[OB] Jasnah Kholin Appreciation Thread

[Steeldancer he/him]

I should make a thread like this for Taln. 

Jasnah was pretty freaking awesome in this book. 

[emailanimal he/him]

The bright side.

Jasnah pretty much stole almost every single scene in the book.  From "Child, I am an Elsecaller" in her very first appearance (which I think is an underappreciated mini-CMOA right there), to "Come on Meridas, make my day", to "I know who you are, Renarin, you are family",  to the "apparently - storming Assassin in White" deadpan, to what looks like the aftermath of the first recorded use of native Plate by a Knight Radiant, to the absolutely fabulous conversation with Navani and Fen on the wall which the OP quoted in full (my favorite scene in the whole book), to her final appearance wearing a crown, she just effing rocks.

The Wall scene requires a special consideration. Basically, for pages upon pages we are observing the difficulties Kaladin, Szeth, Shallan, and pretty much everyone else has with dealing with the Fused. There is quite a bit of build-up.  And then, two of them decide to fly towards Jasnah. Bother. 

After the WoR Epilogue (yay), I wrote that Jasnah was the biggest badass on Roshar.  While Dalinar has made certain serious strides in the level of badassery, and Lift may have a better badass per pound of weight ratio, and Adolin is the biggest mundane badass, I think Jasnah still holds the lead in this department.

The Dark Side.

I originally did not think to connect Jasnah's childhood "lunacy" with sexual abuse, but then I realized that she was 11 and not 6-7 like I originally thought during her episode. I took some flak on reddit for discussing it. There appears to be a Word of Peter suggesting that outright sexual abuse of a child is out, and there appears to be a better theory of her "lunacy".  I am quite happy about that, because I do not want her story to resolve around childhood sexual abuse.

I do think that her very distinct disgust with Amaram may be a result of some attempt by Amaram to force himself on to her (and not take no for an answer until thrown out) some time after Gavilar's death.

This however leaves a couple of lingering questions and I want to linger. Jasnah has good relations with literally everyone in her immediate family: Navani, Dalinar, Adolin, Renarin, and Elhokar. Evi is practically a saint, so Jasnah couldn't have feuded with her.  Yet, in her deliberations about assassinating Ausedan, and in her deliberations concerning Renarin, she is both very protective of her family, and  thinks that the biggest threats come from inside the family.  But we have just excluded Navani, Dalinar, Adolin, Renarin, Elhokar, Evi, and Gavilar (whose biography she wrote) from the list. So, who else?

This really leaves just one person who is directly related to the Kholins, and who, as we find out from Oathbringer, at some point has conveniently "retired" to coastal Herdaz in a company of Alethi military guard.  I no longer think that any sexual abuse was involved, but I do think that Jasnah must have caught him with something. Spying on her family? Squandering Kholin money? Something else?

She has a set opinion about the need to protect her family and about the origins of the threats. This had to have been caused by something.

Thoughts?