lostinbk

*Spoilers, spoilers everywhere* I can see why some people who have never experienced that sort of trauma would be annoyed with Shallan, but I disagree and appreciate how realistic she's portrayed. One of the tenets of SA is Journey before Destination, and it reflects in every character arc. It's what the books are about, but with cool magic attached. Life is messy, people don't do a great job at life sometimes, and it's easier to give up and say well- can't be perfect and do everything right, so guess I'll just give up and rot here. She did have a moment like that, when Wit came to see her. She is not doing that the rest of the series, but I think people think that and get so annoyed at her because of how her Journey is framed. She's a foil to the other characters, which I think is another reason why some people don't like her. Every character starts out with different levels of support and challenges. Childhood is where you learn things like boundaries and a sense of who you are, your identity and self worth. A lot of how we learn to deal with problems is shown to us in media (like Brandon's books or TV shows) or role models in our lives. Shallan didn't have any of that, she wasn't even allowed out of the house until she killed her own Father and then she stepped up for her family to try to get them out of a dire situation, for which she was extremely ill prepared. She did have her brothers but they aren't exactly healthy role models. Her journey is very similar to Dalinar's. Like Dalinar, she murders someone dear to her by accident. Unlike Dalinar, it wasn't out of rage, but self defense. She was also a very small child. Dalinar was able able to face his pain (one of my favorite moments ever), but what people don't seem to consider is he DID give into his pain- for many years. Missed out on half the life of his sons before he was able to move on, after help from Cultivation. By time he's telling Odium he cannot have his pain, he had already had experience and lived much of life, and also found the Way of Kings. He has also been a leader for most of his life, and has tools of discipline he's followed for many years once he was able to function again. The way his story was framed was very sympathetic because you aren't reading several books about how every day he's getting drunk and failing his sons. For Shallan, you are reading her struggle as she goes through it slower than you'd like her to. She starts splitting in personalities because the weight of her trauma was making her unable to continue on without breaking. There were no medications, psychologists or even friends to help her, until she found Adolin, Jasnah and Kaladin. People do not have build in knowledge they are born with to process such an extreme circumstance. But even though she does have friends now, they have zero understanding how to help her because no one's parents tried to kill them and they didn't have to kill their parents. It's an issue she alone has to figure out (with some advice from Wit) and has no idea how to deal with it because it's so incredibly painful, it feels like she will die if she faces it. She "sucked it up" and has been, for the majority of the series. It has nothing to do with selfishness or your force of will. A person can only function so long by bottling everything up, but to roll out what you've been through and heal might take more time than she's afforded by facing a Desolation, even if she had the knowledge and tools of how to heal. I think what people are wanting to see is her big heroic moment that we see Kaladin accomplish at the 11th hour- that she's able to use all her pain and cumulate it into a victory. Or something similar to Dalinar when he faces what he's done and becomes better. (I hope Shallan does talk to Dalinar, he would understand better than most.) Her journey seems to be even slower than Kaladin's, and there's not a ton of relief in her advancing in her oaths to face a truth. It doesn't involve a lot of action usually, the most action occurs when she's trying to do spy things. I think considering her circumstances, she does go beyond her limit to help because people she loves and Roshar needs her, which is why Veil and Radiant come out. But the hope I see for her character is when she draws people, she reflects the goodness or qualities they could possess back to them. I think it touches both the Cognitive and Spiritual Realm when she does this. I hope we see more of that as she heals so she can help other people a little like Cultivation does, by trimming away some of the old parts that aren't working for them and give them a new sense of identity, so they might flourish.