Sam Cortland

Quick Facts

• Role: Prominent assassin in Arobynn Hamel’s Guild; lifelong rival-turned-partner to Celaena Sardothien
• First appearance: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
• Core dynamics: Second-best to Celaena in the Guild hierarchy; grows into her equal, moral anchor, and first love
• Fate: Betrayed, captured, and murdered; his death detonates Celaena’s long-arc transformation across the series

Who They Are

Bold, disciplined, and uncommonly principled for an assassin, Sam Cortland is the rare figure who refuses to let the darkness of his world harden him beyond redemption. He begins as a foil to Celaena—competitive, prickly, and weary of her arrogance—but becomes the person who challenges her to imagine a life defined by choice rather than power or fear. As partner and moral compass, he models the future she could claim: love without manipulation, honor without cruelty, and freedom without blood-debt. His loss is not just tragic; it defines the emotional stakes of The Assassin’s Blade and the moral backbone of Celaena’s later journey.

Personality & Traits

Sam’s outward confidence masks a lifetime of being measured against Celaena and controlled by Arobynn. What makes him compelling is the steadiness underneath: he refuses dehumanization—of others or himself—and acts on his convictions even when it costs him everything.

• Competitive and ambitious: Raised in Celaena’s shadow, he bristles at being “second best,” pushing himself to match her skill and refusing to be her proxy or errand boy. Their barbed banter and sparring establish his pride and his refusal to be diminished.
• Moral and principled: His disgust for the slave trade—particularly the fate of children—drives him to risk his life to sabotage the deal in Skull’s Bay. This clear ethical line, rooted in his mother’s exploitation, anchors the Morality and Justice theme.
• Fiercely loyal: Sam’s allegiance shifts from the Guild to Celaena as he recognizes Arobynn’s cruelty. He breaks with his “family,” defying the King of the Assassins to protect her, even when it means forfeiting security, status, and income.
• Brave and self‑sacrificing: From storming pirate territory to help free the slaves to accepting a lethal contract to fund their escape, he repeatedly stakes his life on their future—a cornerstone of the Love and Sacrifice theme.
• Intelligent and perceptive: Often overshadowed by Celaena’s flair, Sam is a careful strategist. He’s the first to question Arobynn’s story about Ben, recognizes patterns in Arobynn’s manipulations, and plans pragmatic exit routes from the Guild.
• Tender beneath the armor: His clipped, sardonic exterior gives way to vulnerable honesty once he trusts Celaena. The intensity of his love never becomes possessive; it’s protective, equal, and future‑oriented.

Character Journey

Sam’s arc traces a clean line from rivalry to love and from obedience to defiance. Forced to collaborate in Skull’s Bay, he and Celaena confront the horror of the slave pens and choose sabotage over profit, aligning their instincts for the first time. While Celaena is away, Sam begins to chafe openly against Arobynn’s control. By the time of The Assassin and the Underworld, he is done being a weapon pointed by someone else—encouraging Celaena to imagine a life defined by Freedom vs. Servitude, not by Arobynn’s whims. He commits fully to leaving: securing housing, contracts, and coin for a shared future. His final choice—to take a perilous job that might buy their freedom—completes his evolution from resentful second to self‑possessed partner. The betrayal and his murder end that future, but the life he envisioned continues to shape Celaena’s choices long after he’s gone.

Key Relationships

Celaena Sardothien: What begins as a barbed rivalry becomes the book’s emotional center. Sam sees past the legend of Adarlan’s Assassin to the young woman craving dignity and choice. He challenges her pride, matches her skill, and then meets her heart with his own—transforming them from competitors to co‑conspirators to first loves whose plans for freedom reframe the entire narrative.

Arobynn Hamel: Mentor, maker, and ultimately the architect of Sam’s destruction. Sam tolerates Arobynn’s calculated humiliations for years, but the slave-trade revelations and Arobynn’s increasingly sadistic “lessons” shatter the illusion of paternal care. Sam’s final defiance—choosing Celaena and a life outside the Guild—triggers the betrayal that costs him everything.

Defining Moments

Sam’s pivotal scenes expose both his values and the cost of living by them.

• Confronting the slave trade: In Skull’s Bay, Sam’s fury at the trafficking of children severs his unquestioning loyalty to the Guild. Why it matters: It’s the first time he and Celaena unite against Arobynn’s orders, revealing the moral core that will guide all his later choices.
• The pact on the beach: After clashing, Sam and Celaena commit to freeing the slaves—and to acting together. Why it matters: Their alliance is born in action, not words; this is the hinge from rivals to partners and the first glint of a shared future beyond Rifthold.
• Confession of love: In the Rifthold sewers, after Arobynn manipulates them into killing an innocent, Sam admits he has loved Celaena for years. Why it matters: Vulnerability replaces rivalry; it cements their romantic bond and solidifies the decision to leave the Guild at any cost.
• The fatal betrayal and death: Captured, tortured, and murdered by Rourke Farran under a scheme orchestrated by Arobynn. Why it matters: Sam’s death is the series’ emotional ground zero—the trauma that crystallizes Celaena’s quest for vengeance and turns their unrealized future into her lodestar.

Symbolism

Sam embodies the possibility of redemption inside a corrupt world. He is the life Celaena might have had—love without chains, partnership without domination, and a future self‑chosen. In death, he becomes both the ghost that haunts her and the light that guides her: a measure of goodness lost, and a promise of freedom she refuses to relinquish.

Essential Quotes

“Believe me, if I came home without you, Arobynn would skin me alive. Literally. If I’m going to kill you, Celaena, it’ll be when I can actually get away with it.”

• On the surface, it’s sardonic banter; underneath, it shows how thoroughly Arobynn’s violence structures their lives. Sam’s dark humor masks protectiveness—he’s already prioritizing Celaena’s survival over his own comfort or pride.

“Because I love you! I love you,” he repeated, shaking her again. “I have for years. And he hurt you and made me watch because he’s always known how I felt, too. But if I asked you to pick, you’d choose Arobynn, and I. Can’t. Take. It.”

• A raw, boundary‑breaking confession that exposes both devotion and the psychological chokehold Arobynn has on them. Sam names the abuse and refuses to be complicit, transforming their relationship from unspoken longing into mutual commitment.

“My name is Sam Cortland … and I will not be afraid.”

• A quiet creed, not bravado. In a world that sells fear, Sam claims his identity and agency, choosing courage as a discipline rather than an absence of danger—a principle he honors to the end.

“I love you,” he breathed against her mouth. “And from today onward, I want to never be separated from you. Wherever you go, I go. Even if that means going to Hell itself, wherever you are, that’s where I want to be. Forever.”

• This vow reframes his ambition: not to outrank Celaena, but to build a life with her. The intensity of his promise makes the betrayal and his death even more devastating, turning their love into the moral compass that guides Celaena afterward.