[OB] Evi's effect on Dalinar

[Iarwainiel I she/her]

In (flashback) chapter 94, "A Small Bottle," Dalinar asks young Renarin, "What did your mother [Evi] say about me?"

Renarin answers, "The only honest officer in the army, ... the honorable soldier. Noble, like the Heralds themselves. Our father. The greatest man in Alethkar."

Years later, after Cultivation anesthetizes his pain, this is what he actually becomes, or tries to.

So in a way, these words of a loving wife acted on him in a similar way that Shallan's drawing acted on Bluth in WoR: showing him a vision of himself as a better man and nudging him in that direction.

I'm not saying that Evi was a proto-Lightweaver (though wouldn't that be cool?). But maybe love often allows us to see others (spouses, lovers, children, parents, friends) as better than what they currently are, and that in turn encourages them to hope they can be that person and take the next step along that path.

This tiny chapter is so powerful - - IMO the whole book is a masterpiece that gets better the more you re-read/review it.

[Song she/her]

3 hours ago, old aggie said:

 

I'm not saying that Evi was a proto-Lightweaver (though wouldn't that be cool?). But maybe love often allows us to see others (spouses, lovers, children, parents, friends) as better than what they currently are, and that in turn encourages them to hope they can be that person and take the next step along that path.

It is probably my favourite chapter in the whole book.

It is an interesting thought.  If it is part of the illumination side of the surge that relates to inspiring who you could be, could it be that Renarin had that effect on him as a proto-Truthwatcher? (I know not everyone thinks Renarin has that surge- but I think he is a full Truthwatcher with an extra void-surge for reasons that probably belong in a separate topic)

Regardless, I see this as the turning point. The point where Dalinar was at Rock bottom and knew he needed to change. The Way of the Kings reading made him realise that maybe change was possible (and Cultivation helped him get there), but I see this as the point that made him want that new path.

[Leyrann]

8 hours ago, Song said:

It is an interesting thought.  If it is part of the illumination side of the surge that relates to inspiring who you could be, could it be that Renarin had that effect on him as a proto-Truthwatcher? (I know not everyone thinks Renarin has that surge- but I think he is a full Truthwatcher with an extra void-surge for reasons that probably belong in a separate topic)

Remember in OB Part I where Renarin heals Adolin that, for a moment, Adolin "saw himself perfected". We've seen Renarin do it on-screen without doubt.