History Literature / LastHeraldMageTrilogy

* LighterAndSofter: Years after completing the trilogy, Mercedes Lackey brought Vanyel back for a pair of short stories in the Valdemar anthology books, stories set at some ambigious point betwen the novels. In ''Vixen'' and ''It Came Upon A Midnight Clear'' Vanyel and a sardonic Healer friend help out at a tiny, remote village. While they're not without tension, the expectation that Van sacrifice himself for others is much less pronounced, he's not horribly injured or in despair, and he has various friends taking on a lot of the load, as well as civilians who don't fear and distrust him. Consequently he seems much happier and more stable than he generally gets to be in the trilogy proper.

* DepravedHomosexual: Subverted with Krebain and Leareth. They both attempt to seduce Vanyel, but he realizes immediately that their intense sexual presence is just another weapon -- it has nothing to do with love or even attraction.

A prequel of sorts to many of Mercedes Lackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' novels, ''The Last Herald-Mage'' is a trilogy that gives the "real story" of title character [[ShroudedInMyth Vanyel Ashkevron]].

* WarCrimeSubvertsHeroism: After being captured and assaulted in ''Magic's Price'', Van massacres most of the men who raped him -- and two people who were innocent. He hangs on to his morality because 1. he was clearly not sane in that instant, and 2. Stefen and Yfandes talk him down before he can ''knowingly'' torture their leader to death.

* SlidingScaleOfParentShaming: Withen appears to be Type III, a bad person, in the first book, but even if he doesn't quite get it when he finds his son suicidal that does seem to stir him to want to do better. Twelve years later in the second book he's between Type I and Type II, showing better aspects of himself while still causing stress and upset to Vanyel. In the third book he's gone through enough CharacterDevelopment to be regarded more sympathetically.

** The spell put on him to make him [[AndIMustScream helpless]] contributes, but after Leareth's thugs assault Van he's really not himself, to the point of [[WouldHurtAChild killing a child]] as soon as he had use of his powers back.

* PsychicLink: Between Mindspeaking Heralds and their Companions.

* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Justified by the fact that you can't do anything significant in Valdemar without riding a horse or Companion, and sidesaddle wouldn't cut it.

* DoomedByCanon: The broad strokes of Vanyel's story -- including his death -- were described in ''Arrows of the Queen,'' the first book set in Valdemar.

* LonelyAtTheTop: As Vanyel discovers when he becomes the most valuable (and feared) person in Valdemar. At one point he's enjoying a moment of camaderie with another Herald he's met on the road, only to see it turn

* LonelyAtTheTop: As Vanyel discovers when he becomes the most valuable (and feared) person in Valdemar.

* [[HasTwoMommies Has Two Daddies]]: Brightstar and his barely-mentioned twin sister, who Vanyel sired between ''Magic's Pawn'' and ''Magic's Promise'', even though Brightstar doesn't appear until ''Magic's Price''. (On the other hand, Vanyel mentions that their mother 'was willing to have twins, one for them, one for her', implying that Brightstar's twin is being raised by a single mother.)

* AltarDiplomacy: Comes up twice
** In ''Magic's Promise'', it's a plot-point that King Randale can't marry Shavri, his King's Own Herald -- not for the conflict of interest but because he needs to be available for an alliance-marriage. To that end and because she desperately wants a baby, Shavri (willingly and with Randi's full knowledge and consent) [[ChosenConceptionPartner conceives a child]] with Vanyel, to end rumors of Randi's sterility. Randale's predecessor, Elspeth the Peacemaker, never married for similar reasons.
** In ''Magic's Price'', Randi's heir Treven marries Jisa before he takes the throne. Vanyel is outraged, but Trev rationally explains that there aren't any good candidates for an alliance-marriage in the current political situation, plus he and Jisa are already Lifebonded.

* KissingCousins: Two of the grandchildren of Elspeth the Peacemaker, Treven and Jisa, turn out to be lifebonded and marry in secret before King Randale, Jisa's father, dies. This causes some upset but people become resigned to it. They are [[NotBloodSiblings not actually related]], as Randale was infertile and she was [[ChosenConceptionPartner sired by Vanyel]], but this is a closely-guarded secret.

* ContinuityNod: a slightly creepy one. In ''Arrows of the Queen'' (which is later chronologically, but earlier in publishing order) Keren tells Talia the story of the Death Bell "there used to be a little chapel in Companion's field - it was torn down ages ago, there's only the bell tower now". In ''Pawn'', Tylendel throws himself from the bell tower of the chapel in Companion's field, and when he's lying in state in the same chapel later, Vanyel makes his first suicide attempt. The chapel was possibly torn down after Vanyel went to the Tyledras, because no one wanted the most powerful Herald-Mage ever to be reminded of his life-bonded's suicide and his own attempt at same.

* CruelToBeKind: It's implied that [[spoiler:Gala repudiated Tylendel]] to spare him from having to experience her dying moments.

* DrivenToSuicide: Tylendel throws himself off a chapel roof out of his guilt regarding Gala's death in ''Magic's Pawn''; Vanyel makes two failed attempts to follow him. In ''Magic's Price'', after Vanyel's HeroicSacrifice defeating Leareth, Stefen is about to poison himself, [[spoiler: but Vanyel's ghost stops him]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: Leareth is hinted to have engineered the events of the first two books, as well as taking advantage of the Karsite War to kill off Herald-Mages. Vanyel doesn't even realize what's going on until the third book.
* GreatOffscreenWar: For all that it looms in the background and is a major part of the Vanyel's story, the Karsite War is never actually depicted. Magic's Pawn happens before the war, Vanyel was on vacation in Magic's Promise and he's been retired from the font lines in Magic's Price

* HourglassPlot: Vanyel and Tylendel and Vanyel and Stefen are chocked full of this trope

* InadequateInheritor: The way Withen sees Vanyel.

* IntellectualAnimal: Any given Companion is a highly intelligent, magically-gifted being with a horselike body. The kyree are kind of the same, only in wolflike bodies instead.

** In ''Magic's Promise'', it's a plot-point that King Randale can't marry Shavri, his King's Own Herald -- not for the conflict of interest but because he needs to be available for an alliance-marriage. To that end, Shavri (willingly and with Randi's full knowledge and consent) conceives a child with Vanyel, to end rumors of Randi's sterility.

* TheAtoner: In the afterlife, Tylendel knew he hadn't loved Vanyel enough, so he chooses to be reincarnated in hopes of atoning for his betrayal.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Averted. Leareth and Krebain are strikingly beautiful ''and'' magically charismatic, but Vanyel recognizes it as the sign of someone with a lot of power who doesn't care how he uses it.
* BigBad: Leareth, in ''Magic's Price''.

* BlessedWithSuck: Being the most gifted person in Valdemar means you'll likely wind up nearly friendless, worked to the bone, and sent on nigh-impossible missions.

* CelibateHero: Vanyel, from a few months before ''Magic's Promise'' begins until he gets together with Stefen in ''Magic's Price''.

* LighterAndSofter: Years after completing the trilogy, Mercedes Lackey brought Vanyel back for a pair of short stories in the Valdemar anthology books, in which he and a sardonic Healer friend help out at a remote village. While they're not entirely without tension, the expectation that Van sacrifice himself for others is much less pronounced, he's not horribly injured or in despair, and he has various friends taking on a lot of the load, as well as civilians who don't fear and distrust him.

* BloodMagic: Used by [[spoiler: Krebain]], [[spoiler: Vedric Mavelan]], and [[spoiler: Leareth]].

** From Stefen's generation: Young Medren is basically young Vanyel plus a Bardic gift and minus the homosexuality, and frequently refers to "young Meke", who is probably his oldest half-brother. One of Mekeal's daughters is mentioned to have been Chosen. This gets discussed for Treven and Jisa, as they can't be sure Treven won't develop the same health problems as Randale and it's known that Jisa will become King's own when her mother Shavri dies.

* UndressingTheUnconscious: In ''Magic's Price'', after Vanyel's Gift channels are blasted open, he's eventually sedated and taken to a Hawkbrother Vale for healing. He wakes up in bed, nude under a [[ModestyBedsheet bedsheet]], and Moondance freely admits to undressing Vanyel on his arrival.

* UpperClassTwit: Aside from all that preening and sniping, young!Vanyel looks down his nose on peasants... until he meets a few and realizes that, philosophically, he has more in common with them than he does with most of the aristocrats he knows.

* DepravedHomosexual: Krebain and Leareth.

* TroubledAbuser: the only character alive that actually knew Tashir's mother [[note]]Aside from the brother who probably molested her and later cast the spell that killed her[[/note]] says outright that she thinks this is the reason behind Ylna's treatment of Tashir.

* UniquenessValue: Vanyel's skill set is so uniquely valuable that he hardly ever gets a moment's rest.