Why did Nin give Szeth the option of obeying Dalinar?

[ND103]

Not sure if there's already a thread discussing this but I just had this thought while re-reading OB. If I'm repeating something please point me the right direction. 

That said, Nin had already decided that he and the other Skybreakers were going to work with the Parsh. If he didn't give all the other individual Skybreakers that choice, why'd he give it to Szeth? What makes Szeth so special that he gets Nightblood and gets to pick something different from the rest of his order to follow?

One speculative reason I can think of is that the Skybreakers can't all abandon the Knights without significantly impacting the Oathpact or the way the Knights work. No evidence to back this up but it would certainly be an interesting narrative reason. 

 

Another reason I can see happening is to do with Nin's attribute of justice. I saw a thread recently that talked about how the Skybreakers ideals don't seem to suggest justice but in fact law which are very different things. That said when Nin is taking to Szeth, he talks about approximating justice by following law, so he's still trying to align with it. Perhaps his choice to side with the Parsh is his attempt at showing justice by siding with those who originally we're the owners of the land. And he let Szeth follow Dalinar because he also sees that there is justice in the efforts of the Knights. Essentially the Skybreakers would then be left pondering the complications of justice versus just following the law. 

Anyone have a WOB on why Szeth is so special?

 

[Ciridae]

I think it comes down to what the sky breakers already swore as their third oath. Some have sworn themselves to the law, others to Nale. Those who follow Nale are pretty much bound to him, those who swore to the law are influenced by their Heralds interpretation of it. 

But you're absolutely right about the Skybreaker squires or skybreakers of the first and second oath. They should have been treated the same way Nale treats Szeth. Its been bothering me too, I just hope that he gave them a choice offscreen. But I doubt that even if he did, they would have held to any other interpretation of the law and justice than Nale. I guess Szeth is special because he's doesn't just blindly follow the interpretation that Nale teaches, and maybe that's why Nale treats him differently. 

[Yata]

Nin didn't force any Skybreaker to follow him and his position toward the Singers.
Simply Nin decided that FOR HIM, the Singers are the legittime rulers of the lands and and many Skybreaker's 3rd Oath sweared to follow him and his judgement. Therefore his decision extends to them too.
I assume Nale would explain to every new Skybreaker this option now and some of them would probably decide to not follow him. Szeth is just the first Skybreaker to swear the third Oath from Nale's decision to side with Singers

[Nymeros]

We know Szeth is special just because of who he is and his extraordinary will. If no one else can reach the final Skybreaker oath Szeth will. Nale sees Szeths worthiness which is why he went through the trouble to save him and personally mentor him. It's why the Senior Skybreakers actually fight for the privilege of have Szeth as their squire.

With that said, there are a couple of things to keep in mind: 

-Nale doesn't want to follow Odium and likely doesn't want Odium to win. Hence his not interfering with the Battle for Thaylen City even though he likely could have turned that match on its head. He also plans to continue guiding Szeth even though they are firmly on opposing sides.

-Nale didn't force this change on any of the Skybreakers. He explained his logic and let the others make up their own mind just as he did with Szeth. Only those Skybreakers who swore their Oath to follow Nale would have no choice in the matter.

Edited September 26, 2018 by Nymeros

[Quantus]

Im with the others on this, I dont think Nale wasnt actually forcing anyone, and given how he counseled Szeth against swearing to him personally, he was arguably doing the opposite.  Szeth could have sworn to anyone including Nale despite his warning. 

That being said, I think @Ciridae has the right of it in that for most of them the Herald of Law is going to be the final and most reliable interpretation of the Law, so his opinion would sway any and all of them to some extent (even assuming his swearing the 5th doesnt grant supernatural significance).  In that light his interpretation of the Law could be binding for anyone of the 2nd and above; Szeth made sure to swear Oaths that gave him more wriggle room even on the 2nd. 

 

Im curious: Can a Skybreaker of the 3rd Ideal Break the Law if his sworn Master orders it, despite the 2nd ideal?  I tend to think new Ideals trump old ones but the 2nd is also pretty fundamental to the identity of the Order as a whole. 

[Subvisual Haze]

Although Nale (post Lift hug) seems more human now that doesn't mean his Herald madness is completely gone.  Also, even if he is trying to walk a better path, he can't erase his past actions.  Nale has cultivated the Skybreaker order into something like an assassin cult with himself at the center, all under the militant belief that what they were doing was necessary to save the world.  It can't just be a happy coincidence that Nale is the only Skybreaker who has sworn the 5th Oath.    An essential characteristic to be a Skybreaker is likely "follows orders".  Some of the Skybreakers have even formally sworn their 3rd Oath as following Nale specifically. 

Nale suddenly declaring that everyone can freely choose for themselves doesn't overwrite the long years of selection and enforcement that have created an order that follows Nale.  Even those who aren't formally sworn to him in their 3rd Oath will likely still follow him out of veneration or simple habit.

[Stark]

I don't think it is just Szeth.  All Skybreaker's get to choose the law they swear to uphold for Oath three. I think that two Skybreakers could swear to uphold opposing laws and still be allies, like Szeth and Nale appear to have done.  I think Nale understands that he can suggest what the novice Skybreakers swear to when they become Journeymen, but will not force them.  Because an Oath sworn under duress is the oath most often broken.  

 

If they don't want to harm the spren, and they want the spren to accept their words, they need to swear Oaths that they believe, not Oath's that they are forced to.  So Szeth is not likely to be special in that regard, they all get the same choice.  Szeth is special due to his advanced training, and his single-minded pursuit of his oaths to his own detriment with no supernatural binds to force his hand, which led Nale to choose to be his sponsor/patron.

[What's a Seawolf?]

I took it as Nin knowing he was insane, or going insane, and incapable of doing the right thing and opposing Odium.  And giving Szeth the option to follow Dalinar was his way (via a loophole of his own beliefs) of doing what the sane part of his mind knew was right.

[Solarserpent]

He did not trust his mind so he does not feel like he can tell someone else what to do. Nale is still mostly emotionless so ego and passion for his side would hold no sway with him, he would talk like Data does on Star Trek TNG. Next time they meet may be quite different after he finds out what the Law is under the Listener/Singer/Fused.

[ND103]

Lots of possibilities here. I really can't make up my mind about what's going on with it, but it's definitely up there on my list of questions to ask next time Brandon is up in Europe for an event!!