WoK: Shalan - near end of book **SPOILERS**

[Miyabi]

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!

[Fireborn]

My assumption is that her father had one and she got he when she killed him.  Though that does raise the question of how exactly she killed him when he has a shardblade.  Hmmm...

[RedMars11]

My assumption is that her father had one and she got he when she killed him.  Though that does raise the question of how exactly she killed him when he has a shardblade.  Hmmm...

I don't think there's much to ponder there.  Who would expect their beloved daughter of killing them?  Getting him dead within the 10 hearbeats doesn't seem like a big stretch.

The real questions are WHY would she kill him?  Was it on purpose or accident?  If on purpose, what did he do to deserve it?

[RedMars11]

My assumption is that her father had one and she got he when she killed him.  Though that does raise the question of how exactly she killed him when he has a shardblade.  Hmmm...

I don't think there's much to ponder there.  Who would expect their beloved daughter of killing them?  Getting him dead within the 10 hearbeats doesn't seem like a big stretch.

The real questions are WHY would she kill him?  Was it on purpose or accident?  If on purpose, what did he do to deserve it?

[Miyabi]

She seems to hate the Shardblade, so I would assume that she didn't kill him for it.

I would think that her father actually knew how to soulcast and was using the Soulcaster as a charade. 

[zebobes]

I don't think that the Soulcaster for the father was a charade. I think that the soulcasting power was pretty unique, and it would be strange for both Jasnah and Shallan's father to be bonded to a soulcasting spren.

Speaking of which, the scene where Shallan was sketching the spren, and them following her, was pretty creepy.

[Ari54]

My assumption is that her father had one and she got he when she killed him.  Though that does raise the question of how exactly she killed him when he has a shardblade.  Hmmm...

I don't think there's much to ponder there.  Who would expect their beloved daughter of killing them?  Getting him dead within the 10 hearbeats doesn't seem like a big stretch.

The real questions are WHY would she kill him?  Was it on purpose or accident?  If on purpose, what did he do to deserve it?

She makes it quite clear during the book that he wasn't a very good father, and that while he didn't actively mistreat her the same way he did to her siblings, he did isolate her and restrict her a lot. It's possible that was enough, or that there was some relatively small straw on top of his mistreatment of her siblings that made her decide he needed to die.

I'm not saying that those are her reasons, just to keep an open mind.

I don't think that the Soulcaster for the father was a charade. I think that the soulcasting power was pretty unique, and it would be strange for both Jasnah and Shallan's father to be bonded to a soulcasting spren.

Speaking of which, the scene where Shallan was sketching the spren, and them following her, was pretty creepy.

Jasnah implies that she isn't a Radiant or that there's a way to soulcast without being a Radiant during that conversation, so it's also possible Shallan's father was able to soulcast that way, too.

[Zmann966]

I find it interesting that she views her Shardblade very akin to how Szeth views his. A burden, a punishment.
It makes me think that they both came into their Shardblades in similar ways.
It's implied that Szeth's is a punishment from his country or religion, maybe as a result or in conjunction with his Windrunner abilities. I wonder if Shallan's was forced upon her in a similar way, as the impression I got from the book was that she killed her father with the Shardblade.
WHY is my biggest question.

[zebobes]

Since Shallan has so much back story untold, I have a feeling that in book 2, there's a good possibility that Shallan will become the primary protaganist, like Kaladin in this book. That way the flashbacks can tell her father's mysterious story and the way she got her shardblade and how the soulcaster got cracked and where her oldest brother, Helaran, (who probably ISN'T dead) disappeared to.

I don't think there's much to ponder there.  Who would expect their beloved daughter of killing them?  Getting him dead within the 10 hearbeats doesn't seem like a big stretch.

I decided to find the little hints of flashbacks in chapter 7 and 8 to see what we can figure out about the event.

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.

I guess if the memories are of after the incident, then she probably got the Shardblade from her father.

Speaking of which, is that a typo in the book? I think that it should be "It still felt odd to her that she HAD been the one..."

And then talking about the soulcaster...

Nobody knew where he'd gotten the fabrial, which she now carried in her safe pouch. It was unusable, damaged on the same disastrous evening that her father had died.

This quote, on the other hand, seems to imply to me that the Shardblade played a part in the damaging of the Soulcaster.

So... basically, I have no real theories yet, however, Brandon probably has hidden a big secret in the events that really transpired that day.

[Comatose]

She also says that her the night was disasterous.  This implies that her fathers death was an accident, but it could also mean whatever caused her to do it was the disaster.

We know SHE didn't try to use the soulcaster, otherwise she would know how and realize Jasnah's was a fake right away.

Perhaps her father did something wrong, was out of control, and she killed him to save everyone else?  I don't know, jsut my brain fizz/

I'm so happy to finally be done that book and theorizing again.

[Tosh]

Sorry for being a noob, but on which chapter does it say Shallan has a shardblade?
I focused most of my attention on the chapters set on Shattered Plains and skimmed over everything else, since one of the non-spoiler review gave me the impression that Shallan's storyline was basically 10% introduction and 90% exposition. That and I couldn't wait to finish Kaladin's storyline, hence I skipped around 200 pages.

I'm in the process of rereading the book more thoroughly, but can someone save me the trouble and point me to the right chapters. Maybe I misread Shardblade as Soulcaster while I went through her chapters.

[Munin]

Sorry for being a noob, but on which chapter does it say Shallan has a shardblade?
I focused most of my attention on the chapters set on Shattered Plains and skimmed over everything else, since one of the non-spoiler review gave me the impression that Shallan's storyline was basically 10% introduction and 90% exposition. That and I couldn't wait to finish Kaladin's storyline, hence I skipped around 200 pages.

I'm in the process of rereading the book more thoroughly, but can someone save me the trouble and point me to the right chapters. Maybe I misread Shardblade as Soulcaster while I went through her chapters.

In chapters 7 and 8, there are very short references, and it never uses the word Shardblade distinctly.

The passage zebobes quoted above is one of them. Then, in chapter eight, she mentions having a secret that waited "ten heartbeats away".

[Comatose]

The Shallan chapters were actually my favorites, at least until Kaladin got exciting (I hate reading depression, and he was depressed for quite a while).  You should read them, they are great.

[Tosh]

Sorry for being a noob, but on which chapter does it say Shallan has a shardblade?
I focused most of my attention on the chapters set on Shattered Plains and skimmed over everything else, since one of the non-spoiler review gave me the impression that Shallan's storyline was basically 10% introduction and 90% exposition. That and I couldn't wait to finish Kaladin's storyline, hence I skipped around 200 pages.

I'm in the process of rereading the book more thoroughly, but can someone save me the trouble and point me to the right chapters. Maybe I misread Shardblade as Soulcaster while I went through her chapters.

In chapters 7 and 8, there are very short references, and it never uses the word Shardblade distinctly.

The passage zebobes quoted above is one of them. Then, in chapter eight, she mentions having a secret that waited "ten heartbeats away".

Thanks.
I'm smacking myself in the head for missing such obvious clues.

[Fireborn]

Shallan's one of my favorite characters, and, yes, you should be smacking yourself for skipping her parts.  Whoever wrote that about her plot obviously didn't recognize how awesome she is.

My guess is that her father started beating Nan Balat and she accidentally hurt him trying to stop him.