Jasnah wanted to transform the Parshmen

[Fifth of Daybreak]

Has anyone ever noticed or discussed this before? Emphasis mine:

Quote

“No. We need to get to the center of it all.” She looked at Shallan. “We’re going to the Shattered Plains. We need to find out if the Parshendi were ever ordinary parshmen, and if so, what set them off. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but if I am right, then the Parshendi could hold the key to turning ordinary parshmen into soldiers.” Then, grimly, she continued. “And we need to do it before someone else does, then uses it against us.”

Sanderson, Brandon. The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, Book 1) (p. 992). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition. 

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Edited November 2, 2017 by Fifth of Daybreak

[Shqueeves]

I always read that to mean that they needed to get to the center of the shattered plains before somebody else did

[thejopen27]

They needed to learn why the Parshendi transformed, to stop the Parshmen from also Transforming. They needed to get to the secret before someone else did. 

[Fifth of Daybreak]

It probably is too myopic to look at just that phrase alone. I'm too hyped on Stormlight for my own good right now. Keep me sane guys haha.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Fifth of Daybreak

[Weltall]

Yeah, my interpretation is the same. Jasnah is assuming that the Parshendi are the abberation and the Parshmen are their natural state when we know that it's really the other way around. That she was wrong about this doesn't really affect things though; She felt the need to go there to study the Parshendi to try and learn why they're different in the hopes of preventing it from happening to the Parshmen.

Her conversation with Hoid at the end of WoR makes it pretty clear that she was hoping the transformation didn't happen, unfortunately she got back too late to make any difference.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Weltall