Why did Hoid Seem Surprised when he first met Shallan

[JayDeusMortis]

I'm listening to the audiobook, so I don't have the exact page number or anything, but there was a part in Words of Radiance that was a flashback to when Shallan was 14, and Hoid makes an appearance. When he first sees Shallan, he drops his drink, and then drops his jaw in Shallan's direction. Now, I know Hoid is a little strange, but the way it was described made it seem as if he was truly caught off guard by something.

 

Will somebody please shed a light on this scenario for me?

[WhiteLeeopard]

There could be other reasons, but I believe the main one is that he realized she was a surgebinder. He hadn't expected that at all. Given his reaction I wouldn't be surprised if she was the first Surgebinder he had seen in millenia, but that is not confirmed. Hoid has an ability to go where he needs to be, but often doesn't know why. Something (luck, instinct, whatever you want to call it) had pulled him to Jah Keved, and when he met Shallan he realized he had ended up there specifically to meet her. 

Edited September 16, 2017 by WhiteLeeopard

[The One Who Connects]

39 minutes ago, JayDeusMortis said:

Now, I know Hoid is a little strange, but the way it was described made it seem as if he was truly caught off guard by something

There was another thread on this somewhere... not that I can remember when that was.

Somebody suggested that he didn't detect her. He has breath, which gives him Life Sense like Awakeners have. Shallan had an aluminum necklace on, and Aluminum messes with Investiture, so it was theorized that his shock was in the fact that she snuck up on him even with his life sense.

I also like WhiteLeeopard's idea that it could have to do with seeing a live surgebinder, and a child at that.

[Calderis]

Considering later in that flashback he tricks her into using illumination while holding spheres up to guarantee she has Stormlight...

Yeah he recognized her abilities. 

[Darkness Ascendant]

On 17/09/2017 at 8:16 AM, Calderis said:

Considering later in that flashback he tricks her into using illumination while holding spheres up to guarantee she has Stormlight...

Yeah he recognized her abilities. 

Not surprised since he practises the old Yolish art.

[Gigalemesh]

I agree that it is because he sensed she was a surgebinder. My guess is that either his aura recognition allowed him to detect it, or he was burning bronze though I think that would require her to have been actively using her abilities for him to detect it.

[Argent]

It's a question I've been curious to find the answer to for a long time. Something must allow him to detect magic far more precisely than a Seeker - which we know is possible, most magic systems have some detection mechanism. Plus, he also seems to be aware of how far Kaladin has progressed in his Radiance - the first time he meets Kaladin, it is soon after Kaladin has learned how to reliably Invest, and Hoid jokes about keeping his Stormlight safe; the second time is after Kaladin has learned how to "fly", and Hoid once again jokes about Kaladin flying off on him. 

[Yata]

17 hours ago, Argent said:

It's a question I've been curious to find the answer to for a long time. Something must allow him to detect magic far more precisely than a Seeker - which we know is possible, most magic systems have some detection mechanism. Plus, he also seems to be aware of how far Kaladin has progressed in his Radiance - the first time he meets Kaladin, it is soon after Kaladin has learned how to reliably Invest, and Hoid jokes about keeping his Stormlight safe; the second time is after Kaladin has learned how to "fly", and Hoid once again jokes about Kaladin flying off on him. 

His life sense (given to him by the Breath) alone will be enough to detect a KR as High Invested as humans...Much more he will be able to sense Pattern (or Syl) too so 2+2 for him.

[Kered]

The One Who Connects, I'm pretty sure I read through that topic about a week ago. One of the more popular beliefs is that Hoid was expecting a specific person (due to his flat out shock, cus if he was using his "Showing up for something important but not knowing what" power, he shouldn't have been thrown off as something as significant as seeing a Surgebinder again) and seeing Shallan he was thrown off.  

EDIT: Searching for the topic now. I'll post a link in here when I find it. Had some good information in there. 

Edited October 7, 2017 by Kered

[+Wax]

Hoid says his purpose was to deliver the letter, but in the end it turns out, it was to meet her and recognise her surgebinding abilities.