I See A Lot Of Discussion Arguing About Whether Moash Or Other Characters Are Redeemable, Or Complaining

I see a lot of discussion arguing about whether Moash or other characters are redeemable, or complaining about the ways that characters like Amaram became less ambiguous and more evil, and I think this misses the themes of the series.

A big theme of the series is that a good person is one who is simply trying to do better - improving themselves and trying to be better each day than they were the last day. A lot of the series seems to support this reading: the progression of oaths, Kaladin's decision at the Honor Chasm, Dalinar's "Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing". Dalinar's "You will not have my pain!" speech basically spells this out, with him discussing the need to accept his past actions so that he can do better.

Throughout the story, characters like Kaladin, who attempt to improve themselves are the heroes. Even characters who've done horrifying things, like Dalinar and Szeth, are redeemable if they choose redemption. According to the morality of the Stormlight Archive, these are the heroes. Even Elhokar becomes a hero once he begins to try to improve himself, though this journey is cut short.

But this has a converse. Characters like Sadeas and Amaram, who are repeatedly given chances to do the right thing, but always choose the wrong thing. This, more than anything else, is what makes them the villains in the morality of the Stormlight Archives. These choices stack up worse and worse, and so, eventually, you end up the way they did, where there is nothing morally grey or defensible about either of them. That's why, by the end, Amaram is a monster bonding an Unmade and Sadeas is a mustache twirling villain. The morality of the Stormlight Archive will not allow them to stick around like the people we met early on.

Moash, right now, is headed down that path. He has had plenty of chances to choose to be less evil, but whenever given the option, seems to choose the worst option.

This does not mean he is irredeemable. No character in Stormlight is irredeemable, but they have to choose redemption. Whether or not he is redeemable does not depend on his past, or his motivations, merely whether he chooses redemption or not.

POV: you’re a birdwatcher

Sazed: *picks up Marsh* but sir, this is my Emotional Support Inquisitor™️

You’d think that by now, the fused would learn to be scared when a Knight Radiant starts yelling character development at them

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

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.