Characters In the Likely Event Rebecca Yarros

Nathaniel "Nate" Phelan: A Character Study

Overview

Nathaniel "Nate" Phelan is a U.S. Army Special Forces operator and the male protagonist of Rebecca Yarros's novel In the Likely Event. His life is defined by two forces: an unyielding sense of duty and a deep, consuming love for Isabeau "Izzy" Astor. From a chance meeting on a doomed flight in 2011 to a decade-long push-and-pull, Nate's character arc traces a man who sacrifices personal happiness for what he believes is right, until he finally learns that healing and love are not betrayals of honor.

Plot Role

Nate serves as both the romantic hero and the catalyst for Izzy's own growth. His role unfolds in two timelines:

  • November 2011 (Timeline A): A nineteen-year-old Nate boards a flight to Army basic training. He calms a terrified Izzy; when the plane crashes, he pulls her from the wreckage and saves her life.
  • August 2021 (Present): Now a Special Forces sergeant operating under the alias "Green," Nate is assigned to protect a congressional aide—who turns out to be Izzy. Their reunion forces both to confront unresolved feelings, Izzy's hidden mission to find her missing sister Serena, and the secrets Nate keeps about his mental health.

His presence is the linchpin that pushes Izzy to break her engagement to Jeremy Covington, risk her career, and ultimately choose a life based on trust rather than obligation.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Nate is driven by a code of self‑sacrifice that borders on martyrdom. Key traits include:

  • Protectiveness: He refuses to hand Izzy's security to anyone else, stating he is willing to die for her (Chapter 1). He physically interposes himself between Izzy and Jeremy when Jeremy grabs her arm (Chapter 13).
  • Emotional Suppression: He deflects questions about his deployments and past, hiding his PTSD and grief for a fallen friend (Chapter 10, Chapter 32). Even during the Maldives reunion (Chapter 20), he insists he'll never be the man who holds Izzy back.
  • Honesty (eventually): His final, hardest act is walking into a behavioral‑health clinic and confessing he talks to a dead friend (Chapter 32). This truth‑telling is the turning point of his arc.
  • Reliability in Crisis: On the plane, he uses a timer and music to ground Izzy. In Kabul, he finds Serena's article and helps track her down. He never falters in the field.
  • Deep Romanticism: He memorizes Izzy's playlist, drives six hours to New York in the rain with the ring box (Chapter 26), and later leaves the military so they can build a life together.

These traits are shown primarily through action (holding Izzy's hand, deploying to dangerous areas, giving up his career) rather than exposition.

Chronological Arc

Nate's journey can be divided into four phases:

  1. The Crash and Aftermath (2011–2012): At nineteen, Nate saves Izzy, then is whisked away by recruiters. He leaves her a backpack with his iPod and hoodie, unknowingly giving her a way to find him later. They reconnect in Savannah two years later (Chapter 10) and begin a long‑distance relationship.

  2. The Disappearance (2016–2018): When Nate enters a specialized Special Forces unit, he must cut all contact. He misses their planned trip to Palau. Izzy feels abandoned. He drives to her apartment in October 2018 to explain but is intercepted by her father and unable to articulate his trauma (Chapter 26).

  3. Reunion in Kabul (August 2021): Thrown together by circumstance, Nate struggles to maintain professionalism while jealousy and guilt boil over. He learns Izzy is engaged to Jeremy. He pins Jeremy to a wall, then pulls back. He helps her find Serena and, crucially, lets Izzy go so she can rescue her sister—recognizing that her mission matters more than his desire to keep her safe.

  4. Healing and Commitment (September 2021–Epilogue): After Kabul, Nate seeks therapy for PTSD and the grief of losing his best friend. He leaves the Army. He surprises Izzy on a flight to the Maldives (Chapter 33), tells her he's in therapy, and asks her to stop leaving their future to fate. The epilogue shows them five years later in Maine, living a calm, domestic life.

Relationships

Izzy Astor

The central relationship. Their bond is forged in trauma and sustained by serendipity. Izzy is the one person who sees past Nate's mask. He constantly wrestles with the belief that his lifestyle makes him unworthy of her—a belief he finally overcomes.

Jeremy Covington

Nate's rival and foil. Jeremy is polished, entitled, and unfaithful. Nate's instinctive violence toward Jeremy (pinning him by the throat) reveals both his protective fury and the anger he struggles to control. He ultimately respects Izzy's agency; when she breaks the engagement, he doesn't gloat.

Torres and the Unit

Torres is Nate's conscience. He pushes Nate to get help and reminds him that "Izzy is the one who's yours." Nate's relationship with his unit is professional, but he isolates himself emotionally—speaking to his dead best friend as a coping mechanism.

Izzy's Father

A source of antagonism. He tells Nate he is "bad for her" and tries to keep them apart. Nate internalizes that judgment, which fuels his self‑doubt.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  1. Joining the Special Forces unit without telling Izzy: This decision preserves his duty but costs him three years of connection. It creates the trust fracture that haunts their reunion.
  2. Refusing to let anyone else guard Izzy in Kabul: This keeps her physically safe but emotionally dangerous, as unresolved feelings threaten his professionalism.
  3. Letting Izzy fly to Mazar-i-Sharif without him: Nate prioritizes her mission to find Serena over his own need to protect her, demonstrating growth.
  4. Walking into the therapy clinic: This decision (Chapter 32) represents his first honest step toward recovery. It costs him his place in the unit but saves his relationship and his mental health.
  5. Leaving the military and moving to Maine: He chooses a civilian life with Izzy, defying his earlier belief that his career would always come first.

Theme and Symbol Connections

  • Fate Versus Timing – Nate and Izzy constantly collide at "the worst times and most inconvenient places" (Chapter 1). The Maldives pact symbolizes the bet they place on eventual timing.
  • Military Sacrifice and PTSD – Nate's suppressed trauma, his conversations with a dead friend, and his eventual therapy embody the toll of service. The behavioral‑health clinic door represents the barrier to healing.
  • Trauma Recovery – Nate's arc moves from avoidance (not talking about his deployment) to confession (Chapter 32) to integration (the peaceful epilogue).
  • Communication and Miscommunication – Nate's silence after his disappearance nearly destroys his relationship. The recovered iPod and playlist become symbols of the connection they can sustain even when words fail.
  • Love Versus Duty – Nate repeatedly frames his choice as "the job or the girl." Ultimately he chooses a third path: healing himself to be worthy of the girl.

Book‑Specific Questions and Answers

  1. Why did Nate disappear for three years?
    He entered a classified Special Forces unit that required sanitizing his identity, including cutting off all contact with Izzy. He believed his duty to the mission—and his fear of holding Izzy back—justified the silence.

  2. What is the significance of the iPod and the playlist?
    The iPod, left in the backpack after the crash, becomes a tangible link between them. Izzy memorizes every song; the playlist represents their shared history and the comfort Nate offered during the flight. He later uses the same song, "Northern Downpour," to ground Izzy during a helicopter ride.

  3. What does Nate's confrontation with Jeremy reveal about his character?
    It shows his instinctive protectiveness and his struggle with anger. He is capable of violence but reins himself in for Izzy's sake. The incident also forces Izzy to see the contrast between Jeremy's entitlement and Nate's earned loyalty.

  4. How does Nate's relationship with his dead best friend affect his arc?
    He talks to his friend as a coping mechanism, carrying guilt that Torres later says is "not yours." Admitting this to Dr. Williamson is the first honest step in his PTSD recovery, allowing him to forgive himself and move forward.

  5. In the epilogue, why does Nate say his peace comes from being with Izzy?
    After years of believing his life's purpose was solely the military, he realizes that true fulfillment is not a location or a rank but a person. The domestic scene in Maine—grading papers, walking through pine trees—shows he has integrated love into his identity without losing himself.