Odium's treatment of disobedient Fused [RoW spoilers]

[+robardin he/him]

So at the end of Rhythm of War, we see a bunch of Fused collectively turn away from Odium and "go listener".

Earlier, in Ch. 111, after Leshwi and her band of followers fought to keep Lezian's followers from slaughtering the human civilians and unconscious Radiants, she tries to convince the survivors to surrender to her so she could find a way to "explain to Raboniel" (to talk her way out of her betrayal)... And then Rlain "channels Teft" to set everybody straight how a line had been crossed that could not be un-crossed, which she soon realizes is the case:

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“You’re right, listener,” Leshwi said, lowering down beside him. “I couldn’t have talked us out of this. He knows what we did. Those who approach are humming the Rhythm of Executions. ...Judging by those rhythms, these who come aren’t being sent by Raboniel. Odium wants me to know. I will be tortured like the Heralds once I return to Braize.”

Leswhi goes unconscious when the Sibling re-erects Urithiru's Odiumshield against voidish powers, but revives when they transfer her and the others to Narak via Oathgate, where she "hovers over" to talk to Kaladin before going off with Venli.

So Leshwi didn't lose her ability to fly via Voidlight, nor even her access to Voidlight, due to her betrayal, yet Odium had sent Fused and Regals to execute them?

Well we can assume that once she dies, as a Fused like Lezian she'd be returned to Braize, there to stay until either a listener/singer host in the Everstorm is open to her, or if Odium directly summons her back to him on Roshar (as was done "the way before the storms", as El called it, to pull Lezian back after only a day on Braize).

She thinks Odium can block access to her coming back via the Everstorm, senttencing her to eternal torture as the Heralds were (and without the release of breaking sending her back to Roshar)...

...but Odium (Rayse) claims he could not do that while talking to Dalinar in setting the terms of the contest in Ch. 112!

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"...The Fused must go with you, locked away again, as well as the spren that make Regals. No more forms of power. No more Voidspren.”

“I cannot agree... The Everstorm has changed everything, and Cephandrius should have realized this. Singers can adopt Regal forms powered by the Everstorm. The Fused are free now; they can be reborn without my intervention. The Oathpact could have imprisoned them, but it is now defunct. I am literally unable to do as you ask, not without destroying myself in the process.”

Unless Odium was lying, that suggests that he has no way of keeping a Fused on Braize against their will if a willing host in the Everstorm were available. (Not that Leswhi would know this.)

At the same time, at Thaylen Fields in Oathbringer, when a Fused named Turash sasses him about having to follow Dalilnar as Odium's chosen champion, he calmly threatens him into submission with "you will follow me, Turash, or I will reclaim that which gives you persistent life."

So maybe Odium can't block the Fused from cyclically returning via Everstorm (assuming a willing host), but he can "de-Fuse" a Fused? If so, why weren't Leswhi and her followers "unplugged" on the spot? Did he intend to torture them for a few days and then unplug them before the Everstorm?

I mean, all these penalties are in their heads, controlling or cowing them with fear. I'm starting to get the feeling Raysodium wasn't the most forthright about what he could and couldn't do, LOL, and why would he have been!

Edited September 3, 2021 by robardin

[+mdross81 he/him]

Great questions @robardin

With this line:

8 hours ago, robardin said:

The Fused are free now; they can be reborn without my intervention. The Oathpact could have imprisoned them, but it is now defunct. I am literally unable to do as you ask, not without destroying myself in the process.”

and the line with Turash, I wonder if it’s that:

• the only way to prevent the Fused from returning via the Everstorm would be to reclaim their Investiture, and
• it’s the difference between reclaiming the Investiture from one Fused (which Odium could presumably weather) versus reclaiming from all of them, which would somehow destroy him.

I don’t really know why that would destroy him. Maybe it would go back on some promise he made to them?

Also just wanted to add to the mix this other line from the same chapter:

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“I’ve told you that I cannot keep to these terms. I can seal myself away, but not my minions. I can demand that the Fused and the Unmade retreat—but not all currently obey my will. And I can do nothing about the Regals.”

Interesting that he can’t do anything at all about the Regals.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

7 minutes ago, mdross81 said:

I don’t really know why that would destroy him. Maybe it would go back on some promise he made to them?

Might also be that it would require expending too much focus and Cultivation would be able to attack him, like how he couldn't Splinter the Stormfather fully without opening himself up.

[crème de la crèmling]

This is such a cool observation! I've always believed that Odium was deceiving the Fused at least a little bit; my mind immediately jumps to Raboniel's explanation of Adhesion as being, for me, particularly suspicious!

From those excerpts, I wonder if the Everstorm could be serving a similar function to the one that Ba-Ado-Mishram supposedly did during the False Desolation? Connecting to the singer people and giving them forms of power and Voidlight without necessarily asking Odium for permission?

When the Everstorm passed over for the first time, it seems like it specifically Connected the singers to their region, and not to Odium as a part of healing them ... they were the original people of Roshar, which is something that Odium uses a lot in his propaganda, but viewed with this in mind, could he have been taking advantage of the Everstorm more than controlling it? Could that have to do with why Odium could do "nothing about the Regals?" I can definitely see why he'd want to keep that a secret. 

But since the Fused clearly believe he can make good on his claims, I wonder if prior to the Everstorm he could actually carry out all those threats? And if he could, what does it mean now if he can't do so without consequences?