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Vashara Relationship


Comatose

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So, I searched through six pages of "Shashara" and couldn't find this exact topic so I thought I would post it here, and see what discussion we get.  

I just wrote up this fanfic of my take on the whole Twilight Falls fiasco, and thinking up the story and writing it has really increased my interest in Vasher and Shashara's relationship.  I am curious to know what other people think about it.  

Here's two of the most pertinent WoBs I think:

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

The person Lightsong sees in the abstract painting is Shashara, Denth's sister, one of the Five Scholars and a Returned also known as Glorysinger by the Cult of the Returned. She is seen here in Lightsong's vision as she's drawing Nightblood at the battle of Twilight Falls. It's the only time the sword was drawn in battle, and Vasher was horrified by the result.

It's because of her insistence on using the sword in battle, and on giving away the secret to creating more, that Vasher and she fought. He ended up killing her with Nightblood, which they'd created together during the days they were in love—he married her a short time before their falling out. That marriage ended with him slaying his own wife to keep her from creating more abominations like Nightblood and loosing them upon the world.

Nightblood is part of a much larger story in this world. He's dropped casually into this particular book, more as a side note than a real focus of what's going on, but his own role in the world is much, much larger than his supporting part here would indicate.

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

Anyway, Nightblood is named for the smoke he leaks, and he originally had a different name when he was created. Vasher himself dubbed the sword Nightblood after he had used it to kill the woman he loved. The blackness that leaks out is actually corrupted and consumed Breaths, the ones that Nightblood leeches off anyone who draws him.

So we know "they were in love" but that Shashara obviously had different ambitions than Vasher.  We also know that their marriage was relatively short, but we don't really know how long their romance was.  

What I am picturing is a kind of rushed and passionate romance between two collaborators on an exciting project.  It's also my opinion that Vasher wasn't aware of everything Shashara was up to or all of her motives, so I also get this image of Vasher being kind of infatuated with the mystery of Shashara, and her encouraging that, but that Vasher does not know her as well as he thinks and that is what leads to their conflict.  

We were joking on Discord the other day about how apparently Brandon loves writing in spouse killings into character's histories, but I think the Vasher/Shashara conflict is one of the most interesting to me because of the juicy heartbreak and emotional confusion Vasher must feel in the wake of destroying someone who obviously cared a great deal for, but who may not have cared much for him.  I know Brandon states in the annotations that "they were in love" but I also think that can mean different things to different people, and that it may have meant something different to Shashara than to Vasher.  

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Well, I enjoyed it.
The Awakening was great. Awakening is normally great, but the detail put in made the difference.

Hadn't really considered the details of Vasher and Shashara before, but I like your assessment of it. The characterisation certainly piqued my interest, and I'm always eager for more Vasher.

Relationship Headcanon Accepted.

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The entire backstory of Vasher and Shashara is amazingly intriguing, and I agree with just about every point you made. 

I've always wondered about it. I mean, Vasher feels responsible for Nightblood. He carried it around for who knows how long. I've always been curious about the effect that must have had. 

How do you deal with needing to care for a weapon that is essentially a precociously deadly child, who remembers you and the woman who you lived and killed using it...  But can never conceptualize that she's gone, and speaks of her often. 

Vasher's life has always struck me as lonely and tragic.

Edit: and I'm mostly asleep, and just realized I responded to your post, which started with a fic that I didn't actually follow the link to. 

Edited by Calderis
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7 hours ago, Kiiyashi said:

Well, I enjoyed it.
The Awakening was great. Awakening is normally great, but the detail put in made the difference.

Hadn't really considered the details of Vasher and Shashara before, but I like your assessment of it. The characterisation certainly piqued my interest, and I'm always eager for more Vasher.

Relationship Headcanon Accepted.

Thanks!  The Awakening was really fun to write, though I think I did stretch things a little bit.  

7 hours ago, Calderis said:

Edit: and I'm mostly asleep, and just realized I responded to your post, which started with a fic that I didn't actually follow the link to. 

No worries!  I linked the fic mostly just to give the head space I am starting this topic in.  I was writing this topic, I realized my actual theory of how their relationship was may not necessarily match with what I wrote anyways.  I took a lot of liberties in order to make things work, whereas I tend to be more conservative when theorizing about what happened.  

I really like the idea of the connection to Nightblood.  One thing I've always assumed is that Vasher loves Shashara for her mind.  (A)  He does not seem very shallow at all, and he doesn't really comment on how attractive people are and (B) He has been at the upper heightenings, at least when he gave up Peacegiver's Treasure, so if he had that many during their relationship I would assume the some of the same reasoning Susebron gives to Siri would apply.  Plus they were both scholars, so it would make sense that their connection has a strong intellectual component.  

So, if Shashara's mind is one of the things Vasher admires most, and Nightblood is both the greatest and most terrible of her creations/discoveries, I think destroying it would be like destroying the last vestiges of the part of Shashara he loved.  Add in what you said about Nightblood being like their child, and I can totally see why Vasher would have difficulty destroying it (if that's even possible).  

I think what I would need to understand or see more of from their relationship is how Vasher got caught up in a romance that seems to have gotten the better of him.  He seems so cautious and slow to trust, though I guess that may have come after. 

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood and Vasher Interact as He Sneaks into the God King's Palace

Note that Nightblood is capable of more change than Vasher assumes. Vasher has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to Nightblood. He makes assumptions he wouldn't make regarding other people or elements of Awakening. It's hard for him to regard the sword without bias. If you want to know more about this, read the sequel. (Er, if I ever write it.) Which is tentatively named Nightblood.

Part of me wonders if Vasher's 'blind spot' for Nightblood is an extension of his blind spot with Shashara.  He viewed her a certain way, and thus did not see her ambitions coming.  I also note that, though Vasher is often reserved, he also has very strong emotions.  We see him lose his temper many times, so I guess it's equally possible (though likely rarer) that he could be equally overcome by feelings of love.  

I agree, he's quite the tragic figure, our Vasher.  And I always think stories of heartbreak make the best love stories.  

 

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On 3/17/2018 at 10:59 AM, Comatose said:

Part of me wonders if Vasher's 'blind spot' for Nightblood is an extension of his blind spot with Shashara.  He viewed her a certain way, and thus did not see her ambitions coming.  I also note that, though Vasher is often reserved, he also has very strong emotions.  We see him lose his temper many times, so I guess it's equally possible (though likely rarer) that he could be equally overcome by feelings of love.  

I agree, he's quite the tragic figure, our Vasher.  And I always think stories of heartbreak make the best love stories.  

 

This is the part that actually worries me about the relationship he might develop with Odium.....

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On 3/20/2018 at 4:48 AM, dbulick said:

This is the part that actually worries me about the relationship he might develop with Odium.....

I agree. 

(Spoiler for Oathbringer below!)

Spoiler

Especially since we know that Vasher is Zahel, and therefore is currently on Roshar. This increases his odds of interacting with Odium.

Also, if he was on the side of Odium, this would make Vasher the ultimate secret weapons against the KR, and the Kholins. He’s the swordmaster, as Zahel, so it is absolutely vital that the Kholins trust him— which they do.

 

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