Celaena is paralyzed, then “unveils” the plot, securing both the kill and the scapegoat.
• Arrogant: Stalks Rifthold without guards, “smiles” at Celaena in public, and speaks of her as a prize he’d enjoy breaking—confidence built on impunity.
• Cruel: Hands Celaena to the royal guards not just to win, but to make her suffer; he weaponizes love and honor because he lacks both.

Character Journey

Farran’s arc is a ruthless ascent. Introduced as a terrifying Second, he immediately marks himself as a hunter—seeing and acknowledging Celaena in the street with a knowing, inhuman smile. He then scripts a three-act coup: murder Sam to ignite Celaena’s rage, lure her into Jayne’s gloriella-laced study, and let her blade finish Jayne so he can take the throne without blood on his own hands. With Celaena paralyzed, he lays out the conspiracy like a master of ceremonies, then delivers her to the king’s men to erase witnesses and ensure she bears the blame. He doesn’t change; the city does. By the end, Rifthold belongs to him, and Celaena’s life is shattered—proof that, for a time, cruelty can win.

Key Relationships

• Ioan Jayne: Farran performs loyalty while building the perfect pretext for murder. By steering Celaena toward Jayne, he kills his boss with someone else’s blade and claims the empire unchallenged—respecting power only insofar as he can inherit it.

• Sam Cortland: Sam is the trap’s tenderest lever. Farran’s capture and torture of Sam serve two purposes: to hurt Celaena where she’s most vulnerable and to guarantee she will storm Jayne’s house. Sam’s death exposes Farran’s core truth: he doesn’t just remove obstacles—he savors their suffering.

• Celaena Sardothien: Farran treats Celaena as both tool and trophy. He understands her code well enough to corrupt it, using love to direct her blade and poison to neutralize her skill. Their confrontation ends with him handing her to the king, turning her legend into a cautionary tale about misplaced trust.

• Arobynn Hamel: Their alliance is transactional, an object lesson in Betrayal and Trust. Arobynn uses Farran to punish his protégés; Farran uses Arobynn’s assassins to crown himself. Each believes he’s outplaying the other, and both prove how Rifthold rewards treachery.

Defining Moments

Farran’s power crystallizes in scenes where polish meets sadism and planning meets opportunity. Each moment tightens his grip on Rifthold and closes the jaws around Celaena.

• First sighting outside Jayne’s house: He meets Celaena’s gaze and smiles, “nothing human in it.”

  • Why it matters: Establishes predator-prey dynamics and signals that he already sees the board—and her role on it.

• Torture in the Vaults: He punishes a cheating fighter while screams echo through the dungeon.

  • Why it matters: Confirms his reputation; cruelty isn’t rumor but ritual, and he performs it publicly to rule by fear.

• The gloriella trap: Celaena enters Jayne’s study to assassinate him and collapses as Farran reveals the conspiracy.

  • Why it matters: Shows his preference for elegant violence—he steals her agency with poison, not force, and choreographs her into the role of killer.

• Handing Celaena to the royal guards: After taunting her, he turns and walks away, already arranging his reign.

  • Why it matters: Ensures she becomes the scapegoat, erases witnesses, and makes terror, not triumph, his final word.

• Ascension after Jayne’s death: Farran steps into the vacancy he engineered.

  • Why it matters: The underworld crowns its most merciless son, confirming that, for now, power belongs to whoever can stomach the most blood.

Essential Quotes

Farran gave her a smile. There was nothing human in it. This line encapsulates Farran’s ethos: humanity—conscience, empathy, restraint—has been excised. The smile announces a predator who sees people as pieces, not persons, and sets the eerie tone for every encounter that follows.

"Hello, Celaena," he purred. "I’ve been waiting a few years to meet you, you know." The purr signals control and patience. He hasn’t just noticed Celaena; he’s studied her, holding his move until the perfect moment, which makes the trap feel inevitable rather than improvised.

"We kill Sam Cortland," Farran recited, "you go berserk and break in here, then you kill Jayne"—he gave a nod toward the huge body on the table—"and I take Jayne’s place." The verb “recited” reveals a script he authored long before the scene began. By narrating it to a paralyzed Celaena, he claims authorship over her actions, asserting that even her rage runs on his timetable.

"You would have been delightful to break," he told her, and strode from the room, motioning to three tall, well-dressed men as he passed. His casual fantasy of “breaking” Celaena reduces her to another conquest, while the well-dressed escorts mirror his own polished brutality. The elegance around him doesn’t civilize the violence—it accessorizes it.