enryu Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 Can someone explain to me why Szeth swears to follow Dalinar in his third Ideal? I really don't get it. As far as I understand it, the Skybreaker philosophy is that mortal men do not have a consistent notion of justice, so it is better to follow an unchanging code of law. As Nin says, doesn't swearing to follow a man completely contradict the idea of the Skybreakers? Dalinar discusses multiple times that he himself is a hypocrite, that he is a man in the process of changing, and that he has made mistakes of all kinds that he is still trying to rectify. Dalinar is trying to be honorable, but he is most definitely not consistent. More to the point, though, how does Szeth have any idea that Dalinar is worth following? As far as I remember, their only interactions occurred in WoR when Szeth tried to kill him. Why would Szeth be willing to stake the rest of his life on the idea that Dalinar is a great man, when he knows next to nothing about him? I like Szeth, I like the concept of the Skybreakers, I like Dalinar, but I can't help but feel that this was just a contrived way to put Szeth on the side of the good guys. I have a few more complaints too, actually. Szeth is basically the most famous hitman on Roshar, presumed to be dead after WoR by literally every character outside of Lift and the Skybreakers. But when he shows up to Thaylen City alive and apparently a good guy, the only acknowledgement we get is a curse from Jasnah. Also seriously Sanderson? You make Szeth swear his life to Dalinar, and then you don't even give us a SINGLE SCENE OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO? Very disappointing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucck Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 (edited) It seems like it's because Dalinar is the modern embodiment of Honor, or close enough to it. Szeth has also fought Dalinar multiple times, and respected him a lot because of how he fought. The people surrounding Dalinar had an influence too, Szeth was jealous of Kaladin because he was the one to defend him in thaylen city, even though Kaladin killed Szeth (or left him to die). Also I didn't feel like Nale was saying it was necessarily a bad idea to swear the oath to a man. Nale was assuming Szeth wanted to swear to him, which Nale implies SB's have done before, but he doesn't approve because he knows about his current insanity. Edited December 20, 2017 by Canucck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara she/her Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 Nale also admits that the code of law is created by men, so the code of law can't be very much superior to the men who made it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subvisual Haze Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 Szeth is an authoritarian to the core. Only with incredible difficulty would he admit that the last authority he followed was wrong. If Nale hadn't flat out told him that he was losing his mind and he shouldn't follow him, I think the odds were very high that Szeth would have just swore to follow whatever Nale commanded. Szeth follows orders, he was just grasping for a new authority figure to put all his trust in and take orders from, and hit upon Dalinar almost by luck. Szeth hates and distrusts himself, and more than anything wants an authority figure to tell him exactly what to do. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/259-oathbringer-leeds-signing/#e8753 Quote Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] What was Szeth's reasoning for following Dalinar? From what saw he's only met Dalinar once or twice and wasn't aware he is a Bondsmith. Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] It wasn't about being a Bondsmith. It was partially about how everyone reacted to Dalinar and partially... Let's see if I can explain this. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Was it, like, 'cause in-- Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Well, part of it was that. Definitely part of it was what he had seen and things like this. Part of it was how everyone, like-- he knewabout Dalinar, right? He had fought Kaladin a couple of times. My own justification for it when I was writing this, 'cause I actually did think about this one, like, Dalinar has a magnetism to him. And Dalinar has a reputation. And Dalinar lived up to the reputation, and Szeth was just looking for something-- The reputation was in some ways more important than the man. For instance, there's a chance in that same situation that Szeth would have followed Amaram. Right? Fortunately he made a better choice than that but-- Anyway. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] You're thinking about a similar feeling of the honor because obviously Dalinar is really honorable at the end *inaudible* he's got the same, Szeth's got the same-- Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Yes. Yes, but at the same time that gives a little bit too much credit to Szeth, to be perfectly honest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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