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Susebron meets Vasher questions


Matthew Bultitude

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I just finished reading Warbreaker for the first time and was puzzled by how the meeting between Susebron and Vasher played out. A few questions:

  1. Why was this meeting necessary at all? Why couldn't Vasher just send his phantoms to destroy the lifeless army on his own? Vasher's great fear was giving Hallandren/Susebron control of this invincible army, so why go through him at all?
  2. Why does Vasher tell Susebron he was responsible for having his tongue cut out? It seems that Vasher told the priests to "protect" the breaths, but the priests independently decided how to do so. Susebron does not seem to mind that he spent 50 years without a tongue. How much of this does Susebron understand at this point?
  3. When Vasher tells Susebron that he left "a wealth of power" here "some time ago" that he asked the priests to protect and promised to someday "recover". I assume that the wealth of power he is referring to are the thousands and thousands of breaths that Vasher/Peacegiver entrusted to the priests and that Susebron currently holds. Does this imply that Vasher intends (or perhaps intended?) to retake the Hallandren throne, or at least the God-King's breaths, someday?
  4. Susebron then kneels before Vasher and addresses him as "my lord". Why was Susebron not more suspicious of Vasher? Could not Denth have spun the same story? And in any case, why would Susebron kneel? They are both Returned, but Susebron is the current God-King with the overwhelming number of breaths. Was Susebron sufficiently learned in Hallandren lore to identify Vasher as Talaxin/Kalad/Strifelover/Peacegiver?

Thanks in advance for any clarifications!

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20 minutes ago, Matthew Bultitude said:
  • Why was this meeting necessary at all? Why couldn't Vasher just send his phantoms to destroy the lifeless army on his own? Vasher's great fear was giving Hallandren/Susebron control of this invincible army, so why go through him at all?

Vasher needed to stop hiding, needed to reveal some things about his Phantoms, as he had plans that would require someone else knowing about them. Stormlight spoilers in the full explanation:

Spoiler

Vasher was planning to leave for Roshar at some point due to easy access to Investiture he could use to stay alive.

22 minutes ago, Matthew Bultitude said:
  • Why does Vasher tell Susebron he was responsible for having his tongue cut out? It seems that Vasher told the priests to "protect" the breaths, but the priests independently decided how to do so. Susebron does not seem to mind that he spent 50 years without a tongue. How much of this does Susebron understand at this point?

Pretty sure that was just Vasher trying to take a load off his conscience. I'm sure he feels guilty for doing that to so many people over the years.

23 minutes ago, Matthew Bultitude said:
  • When Vasher tells Susebron that he left "a wealth of power" here "some time ago" that he asked the priests to protect and promised to someday "recover". I assume that the wealth of power he is referring to are the thousands and thousands of breaths that Vasher/Peacegiver entrusted to the priests and that Susebron currently holds. Does this imply that Vasher intends (or perhaps intended?) to retake the Hallandren throne, or at least the God-King's breaths, someday?

Those Breaths are his emergency supply, in case he was unable to acquire enough Breath to stay alive at some point or needed to do something suitably dramatic. I don't think he intends to take the throne again, but he wouldn't have set up a bank account of Breath without foreseeing a potential use.

24 minutes ago, Matthew Bultitude said:
  1. Susebron then kneels before Vasher and addresses him as "my lord". Why was Susebron not more suspicious of Vasher? Could not Denth have spun the same story? And in any case, why would Susebron kneel? They are both Returned, but Susebron is the current God-King with the overwhelming number of breaths. Was Susebron sufficiently learned in Hallandren lore to identify Vasher as Talaxin/Kalad/Strifelover/Peacegiver?

 There was always a plan for Vasher to return and so he likely set up a tale to pass down about how he would return and what he would look like, along with descriptions of the other Scholars in their lesser forms to prevent just such a deception. 

Don't take any of this as complete assurance, my copy of Warbreaker has been lent out for a very long time now, so I'm working off of what I remember.

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Vasher takes Susebron aside and they speak quietly at the start of all of that. 

The whispering presumably includes something that only Peacegiver, the Godking, and the God kings priests know which made it clear who he was. 

He informed Susebron of what was needed because without the wealth of Breath, the D'Denir statues were useless, and unless Susebron gave up his breath willingly there was no getting them back. 

Vasher obviously did not want to retake the throne, so he did what he thought was necessary. 

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