Alekhtar and death rattle

[MIKIL]

so i was just browsing through the death rattles and found this one.

"A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears".

I believe that this refrences to dalinar watching his homeland being occupied and being able to do nothing. Or maybe even that alekthar is destroyed for some reason. 

 

 

I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.  and what does this mean?

[Rushu42]

I had always interpreted both of those rattles as references to Taravangian. He's made a deal with Odium that essentially sacrifices the world for his own city (which I'm pretty sure is going to backfire in some way), so he could easily be watching his homeland (meaning the world) fall to dust. Plus the "child crying" bit could be referencing the way that he's far more empathetic when he's less intelligent.

As for the second one, the parallel seems even more obvious to me. He's been systematically draining people of blood to further his goal of preserving humanity. 

[Michael Portz]

YIKES, sorry, unintentionally posted out of RoW area without spoiler braces ...

Spoiler

And chapter 19 even reinforces @Rushu42's suggestion

Quote

“No,” Dalinar said. “No, not him.” He closed his eyes. “[...] If Taravangian killed a child, he’d do it not for vengeance. Not for fury. Not for wealth or renown. But because he sincerely thought the child’s death was necessary.”

The full quotes were:

Quote

“I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.” —Dated Shashanan, 1173, 23 seconds pre-death. Subject: a darkeyed youth of sixteen years. Sample is of particular note.

Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, Book 1) (S.789). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle-Version. 

and

Quote

“A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears.” —Collected on the 4th of Tanates, year 1171, thirty seconds before death. Subject was a cobbler of some renown.

Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, Book 1) (S.61). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle-Version. 

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by Michael Portz
Spoiler Braces added

[bridge7]

On 11/5/2020 at 9:34 AM, Rushu42 said:

I had always interpreted both of those rattles as references to Taravangian. He's made a deal with Odium that essentially sacrifices the world for his own city (which I'm pretty sure is going to backfire in some way), so he could easily be watching his homeland (meaning the world) fall to dust. Plus the "child crying" bit could be referencing the way that he's far more empathetic when he's less intelligent.

As for the second one, the parallel seems even more obvious to me. He's been systematically draining people of blood to further his goal of preserving humanity. 

I think the second might actually refer to Taravangian, but in a different way. It says that all who live want him to let the blade slip and spill it's blood, so could it be referring to kharbranth. His city is crying, because everyone wants to trade them for the world? It made more sense in my head

[Vessel of Theory]

On 11/15/2020 at 8:10 AM, Michael Portz said:

YIKES, sorry, unintentionally posted out of RoW area without spoiler braces ...

  Hide contents

And chapter 19 even reinforces @Rushu42's suggestion

The full quotes were:

and

 

 

On 11/4/2020 at 11:53 PM, MIKIL said:

so i was just browsing through the death rattles and found this one.

"A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears".

I believe that this refrences to dalinar watching his homeland being occupied and being able to do nothing. Or maybe even that alekthar is destroyed for some reason. 

 

 

I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.  and what does this mean?

Hey y'all! Vessel of Theory posting another theory!

I personally think that the first quote refers to either nobody we've met yet(or a flashback we haven't seen) and when we get it, it'll be one of the Sanderson revelation moments. If it's not that, I'm going to guess the dude from Dalinar's flashback, the one with the kid who picked up the shardblade, the one who used the Thrill, the one in the place Dalinar razed(though dead in all but one of these scenes). I don't know his name, and I hope he isn't important  

 

For the second quote:

Let's think back to Warbreaker.

1) the God Kings are children who died(I don't think we were ever told how, exactly, or if there is... an alternative)

2) "Breath". Breath. Investiture.

3) "All who live wish me to let the blade slip".

So based on these, I officially theorize that at some point, the God King(or someone similar) is not liked by the people/priesthood, and they want him/her dead, replaced. So, they send someone to go and kill a child(specific or random, idk) and hope they Return? Sorry I lost steam there, maybe someone else can finish this one? I definitely think that this has something to do with Nalthis, possibly something we see in Warbreaker 2.

 

Smiley for a long post