Taravangian's "Capacity"

[byscuits]

At the end of Words of Radiance, it is revealed that Taravangian asked the Nightwatcher for "Capacity."

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He was barely listening. "Capacity," he whispered, turning a page. "Capacity to stop what was coming. The capacity to save humankind."

Clearly, Taravangian believes this capacity to be related to his intelligence, given the focus on the Diagram and his daily tests of his intelligence.

But there is something else that varies on a daily basis for Taravangian.

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Blessed with intelligence, cursed with compassion to feel pain for what he had done. They came inversely. Why couldn't he have both at once? He did not think that in other people, intelligence and compassion were tied in such a way. The Nightwatcher's motives behind her boons and curses were unfathomable.

What if he has it backwards? What if Taravangian's curse was his intelligence and his boon was the expanded capacity for compassion? What if what was needed to save humankind was a Compassion Diagram instead?

 

(My first post. Apologies if this has been mentioned before. I didn't see it when searching.)

[Tsidqiyah he/him]

Interesting thought. I can actually buy into thins.

[Samaldin he/him]

I´m not sure if the boon and the curse are so strictly divided in this case. Someone else proposed the theory (if i´m remembering correctly) that on the day he created the Diagram he was smart enough to figure out when he will be smart or compassionate. The Diagram is a plan to make him seem like a perfect ruthless champion for Odium, so he will be chosen by him, but the day of the final confrontation between Odiums and Honors champion will be the day he is equally compassionate to how smart he was during the creation of the diagram and he will sacrifice himself to save humankind.

[Kered he/him]

There's also a theory that there were some outside forces, not the Nightwatcher, that influenced the diagram. This theory would tie into that one nicely. Old Tara's boon being the ability to have enough compassion to save himself and ultimately the world from his diagram, his curse.  

[DarkJester]

1 hour ago, byscuits said:

At the end of Words of Radiance, it is revealed that Taravangian asked the Nightwatcher for "Capacity."

Clearly, Taravangian believes this capacity to be related to his intelligence, given the focus on the Diagram and his daily tests of his intelligence.

But there is something else that varies on a daily basis for Taravangian.

What if he has it backwards? What if Taravangian's curse was his intelligence and his boon was the expanded capacity for compassion? What if what was needed to save humankind was a Compassion Diagram instead?

 

(My first post. Apologies if this has been mentioned before. I didn't see it when searching.)

I'm always up for an interesting theory, and I really like this one. Good job.

 

15 minutes ago, Samaldin said:

I´m not sure if the boon and the curse are so strictly divided in this case. Someone else proposed the theory (if i´m remembering correctly) that on the day he created the Diagram he was smart enough to figure out when he will be smart or compassionate. The Diagram is a plan to make him seem like a perfect ruthless champion for Odium, so he will be chosen by him, but the day of the final confrontation between Odiums and Honors champion will be the day he is equally compassionate to how smart he was during the creation of the diagram and he will sacrifice himself to save humankind.

I hadn't really thought of this ether. Considering how smart he was that day, it's completely possible.