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Hair Color, Eye Color and Spiritual DNA


Golstar

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I happened upon this WoB by chance:
 

Quote

 

Questioner

The hair color, is there a link between the hair color in Warbreaker and the hair color in, with, like the Alethi always have black, and I can't remember the other country that always have gold hair coloring?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.  You are noticing something very interesting which was done deliberately.  

Words of Radiance Omaha signing (March 13, 2014)

 

And this reddit post: 

Quote

 

EDIT: More tidbits. Rock and his culture started Mongolian long, long ago. (98-99 era, when I first wrote him.) As Roshar in general (and the Alethi in specific) became more Asian in look and less Semitic (though they are still a mash-up) I decided to push Rock's people in the direction of a human/parsh hybrid strain. This also was part of moving Rock himself from Yolen to Roshar, following after Dalinar and some other characters, who came earlier during the original Dragonsteel/Stormlight split in the early 2000s.

These changes drove the Horneaters away from Mongolian influences, though I can't say specifically where the Polynesian/Russian mashup came from. I liked how it read, and felt the linguistics supported the accent. These changes, of course, had a domino effect that resulted in the Veden people gaining their occasional red hair and fair skin from Horneater relation, which means Shallan is part parshman--though the relation is distant at this point.

 


The parshmen are protected from Odium's influence (except via spren). I think this is due to them being heavily infused by Cultivation.

The Iriali are blonde and not from Ashyn or Roshar. I suspect they are from Yolen. Their religion of the One has strong similarities to Adonalsium, and the Iriali have been strongly hinted at as being part of the space age Cosmere stories (ie MB era 4). They've sided with Odium in the current conflict.

From Mistborn books we know that spiritual DNA is a thing in the Cosmere. The Horneaters ability to see spren might an example of such. Could there be a similar thing with the Ashyn heritage? Capacity for surgebinding? Could there be a spiritual DNA unique to Yolen? Could that have implications for Renarin and Adolin?

Finally the Jah Kaved have a tendency to have red hair and violet eyes. Violet is the color of Odium, but I can't recall seeing it associated with anything except Voidlight. However, it might hint at a past involving Odium somehow.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I added to a theory the other day about Maya and Adolin's bond. But I think the Lighteyes pass their eye colour down on a spiritual level, and what they are passing down is a part of the deadeye Spren that remained in the radiants after the oaths were broken, the loss of this part of their spirit is what turned the Spren into Deadeyes, and it remained in the Radiants to he passed on to their descendants.

Edited by signspace13
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