Iyatil’s Plan

[Moirne she/her]

From Chapter 26…

Quote

“Master Thaidakar will see eventually,” Iyatil said. “He is smarter than you give him credit for. He works to protect his homeland above all else, but once we find Mishram for my purposes, he will see. Master Thaidakar can only protect his land if the Shards can be controlled. Will this fit your plans as well?”

Is anyone else interpreting this to mean that they will try and confine the power of an entire shard (or multiple of them), using BAM’s imprisonment as a model? I can certainly see why some with Scadrian heritage might feel that shardic powers just cause too many problems for any sentient vessel to hold, and would be better off neutered and sequestered somewhere they can’t make trouble.

Edited October 28, 2024 by Moirne

[Ironeyes]

That's very in character for Kelsier. He's all but promised to kill Sazed if he feels it necessary, and having this contingency would make the tradeoff more acceptable to him. 

[Ashbringer he/him]

I don't think they're interested in the mechanism of imprisoning BAM - otherwise they would have shown interest in retrieving Nergaoul. BAM is a step closer to a Shard, but that's like climbing Urithiru to reach Ashyn.

But I had thought BAM was about the source of Voidlight. This is very different.

Also this seems like Iyatil's plan, not Thaidakar's.

[Slayd_07]

Honestly, I doubt we have enough information about BAM so far to realize what her plan entails. My guess is it's something relating to BAM's powers of Connection, but it could make sense that she wants to try trapping a Shard like BAM was trapped. 

In actuality thought, I think we're missing a lot of information here that will only be revealed later in the book. Oh well!

[LewsTherinTelescope]

Someone on Discord pointed out this could be support for Dawnshard theory.

[Ashbringer he/him]

13 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

Someone on Discord pointed out this could be support for Dawnshard theory.

As in Mishram has/is a Dawnshard?

That's... frighteningly possible. But why would the Ghostbloods know about it and not seemingly anyone else? BAM's actions were far before their time, and if they were after a Dawnshard, Rsyn seems like a much more accessible target.

[morcey2]

I'm still of the opinion that MB Era 3, "Ghostbloods", is going to heavily involve a schism in the GBs between Kelsier's Scadrian branch and the Rosharan Branch.  Shallan has seen quite a bit in these two chapters to see that they aren't truly united.  Maybe she realizes the Felt isn't on Iyatil's side, gets in touch with him, and joins Kelsier to help neutralize the rogue GBs on Roshare.  We know that doesn't exactly happen from TLM, but I think the different factions are going to be a significant story-point going forward.  

[coolsnow7]

12 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

As in Mishram has/is a Dawnshard?

That's... frighteningly possible. But why would the Ghostbloods know about it and not seemingly anyone else? BAM's actions were far before their time, and if they were after a Dawnshard, Rsyn seems like a much more accessible target.

I don’t see the Change Dawnshard helping you control a Shard.

But a (speculated) Bind Dawnshard…

[LewsTherinTelescope]

23 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

As in Mishram has/is a Dawnshard?

Yeah. The Stormfather says that after she proved too small, the Radiants had to stop her before she destroyed all of Roshar:

Quote

She created your parshmen by accident, he said. Long ago, just before the Recreance, Mishram tried to rise up and replace Odium, giving the Voidbringers powers.

“Curious,” Gavilar said. “And then?”

And then… she fell. She was too small a being to uphold an entire people. It all came crashing down, and so some brave Radiants trapped Mishram in a gemstone to prevent her from destroying all of Roshar. A side effect created the parshmen.

Specific theories vary, but mine has been that when she realized she wasn't strong enough she decided to seek out a Dawnshard (possibly with the aid of some of the Heralds), hence trapping her before she could use it and put everyone at risk.

26 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

But why would the Ghostbloods know about it and not seemingly anyone else? BAM's actions were far before their time

Perhaps the Sleepless on their side told them?

27 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

and if they were after a Dawnshard, Rsyn seems like a much more accessible target.

They might not know about her yet, or may not feel confident they can take on the swarms.

[Ashbringer he/him]

24 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

Perhaps the Sleepless on their side told them?

They might not know about her yet, or may not feel confident they can take on the swarms.

Maybe? But if they were using their allied Sleepless, they probably would know about Rsyn. It doesn't seem like even the True Traitors get fully cut off, and even if they do, the Sleepless have proven to be excellent infiltrators + we know Rsyn talks about the Dawnshard, because she went and told Vstim.

Rsyn seems a safer bet than an ancient unstable spren. Although Iyatil doesn't seem to think that'll be a problem anyway.

[Jescape]

It's very possible that is their plan and I think they VASTLY underestimate the power of shards if they think they can do that. Which would make sense as to why Kelsier isn't in on it he held Preservation, he would likely know that would backfire spectacularly.

[+robardin he/him]

2 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

I don't think they're interested in the mechanism of imprisoning BAM - otherwise they would have shown interest in retrieving Nergaoul. BAM is a step closer to a Shard, but that's like climbing Urithiru to reach Ashyn.

But I had thought BAM was about the source of Voidlight. This is very different.

Also this seems like Iyatil's plan, not Thaidakar's.

Well there are multiple plans going on, it would seem.

Iyatil refers to Thaidakar coming around eventually, after the fact, after they've captured Mishram for "my (Iyatil's) purposes" -- their direct orders being to figure out how to transport Stormlight out of the Rosharan system, which they apparently already have (via Identity stripping, somehow).

So this hunt for B-a-M is purely an Iyatil thing...

...and whoever she's talking to, that Shallan is posing as, who is also a Scadrian and yet was posted to supervising door-checking duty (which maybe is a fairly important job...?), has yet different plans that Iyatil hopes it would dovetail with. "Will this fit your plans as well?" is a direct question, and not seemingly rhetorical.