Zelly Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 Basically: Not just Renarin, but all Truthwatchers have foresight abilities. Everything on Roshar keeps saying that seeing the future is of Odium, but it's not like he's got the patent on foresight. I'm proposing that these negative feelings are a result of cultural/religious views or events in the distant past, and not something necessarily true, or at least not fully accurate. The result is that Truthwatchers kept this ability secret from society. We know from an epigraph that their order were fairly closed mouthed about their activities as a whole: Quote "Now, as the Truthwatchers were esoteric in nature, their order being formed entirely of those who never spoke or wrote of what they did, in this lies frustration for those who would see their exceeding secrecy from the outside; they were not naturally inclined to explanation; and in the case of Corberon’s disagreements, their silence was not a sign of an exceeding abundance of disdain, but rather an exceeding abundance of tact." We also know at least one Truthwatcher of old some some type of foresight: Quote "Don't tell anyone. I can't say it. I must whisper. I foresaw this." On the iconic diagram of the Radiant Orders and their connecting surges, Truthwatchers are the only centrally located order other than the Bondsmiths, who as an order are full of oddities and exceptions (only 3 at a time, unusual spren, "pulling" on other orders, etc). I'm thinking Truthwatchers have their own set of unusual abilities such as access to the future. Spiritual access? Plus it's kinda in the name. I mean Windrunners fly around on the wind, Lightweavers weave light into illusions, Truthwatchers...... watching for truth sounds pretty related to foresight to me, or farseeing at the very least. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toaster Retribution Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 I can buy this. I have always kind of assumed that Truthwatchers would be able to see the future. The major problem with the idea is that both Ym and Stump were proto-Truthwatchers, and neither had the foresight-experiences that Renarin had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 (edited) I think Ivory's reaction speaks against this. Quote “He sees not what is, but what is to come,” Ivory said. “Odium’s power, Jasnah.” I think regular Truthwatchers do have a farsight ability, but that reaction seems to me at least to say that future sight is not something that they should be able to do. Edited July 21, 2018 by Calderis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvoraen Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 Just now, Calderis said: I think Ivory's reaction speaks against this. I think regular Truthwatchers do have a farsight ability, but that reaction seems to me at least to say that future sight is not something that they should be able to do. Yeah, I've been thinking they get kind of a "present day" glimpse of the Spiritual Realm (similar to how burning atium works), but I think that these peeks are triggered by specific events, which is kind of hinted with another epigraph: Our revelation is fueled by the theory that the Unmade can perhaps be captured like ordinary spren... Since that epigraph is presumably from a Truthwatcher (it was recorded on an emerald), the word "revelation" is a rather interesting choice, when placing Ivory's comment alongside it. As for Renarin, well... I think there's all sorts of weirdness and exceptions that pertain to Renarin in the first place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire&Water Posted July 22, 2018 Report Share Posted July 22, 2018 15 hours ago, Calderis said: I think Ivory's reaction speaks against this. I think regular Truthwatchers do have a farsight ability, but that reaction seems to me at least to say that future sight is not something that they should be able to do. We’ve seen Spren change based on culture, with my favorite example being the whole 4 genders thing. Plus, if Truthwatchers are kind of the odd men out among humans, I could understand if that trend continues among Spren. So if Ivory is off on this, I wouldn’t be surprised. Another thing to note, Wit says to Shallan “Beware anyone who claims to know the future” (or something like that I don’t have the book with me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainKing Posted July 22, 2018 Report Share Posted July 22, 2018 I actually have a theory that Glys is nothing new, and that every generation of truthwatchers has at least one corrupted truthwatcher spren, and using their powers to see both the future and the present the truthwatchers create a timeline for the best possible outcome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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