Lightspine Posted January 5, 2023 Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) I've seen the question of how Riina was able to curse somebody as powerful as Hoid so effectively been brought up. Of course, it certainly helps that Hoid was a willing participant and he likely made himself quite vulnerable to make the sort of Connection necessary to making himself an Elantrian. However, I think there might be something more going on behind the scenes of this curse. First of all, let's look at the curse's effects again: Quote “She took my other sense of taste. The important one. And with it went my sense of humor, my sense of decorum, my sense of purpose, and my sense of self. The last one stung the most, since it appears my sense of self is tied directly to my wit. I mean, it’s in the name. As a result, I present you with Hoid, the cabin boy.” Excerpt From: Brandon Sanderson. “Tress of the Emerald Sea.” Apple Books. I think we've actually seen a previous example of an Elantrian losing their sense of self: the Hoed. Now, I'm not saying that Hoid has gone insane under the burden of immense pain or something like that. I don't believe he was Hoed. Rather, I would focus on how this process was reversed. When Raoden drew the Chasm Line and restored the Aon Rao, the Hoed recovered from their condition. This sets a precedent: an Elantrian can regain their mind when they enter the influence of Aon Rao. One of the things which set me down this train of thought were the actions of Shai in TLM, immediately after using her Essence Mark: Quote "The glow started to fade almost immediately, but she knelt on the ground and began drawing with her finger. She consulted the map, and the notations on it that Marasi showed her. She nodded, and light flooded from her, leaving a traced image on the ground. It looked a little like the map—a quick sketch of the Basin, but with a strange rune at the center. Once she finished, her light stabilized, then brightened. She sighed in satisfaction again and stood in the center of the circular drawing of light. Only then did she address Marasi." Excerpt From: The Lost Metal, Chapter 54 I don't think it's controversial to say that Shai drew the Aon Rao, modified to match the geography of the Elendel Basin. I also think it's relatively uncontroversial to say that Riina almost definitely had such an Aon, corresponding the Lumarian geography, somewhere in her tower. Let's look at some descriptions. Quote “She’d entered an all-metal corridor, decorated only by a red carpet down the middle like a tongue. It was inlaid with symbols that a well-traveled person would recognize as Aonic, but that Tress saw as some kind of arcane rune. Which wasn’t too far off.” “Beyond the door, Tress entered a large, circular room with doors at the sides. The chamber had a lived-in look, decorated with the kinds of things that would make a mess if the Sorceress had to leave in haste. Furniture, bookshelves. The floor was still metal—inscribed with a map of the planet—and the lights were still industrial, but she made it look cozy.” “The Sorceress strolled through the center of the circular room, walking across the map of the world inscribed on the floor.” Excerpts From: Brandon Sanderson. “Tress of the Emerald Sea.” Apple Books. I'm especially intrigued by the, perhaps coincidental, way that last quote compares to the description of Shai standing "in the center of the circular drawing of light." Now, also look at the clue that Hoid gives Tress on breaking his curse. Quote “Listen, this is important,” I said to her. “I promise. You must bring me to your planet, Tress. Repeat that.” Excerpt From: Brandon Sanderson. “Tress of the Emerald Sea.” Apple Books. Tress realizes during the final act that this means to bring Hoid to Riina's room, and I don't think that it is a coincidence that the clue is focused on the map on the floor instead of anything else that might be distinctive to the Sorceress' tower. What I propose is this: Hoid's curse is in part broken because he is brought into the influence of the (Lumarian) Aon Rao, restoring his mind and powers as an Elantrian. I'm not saying there's nothing else going on with his curse, just that this may be a factor in how it functioned. Edited January 5, 2023 by Lightspine 5
lacrossedeamon Posted January 8, 2023 Posted January 8, 2023 On 1/4/2023 at 10:24 PM, Lightspine said: I don't think it's controversial to say that Shai drew the Aon Rao, modified to match the geography of the Elendel Basin. I also think it's relatively uncontroversial to say that Riina almost definitely had such an Aon, corresponding the Lumarian geography, somewhere in her tower. Let's look at some descriptions. Another line of note is the Sorceress's Island being described as "suspiciously circular" which I assume plays into the utilization of Aons. I did find it interesting that in the illustration the Aons being used still correspond to Arelon geography. It's also interesting to learn that an Elantrian seems to be able to just make someone else an Elantrian. That seems a bit overpowered but also seems to be a recent discovery otherwise Shai could just have made all the other Ghostbloods Elantrians already.
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