Nale is an agent of Cultivation?

[Ninth of the Night]

I don't recall if this was ever discussed at all -- though it must have been, sorry I missed it if that's the case.

We know Cultivation probably had Nightblood in possession at one point (or at least access to him) as the Nightwatcher offered it as a boon when Dalinar visited. Then we know Nale suddenly has it ready to pass on to Szeth. Who then conveniently ended up in just the right place for Cultivation's pawn, Taravangian, to wield the sword's uncanny ability to kill a Vessel, taking the Shard of Odium unto himself.

So this wouldn't be possible unless either 1) Cultivation planned this down to the letter, meaning Nale was acting on her behalf. Or 2) Cultivation has a crazy amount of Fortune and simply knew which pieces of the puzzle to subtly prune in order for them to all fall in the correct places.

I'm increasingly growing suspicious of her lately. Not saying I agree with the theories that she could be the true "villain", but that doesn't mean she's all that great either. It doesn't seem like she sincerely cares about the people of Roshar.

Then there's that bit from Sunlit Man, where Sigzil says he'd "settle for no gods intentionally thwarting [him] for once", plural gods. Seems clear to me that he's had trouble with more Shards other than just Odium.

Maybe Cultivation isn't working with Odium, but I don't think she's truly working against him either. I'm starting to believe that all Shards are bad...

Anyway I realize I went off on a tangent and completely forgot about Nale (ADHD is fun). Regardless I have a lot of questions/thoughts and not enough attention span to coherently type them all up right now. And maybe we just don't have enough information to really discuss this idea at the moment. I'm just gonna hit the post button now!

Edited October 2, 2024 by Ninth of the Night

[GudThymes he/him]

I think one of the trends we've seen is that certain gods are better at future sight than others and that the more a god takes direct action doesn't correlate to success.

I think it less likely that Nale is working with Cultivation than just she is really good at a nudge here a push here a trim there to get what she wants. That and I think she has more plans than we see and some certainly fail.

Dalinar's boon paid off over a much longer amount of time than nightblood with Nale.

[athosdebro86 he/him]

The upcoming Stormlight RPG's first published adventure "Stonewalker" is supposed to give some answers about how Nightblood got from Cultivation to Naln.  It may offer some more insights once it's published