Status of Taravangian's boon/curse

[theSurgeOfPhysics]

So now that Taravangian has Ascended, what happens to his boon/curse? 

If he is free of it, will his release from the boon/curse be his downfall? We know that he lost to Odium merely to save Kharbranth, specifically his own family and grandchildren (whom he also spared of any details concerning his political plotting). Cultivation made it so that his intelligence and empathy would be inversely related on any given day, so if he acts with intellect and empathy/passion, will he break down at the end of Book 5 because of needing to save his grandchildren in one scene? 

We know at the end of RoW, he's drinking in all this power and blinding everything else out, including Cultivation's offer to guide and teach him. So maybe in Book 5, we see that overwhelming amount of knowledge clear up as he accesses his deep emotion for his own family. Selfish, but it might just save Roshar—and "save them all"—from Odium. 

Thoughts?

[alder24]

It's a Rafo from Brandon, as expected

Spoiler

Ted Herman

A certain person went to a certain spren and got a boon and a curse, and later on, very recently, their fortunes have risen very high very fast. Is the boon and curse still in effect? 

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO, but you will get answers in the fifth book about that. Excellent question, but this is a RAFO with a "yes it's coming", not a nebulous RAFO.

JordanCon 2021 (July 17, 2021)

What I think will happen is that his boon and curse will no longer affect him. First, Dalinar's boon and curse stopped "working" during OB, because that was Cultivation's plan. She wanted to help Dalinar move on, became a better person, but also prepare him for Odium's influence and make sure that when the time comes, and Odium wil show Dalinar what he had done, Dalinar will already know this, accept this and be able to resist Odium. Which is precisely what's happened.

Secondly, look at Taravangian after Ascension. He Ascended while being the most passionate and empathetic in his life - this means that he wasn't very intelligent that day, which is confirmed by seeing how hard it was for him to even gather his thoughts. But after he Ascended, he not only quickly evaluated Rayse’s plans, found holes and flaws in them, saw how bad the deal was about the contest of champions and immediately found a loophole that he can use. And then he managed to outsmart Hoid. This clearly suggests to me that his boon and curse is no longer affecting him, similar like it had happened with Dalinar. He clearly looks like he was during his most intelligent days, very fast thinking, plotting and extremely dangerous.

So either his boon and curse was programmed to be removed during his Ascension, or he was flooded with immense power, his soul and mind was vastly expanded and it cleansed him from his boon and curse. It might be also the case that his boon and curse was strictly connected to his body - which he doesn’t have any more.

And from narrative reasons it would be far better if he didn't have his boon and curse any more. It would make him more dangerous, which is the main reason why Brandon decided to switch Rayse for Taravangian.

Now about Kharbranth and his family, I don't think he would care about them that much now. He achieved his goal, he saved Kharbranth. The city is removed from the war theater, and is in no danger anymore. He is however still binded by his deal with Odium, that now he can’t break in fear of being exposed. That’s why I think he will destroy Kharbranth by accident - something will happen to Stormfather, which will cause endless rain, and will flood Roshar and Kharbranth destroying it - this will be interpreted by his power as breaking a deal Odium made with Taravangian, wounding and  exposing Odium to hostile attacks. But that is just my personal theory, inspired by this Death Rattle.

Quote

A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears