TheOneKEA Posted August 23, 2017 Report Share Posted August 23, 2017 In the Oathbringer prologue, Gavilar refers to the Listeners as once being "vibrant". We also know that the southwest corner of the map of Rosharan Shadesmar is supposed to be labeled the Expanse of Vibrance. Knowing Brandon, I think this is exceedingly significant, but on the face of it, the connection seems very tenuous based on the belief that this Expanse leads to the Nalthian Cognitive Realm. Is this just a genuine reuse of a verb that has meaning elsewhere or is Brandon foreshadowing the reveal of where and how the Listeners made it to Roshar? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 I can't find anything explicitly stating it, but the physiology of the Listeners, the way they readily incorporate spren into their bodies and physically change form implies that they are native to Roshar. I don't think they ever "arrived." I don't think you're incorrect that there's something significant about the word "vibrant," I just don't think that assumption is correct, and don't have anything valid to offer in its place... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheOneKEA Posted August 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 I believe there are also WoBs and WoPs which state that the Rosharan system has a certain degree of artifice to it, and that Roshar has been altered in some unspecified way by the Shards. Based on that data point I think there is room to wonder if the Listeners are truly native to Roshar or if they, or the planet, came from elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ciridae Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 Gavilar mentions vibrant listeners in the same breath as radiant humans. Maybe Vibrant is part of the title of the KR equivalent of parshendi. The voidbinding chart implies there are orders, there probably is another name for that group other than voidbringers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matfire1999 Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 6 minutes ago, Ciridae said: Gavilar mentions vibrant listeners in the same breath as radiant humans. Maybe Vibrant is part of the title of the KR equivalent of parshendi. The voidbinding chart implies there are orders, there probably is another name for that group other than voidbringers. Just like the Parshendi(in alethi tongue) are actually called Listeners. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Extesian Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 (edited) I think it's just the name given to voidbinders but I LOVE the connection you made. Immediate upvote. I firmly believe the Listeners are native. Yes Roshar was created deliberately, but by Adonalsium, not by the Shards (even if the did alter or hijack aspects). But I do think the Listeners were created there. So like Calderis I have nothing to suggest but the link is a great one. Edited August 24, 2017 by Extesian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix2563 Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 I do think it interesting to not that Brandon capitalizes the word "Radiant" but not the word "vibrant". Normally he capitalizes words that have Cosmere or Investiture significance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jofwu Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 Okay, if nobody else is going to point it out then I will... "Vibrant" is an adjective, not a verb. Anyways, I also think Gavilar is just saying nice things. I doubt there's a deeper meaning or significance to the word "vibrant". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brgst13 Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 It is of course a significant word! The Parshendi were first created by the shard Vibration, which was shattered by Odium and its planet broken to pieces. Many years later, one of these pieces fell to Earth, where it was mined for metal. Included in this asteroid was a large amount of Vibration's god-metal, Vibranium, renowed for its unusual strength and used by Tony Stark to create Captain America's shield. This word tells us that the Cosmere will end when The incredible Hulk punches Odium in the face so hard he shatters, and the sixteen shards are combined with the Infinity Gems to make Super-Adonalsium! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dionysus Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 4 hours ago, phoenix2563 said: I do think it interesting to not that Brandon capitalizes the word "Radiant" but not the word "vibrant". Normally he capitalizes words that have Cosmere or Investiture significance. This is my take as well. It is just a normal adjective to indicate that the Parshendi were once much more when they had the old gods. Also, it is fitting as a poetic turn of phrase because it is similar to radiant in that it keeps to the light metaphor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Posted August 24, 2017 Report Share Posted August 24, 2017 Vibrant I would associate with Cultivation. And I wouldn't be surprised if the adjective were capitalized in the final version (guessing there are still some proofreads to be done). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nervousnerd Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 The Listeners fit much more readily into the natural ecosystem of Roshar and I think we can assume that Aimians are similar Spoiler because some of them seem to be composed of parts of said ecosystem. Their whole betrayal by the spren also seems to hint that humans came later. It is possible that they were altered by the appearance of Shards but I do think they were created by Adonalsium. Vibrant is interesting because it can also mean vibrating and there is sort of a connection to rhythm there. The problem is that while Gavilar knows more than us, he does not seem to know everything about the Listeners (such as them rebelling against their gods). I'm not sure how much he respects them because if his plan works then he wants to kill them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathrangking Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 @Calderis I think this is somewhat linked to the ironic nature of the terminology used by both men and Parshendi. Language is a powerful and the use of vibrant and radiant is a prime example. These two innocuous words are rather similar in meaning and yet no precisely so. I believe that the use was rather intentional by both Gavilar and Brandon. Imagine how the knights must have viewed themselves. Radiant almost seems (Pardon the pun) too dull a description to accurately capture their true glory. Then of course there are the listeners who we have learned submitted themselves to dullform to escape their gods whatever they were. To call them vibrant I suspect is only not accurate because we cannot truly gauge how they were before. I think that the point that is being made is that of complementary natures of man vis a vie the knights radiant and the Parshendi vis a vie possibly the voidbringers (or what they were before). Gavilar is linking them together inextricably, but not so much so that they become indistinguishable. He seems to be arguing that together they are whole, but apart they are nothing. Brandon takes the irony of how they look at each other and forces us to ask whether or not the way that they view themselves and the other is accurate to the exclusion of that other. Are the knights Radiant if they lack the sensitivity to the other and what of the Vibrant listeners who think of men as monstrous things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arondell Posted August 25, 2017 Report Share Posted August 25, 2017 On 8/23/2017 at 8:17 PM, TheOneKEA said: I believe there are also WoBs and WoPs which state that the Rosharan system has a certain degree of artifice to it, and that Roshar has been altered in some unspecified way by the Shards. The excerpt of the letter at the beginning of chapter sixty six in WoR specifically states "The worlds you now tread bear the touch and design of Adonalsium." Also while my ability to find it is lacking I seem to dimly recall there was a word of Brandon saying that the ability of spren to manifest on Roshare was Adonalsiums doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostlander Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 Ok, so I found these odd quotes in tWoK and WoR: Quote “You used to be vibrant,” Syl said. “So many looked up to you, Kaladin. Your squad of soldiers. The enemies you fought. The other slaves. Even some lighteyes.” Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) (p. 148). Macmillan. Kindle Edition. 1 Quote “It is inevitable,” Pattern said. “You will eventually betray your oaths, breaking my mind, leaving me dead— but the opportunity is worth the cost. My kind is too static. We always change, yes, but we change in the same way. Over and over. It is difficult to explain. You, though, you are vibrant. Coming to this place, this world of yours, I had to give up many things. The transition was . . . traumatic. My memory returns slowly, but I am pleased at the chance. Yes. Mmm.” Sanderson, Brandon. Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 888). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition. 1 In Pattern's quote, the word vibrant is in italics in the text. Sanderson uses vibrant in other places to describe bright colors in SA, but there are two quotes where Spren appear to specifically describe vibrancy as the thing that drew them to either humans or their human. Oathbringer Prologue: Spoiler “I seek for an end to something that we never finished. My people were Radiant once, and your people—the parshmen—were vibrant. Who is served by this drab world where my people fight each other in endless squabbles, without light to guide them, and your people are as good as corpses?” But Gavilar seems to associate humans at their "best" with (perhaps) the radiance of stormlight and seems to be trying to persuade Eshonai that "advanced" Listener forms represent a higher form of existence. Is "vibrant" just another sorta-sometimes-synonym for "radiant" in a book that uses that word a lot already? I honestly don't know the answer to any of this. (I think it would be going a bit too far to find a connection between the use of the word "drab" and Nalthis, though! ) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 43 minutes ago, Frostlander said: Is "vibrant" just another sorta-sometimes-synonym for "radiant" in a book that uses that word a lot already? I honestly don't know the answer to any of this. (I think it would be going a bit too far to find a connection between the use of the word "drab" and Nalthis, though! ) Well, in all three of those instances, "vibrant" is seemingly used as a means to attract a spren that is capable of a bond that is more than normal for their race. Not sure if we're on to something, or just reading to much into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbsentKeeper Posted August 26, 2017 Report Share Posted August 26, 2017 (edited) 13 hours ago, Calderis said: Well, in all three of those instances, "vibrant" is seemingly used as a means to attract a spren that is capable of a bond that is more than normal for their race. Not sure if we're on to something, or just reading to much into it. I think it's worth noting that 'vibrant' doesn't always refer to color or vibrations, it can also be used to mean 'exciting' or 'full of energy and life' If we look at those definitions, it makes a lot of sense that 'vibrancy' would attract spren, whether it be to humans or to Parshendi. Edited August 26, 2017 by Cowmanthethird 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sovereign Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 On 8/23/2017 at 7:47 PM, TheOneKEA said: or is Brandon foreshadowing the reveal of where and how the Listeners made it to Roshar? The are very likely native to Roshar. Quote INTERVIEW: Nov 22nd, 2016 BYU Bookstore (Paraphrased) QUESTION My brother asked a question about my cousin's theory on parshendi(I don't remember exactly what the question was) BRANDON SANDERSON Brandon said that the parshendi were created to be part of the Rosharian ecosystem. TAGS parshendi, roshar, Through other WoB we also know that they are not of Honor and not originally of Cultivation or Odium. I would guess they were created by Adonalsium when he created Roshar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidWayne Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 I totally got Ninja'ed on this post. I offer my reading notes as proof of Hoid's theory on novelty at the end of WoR... (the "vibrant" note is in on the lower left side of the page) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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