Timewaster's Guide Archive

I think that it is a good question, but I guess I always just accepted the fact that Raoden was different, in the way that he felt the pain, and in the ways that he found to work around it. I guess I just took on faith that he may have still had the pain, but with the job needing to be done, he had the strength and the willpower to get it done. Also, there was the hope that it would return Elantris to what it was before, thereby negating all of the pain, weakness, and other maladies that struck them.

I buy that for overcoming the pain and pulling out of the Hoed, and even for working through all that pain to accomplish his important task. He's a Hero, after all, and determination and toughness are what they're all about in these stories. What I don't feel that explains is recovering from the brain damage that caused dizzyness/disorientation. This was a physical injury that we were told would disable him forever. Then, without explanation, it has no longer has any noted effect on his balance, sense of direction, vision, focus, awareness, etc. It feels to me almost as if they told us he had his hands cut off and then described him writing a letter without mentioning the obvious difficulty in doing so.  (I admit I don't know much about head injuries and how much of the effects are due to brain bruising and other physical damage versus being just a side-effect of the pain involved. But I know I'm not the only reader with a sketchy understanding of the mechanics of a concussion, so I feel like an explanatory sentence is missing here.)

Just finished Mistborn, which I enjoyed very much, but not nearly as much as Elantris, which just blew me away. I was so glued to that book. Compelling mystery, vivid characters, fascinating setting, wow.  But it left me with a nagging question. (spoiler)

 When Raoden was struck on the head and became dizzy and disoriented, it was explained that as an Elantrian, he would be that way forever: "The blow to his head had done something to his brain. He could barely keep himself upright, let alone speak. The worst part of it was, he knew he would never improve. He could not heal-- now that the dizziness had come upon him, it would never leave."

After he snapped out of the Hoed, though, he managed to run down the mountain at top speed, "one wrong step and he wouldn't stop rolling until hit the foot of the mountain", reached Kae, and then continued to run in a straight and precise line dragging the stick on the ground, even steadying himself after being tripped by grabbing hands... I don't get it. Did the magical pool heal the damage to his brain? Did emerging from the Hoed somehow change his disoriented state for the better? Did he fight back a concussion with sheer will power? It seemed at the time he was pretty well done for even before getting a sword to the gut, because the book spent a lot of time emphasizing that Elantrians can not recover from anything that requires time to do so, even the single second for the flare of pain from a toe stub. It added a lot of drama and urgency throughout because of the danger, so this nitpick is tied into a major element of the plot. Please clear up?