Szeth Theory, with Spoilers part 2.

[Mikanium]

Please reference my original post here:

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6673-szeth-theory-with-wor-spoilers/

 

I state I do not believe it's Nalan that gives Seth Nightblood.  In my re-read, I caught something in Dalinar's vision in the beginning of the book.   The Almighty said

 

"Vex Odium, convince him that he can lose, and appoint a champion.   He will take that chance instead of risking defeat again, as he has suffered so often.  That is the best advise I can give you".".

 

He also gives calls Nightblood a ShardBlade, when he obviously knows it's not,to deceive Szeth.

 

I think that scene where "Nalan" gives Nightblood to Szeth is Odium choosing his champion.    

 

Thoughts?

 

[Bloodfalcon]

Brandon said in an interview that Nightblood is a Shardblade. I believe the follow up question was whether or not bringing him to Roshar would then produce a spren, and I think it got the equivalent of a RAFO. There is about as much new interview information floating around as we got from all of WoR! 

 

PS  Mikanium, what is your user image supposed to be? It looks kind of like a stylized Mistborn symbol, but I'm curious.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Bloodfalcon

[Crawly]

that would be my take on the basic story structure so far that we will revisit the Szeth/Kalidin fight. Truthfully that seems to be more of a set-up for a three book story. With only 1/5 of the story told it seems to me that we are still missing one or more major elements to the plot.

Mr. Sanderson's writing style deosn't lend itself to a lot of filler wich would be need to stretch the current story out to ten books.

[Tempus]

He said it was LIKE a shardblade. Other questions in other places clarified that Shardblades and Nightblood are similarly invested. If you think about it, we know Nightblood took about the same amount of breaths as the fifth heightening. We know the Returned are splinters of Endowment, and their single breath is equivalent to the fifth heightening. We know spren are splinters. We can thus conclude that Nightblood was invested with approximately the same amount of breath as a splinter, and thus is similar to a shardblade in investiture.

 

It would be QUITE the plot twist, though if you were correct. If you are correct, the implications are that Darkness is Odium or an Odium agent, that the Knights Radiant, Honour, and/or Cultivation cause the Desolations, and that the Desolations are harmful to ODIUM more than anyone else, and their depopulating effects are just a side-effect. Creepy!

[Mikanium]

Your looking in the wrong place for it if your looking in Alomancy.. Try Feruchemy on the Spiritual side.  

It's the Feruchemical symbol for Chromium

 

PS  Mikanium, what is your user image supposed to be? It looks kind of like a stylized Mistborn symbol, but I'm curious.

 

[Bloodfalcon]

He said it was LIKE a shardblade. Other questions in other places clarified that Shardblades and Nightblood are similarly invested.

 

Darkness wasn't going to be like "Hey buddy, I know that your entire planet refers to magic swords as 'Shardblades', but this is only like a Shardblade. In fact, it is an otherworldly sword that has a different planet's investiture - we'll get to that in a minute - so it is not the Shardbalde that you know and love."

The point stands. He gave Szeth an invested blade, and I don't think the point was to deceive him. He just used the local terminology which isn't far off. Brandon's quote isn't talking about this specifically, he is just saying that the concept is the same. 

[Mikanium]

And it would be just like Brandon to plot something like that out.  He is the foreshadowing master.  I mean, who really thought that Renarin had epilepsy. 

 

 

 

It would be QUITE the plot twist, though if you were correct. If you are correct, the implications are that Darkness is Odium or an Odium agent, that the Knights Radiant, Honour, and/or Cultivation cause the Desolations, and that the Desolations are harmful to ODIUM more than anyone else, and their depopulating effects are just a side-effect. Creepy!

[deadlyDomino]

Renarin DID have a "blood weakness" (probably epilepsy) since childhood. It's why he didn't start training at age 6 like Adolin did, and why Dalinar wanted him to pursue scholarship in the Ardentia.

Edited March 26, 2014 by deadlyDomino

[Mikanium]

Darkness wasn't going to be like "Hey buddy, I know that your entire planet refers to magic swords as 'Shardblades', but this is only like a Shardblade. In fact, it is an otherworldly sword that has a different planet's investiture - we'll get to that in a minute - so it is not the Shardbalde that you know and love."

The point stands. He gave Szeth an invested blade, and I don't think the point was to deceive him. He just used the local terminology which isn't far off. Brandon's quote isn't talking about this specifically, he is just saying that the concept is the same. 

 

That's not the point I was making.  The point i was making is he gave Szeth a sword that is going to impose it's will on him. Look at it this way.  Nightblood is commanded to 'Destroy Evil'   Whoever wields it is forced to the sword's purpose and it's judgement on evil.   Syl, on the other hand, does not force her will on Kaladin.  He almost kills her by not following his oath, and the ideals of his order.   That's where the deception lies.   Szeth cannot know what he his getting into by believing the sword is like a shardblade, or any other blade he knows about.   

[Mikanium]

Renarin DID have a "blood weakness" (probably epilepsy) since childhood. It's why he didn't start training at age 6 like Adolin did, and why Dalinar wanted him to pursue scholarship in the Ardentia.

 

We'll find that out in Renarin's book.  But my bet his condition has something to do with Gyl, his Spren, not some blood weakness.  Kaladin also remarks at the end of the book that his problem doesn't seem to fit epilepsy.  

Edited March 26, 2014 by Mikanium

[deadlyDomino]

Nightblood demonstratably doesn't force anyone to its purpose unless they're weak-willed; Szeth, having committed atrocities that he finds detestable simply to keep his oath of servitude, is not weak-willed. Nin knew this, and it was why he chose Szeth to be a Skybreaker- because he knows he can handle Nightblood.

[deadlyDomino]

We'll find that out in Renarin's book. But my bet his condition has something to do with Gyl, his Spren, not some blood weakness. Kaladin also remarks at the end of the book that his problem doesn't seem to fit epilepsy.

To the best of my knowledge, Renarin had the blood weakness before age 6- hence the no training thing. It just seems a little unlikely that he bonded glys that young, although the bond probably did cure his thing once he got it.

[Bloodfalcon]

That's not the point I was making.  The point i was making is he gave Szeth a sword that is going to impose it's will on him. Look at it this way.  Nightblood is commanded to 'Destroy Evil'   Whoever wields it is forced to the sword's purpose and it's judgement on evil.   Syl, on the other hand, does not force her will on Kaladin.  He almost kills her by not following his oath, and the ideals of his order.   That's where the deception lies.   Szeth cannot know what he his getting into by believing the sword is like a shardblade, or any other blade he knows about.   

 

Right, the point isn't whether or not it is a Shardblade or like a Shardblade. It is a invested blade, so that's what he said, but that wasn't the point of deceit. It's the effects of the blade (whatever anyone wants to call it) that is focus here. However I thought you were talking about how Nightblood doesn't really know what Justice is. IIRC it was a noted point in Warbreaker that Nightblood's idea of evil is shifty and vague. That's where the deceit would be... 

 

Nightblood demonstratably doesn't force anyone to its purpose unless they're weak-willed; Szeth, having committed atrocities that he finds detestable simply to keep his oath of servitude, is not weak-willed. Nin knew this, and it was why he chose Szeth to be a Skybreaker- because he knows he can handle Nightblood.

 

.... but I agree with deadlyDomino that Nightblood's forced will isn't all that effective. Where I disagree is that I think Szeth is extremely weak willed. Kaladin ended up saying in WoR something that I have felt for a while now - Szeth is hiding behind excuses to justify his carrying out orders related to his Truthless nature. He's a coward and a follower. I could see him being turned by Nightblood. Having a corrupt sense of justice feels like the next step for him. 

[Mikanium]

To the best of my knowledge, Renarin had the blood weakness before age 6- hence the no training thing. It just seems a little unlikely that he bonded glys that young, although the bond probably did cure his thing once he got it.

 

Is it that big of a stretch?  Shallan was what, 10 when she killed her Mother by summoning pattern as a sword..  

[Moogle]

.... but I agree with deadlyDomino that Nightblood's forced will isn't all that effective. Where I disagree is that I think Szeth is extremely weak willed. Kaladin ended up saying in WoR something that I have felt for a while now - Szeth is hiding behind excuses to justify his carrying out orders related to his Truthless nature. He's a coward and a follower. I could see him being turned by Nightblood. Having a corrupt sense of justice feels like the next step for him. 

 

I think it's reasonable to say that Szeth was something of a coward, but I don't think it's an either-or thing. Szeth can be a coward and strong-willed. Both his innate desire to obey the laws of his people and his fear of what happens when he disobeys could have contributed to why he followed his master's orders so well.

 

Nightblood looks to his wielder to determine who is evil. I expect Szeth to be a good judge of character in this regard, so I think Szeth is one of the best people on Roshar to wield the sword. Szeth's horror at the deaths he's caused show that he's "corrupted" by sentiment, the sort of thing Nalan does not want Szeth to have. I expect Szeth to step out from under Nalan and take his own path before too long. There may be some chaos caused by Szeth in Shinovar, but for some reason I don't think it will be all that terrible.

 

It's very hard to have a villainous main character PoV for an entire book and get people to like the book, so I expect Szeth's chapters to not be filled with constant gore and murder as he gets revenge. The Skybreakers were part of the Knights Radiant, and so would (somewhat) have used (a liberal version of) the First Ideal, which would result in a more tempered version of Nalan, I think.

 

I think Szeth will be a lot less insane than people are expecting in Book 3. He really does seem not-insane to me when he's reborn.

[Mikanium]

 

.... but I agree with deadlyDomino that Nightblood's forced will isn't all that effective. Where I disagree is that I think Szeth is extremely weak willed. Kaladin ended up saying in WoR something that I have felt for a while now - Szeth is hiding behind excuses to justify his carrying out orders related to his Truthless nature. He's a coward and a follower. I could see him being turned by Nightblood. Having a corrupt sense of justice feels like the next step for him. 

 

From the Wiki:

 

A "good" person, someone who wouldn't want to use Nightblood for evil purposes, feels sick in Nightblood's vicinity. This sensation of nausea is suppressed if the user has drawn Nightblood and had his or her breath drained. It is of note that Szeth makes no mention of any sensation of nausea or lust for the sword upon encountering Nightblood.

 

So the question is why does Szeth not feel sick.  I think if he's a coward and a follower he would act just like the people that would grab Nightblood when Vashar would throw him into the middle of a group of 'bad' people and the sword would compel the person who grabbed it to kill everyone then the wielder..    

 

I dunno.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Mikanium

[Fifth of Daybreak]

From the Wiki:

 

A "good" person, someone who wouldn't want to use Nightblood for evil purposes, feels sick in Nightblood's vicinity. This sensation of nausea is suppressed if the user has drawn Nightblood and had his or her breath drained. It is of note that Szeth makes no mention of any sensation of nausea or lust for the sword upon encountering Nightblood.

 

So the question is why does Szeth not feel sick.  I think if he's a coward and a follower he would act just like the people that would grab Nightblood when Vashar would throw him into the middle of a group of 'bad' people and the sword would compel the person who grabbed it to kill everyone then the wielder..    

 

I dunno.

 

What a great observation! I've got a theory that might play into this as well. I just posted it on another thread, so I copied and pasted the majority of it. I think that Szeth doesn't feel nauseous because he no longer has a spiritual aspect to him, that it was removed by the shardblade and did that's why Nin revived him when he did. Here's my reasoning below from the other thread:

 

 

"I waited until you crashed to the ground," the man said, "until you were broken and mangled, your soul cut through, dead for certain. Then I restored you."  "Impossible."  "Not if it is done before the brain dies.  ... If I had waited seconds longer, it would have been too late." 

 

 

 

 

"I worry that emotion has clouded your ability to discern. Your ability to...judge."

 

Emotion. That seems to be something that Nin does not have. In Lift's chapter it mentions over and over again that he never speaks with emotion. In fact, Lift doesn't seem to accept him as a real person. (I don't have the exact quote, sorry.) Here is my theory for that. Nin doesn't have a soul. He used the same fabrial as on Szeth, after he died, his soul cut, dead for sure, but before the brain dies. Nin doesn't want the spiritual aspect of himself, or Szeth to get in the way, and so he used a weapon that doesn't target the physical or cognitive aspects, just the soul. That's why Nin doesn't ever use any emotions. That's why he never approached Szeth before this. He needed to wait until Szeth's soul was severed. 

 

After Kaladin killed Szeth's soul when he attacked, and that broke him enough to overload the other two aspects, causing apparent death, but as others have survived without physical bodies, the physical and cognitive can survive without the spiritual, with a little help. This also might make it easier for him to invest, as now there is a HUGE space that can be filled with investiture, instead of just a broken soul to be filled. Now Szeth doesn't seem to be reacting in the same way Nin has been, but that could be force of habit. In fact, nowhere in the chapter does he describe any emotions Szeth is feeling directly, just actions. There was also the problem of the honorblade he was bound to, but that was taken care of as well. 

 

 

"You did and you died. Your bond to your Blade severed, all ties-both spiritual and physical-undone. You are reborn."

 

So that is what makes Szeth such a perfect compliment to Nightblood. No emotion, a willpower as hard as steel. No traces of evil, just obedience. He did what his own personal moral code asked of him always, and isn't that what would constitute evil? Not an outside arbiter to decide, but instead your own morality and how closely you stick to that code. 

 

This also ties in to my theory that the skybreakers used to be bonded to spren, but voluntarily broke their oaths to prevent the return of the voidbringers. I had this idea mostly from Helaran. He had a blade no one could identify (newer blade) but it had a gemstone on the hilt. He had dealings with Hoid (cosmere significant,) Mraize mentioned he had sought out the skybreakers, and King T thought Shallan might have learned from him. So with his masterpiece skybreaker, Nin took it a step further, and completely severed the spiritual aspect of Szeth, instead of just having him kill a spren he was bonded to. 

[Terra of Roshar]

From the Wiki:

 

A "good" person, someone who wouldn't want to use Nightblood for evil purposes, feels sick in Nightblood's vicinity. This sensation of nausea is suppressed if the user has drawn Nightblood and had his or her breath drained. It is of note that Szeth makes no mention of any sensation of nausea or lust for the sword upon encountering Nightblood.

 

So the question is why does Szeth not feel sick.  I think if he's a coward and a follower he would act just like the people that would grab Nightblood when Vashar would throw him into the middle of a group of 'bad' people and the sword would compel the person who grabbed it to kill everyone then the wielder..    

 

I dunno.

 

Vasher doesn't seem affected by Nightblood, either. I think I saw a WOB somewhere that said you could bond Nightblood, but I couldn't find it, so I'm not sure anymore. Regardless, though, there is precedent for Nightblood not forcing someone to either vomit or kill indiscriminately.

[Bloodfalcon]

I think it's reasonable to say that Szeth was something of a coward, but I don't think it's an either-or thing. Szeth can be a coward and strong-willed. Both his innate desire to obey the laws of his people and his fear of what happens when he disobeys could have contributed to why he followed his master's orders so well.

 

Nightblood looks to his wielder to determine who is evil. I expect Szeth to be a good judge of character in this regard, so I think Szeth is one of the best people on Roshar to wield the sword. Szeth's horror at the deaths he's caused show that he's "corrupted" by sentiment, the sort of thing Nalan does not want Szeth to have. I expect Szeth to step out from under Nalan and take his own path before too long. There may be some chaos caused by Szeth in Shinovar, but for some reason I don't think it will be all that terrible.

 

It's very hard to have a villainous main character PoV for an entire book and get people to like the book, so I expect Szeth's chapters to not be filled with constant gore and murder as he gets revenge. The Skybreakers were part of the Knights Radiant, and so would (somewhat) have used (a liberal version of) the First Ideal, which would result in a more tempered version of Nalan, I think.

 

I think Szeth will be a lot less insane than people are expecting in Book 3. He really does seem not-insane to me when he's reborn.

I could see that playing into rivalry that we know comes between Windrunners and Skybreakers though. Kaladin is all about protecting and doing the right thing, but "Justice" as determined by the Skybreakers might not fit into that. Szeth would adopt this view of justice that is just as twisted as his "you are not strong enough to kill me so it is your fault I'm slaying all of the people around you" theory. 

[Moogle]

I could see that playing into rivalry that we know comes between Windrunners and Skybreakers though. Kaladin is all about protecting and doing the right thing, but "Justice" as determined by the Skybreakers might not fit into that. Szeth would adopt this view of justice that is just as twisted as his "you are not strong enough to kill me so it is your fault I'm slaying all of the people around you" theory. 

 

Possibly. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying that I really think Szeth will be more of a sympathetic protagonist than he has been previously. All his screen time in WoR and WoK really seems to me to be more of an origin story than how he's going to continue to act. I don't think he'll have too twisted of a sense of justice (though he may have a few questionable moments in his future).

 

I do agree he'll conflict with Kaladin, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I for one think Kaladin is a bit too focused on protecting. He's bonded to a spren which embodies one particular ideal - that related to leading/protecting. As he speaks more Ideals, he's going to come to embody that ideal of protecting more and more. It limits him to very specific actions. I feel it's a bit... I don't want to say 'unnatural' to focus so heavily on one character trait, but I feel something along those lines. It turns you into a caricature of a person and imbalances you. I think people need to protect and seek justice and love one another, etc., but the Radiants each only attempted to emulate one of those things.

 

I don't think there just being one Order would lead to very good results - the world needs all kinds of people to function properly. People to look at the big picture (Bondsmiths? Skybreakers?), people to look at the small picture (Edgedancers, caring for the sick and lowly), and that sort of thing. I'd even go so far as to argue what Adolin did was necessary and not something Kaladin or a Skybreaker would have been capable of doing - Sadeas was someone who had to be removed from the picture, because he was going to cause a lot of harm had Adolin not stopped him. So there's a place for the Dustbringers, too (or whatever Order Adolin ends up in).

Edited March 26, 2014 by Moogle

[xbauks]

Please reference my original post here:

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6673-szeth-theory-with-wor-spoilers/

I state I do not believe it's Nalan that gives Seth Nightblood. In my re-read, I caught something in Dalinar's vision in the beginning of the book. The Almighty said

"Vex Odium, convince him that he can lose, and appoint a champion. He will take that chance instead of risking defeat again, as he has suffered so often. That is the best advise I can give you".".

He also gives calls Nightblood a ShardBlade, when he obviously knows it's not,to deceive Szeth.

I think that scene where "Nalan" gives Nightblood to Szeth is Odium choosing his champion.

Thoughts?

So as I understand it, your theory hinges on the Dalinar vision pretty heavily. So let's first talk about whether you have interpreted that quote properly. The Almighty doesn't say that Odium will choose a champion right away. He says (paraphrased)

"build a fortress to withstand the storm. Vex Odium. Make him think that he might lose again. Then choose a champion. Odium will choose a champion rather than risk defeat again."

So it makes no sense for Darkness to be an agent of Odium who has chosen Szeth to be his champion. Conclusion: Szeth is not Odium's champion.

Is Szeth given Nightblood by an agent of Odium in the hopes that Szeth will create a lot of chaos? It's possible. But Szeth doesn't feel the lust nor the revulsion that people most commonly experience wrt Nightblood. Does that mean Szeth is neutral (neither good nor evil)? I goes we'll RAFO.

Regarding Renarin: I'm not sure where the idea of Glys being responsible for the "blood weakness" comes from. He has been known to have seizures from a very young age. Before his 6th birthday. So something was wrong since before he turned 6. Renarin doesn't start acting weird until WoR. Glys may have been around watching, but we don't start seeing any interference until Renarin starts to write the stuff on the wall. Also, his vision isn't healed until sometime early WoR. That would indicate that Renarin hadn't used Stormlight until then. Glys being involved in "blood weakness" seems very unlikely. It legitimately was a condition he had. Stormlight healed him.

[Bloodfalcon]

Possibly. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying that I really think Szeth will be more of a sympathetic protagonist than he has been previously. All his screen time in WoR and WoK really seems to me to be more of an origin story than how he's going to continue to act. I don't think he'll have too twisted of a sense of justice (though he may have a few questionable moments in his future).

 

I do agree he'll conflict with Kaladin, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I for one think Kaladin is a bit too focused on protecting. He's bonded to a spren which embodies one particular ideal - that related to leading/protecting. As he speaks more Ideals, he's going to come to embody that ideal of protecting more and more. It limits him to very specific actions. I feel it's a bit... I don't want to say 'unnatural' to focus so heavily on one character trait, but I feel something along those lines. It turns you into a caricature of a person and imbalances you. I think people need to protect and seek justice and love one another, etc., but the Radiants each only attempted to emulate one of those things.

 

I don't think there just being one Order would lead to very good results - the world needs all kinds of people to function properly. People to look at the big picture (Bondsmiths? Skybreakers?), people to look at the small picture (Edgedancers, caring for the sick and lowly), and that sort of thing. I'd even go so far as to argue what Adolin did was necessary and not something Kaladin or a Skybreaker would have been capable of doing - Sadeas was someone who had to be removed from the picture, because he was going to cause a lot of harm had Adolin not stopped him. So there's a place for the Dustbringers, too (or whatever Order Adolin ends up in).

I agree, Moogie. I'm hoping that Stones Unhollowed is the one that puts both of us in our Venn Diagram middle zone as it relates to Szeth. After we see the backstory we'll be able to sympathize drastically better and hopefully he becomes a more understandable character. We are going to see his actual origin story, then understand exactly what WoK/WoR was all about - they remind me of adolescence in almost every way - and now he is going to hopefully take a turn toward the right path. He'll remain an annoyance to Kaladin, but overall his goals will adjust to become acceptably good. If not, we get to keep our awesomely bad character, and that is OK too. The Adolin incident is another place I agree. When you have solid proof - including admission of guilt - that a dude is responsible for throwing thousands of people to their deaths, it becomes almost a responsibility to take action when you can. (NOTE: This is a personal opinion and not a valid topic for discussion in this thread) That logic is going to be the difference between the two hopefully, but it is noticeably different than Szeth's stance before. I mean, it was just blind, mindless following. Here's to hoping it turns around. I really want to like our Assassin.

[Mikanium]

But what is his REASON for conflicting with Kaladin?   His conflict is with his own people for making him truthless.   Kaladin is proof that his people were wrong, so he's going to blame everything that he has been commanded to do with the oath stone on Kaladin?    I wonder how NightBlood will react to that.  

 

Also,  NightBlood fed on breath. Vasher said that if it used all his breath he would die.    It will be interesting to see if it feeds on stormlight.   I asked Brandon what would happen if someone downed Lerasium on Roshar what would happen, and his reply was "It depends if he/she knows what they are doing".  Hoid did it on Roshar.  He knows what he's doing I'm assuming.

 

I have a crackpot theory that if a Knight Radiant knew what he was doing, and ingested Lerasium from Scandrial, that he would get all 10 surges.  Just like it would turn a normal person into an Allomancer or make an Allomancer extremely powerful.  Hoid downing a vial makes me want to upgrade this from crackpot.   

Edited March 26, 2014 by Mikanium

[Mikanium]

"build a fortress to withstand the storm. Vex Odium. Make him think that he might lose again. Then choose a champion. Odium will choose a champion rather than risk defeat again."

 

 

 

Verbatim, just as a FYI:

 

The Almighty turned to him. “I was surprised when these orders arrived. I did not teach my Heralds this. It was the spren—wishing to imitate what I had given men—who made it possible. You will need to re-found them. This is your task. Unite them. Create a fortress that can weather the storm. Vex Odium, convince him that he can lose, and appoint a champion. He will take that chance instead of risking defeat again, as he has suffered so often. This is the best advice I can give you.”

[Bloodfalcon]

But what is his REASON for conflicting with Kaladin?   His conflict is with his own people for making him truthless.   Kaladin is proof that his people were wrong, so he's going to blame everything that he has been commanded to do with the oath stone on Kaladin?    I wonder how NightBlood will react to that.  

 

Also,  NightBlood fed on breath. Vasher said that if it used all his breath he would die.    It will be interesting to see if it feeds on stormlight.   I asked Brandon what would happen if someone downed Lerasiumon Roshar what would happen, and his reply was "It depends if he/she knows what they are doing".  Hoid did it on Roshar.  He knows what he's doing I'm assuming.

 

I have a crackpot theory that if a Knight Radiant knew what he was doing, and ingested Lerasiumon from Scandrial, that he would get all 10 surges.  Just like it would turn a normal person into an Allomancer or make an Allomancer extremely powerful.  Hoid downing a vial makes me want to upgrade this from crackpot.   

Oh, I don't think Szeth is going to have some huge personal beef with Kaladin for any reason... I mean, Kaladin did kill him, but he had it coming. The conflict we were talking about is the one that is the same as the Windrunners/Skybreakers fued. It's just that the way they get things done collides. They have different views of what is the right way to enact justice.