Death Rattle new context

[SomePog]

On a reread of Stormlight now and I stumbled across this specific quote from WoK

  “The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.”

For the most part I assumed this to be Taln, but with WaT I actually think its about Ishar, we saw how Ishar bears the madness of all of them, just thought it was a neat detail.

[Darth_Hel]

I thought this was Kaladin when Ishar forced the depression on him.

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, SomePog said:

Ishar bears the madness of all of them, just thought it was a neat detail.

I thought Ishar Unmade himself by taking power from Odium's well. He wasn't bearing the madness of the others (that was his excuse to himself, caused by his own madness) he was the Source of the Magical Madness and he was infecting the other Heralds (and all of Shinovar).

WaT:

Spoiler

Ch 133:

Quote

In a moment, Neturo held him even closer, and Szeth—dazed, bloodied—heard something. Words forced out between clenched teeth.

“Please. Help. Us. Son.”

Szeth’s eyes focused. He saw a face that was a mask of anger, but …

But not Neturo’s anger.

“Please, Szeth.” His father’s voice, so small, as if coming from deep inside. “Please. It hurts.”

Neturo hurled him again. Away from the others. As if trying to keep him from harm, but then he stalked forward to attack. Puppets. Ishu had made them puppets. Perhaps it was the sole way to bestow the powers he wanted to.

Everyone in this land, Szeth thought, lying again on the stone. Everyone here is kind of a puppet, trapped in that darkness. Ishu thought he was preparing them for war, but he only hobbled them. Everyone.

The Herald’s madness had spread to the entire land as he Connected to it. Driving away the spren.

Ch 139:

Quote

“This horrible darkness,” Kaladin said. “That’s what you feel?”

“Every day.”

“It’s awful, isn’t it?”

Ishar nodded.

“I will not lie,” Kaladin said, “and promise you that all future days will be warm. But Ishar, you will be warm again. And that is another thing entirely to promise.”

“I … I don’t know if that is true,” Ishar whispered. “It’s different for us.”

“It’s not,” Kaladin said. “I feel your pain now, and I see what it is. Your lives might be supernatural, Ishar, but what you feel is what I feel. I realize that on one hand, that is no consolation. Your pain, your sorrow—your darkness—doesn’t transform because another experienced it. Still, it seems to help, doesn’t it? Knowing you aren’t alone.”

Ch 140:

Quote

And Ishar, poor Ishar, was still Connected to him by that Bondsmith’s tether. In the moment the final Words were spoken, power surged through that very tether, along with a wave of Light from Kaladin, which threw Ishar back with a physical force. He slammed against a natural rock pillar, washed in pure light from the Spiritual Realm.

Kaladin felt he could see the power of the Fifth Ideal pushing back the blackness through that tether, like a drain being flooded in the wrong direction, until it reached Ishar and he gasped again. Black smoke exploded out of the Herald, pushed from his pores like Stormlight.

Kaladin distinctly thought he heard, echoing through that failing bond, the gasps of eight other people as an unacknowledged darkness left them. An oppressive cloud that Ishar thought he’d been holding back, but had in reality been infecting every Herald. The blackness he’d absorbed from Odium centuries ago, by finding his pool of power.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[SomePog]

58 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

I thought Ishar Unmade himself by taking power from Odium's well. He wasn't bearing the madness of the others (that was his excuse to himself, caused by his own madness) he was the Source of the Magical Madness and he was infecting the other Heralds (and all of Shinovar).

Reading what you quoted, i agree, but i still think it applies, as you mention Ishar BELIEVED he was holding back the other Heralds madness, so maybe this Death rattle was some kind of echo of something Ishar said a long time ago.

 

Im also gonna add another Death rattle that I think has new context.

  “Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.”

Light grows so distant - Stormlight (and its variants) Becoming rare now that Retribution has control
The storm never stops - The everstorm now shrouding the whole continent (Save key areas)
He has won. Oh, he has beaten us. - This is about Retribution who surely could be considered the winner of the Final Desolation at this point
Now my question is, who said this? Maybe the line "I am broken, and all around me have died." could give us a clue?

[coolsnow7]

3 hours ago, SomePog said:

On a reread of Stormlight now and I stumbled across this specific quote from WoK

  “The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.”

For the most part I assumed this to be Taln, but with WaT I actually think its about Ishar, we saw how Ishar bears the madness of all of them, just thought it was a neat detail.

Guys it’s a chapter title. Chapter 138 is “The Burdens of Nine”. Based on the content of that chapter, it’s all but explicit that this is Ishar like you said.

There are several chapter titles that similarly reference some Deathrattles, that we all speculated about and then got our answers. (For example “the suckling child” did indeed turn out to be Gavinor; the man standing upon a cliffside turned out to be Dalinar, on the verge of destroying Roshar; etc.)

9 minutes ago, SomePog said:

Now my question is, who said this? Maybe the line "I am broken, and all around me have died." could give us a clue?

Consistent with my theory that Szeth is The Broken One (and hence will eventually reign), I think this is Szeth: all the other Heralds appear dead to him, and like I said, he’s Broken (also, he lost his arm so he’s quite literally broken.)