Theory: Nightwatcher boons and curses are the same thing

[shawnhargreaves]

Everyone on Roshar thinks that the Nightwatcher gives both a boon and a curse.  But we all know that with Brandon, what everyone in-world thinks is highly likely to be wrong, especially during the early stages of an epic when we only have glimpses as to what is really going on.

 

What do we know for sure?

• Dalinar went to the Nightwatcher, but we don't know what his curse or boon were.  Much speculation that one of them could be losing the memory of his wife, but it's not clear which that was.
   
• Lift gained abilities from the Nightwatcher.   Massively lacking details.
   
• And then there is Taravangian...

 

Taravangian's interlude in WOR offers by far the most solid information we have seen so far.  And it turns out that what he thinks of as his boon (days of extreme intelligence) and curse (days of extreme stupidity) are actually just variations along a single axis.  I've already seen speculation that Taravangian could be confused as to which of these is the curse and which is the boon.

 

What if the pattern holds for all Nightwatcher magic?  My theory is she actually changes only one thing, alterating the spiritual web of the petitioner to make some attribute extremely variable over time  (increasing its standard deviation, or you could think of it as giving some strand of the spiritual web a tug so it vibrates more extremely than usual).

 

In Taravangian's case this manifests as radically different levels of intelligence from day to day.   Not yet clear how this applies in other cases, so my theory is admittedly based on insufficient data.  Mostly posting it to gain "told you so" rights if future books reveal a similar pattern of variance of a single attribute over time for Dalinar, Lift, etc.

 

Side note - where else have we seen a magic where a single attribute can be increased at one moment or decreased at another?  Yup, this smells a lot like Feruchemy...   If I'm right, Nightwatcher boons are closely related (and thus a balance neutral form of magic), difference being the variation is random rather than controlled by the magic user.

[Adolin_Dustbringer]

What about the person referenced in Baxil's interlude who apparently got fine cloth (or something like that) in exchange for having his sight flipped? The two are completely unrelated, and also I don't think the Nightwatcher could create cloth just by altering someone's spiritual web.

[Observer]

Yeah, it sounds like we're looking for an easy way out here. Brandon likes to keep Boons and Curses vague so we have a whole series to learn about them later. We know that Baxil's partner's relative (sounds like the leadup to a bad joke) got a bundle of cloth as a Boon, and saw the world upside down from then on. There's no immediately obvious single change that could cause that to happen. I think they're different, albeit poorly understood and hidden from the readers for now.

[shawnhargreaves]

Good point, I'd forgotten about the Baxil interlude.   Solid evidence against my theory.

 

Something about that story in particular feels off to me though.   "Here, have a big pile of physical stuff which you can sell for money" just isn't how Brandon magic usually works - that story as told comes across with more of a fairy tale vibe, so I bet we'll later find out it was misunderstood or there was something more going on.

[WeiryWriter]

Good point, I'd forgotten about the Baxil interlude.   Solid evidence against my theory.

 

Something about that story in particular feels off to me though.   "Here, have a big pile of physical stuff which you can sell for money" just isn't how Brandon magic usually works - that story as told comes across with more of a fairy tale vibe, so I bet we'll later find out it was misunderstood or there was something more going on.

 

I really don't think Av misunderstood anything about the story, since it was about his father and he himself lived through it.  Av is very likely the best informed character we have met about the nature of hte Nightwatchers boons and curses, since he has at least four instances (father, mother, and all his brothers).  Granted Av's father could have lied about it but why would he?  He had no reason to.  And the bundle of cloth as the boon just fits, it saved his family.  It had to come from somewhere, and the Nightwatcher is the most plausible explanation.

[Eejit]

"Here, have a big pile of physical stuff which you can sell for money" just isn't how Brandon magic usually works - that story as told comes across with more of a fairy tale vibe, so I bet we'll later find out it was misunderstood or there was something more going on.

 

The whole Nightmother boon and curse 'thing' is massively fairytale, no just that one story.

[aeromancer]

Excellent theory! I was actually wondering about this. So Dalinar's boon involves his wife. Quite interesting. I can picture the conversation:

 

DALINAR: Yeah, well I'm married and this whole "Navani is now a widow thing" is really getting to me. Is there a way you can ensure I'm happily married?

 

NIGHTWATCHER: (evil cackle) Oh, ensure a happy marriage? Absolutely.

 

(Old Magic flash. The Weird Sisters appear, prance around a cauldron and leave.A brief glimpse of Hoid may be seen in the smoke,shaking his head.))

 

DALINAR: Huh? Where am I?

 

NIGHTWATCHER: You're request has been fulfilled.

 

(Yes, I know his wife is still alive based on this dialogue, but consider! Perhaps his wife isn't dead, she also had her mind wiped!)

(That would be evil. Really, really evil.)

Edited April 10, 2014 by aeromancer

[dionysus]

I personally think that the intelligence and the empathy are Taravingians boon. His curse is they don't occur concurrently, and thus he misinterprets that he needs both to save Roshar.

[Observer]

The instant we bring Vargo into this, we need to move over to the other thread ("Capacity to Save the World") lest we rehash a lot. The issue of this thread has been solved, namely that Curses and Boons are indeed distinct. There's no need to drag arguments already passed by in other thread over into this one.

[Wrath]

I like the idea that the boon and curse vary depending on the selfishness of the request. It actually makes sense when you consider that the Nightwatcher is a spren and some spren care a lot about a person's intent.

 

If we assume for a second that this is true, then it raises questions about how selfless Taravangian's request was. After all he wished for the capacity to save the world, not that the world be saved, which could mean that him being the one to save the world was more important than the world actually being saved.

 

Perhaps Lift's request was completely selfless, which is why the Nightwatcher showed her such favour. That would make sense too, given how she goes back to use Regrowth on Gawx even though she's running for her life.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Wrath

[Samurai]

I think the Nightwatcher gives just one thing normally, but that thing is both boon and curse. Ex: Dalinar driven nearly insane by the death of his wife ask for his grief to be healed. So the the Nightwatcher heals it by removing all his memory of her and thus his grief. Tarvangain asked for the capacity to save the world and so his mind focus more completely on one aspect of human conciseness. He never dumber or smarter just more or less analytic. Normal Human mind is say: 25% , 30% empathy and relationships, 15% standard operation (eating, clothing, speaking, etc.), 20% observing and handling the immediate environment and situation, 10% fight/flight decision. But Tarvangain it's more random so what he thinks are his best days are just days when he is 90% long term problem analysis and solving and 10% for everything else. single changes that lead both boon and curse. All based on the old saying "When God wish to punish us the most, he answers are prays."