Is Teslin set up to be a foil to Steris

[animalia]

OK bear with me from a bit I am going to start with my conclusion and work backwards from there.

My conclusion is just like Steris has Asperger’s (confirmed by word of god to be on the part of the spectrum what Asperger’s was called is located. Teslin is a Sociopath. If you don’t know why that would make them foils let me explain. Despite the fact that the unusual behavior of people with Asperger’s sometimes gets 

Well to be frank the two disorders are basically polar opposites in a lot of respects. In particular when it comes to Empathy. People with Asperger's are generally more compassionate and get distressed by other people's pain, but have problems showing it in a natural manner. Most have a strong conscience. And an inability to save their life is another common trait. The favored popular-culture consumate sociopath  on the other hand tends to systematically misdirect, manipulate, fake caring mannerisms, etc, without any outward minor twitch/sign that they are doing so, or get intensely sadistic.

Also the person with Asperger’s will struggle to learn social rules and ques a lot of time these CAN come off as arbitrary and illogical. As we have quite logical thinking. Whereas the Sociopath will often fit in seemlessly, they also have have a lack of regard for consequences of their actions may bring.

(Oh fun fact about Sociopaths SOME of them, may cherish the bonds the make and hate cutting them off even if their empathy does not extrnd to others. Presumably that is what BS was TRYING to portray, and failed, with Kelsier)

 

So yeah, in Wax’s flashback we were told that Teslin could fit in easily anywhere. Yet as we see she has no problems killing one of her subordinates to maintain her “cover.” A lie that she comes with on the spot I might add. While Wayne is also a good lier he DOES care about the consequences of his actions. Meanwhile Teslin and her  Set have continually engaged in acts that would destabilize the basin when no good would come from it. So I’d say she fits the bill.

 

So if Teslin is intended to be Steris foil I just hope Brandon Sanderson does something with this.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention the egocentric nature of sociopaths.

Edited June 17, 2018 by animalia

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

You get an upvote from me. I don't know if that's what Brandon intends but it certainly sounds awesome. The two women Wax is closest to being polar opposites.

[goody153]

I dig it but Telsin will probably be just a minor nuisance next book i believe

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

I disagree. Telsin is still the Series. She still has an unimaginable amount of connections and a considerable amount of money. Her organization is still working for a rogue Shard and she's like the CEO of that organization. She's basically Trell/Badvadin's avatar on Scadrial. If we look at it in a Rosharan sense, Telsin is Autonomy's Champion and Wax is Harmony's Champion.

[animalia]

7 hours ago, Bigmikey357 said:

I disagree. Telsin is still the Series. She still has an unimaginable amount of connections and a considerable amount of money. Her organization is still working for a rogue Shard and she's like the CEO of that organization. She's basically Trell/Badvadin's avatar on Scadrial. If we look at it in a Rosharan sense, Telsin is Autonomy's Champion and Wax is Harmony's Champion.

Why can’t Teslin be BOTH a foil to Steris AND Autonomy’s champion? Foils CAN work on multiple levels you know.

Edited June 18, 2018 by animalia

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

I

1 minute ago, animalia said:

Why can’t Teslin be BOTH a foil to Steris AND Autonomy’s champion? Foils CAN work on multiple levels you know.

I agree. I was replying to goody's belief that Telsin will not be important in the next book.

[Weltall]

That's a very interesting observation, it would be cool if Brandon's working his way towards that intentionally, giving us both the contrast and a defined role for Steris. Well, one possibility, I know you've also got some other theories about her possible role in TLM and I'm all for it.

Edited June 18, 2018 by Weltall

[animalia]

12 hours ago, Weltall said:

That's a very interesting observation, it would be cool if Brandon's working his way towards that intentionally, giving us both the contrast and a defined role for Steris. Well, one possibility, I know you've also got some other theories about her possible role in TLM and I'm all for it.

I like to speculate. It’s so hard to know for certain what Brandon will do that the most we can hope to get is vague ideas.

Edited June 19, 2018 by animalia

[animalia]

One speculation that I have is to point out that so far the problem is that Wax has been engaging the Set on their terms that isn’t going to work anymore. ESPECIALLY with Teslin who knows Wax all too well and can plug on his emotional strings. It’s never a good idea to let your enemy set the terms of engagement. This is a time to rewrite the playbook. The fact Steris has been shown to have an intrest in financal detetective work (and the way it is of “presenting yourself to society”) and the fact that Set shows interest in trying to controling society through finance is what makes me think that the idea will to be to make Teslin come to them through financial collapse of the Set.

To be fair it’s just a theory though.

[Solarserpent]

I think Telsin will help Wax in the next book (possibly try to betray him later). The Set is getting smaller because they are planning to destroy the planet and I don't think Telsin wants that. She wants power and dominion but I doubt she wants to die. 

[tmnsquirtle]

16 hours ago, Solarserpent said:

I think Telsin will help Wax in the next book (possibly try to betray him later). The Set is getting smaller because they are planning to destroy the planet and I don't think Telsin wants that. She wants power and dominion but I doubt she wants to die. 

How do we know they are planning to destroy the planet? That doesn't match up with anything we've seen so far, I don't think. Especially since Telsin is essentially the CEO of the set and it seems like she just wants power.

[+Extesian he/him]

11 minutes ago, tmnsquirtle said:

How do we know they are planning to destroy the planet? That doesn't match up with anything we've seen so far, I don't think. Especially since Telsin is essentially the CEO of the set and it seems like she just wants power.

From the end of Bands of Mourning 

Quote

“Our accelerated pace will no longer require the Set to have its full hierarchy.”

“But you need us!” Suit said. “To rule, to manage civilization on—”

“No longer. Recent advances have made civilization here too dangerous. Allowing it to continue risks further advances we cannot control, and so we have decided to remove life on this sphere instead. Thank you for your service; it has been accepted. You will be allowed to serve in another Realm.”

The Set is broader and more interfering-Shardy than the characters we know 

[tmnsquirtle]

3 hours ago, Extesian said:

From the end of Bands of Mourning 

The Set is broader and more interfering-Shardy than the characters we know 

Man, I keep forgetting about all the neat little details in wax&wayne. I'm going to have to go back and re-read them, again.