Dalinar's Amnesia

[Guest Zucchini]

OMG I just thought of something:

Like Orson Scott Card and the piggies, perhaps they assassinated Galiver to "honor" him. Why? It has something to do with the codes. And heres the shocker...what if EVERYONE had knowledge of something that happened, and then Dalinars forgotton wife went to the Nightmother and it was HER blessing and curse to be forgotton by everyone.

I assumed Dalinar's amnesia was his own by product of him visiting the NightMother, but maybe its not, maybe its his WIFES!

[Aradel he/him]

Dalinar's sons remember their mother. So does everyone else except Dalinar.

[Aeshdan he/him]

No, this still has merit. What if *Ssssh* had done something so incredibly dishonorable that she knew Dalinar would never forgive her, so she only wanted him to lose memory of her. (nobody else knew.)

[Guest Zucchini]

They all refer to her in one way or another, but not of specific memories of her. Just like Dalinar just goes along with it and plays along when anyone mentions his wife, so is everyone else. Dalinar KNOWS he was married, just doesnt have any memories of her. The same could be same for the sons and Galivars wife.

[Kurkistan he/him]

They all refer to her in one way or another, but not of specific memories of her. Just like Dalinar just goes along with it and plays along when anyone mentions his wife, so is everyone else. Dalinar KNOWS he was married, just doesnt have any memories of her. The same could be same for the sons and Galivars wife.

Navani mentions specific characteristics of *Ssssh*, so that's out.

I suppose that it's possible that no one remembers *Ssssh*, and Navani is the only one to realize the universality of the amnesia, so her recounting could theoretically be false. But this would be ludicrously manipulative of her, and I see no reason for Navani to be the only person who realized the universality of the amnesia. This doesn't even consider what motivation she would have to torment Dalina by making stories up out of whole cloth.

Once again, especially given Dalinar's certainty that he is responsible for his own amnesia, I doubt your theory.

Edited March 9, 2012 by Kurkistan

[Odium's_Shard]

Dalinar seems pretty sure that he activated the Old Magic, and just didn't want to discuss its exact nature with Renalin and Adolin. He also seems to remember the boon he asked for (and doesn't tell us...) and has been told by everyone else of the clear exact (obvious) nature of the 'curse'.

EDIT: But I am a personal fan of absurd theories. Well done, my friend. It made me sit back for a while and actually think: 'What if....'!

Edited March 9, 2012 by Odium's_Shard

[Voidbringer]

Hmm... What if Dalinar requested the memory wipe because of something he wanted to forget about her, but now he feels regret because he doesn't remember that he asked for the memory wipe to forget her in the first place. Convoluted... Did he ever make any sort of delineation between his boon and his curse from the Nightmother?

P.S. Nightmother makes me think of the Elder Scrolls.

[Guest Zucchini]

Ya know, it's crazy...but I can't seem to remember her name, either.

[Aeshdan he/him]

Why do you think we call her "*Ssssh*"?

[Odium's_Shard]

P.S. Nightmother makes me think of the Elder Scrolls.

OMG! No way...

Dalinar Kholin, Highprince of War, is in fact, the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood! Why didn't I think of this before....? Its just so obvious. Man goes to Nightmother, (hears whispers of contracts...) receives boon and bane, leaves (tells other members...) and then completely forgets his wife (because he's to busy dealing with people...).

Random crazy thought. Szeth is the Listener. Killing random noble folk. Taravangian is the Nightmother....!

[Windrunner he/him]

I just thought you guys should know that it's actually the Nightwatcher, in TWoK, not the Nightmother. There is also Re-Shephir, the Midnight mother, who is presumably one of the Unmade. Upvote for Skyrim reference though.

[Voidbringer]

Lol. That just shows how much I need to do a reread and play less Skyrim.

[Odium's_Shard]

That just shows I need a larger memory. And less spare time.

[blackmagic3 he/him]

I was re-reading WOK and I think I might have caught something about Dalinar's wife, please correct me if anybodoy else has posted about this but in Adolin's POV he says that his shard plate and blade came from his mother's side. This suggests that Dalinar's wife is most likely Veden or an Alethi due to the most shards being possessed by them. we also he another clue, Adolins blond hair this piece of information tells us that she is more likely to be Veden as Alethi tend to have black hair. In accordance with these fact i think that Dalinar's wife was a Veden in a highprince's family or even the Veden King's family.

[Yados]

My pet theory is that Dalinar's boon was forgetting his wife. His price was becoming more honorable.

Also, if that's true, I'm also willing to bet that Dalinar's wife is also still alive. If she and Dalinar conspired together to fake her death, Dalinar would have no idea now. He doesn't remember anything the two of them talked about.

Now, why they would do something like that, I have no idea, but then neither does Dalinar as of right now. The plan probably needed that.

Maybe Dalinar *did* conspire to remove Gavilar from the throne-- he mentions contemplating it to Navani --but now has no recollection of it. More than that, his price, being more honorable, prevents him from making a move against Elhokar.

[Leon. he/him]

I think he is an honorable man, regardless of what you all seem to think. I also don't think this theory has any legitimate merit. xD

[Guest Zucchini]

I think he is an honorable man, regardless of what you all seem to think. I also don't think this theory has any legitimate merit. xD

You dont? Whew! Thank goodness! Everyone here at 17th Shard has been just waiting for your opinion...and I'm so glad we all can have some rest now that you've given your 2 cents.

Posts that just give their opinion and dont elaborate on anything are awesome!

Guess what? I like turtles!

[Vikter]

Chill out Zucchini, just because Leon didn't make a four paragraph post about why he feels the way he does is no reason to jump on him. If you bothered to check you would have noticed that this way his second post ever here ( the first being I the introduce yourself section). I know that most people here go into great detail about the smallest things trying to predict what will happen in the next book\books that Sanderson writes but that does not mean someones post is invalid and that their opinion should be derided.

Not everyone here is an English Major trying to dissect every aspect of an amazing writers work to gain more knowledge about his worlds and future works. Some people read books for the enjoyment of reading alone and just want to express how they feel on the messages boards.

On a separate note, hello Leon welcome to the forums. Most people are not quite so rude, though I would expect to be prepared to defend any stance you take here as most forum goers have avid opinions and love to debate on anything Sanderson related ad infinium.

[Kurkistan he/him]

You dont? Whew! Thank goodness! Everyone here at 17th Shard has been just waiting for your opinion...and I'm so glad we all can have some rest now that you've given your 2 cents.

Posts that just give their opinion and dont elaborate on anything are awesome!

Guess what? I like turtles!

That was distinctly uncalled for, Zucchini. It's possible to disagree with someone, or even to find their point poorly explained, without resorting to such mockery. For example:

Leon., you are being somewhat unclear on exactly what Dalinar is too honorable to have done. Assuming that you are replying to Yados, I still think that simply saying "Dalinar is honorable, therefore he wouldn't do anything dishonorable" is a mistake because the Dalinar we see in the WoK is quite a different person from who he was for the rest of his life. He only became Dalinar, PARAGON OF HONOR, after and as a result of his brother's assassination. The Dalinar we see in WoK may well be too honorable to do many things, but that doesn't address what he may or may not have been willing to do at some point in the past.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Kurkistan

[Guest Zucchini]

That was distinctly uncalled for, Zucchini. It's possible to disagree with someone, or even to find their point poorly explained, without resorting to such mockery. For example:

Leon., you are being somewhat unclear on exactly what Dalinar is too honorable to have done. Assuming that you are replying to Yados, I still think that simply saying "Dalinar is honorable, therefore he wouldn't do anything dishonorable" is a mistake because the Dalinar we see in the WoK is quite a different person from who he was for the rest of his life. He only became Dalinar, PARAGON OF HONOR, after and as a result of his brother's assassination. The Dalinar we see in WoK may well be too honorable to do many things, but that doesn't address what he may or may not have been willing to do at some point in the past.

Oh please...

I didnt use profanity, I didnt call anybody names...you want to play nicey nice on an internet forum? Are you even serious or is this some kind of joke? No playful mockery on the internet?

It was not uncalled for, nor was it rude. He shared his opinion, and I shared mine. I kept it civil and playful. Because of my post, perhaps we will get some fantastic insight from that poster, you never know.

We're here to exchange opinions...for someone to create an account and take the time to log in and take all that time to simply write, " I agree." doesnt add much to the conversation.

So its okay for him to have an opinion, but its not okay for me to have an opinion...I see where youre going with this.

ANd for your information, I like turtles is an internet meme...its a viral video. Type I like turtles into youtube and youll see how the comment applies.

And for you to write an entire paragraph to illuminate your contempt for my post is just as combative if not more so.

Both of you need to grow up a little, methinks. Lighten up, it's the internet, baby.

Edited July 7, 2012 by Zucchini

[Eerongal he/him]

Keep it civil and on topic here, folks.

If you wish to review out rules and policies, you can do so here

[Chaos he/him]

Congratulations Zucchini for writing the most offensive thing I've seen on 17th Shard.

Really? You honestly believe your passive aggressive, sarcastic post was not at all meant to hurt someone. Why, there's no way you can be rude without profanity.

I'm going to tell like it is: that was extremely rude, and inappropriate. If you didn't think Leon's post added to the discussion, you don't have to be a jerk about it. There's a perfectly good method of doing that, via downvotes. Downvotes don't cause flaming. If you honestly thought that being sarcastic and rude was the best course of action, that lacks some very serious common sense. You could have simply said "Care to expand on that?"

Let's analyze the difference between Leon's and your post:

I think he is an honorable man, regardless of what you all seem to think. I also don't think this theory has any legitimate merit. xD

You dont? Whew! Thank goodness! Everyone here at 17th Shard has been just waiting for your opinion...and I'm so glad we all can have some rest now that you've given your 2 cents.

Posts that just give their opinion and dont elaborate on anything are awesome!

Guess what? I like turtles!

Hey, look at which one actually refers to the topic at hand, and which one personally attacks someone. Hint: yours is the one that's far more off topic, not to mention incredibly offensive.

17th Shard is about intelligent discourse with intelligent people. Trolls or people making personal attacks is not acceptable in any way, shape or form. Just because it is "the internet" doesn't make it okay. You treat people with kindness, and that's all there is to it. If you can't do that you don't belong on this forum.

But no, you're right. Obviously the proper way to "grow up" is to attack other people. Silly me.

This is your warning. I don't want to see you attack someone like that ever again. It should be pretty clear that what you did was attacking, not joking.

[Rubix he/him]

Hey, I just wanted to pop up and let everyone know that this sort of attacks will not be tolerated, and this community will be kept friendly and safe. If anyone wants to talk about this more, feel free to PM me. I'm always more than happy to keep an open dialogue going with any member for anything.

[Kenshu Ani]

My pet theory is that Dalinar's boon was forgetting his wife. His price was becoming more honorable.

I don't think that was his boon. In the chapter, "Highprince of War" Dalinar refered to his amnesia:

He hesitated to remarry because he hated the idea of replacing her. He'd had everything of his wife taken from him. All that remained was the hole, and filling it to gain a scribe seemed callous.

With the phrase, "taken from him" I get the impression that his amnesia was the curse.

[Asha'man Logain]

I don't think that was his boon. In the chapter, "Highprince of War" Dalinar refered to his amnesia,

With the phrase, "taken from him" I get the impression that his amnesia was the curse.

But he also seems to feel a bit guilty about it and Renarin's poor health. There's no reason to feel guilty about forgetting his wife unless he thinks he asked for it. And there's no reason to feel guilt for his son's poor health unless he feels responsible for it, as if he thinks it's his curse.

Also he stated very decisively that he knows for certain what his curse and boon were. I for one view a charcter's certainty (espescially about memory altering events) suspect.