[OB] In-World Oathbringer

[Darkness he/him]

 

Spoiler

 

I’m certain some will feel threatened by this record. Some few may feel liberated. Most will simply feel that it should not exist.
I needed to write it anyway.

I know that many women who read this will see it only as further proof that I am the godless heretic everyone claims.
I can point to the moment when I decided for certain this record had to be written. I hung between realms, seeing into Shadesmar—the realm of the spren—and beyond.
I thought that I was surely dead. Certainly, some who saw further than I did thought I had fallen.
I did not die. I experienced something worse.
That moment notwithstanding, I can honestly say this book has been brewing in me since my youth.
The sum of my experiences has pointed at this moment. This decision.
Perhaps my heresy stretches back to those days in my childhood, where these ideas began.

I ask not that you forgive me. Nor that you even understand.
I ask only that you read or listen to these words.
In this record, I hold nothing back. I will try not to shy away from difficult topics, or paint myself in a dishonestly heroic light.
I will express only direct, even brutal, truth. You must know what I have done, and what those actions cost me.
For in this comes the lesson.
It is not a lesson I claim to be able to teach. Experience herself is the great teacher, and you must seek her directly.
You cannot have a spice described to you, but must taste it for yourself.
However, with a dangerous spice, you can be warned to taste lightly. I would that your lesson may not be as painful as my own.

I am no storyteller, to entertain you with whimsical yarns.
I am no philosopher, to intrigue you with piercing questions.
I am no poet, to delight you with clever allusions.
I have no doubt that you are smarter than I am. I can only relate what happened, what I have done, and then let you draw conclusions.

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.
Finally, I will confess my humanity. I have been named a monster, and do not deny those claims. I am the monster that I fear we all can become.

So sit back. Read, or listen, to someone who has passed between realms.
Listen to the words of a fool.
If they cannot make you less foolish, at least let them give you hope.
For I, of all people, have changed.

—From Oathbringer, preface

 

These are all the epigraphs as released so far, spoilers for length. It reads like a book of its own, so I figured it would be handy to have them all parsed together. I organised them into tentative paragraphs where breaks made sense to me.

The points that seem certain to me are:

1. The book was written by someone familiar with post-Recreance Alethi culture and directed at the same culture, referencing women reading and others perhaps listening to the words.

2. The author is seen as a Godless heretic, which they postulate may extend back as far as childhood.

3. The author has seen Shadesmar - and beyond. Whatever that means. They believed they were dead, but turns out it was something worse.

4. The author refers to experience as a she, which is interesting but not exactly telling. The example they use is a spice, which is fun considering men are the ones that traditional are familiar with spicy foods, but women are the intended audience for this book and would perhaps relate to the analogy of trying a spice better (point in favour of a female author?)

5. The author is no storyteller, philosopher, or poet, and believes the reader will be smarter than they themselves are.

6. The author killed someone that loved them

7. The author is in a position where ardents are comfortable presenting their demands.

 

My best guess? The author is a contemporary Alethi female who is likely a proto-Radiant or full Radiant, has almost died, and is somewhat ostracized due to her heretical ideas, but does not back down from them. She values people drawing their own conclusions from presented facts. She is humble (or has been made humble, perhaps by experience) - or is being sarcastic with the 'smarter than I am' comment. She believes she killed someone that loved her.

I am not entirely convinced, but I think it's Jasnah (I have literally no idea as of 28-30. Current Jasnah would never call herself a fool).  31-32 restored my belief that it's Jasnah... I give up haha. It's possible she believes she killed her father because she distracted him at a crucial moment when he was fighting Szeth. That or the killing hasn't happened or been explained yet. The main line that doesn't fit is the 'smarter than I am' line, and she could have been humbled.

Anyway, that's all we get for now. I'll edit in future epigraphs as I get ahold of them. Stay Stormbright my Shardfriends

Edited November 7, 2017 by Darkness
Update from 31-32

[Hari he/him]

Cool  one thing I cannot see Jasnah agreeing is this:

18 minutes ago, Darkness said:

She values people drawing their own conclusions from presented facts

Jasnah is like a scientist believing in objective facts/truths which she explains to Shallan in TWoK..

[Darkness he/him]

5 minutes ago, Hari said:

Cool  one thing I cannot see Jasnah agreeing is this:

Jasnah is like a scientist believing in objective facts/truths which she explains to Shallan in TWoK..

Sure, but she also prods Shallan into delving deeper and thinking about things critically. She speaks disparagingly about scholars over-presenting or wilfully misrepresenting cases, but she seems to value well-formed opinions based on objective truth.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Darkness

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

The author is also an adult. Unless these are from a currently young character in the future, i would hazard a guess this book is written by Nohadon again or perhaps the Sunmaker. We may get an inkling either next week or week after

[Yata he/him]

36 minutes ago, ParadoxicalZen said:

The author is also an adult. Unless these are from a currently young character in the future, i would hazard a guess this book is written by Nohadon again or perhaps the Sunmaker. We may get an inkling either next week or week after

Nohadon isn't a possible candidate as the book is written by someone with a modern Vorin culture knowledge. The division between Genders Roles came only after the Recreance.

So Nohadon could not know only the women are allowed to read, while the Oathbringer's author know this 

[marsoupial they/them]

Hey folks!

I've just now put all the epigraphs as of now into a Google Doc that y'all can comment on! Feel free to!

I'll update it weekly as we get more info. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Iz3clZpNvbTYEGCBivI_RJsNSbQHgVvmt_iy-DWgj3k/edit?usp=sharing

Give me your theories, here or on the doc!

[Jofwu he/him]

They're also here: http://www.coppermind.net/wiki/Oathbringer/Epigraphs

(side note, please don't put other Oathbringer content on Coppermind at this point)

[Bort he/him]

I still can't decide. I'm torn between Jasnah and Dalinar.

Although Dalinar hasn't yet seen into Shadesmar, that we know of, it could happen between now and when he writes the book. The comments about being a 'Godless heretic' also make sense for Dalinar, what with his claims about the Almighty being dead, or quite possibly not even God in the first place. The person he killed who loved him dearly, I'd guess, is Evi (or Adolin once found guilty of Sadeas' murder and possibly executed). Probably Evi though. The main reason I think it is Dalinar over Jasnah though, is the line, "I have no doubt you are smarter than I am." That doesn't sound like something Jasnah would say.

On the other hand, the bit about seeing into Shadesmar and believing they were dead, really puts me in mind of Jasnah, at the start of WoR. The various mentions of heresy would be very easily explained with it being Jasnah too. Even the murder of the person who loved her, I doubt that would be her Spren, but which other death could she feel guilty for? 
Gavilar, perhaps? I would also disagree here with the comment left on the doc by Campbell Garver - Jasnah is dedicated to truth, so I don't think she would see herself as a philosopher. She would probably admit that there was some philosophy involved in what she was researching - myths and legends for the most part, but not that she was a philosopher.

[marsoupial they/them]

(Campbell Garver is me)

[Jofwu he/him]

Based on what we know now, the author is:

• a widely known Vorin heretic 
• old enough to refer to their "youth"
• writing a book called Oathbringer
• had a near-death experience which let him/her glimpse Shadesmar and which others are aware of

I think it's got to be somebody at least loosely connected to Oathbringer the Shardblade. It's a notable, famous name. You don't write a book with that title unless you intend to for your audience to make a connection there and unless you have the connection for people to say, "Oh, yeah it makes sense for this person to write a book with that title." Especially given the book is so blatantly controversial in nature. "Oathbringer by Shallan Davar? Who is this girl and why is she writing a book with that name?" Nah... The only exception I can see to this is if it's the Sunmaker and the book name isn't directly based on the Blade.

I don't think it's Adolin or Renarin because they're too young to refer to their youths as a thing from the past. I don't think it's Jasnah because of this line: "I have no doubt that you are smarter than I am." I also tend to think the writing isn't quite as eloquent as Jasnah would make it. I can see an argument for Evi, but it's not very strong. Her heresy was not particularly outspoken or surprising, from what we've seen. I can only see two great options: Dalinar and the Sunmaker. Navani might also work, but I don't see anything compelling to suggest her.

The most peculiar part is the one about the near-death experience. 

Quote

I can point to the moment when I decided for certain this record had to be written. I hung between realms, seeing into Shadesmar—the realm of the spren—and beyond. I thought that I was surely dead. Certainly, some who saw further than I did thought I had fallen. 

I did not die.

I experienced something worse.

I really don't see any character who fits this. I believe some argue that it's Jasnah because of this, but that doesn't fit at all. That wasn't a near-death experience. That was Stormlight healing and Elsecalling. And the bit about "some who saw further" just doesn't make any sense. At the same time, I don't see any other characters who fit this. Szeth is the only one, and he doesn't fit for several other reasons explained above.

So I think we're either reading something from the Sunmaker (whose past will be revealed and become relevant soon) or something from Dalinar (or Navani?) that comes a bit later. Biggest problem with Sunmaker is we can't see how his story would connect at this point. Biggest problem with Dalinar (& Navani) is that I'l be a little surprised if Brandon does ANOTHER "resurrection". Plus, with the Desolations returning, how the heck is there time to write a book?

[Aleksiel]

5 hours ago, Darkness said:

1. The book was written by someone familiar with modern Alethi culture and directed at the same culture, referencing women reading and others perhaps listening to the words.

I mostly agree with you, however I think it's a stretch to call it 'modern' considering it became the social norm soon after the Recreanse,  thus it's centuries old dogma, so there is no reason to narrow it down to contemporary authors only:

 

Quote

 

HE_ARCHDUKE

Why can only women read in Stormlight Archive?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Immediately after the Recreance an old book was used to argue for the idea that only men should be picking up the blades and plate, fighting was a masculine art. Over a period of 20 or so years this became established and some women used the same argument to take back some power by taking literacy for themselves as a feminine art.

 

 

 

[ScavellTane]

It most likely someone we don't know. Did we find out who wrote Words of Radiance?

[Bort he/him]

Could it be Sadeas?

[bo.montier]

4 hours ago, jofwu said:

Based on what we know now, the author is:

• a widely known Vorin heretic 
• old enough to refer to their "youth"
• writing a book called Oathbringer
• had a near-death experience which let him/her glimpse Shadesmar and which others are aware of

I think it's got to be somebody at least loosely connected to Oathbringer the Shardblade. It's a notable, famous name. You don't write a book with that title unless you intend to for your audience to make a connection there and unless you have the connection for people to say, "Oh, yeah it makes sense for this person to write a book with that title." Especially given the book is so blatantly controversial in nature. "Oathbringer by Shallan Davar? Who is this girl and why is she writing a book with that name?" Nah... The only exception I can see to this is if it's the Sunmaker and the book name isn't directly based on the Blade.

 

Unless the book is ABOUT someone related to the blade. I.e. Jasnah writing about Dalinar... For instance she talks about his past and how he gave away the sword oathbringer but became Oathbringer in his essence.
I pick Jasnah because her name has been thrown out often, not because I ascribe to it.

[Isaiah Zayth he/him]

I keep getting this feeling that the author could be Taravangian. While I know there are lines that attack this argument, I'm going to focus on supporting this claim and let the rest of you refute me. Just makes for a simpler post.

Quote

I hung between realms, seeing into Shadesmar—the realm of the spren—and beyond.

We know that Taravangian has gone to the Nightwatcher and received a variable intelligence as both his boon and curse. Perhaps on one of his rare days of super-intelligence (even the same day we wrote the Diagram?) he figured out a way to see into Shadesmar. Perhaps he has been taken there by a Radiant who later died at the hands of Darkness. It even could be that asking a boon of the Nightwatcher connects you to Investiture in such a way that seeing into Shadesmar is a very, very rare possibility. Either way, the author indicates he did not die, instead:

Quote

I experienced something worse.

He has been given the burden of attempting to save the world. This man now finds it necessary to bleed to death thousands of sick people... having their blood on his hands could be considered a fate worse than death.

Quote

I ask not that you forgive me. Nor that you even understand.

This is a very Taravangian statement to make. He seems totally convinced (at least, during his days of intelligence) that he has made the correct decisions, even if he knows they are horrible, horrible decisions.

Quote

In this record, I hold nothing back. I will try not to shy away from difficult topics, or paint myself in a dishonestly heroic light.

Quote

You must know what I have done, and what those actions cost me.

Quote

I will confess my murders before you.

All of these points could easily indicate the murders committed beneath Kharbranth. The tone here - and throughout the entire passage, really - points to someone who is acting despicably for the greater good. I don't think there is another character in the Stormlight Archive who is better described by the ideal "for the greater good" than the king of Kharbranth.

 

Edited October 26, 2017 by Isaiah Zayth

[Alderant she/her]

5 hours ago, jofwu said:

I think it's got to be somebody at least loosely connected to Oathbringer the Shardblade. It's a notable, famous name. You don't write a book with that title unless you intend to for your audience to make a connection there and unless you have the connection for people to say, "Oh, yeah it makes sense for this person to write a book with that title." Especially given the book is so blatantly controversial in nature. "Oathbringer by Shallan Davar? Who is this girl and why is she writing a book with that name?" Nah... The only exception I can see to this is if it's the Sunmaker and the book name isn't directly based on the Blade.

Unless you take the possibility into account that the book hasn't been written yet. With everything going on in Urithiru, perhaps the rediscovery of Oathbringer (the Blade) causes a big enough social catastrophe that would warrant a current character writing the book. Though I doubt Shallan herself wrote it at this point, she and other characters become a possibility if you take into account events that may not have happened yet, especially since there is a historical example of a character writing the "epigraph book", after the book in which it is included--Hero of Ages. I just think it's too early to absolutely deny any characters.

5 hours ago, jofwu said:

I really don't see any character who fits this. I believe some argue that it's Jasnah because of this, but that doesn't fit at all. That wasn't a near-death experience. That was Stormlight healing and Elsecalling. And the bit about "some who saw further" just doesn't make any sense. At the same time, I don't see any other characters who fit this. Szeth is the only one, and he doesn't fit for several other reasons explained above.

I would certainly describe what happened to Jasnah as a near-death experience. She was very nearly mortally stabbed and her spren pulled her completely into Shadesmar to save her life. It might have been done by Stormlight healing and Elsecalling, but discounting it as "not" just because magic was involved is a little too determinate to me.

31 minutes ago, Isaiah Zayth said:

Quote

I ask not that you forgive me. Nor that you even understand.

This is a very Taravangian statement to make. He seems totally convinced (at least, during his days of intelligence) that he has made the correct decisions, even if he knows they are horrible, horrible decisions.

I really feel like some of this is misdirection. Certain phrases seem targeted at specific characters. 

"I know that many women who read this will see it only as further proof that I am the godless heretic everyone claims." -- Jasnah

"I ask not that you forgive me. Nor that you even understand." -- Teravangian

"However, with a dangerous spice, you can be warned to taste lightly. I would that your lesson may not be as painful as my own." -- Shallan

Just as an example.

Brandon is great at using misdirection to lead you one direction intentionally, then turn it about on your head. Well of Ascension was a great example of this--leading the whole book into thinking Vin was going to save the world, and then she doomed it by releasing Ruin as he thunders out "I'M FREE!"

[Jofwu he/him]

@bo.montier, yes I would still consider that to be someone "connected" to the sword though. Such a book would presumably be written by someone relatively close to the person' it's about. My problem with Jasnah isn't that she's not "close enough" to the sword. She's a great guess as far as that's concerned. My problem with her is the line about other people being smarter.

@Isaiah Zayth Taravangian is an interesting guess... Though I don't like him because of the heretic comments. Taravangian could come out as a heretic for sure. So there's plenty of potential. But right now he plays along with Vorinism and the ardents. It's a bit of a leap to assume this might change I think.

@Alderant Yes, this is a good point. Some connection to the blade that will be meaningful. As I mentioned towards the end, I think it's a bit of a hurdle to imagine the book being written after the story. I'm not trying to absolutely cut people out. I'm just saying that these are my opinions of the best candidate with the knowledge we currently have.

Re: "near-death experiences"... I'm specifically referring to something like what we have seen in other cosmere books. Where a character may die, appear in the cognitive realm, and then come back for one reason or another. I believe that's what the epigraph is describing. Something about the wording. About the emphasis on death, and about other people thinking this person is dead. This isn't what happened with Jasnah. At least, not in the specific instance we're talking about.

[Alderant she/her]

1 minute ago, jofwu said:

Re: "near-death experiences"... I'm specifically referring to something like what we have seen in other cosmere books. Where a character may die, appear in the cognitive realm, and then come back for one reason or another. I believe that's what the epigraph is describing. Something about the wording. About the emphasis on death, and about other people thinking this person is dead. This isn't what happened with Jasnah. At least, not in the specific instance we're talking about.

Oh, I see where you're coming from. Coming from that angle, I can see how you would discount Jasnah. Though at this point, everyone does think Jasnah is dead...but then that goes back to my "written after the events of Oathbringer" point, so I'll concede.

[navahgar]

Any love for the author being one of the Heralds?  Hanging between worlds could fit there.  And Oathbringer could be relevant to a Herald.

On a potentially unrelated note, I think there's some misdirection in the line jofwu quoted:

6 hours ago, jofwu said:

I can point to the moment when I decided for certain this record had to be written. I hung between realms, seeing into Shadesmar—the realm of the spren—and beyond. I thought that I was surely dead. Certainly, some who saw further than I did thought I had fallen. 

I did not die.

I experienced something worse.

 

Specifically, "some who saw further than I did thought I had fallen".  'Fallen' does not equal 'dead'.  A person who falls from grace could also have 'fallen'.  That could allude to a Herald.  And also the part about experiencing something worse than death.

Edited October 26, 2017 by navahgar

[kari-no-sugata]

The overall tone of the "intro" is that what's to come is very much about the author. It would not make any sense for the content of the book to be about a third party. In other words, it's an autobiography.

The only characters we know of who could reasonably write an autobiography with "Oathbringer" as the title are the Sunmaker and Dalinar. Of course, there could be other references that we don't know of, either for the word itself or the sword. From what we've seen, Dalinar didn't have any particular attachment to the background of his sword. He also gave it away. This book would also have to be a future book and Dalinar should be even further distanced from the sword by then. The tone doesn't feel like Dalinar either and I doubt he's learnt to write in future - after all, one of the first lines is "I needed to write it anyway."

In addition, the in-world tWoK book appeared in-world during tWoK and the in-world WoR book appeared in-world during WoR. It's not certain of course but it would make a lot more sense for the in-world OB book to appear in-world during OB. Furthermore, while we did have a brief "future" epigraph with Navani at the start of WoR, that served to massively raise the tension. Having a book probably written years into the future would not do that because you would know that the author survives and is okay enough to write a book.

So the only named person who seems like a good fit is the Sunmaker. Otherwise, it's probably a character we've not heard of before or one who we never previously had reason to connect to the name "Oathbringer".

[Darkness he/him]

7 hours ago, Aleksiel said:

I mostly agree with you, however I think it's a stretch to call it 'modern' considering it became the social norm soon after the Recreanse,  thus it's centuries old dogma, so there is no reason to narrow it down to contemporary authors only:

 

 

 

That's fair. Our definition of the word 'modern' connotes a period of time within this generation. I will edit it to "post-recreance".

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

 

21 hours ago, Yata said:

Nohadon isn't a possible candidate as the book is written by someone with a modern Vorin culture knowledge. The division between Genders Roles came only after the Recreance.

So Nohadon could not know only the women are allowed to read, while the Oathbringer's author know this 

There is also the ambiguous WoB about whether Nohadon is still alive

[Yata he/him]

Just now, ParadoxicalZen said:

 

There is also the ambiguous WoB about whether Nohadon is still alive

I don't know that WoB, could you link it ?

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

7 minutes ago, Yata said:

I don't know that WoB, could you link it ?

http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=1052

As i said, ambiguous

[Blacksmithki]

Also on Jasnah, that comment about further proof of heresy doesn't fit very well, what further proof? She openly is known as a self proclaimed heretic who makes those views clear so "more evidence" does not fit at all. Also the line about "smarter then I am" just ruins it, same with the philosopher comment, as really, she is, considering the major focus she puts on it.