Rayni Aria

Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details from the latest book.

“So the fact that you never wear your hood-is that a protest? Or because you want everyone to see your awesome bangs?”

—Glimmer to Tam, in Legacy

Glimmer is a defected Neverseen member and a flasher. In Legacy, she was the one who tied bonds onto Tam's wrists to let the Neverseen control him. She is described by Sophie as a girl (most likely not an adult).

Glimmer
Aliases	None
Occupation	Neverseen Member (Former)
Foxfire Level	Unknown
Biographical Information
Gender	Female
Age	Unknown (though described as a girl so maybe a young adult or teen)
Special Ability	Flasher
Residence	Unknown
Physical Description
Eye Color	Unknown (most likely a shade of blue)
Hair Color	Long Black Hair
Other Information

More about her is revealed at the end of Legacy in Tam's Short Story. Glimmer tries to make friends with Tam while he is with the Neverseen, but he is determined to ignore her. 

At the battle in Loamnore, she breaks Tam's bonds so he can help Sophie and her friends, and offers assistance to Sophie.

Later, after the battle, she's invited by Tam to live with him and Linh. However, she refuses to tell people her real identity and show her face, keeping herself hidden underneath her cloak.

Glimmer's Identity Theories

• Mai Song

Although a long shot, some fans believe that Glimmer may be Mai Song, Tam and Linh's mom. First off, both Glimmer and Mai have long, straight ebony hair, as do Tam and Linh. It is said in the Tam Short Story from Tam's POV that Glimmer sounds like Linh when she speaks. She also showed that she cares about Tam during his stay with the Neverseen, often checking on him and trying to become his friend. Mai Song/Glimmer was likely recruited to the Neverseen by Lady Gisela. Lord Cassius briefly mentioned that he knew Quan Song (Mai's husband) and they sometimes met up. It would make sense for Lady Gisela and Mai to then hang out together, and when Lady Gisela noticed how powerful a Flasher Mai was, she may have invited her to join the order. Mai also seemed to regret letting Tam and Linh get banished, so she may have been angry at the Council, and joining the Neverseen might have been her way at getting back at them. She could have been mad at them for not silencing the prejudice on multiple births, too, since she maybe felt pressure to say that her children weren't twins (not to say that what she did was right).

Additionally, this would mean that Mai Song is a Flasher, while Tam is a Shade, and the two abilities may have the same core, similar to Empaths and Enhancers. This would explain why Tam is a Shade. Glimmer is said to be an extremely powerful Flasher, and both her children are also very talented ability-wise.

Linh. Lastly, Glimmer changed sides in Legacy, helping Sophie and her friends in Loanmore. Once the Neverseen had lost the battle, she left the Neverseen, coming back to the Lost Cities with Sophie's friends. Tam thought Glimmer should come to live with him and Linh, but she disagreed since Glimmer would not show her face, keeping her cloak's hood up. This is probably because she was afraid of the betrayal her family would feel if she revealed who she was.

• Luzia Vacker

First off, they are both Flashers, and they both have long black hair. Luzia is mentioned at the beginning of Legacy, she was apparently "waiting to be sentenced" and we hear nothing more of her. She has always been cunning and is known to keep secrets. She is also known to be a powerful Flasher and would thus be able to make the etherine bonds that Lady Gisela had put on Tam. She has worked with Vespera before, so maybe Vespera/Lady Gisela recruited her. She could have joined the Neverseen for any number of reasons, but after the "Scandal at Everglen," she is probably bitter towards the Councillors for her tribunal and she is maybe even a little bitter towards Sophie and her friends for exposing the hive at the Celestial Festival (even though that was Vespera, Lady Gisela "has proven time and time again to be a master of mind games and manipulation".) She has also proven to kinda "change sides" from working with Vespera to helping Sophie save Wynn and Luna. She might not want to show her face because she betrayed Sophie and her friends by not telling them about the troll hive at Everglen. (Happy Shadow Thoughts 101)

• Jolie Lucine Ruewen

Fans speculate that Jolie could have been forced to fake her death and join the Neverseen. In Everblaze, it mentioned how she loved Brant up until the end, but if that wasn’t the end, she would have been committed to the cause after he died even more if she still loved him, explaining the comment that she is one of the most committed members they’ve ever had. She could be working with a Flasher to save light and then conjure it, making her look like a Flasher even though Jolie is a Conjurer. She snaps her fingers to move already-existing orbs of light, something that Wylie, Elwin, and other Flashers never have to do. They only flick their wrists to move light, although they do snap to create it. Glimmer snaps her fingers just like a Conjurer, which Jolie was. Glimmer is described as having long black hair, unlike Jolie’s blond, but she had Raven Lovelylocks (black hair dye) on her desk. The reason she might not lower her hood is because she might be scared to face Grady and Edaline after over 17 years of them believing their only daughter was dead. Her age is also similar to that of Glimmer.

• The Neverseen’s version of Moonlark

Glimmer may have been a genetic experiment made by the Neverseen, ordered to spy on Tam and the rest of the Black Swan. Lady Gisela also says that Glimmer is more loyal to the cause than anyone she’s ever met.

• Lady Cadence Talle

Lady Cadence Talle is a Polyglot, which means she can Manifest twice. She could've manifested into a Flasher. Tam said that she sounded like Linh, and that may be because she is good at mimicking. Her hair is raven black, and she might've been with the Neverseen in the first place and was sent to Mentor Sophie in Foxfire to spy on her. That could be why the Neverseen knows so much about Sophie and her friends. She might not lower her hood because she is scared of what the Councillors will do because they thought she was trustworthy. The Neverseen might've tortured Fitz and Keefe so much because they knew how much Matchmaking meant to her, and they wanted Sophie to cooperate. Lady Cadence Talle could tell them that because members of Team Valiant went to investigate her to ask her if she was Sophie's biological mother. Lady Cadence might've run off to join the Neverseen because she was stuck living with the Ogres.

• Lady Gisela's daughter

Lord Cassius always wanted a son right? So I'm proposing that Glimmer is Keefe's sister, also why she went willingly with them at the end of Legacy. So basically Lady Gisela took Glimmer to the Neverseen to raise her, that's why Lady Gisela says, as previously stated, that Glimmer is more loyal to the cause than anyone she has met. There are some parts where the theory flaws but it's a theory.