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OK, guys. Here's the single MOST IMPORTANT thing that OB brought up. List told Gawx not to trust Dalinar because he has a good butt. Butt, (see what I did there?) Lift says (in Edgedancer) that she thought Wit was awesome. (As old Whitehead) So. That begs the question. The question for the ages. A question we need to get WoB on. Does Wit have a nice butt? The fate of Roshar - nay!- of the Cosmere itself rests on the answer to that burning question.

Sorry if this was posted before, I did try and look to see if was already out there. I just finished reading Oathbringer and something really stuck to me about Honor or more actually about his death. I am at school right now and don't have access to the book and I will edit this later, just have to get this off my mind. I don't think Honor was Shattered. Or at least if he did, it was on purpose. He gave the the Stormfather the go ahead to make Honor spren Told the spren at the Oathgates to make sure no one uses it to travel, these spren also note that Honor was acting strange in his last days Dalinar's visions would require planning Epigraph # 67 really helps this theory "This generation has had only one Bondsmith, and some blame the divisions among us upon this fact. The true problem is far deeper. I believe that Honor himself is changing." when Dalinar says "I am Unity" “I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man. ” — The Third Ideal of the Bondsmiths[7] To what purpose or what made him start to change i don't know, but I think it might have to do with something about Humans Vs Parshmen. He decided to shatter himself and become a new shard Unity to stop the fighting. Cultivation might have her part to play in this by making or should I say cultivating Dalinar into a Bondsmith to "Unite Them" or to reassemble Honor and his shard.

Hey, so I've been trying to find the quote that contains what Dalinar wrote at the end of Oathbringer. It contained the phrases : "The most important words a man can say are I will do better..." and " The most important step a man can take is the next one." I borrowed the book from the library to read and have since returned it. That part of the novel really resonated with me, and I'd like to be able to see it again in context. If someone could please reply to this with that quote, I'd be really grateful! Thank you. Also since this is a forum for discussing Oathbringer, what did y'all think of Dalinar's writing? I personally see it as another step towards establishing unity on Roshar. Giving men the aility to read and write helps bridge the social divide between genders, just as allowing women to bear shards does.

One of my favorite parts of Oathbringer is when Kaladin fails to Say the Fourth Ideal. He knows what it is, and how important it could be, but he just can't say it. I think this speaks a lot to him as a character. On the other hand, shamefully I must admit that 90% of the reason why I'm so glad that he fails is because when Dalinar gets his turn to shine it's so much more powerful. This was Dalinar's book, and the focus was on Dalinar's story arc. Other characters definitely had their own time in the sun, but Dalinar was allowed to be the hero of his own story. After reading WoR, one of my larger fears was that every book would just be Kaladin coming in to save the day again, and the climax would be on how he does it this time (there were arguably two major climactic points in WoR, and Kaladin was the hero-focus of both of them). However, even in the brief moments that they had on-screen, Jasnah and Renarin's scenes were emotional and awesome. I'm still waiting for a moving climax scene from Shallan's point of view, and slowly accepting that we may never get one (I was happy to see her using an army of illusions for combat, which I had predicted as a tactic years ago, but the climactic scenes of her lacked...I dunno what, but something)--but I have restored faith that we will get those scenes for more than just Kaladin.

A sudden thought. Dalinar is a Bondsmith of Honor. Honor is dead. Odium talks to Dalinar and implies that Dalinar has the power to release Odium from the contracts/bonds Honor has placed on Odium. My conclusion from this is that in becoming the Bondsmith of Honor - by virtue of Honor being dead - Dalinar has become essentially the Executor of Honor's Will, and can enter new contracts, and modify existing contracts/Oaths on Honor's behalf. One of these contracts is the Oathpact. Thoughts?

In one of Dalinars flashbacks, he met a beggar in The Beggar's Court at the Royal Palace to share his drink. Could this beggar have been Jezrien, The Herald King, Patron of the Windrunner later killed truly by Moash?

So now we know why Dalinar regained his memories despite the boon and curse of the Nightwatcher lasting lifelong. Dalinar's boon and curse came from Cultivation herself and not the Nightwatcher, with the intention to let them fade after time, so Dalinar could deal with his burdens in doses he could handle. Here, Cultivation actively crosses Odium's plan to currupt Dalinar with the Thrill to make him his Champion in the end. Odium seems to be very wary of Cultivation. When Lift appears in the vision where Odium talks to Dalinar, Odium nearly seems frightened and disappeares immediately. Lift has been in the Valley, too. I assume that Lift also has been altered by Cultivation herself and not the Nightwatcher. Dalinar reeks to her like Cultivation, I guess her own smell is much stronger. The little unassuming and awesome girl might become Cultivation's joker and eyes and ears. I am looking forward for more!

Happy Oathbringer day, Lets not ruin anyone elses by spoiling the book for the people that may not read as quickly as you, or that may not be as fortunate to have obtained the book on the first day. I love you all my Bridge 4 Bretheren. Happy Reading.

Hello to all!!! Im here at one of my students request that i should join! i have been a fan for a little over 7 years but never came to the 17th shard. One of my students (junior high teacher btw) is an avid fan and loves the community, so im here now! Hi Salazar! Im a huge fan of Kaladin too Thank you all!

So, we know that Dalinar is planning on using his bond with the Stormfather to meet with the rulers of the nations. This would, by his plans, be at the next Highstorm. This plan was presumably made prior to Shallan's confrontation with Re-Shephir. Kaladin arrived at Urithiru on the tail-end of a Highstorm. His arrival was hours after Shallan's confrontation. So... did Dalinar meet with the rulers at this last Highstorm? Considering this was the end of part 1, is it possible that one of the interludes will be the Highstorm meeting, perhaps from the PoV of one of the rulers?

So i just realized, dalinar has been hiding the honorblade in the ventilation/sewage lines for right now. Sooo when they figure out how to power up that storming huge power core, are all the systems going to start up automatically? Will dalinar have the foresight to move the blade before turning the ignition on Urithiru? One would hope so, but seeing as that wouldnt be very interesting... is someone else about to get a surprise gift flying out of their vents or privy?!? Who would be the most terrifying person to take posession of the honorblade?

Is anyone else getting the vibe that Dalinar is going to try to step down as "High King" in order to pursue his goal of unification? We've already seen him spend two books and part of a third realizing that forcing Alethkar to "unify" by force didn't really achieve the desired goal, and furthermore entrenched "The Blackthorn - Bloodthirsty Warlord" into the minds of most of the other monarchs. Regardless of whether Taravangian becomes another Bondsmith, I can see Dalinar offering "peaceful" Taravangian the position and moving most of the Alethi forces out of Urithiru in an attempt to sway the otherwise obstinate nations to unlock their oathgates.

Just wanted to share a moment I just had going through Way of Kings. Brandon always impresses me with these one-liners that pack serious punches later on in the story, and as a fledgling writer, it's really humbling to see just how well planned all of this is. Which we now know isn't something he was taught, but he learned. It just makes me happy so I wanted to share. Sanderson books get better with age and the more you read them. I can't wait to get my fix in tomorrow morning.

This is less of a theory and more of a looming concern in my mind: what if Dalinar is starting to remember Evi because his curse/boon was specifically worded in relation to his WIFE and he has a new wife now? As memories of Evi start to appear, will memories of Navani start to fade? Was this how it was when he forgot Evi as well? Color slowly bleeding out of a picture until it became gray then fuzzy then black? We now are pretty sure it's not the bond with the Stormfather causing the memories to return and I read an interesting theory on here about the watch fabrial which could still be valid but the following passage has me worried: Navani, he thought. On my arm. It still gave him a heady, surreal feeling. Dreamlike, as if this were one of his visions. He could vividly remember desiring her. Thinking about her, captivated by the way she talked, the things she knew, the look of her hands as she sketched—or, storms, as she did something as simple as raising a spoon to her lips. He remembered staring at her. He remembered a specific day on a battlefield, when he had almost let his jealousy of his brother lead him too far—and was surprised to feel Evi slipping into that memory. Her presence colored the old, crusty memory of those war days with his brother. I have no evidence but the passage puts memories of the two women right next to each other in a way that seems foreboding. The juxtaposition of vivid, fond memories of Navani and re-emerging memories of Evi feels like a literary tool to set us up for something. He also gives a fixed point by which the reader will be able to judge the deterioration of Dalinar's memory: a "specific day" on the battlefield when his jealousy nearly got the better of him; a day sure to be the subject of a soon-to-come flashback. Also, it feels like it would be just about appropriately soul crushing for us to see Dalinar get what he always wanted only to have it slowly drip away until he can eventually only hear Shshsh when someone says Navani's name. Anyways, just saying it smells like a Sanderson set-up. I'd love to get all your thoughts.

So, obviously, a couple weeks ago we got a Dalinar flashback where it is implied that he might have killed a child to get his Shardblade. I was re-reading Edgedancer yesterday and a line caught my attention. Edgedancer I realize it's probably too soon to say, but I'd like to know if this is just an analogy that was pulled from the air or is it possible that our watchers from the book blurbs have been watching for THAT long and this is actually relevant information...

I came up with this yesterday in Discord, and many people really seemed to like it, so I've been encouraged to post it here to share. I don't really post (or even come up with) theories, so I'm a bit nervous. I hope you guys like this one. My theory is simple: Dalinar essentially healed himself. He used Navani's fabrial, unwittingly, to do so. Basically, the fabrial she created was both a TIME fabrial and a PAIN fabrial. Due to his unique abilities as a Bondsmith, he created a resonance between those to heal the missing memories of his past. Fabrials are powered by stormlight-infused gemstones, much like surges are powered by stormlight. We've seen Dalinar unwittingly create resonance before in the situation room when he tugged Shallan and created the map. I believe that was a set-up to show what he's capable of, and that is what happened with the fabrial. He does not need to have invested himself to do this; we have seen Shallan use her mnemonic abilities without being invested, and Kaladin has squires without having to constantly be invested, so it stands to reason he can create resonances without himself having to be invested as well. Simply wearing the fabrial on his person was enough for that resonance to occur. That's it. Pretty simple theory.

Adolin! We know Dalinar is hesitant to take it for himself. We know he sees its usefulness. We know that it won't stay with Kaladin, because he is a Windrunner already, and two powered up allies are better than one. Stormfather said it granted more power/knowledge that Dalinar would hesitate to think himself worthy of. It must be in the hands of a close and trusted ally. It is undoubtedly best used by someone who would be eligible to be a champion in fighting, (see coming conflict with Odium's champion). Renarin, and Jasnah are also powered up, so probably not them. It is the choice that yelled out during the chapter he spent staring at the blade and talking to the Stormfather, and his remonstration of himself during the sparring chapter about being older, and "why was he trying to fight a young man's battle". Dalinar has the Bondsmith role with the knights and a new title of King of Urithiru. Can he be flying off to handle things himself, or does he need to be at central command? You could not leave such a power unused with the threats being levied on them. Someone must take up the sword and learn the powers. I don't think this is proof, but it is decidedly the type of foreshadowing Sanderson plants. Besides, who wouldn't think that the Kolin heir is the best choice? It should be so.

Apologies if this has already been raised. It just occurred to me and there are too many posts to read through to try and figure it out if it has already been noted. So I wonder if this scene where Dalinar invites the archer into his service might have been intended to set some precedent where Dalinar takes a very pragmatic view of the realities of loyalty (and oaths) to a particular side. I can see that it would give him some degree of forgiveness toward Eshonai because she was very much a soldier. Who I wonder about though, is Szeth. I think the scene may be intended to demonstrate that Dalinar is capable of accepting Szeth into the fold in his new order when he is made aware of the circumstances of Szeths assassination of Gavilar. As is mentioned in the other threads, when it comes to keeping oaths and following the ideals of honor there is nobody who does that as completely as does Szeth. I think the purpose of the scene was less about exploring the history of Dalinar, and more about exploring the character and how he is capable of forgiving what is done in war in service to your cause. Thoughts?

I just had this overwhelming feeling while reading Chapter 11 that Sadeas and Dalinar somehow switched personalities at some point before the events in tWoK, and that this switch was somehow linked to Dalinar approaching the Old Magic. Almost everything old Sadeas says and does reminds me of current Dalinar, while old Dalinar seems so similar to "new" Sadeas from tWoK and WoR. Is there any way some portion of their personalities were switched without their knowledge? “Calm, Dalinar,” Sadeas said from beside him in the mist. Sadeas wore his own golden Plate. “Patience.” - Oathbringer, CH 11, B. Sanderson, Tor.com “But think of the benefit, Dalinar,” Sadeas said. “Your wedding could bring us alliances, Shards. Perhaps you could win us a princedom—one we wouldn’t have to storming drive to the brink of collapse before they join us!” - Oathbringer, CH 11, B. Sanderson, Tor.comhi Sadeas would have never said something like that in tWoK or WoR. But those sound exactly like things current Dalinar would say to Adolin, Kaladin, or Elhokar. Is that result of Dalinar's grey-beard wisdom... or is it something more? It sounds so crazy... but I still can't get the thought out of my head. So please rip it to shreds so I can forget it!

I was recently re-reading the ending of Words of Radiance, particularly the scene where Dalinar speaks his first/second ideals, thus becoming a bondsmith. However, he joined with the Stormfather, who was against this, and reacted angrily upon Dalinar's speaking the First Ideal. While I was reading, it occurred to me that in the Wheel of Time series, forming a similar bond to create an unwilling Warder was seen by the characters as little better than rape, due to the man's inability to resist the bond. Essentially, Dalinar has forced an ancient and sentient spren into a mental and magical bonding without it's consent or agreement, forcing said spren to provide him with the ability to control Stormlight, and at the same time, putting the Stormfather's very existence into danger if Dalinar abandons his vows. In your opinion, was this an immoral action?

So, from the Oathbringer prologue, we have some new information. Specifically, we now know what the motivations of each of the three men trying to "unite them" might be (based on the instructions obtained from the Almighty's vision-diary). Gavilar & Dalinar each received the visions from the Stormfather, and Taravangian heard about the visions from Gavilar. We are directly told that Gavilar intended to "unite them" with a threat of danger. We can infer that Dalinar is determined to "unite them" through common purpose & a sense of honor/duty. We can also infer that Taravangian is attempting to "unite them" with deception, political conquest, and esoteric methods (e.g. death rattles, Nightwatcher-granted super intellect, manipulating a truthless) Obviously, Dalinar is the only one of the three who is going about his efforts at unification in a manner consistent with the first oath of the Knights Radiant. However, my thoughts go from this observation to the secret societies. We have the Diagram society, the Sons of Honor, and the Ghostbloods. Of those three groups, two are represented in this group of men (Gavilar → Sons of Honor & Taravangian → the Diagram society). We also have two of the three shards whose power influenced the formation of two of the societies (Honor → Sons of Honor & Cultivation → the Diagram society). So, where do you all think the Ghostbloods fit into all of this? Acknowledging that it's pure conjecture, likely coincidental, and that correlation does not equal causation; is there any chance the Ghostbloods have a connection to Odium? Wild Cosmere theory: The Ghostbloods do a lot of world-hopping. If the Ghostbloods are connected to Odium, do you think there is a chance that Kelsier might have created a link between Roshar and the Southern Scadrians via Iyatil? What about the possibility that a chance encounter between Kelsier & Odium (or a more mundane connection via the Ghostbloods) is influencing the "other god" goings-on on Scadrial in the Wax & Wayne era?