Gaz's Oaths

[Tiberius Gracchus]

Hello, I have been rereading ROW and trying to focus on some of the Radiants with less screen time. We see that Gaz, like all of the other members of Shallan's Deserters has joined the Unseen Court and presumably bonded a Cryptic. I remembered that Brandon said that if Elokhar had been allowed to progress with his oaths he would have had to eventually admit to being a bad king. We know more about Gaz than any of the other new Lightweavers, so I tried to guess some of his Truths.

I imagine his first truth (besides the oath) would be about his gambling. Admitting that an addiction is real and out of control is the first step after all. Gaz reads as a pessimist because he is always complaining and expects the worst from people, but he is one of several people to become inspired after seeing Shallan's drawing of them. I imagine another early oath might be admitting that he actually can become a better person, like in the drawing. 

However I think that a later oath (4th or 5th) would have to be him admitting his culpability in the deaths and mistreatment of the bridgemen. We see in WOK that he is bothered by what he is doing and in WOR when he explains it he is quick to pass the blame onto Sadeas and his superiors. This oath is the one I would be most interested in seeing on screen, either the actual swearing or a scene where he apologizes to the bridgemen and its made clear that this is part of him admitting truth.

He may also have to admit to his cowardice

Tib

[Letryx13]

5 hours ago, Tiberius Gracchus said:

Hello, I have been rereading ROW and trying to focus on some of the Radiants with less screen time. We see that Gaz, like all of the other members of Shallan's Deserters has joined the Unseen Court and presumably bonded a Cryptic. I remembered that Brandon said that if Elokhar had been allowed to progress with his oaths he would have had to eventually admit to being a bad king. We know more about Gaz than any of the other new Lightweavers, so I tried to guess some of his Truths.

I imagine his first truth (besides the oath) would be about his gambling. Admitting that an addiction is real and out of control is the first step after all. Gaz reads as a pessimist because he is always complaining and expects the worst from people, but he is one of several people to become inspired after seeing Shallan's drawing of them. I imagine another early oath might be admitting that he actually can become a better person, like in the drawing. 

However I think that a later oath (4th or 5th) would have to be him admitting his culpability in the deaths and mistreatment of the bridgemen. We see in WOK that he is bothered by what he is doing and in WOR when he explains it he is quick to pass the blame onto Sadeas and his superiors. This oath is the one I would be most interested in seeing on screen, either the actual swearing or a scene where he apologizes to the bridgemen and its made clear that this is part of him admitting truth.

He may also have to admit to his cowardice

Tib

I've had similar thoughts about him, since I thought he might be able to sense Syl in WoK.  He kept mentioning his eye patch around Kaladin, and I thought it might be related to Syl.  I figured he had potential as a radiant, and I would be very surprised if acknowledging his part in how the bridgemen were treated will not be one of his ideals.  True, he couldn't have changed how the army used bridgemen, but he didn't really do anything to protect them either.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Letryx13

[Tiberius Gracchus]

15 hours ago, Letryx13 said:

since I thought he might be able to sense Syl in WoK.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of this but he speaks of feeling like something is always there in his blindspot. It could be about Syl but it also reminds me of Elokhar's awareness of Cryptics watching him. (also Shallan's possessed drawing scene in Karbranth.) So perhaps his spren was watching him before he met Shallan, and possibly helped lead him to her, like how Jasnah credits the spren for leading Shallan to her.

[Letryx13]

7 hours ago, Tiberius Gracchus said:

Interesting, I hadn't thought of this but he speaks of feeling like something is always there in his blindspot. It could be about Syl but it also reminds me of Elokhar's awareness of Cryptics watching him. (also Shallan's possessed drawing scene in Karbranth.) So perhaps his spren was watching him before he met Shallan, and possibly helped lead him to her, like how Jasnah credits the spren for leading Shallan to her.

I hadn't considered that. I think Syl is the more likely one, but that's possible.  

[RedBlue]

On 04/10/2021 at 2:42 PM, Letryx13 said:

He kept mentioning his eye patch around Kaladin, and I thought it might be related to Syl.

That’s an angle I hadn’t thought of before. When I read it, I thought the eyepatch blindspot thing was just paranoia on Gaz’s part, since he really doesn’t have his life together and is afraid that his problems will blow up in his face soon. It also works on a metaphorical level (since Kaladin is turning Bridge 4 into a functional fighting unit right under Gaz’s nose and Gaz doesn’t see it).

[Letryx13]

50 minutes ago, RedBlue said:

That’s an angle I hadn’t thought of before. When I read it, I thought the eyepatch blindspot thing was just paranoia on Gaz’s part, since he really doesn’t have his life together and is afraid that his problems will blow up in his face soon. It also works on a metaphorical level (since Kaladin is turning Bridge 4 into a functional fighting unit right under Gaz’s nose and Gaz doesn’t see it).

My brother came up with the idea and mentioned it to me. He and I think that Gaz might end up being more important in the future.  He's a radiant now, but he hasn't had that much importance since WoK. Vatha is the most important of Shallan's soldier recruits.

But I like your analysis of Gaz's eyepatch being metaphorical too.