Petranilla

Petranilla is one of the main villains of the live action television series "World Without End". She is the aunt of one of the main heroes, Caris, and often conspires with her son Godwyn to help him attain power and influence in the church. Though outwardly she seems to be a kind and pleasent individual, in truth she is a conniving and sadistic sociopath who has even murdered her own sister-in-law.

History
Petranilla first appears in the series premiere as a seemingly pleasent enough individual who even sacrifices her house to support her son, subsequently moving in with her brother. However we later see her true side when she secretly poisons her sick sister-in law, causing her to die a painful and violent death. Afterwards Petranilla has her niece Caris (who she typically maintains a distant relationship with) be married to the abusive Elfric. Afterwards Petranilla continues her efforts to help her son Godwyn attain higher status in the Church, including murdering the previous head of the Priery in cold blood (an act that a watching Godwyn was noticably disturbed by). She also has a history with the knight Roland, and eventually attempts to marry him, though it soon becomes clear to him that she is not what he had hoped for.

Personality and Traits
Despite appearing outwardly friendly and pleasent, Petranilla repeatedly shows herself to be a murderous and sadistic individual who has absolutely no qualms with killing to get what she wants. She poisons her own sister-in-law, and later murders an innocent man simply to advance her own son's career, and also shows signs of sadism, including her aforementioned murder and also her smiling while watching two men beat one another senseless.

Notably though for all of her evil Petranilla is not completely bereft of redeeming qualities. She seems to have a clear loyalty and devotion to her son, as much of her evil is driven by a desire to advance his career. She also expresses a romantic interest in Roland, who she had been enamored with once before. Finally, though she murders her sister-in-law, she does privately express some measure of regret beforehand when she says "God forgive me". Finally, she went out of her way to save her brother's life when he was in danger of being executed, suggesting that she has feelings for him as well.

Though loving her son, brother, and Roland, Petranilla does not maintain a good relationship with her niece Caris, and casually marries her off to a horribly abusive individual. Their relationship is shown to be distant at best, and it is clear that there is no love lost between them.