Mojoran

And the shards are the shards of his umm... throne

I take your point, however I feel like even if it was the boon he asked for Dalinar's memory loss is now seen as a curse by him as his tone is regretful when he thinks about it.

I really like this idea, Initially I though he was saying that having compassion was like a curse but not being able to use his compassion and intelligence together could definitely be it. Although he shows extreme intelligence I don't know that he shows extreme compassion.

One of the most fascinating parts of the Stormlight Archive to me so far is the Old Magic and how it affects people. We got more clarification in WoR when Wyndle in the Lift interlude refers to the Old Magic/Nightwatcher as his mother. I thought that it would be good to put together a list of the people who have been affected by the Old Magic and what we know they received and what happened to them because of it. Dalinar - Received: ??? , Punishment: Forgot Wife Lift - Received: Get stormlight from food and can touch spren , Punishment: ??? Taravangian - Received: Intelligence , Punishment: Intelligence OR Compassion Av’s brother (Interlude 1-7 WoK) - Received: ???, Punishment: Numb Hands Av’s father - Received: “a heap of good cloth” , Punishment: Saw world upside down It is also mentioned by Dalinar that “you’d be surprised how many devout lighteyes turn to the Old Magic at one point in their lives or another. The ones who can make it to the Valley, at least” (Chap 61, WoK) There must be some trick to getting there as Av’s entire family except him has gone but not everyone can do it. Also the punishments seem very random and seem to be things that while not pleasant do not affect the askers life significantly. What are other peoples thoughts on the Old Magic and the Nightwatcher? (if I missed anyone shown going to the old magic just post in the thread and I’ll update it)

Yah there were many "HELL YAH" and "OH NO" moments in the book for me but Nightblood's appearance was my first "HOLY S**T!!!" moment