I've often theorized that the reason why Taln never broke in Braize is because he held out for so long that his nature as a cognitive shadow eventually calcified as someone who was incapable of it. As Vasher discussed in Rhythm of War, as a Cognitive Shadow, bit by bit the fluidity of your soul stiffens to weather the passage of time, solidifying traits you had in life as eternal. Immutable.
The most notable traits for Taln was his dependenability and his iron will. The more he suffered, the stronger he became until something snapped in him and he ceased to be a person and became a sapient seal. He didn't break, so he could not break. It was too late. His humanity was replaced by his mythology as the Bearer of Agonies.
To some extent, Taln did die on Braize. Even if he does recover from his stupor, he will probably forever be a thing whose existence is defined by suffering and his magical nature to withstand it. You cannot break Taln because Taln is unbreakable. Ontologically.
Oh. Yea this actually makes a ton of sense, I bet it is something like that. Very cool take
