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Analyzing the Death Rattles


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Do we have a direct quote from a Herald in-book specifying 99? Not a quote from a religious text probably made a couple thousand years later?

That being said, it's quite possible the number is accurate, which leads to the question of why. Since the 99th desolation ended with a choice by the Heralds, it's not as simple as a Shard saying it would be so.

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Do we have a direct quote from a Herald in-book specifying 99? Not a quote from a religious text probably made a couple thousand years later?

That being said, it's quite possible the number is accurate, which leads to the question of why. Since the 99th desolation ended with a choice by the Heralds, it's not as simple as a Shard saying it would be so.

I think the numbers 16 and 10 aren't actually the Shard's choice, but simply side-effects of their radiation. Their power has natural patterns harking back to Adonalsium. As for the Heralid, I believe it's actually in the death cries somewhere.

You are, however, right that it could be religious changing stuff. They do like 10s after all.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Maybe Honor (before he died) ordered Jezrien to watch over the person who received his visions?

If the epigraph for chapter 66 is to be believed, Dalinar is not the only person who sees Honor's visions. Not that that completely ruins the theory, Jezrien could simply have picked the person receiving visions who was in the best position to influence events.

Also, I'm curious about the 100 desolations as well, I don't recall that.

Edited by antwon87
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I think it has more to do with the book--the Way of Kings--than it has to do specifically with Dalinar acting honorably. Perhaps it's a combination of the two? We know that he only began having the book read to him a few months prior to his first POV, whereas he has presumably been acting honorably for a while longer, due to following the Codes.

Gavilar may also have received the visions; he was not in a warcamp at the time, so he would probably have had a far easier time hiding the visions from the public.

Edited by lDanielHolm
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I find it unlikely that a darkeyes was reading The Way of Kings. It's probably something else entirely.

Well, reading isn't required, that's for certain--Dalinar has it read to him by scribes, as he can't read himself. Perhaps the stories in the book are told among darkeyed, and it is enough, combined with a particularly honorable personality.

But you're probably right; I had forgotten about the potter. It just seems like an odd coincidence, that the reading of the book and Dalinar's visions begin more or less at the same time.

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It's true, but I think it has something to do with what's in the book, not the book itself. It's contents and stories are irrelevant, it's following them and actually being honorable in a world of hatred that counts. At least, that's the way I see it. THe potter could have easily been an honorable person.

Edited by Observer
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  • 3 weeks later...

"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." Wild speculation that this is Odium

I have an even wilder, completely unfounded speculation about that one. Shallan?

Edited by CabbageHead
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I have an even wilder, completely unfounded speculation about that one. Shallan?

I think it ties in with the prophecy on the back cover of Way of Kings.

Now there are four whom we watch: the surgeon, forced to forsake healing and fight in the most brutal war of our time; the assassin, who weeps as he kills; the liar, who wears her scholar's mantle over a thief's heart; and the prince, whose eyes open to the ancient past as his thirst for battle wanes.

One of them may redeem us. And one of them will destroy us.

At this point the epigraph doesn't work for all of them yet, but I think it will eventually. I prefer Szeth or Kaladin, then Shallan, and Dalinar least of all.
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I think it ties in with the prophecy on the back cover of Way of Kings.

At this point the epigraph doesn't work for all of them yet, but I think it will eventually. I prefer Szeth or Kaladin, then Shallan, and Dalinar least of all.

To be honest I am fairly certain that the back of the book is one of the Heralds talking about the Heralds themselves being Redeemed and then Destroyed. Which considering they are now functionally Immortal beings that broke their Oaths I am pretty sure they would welcome oblivion about now. So while I think that one or more of the four main characters will redeem their broken oath it would probably release them entirely from their lives thus Destroying them. So I think in 9 more books that could be not only truthful but a good thing for everybody involved.

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To be honest I am fairly certain that the back of the book is one of the Heralds talking about the Heralds themselves being Redeemed and then Destroyed. Which considering they are now functionally Immortal beings that broke their Oaths I am pretty sure they would welcome oblivion about now. So while I think that one or more of the four main characters will redeem their broken oath it would probably release them entirely from their lives thus Destroying them. So I think in 9 more books that could be not only truthful but a good thing for everybody involved.

I must admit, when I first read that bit in the epigraph, I didn't think about assigning the point of view to a particular person or group, just a sort of personification of humanity removed from interaction with the world. It would be interesting if it is a group of people, who would fit? The Shards themselves? The Parshendi? The Heralds?

On the Shallan thing, I wasn't really thinking about anything like that, just that the reference to the storm responding to a raised hand kind of indicates a soulcaster. I imagined that the "one who killed my promises" is Jasnah. And the one who saved her life... that was where the idle speculation was. Some unexplained nastiness happenned in the past with Shallan's family, involving the death of her father and her aquisition of a shardblade, and they appear to now possibly be "the enemy". There could be tough times ahead for Shallan involving the Ghostbloods and her brothers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

THE SHATTERED PLAINS

I’m dying aren’t I? Healer, why do you take my blood? Who is that beside you, with his head of lines? I can see a distant sun, dark and cold, shining in a black sky.

-Collected on the 3rd day of Jesnan, 1172, 11 seconds pre-death. Subject was a Reshi chull trainer. Sample is of particular note.

Could it be that the person with his "head of lines" is Marsh? I thought of that today on a reread of WoK.

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Yeah I'm going to have to go with Windrunner here, the death cries aren't something that I think would talk about the other shardworlds too much, at least not in specific things like Marsh, he wouldn't be relevant to them unless he was world hopping and going to show up and be a major player in SA which I don't think is likely.

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The one talking about breaking the land itself seems to refer to the Shattered Plains. Plus the tower and other rock formations have "reached towards the heavens".

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!

This next quote gave me an idea. All throughout the book we "know" reached Storm light powers the magic. Stormlight glows white, and while this does make sense for the Knights Radiant, it does not for the Voidbringers. While I realize that it's mentioned Voidbringers may hold Stormlight perfectly, I believe it may actually be "voidlight" or something like the Midnight Essence is made of in Dalinar' s visions. This makes sense that the Voidbringers would "bring darkness" then. Also, the orb of darkness at the start of the book may contain "Voidlight. " (this also makes sense with what we learned about why the parshendi killed the king, if it could somehow release voidlight into the world again.

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

If there is a thread that this has already been brought up on I apologize and could you point me there? ,But if not, what do you think? Holes? Possible?

Edit: Actually now I see that voidlight has been brought up before, so kudos to whoever thought of it first!

Edited by Lews Therin Telamon
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Personally, I'd think the person was seeing Shallan's "truthspren" or a similar spren, considering how they're called the symbolheads.

Could also be Taravangian; he is described as elderly, so he could have a "head of lines", and we know he's been observing the Silent Gatherers.

Though I also think it's a truthspren.

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