Could there be a deeper strategy behind the 3 attacks?

[josmarrob]

Does it seem to anyone else like the way Odium has configured his forces for these 3 attacks is strange and hints at a deeper strategy? In my mind, it seems like the attack on Azir should be the hardest battle for Odium to win because his troops have to attack through a very limited choke point. In all the other battles they do not have this disadvantage, Yet it seems Odium has deployed the weakest of the 3 armies to Azir. Could this be an attempt to trick team radiant into deploying their troops wrong? hear me out...

We know Odium has some control over the speed of the Everstorm and can get it around the planet as quickly as five days, and can cause it to pause over a location. What if Odium were to time his attacks with the Everstorm to make it so he could use the same fused in EVERY battle.

He attacks the Shattered Plains first. The 1000 fused in this army attack very aggressively and the Everstorm provides them with support. The fused are free to attack very recklessly because any of them who die will be able to join the battle in Azir when the Everstorm reaches there. If team radiant's army in the shatter plains is strong enough to win they will still have massive casualties because they are facing a huge army of fused + the Everstorm. Even a win here for team radiant could be devastating. If the Fused win the battle they would likely be able to hold the oathgate with a much smaller number than the whole 1000 of them and would be able to have some of their army will themselves to die in Order to join the battle in Azir.

After the battle at the Shattered Plains, Odium speed the Everstorm around the world to Azir. Odium has specifically made this battle look very winnable for team radiant because he wants them to put a smaller force in Azir. With this plan Azir will be unable to hold out when the Everstorm arrives during the attack and the fused who already fought at the shattered plains start taking over the bodies of the singers comming through the oathgate. The Fused will again attack very aggressively making sure to make a breakthrough of Adolin's lines so that the conventional troops can take the city. Once again the fused do not care if they get killed because they still have one more battle to fight.

Then lastly the Everstorm gets to Thaylenah. The conventional troops in the ships start becoming fused as the fused from the first 2 battles start taking over singers here. Team radiant has to face a large army + skybreakers +  more fused than they expected.

Does something like this seem likely? Is there a mechanic to how the Everstorm or fused work that I am missing prevent this?

Thanks!

[LewsTherinTelescope]

Oh crap. This makes a ton of sense, I really like it.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

This sounds more of a Taravangian type strategy, except it's not since it was all set up months ago so it would have to be Rayse. But I bet Taravnagian would absolutely do what you're suggesting.

It would even sort of make sense in terms of timing, since chances are the Fused would come from Alethkar towards the Shattered Plains and be the first to attack if most are carried by the Heavenly Ones, while the armies in Shadesmar and the fleet going to Theylenah would still be making their ways to their own locations.

Making full use of the whole 'Immortality via Everstorm' thing to move your elite troops around would be ingenious. After all why send so many Fused to the Shattered Plains which isn't all that strategically valuable? Unless it's a feint to specifically attract and wear down the Radiant forces.

Maybe it will be what breaks Sigzil, since the more Fused they kill in a pointless battle, the worse the situation will become for the other battles, meaning that all the Radiants who fight there will have died for absolutely nothing and even helped the enemy by falling for a trick.

[alder24]

This is actually a brilliant strategy. I’m very impressed. And the worst part is even if Fused win a battle they can just abandon their bodies and join the next battle in the Everstorm. They can do the same if they see they can't win a battle in one location for some reason. They don't even need to die. 

[The Stick]

I have to agree, this is a spectacular ace in the hole. The only way I can think the Radiants could stop this is to Soulcast an entire aluminum cube around the battlefield, to trap the Fused souls in.

[Ookla she/her]

35 minutes ago, The Stick said:

I have to agree, this is a spectacular ace in the hole. The only way I can think the Radiants could stop this is to Soulcast an entire aluminum cube around the battlefield, to trap the Fused souls in.

Is aluminum Soulcast-able? I know it's pretty rare on Scadrial, but what about Roshar?

[alder24]

11 minutes ago, Ookla said:

Is aluminum Soulcast-able? I know it's pretty rare on Scadrial, but what about Roshar?

You can create aluminum via Soulcasting, but you can't Soulcast aluminum into something else.

[coolsnow7]

This feels like quite a stretch. If it were an option then Rayse would have been waging attacks along these lines for the past year. I don’t think he can push the Everstorm with that much flexibility.

That said I am certain there is a deeper strategy to all the attacks, and we’ll have to wait to see what it is.

[Ookla she/her]

7 hours ago, alder24 said:

You can create aluminum via Soulcasting, but you can't Soulcast aluminum into something else.

Does that mean that if Soulcasters aren't careful, they could Soulcast too much aluminum and never be rid of it? (Sorry for the tangent; just genuinely curious here )

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

32 minutes ago, Ookla said:

Does that mean that if Soulcasters aren't careful, they could Soulcast too much aluminum and never be rid of it? (Sorry for the tangent; just genuinely curious here )

I'd argue you can never have too much aluminum, especially on a world with many hostile Invested beings.

[+Oltux72 he/him]

18 hours ago, Ookla said:

Does that mean that if Soulcasters aren't careful, they could Soulcast too much aluminum and never be rid of it? (Sorry for the tangent; just genuinely curious here )

You'd just burn it. Thermite reactions are spectacular, but not difficult to arrange. Only the metal is immune to soulcasting.

[alder24]

23 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

You'd just burn it. Thermite reactions are spectacular, but not difficult to arrange. Only the metal is immune to soulcasting.

Then you have a bunch of aluminum oxide with no use  

But yeah, you can never have too much aluminum - you can always sell it off-world for a hefty price.

 

Edit: 

On 10/13/2024 at 4:03 AM, josmarrob said:

Does it seem to anyone else like the way Odium has configured his forces for these 3 attacks is strange and hints at a deeper strategy?

I feel like Kmakl was raising the same concerns you did in ch 21. There is something off with the decision to attack the Shattered Plains with Fused only, leaving small numbers of Fused for other fronts.

Quote

“What I don’t get,” Kmakl was saying to Ka, the Windrunner scribe, “is where their troops came from.”
[...]
“True, true,” Kmakl said. “But with the number of Fused marching on the Shattered Plains, those troop transports coming for Thaylen City will be filled with ordinary singers. They’ll be thrown at our battle lines like bait to be caught in our nets. Poor souls. They have to be running out of frontline soldiers, don’t they?”

 

Edited October 14, 2024 by alder24

[Ashbringer he/him]

One thing I’m not certain of, is it seems like singers being taken over by Fused is a process. One that I’m not entirely sure of if it could happen in the heat of battle.

But if the Azimir singers get a foothold… wow. Yeah that could quickly become a problem.

[Wadders]

Is there any chance that the skybreakers would attack urithiru?

[+Oltux72 he/him]

3 hours ago, alder24 said:

I feel like Kmakl was raising the same concerns you did in ch 21. There is something off with the decision to attack the Shattered Plains with Fused only, leaving small numbers of Fused for other fronts.

Provided those ships go where the Radiants expect them to go and do carry troops at all. That fleet may simply be a ruse to make the Radiants divert troops needlessly. Worse if Odium gets the gate spren of Thaylenah to defect at the right time, these troops will be cut off.

[alder24]

4 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Provided those ships go where the Radiants expect them to go and do carry troops at all. That fleet may simply be a ruse to make the Radiants divert troops needlessly. Worse if Odium gets the gate spren of Thaylenah to defect at the right time, these troops will be cut off.

I highly doubt it, Windrunners had to spot troops on board of those ships. A Lightweaving this big would require a significant force of Regals (if there are Regals that can create illusions) and Fused (if Fused can create illusions not attached to their bodies).

[Dofurion]

6 hours ago, alder24 said:

I feel like Kmakl was raising the same concerns you did in ch 21. There is something off with the decision to attack the Shattered Plains with Fused only, leaving small numbers of Fused for other fronts.

He is attacking the places with Oathgates, capitals of the ancient Silver Kingdoms...

And if by winning those places he acquires not their current territory but their territory of yesteryear?

[alder24]

13 hours ago, Dofurion said:

He is attacking the places with Oathgates, capitals of the ancient Silver Kingdoms...

And if by winning those places he acquires not their current territory but their territory of yesteryear?

I know the Alethi law is convoluted and twisted, but this is a step too far. Those countries don't exist anymore, Alethkar isn't ancient Alethela. That shouldn't work, but this did happen, it would make me think that Brandon started to write plot twists just to subvert our expectations, not because there was some foreshadowing and logic behind it - Brandon isn't like that, but I already feel that this whole mess with the Alethi law loophole was just badly executed.

[BinarySecond]

Given the Everstorm moves West to East it would hit Azamir before the Shattered Plains so they'll need to get everything done in the West first before they relocate the Fused.

It's either that or the give up on the attack at the Shattered Plains the moment the storm hits. Which could make sense as the Plains may not be that important but controlling the majority of the Western continent could be a reasonable result.