Theory about Attica [Major Spoilers]

[Gaussian]

Okay, so after reading the letter at the end of the book we know that Grandpa Smedry survived by reaching out for his talent.  That was a bit surprising, since we have never seen his talent operate in quite that manner; however, there is a talent that seems very likely to bring someone back from the dead, and that is Attica's talent.  He has a talent for losing things and then finding them again later when he needs them!  He lost his soul and Alcatraz got it back.  Now he lost his life, the only question is, how and when will he get it back?

[HoidvsVoid]

Funny and possible but not likely in my opinion. Brandon doesn't like bringing characters to life often, and while gramdpas death was spontaneous, atticas wasn't so he wouldn't have been able to break through to his talent. Plus, we finished his character arc so there wad no more use for him. Bringing him back would ruin his sacrifice.

 

However, i hope you are right because i wanted more out of attica and i liked him.

[Erunion he/him]

Possible, but don't expect it. Attica's death is significant. It's a game changer for Alcatraz, and likely why he was unwilling to write further books. (Thankfully Bastille believes the story needs to be told! Can't leave our faithful potted plant Brandon Sanderson without a book to publish in his name!) 

[MISTaken she/her]

Honestly, after the crazy change of plot that Sanderson punched us in the face with, I wouldn't be surprised. (Is it just me, or did the Alcatraz series get really morbid?) 

But who knows? It might shed some light on how the talents work. 

[If.you.die.I.go.stupid]

On 9/21/2016 at 7:22 PM, MISTaken said:

Honestly, after the crazy change of plot that Sanderson punched us in the face with, I wouldn't be surprised. (Is it just me, or did the Alcatraz series get really morbid?) 

But who knows? It might shed some light on how the talents work. 

Grandpa gets his brains blown out and Attica gets sacrificed, probably mutilated, and Alcatraz gets PTSD. Yeah, it took a pretty dark turn and pretty fast.

It doesn't surprise me from Sanderson, but I was a bit surprised how dark it got for a middle grade book. I actually like having key characters die. I mean, there's a war going on. It's always weird to me when only b or c list characters die in war. That said, I like Grandpa Smedry, so it's cool to bring him back. I suspect that Attica is really dead, but maybe not gone. What happens to a soul that is owned by someone else when body dies? The souls that belong to the library of Alexandria stick around. Attica could haunt Alcatraz because Alcatraz owns his soul, or maybe Alcatraz will get to boss him around. His dad's soul could make a pretty good research assistant.

 

On 9/10/2016 at 11:19 AM, Gaussian said:

Okay, so after reading the letter at the end of the book we know that Grandpa Smedry survived by reaching out for his talent.  That was a bit surprising, since we have never seen his talent operate in quite that manner; however, there is a talent that seems very likely to bring someone back from the dead, and that is Attica's talent.  He has a talent for losing things and then finding them again later when he needs them!  He lost his soul and Alcatraz got it back.  Now he lost his life, the only question is, how and when will he get it back?

How so? In the first book he is stabbed with a knife and arrives late to it, even with the knife sticking in his leg. He lets that injury arrive to him slowly in small spurts, but that wasn't a life threatening injury. If it were, he might have delayed it as long as possible, like he is with the bullet. The whole power source thing matters too. Arriving late tot he bullet indefinitely may have been well beyond his talent, but he has been building up lots of energy and if his talent provided a way for it to all release at once, then he could accomplish something more difficult than his talent would normally be able to handle. 

 

[Argel he/him]

If Attica lost his life but will somehow find it again then not so dark after all. Not going to hold my breath on that, but we shouldn't rule it out. Also, what about his wife (ex-wife?)? Could her Talent bring Attica back?

[Mark Adrian]

Attica's Talent is a Space Talent, it wouldn't work that way. Someone with a Talent that could bring people back from the dead would have to come along and bring him back. 

[asterion137 he/him]

On 9/10/2016 at 11:48 AM, HoidvsVoid said:

Funny and possible but not likely in my opinion. Brandon doesn't like bringing characters to life often, and while gramdpas death was spontaneous, atticas wasn't so he wouldn't have been able to break through to his talent. Plus, we finished his character arc so there wad no more use for him. Bringing him back would ruin his sacrifice.

 

However, i hope you are right because i wanted more out of attica and i liked him.

On 9/15/2016 at 1:08 AM, Erunion (The Incorrigible) said:

Possible, but don't expect it. Attica's death is significant. It's a game changer for Alcatraz, and likely why he was unwilling to write further books. (Thankfully Bastille believes the story needs to be told! Can't leave our faithful potted plant Brandon Sanderson without a book to publish in his name!) 

I wouldn't put it past Brandon. Kelsier and Jasnah both had meaningful deaths and they still came back

 

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

Yes, but the affects of Attica's death on Alcatraz - and the fact that those effects remain - would indicate that Attica stays dead or, if he doesn't, no one has told Alcatraz otherwise.

[Mark Adrian]

A Space Talent definitely couldn't do it, it only affects Space.

Edited June 19, 2017 by Mark Adrian
What I said didn't make sense.