trying to figure out how I feel about the foreshadowing for Dalinar's gambit (Szeth, Sigzil, and Adolin)

[Necessary Eagle she/her]

One thing this book does differently than the others is that it adds some moral nuance to the concepts of oaths and honor. This is brought up along the course of the book with Szeth, Sigzil, and Adolin, and culminates in Dalinar breaking his oaths to void the contest of champions.

I've been trying to figure out if this set-up works for me, and (at least for now) I think it's a mixed bag.

Note: I am specifically talking about how these moments affect how the Dalinar climax lands, not their own merits or plot necessarily.

I think Adolin and Szeth do work, because they set up the theme of questioning the rigid oath-based system that we've become used to, but they're different enough to make Dalinar's decision surprising and novel. Szeth keeps his Fifth Ideal by breaking his bond with Aux. Adolin broods on the meaning of "oaths", and creates an informal alternative to the Nahel bond based on trying your best.

Sigzil, though, is a bit too on the nose. He even uses the same "I renounce my oaths" wording that Dalinar does, and to me it undercuts the shock of Dalinar's moment a bit.

You do need someone carrying the theme in the middle of the book, I think, and Szeth and Adolin's scenes are too close to the end. But if Sigzil has to be the one to do it, it should have been at a slightly different angle.

[AlmightyGir]

I think Szeth's gaining of the fifth ideal, and specifically the manner in which it was sworn are important.

"I AM THE LAW".

The nuance here, to me anyway, is that he is saying that he is capable of deciding at any given moment if something is legal or not, and when both he and Nale (brokenly, I'll admit) have reinforced to each other that the law is what is right, this holds some measure of importance for Honor too.

Honor is currently portrayed as a child who doesn't quite understand right from wrong, and that the words are what truly matters. But Dalinar tells Honor to go with Todium and "learn". I think Honor will itself, over time, come to understand that while the words are important, that it itself is capable of deciding if something is right or wrong in the moment, and whether an oath is upheld, broken, or even made more or less valuable by the actions taken to either uphold or break it.

If someone is capable of reaching the fifth ideal on this premise, then I think Honor itself can learn too.

Szeth isn't just forshadowing Dalinar's choice, he's also forshadowing a change in Honor and/or Retribution in the future. It's likely that Honor will leave Retribution when Big T does something that's so incredibly wrong, even though he's upholding an oath.

Edited December 29, 2024 by AlmightyGir