[Stormlight 5] The Stormfaker isn't a Cracktheory: The Official Stormfaker's Support Group

[alder24]

9 minutes ago, listerfeend said:

The only one of these that I can see that he is actively changing his mind is the one about Ishar.

You mean refusing to bond and then agreeing to bond a moment later isn't an example of actively changing his mind? It's his choice. He can refuse to bond if he doesn’t want to. 

11 minutes ago, listerfeend said:

I'm hazy on the details of him stopping the Everstorm, but it felt to me more like he couldn't stop them, all he could do was rush the storm that was already on the way, hopefully putting an end to the eternal cycle of war.

The Highstorm wasn't meant to stop them, it was meant to wash away their bodies and hide him from his failure. WoR ch 83:

Quote

THEY CALL FOR A STORM. MY OPPOSITE. DEADLY.
“How do we stop it?”
YOU DON’T.
“There has to be a way!”
I BRING YOU A STORM OF CLEANSING. IT WILL CARRY AWAY YOUR CORPSES. THIS IS ALL I CAN DO.

 

15 minutes ago, listerfeend said:

It seems to me he's required to accept oaths made in earnest and in the correct manner. In the scene with Dalinar, he didn't want to be bonded, but the Connection was there and the Oaths were made correctly. He didn't want Syl to go back Kal, but he couldn't stop her.

In the case of Dalinar it's his choice. He can refuse, if he doesn't want to. He has free will. In Syl's case he didn't have a choice, but he still lied to Kaladin about her being dead.

WoR ch 74:

Quote

YOU HAVE KILLED HER. The voice shook everything. It was as if . . . as if the shaking of the plateau and his own body made the sounds for the voice.
“No,” Kaladin whispered. “No!”
IT HAPPENED AS IT ONCE DID, the Stormfather said, angry. A human emotion. Kaladin recognized it. MEN CANNOT BE TRUSTED, CHILD OF TANAVAST. YOU HAVE TAKEN HER FROM ME. MY BELOVED ONE.
The face seemed to withdraw, fading.
“Please!” Kaladin screamed. “How can I fix it? What can I do?”
IT CANNOT BE FIXED. SHE IS BROKEN. YOU ARE LIKE THE ONES WHO CAME BEFORE, THE ONES WHO KILLED SO MANY OF THOSE I LOVE. FAREWELL, SON OF HONOR. YOU WILL NOT RIDE MY WINDS AGAIN.

He didn't fully kill her, he didn't break his Oaths, he didn't take Syl from the Stormfather, it could have been fixed, he wasn't like the one that killed so many of others. Lies. Syl was almost dead, but not fully, his Oaths weren't broken yet, Syl was kept away from Kal by the Stormfather, he forced her to be obedient. 

26 minutes ago, listerfeend said:

He didn't specifically hide that Dalinar could use Connection to speak other languages, Dalinar never asked. There is a big difference between not volunteering information, and actively hiding it. 

Well, Dalinar did ask and he tried to avoid answering it, when he was confronted he "rumbled in discontent." The exact situation happened when Dalinar questioned him if he could see Heralds. 

[teknopathetic he/him]

Possible New Suspect for StormFaker?

Stormlight 5 Shallan Preview Chapters

Spoiler

Is the Stormfaker Ba Ado Mishram zooming in from the Spirtual Realm Prison?

The biggest complaint people seem to have about the StormFaker is "Who Could Connect Like the Stormfather?"

Well, we have one major famous connector: Ba Ado Mishram. When I thought she was locked in a gem I kind of discounted her, but throw in the fact she is also in the Spiritual Realm, and maybe just maybe she is able to influence Roshar in subtle weird-magic ways.

Bo Ado Mishram would be someone who might be able to do things similar to what the Stormfather can do. She specializes in connection, and perhaps she found a way to connect through the Stormfather. Ba Ado Mishram had a special connection to all spren, so she may have enough connection to piggyback off of the Stormfather and then to the proto-bondsmith Gavilar. 

Also, seeing as the Stormfather is sending visions to people, perhaps that allowed Ba Ado Mishram to slide into the connection? Perhaps the Perpendicularity of Stormlight also allowed her some wiggle room? 

Ba Ado Mishram also specializes in the connections of spren, and if the heralds are truly spren now, then perhaps the true-death of a herald is something she may have experienced? or, perhaps, her strong connection to the Stormfather and the piggyback process caused some reverberations? 

In terms of motive, I could see Ba Ado Mishram trying to create new heralds that may end up helping release her. I have always been suspicious that Ba Ado Mishram may have been the original 10th herald that Taln eventually ended up taking the place of. Either way, Ba Ado Mishram may have a strong working knowledge of how Heralds are created, and she may have very much wanted a herald of her own to connect with or manipulate. 

Ba Ado Mishram would also be extremely interested in restoring the Parshendi, bringing voidlight, and establishing connections at long distances. In terms of the special projects Gavilar was doing, these could all potentially be beneficial to Ba Ado Mishram. 

And lastly, the Stormfaker is just so ... dickish. They seem so unlike honour and so much like an Odium spren. I could see Ba Ado Mishram having a personality closer to an Odium spren and speaking to humans much like the Stormfaker speaks to Gavilar. 

 

Edited June 4, 2024 by teknopathetic

[Isilel]

16 hours ago, teknopathetic said:

Spoiler

In terms of motive, I could see Ba Ado Mishram trying to create new heralds that may end up helping release her.

 

But

Spoiler

Stormfaker was shocked and horrified when Gavilar revealed his plan to give in immediately once on Braize. And abandoned him. Wouldn't BAM have been delighted? 

Personally, I still think that it was Tanavast's cognitive shadow. It always seemed weird to me that all other cognitive shadows except for Threnody's shades retain their personality, but Tanavast's didn't. IMHO, due to Stormfather already having a personality of his own and his desire to hide from Odium, Tanavast hid his consciousness in SF's and emerges only rarely. Because of how disastrous his handling of Gavilar turned to be, he handed off the attempt with Dalinar to SF, who is likely unaware of his passenger and of the events that happen when the latter is in control. 

BTW, do we need to spoiler things in this thread?

 

[therunner he/him]

5 hours ago, Isilel said:

But

  Reveal hidden contents

Stormfaker was shocked and horrified when Gavilar revealed his plan to give in immediately once on Braize. And abandoned him. Wouldn't BAM have been delighted? 

Personally, I still think that it was Tanavast's cognitive shadow. It always seemed weird to me that all other cognitive shadows except for Threnody's shades retain their personality, but Tanavast's didn't. IMHO, due to Stormfather already having a personality of his own and his desire to hide from Odium, Tanavast hid his consciousness in SF's and emerges only rarely. Because of how disastrous his handling of Gavilar turned to be, he handed off the attempt with Dalinar to SF, who is likely unaware of his passenger and of the events that happen when the latter is in control. 

 

Spoiler

Well, BAM may not be Team Honor, but that does not mean she is Team Odium.

Herald breaking would start Desolation, and let Odium play active role on Roshar, something BAM might be against.

 

[teknopathetic he/him]

3 hours ago, therunner said:

  Hide contents

Well, BAM may not be Team Honor, but that does not mean she is Team Odium.

Herald breaking would start Desolation, and let Odium play active role on Roshar, something BAM might be against.

 

Agreed. BAM may have liked her autonomy. Seeing as some of the other unmade are actively opposing Odium, BAM might be on that side of the fence as well. 

Edit: I wasnt sure if i should put pre-release chapters in spoilers but I thought that sounded safer. 

Edited June 5, 2024 by teknopathetic

[Could Be Fire]

On 5/12/2022 at 12:36 PM, teknopathetic said:

And this is the part of the theory that is the most open to criticism. When Jezrian waits for Kelek, h says "we were not certain if you had survived".

I know that the text of the prologue goes against the Ishar!Stormfaker theory but if you read into it a bit, I think it actually could suggest that Ishar is able to sense if the heralds are dead.

I haven't really seen people talk about just how wild this comment from Jezrain is in the context of what we're told the heralds decision was. Abandoning the oathpact while uncertain if Kelek was on Braize makes no sense. This is the guy who is magically compelled to run away, arguably the most likely herald to break. I think this is supposed to be a red flag.

We're told that their justification was that they keep breaking at shorter and shorter intervals, and that Taln was the only one who had never broken so it would be better for everyone (but Taln lol) for just him to hold the Pact. If they really thought Kelek might also be dead, then they had to have thought that Kalak was equally as likely as Taln to hold out indefinitely. Otherwise they're all back in the same exact same situation in a couple months except with an extremely betrayed Taln and Kelek around as well.

The most logical explanation based on what we know is that one of the Heralds would have had to convince the others that Kalak was a good candidate to be left behind, while they themselves knew that he wasn't actually dead.

Ishar is the obvious answer for who could do that. We know the other herald's trust and believe him basically blindly. He also is the only one who has a believable explanation for the ability to sense the heralds status as an OG bondsmith. Ishar also is the mostly likely to know of Kalak's madness even if Kelek was trying hiding it from the other heralds, so therefore the least likely the abandon the oathpact with Kalak's status uncertain. As for Ishar lying to the other heralds, he's clearly got some complexity to him even pre-insanity, this is the dude that originally associated with Odium and caused the destruction of Ashlyn even if was by accident.

Or maybe the heralds were just crazy and traumatized enough to abandon the oathpact under any circumstances  ¯\_(:/)_/¯

[Belgarad]

What if some cognitive remnant of Tanavast, we do know a bunch of his investiture merged with the Stormfather, was more in control of the process with Gavilar than Dalinar?  Maybe after his failure with Gavilar he chose to "take his hand off of the wheel" and let the spren decide.  

[+Child of Hodor]

On 6/8/2024 at 3:42 PM, Belgarad said:

What if some cognitive remnant of Tanavast, we do know a bunch of his investiture merged with the Stormfather, was more in control of the process with Gavilar than Dalinar?  Maybe after his failure with Gavilar he chose to "take his hand off of the wheel" and let the spren decide.  

That's where I'm at. The entity is both the Spren that existed previously and the cognitive shadow of Tanavast. SA5 Prologue:

Spoiler

 I feel…you are not the one that I need. That I decided to find.

“You said that you were charged with this task,” Gavilar said. “By Honor" ...

That is true. I do not speak in human ways. 

He's the ghost of the guy that gave the order and the spren that received the order. 

There's that moment in the SA 5 prologue where Gavilar looks into Stormfather's eyes and see Roshar from space. A view that the Spren would not have since it rides the storms it's never been in space (that we know of  ). This was more of a God's eye view similar to the scene where Dalinar sees Odium and Dalinar's standing on a tiny Roshar looking into space at Odium. 

Spoiler

Those eyes seemed to pull Gavilar forward, to overwhelm him, to consume him. He’d never seen anything like this before. He… He saw storms, endless storms, and a world so frail. A tiny speck of blue in against an infinite canvas of black.

I think Tanavast's only interactions with Dalinar (aside from the visions) is to occasionally pipe up and say "Unite Them" to him. 

Edited June 11, 2024 by Child of Hodor

[Isilel]

1 hour ago, Child of Hodor said:

I think Tanavast's only interactions with Dalinar (aside from the visions) is to occasionally pipe up and say "Unite Them" to him. 

 

I think that he may have been masquerading as Nohadon in the changed vision. Hoid did say that Tanavast had been a fun fellow to go out for a drink with...

[Hoid’s #1 Soldier]

The following is complete conjecture and I am okay with it being provably wrong. I might have missed a WOB that ruins this, I can't say for sure. 

I have an idea I just came up with as I read through this theory. It's been awhile since I've looked into Rhythm of War (I read it back when it had just came out), so apologies if I am misremembering. But I am thinking about the WOB where Brandon mentions that a Cognitive Shadow such as Kelsier could bond with someone in place of a spren. Where I am going with this is that a Herald, maybe, unconfirmed, could probably also supplement a spren in the bond. I think what Gavilar had with Ishar was one such bond-- a slight bond where Ishar used his Bondsmith powers, alongside his place as a Cognitive Shadow, to form a bond with Gavilar.

Similar to how spren gain intelligence the longer they are involved with their knight, I think that the same would then apply to Ishar; Ishar was able to be intelligent enough to plan and be more coherent. And, of course, after Gavilar dies, I think the Connection impacted Ishar, which brought him back to being insane again. 

[boolamoo]

So I'm actually a Stormfather believer, but I love the theory. I just can't get over Gavilar's glimpse of the Stormfather being so similar to a description of a shard. I'm of the belief we're dealing with the differences between Stormfather True and Tanafather. However, there's one piece of evidence that I haven't seen brought up in favor of stormfaker that needs to be addressed. 

Why weren't there any rumors of Gavilar going mad at the end? Everyone talked of him becoming more religious,  but not mad. Why weren't his visions making him thrash and babble in highstorms before he could ask for them?

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

6 hours ago, boolamoo said:

Why weren't there any rumors of Gavilar going mad at the end? Everyone talked of him becoming more religious,  but not mad. Why weren't his visions making him thrash and babble in highstorms before he could ask for them?

That is actually a really interesting question. Dalinar couldn't control them until he spoke The Words, yet Gavilar never did but controlled them.

Except he didn't, the Stormfather did, maybe the reason why the Visions couldn't be controlled by Dalinar at first was because the Stormfather was trying to keep his involvement hidden from Dalinar at first? Just forcing him into a Vision every time he passed by without warning or explanation?

[Could Be Fire]

On 6/17/2024 at 5:10 PM, boolamoo said:

I'm of the belief we're dealing with the differences between Stormfather True and Tanafather.

Honestly, I think this is the most likely.

If we're trying to think of candidates (other than a remnant of Tanavast or Ishar), I think Cultivation and BAM are the only others with the Connection capabilities on Roshar that we know of to pull off what we see.

But we know so little about the personalities/motivations of any of the candidates that it's hard to judge who it might. There are some key points for me about what the prologue Stormfather says/wants that might give clues as we see more about them:

• Claims to be searching for a replacement Herald and swearing the words will make Gavilar one (not a Radiant)
  • Says it "decided to find" but at moments seems unsure of their selection, almost as if they don't understand why they're doing what they're doing.
• Directly lied to Gavilar, telling him that Kalak is lying about being a herald and that that heralds are fufilling the Oathpact on Braize.
  • Can't really figure out the motivation for this. I almost think it implies that Stormfaker does genuinely want Gavilar to want to be a herald? Maybe he's worried he would get scared off if he realized just how cray cray the Heralds truly became.
• Approves of bringing back the Voidbringers (with the excuse of the Radiants needing someone to fight)
  • "You will need someone to fight, should you take the position I'm offering you". This feels important. Maybe a hint that whatever's behind the Stormfaker is a mix of Odium/Honor because this reads like a very War-like Intent.

Gavilar was really getting up to stuff though. I think another interesting thing in the prologue is that Ghostbloods actually got in contact first and pushed him to go after the Sons of Honor.

[Use the Falchion]

On 6/4/2024 at 10:34 AM, teknopathetic said:

Possible New Suspect for StormFaker?

Stormlight 5 Shallan Preview Chapters

  Reveal hidden contents

Is the Stormfaker Ba Ado Mishram zooming in from the Spirtual Realm Prison?

The biggest complaint people seem to have about the StormFaker is "Who Could Connect Like the Stormfather?"

Well, we have one major famous connector: Ba Ado Mishram. When I thought she was locked in a gem I kind of discounted her, but throw in the fact she is also in the Spiritual Realm, and maybe just maybe she is able to influence Roshar in subtle weird-magic ways.

Bo Ado Mishram would be someone who might be able to do things similar to what the Stormfather can do. She specializes in connection, and perhaps she found a way to connect through the Stormfather. Ba Ado Mishram had a special connection to all spren, so she may have enough connection to piggyback off of the Stormfather and then to the proto-bondsmith Gavilar. 

Also, seeing as the Stormfather is sending visions to people, perhaps that allowed Ba Ado Mishram to slide into the connection? Perhaps the Perpendicularity of Stormlight also allowed her some wiggle room? 

Ba Ado Mishram also specializes in the connections of spren, and if the heralds are truly spren now, then perhaps the true-death of a herald is something she may have experienced? or, perhaps, her strong connection to the Stormfather and the piggyback process caused some reverberations? 

In terms of motive, I could see Ba Ado Mishram trying to create new heralds that may end up helping release her. I have always been suspicious that Ba Ado Mishram may have been the original 10th herald that Taln eventually ended up taking the place of. Either way, Ba Ado Mishram may have a strong working knowledge of how Heralds are created, and she may have very much wanted a herald of her own to connect with or manipulate. 

Ba Ado Mishram would also be extremely interested in restoring the Parshendi, bringing voidlight, and establishing connections at long distances. In terms of the special projects Gavilar was doing, these could all potentially be beneficial to Ba Ado Mishram. 

And lastly, the Stormfaker is just so ... dickish. They seem so unlike honour and so much like an Odium spren. I could see Ba Ado Mishram having a personality closer to an Odium spren and speaking to humans much like the Stormfaker speaks to Gavilar. 

 

Spoiler

After reading the chapters, my initial thought was that BAM was in charge of the "Unite Them" visions, not the Stormfaker. Being in the Spiritual Realm, being able to Connect people, hosting visions that no one can really describe or even perceive, it makes sense to me. 

 

 

On 6/17/2024 at 5:10 PM, boolamoo said:

Why weren't there any rumors of Gavilar going mad at the end? Everyone talked of him becoming more religious,  but not mad. Why weren't his visions making him thrash and babble in highstorms before he could ask for them?

Isn't it mentioned that he has people watching the doors? Gavilar was also just really good at hiding his associations to people and things. His family didn't know half of what he was up to, and no one outside of Navani knew a fraction of what he thought, for better or for worse. 

Gavilar also didn't have a complete 180 in his character during these visions. Part of the reason people thought Dalinar was going mad was because of his adherence to the Codes in a way no Alethi really cared about right after his brother's death, and his supposed complete character shift alongside that. (Talking about honor considering his past and the like.) 

[alder24]

Wind and Truth prologue just dropped and while reading it I couldn't stop myself from comparing this new version to the old one. There are some minor changes to the text that have some significance for this theory, so I thought I would list everything I've catched, for all to see. Spoiler box to keep it short:

Spoiler

1). The Stormfather clearly states he's seeing a champion, not a replacement for Heralds.

Quote

Old:

If they had been entirely truthful in their lives, the Stormfather said, then I would not be seeking their replacements.

New:

If they had been entirely truthful, the Stormfather said, then I would not be seeking a new champion.

2). 

Quote

Old:

Your colleagues only if you can find the Words.

New:

Your colleagues? Do not get ahead of yourself, Gavilar. Find the Words.

3). Gavilar was not told by the Stormfather that he will become a Herald, that's only his assumptions:

Quote

Old:

When he found the right ones, he would be accepted into the Oathpact, and ascend beyond mortality. 

New:

With them, he would become the Stormfather’s champion—and, he had deduced, something more. Gavilar suspected he would be accepted into the Oathpact and ascend beyond mortality. 

4). Once again the Stormfather claims he's searching for a champion only and that he didn't promise Gavilar he will become a Herald.

Quote

Old:

And you are willing to accept the cost? Everyone you know will be dust by the time you return.

New:

I have not promised you this boon. You guess it is what I offer, but I seek only a champion. Still, tell me, would you accept the cost of becoming a Herald? Everyone you know would be dust by the time you returned.

5). Minor change, but it seems the Stormfather didn't try to use religion to manipulate Gavilar - in this instance.

Quote

Old:

Never knowing that Gavilar himself had become familiar with the Stormfather, who had told him the truth. That the Heralds had all long since returned to fight on Damnation.

New:

The little man didn’t know Gavilar had become familiar with the Stormfather, who had told him the truth: that the Heralds had all long since died and gone to Braize.

6). Again, the champion thing.

Quote

Old:

Opposition, sometimes, is needed, the Stormfather said. You will need someone to fight, should you take the position I am offering you.

New:

Opposition is sometimes needed, the Stormfather said. You will need someone to fight, should you become champion.

7).

Quote

Old:

“Give it to me,” Gavilar said. “Now. I need it.”

New:

“Give it to me,” Gavilar said. “Now. Make me a Herald. I need it.”

 8).

Quote

Old:

You do not consider with reverence the position you seek, the Stormfather said. I feel...you are not the one that I need. That I decided to find.

New:

You do not reverence the position you seek, the Stormfather said. I feel… you are not the champion I need. Maybe… I’ve been wrong all this time.

 9). Three dots are missing, but the Herald remains.

Quote

Old:

That is true. I do not speak in human ways. But still, once you are a...Herald, you will need to leave everything you know. You will be given up to torture between Returns. Why is it this doesn’t bother you?

New:

That is true. I do not speak in human ways. But still, if you become a Herald, you will be tortured between Returns. Why is it this doesn’t bother you?

 10). He's not a thing anymore!

Quote

Old:

The biggest fool of them all, the Stormfather said. And the thing that has miscalculated. Goodbye, Gavilar. I have seen a glimpse of what is coming. And I will not prevent it.

New:

The biggest fool of them all, the Stormfather said. Goodbye, Gavilar. I have seen a glimpse of what is coming. I will not prevent it.

 11). This time Gavilar recognized Jez's blade.

Quote

Old:

Gavilar blinked, focusing on him again as the man’s Blade formed.

New:

Gavilar blinked, focusing on the man once more as his Blade formed. Storms… that was Jezrien’s Honorblade, wasn’t it? What was happening?

 

There were also other changes, but unrelated to this theory and there might be things I've missed.

My opinion of this is that I think the Stormfaker theory is a little less likely with this new version. The Stormfather times and times again reaffirms that he's looking for a champion - not a Herald - and it was clearly stated that he never offered Gavilar this position, it was always Gavilar's assumptions. This is exactly what Honor tried to say in his vision, finding a champion is a way to go, so maybe the Stormfather tried to do it on his own, instead of letting humans decide and getting bound to them? Anyway, Dalinar is on his way to become a champion, so this seems very consistent. 

Then they've drifted into a hypothetical discussion of consequences of becoming a Herald (point 4), which returned back in very weird circumstances later on (point 9). Gavilar recognized Jezrien's Honorblade, which puts to rest speculations that his visions were fabricated - they were the same Dalinar saw. 

Still, the weirdness remains. This Stormfather lied about the fate of Heralds (although he didn't use Vorin belief that Heralds are fighting in Damnation, he simply told they died and are there), he still accepted that Voidbringers have to return and the conversation around point 9 is still very weird. I was almost ready to argue that it's just a continuation of the previous hypothetical discussion, but the Stormfather went from "I'm searching for a champion" to "if you become a Herald" in a blink of an eye. He changed the subject to talk about becoming a Herald, a discussion they had at the beginning of the prologue, a long time ago from the perspective of them both. That's suspicious. Maybe he simply tried to avoid talking about his failure, with which he seemed to had trouble accepting ("Maybe… I’ve been wrong all this time"), or maybe there is a secret here. We might know this soon, with releases of Dalinar's chapters - we shall see.

What do you think of those changes in relation to the Stormfaker theory?

[Kesamijr]

Here after the official real chapter and agree with @alder24 above, was very pro-Stormfaker and am less so now. My headcanon was always that it was a combination of Stormfather and someone manipulating Gav and SF’s Connection. Because we see Ishar do exactly that in RoW I kind of tunnel visioned on him, but this prologue made me rethink that somewhat? I think it could also be BAM considering connections that aren’t supposed to happen are her literal area of specialty, though idk how she’d do it locked in a gemstone. She’s also the only candidate to never again work with a Kholin of any of the potential candidates imo. And she (potentially) solves one of the biggest holes in the Ishar is Stormfaker theory: feeling when a Herald dies. We see in the preface evidence against Heralds being able to tell when another of their kind dies normally (though it could be something missed in the heat of battle or a result of Ishar’s specific connection to the Oathpact) but it makes sense to me that either Unmade or Fused would be able to tell when a Herald dies. Which leads me to maybe consider El as well? Especially cuz he was punished for the cryptic ways he tried to “unite” humans?
 

This version and its focus on the “champion” also made me consider people who really benefit from the contest of champions happening, namely Wit and Odium. Both work with Kholins after this and tend to be notable on screen for one reason or another so I find both to be unlikely. I also know Vasher would stand to gain from Odium being trapped on Roshar but none of these characters fit a lot of the rest of the criteria. 
 

Ishar and BAM are still top of my list but have any other candidates been considered? And has anyone pitched my “it’s half stormfatehr half ishar manipulating connection” theory before? I’m less of a deep cosmere scholar than a lot of people on here so interested to see what discourse has been had!:)

[Display-Names-Are-Stupid]

The Stormfather merged with Tanavast's cognitive shadow, could it be that at this time there was just more of Tanavast present 7.5 years ago, but he has been fading and by the time we get to WoK he is more dissipated? 

[BinarySecond]

I've been an audiobook enjoyer for all my Cosmere experience. But I am aware the Stormfather has a particular font and style in the books; can any conclusion be drawn from the written prologue we have now been blessed with?

 

The only thing I can think of presently is regarding the repeated mention of Champion, that Odium seeks a champion.

 

Particularly this line "He has potential you do not see, that one." But maybe I'm just a Stormfauxther die hard and won't accept the truth in front of me.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

1 minute ago, BinarySecond said:

I've been an audiobook enjoyer for all my Cosmere experience. But I am aware the Stormfather has a particular font and style in the books; can any conclusion be drawn from the written prologue we have now been blessed with?

Generally when he's talking mentally it's italics with the occasional small caps when he feels like being extra dramatic, which fits with the prologue. When he's talking "out loud" he uses small caps all the time, but we don't see anywhere that would be relevant in the prologue to tell if this Stormfather would do the same or not.

 

[BinarySecond]

36 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

Generally when he's talking mentally it's italics with the occasional small caps when he feels like being extra dramatic, which fits with the prologue. When he's talking "out loud" he uses small caps all the time, but we don't see anywhere that would be relevant in the prologue to tell if this Stormfather would do the same or not.

 

Thanks! I've just about finished the prologue on Reactor - I'm doubling down - this isn't the Stormfather. Too many things about this entity just don't fit with the Stormfather's behaviour/personality.

I don't remember Vasher in the previous reading but that is so exciting to read.

Saw a thought on reddit; any chance of Cultivation having a hand in any of this?

Edited July 30, 2024 by BinarySecond
Avoiding double posting

[Chana]

I think to me the most suspicious thing about the entity is that it seems to be guiding Gavilar away from the actual words of the first ideal:

Quote

Gavilar added, quoting The Way of Kings, “then I would do so having lived my life right. It is not the destination that matters, but how one arrives there.”

These words are not accepted, the spren said. Guessing will not bring you to the Words, Gavilar.

And the ones that they did seem to like seemed much more Odium-like filled with passion:

Quote

“Give it to me,” Gavilar said. “Now. Make me a Herald. I need it.”

The Stormfather turned a shimmering head in his direction. That was almost them.

“What, those?” Gavilar said. “A demand?”

So close. And so far.

I've seen some speculate that the point was that the demand was close because that was the most honest Gavilar has been in this prologue but that's still odd to me. While Stormfather can be quite unhelpful it still seems weird. Since in this version of the prologue the entity is no longer promising making Gavilar a Herald it's not like they're looking for words for Gavilar to join the oathpact so the most obvious direction for me would be that they are trying to get Gavilar to be some sort of Odium knight radiant.

[therunner he/him]

As most of the above, I too do think Stormfaker theory is less likely, if not entirely refuted.

Personally I am leaning towards this being Stormfather, but with more of Tanavast shining through at moments, like when talking about Heralds as his champions (by implication).

[Cash67]

My gosh it's been 2 years since the first prolouge draft came out?!

[teknopathetic he/him]

This new reading seems to make the theory a bit less likely. Changing things from herald to champion make it more possible for this to be the same entity that Dalinar meets

 

However, Brandon seems to be trying be less obvious about Chana here, so maybe he is trying to hide the StormFaker a bit more too. 

Edited July 30, 2024 by teknopathetic

[teknopathetic he/him]

Interesting that we now have been introduced to a new god: The Wind.

I am not saying The Wind is the Stormfaker, but it seems there may be more gods out there than we realized. I know some people didn't like the Stormfaker idea because they didn't want new entities being dropped into the plot, but man do we ever have the opportunity for new godlike entities now! 

I don't get the the impression that The Stormfaker is The Wind. But seeing as there are Gods with overlapping portfolios, what the Stormfather is could be even more complex. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by teknopathetic