A MORE Sinister version of THAT Death Rattle

[Karger]

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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

WARNING:  The following contains an excessive number of chess metaphors.

Shall we play a game?

The above death rattle is one of the most commonly used in theories especially now that we have an exact date for the contest of champions.  For the purpose of explanation Rayse must view basically the entire universe as a series of chess games so lets go over his history in that context.

Rayse wants to be world champion meaning he has to have a high number of wins against a large number of ranked opponents.  At first he was fairly successful but he hit a snag against another top player(Honor) who deliberately stalemated all their matches to deny him the victory.  He eventually won but by the time he did the number and preferred methods of the top chess players were changing.  In an attempt to get back to things as normal Rayse challenged a much lower ranked player who was an up and comer(Dalinar).  Dalinar may have had a flare for the game but he was still highly inexperienced and eliminating him quickly would allow Rayse to go back to his old game.  Dalinar knowing his opponent was far more experienced then he was tried a desperate gambit that has maybe a 50/50 chance of working with the alternative being a loss(challenge at Thaylen Field).  Unfortunately for him Rayse had anticipated the gambit and had a brilliant series of countermoves(Choosing Dalinar).  Dalinar was rapidly approaching checkmate but got lucky with a new idea and managed to defeat Rayse's counter and move Rayse down a piece(Cannot have my pain followed by the capture of the thrill and summoning of reinforcements).

Playing a piece down is not the end of the world in chess.  Victory is still absolutely possible but it means simple attrition puts you at a disadvantage.  Rayse now had to come up with a way to make up the difference.  His next gambit(attack on the tower) was not successful in this regard.  He inflicted damage but had equivalent losses meaning his disadvantage was more obvious the longer the game went on.  The strain of the situation was so great he accepted a situation in witch the most likely outcome was probably a stalemate.  Rayse then died and Taravangian took over.  Taravangian is at least as good at chess as Rayse and probably much better.  He looks at the board and finds Rayse's lack of patience disgusting. 

Here is where things get interests.  Rayse wanted to be world champion meaning he had to defeat ever other top ranked player but we are never given any indication Taravangian does.

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Such power. Such incredible power. Taravangian peered into infinity. He’d wanted to save his city, and had succeeded. After that, he’d wanted to save Roshar. He could do that now. He could end this war. Storms, Dalinar and Odium’s contract—which bound Taravangian just as soundly—would do that already.

I don't think we have any indication Taravangain needs to be free at the moment.  It seems like waiting a thousand years wouldn't be so bad.  After all Rayse's best move his entire career was just sitting things out for a few millennia.

I don't think shardic combat would really appeal to Taravangain.  It seems to me like that is too much risk for not enough reward.  Being all powerful seems nice but it is also very difficult and it seems smarter to just manipulate everyone the old fashioned way.  I am hardly the first to suggest that this death rattle refers to the context but the traditional sacrifice a child approach just means making Dalinar sacrifice a valuable piece for a chance at winning.  This is hardly the full proof strategy Taravangian assumes he has.

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It can still be done, Taravangian realized, seeing the possibilities—so subtle—that his predecessor had missed. Yes … Dalinar has set himself up … to fail. I can beat him.

Most of those who connect the above death rattle seem to think it is from Dalinar's perspective but it is a lot more terrifying to think it is actually from Odium's.  Thinking about it this way puts an unusual spin on things.  Think about the way the fused talk about Odium's power.  Also think about how the ancient singers described humans as those who cannot truly live.  Finally think about Taravangian's next level megalomania amplified by Odium's power.  To him Dalinar must seem like a suckling child who is in way over his head, the fused are the only ones truly alive, and the extra air is the territory to be gained by victory.  The thing is I don't think Taravangian cares as much about winning as the fused do.  Instead putting Dalinar in a situation where he can only win by ascending or "growing up" seems much more like him.  This particular strategy would make it difficult for Dalinar to personally maintain the coalition that he himself founded, allows Taravangian a chance at victory if Dalinar can't pull it off, and lulls the survivors into a false sense of security.

Additional proof might be found in the back half's flashback characters.  Lift is the girl who listens, Taln still thinks the old war is going on, Ash wants to destroy any reminder of her glory days, Renarin is a Truthwatcher and Jasnah is the definition of "paranoid rationalist" in the cosmere's encyclopedia.  Watching them all notice that something is off but not knowing what would make an excellent five book story arc.

Edited May 16, 2021 by Karger