The Fallen Heralds

[Argent]

EDIT: I have revised this theory to include data up to, and including, the early Oathbringer preview chapters. You can find the new version here.

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In the light of recent Words of Radiance information, I've developed a small pet theory about the current whereabouts of the Heralds. The information for this comes mostly from my not-very-reliable memories of The Way of Kings, recent Words of Radiance readings Brandon has done for the Steelheart tour, and forum discussions; a couple of veeery small pieces come from the Steelhunt, but I've kept them spoiler- and context-free, so they shouldn't spoil anything.

The theory goes like this. The Heralds have turned into twisted versions of themselves. Not polar opposites, but their divine attributes have become... perversed. What evidence do I have for this, you ask? Not much. This is a flimsy theory I put together to serve a double purpose - look into the Heralds possibly present in The Way of Kings, but also suggest things to look for in Words of Radiance; things that might reveal the location and/or identity of more Heralds.

Let's start with the Heralds we (think we) have seen.

 

Nalan

While none officially confirmed (none except for Taln are), Nalan is one of the Heralds I am almost completely certain about. I believe he is a "dark-skinned Azish man who had an odd patch of pale skin on his cheek " who first appears in the prologue (he is talking with Elhokar). Distinct physical characteristics include the crescent-shaped scar or mark on his cheek and black-and-silver clothing resembling a military uniform of unknown origin. He doesn't appear in the rest of The Way of Kings, but makes two appearances in the Words of Radiance chapters Brandon has revealed to us. One of them is in Lift's interlude (the constable she calls Darkness), and the other is in Ym's interlude - again as a constable. In both scenes his race, skin color, clothing, and scar/mark are noted by the people he meets, so I am pretty sure it's the same person. His goal in both scenes appears to be the killing of Surgebinders. Interestingly, he seems to need some sort of legal justification for the justice he dispenses (an actual legal document in Lift's case, and some heavy research into Ym's legal background in the shoemaker's case). Moreover, his divine attributes are a perfect example of my main hypothesis. Darkness / Nalan looks like he is just and confident, even in his modern day "form." His justice, however, is blind and indiscriminate to the point where it's closer to execution than justice. His confidence is not the confidence of one aware of his own value, but of one who is utterly indifferent to the world, and it is this indifference that makes him appear coldly nonchalant, unconcerned, and thus - confident. 

 

 

Shalash

Shalash is the other Herald we are all pretty confident about. She appears in Baxil's interlude of The Way of Kings and seems pretty hell-bent on destroying art - it's not certain whether she targets only art depicting Shalash, or any work of art. The Chapter 55: An Emerald Broam interlude is most likely about her too, as we know that Shalash is Jezrien's daughter and the interlude refers to a "daughter of storms," likely also vandal who destroys her own image. The only other evidence of her work comes from the prologue, where Szeth wonders why the statue of Shalash was removed from Gavilar's palace. Assuming that the crescent-marked man is Nalan (a fairly safe assumption) and that his constant companion, the " thinner, Alethi-looking man" is Kalak (a plausible, but not very well supported assumption), then it is likely that the "Ash" they refer to in the Words of Radiance prologue is, in fact, Shallash. She is supposed to be getting worse, whatever that means. Similarly to Nalan, her divine attributes seemed to have turned on herself - although where Nalan's sense of justice and confidence look "merely" corrupted, Shalash's creativity and honesty seem outright missing. She is a thief and a vandal, and her goal is to not promote, but destroy the products of creativity. Though it is possible to make the argument that she still needs creativity in order to execute her heists...

 

 

Kalak

Just slightly above Jezrien on the evidence scale, Kalak is probably Nalan's companion (assuming Darkness is Nalan). His conversation with Nalan from the Words of Radiance prologue implies familiarity with both him and Ash (who could very well be Shalash); this kind of familiarity is not likely to be seen from anyone who is not a Herald, and he doesn't match Ishar's profile (and he is obviously not Talenel...). Unfortunately, his divine attributes - resolute and builder - don't exactly fit the paranoid, jumpy man he has become, regardless of whether we consider in the pure or twisted form. On the other hand, his essence - foil - might come to aid us a little better, though not as much as Nalan's divine attributes help his case. 

 

 

 

 

Jezrien

He hung out with Kelek for a few minutes after the last Desolation. What we saw there was one tired man - but that doesn't much, considering how long ago this all was. We probably haven't seen him recently. Unless he is that "man with a long grey and black beard slumped in the doorway, smiling foolishly" who asks Szeth "Have you seen me?" from the prologue. The only marginal evidence for this is that Szeth encounters him in the hall where the Heralds' statues are, and that in Lift's interlude Darkness (who probably is Nalan) is heard saying “Praise Yaezir, Herald of kings. May he lead in wisdom. If he ever stops drooling." Which could suggest that Jezrien might not be in his best state of mind. It is possible that the constable was just insulting him, but it feels personal and specific enough that it carries a "I know him, and he is not what you think he is" kind of a vibe. His divine attributes (or their twisted versions) are not displayed in the short scene we (maybe) get a glimpse of him, so that neither confirms nor refutes my null hypothesis.

 

And so, those are the Heralds I think we know something about. Assuming I am right (note: this is a safe assumption to make, and I am a perfectly objective authority on the matter) about those Heralds' modern personalities, there could be some merit to my original hypothesis, though not as much as I had hoped. Nalan and Shalash are definitely the ones we have the most evidence for, and they both kind of fit the model. Nalan is a perfect match - he seems to have kept the core of his Heraldic virtue intact, but the details are tainted (unless Surgebinding does bring the Desolations; then I am probably all wrong). Shalash is not a good fit as Nalan, but she also seems to be using her divine attributes in precisely the way they were not meant to be used. And since we don't know enough about Kalak and Jezrien, let's go make some predictions about what the other Heralds could be doing, and how they might go about it. Many will probably fall short of the mark, but I might hit something here and there - it's an interesting experiment to me.

 

Ishar

He is supposed to be pious and guiding. His body focus is flesh. I think we'll find him involved with the oldest business in the world - though I don't know on which side. Probably a customer. Indulgent, carefree, shameless, sinner - we are looking for a dirty old man here, folks.

 

Chach

Brave and obedient. With body focus being the soul. That's a tough one. If I had to work with only one of her divine attributes, I'd say that either her bravery has been turned into foolish denial of any danger to herself, or that her obedience has made her a spy, or an assassin, or a double agent - something that would allow her to appear obedient, while working towards her own agenda. Much like how Shalash's destruction of art requires creativity. Combining those two, however - the bravery to the point of foolishness and the obedience as a means to an end - don't leave me with great many options about what Chach could be doing with her life. I wonder if she is Lyss from the Words of Radiance prologue...

 

Vedeledev

Loving, healing, and body focus - the eyes. ??? I've already made the dirty old man guess, I don't want to turn Vev into a concubine. But honestly, I am drawing up to a blank.

 

Palah

Being learned and giving, it's possible that she lives to take knowledge away from people. I wonder if she's found herself a spot in the Vorin church somehow, corrupting knowledge and history...

 

Battar

I am not even going to try with her. Her wisdom and carefulness have defeated me. This project looked like a much better idea before I sat down, trying to figure out those Heralds we haven't seen. 

 

But that's it. Ending was more than a little anti-climatic, so I am going to pretend my intention was to focus on which Heralds we might have seen so far, and what their business could be. I am rereading The Way of Kings, so I'll keep an eye on random strangers that could fit the model, but I don't know if it will be at all possible to find out more. Either way, I suspect I'll be updating this in the (not so near) future.

Edited September 17, 2017 by Argent

[bartbug]

I like it. I think that you've got something there, especially with Darkness(Nalan).

[Morsk]

Vedeledev

Loving, healing, and body focus - the eyes. ??? I've already made the dirty old man guess, I don't want to turn Vev into a concubine. But honestly, I am drawing up to a blank.

I think she's in Taravangian's death room. Her attributes would lead her to the greatest hospital in the world, but when Taravangian doesn't get enough terminally ill people for the death room, he resorts to taking "[T]he forgotten and the lowly. Those who will not be missed." So she can't actually help anyone, since that's just sending others to the death room in the place. The most she can do is comfort the dying.

Her icon is actually on the Szeth / Taravangian chapter, but people recently noticed that Palah's is all over the Shallan chapters because they're in a library named after Palah. So the icon could be for the location not the Herald.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Morsk

[Argent]

It's possible - I entertained the thought that she might be some kind of a nurse, but for some reason discarded it. To be fair, I had forgotten about the death room.

[karaokeang]

I am holding out hope that not all of them have been corrupted. 

 

I agree about Nalan and partially agree about Shallash.  I don't think she is outright crazy, I think she hates herself to the point that she can't stand to see herself especially on a pedestal.  I think there is a comment in the Prelude about them all being pretty broken and also a comment from Brandon reiterating that thought.  I don't equate broken with corrupted though.  Being tortured for thousands of years has to take a toll on the psyche but someone people are able to compartmentalize. 

 

I think there has been discussion that Palah is a woman wandering the streets of Kharbranth.  I was going to look into it more this weekend.

[Gloom]

I like the theory. I think you're onto something here Argent. I think Ishar might be with the Shin, and that he has perverted the piety of their people, just a gut feeling. Now if we assume you're theory is correct, the next question would be when were they cursed, and were they cursed by Honor, or as these curses appear to be neurological, perhaps by Cultivation/The Night Watcher. The Heralds betrayal of Honor did lead up to the death of the one she loved after all.

[Natans]

Jezrien told Kalak that everyone would go to different ways and woundn't sought which other, so a kind disagree with the Nalan-Kalak duo. And the Alenthi guy dind't give the right "Kalak vibe" ( he was to whine to subservient).

 

Said this I think that at least one of the heralds must be a player in this series but i'm not sure that Nalan is the Constable, i don't see anything that show that this "Rosharian Man in Black" is Nalan.

 

Upvotes for anything else =)

[Gloom]

I'm pretty much convinced that the man with the scar is Nalan. Not entirely convinced that the other is Kalak. I believe that over 4500 years, Jezriens instructions would have proven to be ineffective in regards to maintaining separation. We have ten immortals who are bound to find ways to integrate themselves into what remained of the Silver Kingdoms. At first I have no doubt that they had little trouble staying out of each others way, but as populations increased, and the power they held in their spheres of influence increased, they would have found it more than a little difficult to not collaborate in some manner in order to achieve their own ends. Over time, as small groups of them continued to work together, Jezriens instructions would have further degraded to the point where they would regularly meet and discuss their plans with each other. These are the only people who they can really relate to on an individual basis who aren't likely to die off in a few decades.

 

If the Heralds are indeed cursed as they appear to be, then this too could have been a factor that altered Jezriens initial command.

[hoser]

Darkness appears in some versions of the Jasnah prologue to WoR (not the Seattle reading 10/14/13), so you may want to add that to the OP section on Nalan for completeness.  I share Natans' skepticism about the Nalan=Darkness theory. 

 

There is an alternate theory about Jezrien: that he is one of Dalinar's officers.  I believe that Ishar is the "Have you seen me?" guy referenced in the Jezrien section of the OP, which fits the OP theory well.  If Jezrien is currently serving the Alethi nobility, it would run counter to the theory. 

 

I believe the "may he lead in wisdom, if he ever stops drooling." is referring to the new Azish Prime. 

[deddinty]

I'm leaning towards believing this as well, especially with regards to Nalan.  It makes me wonder if Brandon intended some foreshadowing in the scene where we see Nalan'Elin's image being carved in Elhokar's palace with the "Sword of Retribution". 

[Argent]

Hmm, it would appear that I indeed have not included Jasnah's interlude in Nalan's section. Though I touch upon it in Shallan's. Will be fixed.

 

Also, we now know that every single Herald is mentioned or shown somewhere in TWoK. Very interesting. We previously knew that we had seen more than Brandon thought we had guessed, but all of them... that's interesting. I would have to really relax my criteria when I come around to updating this.

 

EDIT: Fixed the link quote. I still plan to hunt them down...

Edited October 20, 2013 by Argent

[deddinty]

Wetlander: Did we see Palah?

 

A: I believe every one of the Heralds is mentioned or shown somewhere in the first book.

 

The specific quote you're referring to.  I just want to make sure it's clear, it doesn't say "seen or shown" it says "mentioned or shown".  This doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as actually seen every herald.

[Gaelan]

Vedeledev... well, the attributes don't seem to fit at all, but has someone wondered what happened with Gaz? I mean, we have all assumed he's dead (me too, and I still thinking that way), but maybe, and just maybe, he could be... well, something else. I can't see the way he has been corrupted but we don't know a single thing of his past, and he fits with the "corruption" factor you have mentioned in your theory.

 

I can't even agree with myself, but it's just another possibility on the air.

[cem]

Who am I? I... I am Gaz'Elin, One-Eye, Herald of the Almighty.

[Gloom]

I think something is going on with Gaz. I think he's alive, but I don't think he's a herald. If the bridgeman herald theory is correct, then I would have to completely disqualify Gaz from being a Herald based on the fact that he was in a position to help a fellow Herald and didn't. Even if this meant that Gaz would have had to leave the camp himself in order to do so.

[deddinty]

http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=697 JOSEP

Just a nagging question: What happened to Gaz? After some character development he just vanishes in chapter 59 without further explanation. Will he be back on the next books?

BRANDON SANDERSON (GOODREADS)

I'm planning for you to find out what happened to Gaz. There are sufficient clues that you can guess. But it is not explicitly stated, and I'm not going to say it's as obvious as Robert Jordan implied Asmodean's killer is. I was tempted to spell it out explicitly, but there wasn't a good place for it. I will probably answer it eventually, maybe in the next book, but until then you are free to theorize.

 

I've always thought this implied that Gaz was dead, though it does leave room open for interpretation.

[cem]

I think he went to one of the bridge crews. He owes people who can make that happen money. He is actually threatened by it, by his superior whom I think Sadeas executed after the side carry.

 

I'm not going to be surprised if he appears in one of the squads of Kaladin's new army.

 

Or he's dead.

[Scott]

I think he went to one of the bridge crews. He owes people who can make that happen money. He is actually threatened by it, by his superior whom I think Sadeas executed after the side carry.

 

I'm not going to be surprised if he appears in one of the squads of Kaladin's new army.

 

I assumed he was dead, but this would be so much more interesting, so I'm now hoping he becomes a high ranking bridgeman-soldier and makes up for his earlier actions.

[cem]

There is NO WAY in Damnation that Kaladin's giving him command of men after the bridge crews.

[Shardlet]

I think Gaz would have been noted by at least someone in Bridge four if he were among the bridgemen.

[cem]

Whether or not that would make its way to Kaladin or Bridge Four is another thing though. There's not much of a rumor mill in the bridge crews.

[Gloom]

I don't think that Gaz is on a bridge crew. I think he was a spy, and fled the camps when Lamaril was taken by Sadeas just in case Lamaril tried to use what he had against Gaz as a bargaining chip.

[steeleyes]

While reading the Kalak theory I was reminded of the crazy beggar that Axies the Collector encountered during his interlude. He'd built a town out of rotting vegetables and was playing god over it I think. I'll have to go back and check the passage but I think he'd be a much more amusing fit for Kalak simply because he was firm in his delusions (a perversion of resolute) and still building things even if it was out of trash and easily destroyed (perversion of builder). Of course I have absolutely no proof for that idea it just made me chuckle.

 

While I like the idea I have wondered if Darkness isn't Nalan and is instead a voidbringer or something else. This is just because I have a little bit of difficulty reconciling Darkness with Nalan considering certain abilities and items used by darkness in the Lift interlude. When the heralds broke the oathpact I sort of assumed they broke all their bonds so even if Nalan picked up the items at a much later date it just strikes me as odd for him to essentially return in terms of power and influence to where he was at the time of the oathpact. Sorry for the vagueness I don't want to explicitly spoil things for those that haven't read the full interlude.

[Argent]

Axies' beggar being Kalak is one of those positively insane theories that's so out-in-the-blue, I can't possibly disprove it... 

[Gloom]

I like it. It fits with the pattern of the curse that may have been placed upon the Heralds. I'm assuming that some of the Heralds were more strongly effected by the curse than others. It also fits the pattern of the curse being something neurological.

 

I think the Darkness fits the bill. He doesn't have to be wielding an Honorblade. He could have won a Shardblade. He is an immortal warrior. If Kaladin could do it, I don't see why someone with thousands of years worth of combat experience couldn't overcome a Shardbearer, or win a Shard in some way. For all we know Darkness may be both Nalan and Thaidakar. He may work for the church, or some other organization.