[OB] Heralds and Madness: Simple Restatement

[KOOZ]

There is a lot of discussion concerning the Heralds, and, specifically, their madness - from their thereabouts, to detailed theories, queries old and new. A lot of thought went into these, and, imho, little new particularly profound can be added at this stage. And yet, I thought I'd share this: as I was thinking about the Heralds, and looking for a simple, intuitive, maybe even emotional way to restate their "madness" it suddendly boiled down to this:

Nalan - a failure of  justice.

Ishar - a failure to provide wise councel

Jezrien - a failure to inspire

Shalash - a failure to create art/beauty

Vedel - a failure to heal*

This has pretty much been suggested and stated in theories elsewhere, backed up by lots of evidence and educated speculation; and yet, for me, the brevity of statement highlights the quintessential issue of corruption of ideals at the heart of what the Heralds stand for and what often happens in life anyway - Nale formally observing justice, yet effectively breaking it's spirit; Ishar, instead of giving rise to new, more prodound philosophies helping understand the nature of the universe becomes effectively a demagogue, dividing the populace, cultivating zealots and hatred;  Jezrien - the antithesis of what an inspiring leader should be doing - hiding and induling in centuries long escapism through drinkning; Shalash - the beauty in the art overwhelmingly requires creation, she only brings destruction; Vedel - pretty much breaking the Hippocratic Oath.

From that I suspect that Paliah is hiding in the Palanaeum, hindering spread of knowledge and, quite likely, contributing to its destruction. Talenel (uncorrpupted?)  still pretty much embodies dependability for me - giving humanity 4.5 thousand years of relative peace (so... Bronze Age for us, Pyramid of Gize being built). Regarding Kalak, if that's him in words' of radiance interlude then unsure, nervous and questioning, second-guessing, neatly sums him up (failure of perseverance?).

*Regarding Vedel and Battar, I was rather surpised when in Oathbringer Taravangian mentioned that they think Dova is Battah'Elin - frankly, I was expecting Vedel due to the healing angle. Unless I missed a WoB, Taravagian's for now is an educated guess only... though if it is, indeed, Battar, then to me it can be summed up as "failure to use knowledge responsibly" (killing people, getting the Diagram off the ground, resulting in numerous leaders dead, chaos and war in Roashar arising before a Desolation - a reckless plan...).

As I said, this brings little new informationwise to the table, but I hope that for some, like for me, this simple restatement might help focus thoughts by encompassing most of the Heralds' errant behaviour.

 

 

[Song she/her]

Helpful summary. I am no good at picking Heralds. When did we meet Vendal?

[thegatorgirl00 she/her]

3 hours ago, KOOZ said:

Regarding Vedel and Battar, I was rather surpised when in Oathbringer Taravangian mentioned that they think Dova is Battah'Elin - frankly, I was expecting Vedel due to the healing angle. Unless I missed a WoB, Taravagian's for now is an educated guess only... though if it is, indeed, Battar, then to me it can be summed up as "failure to use knowledge responsibly" (killing people, getting the Diagram off the ground, resulting in numerous leaders dead, chaos and war in Roashar arising before a Desolation - a reckless plan...).

I would take what Mr. T said about Battar with a grain of salt. We know he knew of the Desolation from Gavilar's visions, so getting the info from her was a lie. While she could still be a Herald, I interpreted that statement as being a complete lie created as an explanation for Dalinar. I wouldn't be surprised if a Herald did work in his hospitals, but I wouldn't trust his word on it either.