Who is the Stormfather?

[ivoryblade]

The Stormfather claims to be a remnant of Honor, yet he was the one who bestowed stormform upon the Listeners, knowing they’d summon the Everstorm, a thing of Odium. What is he, really?

[cem he/him]

He is a spren of Honor, probably the strongest piece of Honor on Roshar left after his Splintering, and his cognitive shadow. He didn't bestow stormform, that wasn't in his power to bestow or deny. He is bound by certain rules, like he had to send the visions to Dalinar whether he wanted to or not. Eshonai chose of her own will to bond with a stormspren (a Voidspren, i.e. Odium's spren), and Stormfather claimed that he couldn't stop it.

 

I SUPPOSE THIS MUST BE, the Rider of Storms said. IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

“No,” Eshonai said, stepping back from that spren. In a moment of panic, she cast from her mind the preparations that Venli had given her. “No!”

The spren became a streak of red light and hit her in the chest. Tendrils of red spread outward.

I CANNOT STOP THIS, the Rider of Storms said. I WOULD SHELTER YOU, LITTLE ONE, IF I WERE GIVEN THAT POWER. I AM SORRY.

 

I guess this is another one of the rules he's bound by.

 

He is also a guy who watched hundreds of his children (the spren that were bound to the Radiants) die in the Recreance, and he's very human-like in his reaction to that. So he's a little screwed up to say the least.

 

“A highstorm,” Kaladin said, shooting up through the sky after Szeth. “The red storm is from the Parshendi, but why is there a highstorm coming? This isn’t the time for one.”

“My father,” Syl said, voice growing solemn. “He brought the storm, rushing its pace. He’s . . . broken, Kaladin. He doesn’t think any of this should be happening. He wants to end it all, wash everyone away, and try to hide from the future.”

Her father . . . did that mean the Stormfather wanted them dead?

Great.