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[OB] Oathbringer Prologue now on Tor.com


KiManiak

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The below appears to be modified ever so slightly from the earlier draft we were given.  For example:

Previous version:

"Gavilar removed something from his pocket. A sphere? It was dark, yet somehow still dun, as if it had an aura of blackness, a phantom light that was not light at all, faintly violet, a sphere that seemed to stop the light around it."

Current version:

"Gavilar removed something from his pocket. A sphere? It was dark, yet somehow still glowed. As if ithad an aura of blackness, a phantom light that was not light. Faintly violet. It seemed to suck in light around it."

Not sure if these edits give us any new information, but at least we know what we are getting now from TOR has gone through revisions :)

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Um, that's definitely more than our previous reading. It's subtle changes, but I definitely think that Gavilar founded the Sons of Honor now, and his direct association between "unite them" and needing an external threat, and the "I've seen a way to reverse it" make me think his visions differed slightly from Dalinar's. 

I'm also more convinced than ever that Taravangian is going to be a Bondsmith. 

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@CalderisI'm curious about the differences between D & G's visions. Is it possible that they just had different "conversations" with the Almighty's recordings in the visions? These different, one-sided conversations would lead to varying interpretations? Or is there something else I'm missing?

And yes to our guy in the robes!! :)

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9 minutes ago, Frostlander said:

@CalderisI'm curious about the differences between D & G's visions. Is it possible that they just had different "conversations" with the Almighty's recordings in the visions? These different, one-sided conversations would lead to varying interpretations? Or is there something else I'm missing

That might be, but at what point did Dalinar ever have a vision that even implied to him that the Everstorm would change the Parshmen? 

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I was hoping that there would be more to the prologue than what we've seen already. While there is more detail, in broad strokes it is the same prologue that we've already seen. 
 

I think this is a much stronger prologue than the previous two, but it's probably because it has the foundation and world building of two entire books ahead of it. I found Jasnah's prologue from WOR a little strange, as the things told from her POV didn't really shed much insight on the evening. Her first attempt at soul casting, and the hiring of the assassin, while interesting, seem tangential to the main event, the assassination of Gavilar. This one allows us to see the motivations of the Parshendi, and allows us to see how spur of the moment everything was to them. Now, the question is, who set up the pieces that made it possible for them to assassinate Gavilar? Did someone maneuver Szeth into place? How do the mysterious heralds who show up that evening fit into everything? 

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I loved the ending part of the prologue with Eshonai playing the drums. I could really feel it. The tension of the decision the Five just made. And then, of course, the last sentence bringing an end to the crescendo.

The drums cut off around her, and dying music echoed through the halls.

Just brilliant.

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Awesome. 

I noticed something I had not before. I had guessed the Listeners had given up their gods as part of a truce or to no longer be "enslaved" to the gods. Dull form brought freedom it said in their songs. 

Galivar told Eshonai that the humans had found away to remove a Listeners's spren putting them into Parshmen form which looks like dull form but has almost no will of their own. 

So what if dull form gave the Listeners freedom by hiding them in dull form so their spren would not be ripped from them? The dullness brought freedom because the humans would assume they were spren-less and leave them alone. Humans can't tell the difference between a Parshmen and a free dull form Listener. 

I hope we learn if this is or isn't the case in this book. 

Edited by eveorjoy
Edited to fix typos
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Prologue excerpt that made me love Eshonai:

Regardless, she’d be wanted at the king’s celebration soon anyway; she was one of the best among the listeners at the dull human tongue. She’d taken to it naturally, which was an advantage—as it had earned her a place on this expedition—but also a problem. Speaking the human tongue made her important, and people who grew too important couldn’t be allowed to go off chasing the horizon.

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Something has sparked my interest - Gavilar's co-conspirators.

Spoiler

More shocking, King Gavilar himself stood pointing at something on a table, surrounded by five others: two officers, two women in long dresses, and one old man in robes.

One officer is Amaram, he refers to him as Meridas. The other is presumably Restares. The old man in robes is surely Taravangian. So... who are the women? 

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15 minutes ago, Botanica said:

Is it possible that Navani was there?

I'd considered that, her and maybe Restares wife, but it seemed to me Navani knew nothing of Gavilar's intentions back then

Quote

He hesitated. The first time; an implication that when Gavilar had died, she had not been broken up about it. She had never stated so outright an implication of the . . . difficulties the two had been having.

...

“I cannot help but assume that the assassin is involved in all of this, Navani. The storm that comes, the secrets of the Shattered Plains, even Gavilar. My brother knew something, something he never shared with any of us.

”You must find the most important words a man can say. “I would give almost anything to know what it was.”

“I suppose,”Navani said. “I will go back to my journals of the time. Perhaps he said something that would give us clues—though I warn you, I’ve pored over those accounts dozens of times.”

She may be lying but she was pretty broken up in that chapter. And it sounds like they were estranged so I doubt Gavilar let her into secret destroy-the-world meetings. 

Edited by Extesian
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48 minutes ago, FollowYourMuse said:

The one female as Adrotegia makes sense. The other two an unknown officer, and perhaps his wife. I am having difficulty with thinking it is Restares being described as an officer. That description would also eliminate any of the high princes. 

 

Who is Adrotegia?

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There are many small new clues and riddles, like Venli has been more active and involved for longer than previously known. But the one thing that has me really curious is that Gavilar acts and responds to Eshonai, almost as if he can hear the rhythms. 

Quote

She hummed to Anxiety.

“Now, now,” he said. “I’m going to help you, Eshonai.

 

Spoiler

 

 

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I hadn't considered that he could hear the Rhythms. But it's possible. Brandon has said that the Rhythms exist separately from the Parshendi, and were a part of the world/Cosmere. 

Quote

AETHENOTH

Can an allomantic bronze burner hear the rhythms on Roshar?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Yes, this is possible.

I doubt Gavilar was an allomancer, but there could be another way that he was sensitive to the Rhythms. Maybe something to do with Proto-Bondsmiths?

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Good thought on Adrotagia. I agree that she's the best option at this point.

As mentioned by @Extesian, we have confirmation of Venli's involvement.

Quote

Klade claimed that a voice—speaking to the rhythms—had led him to the man, who had confessed his skills when pressed. Venli had apparently been with him, though Eshonai hadn’t seen her sister since earlier in the day.

I'm wondering about that voice. My first suspicion was that Venli was already wearing an old form at that point and was manipulating things, but that doesn't actually make sense. If any of the Unmade did know of Gavilar's idiotic plan, I presume they would have been fully on board. Whoever was pulling strings (most likely the Heralds, given the Jasnah prologue) either knew about the Sons of Honor and wanted to stop the disaster they were planning, or had other goals entirely. (The conspiracist in me wants to point at Taravangian and say he was betraying Gavilar to further his own goals, but that idea has way too many holes in it, primarily the timing of the Diagram.) The Heralds are also more likely than anyone else to have access to and understanding of the Rhythms.

As far as Venli is concerned, I now think it more likely that she acquired her first void form spren from Gavilar's sphere.

Also, in addition to his apparent sensitivity to the Rhythms, this statement of Gavilar's betrays either dangerous ignorance and dangerous understanding:

Quote

Then we somehow prevented their ability to undergo the transformation. We did it by capturing a spren. An ancient, crucial spren.” He looked to her, green eyes alight. “I’ve seen how that can be reversed. A new storm that will bring the Heralds out of hiding. A new war.

Note first that he says the Heralds are "in hiding," not that they are gone and need to return. How would he know that? Second, he knows about the listeners' ability to change forms, of which Dalinar et al had no knowledge in WoK or WoR. There are also pieces missing from his spren story. As seen in WoR, the Stormfather enables form changes, and he is very much not captured. Even if Gavilar is right about what happened, preventing transformation is a far cry from "ripping away spren" as proposed by @eveorjoy above. And while blocking transformations could very plausibly result in a population of slaveform listeners after a generation (assuming children are born without a bound spren), it certainly wouldn't do much in the middle of a war with Voidbringers. So (without further information to connect the dots) it can't be the same thing as Melishi's stratagem from the epigraphs, even though there is a connection just begging to made.

Quote

 

So Melishi retired to his tent, and resolved to destroy the Voidbringers upon the next day, but that night did present a different stratagem, related to the unique abilities of the Bondsmiths; and being hurried, he could make no specific account of his process; it was related to the very nature of the Heralds and their divine duties, an attribute the Bondsmiths alone could address

 

Edited by ccstat
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7 hours ago, Extesian said:

There's a significant change that jumps straight out. Gavilar does not say he has another black sphere. We know he does but he doesn't tell Eshonai. Another big one is that Venli was with Klade.

I didn't notice this.  That means Venli was with Klade when he bought Szeth,  I wonder, if Venli is already under Odium's influence somehow (which I am sure has already been theorized), if she used some type of voidbinding to sense the investiture Szeth was carrying (Jezrien's Honorblade)?

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This was the first time I read this, as I wanted it to be in its final version before I did. I say this to excuse if these things have been discussed at length already  

The biggest thing I'm left with is how skillfully (and a little annoying, haha) Brandon is at steadily giving us new information and yet still leaving so many questions unanswered. 

Some other thoughts:

Not really important, but I wonder if Eshonai's meeting with Gavilar happens before or after his meeting with Amaram. This also puts that meeting in a new light, as it now seems to me as though Gavilar was reinforcing Amaram that their path was the correct one. Obviously this could be completely off, but it would be interesting if Amaram is the way he is because of Gavilar. 

I'm a little disappointed we seemingly didn't get any new information with regard to the Heralds who were there that night. 

Sneaky Venli knows SO much more than she has revealed. Do we know anything about whether she lived through the Battle of Narak? I think we have to assume she did until we get the body on screen. 

Finally, if the visions Gavilar received are the same as Dalinar's, then Gavilar really was a nutty crazy nutjob of a crazy person. Correct me if I'm wrong, but his bottom line (I can't bring myself to call it logic) is essentially this: My people fight too much, so I will throw the ENTIRE world into war to save them!

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