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Analyzing the Death Rattles


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I have a slightly convoluted theory about this. The only pits we have at this point is the dueling pits, so I'm going to assume that in this instance, "pit" means chasm. If anyone falls into the chasms on the Shattered Plains, they're assumed dead, but if Kaladin works on his Windrunners abilities a bit, he should be able to keep himself and another guy alive if they fall in. And if they come out with a "heart" (gemheart) I think they'd get a lot of glory.

I always thought this referenced Kaladin and Dalinar returning from the Tower.

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I feel like at least a few of them allude to events that will be happening in later books. The bridge leap one is pretty clear. The only point of debate for that is whether the Parshendi could be included in his 'friends'. The one about Shalash is also pretty clear, except the bit about "daughter of kings and winds". Instead of forcing the rest that describe events to approximately fit events in Way of Kings, I think we just haven't seen what they are referring to yet.

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ANYTHING REASONABLE

They are aflame. They burn. They bring darkness when they come, and so all you can see is that their skin is aflame. Burn, burn, burn…

-Collected on Palahishev, 1172, 21 seconds pre-death. Subject was a baker’s apprentice

I assume "they" are the Voidbringers. Parshendi would not show up in darkness, so this suggests that the Voidbringers glow with infused stormlight, which we can infer also from Szeth's viewpoint. To me this tends to negate Jasnah's conclusion about Voidbringers=Parshendi. Parshendi could start infusing, bringing darkness and doing whatever it is those Voidbringers do, but so could anybody else.

NEARER THE FLAME

Victory! We stand atop the mount! We scatter them before us! Their homes become our dens, their lands are now our farms! And they shall burn, as we once did, in a place that is hollow and forlorn.

-Collected on Ishan, 1172, 18 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed spinster of the eights dahn.

This one is quite intriguing. What lives in dens? Could this be the expulsion from the Tranquilline halls from the anti-Honor side?

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I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it give us further breath to draw

-Dated Shashanan, 1173, 23 seconds pre-death. Subject: A darkeyes youth of sixteen years. Sample is of particular note.

I've been thinking that this quote actually refers to Taravangian. One of the death cries has a note about it being from a child and that the child's diction improved remarkably while speaking. I can imagine his next "test" being to try an even younger child (perhaps one even still nursing) and see if THEY would talk. All in the interest of helping humanity, of course.

I like it. Probably the best theory for this sample yet.

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I don't think this can be the case...

In the prologue Kalak specifically remembers being tortured himself. He talks about hooks into his body and burning through his skin and fat etc..

Not got an exact quote but it definitely implies tha Kalak is the one being tortured.

Hooks of guilt and the fire of self-loathing?

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And all the world was shattered! The rocks trembled with their steps, and the stones reached towards the heavens. We die! We die!

They break the land itself! They want it, but in their rage they will destroy it. Like the jealous man burns his things rather than let them be taken by his enemies! They come!

These were both from bridgemen, right? It's interesting that both of them seem to refer to the Shattered Plains.

All is withdrawn from me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds.

-Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeye mother of four in her sixty-second year.

This appears to refer to Kaladin, and is more than faintly ominous.

Also, one you missed:

Gibletish

The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me

-Dated Palaheses, 1173, unknown seconds pre-death. Subject: a wealthy lighteyes. Sample collected secondhand

Almost certainly Taln talking. What's interesting is that it seems to be a direct quote from him.

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I think the one that you think is Kaladin may be already coming to pass...

He stands with Dalinar, even though he hates lighteyes. He stands against Amaram who, I guess saved his life. In a way. He's also learning to control his surgebinding.

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NEARER THE FLAME

Victory! We stand atop the mount! We scatter them before us! Their homes become our dens, their lands are now our farms! And they shall burn, as we once did, in a place that is hollow and forlorn.

-Collected on Ishan, 1172, 18 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed spinster of the eights dahn.

like "hoser" i think this is of particular interest, because there are at least 2 different interpretations depending on the person(people) saying this.

1. if it is a human (ancestor of veden,alethi etc.)it could mean that they chased the voidbringers of roshar(maybe land of the voidbringers originaly?) and humans may be actually the antagonists/aggressors.

2. then i had the idea that this is actually from the perspective of a voidbringer/parshendi (if they turn out to be one and the same)which would make this quite unique.

What do you think? Feel free to correct me if this is utter nonsense

PS: Please excuse any grammatical errors

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2. then i had the idea that this is actually from the perspective of a voidbringer/parshendi (if they turn out to be one and the same)which would make this quite unique.

I do believe I mentioned this theory earlier, though it was mostly ignored. Thanks for bringing it back up. :)

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Reference: The Parshendi are NOT the Voidbringers.

We can take up the debate over there.

All is withdrawn from me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds.

-Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeye mother of four in her sixty-second year.

Jezrien is Stormfather, right? What if it's him talking?

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This one and all the ones after it take place more than a thousand days after. So either the 1000 days is not exact, or the Everstorm is more of a metaphor than Tanavast's vision to Dalinar made it seem.

Do we know how long years are in WoK? Last I read, Brandon had RAFO'd that information as it would give too much away.

A thousand days could cover a period of several years.

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I don't remember anything about the length of years ever being RAFO. (Read and Find Out) It's been known almost since publishing that years are 500 days, Each day has 20 hours, each hour is slightly shorter than an Earth hour. The overall year is something like 1.1 Earth years. If you look around the forum there is an explanation of how to read the dates in these epigraphs. It's [month(out of 10) - week(out of 10)- day(out of 5)]. So a thousand days would cover exactly two years. The thing I'm not sure about is exactly what dates the events in Way of Kings take place on. (not counting flashbacks) Seems to be a couple of months out of 1173.

It should all be in the Dates thread that I linked to earlier:

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IIRC, it's about a year. Kaladin flashes back to the battle with Amaram towards the end of the book, and it says "One Year Ago"

I should have been more specific. That first battle takes place well before the events we see where Kaladin is a slave. It's several months after that we see him being transported to the Shattered Plains. Judging from the number of visions Dalinar has (the number of highstorms), the rest of the book takes place over just one or two months.

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