Parshendi and Parshmen theory (WoR Spoilers)

[Galavantes]

Just quick theory to attempt to explain what makes the Parshmen different from the Parshendi. The basis of the premise is that every Parshendi form requires the bonding of a spren. The Parshmen however are without form. They have no spren, and no song. So why are they like this? And how did it happen?

 

To try and answer that we'll run on the assumption that the Parshendi really are voidbringers. Perhaps they become forcibly bonded by the "evil" spren we see in Dalinar's newest vision in WoR. Bonding to a "void spren" or "odium spren" or what have you causes their transformation into something similar to a Koloss or Inquisitor, in that they are now controlled by Odium and become members of his army. 

 

So after a desolation I can see two things happening:

1. The void-spren withdraw and leave naturally, the parshendi suddenly have their free will and are allowed to change forms to whatever they wish. This is the natural course of things and result in perfectly functional Parshendi.

 

2- During battle some of the parshendi and forcibly unbonded from their spren, or their spren is somehow destroyed through some Surgebinding or Fabrial art that we haven't yet seen. Perhaps Soulcasters are able to affect these voidspren directly, since their entire art seems to center around manipulating spren. These Parshendi are never given to chance to naturally change forms and are essentially lobotomized when their bond is broken. Thus becoming the Parshmen we see today.

 

The other interesting thing we see from Dalinar's vision is that the void-spren seems to forcibly bond to create a thunderclast. If they are also able to do this with the unbonded Parshmen then we are in for quite a bit of trouble with they suddenly become voidbringers.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Galavantes

[Crysanja]

there is one thing that speaks strongly against the parshendi being voidbringers.

 

the human nature.

 

its not like there is just one desolation there were many. we can assume that several times the humans understood or learned that the parshendi can turn into voidbringers.

 

 

so what are humans doing with most threats or things not understood?

they erradicate them. like the european settlers at america or australia.

we even bring animals to extinction because they pray on our farm animals. like bears, wolfs .... in europe.

 

before the arguement comes that the humans were tricked into enslave the parshendi instead - if they were to turn into voidbringers, they would have been need to trick them after each desolation <- feels unlikely.

 

 

so either bad spren can bound to lots of stuff to create evil creatures - Dalinars vision stone or mudd - or its not the pershendi.

[Gloom]

“A spren that doesn’t act like it should,” the man said. “Just keep your eyes open, once Ja-ana touches them they are different. They act strange. Call attention to anything you see, even if you are uncertain.”

 

What I see here is a spren that was tainted. I don't really believe that we will see void spren. Odium doesn't want to invest anything into the world, he wants to destroy it. Because of this I believe he will allow those minions already invested to taint what exists, but won't actually add anything new. At the end of a Desolation when Odium withdraws his champions from the world (or they are slain), his influence on those spren ends and they revert back to regular spren, or die.

 

I'm torn on the Parsh. We simply don't have enough information for me to decide where I stand. Valid arguments abound in either direction. I will say this. They fear the return of their gods, which leads me to believe that they had reason to fear. If I knew definitively who they worshiped as gods, it would answer a lot of questions for me. For all I know, they worshiped the Knights Radiant and were the caretakers of Urithiru.

[Morsk]

so what are humans doing with most threats or things not understood?

they erradicate them. like the european settlers at america or australia.

we even bring animals to extinction because they pray on our farm animals. like bears, wolfs .... in europe.

That ignores the history of slavery. Slavery is older than civilization, and only very recently have we gotten rid of it. Humans don't only kill their enemies. They've also performed an awful lot of slavery.

Parshmen fulfill a fantasy of "natural slaves" that proponents of slavery have always advanced, that certain races are unable to be civilized on their own, and can only have civilization when enslaved by a master race. Even in the absence of any such people (like on Earth), we lie and claim certain races qualify, to rationalize slavery. On Roshar, the parshmen seem to actually qualify, if only because something magical happened and took their spren away. Humans would jump on the opportunity to exploit such a people.

[Galavantes]

We also have no idea what the time frame is between desolations. All we know is that it has been about 5,000 years since the last one. That is more than enough time to forget. Our own world shares that trait. The events from the new testament come from less than half that amount of time in the past and today no one can agree on the facts of that either. Give it another 3,000 years and who knows?
 

I do think there is more to the parshendi, because this is Brandon and we only have 1 book of 10. But this seems like a feasible reason as to why the parshmen are the way they are.

[nightwatcher]

Additionally, If the Parshmen were rational when not under Odium's control, then people were told that Odium had been defeated, they would probably assume that Parshmen were now harmless. They'd still be bitter and racist, though, so they enslave the people who had victimized them for so long.

[Tanabig]

Slavery is older than civilization, and only very recently have we gotten rid of it.

Off-topic and nitpicky correction, but worldwide we have more slaves today (by number, not percentage of population) than at any other time in history.

 

On-topic: I like the idea of the void spren (or whatever you want to call it) forcibly bonding to the Parshendi just like how it bonds with other things to create creatures like the thunderclasts as we see in Dalinar's vision (assuming that is what it was doing). However I do think it would be good to note that apparently the escort or bodyguard of the fish/face/void spren was what appeared to make the thunderclast.

[Gloom]

What if the Parsh just disappear when a Desolation begins? They take a form that is completely unrecognizable. Then in the years after the Desolation, as humanities population rebuilds, and they begin to spread across the world they encounter the Parsh. Depending on the length of the war, the breadth of the chaos, the loss of life, knowledge, and the amount of time it takes humanity to locate the Parsh they may have completely forgotten about them.

[Crysanja]

in Dalinars visions we havent seen any human or if you like so parhendi like "monsters".

when the odium spren can turn mud or stone to their use, what use is a larger waterbag?

 

the mud or stone is more or less unfailable. fighting it with conventional weapons will be difficult.

but now turn a perhendi, after all they are flesh and blood, thouse things fail rather quickly.

 

they would need to turn into something very powerfull to be desireable over stone and mud.

they would need to become something like a radiant, with plate, sword and magic.

 

if they would turn in something like that, the parhsendi would have lots of shardblades now.

but we only know from a very few.

[Gloom]

Speaking of theories about the Parsh... What are the chances that humans were fighting the Parshendi at the time of the Recreance? I mean from Kaladins point of view, the Parshendi show a great deal of honor towards their enemies in warrior form, and they almost show reverence towards Kaladin when they recognize his abilities as a surgebinder.

[Miyabi]

Speaking of theories about the Parsh... What are the chances that humans were fighting the Parshendi at the time of the Recreance? I mean from Kaladins point of view, the Parshendi show a great deal of honor towards their enemies in warrior form, and they almost show reverence towards Kaladin when they recognize his abilities as a surgebinder.

I believe the Parshendi must have been around in those times, and I feel as if, especially when concerned with the powers of the Radiants, the Parshendi have a much greater knowledge than the Alethi do.