Vasher's heart of gold

[FatherVik_1776]

I am re-reading Warbreaker, and the very first scene shows us Vasher giving Vahr a rather abysmal choice. Give me your magic breath and I'll kill you, or let the torturers have more fun and let them have your magic breath. Why no third option? Did it not occur to Vahr to try to persuade Vasher to help him escape in return for the breaths? I can come up with a few arguments either way, just curious to see how yuns feel about it. 

[Treamayne]

11 hours ago, FatherVik_1776 said:

I am re-reading Warbreaker, and the very first scene shows us Vasher giving Vahr a rather abysmal choice. Give me your magic breath and I'll kill you, or let the torturers have more fun and let them have your magic breath. Why no third option? Did it not occur to Vahr to try to persuade Vasher to help him escape in return for the breaths? I can come up with a few arguments either way, just curious to see how yuns feel about it. 

Vasher did not want Vahr released - the choice was very A or B on purpose. It's implied later int he book that Vasher had already warned Vahr, when he was starting his movement, not to pursue a war with Hallendren (peaceful reform rather than rebellion). I think the reason Vahr does not try to persuade Vasher is because of their very first exchange:

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Vasher hesitated only briefly, then reached up and pulled the gag free.

“You,” the prisoner whispered, coughing slightly. “Are you here to free me?”

“No, Vahr,” Vasher said quietly.

If he knew Vasher, then he knew that that answer would have been immutable.

Edited August 6, 2022 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Duxredux]

Well... writerly reason one is so that the reader thinks Vasher is the bad guy.

Vasher has a pretty troubled history and while he's very loyal once you've gained his trust, he's also had to kill some of his oldest and closest friends, including his wife when they started things that would cause widespread slaughter. Vasher does not deal with betrayal well, and leaving someone like Vahr alive, someone who convinced hundreds of people to become Drabs and give him power, that's dangerous. That kind of persuasion was probably part of the Manywar, considering someone had to give the Awakeners that much power in the war, and like Treamayne said, Vahr had been warned by Vasher against starting a war.

Yeah, Vasher had other choices with how he could have dealt with Vahr, but his decision is consistent with his history. He didn't take Nanrovah's supposed betrayal well, was considering just going and killing Lightsong the fool god who had control of 20,000 Lifeless, and was about ready to kill Vivenna until she proved that she hadn't intended to incite war. Basically, as Vasher is someone who accidentally helped kick off the Manywar, he has a really twitchy trigger finger regarding anyone else who looks like they are trying to start a war, including (maybe especially) friends. Vahr is the kind of person that Vasher probably would hunt down and assassinate anyway.

[Cocoa]

I think a lot of Vasher's character is summed up well in Vivenna's snap judgement of him after the rescue of Misel:

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He is a good man, she thought. Or, at least, an earnest man trying to be good.

Vasher is brutal, tactless, cynical, and short-tempered. He's focused heavily on the greater good. Not in a "you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs" sense, not like a visionary, but in the sense that he tries to solve large problems (like a looming war) by cutting through the most direct effective route from A to B. Sometimes, that direct route involves forcing himself to sit down for civil conversations with everyone from influential priests to downtrodden workers. Sometimes it involves offering a revolutionary a mercy kill in exchange for a treasure of Breaths. And sometimes (even if he never wound up acting on the idea), it involves being ready to kill a potentially innocent man because he holds the command codes of 20,000 lifeless.

If he genuinely thinks it will stop a catastrophe, Vasher will strike you down, even if you're the person he loves most in all the world. He cheats. He fights dirty. But he won't bs you. If he means to kill you, he won't dance around the issue or hide behind a false smile. He defaults to non-lethal force whenever he thinks it'll work. He'll face down a den of bandits alone for the sake of a scared, hurt little girl, and then he'll wrap that kid up in a hug and carry her home and teach her how to make the nightmares go away.

Or, at least, an earnest man trying to be good.

Edited September 9, 2022 by Cocoa