Subtle and cryptic clue to Asmodean's killer?

[Pandemonium]

--I have copied this thread from a poster name throwingmuse at wotmania.  Since wotmania is only going to around for another week I wanted to share this thread before it may be forever lost.  It adds another possible dimension to the Asmodean killer debate.

 

"There have been many well-stated, thorough, and logical posts regarding the identification of Asmodeon's killer. Many people have spent a large amount of time combing the text looking for clues to the crime. RJ claimed that the solution to the mystery was "intuitively obvious," a phrase whose meaning is often argued among would-be crime solvers. RJ purposely did not expose the killer in subsequent books because he enjoyed the debate that it spawned among his readers. In essence, RJ was having fun with the mystery.

 

I stumbled across a rather innocent and highly coincidental clue to the revelation of Asmodean's killer while reading KoD. It offers no definitive proof, is open to a high degree of interpretation, and thus may be easily dismissed. However, taken with the belief that RJ enjoyed the controversy, it would seem plausible that he might also enjoy laying the solution out cryptically right before the reader's eyes.

 

 

CLUE #1

 

KoD: Embers Falling on Dry Grass

 

Two of the sisters she passed ignored her simply because they did not see her. Astrelle and Tesan were discussing food spoilage. Arguing, rather, faces smooth but eyes heated and voices on the brink of heat. They were arithmetists, of all things, as if logic could be reduced to numbers, and they seemed to be disagreeing on how those numbers were used.

 

INTERPRETATION

 

Readers will ignore this passage because they do not see a connection to the revelation of Asmodean's killer. Readers have argued and will continue to argue passionately and logically about who committed the crime. The solution can be found through arithmancy.

 

 

CLUE #2

 

"Calculating with Radun's Standard of Deviation, the rate is eleven times what it should be," Astrelle said in tight tones. "Furthermore, this must indicate the intervention of the Shadow--"

 

INTERPRETATION

 

The intervention of the Shadow was responsible for Asmodean's death. The DO assisted with the murder.

 

 

CLUE #3

 

Tesan cut her off, beaded braids clicking as she shook her head. "The Shadow, yes, but Radun's Standard, it is outdated. You must use Covanen's First Rule of Medians, and I calculate separately for rotting meat or rotten."

 

INTERPRETATION

 

The Shadow was the cause for Asmodean's death. Readers should use the most basic approach to solve the mystery. The simplest of two or more competing theories is preferable.

 

 

CLUE #4

 

"The correst answers, as I said, are thirteen and nine. I have not yet applied it to the flour or the beans and the lentils, but it seems intuitively obvious--"

 

INTERPRETATION

 

The identity of Asmodean's killer resides in the numbers 13 and 9. The simplest solution: A=1, B=2, ..., I=9 and M=13. I and M. Ishamael/Moridin. It is intuitively obvious.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Ishamael/Moridin killed Asmodean."

 

Note:  Slayer's initials are also IM as Isam Mandragoran.  In my mind Slayer seems like a better candidate.  I don't know how accurate this theory is, but I really appreciated reading something new about the whole Asmodean debate.  It could just be another red herring by RJ.

[Majsju]

There is one thread for talking about Asmos death, use that.