Gah! I hate him!

[u/Better_Cantaloupe_62]

I literally hate Teravangian! As Odium he's a flat out prick! Manipulative, snide, arrogant. I had to pause several times during the debate with him and Fen and Yasna. I wanted to punch him in the face so bad I had to stop and breath and cringe hard core. I kept yelling "POINT OUT THAT HE IS THE GREATER THREAT!" and then he said he could protect her people "forever" and I shouted "POINT OUT THE DEAL ONLY LASTS A THOUSAND YEARS, NOT FOREVER!"

Ugh I hate him so much. I hope they kill him off lol

Ok end rant.

[u/Rico_Suave55]

He’s a perfect odium. For better or worse. I’m very curious how he develops in arc 2

[u/Better_Cantaloupe_62 → u/Rico_Suave55]

You're not wrong. He's great as Odium. A lying, manipulative, back stabber.

[u/Square-Jackfruit420 → u/Rico_Suave55]

Dalanar planted the seed of his downfall, but I expect it to come from within rather than from the other shards. I predict Honor will split from him on his own.

[u/Rico_Suave55 → u/Square-Jackfruit420]

I’m not sure if honor will split. I don’t think the shards will split once they are merged. But they might leave him if the honor portion of him evolves enough

[u/yukon_sb]

What annoys me most is how he does actually spend time deliberating over his choices. If he was a purely cold-blooded sociopathic monster, incapable of introspection, then his actions would make sense.

But we see that, during his 'dumb' days, he regrets his actions and what he believes he 'must' do. In his POV chapters we see that he feels genuine pain and even despair at what 'smart' Taravangian has done.

I think that Cultivation's choice of boon/curse had the inadvertent side effect of letting Taravangian sidestep any moral responsibility for the decisions he made while mortal, and that in turn allowed him to justify (to himself, at least) any atrocities he commits as Odium.

[u/Better_Cantaloupe_62 → u/yukon_sb]

Well said. I fully agree.

[u/yukon_sb → u/Better_Cantaloupe_62]

I suppose this is what we should expect from a well-written villain 🤷‍♂️ I hate him too

[u/OwlMuted885]

Audiobook listener spotted

[u/Better_Cantaloupe_62 → u/OwlMuted885]

Guilty as charged.

[u/According-Relation-4 → u/OwlMuted885]

As an an audiobook listener I thought it was Iassna and Elocar Kolin, for example. So sometimes I read a name here and I’m like, wtf u on about m8 :D

[u/n122333 → u/OwlMuted885]

I DON'T CARE HOW THE BOOKS SPELL IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE A Y

</J>

[u/No-Reflection-3671]

I hate him so much but he's such a good villain for the series. His whole "For the greater good" / "Ends justify the means" mentality clashes with "Journey before Destination" in such an interesting way.

[u/SageOfTheWise]

"POINT OUT THE DEAL ONLY LASTS A THOUSAND YEARS, NOT FOREVER!"

I don't think anyone was unaware lol. A Thousand years is an incredibly long time, and the other decision was the imminent fall of your country within your lifetime. "Find a solution that kicks the problem back 1000 years" was also literally the best case goal of all the main characters for the entire series up until the very last moments when Dalinar called an audible. It isn't some trick.

[u/Trace_Minerals_LV]

He’s such a accurate model of a politician.

[u/SamboTheGr8]

And the whole Kharbranth tsunami thing. Don't even get me started.

[u/CattlemanSlick → u/SamboTheGr8]

At the end when Todium reveals he saved his family and Dalinar was right all along, I was PISSED. Like all this bs went down because of you acting better than them but you’re a hypocrite yourself lol

[u/TheAwfulRofl → u/SamboTheGr8]

"I will weep"

Whew

[u/Shot_Newspaper_5647]

Unfortunately, it’s a good deal. Jasnah was essentially asking Fen to doom her people. Thaylenah is an island nation of sailors and merchants. Taravangian shows her that he’s secured every nation with a major port. At best, she’d have Herdaz and Alethkar as trading partners if they won the contest. And that’s a big if.

The west is cut off, with no safe ports to weather storms or partners to trade with. Azir win or lose is closed to you. It’s now landlocked by the deals he showed her there. The east is even more dangerous to sail and there’s nothing to sail to really. Thaylenah’s strength is the sea and trade. Almost all of the areas they connect with trade have been closed to them. Those markets are gone. Those nations are hostile and united even if they can’t fight you. Her people will wither and it’s the death of their culture as they know it

[u/Shot_Newspaper_5647 → u/Shot_Newspaper_5647]

Fen is right to worry about future Alethi fighting them. At best, they don’t and Thaylenah becomes a poor nation dependent on its one mainland ally. With almost nothing to offer in return. Its only security is hoping future generations remember that their great great etc grandparents were good friends who fought for a good cause. Please help us. Please don’t kill us. Dalinar was thinking to himself he was going to help Fen take over the country and rule as an absolute monarch after the war. Just weeks or a few months before Wind starts. That’s a living Alethi ally who already wanted to overthrow your government as a favor

Imagine Thaylenah as an island nation in the Mediterranean at the height of the Roman Empire. Every Mediterranean coast is closed to them, and everything beyond. They have one independent ally across the sea who is also isolated. And two super hurricanes to contend with. What is that island? A future victim to their only (current) mainland ally is the answer

[u/Torquin-na]

... Would you say you... ODIUM HIM??? HAHAHAHA

[u/Pale_Operation9227]

Fair rant, he's the villain for a reason

[u/dIvorrap]

Taravangian, Jasnah

[u/Interesting-Sea-1761]

I liked him a lot as a mortal, and liked how he recreated his city on the spiritual realm but I feel like it is going to bite him in the ass

[u/Inside_Client6065]

Taravangian is one of my favorite villains of all time.

[u/CMormont]

Yall do realize fen made the right call right?? Like dalinars choice would have ended her kingdom But because of the deal she had to make she and get people are safe