Lifebrother?

[Gray to]

So my cousin was rereading TWoK, and he noticed something strange. In the last Szeth chapter were it's revealed that Taravangian is his master, Taravangian says, "Sometimes I wonder if the Lifebrother himself brought you to me." (This isn't a direct quote because I dont have the book with me.) At first I brushed it off as some Vorin god, and Coppermind, with the little information we know about this Lifebrother, backed me up. But then I remembered that Taravangian doesn't believe in any god. The closest thing to a religion to him is the Diagram. And since the Lifebrother is never mentioned anywhere else, and I couldn't find a WoB about it, there really isn't any hard evidence to support that. So what do you guys think it is? My cousin's theory is that it could be another name for the Sibling because the structure of the name Lifebrother is similar to that of the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher which are also god spren.

[Toaster Retribution]

This is interesting... I doubt Mr T knows the location of the Sibling, or its status, because if it was so, it would have come into play by now. But a name... yeah, Lifebrother does sound like a good name for the sibling. And a brother is a sibling, so yeah.

[Quantus]

Barring other evidence, Id buy it. It fits the naming conventions, the both the Shin and Mr T have ways to know some of the lost knowledge, and we really dont know what the third spren's role is so it could easily fit that Mr T might think he had some sort of means or motive to aid him, and/or some reason to think they'd have compatible goals.

[Slimy_Slider]

I always thought it was some deity from Shinovar and that Mr T was just name-dropping to prove how familiar he is with Shin culture. Like with the proverb, as an attempt to get Szeth to feel more comfortable, or willing to do his business.

[Gray to]

1 hour ago, Slimy_Slider said:

I always thought it was some deity from Shinovar and that Mr T was just name-dropping to prove how familiar he is with Shin culture. Like with the proverb, as an attempt to get Szeth to feel more comfortable, or willing to do his business.

That makes sense considering he did that in WoR when he told Szeth that Kaladin stole an Honorblade, so that he wouldn't freak out about surgebinders returning. However, the Shin are much more aware of the magic of Roshar, so it could still mean the Lifebrother is the Sibling or some powerful magical thing

[Wyndlerunner]

13 hours ago, Slimy_Slider said:

I always thought it was some deity from Shinovar and that Mr T was just name-dropping to prove how familiar he is with Shin culture. Like with the proverb, as an attempt to get Szeth to feel more comfortable, or willing to do his business.

But Szeth, in response to this comment says something to the effect of "That seems like something one of your Vorin gods would do. I bloody myself so that you don't have to." 

While it is entirely possible that Lifebrother is not a "Vorin" god, it appears to be a foreign deity to Szeth, so he classifies it as Vorin.

[Slimy_Slider]

I think that this just means that the act of sending him to kill is not something Szeth believes that the Lifebrother (or, as I think he could also be called, He Who Adds) would do. The Vorin belief in glorifying war and fighting is the antithesis of Shin beliefs, so by comparing him to the Vorin religion in regard to the prospect of commiting several massacres, he is putting that as far away as possible from the way he believes the Lifebrother would act.