I’ve seen some theories circulating the internet about Alden being evil and on the Neverseen, but I haven’t seen any on this wiki. Before you start shouting at me, hear me out.
Here are the reasons I think Alden is on the Neverseen:
1. Every single member (except for Alvar, of course) of Alden’s family is on the Black Swan. Except for him. Why? I know, I know, he’s an emissary and blah blah blah… but he could still swear the oath in secret! It’s for the good of the world! I mean, come on, the entire rest of your family is part of it!
2. So, I don’t have the exact page number and quotes and all that… but in Exile (or Everblaze, I’m sorry, but I don’t have the books and am basing this off memory, so bear with me) when Sophie is searching Prentice’s mind, she sees a face that looks like Alden’s, but evil and shattering, that says, “no reason to worry” and laughs evilly. Umm… is this evil Alden or is this evil Alden?
3. So, in Nightfall, Amy says that it was five days ago that her parents were kidnapped. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that was before Gethen escaped. So the Neverseen didn’t have a telepath. But they searched the house for thoughts. Who was their telepath? Alden.
4. At the beginning of Nightfall, Alden drugs Sophie and her friends. Without permission. Not nicely. And he was randomly holding drugs in his hand. Weird, right? And then he creepily says, “Don’t fight the drugs, Sophie. You can’t beat them.” What he’s really saying is, ‘Don’t fight the Neverseen, Sophie. You can’t beat them.”
5. Alden, out of no where, with no orders from the Council, on a mere hunch, starts searching for this girl. Weird, right? And he sends his six-year old. Yeah. Weird.
Anyway, this is just my theory. It would add an excellent plot twist to the story, and would add a lot of character development to Alden. Plus, another theory I have is that Prentice had found out Alden was evil, and that was why he called swan Song. But Alden realized this, and this was why he was so insistent on the memory break.