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Why didn't Denth and Tonk Fah kill/torture Vivenna?


Winter Wolf

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I've been rereading Warbreaker and near the ending, after Vivenna freed Vasher and he went out the window, she's left alone with Denth and Tonk Fah, the latter of whom threatens to torture her with ropes. This surprised me since I didn't remember anything overtly horrible happening to her at this point in the novel and it turns out nothing did. Vasher just finds her later tied up with only the one wound we last saw her with. I'm not saying I wanted anything bad to happen to her, I just wonder if there's something I'm missing here. There's no longer any reason to keep her alive, so it seems like Denth would have wanted to get rid of a loose end by killing her and Tonk Fah is a sociopath who enjoys torture so it seems like Vasher would have had to free her from him, but he's not only not torturing her but has fled the scene.

I'm probably overthinking it, but this just doesn't fit the characters IMO. It makes me wonder if I missed a scene or a clue or something. Like would Denth have refused to let her be harmed further bc he actually does like her and he and Tonk Fah had a falling out over it that we didn't get to see? Or could there have been some other reason why she had to be kept alive and as unharmed as possible? Or maybe it's just a plot armor situation lol

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1 hour ago, Winter Wolf said:

I've been rereading Warbreaker and near the ending, after Vivenna freed Vasher and he went out the window, she's left alone with Denth and Tonk Fah, the latter of whom threatens to torture her with ropes. This surprised me since I didn't remember anything overtly horrible happening to her at this point in the novel and it turns out nothing did. Vasher just finds her later tied up with only the one wound we last saw her with. I'm not saying I wanted anything bad to happen to her, I just wonder if there's something I'm missing here. There's no longer any reason to keep her alive, so it seems like Denth would have wanted to get rid of a loose end by killing her and Tonk Fah is a sociopath who enjoys torture so it seems like Vasher would have had to free her from him, but he's not only not torturing her but has fled the scene.

I'm probably overthinking it, but this just doesn't fit the characters IMO. It makes me wonder if I missed a scene or a clue or something. Like would Denth have refused to let her be harmed further bc he actually does like her and he and Tonk Fah had a falling out over it that we didn't get to see? Or could there have been some other reason why she had to be kept alive and as unharmed as possible? Or maybe it's just a plot armor situation lol

I imagine that Denth wouldn't have wanted to kill her. You know, mercenary mindset and all that. I don't know why Tonk Fah didn't. Maybe Tonk Fah wanted to, and Denth said no.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 10/13/2021 at 5:24 PM, Winter Wolf said:

I've been rereading Warbreaker and near the ending, after Vivenna freed Vasher and he went out the window, she's left alone with Denth and Tonk Fah, the latter of whom threatens to torture her with ropes. This surprised me since I didn't remember anything overtly horrible happening to her at this point in the novel and it turns out nothing did. Vasher just finds her later tied up with only the one wound we last saw her with. I'm not saying I wanted anything bad to happen to her, I just wonder if there's something I'm missing here. There's no longer any reason to keep her alive, so it seems like Denth would have wanted to get rid of a loose end by killing her and Tonk Fah is a sociopath who enjoys torture so it seems like Vasher would have had to free her from him, but he's not only not torturing her but has fled the scene.

I'm probably overthinking it, but this just doesn't fit the characters IMO. It makes me wonder if I missed a scene or a clue or something. Like would Denth have refused to let her be harmed further bc he actually does like her and he and Tonk Fah had a falling out over it that we didn't get to see? Or could there have been some other reason why she had to be kept alive and as unharmed as possible? Or maybe it's just a plot armor situation lol

If I recall correctly someone asked something like this on the live stream fan mail opening. The response was there was more going on there, but that begs the question, what was going on there. I have two theories. 1) There were feelings for Vivenna. (Not likely, but it should at least be mentioned). 2) I have a lurking suspicion that the royal family has more than just hereditary Returned lines from Vo. Denth was one of the 5 scholars and could possibly figured it out, or is some other way related to Vivenna. 

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7 hours ago, Shinwarrior said:

If I recall correctly someone asked something like this on the live stream fan mail opening. The response was there was more going on there, but that begs the question, what was going on there. I have two theories. 1) There were feelings for Vivenna. (Not likely, but it should at least be mentioned). 2) I have a lurking suspicion that the royal family has more than just hereditary Returned lines from Vo. Denth was one of the 5 scholars and could possibly figured it out, or is some other way related to Vivenna. 

Yeah, Brandon said Denth's feelings about Vivenna were complicated and RAFOed the question. So that could mean anything.

The romantic feelings angle crossed my mind while rereading just bc Denth puts more effort into teaching Vivenna magic and life lessons and comforting her more than he needed to. For instance, why in the world did he encourage her to learn Awakening (repeatedly) and give her a short lesson in it? He could have just never mentioned it and promised to make time for a lesson later if she asked, with "later" conveniently never coming. With his lessons, attempts to casually get close to her, and subtle corrupting, it was almost like he was preparing her to fit into the crew for the long run. If it was romantic feelings, it obviously wasn't good or enough to convince him not to prioritize his plans over her well-being.

I like the idea that there's something more with the hereditary of the royal family beyond changing their hair color. As you say, if he knows more about her family's power and potential as one of the five scholars, he might have stowed Vivenna away and kept her alive to be used for a later purpose. But what that could be...?

Otherwise, it just seems like it would have been easier for Denth to slit her throat and continue on without having to worry about her rather than taking the time to tie her up, gag her, and hide her. 

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