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Who (in the story) wrote the back cover?


anthonydraco

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OK, it's our Brandon, obviously, but using whose voice, whose POV? So far I haven't figured it out. The Parshendi?

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.

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To me, the last part reads more like marketing blurb - difficult to see an in-world character saying/writing all that...

But if it was an in-world character, it seems to be someone with direct experience of thousands of years of history. A Herald or a Shardholder, then...

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Sounds to me like it could be several different groups:

The Ghostbloods - unlikely due to longing for the return of the Radiants when it seems that they are the bad guys. Maybe...

The Worldsingers - We don't know that much about what they want. It sounds too partisan for them, I think,

The Whatever-they-were-called-that-Teft-belonged-to - Sounds like the right motive, but I thought they were all dead? Maybe some survive.

The Seventeenth Shard - Likely, as (Slight cosmere spoilers?)

they have written all of the Ars Arcanums (Arcani?)

but it does not seem like a sentiment that they would hold

In conclusion: We are building a Consensus, please ask later ...

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So who do you think the one who will destroy "us" will be?

Is "us" the people who are writing this? It "us" Roshar? The Spren? The Parshendi?

Szeth and Shallan are the obvious two as Kaladin and Dalinar are much more conventionally heroic, but then it wouldn't be a swerve if it was obvious.

Of course, *if* it is the Ghostbloods writing this (and it could be as a big theme of Stormlight Archive seems to be people doing good by dishonorable means) redeeming and destroying could have different values to them.

Edited by Yados
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very good question.

It seems to be someone who has known the days before the Last Desolation. Or at least someone who knows how the world has been before that event. (We've seen the Last Desolation in the Prelude) However, it speaks to me as if the person has lived in those days.

If that's true, there can't be much choice. Someone who has lived before the Last Desolation and is still around at the events of tWoK.

It can't be the Heralds, because he refers to them as 'the Heralds'.

As to other immortal or near-immortal beings, there is not much of them. It won't be a Shard or Shardholder either, because that one would know more than the person on the back cover.

But. The person has limited knowledge. He speaks of victory, only doubting that it might not have been a victory after all. Also he says the Heralds abandoned (humans on Roshar).

That's why I believe the person has only heard of the days before the Last Desolation. He knows about 'magic' and that people were more honorable then. So the person we are looking for would be one with knowledge of magic and the past. And it would be one of the good guys. Because he speaks of 'our enemies' which are the Voidbringers during Desolations.

So. Who has knowledge of 'magic' on Roshar?

- the Envisagers, the secret sect of Teft's family, waiting for the return of the KR. They know of Surgebinding

- whoever taught Szeth his Lashings, could be the Stone Shamans.

- not sure about the Ghostbloods. Until now we don't know whether they know anything about magic

- also not sure about the Taravangian-faction

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Upon rereading it, I think it must be either the Parshendi or the Ghostbloods.

Why? Because they're *watching* the four.

We don't know how parshmen work. Is it possible that the parshendi can see through their eyes?

We know that Kaladin has a parshmen with him by the end of the first book. There are others in the camp that could be observing Dalinar. Definitely Shallan. It's noted that they're everyone and no one notices them.

Aside from that, the Ghostbloods could be anyone/anywhere.

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  • 6 years later...
Just now, Spinner16 said:

Although we know absolutely nothing about them, I’m calling it here and saying it’s the Aimians 

Ummm why are you necroing a six year old thread? lol

And yes, the Aimians, or rather, the Sleepless, wrote them. Brandon confirmed it a little while back.

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