Elhokar...his secret?

[Travis1984]

So I'm going to make some connections here and leave it open ended as a question that obviously can't be answered now, but should stir some interesting conversation.

Shallan obviously has some pretty big secrets (dead father anyone?) which I'm going to make the assumption that everyone agrees is what attracted the Cryptic to her.

What is Elhokar's secret?

DUM DUM DUMMMMMM...

[Colby Jack]

I'm going to quote myself here...

 

Elhokar's secret is that... HE CAN READ!
 

 

[QuantumHarmonix]

I'm sure the King of a nation would have plenty of secrets that they hide from the general public. My problem is that I'm not convinced that Elhokar is seeing the same spren as Shallan, or that he is seeing them for the same reason. His description is fairly similar to Shallan's but the way in which they see the spren are very different. I don't see Elhokar drawing so I can understand him not seeing them that way, but why does Shallan not see them in mirrors?

 

Personally I see the Cryptic's being attracted to any place where there are a lot of lies and half truths being used to hide the truth, that's why I think there were so many in Kharbranth. It seems to me that the war camps of the Alethi highprinces would be another location that would attract Cryptics. 

 

So my question would be why does Elhokar see spren in mirrors? Is he like Rock with a strange ability to see spren, or is that the way Cryptics appear to the inartistic? 

[Tarion]

I wouldn't be surprised if mirrors had some significance in the Cognitive Realm.  Per The Emperor's Soul, the Cognitive is "how an object is viewed and how it views itself".  A mirror is literally how you view yourself.  

[Bremen]

I'm going to quote myself here...

This would actually make sense.

 

Gavilar's family assumed Gavilar was able to read/write because of the message written in his blood.

 

It would not surprise me that a son who idolized his father and still lives in his shadow would seek to emulate that father.

[QuantumHarmonix]

I think it is possible that Elhokar could have decided to learn to read, if he was told about his fathers last message. I seem to remember them wanting to keep that quiet, and I don't remember if Jasnah included that part in her book about the incident. Regardless it seems weird to me, at this point in the series, to have more than one of each order of the Knights. That's why I lean towards him having a different type of spren. What if Elhokar's spren is making him see the Cognitive Realm in mirrors? And the reason he sees all the Cryptics is just because of all the lies in the war-camps?

[Daishi5]

There was a crazy theory about Gavilar still being alive because we see that he was not the one wearing his plate during the feast before Szeth fought the man in plate.  

 

If that crazy theory is true, then Elhokar's secret could be that he knows his father is alive.  Of course, the crazy theory is still really crazy. 

 

However, I don't think being able to read is a big enough secret.  Shallan is supposedly the cause of her families problems because she killed her father.  She is concealing this from everyone, as well as concealing a shardblade that no one seems to know is even missing.  Furthermore, she is pretending to be a timid girl stepping up to save her family from the disaster no one knows she created, all the while trying to pretend the disaster is not even happening.  In many ways, Shallan is lying about pretty much her entire self with lies within lies.

 

I think Elhokar's secret is much bigger.  I suspect it might be a lie about why they are fighting on the shattered plains for so long or something about his plans for the kingdom.  Maybe he is looking for something his father found long ago about the time the death chants started happening?  It seems Jasnah may have been thinking about assassinating his wife, maybe he and his wife are up to something big, and having all the high princes out on the shattered plains is allowing his wife to do something back home?

[Moogle]

Elhokar was speaking with Darkness and another possible Herald. I suspect his secrets relate to what Darkness is doing. Which makes me very interested in Dalinar talking about reforming the Knights Radiant directly to Elhokar.

 

Dalinar's basically taken the kingdom over from Elhokar. Elhokar doesn't seem to mind - but then, Dalinar basically almost killed him, so it wouldn't surprise me to find that Elhokar is just plain terrified of Dalinar. Elhokar being buddy buddy with Darkness and knowing Dalinar wants to return the Radiants... well, I can see Dalinar dying, and it might not be by Szeth...

Edited January 27, 2014 by Moogle

[Daishi5]

Elhokar was speaking with Darkness and another possible Herald. I suspect his secrets relate to what Darkness is doing. Which makes me very interested in Dalinar talking about reforming the Knights Radiant directly to Elhokar.

 

Dalinar's basically taken the kingdom over from Elhokar. Elhokar doesn't seem to mind - but then, Dalinar basically almost killed him, so it wouldn't surprise me to find that Elhokar is just plain terrified of Dalinar. Elhokar being buddy buddy with Darkness and knowing Dalinar wants to return the Radiants... well, I can see Dalinar dying, and it might not be by Szeth...

 

Woah, now I have several other ways I can see this all going.  

[zandi]

Elhokar was speaking with Darkness and another possible Herald. I suspect his secrets relate to what Darkness is doing. Which makes me very interested in Dalinar talking about reforming the Knights Radiant directly to Elhokar.

 

Dalinar's basically taken the kingdom over from Elhokar. Elhokar doesn't seem to mind - but then, Dalinar basically almost killed him, so it wouldn't surprise me to find that Elhokar is just plain terrified of Dalinar. Elhokar being buddy buddy with Darkness and knowing Dalinar wants to return the Radiants... well, I can see Dalinar dying, and it might not be by Szeth...

I agree - this makes me wonder though:

 

If E is attracting cryptic spren...then is it possible he would be a future possible target of Darkness himself (assuming he is on the road to forming a bond)? Perhaps he has struck some sort of bargain  with Darkness to save himself...

 

and THAT could be the secret. kind of chicken/egg though (sorry... )

Edited January 28, 2014 by zandi

[Chlehrma]

It is more than having a secret that draws Cryptics. It is true lies. Shallan calls herself a murderer in reference to her fathers death, but I suspect she killed him to save nan balaat which means she is something else...true lie. And we know her spren was with her before she even left home even if she did not.

So the lie that attracted the cryptic Elhokar's mirror was probably the incident with the belt buckle. I.e. Someone sabotaged the strap and someone is trying to kill me. It was a lie that the buckle was a murder attempt, but true that someone is trying to kill him. The problem is figuring out what true lies predate that since he felt like he was being watched prior to that event. It could not be something as small as calling himself king when Dalinar/Sadeas were acting in that capacity. Makes me wonder what could have been a severe enough deception to attract a cryptic.

[Robot Aztec]

TRUE LIES is that ilke OBIWAN say 'vader killse your father' and it being truth from CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW and like that or is it something different?

[Aleksiel]

I think true lies are much like Aes Sedai's truths.

[Oudeis]

I have a brand-new crazy theory.

 

Elhokar has an Honorblade. It is Shallash's Blade. Cryptics are associated with her Order. Holding an Honorblade grants you the power to see the spren associated with that order.

 

Wild, baseless speculation. I will be as shocked, if not more shocked, than anyone if it's proven true.

[Chlehrma]

TRUE LIES is that ilke OBIWAN say 'vader killse your father' and it being truth from CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW and like that or is it something different?

Exactly!

[Oudeis]

Szeth didn't own a set of Plate himself, and didn't care to. His Lashings interfered with the gemstones that powered Shardplate, and he had to choose one or the other.

 

Crazy theory.

 

Look at the specific wording. "His Lashings interfered with the gemstones that powered Shardplate." The gemstones themselves.

 

Who do we know who had cracked gemstones in his Shardplate?

 

Now, this is a bit odd and confusing, so follow me down the rabbit hole, and again, remember this is largely speculative. I just came up with this idea when I saw this quote on a different thread, so I haven't thought it all the way through yet.

 

I don't even know where to begin... We know Szeth says his Surgebinding will interfere with the gemstones of Shardplate. Yet we saw Knights Radiant many times, many of them confirmed Windrunners, Surgebind in Plate perfectly fine. I realize there are a number of alternate theories and mine is no more valid than any others, but consider this: What if the Surges granted by Honorblades interfere with the Plate gemstones, but Nahel Bond Surgebinding does not?

 

When Dalinar caught the Chasmfiend's claw to save Elhokar, he seemed to glow, and I always assumed it was because he was Surgebinding himself... but when he did so, he was standing right by Elhokar. What if Elhokar was somehow subconsciously activating the Surged granted him by his Honorblade to aid the man saving his life... and in doing so, accidentally (and unawaredly[that's not a word]) cracked eight of the gems in his own Shardplate?

 

Just one man's crazy opinion.

[Aleksiel]

Crazy theory.

 

Look at the specific wording. "His Lashings interfered with the gemstones that powered Shardplate." The gemstones themselves.

 

Who do we know who had cracked gemstones in his Shardplate?

 

Now, this is a bit odd and confusing, so follow me down the rabbit hole, and again, remember this is largely speculative. I just came up with this idea when I saw this quote on a different thread, so I haven't thought it all the way through yet.

 

I don't even know where to begin... We know Szeth says his Surgebinding will interfere with the gemstones of Shardplate. Yet we saw Knights Radiant many times, many of them confirmed Windrunners, Surgebind in Plate perfectly fine. I realize there are a number of alternate theories and mine is no more valid than any others, but consider this: What if the Surges granted by Honorblades interfere with the Plate gemstones, but Nahel Bond Surgebinding does not?

 

When Dalinar caught the Chasmfiend's claw to save Elhokar, he seemed to glow, and I always assumed it was because he was Surgebinding himself... but when he did so, he was standing right by Elhokar. What if Elhokar was somehow subconsciously activating the Surged granted him by his Honorblade to aid the man saving his life... and in doing so, accidentally (and unawaredly[that's not a word]) cracked eight of the gems in his own Shardplate?

 

Just one man's crazy opinion.

 

He most likely sees cryptics:

 

 

I see their faces in mirrors. Symbols, twisted, inhuman

So yeah, it's possible that he have surgebinded or soulcasted though I don't recall anything special happening on Elhokar's side with the chasmfiend. 

[Oudeis]

He most likely sees cryptics:

 

I concur, but I don't think it automatically means he's got a Nahel Bond... what if bearing an Honorblade grants you the ability to see the spren associated with that particular Herald?

[Aleksiel]

I concur, but I don't think it automatically means he's got a Nahel Bond... what if bearing an Honorblade grants you the ability to see the spren associated with that particular Herald?

 

It's possible, after all we barely know anything about the Honorblades. I've seen theories that Elhokar has either Jesere's or Shallash's blade, but that would make him Windrunner (which I find improbable) or Lightweaver, which suits the 'seeing cryptics' part better. But he didn't anything that Dalinar noticed, no illusion appeared or at least nothing made me suspicious of one. Perhaps I missed something in the scene. It's possible he broke his gems before the fight.  Or may be his powers aren't from the blade, after all it could be an average shardblade, which would mean Elhokar may be able of surges we haven't seen yet . 

[Oudeis]

Kay I've had a new brainstorm.

 

This is enormously speculative, so I anticipate that someone's gonna respond with a WoB that proves I have no idea what I'm talking about. ^^;;;

 

First, it's based on the idea that fabrials use the Surges. Most specifically, Soulcasters clearly access Transformation. I suspect that as we learn more about fabrials and the Surges themselves, we'll discover more connections between the two. I realize that, as yet, we know of very few.

 

If so, we know that Grandbows are "enhancement" fabrials; they increase the innate strength of the steel of the Grandbow. Does this imply that one of the Surges can do that? Increase native attributes of things? Enhance strength?

 

In my theory, Elhokar accessed a Surge via his Honorblade that cracked his gemstones. Could he have accessed the one that would have enhanced Dalinar's own strength, or the powers of his Shardplate?

[Shardlet]

If so, we know that Grandbows are "enhancement" fabrials; they increase the innate strength of the steel of the Grandbow. Does this imply that one of the Surges can do that? Increase native attributes of things? Enhance strength?

 

We can only assume this if we likewise assume that Surgebinding can be used to produce heat, directly inflict pain (rather than simply causing pain by injury), and dull pain (other than healing).

[WitSpren]

_{My view on the this event and the chipped spheres afterward was that either Delinar or Elhokar were sharply draining the spheres through unconcious Surgebinding.     Most likely it was Delinar because he is the one under the most stress and catching & holding a Chasmfiend}