TheShogun Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 NB: Spoiler tags aren't used in the post for spoilers, but for long chunks of text or meaningless digressions. I haven't seen any full versions of The Reply (unless we have another name for it?) typed up yet, so here's one for reference: I'll address this letter to my “old friend,” as I have no idea what name you're currently using. Have you given up on the gemstone, now that it is dead? And do you no longer hide behind the name of your old master? I am told that in your current incarnation you've taken a name that references what you presume to be one of your virtues. This, I suspect, is a little like a skunk naming itself for its stench. Now, look what you've made me say. You've always been able to bring out the most extreme in me, old friend. And I do still name you a friend, for all that you weary me. Yes, I'm disappointed. Perpetually, as you put it. Is not the destruction we have wrought enough? The worlds you now tread bear the touch and design of Adonalsium. Our interference so far has brought nothing but pain. My path has been chosen very deliberately. Yes, I agree with everything you have said about Rayse, including the sever danger he presents. However, it seems to me that all things have been set up for a purpose, and if we—as infants—stumble through the workshop, we risk exacerbating, not preventing, a problem. Rayse is captive. He cannot leave the system he now inhabits. His destructive potential is, therefore, limited. Whether this was Tanavast's design or not, millennia have passed without Rayse taking the life of another of the sixteen. While I mourn for the great suffering Rayse has caused, I do not believe we could hope for a better outcome than this. He bears the weight of God's own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context. He is what we made him to be, old friend. And that is what he, unfortunately, wished to become. I suspect that he is more a force than an individual now, despite your insistence to the contrary. That force is contained, and an equilibrium reached. You, however, have never been a force for equilibrium. You tow chaos behind you like a corpse dragged by one leg through the snow. Please, hearken to my plea. Leave that place and join me in my oath of nonintervention. The cosmere itself may depend upon our restraint. Right. Now here we go. So we can be pretty sure, I think, that there was a Hoid before Hoid Mildly annoying because I was going to post a theory about that but never got around to it and then oh look basically confirmed. Ah well. (who I will henceforth call "Wit" to distinguish him from the other Hoid): And do you no longer hide behind the name of your old master? Here's what I think: The Letter was written to the Original Hoid ("OH"). Now there's very little evidence for this, I do think that the relationship between Wit and The Recipient of the Letter does seem like a master-apprentice relationship, somewhat. And thus it is my belief that the Letter was written from Wit to OH, or, if you prefer, the Letter was written from Hoid to Hoid. Yep. Attack me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydrogenAlpha Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 The original Hoid is dead, got murdered in the beginning of The Liar of Partinel. Midius ( our Hoid ) presumably took his name to disguise himself ( as far as I remember he's never called Hoid in Liar, but I could be wrong ). And if he really survived shouldn't he write: And do you no longer hide behind MY name ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheShogun Posted March 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 People refer to themselves as things like "your old master" etc occasionally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eejit Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Well That force is contained, and an equilibrium reached. You, however, have never been a force for equilibrium. You tow chaos behind you like a corpse dragged by one leg through the snow. Please, hearken to my plea. Leave that place and join me in my oath of nonintervention. The cosmere itself may depend upon our restraint. Sounds like something you might hear from Harmony? Yes, Sazed post-dates the original Shards and their relationships, but would he have inherited memories of that time? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Right, but Harmony doesn't "tow chaos behind." The general understanding is that the Words of Radiance letter is a reply by the recipient of The Way of Kings letter. So, in TWoK Hoid sends a letter to an acquaintance of his (whom we know to be a dragon), and now in WoR this acquaintance replies. And honestly, nothing suggests otherwise. P.S. There are several other threads - mostly in the Words of Radiance forum - that talk about this letter. Let's all try to keep the discussion concise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eejit Posted March 9, 2014 Report Share Posted March 9, 2014 Right, but Harmony doesn't "tow chaos behind." The general understanding is that the Words of Radiance letter is a reply by the recipient of The Way of Kings letter. So, in TWoK Hoid sends a letter to an acquaintance of his (whom we know to be a dragon), and now in WoR this acquaintance replies. And honestly, nothing suggests otherwise. P.S. There are several other threads - mostly in the Words of Radiance forum - that talk about this letter. Let's all try to keep the discussion concise. Yes, I said the person writing could be Harmony, the person towing chaos behind is who it is written to, Wit/Hoid. But if WoB says it's from a dragon then whatever, this thread is answered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfalcon Posted March 10, 2014 Report Share Posted March 10, 2014 There has been confirmation from Brandon that the Letter was written to a Dragon that we will learn more about in the book Dragonsteel when it is rewritten and published. The writer of the letter is clearly Wit as the reply is tailored to him in nearly every way. He took his master's name, now goes by an attribute that he feels describes himself, the sender of the reply finds him extremely annoying, he has been on several planets while crazy stuff has been going on (referenced in the reply). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolven Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 I think the really important question here is....just how the heck did that dragon manage to hold a pen in those big old claws and write a letter on, to him, an itty bitty piece of paper. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snote Posted March 23, 2014 Report Share Posted March 23, 2014 I think the really important question here is....just how the heck did that dragon manage to hold a pen in those big old claws and write a letter on, to him, an itty bitty piece of paper. And how did he prevent himself from catching the paper on fire‽ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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