Tam Dai Song (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

Tam Dai Song is a main character in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. He is a Shade and a member of the Black Swan as well as a former temporarily forced member of the Neverseen. When he was eleven, he left the Lost Cities because his twin sister Linh, who he was very close with, was banished for flooding Atlantis and so she wouldn't be alone. As a result, he was also banished and began to attend Exillium and lived in the Neutral Territories for more than three years, until Book 4: Neverseen where he and Linh met Sophie Foster and her friends.

The name "Tam" appears to be either Vietnamese, Scots, or Hebrew. It primarily means "twin," "heart," or "excellence." In the past, his family's last name was Tong, but his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother changed it to Song, as she was a musician. The surname Song is also the Chinese variation of the Vietnamese surname Tống". Along with the first name and origin of the last name. His middle name, "Dai," is a Welsh and Japanese name, with different meanings reported by different sources. Some say that it means "to shine" in Welsh, and others report that it means "beloved" in Welsh and "great" in Japanese. But "Dai" also means "black“ in Ancient Chinese, and that might be the most relevant origin since Tam is a Shade.

Many residents of the Lost Cities harshly judge multiple births, and Tam's parents are no exception. Thus, when Linh, a fledgling Hydrokinetic, lost control of her powers and flooded Atlantis, she was banished to Exillium. Tam, not wanting her to face banishment on her own, decided to follow her to Exillium even though he had done nothing wrong. He also did this because of the rocky relationship with his parents.

Tam and his sister lived nomadically for over 3 years in the Neutral Territories while attending Exillium. When Sophie met them, they were living in Wildwood Colony, a gnomish territory affected by the ogre-released plague in *Neverseen*. He and Linh later resided with Ermete (a dwarf who died in the battle at Mount Everest) before moving to Alluveterre under the care of the Black Swan. After the events in Lodestar, they were supposed to move in with Black Swan Collective member Blur, but there was a difficulty with Blur’s living conditions so they were placed with Tiergan and Wylie at Solreef. Tam now attends Foxfire Academy, along with Linh.

## Appearance

Tam has black hair with silver-tipped bangs, which tend to fall into his eyes. The silvertips are from his melted registry pendant. He has a creamy skin tone, pink lips, and pale blue eyes, which are flecked with silver. He is described as very handsome, and Sophie Foster equates his appearance to that of a K-pop idol. It is also stated that he has the same "dramatic features" as his sister.

## Personality

* **Rebellious/Bitter**

The silver tips of his bangs first came around when Tam had melted the chains of his registry pendant and dipped the tips of his bangs into the silver liquid, throwing the crystal into his father's face as an act of defiance.

When it comes to his parents, Tam is very rebellious and bitter, and he always speaks badly of them. He loathes them after what they had done to him and Linh. He seems to want to be completely disconnected from them. An example, him not liking to be called by his last name, Song. Because of that, he does not trust people easily and is overprotective of Linh. However, while he is very bitter towards his parents, a small part of him seems to want them back, as he keeps repeating that his parents need to "earn their respect." He even taunts Lady Gisela in the eighth book on his first day with the Neverseen, which shows his rebellious side.

* **Wary**

Tam is wary of anyone that he has not gotten to know yet. He has strong trust issues, as it is seen when he took a long time getting to trust Sophie, her friends, and the Black Swan. Tam even admits at the end of *Flashback* he was never really trusting of the Black Swan for a while. He takes careful steps in trusting people or telling them about something, and he always thinks there might be a 'catch' to a bargain that sounds too good to be true, as shown when Mr. Forkle offers the twins home to stay for nothing in return. This wariness or suspicion could be because of his rocky past with his parents, discrimination against twins and/or being banished for more than 3 years.

In his short story in *Legacy,* it is revealed that he set certain rules for himself to follow once he was moved to Exillium with his sister. He attempts to follow these rules again as he lives with the Neverseen.

* **Insecure**

Tam also tends to be a bit insecure. At one point he asks Sophie, "You already have the four friends you came with. Do you really have room for more?" This shows that Tam does not think very highly of himself as he questions if someone who already has so many friends would want him for a friend as well. This insecurity may be why he tends to remark sarcastically and hide his feelings, perhaps as a result of his parents' harshness.

* **Compassionate/Loyal**

Despite Tam's bitterness, which is often mistaken for a lack of trustworthiness, he can be very compassionate and chose to help Sophie and her friends when he could have just pushed her away, as he had a sense of what the right thing to do was. Tam cares a lot about his twin sister, Linh, and follows her wherever she goes, to keep a careful eye on her and keep her safe. He is willing to do anything for her. After Linh was sent to Exillium, he chose to go with her, even though he did nothing wrong. Tam also chose to sacrifice his freedom to keep Linh, Silveny, Greyfell, Wynn and Luna from the Neverseen.

* **Perceptive**

Tam also seems to be very observant and asks questions the others haven't thought of. In *Nightfall*, he brings up the fact that Prentice could have told Alden about the symbol instead of keeping it a secret if his sentence was inevitable. He also points out that a raid on Ravagog during the day would be better since the Neverseen would be expecting a night attack, and because he can hide them with shadows anytime. Tam has also hinted at his understanding of Keefe and Fitz's feelings for Sophie and vice versa, as he offers to explain the concept of Fitz and Sophie to a confused Tiergan, and warns Keefe that if he leaves them stranded, he'll lose Sophie.

* **Selfless**

Tam doesn’t trust many people. He has shown a great deal of protectiveness towards Linh, and more recently the others as well, and a desire to keep them safe no matter what, sometimes at the expense of himself. The major examples of this are in *Flashback* when Tam gives himself up and "joins" the Neverseen to save Silveny, Greyfell, and the two newborn alicorns, Wynn and Luna, as well as his sister, despite Lady Gisela's clear message of how dangerous it would be for him. Before going, he tells Sophie: "And I don't really care about me. I care about Linh..." and goes on to say that it'll protect the alicorns as well. He says something similar to Sophie in *Neverseen*. On page 589 of *Neverseen*, while crossing the river in Ravagog, Tam decided to wait for Calla, someone he barely knew, to go before him. In addition to this, when his sister is threatened by the Neverseen, he admits to not really caring about himself. In the eighth book, he does his best to act like he enjoys being with the Neverseen, yelling at his sister to stay away, to make sure she doesn’t attempt a rescue and put herself in danger. In the short story (that's in Tam's point of view) it was revealed that Glimmer heard him crying after that exchange, which shows how much it hurt him to make his sister believe he’d betrayed her.

## Abilities/Skills

#### **Shade**

This ability lets Tam control shadows and darkness. He can hide people completely with shadows, put his consciousness into shadows (helpful for eavesdropping), create realistic illusions if helped by a Flasher, break through force fields, and "read" a person by seeing how much shadowvapor they have. The more shadowvapor a person has, the more secrets/darkness they have to hide. If a person has too much shadowvapor or won't let him take the reading, he becomes suspicious, as in the case of Keefe and Alvar. Tam can also sense and modify shadowprints, which are shadows inside crystal facets that are made when light hits a crystal in the same place enough times. Without tampering they simply look like dark smudges, but when shadows are pulled over the print, the shape of the print becomes clearer.

Since *Flashback*, he can control the unpredictable sixth element, shadowflux (though he might have controlled shadowflux in the Lodestar while Sophie was enhancing him.)

So far, shadowflux allows him to give people echoes, stop other Shades' shadows, and to either pass shadowflux straight through force fields without breaking them (like Umber when she attacked Sophie and Fitz), or completely shatter them far more quickly and efficiently than he could with his normal shadows. Besides Umber, he is the only elf known to be able to control shadowflux.

Because Tam is able to control and command shadowflux, (which does not like to listen and is hard to control), and that even experienced Shades such as Lady Zillah are not able to control it, there are some theories that Tam and Umber might have an unknown ability.

#### **Skills**

From his years in Exillium and from being an elf, Tam has learned/can do:

* Levitation
* Body Temp-Regulation
* Darkness Vision
* Channeling
* Outward Channeling (presumably)
* Appetite Suppression
* Breath Control
* Telekinesis

## Involvement

### Book 4: Neverseen

At the start of this book Tam and his twin sister Linh are banished and living in Wildwood Colony when it gets infected by the plague. When they see the Council and the Neverseen investigating, Tam uses his shadow to eavesdrop on the two Councilors and hears them talk about how 'they' should have told 'them' that [the plague] could have happened, and that nobody can find out.

Later at Exillium, Tam and Sophie start to communicate after Sophie nearly burns down the Arch of Dividing and helps Linh with breath control. To return the favour, Tam and Linh invite Sophie to Wildwood Colony where they introduce themselves and tell her what they know about the plague. Later, Sophie brings her other friends to see them, and Mr. Forkle sets them up to stay with the dwarves.

Tam and Linh then go with Calla, Alvar, Sophie and friends to sneak into the ogre kingdom Ravagog, fight the Neverseen, and save the gnomes, (after Linh convinces him.) Their banishment is later lifted by the Council, and he becomes a member of the Black Swan.

### Book 5: Lodestar

At the start of the book, Tam uses his powers to lift 'veils' of darkness from Prentice's broken mind, causing Prentice to become responsive. He later travels with Mr. Forkle, Sophie, Fitz, Grizel, and Linh to the Neverseen hideout where Dex and Sophie were taken in the first book. He uses his shadows to uncover a Lodestar Symbol gadget but is unaware of what it does. Later, Tam and Biana find a secret room in one of the Silver Tower's mirrors. Inside they find another Lodestar Symbol gadget, which is later discovered to transport users to any connected Neverseen hideout if a Shade activates it. Tam accidently transports Sophie, Fitz, and himself into one of said hideouts, and they are met with Ruy, Brant, and Alvar. He then discovers that he can break through forcefields with his ability (not using shadowflux). He helps Sophie and Fitz capture two important Neverseen members (Brant and Ruy), and also at some point when they went to the Everblaze flower sites he had a busload of human teen girls swooning over him.

### Book 6: Nightfall

In this book, Tam, Sophie, Biana, and Marella go to the newer Nightfall facility to try and find Sophie's human parents. They find a bunch of empty storage rooms, gorgodon bones (a species created by Lady Gisela), and the Neverseen member Alvar Vacker, who was unconscious and wounded. When Alvar needed to be taken to a place the Neverseen wouldn't think of, Tam volunteers his childhood home, Choralmere, stating that the Neverseen would never expect it and that it would also freak his parents out. He later joins the group going to Vespera's older Nightfall facility.

### **Book 7: Flashback**

Tam first appears in the Healing Center after Fitz and Sophie are attacked by Umber, Gethen, and Ruy and shot with shadowflux. He was called right after they were attacked and managed to use his shadows to get the shadowflux out of them. When Lady Zillah, his Shade mentor, comes and figures out that he could possibly control shadowflux, he is asked if he would learn how to. At first, he didn't want to, seeing what it had done to Fitz and Sophie, but was then convinced by Linh and Lady Zillah.

While Sophie and Fitz are still in the Healing Center, Tam is one of the elves training with weapons. He also is being taught how to control shadowflux in Foxfire at night by Lady Zillah, sometimes joined by Linh when it wasn't 'too dangerous'. He has put shadowflux under his skin and has an ‘echo’ (which is non-violent, unlike Sophie's and Fitz's echoes).

After the baby alicorns are born, he and Wylie work together to make an illusion that would hide the troll hive. Later at Prism Peaks before the Celestial Festival, Tam, Wyile, and Luzia Vacker work on illusions of the Councillors, their guards, Orem Vacker, Sophie and Sophie's friends, bodyguards and family so that everyone could look for or stay away from the Neverseen without alarming elven citizens.

When the group gets to the festival, Tam goes in the group with Sophie and Keefe, or joins 'Team Foster-Keefe", as Keefe puts it, explaining that Sophie is always the Neverseen's biggest target, he is the only one who can break forcefields, and that he can use what Lady Zillah taught him about shadowflux if Umber goes after Sophie again.

After the whole group teleports to Everglen and get stuck in Ruy's force field, Tam '*[shoots] bolts of whirling shadows*' at it and Wylie shoots his light at it. This didn't work because Umber kept undoing the progress, they made and unravelling Tam's shadows.

Later, Umber asks Tam why he looks so afraid of the shadowflux and hurls an arrow of shadowflux at Biana, '*[b]ut Tam snarled something before the darkness hit, and the arrow vaporized into a thick black mist.*'

Tam, Wylie, and Dex keep slowly breaking the forcefield after Ruy traps them again at the Everglen Gate. Tam manages to manipulate Shadowflux to prevent Ruy from using his Psionipathy after newborn trolls escape from the hive.

The Neverseen fled after a newborn troll started charging at them. Sophie threw a throwing star into its eye after it began pursuing Tam, causing the Troll to chase Sophie. Tam is later seen over at the hive's door, figuring out how to close it.

After the fight, Silveny transmits to Sophie, repeating only "SOPHIE! KEEFE! TAM! HELP! HURRY!" They and Ro teleport to the troll hive and find the alicorns with Lady Gisela.

Lady Gisela shots both of the alicorns with an altered version of soporidine, and threatens to not give the antidotes and to hurt Linh if Tam didn't come with her and see the Neverseen's way. After he takes the antidotes and gives them to Sophie, Lady Gisela knocks him out and leaps them away.

### Book 8.5: Unlocked

Glimmer shares with them that she knows that there is a secret Neverseen storehouse she knows about, and they go there and finally, find the caches.

## Relationships

### Linh Song

* **(Twin sister)**

Linh is Tam's twin sister whom he cares very deeply for. When Linh is banished to Exillium from the Lost Cities, Tam chose to be banished as well, even though he could have left her alone and choose a normal life without the discrimination of having a twin.

> ***“There are very few things Mr. Tam wouldn't do to protect his sister.”***
>
>

—Mr. Forkle, in

The twins have lived together for more than fifteen years, and they have attended Exillium for twelve hundred fourteen days. Tam would always make it clear that he would not be kept away from Linh, and even "joins" the Neverseen to make sure they wouldn't hurt her. He is very protective of Linh and would do anything to keep her safe and sound. They also have a way of discretely communicating using a secret code they invented while they were fleeing. They replaced the meaning of a few words and chose two "I'm in trouble" phrases. One for Linh, one for Tam.

In Lodestar, the two siblings are seen laughing and teasing each other in front of Sophie, Fitz, Biana, Dex, and Keefe, showing a more light-hearted side of Tam, as he has begun to let his guard down and trust Sophie and the others. He and his sister have a very intimate relationship and it is clear that they love each other very much.

In Legacy, Tam resists the ethertine bonds when Lady Gisela tells him to hurt Linh, even though it seems to cause him pain. At the end of Legacy, Linh says that Tam is "different" when he gets back from the Neverseen. In Unlocked, Tam says that Linh has gone back to Choralmere because she doesn't like Glimmer. This implies a rift between the twins, though they are still incredibly close.

In *Stellarlune*, when Linh was talking to Tam about trusting Glimmer, Sophie said she had never seen Linh look so fierce. Her soft pink cheeks had sharpened with her scowl, and the hair around her face seemed to have extra silver highlights, which shimmered as the wind tossed the silky strands around. “I’m tired of hiding at Choralmere, waiting for you to come to your senses,” Linh told him. “I know you’ve been through a lot- and I can see how the situation might make it easy to form strange bonds with someone and mistake it for friendship. But Glimmer is *not* your friend.” Everything darkened. Sophie thought it must have been Tam’s shadows, but then she noticed the gray storm clouds gathering over their heads, which was, obviously, Linh’s doing.

### Sophie Foster

* **(Friend**/**Possible love interest)**

Tam met Sophie during her first day at Exillium, and both of them had taken an interest in each other. Sophie was interested in Tam as "The Boobrie Dude" had warned her about him, saying that he was the worst Wayward in Exillium, while Tam was interested in Sophie as when she had almost burnt down Exillium on her first day, his sister Linh was the one to save her as a Hydrokinetic, and he found it fascinating that she had four abilities.

The two of them, while staring at each other, first communicate with each other through shadow-whispering, and transmitting. They formed a connection with each other through a series of shadow-whispering sessions during lessons in Exillium.

When Sophie stood up against the Coaches for the right choice and rescued the plague-infested gnome, also helping Linh hold her breath underwater by calming her down, Tam decided to tell her what he and Linh knew about the plague, and he and Linh leaped Sophie to Wildwood to tell her about them.

Tam eventually trusts Sophie, and the fact that Linh totally trusts her helps him believe that making friends with Sophie was the right decision.

Although Sophie thinks that Tam is good-looking, it is implied that neither Sophie nor Tam currently has any romantic interest in each other.

### Keefe Sencen

* **(Frenemy/Blossoming friendship/Possible love interest)**

Tam and Keefe get off on the wrong foot and both dislike each other. Although it is unclear why they dislike each other, Keefe is judgmental towards Tam as Tam's ability is a Shade and there is this evident stereotype or a misconception that all Shades are 'shady', evil, and not to be trusted. Another possible reason for them disliking each other is that Keefe and Tam are "the same person" as quoted by Linh in *Lodestar* due to their knack of making trouble. Keefe also calls Tam, "Bangs Boy", a "Shady McSilver Bangs". After learning about Tam's past and his hatred towards his father, Keefe still chose to dislike him despite their common points pertaining to family background and personality, saying that 'someone needs to tell Shade Boy the role of Troublemaker with Daddy Issues is already filled'. Also, Keefe refuses to let Tam take a reading of his shadow vapor, heightening conflict between them.

Keefe also tells Tam that he would always be the president of "Foster Fan Club" and that they were closed to new members, as he doesn't like the way Sophie and Tam secretly communicate via a combination of shadow-whispering and telepathic transmission and is thus envious or even jealous of their connection.

Tam had not trusted Keefe right from the start when Keefe had refused to let him take a Shade reading of him, as shown when he says, "the only people who refuse readings are those with darkness to hide," which implies that he was suspicious that Keefe had something bad to hide.

In *Lodestar*, Linh remarks that the two boys' personalities are very similar and that was probably why they did not get along with each other. Despite Sophie's numerous attempts to try to get Tam and Keefe to like each other, the two boys still hold an immense dislike for each other, and their distrust of each other is greater displayed.

In *Nightfall*, it's mentioned many times that Keefe and Tam would be friends due to their many similarities, but only if they got over their differences. Tam also said that if Keefe doesn't mess up again, he would be more willing to be friends with him.

In *Flashback*, it is implied that Keefe and Tam’s relationship is growing closer to friendship since Keefe seemed to be upset about Tam being taken by the Neverseen.

In *Legacy*, Tam warns Sophie about Lady Gisela’s plans to kill Keefe, but Keefe doesn’t believe him. Keefe calls Tam “Tammy”, which could be a sign of their growing friendship, but also refers to Tam as a traitor, and gets upset when Tam takes Lady Gisela back to the Neverseen. Later however, when Tam is forced to complete Keefe’s “transformation”, Keefe jokingly assures him that he will always dislike Tam and his bangs and that he doesn’t blame him for any of this, showing that Keefe may have started trusting Tam. Tam is horrified and very upset about what he is forced to do to Keefe.

### Biana Vacker

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

There is a possibility that Tam has a crush on Biana, and it is implied he thinks she is pretty. When Keefe gets jealous of Tam and told him that he was the 'president of the Foster Fan Club' and they were 'closed to new members', Tam instantly 'flushes' and assures Sophie that he had no romantic interest towards her, instead 'stealing a quick glance at Biana after he said it', possibly implying that he was not romantically interested in Sophie, but Biana.

After seeing him 'wave his hand', making the 'shadows around a clump of trees shift to reveal Linh', Biana was in awe and remarked how much that was like an anti-vanish, and asked him how he had done that. They are good friends, and care about each other, as seen in *Lodestar*. Linh said he likes brunettes, and Biana is the only brunette in their friend group, other than Fitz.

In *Flashback*, Tam tells Sophie that he’s sure Biana will let him help search Everglen, suggesting that they’ve grown closer. When the entire group was trapped at Everglen behind Ruy’s forcefield, Umber directed her Shadowflux at Biana instead of Linh, whom Umber knew Tam was highly protective of.

In Unlocked, when Fitz says "No, I just knew you'd sneak along anyway, since you're nosy like that-and dying to see Tam." then adds to Sophie "My sister's a fan of silver bangs" Biana's cheek flush, and Sophie thinks it either because of confirmation or irritation. Or both.

### Fitz Vacker

* **(Hesitant friend/Possible love interest)**

Tam and Fitz met in *Neverseen* while they were both attending Exillium. At first, they were wary of each other, but have gradually become friends in the latter part of the series.

### Dex Dizznee

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

Dex and Tam have a mutual friendship and consider each other friends. While staying at Alluveterre in *Neverseen*, Tam shares a room with Dex before they head to Ravagog. In later books, there is slight teasing between the two, and they are both pulled into a hug by Alden in *Flashback* after saving Fitz and Sophie.

### Marella Redek

* **(Friend/Possible love interest)**

In *Lodestar*, Marella is caught staring at Tam smiling in a flirty way to him and blushes, but claims he's not into her, and Linh claims he's into brunettes.

In *Nightfall*, they seem to be teasing each other. Later on, Biana said that she dislikes being used to get to her brother and added that Linh probably felt like that too. Tam says she doesn't, to which Marella says, "Are you kidding, have you seen you?"

### Wylie Endal

* **(Friend)**

Tam and Wylie were hesitant friends at first, mainly because Linh and Wylie spend so much time together. They have lived with each other for some time in Tiergan's house, Solreef. In *Flashback*, Wylie and Tam had to combine their Shade and Flasher powers to create an illusion to hide the troll hive.

### Quan Song

* **(Father)**

Tam dislikes his father and refers to Choralmere as a 'glittering prison.' This is most likely because Quan cares about his reputation more than his own kids, going so far as trying to convince everyone Linh and Tam were not the same age, telling the twins a wrong inception date, and letting both be banished.

In *Lodestar*, Quan appears to try and reconcile with his children but is still harsh and worried about what people think.

In *Nightfall*, Quan acts rude towards Tam, Sophie, Biana, and Marella and complains about them ruining his home as they try to find a place to hide Alvar. It's also revealed in *Nightfall* that Quan locked Tam in his room for two days as punishment for spilling ink on his mother's sleeve.

### Mai Song

* **(Mother)**

In *Nightfall*, she painted a portrait of both Tam and Linh, one on each side of the canvas. She wants to reconcile with her children but accepts that they need more time. She refused to leave Choralmere at the Council's suggestion, saying that she couldn't live without the sound of the waves, despite the fact that it would help Linh learn to control her ability.

### Glimmer/Rayni Aria

* **(Former fellow Neverseen member/Acquaintance/Friend)**

Tam met Glimmer during his time with the Neverseen, and although he hasn't seen her face and doesn't know her real name, he admits to trusting her in Legacy, when she realizes that the Neverseen's way is not what she wants or believes in and starts helping Tam and his friends to fight the defected Dwarves. It is also said that at one point she reminds him of Linh. He breaks one of his rules and she becomes his friend, though he denies this to her face.

In Unlocked 8.5, Tam trusts Glimmer, even though she won't lower her hood. Fitz says Tam has been "protective" of Glimmer. Tam tells Bo that she won't threaten his friends and tells Sandor that Glimmer wouldn't set a trap when they go to the Neverseen's storehouse. He also says Glimmer is "way too smart" to not know how to get to the storehouse.

In Stellarlune, Linh warns him and says that Glimmer is not his friend. However, he still thinks that she can be trusted, until Linh reveals that Glimmer was the one who set Lady Gisela free. He then confronts Glimmer about it, and she just shrugged and said, “You can’t blame me for that. I owed her.” Soon after that, Glimmer finally agrees to reveal her identity and they find out she is called Rayni.

### Lady Song

* **Family member**

Lady Song is Tam and Linh’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great (x9) grandmother. She was the family member that changed their surname from Tong to Song.

## References

Information sourced from the Keeper of the Lost Cities Wiki