[OB] Nergaoul, Nergaoul, why did you abandon your horse? The Thrill: Past & Present

[KOOZ]

The Unmade are of current interest to me, and giving many topics springing up here and around this aspect, thought to add a couple of thoughts on the Thrill. 

Unlike the descriptions of Re-Shephir, Sja-anat or Ashertmarn, that were predominantly black masses of various shapes, or Yelign-nar, that is consumed by the "victim" and then manifests in form of some carapace, red eyes and a black wind, the Thrill is a red mist... black is not mentioned at all. Given that red is supposed to be Investiture of one Shard being misused by another, as per a recent WoB, it makes sense then that something along similar lines is going on here - when asked about the Thrill at a recent signing, the answer was "kind of". 

Per Sja-anat: "We were made, then unmade." (p.815 UK Kindle). So, how did this process occur, what initial material was used? Whilst little can be said of the other Unmade for the time being, the predominance or red colour and the visuals from the battle of Thaylen City are quite instructive: 

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Red mist. Ephemeral, like a shadow you see on a dark day and mistake for something real. Charging red horses, angry and galloping. The forms of men, killing and dying, shedding blood and reveling in it. (OB, p.1089, Kindle ed.)

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It drew in closer to him, the faces of red mist grinning with excitement and glee. Charging horses screamed and died. Men laughed as they were cut down. (OB, p.1163, UK Kindle ed)

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The accounts of the Alethi “Thrill” of battle align too well with ancient records – including the visions of red mist and dying creatures. (OB, p.932, UK Kindle ed)

Then there is Shallan's art, where it is likely that what she drew, as well as described in text, sounds very much like her interpretation of Nergaoul. 

 

Dalinar summarizes the Thrill, as a spren, thusly: 

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The Thrill didn’t hate. Though some spren could make decisions, others were like animals- primal, driven by the single overpowering directive. Live. Burn. Laugh. Or in this case, fight.

(OB, p.1154-55, UK Kindle ed.)

 

This is probably obvious (this ties very nicely with this thread on the Ryshadium and their origins), but it got me thinking how Nergaoul was made - as mentioned at the very least here, Unmade might be fused essences of multiple entities - could it be that they started out as a herd of Ryshadium, say, captured as they were going to the Beyond (say, slain in battle?), or their bond with the spren somehow exploited, then they were "fused" together (for lack of a better term), then corrupted?  

The Ryshadium have been seen in Dalinar's flashbacks running around battles; elsewhere we see them in the first two books as quite willing participants in battles - they are not afraid of fights. The Ryshadium are quite intelligent for animals and have a symbiotic relationship [with spren] as well as being slightly Invested, and the Ryshadium will go to the Beyond. They are accompanied by music-spren when they run (something likely to be of Honor or Cultivation, than Odium), and are very specific in choosing their riders (judging by the fact the very nice and honourable Adolin got chosen by a Ryshadium, and that Dalinar only got picked after his "pruning" by Cultivation, and then becoming very focused on being honourable and such), hence I posit that they're likely associated with Honor, as well as battle. 

This then gives Odium or Sja-anat (we do not know in which order the Unmade were created) something to corrupt - a symbiotic relationship with a non-Odium spren, capturing the Cognitive Shadow along the way, and turning the mist red,.

The animal origin, even if said animal is smart,  makes Nergaoul semi-intelligent. Consider the Thrill's reactions to Dalinar in the last part of OB - to me, at least, it sounds like a reaction of a dog, or a horse, to it's owner:

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The Thrill was happy to see Dalinar.  (OB, p.1154, Uk Kindle ed)
The Thrill thrummed with a pleased sound. It drew in closer to [Dalinar], ... (OB, p.1163, UK Kindle ed) 

 The Ryshadium's association with battle likely could explain why their memories are of men fighting and being part of the battle (especially if  the process involved capture of their... spren and Cognitive Shadows...  when they were dying mid battle). Alternatively, the men and violence is something that Nergaoul learned by observation over the millennia.

The bit about the music spren is also interesting (though this may be something else) - if the Ryshadium  hear the Rhythms, almost certainly, Nergaoul seems to be generating them or something similar, this might be the leftover or direct result of that past:

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He could hear the Thrill. A thrumming, insistent, warming pulse. Almost like the beating of a drum. “Hello, old friend,” Dalinar whispered. (OB, p.1147, UK Kindle ed.)

What do y'all think? Anything noteworthy to add to the above, or is it all pretty much as you thought all along?

 

[Fifth of Daybreak]

I hadn't considered the animal angle and I have to say I like it a lot. I have to wonder, if your theory on the Rhyshadium being connected to the origin of the Thrill is connected, if it has anything to do with the Legendary Shin invasion. Either way, I'm pretty enamored with this animal connection you've presented.

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What about a charge of horses bearing men with spears, like the legends spoke of during the Shin invasion?

75 Only Red

But as I mentioned in the other thread, I definitely agree about the significance of it's coloring. It seems as though the Thrill is a corrupted piece of another Shard's magic while the other Unmade are not.

Edited December 8, 2017 by Ookla the Obtuse

[KOOZ]

22 hours ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

 Either way, I'm pretty enamored with this animal connection you've presented.

Cheers!
 

22 hours ago, Ookla the Obtuse said:

But as I mentioned in the other thread, I definitely agree about the significance of it's coloring. It seems as though the Thrill is a corrupted piece of another Shard's magic while the other Unmade are not.

I'm glad that the logic makes sense and you've come to similar conclusions!

 

Adding onto the thoughts above, considering Shallan's art and her interactions with the other Unmade (namely, Re-Shephir), it would seem to be, given her nature as a Lightweaver, that she's much better placed to see the essence of the Unmade, as it were. Where others saw the Midnight Mother as someone generating entities like the Midnight Essence to fight and kill, she looked at Re-Shephir's centre, saw the killer, and saw the change - the desire to understand that which it kills (like Dalinar with the Thrill); yet in her art, when she draws Urithiru, what we see is an amorphous mess - pretty much the quintessence of Re-Shpehir, the malleable identity ready to take forms at Re-Shephir's command. Interestingly, the drawing I was referring to earlier seems to be that of Nergaoul - it is violent, it is unpleasant, it is inherently wrong (like the ones with Re-Shephir), yet I do not see any humans there - only horses, horses in pain. Thus I posit that Nergaoul's essence that Shallan reflects are the Ryshadium in pain/torment/overcome by oduim.