Parshendi escape from Kholinar

[Xabben]

One of the most unbelievable parts of the entire Stormlight Archive, for me, is the escape of the Parshendi from Kholinar's palace after killing king Gavilar. Even if the group of parshendi left a couple of hours before the assassination, the parshendi needed to navigate through a completely unknown territory for weeks before reaching the shattered plains. Moreover, we know by chapter 81 of RoW that they did not transform into war form until they reached their homeland, which means that they travelled using other, much slower forms such as the work form. Is it really believable that humans, with access to much faster travelling methods such as horses, wouldn't have found these parshendi just outside the capital city?

PD: Recall that the assassination was planned the same day that happened, which means that they didn't have much time to prepare for the escape.

Edited yesterday at 09:33 PM by Xabben

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

6 hours ago, Xabben said:

One of the most unbelievable parts of the entire Stormlight Archive, for me, is the escape of the Parshendi from Kholinar's palace after killing king Gavilar. Even if the group of parshendi left a couple of hours before the assassination, the parshendi needed to navigate through a completely unknown territory for weeks before reaching the shattered plains. Moreover, we know by chapter 81 of RoW that they did not transform into war form until they reached their homeland, which means that they travelled using other, much slower forms such as the work form. Is it really believable that humans, with access to much faster travelling methods such as horses, wouldn't have found these parshendi just outside the capital city?

There are a few possibilities for explanations:

1. They didn't escape. Is it confirmed they made it back (yes, we know one or two did, but they might have left the main group and were forgotten when the larger group was captured)? The Alethi go after them and kill them, then go to war.

2. The Alethi weren't that focused on them. There were Parshendi in the palace that took responsibility for Gavilar's death and were executed. In the rush to solidify the country, the Alethi might just not have cared enough to search out one group of Parshendi.

3. They escaped. It's about 1090 miles from Kholinar to Narak, and that's a lot of area to cover, even for a dedicated search party. It's less than half that to the Unclaimed Hills, where it seems likely that they could escape easily.

6 hours ago, Xabben said:

wouldn't have found these parshendi just outside the capital city?

This I can assure would not have happened. With 2 hours of a head start, they would have gotten pretty far. It's about 150 miles to the mountains by Kholinar, and they (traveling at 3 mph) would be able to get 12 miles before a search began. A quick (AI overview, so take this with a grain of salt) Google search tells me that a mounted search party moves anywhere from 3-6 mph, depending on how thoroughly they search. Assuming 4 mph, the horse search party wouldn't reach them until both had gone about 144 miles (3t+12=4t), and that's not including food breaks, which take horses longer than people.

Edited 19 hours ago by Through the Living Hopper

[alder24]

14 hours ago, Xabben said:

One of the most unbelievable parts of the entire Stormlight Archive, for me, is the escape of the Parshendi from Kholinar's palace after killing king Gavilar. Even if the group of parshendi left a couple of hours before the assassination, the parshendi needed to navigate through a completely unknown territory for weeks before reaching the shattered plains. Moreover, we know by chapter 81 of RoW that they did not transform into war form until they reached their homeland, which means that they travelled using other, much slower forms such as the work form. Is it really believable that humans, with access to much faster travelling methods such as horses, wouldn't have found these parshendi just outside the capital city?

PD: Recall that the assassination was planned the same day that happened, which means that they didn't have much time to prepare for the escape.

Parshendi escaped the palace and the city at the same time Szeth was on the rampage. Only after Gavilar was killed did Parshendi leaders reveal themselves as the perpetrators, but due to overall chaos it still took Alethi hours before they realized that the rest of the Parshendi had fled the city. They sent 100 horsemen after them, but they all were killed by Szeth who was still with Parshendi. Alethi never stood a chance in capturing them.

As for the navigation problem, Eshonai was probably more or less aware how to return home simply just by remembering the way to Kholinar, but let's not forget that Venli had Ulim with her. He could have guided them home from hideout to hideout and thus even if Alethi were to send more people after them, they would have slim chances of finding them. However, it is doubtful that Alethi sent anyone after the initial pursuers were lost, it was just too costly and risky and they probably didn't have any sizable force on standby that could have been sent after Parshendi. They were already gearing up for the war so why would they try to capture Parshendi if they were going to find them on a battlefield anyway?  

WoR Prologue:

Quote

Hours later, it was discovered that the assassination—and the surrender of three of the Parshendi leaders—had covered the flight of the larger portion of their number. They escaped the city quickly, and the cavalry Dalinar sent after them were destroyed. A hundred horses, each nearly priceless, lost along with their riders.

[Xabben]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

Parshendi escaped the palace and the city at the same time Szeth was on the rampage. Only after Gavilar was killed did Parshendi leaders reveal themselves as the perpetrators, but due to overall chaos it still took Alethi hours before they realized that the rest of the Parshendi had fled the city. They sent 100 horsemen after them, but they all were killed by Szeth who was still with Parshendi. Alethi never stood a chance in capturing them.

I think it is implied somewhere that Szeth was abandoned as soon as they left Kholinar. Therefore, who kill these 100 horsemen? Surely not a small group of (mostly diplomats) parshendi... I suppose that it is a very minor detail, but it still bugs me.

[alder24]

19 minutes ago, Xabben said:

I think it is implied somewhere that Szeth was abandoned as soon as they left Kholinar. Therefore, who kill these 100 horsemen? Surely not a small group of (mostly diplomats) parshendi... I suppose that it is a very minor detail, but it still bugs me.

Yes, but that was after he killed those riders and it was far enough from Kholinar that he could stand next to the road for quite some time before someone took notice of him. No more soldiers were sent after them and no patrol crossed his path. 

What's more, Parshendi had several Shardblades, it's very likely that were a few Shardbeares with them and it would make a lot of sense to send them with a diplomatic mission just in case. Even without Szeth, Shardbearers would have dealt with cavalry with ease, as no Alethi Shardbearer was sent in pursuit.  

[Xabben]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

Yes, but that was after he killed those riders and it was far enough from Kholinar that he could stand next to the road for quite some time before someone took notice of him. No more soldiers were sent after them and no patrol crossed his path. 

What's more, Parshendi had several Shardblades, it's very likely that were a few Shardbeares with them and it would make a lot of sense to send them with a diplomatic mission just in case. Even without Szeth, Shardbearers would have dealt with cavalry with ease, as no Alethi Shardbearer was sent in pursuit.  

Okay, that makes sense. However, there are other parts of that night that are still a little bit strange. The parshendi (with the exception of Venli, which wanted to cause a war) only wanted to kill Gavilar to prevent him from causing a new Desolation. However, they gave oddly specific instructions to Szeth, indicating that he had to "kill, destroy, but leave witnesses. Wounded, but alive". I don't really understand why they would do such a thing, as they would only make Alethi angrier without a real reason...

[alder24]

44 minutes ago, Xabben said:

Okay, that makes sense. However, there are other parts of that night that are still a little bit strange. The parshendi (with the exception of Venli, which wanted to cause a war) only wanted to kill Gavilar to prevent him from causing a new Desolation. However, they gave oddly specific instructions to Szeth, indicating that he had to "kill, destroy, but leave witnesses. Wounded, but alive". I don't really understand why they would do such a thing, as they would only make Alethi angrier without a real reason...

That was probably Venli and Ulim's manipulation. They wanted a war, they wanted to enrage Alethi, so most likely Venli convinced the Five to give such specific orders. Ulim went as far as revealing himself to Klade as a voice, thus making others believe a spren, or other divine entities, are on their side. It helped them that it was also Listeners tradition for assassins to wear white and be visible to give a warning. Anyone knew this would mean a war, so showing off Szeth's powers could act as a deterrent or distraction and slow down Alethi in pursuing fleeing Listeners. 

WoK prologue:

Quote

White clothing for a killer was a tradition among the Parshendi. Although Szeth had not asked, his masters had explained why.
White to be bold. White to not blend into the night. White to give warning.
For if you were going to assassinate a man, he was entitled to see you coming.

OB prologue:

Quote

Klade’s slave was an assassin. Klade claimed that a voice—speaking to the rhythms—had led him to the man, who had confessed his skills when pressed. Venli had apparently been with Klade, though Eshonai hadn’t seen her sister since earlier in the day.
After a frantic debate, the Five had agreed this was a sign of what they were to do. Long ago, the listeners had summoned the courage to adopt dullform in order to escape their gods. They’d sought freedom at any cost.
Today, the cost of maintaining that freedom would be high.

RoW ch 77:

Quote

I don’t care why Nale thought we should attack the king, Ulim said. It has given me a seed of an idea. It’s not his plan, but your plan we’re following. We came here to make your people see how dangerous the humans are. But they are foolish, and you are wise. You can see how much of a threat they are. You need to show them.
“Yes,” Venli said. That was her plan.
Ulim slipped into her gemheart.
The humans are planning to betray you, Ulim said. A Herald confirmed it. We must strike at them first.
“And in so doing, make our people desperate,” Venli said. “When the humans retaliate, it will threaten our destruction. Yes … Then I could persuade the listeners they need forms of power. They must accept our help, or be annihilated.”