+Child of Hodor Posted November 22, 2020 Posted November 22, 2020 I wrote the above theory that Taln was at one point in league with Odium, but isn't anymore. I wrote that because Tanavast told Dalinar that Odium wanted the long break between Desolations so that humanity would forget and turn on each other (WoK Ch. 75). Taln is the key to that. There needed to be a Herald who never broke, but died in nearly every Desolation in order to tempt the other 9 Heralds into quitting. I want to add to that theory based on what we learned in RoW. In RoW we get a glimpse of how great the Heralds were at fighting. Nale takes an arrow through the head shrugs it off and dispatches Szeth easily. Ishar fights 5 windrunners at once and wins. Dalinar is amazed at how great Ishar is at dueling. The Stormfather say Ishar was average at fighting among the Heralds and Taln was by FAR the best. Taln, the greatest fighter among the Heralds had a reputation for dying the most. (WoK Prelude). This could be because he was so self-sacrificing and the greatest, bestest person ever, but it's very convenient because he needed to not survive Desolations in order to tempt the Heralds. The other minor support I'd like to add is that Taln is currently slotted to have the 9th book. 9 being the number of the enemy, the number of Braize, the number of Fused orders, the number of Unmade, the number of Heralds who quit etc. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/374/#e12214 I know in WoK Prime spoiler: Spoiler That book's version of Ishar was the traitor, but it doesn't have to be the case in the canon series. I don't have a good idea of the specifics of how the subterfuge worked, but Taln is too perfect and he is crucial to the long break during which Honor died and the KR were (mostly) destroyed. It's more interesting if he helped trick the other Heralds and deeply regretted it due to his love for Ash.
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