Moash Appreciation Thread

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

Yes, you read the title right. 

No, I wouldn't have made this if we still had the downvote-button :-P

But honestly, while Moash is chull dung, he is also incredibly efficient. You have to give him that. He gets stuff done. Just look at his track record as a villain in two books: killed off Elhokar, Teft, Jezrien and Roshone, almost broke Kaladin, almost killed Navani and almost prevented the Sibling from recovering. Compare this to some of our other villains:

Rayse: Spent four books being tricked by Cultivation, lost every battle he commanded despite having the better odds, and got tricked by Mr T on one of his dumber days, and then died. 

Sadeas: Traded away the most valuable military company on Roshar for one Blade, failed to kill Dalinar and Adolin, lost Aladars loyalty, almost got tricked by Adolin, and then died. 

Amaram: Was manipulated by basically everyone, failed to control Sadeas army, got tricked by Dalinar, ate an Unmade, and then died. 

Mraize: Has spent three books being on the phone with Shallan, and then she hung up on him.

I could go on, but I think you guys get it. Moash may be reprehensible, but at least he displays competency.

 

[Honorless he/him]

You just dealt a crushing blow on the egos of all those other villains.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Honorless

[IllNsickly he/him]

Moash is definitely not on my list of favorite people. 
 

As a Villain, though, you are absolutely right. He does seem to be the most effective and efficient Bad Guy on Roshar. No one ese seems to measure up.

[HipsterStick he/him]

As much as I hate his storming guts...

You’re right. He’s chillingly efficient. In fact, I think he’s really the ONLY villain besides Taravangian who has dealt any sort of lasting damage to the heroes. Killing Elhokar and Teft, destroying Jezrien, almost breaking Kaladin- he’s very good at what he does.

Still, I would argue that Taravangian is at LEAST at or above his level in terms of effective villainy. ESPECIALLY in part 5 of RoW, when he (major spoilers ahead)

Spoiler

Takes out Odium and OUTWITS THE WIT!

 

[Winds Alight she/her]

2 hours ago, Toaster Retribution said:

Mraize: Has spent three books being on the phone with Shallan, and then she hung up on him.

LMAO

You're right.

I hate Moash as much as the next one but he causes a whole lot more damage than people give him credit for, which ultimately might come back to bite them in the bums.

[Nymeros]

Moash is a great character.

Vyre is not and is poorly written.

[GameOfGroans]

I can certainly perceive a lot of similarities between Moash and many people in real life (otherwise wars and a lot of crime would not exist, or barely). Which means he's still very human.

[Friendshipspren he/him]

Hell yeah. Sigh makes me wonder what a beautiful Radiant he would have been. 

[Aon Tia she/her]

15 hours ago, Toaster Retribution said:

and got tricked by Mr T on one of his dumber days, and then died. 

Haha Rayse!! 
Imagine he is the guy who has all of cosmere trembling 

well no wonder endowment was not much worried!
 

[kaellok he/him]

Don't forget that Moash is directly responsible for Kaladin swearing the 3rd Ideal, and indirectly responsible for the 4th.

We should give zero credit for 'almost', though, unless we give 'almost' to the others as well. 

Rayse--almost turned Dalinar to be his Champion, and also almost turned Kaladin.  He also almost didn't die. 

Sadeas--almost killed Kaladin dozens of times, almost killed Dalinar and Adolin, convinced almost enough Highprinces to not try to stop the Everstorm to ensure an easy win for Odium.

Amaram--almost didn't get used up and spit out by every faction that would have him.

Mraize--almost convinced Shallan to become a mindless assassin.

Moash--almost had a family in Bridge 4, until he threw it all away.

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

7 hours ago, The Traveller said:

Haha Rayse!! 
Imagine he is the guy who has all of cosmere trembling 

well no wonder endowment was not much worried!
 

Endowment was in on the plot. Why do you think Nightblood was there for T to use?

[Ixthos Luke/Luke]

22 hours ago, Toaster Retribution said:

Mraize: Has spent three books being on the phone with Shallan, and then she hung up on him.

This is the funniest line I have read all day.

[LuckyJim]

I kind of agree with the sentiment, but Vyre doesn't really have that many impressive accomplishments after Oathbringer. In Oathbringer he kills Elhokar and secures one of the most influential wins in the True Desolation, but in Rhythm of War he basically fails in everything he attempts. He only succeeds in killing Teft, which was only a means to corrupt Kaladin, which he failed to do. Moreover, he doesn't have much agency or drive, unlike the other major villains, he's strictly a henchman, carrying out other, bigger, villains dirty work.

What's really impressive is that he managed to survive for so long, villains in Stormlight don't usually last all that long, and Moash is behind only Taravangian and Mraize in how long he's managed to stick around.

[Aon Tia she/her]

3 hours ago, Kingsdaughter613 said:

Endowment was in on the plot. Why do you think Nightblood was there for T to use?

On that count there is no doubt. It was a long time plan of Endowment and cultivation. 
I don’t think Taravangian is going to direct his shards intent towards killing other shards. 

[GroundPetrel]

3 hours ago, Kingsdaughter613 said:

Endowment was in on the plot. Why do you think Nightblood was there for T to use?

Holy crap this is the most brilliant theory I've seen all year.  

[AonEne he/him]

19 hours ago, Nymeros said:

Moash is a great character. Vyre is not and is poorly written.

Eh, I'll disagree there, I think Vyre makes a lot of sense and in some ways is even relatable. 

But definitely! This antagonist, whatever you may call him, can get crap done! Makes me wonder what we'll do in book five when he'll probably kill Dalinar or something  

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

35 minutes ago, Ookla the Intimidating said:

But definitely! This antagonist, whatever you may call him, can get crap done! Makes me wonder what we'll do in book five when he'll probably kill Dalinar or something 

I think Moash will have one of the highest killcounts in the series when it comes to killing important characters.

 

3 hours ago, LuckyJim said:

What's really impressive is that he managed to survive for so long, villains in Stormlight don't usually last all that long, and Moash is behind only Taravangian and Mraize in how long he's managed to stick around.

Moash has been around longer than Mraize, depending on how you count. And also, Nale is up there as well, given that he appeared before Mraize did in WoR.

[Nymeros]

2 hours ago, Ookla the Intimidating said:

I think Vyre makes a lot of sense and in some ways is even relatable. 

What do you relate with?

Also, how do you feel about him killing Elhokar quickly and efficiently with no undue fuss but then dragging out Navani's death and taunting her? How does that make sense to his new emotionally dead state? Ditto for trash talking Teft.

Edited November 30, 2020 by Nymeros

[GameOfGroans]

12 hours ago, Nymeros said:

Also, how do you feel about him killing Elhokar quickly and efficiently with no undue fuss but then dragging out Navani's death and taunting her? How does that make sense to his new emotionally dead state? Ditto for trash talking Teft.

Oh yes    When reading that part, it felt like he was standing there waving that sword over Navani for at least 5 mins while she had quite a discussion and even a sing-song with the Sibling. I don't like that kind of time warps, but BS seems to love them.

[Friendshipspren he/him]

1 hour ago, GameOfGroans said:

Oh yes    When reading that part, it felt like he was standing there waving that sword over Navani for at least 5 mins while she had quite a discussion and even a sing-song with the Sibling. I don't like that kind of time warps, but BS seems to love them.

Wasn't it the anti-voidlight rhythm navani sung which paralysed him ?

[Aon Tia she/her]

4 minutes ago, Friendshipspren said:

Wasn't it the anti-voidlight rhythm navani sung which paralysed him ?

Yes I agree. At first he was struggling with Robaniel, then she created anti-voidlight rhythm which she said was really hurting Moash and caused him to stagger. 
Then when she bonded the sibling, he managed to reach her but together they created sibling light which then blinded him. 

[Friendshipspren he/him]

7 minutes ago, The Traveller said:

Yes I agree. At first he was struggling with Robaniel, then she created anti-voidlight rhythm which she said was really hurting Moash and caused him to stagger. 
Then when she bonded the sibling, he managed to reach her but together they created sibling light which then blinded him. 

Oh yeah raboniel stopped him too. Hmmm yeah but still it is wierd he didn't kill raboniel straight out. I mean he's emotionless and shouldn't care about her. 

One good swipe and she would be dead. He has surges too. He could have just lashed himself towards navani , dragging raboniel behind or slipping off her . 

Huh ? The song paralysis I can understand but not killing raboniel or using surges on her is wierd 

Although perhaps he didn't want to kill a good tool and an important figure too. Heh. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Friendshipspren
A little polishing

[Aon Tia she/her]

Hmm may be when I reread it we will learn the reason for this. 
Also Navani had created a lot more weapon fabrials that she had placed in the corridor. But I don’t think any of them were used except one pain fabrial. 

[USS bridge four he/him]

Vote Moash for Villian of the year. He gets stuff done. You heard that right. That's all I could hear while reading this post.

Great post. I still can't believe that the dude from the first book become so Hateable. 

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

I think ultimately Rabonial will have the highest kill count and was more effective at villainy than Moash.  At the end of the day he only kills 2 immortal beings. Rabonial and her research has the potential to kill thousands.