Author Topic: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**  (Read 25921 times)

kain243

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #30 on: September 08, 2010, 09:53:01 AM »
Richard fife's review on tor.com says that its implied she was a victim of sexual abuse.  Did any of you see a hint of that?

Chosen

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #31 on: September 08, 2010, 07:50:36 PM »
I thought I'd add one little tidbit I found. Unfortunately I don't have the book with me, and can't go look it up for reasons to complicated to go into here, but I found a quote that establishes with near-certainty that Shallan got the Shardblade from her father.

Basically, immediately before Shallan soulcasts for the first time, while being chased, she summons her Shardblade. The text itself says something along the lines of "She had a defense that was ten heartbeats away. No, not that! She had promised not to use it, the fruit of her most heinous act. But she began the summoning anyway." Then she goes into Shadesmar, and the scene becomes even more bizarre. Reading between the lines, it's about certain she got her Shardblade from her father after killing him.



I didn't get that impression when i read it but that's maybe a possibillity. It would be good to get page numbers and a second person backing it up.

you got pretty close on that quote, here is the quote from my kindle version, page 851. Don't know if the page numbers are the same for the hardback but it is in chapter 45

Quote
Before she could consciously think of what she was doing, she was struggling with her sleeve, trying to get the Soulcaster out. It was the only thing she had resembling a weapon. No, that was stupid. She didn’t know how to use it. She was helpless.
Except…
Storms! she thought, frantic. I can’t use that. I promised myself.
She began the process anyway. Ten heartbeats, to bring forth the fruit of her sin, the proceeds of her most horrific act.

I also found this on page 158 in chapter 7 that might link to the event she got her blade from

Quote
It still felt odd to her that she been the one to take charge after…After the incident…After…
Memories attacked her. Nan Balat bruised, his coat torn. A long, silvery sword in her hand, sharp enough to cut stones as if they were water.
No, Shallan thought, her back to the stone wall, clutching her satchel. No. Don’t think of the past.

happyman

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #32 on: September 08, 2010, 08:23:38 PM »
Thanks Chosen!  That's the one I was thinking of.

It sure sounds to me like she got the Shardblade in direct connection with her father's death.  We don't have the details yet, but I think we can safely link the two events.  The most likely interpretation is that her father had the blade and that she got it after he died.

Richard fife's review on tor.com says that its implied she was a victim of sexual abuse.  Did any of you see a hint of that?

This is a guess.  Plausible, but far from proven.  There are many other kinds of abuse that could have given Shallan her scars.
Nature hates being reified.

SaintChristobel

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #33 on: September 10, 2010, 03:34:53 AM »

I want to know why the heck she has a Shardblade!

I'm hopping to work so I don't have long to post my theories, but I want to come home to yours!


I never read that she had a shardblade. Where did you see that?

Munin

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #34 on: September 10, 2010, 03:47:08 AM »

I want to know why the heck she has a Shardblade!

I'm hopping to work so I don't have long to post my theories, but I want to come home to yours!


I never read that she had a shardblade. Where did you see that?
Check my posts on the first page of this thread.
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Comatose

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #35 on: September 10, 2010, 05:21:15 AM »
She actually had a shardblade,  I thought is was fairly clear.

On the other hand: scars?
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Munin

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #36 on: September 10, 2010, 02:27:06 PM »
She actually had a shardblade,  I thought is was fairly clear.
It's easy to miss. It's three sentence buried in the middle of chapters when other stuff is going on, and it doesn't become truly relevant at any point.

Yet.
There's a difference between what's best and what's right. What's best might be different tomorrow or the day after, but right and wrong will stay the same after a thousand years.

happyman

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #37 on: September 10, 2010, 07:41:53 PM »
She actually had a shardblade,  I thought is was fairly clear.

On the other hand: scars?

I was speaking metaphorically.  Emotional scars.  She's got plenty, as do her brothers.
Nature hates being reified.

Cheese Ninja

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #38 on: September 10, 2010, 08:04:06 PM »
It was pretty clear from early on that she had a shardblade.

Thanks to the other posters, particularly Chosen, in this thread finding and inserting most of the important quotes.

I thought she probably killed her father with the shardblade, just because there was blood pooling around him doesn't mean a whole lot.  Any subsequent blows after the initial death would have cut flesh, and she might have been flailing at him with it.

But then Chosen brought out this quote: Ten heartbeats, to bring forth the fruit of her sin, the proceeds of her most horrific act.  This it most easily interpreted as her taking the blade off her father's corpse.  But then how did the Soulcaster get cut in half?
 
Quote
The Soulcaster looked identical to the one she and her brothers had found in the inside pocket of her father’s coat. -Page 95
Quote
Shallan fished in the safepouch inside her sleeve, bringing out her father’s broken Soulcaster. It had been sheared in two places: across one of the chains and through the setting that held one of the stones. She inspected it in the light, looking—not for the first time—for signs of that damage. The link in the chain had been replaced perfectly and the setting reforged equally well. Even knowing exactly where the cuts had been, she couldn’t find any flaw. - Page 575
I'm assuming that he was hiding it on himself, and the shardblade cut through it.

So how did this all go down?  Nan Balat did something that upset their father during dinner.  He started beating him viciously enough to break his leg horribly.  He must have been about to kill Nan Balat when Shallan intervened and killed him instead.  Did he summon the shardblade, then put it to the side, and then she picked it up and slashed him with it?

Salkara

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #39 on: September 10, 2010, 11:11:21 PM »
Well, if she killed him before the Blade was summoned, would it automatically summon itself? I'm under the assumption that Shardblades don't disappear if you kill their bearer while they're not summoned, but I can't remember if we've seen a Shardbearer killed while his Blade was unsummoned.

rjl

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #40 on: September 10, 2010, 11:14:55 PM »
Yes, kill a shardbearer who's blade is unsummoned and it will materialise out of the air next to their corpse.

The issue is people think that her father's soulcaster was cut with the shardblade, can't recall if there's serious evidence for this or not.

sdelu

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #41 on: September 10, 2010, 11:41:47 PM »
Well, if she killed him before the Blade was summoned, would it automatically summon itself? I'm under the assumption that Shardblades don't disappear if you kill their bearer while they're not summoned, but I can't remember if we've seen a Shardbearer killed while his Blade was unsummoned.

Gavilar's blade was unsummoned when he died, and appeared next to him shortly after.  So, yes, she could have gotten the blade after her father died even if he hadn't summoned it.

ashaman33

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #42 on: September 12, 2010, 01:07:03 AM »
Well, Shalan in my opinion is a future Knights Radiant, like Kaladin and probably Dalinar.

1. Shalin already has a Shardblade. (explained numerous times in this thread)
2. She can soulcast. (p644 hardcover)
3. She is associated with a specific spren, that is apparently associated with soulcasting.  (p978,979 hardcover)
4. She can exchange truth with the "spren" in order to go to shadesmar. (969 hardcover)
5. She can tap into the stormlight of a jewel, as she did to escape shadesmar the first time she went there. (p644 hardcover) Not 100% positive on this one but seems quite likely

She is a Knights Radiant of the 6th Order.
Number 6 - Shash
Gemstone - Garnet   
Essence - Blood
Body Focus - The Blood
Soulcasting Properties - Blood, all non oil liquids
Primary, Secondary Divine Attributes - creative/honest


What do you think?

Ashaman
« Last Edit: September 13, 2010, 04:39:31 AM by ashaman33 »

Morsker

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #43 on: September 12, 2010, 03:51:33 PM »
Richard fife's review on tor.com says that its implied she was a victim of sexual abuse.  Did any of you see a hint of that?

I did not. It's just as likely he jumped to conclusions. There was verbal abuse, and physical abuse of her brothers, but that doesn't suggest sexual abuse. Shallan's feelings for the ardent are awfully innocent for someone who's been sexually abused.

Miyabi

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Re: WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**
« Reply #44 on: September 12, 2010, 11:46:43 PM »

I think that's a genius deduction.  It would make a lot of sense, especially considering she unknowingly changed it to blood, though that could have just been coincidence.
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