Sarene was right

[user613]

I was rereading Elantris and something struck me, so I felt I had to create an account here.

 

Sarene makes very good arguments for why Iadon may have killed Raoden.  For one thing, the timing is too perfect - he has his alliance with Teod but doesn't have to worry about heirs.  We skim these arguments, because we already know what happened to Raoden.

 

But what if Sarene was right?  Maybe Iadon has some kind of influence with whatever force causes the Shaod, like Regalia with Calamity.  Roial's argument that Iadon retains enough compassion not to outright murder his own son is weakened, since Raoden isn't actually dead.  Being in Elantris is bad (and some believe worse than death), but if Iadon communicates with what's left of Aona, he may know more than everyone else.

 

Roial also mentions that Iadon has been acting differently recently.  This might explain it.

 

Sorry if this is a duplicate.  I couldn't find this suggestion anywhere.

[king of nowhere]

i don't think anyone thought of it before, but it seems very, very far-fetched. I have a hard time seeing iadon having a special connection to aona.

[Espella]

I imagine the part about him acting differently might be because of the sacrifices and stuff he was doing (the Jesker Mysteries I think? It's been a while)

[baby he/him]

I just saw him as a guy who couldn't care less about his maybe dead son. There might be teeny tiny chance, but I'm not really seeing it.

[ecohansen]

I like this.  So far, every crazy cult that Brandon has introduced has been right in some respect: look at the Envisagers.  I would say that Iadon is definitely getting something from his participation in the Mysteries.  And I can most definitely see sacrifice as a form of Devotion.  I think there's definitely a chance that you're on to something.

Edited April 1, 2016 by ecohansen

[Espella]

What information did we even get on the Jeskeri Mysteries? I wrote it off as a standard cult reading through the first time, but thinking back on it it's possible that it could be similar to the Derethi priests being sacrificed to gain powers, especially since the ending kind of implies that most cultures/religions have some way to control the AonDor.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Espella

[ARARITA he/him]

I wonder if it's a twisted remnant of the Jesk tradition(?) - brought by our good ol' buddy on his travels

[Ari he/him]

It was a red-herring for Sarene to follow so that she didn't come to the correct conclusion that he was Lord Spirit.