Middlefest Chicken (Non Stormlight Archives Spoilers)

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

Warning-Sixth of Dusk spoilers to follow. 

 

So I had a crazy thought last night. 

You guys remember that 'chicken' from Chapter 45-Middlefest?

 

 

Shallan poked at the cage, and the colorful creature inside shifted on its perch, cocking its head at her.

It was the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen. It stood on two feet like a person, though its feet were clawed. It was only about as tall as two fists atop one another, but the way it turned its head as it looked at her showed unmistakable personality.

 

 

 

I think that Jeksonofnone might be an Aviar.

 

By the way, that was the last warning. I will not be using spoiler tags from here on out, so if you haven't read Sixth of Dusk and you don't want any spoilers, now is the time to flee while you still can!

 

The first reasoning for this is simply because Roshar doesn't have the environment to support this type of creature. There aren't many flying creatures on Roshar. There are the skyeels, which depend on a spren bond to fly, instead of wings, 'chickens' for eating from Shinovar, Larkins, and apparently this type of 'chicken.'

 

The Larkin and Skyeel are both found outside of Shinovar, and seem to be adapted to the environment enough to live. Ok, we don't know enough about the Larkin for that to be a certainty, but its description matches every other beast on Roshar. The creatures out of Shinovar are incongruent with the rest of the planet though.

 

There have been several theories about horses coming from another world, and I find it likely, which was part of the impetus to this theory. Even Shallan's reaction to it shows how odd it is:

 

 

The thing only had a little bit of shell-on the nose and mouth-but the strangest part was its hair. It had bright green hair that covered its entire body. The hair lay flat as if manicured. As she watched, the creature turned and began to pick at the hair-a large flap of it lifted up, and she could see it grew out of a central spine.

 

Here, Shallan comments on the beak being the only type of shell, because here's an ecosystem that almost dictates that a shell is required. The most common type of plant is even called a rockbud. The next oddity that we can notice is Shallan does not even recognize what a feather is. I understand it is a flashback, but three years doesn't seem too long of a time, especially considering her proclivity towards the natural sciences. 

 

Next in the description, bright green feathers. There's another instance of one of these creatures in WoR in Chapter 55 The Rules of the Game (note it's from Kaladin's perspective this time.)

 

 

...The one she found the most fascinating was also the strangest, a kind of colorful chikcen with red, blue, and green feathers. She dug out colored pencils to do that sketch. Apparently she'd missed a chance at sketching one of these a long time ago.

Kaladin had to admit the thing was pretty. How did it survive though? It had shell on the cery front of its face, but the rest of it wasn't squishy, so it couldn't hide in cracks like the devil rock. What did this chicken do when a storm came?

 

Again, here Kaladin notes just exactly how strange the creature is. But we also get an idea of the color of the feathers, more than just green. Green, red, and blue. There aren't many colorful creatures on Roshar. Iirc the purelake fish are, but not many others. Now compare to Sixth of Dusk:

 

 

...Then, not wanting to pass up the opportunity, he got a few long, bright green and red feathers from his pack. They were mating plumes, which he'd taken from Kokerlii during the Aviar's most recent molting.

 

Bright green, the exact same description Brandon used for the Middlefest chapter, and he even italicized it. Red, noted on the second creature in the menagerie. Very strange and out of place for Roshar. 

 

The size is not very far off from Aviar as well, Shallan, quoted above, states that it is "about as tall as two fists atop one another." From Sixth of Dusk:

 

 

The woman rotated slowly in her net, and he noticed an Aviar clinging to the outside-like his own birds, it was about as tall as three fists atop one another, though this one had subdued white and green plumage.

 

That definitely seems like it is within the standard deviation for the growth range, especially considering how being caged, and in a hostile environment not suited for it, could stunt its growth. 

 

So the descriptions match up.

 

Next, there's the thing's name:

 

 

"Not this breed!" the Thaylen said with a laugh. "Chickens for eating are stupid-this one is smart, almost as smart as a man! It can speak. Listen. Jeksonofnone! Say your name!"

"Jeksonofnone," the creature said.

 

Obviously it is a Shin name from the few precedents we have: Shauka-daughter-Hasweth, and Szeth-Son-Naturo, but there are two things that strike me about it's name. The first is the lack of hyphens, and my hypothesis for that is tied to the second observation. Jek son of none. Son of none? How is that possible? I see two possibilities for this:

 

1. The creature was caught in the wild and traded, so they did not know the parent's name. This seems a little unlikely to me. By calling him 'sonofnone,' that implies to me that there are no parents. So that leads to the second possibility.
2. Jeksonofnone is a worldhopper. He wasn't born on Roshar, and so he doesn't have parents on Roshar, therefore, he is the "son of none." 

Finally, there's the intelligence of the bird. The Aviar, and even Sak, seem to be incredibly intelligent and responsive to events and dialouge throughout the story. Shallan remarks on the personality is has, and it is able to at the very least repeat sound. I'm not entirely convinced that it was just a repeat, or if it was actually responding to the request to say its name. 

 

That's most of the hard evidence that I have, and I have a sub theory based off the assumption that Jeksonofnone is, in fact, and Aviar.

 

 

Shallan jumped back. The word was mangled by the creature's inhuman voice, but it was recognizable. "A Voidbringer!" she hissed, safehand to her chest. "An animal that speaks! You'll bring the eyes of the Unmade upon us!"

The merchant laughed. "These things live all over Shinovar, young lady. If their speech drew the Unmade, the entire country would be cursed!"

 

 

 

As Jasnah points out in the prologue, some superstitions are rooted in fact. So why would Shallan instinctively have the superstition that a talking animal would bring the eyes of the Unmade, unless it was a prevalent and widely accepted superstition. If that's the case, then there is the possibility that it, also, is rooted in fact. 

So why isn't Shin cursed? 

 

Aviar!

 

If enough of the gifted Aviar were able to reside in Shin, and still manifest talents, either through stormlight, or maybe a parasite around a Shardpool there, then their mind protection aura might also work as well on the Unmade. This could be part of the reason that Shin is as much of a paradise as it appears to be. A part of Roshar that in not influenced by the thrill, or any other of the Unmade's mysterious powers. 

I would point out that the Worldhopper Icon is in the title, but Hoid is in both chapters. Whether or not that is significant to the birds is not an assumption that I'm willing to make, but it is a possibility. The birds are mentioned only twice, and both during a time when Hoid is lurking close by. Again, I'm not stating that it is significant, only that it could be significant. 

 

But that's my theory! I really hope this is true too, because that is just an awesome Easter Egg, one that's planted well before anyone could possibly hope to find it. If I get another chance to ask Brandon a question, I'll probably waste it on this instead of learning something important 

Edited August 7, 2014 by EMTrevor

[Quiver he/him]

Huh.

 

Haven't read Sixth (I've been well and truly spoiled by now, I don't care)... but I'll just say that I thought it was a parrot. Bright colored feathers, repeating what it hears?

 

Sounds like a parrot to me.

 

Now, yes, maybe a parrot in Shinovar wouldn't quite fit the environment; I don't think we've seen enough of it to work out what kind of Earth animals would survive there besides horses. But... "It's a parrot" seems like the obvious answer to me.

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

Huh.

 

Haven't read Sixth (I've been well and truly spoiled by now, I don't care)... but I'll just say that I thought it was a parrot. Bright colored feathers, repeating what it hears?

 

Sounds like a parrot to me.

 

Now, yes, maybe a parrot in Shinovar wouldn't quite fit the environment; I don't think we've seen enough of it to work out what kind of Earth animals would survive there besides horses. But... "It's a parrot" seems like the obvious answer to me.

 

Yes, that was my thought when I first read it. But why go with the obvious when you can have so much fun theorizing!

 

Really though, how do we know that Aviar isn't to a parrot what Rhyshadium are to horses? I imagined a parrot type bird when I was reading through Sixth of Dusk. 

 

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Actually Roshar is able to support birds, just not the eastern half.  The west, including areas outside of Shinovar have a variety of bird species.  (Hmm let's see if I can find the WoB...  found it!)

 

 

Q: Are there birds outside of Shinovar on Roshar?

 

A: Yes but they’re all on the western side of the continent. There are no birds in Alethkar and nearby nations other than chickens and other fowl brought from Shinovar.

 

(source)

 

Edit: I totally had more to say, why did I click submit?

 

And anyway, I don't think the timeline works.  Brandon started brainstorming Roshar in 2001, and it would have been "recognizable" (i.e. it resembled the published Roshar) by the time he wrote TWoK Prime in 2002.  Brandon and co. didn't brainstorm Sixth of the Dusk until late 2012, at the earliest.

 

WoK was published in 2009, with Shinovar already existing, I don't think he would have put it in if he didn't have an explanation for how it was possible?  It can't have been the Aviar because he hadn't even thought of them yet.

Edited August 7, 2014 by WeiryWriter

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

Actually Roshar is able to support birds, just not the eastern half.  The west, including areas outside of Shinovar have a variety of bird species.  (Hmm let's see if I can find the WoB...  found it!)

 

 

(source)

 

Edit: I totally had more to say, why did I click submit?

 

 

 

Thanks for the correction on the birds! While writing this I got to wondering how there were archers if the only birds were in Shinovar.

 

 

And anyway, I don't think the timeline works.  Brandon started brainstorming Roshar in 2001, and it would have been "recognizable" (i.e. it resembled the published Roshar) by the time he wrote TWoK Prime in 2002.  Brandon and co. didn't brainstorm Sixth of the Dusk until late 2012, at the earliest.

 

WoK was published in 2009, with Shinovar already existing, I don't think he would have put it in if he didn't have an explanation for how it was possible?  It can't have been the Aviar because he hadn't even thought of them yet.

 

Both of the appearances are in WoR. I'm not sure why that means it couldn't work. Sure, Shinovar existed, but that doesn't mean it can't evolve as he publishes more books. If they were mentioned in WoK I would agree with you (and be really sad that you so effectively and single handedly destroyed my theory,) but it could very easily have been a last minute addition to WoR, especially considering that the instances they are mentioned are only ten paragraphs long combined.

[Argent he/him]

Is it possible? Sure. Likely? Not so much. Occam's razor says this is a parrot, and since Earth-like birds are as rare in Eastern Roshar as pandas are in Western Europe, it is no surprise that both Shallan and Kaladin consider the animals strange. 

 

Also, the Jeksonofnone part, it's in all likelihood an Easter egg for those who have read (parts of) The Way of Kings Prime; Szeth-son-son-Vallano was known as Jeksonsonvallano there (see this blog). 

Edited August 7, 2014 by Argent

[KidWayne he/him]

I was just about to propose this theory, but I found this in a search. Sorry to resurrect a two and a half year old thread, but now that Arcanum Unbounded is out and so many more people have read Sixth of the Dusk I think this deserves a second look.

I thought the "Jeksonofnone" part was a dead giveaway seeing as how it follows the traditional Drominad/First of the Sun naming system. Even if this was an Easter egg for WoK Prime, I don't see that as being mutually exclusive to the possibility that Jeksonofnone is an aviar.

[BlackYeti he/him]

It is not an aviar.

Quote

QUESTION

There is certain type of chicken that makes two appearances in Words of Radiance, is that chicken an Aviar?

BRANDON SANDERSON

No, but good question.

 

[Fifth of Daybreak he/him]

On 12/27/2016 at 3:42 PM, BlackYeti said:

It is not an aviar.

 

Haha that was me asking, but it was when I was away from the forums.