Thought about Lift from RoW Reading (spoilers)

[bridgemenspren]

If this has been suggested elsewhere, I'd love for someone to direct me to the post.

In reading this short scene about Lift in RoW, I came across this quote from her - the wish she gave Cultivation:

“I said when everything else is going wrong, I want to be the same. I want to stay me, not become someone else.”

I've been wondering if one of Odium's goals is to somehow end or stop Highstorms, so that it becomes much harder (or impossible outside of Dalinar's abilities) to get investiture on Roshar. If that happens, "everything will be going wrong" and yet Lift won't change; she will still be able to use investiture.

What do you all think?  Any other clues that support or discredit this idea?

[+Oltux72]

2 minutes ago, bridgemenspren said:

What do you all think?  Any other clues that support or discredit this idea?

It would be the end of the Singers. They could no longer change forms. It would end Roshar's ecology. It would doom the continent. Without tectonics the land would erode away.

If he wants to do that it is unclear to me how he would keep the loyalty of the Fused.

[bridgemenspren]

Gotcha - OK - I forgot how important stormlight is to the very functioning of the planet. But maybe Odium would still want to do that / wouldn't care because it would free him?

 

 

[ftl]

I think it's definitely a possibility.

We've got a few Radiants that can operate without regular infusions of Stormlight. Dalinar can make his own. Lift can eat food. And Renarin has a corrupted Spren - maybe it could potentially use voidlight? That's at least two and maybe three main character Radiants that can, in a pinch, do Radianty things without needing Stormlight. I definitely see a chance for a plot where they have to make do when all the rest of the radiants are left lightless.

[+Oltux72]

1 hour ago, ftl said:

And Renarin has a corrupted Spren - maybe it could potentially use voidlight? That's at least two and maybe three main character Radiants that can, in a pinch, do Radianty things without needing Stormlight.

For all we know all Radiants may be able to operate on Voidlight. It may have different performance characteristics or side effects, but we can't rule out that it would basically work.

[Halyo_Alex]

1 hour ago, Oltux72 said:

For all we know all Radiants may be able to operate on Voidlight. It may have different performance characteristics or side effects, but we can't rule out that it would basically work.

I mean, Renarin can apparently fuel his Voidbinding futuresight with Stormlight, so why not the reverse?

[+Bliev]

On 7/24/2020 at 10:57 AM, bridgemenspren said:

If this has been suggested elsewhere, I'd love for someone to direct me to the post.

In reading this short scene about Lift in RoW, I came across this quote from her - the wish she gave Cultivation:

“I said when everything else is going wrong, I want to be the same. I want to stay me, not become someone else.”

I've been wondering if one of Odium's goals is to somehow end or stop Highstorms, so that it becomes much harder (or impossible outside of Dalinar's abilities) to get investiture on Roshar. If that happens, "everything will be going wrong" and yet Lift won't change; she will still be able to use investiture.

What do you all think?  Any other clues that support or discredit this idea?

Given that Stormlight is Honor's investiture, I would think that Odium would be fine if it were unable to be accessed. I think that would be harder than he thinks. But preventing the perpendicularity from moving around the planet would definitely seem like something he'd try to do. Because if you're not close to Dalinar, then you can't access it. And that would be devastating to the radiants. I have also thought about the mission to Aimia and the Larkins, which eat stormlight/investiture. Maybe they could drain spheres, but not Lift's food? So in a war with Larkins being used indiscriminately, Lift would be okay?

[bridgemenspren]

Good point about larkins being used and Lift being less (or un) affected.

Her limitation (getting investiture only from food), could someday become a real saving grace. If so, I have a feeling this will play out in the back 5 books.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by bridgemenspren

[+Child of Hodor]

4 hours ago, Bliev said:

Given that Stormlight is Honor's investiture, I would think that Odium would be fine if it were unable to be accessed. I think that would be harder than he thinks. But preventing the perpendicularity from moving around the planet would definitely seem like something he'd try to do. Because if you're not close to Dalinar, then you can't access it. And that would be devastating to the radiants. I have also thought about the mission to Aimia and the Larkins, which eat stormlight/investiture. Maybe they could drain spheres, but not Lift's food? So in a war with Larkins being used indiscriminately, Lift would be okay?

 

4 hours ago, bridgemenspren said:

Good point about larkins being used and Lift being less (or un) affected.

Her limitation (getting investiture only from food), could someday become a real saving grace. If so, I have a feeling this will play out in the back 5 books.

They definitely can't drain it from food because her body converts the food into Stormlight, it doesn't have any innate Stormlight, just calories I think .  Nale does use a larkin to drain her of Stormlight in WoR, so she is less impacted because of the food, but they can still get her.  

Quote

Nale uses one to drain Lift of Stormlight while attempting to capture her.^[3]  https://coppermind.net/wiki/Larkin#Notable_Examples

 

[bridgemenspren]

22 hours ago, Child of Hodor said:

 

They definitely can't drain it from food because her body converts the food into Stormlight, it doesn't have any innate Stormlight, just calories I think .  Nale does use a larkin to drain her of Stormlight in WoR, so she is less impacted because of the food, but they can still get her.  

 

Good point! I had forgotten that, but yes, Nale does drain her.

[+Bliev]

Ahhhh great catch @Child of Hodor! I had forgotten that. But a stash of calories could be useful in that case!

[Rainier]

On 7/24/2020 at 9:02 AM, Oltux72 said:

It would be the end of the Singers. They could no longer change forms. It would end Roshar's ecology. It would doom the continent. Without tectonics the land would erode away.

I don't see any reason why Odium should care about any of these things. Oh no! The Singers, my disposable tools for milennia, would be stuck! Roshar, my prison for millenia, would be trashed! The continent, which I despise, would be doomed!

This seems like an unmitigated win for Odium. Everything about this seems great for his goals, which span the Cosmere. Remember, Odium doesn't want to be on Roshar, he wants to shatter the other shards. If he could escape but leave Roshar a crippled husk of a planet in his wake, he would do so without hesitation.

Hell, Hoid himself said he's watch the world burn to get what he wants. To these kinds of powerful people, entire worlds are pieces on the board, to be employed while useful and sacrificed if necessary.

On 7/24/2020 at 9:02 AM, Oltux72 said:

If he wants to do that it is unclear to me how he would keep the loyalty of the Fused.

Their loyalty is useful only until he's free of the prison. If he could break the bonds holding him by sacrificing the Fused, he would do it in an instant.

[RazeU]

That’s a clever thought! If the highstorms actually were to quit coming... we’ll several things. It makes me fear for Dalinar and the Stormfather. And it reminds me of *MB Spoilers ahead*:

 

what happened to Scadrial after Vin killed the Lord Ruler before Harmony corrected it. Not in terms of investiture. Just in terms of like a physical doomsday clock type setting.