History Headscratchers / TheStormlightArchive

** It's also not exactly clear what "broken" means. It could be the result of trauma, but many of the Radiants we've seen seem to have both a traumatic past ''and'' a mental illness. Dalinar's got severe anger problems, or at least, he used to, Kaladin's got depression, Shallan's got something like Dissociative Identity Disorder, Renarin's developmentally disabled, Szeth has... Borderline Personality Disorder? Schizophrenia?... no idea, Teft is a drug addict, Lopen is ... [[CloudCuckooLander Lopen]]...

** It's also not exactly clear what "broken" means. It could be the result of trauma, but many of the Radiants we've seen seem to have both a traumatic past ''and'' a mental illness. Gavilar's got severe anger problems, Kaladin's got depression, Shallan's got something like Dissociative Identity Disorder, Renarin's developmentally disabled, Szeth has... Borderline Personality Disorder? Schizophrenia?... no idea, Teft is a drug addict, Lopen is ... [[CloudCuckooLander Lopen]]...

** ''Oathbringer'' lends credit to the other theory, however: Gavillar tells he found a way to enforce a Desolation, and we see the Diagram being wrong. Also, Taln's line on failing could be about stopping whatever Gavillar was doing, or Taln could be just too broken to clearely recall it, only getting different glimpses at different times. The Stormfather also points out that Honor's limit was him believing men were as bound as oaths as he was, so him blocking the Singers to come back from their side but not considering that men could pull them in from the other would be consistent with it.

** To split hairs a bit, they have to ''be'' broken, not ''have been'' broken, was the wording between Syl and Kaladin in that conversation. And a troubled past doesn't necessarily mean {{PTSD}}. We've seen Depression, Dissociative Identity, I'm not anywhere near equipped to diagnose Szeth... all of them seem to have mental illness besides past trauma. Jasnah has a dead father, a lifetime in a society that oppresses her gender, her religious views, and possibly her sexual preferences. I'm just not seeing "she dislikes rapists" as being an implication of "she was raped." Most women in real life, whether or not they've been raped, don't have a soft spot for rapists.

** Also, they have a soulcaster that she plans to replace the stolen one with. The idea, was that Jashna would think her soulcaster had broken, fix it or find another stone to replace the broken one, and there would be no harm no foul.Or, failing that, that Shallan would be gone by the next time Jashna tried to use it anyway. From my understanding, the reason they can not fix their own family's soulcaster is because none of them have the knowledge to fix it, and are afraid to look to outside help because it would make them appear weak and vulnerable (and also because, I believe, their family has not et others know that the reason they have been as profitable as they have been was because they had a soulcaster).

** Nin actually at had (at least at one point) ''three'' Blades - his own Honorblade, [[spoiler: Nightblood]] and [[spoiler: his own Shardblade, since he alone among the Heralds actually joined the Order dedicated to him.]]

*** As of the end of ''{{Literature/Oathbringer}}'', Lopen does indeed have a spren. Besides, just because someone is upbeat doesn't mean they aren't hurting inside. It just means they're good at hiding it.

** As of Oathbringer, we now have further insight into this. It is implied that Shardplate are granted to Radiants who have sworn the Final Ideal of their respective Order's, presumably as a final sign of their dedication, similar to access to the surges and the Shardblade.

** Nin actually at had (at least at one point) ''three'' Bladeslades - his own Honorblade, [[spoiler: Nightblood]] and [[spoiler: his own Shardblade, since he alone among the Heralds actually joined the Order dedicated to him.]]

** Nin actually at had, at least at one point THREE Bladeslades - his own Honorblade, [[spoiler: Nightblood]] and [[spoiler: his own Shardblade, since he alone among the Heralds actually joined the Order dedicated to him.]]

[[folder:Nightsblood's tempting]]

* Can anyone explain why Nightsblood didn't immediately cause Szeth to kill others and himself? If it works anything like it did in Warbreaker, this seems like the obvious first thing that would happen.

** Nightsblood, who [[WhatIsEvil doesn't understand good and evil]], probably sees Szeth as repentant and honorable. After all, he feels horrible for everything he's done and followed his code of honor to the bitter end. The fact that he's completely insane by now is an unfortunate detail.
** Nightsblood's tempting doesn't have anything to do with his concept of evil, though. He openly wonders why he can't affect some people, Vasher tells him it's because they're sinless, and he has no idea what that means. On the other hand, it could be as simple as him choosing not to tempt Szeth. He never tempted Vasher, after all, or even Vivenna at the end.

[[folder:Where to baby Parshmen come from?]]

[[folder: Nightsblood on Roshar]]
* So, Szeth has Nightsblood now. I'm curious how useful it will be, though, on a world where Breath isn't something you can buy. Unless Nightsblood can eat Stormlight? In which case, we have to imagine [[OhCrap fighting Nightsblood in the middle of a Highstorm, which gives it basically unlimited mana...]]
** Now that I think about it, Vasher requires a breath every week like Returned, doesn't he? Does he get the same sustenance from stormlight? He must, I think, so it makes sense that Nightblood would work with stormlight as well.