Welcome back to the Words of Radiance Reread on Tor.com! Last week, Carl commiserated with Adolin’s discovery of the shallowness of his friends, balanced by the depth of his bond with his lovely Ryshadium, Sureblood. (Oh, Sureblood!) This week, we return to Shallan’s past in the pleasant, homey estate of the Davar family in Jah Keved.
This reread will contain spoilers for The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and any other Cosmere book that becomes relevant to the discussion. The index for this reread can be found here, and more Stormlight Archive goodies are indexed here. Click on through to join the discussion.
Chapter 27: Fabrications to Distract
Point of View: Shallan
Setting: The Davar Estate, Jah Keved, Five Years Ago
Symbology: Inverse Pattern, Shalash
IN WHICH a garden is a refuge, if only a little; cremlings proliferate; lots of shouting happens; one brother is missing, one is a pyromaniac, and one is addicted to gambling; Shallan stares at the wall; and the strongbox glows.
Quote of the Week:
They passed Father’s chambers. The heavy stumpweight door was open a crack as a maid tidied the room, allowing Shallan to see the far wall.
And the glowing strongbox.
It was hidden behind a painting of a storm at sea that did nothing to dim the powerful white glow. Right through the canvas, she saw the outline of the strongbox blazing like a fire. She stumbled, pulling to a stop.
“What are you staring at?” Jushu demanded, holding to the bannister.
“The light.”
“What light?”
“Behind the painting.”
He squinted, lurching forward. “What in the Halls are you talking about, girl? It really did ruin your mind, didn’t it? Watching him kill Mother?” Jushu pulled away from her, cursing softly to himself. “I’m the only one in this family who hasn’t gone crazy. The only storming
one . . .”Shallan stared into that light. There hid a monster.
There hid Mother’s soul.
I’m remembering, once again, the way many readers viewed Shallan before WoR came out: selfish, spoiled, lightweight, and shallow were but a few of the adjectives bestowed on her. As in real life, it’s amazing how much change can be wrought by a glimpse into someone’s past.
This episode takes place one year after she killed her mother, and whatever semblance the Davars had once borne to a normal family has completely shattered. Opinions vary on what “normal” might have looked like for them, but whatever it once was, it’s long since gone the way of the lanceryn.
Commentary: Sorry about the brevity of the summary, folks, but not a lot happens in this chapter. Shallan sketches in the garden, trying to avoid all the shouting, and then goes inside, stares at the wall, and has a brief conversation with her brother.
And yet… so much is communicated by the setting, and by the things that don’t happen. As always, Shallan’s flashback chapters make me sad.
She dreads the shouting, and will do whatever she can to avoid it, but it can’t always be avoided. In this case, the shouting is a perhaps-justifiable response to Balat playing with matches. (Okay, it was probably flint and steel, but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it.) One assumes that he didn’t intend to set the servants’ building on fire, but fire being what it is, POOF! Or maybe he did intend that result. So which is worse: torturing small creatures, or setting fires? Fire has more dangerous potential, but there’s something about the deliberate dismemberment of helpless and harmless creatures that is just… wrong. Don’t get me started.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at Jushu’s claim to be the only one in the family with any sense. It’s not like he’s exactly sensible—frequently drunk, addicted to gambling, risking his father’s not-inconsiderable (and potentially deadly) wrath by his behavior. On the other hand, from his perspective it’s normal compared to arsons, killing rages, or staring at the wall for hours.
Maybe he has a point.
Apparently, Helaran is gone most of the time now; he returns from time to time and brings Shallan stacks of drawing paper, but avoids their father as much as possible. Jushu says that Helaran betrayed their father and almost killed him; I’m not sure if that’s merely a reference to the previous flashback where he summoned a Shardblade, or if Jushu knows something about the betrayal mentioned in the next flashback. Honestly, I don’t think Helaran would be helping matters if he were around more, though.
Meanwhile, Father is holding feasts on a regular basis, providing pretty new dresses for Shallan to be silently decorative. Presumably, all this is part of his power-building initiative; I wonder if he was like that before things went so sour a year ago, or if it’s a new thing. And… why? Why now?
Then there’s Shallan. Poor Shallan. Only she and her father know what actually happened, and she’s blocked it out—blocked it so hard that whenever a hint of it crosses her mind, she goes blank. That happens three times in this short chapter; she just… goes… blank. No idea how much time passes, no thought, nothing. And her poor father. I know he’s not a nice man any more, and getting not-nicer all the time, but the one person who knows he didn’t kill his wife refuses to remember anything about it. She never gives any confirmation to the assumptions that he murdered his wife, but she never denies it, either. Not even to him. Of course, he doesn’t want her to tell the truth—but I can’t help thinking that if he could only share acknowledgement of the truth with one person, he’d be better for it. As it is, he has to carry that knowledge alone, and he does not bear the burden well.
I’m sad again. I want to go hug my kids.
I really want to go hug my daddy.
Sprenspotting: We don’t actually see any spren in this chapter, but I have to talk about the glowing strongbox. Back in the first flashback, as Father carries Shallan from the room,
They passed Father’s strongbox set into the wall. It glowed brightly, light streaming from the cracks around the closed door. A monster was inside.
The monster, as we now know, was the Shardblade Pattern formed for Shallan to protect herself from the murderous intent of her mother. Of course, he didn’t really stay in there, but that’s where Father put him, and it seems that in Shallan’s mind, that is where he stayed.
Here, her mind has taken a slightly different twist; she’s gotten the Blade and Mother’s soul mixed together somehow. Perhaps, since a Shardblade kills without drawing blood, she has come to believe that the Blade pulled out the soul, and still holds it, both pinned to the wall in the back of that strongbox. Or… perhaps something else is going on; I find myself struggling to make sense out of something that probably doesn’t make sense at all.
In any case, Shallan sees a glow no one else can see; I assume that since Pattern wouldn’t have stayed there, this is her mind manufacturing what it needs to believe. Poor child.
All Creatures Shelled and Feathered: Jah Keved sounds like a rather lush climate—at least, compared with the Frostlands. There are gardens, with shalebark, and trees, and vines, and flowerbeds… and I’m really having a tough time visualizing plants that can pull back into some kind of shell for a storm, but can also be trimmed and shaped. Ah, well. Those are the limits of my imagination tonight, I guess.
Also, Shallan avoids the flowerbeds, because she’s got allergies. Bummer. We knew that, of course, from TWoK, but I get a giggle out of seeing it in action here in the past.
Haven’t We Met Somewhere Before? Yes. Yes, we have seen you before, Mr. Dandos Heraldin, or at least we’ve seen the results of your “training.” Shallan mentioned learning from Dandos the Oilsworn, back when Kabsal was quizzing her about how she learned to draw so well. Just in case anyone missed it, this is a callout to one of Brandon’s favorite artists, Dan dos Santos; check out the “folio” illustrations preceding chapters 22 and 49 to see why. Also, the Warbreaker cover, which just gets better every time I look at it.
Heraldic Symbolism: Shalash broods over this chapter; this could be in honor of Shallan’s drawing, or Shalash’s position as the patron of the Lightweavers, or both. Or something else. In any case, we see Shalash associated with Shallan’s POV more than any other Herald.
Just Sayin’: “Storms-cursed idiot.” “What in the Halls are you talking about?” Someone asked a question at the Seattle Firefight signing about Brandon’s use of cursing in his various worlds. He really does spend significant time thinking about what kinds of things would be likely to develop into curses or vulgarities in his cultures. I didn’t transcribe the conversation, because I was focusing on answers about content more than the writing process; now I think I might just have to go retrieve it after all. It really was an interesting insight.
Well, so much for jolly times in the Davar manor. Next week, Carl gets to deal with the fascinating topic of boots and their relative necessity in wilderness adventures. Oh, and a Meeting. Happy trails! See you in the comments.
Alice Arneson is a long-time Tor.com commenter and Sanderson beta-reader. She enjoys literature, music, science, and math; mostly, she spends her time reading, doing laundry, and homeschooling one child. In no particular order of precedence, of course.
First! ur…
Carl gets the Boots! Oh goody.
As you said, this is a sad making chapter. And her brother is still crazy. He just does a more normal crazy with the gambling. As dangerous and all-consuming as fire can be long term.
more later
Alice, very nice summary – as usual, plus the added touching empathy. I would disagree about one point, however. Shallan did deny that her father killed his wife – at least to Helaran. That’s as much as she allows herself to remember of that very traumatic incident. As to the strongbox glow, that is due to her remaining Lightweaver ability – as is the incredible memory for the slightest visual details of a scene that we find in the 17 year old Shallan. In this case, she is the one affected by the illusion rather than others. As to Lin Davar, he has, apparently, always been a controlling, ambitious man – the affection for his daughter, notwithstanding. The rebellion and destructive behavior of his sons will drive him to increasing violence and total loss of self-control. The attitude of her brother Jushu in this chapter towards her and Shallan’s very dramatic end to her father’s behavior explains her remark to Kaladin, “it helps if you’re crazy”. Despite her traumatic youthful experiences, she still maintains an optimistic outlook. Kaladin is suitably impressed and admiring. Perhaps awestruck is a better term.
STBLST @2 – Shallan did deny that her father killed his wife – at least to Helaran. After a bunch of searching, I found only this one instance:
Not exactly convincing, and not where her father knew she even said it, but you’re right (well, except it wasn’t Helaran). One time, she denied that he’d done it, in a quiet conversation with Balat, Wikim and Jushu. Not the kind of help I was inferring; if her father heard her deny his guilt, it might have helped his sanity. It wouldn’t even matter – in fact, it would be better – if no one else heard her say it, but I believe it would have helped him to know that someone knew and acknowledged his innocence.
Wetlander @3: I think Stormblessed’s reference was to when Helaran was about to stab Lin and Shallan said “no” ?
On an unimportant note, is Shalash the patron or the matron of the Lightweavers?
If I remember correctly (and some quick research says I do), both the pyromania and animal cruelty are classic signs of potential serial killers. (See the ‘Macdonald Triad’ entry in Wikipedia.) While it might not really be the case that this is true, just having Balat show those two here is a sign of how messed up this family is. I don’t recall what Balat’s fate is, but right now it’s not looking good.
My memory is far from infallible. What I had remembered as a comment to Helaran may only have been a single word, as Xaladin noted. Her denial of her father’s guilt would then have been to her other brothers – as noted by Wet.
And Brandon is friends with Dan Wells, author of “I am not a Serial Killer,” that makes specific reference (in the first chapter) to the Triad. I don’t think the inclusion of these warning signs is an accident.
@@.-@ & 7 – The only one I could remember off the top of my head was in her previous flashback, when Helaran threatened to kill Lin Davar, and Shallan said, “No.” Then, “No. Please.” While we can all recognize that she didn’t want Helaran to kill him, I think it’s pretty stretchy to say she was denying his culpability. (It’s in chapter 19, if you want to reread it in context.) I had to go searching to find the other one. It’s easy enough to conflate the two, but they weren’t the same instance at all. IIRC, Helaran never returned to the Davar home after the scene I quoted @3, so even if the three younger brothers believed her, they had no opportunity to tell Helaran. Not that he would have necessarily believed either, but he’s the only one who might, just possibly, have gotten her to remember and tell what happened. But… he was too ready to believe in his father’s guilt, so even if she’d told him the whole story, it’s doubtful he’d have believed her.
ETA:
Nick31 @5 – I hadn’t heard that, but I believe you. And I don’t for a skinny minute believe it’s coincidence! I know Brandon did research to make sure he got Shallan’s voluntary amnesia right, and depending on where he’s planning to take Balat… For that matter, it might just be there to give a bad case of the shivers to those who recognize the connection. Now I’m dreading what might happen with him.
On a lighter side, I had to add: one of my favorite fictional swear incidents is in Norstrilia. When the main character gets upset and swears, he gets a shocked look from the woman with him and apologizes, pointing out that what he said wasn’t THAT bad.
By the time you get to that bit in the book, you understand why calling something “a healthy sheep” would be bad language where he comes from. You also know that’s not why the woman from another planet is starting at him.
@5 The MacDonald Triad is actually not strongly suggestive of murder, or even violence. It has been most strongly correlated with childhood abuse, rather than criminal behavior later in life.
So of course I had do go do some “research” on the MacDonald Triad. Granted that what you read on the Internet is often worth about as much as the paper it’s printed on, I noticed something interesting.
In one medical article, while they did say that the Triad isn’t as statistically valid as had been thought, they listed some other things that were more so… including a single-parent home, indifferent or neglectful parents, atypical or extreme sexual behaviors, and abuse. Well, let’s see now. Could any of those possibly apply to Balat? Ummm….
On a guess, I’d say it’s quite possible that Brandon used two legs of the Triad to draw the attention of those who would recognize it as such; the rest of it is there when you look. I wouldn’t say it proves that Balat is going to go on a murder spree, but I would say the odds are in favor. I doubt that it’s coincidence.
What I am not understanding is that how did Shallan’s father manage to get the shardblade away from her and put it in the strongbox? I guess I was assuming that spren shardblades are not something that other people can touch. Maybe Shallan going *blank* does something to the blade and it can then be touched by other people? How would Shallan’s father even see the spren?
thepupxpert @12 – Recall that Shallan was able to hand her Blade to Kaladin, so her simply letting go isn’t necessarily an issue. And of course, once the spren becomes a Blade, anyone can see it.
But the root of the question… I would guess that after her mother was dead, she was completely unresisting to her father removing the Blade from her hand. That doesn’t explain why he didn’t just go spren again right away; my best guess is that she “froze” and that confused Pattern as to what he should do. If she didn’t object to her father’s handling of him, he may have interpreted that as her wanting him to stay as he was.
That’s all I’ve got, anyway.
@10 – You’re absolutely right, which is why I said “it might not really be the case that this is true.” It’s an over-simplification and generalization, but it does work to let readers know “something is wrong” with Balat.
@11 – Yes, I’m sure that’s why he wrote the bit about Balat the way he did. I recognized it and fully expected something to come of it. But he seems to back off and let Balat get better as Shallan recovers. I guess we’ll see if it sticks.
@13 Wet – that makes sense, I just needed to see it written to work it out in my head. I had forgotten about Shallan giving Kaladin her shardblade. And I think when her father put the blade in the strongbox hadn’t it shrunk to the size of a daggar?
@14 re Balat, his scene with the pulling legs off those little creatures really made me sick to my stomach. I think we are being led to believe that he starts to get better when he gets the girlfriend, but then that blows up so I can see that he is being set up to descend into some sort of awful mess.
@2 – I find it fascinating that each of Shallan’s brothers seems to think of everyone else being crazy, and themselves as the only “normal” one. Even Balat does this in his WoK interlude (ironically while he’s in the process of dismembering a cremling…) It’s a very believable lack of self-understanding, I think.
WRT plants that can retract into shells and still be shaped and trimmed: I’m picturing something like coral, with little tiny living buds growing on generations of dead shells. So it’s the stony skeleton that is shaped, not the retractable living body.
Also, I suspect Brandon is trying to hammer in that all of Shallan’s family have been broken. Heleran tried to become a Skybreaker, Shallan did become a Lightweaver, and I suspect that Balat and Jushu and Wikim will have shots at binding spren also, especially since they’re coming to Urithiru.
For myself, I am puzzled by Shallan’s family as a whole. I understand seeing his wife trying to assassinate his little girl only to witness said little girl killed her own mother must have traumatizing. However, I do not understand how it prompte Lin to become such a monster and tyrant towards his children. I understand he wished to protect Shallan, but I do not understand why he did not telle Helaran the truth. It seems many would have come to rest if Helaran only knew.
All in all, it has lead me to believe the Davar’s family was corrupted from the start. Lin never was a good person. As for Shallan’s brothers, I doubt any of them are Radiant material. They all needed Shallan to drag them out of their brokeness with various results. I feel a Radiant must find its own path and not have someone draw it out for them. However, this is again, a simple feeling I am getting, so hardly a valid argument.
STBLST @2 said: “Lin Davar, he has, apparently, always been a controlling, ambitious man – the affection for his daughter, notwithstanding.”
I am not sure tha Lin’s affection for Shallan is real. I think it is part of Lin’s plan to secure a husband for Shallan which would improve House Davar’s (read papa Lin’s) position. Moreover, I think that after Shallan “produced” a Shardblade, Lin was secretly afraid of Shallan. Lin hoped by “spoiling Shallan, Shallan would not harm Lin. If I am correct, that makes him even more of a coward than Lin appeared when he would beat somebody because he could not beat Shallan.
Thanks for reading my musings.
AndrewB
(aka the musespren)
Alice–
I had the same take on Shallan mixing her mom’s “captured” soul and Pattern-as-shardblade into the imaginary light in the strongbox. A metaphor for her guilt, me thinks, since she can’t confront it directly.
The title of this chapter is, er, pretty self-explanatory. Pattern should be getting a 1.21 GW jolt from all the fabricationing.
ReaderAt2046 @18
Same here. Which is why I am totally amazed that anything remotely resembling wood doors can be fashioned from the local flora: heavy stumpweight doors. Perhaps they are closer in nature to stone doors.
I’m sorry, but I cannot at all buy the theory that Lin Davar’s love for Shallan is fake. Just… no. If you can read “Red Carpet, Once White” and believe that he did not love her, I… I… I really don’t know what to say.
Of course he was scared of her after that. Wouldn’t you be? That doesn’t mean he didn’t love her before, and didn’t still love her after – but look ahead to the way she killed Tyn. There was no warning; the Blade materialized through her body. If the same thing happened with her mother, it seems like anyone who saw it would reasonably be rather cautious of frightening or hurting her! You’d have to be a complete fool not to be at least a little scared of her. So how do you treat someone for whom you’re responsible, who you love to the point of voluntarily bearing the blame (and the shame) of her actions, but who scares you half to death? That right there would be enough to drive you mad, without all the extra pressures of the truths he had to keep secret for her protection.
Here’s something that’s been bothering me for a while: it’s rather hard to disguise that someone’s been killed by a Shardblade. Sure, you can do like Liss and cut out the burned out eyes, but that’s not exactly subtle and I can’t picture Shallon or Lin doing that. Shallon’s mother and friend were obviously killed by a Shardblade, so how did anyone think Lin killed them? Maybe some people thought that he had a Shardblade himself, but all the children knew he didn’t (if you’ve got a secret Shardblade, you’re probably going to stop hiding it if your own life is threatened by another one …).
Sure, in Vorin culture the bodies are either burned (lower class) or soulcast (upper class – probably including the Davars), but I can’t imagine that no one noticed the eyes and asked questions before the bodies were taken care of.
The Davar’s had a sizable estate. They probably had the body dealt with before very many outside people saw it.
Of course, even if her eyes are burned out, can’t you just close the eyelids? Or are those burned too?
Re: Shallan giving the blade to her father
Remember that a Shardblade can be loaned to another person, but the Shardbearer can summon it to him/herself at any time. So if Shallan’s intent was to let her father have the blade, then it probably wouldn’t vanish.
Nazrax @23: IIRC, it isn’t clear that the friend was killed by a Shardblade. He’s bloody, so if he was killed by a Shardblade, either he was wounded first or the Shardbearer kept hacking at the body after he was dead (a Shardblade will cut dead organic matter). At any rate, your point about the mother is valid, but I’m sure that it could be arranged to cover up the cause of death.
Moderators: I have tor.com on my “Compatibility View” sites in IE 11, but every time I preview my post, the line breaks vanish and I have to put them back in before posting.
I also “remember” that Shallan openly told Helaran, that her father hadn’t done it, though the quotes you, Wet, posted give us a different picture. Funny how memory works.
@22. Re Shallan’s father: I don’t think you can explain his behaviour by fear of Shallan and her Shardblade. The way he treats her and later enforces obedience by beating others if she doesn’t comply doesn’t really show fear on his part. Up until the end he never even thinks his *prized* daughter would hurt him.
*note: prized rather than beloved.
Well, we know that the friend was wounded, but he was probably actually killed with the Shardblade.
…
On a guess, I’d say that Shallan’s little Blade killed her mother almost instantly, much like Tyn, and then she went for the “friend” who was holding her father down. Or possibly, the friend let go of Father when he saw Shallan with her Blade, or when he saw Mother go down, and she killed him in self-defense too. Either way, Shallan states with perfect clarity that she killed them both.
As for others not knowing about the eyes being burned out, I would assume that after carrying Shallan back to her room, etc., Lin returned to his study and covered their faces. He may even have done some normal-blade damage to both corpses so no one would ask questions. In any case, they are remote enough and he is “ruling lord” enough to keep anyone from seeing what they should not see.
@25 – we’ll forward this to the site developers. Also, please email webmaster@tor.com with a description of the problem.
I only just realized after reading these comments about hiding Shardblades and Shard-damage, that Shallan’s family might discover the truth about Shallan (whether she wants them to or not), now that it is public info that she is a Radiant. That could get interesting… What if her own brothers turn against her out of anger? Or something else?
For trying to visualize – there’s a sketch of shalebark and cremlings in WoK that you can see here. Looks more like shelf fungi to me, but I spend more time in the woods than in the water. Granted, it’s the ones in Karbranth, but I’m betting they look similar. Vines you can probably trim the living parts of. The tree sketches in various places do remind me vaguely of corals though, but “little tiny living buds” isn’t a description that matches the sketches very well. They seem to have a lot of sweeping parts to them and a great capacity for retractibility. I’m betting you can trim some of the “living” parts of them to. Even if all this is based off Shallan’s sketches of other places, I think it probably applies to Jah Kaved too – especially since some of them are near the Shattered Plains, and it seems her homeland would be more storm-sheltered and therefore even more lush.
Xaladin, you hit on a point that I’ve been thinking for a long time: Shallan’s family and the truth about what happened with her parents. Whether she’ll have to tell them herself as part of her progression, or whether they find out on their own, I do think it’s going to come up and be something that she has to deal with. Personally, I’m hoping that she and Adolin wind up having to deal with family-fallout-due-to-murdering-someone at the same time and can do a little bit of bonding a la Kaladin-in-the-chasms style, since a lot of their interaction up to this point has been relatively superficial. It’d at the least help knock Shallan off the pedastal he’s got her on at the moment to find out she actually took out both her parents, even if they were pretty justifiable. I’m not real sure where her Ghostbloods arc is going, but I think we’re going to get some more revelations about her family, since both her parents and her older brother were obviously involved in various things we don’t have details on just yet.
I agree that the continuing relationship between Shallan and the Ghostbloods will be important in the further develoment of the saga. While the objectives of that organization are not yet clear, they would appear to side with humanity rather than Odium and the Voidbringers. They, however, appear to have distrusted or disdained the Kholins – particularly, Jasnah, while valuing the latter’s knowledge vis-a-vis Urithiru. They equally distrust and disdain Amaram while acknowledging his advances in finding that place of refuge. They have attempted to assassinate both in their quest for supremacy. In contrast, they see Shallan as a powerful confederate who is ideally placed to further their political aims, despite her qualms about their methods. An additional factor is the possible Hoid-like world-hopping that is suggested by Mraize’s trophies. Another, ‘unnatural’ ability possessed by Mraize and his female associate is suddenly appearing to the very observant Shallan. Such ability may bespeak the surge of illumination and/or transportation, i.e., Elsecallers. Recall also the conversation between Hoid and the young Shallan. He encourages her struggle to save her brothers from self-destruction by stating that her obstacle is not entirely natural. Her father being a Ghostblood may be part of that ‘unnatural’ obstacle that needs to be overcome.
Regarding the debate over Shallan’s family, especially her father, I’d like to weigh in as being strongly for Lin being a good man at heart and genuinely loving his daughter. One thing about the family and its problems has been largely overlooked. @31 STBLST pointed out that Hoid mentioned their family’s problem as not being natural.
We know that Shallan’s mother was part of some group, though we don’t know which. Heleran was involved with a group as well, apparently the Skybreakers. Lin is shown as being involved with the Ghostbloods in an unknown capacity.
We really don’t know if these individuals were each with a different group (they appear to predate the Diagram, at least) or if more than one were associated with the Ghostbloods. Personally, I think there is far more to Lin’s mad drive for power than a personal lust. I think he has been beholden to someone (most likely the Ghostbloods) for a long time. That’s why he pushes his family so hard.
Also, he clearly loves Shallan. An argument can be made that he loves the others as well, though I think the fact that he and Shallan share something particularly powerful is evident.
So, Lin seems to be driven hard by an outside force that he fears and cannot control. This, in turn, causes him to drive his family hard as well, though apparently not as hard as he drives himself. One thing that has never made sense to me is that his bids for power don’t really seem like they would be effective. I think he’s working so hard, not for himself, but according to the inscrutable commands he’s receiving from outside. He, as far as one can tell, is working to benefit his family. Something is just constantly coming in the way of that.
Also, depending on how much he knew about his wife’s organization, it’s very possible that he knows Shallan is destined to be a Radiant. He saved her life, and perhaps not just because she’s his daughter. Could it be because he knows how important her role will be in what comes next? Maybe his motives are far purer than we ever thought…
Finally (I think), regarding Balat’s serial killer tendencies, I did pick up on the numerous hints but I took them as showing us just what Shallan has saved him from. I think that he has them somewhat under control now, thanks to her efforts. And, yes, I shudder to think what will happen to him next.
Rats. I can’t find it right now, but I’m almost sure there’s a WoB about Odium influencing Lin Davar lately. Maybe one of the Unmade is hanging out in Jah Keved?
@33 I was about to post the same thing. I recalled reading the same WoB, alas I too am not able to produce it. However, I do not think it stated when this influence started: before or after his wife’s death.
I still maintain my point the Davar’s family was not a happy one prior to the mother’s death. Something had to crack Shallan’s 10 years old soul for her to start bonding Pattern. Lin Davar probably never were a very loving father, even if he appears caring with little Shallan.
@29 I wonder if the brothers will be angry with her, if it comes out that she was acting in self-defense and there is some deep dark backstory with Mother and her “friend” as well as Lin. I’m sure we’ll get more of their stories as Shallan’s story continues to evolve.
I am not convinced that loving and abusive are necessarily mutually exclusive. We might argue how pure that love was, but I do think Lin Davar was sincere about it. Real people are paradoxial that way.
But I don’t trust the Ghostbloods one bit. They are definitely worldhoppers, and master manipulators. I trust the 17th shard (in world, not the website!) more than I do them.
I may have given the wrong impression of my attitude towards the Ghostbloods, Regardless of their goal, their methods are criminal in nature. While the supposed assassination of Jasnah could be construed as revenge for the killing of some of their confederates (Mraize’s excuse), the attempt to kill Shallan and the killing of her carriage driver by Mraize’s associates can only be considered attempted and actual murder. The motivation was to prevent Shallan, she of the photographic memory and great artistic talent, from ever drawing their faces for the authorities. Mraize was judged by Shallan to be complicit in this crime since he allowed it to proceed. In this mode of operation they are similar to Amaram who was willing to murder his own troops and enslave Kaladin so that he would be regarded as a legitimate shardbearer and potential Radiant candidate. Parenthetically, my claim of a possible transportation surge use by Mraize has no support from the text thus far, based on rereading the material on the meetings between Mraize and Shallan. Only his associate or babsk, the masked woman, has shown such ability.
Re: The shalebark
The coral comparison in the shape of shelf fungi seems right to me. In I-4, Eshonai’s mother uses a file to smooth a section of shalebark and then paints it with sap to “encourage growth in that direction.” That implies that it’s hard I think.
Then in something I read this week and would never have noticed if I hadn’t been thinking about the comments here, in chapter 67, Dalinar and Navani walk by a gardner “carefully filing away” on a “shalebark outcropping.”
I also nominate this very short and random scene as a sneaky important thing/person. This gardner is working in the dark and “humming to himself…?” Possibly the Herald Palah, who represents plants and moss? Disguised as a man…? I guess that’s a stretch, but I think this detai,l which adds nothing to the discussion of ancient shard blade bonding, would have never been written/included if it weren’t somehow important.
STBLST@27 the masked woman has shown else calling abilities?
Patillian @38
I think you may be onto something wrt. the gardner working in the dark. However, I’m not convinced it’s Pali. Why work disguised as a man? Seems a bit contrived. She could just as easily disguise herself as another woman, unless a female gardener goes against Vorin traditions.
Yes, Pali’s soulcasting properties are plants, moss and wood, and perhaps more importantly, her essence is pulp–which also suggests things that grow. So, that’s a check mark in the “pro” column. I’d like it to be her–aren’t we have supposed to have seen all of the Heralds in-book by the end of WoR?
Ways @40
I agree it’s a stretch to have Palah posing as a man. Do we know what gender role “gardner” falls under in the Vorin rules? If only rich people have gardens, maybe ardents of either gender could do it? But of all the choices a Herald would have of where to hide and what to do, it seems like this person is enjoying him/herself…thus Palah sprang to mind. Just a stab in the dark.
I just have no idea where the others are because I had read the same thing about seeing all the Heralds somewhere in these years of threads. We’ve seen Nalan, Shalash, and Taln explicitly “on camera.” If the whiny guy with Nalan in the Jasnah prologue is another Herald, that’s four. (He kind of seems like a servant of some sort since he seems to
reverence Jezrien as “My Lord” while Nalan later makes a derisive
comment about him at the end of the Lift interlude, but I’m sure there
are diverse attitudes among the Heralds toward each other.)
Someone said that a lady deep in the library that Shallan passes could be one. If this gardner were one…that would be six.
Is there some 17th Shard list of where people think we’ve encountered the Heralds? The suspicions so far seem to show they’re staying close to large scale civilization rather than hiding out in the wilderness. Should we pay closer attention to Kharbranth, the interludes in Azir & Vedinar, the Shattered Plains, etc. rather than say the traders in the isolated Reshi Isles?
My even wilder theory with some names forgotten because I don’t have the book handy: Nalan implies that Jezrien is incpacitated somehow — “if he ever stops drooling.” Could Jezrien be the crazy guy in the alley in the interlude in the first book with the Aimian who is researching spren?
It’s been strongly suggested that the woman in the Palaneum is… Palah. Since it was named for her, and all, and her attributes are Learned/Giving. Also since her icon appears on virtually every scene having to do with the Palaneum. Brandon has not confirmed this, but said it was a very good guess. (Make of that what you will.) I’ll check out 17th Shard for any further info.
There’s also the drunk beggar that asks Szeth, “Have you seen me?” during the prologue of WoK. Lots of people have suspected him as an Herald (I’ve heard Jezrien, but I’m not sure there’s any evidence of that).
And of course we’ve seen Kalak and Jezrien in the Prelude to WoK … I don’t know if that counts, but it is technically “in book.”
Then there’s the theory that Vasher/Zahel is also Ishar.
What we really need is theories for Battar, Chanarach, and Vedel.