A Different End to the Tower Battle?

[Negative_Null]

I've just reread Way of Kings in preparation for RoW, and I had an interesting thought. 
During the Tower Battle, oddly enough, the option of surrendering never comes up. Eshonai would most likely allow for a surrender, since she wants peace with the Alethi, and the Warforms would obey their commander. 
On Dalinar's side, while Alethi pride would discourage surrender, I could very well see him say that they needed to save as many men as they could or something. It would have fit in his character arc pretty well. His soldiers and Adolin would see the necessity of surrender there.

So, as a theoretical kind of AU, do you guys think this could have happened, and how would that have changed the world? Would Dalinar still be a Bondsmith? Would Venli still create Stormform? What about Kaladin?

[Frustration]

Might have happened if Kaladin hadn't shown up, but Giving Dalinar an escape route throws that option out the window.

[Karger]

I honestly can't believe that Dalinar did not try and parley with the enemy and ask for terms.  It seems like the sort of thing the codes require.

[Negative_Null]

22 minutes ago, Karger said:

I honestly can't believe that Dalinar did not try and parley with the enemy and ask for terms.  It seems like the sort of thing the codes require.

Well, we do see the codes and they don't go one way or another. There is the "don't ask of your men what you wouldn't do yourself", but as we see, Dalinar was willing to die there.

I rather think the Way of Kings would be what drives that. The idea of responsibility for the outcome of the Tower, while in the book Dalinar views it as taking responsibility for Sadeas's betrayal, could also have been taken as a "I have to protect my men".

 

[ConfusedCow]

Would the listeners have allowed a surrender?  I don't think they can hold or feed 4 thousand alethi prisoners.  This is their chance to deliver a knock-out blow too.  What really gets me is why Sadeas let them escape with Adolin and Dalinars' shards.  If I was Sadeas, I would have retreated a bit and had Aladar or Ruthar come back me up.  Just when the Parshendi finished with Dalinar, I would have attacked them to 'avenge' Dalinar and left no survivors.  Sadeas ends up with all the shards, the war is over, his biggest rival is dead, and he's a hero not a coward.  Problems solved.

Edited July 2, 2020 by ConfusedCow
Typos

[+Oltux72]

16 hours ago, Negative_Null said:

I've just reread Way of Kings in preparation for RoW, and I had an interesting thought. 
During the Tower Battle, oddly enough, the option of surrendering never comes up. Eshonai would most likely allow for a surrender

No. She would not. She would have slaughtered every single Alethi. The battle on the Shattered Plains was a war of attrition about gem hearts. They are a source of food.

A captured Alethi, however, has to be fed and guarded. The guards have to be fed and are missing on the front lines. Worse, you now have Alethi who know where your bases are and the way to them. If you take a few prisoners, they are for intelligence and you hand them over for destructive questioning. To the Parshendi the only good Alethi soldiers on the Shattered Plains are the dead ones. And the Alethi are not stupid. They know that..

16 hours ago, Negative_Null said:

, since she wants peace with the Alethi, and the Warforms would obey their commander.

Taking an army prisoners wouldn't get her peace. Hence you better strike as hard a blow as you can.

 

[Negative_Null]

Ok, everyone makes good points about that. That's a part I did not think about

[Bigmikey357]

Sadeas established early on in the campaign that this would be a war to the knife when he slaughtered a group of Parshendi that were trying to surrender.  They weren't going to let those humans survive captivity. 

[earthexile]

Another factor I don't think has been mentioned- the Parshendi stand to gain two full sets of Shards if they bring down Dalinar and Adolin, tripling their tiny armory. Not only would that make the Parshendi less likely to back off, but even if they did accept a surrender, they'd still take the Shards. Dalinar wouldn't allow that without a fight. Those damnation weapons and armor inherently escalate the tension of any conflict.

[Pathfinder]

There's a WoB for that! lol

 

Lurcher

In the battle of the Tower, Eshonai is fighting Dalinar, Dalinar removes his helm, and she recognizes him. She acts like she wants to speak with him. Possibly to negotiate. If Kaladin hadn't shown up and saved him, what would have happened?

Brandon Sanderson

There's a chance they would have worked it out. Not a really good one, but there's a chance.

Salt Lake City ComicCon 2017 (Sept. 22, 2017)

[---]

I assumed that Dalinar probably assumed the Parshendi wouldn't understand a surrender. After Sadeas's thing they never tried, and the Alethi assumed them to be savages.

[thejopen27]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:37 PM, earthexile said:

Another factor I don't think has been mentioned- the Parshendi stand to gain two full sets of Shards if they bring down Dalinar and Adolin, tripling their tiny armory. Not only would that make the Parshendi less likely to back off, but even if they did accept a surrender, they'd still take the Shards. Dalinar wouldn't allow that without a fight. Those damnation weapons and armor inherently escalate the tension of any conflict.

Surrendering would also allow the capture of the shards as the shards would be a concession in any surrender.