Characters who were active during the Eighth Interval, a.k.a. the Second Long Interval. Characters who had plot-significant roles during both the Eighth Interval and the Ninth Pass are listed under Ninth Pass Characters.
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Eighth Interval Weyrleaders
S'loner
Rider of bronze Chendith, Weyrleader of Benden Weyr, and F'lon's father. One of a dwindling handful of dragonriders who expect Thread to return someday.- Teleporter Accident: How he and his dragon die. All the other dragons instantly sense Chendith's death; but nobody actually witnesses it, so the exact circumstances can only be surmised. The best guess is that he suffered a heart attack at the moment he and Chendith went between — either killing them outright, or causing them to lose focus on their destination and fail to rematerialize. Either way, neither he, his dragon, nor the passenger they were conveying — Lord Maidir of Benden Hold — are ever seen again.
F'lon
Rider of bronze Simanith and Weyrleader of Benden Weyr after S'loner. Father of F'lar and F'nor.- Childhood Friend: To Robinton.
- Hot-Blooded: His main character flaw. It ultimately gets him killed.
- The Cassandra: By the time F'lon becomes Weyrleader, virtually nobody, in the Weyr or outside it, takes the threat of Thread seriously anymore. His (frequently tactless) attempts to persuade people are generally met with ridicule or annoyance.
R'gul
Rider of bronze Hath and Weyrleader of Benden Weyr after F'lon.- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Once F'lar takes over as Weyrleader at the start of the Ninth Pass, R'gul very quickly disappears from the story (which is why he's listed here rather than under Ninth Pass Characters).
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Vetoes all of F'lar's advice to prepare Pern for Threadfall, because he doesn't believe Thread will ever return and he's afraid of antagonizing the Lord Holders with unreasonable demands.
- Unfit for Greatness: R'gul is a competent enough wingleader, and genuinely does have (what he thinks are) the best interests of the Weyr at heart. Unfortunately, he's completely incapable of preparing the Weyr for the Ninth Pass, utterly fails to manage Jora and all her attendant problems, and has no idea how to effectively respond to unexpected crises.
Eighth Interval Weyrwomen
Jora
Queen rider of Nemorth, and Benden Weyrwoman to S'loner, F'lon and R'gul.- Big Eater: Overeats compulsively and constantly, clearly as a coping mechanism for her mental and emotional problems.
- Death by Gluttony: Ultimately dies by overeating.
- Fisher King: Jora is incompetent, neurotic and probably mentally ill, which is reflected in her queen, which in turn affects all the other dragons and their riders. Benden Weyr deteriorates badly during her time as Weyrwoman as a result.
- Ironic Fear: She's a dragonrider... and she's afraid of heights. Unlike most examples of this trope, it is not played for comedy. Besides making her incompetent as a Weyrwoman, the resultant dysphoria clearly causes her severe psychological damage, which gets steadily worse over time.
- The Millstone: Her complete inability to either function effectively as Weyrwoman, or keep her dragon under control, actively causes the Weyr to deteriorate in both efficiency and morale. This is the main reason Benden Weyr is in such a dire state at the start of Dragonflight.
- There Are No Therapists: Justified as Pern is a feudal culture, but Jora clearly suffers from serious psychological distress and doesn't get any effective help for it. It quickly becomes obvious that she's completely unsuited, mentally and emotionally, to being a dragonrider — unfortunately, once you've Impressed, you're in for life and there's no backing out. Even more unfortunately, her mental problems are also reflected in her dragon, and since her dragon is the Weyr queen, everyone is affected.
Eighth Interval Holders
Fax
The despotic, self-styled "Lord of the High Reaches" or "Lord of Seven Holds". Lord Holder, by (questionable) inheritance or outright conquest, of High Reaches, Nabol, Crom, Ruatha, Keogh, Balen and Riverbend holds.- Big Bad: Of The Masterharper of Pern and the first part of Dragonflight.
- False Friend: Likes to ingratiate himself to another hold with marriage alliances and/or favourable trade, then use the opportunity to slowly infiltrate them. Then he launches a lightning strike to conquer them before they realize what's happening.
- Hate Sink: Fax is utterly, unambiguously despicable on pretty much every level.
- Manipulative Bastard: He's strategically minded, and very good at manipulating his targets in ways that suit his purposes. For starters, he plans his succession to High Reaches Hold very carefully, ingratiating himself to Lord Faroguy while positioning himself to quickly eliminate Faroguy's (legitimate) sons. He also cleverly orchestrates the events directly leading to F'lon's death.
- Spanner in the Works: It's in no small part because of Fax that Pern is so woefully unprepared for the Ninth Pass. His persecution of harpers leaves huge swaths of the population uneducated, and his campaigns of conquest mean most of the other holds are too occupied with defense to worry about abstract threats like Thread. He's also responsible for engineering F'lon's death, which leaves the Weyr without strong and forward-looking leadership at the exact time that it's most needed.
Gemma
One of Fax's wives, and the eventual mother of Jaxom.- Death by Childbirth: Dies giving birth to Jaxom.
- Retcon: Introduced in Dragonflight as a member of the Crom bloodline, which Fax used to legitimize his claim on that hold. In later books, however, she's described as being of Ruathan blood, and her connection to Crom is seemingly forgotten.
Grogellan
Lord Holder of Fort, father of Groghe.- Ruptured Appendix: Dies from one after refusing to be operated on.
Maidir
Lord Holder of Benden, father of Raid.- Headbutting Heroes: Was once good friends with S'loner, the Benden Weyrleader, but they fell out after repeated arguments over whether Thread would ever return. Their eventual attempt to reconcile is cut short when they are lost between and killed.
- Never Found the Body: Disappears during a Hatching at Benden Weyr. Nobody ever knows for sure exactly what happened, but it's surmised that he was being given a ride back to Benden Hold by S'loner and Chendith when they had their Teleporter Accident.
Melongel
Lord Holder of Tillek, father of Oterel and brother-in-law of Robinton.Kasia
Sister-in-law of Lord Melongel, and Robinton's wife.- Doomed by Canon: Since Robinton has no spouse in chronologically-later novels, it's obvious that his and Kasia's marriage is doomed somehow.
- The Lost Lenore: To Robinton.
Tarathel
Lord Holder of Telgar, father of Larad, Kylara and Thella.- My Greatest Failure: Never gets over the fact that F'lon, the Benden Weyrleader, was killed while a guest of his.
- Really Gets Around: It's noted that Kylara inherited this quality from him. Larad certainly seems to have quite a few half-siblings.
Kale
Lord Holder of Ruatha, and father of Lessa. He becomes Lord Holder at a relatively young age, and his lack of experience makes him an easy target for Fax's campaign of expansion.- Nice Guy: He's a kind, affable, and fair leader. Robinton notes that he might have been an ideal Lord Holder in more peaceful times.
- Too Dumb to Live: Refuses to believe that Fax would attack Ruatha, due to their mutually-beneficial trading relationship. This in spite of the fact that Fax has already overrun several other holds in similar positions. As a result, he unfortunately ends up as a literal example of this trope, as Fax slaughters him and his entire family (save for Lessa).
Eighth Interval Harper Hall Characters
Gennell
Masterharper of Pern, and Robinton's mentor.- Reasonable Authority Figure: Probably the wisest and most competent character in The Masterharper of Pern besides Robinton himself — and it's largely Gennell who gives Robinton his leadership skills.
Petiron
Mastercomposer and Robinton's father. Later becomes resident harper at Half Circle Sea Hold, where he discovers and mentors Menolly.- Anti-Nepotism: One of the reasons Petiron is so strict and distant with Robinton is that he doesn't want to be accused of favouring his own son. He also applies this in reverse — when Robinton becomes Masterharper, Petiron retires as Mastercomposer and leaves the Harper Hall, because he doesn't want to put Robinton in a potential conflict of interest.
- Jerkass: Mostly to Robinton, partly due to Anti-Nepotism, partly because he just doesn't understand his son and can't relate to him at all.
- My Greatest Second Chance: After having been an absolutely terrible father to Robinton, he spends his last few years mentoring Menolly. We don't see any of their time together, but it's clear he was a beloved father-figure to her.
- Poor Communication Kills: An awful lot of trouble and heartache in (indeed, most of the plot of Dragonsong) could have been avoided if Petiron had bothered to mention that his genius protegé was a girl (or, for that matter, actually told anyone her name).
- Took a Level in Kindness: After Merelan dies, he mellows out and becomes a lot more accepting of Robinton, although they never really become close.
Merelan
Mastersinger and Robinton's mother.Nip / Kinsale
A journeyman harper who specializes in covert and undercover operations. He is fiercely dedicated to opposing and undermining Fax.- Code Name: Goes by 'Nip' because the nature of his job causes him to "nip in and out". His actual name* isn't revealed until the very end of The Masterharper of Pern.
- The Infiltration: Frequently does this as part of his job.
- Master of Disguise: A necessary skill for the work he does.
- The Nondescript: Usefully for a spy, he has bland and unmemorable features.
Eighth Interval Healers
