The Everstorm

[Moogle]

It strikes me that a lot of the epigraphs now make a lot more sense now that we can predict that the Everstorm is due to the Parshendi. They deserve a re-look with everything we've learned from the WoR sample chapters. Here's the ones that I think make more sense:

 

“I’m cold. Mother, I’m cold. Mother? Why can I still hear the rain? Will it stop?”

Collected on Vevishes, 1172, 32 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed female child, approximately six years old.

 

It seems likely that the Everstorm is actually a highstorm summoned and controlled by the Parshendi, here. It keeps raining and storming, and chills everything down.

 

“Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.”

Dated Palahakev, 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. Subject: a Thaylen sailor.

 

Here, we see that the Everstorm is still going. Apparently it darkens the sky, too - there's no light. A lot of people are going to die, I think. Perhaps this is from the perspective of Kaladin? Dalinar? The person talking seems to know it is Odium that has 'won'.

 

“In the storm I awaken, falling, spinning, grieving.”

Dated Kakanev, 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. Subject was a city guardsman.

 

The storm starts and he 'awakens'? It could be Kaladin having a highstorm vision.

 

“That chanting, that singing, those rasping voices.”

Kaktach 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. A middle-aged potter. Reported seeing strange dreams during highstorms during the last two years.

 

“The day was ours, but they took it,” the boy cried. “Stormfather! You cannot have it. The day is ours. They come, rasping, and the lights fail. Oh, Stormfather!”

 

Here is where things get juicy. I predict that Dalinar leads the Alethi to fight the Parshendi in a final climatic battle, and they seem to be winning the battle... and then the storm comes as all the Parshendi in stormform summon it. It seems that the Parshendi, when in stormform, rasp as they sing.

 

“All is withdrawn for me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds.”

Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed mother of four in her sixty-second year.

 

A lot of people die here... and Kaladin, in the midst of the destruction of the Everstorm, finds himself saving Sadeas? In any case, it seems likely that Kaladin, as a Windrunner, could have power over the storm and could potentially save the day here by stopping the storm. It's an unending highstorm, so it's not like he won't have enough Stormlight.

 

“They named it the Final Desolation, but they lied. Our gods lied. Oh, how they lied. The Everstorm comes. I hear its whispers, see its stormwall, know its heart.”

Tanatanes 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. An Azish itinerant worker. Sample of particular note.

 

Nothing special here, but it does note the 'whispers', which may be connecting to the 'rasping'. Stormform Parshendi are probably creepy as all heck.

 

Anyone feel like offering different interpretations?

Edited February 19, 2014 by Moogle

[Swimmingly he/him]

Yup. Sounds about right.

The "control the storm" one could be Eshonai in stormform though..

Edited February 20, 2014 by Swimmingly

[+Aletus he/him]

Think about this, please, because I am not sure what it means. 

 

If the Everstorm is a controlled Highstorm, or any other derivative of a Highstorm, why did the (place that was at least strikingly similar to:) purelake in Dalinar's vision have water in it. 

[Kersplattle]

Awesome work Moogle, where do you find the time !

[Swimmingly he/him]

That was a desolation, not the Everstorm, though.

[+Aletus he/him]

That was a desolation, not the Everstorm, though.

 

Correct - but do we know for a fact that there is a clear difference? Could all of the desolations have been the last desolation in their eyes? I may be overlooking WoB here - in fact it's entirely likely. 

[vikorr]

I really like the gist of where Moogle went with this - the only problem I see is that the Parshendi would have used storm form during previous desolations (when they knew so many more forms)...so why weren't all the previous desolations 'Everstorms'?

[1empyrean]

It strikes me that a lot of the epigraphs now make a lot more sense now that we can predict that the Everstorm is due to the Parshendi. They deserve a re-look with everything we've learned from the WoR sample chapters. Here's the ones that I think make more sense:

 

(1) “I’m cold. Mother, I’m cold. Mother? Why can I still hear the rain? Will it stop?”

Collected on Vevishes, 1172, 32 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed female child, approximately six years old.

 

It seems likely that the Everstorm is actually a highstorm summoned and controlled by the Parshendi, here. It keeps raining and storming, and chills everything down.

 

(2) “Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.”

Dated Palahakev, 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. Subject: a Thaylen sailor.

 

Here, we see that the Everstorm is still going. Apparently it darkens the sky, too - there's no light. A lot of people are going to die, I think. Perhaps this is from the perspective of Kaladin? Dalinar? The person talking seems to know it is Odium that has 'won'.

 

(3) “In the storm I awaken, falling, spinning, grieving.”

Dated Kakanev, 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. Subject was a city guardsman.

 

The storm starts and he 'awakens'? It could be Kaladin having a highstorm vision.

 

(4) “That chanting, that singing, those rasping voices.”

Kaktach 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. A middle-aged potter. Reported seeing strange dreams during highstorms during the last two years.

 

(5) “The day was ours, but they took it,” the boy cried. “Stormfather! You cannot have it. The day is ours. They come, rasping, and the lights fail. Oh, Stormfather!”

 

Here is where things get juicy. I predict that Dalinar leads the Alethi to fight the Parshendi in a final climatic battle, and they seem to be winning the battle... and then the storm comes as all the Parshendi in stormform summon it. It seems that the Parshendi, when in stormform, rasp as they sing.

 

(6) “All is withdrawn for me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds.”

Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed mother of four in her sixty-second year.

 

A lot of people die here... and Kaladin, in the midst of the destruction of the Everstorm, finds himself saving Sadeas? In any case, it seems likely that Kaladin, as a Windrunner, could have power over the storm and could potentially save the day here by stopping the storm. It's an unending highstorm, so it's not like he won't have enough Stormlight.

 

(7) “They named it the Final Desolation, but they lied. Our gods lied. Oh, how they lied. The Everstorm comes. I hear its whispers, see its stormwall, know its heart.”

Tanatanes 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. An Azish itinerant worker. Sample of particular note.

 

Nothing special here, but it does note the 'whispers', which may be connecting to the 'rasping'. Stormform Parshendi are probably creepy as all heck.

 

Anyone feel like offering different interpretations?

hmm, I'll give it a shot.

 

(1) The cold is likely due to the fact that the girl is being bled out more than anything else.  I am almost inclined to say that this might not be a death vision at all and is simply a product of blood loss, but I am pretty sure Brandon Sanderson wouldn't do something like for one of the epitaphs, so it probably is a vision.  It felt more like she was talking about normal rain than a storm, and unending rain sounds like the weeping...which is probably significant...who knows why she asked about still hearing rain.

 

(2) Ok, I am not entirely convinced that all the visions have to be about the future, and there are some (not in this list) that I am certain have already come to pass.  Therefore, I feel this might be a about the recreance and the death of Honor (events that could very well be linked).  The rest is more metaphor than literal description of events in my opinion.  

 

(3) Taln coming back from damnation.

 

(4) I feel there isn't much significance in this more than to foreshadow the true nature of the Parshendi.

 

(5) Seems like something Gavilar would say if he could speak from beyond the grave.  The "it" could the black sphere he gave Szeth.

 

(6) It could be Dalinar instead of Kaladin.  Kaladin never really promises anything except to bridge 4.  I get the feeling that if it is Kaladin, then bridge 4 isn't going to make it through this book.

 

(7) Whispering is likely an anthropomorphization of the storm,  Metaphor again.  The "I know its heart" part seems more significant to me.  Maybe this is because the speaker sees the storm from a distance (the word whisper and the act of seeing the stormwall mean it hasn't come yet) but knows its "heart"...it is probably just more descriptive metaphor, but it might be a reference to gem hearts and how superstitious darkeyes think of voidbringers as things that wander around during highstorms...though maybe I'm just imagining things and over thinking it.

 

All in all, these aren't the most confusing or interesting of the epitaphs...and I also disagree that stormform brings the everstorm, at least directly

[AerionBFII he/him]

One of the best theories I've seen in the forum

I was going to make a theory like this but im too lazy to look for the actual quotes so i think you did a better job, hahaha 

Edited February 20, 2014 by WEZ313

[Crisapx he/him]

If this is correct, and the epigraphs, are lines or situations of our PoV characters but in the future, then it's going to blow my mind.

I've never seen anything like this except maybe in the last book of Riyria chronicles, but that was in very smaller scale

Edited February 20, 2014 by Crisapx

[Kadrok she/her]

Fascinating theory. I like it. A couple of things though:

A lot of people die here... and Kaladin, in the midst of the destruction of the Everstorm, finds himself saving Sadeas? In any case, it seems likely that Kaladin, as a Windrunner, could have power over the storm and could potentially save the day here by stopping the storm. It's an unending highstorm, so it's not like he won't have enough Stormlight.

My understanding is that everything charges once in a Highstorm (the moment Kaladin sees the "Stormfather"). This makes the Everstorm all the more devastating because the power source on which everything relies is denied them... not just the energy for surgebinders, but Soulcasting, powering Shardplate, lighting, fabrials... it's like one big power outage that would cripple the human side. The flip side of this is that the Parshendi can only change forms during a Highstorm. Does this mean:

 

a) The Parshendi are similarly crippled, in that they are trapped in one form.

 

or, the far more epic one...

 

b ) The Parshendi can form-shift at will, constantly adapting to whatever the humans throw at them.

 

If it is b, an Everstorm would shift the balance of power severely in the Parshendi favour. A crippled human force versus a constantly shifting and adapting force.

Edited February 21, 2014 by Kadrok

[Moogle]

b ) The Parshendi can form-shift at will, constantly adapting to whatever the humans throw at them.

 

If it is b, an Everstorm would shift the balance of power severely in the Parshendi favour. A crippled human force versus a constantly shifting and adapting force.

 

Now that's a terrifying thought. I'm fascinated by the idea. It explains Jasnah's notes about how "they changed, even as we fought them" or whatever it was. I like this theory.

 

I'm not so sure that gems only recharge once in a constant-highstorm. It seems like there's an area where there's a great amount of Spiritual pressure, which forces Investiture into the gems (which act as a low-pressure area for Investiture, I assume). It only moves past spheres once in a regular highstorm going from east->west, but I think it possible that gems could constantly be recharged if you could find out where that specific area is while the highstorm is anchored in one place.

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

This will be one awesome fight scene. Parshendi shapeshifers vs. Surgebinders with infinite stormlight in a giant, unmoving hypercane.

[+Aletus he/him]

"I gotta go Julia, we've got COWS!" except chull, in this case. 

[vikorr]

If it is b, an Everstorm would shift the balance of power severely in the Parshendi favour. A crippled human force versus a constantly shifting and adapting force.

 

 

The prelude to WoK's includes then end of a desolation, and comments of blasted out sections of rock where surgebinders had fought.

 

The knights radiant lasted until the end of desolations...if they'd run out of power, the voidbringers would have targetted them and wiped them out.

 

Humanity 'won' each desolation (though Honor says they are losing in one of the visions - in a later one he says to appoint a champion because Odium will take that chance rather than losing again)

 

I think it's safe to say Surgebinders etc were still able to power themselves.

[Kadrok she/her]

 

The prelude to WoK's includes then end of a desolation, and comments of blasted out sections of rock where surgebinders had fought.

 

The knights radiant lasted until the end of desolations...if they'd run out of power, the voidbringers would have targetted them and wiped them out.

 

Humanity 'won' each desolation (though Honor says they are losing in one of the visions - in a later one he says to appoint a champion because Odium will take that chance rather than losing again)

 

I think it's safe to say Surgebinders etc were still able to power themselves.

 

Of course. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think it will be a Surgebinder-less battle. I'm suggesting that they might have to adapt their strategy in terms of power management in the event they lose the ability to recharge the way they're used to. It could be that they discover another way to charge their gems... it could be that Lift discovers she can poop Stormlight and saves the day.