Szeth's Stormlight

[Xander Freud he/him]

So my question is in the first section where Szeth kills gavilar. It mentions he takes care not to be hit by the shard blade because even the tempest he holds cannot revive wounds inflicted by shardblade. However, Kaladin heals his (arm?) after it was sliced through and his soul severed from it. Is it because Kaladin is bonded to a Spren? Or had he never tried it?

[william.sexton3 he/him]

It is because Kaladin was bonded to Syl. Szeth does not have a bond (He uses an honorblade, and does not have a bond with a spren). 

 

You should read through this conversation: 

 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

The Nahel bond grants all the bonuses of Stormlight and is bound by the Oaths. Checks and Balances
Honorblades just grant specific Surges and basic ability to use Stormlight. I even think it healed him slower than Kal.
If Szeth had the Edgedancer/Truthwatcher equivalent Honorblade, he would have the ability to heal nearly anything.

Edited September 10, 2016 by The One Who Connects

[goody153]

Szeth got hit by Kaladin's shardblade in his fights he was still able to function when he shouldn't. I think it's all about perception(Mr. Sanderson mentioned this) as to why Szeth thinks shardblade wouldn't heal, kinda like his Honorblade requiring 10 heartbeats even though it's not really alive and the reviving is only needed for dead sprens but this happens cause Szeth thinks it needs 10 heartbeats.

[Krandacth]

3 hours ago, goody153 said:

Szeth got hit by Kaladin's shardblade in his fights he was still able to function when he shouldn't. I think it's all about perception(Mr. Sanderson mentioned this) as to why Szeth thinks shardblade wouldn't heal, kinda like his Honorblade requiring 10 heartbeats even though it's not really alive and the reviving is only needed for dead sprens but this happens cause Szeth thinks it needs 10 heartbeats.

He did? I thought he got hit once, and it ended the fight... The other times he took the hits on his Blade, I believe.

Anyway, I agree with the perception argument, in that I think it would be possible. However, Syl says he uses Stormlight at a "dangerous" rate, and Kaladin healing from a Shardblade wound took a large amount of Stormlight, even for him. So for Szeth to heal from such a wound would take impractical amounts of Stormlight. Unless you were running around in a Highstorm!

Oh... Shame the hit cut him off from Surgebinding!

[goody153]

I think the "using larger amount of stormlight" happened to have an effect on the last fight between the two, i remember Szeth backpedaling when he got hit by Kaladin and he wasn't even healing himself as he prioritized getting a safe distance between him and Kaladin (i think this part happened when Kaladin was transforming Syl multiple times from hammer to knife etc)

[Krandacth]

Given what happened to Kaladin the first time he was exposed in a highstorm, I think I assumed they were constantly being hurt by storm blown stones and debris too small and numerous to dodge, but healing the damage immediately. Szeth then stops healing that damage to prioritise fleeing. Szeth may have been hit by the hammer, but I'm pretty sure Syl never cut him.

I think we need a reread to confirm, or someone more certain, at least.

[Eki]

This WoB says it's not about perception:

Quote

Interview: Feb 20th, 2015
Chicago
Question
Szeth says in the first stormlight book that he can’t heal from a shardblade--
Brandon Sanderson
He can’t.
Question
So when he got cut he couldn’t heal that…
Brandon Sanderson
No. Not with his powers.
Question
Not from an honorblade.
Brandon Sanderson
Not from an honorblade.

 

[william.sexton3 he/him]

The "hit" that you guys are talking about is when Kaladin pierced his skin, but not deep enough to sever the soul, and so it did not affect the arm at all, and thus did not require healing

[Oversleep]

Well, Kaladin stabbed him with Sharddagger when he was trying to reach the spine but Szeth managed to escape before his backbone was cut. So he still was stabbed in the stomach, deeply.

[+hwiles]

He'll probably have bowel problems for the rest of his life, but that's about it.

[Djarskublar he/him]

17 minutes ago, hwiles said:

He'll probably have bowel problems for the rest of his life, but that's about it.

Yep. Szeth will now never fall in love. The way to a man's heart is his stomach, and his has no soul now.

On a different tack, the fabrial probably healed his gut wound too.

[Argel he/him]

3 hours ago, Djarskublar said:

On a different tack, the fabrial probably healed his gut wound too.

FWIW, there is no mention of a "fabrial" being used to resurrect Szeth. The new wording does not rule it out, but I wonder if Brandon made the change because Nale used a different method.

[Djarskublar he/him]

3 minutes ago, Argel said:

FWIW, there is no mention of a "fabrial" being used to resurrect Szeth. The new wording does not rule it out, but I wonder if Brandon made the change because Nale used a different method.

I have heard that he changed it, but I don't know what he changed exactly. I recently acquired my copy of WoR, so I probably have the new version. What was changed?

Edited September 12, 2016 by Djarskublar

[Oversleep]

19 minutes ago, Argel said:

FWIW, there is no mention of a "fabrial" being used to resurrect Szeth. The new wording does not rule it out, but I wonder if Brandon made the change because Nale used a different method.

Nalan still used a fabrial, but he spoke of it as Surgebinding. The mention of him hiding it in his pocket is still there.

[Spoolofwhool]

56 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

Nalan still used a fabrial, but he spoke of it as Surgebinding. The mention of him hiding it in his pocket is still there.

Do you have a quote on the matter?

[Xander Freud he/him]

What is this about a new version?

[The One Who Connects he/him]

13 minutes ago, Xander Freud said:

What is this about a new version?

Long story short, Brandon did a few post-release changes/corrections to WoR. I don't remember all that he did right now, but it wasn't too much beyond changing a word here/there and spellcheck. He rewrote small portions of a few scenes, such as how Kaladin ended the fight with Szeth.

[Oversleep]

1 hour ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Do you have a quote on the matter?

That depends. There was a list of changes here on the Shard. But it was not official.

On the other hand, Polish publisher did release an official list of changes, so I can look up which sentences were changed.

EDIT:

Spoiler

Hardcover: PAGE 1062
Revised word document: PAGE 1510
Current:

• “Why am I not dead?” he whispered. “The Shardblade pierced me. I fell. Why didn’t I die?”

Replacement:

• “Why am I not dead?” he whispered. “I released my bond to the Shardblade. I fell into the storm without Lashings. Why didn’t I die?”

Hardcover: PAGE 1062
Revised word document: PAGE 1510 / 1511
Current:

• “Not if it is done before the brain dies. Like a drowned man restored to life with the proper ministrations, you could be restored with the right fabrial. If I had waited seconds longer, of course, it would have been too late.”

Replacement:

• “Not if it is done before the brain dies. Like a drowned man restored to life with the proper ministrations, you could be restored with the right Surgebinding. If I had waited seconds longer, of course, it would have been too late. But surely you know this. Two of the Blades held by your people allow Regrowth. I suspect you have already seen the newly dead restored to life.”

Hardcover: PAGE 1064
Revised word document: PAGE 1513
Current:

• Still kneeling, Szeth looked up after the man. “My people have the other Honorblades, and have kept them safe for millennia.

Replacement:

• Still kneeling, Szeth looked up after the man. “You are right. My people have the other Honorblades, and have kept them safe for millennia.

Hardcover: PAGE 1064
Revised word document: PAGE 1513
Current:

• “I have brought a Shardblade for you.

Replacement:

• “I have brought a replacement Shardblade for you.

Those are all changes done to Nalan & Szeth scene.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Oversleep

[Djarskublar he/him]

I think I get it, though saying current vs replacement is confusing. If I am right and the replacement is the actual current version, then I have an old copy... how I don't know, since I bought it in the last month. Thanks for finding that for me. I hadn't the first clue where to look.

[Oversleep]

7 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

I think I get it, though saying current vs replacement is confusing. If I am right and the replacement is the actual current version, then I have an old copy... how I don't know, since I bought it in the last month. Thanks for finding that for me. I hadn't the first clue where to look.

It was from quite an old post, so it was when we considered something else "current".

BTW, when you type in google "words of radiance changes" the first result is the correct topic on the Shard. Then the seventh post is the useful one.

[Djarskublar he/him]

6 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

It was from quite an old post, so it was when we considered something else "current".

BTW, when you type in google "words of radiance changes" the first result is the correct topic on the Shard. Then the seventh post is the useful one.

Okay cool. I still don't know how I ended up with an outdated copy... I guess the store is foisting off the last of their stock of the old printings... ughhh

[Argel he/him]

Has there been another print run? Even with the Kindle ebook version I had to open a support ticket with Amazon so the update was pushed out (ditto for Elantris anniversary edition).  The biggest change is Kaladin doesn't kill Szeth (but the storms and or the fall does instead).