Rock

[Awesomness]

I haven't seen this topic discussed so here it goes:

What do you think will happen to Rock?

My (wild) guess is: he will be the 3rd bondsmith!! 

Besides that, I think we´ll see some interaction between him and Azure. 

 

 

[Raven Wilder]

I figure the punishment he'll get from the other Horneaters is banishment. Specifically, banishment from Roshar, sending him through the perpendicularity and into Shadesmar, and he'll join up with one of the groups doing stuff there.

[USS bridge four]

We'll get to see in his Novella.

[Govir]

18 hours ago, Raven Wilder said:

I figure the punishment he'll get from the other Horneaters is banishment. Specifically, banishment from Roshar, sending him through the perpendicularity and into Shadesmar, and he'll join up with one of the groups doing stuff there.

See, I've always thought that his "punishment" is really just a duty that he's trying to avoid. I would have to re-read (maybe just the beginning of RoW), but I don't think Rock ever uses the term "punishment".

So the rough outline of what I think happened: Rock has either always been some sort of important station with his people or became so when his group was killed after coming down from the mountain. Rock doesn't want to be that important station, and so delayed in returning (being a slave was a good excuse). But now that he has taken up the bow and fought, he can no longer ignore his duty and must return to his people. Rock is sullen because he will have to take up a mantle he does not want, and everyone else is thinking this means he will be punished.

[+robardin]

20 hours ago, USS bridge four said:

We'll get to see in his Novella.

 

3 hours ago, Govir said:

See, I've always thought that his "punishment" is really just a duty that he's trying to avoid. I would have to re-read (maybe just the beginning of RoW), but I don't think Rock ever uses the term "punishment".

So the rough outline of what I think happened: Rock has either always been some sort of important station with his people or became so when his group was killed after coming down from the mountain. Rock doesn't want to be that important station, and so delayed in returning (being a slave was a good excuse). But now that he has taken up the bow and fought, he can no longer ignore his duty and must return to his people. Rock is sullen because he will have to take up a mantle he does not want, and everyone else is thinking this means he will be punished.

Yes to both of these - Rock speaks of "facing judgment" and "seeking justice" from his people for "raising a weapon", and doing so was something he had really not wanted to do and tried to avoid doing until Kaladin's life was in mortal danger. And whatever he's facing, Cord at least seems to know what it would likely be and thinks it's stupid (he mentions how she considered their traditions as "foolish").

I don't think it's a death sentence but of exile to Shadesmar, as we learned (double checks forum...) in RoW that there was a permanent group of Horneaters there. So I hope to find out what happened with the whole "what happened with the group left behind while Adolin, Shallan, and Pattern entered Lasting Integrity" in the Rock novella too.

[USS bridge four]

2 hours ago, robardin said:

but of exile to Shadesmar,

That would be interesting. I wonder how he would act to spren in Shadesmar. 

[+robardin]

7 minutes ago, USS bridge four said:

That would be interesting. I wonder how he would act to spren in Shadesmar. 

Quote

 

"You go to imprisonment or worse."

"I go to the gods," Rock said.

 

But Rock surely knows that Navani and others have been using the Oathgates at Urithiru to enter Shadesmar? Or is that some kind of state secret? Because otherwise he wouldn't say to Kaladin that they would not meet again not just "in this world" but "this life". Unless he means, "this life I get to live on Roshar".

[Awesomness]

23 hours ago, USS bridge four said:

We'll get to see in his Novella.

Everything points to a Novella, but is this confirmed?

 

On 8/12/2020 at 4:51 PM, Raven Wilder said:

I figure the punishment he'll get from the other Horneaters is banishment. Specifically, banishment from Roshar, sending him through the perpendicularity and into Shadesmar, and he'll join up with one of the groups doing stuff there.

Loved the idea!

[+robardin]

10 minutes ago, Awesomness said:

Everything points to a Novella, but is this confirmed?

Nothing is certain until it's written and released, but this WoB is from only a few weeks ago:

Quote

Questioner

Will there be a Stormlight 4.5?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, the Rock novella, called Horneater, should be written to take place chronologically between Stormlights Four and Five. That'll have given us a novella between each of the books except One and Two, so maybe some day I'll fill in a hole there and put a novella between those two. I don't know that I'll do any between [Five and Six]. Likely, if we do an art book, that will be what's between [Five and Six].

Tor Instagram Livestream (Nov. 25, 2020)

 

[quackquack]

Rock said to Kaladin he didn’t think he would see him again in this life.  This leads me to think he will not be around Uruthiru and the rest of the main three characters, Kaladin, Shallan & Dalinar. 

Rock has a sense of duty related to his people. There definitely is a sense of a resigned heavy burden to Rock. Rock hasn’t always been honest with his crew, about his own roll in his culture. Like many of the bridge men he thought his old life was a forgone conclusion. But now he has to face judgment or justice or his fate. 

Rock once off handily mentioned that who ever of his people obtained a shard would essentially be king of the Horneaters. Rock did obtain shards, but he also yielded the boon he received. Perhaps out of internal conflict, the raising of a weapon to get those shards when he shouldn’t have, or he didn’t want the responsibility of becoming the king of his people. People have also theorized that rock might be the leader of his tribe after the death of his family members. Cord also mentioned that her grandmother was the watcher of pool (perpendicularly). Which seems like it would be an important position in their culture meaning family members had held postilions of importance in their tribes in the past

As for becoming a bond smith, i don’t know. It seems as if the Horneaters have the capacity to make temporary bonds with spren to temporarily increase strength when rock used the shard bow. Think of a Mandra and greatshells/sky eel/chased fiend/great shell/santhid. As well as the singers. Since horneaters have Singer blood it seems their relationship with spren is more fluid. We have seen that singers can bond Radiant spren in conjunction with the spren that is currently in their gemheart, even a void spren in the case of Regals. So i assume Horneaters could  become Radiants, i just don’t think this has been shown on screen.

There have also been mentions by Rock and his family that there have been strange things happening at the peeks in OB.

My mind keeps going back to rock not thinking that he will see Kaladin again in this life. I think Rock being at the peaks with access to the perpendicularity. He will have reason to use it. The Horneaters are children of all three shards in the Rosharn system, more than any other races probably. They aren’t fused or Radiant. They aren’t tethered to the Roshar system as radiants, fused, and shards are. I think something will happen to Roshar. Those in close proximity to those who can travel to Shadesmar, or are close to a perpendicularity or an oathgate will be the ones who survive. This event could be due to Odium and Dalinars duel,  or Ryse and the dawnshard. The humans home world could be blueprint  for what could happen on Roshar. Making it so that humans and singers alike would be refugees to shadesmar. Shadesmar would probably reflect the damage of Roashar. Horneaters would have to become worldhoppers. 

The death rattles lead me to think things are going to look pretty bleak. I don’t know.

 

[GriffinMaze]

On 12/9/2020 at 8:37 AM, Govir said:

See, I've always thought that his "punishment" is really just a duty that he's trying to avoid. I would have to re-read (maybe just the beginning of RoW), but I don't think Rock ever uses the term "punishment".

So the rough outline of what I think happened: Rock has either always been some sort of important station with his people or became so when his group was killed after coming down from the mountain. Rock doesn't want to be that important station, and so delayed in returning (being a slave was a good excuse). But now that he has taken up the bow and fought, he can no longer ignore his duty and must return to his people. Rock is sullen because he will have to take up a mantle he does not want, and everyone else is thinking this means he will be punished.

Rock's punishment is certainly leadership 

[danex]

I think that there’s a lot we don’t know about rock, and Horneaters in general. 

There’s that one line from Oathbringer in particular, in the chapter where they carry Bridge 4 for the last time, and Rock’s family shows up. (I think that’s in Oathbringer.) It’s from Rock’s POV, and there’s one line that says something like “he was glad the others didn’t speak horneater, for then they would learn about all of his lies” (not an exact quote, but close enough I think)

As for Rock’s punishment, I almost think he’s gonna be executed. Maybe his novella ends with his death. It doesn’t seem to make a ton of sense, but we don’t know all that much about Horneater culture. Maybe it’s an acceptable punishment to them. Maybe, because of their perpendicularity, they execute people who then become Cognitive Shadows? 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Ookla the Disproportionate