Drifter line [Secret History Spoilers]

[King's Twit]

So, there's been a lot of discussion about some of the things said by Hoid in this novella, which has more candid dialogue with Hoid (or as candid as Hoid gets) than I think we've ever gotten before.

 

One line that I haven't seen discussed, unless I've missed the thread, is this one:

 

 

"Who are you?" Kelsier said.

"I?" the man said. "I am a drifter. A miscreant. The flame's last breath, made of smoke at its passing."

 

 

This could be nothing; the cliche "A shadow of his past self" thing, but I see this as a significant line. The next lines of dialogue are about how needlessly cryptic Hoid was in this quote, further emphasizing the line itself the idea that there is some deeper meaning to this line that escapes Kelsier.

 

Based on some of the dialogue about Hoid in this book, I no longer believe that Hoid was the 'Vessel of Adonalsium', so to speak, which was my first thought at the meaning of this line.

 

What else could this mean? Could he be referring to being a relic of another time, the time before the Shattering? Or possibly he is the 'smoke' that is left after the death of the original Hoid, the only thing left in the Cosmere of our Hoid's old master?

 

Or something else entirely. I created this thread mostly so I could outsource some of the speculation about what this dialogue could mean, if anyone is willing.

 

 

[Night Eyes]

I took that was as a reference to Dragonsteel and Yolen. Perhaps indicating that Hoid was Yolen's sole survivor.

[RShara]

I thought this was an indication of his self condemnation (I sense he feels at fault for something).  Also, he named himself for his dead master, yes?  So he's like, an echo or a remnant of his master, in that sense.

[emailanimal]

I have similar thoughts to Night Eyes. Something is awry about Yolen.  Hoid may not necessarily be the last surviving human from the planet, but he appears to consider himself a remnant of something... The planet? The plan? The Shattering? The latter might actually work - Shattering can be compared to a burst of flame, and Hoid had some part in it.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised if he feels guilty. He is on a millenia-long relentless pursuit of something. His motivation must be strong.

[Runyan Firetree]

 

The flame's last breath, made of smoke at its passing.

 

Could this refer to the shattering, the death of Adonalsium? 

 

Whenever you split an object into equal parts, the resulting pieces combined will be less than the original whole.  Think of cutting a large cookie into 16 parts, you may end up with 16 equal pieces but also a lot of crumbs from the result of the cutting.  Similarly, cutting some objects at high temperature may result in some matter conversion to smoke.  And finally, think of cutting a piece of wood; 16 parts and a lot of dust...which brings us to another Hoid connection:

 

Words of Radiance

Kaladin stood in the rain. “Do you know where the King’s Wit is?”

“That fool, Dust? Not here, blessedly. Why?”

 

I know we have WoB that Hoid doesn't have a shard, but I'm not sure if having splinters/crumbs/dust of Adonalsium as a result of the shattering has been ruled out.  If not, I think there's a case for "made of smoke at its passing" and having the nickname Dust could be connected.

Edited March 16, 2016 by runyan_ft

[ecohansen]

Since Sanderson spent a long time in Korea, I assumed it had to do with Buddha's teaching on reincarnation. When Vacchagotta asked Buddha about how the soul travels from one body to another, Buddha answered "Which way does the fire go when it goes out? Does it go north, south, east, or west?" When fire goes out, it doesn't go anywhere. But when you start a new flame, exactly the same thing (fire) appears once again. When you combine this with the "words on a page" bit, I'm assuming that Hoid is his own lightweaving. He survived the Shattering of Adonalsium by creating a weaving that perfectly cloned himself, and reincarnated himself into the new cosmere.

Since Yolish lightweaving uses dust, Runyan's quote works with this interpretation as well.

Edited March 22, 2016 by ecohansen

[Farnsworth]

Maybe this could be more symbolic? He is refering to his teacher as the flame, and he is the last student of the flame? He is smoke, so he is not as good as his teacher, but almost as good?