FusionEuphonium Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Hey guys, this is my first post, so a little nervous but here goes. So, you know that brief overview on the back cover that all Sanderson's books have? Well, I was reading the Way of Kings one, and this caught my attention. Unlike every other non-Stormlight Archives book he's written, the overview on the back cover for Way of Kings is written in the first person. Spoiler I long for the days before the Last Desolation. The age before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against us. A time when there was still magic in the world and honor in the hearts of men. The world became ours, and we lost it. Nothing, it appears, is more challenging to the souls of men than victory itself. Or was that victory an illusion all along? Did our enemies realize that the harder they fought, the stronger we resisted? Perhaps they saw that the heat and the hammer only make for a better grade of sword. But ignore the steel long enough, and it will eventually rust away. There are four whom we watch. The first is the surgeon, forced to put aside healing to become a soldier in the most brutal war of our time. The second is the assassin, a murderer who weeps as he kills. The third is the liar, a young woman who wears a scholar's mantle over the heart of a thief. The last is the highprince, a warlord whose eyes have opened to the past as his thirst for battle wanes. The world can change. Surgebinding and Shardwielding can return; the magics of ancient days can become ours again. These four people are key. One of them may redeem us. And one of them will destroy us.--Copied from the Way of Kings page on the Coppermind Now, this question has been nagging at me for weeks...who's the narrator? I briefly considered Khriss, but the amount of times "us" is used seems to indicate a native inhabitant of Roshar, or at least someone who's been there long enough to consider him/her/itself one of Roshar's people. I considered it possibly being the Stormfather, but who would "we" be, who else with him? The narrator says that the "magics of ancient days can become ours again", and surely the Stormfather and whoever might be with him in that "we/our/us" haven't lost their magics entirely...of the four characters mentioned, the surgeon, assassin, liar, and highprince (pretty obviously Kaladin, Szeth, Shallan, and Dalinar, I think), one of these might redeem this ambiguous "us", and one will destroy "us". I doubt any of those four could really destroy the Stormfather, nor any higher power--Honor, Cultivation, and Odium are discounted because of this, I think. So, who is the narrator? Any thoughts or ideas? I can't imagine this wasn't intentional, knowing Sanderson.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reborn radiant Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 It is intentional. And the narrator is a Dysian aimian. Remember Axies the Collector? He is a siah Aimian. We do not know much about Aimians except for the fact that their nation was purged very recently and everyone thinks they are voidbringers and bad luck. But we do know some powers of Dysian Aimian and Siah Aimian. Spoilers for edgedancer if you haven't read already Spoiler Dysian Aimian's body is made up of individual cremlings. They can make any parts of body they wish by making right Cremling. They are super creepy and super powerful. More over the way the character speaks - we have been observing the thief and the surgeon and the warlord - and stuff like that is pretty much a confirmation that Dysian Aimans have been watching them using various cremlings. Welcome to the shard! I hope you have a nice stay here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 36 minutes ago, Reborn radiant said: their nation was purged very recently This is relative. I don't remember the time line, but it's been over a century since the scouring of Aimia. Their lifespans may very well make this "very recently" to them though. My only nitpick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiant_Jaeger Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 Read edgedaner Also I'm interested in the last two lines and who exactly is going to be destroyed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 36 minutes ago, Calderis said: This is relative. I don't remember the time line, but it's been over a century since the scouring of Aimia. Their lifespans may very well make this "very recently" to them though. My only nitpick. Yeah here's the quote from Axies Quote Likely they’d heard of his kind. It hadn’t been that long since the scouring of his homeland. Just long ago enough for stories and legends to have crept into the general knowledge of most peoples. If the legends have crept into the general knowledge of most peoples I feel they actually live very long lifetimes and it's only very recently to them. I feel hundreds of years but that's speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soyperson Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 6 hours ago, Extesian said: Yeah here's the quote from Axies If the legends have crept into the general knowledge of most peoples I feel they actually live very long lifetimes and it's only very recently to them. I feel hundreds of years but that's speculation. That begs the question of who exactly scoured their homeland. Perhaps for resources? (Oathbringer excerpt spoilers) Spoiler Maybe for all the gemhearts there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 @bleeder Quote “Perhaps,” Jasnah said. “The Parshendi seemed amused at our interest in the gemstones woven into their beards.” She smiled. “You should have seen our shock when we discovered where they’d gotten them. When the lanceryn died off during the scouring of Aimia, we thought we’d seen the last gemhearts of large size. And yet here was another great-shelled beast with them, living in a land not too distant from Kholinar itself. The Way of Kings, ch. 36 This bit has always made me think the scouring was about gemhearts, and the Aimians were unfortunate casualties. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpperNotch Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 I believe that somewhere there was a Dysian that had said they were alive before the Radiants fall (maybe Edgedancer?) this makes it very possible for the Aimians to be immortal, which is my personal opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The One Who Connects Posted May 12, 2017 Report Share Posted May 12, 2017 10 hours ago, bleeder said: That begs the question of who exactly scoured their homeland. Perhaps for resources? There was a thread all about that a couple months back (I was half-right, it's "how" not who) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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