[[Category:Andoran]]
Lord Gawyn of House Trakand is a young man, son of Taringail Damodred and Queen Morgase, as well as the brother of Elayne and half-brother to Galad Damodred. Rand al'Thor meets Gawyn in The Eye of the World when he falls into the Palace garden, but we do not learn much about him there.
Later, when Elayne heads to the White Tower for her Aes Sedai training, Gawyn and Galad train with the Warders. During his time there, Gawyn meets Egwene, Min, and Nynaeve. During the Tower Coup, he supports Elaida by preventing the attempted rescue of Siuan Sanche, the deposed Amyrlin Seat. and becomes the head of a group of former Warder trainees known as "The Younglings".
While it is likely that Galad is a better swordsman than him, he has proven himself quite capable with the sword, having killed two Warders, Coulin and Hammar, both of whom it is indicated are of master swordsman caliber, during the Coup.
Gawyn shows up again in Cairhien where he meets with Egwene regularly and they confess their love for one another. After Egwene has to leave to become the Amyrlin Seat of the Salidar Aes Sedai, he leaves to assist the Aes Sedai he is travelling with at the Battle of Dumai's Wells, which he loses, but survives. As of Knife of Dreams Gawyn and the Younglings are encamped outside the walls of Tar Valon, not allowed in by order of Elaida and incapable of leaving due to winter snows and the rebel army. He also extremely dislikes Rand, as proven at one point when Egwene was pulled into one of his dreams, in which he killed Rand to rescue Egwene. At Dumai's Wells he even tells Rand, "I will see you dead, al'Thor". He believes that Rand killed his mother when he took Caemlyn, but because Egwene supports Rand, he will not raise a hand against him.