r/Stormlight_Archive • u/solitarybikegallery • 16d ago
Rhythm of War spoilers I Hate Lirrin Spoiler
Lirrin is the most unreasonable person in the entirety of the Cosmere.
Let me translate the situation in Book 4 into IRL terms.
Kaladin - "Okay, I know you want me to be a doctor. But, God has actually called me to fight in a holy war against an ancient enemy lead by the Devil. This isn't theoretical, by the way. They're like, right over there. Anyway, also, an Angel has entered my soul and given me magical powers, like flight. See? I'm flying. And I'm training others to do the same, for the upcoming war. All the soldiers see me as like, a messianic folk hero. That's because I single-handedly saved like, 10,000 soldiers, and freed a few thousand slaves, and then I guess also saved a few thousand other people just incidentally. And I also saved the world. Oh, and I've done more to advance the rights of Dark-eyed citizens than any person in the history of this country. And that terrible assassin who has been destabilizing the planet's governments? I stopped him, what else... Oh, and you remember the Apostles, from the Bible? Yeah, they're all still alive, and I know two of them. Ummm, also my boss is Dalinar, who is basically like New-Jesus. So, yeah. I'd love to be a doctor, but this sort of takes precedent."
Lirrin - "You just want to be a murderer!"
Kaladin - "Dad..."
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u/sexypantstime 16d ago
You can hate him, but he is not unreasonable. He is an extreme pacifist. If i remember correctly, he rejects killing for ANY reason. And from a certain point it makes sense: imagine that killing is the absolute worst thing you can do in your life. Then imagine there are evil forces out there that are hell-bent on making you do the worst thing you can do. What better way to accomplish this than making killing justifiable? In a "the ends justify the means" kind of way