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If Gavilar Had Survived a Little Longer

Gavilar: Tell Thaidakar he's too late!

Szeth: I don't know who that is

Gavilar: Restares? Sadeas?

Szeth: My masters are...

Gavilar: Don't tell me, I want to guess. Was it Nale?

Szeth: You mean Nin? No.

Gavilar: Taln is mad that I want to take his place?

Szeth: Stop guessing Heralds

Gavilar: I've got it! The stormfather! I knew he was lying!

Szeth: You're insane.

Gavilar: Elhokar or Dalinar making a play for the throne?

Szeth: No

Gavilar: Navani's really mad that I yelled at her?

Szeth: Is there anyone in your family you don't suspect of killing you? It wasn't them.

Gavilar: I don't suspect Jasnah. Was it Taravingian? He seems to be up to more than he lets on.

Szeth: Don't be silly, I would never work for him.

Gavilar: Is the king of Jah Keved so scared of our alliance with the Parshendi that he’d have me killed?

Szeth: How do you have so many enemies but still have more than you think? My masters are the Parshendi.

Gavilar: That doesn't make any sense!?

Szeth: RAFO

Gavilar: ...Take this sphere and tell my brother he must find the most important words a man can say.

Szeth: Dying requests are sacred in my culture, I will do as you ask.

Gavilar: Wait! As my dying request can you instead kill everyone else I guessed except my family members?

Szeth: ...Okay not that sacred.

I don't think Taravangian is as big a threat as we think.

It's been established that Vin only did as well as she did against Ruin because the shards were so opposite. This isn't true for him; Cultivation could probably kick his ass if she wanted. We also saw in secret history how well a shard did if they didn't have a natural connection to the shard: Kelsier had to use connection juice to connect to Preservation. Taravangian did something similar: only connecting by his most emotional day because of his old magic condition. This will likely mean that he too will have a hard time controlling the power. But that's exactly what he thinks he can do at the end of ROW.

His main arc is about his intelligence and it failing him. While Smart Taravangian makes genius plans, these often fail, and at multiple times he's amazed by what Average Person Taravangain or Stupid Taravangian can do. The diagram fails him repeatedly, getting a small part of what he hoped to bargain for, and failing at gaining control of the coalition, because he underestimated other people (Rayse and Dalinar). His greatest triumph, killing Rayse, is done by him at his stupidest.

When he becomes Odium, he's now at his smartest yet, and he immediately seems to forget almost everything he learned. He's now scheming, convinced he's smarter than everyone else. He thinks that despite Cultivation's plans succeeding at every step, despite his being Odium being part of that plan, that he's now running circles around everyone: Cultivation, Rayse, Hoid, and maybe Dalinar. Did he trick Hoid? Maybe, or maybe not - rereading that chapter shows Hoid skipping some boring parts of their conversation the second time through, and shows that he may realize he's now lost breath (he's just lost his second heightening).

I think this book, and the end of the half-series, will end with his defeat, either taking down Cultivation with him, or setting up Cultivation as a future threat. It's also worth keeping in mind that while it feels like the conflict against Odium may be the central threat for the rest of the series, or at least a good part of it, that's not really how Sanderson writes. Only 2/4 existing books have directly been about the conflict with Odium, and no major threat really lasts that long in any of Sanderson's books. The only one close is the Set, but they only really felt like the main foe for the last 1-2 books of mistborn era 2. Ruin only really is a major villain whose presence you feel for 1 book, and while a couple standalones left their villains around, only one (the night brigade, who isn't even the book's main villain) seems like they're going to be used again in a meaningful way.

Venli was nine when the Listeners first met humans. Her father had only gone missing two years ago. Her mother started having memory lapses. Her whole world was turned over in an instant. She doesn't have anyone to turn to because she doesn't feel like she can talk to her older sister. And this woman gives her a gemstone and tells her it will make everything better.

She was nine years old. By the time we meet her in Words of Radiance, Ulim had been manipulating her for over half her life. She was just a kid.

honestly i think about Venli’s last chapter in RoW a lot. The end of RoW understandably gets overshadowed by all the emotional Kaladin stuff, but her last chapter coming home to the Singers, offering help without expectation for anything in return, but most of all just wanting her mom to live and be herself again was so impactful to me. It’s so hard facing someone you love who doesn’t recognize you, it takes a very specific kind of bravery, but she does it anyways and tried to help despite being told it likely wouldn’t work. Her words weren’t accepted until she was fully driven by a genuine need to help someone else out of love- not out of necessity, self preservation, duty, guilt, etc. but love. We sleep on Venli’s arc she was one of my favorite parts of RoW

Oh the kaladin to Odysseus parallels are INSANE. I’ve done a couple posts on them. The whole “I’m just a man” when he watching his friends die as a bridge man compared to the “when does a comet become a meteor” when he’s swearing the fourth ideal in a high storm.

sorry are all the Cosmere nerds also Epic nerds? or did I just end up in some weird little internet cult.

Spoiler for Stormlight Archive 4 under the cut

TEFT WHYYYY 😢😢😢😭😭😭😔

Fellas is it gay to jump into an arena to fight off 4 shardbearers and save the lighteyes that you despise?

Ladies is it gay to hold hands and sing in such perfect harmony as to mix the divine powers of two disparate gods into something new and unprecedented

Yall really seem to like this post. so another quote I almost forgot about was actually from Adolin “my father thinks me to be a better man than he is. Unfortunately for you, he’s wrong.” LIKE DAMN OKAY.

No line in any fantasy book will ever go as hard as kaladin fucking stormblessed “Run. Flee. I will chase you. I will never stop. I am eternal. I am the storm.” Like, fuck man we get it my bad for existing.

rlain and oroden in that one lil part in RoW, had me crying

Well, its not gonna be me, even when I finally do live up to my name.

All things aside, considering the sixth of the dusk sequel preview we got, I'm prone to say something new. Something we haven't seen before. Something that just pulls all the sides apart and it's just a big mess.

I feel like, though, there is a big bad that'll be around. It might be Odium, but considering stormlight, I don't think he'd still have the fused, after 10 books. Considering Kelsier, maybe, but I don't think he'd end up a bona fide big bad, just a meddler. Maybe a villain, definitely and antagonist, but I doubt the big bad.

We already have so many factions and I feel like we're just gonna keep adding onto that, especially as different groups leave planets in different ways, having different groups from different cultures on planets as well as different groups from the same culture on a planet to groups that are unified and from multiple planets.

I do think Kelsier is gonna last longer than Odium though. Hopefully I get the chance to punch him again.