Shallan almost died in WoK and you might not have noticed it

[elsecaller7]

Hey all, first post here, though I've been lurking around for a long time.

i decided to jump in on account of something interesting I noticed when rereading The Way of Kings. In part three of the book, Shallan faces a danger that I know I definitely missed the first time I read through the book, and I think a lot of others may have missed as well.

After accidentally soulcasting a goblet to blood, Shallan cuts herself with a shard of glass to cover up what she's done. This leads to her internment in the hospital, shortly before she is confronted by Jasnan and Kabsal and-

Wait. Hold on. What happened after she cut herself with the glass?

She was interned in the hospital.

She was interned in King Taravangian's hospital.

Yup. If Kabsal hadn't poisoned her, she would have had her blood drained and died.

Here's a conversation She and King T have right before the encounter with Kabsal and Jasnah:

Quote

“What a sweet thing you are,” he said, rising. “Is there anything I can do to improve your stay?”
“End it?”
“I’m afraid that I can’t allow that,” he said, eyes softening. “I must defer to the wisdom of my surgeons and nurses. They say that you are still at risk. We must think of your health.”
“Keeping me here gives me health at the expense of my wellness, Your Majesty.”
He shook his head. “You mustn’t be allowed to have another accident.”
“I … I understand. But I promise that I’m feeling much better. The episode that struck me was caused by overwork. Now that I’m relaxed, I’m not in any further danger.”
“That is good,” he said. “But we still need to keep you for a few more days.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. But could I at least have visitors?” So far, the hospital staff had insisted that she was not to be bothered.
“Yes … I can see how that might help you. I’ll speak to the ardents and suggest that you be allowed a few visitors.” He hesitated. “Once you are well again, it might be best for you to suspend your training.”

“She pasted a grimace on her face, trying not to feel sick at the charade. “I hate to do that, Your Majesty. But I have been missing my family greatly. Perhaps I should return to them.”
“An excellent idea. I’m certain the ardents will be more likely to release you if they know you’ll be going home.” He smiled in a kindly way, resting a hand on her shoulder. “This world, it is a tempest sometimes. But remember, the sun always rises again.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Now it's possible that Shallan would have escaped her stay unscathed. Presumably, not every single patient that enters Kharbranth's hospital dies there. But I find Taravangian's insistence that Shallan remain in the ward suspicious, and when he says, "I can see how that might help you," in response to whether or not Shallan can have visitors, it feels to me that what he means is, "Having visitors will allow people to notice how weak you are (and you'll be quite weak, since we'll be draining your blood), so that might help your death seem less suspicious." King T also seems really hesitant throughout the whole conversation, as though he's really reluctant to keep her there, because he doesn't want to kill her, but has no choice. His comment at the end makes it seem both as though he knows that he is talking to a person who is going to die, and that he has a need to assure himself that he is doing the right thing in that moment. Her limited connections to society also make her a likely candidate for selection by Taravangian.

So, what do you guys think? Did you notice this the first time you read WoK? And do you think she really would have been killed had Kabsal not poisoned her, or was her injury not serious enough for King Taravangian to murder her?

[Calderis]

5 minutes ago, The 18th Shard said:

She was interned in King Taravangian's hospital.

Yup. If Kabsal hadn't poisoned her, she would have had her blood drained and died.

Taravangian takes those who are beyond recovery, or when needed, those with no connections whose disappearance will not cause questions. 

As Jasnah's ward, there is absolutely no way she could have disappeared without questions. 

[elsecaller7]

2 minutes ago, Calderis said:

Taravangian takes those who are beyond recovery, or when needed, those with no connections whose disappearance will not cause questions. 

As Jasnah's ward, there is absolutely no way she could have disappeared without questions. 

The issue comes down to whether or not Shallan's death could be sufficiently explained by her injury. So long as she appears fatally weak by those who observed her, her death would be noticed, certainly, but not questioned. 

What I'm more interested in though, is did you notice it? Even if Shallan would have been fine, I found this really interesting to think about. I was wondering how many other people shared the experience I had in reading it the first time, totally not noticing it, and then being blown away when I finally realized it.

[Calderis]

I'm not sure how to respond. On my initial read, I obviously didn't become aware of the significance of the hospital until after the fact. 

On subsequent reads... I never considered the possibility. Jasnah waited outside her door. She couldn't have been taken without questions. While it could have been explained by the severity of her injuries plausibily, I don't think Jasnah would have ever allowed it.

The proximity to the secret bloodletting stations definitely entered my mind, but the idea that Shallan was at risk? Never. 

[elsecaller7]

That argument is predicated on the fact that King T could not have began letting Shallan's blood without moving her from one ward to another. Though the patients who are about to die are all interned in one ward, I would imagine that King T could start the process in the main ward, and then, once Shallan began exhibiting obvious signs of weakness, move here to the terminal ward.

Additionally, I don't see why Jasnah would have thought to object to King Taravangian's decision that Shallan needed to be kept in another ward. She trusts him completely, and switching a patient from one ward to another is hardly suspicious behavior. 

I'll conclude by pointing out that there was a lot more blood in the room where Shallan was discovered than actually exited Shallan's body, on account of the secret soulcasting, so the injury appeared a lot worse than it actually was. It doesn't seem to me that there were any obstacles in Taravangian's path to murdering Shallan.

[Calderis]

And I'll agree to disagree. 

[Megasif]

To be honest, I never noticed the danger. Mainly due to the fact that I have not done a reread (just revisited parts). Even if there wasn't a danger to Shallan's life, with being Jasnah's ward and everything, King.T was a acting a bit suspicious. Although unlikely, It's possible he was keeping her to see if he could eventually drain all of her blood. A good point though. 

[Storming Radiant]

I don't think there really was a danger. Taravangian does not kill every singel person that enters his hospitals. The ones that are in critical conditions, they are moved to another facility where their blood is drained and they could never leave even if they heal. But that is not the case with all of his regular hospitals. Try rereading the part where he goes there with Szeth.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Storming Radiant

[elsecaller7]

Quote

“We try to select only the worst cases to move here, for once they are brought to this place, we cannot let them leave if they begin to recover.” He turned to Szeth, eyes sorrowful. “Sometimes we need more bodies than the terminally sick can provide. And so we must bring the forgotten and the lowly. Those who will not be missed.”

This quote includes several qualifications Taravangian uses to evaluate whether a patient will be moved into the death ward. Let's go through them all:

1. If the patient is terminally ill. Shallan does not meet this qualification, although that would not be apparent to those who observed the accident, having been deceived by the amount of blood that was in the room.

2. If the patient will be forgotten. Shallan mostly meets this qualification. Her house is mostly unknown, and though she is Jasnah's ward, she hasn't been for very long, and thus does not have much name recognition.

3. If the patient is lowly. This one's kind of tricky. Shallan is rather lowly...for a lighteyes. Being a lowly lighties is fairly highborn compared to the rest of Vorin Roshar, but then again, there are lighteyes who have made it to the ward (the birth status of the patient is mentioned in the epigraphs); presumably they are members of unknown houses like Shallan's.

4. If the patient will be missed. I'm kind of translating this one to mean, "If there will be any repercussions from the patient's death," so that it somewhat addresses whether the death was suspicious enough to warrant suspicion. In this case, I believe it was not. There would be no reason for the story of Shallan dying of her wounds not to be readily accepted. No one's banging down Taravangian's door for this death.

There's also the matter of how suspicions T is acting in his conversation with Shallan.

Either way, I think it's really interesting to think about, even if there wasn't any real danger to Shallan.

[Azul]

Have to agree with Calderis here. Maybe if all the soulcast blood was actually hers it could have been a possibility. But  we know its not and that she tried to simulate a 'accident' even if she did cut deeper than intended and was found moments after there was never any danger at all in my mind.  

I also can't see them beginning to bleed people before they take them to the hidden wards,  that would be a bit obvious to others around them.  While blood letting may have been seen as a useful medical practice in our medieval ages, medicine is quite advanced on Roshar in thanks to the Heralds and spren.  I imagine the  'we cannot let them leave is they begin to recover' is due to the fact that while we don't know the exact numbers of members of the Diagram they are likely still limited in staff in the bleeding stations.

 

You pointed out yourself the qualifications that i believe would exempt Shallan as well.  2 and 4 are pretty much the same thing and while she may not have been Jasnah's ward for long it would be fairly obvious to Mr T with Jasnah waiting outside her room the entire time that she is important to her.   As for 3,  if she lowly.  while a darkeyes of the 1st Nahn may be high enough to be considered into marriage into a lighteyes house,  to the Alethi even a beggar that was a lighteyes of the 10th dahn is above the richest and most sucessful darkeyes.  Shallan was of the 5th dahn so 'lowly' doesn't really fit.   Yes we know some lighteyes were bled but Kharbranth is a port city that people the world over visit and many of those places do not see 'lighteyes' as being anything special.

[king of nowhere]

shallan was one single person, her death would advance the diagram no more than the death of anyone else. i really doubt taravangian would have killed her. the risk/reward rate was very high simply because the reward was very low. there are plenty of beggars whose disappearence won't even be noticed. why take risks with a high-ranking lighteye (being daughter of someone who controls lot of land definitely counts as high-ranking. just because we got aquainted with highprinces does not mean that those who are a step or two behind them are low-born) when a single beggar can give you the same information?

plus, taravangian knows that jasnah is researching the voidbringers, and so she can be an ally or at least discover something he may use. i think he'd rather keep jasnah and whoever is helping her in good shape if he has a choice.