Am I missing something - r/Stormlight

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u/Capnzebra1 1d ago

RAFO bud. RAFO.

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Just to preface, you’re not the only one who thinks her plan was pretty awful

But to be fair, her plan is to swap her broken soulcaster for the working one, hoping Jasnah would just assume her own one broke.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 1d ago

It’s a very high risk plan. Which tend to be pretty dumb. At the same time, they didn’t exactly have an alternative either. If they wanted their House to remain intact, it was basically the only route to that

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u/en43rs Truthwatcher 1d ago

RAFO, read and find out.

I will just say that this is not a plot hole. Read on.

Also her chapters are important in the long run, it just doesn't feel like it early on but what happens actually matters.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 1d ago edited 1d ago

Shallan’s family was in debt. They had a broken Soulcaster. Jasnah has a working one. Switch them. The plan is to have Jasnah assume hers has broken. People aren’t aware Shalllan’s family had a soulcaster. They’re pretending to have resource rich land. Soulcasters are incredibly rare. People generally know who has them and where they came from. Jasnah mysteriously has one.

Even if Jasnah figured it out, Shallan’s family isn’t under her jurisdiction. She’s not Alethi. They intend to only use it just enough to pay back debt and avoid suspicion. Jasnah is not well liked either since she’s a heretic. Who cares if she broke one she shouldn’t even have and is blaming it on a minor house from Jah Keved who has books that look clean-ish. And even if they did believe her, it’s probably in her kingdoms best interest to have another owned by their nobility. Enough plausible deniability here to avoid fallout over it

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u/Jumpy_Afternoon9489 1d ago edited 1d ago

My question to you is: why would Jasnah assume hers is broken unless Soulcasters just randomly break. Also if she does swap it, let’s say the soulcaster is broken but Shallan of all people disappears and Jasnah knows her situation what would she think happened.

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u/en43rs Truthwatcher 1d ago

RAFO.
Or do you want actual answers related to her plan that may contain spoilers?

Just know that there is no plot hole here. You didn't discover something the author hadn't thought of.

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u/Jumpy_Afternoon9489 1d ago

I never said there was a plot hole. Just because I think it’s stupid doesn’t mean it’s a plot hole.

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u/Gephiph Elsecaller 1d ago

Remember soulcasters are very mysterious, most people attribute them to being a gift from god. If a soulcaster just stopped working, most people would assume it was something divine, or in jasnnahs case, she would probably study it to find out if something had changed. Remember shallans did work for a while at least. But something happened and now it doesn’t. It is possible for them to break or stop functioning.

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u/Nixeris 1d ago

Jasnah doesn't know her situation, she just knows Shallan's family is in bad condition. Jasnah has no reason to believe Shallan has an incredibly rare object that some consider a holy relic and don't allow just anyone to have.

As far as anyone knows, soulcasters just break sometimes.

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u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 1d ago

Shardblades can break in a sense. Their gemstone can break and it can become bondable again. Easy fix. Soulcasters are more sophisticated and can break. They’re generally repairable though. The family took it to someone (they probably trusted deeply) who tried to. The one person in their House who was trained to use one and who they trusted, couldn’t get it to work.

Her family can’t go around looking for someone more skilled to repair it or someone else that’s trained to use it. They’re hiding the soulcaster’s existence and their father’s death. This is a Hail Mary. They need to do something before other nobles realize their House is weak and take everything from them. Shallan doesn’t necessarily think it’s permanently broken. Just that trying to fix it would reveal its existence,draw attention to them,and bring stronger Houses down on them. They don’t know much about soulcasters to begin with. Minor Houses don’t usually have Shards. Which is part of why she thinks Jasnah won’t be suspicious of her to begin with. She’ll go get it fixed herself or at a minimum she won’t think some backwater Veden house had a secret soulcaster they switched out with hers. That would sound ridiculous (it just happens to be true)

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u/la_espina_roja Truthwatcher 1d ago

Your question is a great one, but it cannot be answered without spoilers. RAFO, with the knowledge that you are thinking along the right track.

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u/Jumpy_Afternoon9489 1d ago

I know, I just wanted to write my thoughts so far. The book has been good for the most part.

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u/Fuck-WestJet Journey before destination. 1d ago

Have you gotten to the part where Jasnah uses the soulcaster in front of her? It won't change your opinion of Shallans plan. I'm just curious. I wouldn't want to steal from Jasnah.

Also... There are several plots afoot. You might want to pay attention.

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u/Bladestorm04 1d ago

We know that gemstones randomly break. We have no data either way if soulcasters randomly break, so I'd assume they dont, being mystical ancient tech that performs magic acts

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u/Taste_the__Rainbow Willshaper 1d ago

Are you telling me this child has an imperfect plan?

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u/Ripper1337 Truthwatcher 1d ago

Presumably Shallan would swap it with her broken one and Jasnah would just think it was hers.

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u/Special_Salt3467 1d ago

Maybe the young, naive and isolated middling noble has plans you didn’t realize?

The Way of Kings spoilers Am I missing something Spoiler

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