Shen
also known as Shen
A Parshendi warrior who has been embedded in Kaladin's Bridge Four since its slave days, posing as the silent parshman Shen. He gives Kaladin his true name on his way out the barracks door, the night before he leaves the camp. SA:WoR:Ch 52
A parshman member of Bridge Four — red-and-black marbled skin, quiet, easy to forget about. Kaladin cannot get much out of him beyond shrugs, but the rest of the crew treats him as one of their own and insists he be tattooed with the Bridge Four freedom glyph alongside them. SA:WoR:Ch 2 superseded at SA:WoR:Ch 52
Known facts
- armed-by-kaladinKaladin secures Dalinar's permission to arm Shen and presents him his own spear in the Bridge Four storeroom, telling him plainly that Bridge Four does not own slaves and that he was wrong to have been afraid. Leyten and Natam are to train him so he need not stand among the greenvines.SA:WoR:Ch 46
- explains-listener-forms-and-dullformInterrogated by Dalinar in the command tent, Rlain tells him his people choose forms to fit the work they need — and that one of them, *dullform*, looks enough like a parshman for a Parshendi to live unseen among them. He admits no parshman is ever truly questioned by the Alethi who count them.SA:WoR:Ch 79
- believes-his-people-have-been-replaced-by-their-godsRlain tells Dalinar that he saw an army of tens of thousands of his people changed into the red-eyed form and that he believes everyone he knew has been destroyed and replaced — that the listeners' gods, *the souls of those ancient who gave themselves to destroy*, have returned in this new form to bring something terrible against the Alethi.SA:WoR:Ch 79
- was-a-parshendi-spy-in-the-warcamps-three-yearsRlain admits to Dalinar that he spent three years in dullform inside Alethi warcamps as a Parshendi spy under Eshonai's orders, before running Bridge Four with Kaladin and now coming over to Dalinar as a soldier reporting to his commanding officer.SA:WoR:Ch 79
- identifies-parshendi-song-as-destructionBrought up to Dalinar in the rain, Rlain names the Parshendi song he has never heard before: a rhythm of destruction, of power. He begs Dalinar to stop it — even if he has to kill those singing.SA:WoR:Ch 81
- named-and-pardonedWith his people seemingly extinct on the plateaus and in their listener forms, Rlain now stands in Bridge Four uniform with the tattoo on his forehead blending up into the skullplate — pardoned by Dalinar not for being Parshendi but for being a spy, *a spy for a people who, it appears, no longer exist*, and helps Sigzil guide Kaladin through the Oathgate mechanism.SA:WoR:Ch 87
Events
- SA:WoR:Ch 52 Waiting in the dark of Kaladin's room with the spear Kaladin gave him; tells Kaladin he is leaving tonight, gives him his real name, and walks out into the camp.
- SA:WoR:Ch 78 Sits on a rock across the chasm, calls down for Skar and Leyten by name — Bridge Four members recognise him as the parshman who once ran bridges with them and now wants to surrender to Dalinar.
- SA:WoR:Ch 79 Sits a stool, salutes Dalinar like a Bridge Four man, speaks to him alone and grieves aloud for the people he believes have been replaced.
- SA:WoR:Ch 81 Brought up under guard, recognises the Parshendi rhythm at once — destruction, power — and begs Dalinar to stop the song at any cost.
- SA:WoR:Ch 87 Waits inside the Oathgate chamber in a Bridge Four uniform, the tattoo blending up into his red-and-black skullplate; salutes Kaladin and says quietly that he is a spy for a people who, it appears, no longer exist.
- SA:WoR:Ch 16 Arrives with Lopen at the end of the chapter.
- SA:WoR:Ch 18 Poking at practice swords along the side of the courtyard while Lopen reports to Kaladin.
- SA:WoR:Ch 22 Squats down in front of Kaladin and says aloud, in more words than the captain has heard from him in months, that he is not Bridge Four — he is Bridge Four's slave, because he has no spear.
- SA:WoR:Ch 41 Stacks bowls behind Rock at the firepit.
- SA:WoR:Ch 46 Stacking tallew grain in the Bridge Four storeroom by single-chip light when Kaladin offers him his own spear.
Backreferences
- summarySA:OB:Ch 9
- summarySA:OB:Ch 14
- summarySA:OB:Ch 40
- summarySA:OB:Ch 46
- summarySA:OB:Ch 55
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 10
- factYunfah
- factNarak
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 15
- factStormlight-fed Farming
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 16
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 38
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 39
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 42
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 60
- factVenli
- factVenli
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 74
- factVenli
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 79
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 81
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 83
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 85
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 91
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 96
- factVenli
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 100
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 102
- factshash glyph
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 104
- factVenli
- summarySA:RoW:Ch 109
- factVenli
- factTumi
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 8
- factOrder of Bone
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 9
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 12
- factSigzil
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 30
- factBa-Ado-Mishram
- factRenarin Kholin
- factRenarin Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 31
- factRenarin Kholin
- factEnlightened
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 32
- factLieke
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 44
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 49
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 54
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 62
- factRenarin Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 63
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 65
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 72
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 74
- factRenarin's scaffold
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 76
- factRenarin Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 79
- factEshonai
- factHarvo
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 84
- factRenarin Kholin
- factRenarin Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 86
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 87
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 103
- factSigzil
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 105
- factThe Knights Radiant
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 114
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 118
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 121
- factBa-Ado-Mishram
- factthe listeners
- factRenarin Kholin
- factToathan
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 129
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 131
- factBa-Ado-Mishram
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 132
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 135
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 138
- factBa-Ado-Mishram
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 140
- factRenarin Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 141
- factDalinar Kholin
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 143
- summarySA:WaT:Ch 146
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 2
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 16
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 18
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 22
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 46
- factRlain
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 52
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 52
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 78
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 79
- factDalinar Kholin
- factRlain
- factRlain
- factRlain
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 80
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 81
- factRlain
- summarySA:WoR:Ch 87
- factRlain