Eri Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) When I was reading WoK for the first time and got to the part of prologue where Szeth says that the end of the world is near etc. (where he kills the king) i thought “Wow, this guy must have a lot of plot knowledge”. And then, in the interludes, he didn't say anything as interesting as that. Recently I've noticed something: at first, Szeth doesn't seem to know the end is coming, he worries that Alethi will make Shards and dominate the world, an then, after he gets the mysterious sphere from the mysterious (a bit) king, he says that thing about the end. And we don't get any more of his PoVs with the sphere, only after he hid it. And he doesn't seem to know anything about the coming end / Desolation / whatever you call it. So the theory is: having (touching?) the black sphere gives you some knowledge. After that you probably forget it. Another small observation: the sphere is black, glows with a black light and is scary. Death is also considered scary and associated with colour black. Dying people know or see something. Maybe the sphere contains a part of whatever the dying people of Roshar go through (in Greek mythlogy it was a river, it may be something material on Roshar too)? Yes, thet is a really wild guess. Edit: Also, this “knowledge” may even not be true, it might be fabricated by Odium. But that is another matter. My theory doesn't claim it to be true or false. Just that the sphere makes you think / know things you normally wouldn't. Edited January 10, 2012 by Eri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aradel Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I had the thought that the black sphere is connected to the voidbringers (and therefore Odium) which may be why the Parshendi killed him (assuming they're not evil) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiveAM Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Yeah, same here, just as there are the spheres to hold stormlight for Surgebinding, i always thought it the equivalent for Voidbinding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRioter Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Or it's Midnight Essence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 From Dalinar's vision where he encounters the Midnight Essences, it looked like they were not that big of a deal. Dalinar (whose fighting skill seems to be close to that of a Radiant) and the couple of Knights dispatched, what, a few dozens of the creatures without a serious effort. The black sphere seems to have much greater significance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 It's description always reminded me of a cognitive aspect like the spheres Shallan found in Shadesmar, but I doubt it's as simple as that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Spoonface Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 I had the thought that the black sphere is connected to the voidbringers (and therefore Odium) which may be why the Parshendi killed him (assuming they're not evil) For some reason, I've always associated Gavilar with the "good" side. I can't give a logical explanation as to why, but I suspect that he would rather have destroyed something evil than give it to Sazed. Unless he was trying to keep it away from Dalinar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuoni Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 For some reason, I've always associated Gavilar with the "good" side. I can't give a logical explanation as to why, but I suspect that he would rather have destroyed something evil than give it to Sazed. Unless he was trying to keep it away from Dalinar. Sazed? Well, I still think that the sphere contained "voidlight", and that part of the voidbinding is creating /animating living things ( Thuderclasts, Midnight Essences). Also, just now an idea crossed my mind: what if this light is connected to the black smoke that comes out of Nightblood and peoples eyes when they are killed by shardblades, and which I think are the shredded/corrupted souls? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Spoonface Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Sazed? Well, I still think that the sphere contained "voidlight", and that part of the voidbinding is creating /animating living things ( Thuderclasts, Midnight Essences). Also, just now an idea crossed my mind: what if this light is connected to the black smoke that comes out of Nightblood and peoples eyes when they are killed by shardblades, and which I think are the shredded/corrupted souls? Sorry, I meant Szeth. I always assumed that the "burning eyes" effect of shardblades was simply a result of the souls absence- The shardblade cuts the body's connection to the soul, not the soul itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRioter Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 well Brandon has said (I think) that there's more then a visual similarity between the smoke Nightblood leaks (which is corrupted Breath) and the smoke from people's eyes when they get killed by a Shardblade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiveAM Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 maybe it's a common feature of attacks/damage/corruptions on the Spiritual aspect/plane rather than a direct connection between Nightblood and Shardblades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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