Tamara is one of the protagonists and titular heroines of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, voiced by Laura Dean. Tamara-centered episodes include "Song of the Rainbow", "Home Sweet Heart Stone", "Shadowsong", and "The Jewel of the Sea". Her later inspired the character of Emily in Avalon: Web of Magic.
As a Jewel Rider, Tamara uses the ruby-red Heart Stone, the Stone of Healing, which also allows her to talk to all animals. Practical, wise, and gorgeous, Tamara is a musician and songwriter who works in tune with the music of nature and animals. She is also the Head of the Crystal Palace's animal magic nursery, and is responsible for raising the baby animals.
Tamara is a daughter of Doc and Charity from Heartland Farms, and a close friend of Archie and Fallon, with whom she sometimes rides on Moondance. Tamara's gift of music and compassion for all living creatures inspires the powers of the Enchanted Jewels, and so she pledges to Merlin she will help her best friend Princess Gwenevere learn to use the Sun Stone. In the second season, Tamara becomes bonded with the unique unicorn named Shadowsong, sharing her jewel with him and being able to call upon him to arrive anytime.
In the show
Physical attributes
- Age: 15
- Height: 5' 7" (170 cm)
- Hair: Pink, worn long
- Eyes: Green
Tamara with Cleo
The young Tamara is already known through the kingdom of Avalon for her strikingly good looks. She is shapely, slender and graceful—no matter what she eats, she never becomes fat (which is a constant annoyance to her friend, Princess Gwenevere). She is the youngest but already the tallest of the three current Jewel Riders.
Personality
"Rightous Road Warriors" card
Tamara has an adventuresome spirit and her good-natured, well-mannered ways and irresistibly winsome character make her very easy to like. Tamara is very wise, and spiritual, yet sensible and down-to-Earth, and possesses a homespun philosophy that gives her a practical wisdom and perceptive instinct—she is the one the others can go to for advice and kind words of reassurance.
Tamara playing a magical violin in "Home Sweet Heart Stone"
She is straight-forward, honest and expresses herself eloquently through her music and other artistic endeavors. When she is involved in her music and magic, she gets dreamy and tends to forget everything else, becoming caught in the music's spell.
Tamara was a special student of the wizard Merlin because of her exceptional musical abilities. She always took her magical studies very seriously. Now, like her friends, Tamara is dedicated to saving Merlin and all Avalon from the evil Lady Kale. With Merlin's absence, she spouts the philosophy of Merlin's teachings even though she may not fully understand their meanings.
She has an especially good relationship with her fellow Jewel Rider Fallon. During the first season, Tamara always rides with Fallon on Moondance instead with Gwenevere on Sunstar. Tamara's and Fallon's close friendship comes from both having been novice Jewel Riders together before Gwen became one.
Abilities
Tamara is a natural artist and poet. She sees the world through eyes filled with childlike wonder and expresses the beauty of what she sees with her gifted artistic abilities. Tamara has an especially strong talent for song-writing and music. The Fortune Jewel predicts she is "destined to be the most famous musician Avalon has ever known."[1]
Music is very important in the kingdom of Avalon. Music causes vibrations in the air that excites wild magic, allowing this magical energy to be used. Because of her abilities with music, Tamara has a natural talent for making good magic—Merlin knew this and made her his special apprentice. She is sensitive, compassionate, perceptive and capable of intense concentration, exactly the temperament and personality to learn the crafts of music and magic.
As part of Tamara's responsibilities, she searches the world for baby animals that have the right resonance for an Enchanted Jewel—if the baby shows potential, it is brought to the nursery where Tamara looks after it. In the nursery, she raises and trains the baby animals. Eager to show their stuff, the babies tend to be pesky troublemakers and can cause quite a ruckus.
Tamara possesses tremendous self-control, tolerance, and patience in dealing with them. Her remarkable relationship with the baby animals is becoming legendary throughout Avalon. She has been dubbed the "Pied Piper" because the babies and other animals will follow her anywhere to hear her sing.
"The Power of the Heart Stone"
Her empathic abilities are also enhanced by the Heart Stone, allowing her to sense the emotions of humans and animals. She can sense when animals are in need of help and rushes to their aid. Any animal Tamara comes in contact with, can sense the girl's strong personality, emphatic vibes and her great love for all living creatures.
Tamara is very good at singing and proficient in nearly every instrument, and always carries a flute. Her Heart Stone is furthermore able to amplify and enchant any music. As part of Tamara's duties for Gwenevere's mother Queen Anya and the Crystal Palace, she travels by her Crystal Carriage to many towns and villages spreading joy and good will through music. This is fine with her because she wants to discover the music that exists everywhere—all of nature has music and sound that can be used to expand the goodness of the Crystal Palace.
Jewel power
- Main article: Heart Stone
Tamara calls upon the magic of her Heart Stone in "Fashion Fever"
Lady Tamara wears a very special Enchanted Jewel, the ruby red Heart Stone, a stone of healing. With Tamara's sensitivity and natural empathic connection with animals, she is able to use the Heart Stone in extraordinary ways.
Tamara with Archie, healing Spike in "Jewel Quest, Part II"
The Heart Stone is a wild crystal which makes it difficult and erratic to control. Tamara's natural musical abilities and strong compassion for all living creatures help her focus the Enchanted Jewel to help those that need aid. She can use her Heart Stone to heal living beings, which can be magnified by an Enchanted Jewel Circle with other Jewel Riders to revive. She also can put a protective force shield dome around her and others nearby.
Tamara and the babies use the power of their shared Heart Stone in "Full Circle"
Tamara can use the Heart Stone to talk to all magical animals, in the same way Merlin does. She can also sense which animals have the "right stuff" to bond with a lucky youngster and join the Jewel Riders. Sometimes, when her Enchanted Jewel is working just right, Tamara can use it to sense what animals sense, see through their eyes, hear through their ears and smell what they smell. Although she is strong, the depth of these powers could overwhelm her if she is not careful.
In the second season, Tamara shares the Heart Stone with the special 'zebracorn' unicorn whom she names Shadowsong after they get bonded in his titular episode. Shadowsong and Tamara are an unique pair in the show as they are the only among the Jewel Riders to be paired male-with-female. (The evil Kale also shares her Dark Stone with her male dweasels.)
Background and relationships
Tamara with Kit at the Heartland Farms in "Home Sweet Heart Stone"
Tamara comes from Heartland Farms in the Great Plains. She is the youngest child of the caring farmers Doc and Charity, and was raised with a farm full of animals—which makes her connection with them that much more natural and comfortable. Tamara visits her parents often, usually with an armful of baby animals for her mother to love and cuddle.
Drake coming to Tamara's rescue from Kale's castle in "Jewel Quest, Part I"
Tamara's lovely beauty grants her many young suitors, such as Sorrel. Even Drake, the handsome leader of the Pack, despite being in love with Gwenevere, also has a crush on her and thus always strives to protect her from dangers.
Tamara with Fallon on Moondance in "Revenge of the Dark Stone"
During the first season, before meeting Shadowsong, Tamara is accompanied by Merlin's familiar owl Archimedes (also known as Archie) and usually rides with Fallon on Moondance when she is not driving the Crystal Carriage with the Babies. Animals just seem to sense Tamara's love for all living things. She loves to talk to her parents, and is always excited to share her constant activities that includes studying, writing music, performing, exploring, and baby animal wrangling.
Fashion and style
As a Jewel Rider, Tamara's magical armor represents her love of nature. The helmet symbolizes a butterfly to signify her respect for nature's eternal innocence and ever changing beauty.
Tamara usually wears eye-catching, form-fitting bodysuits, mostly in the shades of green and often with a short skirt. For formal affairs and parties, she prefers elegant dresses of classic beauty rather than frilly fashionable flavors that may be in today and out tomorrow.
- Favorite colors: Greens, pinks, and white.
- Favorite foods: Fresh fruit and vegie salads, lots of bubbleberry, peanut butter grammies.
- Pet peeves: Mistreatment of animals, off key instruments, people who lose patience with themselves or their friends.
Behind the scenes
Tamara was portrayed by Laura Dean. She was also voiced by Valérie Siclay in French and by Cristina Cavalinhos in Portuguese.
Development
Enchanted Jewel Riders concept art
Enchanted Camelot prototype
In some early drafts of the show, Tamara has been named Melody[2] (pictured) and later Harmony,[3][4][5] while her parents have been named May and Orvan.[6] An even earlier prototype of the character (with brown hair and a brown costume) can be seen in the image on the left, along with some early versions of Archie and the Babies (including an eventually removed wolf pup).
Harmony in skirtless amor
According to creative director Greg Autore, Ian originally "was to be a suggested love interest for Tamara with her affinity for animals. It was a prince who was trapped by dark wild magic to take the form of an animal."[7] He also said about Tamara herself: "Pink was a cuter way to depict a red-head. It also gave me two pink characters – one with pink hair and one with pink clothing - Win/Win!" Her name was first changed because Melody was trademarked in the United States.[8]
Legacy
In Avalon: Web of Magic, like Tamara served as an inspiration for the character of Emily Fletcher.[9] Emily lives with a veterinarian (a combination of Tamara’s parents) and cares for a lot of animals. Both of them also both play flute, though Emily plays a concert flute while Tamara plays a recorder-like instrument.
See also
References
- ↑ The Fortune Jewel (script)
- ↑ Jewel Quest script (Enchanted Quest)
- ↑ Travel Trees Can't Dance (script)
- ↑ Song of the Rainbow (script)
- ↑ The Faery Princess (script)
- ↑ Enchanted Jewel Riders Show Bible | The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part One - The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Greg Autore and the Toy Design of Jewel Riders - Part Two - The Jewel Riders Archive
- ↑ Character Comparison: Emily | The Avalon Archive
External links
- Heart Stone: A Tale of Tamara, a prequel fan fiction story by Ry Sabir