Reason for Gavilar’s death

[nmn2]

I’m honestly really confused. Have finished the books but I’m more of a casual reader so feel like I might have misunderstood/completely missed the answer. 

Why did the Parshendi want Gavilar dead? 

I think he wanted the return of the Parshendi Gods so the Heralds would be forced to return. Gavilar assumed the Parshendi would be happy with them bringing the Unmade back but they weren’t? 

Was this because Parshendi/council of five feared the Unmade? Or did they know it would lead to another desolation? Why would they not want their own Gods to return? 

 

[AerionBFII he/him]

Gavilar was assassinated by the Parshendi due to the fact he was actively trying to restart the desolation. The parshendi from the planes were descendants of Parshendi who had rejected their gods and did not want to be enslaved. Just because Gavilar believed  in order for them to ascend they needed an enemy to fight and unite Alethkhar. 
 

Gavilar’s intentions are still not fully known however he was a member of the sons of honor and had dealings with Kelsier/Thaidakar which we can assume revolves around getting the various lights off world. 
 

Seth was the tool used to execute him by the 5 (leaders of the Parshendi), one of the Parshendi purchased Szeth as he was lead there by the rhythms.. the reason for this is not know as you’d think Odium was wanting another desolation. As a guess I’d say due to Gavilars experiments with the different lights of Roshar and his experiments with Anti-Void light odium considered him a threat so lead them to Szeth. 
 

Multiple factions wanted him dead and he didn’t lack for enemies. He died because the Parshendi did not want to be enslaved and odium saw him as a threat ie Anti voidlight. The Parshendi killed him and odium had a hand in leading them to Szeth. 
 

A lot of Gavilars intentions are still not known, there’s a prevalent theory that he wanted to ascend to become a shard. But it was more of a combination of multiple factors that he was iced.  

Edited March 12, 2022 by AerionBFII
Spellcheck hates cosmere spellings

[NameIess]

2 hours ago, nmn2 said:

I’m honestly really confused. Have finished the books but I’m more of a casual reader so feel like I might have misunderstood/completely missed the answer. 

Why did the Parshendi want Gavilar dead? 

I think he wanted the return of the Parshendi Gods so the Heralds would be forced to return. Gavilar assumed the Parshendi would be happy with them bringing the Unmade back but they weren’t? 

Was this because Parshendi/council of five feared the Unmade? Or did they know it would lead to another desolation? Why would they not want their own Gods to return? 

The Parshendi are the far-off ancestors of a group of Singers that rebelled against the Fused, going so far as to take up dullform to do so, sacrificing much of their intellectual capacity. Because of this, their culture (as preserved by the songs) is very fearful of their old gods, the Fused. So to answer your question, It was because the Parshendi both feared their gods and knew from the songs that they would bring great destruction.

[Kandrafish]

On 2/27/2022 at 8:51 PM, Nameless said:

The Parshendi are the far-off ancestors of a group of Singers that rebelled against the Fused, going so far as to take up dullform to do so, sacrificing much of their intellectual capacity. Because of this, their culture (as preserved by the songs) is very fearful of their old gods, the Fused. So to answer your question, It was because the Parshendi both feared their gods and knew from the songs that they would bring great destruction.

I think that Nameless means that the Parshendi are the far off descendants of this group of Singers who rebelled against and left the Fused. 

I completely agree with the point Nameless made in that it was because the Parshendi knew that the return of their gods would mean death and destruction. 

The primary reason is that the Parshendi have this cultural fear. It would be similar to someone coming up to you and asking if you wanted an evil talisman of power: "sure you will go straight to hell/ [insert religious damnation here], but you will be so much more powerful." Even the Listeners who didn't believe would still pause because there is a certain power to a cultural taboo.

Ultimately, Gavilar died because he misread the situation and thought that the Parshendi would be power hungry enough to accept his offer.

 

This is a great question, though because I think everyone is a little confused and we are supposed to be. This seems to also be combined with some serious behind the scenes string pulling with Ulim and Nale and maybe Thaidakar or even greater powers. Gavilar's death is very complicated, I think.

[mmcnulty111]

I do agree with Nameless and Kandrafish about the general motives of the Parshendi, but there are a couple of other things to note. The Heralds (or at least some of them) were already attending meetings with Gavilar. That's how Nale new about his plans. Nale then gives Venli the information about Gavilar's plans and the means to assassinate him (Szeth). Venli was already trying to instigate a war between the Parshendi and Humans so the Parshendi would accept forms of power.

Another slight aside is that it is aluded to by Navani that Gavilar's plans were loftier than previously expected when she realised what the Anti-voidlight sphere is: he wanted to kill Rayse and take up the shared of Odium.

[Pseudonymous he/him]

I agree the parshendi wanted old gavilar dead because they feared the return of thier gods. However I wonder, it was described that one of the five heard almost a voice in the rhythms (a void spren, I cannot remember if it was ulim) that led them to buy Seth. Why did the void spren want gavilar dead? I don't remember anything that led me to believe gavilar wanted to take up the shard of odium but definitely had goals of immortality like the heralds he had met. He did seem to be hastening the advent of the everstorm and return of the fused, so why would they want him dead?

[clowncarcrash]

On 2/27/2022 at 2:51 PM, nmn2 said:

As others have said, Galivar's plan to bring back their gods would undermine their entire culture and political structure. They had history recorded through songs that the gods were no good. I'd imagine it was probably forseeable by the listeners that their gods would demand reprisal since they kinda screwed them over. 

 

[Kallor]

On 12/03/2022 at 4:07 PM, AerionBFII said:

Seth was the tool used to execute him by the 5 (leaders of the Parshendi), one of the Parshendi purchased Szeth as he was lead there by the rhythms.. the reason for this is not know as you’d think Odium was wanting another desolation. As a guess I’d say due to Gavilars experiments with the different lights of Roshar and his experiments with Anti-Void light odium considered him a threat so lead them to Szeth. 

 

Multiple factions wanted him dead and he didn’t lack for enemies. He died because the Parshendi did not want to be enslaved and odium saw him as a threat ie Anti voidlight. The Parshendi killed him and odium had a hand in leading them to Szeth. 
 

A lot of Gavilars intentions are still not known, there’s a prevalent theory that he wanted to ascend to become a shard. But it was more of a combination of multiple factors that he was iced.  

I honestly never considered that it was an amalgamation of reasons that Gavilar was murdered. I was always looking for a singular reason. 
 

I agree there were a lot of people who wanted him dead and I can’t say I regret it after finding out how much of an ass he was

[+robardin he/him]

On 3/9/2022 at 1:05 AM, Pseudonymous said:

I agree the parshendi wanted old gavilar dead because they feared the return of thier gods. However I wonder, it was described that one of the five heard almost a voice in the rhythms (a void spren, I cannot remember if it was ulim) that led them to buy Seth. Why did the void spren want gavilar dead? I don't remember anything that led me to believe gavilar wanted to take up the shard of odium but definitely had goals of immortality like the heralds he had met. He did seem to be hastening the advent of the everstorm and return of the fused, so why would they want him dead?

It's not stated but implied that it was Ulim; the prologue to Oathbringer has Eshonai reflecting on the Five's reaction to Gavilar's revelation and claim about restoring "their gods" (the Fused),

Quote

Klade's slave was an assassin. Klade claimed that a voice -  speaking to the rhythms - had led him to the man, who had confessed his skills when pressed. Venli had apparently been with Klade, though Eshonai hadn't seen her sister since earlier in the day.

As to why Odium (via Ulim) would want Gavilar killed? To precipitate the war between Alethkar and the listeners, which would eventually drive the listeners in desperation to embrace forms of power - needing listeners embracing stormform to be able to summon/create the Everstorm.