Yan Lin is Hay Lin's paternal grandmother and her immediate predecessor as Guardian of Air.

After the previous Guardians of the Veil were disbanded, she continued to look after the Heart of Kandrakar and told the next group of Guardians about their mission.

In the comics, she 'dies', leaving the living world and resurfacing as part of the Council of Elders on Kandrakar, acting as the new Guardians' adviser throughout their missions. Later in Arc 7, she becomes the Oracle.

In the TV series, Yan Lin is voiced by Lauren Tom.

Plot

Comics

Yan Lin was a Guardian along with Nerissa, Cassidy, Halinor and Kadma.^[1] After Cassidy's death, she was given the Heart of Kandrakar^[2] and was the only member to remain loyal to Kandrakar.^[3]

Yan Lin died soon after W.I.T.C.H. received their elemental powers.^[4] Yan Lin then became a member of the Congregation of Kandrakar, apparently gaining a new body identical to her original one.^[5] Although she could not communicate with the girls directly because of the Veil, she was able to send several messages to them indirectly.^{[citation needed]} After the Veil was removed at the end of the first story arc, the Guardians began to regularly visit Kandrakar, and Yan Lin quickly became one of their favored advisers.

In Arc 4: Trial of the Oracle, the Oracle was stripped of his position and cast out of Kandrakar.^[6] After, there was a vote by the Congregation to elect a new leader, with Endarno (Phobos in disguise) and Yan Lin being the two candidates, taking the titles of 'Summoner' for the ritual. During the ceremony, the two elders were surrounded with magical butterflies, one of which had an image of the Heart of Kandrakar on its wings. This butterfly first settled on Yan Lin's hand, but she blew it away and it landed on Endarno's face. The mark then transferred to his skin, and he became the new Oracle.^[7] It is implied that Yan Lin would have become the Oracle if she had not rejected the butterfly, and that she did so because she was afraid of losing her connection to Hay Lin, and that she was unprepared for the responsibility of leading Kandrakar.

Phobos, disguised as Endarno, was able to manipulate the entire Congregation into believing his lies, with the exception of Yan Lin.^{[citation needed]} She persuaded the other Elders to elect her as the new Keeper of the Tower of Mists, the position formerly held by Endarno, and was able to guide Elyon while she was imprisoned within the Tower.^[8] Yan Lin also visited Himerish, the former Oracle, in the form of a giant turtle, and helped to restore his lost memories.^[9]

After Phobos was defeated and Endarno was returned to his own body, he and Yan Lin became the Oracle's close advisers, the three of them forming the new 'triumvirate' of Kandrakar.^[10] When the Dark Mother's tree took control of Kandrakar, she was the only member of the Congregation who remained immune to the tree's magic.^[11]

At the end of Arc 7: New Power, the Himerish decided to leave Kandrakar for good, and transferred his power to Yan Lin. She first used her new powers subconsciously in order to save the fortress from collapsing from the damage done to its foundations by the Dark Mother's tree. She awoke in her room in Kandrakar, where the Oracle gave her the Heart of Kandrakar and some parting advice before leaving. She then used her magic to recreate Kandrakar in her own image.^[12]

Since the start of Teach 2^b W.I.T.C.H., Yan Lin has worn the Heart of Kandrakar around her neck as a symbol of her new position. Rather than remaining within the fortress, she appears to spend much of her time in the gardens of Kandrakar, where she frequently meets with the girls. When the Guardians discover their new mission, she presented Hay Lin with a key to their new school, a magical bus which contains an almost infinite number of rooms in which they will teach their new pupils.^{[citation needed]}

TV series

Yan Lin was the Guardian of Air. After the Veil was raised, cutting Earth off from Meridian, Yan Lin kept the Heart of Kandrakar on Earth until it was time to pass it on to the next generation.^[13] After which time she acted as a mentor to the new Guardians, and served as an informal adviser to the Council of Kandrakar.

Upon her return, Nerissa attempted to corrupt Yan Lin by offering her power, youth, and finally the safety of her granddaughter, but Yan Lin refused all three.^[14] Nerissa was forced to imprison Yan Lin, alongside Elyon, within the Heart of Meridian. Nerissa then created an Altermere to take her place.^[15]

In the final episode of the second season, Yan Lin and her Altermere escaped her prison and came to live on Earth, where she was introduced to Hay Lin's parents as Yan Lin's "long-lost twin sister Mira". As an almost perfect duplicates, Yan Lin and Altermere Yan Lin, now Mira Lin, had a habit of finishing each other's sentences.^[16]

Powers and abilities

TV Series

Yan Lin performed several small acts of magic throughout Season 1, and during Season 2, it was revealed that she retained the un-transformed version of her Guardian power after C.H.Y.K.N. disbanded for good. Though, without the Heart of Kandrakar directing the power of the Aurameres to her, using her former elemental powers drains her life force.

Trivia

• While Yan Lin is usually shown to be Hay Lin's paternal grandmother, there are some inconsistencies:
  • In Issue 002: The Twelve Portals, Yan Lin addresses Hay Lin's father, Chen Lin, as her son, stating that when he was little she was the one that fed him (he was trying to convince her to take her medicine).
  • However, in Issue 009: The Four Dragons, when Hay Lin's asks her mother, Joan Lin, for an Asian story the latter comments that Yan Lin used to tell her many when she was little. Then again, it must mean that Joan simply knew Yan Lin as a child before becoming her daughter-in-law.
  • This may be an inconsistency from part of the writers, because in Arc 8: Teach 2b W.I.T.C.H., in Issue 093: It Comes From Far Away, Hay Lin's maternal grandparents are shown in a flashback, and her maternal grandmother is clearly not Yan Lin, hence Yan Lin must be the mother of Hay Lin's father.
  • In the TV Series, she is established as Hay Lin's paternal Grandmother as her Father refers to her as 'my mother'.
• Yan Lin was once married as Hay Lin compares her Guardian form to the way she looked in her wedding photos. The relationship with her spouse is unremarked upon and thus unknown, but as her astral drop was able to romantically pursue Zachariah Lyndon, it can be assumed that she is either a widow, estranged, or divorced.
• It remains unknown if she and Mira will ever tell Zachariah the truth of who he actually fell in love with and how the relationship between them will continue.

Gallery

Main article: Yan Lin/Gallery

Images of Yan Lin.

References

Guardians
W.I.T.C.H.			Will Vandom · Irma Lair · Taranee Cook · Cornelia Hale · Hay Lin · Orube
C.H.Y.K.N.			Cassidy · Halinor · Yan Lin · Kadma · Nerissa
Guardian elements			Quintessence · Water · Fire · Earth · Air
Items			Heart of Kandrakar · Aurameres
Background			Xin Jing · Four Dragons · Nymphs · Oracle · Kandrakar