RobocracyNow

Thanks for the welcome and the insightful responses. @CJ lidmk The Desolation could work either way in the short term at least. Again, looking at it very cynically the Knights Radiant could be blamed for the Everstorm itself. It was Dalinar and his followers that were there when the Everstorm formed. That also happened to coincide with them conveniently rediscovering Urithiru. And Dalinar has been known to have met with the Parshendi before hand. And he has one of them in his own guard. I thought I remembered Sadeas was implying at the end of WoR he would've spread the rumor that Dalinar made some kind of deal with the Parshendi. I think there are enough facts there for someone to twist against Dalinar and the Knights Radiant. Eventually people will have to turn to the Knights Radiant for protection, but a lot of blame can be thrown around before people accept that.

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I was recently rereading Words of Radiance and something occurred to me. Basically the thing I realized is that the new Knights Radiant under Dalinar could wind up taking the blame for Szeth's actions. When people start believing his claims about the return of the Knights Radiant at least some of them are going to wonder if the mysterious assassin in white who wreaked havoc with his strange powers is connected to these new surgebinders. At this point I think it's fair to say that Szeth is probably the most infamous surgebinder in the world. Depending on the mixture of paranoia and political maneuvering on the part of other nations Szeth's actions could be portrayed as some kind of plot by Dalinar and his so called Knights Radiant. Dalinar would probably point out how Alethkar was the first to suffer from Szeth and that unfortunately is where things can get very bad for him. Everyone knows how Szeth killed Gavilar (while Dalinar was conveniently absent). Word has also probably gotten around about the attempts on Elhokar's life including the one involving Szeth. A cynical mind might point out that Szeth has helped Dalinar secure power in Alethkar. Meanwhile all of Alethkar's neighbors have been thrown in disarray by the murder of their leaders while Alethkar itself stays relatively whole. And then Dalinar declares himself the leader of the new Knights Radiant, an organization known for wielding vast power especially in times of crisis and one assumed to have misused that power in the past (the Recreance). All the members so far are connected to Dalinar personally and the head of his guard even has powers like the assassin in white. Now we all know better, but the fact is that there seems to be a lot of people out there willing to think the worst of the warlike Alethi and the Blackthorn in particular. There are also plenty of people who would have a vested interest in encouraging this view such as Taravangian and Ialai if she seeks revenge against Dalinar. It would really only take one clever person with the right connections to get the rumors flying.