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Spoiler Alert!
Warning! This page contains spoilers for Aru Shah and the Song of Death. |
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Not part of Riordanverse
The following article/section is from the Pandava Quintet continuity under Rick Riordan Presents and not the Riordanverse canon. |
| “ | Oh, Aru, Aru, Aru. What have you done? | ” |
–Aru Shah and the End of Time | ||
Suyodhana or the Sleeper is the main antagonist in the novel, Aru Shah and the End of Time. It was soon revealed that in his previous life, he was Duryodhana, the Pandavas' worst enemy.
History
Suyodhana was the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra and queen Gandhari of Hastinapura, he changed his name to Duryodhana due to his bad deeds. Once, his mother took off the blindfold she wore due to wanting to see his son. Her power made Duryodhana almost entirely strong as a thunderbolt, but since he was wearing underpants he had a weak spot on his loins.[1]
The family loved the Pandavas, his cousins, more than Duryodhana. He got furious when Dhritarashtra renounce the throne in favor of his younger brother, Pandu, stepfather of the Pandavas. He believed that the firstborns were to receive the throne, meaning Yudhishthira would be the heir instead of himself. He Duryodhana hated Bhima mostly out of all the Pandavas for his strength and bullying. However, he became good friends with Karna at a martial exhibition after the former defended him when someone said that everyone's lineage should be the same saying that actions are what really define a warrior. Although at the time, Duryodhana didn't know that Karna was actually a Pandava. He also had a close relationship with his younger brother, Dushasana.[2]
When he went to the Pandavas newly built Palace of Illusions, he fell through a floor tile that was actually water and nearly broke his foot jumping into a pool that turned out to be cleverly polished sapphires. When he went back to Shakhuni to complain, his uncle got the idea of playing a dice game with Yudhishthira at the price of their kingdom. The plan was successful due to Yudhishthira's gambling addiction and the Pandavas were exiled for thirteen years, after that they were refused their kingdom resulting in a war. On the 18th day of the war, Duryodhana fought Bhima in a mace fight. Having received instructions by Krishna, Bhima broke Duryodhana's thighs causing him to eventually die on the battlefield.
Rick Riordan Presents
Pandava Quartet
The Diya of Bharata, his former prison
At some point after his reincarnation, Suyodhana had a romantic relationship with K. P. Shah. The two once strolled along the banks of a river, laughing and occasionally stopping to kiss, the two even had a daughter named Aru who was also the reincarnation of Indra's son, Arjuna. But as soon as Aru grows up, Suyodhana will become the Sleeper and awaken Shiva who will perform a cosmic dance and destroy the world. So Krithika reluctantly imprisoned him in the Diya of Bharata, but she vowed to find a way to free both him and Aru.[3]
Aru Shah and the End of Time
In the beginning of the novel, the Sleeper is still safely bound within the Diya of Bharata. Aru Shah inadvertently releases him by lighting it while she tries to prove herself to her classmates. Once the Sleeper is free, he freezes time in the museum, trapping everyone in place except for Aru. He plans to freeze all of time permanently when the new moon arrives.
The Sleeper was trying to gain more allies, he appeared in front of Aru and Mini when they exit Brahmasura's beauty salon. He squeezes Aru mentioning her to be similar to her mother in being deceptive. Using her "Enchanted Ping-Pong ball," Aru distracts the Sleeper and jumps into the Otherworld portal with Mini. He later appears trying to obtain the second key to the underworld before the girls, but fails due to being slowed down by a freezing cloak made by Winter, one of the Ritus. Although, he does manage to capture Boo and reveal his true identity before escaping. However, he wore the headband of forgetting that Summer, another Ritu, gave Aru causing him to leave the bird cage filled with the gods' vahanas behind.
Aru Shah, his daughter.
Aru witnesses the Sleeper in the Pool of the Past. She sees her mother putting away the diya on order of her grandfather. The Sleeper's real name is revealed to be Suyodhana and he was Aru Shah's biological father. He was summoned to the museum to fight her daughter and Mini. Suyodhana gets trapped in a circle, attacked by the vahanas, and loses Boo. However, he disappeared into the walls and taunted Aru for being such a liar. In response, she uses Vajra to cut the chandelier down onto him. The demons he summoned have either fallen asleep or are currently out of commission, Aru transformed Vajra into a whip to get rid of the rest of them. Suyodhana breaks free and pins Mini and Boo to the wall, Aru had no choice but to surrender. Her father grabbed Vajra, he says he's killing her to free her as her mother didn't. He loses Vajra and it returns to Aru. After Aru gets nauseous from having a future vision of her spiritual sisters turning on her, the Sleeper says he is not an enemy and that she shouldn't kill her. Aru doesn't believe her father, she tries to kill him but he escapes probably due to Shukra's curse. However, he was not in the Kingdom of Death when the new moon arrived so time was restored. But Boo advised the Pandavas that the sleeper will be adding to his army.
Aru Shah and the Song of Death
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Appearance
The Sleeper takes on many forms. When he first emerges from the diya as a shadow, he looked like a tall and spidery shadow with horns, fangs, and fur.
In a photo at Aru's house, he was handsome and dark-haired, with skin the color of dark amber. One of his eyes were blue and the other was brown.
When outside Brahmasura's beauty salon, the Sleeper was a massive form of twisted ink and ice. He had a long dark snake tail.
When encountered at the library, the Sleeper no longer had a star-studded snake tail. His hair was the same inky shade of night and it looked as if there were stars caught in it. He was tall and thin. His cheekbones stuck out and he wore a black sherwani jacket over dark jeans.
During his battle against Aru in he museum, the Sleeper looked and didn't look like a man. His eyes were slitted and gem bright, like a cat’s eyes gone narrow with fury. When he smiled, small tusks curled out from his bottom lip.
Trivia
- The name "Suyodhana" means "great warrior" while "Duryodhana" means "the unconquerable."
References
- ↑ Aru Shah and the End of Time, Glossary
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duryodhana
- ↑ Aru Shah and the End of Time, Ch. 34