Art: Jordi Rapture
Cusicesh the Protector is easily one of the strangest and most mysterious phenomena in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. And that is saying a lot considering on Roshar there is a city on the back of a giant creature, and magical swords that cut out your soul.
Cusicesh is a huge spren-like entity who shows up every morning at the same place, same time, and has been doing so for thousands of years.
Nobody knows where he came from, what he is, or his purpose, outside of a crazy moment that takes place in Wind and Truth (Quick warning: plenty of spoilers ahead)
So let’s dig into everything we know about Cusicesh so far!
Cusicesh The Protector Explained [Video]
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Cusicesh’s Daily Appearance
We first learn about Cusicesh the Protector right in Book 1 of The Stormlight Archive, during an interlude where another one of my favorites, Axies the Collector, is in Kasitor on Iri (that is in the far northwest of Roshar).
Axies heads to the docks, where a large group has gathered to witness Cusicesh rise out of the water, as he has every day without fail for thousands of years, at exactly 7:46 in the morning.
“It was translucent, and though it appeared to throw out waves as it rose, that was illusory. The actual surface of the bay wasn’t disturbed. It takes the shape of a large jet of water, Axies thought…. The center is deepest blue, like the ocean depths, though the outer edges are a lighter shade. Judging by the masts of the nearby ships, I’d say that the spren has grown to a height of at least a hundred feet. One of the largest Ive ever seen” – The Way of Kings
So yeah, Cusicesh appears as an approximately hundred-foot-tall column of water, with four arms that extend down and form human-like hands.
These arms also form in the exact same place every day, and so the Iriali people put large golden pedestals where those hands come to rest.
The Faces of Cusicesh
But that is not even the strangest part about Cusicesh.
At the end of this column body is where he forms a face, which always looks eastward toward the Origin. This face shifts extremely rapidly into all kinds of different male and female human faces.
This goes on for around ten minutes before Cusicesh retreats into the water, leaving people gathered to witness this daily appearance feeling strangely drained.
As I’ve mentioned, Cusicesh has been present in this bay for likely thousands of years. In fact, I believe he may have even been here before Honor or Cultivation showed up, but that’s a topic for another day.
Cusicesh has become fully ingrained into Kasitor society, to the point that even the local system of timekeeping revolves around his arrival.
And while most Iriali consider Cusicesh to simply be a part of the city, some people do worship him as a god.
Cusicesh in Wind and Truth
Shortly before the final confrontation between Dalinar and Odium in Wind and Truth, we see Cusicesh appear at a different time than usual, which again hasn’t happened in likely thousands of years.
He ends up speaking directly to the Iriali people to inform them that he will be the guide for their Fifth Journey in what they call the Long Trail.
That’s a whole other thing with the Iriali people that deserves its own explanation.
And then Cusicesh just goes ahead and opens a giant perpendicularity for them to travel through.
“Cuscesh—breaking all tradition—waved his hands out to the sides, palms toward the city. And then, before him in the bay, the air split in a glorious radiant fountain. A column of light. ‘The gateway to the land of shadows,’ Mother whispered. ‘Honor’s gateway…. Oh Father, Mother, ancestors who have become One'” – Wind and Truth
Now, while Dyel’s mother in this section refers to it as Honor’s gateway, it’s got a bit of weirdness to it, so I don’t know if we can necessarily trust her assessment on that.
Some members of the Seventeenth Shard also happened to be there during this event, and Demoux is overheard saying that the perpendicularity “behaved oddly” for one of its type.
And for now, that’s where the mystery of Cusicesh stands. We know he has some kind of deep connection to the Iriali and their journey, and that after thousands of years of following the exact same routine, he was ultimately able to open a perpendicularity and guide them on their Fifth Journey. But exactly what Cusicesh is, where he came from, and why he spent thousands of years appearing in Kasitor every morning remain unanswered, making him one of the strangest mysteries still left on Roshar.
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