The Sibling is a tripartite Being, Cusicesh & the Stormstriders

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

I know there's a thread about the Stormstriders already, but I think that this theory is novel enough and different enough that it could use it's own thread, and this is my first official prediction for a major reveal in book 4, and it would have been satisfyingly in front of our faces the whole time enough if it turns out to be right.

The other Stormstrider thread has some very interesting speculation on what the Stormstriders could be.

I still think the best explanation for the Stormstriders, and my official prediction for Book 4, is that they are in fact pieces of, or the entirety of the Sibling. One of the primary pieces of evidence for this theory is when Dalinar is questioning the Stormfather about God Level spren.

Quote

"Yes, you've said. The Nightwatcher is like you. Are there others, though? Spren like you, or the Nightwatcher? Spren that are shadows of Gods?"

There is... a third sibling. They are not with us.

"In hiding?"

No. Slumbering.

"Tell me more."

No.

"But—"

No! Leave them alone. You hurt them enough.

The Stormfather, being the Cognitive Shadow of Honor, is protective of radiant Spren in general, and once again this fatherly protectiveness comes out when he shuts down Dalinar's attempt to find out about the Sibling. What better place to hide the Shadows of Gods, than in the shadow of the Cognitive Shadow of a God? What if the Stormstriders are aspects of the Sibling, and are being sheltered in the center of the High Storm to keep them from being hurt by humans again?

It has been stated by Brandon in WOBs that Cusicesh is not a god level spren, but what if Cusicesh is merely part of a tripartite god level spren, one of the Singer's original Gods of Spren, Stone and Wind referred to in the Eila Stele? What if the singer's original God was in fact the Sibling, and these 3 aspects of their worship created three separate god level spren that were funcitonally one Entity? This has nice echoes of the Christian Trinity.

My guess is that Cuscicesh is the God of Spren, and has obviously been damaged. This is getting into the realm surmise, but my guess is that Cusicesh was the necessary part of the Sibling that Melishi used to break the Singer's spiritual connection, but that this in turn had a reciprocal effect on Cuscicesh herself/himself, causing their mind to snap (similar to how the breaking of a Radiant Spren's oath turns them into a semi-mindless, vegetative type entity). Stiching this together with the Puuli interlude, the possible reason Cusicesh is always looking towards the origin is latent guilt about her role in severing the singer's connection, and she/he is waiting for the forces of Odium to come through the Origin with light in their pockets (voidlight most like). This would also explain her/his title of "Protector".

To go further down the chain of surmise, I think one of the luminescent figures glimpsed in the High Storm is the "Lifebrother" that Taravangian mentions in The Way of Kings Interlude:

Quote

"Your words are like the hundred doves" (Szeth speaking)

"Easy to release, difficult to keep," Taravangian said, speaking the words in Shin.

Szeth looked up sharply. THis man spoke the Shin language and knew his people's proverbs? Odd to find in a stonewalker. Odder to find in a murderer.

Yes, I speak your language. Sometimes I wonder if the Lifebrother himself sent you to me."

"To bloody myself so that you wouldn't have to,"Szeth said. "Yes, that sounds like something one of your Vorin gods would do."

My guess would be that Lifebrother is the Vorin version of a co-opted singer God, one specifically responsible for imbuing the Crem with the trace amounts of Cultivation's investiture necessary to sustain life, and that would make one of the tripartite High Storm traveling components of the Sibling the Original God of Stone.

The third part, the God of Wind, I think is likewise one of the luminescent Storm Striders, and not the Stormfather as the usual speculation goes. I think the Stormfather is too specifically of Honor to have been one of the Original Gods of the Singers, and the High Storms predated the arrival of Cultivation and Honor. I think the original god of the Wind was subsumed into the storm after the arrival of humans, and furthermore I think that the god of Wind portion of the Sibling is probably the missing battery for Urithiru, and can function separately form the the other 3 pieces. In the details of the Melishi's strike force in the gem archive, no one seemed particularly concerned that Melishi's absence from Urithiru would cause all the lights to go out.

This is all conjecture to be sure, but the pieces all seem to fit quite nicely and it would be very cool to have a Bondsmith that has 3 separate aspects, which can exist in 3 separate locations, and that fulfills 3 separate functions. The only way this would be better would be if Arclo the Sleepless was the one to Bond the Sibling, talk about true distribution of power, the forces of Odium wouldn't stand a chance.

Edited June 9, 2020 by hoiditthroughthegrapevine
Typos, always typos

[Gears]

Fascinating. I haven't seen that many theories about the Sibling, but I think this seems plausible. I agree that a Dysian Aimian bonding a composite spren would be incredibly fitting. Do you think the facets of the Sibling would manifest like DID (individual personalities and memories) or more like Shallan's personas (individual personalities, shared memories)?

[GoWibble he/him]

31 minutes ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

What if the Stormstriders are aspects of the Sibling

So you are claiming that all of the stormstriders make up 1/3 of the 'Sibling'?

Besides that, how does it tie into Urithiru? 

because: 

Quote

Questioner

Does the deterioration of Urithiru have anything to do with the fact that the Sibling is asleep?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

JordanCon 2018 (April 21, 2018)

And I hate to do it because the theory is great, but:

Quote

Questioner

Does Cusicesh the Protector have anything to do with the third Sibling at Urithiru?

Brandon Sanderson

See, you gave me too much wiggle room there. Because "anything" is a really broad term. So I could say yes, but not in the way you're thinking.

Questioner

Okay, hmm I have to rethink my theory then.

Brandon Sanderson

I'll say probably not the way you're thinking.

Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018)

 

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

33 minutes ago, Gears said:

Do you think the facets of the Sibling would manifest like DID (individual personalities and memories) or more like Shallan's personas (individual personalities, shared memories)?

This is total conjecture, but I think they would each have a separate identity as well as a shared identity, similarly to how the Christian God is a tripartite being. Each aspect is separate and distinct but also part of a larger unitary whole.

The closest analogy would probably be like how a brontosaurus is an organism, but has a separate brain for it's tail and its head. The individual brains have different specific experiences and thus as identities are separate but they are both functional components of a larger composite.

Edited June 9, 2020 by hoiditthroughthegrapevine

[+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine he/him]

On 6/9/2020 at 11:19 AM, GoWibble said:

So you are claiming that all of the stormstriders make up 1/3 of the 'Sibling'?

Besides that, how does it tie into Urithiru? 

because: 

Quote

Questioner

Does the deterioration of Urithiru have anything to do with the fact that the Sibling is asleep?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

JordanCon 2018 (April 21, 2018)

And I hate to do it because the theory is great, but:

Quote

Questioner

Does Cusicesh the Protector have anything to do with the third Sibling at Urithiru?

Brandon Sanderson

See, you gave me too much wiggle room there. Because "anything" is a really broad term. So I could say yes, but not in the way you're thinking.

Questioner

Okay, hmm I have to rethink my theory then.

Brandon Sanderson

I'll say probably not the way you're thinking.

Emerald City Comic Con 2018 (March 1, 2018)

 

The Stormstriders we have seen onscreen have only been at most 2 in number. I think we've only seen 2 because there are only 2 existent. I think that the Stormstriders are 2 parts of the tripartite being that is The Sibling, with Cusicesh being the 3rd.

That Cusicesh WOB on the face of it seems like a nail in the coffin, but this could just be a clever WOBfuscation, an apparent answer that heavilies implies a negative, but when you read it actually doesn't preclude the positive theory being suggested.

The final reply of "probably not in the way you're thinking" is completely in line with my theory. Cusicesh's function in the Entity that is the Sibling probably has nothing at all to do with Urithiru.

If you carefully read that WOB, Sanderson turns the question so he can give precisely that "not the way you're thinking" answer.

The God of Wind Stormstrider is probably likewise more than just a mere battery for the tower city, but that is probably one of the functions it performs, a bridge from the highstorm to the Bondsmith of the Sibling, who in turn channels that power to run Urithiru. 

*EDIT*

@GoWibble, I just noticed I never directly addressed one of your points, namely the one about Urithiru deteriorating because of the absence of the Sibling. The deterioration I believe is happening solely from the lack of power that was previously supplied by the God of Wind portion of the Sibling, who is now currently being sheltered in the eye of the Highstorm. Also, i think the Sibling's Bondsmith is a necessary conduit to channel that power to the tower city. The lack of power would affect all of Urithiru's subsystems, and just like how sections of Detroit are being reclaimed by nature, the same tendency to return to a wild yet dillipidated state would still exist for Urithiru.

Edited June 10, 2020 by hoiditthroughthegrapevine
Plugged up a theory hole