Asteroidfieldgame

I think Gavilar should have read the entirety of Way of Kings aloud and attained radiance in the middle of a random paragraph <3

If Gavilar Had Survived a Little Longer

Gavilar: Tell Thaidakar he's too late!

Szeth: I don't know who that is

Gavilar: Restares? Sadeas?

Szeth: My masters are...

Gavilar: Don't tell me, I want to guess. Was it Nale?

Szeth: You mean Nin? No.

Gavilar: Taln is mad that I want to take his place?

Szeth: Stop guessing Heralds

Gavilar: I've got it! The stormfather! I knew he was lying!

Szeth: You're insane.

Gavilar: Elhokar or Dalinar making a play for the throne?

Szeth: No

Gavilar: Navani's really mad that I yelled at her?

Szeth: Is there anyone in your family you don't suspect of killing you? It wasn't them.

Gavilar: I don't suspect Jasnah. Was it Taravingian? He seems to be up to more than he lets on.

Szeth: Don't be silly, I would never work for him.

Gavilar: Is the king of Jah Keved so scared of our alliance with the Parshendi that he’d have me killed?

Szeth: How do you have so many enemies but still have more than you think? My masters are the Parshendi.

Gavilar: That doesn't make any sense!?

Szeth: RAFO

Gavilar: ...Take this sphere and tell my brother he must find the most important words a man can say.

Szeth: Dying requests are sacred in my culture, I will do as you ask.

Gavilar: Wait! As my dying request can you instead kill everyone else I guessed except my family members?

Szeth: ...Okay not that sacred.

Took these from my shit posting TikTok, maybe they'll be better appreciated here

please read this oh my god

One great mystery in the Cosmere still bugs me, and has seemingly no hope at a resolution is...

How is Lightsong so good at Tarachin??? (the returned's ball game) Despite not knowing the rules, picking spheres at random, and throwing them wherever he feels like, Lightsong wins every time. Not just occasionally, but every single time.

There is of course the theory that he suggests: that the game is stupid. But this doesn't hold much water. You can make a game where it feels like there's a lot of decisions, but it's mostly luck, that's certainly possible. But to be able to win every time? That seems to require a game where thinking actively harms you, and I can't see any way that makes sense, nor have I seen any example of such a game.

Perhaps he played it in his past life? It's certainly possible - he was an accountant, working for presumably wealthy clients, so maybe he played the game with them, as it's described as a game for the wealthy. Or maybe he played it as a hobby; he and Llarimar also had expensive hobbies like going on a boat for fun, so they could have played Tarachin. His abilities in mathematics could have also helped him be good at a game like this, where the scoring is incredibly complex.

Maybe it's his future-sight (Fortune) as a returned. He picks the ball that feels right, while the others use their minds, so maybe he's allowing himself to be influenced by it unlike the rest of them.

I've heard one theory that luck is his power as a returned. This theory points out that other returned have special abilities in things like wisdom or exceptional beauty. Maybe Lightsong gets luck? Maybe things work out well when he takes risks- he is the god of bravery after all.

Or maybe none of the above. Maybe a shard is just intervening.

Anyway, I hope we can get an answer from Brandon, or at the very least, have a Tarachin tournament at the next convention so we can verify for ourselves which one makes the most sense.