Words of Radiance: Chapter 39

Progression of the Chapter:
Gloom prevails, as Father pretends wealth he doesn’t have; he has beaten a maid nearly to death in anger at Helaran's letter; he is betrothed, but no one can pretend excitement; he gives fine gifts (which he can’t afford) to his children to mark the occasion; he still never shouts at Shallan; feasting is interrupted by a man with heterochromatic eyes, bearing rumors of murder; while Father and the man talk, Shallan and her brothers huddle by fireplace; Shallan blanks out; she makes up stories about Father’s conversation, with puns hidden to distract her brothers – and actually makes them laugh; they get in trouble for laughing, but Balat actually has a good answer and Father leaves them alone for a while; the visitor makes a request for information from every lighteyes in the room; courage fails; Father roars; and everyone runs away.
Quote of the Chapter:
Commentary:
Perhaps there was once a time when the Davars were, if not a perfect family, at least a reasonably happy one. If so, those days are gone.
In fact, they’re a complete mess now. Father's temper and self-control have deteriorated to the point that he’s brutally beating servants over a letter from Helaran. He’s throwing parties and pretending to be wealthy, but he’s actually desperate for money. His pretense is good enough to deceive most people, even to the point that another Brightlord has been willing to betroth his youngest daughter to Davar. He is doing everything he can to gain prestige and influence, but his home is a disaster.
Was Davar under Odium's influence? Based on previous flashbacks, it seems possible. Did the stress of the circumstances surrounding the death of his wife open him to that influence, or was it Odium’s influence that magnified his stress to the point of madness?
On another tangent ...
Why is Shallan the Davar family's "pride above all others"? Is a lone daughter generally such a prized member of a Veden family? Is this a unique aspect of Lin and Shallan Davar?
In any case, Shallan is trying her best to cheer her brothers up in spite of it all (as long as she doesn’t have to remember the truth). Still, it's frustrating to read passages like this:
Since her older brothers are incapable of doing anything along the lines of remedying this, Shallan has taken the lead on attempting to do so. Its possible that she’s the only one who could have a positive influence on Father at this stage. For all her reliance on his goodness and courage, even Helaran only has the power to make things worse: not knowing the truth, he actively and viciously blames their father for their mother’s murder. Is the pressure of blame from his beloved son, combined with his own determination to protect his equally-beloved daughter from the consequences of the truth, making him unable to answer the accusations? Is this largely responsible for Lord Davar’s mental breakdown? If Shallan could tell the truth even within her own family ... but at this point, they wouldn’t believe her unless she produced the Shardblade.
Chapter-title-character-guy is not a particularly nice person. Genetics on Roshar is weird; Highprince Valam's bastard son, Redin, has one light eye ("intense blue") and one dark eye ("dark brown"). Not that heterochromatic eyes are unheard of on Earth, but it seems more widely known on Roshar, as well as being a handy and absolute evidence of parentage.
Redin is here - as investigator and possibly executioner - to search for evidence that Lin Davar killed his wife, presumably because Helaran said so and then disappeared. Fortunately for the truth, no one here is brave enough to stand up and give that evidence, and the two people in the room who know ... aren’t telling. If the truth had come out (besides destroying the story Brandon is telling, of course), would Shallan have been pardoned? Would they have tried to make her give up her Shardblade? Would they, too, have tried to kill her? What might have been their reaction?
On yet another note, the Davars received a brief letter from Helaran six months back, along with a book by the famous Jasnah Kholin for Shallan to read. Why?
And so begins a new phase of her education! Helaran can be thanked for at least that much.
There’s also an interesting note that Shallan has begun to study propriety - with some difficulty, since her tutors kept leaving - but that her father wasn’t big on the niceties of Vorin social etiquette. It demonstrates the fact that, although he is of fairly high rank, he is still very much a rural Brightlord without any semblance of courtly manners.
Stormwatch: This scene takes place when Shallan is thirteen-and-a-half years old. This is two years after the first flashback, "Red Carpet Once White."
Sprenspotting:
Flamespren are fairly common occurrences, so the scene with the boys watching the flamespren is significant only in its accompanying statement that "The three brothers never talked anymore."
There is another spren soon to come in this tableau, which made its first appearance back in the Rysn Interlude: shamespren. These collect in their little group by the fire, when no one can bring oneself to speak against Father in the matter of the death of his wife. Just why do shamespren have such a lovely appearance, though? "A whirling group of translucent flower petals stirred among them, fading into view." Another case of a deeply inconvenient spren? And what do they look like in the Cognitive Realm?
Heraldic Symbolism:
The Heralds for this flashback are Chach and Nalen. Chach's meaning might be the "obedient" aspect, although in some ways Shallan is also serving as guard for her brothers, and her father is a guard for her. Dustbringers seems more appropriate to the scenario, though. As for Nalan, Redin, is likely his representative as Judge, as well as portraying the attributes of Just and Confident. However, there have been hinted links between the Skybreakers and Helaran, as well as Nalan’s other appearances to developing Surgebinders. All worth consideration.
Just Sayin’:
There are a couple of curious little remarks to note: "To the void with all of you" would seem to be the equivalent of "to hell with you." Which is ... pretty much a direct parallel. Likewise, when Shallan has been cracking bad puns, her brother laughs and calls her "You little Voidbinger," which is obviously like "you little devil."
Another socially significant hint is dropped in this chapter, though, which is easy to miss. Shallan notes that Father has started calling her brother "Nan Balat, as if he were the oldest." A little later, she specifically calls him "Tet Balat," as they are speaking of Helaran and his disappearances. It's slightly bizarre to consider a culture where the order of birth – and inheritance – matters so much that the associated titles are actually used between family members.
"Nan" is the title for the oldest son, the person nominally in "second place" in the family, with the Lord obviously in first. The second son is "Tet," the third is "Asha," and the fourth is "Van." This is mildly confusing, because while Nan is directly associated with the number 2, where do Tet, Asha, and Van come from? The names associated with those hierarchical numbers are, respectively: 3, Chach; 4, Vev; and 5, Palah. If anything, Tet is closest to Tanat (9), Asha to Shash (6), and Van to Vev (4). Weird.
- Paraphrased from Alice Areneson