The Heir's Feasting Companions

[Newan]

So I was rereading the prologue to Way of Kings, and I saw this:

 

 

 

Elhokar, the king's son and heir, sat at the high table, ruling the feast in his father's absence.  He was in conversation with two men, a dark-skinned Azish man who had an odd patch of pale skin on his cheek and a thinner, Alethi-looking man who kept glancing over his shoulder.

The heir's feasting companions were unimportant.

 

A dark-skinned Azish man with a patch of pale skin on his cheek?  Is that Darkness?!?

 

Here's how Lift described him:

"Surely she’d escaped Darkness, the man in the black and silver with the pale crescent birthmark on his cheek. ... The tall Azish man with the white mark on his cheek, like a crescent."

 

And here's Ym's description:

"The shadow separated itself from the darkness, resolving into a man with dark Makabaki skin, all save a pale crescent on his cheek."

Edited September 26, 2014 by New One

[Kobold King]

Elhokar's lookin' for paranoia in all the wrong places.

[Moogle]

Yeah, that's Nalan. Jasnah speaks with him in the prologue of WoR, so it's pretty clear he's there.

 

Really makes you wonder what his relationship to Elhokar is. Nalan was there to watch Szeth, I'm guessing (the maybe-Heralds remark on him and his Honorblade), so he might have used his influence on Elhokar to get an invitation... but how did he get the influence? The Skybreakers are one of the more interesting secret organizations.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Moogle

[Newan]

Oh wow. I can't believe I forgot about that!

Words echoed in the hallway, coming from up ahead. “I’m worried about Ash.”

“You’re worried about everything.”

Jasnah hesitated in the hallway.

“She’s getting worse,” the voice continued. “We weren’t supposed to get worse. Am I getting worse? I think I feel worse.”

“Shut up.”

“I don’t like this. What we’ve done was wrong. That creature carries my lord’s own Blade. We shouldn’t have let him keep it. He—”

The two passed through the intersection ahead of Jasnah. They were the ambassadors from the West, including the Azish man with the white birthmark on his cheek. Or was it a scar? The shorter of the two men—he could have been Alethi—cut off when he noticed Jasnah. He let out a squeak, then hurried on his way.

It looks like the skittish alethi-looking guy is also probably a herald too, since he refers to breaking the oathpact and knows Shallash by her nickname. Which herald might he be? He's not Jezrien, unless Jezrien refers to himself in third person as "my lord". My guess: Kalak. Even when breaking the oathpact, he knew it was wrong.

[sun tzaro]

Oh wow. I can't believe I forgot about that!

It looks like the skittish alethi-looking guy is also probably a herald too, since he refers to breaking the oathpact and knows Shallash by her nickname. Which herald might he be? He's not Jezrien, unless Jezrien refers to himself in third person as "my lord". My guess: Kalak. Even when breaking the oathpact, he knew it was wrong.

 

 

I really don't think that "what we've done was wrong" refers to the Oathpact. Remember, the Oathpact happened 4,500 years ago - in that intervening time span, the Heralds almost certainly came to terms with what they had done. I find it very unlikely that the Oathpact is the topic of their conversation. I think that the topic is Gavilar's assassination - it certainly seems like they were complicit in it, and one who follows/defers to Jezrien would certainly regard the deed as dishonorable.

 

So, considering that the Oathpact is likely not the topic of their conversation, I also have to disagree with your assessment that the skittish Alethi man is Kalak. I understand how you came to that conclusion - Kalak does seem to defer to Jezrien in the prologue of A Way of Kings, but I don't think that he would be that subservient - and a Herald certainly would not squeak and run away upon seeing Jasnah (she's scary, but not that scary). 

 

Wait - no, I'm wrong. He refers to Nalan and Shalash and himself as we, and says that they're all getting worse, so you're right, he most likely is a Herald. His behavior definitely is decidedly un-Heraldlike - the Heralds have been around for thousands of years, and they've seen and done things that no other mortals have. While I doubt that most of them are as stone-cold as Nalan, I have a hard time accepting that any of them would be skittish - unless they're incredibly nervous about something. 

Edited September 29, 2014 by sun tzaro

[Newan]

While I doubt that most of them are as stone-cold as Nalan, I have a hard time accepting that any of them would be skittish - unless they're incredibly nervous about something. 

 

I think that each of the Heralds is "getting worse" in his or her own special way.  Jezrien is a drooling drunk, Nalan is cold-hearted and evil, Shallash is destroying artistic renderings of herself, and this guy is getting super paranoid.  I could accept him as Kalak because it is obvious that these people have changed a lot in the last few thousand years.  

 

Also, there are only 5 male heralds.  He's obviously not Nalan, Jezrien or Taln, so he must be Kalak or Ishar.  

 

Edit: but I like your theory that Kalak/Ishar is guilty about the assassination.  That would make more sense, seeing as he immediately then talks about Szeth possessing Jezrien's honorblade.  

 

Nin probably helped lead Szeth to the Parshendi.  He wants to prevent the desolations from returning by killing possible Knights Radiant.  The Parshendi wanted to assassinate Gavilar to stop him from returning the Old Gods.  It seems that they had the same goal.  

 

I was wondering how Darkness managed to find Szeth after his showdown with Kaladin.  It makes sense that he would have already known about Szeth and maybe even kept tabs on him through the years.  

Edited September 29, 2014 by New One

[sun tzaro]

I think that each of the Heralds is "getting worse" in his or her own special way.  Jezrien is a drooling drunk, Nalan is cold-hearted and evil, Shallash is destroying artistic renderings of herself, and this guy is getting super paranoid.  I could accept him as Kalak because it is obvious that these people have changed a lot in the last few thousand years.  

 

 

That's true - I assumed that the passage of thousands of years would have desensitized them, but perhaps I'm thinking about it wrong - maybe all this time has just changed their behaviors to a very extreme degree. That certainly is a very intriguing interpretation of what "getting worse" could mean. 

 

But, Jezrien is a drooling drunk? Do we think that Axies, the alespren guy, is Jezrien? I guess it could be, since the art-smasher certainly seems to be Shallash, and both characters have appeared in interludes without appearing to be directly connected to the main story.

 

 

 

Also, there are only 5 male heralds.  He's obviously not Nalan, Jezrien or Taln, so he must be Kalak or Ishar.  

 

 

True - and we don't know much about Ishar, but we do know that Kalak seems to defer to Jezrien. It indeed probably is Kalak. 

Edited September 30, 2014 by sun tzaro

[Newan]

But, Jezrien is a drooling drunk? Do we think that Axies, the alespren guy, is Jezrien? I guess it could be, since the art-smasher certainly seems to be Shallash, and both characters have appeared in interludes without appearing to be directly connected to the main story.

 

Nope not Axies.  My drooling drunk comment comes from two places.  First, in the Szeth prologue, he encounters a drunk man who might be Jezrien: 

A man with a long grey and black beard slumped in the doorway, smiling foolishly--though whether from wine or a weak mind, Szeth could not tell.  

"Have you seen me?" the man asked with slurred speech.  He laughed, then began to speak in gibberish, reaching for a wineskin.  So it was drink after all.

 

Also, we have this comment from Nale, near the end of the Lift interlude:

"Praise Yaezir," he said.  "Herald of Kings.  May he lead in wisdom.  If he ever stops drooling."

Edited September 30, 2014 by New One

[AerionBFII]

Haha i caught this on my first read after re reading the preview chapters just before WOR came out but it was lost during  all the other epic discoveries of WOR! Thanks for reminding me, have an upvote 

 

Lots of good opinions i might just lurk here for a while 

Edited October 5, 2014 by WEZ313

[Paragrin]

"Have you seen me?" 

Could that refer to his Honorblade/one of his Radiants with his same Surges?

[Newan]

Jezrien said "have you seen me" when Szeth was near the statues of the heralds. My guess is that Jezrien found the portrayal of himself humorous for some reason.

[AerionBFII]

Jezrien said "have you seen me" when Szeth was near the statues of the heralds. My guess is that Jezrien found the portrayal of himself humorous for some reason.

Hhaha i think he was addled by wine, ever noticed how everything is funnier while drunk?.... pity he didn't share a cup with Dalinar that fellow could use a laugh.