Taravangian

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Taravangian is the former king of Kharbranth and Jah Keved on Roshar, He is the leader of the secret society known as "the Diagram" which believes the truth and the path to human salvation lies in the set of predictions and instructions he laid out on the day he was a genius. 
== Appearance and Personality ==
=== Appearance ===
Taravangian is an aged man with a wispy white beard, which he shaves during the True Desolation. He has pale grey eyes and an open, kindly face. He is described as having a “liver-spotted head.” He lives with perpetual aches in his body and other symptoms of old age. Before he Ascended as Vessel of Odium, he was in his 70s in Rosharan years.
=== Personality ===
==== Mortal ====
He is popular among many for providing free access to city hospitals funded by an admittance fee to the Palanaeum, and he is known to visit the hospitals on a weekly basis. Ruling Kharbranth with the help of a council. He has been quiet and humble for his entire life, which, when mixed by the claims by the doctor that birthed him that he would have "diminished capacity," led many people to believe he is slow witted. His history of being treated as disabled, and looked down on for it, potentially influenced his egotism and desire to prove his self-perceived superiority. 
People who know him better know he had a keen intelligence until his "illness" five years before the Battle of Thaylen Field. The illness is a consequence of a visit to the Nightwatcher who granted him great intelligence and great compassion, but cursed him to never have them at the same time. As a result, at the stroke of midnight, he is struck with a fluctuation of both. On some days, he cries and has compassion for everyone around him, while unable to have intelligent conversations, while on others he is brilliant, yet easily speaks of killing singing children. 
He is a very manipulative man, always putting up an act in public, especially when trying to gain information or prove his theories. One such act is him putting on a farce of reduced mental capacity due to a nuchal cord all his life, despite that said reduced capacity was never actually present. 
Taravangian is a pragmatic man who considers it his duty to do whatever it takes to make a better world. He defines the greatest good, the summum bonum of humanity, as that which causes the least amount of aggregate suffering within a population, even if it requires the suffering of an individual within or subset of that aggregate. Thus, the morality of actions is determined by how much they mitigate aggregate suffering. When he is posed a moral dilemma, asking what to do if three of four men are guilty of murder and one is unsure which is innocent, he says "To prevent murder to happen again … I must hang them all and weep," for he believes that such an action could bring about more good and less evil and suffering. He is thus a adherent of consequentialism, more specifically, utilitarianism. However, he doesn't find joy in sacrificing others, still classifying such actions as immoral and wrong, he simply believes that sometimes such sacrifice is required for the betterment of the whole, and is therefore justified. He expands on this idea, believing that the law is necessary for order, but that all judges are inherently flawed, therefore innocents would eventually be executed when they did not deserve it. He confesses that the prosecution of innocents is a negative consequence, and a categorical wrong, but he calls this the burden that society must carry in exchange for order. Therefore he justifies it with the net benefit the system, in his eyes, brings to society, regardless of the individual harms it may incur. He states that humanity, especially his own people, must survive any threat that comes to their survival. He turned this desire for the greatest good for his people into his raison d'être to which he devoted himself.
While he believes in the greatest net aggregate good, he is willing to sacrifice innocents and cause them pain. This is done so long as the pain caused does not meaningfully reduce the net happiness of the aggregate population. Due to this, while he sacrificed people for the potential of Death Rattles, he only chose to sacrifice the terminally ill, or those that would not be missed. Both done as a way to minimize net suffering, for the purposes of the greater happiness he believes it would bring. 
He considers himself a sort of martyr, who bears responsibility and stains his soul so that others don't have to, even if it ruins him. This is what he feels is the responsibility of a king. He accepts that the sins he commits stain him indelibly, but continues his actions regardless, for what he deems as the greater good. He believes that those unable to stain their hands are cowards that don't truly care about justice or goodness. However, fundamentally, his belief that his rule and methods are optimal is based in a want for power and control. Even before becoming Odium and formalizing his desire to become the God of the cosmere, he potentially expressed a desire become the king of everything. Furthermore, he does display a propensity towards egotheism, as he believes that he became a God on his most intelligent day when he made the Diagram, and that even on his less intelligent days, he can act as God's prophet.
But despite his willingness to sacrifice others, he refuses to let his family and his people be harmed if he could potentially stop it; trying to come to a compromise with Odium that let both survive. However, on his least empathetic of days, he is ruthless and lacks any regard for morality or social consequences for his actions. Due to this, he can often order deaths casually and without a single care, even if it provides no measurable benefit to society. 
He believes religion fills gaps and brings a sense of comfort which prevents deeper understanding and grants false comfort to people. He trusts only the Diagram, which is the result of his raw intelligence. Furthermore, he claims that the Diagram is the only thing that men should worship, though he simultaneously believes that they do not deserve it and would inherently corrupt it with flawed understanding and superstitions. At times, he believes that all but the most intelligent should be banned from learning how to read.
On his most emotional of days, he can be completely incoherent to the extent he finds it difficult to think. During these days, he tends to despise himself for his own self-professed stupidity, enough to bring himself to tears. He also tends to cry for the sake of others.
He can be rather judgmental against other nations and cultures, especially those that he deems less civilized, such as considering the Marati to be little more than barbarians.
==== Vessel of Odium ====
Becoming Odium heavily impacted Taravangian's personality, however, it was not metanoia, with many of his ideals, emotions, and philosophical outlooks remaining after his Ascension.
As Odium, Taravangian was able to simultaneously feel both his logical and emotional sides, and balance them in a harmonious manner. That is, he allowed his actions to be driven both by apathetic logic, and illogical emotion. This unity of opposites came to shape his behavior and actions. However, before his opposites reached unity, he let himself alternate between these contradicting halves as an attempt to resolve this antinomy within his being.
He came to believe that the cosmere would only know peace and prosperity if it was unified under a singular god, and thus he began to plan for war against all of the cosmere. His desire to conquer the cosmere quickly evolved into an insatiable cacoethes. This belief and desire was further cemented by the fact that he could feel all suffering of all peoples across the cosmere, thus filling him with the belief they needed to be liberated. However, he would only accept a future where he is the one true god of the cosmere. He sincerely believes that such a situation would be best for the cosmere, and for future progress towards a better future. Another aspect for this desire comes from his belief that it is social and governmental systems that bring about suffering, and simply helping those that are disadvantaged or marginalized by such systems would only lead to more suffering in the future as it doesn't tackle the root cause of the problem. 
He sees the major root cause of suffering to be, at a fundamental level, the actions and planetary administration of broken gods, who he viewed as unfit to rule; and due to corrupt systems which further facilitate human suffering. Thus, he sees that the world is only unjust and dangerous due to social and political systems in place within the world, rather than the inherent nature of the world itself, and that there are potential systems which would bring about a more just-world that minimizes suffering. Therefore, he does not inherently oppose such systems in-of-themselves, he simply opposes those currently in place within the cosmere. This desire to become the sole God of the cosmere is potentially rooted in ideals he held before Ascension.
He briefly entertained the idea of redistributing wealth and reallocating resources to mitigate the wealth gap between classes. However, Cultivation talked him out of this idea by convincing him that such a system would stifle human development by stopping the conflict and consequences that, she believes, facilitate social, political, and scientific developments.
Part of his conscious reasoning on why he had to be the one to conquer the cosmere was in his belief that his way, and the systems he wishes to put into place, are the optimal path for it, and that only he could properly put these plans into action. He also held a deep passion for his people and a genuine desire for what was best for them, and believed that his path was not only optimal, but logical. Furthermore, he came to believe that his family, who he loves deeply, would only be safe when everything was under his control and all threats to them were destroyed. 
Taravangian believes that his peace would be free of pain and suffering, that it is the greatest good for the cosmere, and that those that disagree with it being the best way to oppose oppressive systems simply do not see as far as him, and do not understand that it is the monarch's role to enforce his goals upon the world, for their good. He further argues that he is the only one that can see the bigger picture and understand what the greatest good is for all people. Taravangian also believes that such a war against the cosmere is supported not just by his emotion-motivated reasoning, but also by his logical reasoning. Furthermore, he believes that any atrocities committed in the furtherance of his goals are justified as they are done for the greatest good. Thus, due to his perception that his war would bring more peace and good in the long-run than it would bring suffering, he claims the right to war, and that his war is inherently good and justified. 
Following from his belief that all things are justified if it is for the furtherance of peace, he is even willing to psychologically torture a child for decades in order to groom him into a state he believed was the best for the cosmere. As seen in when he psychologically tortured Gavinor Kholin for twenty years in the Spiritual Realm in order to instill within him a deep hatred for Dalinar Kholin that led him to want to kill him, and thus willingly become Taravangian's champion. Thus, he states that sometimes, suffering is necessary for the furtherance of the greater good.
However, deep within himself, he knew that some day some entity would conquer the cosmere under themself, and he wanted to be the one to do it. It was a desire based not only on his compassion, but also on his want for power and control, and to prove that he was the greatest of all men. He was originally reticent to accept this truth, deceiving himself that he purely wanted power for the good of the cosmere. But he ultimately found it in himself to accept that he also simply wanted greater authority. This self-revelation led him to become more aligned with Odium's Intent. This, however, does not mean he does not still truly believe in the ideals he espoused before this self-revelation, such as a genuine love for humanity.
He retained his belief that, as king, he had to make morally ambiguous or evil actions for the purposes of protecting a greater amount of people. This belief was used as further justification for his planned conquest of the cosmere, and for all his actions done in furtherance of his goals. Following from his martyr complex, he believes that what is right is inherently difficult and has a cost, and due to this, most people aren't able to do what is truly right. This is not entirely without self-benefit, however, as he wants to be recognized and loved by his people for the actions he takes in their name. Furthermore, he has a desperate desire to be seen as right, especially by people he respects, such as Jasnah or Dalinar Kholin.
Despite his willingness to bring about suffering for what he believes is the greatest good, he displays deep sympathy for the people he sees suffer, and a hatred for the people and systems that bring about such suffering. Though he does not desire anarchy, both due to his own desire for power, and due to a belief that freedom and prosperity can only be brought about if he limits free will to an "acceptable degree," enough to allow for choices, but with enough control over them to prevent famine or other forms of harm. This is possibly rooted in his belief that a proper system of law is necessary for order, and for the good of humanity. 
His love for his people, and all people, grew even deeper after becoming the Vessel of Odium. From this growing and expanding love, his desire for the best for humanity grew from applying simply to the people of his own state, but to the cosmere as a whole.
He views the desire to help sapient beings and to minimize suffering to be the conflux of all Shards.
Taravangian conceptualizes Odium as the Shard of emotion and passion, stating that he, as Odium, is the very substance of passion itself. He also states that he is the god of Passion, and believes that he should inflame and celebrate passions and emotions in his followers, and that passions are what makes one truly live. He believes that Rayse was a glutton for consuming the passions of his people, and judges him for it.
He views the best way to operate his Shard to be making decisions based on reason while also feeling emotion. He came to see ruthlessness and the alienation of emotion to be deeply illogical. That intellect is not defined by a rejection of emotion, but rather the ruling of that emotion with reason. The best course of action, in his mind, is that which one comes to through both logical and emotional reasoning. He came to see his ruthlessness and immorality during his intelligent days to be illogical as it lacked any regard for morality or social consequences, this realization troubled Taravangian.
==== Vessel of Retribution ====
As Retribution he came to hold a deep hatred for those that break oaths, and those that did not believe them to be of the utmost importance. He came to experience more doubt about his more ruthless actions, and if they were in line with Honor. However, he tries to reason that his oaths and promises are kept despite such actions. Such as how he never broke his oaths to Gavinor, thus, despite his cruel treatment of him, he believes that his actions were in-line with Honor.
== Attributes and Abilities ==
Taravangian has surprising knowledge of the Shin and the Shin language, which is rare outside of Shinovar. He also knows women's script and has solved Fabrisan's Conundrum. He is responsible for Dalinar's knowledge of how to capture a spren: giving it what it wants. This knowledge is key for Dalinar's victory over Nergaoul at the battle of Thaylen City.
=== Old Magic ===
Taravangian claims to have asked the Nightwatcher for, "Capacity. Capacity to stop what was coming. The capacity to save humankind." As a result, Taravangian's level of intelligence varies from day to day. This enabled him to write the Diagram on a day of particularly notable intelligence. He believes that his curse is a level of compassion inversely proportional to his intelligence; he feels little to no compassion on days of high intelligence, contrasted with days of low intelligence and great compassion "to feel pain for what he had done." Some days he displays diminished intellect, to the extent of experiencing difficulty reading basic messages, and brought easily to tears as he realizes decisions he makes may bring death to innocents; while on others he is more intelligent and able-minded than the greatest scholar, sometimes being beyond human capacity as a whole, but regards everything he is ordering done with cold logic and an eye for the bigger picture of Roshar. The change in intelligence and compassion will still happen even if Taravangian is awake and conscious in the middle of the night.
Every morning he takes an intelligence test that he devised for himself on intelligent days. The test takes the better part of an hour and is made up of mathematical problems. A trio of stormwardens consult regarding his answers and decide his intelligence for the day. The stormwardens as well as Mrall, his head bodyguard, also decide if he is fit to rule and what restrictions he will be subject to. He is restricted to his room on both his worst and best of days because during both he tends to make irrational regulations.
=== Vessel ===
Upon taking up the Shard and becoming Odium, he shows some ability to control the Shard's destructive Intent, and he appears better at seeing the future than Rayse was.
Like all Vessels, he is capable of thinking multiple thoughts simultaneously, and appearing in multiple places at once.
He has the ability to feel the suffering and the passion of all people in the cosmere, and has the capacity to fully process all of this stimuli. This ability seems to be incapable of being deactivated, as it is an inherent aspect of his connection to Odium. Furthermore, he is able to observe any location within the cosmere, though he is incapable of forming a physical manifestation or affecting the world anywhere outside of the Rosharan system. 
Upon becoming Retribution, he was classified as one of the most powerful and Invested beings in the cosmere. Furthermore, he was freed from his binding to the Rosharan system.
== History ==
=== Background ===
Taravangian was born via caesarean section. When he was born, the surgeon said he had a nuchal cord. This surgeon made public that Taravangian might have diminished capacity and the recommendation was to keep him on outer estates in favor of others. Though the diminished capacity was not present, the reputation followed him all his life.
He was childhood friends with Adrotagia and his nickname was Vargo.
Taravangian met Battar, a Herald posing as an ardent named Dova, who said that the True Desolation was close.
In around , Taravangian's mother died from tumors. He was present when she died, and heard her say a Death Rattle, speaking of the True Desolation and the Night of Sorrows.
=== The Nightwatcher and the creation of the Diagram ===
At some point after Dalinar Kholin visited the Nightwatcher in 1168, Taravangian asked her for "the capacity to save humankind." He was granted the boon of great intelligence and great compassion, but the curse of not having them at the same time. As a result, he wakes up every morning with a fluctuation of both. This was granted by Cultivation rather than the Nightwatcher.
On his day of greatest genius, "twenty hours of lucid insanity", he covered every surface of his bedroom in hieroglyphics he invented that day. They offered a brutal path for humanity's survival, which he believed to be the Nightwatcher's attempt to save humankind.
The writing was transcribed and annotated into a book by Adrotagia and other scribes. The book came to be known as the Diagram. Taravangian created a secret society with the same name in order to aid in interpreting it, and then to fulfill those interpretations.
One of the first things he studies are Death Rattles. These experiments were run at a secret hospital hidden in his palace, filled with hundreds of beds for the terminally ill, poor, and forgotten who would not be missed. The patients were slowly killed by draining their blood so the Silent Gatherers could record the cryptic sentences spoken in the seconds before death. Through these Death Rattles, Taravangian hoped to gain information with which he can update the Diagram. He was aware that they were caused by Moelach, but the Silent Gatherers may not have been.
=== Kharbranth ===
During a highstorm, Taravangian's granddaughter became trapped within a room in the Conclave when a large stone fell and obstructed the doorway. The king enlisted the help of Jasnah Kholin, who had already been in the city, offering her access to the Palanaeum in exchange for the use of her Soulcaster to remove the rock. Making a deal with the heretical princess was a dangerous political move on Taravangian's part as it risked angering the ardentia. Ostensibly, Taravangian made the deal because his architects would not have time to cut through the boulder before the next highstorm arrived and because removing the boulder by conventional means would gave risked further cave-ins in the area. In actuality, Taravangian could have rescued his granddaughter on his own, but wanted to see Jasnah's powers in order to confirm his suspicions that she was a Surgebinder. Before Soulcasting the rock to smoke, Jasnah recommended that the king and his staff move to the end of the hall to be out of range; however, Taravangian refused, ostensibly out of a desire not leave his granddaughter to go through the ordeal alone. The Alethi princess then Soulcast the stone into smoke, freeing the king's granddaughter, along with the child's nursemaids and several palace servants. Taravangian offered to hold a feast as a way of thanking Jasnah; however, she declined instead requesting to be taken directly to the Palanaeum so she could begin her study.
The incident with Taravangian's granddaughter had been deliberately planned by the king. He suspected Jasnah was using means to soulcast that did not include the use of the fabrial she carried and intentionally engineered a scenario where he could observe her work. Despite his ulterior motives, he was concerned for his granddaughter's well-being and did not want her to be harmed, despite putting her in a dangerous situation.
Weeks later, Taravangian joined Shallan and Jasnah for lunch on their balcony in the Veil. In response to Jasnah's inquiry, he reported that his granddaughter had recovered from her ordeal, though now avoided the narrower passageways of the Conclave in case of a repeat incident. Curious, he asked the princess where she had acquired her Soulcaster, further confirming his hypothesis that she "was" the Soulcaster when she declined to answer. He acknowledged her refusal and turned the subject towards Shallan and her artistic skills, which had earned her quite the reputation in the Conclave and Palace. She was all too happy to fulfill the king's request for a portrait, which he intended to give as a gift to his granddaughter.
While Shallan drew, the king struck up conversation again with Jasnah, this time about religion and the Jasnah's lack of faith. He had trouble understanding how she could differentiate between right and wrong when what was right was a dictate of the Almighty. Right and wrong, Jasnah argued, shouldn't be subject to the will of an unseen being. To her, morality and human will were as independent from religion as mathematics. Taravangian ultimately claimed to disagree with the scholar, though he did admire the efficiency of her arguments. Jasnah explained that she had no intention of trying to convert him to her beliefs, unlike those in the ardentia, who had repeately tried to convert her.
Shallan, who had been engrossed in the conversation, went to finish her drawing of the king, however, found that she had added several Cryptics to the background of her sketch by accident. She destroyed the drawing, promising Taravangian that she would do him another by the end of the day. Shortly after, Taravangian excused himself so he could visit one of the many hospitals that he had established in Kharbranth. After he took his leave, Jasnah chided Shallan for calling the king dull and told her that she was not to refer to him in that manner. She deeply admired the man who reminded her of her uncle Dalinar and found them both to be earnest and sincere. 
After several people were killed in the theater district of Kharbranth, Taravangian stepped in, hoping that he could prompt the city watch into action. His efforts failed and despite the reprimands, the watch continued to ignore the section of the city that had been terrorized by criminals. Eventually, Jasnah took it upon herself to remove the criminals, traveling into the city late at night with Shallan and purposely putting them in a situation where they would be attacked. After she killed the men using Soulcasting, Jasnah explained to Shallan that she had done so as a service to the king of whom she felt she had taken advantage. She worried that Taravangian did not realize the danger he had put himself in by welcoming her to his city and did what she could to help him.
Weeks later, Taravangian visited Shallan in the hospital after her supposed suicide attempt. Taravangian visited the hospitals of Kharbranth at least once a week and was a welcomed sight for those admitted on the ward. During his visits he would sit and talk with each patient, checking on their progress, and doing what he could to help. Shallan complimented the king on the greatness of Kharbranth's hospitals, an accomplishment of which the man was extremely proud. Taravangian denied Shallan's request to be released from the hospital. However, before he left, did grant her wish for visitation rights. Outside the ward, Taravangian ran into Jasnah who had been studying in the waiting room. He explained that Shallan could now receive visitors and passed on the news that she had decided to return to her family's estate before leaving the princess to visit with her student.
Szeth, the Assassin in White, traveled to Kharbranth with orders to kill the king after causing destruction throughout Jah Keved. The assassin had explicit instructions on how the king was to be killed: it was to be done quietly, without any additional deaths and the man was only to die after he acknowledged Szeth's intent. Taravangian ignored Szeth's declaration when confronted, instead speaking to him of the chaos and destruction the assassin had caused. He revealed to Szeth that he had been the assassin's hidden master and was in possession of the man's Oathstone. Taravangian had also deliberately put his own name on Szeth's list to deflect suspicion from himself. He took Szeth to his hidden hospital, where Szeth witnessed the atrocities the king of Kharbranth was committing to maximize access to the Death Rattles. Taravangian freely admitted to the monstrous acts he had committed before commanding Szeth to seek out Dalinar Kholin on the Shattered Plains and end his life.
=== King of Jah Keved === 
The Diagram showed that Taravangian needed to unite Roshar under his rule in order to save mankind. The first path was Jah Keved, and per the scripts he needed to gain possession of Szeth's Oathstone. After he was able to do so, he ordered Szeth to kill a number of world leaders, including Hanavanar, the king of Jah Keved, and various other highprinces of Jah Keved. The power vacuum in Jah Keved resulted in a devastating succession war which wiped out all of the remaining highprinces. Taravangian arrived at the city in time for the death of the last Veden Highprince, Valam, who named him king of Jah Keved. Taravangian was able to fulfill his plot without anyone suspecting his intervention. They believed he was given the title as an act of spite from Valam and accepted Taravangian as king.
=== Dalinar's coalition of Roshar === 
One of the Diagram's interpretations resulted in the request to kill Dalinar, and Taravangian sent Szeth to kill him. During the Battle of Narak, Szeth went after him but was beaten by Kaladin. Shortly after, Szeth discovered he was not Truthless and forsook his Oathstone, breaking his allegiance with Taravangian. After this failure, Taravangian decided to move closer to Dalinar. He was the first king to unite with Dalinar. When he found out no other king would be part of the coalition, he recommended invasion. After his surprise at Dalinar's negotiation strategy, he agreed to follow him and eventually moved with him to Urithiru.
While he pretended to work with Dalinar, he secretly plotted to gain political advantage: he burst the market by sending supplies via Jah Keved; he had his Knight Radiant Malata working the Oathgate; and he sent merchant ships to Thaylen City with healers. He shared their knowledge in fabrials with Navani, and let them know of technology that will create half-shards. After having a relatively brilliant day, he decided that the best action was to take Dalinar's place on the coalition and afterwards push for its collapse. He believed this would make Odium meet his agreements and save "what he can, abandon the rest." Though he was dismissed or not needed in the war councils where the defenses for Jah Keved were being planned, he was plotting to find secrets that would destroy Dalinar. He sent his Radiant's spren, Spark, to spy on him, and, along with his scholars and other Diagram followers, was able to succeed. During a meeting with all the other kingdoms' representatives in which they determined the enemy would strike Thaylen City, he struck against the highprince by leaking three facts:
1.) Elhokar had sworn to Dalinar as High King, and though this was an Alethi political tactic, some other kingdoms felt threatened that Dalinar would ask the same from them. This eroded Fen's faith in the coalition, though she stayed with Dalinar because she would prefer him to lead than the Voidbringers.
2.) Dalinar had a vision in which Odium threatened to destroy the world. This caused conflict concerning the use of powers that can't be controlled, in this case, Dalinar's. This caused Yanagawn to break off the alliance.
3.) The translation of the Dawnchant proved that the original Voidbringers were humans, putting the war's legitimacy in question and giving Taravangian an excuse to "lose faith" in the war effort.
These revelations were enough to destroy most of the coalition, with only the Thaylen queen staying with Dalinar.
=== Battle of Thaylen Field and Aftermath === 
Taravangian was decided to ensure Dalinar's failure at Thaylenah. By the time Odium strikes them, he and his people had already left and had retrieved their ships. He also wrote to the singers and opened the gate to Urithiru to attack there and prevent them from sending help to the Thaylens.
Much to Taravangian's surprise, Dalinar and his allies win the battle. He comes clean on several points, including his plotting to take the throne of Jah Keved, his usage of Szeth, and knowledge of the Desolation. He however kept to himself the existence of the Diagram and that he brought the singers to Urithiru. Though Dalinar would never again trust him as before, this does clear the air and their relationship is not fully broken.
Eight days after the battle, on a day of below average intelligence, he received a vision from Odium, who took a tall form reminiscent of the Shin with a scepter in his hand. Taravangian tried to convince Odium that he only wanted to serve him and begs him to visit him another day, but Odium sees through him immediately and orders him not to prostrate himself. He then asked Taravangian why he would be inclined to speak with the king on a day of intelligence, thereby allowing him to negotiate from a position of power, declaring that such an event would never happen. 
Taravangian then offered a deal to Odium, knowing the god couldn't afford to face Dalinar directly again for fear of losing a previously declared contest of champions. The agreement would trade his help by sharing the Diagram's information (though he could not read Renarin's participation) and giving him the Honorblade in exchange for sparing the people of Kharbranth (the city itself, any humans born into it, and their spouses). Odium accepted, placing Taravangian and the Diagram firmly under the control of Dalinar's enemy.
=== Betrayal and Imprisonment ===
A year later, Taravangian distanced himself from Kharbranth and his fellow Diagram members in preparation of being contacted by Odium, who commanded him to have his forces betray Dalinar's on their campaign in Emul. As Taravangian expected, the betrayal is swiftly dealt with and Dalinar has him arrested and imprisoned.
Dalinar, wishing to see the good in Taravangian, did not immediately execute him, instead keeping him prisoner in a well-furnished home where Taravangian's requests were cared for. During this time, Taravangian's mental state deteriorated, and he spent more days in his cognitively impaired, compassionate state. He was visited by Szeth and Renarin, but was too slow to carry on a conversation, and believed that he failed at his plan of manipulating Szeth. Dalinar eventually declared that he was not to be executed, and instead sentenced him to lifelong imprisonment so that he could prove to Taravangian that the coalition was capable of defeating Odium.
Taravangian, however, realized that he could kill Odium himself, guessing that if Szeth saw the Shard manifesting, he would strike out with Nightblood. He had also figured out that the future of anyone close to Renarin would be obscured to Odium, due to the fact that both of their methods of seeing the future used Fortune. Consequently, he requested that Dalinar bring him an Oathstone so that Szeth would come to his prison with the intent of killing him. He also asked Sja-anat for a way to ensure that Odium arrived at the same time as the assassin and, knowing that Odium was tracking her corrupted spren, she sent him two gemstones with corrupted windspren.
Just as Taravangian had plotted, Szeth entered his house, intending to kill him. As Szeth was reaching for his knife, Odium arrived and pulled Taravangian's mind out of the Physical Realm. Still next to Szeth in the Physical Realm, Taravangian reached for the manifestation of Nightblood in the vision and used the weapon to attack Odium. Szeth then killed Taravangian, but before he could pass into the Beyond, Nightblood consumed Rayse, the original Vessel of Odium. As Taravangian was having his least intelligent day yet, his emotions ran rampant, giving him an Intent very similar to that of the Shard, allowing him to Ascend to become the new Vessel of Odium.
=== Vessel of Odium ===
After his Ascension, Taravangian conversed with Cultivation, who explained some of the nature of his new power. Taravangian intends to expand Odium's influence throughout the cosmere after his and Dalinar's contest of champions is settled, regardless of the outcome.
=== The Ten Days ===
==== Day One () ====
On , Taravangian visted Tu Bayla and held a dead child in his arms, crying at the state of the world and the systems which brought about that state. He engaged in a debate with Cultivation about what the best course of action was in order to bring about the greatest good for the cosmere.
==== Day Two () ====
On , Taravangian spoke with El, and he was able to convince him to release Dai-Gonarthis and use her to help his troops at the Shattered Plains. He also declared El leader of his troops during the invasion. Later, he strode through Kholinar. He came to decide to let his logical and emotional sides to alternate, each getting their own chance to influence his actions.
==== Day Three () ====
On , he put this system of alternation into motion. He spoke with the Herald Battar, and offered her a planet if she were to help him in his attempt to conquer Roshar. He convinced her to give Moash her crystal spikes so that he could once again see, and also sense Investiture. Shortly following his meeting, he travelled to speak with Moash and grant him the spikes.
==== Day Four () ====
On , Taravangian let his emotion rule, and traveled to Kharbranth. 
==== Day Five () ====
On , Taravangian reconciled his halves and let them rule simulatenously. 
==== Day Six () ====
On , Taravangian travelled to Kharbranth and noticed assassins put in place by Cultivation to kill his family if he didn't comply with her demands. In response, he destroyed Kharbranth with a major tidal wave. In reality, he made a replica of Kharbranth in the Spiritual Realm and moved his people into it, therefore saving the occupants. The original, Physical Realm Kharbranth however, was truly destroyed in the event.
==== Day Seven () ====
On , Taravangian decided that the best way to make Dalinar accept that his way was right was to break him down psychologically.
==== Day Eight () ====
On , Taravangian noticed Dalinar appear to vanish from the Spiritual Realm, he came to believe this was due to Honor's power hiding him, and contemplated destroying the power.
==== Day Nine () ====
On , Taravangian continued to think on whether he should destroy Honor, and looked at the permutations of the future to see what the best course of action was.
He began to torture Gavinor Kholin in the Spiritual Realm in order to groom him into the perfect champion for the upcoming contest. He placed him through a system of visions that engrained in him a deep hatred of Dalinar Kholin, and a love for Taravangian himself, thus leaving him willing to become his champion and attempt to kill Dalinar in the contest of champions. Within the visions themselves, Gavinor experienced twenty years of this grooming, with only a few hours passing in the Physical Realm.
==== Day Ten and the creation of Retribution () ====
During the contest of champions between Dalinar Kholin and Gavinor Kholin on , Dalinar Ascended to, and then quickly gave up, the Shard of Honor. Taravangian then took it up himself, becoming the Vessel of the hybrid Shard of Retribution.
His actions led to Dalinar's death, and he attempted to take his Cognitive Shadow and Unmake it. But he went to the Beyond before he could do so. In response, he took a version of Dalinar from a vision in the Spiritual Realm, which Dalinar had previously filled with his memories, and turned it into his servant.
The events that occurred on heavily distorted spacetime in the region around Roshar, leading it to experience extreme time dilation.
=== Night of Sorrows ===
Shortly after his assimilation of Honor, Retribution informed the listeners and instructed them that they could freely receive his Light if they left their spheres out at midnight and asked him to bless them. Furthermore, he promised that he was only an interested party offering help, and not the listeners' god. 
After around a month and a half, Retribution withdrew the Everstorm from Azir, in recognition of the fact that they had won their independence in the terms of the agreement he made with Dalinar Kholin.
Following the start of the Night of Sorrows, Retribution went into hiding before the other Shards could move against him, planning to return to Roshar later. He was enraged by this, as it led to his centuries of future plans and manipulations being foiled, as the timeline for the war was greatly moved up. He also decided he needed to set up a regent pro tempore for Roshar, to rule over the planet as he hides away from the Shards.
== Relationships ==
=== Adrotagia ===
Adrotagia is Taravangian's head scribe and closest friend. They have been friends for 73 years, since they were children. Even on his days of genius he is aware of her intelligence. He has real fondness for her.
=== Dalinar Kholin ===
Dalinar Kholin and Taravangian have a complex relationship, which intermixes respect, ideological disagreement, and later, hatred.
Dalinar initially assumed, like many others, that Taravangian was "slow-minded," and thus he looked down upon him. However, this perspective began to change after a philosophical discussion with the king, which led him to develop a respect for him.
Taravangian deeply respects Dalinar, and partially due to this, he has a desperate desire for Dalinar to admit that he was right in his goals and ideals. Likely due to this, he often tries to preach his ideals to Dalinar. However, despite his respect, he criticizes Dalinar for his perceived hypocrisy and cowardice, due to how Dalinar benefited off of institutions such as slavery and resisted their abolishment, among other actions, yet adamantly denies Taravangian's ideals of a leader having to be corrupt and immoral for the sake of their state and their people.
Dalinar fundamentally opposes Taravangian's ideology, for on the problem of dirty hands, Taravangian finds any immoral action as justified if for the greatest good of his subjects, whilst Dalinar finds such disregard for moral rules to be reprehensible.
=== Jasnah Kholin ===
Taravangian criticizes Jasnah for being unable to see the bigger picture, and that her actions and ideas are fundamentally based on her inability to see this bigger picture, and thus her inability to truly know the greatest good. He further criticizes her for being willing to sacrifice other worlds in the cosmere for the sake of Roshar, and other countries for her own country, and thus does not truly care for the greatest good as she claims. He claims she only seeks her own greater good, and not that of humanity.
=== Malata ===
Malata is a Veden bodyguard and Dustbringer. She works for him and follows his lead, however she had said that she "is not his" and they were there because her spren Spark suggested visiting Urithiru now that it has been rediscovered.
=== Rayse ===
Taravangian is fully aware of Odium's power. On the day Taravangian created the Diagram, he drafted out plans to save humanity from Odium. But on the same day, he also anticipated his direct confrontation with Odium after the Battle of Thaylen Field, and wrote down instructions for the future and dumber version of Taravangian on that day to follow. He explained that after the contest of champions was agreed, Odium would need people to do his bidding lest he get pressed into a duel he may lose. Taravangian makes a deal with Odium, trading the help of the Diagram and the Honorblade in exchange for sparing the people of Kharbranth. Odium comments on his drive, saying, "Your passion does you credit".
Taravangian judges Rayse for how he consumed the passions of his followers, calling him a glutton for it.
=== Taravangian's Grandchildren ===
Taravangian has three grandchildren who write to him. They are oblivious to the Diagram and his plans. The eldest is Gvori, accepted at the school of storms, Karavangia, the middle accepted forwardship and little Ruli. He has another granddaughter who became trapped in a rockslide, which he took as an opportunity to see Jasnah Kholin use her Soulcaster. Despite his ulterior motives, he was concerned for her wellbeing and did not want her to be harmed.
== Quotes ==
== Trivia ==
* What happens to Taravangian increases multiple types of intelligence, not just raw 'processing power'. Someone tapping enough feruchemical zinc could achieve something similar but not quite the same.
* Taravangian was deaf in the original draft of Way of Kings Prime. Brandon removed this part of Taravangian's character as he thought he had done it poorly.
* Taravangian would make a worse President of the United States than Rashek.
== Notes ==
category: viewpoint characters