Szeth's excuse for Kaladin at the Battle of Narak

[Moony47]

During the battle, Szeth insists to himself that Kaladin must have stolen an honorblade from the Shin, but Szeth himself has the Windrunner honorblade and the Shin don't have Nale's blade -  the two blades that would allow Kaladin to fly. So is Szeth just seriously insane at this point? Does he not know that Nale has his blade back? 

[Lighteyed Lieutenant he/him]

Welcome to the Shard!

I am not exactly sure, but I think Szeth was just trying to deny the possibility that the Radiants had returned. I haven't read this passage in a while, but Szeth was not (completely) insane. It's like when a disaster or crazy event happens and people just try and continue with their normal lives. Szeth was just unhinged.

[alder24]

49 minutes ago, Moony47 said:

During the battle, Szeth insists to himself that Kaladin must have stolen an honorblade from the Shin, but Szeth himself has the Windrunner honorblade and the Shin don't have Nale's blade -  the two blades that would allow Kaladin to fly. So is Szeth just seriously insane at this point? Does he not know that Nale has his blade back? 

Hello, welcome to the Shard!

Yes, Szeth is clearly insane (just read how he behaves), he was grasping at straws trying to justify to himself that he was still Truthless. He knew Nale's Shardblade wasn't in Shin's hands. If he were to admit that Kaladin is a Radiant, that would mean he was never a Truthless and that would mean that he was responsible for every single person he killed, not his masters. Szeth clinged to the explanation given to him by Taravangian earlier in the book. He was desperate and broken, he was in denial, but in the end he accepted the truth and gave up his bond with the Honorblade, falling to his death.WoR I-14:

Quote

“You fought a Surgebinder?” Adrotagia said, glancing at Taravangian.
“Yes,” Szeth said. “An Alethi man who fed upon Stormlight. He healed a Blade-severed arm. He is . . . Radiant . . .” That strain in his voice did not sound safe. Taravangian glanced at Szeth’s hands. They were clenching into fists time and time again, like hearts beating.
“No, no,” Taravangian said. “I have learned this only recently. Yes, it makes sense now. One of the Honorblades has vanished.”
Szeth blinked, and he focused on Taravangian, as if returning from a distant place. “One of the other seven?”
“Yes,” Taravangian said. “I have heard only hints. Your people are secretive. But yes . . . I see, it is one of the two that allow Regrowth. Kholin must have it.”
Szeth swayed back and forth, though he did not seem conscious of the motion. Even now, he moved with a fighter’s grace. Storms.
“This man I fought,” Szeth said, “he summoned no Blade.”
“But he used Stormlight,” Taravangian said.
“Yes.”
“So he must have an Honorblade.”
“I . . .”
“It is the only explanation.”
“It . . .” Szeth’s voice grew colder. “Yes, the only explanation. I will kill him and retrieve it.”

WoR ch 86:

Quote

“I am Szeth-son-son-Vallano,” the man said. “Truthless . . . Truthless.” He looked up, eyes wide, teeth clenched. “You have stolen Honorblades. It is the only explanation.”
[...]
Szeth twisted in the air, Lashing himself back into a hovering position. He looked at the spear, then seemed to tremble. “No. Truthless. I am Truthless. No questions.”
Stormlight streaming from his mouth, Szeth threw his head back and screamed; a futile, human sound that dissipated in the infinite expanse of sky.
[...]
They continued their chase, but Szeth did it falling backward along the stormtop, his eyes on Kaladin. Wild eyes. “You’re trying to convince me!” he shouted. “You can’t be one of them!”
“You’ve seen that I am,” Kaladin shouted back.
“The Voidbringers!”
“Are back,” Kaladin shouted.
“THEY CAN’T BE. I AM TRUTHLESS!” The assassin panted. “I need not fight you. You are not my target. I have . . . I have work to do. I obey!”
[...]
“It is actually true,” Szeth whispered.
“Yes.”
Szeth nodded, and the edge of tension seemed to fade from him, replaced by an emptiness in his eyes. “Then I was right all along. I was never Truthless. I could have stopped the murders at any time.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Kaladin said. “But you never had to kill.”
“My orders—”
“Excuses! If that was why you murdered, then you’re not the evil man I assumed. You’re a coward instead.”
Szeth looked him in the eyes, then nodded.

OB ch 107:

Quote

He stopped at the top of the steps and looked down at his hand, where a glistening Shardblade appeared. One of the two missing Honorblades. Szeth’s people had care of eight. Once, long ago, it had been nine. Then this one had vanished.

 

Edited March 11 by alder24

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1 hour ago, Moony47 said:

During the battle, Szeth insists to himself that Kaladin must have stolen an honorblade from the Shin, but Szeth himself has the Windrunner honorblade and the Shin don't have Nale's blade -  the two blades that would allow Kaladin to fly. So is Szeth just seriously insane at this point? Does he not know that Nale has his blade back? 

Well, we know that as-of WoK Szeth has been absent from his homeland for seven years (WoK I-4):

Spoiler

“You couldn’t trade me a soldier, could you?” Vstim asked as they waited.

“They cannot be sold to an outsider, I am afraid.”

“But there was that one you traded me…”

“It’s been nearly seven years!” Thresh said with a laugh. “And still you ask!”

“You don’t know what I got for him,” Vstim said. “And you gave him to me for practically nothing!”

“He was Truthless,” Thresh said, shrugging. “He wasn’t worth anything at all. You forced me to take something in trade, though to confess, I had to throw your payment into a river. I could not take money for a Truthless.”

What we do not know is when Nale recovered his Honorblade, but this exchange with Kal and how Szeth responded to finding out that Ishar has also recovered his blade makes it seem as if he was not aware that any of the Honorblades had been recovered (until Nale tells him at the end of WoR-Ch 88). As @alder24 points out, the scene in OB implies that the Skybreaker Blade disappeared long ago, but we don't know if he knew Nale was the one to recover it before Nale told him. He may have believed it stolen ("disappeared") and therefore "at-large" such that somebody other than a Herald might be using it. 

But, yes, he is delusional. 

 

Edited March 11 by Treamayne
Clarity/SPAG