Why was Szeth told to be seen killing Gavilar?

[Munazir]

Have we been told the answer and I didn’t understand or is the answer in OB or RoM.

[+Kolten]

I was always under the impression that it was a Singer cultural thing, similar to how he was told to wear white to "not blend in with the night". 

[Quantus he/him]

47 minutes ago, Kolten said:

I was always under the impression that it was a Singer cultural thing, similar to how he was told to wear white to "not blend in with the night". 

This was it, both part of the same thing.  Taravangian kept it up later on as part of the Assassin in White terror he was trying to inspire.  

[That1Cellist he/him]

On 9/13/2022 at 0:20 PM, Kolten said:

I was always under the impression that it was a Singer cultural thing, similar to how he was told to wear white to "not blend in with the night". 

Spoiler

That sounds right to me. The Parhsendi also, I think, thought that all the other people knew what Gavilar was doing. By killing him with Szeth using those instructions, the people would know the Parshendi had killed Gavilar. From the Parshendi, this is a defiant statement. They, at this point, do not want to return to their gods, and are willing to kill their supposed allies if something goes afoul.

Eh. sorry about that, I didn't notice.

Edited September 14, 2022 by That1Cellist

[Treamayne]

6 hours ago, That1Cellist said:

That sounds right to me.

OP asked for no spoilers on Oathbringer and RoW - you may want to spoiler tag the rest of that comment, please.

8 hours ago, Munazir said:

Have we been told the answer and I didn’t understand or is the answer in OB or RoM.

7 hours ago, Kolten said:

I was always under the impression that it was a Singer Listener (Parshendi) cultural thing, similar to how he was told to wear white to "not blend in with the night". 

Yes, it was a Parshendi "thing" - you get minor details in Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. Prologue to Oathbringer gives more information, but you don't get the whole reason why until Rhythm of War Flashback sequences.

RoW:

Spoiler

For those that want to the reference - Ch 68 is where they explain that with the Listener population so low, they chose specific colors of clothes to indicate things like trade, messages. . . and attacks (White) - so that a non-combat interaction would not accidentally result in a fight (kind of the opposite of IRL "white flag of truce/parlay").

Notably:

Spoiler

As they approached the city, she could see the rival family mustered outside the gateway, lifting spears and making challenges and taunts. They wore white, of course. It was how one knew an attack was happening, rather than a request for trade or other interaction.