The meaning of this Death Rattle

[alder24]

There were 3 new Death Rattles spoken in WaT. One about the Night of Sorrows, another one about Sigzil, and the last one I’m not so sure about. It’s from ch 83, Szeth’s flashback 9.5 years ago

Quote

“I climb!” Tuko shouted, ragged. “I climb the wall of grief toward the light, locked away above! I climb, the weight of my darkened twin on my back, and seek the captive! The light I love! I … Storms … the light I love!”

The only thing I can think of that fits this Death Rattle is Kaladin swearing the 5th Ideal. "Climbing the wall of grief" is fighting against dark thoughts and depression given by Ishar, "my darkened twin" is Szeth, "the captive" is maybe Ishar who took them all captive or because he himself is a captive of Odium's power he took? "The light he climbs towards and loves" is the light Kaladin got after swearing the 5th Ideal and the light in his mind that overcame his depression. 

This is the only interpretation I can come up with right now. Do you have any other ideas?

[RedBlue]

I considered this interpretation too, but it’s too much of a stretch IMO. I don’t think Szeth works as Kaladin’s ‘darkened twin,’ especially as a big part of their arc was Kaladin realising that Szeth’s experience was more similar to Tien’s than Kaladin’s. And while Ishar could be considered a captive of sorts, Kaladin doesn’t have to ‘seek’ him in this moment.

I think this death rattle is something for the back half. 

[TwinStorm He/Him]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

There were 3 new Death Rattles spoken in WaT. One about the Night of Sorrows, another one about Sigzil, and the last one I’m not so sure about. It’s from ch 83, Szeth’s flashback 9.5 years ago

The only thing I can think of that fits this Death Rattle is Kaladin swearing the 5th Ideal. "Climbing the wall of grief" is fighting against dark thoughts and depression given by Ishar, "my darkened twin" is Szeth, "the captive" is maybe Ishar who took them all captive or because he himself is a captive of Odium's power he took? "The light he climbs towards and loves" is the light Kaladin got after swearing the 5th Ideal and the light in his mind that overcame his depression. 

This is the only interpretation I can come up with right now. Do you have any other ideas?

It personally think it refers to the Girl Who Looked Up.

[Sedside she/her]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Irreplaceable said:

It personally think it refers to the Girl Who Looked Up.

I had the same vibes from it too.

Also I wonder if the Death Rattle about "standing over a body of a brother" was fulfilled.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

2 hours ago, Sedside said:

I had the same vibes from it too.

Also I wonder if the Death Rattle about "standing over a body of a brother" was fulfilled.

Szeth and Kaladin, likely.

[Inevitability]

I’d have to go look back but we see chapter pictures of Szeth in black and the same picture in white. So darkened twin makes me think of it as Szeth

[Elite01]

I don’t have a perfect interpretation but I thought this was referring to Shallan, 

the darkened twin would be formless 

the captive would be Ba-Ado-mishram 

im not sure about the wall of grief but shallan living her past could metaphorically be a mountain of grief 

 

[anna she/her]

I tad assumed "the weight of my darkened twin on my back" was referring to somebody carrying Nightblood, but I haven't thought about how the rest of it would fit.

[+Child of Hodor]

"The light I love" seems to be the "captive". Either the Girl Who Looked Up or it's a back half thing having to do with the limited availability of various lights especially Stormlight. 

[MR H]

Could it possibly refer to the oathgate spren in the future?

[NewGuy 16]

On 12/15/2024 at 3:32 PM, Elite01 said:

I don’t have a perfect interpretation but I thought this was referring to Shallan, 

the darkened twin would be formless 

the captive would be Ba-Ado-mishram 

im not sure about the wall of grief but shallan living her past could metaphorically be a mountain of grief 

 

Ooh, I like Formless for the “darkened twin”. But I really don’t know what the light is… could this be something we’ve yet to see? (In regards to the Girl who Looked Up, while it certainly bears some similarities I feel like the death rattles are for things that haven’t happened yet when the rattle occurs). 

[S. Stormy she/her]

On 12/14/2024 at 2:20 PM, Inevitability said:

I’d have to go look back but we see chapter pictures of Szeth in black and the same picture in white. So darkened twin makes me think of it as Szeth

I'm pretty sure this is the case with all or most of the flashback chapters. Shallan's, at least I know for sure off the top of my head is this way. I believe Dalinar's is as well.

[Alcatur]

Darkened Twin would fit best to the Blackthorn spren made by Retribution, as a Darkened Twin to Dalinar himself. If so what would be the meaning? No idea but it would  definitely be something from the second half. 

[alder24]

3 hours ago, Alcatur said:

Darkened Twin would fit best to the Blackthorn spren made by Retribution, as a Darkened Twin to Dalinar himself. If so what would be the meaning? No idea but it would  definitely be something from the second half. 

Maybe. Dalinar was tormented by Odium who was showing him his past self - the Blackthorn, the Darkened Twin - and his past might be the wall of grief. He eventually overcame this and was able to Connect himself to the Stormfather, whom he found crying in a monastery cell where they kept insane patients - the Captive. But what is the light? Honor's life maybe? Some kind of truth about himself? No idea. It still seems too far-fetched and way too vague.

[Inevitability]

10 hours ago, Ookla the Grey said:

I'm pretty sure this is the case with all or most of the flashback chapters. Shallan's, at least I know for sure

I hadn’t noticed that previously. Great catch. 
 

Nightblood could be a good answer. We see that Nightblood is a sword in black in the physical realm but perceived itself as a sword of light in the cognitive realm. With the character growth of Nightblood in this book, (learning to control it’s “hunger”,  learning to grant surges) I think this could be referring to a future state of Nightblood 

[BridgeBoi]

9 hours ago, alder24 said:

Maybe. Dalinar was tormented by Odium who was showing him his past self - the Blackthorn, the Darkened Twin - and his past might be the wall of grief. He eventually overcame this and was able to Connect himself to the Stormfather, whom he found crying in a monastery cell where they kept insane patients - the Captive. But what is the light? Honor's life maybe? Some kind of truth about himself? No idea. It still seems too far-fetched and way too vague.

Maybe Dalinar returns and has to redeem the evil version of himself. Probably not going to happen but would be interesting. 

[Little_Dagger she/her]

Could it be referring to Sazed? He did have a dark shadow of himself trailing in his wake in TLM.

[Skyland]

I’m pretty sure it’s about Kaladin. Darkened twin just refers to his grief riddled persona. Often a time during deep bouts of depression, it’s as if you are another person, a person who has completely different outlook on just about everything. That person looks exactly you though. Almost as if he/she is a twin who sees the world through a darker shade. 
 

the entire quote is the embodiment of what Kaladin did. When,  despite Ishar throwing the weight of not only the 9 broken heralds madnesses but also odium’s tainted power onto him, he stood up. He stood up with his darkness on his back keeping him down, because as he said, sometimes just getting up and moving made him feel a bit better (the light he seeks).

[rridgway]

I think it's referring to someone (possibly Kaladin) climbing the shield (the wall of grief) around Urithiru (or the outside of the tower) to gain access in some form. "light, locked away above" could refer to the Sibling (and Towerlight) being placed in the inner shield with Navani (the captive). 

 

If it is Kaladin, the darkened twin sounds like Moash. 

 

I don't think Kaladin would love Towerlight though, unless the inhabitants of the tower have figured out how to split Towerlight to produce Stormlight?

Edited January 4, 2025 by rridgway

[Nitpicking]

I'm a contrary person. This death rattle refers to events in Mistborn Space Age. The climber is Moash, the darkened twin is Kaladin. Over the centuries, they've swapped places, and now Moash is the heroic figure.

No, wait. The climber is Gavinor's flesh twin, that Odium created. It gained sapience when Vasher gave it his Divine Breath. Gavinor is still influenced by Odium's darkness, and the flesh twin is trying to save him.

 

 

Or maybe I'm just saying we can't really know yet.

[ElizabethStormblessed16]

On 12/18/2024 at 3:04 PM, NewGuy 16 said:

Ooh, I like Formless for the “darkened twin”. But I really don’t know what the light is… could this be something we’ve yet to see? (In regards to the Girl who Looked Up, while it certainly bears some similarities I feel like the death rattles are for things that haven’t happened yet when the rattle occurs). 

Adolin means born unto light… I feel like that might add to the Shallan theories?

[TruthMisting]

I personally immediately clocked it as Syladin, the darkened twin is similar to how Syl and Kal sometimes describe his depression, "The dark brain." I could see a scenario where their bond is being suppressed or trying to be broken. The light I love... Storms the light I love.

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

On 12/14/2024 at 10:18 AM, alder24 said:

There were 3 new Death Rattles spoken in WaT. One about the Night of Sorrows, another one about Sigzil, and the last one I’m not so sure about. It’s from ch 83, Szeth’s flashback 9.5 years ago

The only thing I can think of that fits this Death Rattle is Kaladin swearing the 5th Ideal. "Climbing the wall of grief" is fighting against dark thoughts and depression given by Ishar, "my darkened twin" is Szeth, "the captive" is maybe Ishar who took them all captive or because he himself is a captive of Odium's power he took? "The light he climbs towards and loves" is the light Kaladin got after swearing the 5th Ideal and the light in his mind that overcame his depression. 

This is the only interpretation I can come up with right now. Do you have any other ideas?

So I had a thought.

What if this is about Aux? The wall of grief, I imagine that all of the Highspren are deeply hurt and agrieved, and they quite literally put a wall between themselves and their Radiants. The darkened twin could be Nightblood. The captive, is Szeth, and you can take your pick of what Aux would see him as captive of: his own mind, his actions, guilt, his oaths, etc. 

And the light he loves? Well, he is surprised to find that he loves Szeth, the Radiant Szeth who became the law. It was the moment that changes Aux's entire life.

[RefusesToElaborate]

Personally I believe Tukos death rattle is something that'll come to a head in the back 6.

I strongly believe that it will have something to do with separating Stormlight and Voidlight or "freeing" it. Which would make sense as to why a captive and a love of light are mentioned.

I also doubt the Girl who Looked up interpretation as the Death Rattles all tend to look forward in the timeline.

Now Nightblood is a darkened twin. If you loom at Syls chapter icon, I swear on the Almightys tenth name she has something slung across her shoulder. If it's Nightblood, I can think of no better description for him than the darkened twin of a spren. Especially with Sylphrena because both of them can grant their wielder lashings.

It's an interesting one, certainly.

 

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

3 hours ago, RefusesToElaborate said:

Now Nightblood is a darkened twin. If you loom at Syls chapter icon, I swear on the Almightys tenth name she has something slung across her shoulder. If it's Nightblood, I can think of no better description for him than the darkened twin of a spren. Especially with Sylphrena because both of them can grant their wielder lashings.

Did you just suggest that Sylphrena, Queen of Storms, might become a super Radiant/Herald of sorts? Because, all of the sudden, I've never wanted something to be true in the Cosmere more than that!