Watching the Unmade, RoW Edition [Spoiler] [Discuss]

[dvoraen]

Another book has come and gone, so let's check in on what we know!

The Diagram, and Ishar, both state that Shinovar is playing host to one or more of the Unmade now.  We can thus treat Ishar's words with a small degree of trust on this specific subject, since another source is willing to corroborate it.  WIth that said, we can deduce that at least three of them are likely there at this time.  I'm going to go through all nine, sorted by least likely to most likely to be there.

 

Least Likely

* Ba-Ado-Mishram - So far as we know, she's still trapped inside her gemstone.  It's a safe bet she's not active in Shinovar.

* Nergaoul - Similarly, Nergaoul is enjoying a spa treatment in the ocean.  It's a safe bet he's nowhere near Shinovar.

* Sja-anat - We can trace Sja-anat's movements from Kholinar (her interlude) to Emul (Odium's orders).  As she talked to Taravangian directly in an interlude late in the book, we can safely say she also is not anywhere in Shinovar.  This is likely to change for the fifth book, but by no means a certainty.

* Moelach - Moelach settled in the Horneater Peaks during Oathbringer, according to Taravangian's interlude.  So far as we know, nothing has changed here, and while it's possible that he moved, I think it unlikely that this Unmade was suddenly ordered away from guarding Cultivation's Perpendicularity.

Inconclusive

* Re-Shephir - Re-Shephir somehow found time to inform Raboniel about the Sibling (how is a subject for another day), which would suggest she travelled east toward Kholinar in order to do so, as that is where we were first introduced to Raboniel, who had this knowledge of the Sibling during that meeting in Chapter 14.  As Raboniel is confirmed to have Transformation, she would have had help to get to Kholinar, or simply awakened in a body in Kholinar in the first place.  Either way, she somehow encountered Re-Shephir before Chapter 14, which means the Midnight Mother did not travel west to Shinovar.  We can't nail down a timeline of Re-Shephir's movements, however, and thus I put her as inconclusive as to where she is.

* Chemoarish - It's unclear if the Dustmother is trapped in a gemstone.  Given Hessi's Mythica, lore has generated about her sufficient enough to suggest activity in modern Roshar.  However, it's also possible that she has been dormant like Sja-anat apparently was for the past few thousand years.  Either way, it's hard to confirm her activity level and thus I put her at inconclusive.

Most Likely

* Ashertmarn - This Unmade fled the Kholinar region, heading to unknown whereabouts. We saw first hand in Oathbringer how severe his influence can be on humans, so his activity is not in question.  He has had plenty of time to cross the continent to get to Shinovar.

* Yelig-nar - Like Ashertmarn, Yelig-nar is active in the present-day world and we have seen him on screen.  It therefore is not unreasonable to assume that this presumed-sapient Unmade is one of those that has begun influencing Shinovar within the course of the past year.  Secondly, he is presumed sapient, and if the Shinovar really are worshipping the Unmade, it would likely require a sapient Unmade to fully facilitate this relationship.

* Dai-Gonarthis - With the scouring of Aimia possibly being attributed to Dai-Gonarthis's activity, per Mythica, we can at least state that this Unmade has shown some activity in the world within the past few centuries.  I say this as a definitive because we the readers have evidence supporting this Unmade's existence (the WoK Death Rattle we saw in the epigraphs).  As they are presumed capable of causing an entire country to be scoured of life -- Akinah even has a nickname of "The Void's Playground", per Kaza's interlude -- it seems appropriate that this Unmade would be one of those involved in causing Shinovar to become shut down.  They have also not been seen on screen, so of all the presumed active Unmade, Dai-Gonarthis has had the most time to go to Shinovar and begin influencing it.  I suspect Dai-Gonarthis is also sapient, due to the orchestration of events of Aimia, so I use my point about needing a sapient Unmade to facilitate a worship relationship here as well.

Edited November 19, 2020 by dvoraen