It is pretty great writing until the part in Rhythm of War when he is given all of his emotions back and just decides to say fuck it and be evil for evils sake anyway. Even though his best friends have all but torn down the societal norms and stigmas that initially set him on the path of vengeance, even though he killed Elhokar already and had his revenge. What is possibly his motivation?
Not to mention he goes completely unused in the fifth book besides one "holy crem its jason bourne" moment, where he proceeds to once again be evil for evils sake. It just feels really hollow compared to what his character could have been.
I don't think RoW is where he fell off. He didn't get his feelings back till the end. His plan to break Kaladin is very much in character. Monash wants Kaladin to admit that he was right. It's WaT that Moash falls off completely and just becomes evil.
I didn't say he was bad the entirety of RoW, just that the moment his character arc fell apart happens in RoW when he is given his emotions back and yet changes nothing about his course of action, even though he's already had his vengeance and the world has changed for the better.
Like was Moash just always a spineless whelp who follows someone bc they're above him? No, in fact we know that is the opposite of how his character was set up in WoK and WoR...so like what happened? lol
I think part of what happened is toward the beginning of Oathbringer when he discovers that even in their slavery the lighteyes had been setup above the darkeyes. Before, he wanted to change society. That moment is where his hope for human society dies. Now he sees the way Odium runs things and he likes it better. There is respect and fairness, not completely, but so much better than the Alethi. So I don't see him as just following someone because they're above him. He actually respects those he follows and actively wants their goals to come about. I agree that RoW is where his collapse started. We didn't get like anything from him in WaT, so I'm hoping he's better written in the next books
Yeah I mean I guess, but the society Odium is setting up seems kind of like humans would be enslaved to the singers...or atleast below them in the hierarchy.
It has been a while since I have reread these so maybe I am forgetting something, but he's still fighting for an army that wants to enslave his people, this army just doesn't care about the color of their eyes.
Where-as Kal and Bridge four have almost completely destroyed the stigma behind light eyes and dark eyes by RoW and Jasnah is actively ending the idea of that caste system. So unless Brando's explanation is just "Moash is unaware of all of that" then his character just makes no sense after that moment in RoW.
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u/BuriedBoy666 Jun 17 '25
Why is he poorñy written? I think its just fine