AC12 Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 To be clear, this isn't my original theory. I found it recently while going down a rabbit hole on the Stormlight Archive reddit. I really liked it and saw it wasn't being discussed here so i thought I would put it out there. I apologize that I don't have the link to the original source, I honestly couldn't find it again when I went looking. I also don't have exact quotes from the book but I will do my best. So it chapter 44 of Oathbringer, Shallan as Veil is in a bar with Red, Gaz, and Vathah while Ishnah is training them to become spies and informants. They do an exercise where they are given a short time to memorize details about people in the bar. When its her turn, Veil describes several people in great detail, one of which is a woman at the bar who is wearing a Thaylen style dress but isn't Thaylen herself. She is also wearing bright colors, green and violet I think. Veil says this woman seems to be flirting with the men, but is doing it playfully like she is not completely serious. She keeps looking around the bar like she is looking for someone. Fast forward to chapter 112, we have Kaladin's flashback remembering when Tarah left Amaram's army to go work as a scribe. Kaladin remembers her as liking to wear an older style of Thaylen dress even though she wasn't Thaylen. He also said she liked to dress in bright colors, colors that couldn't usually be afforded by a darkeyes. They talk about how she thinks its funny to outfit the young, new recruits to the army because they get flustered and think she is making a pass at them when she takes their measurements. So we have an Alethi woman who like to dress in Thaylen dresses and bright colors playfully flirting with men and possibly looking for someone in bar frequented by soldiers. I am convinced that this is yet another example of Brandon being incredibly sneaky with some foreshadowing. So if this is in fact Tarah, how much does she know about Kaladin's story since they separated and what will be her role in the the books going forward? I would love to hear your thoughts. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) 58 minutes ago, AC12 said: So we have an Alethi woman who like to dress in Thaylen dresses and bright colors playfully flirting with men and possibly looking for someone in bar frequented by soldiers. I am convinced that this is yet another example of Brandon being incredibly sneaky with some foreshadowing. So if this is in fact Tarah, how much does she know about Kaladin's story since they separated and what will be her role in the the books going forward? I would love to hear your thoughts. The women could certainly be Taran. I believe we have confirmation of a Taran sighting during Veil's infiltration of Amaram's war camp and almost everyone from the warcamps has relocated to the tower city. I imagine that Syl will be playing matchmaker once she learns who Taran is and I bet Adolin and half of bridge four will be helping her. Not suer how Kaladin will react though. Edited July 23, 2019 by Karger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 I don't hate this idea, because Brandon seems to always throw little cameos in like that, but at the same time, I want Kaladin to be able to move forward with his life instead of always heading backwards and living in the past 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, Impact said: I don't hate this idea, because Brandon seems to always throw little cameos in like that, but at the same time, I want Kaladin to be able to move forward with his life instead of always heading backwards and living in the past The past is the future... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 minute ago, Karger said: The past is the future... Oy, you had to go spiritual, didn't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 44 minutes ago, Impact said: Oy, you had to go spiritual, didn't you? And as each man has lived so must you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 2 minutes ago, Karger said: And as each man has lived so must you "...your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one." -Doc Brown 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, Impact said: "...your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one." You will love. You will hurt. You will dream. And you will die. And you will reread Oathbringer. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Karger said: You will love. You will hurt. You will dream. And you will die. And you will reread Oathbringer. Already on my third, goncho. Or fourth, I don't remember. The first two were almost back to back. Right at the end now, actually. So that's my present. Edited July 23, 2019 by Impact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 minute ago, Impact said: Already on my third, goncho. Or fourth, I don't remember. The first two were almost back to back. Right at the end now, actually. So that's my present. And you will check the coppermind page for Way of Kings in world and search the things said in previous posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 minute ago, Karger said: And you will check the coppermind page for Way of Kings in world and search the things said in previous posts. Which thing? The shard influence thing from my unity post? Or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 24 minutes ago, Impact said: Which thing? The shard influence thing from my unity post? Or something else? On this thread. Most of what I was saying were direct quotes from The Way of Kings by Nohodon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impact Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 minute ago, Karger said: On this thread. Most of what I was saying were direct quotes from The Way of Kings by Nohodon. Oh, I know that. That's why I quoted Doc Brown instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subvisual Haze Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 Even if that is Tarah we can't necessarily assume she's seeking out Kaladin for good reasons. She might be a spy in employ of Lady Sadeas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karger Posted July 23, 2019 Report Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Subvisual Haze said: Even if that is Tarah we can't necessarily assume she's seeking out Kaladin for good reasons. She might be a spy in employ of Lady Sadeas. I kind of doubt that a spying operation started by Ialai would employ such a random method as "go to the bar that eventually the mark might attend and hope he shows up." A smarter method would be to get them assigned to the same areas at similar times or just have Tarah write him a note. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersmith Posted July 28, 2019 Report Share Posted July 28, 2019 The only problem I have with this is, why hadn’t she contacted Kaladin? If she’s really there for him why is she just sitting in a bar in the off chance he might show up? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZenBossanova Posted July 28, 2019 Report Share Posted July 28, 2019 Assuming she has heard of the Leader of Bridge 4 and prominent Radiant, Kaladin, she may not realize that is the Kaladin she knew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbereth_gilthoniel Posted July 29, 2019 Report Share Posted July 29, 2019 On 7/23/2019 at 11:54 AM, Karger said: I believe we have confirmation of a Taran sighting during Veil's infiltration of Amaram's war camp and almost everyone from the warcamps has relocated to the tower city. Does anyone have an idea of where this might be in WoR? Like is it pretty obvious we're supposed to notice something special or was it a "blink and you miss it" type thing? I like the idea of Kaladin and Tarah meeting up in book 4 only to have Kaladin realize he's moved on like how he did with Laral in Oathbringer. So I kinda hope that the girl in the bar scene is Tarah. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solant Posted July 29, 2019 Report Share Posted July 29, 2019 I mentioned this awhile ago. I 100 percent believe it to be true. The clothing is too specific not to be. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfphelps Posted July 29, 2019 Report Share Posted July 29, 2019 I think this one is true based on the clothing specifics, and it seems like the same sort of hints we've gotten with other characters. Wasn't one of Tarah's parents Thylen though, making her half? Not that it changes, since Veil might not be able to tell that, but I believe I remember reading that during my last read through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arondell Posted August 1, 2019 Report Share Posted August 1, 2019 I think its a pretty good chance of this being Tarah. Though I am a bit puzzled that if it is then why she is using this haphazard way of looking for him. If it just hasn't occurred to her that the fairly well know Captain Kaladin is the same as the Kaladin she had a relationship with it would indicate Kaladin's name is fairly common. A bit like John or David. Alternatively its possible that she would be worried that Kaladin might be there and she doesn't want to find him because she is there for some other reason entirely. After all the relationship ended years before. She stopped writing after Kaladin never replied to her letters. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kon-Tiki Posted August 3, 2019 Report Share Posted August 3, 2019 (edited) On 8/1/2019 at 0:08 AM, Arondell said: I think its a pretty good chance of this being Tarah. Though I am a bit puzzled that if it is then why she is using this haphazard way of looking for him. If it just hasn't occurred to her that the fairly well know Captain Kaladin is the same as the Kaladin she had a relationship with it would indicate Kaladin's name is fairly common. A bit like John or David. Alternatively its possible that she would be worried that Kaladin might be there and she doesn't want to find him because she is there for some other reason entirely. After all the relationship ended years before. She stopped writing after Kaladin never replied to her letters. Kaladin is specifically an uncommon name among darkeyes, and if she's heard much of anything of the story of the slave captain turned Radiant, his name would be a dead giveaway. In any case, my take is that since she was headed to Mourn's Vault, which is about as far away from an Oathgate as you can get in Roshar, she's much more likely to show up in Hearthstone than Urithiru Edited August 3, 2019 by Kon-Tiki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofrodelius Posted August 5, 2019 Report Share Posted August 5, 2019 On 7/23/2019 at 6:54 PM, Karger said: I imagine that Syl will be playing matchmaker once she learns who Taran is and I bet Adolin and half of bridge four will be helping her. Oh my, I can see the comedy now... I really hope this happens in one of the next two books. Kaladin has always appeared a bit asexual to me, but I think that's more a product of his situation than anything else (because, ya know, it's a bit hard to think about sex when you're just trying to survive bridge runs, the Assassin in White, etc.). I'm not saying I think Kaladin has no interest in women, but it has been far from the first thing on his mind for almost the entirety of the series so far. Even during the scene with Shallan in the chasm, he was distracted by the immediate threat of the storm. The emotional connection between them far outweighed their physical connection, which is why I agree that Shallan belongs with Adolin instead of Kaladin (even though I shipped Shalladin for a time). I would really enjoy seeing a romantic side to Kaladin, and I believe that, so far, we've only seen the surface of the depth of devotion he could bring to a romantic relationship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kon-Tiki Posted August 5, 2019 Report Share Posted August 5, 2019 48 minutes ago, nofrodelius said: Oh my, I can see the comedy now... I really hope this happens in one of the next two books. Kaladin has always appeared a bit asexual to me, but I think that's more a product of his situation than anything else (because, ya know, it's a bit hard to think about sex when you're just trying to survive bridge runs, the Assassin in White, etc.). I'm not saying I think Kaladin has no interest in women, but it has been far from the first thing on his mind for almost the entirety of the series so far. Even during the scene with Shallan in the chasm, he was distracted by the immediate threat of the storm. The emotional connection between them far outweighed their physical connection, which is why I agree that Shallan belongs with Adolin instead of Kaladin (even though I shipped Shalladin for a time). I would really enjoy seeing a romantic side to Kaladin, and I believe that, so far, we've only seen the surface of the depth of devotion he could bring to a romantic relationship. I'm not sure Kaladin is asexual so much as he's on a different tier of the hierarchy of needs 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofrodelius Posted August 5, 2019 Report Share Posted August 5, 2019 3 minutes ago, Kon-Tiki said: I'm not sure Kaladin is asexual so much as he's on a different tier of the hierarchy of needs I guess that's what I was trying to say, though, even his interactions with Tarah and Shallan seemed a bit stunted to me. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of him in a romantic setting to really envision it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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