- "Please listen. You're dooming us to a horrible end. […] The volcano is not only a future threat — it's killing us now. There's almost no prey left. We're all starving. Fewer dragonets are born each year. And we're barely NightWings anymore. Don't you see? The tribe is dying. We need a new home."
- — Greatness to Glory about the NightWing Island, The Dark Secret
Greatness is an adult female NightWing princess who was introduced in The Dark Secret. She formerly resided on the NightWing island as Queen Battlewinner's daughter and primary source of communication. She currently resides within the NightWing village under the rule of Queen Glory.
Description[]
Greatness has black eyes[1] and a scar rippling down her chest. Her wings droop in an odd way as if they are weighted down with rocks, and she wears a cluster of diamonds around her neck. Another chain of smaller teardrop diamonds is wound around her horns.[2] According to Deathbringer, she always sounds a little nervous, as if she is not sure anyone believes anything she says.[3]
Personality[]
Greatness, despite being the only daughter of Battlewinner, is not interested in becoming queen. She often argues for who she really is and believes she is not as capable of being a good queen as Queen Glory. When Starflight first saw her, he was certain she was not the queen, as she sat down with her wings slumped in a tired manner and did not emit a queenly aura.[2] Battlewinner described her as weak and unambitious.
However, Greatness was able to admit what her mother was doing was wrong. That could point to courage, even if it is not for the right thing. Greatness seems to be defiant, as she expresses her feelings without caring about other dragons' complaints. She also showed humbleness and a logical sense of caring for her tribe, as she believed that the NightWings would have to bow down to Glory, a RainWing queen she believed would have been a better queen than she would ever be, in order to escape their island. She showed sadness and empathy when Deathbringer failed to complete his mission and was sentenced to death, and she spared his life, showing that she could be sympathetic. Deathbringer stated that she was hesitant on attacking the RainWings right away, while Secretkeeper considered Greatness to be smarter than most NightWings, showing how Greatness prefers to think over plans first instead of heading straight for the violence. She constantly sounds slightly nervous, as though she is not sure anyone will believe anything she says.[3]
Biography[]
The Dragonet Prophecy[]
| The Dark Secret |
|---|
| Greatness spoke for her mother, Queen Battlewinner, who was unable to leave her cauldron of lava due to having an internal freezing issue caused by an IceWing's frostbreath (which was not known by the dragonets at the time). During the RainWing attack on the NightWings, after Glory threatened her, Greatness showed them to her mother. When they told her their idea about making the NightWings subjects to Queen Glory, she said that it sounded decent and did not make an objection about wanting the throne for herself, much to a freezing Queen Battlewinner's chagrin. Starflight stated that Greatness did not appear to be a very good queen, and was not acting regally as a queen should. This was shown when the volcano in the Night Kingdom erupted; Greatness was the second dragon to escape through the tunnel to the rainforest, not seemingly to care about the rest of her tribe. She said that she was glad she would never have to be queen and is revealed to be very fond of Deathbringer when she spared his life even when his identity as a traitor was revealed. |
| The Brightest Night |
|---|
| Fierceteeth, Preyhunter, and Strongwings debated whether or not Greatness should have been the NightWing queen. They seemed to think of her as very selfish, saving her own scales rather than the Obsidian Mirror. |
The Jade Mountain Prophecy[]
| Moon Rising |
|---|
|
In the prologue, Secretkeeper was able to get into the rainforest by lying that she wanted to bring some food for Greatness to give to the queen. When she gets into the rainforest and finds her egg turned silver, Secretkeeper wonders if its a trick by Mastermind or Greatness. Secretkeeper appeared to consider the princess much smarter than most NightWings. |
Winglets[]
| Prisoners |
|---|
| Greatness was mentioned when Strongwings explained to Fierceteeth on how he only became a lab assistant to Mastermind because his mother was friends with Greatness. |
| Assassin |
|---|
| Greatness, Morrowseer, and Quickstrike are briefly shown having a discussion about Deathbringer and whether or not he should be permitted to leave the island to kill the SeaWing general, Commander Tempest. She did not have a say in this conversation, as she was only speaking for her mother. |
Relationships[]
Battlewinner[]
Greatness had a certain degree of love for her mother despite not living up to her expectations, even to the point of being concerned when Battlewinner left her lava cauldron. She was not fit for a queen, much to her mother's dismay, but she does not have anything against Battlewinner's opinions. Still, she openly admits that her mother's actions were wrong.
Deathbringer[]
Greatness seems to care about him and was upset to find out that he failed his mission. She also chose to spare his life. He is mentioned by Vengeance to be "her pet assassin."[4]
Glory[]
Greatness seems to respect Glory, she is shown to bow down to Glory, and she stated she believed Glory would have been a better queen than she would ever be.
Family tree[]
| Vigilance | |||||||||||||||
| Several Dragons | |||||||||||||||
| Several Generations | |||||||||||||||
| Unknown | Battlewinner | ||||||||||||||
| Greatness | |||||||||||||||
Quotes[]
- "And it's your fault they found out about us. […] You're the one who brought her here, even though Deathbringer warned us the dragonets were in the forest, and that we should stay away until they were gone."
- ― (The Dark Secret, page 20)
- "Vengeance! […] The queen has spoken. […] Vengeance. You endangered the whole tribe. You disobeyed orders. You brought a viper to us disguised as a simple garden snake."
- ― (The Dark Secret, page 22)
- "Oh, you're the two little prophecy dragonets. Morrowseer was looking for you in quite a towering rage earlier. Listen, like I told him, the prophecy is important, but it's even more important that we win this battle tonight. So the whole tribe is going, no exceptions. Everyone else is in the great hall-- if you follow this tunnel down and take the fourth left, you'll be halfway there and someone can guide you."
- ― to Fatespeaker and Starflight (The Dark Secret, page 254)
- "Please listen. You're dooming us to a horrible end. […] The volcano is not only a future threat — it's killing us now. There's almost no prey left. We're all starving. Fewer dragonets are born each year. And we're barely NightWings anymore. Don't you see? The tribe is dying. We need a new home."
- ― to Glory (The Dark Secret, page 258)
Trivia[]
- Greatness does not trust animus-touched objects.[5]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ The Dark Secret, page 204
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Dark Secret, page 15
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Winglets Quartet: Assassin, page 43
- ↑ The Dark Secret, page 20
- ↑ The Brightest Night, page 14