tipbruley Posted March 26, 2012 Posted March 26, 2012 These are open ended questions that really got me thinking. I think there are assumptions we make about desolation that aren't really based on fact, but more conjecture. And if there is anything BS has taught me, it's to not believe something that everyone just assumes. So here are the two important questions for me. 1) What is the difference between past desolations and the "True Desolation"? - Are they in fact related? Could a desolation mean only one thing (the end of the world), and that every time there was a major war or event people falsely remembered it as a desolation? Did past desolations even face the same enemies? It seems that the Heralds fought different creatures than what Dalinar witnessed in his visions, and Jasnah seems to think they are related to the parshmen. In the end Dalinar's vision of the true desolation hints that there wont be a battle for existence, but rather an end to their world. 2) Are we sure Odium has been behind the previous desolations? - This is an extension of the first question. It seems "desolations" have been occurring for an extremely long time, I think probably before Odium even got there. Is it possible that there is something else behind previous desolations which caused men to act with Honor to protect the weak, and in fact Odium simply stopped it in order to get everyone lazy?
anthonydraco Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) #1: I think this Desolation we're about to see is different because of the breaking of the Oathpact. There's no martyr Heralds to bear Mankind's suffering in the Damnation anymore. Not even Talenel. In the prologue, their words indicated that it was an oath taken willingly. A burden. If it's a burden to bear such torment, no one in the right mind would take it unless they get something in return. I would think that they bore the torment so Mankind would stand a chance against each Desolation. Maybe they got the Honorblades, the Dawnshards, or whatever it was that they needed to survive. But they definitely got something in return. Child of Tanavast. Child of Honor. Child of one long since departed.The Oathpact was shattered. Men ride the storms no longer. The Oathpact is broken, child of Honor. Odium Comes. Most dangerous of all the sixteen. You will go now. The 'men ride the storms no longer' is definitely that something in return. Because before the Oathpact is broken, men could still ride the storms. Now... with even Talenel released from the Damnation... that chance is gone. They don't have that something anymore, so now it's the Everstorm, the True Desolation, and the battle for Mankind's existence. #2: I don't think the Desolation came before Odium came here. Remember that the Shards of Adolnasium could bestow life on planets. The Desolation is a war. No life, no war. Odium and Honor came with their respective Shards of Adolnasium, and with them, life. Edited March 27, 2012 by anthonydraco
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