Whitlock

"'There's no single path to your 'true potential'. Our potential is built out of the choices we make.'""—Whitlock to Hex concerning their potential."Whitlock, a character in "The Crown & The Flame" series, is the leader of the Technocrats. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 11.

Background
Whitlock was the son of merchants in a town called Briarstone, presumably in Abanthus. The place was raided by Nevrakis soldiers who rounded up all able-bodied men and women for Luther's army. Initially picked as one of the recruits, Whitlock was instead selected to be a squire for a Nevrakis officer, Harman after the soldiers deemed him too sickly to be in the infantry.

Unwilling to participate in the soldiers' dirty deeds, he then lived his days as a squire giving trouble for them, just enough to hinder them but not too much to be executed. Weeks later, Whitlock and the soldiers came into a village that the latter were about to raid, only to be met with resistance. The Nevrakis soldiers eventually disarmed the villagers and attempted to incinerate them, only for Whitlock to rescue them; consequently he was beaten up by another soldier named Falco, then knocked unconscious by Harman.

After waking up, Whitlock realized he was tended to by the villagers he saved, who gave him his prosthetic arms; he then headed out to the Foundry with what little belongings he had left. Being the youngest person ever to solve the Foundry's maze, he was marvelled by its people, the Technocrats, but most of all Hex, who took him in as her apprentice and upgraded his arms. Years passed, and Whitlock became the Technocrats' leader. Upon discovering Hex's atrocious use of their weapons, he banished her, unaware of the extremes she can reach.

Appearance
Whitlock has blue eyes and medium-length, shaggy black hair. He wears a brown vest with gear patterns on a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and goggles on his head. His left hand is metal below the elbow and his right, below the wrist. The prosthetics have palms and arms made from what looks like brass, and the fingers, from a dull gray metal like iron or lead.

Before his amputation, Whitlock did not roll up his sleeves.

Personality
Whitlock is a pacifist and tries not to kill, or convince others not to kill, until he finds out Hex invaded the Foundry. Despite his pacifism, he understands why people go to war, and supports Kenna and her army's goal to take back Stormholt. His distaste for violence and murder was so great that he would rather be beaten up by Nevrakis soldiers than to obey their command of burning alive a crowd trapped in a barn.

Whitlock also tends to speak in technological jargon whenever he gets carried away in explaining his inventions, leaving anyone listening to him utterly baffled or annoyed.

Hex
Whitlock was Hex's apprentice. He came into The Foundry after he had joined the Nevrakis army, and Hex raised and taught him like a mother. He became the leader of the Technocrats and when Hex kept influencing him to develop weapons for war, he banished her. Nevertheless, he remains compassionate towards her, defending her when Kenna suggested he should have had her executed, and begging Kenna to let him handle Hex when they found her in Aurelia. Should Kenna recruit Hex, Whitlock would gently keep his mentor in line whenever she accidentally displays her sadism.

Kenna
Whitlock helps Kenna through the Labyrinth that leads to the center of The Foundry, and is impressed when she makes it through. He gives her a drill to break through Stormholt's walls and, if the player has enough Prestige points, offers her five catapults. Kenna also helps calm him down when he discovers that Hex has destroyed the Foundry.

Val
Val at first is unimpressed by, and even wary of, Whitlock, but later warms up to him. The two seem to be close enough for Whitlock to jest about Val's rather unrefined mannerisms.

Trivia

 * The player gets the chance to play as him in Book 1 and Book 2 for diamonds and in Book 3 as part of the story.
 * According to Azura, Whitlock became the leader of the Technocrats at fifteen.
 * Whitlock's mechanical hands are strong enough to crush helmets along with the head within, proven in his rescue of Val Greaves in Book 2 Chapter 15 should the Mechataur not be recruited.