nightblood having literally one directive that he interprets as liberally as possible to do whatever he wants feels like a great match for a skybreaker in some way that I can't quite describe
Now, a couple of disclaimers: First, I wanted to post this, after I had reread all of the Stormlight Archive books, so I whip out those references. But I also wanted to reread them before the Rhythm of War previews came out. And the Rhythm of War previews are coming out now. So, that didn’t really happen. So, feel free to tell me if I got something wrong. Also there are no spoilers for the previews. I wrote this before reading any of the previews so don’t worry.
Second, as of writing this, Rhythm of War is a few months from being published. There’s 7000+ pages left of this story. So, could Moash get a redemption arc somewhere in there? Sure. Is it entirely possible in even the next book that Moash will clearly be on a path of redemption? Yes and I will be the first to admit that I was wrong. Do I think that any of this is likely based on what Brandon has written from a meta level? No. Here’s why.
Elhokar Kholin
First, let’s talk about Elhokar. It is irrelevant whether you did or did not feel upset when Elhokar died. That is subjective. What I want to look at, is Brandon’s intentions with Elhokar. In Oathbringer, it was clear that Brandon wanted to make Elhokar more sympathetic and that he was growing as a person. Again, whether you felt he was growing as a person, that is subjective but it’s what Brandon’s intentions with the character. And I think his intentions were to make the reader upset when Moash ultimately killed Elhokar. He wanted you to care that Moash killed Elhokar.
I think that if Brandon didn’t want the reader to feel particularly sad if Elhokar died, he would have killed him in Words of Radiance. It was right there. At the end of that book, Elhokar’s last appearance was a joke. I think Brandon is a very good writer so he if he wanted to, he would have done it in a way where he could signify that Elhokar’s death would have consequences but people only sort of cared, both in and out of story.
Here’s a good example of this: Sadeas. Most people were glad that Sadeas was killed at the end of Words of Radiance. However, I think most readers knew that this was going to cause problems for Adolin and the rest of the plot. We and the characters know that Sadeas’s death is going to have consequences but there is a side of us all that says “good riddance he was a pain in the ass”. I’m pretty sure Palona says something to that effect.
So, if Elhokar had been killed in Words of Radiance, it could have easily been signified to the reader that this would have major consequences for Moash. You base it on Kaladin’s reaction. He could be upset with Moash. However, Elhokar had shown very few redeeming qualities in the eyes of the readers and most of the characters, so how much they would care would be limited. Thus it would be easier for everyone to allow Moash a redemption arc. Kind of like Adolin with Sadeas. Adolin is ultimately still a sympathetic character in the eyes of the reader despite murdering someone.
Redemption as a Theme
So I am starting to see this argument that the theme of Stormlight Archive is that anyone can be redeemed. If you can forgive Dalinar, then surely you can forgive Moash. While I do think that redemption is a large part of this story and there is this idea that you have morally flawed heroes. Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Jasnah and Elhokar are all Radiants but they have done a range of immoral things for a variety of reasons.
However, with this mentality, I can easily go say “well there’s a theme that some people are just too irredemable and must die. For example: Sadeas, Aramam, Lin Davar” and various other characters.”
However, I don’t think anyone can be redeemed. In my eyes and the eyes of the story. It would have been advantageous for Amaram to be redeemed so that we could get information on Gavilar and the Sons of Honor. That did not happen. Sadeas was morally on par with Dalinar and yet he didn’t get a redemption arc. “But Taylor, Amaram and Sadeas aren’t morally equivalent to Moash!”
Yes, that is true. But what about someone like Lin Davar? Lin Davar kills only one person in the story. He allows people to assume that he killed his wife in order to protect his daughter. Now, is he horribly abusive and deserved to be punished? Yes. Absolutely. However, did he deserve to be redeemed? I don’t know.
Word of Brandon
Now, I generally don’t like WoBs as evidence for big plot points. I generally don’t like it when I have a theory and someone tells me that there’s a WoB saying it’s impossible. It’s not fun but that’s a post for a different time. This doesn’t really matter with small plot things. It’s not totally important to the plot that we know that the characters on Roshar age differently than people on Scadrial. (Though I think that is in canon) So, I understand if you want to disregard this point. However, I found this Writing Excuses podcast on Anti-Heroes and Brandon talks about Moash.
5:10 (14:56 if on mobile) Someone: Have we written characters who were not the antagonist and who were with the protagonist, who were part of the protagonist’s team, who we made deliberately unsympathetic?
5:56 (14:07 on mobile) Brandon: I’ve done this with side characters and most often for me it’s a signal that the character is becoming an antagonist. I’ll usually start with “boy you wish this characters had made different decisions” but you still like them moving into “man I don’t actually like this character” into “oh it’s okay for me not to like them, Brandon has made them into a villain.” And there is that uncomfortable moment in the middle. There’s an entire subbreddit dedicated to one of these characters which is just swearing at them.
For those of you who don’t know, this is referring to the Fuck Moash subreddit. This podcast came out around two months after Oathbringer. He doesn’t specifically say Moash in this podcast because Oathbringer is so new and that would be a spoiler.
This is evidence of Brandon’s intentions at this time and at this point Moash is on the road down to be a villain. However, I completely understand not taking too much stock into a WoB. Like I said, I generally treat WoBs with a grain of salt but treat canon very seriously. I also know that Brandon could change his mind down the line.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion, I think Moash won’t get a redemption. Anything can happen but when looking at how Brandon is writing Moash, I think it’s fairly obvious he’s not when looking at the meta. However, I have faith in whatever Brandon decides to do with his character. I remember before Oathbringer came out, everyone was complaining about the love triangle and it was going to be the worst. But I knew from reading his other books that he was going to handle it just fine and he did.
Now...have I been more wrong than right about most of Brandon’s books? I am pretty sure I have been. But that’s okay! Who knows, maybe there will be a third option that no one even know that was possible! Or maybe Moash will be standing over the corpse of someone from Bridge 4 and stans will still scream “Moash did nothing wrong!” We’ll see.
Hi, I've seen your posts about Brandon Sanderson and now your big post about him too (even though I only scimmed the headline of that one as I don't like spoilers at all) and I was wondering which books you'd recommend to start with to see if it might be a new treasure box for me too? Cause I love well written fantasy and would especially love to read some that don't just focus on romantic relationships but other deep bonds as well
Oh absolutely!
If you want just a taste of his writing without getting involved in any kind of trilogy, my personal favorite of his novellas is The Emperor’s Soul. It’s not super long, but it’s got so much rich depth. It’s the story of an artistic thief and a jailer who ultimately come to respect each others’ work, and the ending gives me absolute chills every time.
If you want to sink your teeth into something a little bigger, the first Mistborn series is definitely the way to go. It’s got interesting worldbuilding, a great magic system, and a lot of found family and hurt comfort.
The Stormlight Archive is probably my favorite thing that Sanderson writes, but I usually caution people new to Sanderson’s work to try some other stuff first before attempting this one. It’s a fantastic series, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also an enormous, dense series with a lot of moving parts and details, and it isn’t done yet (he is currently writing book 4 out of 5). To get the full experience you really need to trust Sanderson knows where he’s going with this, and that might be harder to do coming at it as a brand new reader. I do, however, strongly recommend it if you’ve tried a few of his other works and really enjoy his writing methodology, because it is an incredible source of all kinds of amazing non-romantic relationships and some stellar hurt/comfort.
Just getting through Stormlight has taken me roughly 6 months and it's a little weird feeling like most of my first time through the Cosmere is behind me
There is so much grief to be had about how this first arc ended and more still in knowing it will likely be a few years before I find out what happens in the second half.
I started with Mistborn back in October of last year and these books have gotten me through so much and I am so excited to continue on my way through the Cosmere.
I forgot to say anything when I finished Rhythm of War but iykyk just how upsetting that ending was.
I did stop to read The Lost Metal. I struggled with this one. From the very beginning I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen (which I was right about) and I really didn't want to listen to it happening. But I did. I'm devastated. Wish I had a little statue of my own to commemorate the event.
Roughly 100 chapters into Winds and Truth, so it won't be too long now before the Sanderlanche. Wish me luck. I think I'm gonna need it.
