Kelsier_I_Barely_Know_Her

Hey All! Long time lurker, first time poster, so I apologize if the formatting isn't quite right. There will be plenty of spoilers regarding the later Stormlight books and the Dawnshard novella, so please tread lightly if you haven't read those yet. After my most recent reread of RoW I noticed how much discussion there is on Hoid’s flute and it got me thinking that it must be more significant than just a simple musical instrument. Perhaps the flute is actually the Dawnshard that Hoid has had since the shattering? Before people jump down my throat, I am aware of the theorized connection between Hoid’s Dawnshard and the First Gem. However, as we saw in the Dawnshard novella, the receptacle of the Dawnshard can obviously change from items to people. So I went back and started tracing where we have previously seen or head mention of the flute. We know that Hoid has had the flute for an extremely long time when he tells Kaladin that he has carried it longer than Kaladin would believe. The way Hoid explains the flute always seemed odd to me To me, Kaladin’s confusion about this is reasonable. He probably hasn’t seen many people play the flute while simultaneously storytelling. What bugs me about the wording is that Hoid claims he “uses” it instead of simply saying that he plays it. A little later in the passage Brandon describes Kaladin’s reaction to the music The emphasis on demanding here is what catches my attention. Sure, people describe music as demanding occasionally, but perhaps there is a bit more here. After Hoid finishes the story he gives Kaladin the flute and tells him that Which I will admit, on its own, doesn’t seem all that consequential at first glance. But when I start thinking about the little that is known of Dawnshards that passage starts to take on a different meaning. We know from the Dawnshard novella that to properly use a Dawnshard, it requires both Intent and Command. So perhaps “mastering” the flute in this context Hoid is hinting to Kaladin being able to use the Dawnshard. Further, we also know that holding Dawnshards for a long-time changes people (from Oathbringer epilogue) which has obviously happened to Hoid due to his inability to hurt others. Now Kaladin loses the flute relatively quickly after receiving it from Hoid, so he wouldn’t have developed those same effects, but maybe his time with the flute in his possession did have an effect. Kaladin is only one of two known surgebinders who was able to remain awake during the occupation in RoW. I know there are completely logical explanations made in the book as to why he was able to remain conscious, but I think it is possible that this explanation is incomplete and that Kaladin’s time with a Dawnshard in his possession assisted in his consciousness. As I mentioned, there was only one other surgebinder who remained awake, Lyft, who we find out at the end of the book has had the flute in her possession from some time after the move from the Shattered Plains! We all know that Hoid rarely appears or takes action that aren’t absolutely necessary to meet his own goals (whatever they may be). He tells Dalinar himself near the end of WoR that So maybe Hoid felt it was time to pass on the Flute (which I suspect to be the Dawnshard) because he felt Kaladin and eventually Lyft would have greater need of it in the near future.