Empress Avalon was supposedly a paradigm-shift aspect of Deirdre, who was infected with serpent venom and slept through the thousand years of Slumber. By reputation cruel and malicious, she was responsible for the death Tern and the transformation of Thufir... yet the truth is perhaps still unknown, for if she was an aspect of Deirdre, what possible reason could she have had for calling herself Avalon? Another also exists who calls herself Avalon, The Warden.