Taravangian and his great plans

[Isilel]

22 hours ago, The traveller said:

He decided this not because he is genuinely worried about humanity’s chances of survival, he has lost hope of replacing Dalinar as the leader of honor’s forces so he decided to join Odium’s. 

No, making the deal with Odium was the plan all along - that's why Taravangian tried to become the leader of as much of humanity as he could. He intended to bargain for survival and safety of all of his followers/subjects. Fighting against Odium in the Desolations didn't really work out in the long run - they won by the skin of their teeth, but civilization was still destroyed every time. And that's with the help of Honor and the Heralds and well-organized, experienced Radiants, which they aren't going to have this time around. So, he was attempting a different solution this time around. Or, at least that's what T. and his cohorts have been able to deduce from the Diagramm. The super-genius T. who wrote it clearly had some other, hidden agenda.

As to why Taravangian believes that he is the savior, it is because of of his boon. He asked the Nightwatcher for enough intelligence and compassion to save humanity and received it. That's the difference between him and Amaram. Now, he may have been egotistical to ask for something like that, but Gavilar's death gave him a very good reason to think that he couldn't just go around and try to convince people of the impending apocalypse as his old plain self without getting similar treatment. Taravangian's tragedy is that he had been everything that he now pretends to be - a good, compassionate man who built and maintained hospitals out of genuine desire to help people, before knowledge of the terrible future was dropped in his lap and he felt compelled to do something about it.  

[Aon Tia]

@Isilel I agree it is probably the average

T ‘s plan for a while in OB but I still think that it is in reaction to whether T can replace dalinar or not as the leader. But even if you are right, then still his grand plan is mah... Did he really think that was going to work?! He was the ruler of all Kharbranth and Jah keved and still odium will not save jah keved. So his idea : 

2 hours ago, Isilel said:

No, making the deal with Odium was the plan all along - that's why Taravangian tried to become the leader of as much of humanity as he could. He intended to bargain for survival and safety of all of his followers/subjects

Is a very poor and stupid plan and already has failed! So he has caused so much death and destruction in Jah keved, weakened a really strong nation, for a mere whim that was then proven to be false hope at the end of OB. 

 

2 hours ago, Isilel said:

As to why Taravangian believes that he is the savior, it is because of of his boon. He asked the Nightwatcher for enough intelligence and compassion to save humanity and received it

Well that goal is achieved already, as long as even a handful of men and women are alive, technically humanity will have been saved. So by saving Kharbranth, he saved humanity! 
 

I mistrust average T and his interpretations of the genius T’s diagram and find it both frustrating and hilarious at the same time, that average T is so wrong but still he has so much confidence on himself that he is actively sabotaging dalinar and actually hurting humans in their battle against odium and it is supposed to be ok because “he has good intentions though!!”

[The Kraken's Daughter]

On 12/18/2019 at 11:04 AM, The traveller said:

But even if you are right, then still his grand plan is mah... Did he really think that was going to work?! He was the ruler of all Kharbranth and Jah keved and still odium will not save jah keved.

I think Taravangian may have fallen prey to one of the classic flaws of antagonists/villains: underestimating his enemy.

Odium is, obviously, way more powerful than any human, even the Heralds. But all the lore about Odium talks about him as a force of destruction. He slaughters people, razes cities, punts civilization back to the Stone Age. He fills people with bloodlust or makes them give in to hedonism. He's all about Passion. None of these are traits we usually associate with intellect. T may have been viewing Odium as a dumb brute: super-powerful but not the greatest in the "planning ahead" department. And how do you defeat an enemy who's way more powerful than you but not the brightest bulb on the tree? You trick him, of course. If T knew that his boon came directly from Cultivation, that may have given him even more confidence, since he'd be using another god's power to outwit a god.

To me, one of the scenes that most shows how threatening an enemy Odium is, is that vision where he talks to T. He says, "Let me show you how far I see," manifests the Diagram...and then shows its writing extending off into infinity in all directions. The thunderclasts and Nergaoul and army of Fused were impressive and all, but we already knew Odium was powerful. But that scene really showed how much smarter/more cunning he is than even the greatest genius in Roshar's history. It's the equivalent of someone walking into an argument between Einstein and Hawking, saying "Nope you're both wrong" and scribbling out a Grand Unified Theory of physics in ten seconds. I don't think T expected that from Odium any more than I did.

All that said, I really like the theory about T being a plant. He really is going to be instrumental in defeating Odium and saving humankind, just not in the way he thinks he is.