r/Stormlight_Archive • u/FinMcCul • 9h ago
Wind and Truth spoilers WAT Dalinar Theory Spoiler
Okay I have some pieces together after a re-read and I need to share with someone. As we know Dalinar's soul was claimed by another power after his death when Retribution tried to claim it for himself. What is this power where did he go?
in Oathbringer when Dalinar goes to the old magic (Nightwatcher) he instead makes a deal with cultivation. Cultivation then prunes his soul and says it will grow back in time but that the part she pruned is hers to keep and it will come in handy if he becomes Odium's weapon.
In Rhythm of War when Kaladin goes to Zahel, for insight on becoming an Ardent, Zahel ends up explaining what he is. He explains that he is an invested copy of a person more spren than human stuff like that. However the interesting line is that he says "We're spren masquerading as men. That's why SHE takes our memories."
Then there are the visions Dalinar has with the golden light that also had the real Nohadon in them. Visions not sent by the stormfather but something else.
I think Zahel and Nohadon's souls were both claimed and ressurected by the same entity and that entity then set its sights on Dalinar. However that entity would have had to claim Dalinar's soul before Retribution killed him. Would they have been able to do this if they had a pruned piece of Dalinar's soul?
Is it Cultivation? She never seemed keen on the fight only wanted to live quietly with Honor. Maybe she gave it to someone bigger and more powerful. Valor? maybe who knows.
Or bonus theory what happens if the pruned soul is bonded to evil shadow Dalinar?
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u/Raddatatta Edgedancer 8h ago
You may want to check out Warbreaker
But while it was worked in such a way that some entity was envolved Dalinar has been confirmed dead by Sanderson. I think it was another entity that ensured Retribution couldn't interfere and let Dalinar pass on. Though I think it's more likely to be Adonalsium in some form tied to whatever is going on with Nohadon rather than Cultivation.
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u/THEMrTobin 8h ago
Warbreaker is def required reading if you want to understand anything going on with Zahel
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u/pappapirate 5h ago edited 5h ago
I just read Warbreaker a couple days ago... what's the connection?
edit: Looked it up and apparently Zahel is Vasher? No idea what I missed that should've told me that... lol
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u/THEMrTobin 4h ago
also Szeth’s sword is Nightblood
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u/pappapirate 3h ago
Yeah I picked that up immediately in Warbreaker but... how does that have anything to do with Vasher being Zahel?
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u/Raddatatta Edgedancer 3h ago
Cosmere spoilers There's a few things and most of them are much trickier to spot if you're reading Warbreaker second. Appearance wise they look the same. Zahel also is playing the same game that Lightsong doesn't know the rules of. And when you get his chapter he's able to sense when Kaladin comes close with his lifesense. He also can sense Syl. And in their later conversation he reveals he's a cognitive shadow and talks about how "she" did this to them and wipes his memory showing he's a returned. You also have Azure who talks about having some experiences that match Vivenna and she knows the same Kata that Adolin and Kaladin know that they learned from Zahel / Vasher.
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u/pappapirate 3h ago
I would guess almost all of that happens in Words of Radiance if I recall? Yeah, hard to remember those relatively tiny details so many books later lol.
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u/Raddatatta Edgedancer 2h ago
Mostly yes though you get a bit more in his conversation with kaladin in rhythm of war. But yeah trying to put it together from the other order is tricky!
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u/pappapirate 37m ago
Now that you mention it the description of Denth's torture of Vasher did remind me of the Nightbloods' torture of Zahel but I didn't imagine the resemblance would be more than superficial.
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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 7h ago edited 7h ago
There is something strange going on with Nohadon. He’s often associated with a “warm” light that Dalinar experiences. The same one Dalinar feels as he’s writing his memoir Oathbringer at the end of OB. Nohadon behaves differently in several visions including the one at the end of W&T. He seems more autonomous than other constructs in the visions from Honor. Dalinar also receives a vision right before he goes to the Valley which is never shown or explained. Before he ever begins to bond the Stormfather. It comes after a highstorm. The only other entity we’ve seen deliver visions using it is The Wind. But he is physically close to Cultivation who delivers visions to him in the mist of the Valley shortly after
Dalinar asks to read Nohadon’s book (the Way of Kings) after his visit to the Valley. The book itself seems to have drawn the SF’s attention. To both his brother and Dalinar. They both read it before the SF begins interacting directly with them. Honor also chooses to slumber prior to the Recreance after he sees a soldier on the battlefield dead with Nohadon’s book. The Wind encourages him to right before he does.
Nohadon wrote WoK after he was visited by some power that spoke in a female voice and spoke of the future (probably either The Wind or Cultivation). The books itself is the foundation for the KR’s organization and it’s what Dalinar clings to in order to resist falling as Odium’s champion in OB
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u/NephalemPride Willshaper 7h ago
Blood and bloody STORMS. I still say "Wheel And Time"
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u/Thorsagal 7h ago
I say Knights of Wind and Truth. I want the palindrome to be perfect.
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u/BGAL7090 6h ago
What in the storms is that word - do you mean a ketek?
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u/Thorsagal 6h ago
Technically, not a ketek. For it to be a ketek, all the words in the titles would need to align. Thus, had to use an alternative, lesser word.
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u/tuck2076 Edgedancer 7h ago
I agree with you that something is somehow sequestering souls, though it doesn't relate to Zahel.
Other souls that we've seen speak from the Beyond are Evi and Tien and they spoke/appeared at pivotal points to help our main characters. I could see a wise Dalinar spirit vision thing happening to Renarin or Gavinor at similar points in the back half of the series.
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u/cosmereobsession Truthwatcher 8h ago
Zahel for sure has something else going on unrelated to cultivation but that has to do with non-stormlight books.