Pagerunner he/him Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 I believe the latest chapters have given us the true author of Oathbringer, and one of the deepest mysteries of Dalinar's past. The latest two epigraphs: Quote I will confess my murders before you. Most painfully, I have killed someone who loved me dearly. I will confess my heresy. I do not back down from the things I have said, regardless of what the ardents demand. I find it very telling that the author did not kill someone that they loved, but someone who loved them. This is consistent with what we see in the flashback between Dalinar and Evi: Quote Idly, he wondered what it would take to actually earn the ardents’ displeasure. “Be a man and not a beast, Dalinar,” Evi said, then pulled close to him, setting her head on his shoulder and encouraging him to wrap his arms around her. ... She always wanted him to hold her, as if being alone for one storming minute would make her wither and blow away. And… (The first line is just to draw another connection between Dalinar and the OB author.) Evi loved Dalinar, but he did not love her back. She is the one he has killed. I don't think he murdered her, but we saw references earlier to a terrible mistake that Kadash remembered, and Dalinar did not. I will include a little bit of context, since Kadash's personal story is essential to understanding the timeline: Quote “Dalinar, that’s blasphemy,” Kadash said, voice pained. “Kadash. You know I’m no heretic. You’ve fought by my side.” “That’s supposed to reassure me? Memories of what we did together, Dalinar? I appreciate the man you have become; you should avoid reminding me of the man you once were.” Dalinar paused, and a memory swirled up from the depths inside him—one he hadn’t thought of in years. One that surprised him. Where had it come from? He remembered Kadash, bloodied, kneeling on the ground having retched until his stomach was empty. A hardened soldier who had encountered something so vile that even he was shaken. He’d left to become an ardent the next day. “The Rift,” Dalinar whispered. “Rathalas.” “Dark times need not be dredged up,” Kadash said. “This isn’t about… that day, Dalinar. It’s about today, and what you’ve been spreading among the scribes. Talk of these things you’ve seen in visions.” ... “I don’t think you would lie, Dalinar,” Kadash said. “But I do think you can make mistakes. Do not forget that I was there. You are not infallible.” There? Dalinar thought as Kadash backed up, bowed, then turned and left. What does he remember that I cannot? There is something we haven't seen yet, whatever it was that happened in The Rift that caused Kadash to join the ardentia. It's not what Dalinar did in the second flashback to earn Oathbringer, since we saw Kadash as a soldier in the fourth. But Dalinar does remember why Kadash resigned; the "mistake" that he references must be something else. Something Dalinar does not remember, something that happened before Kadash retired, before the Blackthorn began to mellow. (Which occurred after Gavilar's death; Dalinar in the prologues has still been quite belligerent.) I think Dalinar can't remember it because it was purged, the same as the other memories of his wife. We don't know the specific events yet surrounding Evi's death. But I think it is clear that Dalinar is responsible for them, and that by the time he writes Oathbringer he will have remembered them completely. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnhargreaves he/him Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 This sounds right to me. The wording "who loved me" is a big clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wax he/him Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 Rathalas - I am wondering if Dalinar returns to Rathalas for a return bout, where something does happen with Evi.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salkara Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 16 minutes ago, axcellence said: Rathalas - I am wondering if Dalinar returns to Rathalas for a return bout, where something does happen with Evi.... I'm almost certain that happened. From OB ch 4: Quote “Navani, maybe I did grow to love her. I can’t remember. Not one moment of intimacy, not one fight, not a single word she ever said to me. She’s gone, leaving debris that mars my memory. I can’t remember how she died. That one gets to me, because there are parts of that day I know I should remember. Something about a city in rebellion against my brother, and my wife being taken hostage?” and ch 11: Quote “What do we do with them, Dalinar?” Gavilar asked, waving down toward the crowds of civilians the soldiers were rounding up. “Tens of thousands of people. They won’t be cowed easily; they won’t like that you killed their highlord and his heir. Those people will resist us for years. I can feel it.” My personal theory is that Rathalas takes Evi hostage and rebels against the Kholins. Something happens, and Dalinar goes nuts and destroys the entire city and all its inhabitants. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis he/him Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 This is what I've thought since we saw that interaction with Kadash. Today's flashback, and the epigraphs definitely reinforce the idea for me. I agree on all counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Invested Beard Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 (edited) It would make sense as a ramp up in scale due to the Thrill. Killing pretty much the entire population of a city in a blind rage while being pushed along by the Thrill would definitely make Kadash pretty sick. Edited October 24, 2017 by The Invested Beard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorocket1 Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 yikes, considering the increase in the effect of the thrill since the first flashback to the fourth, this seems very likely. Also given what the thrill does to him, I fiind a hostage situation very likely to have evi dead at the hands of dalinar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmosiman Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 I agree with that assessment. He may have gone in to save her, but just like the 3 Kohlin soldiers he killed, she could have been too close to the action. It's also possible that they killed her in a standoff and he laid waste to the city. Either way, falling into the Thrill leads him to be consumed by blood-lust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagerunner he/him Posted October 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 1 hour ago, Salkara said: I'm almost certain that happened. From OB ch 4: and ch 11: My personal theory is that Rathalas takes Evi hostage and rebels against the Kholins. Something happens, and Dalinar goes nuts and destroys the entire city and all its inhabitants. Good quote from Chapter 4. I'd forgotten about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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