Torol Sadeas

Torol Sadeas
by Marie Seeberger
Family Spouse Ialai Ancestors Sadees
Born	1123
Died	Jesesach 1174
Abilities	Shardbearer
Titles	Highprince of Alethkar, Highprince of Information (renounced)
Groups	Sadeas army
Nationality	Alethi
Homeworld	Roshar
Universe	Cosmere

Torol Sadeas is an Alethi Highprince on Roshar. Through a number of successful battles fought alongside Gavilar and Dalinar Kholin, he became one of the most powerful men in the Kingdom. Known for his cruelty and brutality, Sadeas is a proficient political master and along with his wife Ialai, they take care of inconvenient people. He commands one of the two most significant armies on the Shattered Plains, the other being the army of Dalinar Kholin. As Highprince of Information, he was able to manipulate the king and the other Highprinces. He was still able to outmaneuver Dalinar, even after he was openly found guilty of treason. He possesses both Shardplate and Dalinar Kholin's Shardblade, Oathbringer. He is murdered by Adolin Kholin a few days after their arrival in Urithiru.

Appearance and Personality

Torol Sadeas is a bright eyed man. He has a bulbous head, curly hair, and ruddy face. His Princedom's colors are green and white, but his Shardplate is painted red. It is decorated, including tassels on his helm.[3]

Sadeas is and always has been a brutal, cruel man. He has no compassion and enjoys showing off and pillaging. He will sacrifice people easily to meet his goals. This was a pattern during the Unification of Alethkar War and later, with his bridgmen at the Shattered Plains.

He is proficient at politics and strategy. His marriage to his wife is strong because she is also very good at conspiracy, intrigue and plotting. They both run their kingdom with those same values, and his warcamps will reflect this.

Before Gavilar is assassinated, Sadeas and Dalinar were very close friends. They maintain their respect for the other's abilities and appear cordial in person, but Sadeas secretly wants to outmaneuver Dalinar any way he can.[5]

Sadeas does not believe in the Codes and is sure that compassion and diplomacy are signs of weakness. He believes Gavilar Kholin's death was evidence that the Codes lead to ruin. This was one of the main reasons for him to betray Dalinar.

• Images of Sadeas
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  Portrait by User: Sheep

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  House Sadeas glyphpair by User: Awesomeness

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  With Oathbringer by User: Sheep

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  Portrait of Torol and Ialai Sadeas by User: Botanicaxu

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  Skecthes by User: Sheep

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  Sadeas and Ialai by User: Sheep

History

Unification of Alethkar

Torol Sadeas was the closest friend to Gavilar and Dalinar Kholin during the Unification of Alethkar. He and Gavilar would plot together the strategy and direction of the war. House Sadeas was one of the three kingdoms to fight along with the Kholins.

He was key on pushing the allegiance to greater brutality. He was not ashamed of his cold heart as he was known for showing off his cruelty, which included hanging the heads of the fallen Highprinces and their high officers. He would openly enjoy the pillage of the fallen cities.

Sadeas was very proficient at politics since his early years. He would talk to persuade new allies, if he was not convinced on getting their full loyalty, he would find "Alethi" ways to get rid of them. His wife, Ialai Sadeas, would be the one elaborating the schemes for getting rid of the problematic allies.

The Rift

During times of a unified Alethkar, Sadeas enjoyed doing politics and the power he had under Gavilar. He helped plot tactics to keep power and stability, maintaining war and fear as his most important weapons, while Gavilar moved to a more political/influential type of leadership. This difference was key to the decisions leading to the destruction of The Rift. Tanalan, son of old Tanalan who was bested by Dalinar ten years ago, led the Rift. It was on that same battle that Dalinar has spared young Tanalan as mercy for being a small boy. He however was now a young leader rebelling against the Kholins. Gavilar had tried diplomacy and indirect fear (sending Dalinar to Herdaz), but failed. Eventually, he had to agree on sending forces and take the city by force. Dalinar lead the army to take The Rift, however, after a convincing argument by Evi, he tried to get Tanalan to agree on surrender without murdering anyone. Tanalan offered a pact where he would give the names of the traitors who had helped them to rise, in exchange for no violence. He accused Sadeas as the traitor. Dalinar followed the caravan leaving the Rift and fell into a trap, realizing that the Rifters, and not Sadeas, had betrayed him, he goes back to camp and decides to attack. When Dalinar gets back to camp, he finds that his army thought he was dead. He and Sadeas decide to delay the news on his survival to Gavilar and decide to not only attack but destroy the Rift. They do, and in doing so, Evi is accidentally murdered. .

Sadeas spun the news of the Rift’s destruction to the king’s advantage. He’d called it regrettable that the Rifters had forced Kholin action by killing Dalinar’s wife and it was unfortunate the city caught fire during the fighting.

Sadeas would continue to be the close and advocate for Gavilar and his kingdom. He would be the first Highlord to offer allegiance to Elhokar when he calls for war on the Parshendi to avenge his father.

The War of Reckoning

Sadeas was first introduced when he participated in a hunt out on the Shattered Plains with Dalinar, Renarin, Adolin, and King Elhokar. Sadeas taunted Dalinar over his lack of recent success in capturing gemhearts.

When they arrived at the plateau where preparations for the hunt were under way, a chasmfiend appeared on the plateau with all the courtiers and scribes, instead of the smaller plateau the hunt was supposed to take place on. Dalinar, Adolin, and Elhokar immediately dashed for the chasmfiend, hoping to kill it before it hurts any bystanders. From a distance, Sadeas used his grandbow to weaken it while Dalinar and Adolin went for its legs and Elhokar distracted it. At some point in the battle, Elhokar's saddle strap broke, throwing him to the ground. To save him from being crushed, Dalinar, with Shardplate-enhanced strength, caught the claw that would have otherwise crushed Elhokar. Adolin continued to cut off its legs and the chasmfiend was eventually unable to support its own weight. Elhokar summoned his Shardblade again and used it to kill the chasmfiend, then harvest its gemheart.

Back in the pavilion on the Plains, Elhokar and Sadeas conversed when Dalinar approached. Elhokar remarked to Dalinar that Sadeas won three gemhearts in the last few weeks, followed up by chiding Dalinar for not having won any himself in that time. Both Elhokar and Sadeas made use of the topic to highlight many of Sadeas' achievements, which Dalinar calls into question, especially the act of sending unprotected bridgemen against the Parshendi. While Elhokar noted that Sadeas' bridge crews are more efficient than Dalinar's, and is why he is able to win so many gemhearts, Dalinar was of the opinion that Sadeas' method wastes lives, to which Sadeas retorted that Dalinar's reliance on wheels to maneuver his bridges is foolish.

Sadeas showed he has the mindset of most Alethi when he couldn't reconcile how Dalinar could have more important things to attend than the war and vengeance for Gavilar. While Dalinar takes a moralistic stance, a very un-Alethi way of thinking, Sadeas is only concerned with efficiency and results. From this point on, the argument deteriorated until Sadeas insulted Dalinar's sons, which is defused only by their mutual understanding for the safety of the king, not allowing their rivalry to descend into open conflict.

It is revealed Sadeas and Dalinar planned to manipulate Highprince Vamah into using more of Elhokar's Soulcasters, proving the two of them can work together in the best interests of the king. During the night of Gavilar's assassination, Sadeas acted as a decoy in an attempt to lead Szeth-son-son-Vallano away so Gavilar could escape. Dalinar told Adolin that Sadeas has sworn to protect Elhokar at any cost.

Dalinar investigated the cut girth strap on the king's saddle, but at one particular king's feast, Elhokar announced that in light of the recent attempt on his life with the saddle, he is appointing Sadeas the Highprince of Information to investigate. This was to spite Dalinar, who Elhokar believed was not taking the investigation seriously. Sadeas learned of Dalinar's request to be Highprince of War and this was Sadeas' way of outmaneuvering his opponent.

Highprince of Information

Sadeas began investigating the cut girth strap. Dalinar was insistent that Sadeas reveal the results of the investigation, which Adolin is convinced Sadeas will use the opportunity to incriminate Dalinar and turn the other Brightlords against him. This conviction is punctuated by Sadeas saying to Dalinar, “You asked for this, old friend.”

Even Dalinar himself was tense at Sadeas' proclamation, given for all in attendance at the king's feast to hear. Sadeas had the strap sent to three different leather-workers who all concluded the strap had been cut – the leather was relatively new, as shown by its lack of flaking and cracking, and the tear too even.

To answer when it was cut, Sadeas interviewed many on the hunt and they all reported the same oddity: Dalinar and Elhokar storming off for the rock formation, leaving the two alone. This presented a problem, a problem that Sadeas discovered in the king's Plate: eight of the ten sapphires used to infuse the king's plate had been damaged. When Adolin (who still thought Sadeas suspected Dalinar) protested, Sadeas noted how highly improbable this would be, since a simple fall from horseback wearing full Plate would not cause sufficient strain; only two or three sapphires usually need replacing after a battle. Someone must have sabotaged the Plate.

Next, Sadeas brought out one of the grooms in the king's employ, asking him to repeat what he told Sadeas in private. The groom confirmed the saddle had been checked over in Dalinar's camp, but also noted that the horse was wearing a different saddle on the way to Dalinar's camp from the king's. Sadeas proclaims that, in his personal opinion, the strap had been cut in Dalinar's camp to cast suspicion on Dalinar, and that Dalinar had no hand in the plot. This shocked both Adolin and Dalinar, both on their toes waiting for Sadeas to accuse Dalinar. Despite their rivalry, Sadeas did not want to claim a victory so easily.

Betrayal

Right after being vindicated, Dalinar proposed that Sadeas and he work together in capturing the Tower, a distant plateau near the Parshendi side of the Plains on which the Alethi have never won a gemheart. Dalinar suggested combining forces to which Sadeas agreed only after they can agree on the division of spoils, particularly any Blades which may be won.

As both men approached the Tower they could see the Parshendi had not yet extracted the gemheart from the chrysalis. Sadeas wanted to attack the Tower together, a “single grand wave of attack, across forty bridges!” Dalinar refused, saying he will attack only after Sadeas has made a landing point for Dalinar's bridge crews, citing the Codes again.

The plan worked well for a time. Sadeas managed to get his forces across the bridges and onto the Tower, carving out a landing platform for Dalinar to follow. Both forces were separated by the Parshendi, Sadeas to the west, Dalinar on the eastern edge, fighting inward. When another Parshendi force appeared behind Dalinar, Sadeas retreated to the northern plateau, pulling the eight bridge crews he'd leant to the Kholinar army with him and abandoning Dalinar Kholin.

Upon Sadeas' return to camp he was met by Navani Kholin and says he must be the harbinger of grave news. He offered his condolences and claimed he did all he could to save Dalinar but was ultimately overwhelmed by the Parshendi himself and forced back. Sadeas offers vengeance, claiming Dalinar was both a friend and an ally, shortly before Dalinar himself showed up, alive.

Sadeas attempted to reconcile with Dalinar, offering an apology that Dalinar accepted publicly. However, the two moved close so no-one can overhear them and when Dalinar asked for an explanation, Sadeas claimed he was upholding his oath: “Protect Elhokar. Protect this kingdom.” Gavilar obeyed the Codes and died from that “weakness.” Sadeas is of the mind that Elhokar is being influenced in a similar way by Dalinar's insistence on the Codes, beginning to worry when the king talks of retreating from the Plains, as Dalinar had wanted. Their friendship had been over a long time; Sadeas just wanted him gone.

Before leaving, Dalinar asked Sadeas to give him the members of Bridge Four to fulfill a promise he made to Kaladin. Sadeas refused the initial offers, claiming he would not give up his bridgemen for a thousand broams each. Dalinar summoned his Shardblade and drove it point-first in the earth before Sadeas and offered his Blade in exchange for every bridgemen in Sadeas' camp. Sadeas appeared shocked but agreed, gaining the Blade he always desired.

After the Battle of the Tower

After the Battle of the Tower, Sadeas was shown shortly after obtaining Dalinar's Shardblade, Oathbringer, having it stuck into a table point first and staring at it in awe. Ialai came into the room and complained about the table. Afterwards he tells her of how he intends to force the Alethi soldiers back into a full-out war, instead of a prolonged game of chasing down gemhearts and begins plotting with her, instructing her to send more spies into Dalinar's warcamp as well as preparing for any steps which may be required, including assassinating him.

After a failed plateau assault on the Shattered Plains, Adolin spoke to Jakamav about his attempts at winning Shardblades and Shardplate through duels and his frustration at how no-one will rise to his challenge. Jakamav tells him that Sadeas has been making offers and promises to shardbearers in return for them turning down his challenges in order to stop his father's plans, and suggests Eranniv as one who might be more interested in fame than Sadeas' offers.

Sadeas began to undermine both Dalinar and Elhokar by using his swift bridge crews to go on plateau runs when it is not his turn in the rotation, arriving before the scheduled parties and then triumphantly throwing the harvested gemheart at their feet, before leaving. This later develops to him simply pretending the gemheart had been lost, but secretly keeping it in order to further push the throne's authority.

Sadeas was present at the duel between Adolin and Eranniv with his wife. He spent the duration speaking with his wife about their plots and about Dalinar's attempts to unite the Highprinces.

Sadeas was later at the same winehouse that Adolin and Shallan visit together. Whilst waiting out the highstorm in the safety of the lighteyes' bunker, Sadeas approached Adolin and began goading him about the Battle of the Tower and how he intends to do away with both Elhokar and Adolin. Sadeas was wearing uncut gems along his clothes, from a gemheart he had won earlier on the Shattered Plains but which he had claimed to have lost.

After Adolin's duel with the four Shardbearers was won, Sadeas was forced to accept his boon of a challenge. However due to Kaladin interrupting, Adolin only gets to seek a challenge and not to pin down the time. As such, Sadeas took the liberty of accepting to duel the young man a year after the date. He put on an air of control and mirth after this, but in secret was terrified to see that Adolin is becoming another Blackthorn, like his father.

On the last day before the Weeping, Sadeas and his wife were taking a ride, supposedly for pleasure but in fact to assuage the extent of Sebarial's warcamp's industry. He spoke with his wife about Dalinar and Elhokar. Ialai believed they should seize the opportunity to attempt a coup on the Pinnacle, but Sadeas mentions it won't be necessary, and also points out the failure of their last assassin. After Highprince Aladar joins with Dalinar's forces, Sadeas was stunned, and thinks on the events for a long time, before ultimately deciding that it does not matter, as they will all die on the Shattered Plains and that they must set about deciding who will take their places as Highprinces.

Death and Aftermath

Surprisingly, Dalinar's call to the Alethi Warcamps was answered by Sadeas as quickly as it is by Aladar warcamp and Roion warcamp. Sadeas personally made his way to Urithiru with his wife.

They were exploring the large tower when Adolin came upon Sadeas alone. Sadeas mentioned to Adolin how he has already started planning the next round of rumors against his father, using a parshman in his personal guard as an explanation for how he managed to have the Parshendi co-operate with him and form a ruse (the Battle of Narak). Adolin's anger at his constant attempt at vaingloriously undermining Dalinar turned violent, and he proceeded to stab his side-knife through the Highprince's eye. Adolin took his Shardblade and threw it off the window, then proceeded to get rid of any other evidence that he had been there before proceeding to rejoin his scouting party.

Men of Bridge Four found the body, and Sadeas' guards immediately accused them of the murder. Though the blood was dry, confirming that the death had happened days ago, the division between both camps/kingdoms increased and many would continue to blame Dalinar for his death.

Shortly after the murder, another corpse was found. The victim was Vedekar Perel; and the only connection between both murders was that they not only have the same cause of death but the wounds are identical as well. It was later confirmed that this second kill was caused by the unmade Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, as a copy of Sadeas' muder.

While several people, including Sebarial, saw Sadeas' death as "a problem solved"; Dalinar was very affected by the event and asked Adolin to investigate and find the assassin. Adolin on the other hand, struggled with the guilt and confessed his actions first to Shallan and later to Dalinar himself.

After Torol Sadeas' death, Ialai Sadeas named Highmarshal Meridas Amaram regent and heir to the house title, making him Highprince Sadeas. By doing this, she confirmed a division with the Kholins. This division continued until the end of the Battle of Thaylen Field, where Odium used Sadeas' troops to fight against the rest of the Alethi.

Trivia

• His name's similarity to the word "sadist" was not a coincidence, but it was more of a subconscious choice by Brandon than one that he was aware of.

Notes

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