chronotrigger Posted October 10, 2013 Report Share Posted October 10, 2013 (edited) Hey everyone, this is my first post on this site, though I've been lurking in the forums for some time now. I just finished TWoK and can't wait for Book 2. Anyways, so I have a theory that is mostly baseless but could be interesting character development that I think is very plausible. However, I would like to put out a disclaimer that this does contain spoilers in the plot and if you have not read the book yet, I advise you do not read further!!! So what do we know? 1.) Dalinar used the Old Magics and talked with the Nightwatcher. 2.) Dalinar was so consumed by jealousy for losing his love, Navani, to his brother Gavolar, that he nearly killed his brother, the king. 3.) He has no recollection of the women he actually did marry. 4.) The Nightwatcher will grant you a boon and a curse, they sometimes, though infrequently, will be related. 5.) The woman he did marry, Brightness Kholen, was apparently kind, but not too keen, which presumably, was a stark contrast to Navani. Navani was apparently very good at political games in her youth. 6.) Adolin's hair was mostly blonde with streaks of the Alethi black hair. This is another speculation, and could mean that Adolin's mother was not Alethi. What do we make of this? Dalinar, distraught after the loss of Navani to his brother Gavolar, approached the Nightwatcher. The Nightwatcher gave Dalinar the boon of finding a new wife, at the cost of forgetting her when she died. The Nightwatcher probably gives you what you need (or think you need) most. I'd love to hear thoughts and opinions on the matter. I'm excited to see what the community thinks! Edit: Spelling Edited October 11, 2013 by chronotrigger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mysty Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 That is a very interesting idea, although after hearing the discussion of the Nightwatcher in the Baxil interlude i was under the impression that you got the boon and the curse at the same time. However we have so little information about the Old Magic, so maybe delayed curses are possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 That's true, curses do normally come at the same time as the boon. I do like this theory though, as could give an explanation why Dalinar's in-laws aren't ranked so highly. In Navani's case, the Alethi culture would consider her Dalinar's sister (even though her husband is long dead), but Dalinar doesn't have any other family to speak of. This is particularly interesting when you consider their culture is money and power grabbing and marrying a High Prince like Dalinar would give them immediate rank in the social circles. While it could be argued that they would be back in Kholinar or that Brightness Kholen was a single child (which would be difficult considering the rank her family must have had and the male dominated culture, surely they would have kept trying for a son). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Oh my mistake, there is evidence of inheritance through his mother's side, a full set of shard plate and shardblade. Still, I suppose it's possible that she was a foreigner that Dalinar married, and her family is back in some other country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardlet Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Welcome, chronotrigger. Glad to have you with us and posting your ideas. Your idea is very interesting. I don't think anyone has put that forward. Makes reasonable sense, although my wife says "why would you go to the nightwatcher to find a wife". I do however think you are making some assumptions about Dalinar's wife's background that are not necessarily supported. But, speculation is of course welcome here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Archpeon of Nonsense, first off, +100 for your name. Secondly, you are right of course, it's a pretty large speculation. Guess we'll just have to wait until March 2014 to find out who she is. I'd bet her identity is going to be pivotal to the story in some way. It just doesn't seem very Brandon Sanderson to *not* use her heritage in some meaningful way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 You are getting better with Dalinar's last name too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Lol yeah, I actually had this book as an audio book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Figured it would be either an audio book or one in different language. I've seen some translations, and they can be horrid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 No doubt. I use the audio books so I can read the books with my wife. Plus it's really cool hearing all the different accents the readers can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 I imagine - I was never an audio book guy. You should look into Graphic Audio (if you haven't already), they have Elantris and Warbreaker out, with Mistborn coming this December. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Yeah I have Elantris, the full Mistborn series, and the Way of Kings on Audible. I've read Warbreaker on kindle I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 11, 2013 Report Share Posted October 11, 2013 Do Graphic Audio. They have samples on the respective books' pages. It's an entirely new experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysphoric Kitten Posted October 16, 2013 Report Share Posted October 16, 2013 I've tried both (Audible with all his Cosmeres, GA with Elantris), and found Audible much more entertaining. (note: I just bought my first print Sanderson! it is FE, and the signature is going to be awesome! I had an idea I think no-one have had yet. don't ask what the idea is, I won't tell until the book arrives and I have pictures, and this will probably not happen in the next two months) GA advertises as a "Movie in your Mind", but the fact that I still need a narrator and that things like action scenes happen really slowly made me really dislike them. Additionally, the reading-out is overacted to get us to understand who the characters are (which is bad), the names are pronounced awfully, and there may have been another thing... Audible has great narrators (except Warbraker, whose narrator is OK), and the narrators responsible to Mistborn, SA and WoT (all have the same two (male and female), except for Mistborn, which is only the male, who is much better) are magnificent. It is much more modest, but gives you everything very fully. The only fault I found was that in WoA, the only time the female narrator says Sadeas's name (the scene with Navani's burning glyph), she pronounces it in a way that is unfamiliar, and it is really confusing for a couple of seconds the first time. Just like when I was young and my parents read me bedtime stories, I liked it very much that my father changed his voice to tell different characters. I think I would not have liked it if it was filled with sound effects and bad actors with strange voices. I think Dalinar went to the Nightwatcher after sshhh died. Having both the untraditional "delayed curse" and Dalinar doing such a strange thing feels, to me, wrong. I would have been much easier to buy if there was only one of those seemingly-improbable things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 (edited) That's interesting - I was pretty happy with the voice acting. Yes, some things were exaggerated, but overall the Graphic Audio books have really given me a brand new way of experiencing Brandon's books. I decided to listen to them again, and during the first two hours of Elantris, I definitely felt the goosebumps on at least four occasions. And Vasher's voice in Warbreaker is half the reason I listened to that one in the first place - I would seriously consider doing some really bad and illegal things for a voice like that... His "lecture" on BioChroma was one of the most anticipated scenes there for me. @chronotrigger, you can listen to samples of both Elantris and Warbreaker on their site, see if you like it, before buying or procuring them. Edited October 17, 2013 by Argent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronotrigger Posted October 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 I actually bought the warbreaker on your website, it is definitely cool to hear the sounds and stuff, but I do miss the guy who reads the books for Audible's version. His accents were incredible. Sazed was just spot on. Either way, this book isn't bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 Oh, nice. I will have to listen to the Audible versions (in full) sometime too, for maximum Brandon experience! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysphoric Kitten Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 By the way, the Audible people of WoK and MB really know their comedic timing. MB1's spook-dialect taunting of Breeze is really well done, and so are the "Kabsal!"s. Can't recall all of the best moments, though. I definitely did have goosebumps at certain parts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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