The Mother in Our Infinite Fates: Character Analysis

Overview: The Architect of Suffering in Our Infinite Fates

The Mother is the central antagonist of Laura Steven's Our Infinite Fates, a devil who sustains herself by feeding on the suffering and love of Evelyn and Arden. She is the being who engineered the cycle of reincarnation that binds the two lovers, forcing them to die and be reborn across centuries. Unlike a traditional devil who tempts mortals with grand promises, the Mother is a parasitic figure who has become addicted to the specific, potent pain of her own creation. Her role is not merely to collect souls but to cultivate an endless harvest of agony, and she is ultimately destroyed when the very love she tries to consume proves too powerful for her to contain.

The Mother is a complex figure: a lonely being who claims to have raised Evelyn as a child, yet who treats her as a resource to be exploited. Her motivations are rooted in a desperate need to avoid solitude and a growing addiction to the suffering that flows to her along the tether connecting her to Evelyn and Arden. She is a being of pure appetite, and her downfall comes from underestimating the one force she cannot manufacture or control: love.

Plot Role: The Engine of the Cycle

The Mother's actions are the catalyst for the entire narrative. Her interference at Evelyn and Arden's wedding in the prologue—disrupting the ceremony and forcing Evelyn to kill Arden—is the first explicit act of cruelty that sets their tragic cycle in motion. She later reveals that she did this because their joy was intolerable to her, and the suffering she caused was a delicacy she could not resist.

Her role extends beyond the initial curse. She is the architect of the bargain that binds Evelyn and Arden together. In 1006 Lundenburg, the devil who would become Evelyn offers to save Arden's sister in exchange for his soul. This bargain, which fails when the sister dies anyway, is the origin of their shared fate. The Mother is the one who enforces this deal, demanding seven days on burning coals and then sending them into the world as reapers.

In the final confrontation in the Underrealm, the Mother is the physical embodiment of the cycle's end. She attempts to drain the love between Evelyn and Arden, offering them freedom from the tether in their next life if they willingly surrender their love and their memories of each other. This final bargain is her undoing. The overwhelming force of their love, which she has underestimated for a millennium, floods into her and kills her, causing the Underrealm to crumble and the cycle to break.

Motivations and Traits: A Portrait of Addiction and Loneliness

The Mother's motivations are laid bare in her dialogue and actions, revealing a being driven by two primary forces: a profound fear of loneliness and an addictive hunger for suffering.

Fear of Solitude: The Mother admits that she could not bear to be alone, which is why she created or adopted Evelyn as a child. She says, “But then I would have been alone once again. And that I could not bear.” This fear is the root of her possessiveness and her refusal to let Evelyn go, even when it would be more practical to do so.
Addiction to Suffering: The Mother's primary sustenance is suffering, which flows to her along the tether. She describes Evelyn's suffering as “so raw, so potent, and it fueled me like nothing or nobody else.” This addiction is so strong that she admits she has “not known what to do” with it, oscillating between relishing its power and wanting to force Evelyn to reap more souls.
Greed and Impatience: The Mother's decision to pursue Evelyn and Arden in the trenches of World War I is driven by greed. She saw an opportunity to recruit an army of souls from the fertile ground of war, and she grew impatient with the slow trickle of suffering from her two charges.
Cruelty and Manipulation: The Mother is a master manipulator. She withholds information about Evelyn's origins because “the pain of not knowing tastes so good.” She offers deals that are designed to be impossible choices, forcing her victims to choose between their own suffering and the suffering of others.
A Twisted Maternal Instinct: Despite her cruelty, the Mother displays a distorted form of maternal love. She refers to Evelyn as “child” and claims to have raised her. Evelyn herself feels a “childlike and terrible” adoration for her, a testament to the complexity of their bond. This maternal instinct is, however, entirely self-serving; it exists only insofar as Evelyn serves as a source of sustenance.

Chronological Arc: From Creator to Destroyed

The Mother's arc is not linear but is revealed through the fragmented memories of Evelyn and Arden across lifetimes.

The Prologue (Several Hundred Years Ago): The Mother disrupts the wedding, forcing Evelyn to kill Arden. This is the first demonstration of her power and her cruelty.
1006 Lundenburg: The Mother is the unseen force behind the bargain. She is the one who will inflict eternal suffering on the young devil if she fails to reap a soul, and she is the one who accepts Arden's soul in exchange for his sister's life.
World War I Trenches: The Mother appears in the trenches, revealing her greed and her desire to recruit more souls. This is the moment when she actively intervenes in the cycle, breaking her pattern of passive observation.
The Underrealm (2022): The Mother's final appearance. She is weakened, her devils crumbling, and she is desperate. She offers Evelyn and Arden a final bargain, and her attempt to consume their love leads to her destruction.

Relationships: The Mother, Evelyn, and Arden

The Mother's relationships are defined by her need to feed.

With Evelyn: The Mother is Evelyn's creator and tormentor. She claims to have raised Evelyn as a child, and Evelyn feels a complex mix of love, fear, and hatred toward her. The Mother's treatment of Evelyn is possessive and exploitative. She sees Evelyn as an extension of herself, which is why her suffering is so potent. The Mother's refusal to answer Evelyn's questions about her origins is a final act of cruelty, designed to keep Evelyn in a state of painful ignorance.
With Arden: The Mother views Arden primarily as a source of suffering and, later, as a potential source of love. She is indifferent to him as a person, seeing him only as a tool to generate the pain she craves. Her treatment of him in the Underrealm—dragging him onto the coals and leeching his suffering—is a clear demonstration of her callousness.
With the Devils: The Mother's relationship with her other devils is one of exploitation. They are crumbling from the weight of the suffering they absorb, and the Mother is aware of this but does nothing to help them. She is a pyramid scheme in the flesh, consuming the souls of her servants to sustain herself.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The Mother's key decisions drive the plot and ultimately lead to her downfall.

Disrupting the Wedding: This decision creates the cycle of mutual death and rebirth. It is a direct act of cruelty that sets the stage for the entire novel.
Making the Bargain with Arden: By accepting Arden's soul in exchange for his sister's life, the Mother binds him to Evelyn and creates the tether that will feed her for centuries. This decision is the foundation of the cycle.
Pursuing Evelyn and Arden in the Trenches: This decision reveals her greed and her desperation. It also gives Arden the clue he needs to deduce that her power is waning.
Offering the Final Bargain: The Mother's decision to drain the love between Evelyn and Arden is her fatal mistake. She underestimates the power of their love, believing it will sustain her. Instead, it overwhelms and destroys her.

Themes and Symbolism: The Mother as a Manifestation of Pain

The Mother is a symbolic figure who embodies several of the novel's central themes.

The Ancient Bargain That Binds the Cycle: The Mother is the enforcer of the ancient bargain. She is the one who demands payment for the deal made in Lundenburg, and she is the one who perpetuates the cycle of death and rebirth. Her existence is the physical manifestation of the deal's consequences.
The Eighteenth-Birthday Death Curse: The Mother is the source of the curse that forces Evelyn and Arden to die before they turn eighteen. She explains that children are “too messy” to serve as reapers, so she waits until they come of age to activate their powers.
Memory Erasure and the Persistence of Identity: The Mother is the one who wipes Evelyn's memory after each death. This erasure is a tool of control, ensuring that Evelyn can never fully understand her situation or rebel against it. Yet, despite this erasure, Evelyn's identity persists, and her love for Arden endures.
Love as a Double-Edged Force: The Mother's downfall is a testament to the power of love. She believes she can consume it, but it proves to be too strong for her. Love is both the source of Evelyn and Arden's suffering and the force that frees them.
The Longing for an Ordinary Life: The Mother is the antithesis of an ordinary life. She is the supernatural force that prevents Evelyn and Arden from ever living normally. Her destruction allows them to finally experience the ordinary life they have longed for.

Key Questions and Answers

Why does the Mother disrupt Evelyn and Arden's wedding?

The Mother disrupts the wedding because their joy is intolerable to her. She explains that she could not allow such happiness, and that the suffering she caused by turning their best day into their worst was “delectable.” This act is the first demonstration of her cruelty and her addiction to pain.

What is the Mother's primary source of sustenance?

The Mother is sustained by suffering, which flows to her along the tether connecting her to Evelyn and Arden. She also feeds on love, which she describes as “rich and pure and potent—so much more so than suffering.” However, she has never been able to take love by force, which is why she must make a deal with Evelyn and Arden to willingly donate it.

Why does the Mother wait until Evelyn and Arden turn eighteen before making them reap souls?

The Mother explains that children are “too messy” to serve as reapers. They are emotional, gullible, and sloppy in their execution, creating too many unwitting loopholes in their bargains. She prefers to wait until they are adults, when they are more capable of carrying out her work.

How does the Mother die?

The Mother dies when she attempts to drain the love between Evelyn and Arden. The overwhelming force of their love, which has transcended time and death for a millennium, floods into her and proves too powerful for her withered soul to handle. She is killed by the very substance she sought to consume.

What is the Mother's relationship to Evelyn?

The Mother is Evelyn's creator and tormentor. She claims to have raised Evelyn as a child, and Evelyn feels a complex mix of love, fear, and hatred toward her. The Mother sees Evelyn as an extension of herself, which is why her suffering is so potent. The Mother's refusal to answer Evelyn's questions about her origins is a final act of cruelty, designed to keep Evelyn in a state of painful ignorance.

Conclusion: The Mother's Legacy

The Mother is a formidable antagonist whose actions shape the entire narrative of Our Infinite Fates. She is a being of pure appetite, driven by loneliness and addiction, and her downfall is a testament to the power of love. Her destruction breaks the cycle, freeing Evelyn and Arden from their endless suffering and allowing them to finally experience the ordinary life they have always longed for. Her legacy is one of pain, but also of the resilience of love in the face of unimaginable cruelty.

For a deeper exploration of the themes connected to the Mother, see our analyses of the ancient bargain that binds the cycle, memory erasure and the persistence of identity, and love as a double-edged force. You can also read our ending explained for a detailed breakdown of the final confrontation, or visit our questions and answers page for more insights.