the Rift (fan headcanon theory)

[tim.D]

Why I think Gavilar was behind the trap a the Rift: 

• He was scared of Dalinar, especialy after the deadstare.
• he doens't need him anymore after. he was king and secure. 
• Tanalan was acting strange before the battle.
• Its implide that he had the support of someone highup like a highprince. (i say the king)
• Tanalan didn't want to give the name of his benifactor at first. 
• Gavilar is very manipulative.
• When Sadeas arrives, he is hell bent on destrucion of the whole city.
• The scouts betrayed Dalinar and I dont think Tanalan has that kind of power or influence. (but Gavilar does, He also has spies in his army becouse he knows of Evi dead) (The most loyal army solders to Dalinar all died)

I think Gavilar made a deal with Tanalan to kill his brother, the murderer of his father who stole his birthright. And after join the kindom. But Tanalan was suprised by the peaceful and honorable  conversation to stop the war. That is why he was acting strange. But he still wanted him dead, and he made a deal with the king so he had to follow though. Dalinar wouldn't belive him if he was honest anyway, and would likely get angry like he did when he said that Sadeas was helping him. But at the same time Gavilar didn't want anyone to know of this, so he order Sadeas to arrive later (after the dead) and make exemple of those who opposed him as king, to cover up his involvement. 

We need to see Gavilar more like Sadeas. manipulative, ambitious, scheming, exz 

[bmcclure7]

49 minutes ago, tim.D said:

Why I think Gavilar was behind the trap a the Rift: 

• He was scared of Dalinar, especialy after the deadstare.
• he doens't need him anymore after. he was king and secure. 
• Tanalan was acting strange before the battle.
• Its implide that he had the support of someone highup like a highprince. (i say the king)
• Tanalan didn't want to give the name of his benifactor at first. 
• Gavilar is very manipulative.
• When Sadeas arrives, he is hell bent on destrucion of the whole city.
• The scouts betrayed Dalinar and I dont think Tanalan has that kind of power or influence. (but Gavilar does, He also has spies in his army becouse he knows of Evi dead) (The most loyal army solders to Dalinar all died)

I think Gavilar made a deal with Tanalan to kill his brother, the murderer of his father who stole his birthright. And after join the kindom. But Tanalan was suprised by the peaceful and honorable  conversation to stop the war. That is why he was acting strange. But he still wanted him dead, and he made a deal with the king so he had to follow though. Dalinar wouldn't belive him if he was honest anyway, and would likely get angry like he did when he said that Sadeas was helping him. But at the same time Gavilar didn't want anyone to know of this, so he order Sadeas to arrive later (after the dead) and make exemple of those who opposed him as king, to cover up his involvement. 

We need to see Gavilar more like Sadeas. manipulative, ambitious, scheming, exz 

I think you might be right. 

[+mdross81 he/him]

Good theory @tim.D It does seem fairly plausible.

From a meta perspective, though, I wonder how we would ever learn about this since it seems like everyone who might know is dead.

I actually wonder this more broadly about all of Gavilar’s scheming. Dude had his fingers in so many pots, but we still know so little about what all he was doing. Assuming Gavilar really died (which I’m still not entirely sold  on, but let’s go with it for argument’s sake) through which character’s POV or flashbacks will we get more info about what Gavilar was up to?

[Anomander Rake he/him]

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

Dude had his fingers in so many pots, but we still know so little about what all he was doing.

Now all I can think about is Gavilar and Kel playing Cat's Cradle with the Cosmere as the string XD

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

which character’s POV or flashbacks will we get more info about what Gavilar was up to?

Being that we waited 5 books to get one storming prologue in his shoes, I'd not be upset if he was an ancillary flashback character, giving us a few quick glimpses of his doings.  If not him, I'm not sure, but I hope we do get some of those details!

Edited April 22, 2022 by Anomander Rake

[Rg2045]

And it could make sense why he never tried anything again. Dalinar was truly broken, and was way easier to manipulate now

[+mdross81 he/him]

2 hours ago, Rg2045 said:

And it could make sense why he never tried anything again. Dalinar was truly broken, and was way easier to manipulate now

Yup. Not only was he devastated by what happened with Evi, he lost his top 100 elites as well. The more I think about this, the more this theory makes sense.

[Darth_Hel]

Todium might be a good one to reveal this to Dalinar if it played into his plans. Between Odium's powers and the diagram, its possible he would know/guess.