“ | Nobody messes with my boy. Not Abraham Ravenwood, not the serpent or Old Scratch himself, you hear? | ” |
— Amma, threatening Abraham Ravenwood not to harm Ethan, Beautiful Chaos
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Amarie Treadeau, nicknamed and better known as Amma, was a Seer, who could read the future and could contact the deceased spirits of her family and read Tarot.
Amma was Ethan Wate's nanny since his early childhood, and was said to have also been his father's nanny back when he was growing up; having seen two generations of the Wate family. She watched over Ethan like that of her own son (often even referring to him as "her boy") and was known to be very protective over him in a motherly fashion, willing to even put her own life on the line for him.
Biography
Amarie has been Ethan's nanny since he was a young boy. She reads tarot cards for the townsfolk for a living and is a "Seer." She is known to make charms and hides them around the house to keep evil spirits away being heavily superstitious. It is told that she took care of his father in addition to Ethan himself after his mother tragically died. She is shown to love Ethan very much like her own son and has a strong mother-son relationship and bond with him. She is also implied to be a motherly figure to Ethan as well.
Amma has also been shown to be able to predict the future through her tarot cards and was able to predict Ethan's death through them before the events of Beautiful Chaos and desperately sought out ways to save him, but was unable to by the end of the novel despite her best efforts. She wept as Ethan threw himself over the edge of the water tower, killing himself, with Macon physically holding her back by her arms as she hysterically wept and sobbed Ethan's death. In Beautiful Redemption, desperate for him to come back, Amma ultimately trades her life for Ethan's; allowing her to take his place in the Otherworld and him hers in the Mortal world.
Personality
Amma is described as being "old" by Ethan and being very proper and having strong and firm religious faith. She is very superstitious always having charms around the house to keep demonic spirits away. She is shown to be very motherly towards Ethan (often referring to him as "her boy") having raised him since he was a child and, after his mother passes away, was forced to take on full parental role over him since his father was unable to cope with his wife's death and became a shut-in.
Since Amma is a Seer, she has a deep hatred for demonic spirits and Dark Casters who are always evil intentioned, barely being able to handle Macon himself when he was Dark creature and even throwing Abraham Ravenwood out of her house (when he came to interrogate Ethan for information), showing no fear, but instead pure deep disgust. Amma, having raised him since he was a boy, is also known to be very protective over Ethan, always looking out for him and extremely cautious when it comes to his safety. Ethan's predicted death hit her hard in the third novel when she began to become scarce around the house and doing things she normally does not do to the extent that Ethan is more than worried about her. Before Ethan's sacrifice, she falls down to her knees weeping as Ethan sacrifices himself to save Gatlin and the Caster world. Amma vows never to forgive Macon for Ethan's required sacrifice, blaming him for the outcome of things that lead to Ethan's sacrifice. Ethan's death is a major blow to her as seen in Beautiful Redemption, she never goes out and can be seen baking Ethan's favorite meals and pretending he is in the room and talking to him. When she realizes Ethan's spirit very well was in the room and attempting to communicate with her, she begins to break down and sob once again.
Amma is shown throughout the series to be a strong willed woman showing very little, if not any, fear towards the greater Dark Caster world creatures, including Sarafine, who is known to be the Darkest Caster alive, and Abraham Ravenwood. She's always very fond of her deceased relatives always respecting their resting places, often bring their past favorite foods and beverages to their graves wrapped in a very fancy manner; she has even brought one of them a bottle of their past favorite wine. Since Viola Davis will play Amma, it now assumed that the character of Amma is of African American descent, though none of the readers have expressed ever suspecting this detail since the given information of Amma's character throughout the novel series has never hinted toward it. Later it was revealed Amma is of Bajan American descent.
Power and Abilities
Being a Seer, she is able to see things back in the past and foresee events of the future through her tarot cards. She can also sense things and call upon dead spirits and deceased loved ones to her as seen many times in the series. Before Beautiful Chaos, Amma was able to predict Ethan's death before the events of the novel had even started.
Relationships
Ethan Wate
Amma's has been Ethan's nanny since he was a child and grew very close to him viewing him as her own son. After his mother passed, she was forced to take on a full parental role when his father locked himself away and took care of Ethan herself. She is shown to be very fiercely protective over Ethan always making sure he is out of harm's way. When she is able to predict his death in Beautiful Chaos, she set out to find a way to spare him but is unable to and is described as slowly slipping into a deep depression that worries Ethan. When Ethan goes to commit the sacrifice, Macon is forced to physically hold her back as she wept hysterically for "her boy." In the following novel, Beautiful Redemption, Amma can be seen taking Ethan's death very hard; no longer doing cross words or puzzles and occasionally making Ethan's favorite foods while pretending him to be there. She ultimately ends up trading her life for his, therefore allowing him to return to the Mortal world while she takes his place in the Otherworld.
Macon Ravenwood
Amma and Macon are shown to have to have a somewhat strict business-like relationship only speaking or associating when they absolutely have to; such as in the first novel of the series when discussing Ethan and Lena's growing relationship and saying how they have to stop them from seeing each other (though knowing there was nothing to do). Amma is shown to greatly dislike Macon and begrudgingly shows respect for him. This is immplied to be due of his family line/heritage often referring to Macon as "his kind" whenever making references to his family. Though over time, the tension seems to come to a somewhat ease. However in Beautiful Chaos when Ethan must be sacrificed, Amma blames Macon for the outcome of things that resulted in Ethan's must-needed death and vows never to forgive him for it. Macon, while holding Amma back as she tries to leap for Ethan and weeping, despite Amma's promise to never forgive him, promises Ethan that he will look after her after his (Ethan's) sacrifice and death.
Quotes
- "Ethan Lawson Wate!"
- "Don't you know that eyes are the windows to the soul?
- "Nonsense. That boy doesn't have power anymore than I have a tail."
- "She's a Dark one. Never know which way the wind will blow with that one. It's like tryin' to see where a twister'll hit."
- "At your house...when was he at your house? I told him to stay clear a Ravenwood."
- "We have an agreement. This house is off-limits. You find somewhere else to do your dirty business."
- "I'll take care of this. I'll tell him he can't see her anymore."
- "How dare you come into this house without my permission!"
- "Don't you insult the Greats. Not here, not in this place. They have their reasons. There must've been a reason they didn't reveal it."
- "You've lost your mind. He doesn't have any kind a power. I raised that child. Don't you think I'd know it?"
- "Are you feedin' offa my boy? Is that what you're sayin'? Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
- "I know what you do and what you are, Melchizedek, and you will deal with the Devil in due time. Don't you bring that evil into my house."
- "Ethan Wate! I was there the day you were born, and I'll be there the day you die, from this side or the other."
- "Don't you stand there with your high and mighty, because I won't let my boy be your sacrificial lamb!"
- "You watch youself. One day you're gonna pick a hole in the sky and the universe is gonna fall right through. Then we'll all be in a fix."
Film portrayal
The role of Amma is played by Viola Davis in the film adaption of the first book of The Caster Chronicles series, as announced in late February. This role was the first one to be publicly announced.
Notes and Trivia
- Amma is known to be superstitious and carry charms and such around to keep evil spirits away.
- She is also known for her motherly relationship with Ethan, whom she treats and sees as her own son.
- She originally hoped to keep Ethan in the dark about the existence of the Caster world and its creatures, keeping the presence of the world secret from him prior to the events of Beautiful Creatures.
- In Beautiful Darkness it was revealed she was Bajan, and the only Bajan that is alive (assuming all of her ancestors are Bajan).