Shallan and the cube [RoW spoilers]

[Dreamwa1ker she/her]

At the end of the book, it is revealed that the communication cube Mraize gave Shallan is really a seon. But I haven't seen people discussing something from much earlier - Shallan remembers using a cube like this as a child. 

RoW Chapter 30:

Quote

Veil watched, and suddenly felt disjointed—trapped between two moments. This experience … she’d done this before. She’d been here, kneeling on the ground, holding a cube that glowed from the corners. Exactly like this. She reached to the top of the cube, feeling the smooth metal, and expected it to be dimpled.

Then we get more about time period:

Quote

She was on a mission into Shadesmar. Why should she expect to see gardens behind her? Her father’s gardens? Veil faded into Shallan. These memories … these were something lost to her. From the years leading up to her … her mother’s death. That twisted, knotted, overgrown time in her brain, hidden behind carefully cultivated flower beds. When she sorted through her memories, it didn’t feel like anything was missing. Yet she knew from other clues that there were holes. Remember, Veil thought. Remember. She’d trained with Pattern as a child. She’d spoken oaths. She’d summoned a Shardblade and struck down her own mother, frantic to survive. And—she looked back at the cube—she’d held one of these?

Therefore this was before she killed her mother, probably before or during her bond with Testament.

Did I miss something obvious, I don't think we got an answer yet right?

Possibilities:

1. She found someone else's box. Lin with Ghostbloods? Helaran? Mother with skybreakers?

2. It was given to her specifically? Could this have to do with how the Cryptics seem so hell-bent on her having a bond - did they have communications with her or Testament through this cube, as we know it can communicate with someone in Shadesmar? Was this used for observation?

 

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

4 minutes ago, Dreamwa1ker said:

At the end of the book, it is revealed that the communication cube Mraize gave Shallan is really a seon. But I haven't seen people discussing something from much earlier - Shallan remembers using a cube like this as a child. 

RoW Chapter 30:

Then we get more about time period:

Therefore this was before she killed her mother, probably before or during her bond with Testament.

Did I miss something obvious, I don't think we got an answer yet right?

Possibilities:

1. She found someone else's box. Lin with Ghostbloods? Helaran? Mother with skybreakers?

2. It was given to her specifically? Could this have to do with how the Cryptics seem so hell-bent on her having a bond - did they have communications with her or Testament through this cube, as we know it can communicate with someone in Shadesmar? Was this used for observation?

 

It wasn’t the same exact box! The other box was ‘dimpled’ not smooth. I wonder what the difference is...

[Dreamwa1ker she/her]

@Kingsdaughter613

Yes it clearly was another cube! I'm making the assumption it is another seon inside but it wouldn't necessarily have to be. It is curious that one has dimples - it makes me think of like a phone almost, with a grid of dimples that would be the buttons to dial who you want to talk to.

[Honorless he/him]

Next books are going to be interesting, we'll see not only Nahel Bonds but whatever is going on between Adolin and Maya, a Seon Bond with Shallan (also Testament and Shallan will go along the same path as Adolin and Maya) and an Aviar Bond with Lift!

I wonder if Shallan also managed to turn the Seon in the previous box into a Deadeye. Just kidding, what if what was in the box was the Unmade she accidentally unleashed on the Davar household? It's unlikely but a possibility.

Seriously though, the Cryptics really want to Bond her, her family was influenced by the Unmade. Her mother and older brother Helaran had connections to the Skybreakers, her father had connections to the Ghostbloods... there's so much to unpack here still