11thTrueSpren

Who is “Alieni”?

So I have been thinking quite a bit on this topic for some time. Throughout all four books out so far, Kaladin and Lirin have been at odds on how to protect. I think Lirin actually would have been a 5th ideal Windrunner from the get-go if he had bonded an Honorspren. Essentially, Lirin has been trying to teach Kaladin the four ideals of the Windrunners throughout The Way of Kings. For example: In the first portion of tWoK, Lirin always talking about protecting people. He has been adament about protecting others through not killing. This sets up the theme of protecting others - the 2nd oath Later on when Roshone is lying on the surgery table dying, Lirin has the opportunity to either let Roshone die, or sever his femoral artery and kill him outright. He chooses not to do this because it was not right. As a surgeon, Lirin saves/protects those he hates - 3rd oath. The flashback chapter Scarlet from Kaladin’s perspective when he is trying to save a little girl. She ends up dying as he is trying to save her and this impacts him severely as seen later in the chapter. In this chapter, Lirin explains to Kaladin that he will grow calluses, and that he needs to accept that he can’t save everyone - 4th oath The 5th oath was foreshadowed in the chapter Wandersail. This comes in the early part of the chapter when Maps dies and Kaladin is unable to save him. Kaladin hears Lirin’s voice saying “You have to learn when to care.” I think that this is foreshadowing the 5th oath of the Winderunners. Despite Kaladin having accepted that he can’t save everyone, how does he choose when to save someone and when not to? A number of posts on this topic have alluded to this point as well. This could be seen as a leadership attribute as well: when do we retreat and when do we press the attack? This seems to at least be a logical step for Kaladin to understand how to protect someone. He has accepted he can’t save everyone, but how does one choose when to save someone and when to let them go and save yourself? This could also be symmetrical as some posts have talked about. He has previously committed to protecting those who can’t protect themselves. This will help him choose when to protect if there are multiple people who need saving and that Kaladin needs to choose. So my thought for the 5th oath is something along the lines of knowing when to protect and when to let go.

So Tanavast is dead, however the time of his death is what would be in question. In the WoB below, Brandon states that the death of the vessel is a “slow burn”, but that is pretty vague. Brandon also states that he is dead “as of the start of The Way of Kings.” So this could be any time between the splintering of Honor all the way to the death of Gavilar, which is approximately 2000 years. spoilered for length However, what would be interesting to find out is if Tien or Oroden would also be considered a “Son of Tanavast” according to the Stormfather. This would at least rule out if Kaladin is the biological offspring of Tanavast or if Kaladin is the “spiritual embodiment” of Honor and Tanavast that he could be considered the Son of Tanavast from the Stormfather’s perspective. The Stormfather’s perspective will be much wider than a human can perceive since humans can’t see into the cognitive realm without having a Nahel bond. The Stormfather is also melded with the cognitive shadow of Tanavast, which would make things weird when talking about the biological offspring of Tanavast. My thought regarding Kaladin being the Son of Tanavast is that he is the spiritual embodiment of Tanavast as Kaladin has been described by Brandon Sanderson as being “extra aligned” with the intent of Honor.