Ursa is definitely my favorite villain in The Magic Council. She’s also the most unique.

Arbora Anders is basically a foil of Kora–the opposite of Kora, an “anti-Kora,” if you will–weak where Kora is resolute, unbending where Kora is resilient.

Darryn Polve is a foil of Zacry Porteg. He’s awful. Where Zac is hard-working, deep-thinking, and a family man who understands his deepest obligations, duties, and what truly matters, Darryn is the exact opposite. He talks a decent game but has no real courage or moral depth to follow it up.

Carson Amison is cunning, but he’s your typical scheming, corrupt politician ensnared by his ego and his passions. Very believable. Legitimately threatening. To me, not incredibly interesting in and of himself.

Ursa, in contrast, is the villain with a character arc and decent page-time.

She’s not evil at heart. She’s confused, wrapped up in a bad consequentialist philosophy (think “the ends justify the means”) and a misunderstanding of what love really means.

That the deepest kind of love involves sacrificing for others is a theme of The Magic Council. This is something Ursa needs to learn.

Ursa is in her mid-twenties, living in the fishing villages on the coast of Herezoth. She’s rustic and unrefined and speaks with a fisherman’s accent.

She’s also filthy rich. Her magic power of controlling animals allowed her to help her father catch lots of fish when she was growing up. Her love language is definitely gift-giving. She took in her half-sister August when August was around fourteen, but the two hadn’t really spent any time together before that.

Ursa cares about August but doesn’t really know how to show it–apart from taking care of her physical needs and giving her a home. Will Ursa grow and learn how to sacrifice something for her sister? Find out on May 30.

And, oh yeah, Ursa has a PET BEAR, which I think is crazy but also fun.