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Give me a moment to put on my shardplate. Now before you Shaolin shippers light your torches and raise your pitchforks, I am one of you. I want Shallan to end up with Adolin in the end. But what about my title.? Well, I think the idea of a Kaladin and Shallan pairing is getting an unnatural amount of hate. In fact, if there are any Shalladin fans out there, I am sorry your ship is being so thoroughly wrecked by this odium toward this pairing. (Sorry I had to.) Kaladin and Shallan will not work in the end. Besides the issues that they have little in common, don't speak the same social language at times, and have spren who are as diametrical as two spren can be, Kaladin killed her brother. Even if Shallan understands and forgives, I don't think she could be in an intimate relationship with someone who killed Heleran. So if the two begin dating their relationship is doomed. However, I don't hear this as the reason people are complaining about the pairing. "NO LOVE TRIANGLES!" is the cry. Why? Because it is a tired trope, you say. I don't think that is your problem. What if the triangle was between Adolin, Shallan, and Mraize? Some might still cry no love triangles, but I don't think the call would be as loud. I think the problem isn't the dreaded "love triangle" as much as it is we are all avid readers and are tired of seeing the main hero end up with the main heroine. It would be refreshing to see a man and woman who were central characters just remain friends. I get this desire. I am writing a whole series with the goal of having the main hero and heroine only be friends. Still, this is an expectation less avid readers do often have for heroes and heroines. Consider all the fans who were disappointed Harry Potter did not end up with Hermione Granger. I was happy to see Ron ended up with Hermione (Ron from the books at least) and would have hated to see her end up with Harry. But for many, the Harry Potter series was their first obsession, so naturally, they imagined the great love story of Harry and Hermione. I doubt SA can be a gateway series for many because of the learning curve that is WoK. Therefore a majority of SA fans have seen the hero and heroine end up together in a plethora of stories, and we are tired of the trope as much as love triangles. You might be tired of it, but that does not make it a bad thing Brandon should not do. Shalladin would help Shaolin become a lasting relationship. That might sound like an odd statement, but it is true. I think we worry about Shalladin because Kal is a great guy and why would Shallan leave him once they were together. Further, it would destroy the budding bromance between Kaladin and Adolin. However, I don't think either of these fears would come to pass if Shallan and Kaladin flirted for a few chapters to half a book and it would bring great conflict, but not be a true love triangle, at least not in the classic sense. I have already established why Kaladin and Shallan are doomed as a couple, so I am not going to go over that again. However, I don't think Kaladin and Shallan flirting will harm his friendship with Adolin at all. I don't think Kal would pursue a relationship with Shallan until Adolin is out of the picture because of the friendship (and she's lighteyed, or that is what Kaladin will tell himself until Adolin is exiled). Right now Shaolin is also a doomed relationship but not forever. Both Adolin and Shallan are really messed up people. I don't think either could have a healthy relationship right now until they address their issues. And the issue that will temporarily break them up is Adolin killing Sadeas. Brandon has hinted as much in chapter 13 of Oathbringer. Besides the fact that Shallan saying neither of them will mess this up sounds like famous last words, the last topic of the chapter is Adolin's hidden crime. Putting the ideas of them breaking up and the killing of Sadeas together suggests this is how their relationship will end, but not forever. Now I don't think Shallan is going to break up with Adolin when she finds out what he did. In a twisted way that might even bring them closer to together. No, I think this will break them up because Adolin is going to be exiled from Urithru and likely Alethkar as well and that will be the end of the engagement. Some would argue Adolin will get away with it, but the way the story is structured and the hints Brandon is dropping point to Adolin needing to face some consequences for his actions. Still, that is a debate for another thread. Just go with me on the fact murder of Sadeas will push Adolin away from Shallan for a time. After that happens Kaladin and Shallan may consider a relationship with each other. They might look past their different backgrounds and go for it because they are both KR so why not give it a try. At that point, it will not be a true love triangle. Adolin and Shallan will be over with, and Adolin will be somewhere out in Roshar reviving his blade or something. Still, Shallan is such a metal mess that her time with Kaladin will not go well even before she learns he killed Heleran. She is going to need to face her issues, and this will damage the relationship she is in no matter whom she is with at the time. I'd much rather have her self-discovery ruin Shalladin than Shaodin. Let her go through this learning period with Kaladin, have them both part as better people, and hopefully still friends even after she learns the truth. Then Shallan will hopefully be ready for a stable relationship. After this happens, I hope Adolin will return to Urithru as an Edgedancer with his a restored blade (yes he would make a great Edgedancer, shut up) and he will reestablish his relationship with Shallan. Then they would be on equal footing as KR and more mature people. Thus, the relationship will last the rest of their lives. As for Kal, he will be happy for them because he knows "they fit" and he will have moved on, but hopefully remain their friend. I'm likely wrong about all of this, but it could work. So please don't demand "no Shalladin." It might be an interesting source of conflict, and I trust Brandon to show it to us in an engaging way.

I'd been surprised at how some readers see Shallan and Adolin's relationship. So I thought I'd collect some relevant quotes from chapters 13 and 15... A comment on some things we don't see: on Shallan's initial meetings with Adolin, she found him so handsome that it would turn her brain to mush. This faded quite quickly as they got deeper into their relationship and they became more relaxed around each other, and I suspect we won't see this again - though we do still see a strong physical attraction. In these chapters there's also not a single line in Shallan's thoughts of the political or financial benefits that would come from marrying Adolin. We did see those in WoR, particularly early in their relationship but there's none of that so far. Something simple to start with: Shallan and Adolin exchanging some friendly banter... with Shallan including a hint that she'd like to see more of Adolin. Shallan doesn't think of herself as being attractive... but is positively giddy with the thought that Adolin is attracted to her and likes her. Adolin is literally rare and precious to her. You'd think she was a saucy barmaid or something. I wouldn't put it past her to concoct some plan that lets her see more of him. What's the Rosharian equivalent of a French kiss? This is a very "ordinary" scene but it brings Shallan a lot of happiness and she wants more of it. But has also learnt from the mistakes of others (eg her father) about not trying to grab things too strongly. Shallan feels warm and fuzzy knowing that Adolin cares about their relationship. Not specifically romantic but a sign of trust. Similar to the above but more specifically romantic. She's also making it clear to Adolin that she is not at all bothered by his past relationships. I think this is the first time Adolin has initiated a passionate kiss (he has initiated a kiss before but not a passionate one). Shallan's heart skips a beat. I know a lot of people saw this and thought "ugh, that's foreshadowing the exact opposite" but we don't know what's going to happen at this point. Either way, it's still a spoken commitment to each other. This could be a double foreshadowing - that something is going to go wrong but also that they'll try to overcome it. The mere thought that their relationship might not work out is painful to her. Given the quote above it, you could say that Shallan is being foolish. It's also unlike her to worry about such things and perhaps this is a sign that Shallan fears such a thing ever happening. Even being "Radiant" can't suppress the saucy barmaid in Shallan. It's clear that Shallan would prefer to be herself as much as possible during this time. It's extremely painful for her to think of wielding Pattern as a weapon but despite all that, spending this time with Adolin is precious enough for her that she was willing to extend the duration. Putting it another way, with anyone else she would have wanted to end the training sooner rather than later but because it was Adolin she did the exact opposite, despite the pain that came with it from having to wield Pattern as a weapon. In my opinion, Shallan is clearly showing that she is in love with Adolin. She's just not thinking that though. While we don't know the details of Shallan's childhood, she probably hasn't experienced love (either giving or receiving). She had never expected to be able to marry for love either. Maybe this explains why she doesn't diagnose herself as being in love?

I usually don't comment on this debate because I’m not much of a “shipper.” I like reading romantic sub-plots in fantasy, but I usually go along with whatever the author chooses to write. The same goes with this case, I have confidence that BS will write something interesting with good conflicts and character building. I like all three characters involved, and am excited to watch it develop. However, one thing that makes me a little sad to read in the endless shipping debate is that somehow Kaladin’s thoughts and feeling usually get pushed to the side. Much of the debate is what is best for Shallan and/or Adolin, and Kaladin is something of an afterthought at best, or at worst it is seen as gross or horrific for Shallan to end up with him. Perhaps this is because, as @Dreamstorm points out, people seem to like Adolin better, and want to look out for his best interest. They want him to be happy. I totally get that, because as a Kaladin fan-girl myself (there I admit it), my hope is that he gets what he wants and needs. He's had a rough life and he needs a little love and support too. It could be close friendships, romantic relationships, or bromances, but whatever it is, I’d like to see him get some happiness thrown his way. To point out one example of Kaladin as an afterthought, note this from @eveorjoy post (which I enjoyed, by the way!): This looks like Kaladin is being used to resolve Shallan’s mental issues, only to be pushed aside when she’s healed and can go back to Adolin. If Kaladin truly likes Shallan, this could really hurt him. It would also serve to increase his distrust of lighteyes. I’d rather skip the whole Shalladin thing if it is only going to end with him hurt and sinking into another bout of dark despair. Several times I have seen people mention “Kaladin just needs to find a nice dark-eyed girl.” This sounds very racist/classist to me. This is saying Kaladin has dark eyes, and therefore he should try to stay in his own class and date girls with dark eyes. Personally, I think it would be very interesting for Kaladin to have a loving and trusting relationship with a light-eyed woman. It would go a long way to help diffuse his distrust of lighteyes, and it would serve as an example to others that the classism of separating people people by eye color is kind of random and ridiculous. This being said, I’m not fully convinced that Shallan is the light-eyed woman for this role. I love Shallan, but she has her own deep-seated issues with darkeyes passed down from her father, who wouldn't let her draw them. She automatically thinks of them as peasants, as noted in the recent chapter, and Kaladin would work best with a woman who is more open minded about these things and isn't put off by his eye color. I’m not sure we’ve met a woman like that in the story yet, so I’m not holding my breath on this to happen any time soon. To sum up, I don’t quite understand why the idea of Kaladin and Shallan is so offensive to people. Perhaps it’s just because he’s not Adolin, and that makes him the wrong choice for her. But it hurts to see so much negativity towards him when he’s really a decent guy who deserves to be happy too.

Good friends, such prejudice is entirely rash, and without justification. I come here bearing great gifts, and seek but to further our common goals. Let us walk forward together into the light, and not cast unjustifiable and cruel aspersions against one another. Can we not agree to overlook such unfortunate coincidences such as but a name, and instead focus on that which we might create together?

The thought has crossed my mind, so I will not eviscerate you. I will however be a terrible heart-breaking plot point if it were to happen. I will honestly kill Dalinar is he breaks down Shallan and Adolin to secure a more profitable political alliance. On the matter of Tropes On the matter of tropes, while it is true every single story arc can be reduced to its most simple expression, we cannot ignore the impact of identifying one specific element to a given trope or another has on readers. Recognizing a given story element as being the representation of a popular trope does leant to readers to jump onto conclusions as to where the story is headed.For instance, why did I, when Shallan and Kaladin had their shouting match right before she meets Adolin for the first time, assumed it prelude them becoming an item? Nothing indicated any connection nor positiveness within the altercation and yet my brain identified it as a prevalent trope and concluded their story would necessarily take this path. I did not have similar feelings with the Adolin and Shallan relationship as, even if it too could be reduced to a more simplistic trope, it wasn't one my brain was wired to react to. It wasn't one I had encountered enough to recognize it as a "de facto" predictable outcome.Thus, while it is true all tropes, even the most prevalent, have the potential to yield innovative and enthralling stories, there is no denying some may have been so over-used the task has become formidable. The best example within the fantasy literacy would be the farm boy with a sword trope. Sure, there are readers who will come forth and say they love the farm boy with a sword trope stating they can't never get enough of it. Sure, it may be an author will manage to write such a good story revolving around this trope readers will forgive it basically is a repetition of a classical story arc. I would however state, as a rule of thumb, it may be a majority of readers will simply not be interested into reading yet another depiction of the same old trope.This is exactly what is happening with the shipping discussion and why some readers are keen on bringing forth the fact the Kaladin/Shallan relationship is essentially the reproduction of the classic "I hate you, I love you" or the "self-made man with the princess/upper ranked girl" tropes. There is no denying these tropes have been abundantly used within the entertainment industry, be it in movies, series, books and so on. The "dark mysterious grumpy bad boy" is such a strong image viewers/readers have come to expect the female protagonist to necessarily fall for him. On the reverse, the "rich blond boy" image has been associated towards negativeness making him either dumb, boring if not downright evil. Has anyone ever considered the possibility so many readers rooting for evil Adolin may actually come from expectations based on tropes wanting his "good boy" character to turn out evil as those same expectations want Kaladin to be the "good one" despite not looking it? It also goes hand in hand with commentaries where readers claim Adolin is "boring" and "less exciting than Kaladin". These have little basis within the story, the story essentially depicts Adolin as young man having many various interests, a pleasant conversation and an active life full of surprises, yet some readers keep on insisting he necessarily is the most boring of the two men.Therefore, like it or hate it, the Kaladin and Shallan relationship embodies one very prevalent trope and as such there will always be readers to think it makes it less interesting. For the same reasons other reasons will say Adolin and Shallan aren't interesting because they find them too similar to Wax/Steris or Susebron/Siri. It all depends on one readers's reading experience, personality, tastes and also life trajectory. We aren't all the same and if there are those who cannot stand the Kaladin/Shallan relationship, there are those arguing Brandon "needs to not write another arranged wedding".In the end what matters to me, as a reader, is what the story is telling us and it is currently telling us Shallan has no feelings towards Kaladin, she isn't thinking about him nor is she harboring some secret passion towards him. She genuinely wants to be with Adolin. Therefore, the idea "stuff might have happened which we haven't read which would account for the existence of feelings the current narrative is denying are even there" is currently a tad far-fetched. It does mean it will not change, it does not mean Kaladin and Shallan won't become a relationship, it merely means the narrative isn't currently pointing towards this direction. @SLNC: I was somewhat sadden to read your negative depiction of Shallan's character, referring to her as a chronic liar. I felt Shallan has been progressively opening up more and more just as I felt the lies she told, she did it out of necessity. Her life is not simple and blunt truth isn't always the best of option. Still, within the past two books we have seen her tell the truth to Jasnah about her intentions with respect to her soulcaster, the truth about her family situation even if she omitted the fact she killed her father. She told the truth to Dalinar about being a Radiant without being sure she could trust him. She told Adolin about fearing she'll ruin the relationship and she told him about Kasbal. Yes, she hasn't told anyone the full complete story, even Kaladin didn't hear the full complete story, but I have good faith she will, when the time comes tell the truth to Adolin. I do not read the fact she hasn't done so as negative: her fears of screwing the relationship combined with her difficulties in dealing with the past definitely accounts for her actions more than her being a pathological liar. I thus think you are selling Shallan short in saying she will NEVER tell Adolin the truth, she will ALWAYS lie to him. I think neither Shallan and Adolin are lying to each other: they are merely avoiding talking about particular subjects. I am confident they will get down to it, both of them.

Working on the assumption that the bindpoints used in Hemalurgy are just physical locations that are related to a specific point of your spiritweb, rather than a creation of Hemalurgy, I have another of my signature crackpot ideas. Using a piece of wood, so it definitely isn't hemalurgic, could you carve some Aon on it such that when the wood is placed on a bindpoint and the Aon is activated, you get some effect related to your spiritweb corresponding to that bindpoint? To clarify with an example, you are a pewterarm, and there is a pewter bindpoint in the earlobe (if that isn't the case, roll with it but tell me). If you put the right Aon there, could you push power through your web such that you use the Dor to either make it so you get the effect of burning pewter without burning any, or make any pewter burn you do more powerful? Could it re-filter the power through the context of pewter allomancy to give you enhanced pewter. It would be a lot like a nicrosil tap, at least it is with how I envision it. I'm going to assume I worded this horribly (even though I ran it by @Extesian in the discord first to try to make it sensible). If people don't get this at all, yell at me so I know which part(s) are broken. This is something I've never seen considered before, really.

Or, you know, all these could happen: kaladin and adolin discover themselves bisexual and form a stable triangle with shallan and each other. No, I don't think it's ever going to happen, but it certainly would solve every problem

Eh, I'm pretty sure Adolin doesn't think Kaladin shouldn't have a shardblade. He is after all the one that offered him a full set of Shards on WoR before Kaladin showed himself as a Radiant. I think those two just are in a relationship where both will swear up and down that they think the other is lowly/arrogant but inwardly are fond of each other. (Not meant in a romantic way, before anyone starts). I think their friendship with each other is good for both to get over their respective class prejudices. Adolin never treated darkeyes badly, but he is used to deference and thinks he should rule. Kaladin is a way for him to see there is nothing divine in his rule and to see darkeyes as equals. And Kaladin of course is highly anti-lighteyes, he put Dalinar into a special box from day one. So Adolin is his way of accepting not all lighteyes are evil, and some are even very nice and good people. In a way, also to learn to see lighteyes are equals and not different than anyone else . I even think the reason why Adolin is a good way for Kaladin to get over his prejudice is that Adolin is all that he hated about lighteyes: rich, spoiled, commanding hundreds since he was 16 etc. Which is probably why it took Kaladin so long to accept he respected Adolin nevertheless.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to think that it's Shallan herself who's most likely to get the order wrong. It's probably just as well there was nobody to see this scene: Adolin spends a few hours in Shallan's bedroom and leaves with a spring in his step, while Shallan looks tired and sweaty. Nothing to worry about kids, they were just breaking some deep seated cultural taboos.

@Arraenae From Tolkien Gateway: Apologies, I should have elaborated

Okay, I am one of those aforementioned "Shalladin" people. Here's my thoughts on the matter: I think Shadolin is going to fall apart, at least in this part of the story, and the revelation that Adolin not only killed Sadeas, but murdered him in a fit of rage, is going to be the final wedge that drives them apart. They may end up back together, they may not. And before I get started let me make it clear that although I am a Shalladin shipper, I do think that Shallan and Adolin are cute together, and that ultimately I will be happy with whomever Shallan ends up with, because she's my favorite anyway. Here's why I think what I do: First, mentally, Adolin is going to fall apart. He's showing signs of this already. He murdered a high prince in a fit of rage and hatred, then hid the fact. Adolin has previously demonstrated that when things get tough and stressful, he pulls away from those around him--he remains amicable, but his numerous courtships, his despair over Dalinar when he thought Dalinar was going mad, his hurting over Sureblood, he simply doesn't talk to others about what is inside. He hides, he withdraws, and ultimately pushes people away rather than letting them see him for who he is, and as much as I love Dalinar, Adolin's father is a huge cause of that. He's grown up as the prized son, and now he's not only done something bad, but he's snapped and done something terrible. If Adolin had previously demonstrated an ability to confide up until now, he might be able to take what is coming, but unless he majorly changes and starts confiding in Shallan, the stress of everything is going to cause him to break down. Second, Shallan hates murderers. This is an important aspect of her character--she was horrified by Jasnah's actions in WoK, and Adolin's actions are too much like her father's. Remember that Shallan's upbringing has caused a lot of scars and she shows some signs of PTSD, and when her father got angry he beat and ultimately ended up murdering. His rage grew uncontrollable, and no matter how well their relationship progresses, the eventual revelation of Adolin's murdering Sadeas will horrify her and lead her to doubt whether or not Adolin will end up the same way. Third, while their relationship is cute and charming, there is no glue to hold them together. Shallan's interest in Adolin is very much physical--the most recent chapters have demonstrated that. She cares for him, but right now she doesn't really click with Adolin. Not yet, anyway. I think, or at least this is my opinion, that Shallan wants to be with Adolin because Adolin represents the life she could have had. He represents normalcy in a way that she has never had. Kaladin doesn't represent that--Kaladin is dark, brooding, dour...etc. Adolin is happy, optimistic, and most importantly attractive, but there is nothing so far to say that Shallan and Adolin would hold up for a length of time. Fourth, I disagree with this. The reason us Shalladin people exist is because Shallan and Kaladin seem to click better to us than Shallan and Adolin. Shallan's wit goes right over Adolin's head. Kaladin's mother had a very similar wit to Shallan's, and he reacts to it in remarkable ways. Shallan is academic and looks at situations from an artistic perspective--Adolin looks at things much like his father: as a soldier. He has a hard time looking at things in the detached, logical way that is an academic. Kaladin showed not only an interest in her art, but also has more of an academic mind from his years training as a surgeon under his father. Yes, Shallan and Kaladin don't always speak the same social language at times, but neither do Shallan and Adolin, and for that matter neither do Kaladin and Adolin. Also, with regards to Heleran, I'm really not sure how Shallan will take that. It seems to me almost that it will be one of her truths, something like "Kaladin killed Heleran", but here's the thing: Shallan's a smart girl. She heard Kaladin's story, and will eventually make the connection to Kaladin killing Heleran. That will come out. But for Kaladin, killing Heleran wasn't an act of hatred or rage, or even greed--it was an act of protection. He was trying to protect his liege lord and his men. Heleran was slaughtering his people on the field, and Kaladin did what he had to do to save them. When things finally come down, I think all of that will make a difference to Shallan. Adolin, on the otherhand and as I've already said, murdered Sadeas in a fit of rage. He wasn't protecting Dalinar, he wasn't stopping conflict--he killed Sadeas out of hatred. And I really think that will scare Shallan.

In Shallan's current mental state, she'll probably just create a different persona for each of the boys... Yes, I hate love triangles no matter how well written and I want to have a friendship between main characters of the opposite sex. However, if then it's all good I have my priorities

Oh, Brandon, you should know better. If you zoom in on the ARC back cover, you can make out some words. The first line is "A new storm has come." The five names are The Captain, The Spy, The Stonewalker, The Traitor, and The King. One other neat line I can see is "The Unmade - shadows of the Enemy's mind" Anything else you guys can dig out? Update: Here's what we've got, at the end of the day.

Ill start with german translations i know off: Mistborn= Die Kinder des Nebels(1)/ Krieger des Feuers= Warriors of Fire (2)/ Der Herrscher des Lichts= The Ruler of Light (3)/ Die Jäger der Macht= The Hunters of the Power (4) Breeze=Weher Elend Venture=Elant Wager Ham= Hamm Spooki=Spuki Dockson=Docksohn (still shortend to Dox) Clubs=Keuler Warbreaker = Sturmklänge =Stormsounds Vasher= Fascha

And I have to apologize for this one... Well that was more than I expected! I really only had the first 2 in mind when I started!

Great reminder kari. It is good for our new posters to see some of the historic and to challenge a few preconceive ideas: Adolin is not the most popular character. He is a popular character a lot of readers like to read, but he is very few readers favorite. The Kaladin/Shallan relationship has always gotten a lot of support. Sure you were, I didn't know I was famous. For the rest, I do not agree on Shallan thinking Adolin murdering Sadeas makes him similar to her father. Sadeas has single-handily caused the death of 6000 of Adolin's soldiers. He has professed threats against both Dalinar and Elhokar: he admitted to Adolin he will kill not only his father, but also the king, all of this within a three months time frame. He did plan an assassination attempt which nearly killed both Dalinar and Shallan. As he finally makes his way to Urithiru he reinforces his position by claiming he will never stop trying to harm Adolin's family and princedom until he succeeds and is made king. He states there is ABSOLUTELY nothing Adolin can do to prevent him from putting his plan into execution. Adolin didn't murder some little rainbow shooting angel: he murdered a despot, a tyrant, a mass murderer and a traitor to his kingdom. Yes, after Sadeas finished telling Adolin all of the ignominious things he will do to his family, Adolin snaps. Yes, he is angered, but it is the rightful anger one feels when everything and everyone he loves is threatened by someone having not only the means, but the intentions and the capacity to ruin them. Therefore, Adolin murdering Sadeas bears absolutely no link whatsoever to Shallan's father behavior: it is more akin to Shallan murdering her father which she too did to protect her family. Just because Shallan is unable to feel anger, in a general manner, does not mean the fact Adolin felt it he is the lesser human being. I also seriously criticize the idea Shallan would be simple-minded enough to think Adolin murdering Sadeas precludes him harming her or their children. Why would she even think this? Is Shallan going to start thinking every single human being feeling anger, once in a while, is akin to her father? Then what is she going to think of Kaladin who is an angry person in a general manner? How is she not able to put things into perspective and to understand just how evil Sadeas was? People put way too much importance over the fact Adolin was angry, stating just because he killed someone, once, out of anger, he will explode and kill more people. This isn't how it works: Adolin's anger demanded intense provocation to happen and is unlikely to happen again unless another Sadeas manifests himself. Thus, I think it isn't doing Shallan a great service to think she will start seeing Adolin as an evil murderous person. I mean, the entire rational behind Shallarin demands Shallan to be able to both understand and forgive Kaladin for killing Helaran, then how is she not able to understand why Adolin killed Sadeas? This never add up in my mind: either she can rationalize it or she can't and it is easy to say which individual she thinks did not deserve to die, no matter the circumstances. Adolin has no option besides going to his father, tell him what he has heard and watch his father still try to turn Sadeas into an ally. Dalinar refusing to deal with Sadeas has been the knot of the issue, his reluctance to do something about his old friend, his thoughts unity means everyone needs to be united even those not wanting it or threatening it. There is also the fact Adolin knows, politically, there isn't much they can do. They cannot oppose Sadeas without launching a civil war which is currently ill-advised. There is nothing Adolin can do which will lead any tangible results, there is nothing he can do which will solve the problem but killing him. I also disagree he killed Sadeas because he hated him. Adolin can hate people: he won't kill them for it. He killed him because he promised he would harm his family and his knew these weren't empty promises. This has been the argument Kaladin/Shallan shippers have used in the past: Adolin can always form a relationship with another currently non-existing nameless girl. My issues with it is it doesn't work with the narrative and the character we have gotten so far. Adolin has dated every single young women in Alethkar and he has ruined every single one of those relationship, until Shallan. Why is it working with Shallan is both simple and complex, but let's say it is unlikely to repeat itself with another random nameless girl just so Shallan would be free for Kaladin. Therefore, the idea Adolin could make it work with another yet to be introduced, probably very minor, character isn't doing his character good service. Adolin has crippling issues with relationships: if it fails with Shallan, then she becomes his Navani. He won't succeed with another girl just because. They work pretty well in OB. In Wor, they were just starting to date. This is not why Adolin screws up: he screws up because he can't open up to other people, he can't let others see his inner side because they may see he isn't as strong as he pretends to be. Shallan is the only one who got a glimpse at the inner him and by doing so, she got to him. It makes him a better person because this relationship has the potential to become the only one where he truly is himself, where he lets someone see him, the real him, the him even his family isn't seeing. Becoming a better person, for Adolin, means admitting he cannot always be strong, he cannot always be perfect. It is admitting he too needs someone to lean onto, from times to times. It is finally growing into accepting it is OK to make mistakes and the faith of his family doesn't pass solely by him.

Or Brandon could just take a leaf from RJ's book and have Shallan pull a Rand al'Thor and marry both. No more of this silly love triangle nonsense.

What a terrible shame this isn't that kind of novel

This is an interesting topic in itself. Kaladin is my favorite character by far in the series. Kaladin has a lot of admirable traits that I respect, but I think his character growth and his flaws are what make him a very interesting character. Adolin, on the other hand, is a more likable person and also a good character, but my interest in his arc is mostly plot driven. Basically I like Kaladin better as a character but I'd rather be friends with Adolin. That's probably part of why I like Shaladin but it also has to do with how Shallan and Kaladin interact. Their interaction brought out parts of each other that I think made each of them more likable characters (as an aside, the scene with them throwing insults at each other in a crowded hallway like 12 year-olds was my favorite comedy scene in the series so far). In Kaladin's case it was pretty obvious: beginning to get over his prejudice against lighteyes (although I think he still has a ways to go there). In Shallan's case, it was one of the few interactions with another character where it didn't feel like she was playing a role. Partly because Kaladin saw through that and called her out on it. I can understand why she does what she does and I actually empathize with it, but it still bugs me when she deals with someone like Dalinar, for example who's exactly the opposite in terms of being completely genuine and honest. In her more recent interactions with Adolin, it's less that she's playing a role, but she's still hiding herself. I'd rather see Adolin with someone more genuine.

Just on the topic of character popularity and so on, here's some old polls (mostly from 2014 and all after WoR came out) Who is your favourite character: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/18912-who-is-your-favourite-character-in-sa/ Kaladin wins this one easily. Shallan 5th most popular, Adolin 7th. Who will Shallan end up with: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6519-shallans-relationship/ Very close between Adolin and Kaladin. Who will Kaladin end up with: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/7693-kaladins-relationship/ Shallan is the most popular option, though only with 33%. I dunno if there has been significant changes since then. The demographics of the readership can change as well.

Yes! There are some varying ways to produce coins. The cheapest ones come from China, usually cast in zinc and plated. Higher quality coins are made in solid metals and are struck on presses kind of like ours but their processes are usually more modern and streamlined. Our higher costs come from: licensing (part of your purchase goes to Brandon), engraving (done by hand by Woody, our super talented engraver), metal (sourced in small batches in the US), minting (on one of our antique presses 1700's-1920's era machines), finishing (darkened and aged to feel perfect), packaging (high quality archival holders with printed card insert), and of course labor. We've got a LOT more flexibility in the coins but it means that our costs are higher than probably any other mint. This is a really subtle thing, but as far as I know, we're the only mint broadstriking our coins. This means the coin isn't fitted into a collar which would give it the sides on the edge like all modern coins. So our Era 1 coins are broadstruck on one of our older presses with smoother, rounded edges where the metal bubbled out when being pressed and the Era 2 coins are collared in our new modern press (from the Denver mint!) and have those sharper sides plus an intermittent knurled edge which we've never done before! You should be able to see those differences in the photo. All of these elements are again super subtle but important to us since we can create these coins exactly how they should be. tl;dr: making coins the old way is more expensive but dang they look good.

Nope. I would love to see a massive fakeout where this series ends in diplomacy and understanding between two factions expected to be at war. The groundwork is being set even now. Then a third thing can come in that is less sapient and more destructive and the voidbringers and radiants can demolish it.

Can we all agree we are ready for the Radiant kicking Voidbringer behinds trope? Im trying my hardest to throw off Exteaian’s percentages but I think it’s a loosing battle.

@maxal I really hope you won't get this wrong way and the fact that I am choosing to respond to you doesn't look like an attack or something like that. I hate how one can come across slontzey or mean on the internet so I hope I don't. In regards to saying "the dark and broody"/"love-hate" tropes have been used more than "rich boy falls for one of a kind girl"/"arranged wedding", and you called the Kaladin/Shallan relationship from the beginning, I think it's your personal experience when it comes to the form of entertainment you were exposed to. For someone who has read a lot of garbage chick-lit books, between Chronicles of Narnia and high fantasy, I can say my favourite trope was the "rich boy that can't commit who is super nice&thoughtful and falls for the nerdy/quirky girl" ( i just want to throw up when I read that sentence out loud and remember those times). Why I am admitting this, embarrassing myself ? Because I don't think one can quantify the usage of one trope over the other. Everyone will have biases & preferences and it's ok as long they don't try to push those as facts. I never read forums or opinions online before reading WoR, so until the infamous chasm scene I was sure Adolin and Shallan were set in stone (maybe because I was a bit bias over my favourite trope from my teen years), so I could argue that trope is overused and so on. We would never get anywhere. Both relationships have started with equal cliches as a base and now we see layers upon layers on that base. So you, me ore anyone else saying, yes both can be reduced to tropes, but one is more overused than the other is subjective because everyone talks from their own perception as to X is more cliche than Y. Likewise for the ones who don't want to see or accept that Adolin/Shallan had some really genuine and nice moments in these last two chapters. As much as I want, I can't skip all these discussions that come up and I feel like some of them are putting me off when it comes to characters, possible plot development etc This is why I am trying so much to be Sweden and arguing so that everyone can see how nice and carefree it can be. Sorry if I don't make much sense, my eyes are closing.

Here's my take on Kaladin / Shallan / Adolin: it's going to be messy. A lot of people are painting their preferred couple in a very Disney light, and I just don't see that happening. All three are very flawed characters, and I think there are going to be some mistakes, some drama, and some hurt feelings along the way. Sanderson is pretty good with relationships, and Marasi / Wax / Steris was a great example of how he's willing to let romantic situations evolve instead of just "happily ever after" them at the end of the first book. There is a lot of Stormlight left, and a lot of time for Shallan to become enamored with one, surprised by the other, make a stupid decision, piss them both off, create drama, and add an extra layer of uncertainty to everything else that is going on.

Hey there everyone! I've been doing little analysis of the Tor.com preview chapters as they've been coming out and I thought I'd make a place to find them here. I'll update this post with every new episode along with my notes (With a bit more structure to them). One of the reasons I wanted a place for them here is so that I can keep my notes in written form so it's easier for people to point out where I'm making my mistakes. Anyway, one with the videos! Walking to Urithiru - Part 0 - Introduction and Predictions Notes: Predictions Hints to Gavilars pre-radiancy bondsmithyness Look out of any Heralds Will we see the black sphere? Anymore info on the Parshendi? Walking to Urithiru - Part 1 - Prologue, To Weep Notes: Listeners had songs about humans that make them sound like Voidbringers (Specifically Midnight Essence). "dark, formless monsters", have the songs over time conflated the two enemies of the surviving listener people (Humans and Voidbringers) into one? Seems to me the biggest difference between dullform and slaveform is that slaveform don't hear the Rhythms, what happened to them to remove their ability to Listen? Gavilar with 5 people 2 Officers Amaram Maybe Restares 1 old robed dude Maybe Taravangian Maybe just an ardent 2 Women If Restares, maybe Restares wife If Taravangian, maybe Adrotagia Maybe Vivenna Eshonai makes the connection between Listeners and Fabrials way quicker than any of us did Listener gods must be the Unmade, Do the Black Spheres contain the Unmade? Maybe just one, split apart? Is this simply a sphere of voidlight? Gavilar notices Eshonai humming to the Rhythm of Anxiety and tells her to calm down. Not only does he hear the humming, he recognizes the Rhythm as Anxiety. Can Gavilar hear the Rhythms? Gavilar seems to think that a single spren being captured is what turned the Voidbringers into slaveform. is one Unmade really all it took? Is it free now? Void light - somehow related to forms of power Klades one slave just happened to be Szeth? And obviously-evil Venli was with him? Voice in the Rhythms? Eshonai left the Shattered Plains to see the world. Upon seeing a map of the world, she mourns Did Gavilar intend on betraying the Parshendi or did he plan on allying himself with Voidbringers? Sad ending Walking to Urithiru - Part 2 - Chapters 1, 2 and 3 Notes: Starts with Oathbringer quote, author might be Sunmaker (past) Dalinar (future) Start with Dalinar vision - Six days after arriving at Urithiru Dalinar can now summon visions at will, I assume large building size shimmer is the Stormfather, was he always there? Dalinar noclips to skybox where he finds an easter egg Dalinar sees golden light, black shardplate and 9 shadows Golden light = Odium Black Shardplate = Odiums Champion 9 Shadows = 9 Unmade Black Shardplate - This is the first we've ever heard of this. This makes the voidlight theory stronger for the Black Sphere. Alternatively, what if the Black Sphere is actually a physical manifestation of Odiums Investiture and the Black Shardplate is made out of this? (Odiumian ugh) There's a familiarity for the figure in Black Shardplate, Dalinar recgonises something The person Adolin? Eshonai? Dalinar himself? Feelings Hate? Destruction? The Thrill? Davani have a chat Mention that Oathgates need to be activated on both sides. First, this means the Oathgates were intentionally deactivated and not just stopped being used. Second, only the gates on the far side were deactivated, no one was around to activate the Urithiru side of the Urithiru-Stormseat gate Scout fetches Davani Adolin is ordering people about to avoid thinking about his problems Urithiru becoming a city Rushu turns up, she is Navanis favourite Ardent before Shallan turned up, might be Vivenna? Sadeas Body - Scout is mentioned again Dalinar notes the wound that killed Sadeas is not an assassins wound, but the killing blow that a soldier would do to a man in plate. Navani suggested assassin but Dalinar says nothing, does he suspect the people around him? Adolin? Dalinar looks at the people in the room - mention of the scout again, is she Vivenna??? Polana says what we are all thinking, good riddance. No one disagrees. Dalinar takes his entourage to a balcony, overlooking large plateaus surrounding Urithiru for Radiants to Growth crops Another mention of planter boxes. Adolin threw Sadeas' sword into one of these. Their mention again makes me think that the sword will be found soon (Setup, reinforcement, payoff). Sadeas sword is Oathbringer. Dalinar makes a little speech about uniting Roshar Little aside about Squires, their powers are lost with distance, but maybe time as well? Lopen healed his arm when one of them was on the Plains and the other in Urithiru. Powers fade like Stormlight Dalinar confirms Urithiru is above the storms Shin Invasions are mentioned, good to know as these were previously hinted at with Shubreth-son-Mashamalan Did the Shin do this when they first arrived? Dalinar flashback Dalinar being a bamf Some of that good Roshar stuff (rockbuds, laits) Dalinar is around 17 at this point Dalinar describes the Thrill as a "Rhythm of killing and dying", does Nergaoul simply open people up to a Rhythm as they naturally attune to it during war? Archer, black bow, black arrows (Unknown material) under command of Brightlord Yezriar specifically hired to kill Dalinar Dalinar did not snort or spit blood Young Sadeas is a scummy dude Walking to Urithiru - Part 3 - Chapter 4 Notes Epigraphs hint more towards the author Possible contenders: Sunmaker (Less likely now) Dalinar still possible - Especially after this chapter Many have suggested but the first person I saw say it was Pagerunner suggesting Jasnah - words like godless heretic and hanging between realms 8 Days for the Everstorm to circle round Navani writing her memoirs that become the Part 1 Epigraphs of WoR? Everstorm is new this time around Silent lightning? Is it Spren? Maybe like the mist not making things wet? Dalinar getting visions from the storm, Odium is aware of Dalinar. Could Odium have moved to Roshar finally and that's what the everstorm is? Rushu is mentioned again, Rushu is definitely Vivenna Chanada, senior ardent in the warcamps, told all the ardents to not marry Navani/Dalinar - Could be Vivenna Revelations about Dalinars wife (Won't mention her name). They married so Dalinar could get some Shardplate. Dalinar reveals to Navani he doesn't remember her and Navani works out that it was the Nightwatcher that did it. Circumstances of her death are "Something about a city in rebellion against my brother, and my wife being taken hostage? That… and a long march alone, accompanied only by hatred and the Thrill. He remembered those emotions vividly. He’d brought vengeance to those who had taken his wife from him." What did Dalinar do?! Going up to the roof, Urithiru has lifts! Only a handful operating out of dozens. Looking forward to it getting another. Description of Urithiru which I'm not going to get into as we are getting a diagram of it in Oathbringer. I have a feeling this big window pointing towards the Origin may actually have a purpose Dalinar nervous about getting married Mention of True Spren and subspren, this may just be the Stormfathers opinion though Still lots of Urithiru unexplored Bridge 13 are guarding Dalinar as Bridge 4 have been assigned to "other duties" as they are "close to becoming Radiants", bloody nepotism Navani is wearing red/gold so she gets added to the "might be Odiums champion" list Aladars duaghter is mentioned as being at the wedding, May Aladar is now being added to the "Might be Vivenna" list Stormfather rocks up, giving Dalinar the "detached" feeling that he gives people when he turns up (Kaladin has described this in WoK, Eshonai and Kaladin again in WoR) "First in Millenia to bind me", not gonna read too much into this but does this mean the Recreance was about 1000 years ago? Davani get married Kadash has an issue with this - he implies he knows of bad things Dalinar did. Dalinar mentions that he hadn't thought about it this thing in years, meaning this is different to the Wife memory. Something bad happened at The Rift, Rathalas (Does anyone have any idea as to what this is?) Dalinar implies he's seen something higher than the almighty. "A warmth and a light" like his dream at the end of WOR? Walking to Urithiru - Part 4 - Chapters 5 and 6 Notes: Everstorm was at it's worst fighting a highstorm. I wonder if when the Highstorm and Everstorm meet again in the future, will it be as bad as the Shattered Plains (Huge sections of ground ripped into the air) Brandon seems to be signaling to us that this is not the case (multiple mentions of it not being as strong) Kals eyes are brown again, only go blue when summoning Syl. Not the use of Investiture, but summoning Syl? Hmm... Kal confirms that leaving Spheres out in the Everstorm does not charge them with Voidlight Weeping continues about half a day after the Everstorm passed. Seem Roshars meteorigical system hasn't been disrupted too bad Kaladin still refers to Moash as his friend, reminder that Roshone was sent to Hearthstone after convincing Elhokar to have Moash's grandparents, some rival silversmith owners, arrested and kept imprisoned until death. Dalinar wanted to strip him of power but he was instead sent somewhere "he couldn't do any more harm" New Spren, gloomspren. Rare for some reason Syl has an aunt? Roshones Parshmen were kept in a small structure in the garden. A single open space with benches for sleeping (Reminds me of the Skaa hovels). Kaladin feels a large hole ripped in the side. No idea what this means. We know that Parshmen that are left inside during the Everstorm won't change, but how "inside" do they have to be? If this hole was there beforehand, would it be enough to cause the parshmen to change? Kal reunites with his parents and I nearly cry Lirin and Hesina are maybe hiding something from Kal "our home still stands. We had to dedicate your spot to something else, Kal, but we can make space for you" and “Things have gotten better since you left [...] We can rebuild, be a family again. And there’s something else you need to know about. We-" Blightsong suggested to me that Hesina and Lirin may have another child Mara is mentioned, assuming Lirins new apprentice, a new girl moved in from elsewhere? Kal says these wounds are of a natural disaster, not an attack, where did the voidbringers go? "Moelach moves westward" - Could the voidbringers/Parshmen be drawn in that direction too? Syl remembers Kal as a kid. We know something was watching Kal as a kid because of his skill with the staff as soon as he picked it up. Syl says "there was… another voice. Pure, with a song like tapped crystal, distant yet demanding…" - The context isn't too great. We don't know whether this means the voice of someone watching Kal and calling to her (Authority among the Honorspren? Cultivation?) or another proto-radiant? Tien? He didn't seem very Windrunner Kal punching Roshone was great Ending on Kal once again calling Moash his friend Walking to Urithiru - Part 5 - Chapters 7, 8, and 9 Notes: I feel the Epigraphs are slightly less likely to be Jasnah. As this is only the preface, I think we aren't going to see any of Oathbringer the actual book, but we are going to find out what it contains and why it was written Kaladin refers to Urithiru as home Seems the Parshmen did transform and then left, I still think they are heading west. "Some of the older spren have four genders instead of two" - A reference to the Roshar of old, where Listeners were the only sapient creatures on Roshar and Brandon classified their 4 genders as Male, Female, Malen, Femalen Hearthstone has a spanreed! Turns out Laral is just really bad at picking up the blinking ruby Kaladin has a baby brother! One year old Oroden Kaladin leaves Hearthstone, showing everyone the Radiants had returned Syl forms a Shardspear, which is badass Chapter 8 - A Powerful Lie We open with Shallan struggling to draw Urithiru. I find this strange as it's just a big building, why can't she draw it? Perspective might be wrong but then just draw it on a smaller scale? Female Scout appears. She has now been identified as Lyn, the character that Brandon named after a redditor who posted on Reddit saying she wanted to live on Roshar. Probably not Vivenna Shallan pretending to be an Elsecaller so people don't work out she can cast illusions Hathams army where red and gold, Hatham is definitely Odiums Champion Shallan joins Adolin, Renarin, Dalinar and Navani in chatting about unifying Roshar and Renarin is cold for some reason "He wore his Bridge Four uniform, but had a blanket over his shoulders and was holding a cup of steaming tea, though the room wasn’t particularly cold. " Why? Tezim, a warlord in Tukar, claims to be an aspect of the Almighty. maybe a Proto-bondsmith? Argent suggested maybe Ishar, I'm not sure, could be a Herald though I hope the irony of Adolin saying only Dalinar could intimidate the forces of nature is not lost on everyone Dalinar starts pulling on Shallan. She feels "A leaping within her, as if part of her were being pulled by him." She describes it as a "tugging" She breathes in light, breathes it out on the map, the light then passed between her and Dalinar before becoming a huge map of the Rosharan continent Dalinar says the Stormfather did this, that "It wasn’t me or you, but us. " - almost exact way that Syl describes how the Nahel Bond grants powers to Kaladin. Bondsmiths must be able to create bonds with other Radiants and use their surges somehow Dalinar mentions to Odiums champion, black armor, red eyes, 9 shadows. Renarin is aghast at this. RENARIN, TALK, TELL SOMEONE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING List of all the Oathgates: - Azimir, in Azir - Shinovar - Panatham, Capital of Babatharnam - Rall Elorim, City of Shadows in Iri - Kurth in Rira - One lost in Aimia - Jah Keved - assumedly Vedenar cause it's capital - Thaylen City in Thaylenah - One on the Shattered Plains - Last one in Kholinar still no word from Kholinar, I'm guessing that city is fuuuuucked Interesting that Navani says that Aimia itself, the island, was destroyed. Chapter 9 - The Threads of a Screw Both Jofwu and Argent have commented on how it's very unusual how much emphasis is being put on the strata patterns on the walls. I had thought it was just Shallan showing off she is getting more comfortable around... Patterns... but the fact this chapter is named this is interesting The exact quote is "The strata here spiraled, twisting around the floor, ceiling, and walls like the threads of a screw. It was striking enough that Shallan took a Memory of it for later sketching." end quote Why is this the name of the chapter? Shallan seems both at home at Urithiru and also put off by it, it's very strange Find a copycat killer - killed one of Sebarials officers 2 possibilities 1. Someone knows Adolin did it through magic means 2. Someone is taking the oppurtunity to pin a murder on someone else If 1, it's gotta be Renarin, if 2, it'll be Ghostbloods or Sadeas widow, Ialai Person must have had access to the body before it was moved, so either Bridge 4 (doubtful) or Sadeas troops Seems other soldiers are referring to Bridge 4 as "the windrunners" Brandon made special note of how specifically sketchy Renarin is being in that room Renarin staring at Adolin, I feel like Shallan knows something is up with Adolin and is going to accidentally draw the scene or something and Renarin may already know that it was Adolin who did it via his "visions" Walking to Urithiru - Part 6 - Chapter 10 Epigraphs for Chapters 10 and 12 "Perhaps my heresy stretches back to those days in my childhood, where these ideas began. I ask not that you forgive me. Nor that you even understand." Okay, I haven't spoken much about the actual content of these prefaces, but what does it mean by "I ask not that you forgive me or understand"? What is the point in writing this or having some read it if not for them to understand something. I guess it could just be to recount events that you want people to know but this seems like a far more thoughtful peice than just a recounting of events. Hmmm Chapter 10 - Distractions Kal is searching area in a spiral moving outwards from Hearthstone to find the Voidbringers Mentions Gumfrems, a chull like beast that is killed for its Heliodor gemheart. I have long suspected all species "native" to Roshar have a gemheart and this gemheart allows them to bond with spren in some way and live on Roshar. Good to hear that there are other fauna than just greatshells and Listeners that have gemhearts Syl and Kaladin have a conversation about Syl having Spren children, she talks about how the Stormfather made some of them (Honorspren), helped shape them. Syl talks about how she would teach the little spren to fly and annoy Kaladin. I wonder if we're getting a glimpse into what seperates "truespren" and "subspren", like could a windspren be turned into an Honorspren if raised by another honorspren? Or is Syl just being silly? Kal calls Syl a Sylblade when she's in sword for and interestingly, she has a the windrunner symbol for a hilt, with lines of metal making the shape. I find this interesting because none of the other blades have been described as having this kind of hilt. Spoilers for next chapter but Renarins is described as quite simple and Shallans never makes any reference to any flowing lines like the Lightweaver symbol. Is Kal just SUPER Windrunnery and all the other radiants just filthy casuals? So Kal turns up and becomes a menagerie for everyone, encouraging everyone and stuff before being informed that the village was attacked by the voidbringers. The voidbringers had attacked a grain silo with a group of about 50 of them. Kal chats with a female ardent who very much has a crush on our rugged, moist hero in blue. She's going on the might be Vivenna list just in case... She talks about how a group of 50 were chased away by only a handful of people, but this is very strange as they could have taken the town easily. I'm assuming the voidbringers are basically under almost the complete control of an Unmade or Odium himself and he's trying to preserve and gather his forces as absolutely as quickly as possible, hence the lack of attacking and not even bothering to risk a single soldier to a little town in the middle of nowhere. Odium knows he's going to need every Listener possible this time around. She mentions that only a few red lights were seen from the group and this has led me to believe that the voidbringers are not in Stormform or Warform. She says that the witnesses described some red lights but not enough to be their eyes. They don't have glowing red eyes. They aren't in Stormform. They do have SOME glowing red lights. I believe these are the single glowing comet-like spren that Eshonai describes flitting about her head after she changes into Stormform. Warform does not produce this comet-like Spren. So, they aren't in Stormform, and they aren't in Warform, what form are they in? I do think it's a voidform as I think that's whats required for the little spren, but other than that I can't say. Syl and Kaladin have a little chat about Kaladins sex life and Syl seems to like to watch. Kaladin does wonder what Radiants Spren do whilst their Radiant is having sex and I do think it's an interesting question. It's just a strange situation for everyone involved really. We then find out where the Parshmen are heading to Kholinar... Which is to the East of both Hearthstone and Kharbranth. I feel like Kholinar is super messed up. Not only do they have a incompetant Queen, not only were they rioting to all hell, not only did it most likely have one of the largest populations of parshmen, but now it seems all the parshmen in Alethkar are heading their way! Honestly, at this point, I'm extremely worried about Ehlokars son. So we now have a switch to Adolins point of view. Adolin is hanging out with Gallant after losing Sureblood in the fight against the Stormforms on the Shattered Plains. They do seem extremely intelligent. Renarin joins Adolin and mentions that Ryshadiums have stone hooves. I don't think they are "native" to Roshar but they are definitely a lot more adapted to life on Roshar than a normal horse. Either Ryshadiums came to Roshar long before the current crop of humans/horses or they were changed once the Shards arrived. At this point, I wouldn't be surpised to learn they have a gemheart. Renarins had an interesting comment, it seems he's worked out that your standard horse doesn't fit on Roshar. Renarin tries to give the Shardblade that Adolin won for him back and Adolin realises that Renarin has his own blade. Renarin summons it and as I mentioned before, this one isn't big and fancy, just a long thin wavey sword with no crossguard. Renarin has a little moment where he talks about struggling to fit in and it's just the most adorable thing. Poor Renarin We then see Renarin breath in some stormlight and heal Adolins wrist, but something else happens here. The quote is: "A pulse of Radiance washed through Adolin, and for an instant he saw himself perfected. A version of himself that was somehow complete and whole, the man he could be. It was gone in a moment, and Renarin pulled his hand free and murmured an apology." Now, this sounds a lot like Allomantic Gold, Electrum or Malatium doesn't it? What I think is happening here is either: A) This is simply how Regrowth works as this is just the first time we've been in a PoV of someone it's being used on, so when Lift heals people, it shows them their perfect self too as something the body is trying to aim for This is a little bit of the Illumination surge leaking in and it's giving Adolin a vision of what his body is trying to heal (That's Heal with a capital H) into C) A persons perfect self is one of the things Renarin can "see" as he puts in WoR and he was just showing it to Adolin Whatever these options are, I'm pissed because my theory has been completely thrown out with the bathwater and I'm back to square one with Renarins weird futuresight abilities. Any replies are encouraged! Point out stuff I got wrong, maybe stuff I missed. I'll update this post for every video added. Thank you for your time! Walking to Urithiru - Part 7 - Chapters 11 and 12 Chapter 11 - The Rift 33 years ago - a year after the last flashback Dalinar has managed to win himself some Plate of his own in what sounds like a less than official duel. Looks like Kaladin isn't the only one to kill a Shardbearer with no Shards of his own. You may remember that Dalinar actually married for a set of Plate but this was not the one he personally uses, Adolin actually receives this Plate eventually as mentioned in Chapter 14 of Words of Radiance. This flashback focuses on the attack on Rathalas, The Rift. This was the occasion that I believe Kadash was talking about that caused him to join the Ardentia. Annoyingly, I wondered where Rathalas was in Part 2 and it's RIGHT THERE ON THE ALETHKAR MAP. I need to be better for you guys, I apologise. I also guessed that this event was seperate to the wife event and I'm glad it seems that way. Dalinar, Gavilar and Sadeas take the walls of Rathalas before Dalinar falls for a trap and falls down the rift in the ground that Rathalas is seated in. This is a nice little call back to the first flashback where Sadeas says not even a rockslide could kill Dalinar. Dalinar surives the fall and eventually makes it to engage the citylord Tanalan. He is a Shardblade owner and the Shardblade he owns is the titular Oathbringer. Dalinar engages Tanalan and eventually forces him to retreat to a hidden room holding his wide and 6 year old child. The child is wielding Oathbringer and we fade to black. Now, there's been some arguments about whether Dalinar actually killed the kid or not. He says he's ashamed of what he did. Gavilar even mentions he killed their highlord and the heir so it can't be JUST that he killed the child, Dalinar knows Gavilar knows and yet still mentions that he'd be ashamed if Gavilar found out what he did. The chapter ends with Dalinar ruminating over a "brave boy crying". Now, I see two possibilities. Dalinar didn't kill the boy and is ashamed of taking his Shardblade without killing him, which could be seen as Dalinar getting soft which is why he's ashamed. The other option I find is that Dalinar took care of the child and Tanalans wife in a very brutal and unsavioury manner. Alethi glorify war and martial prowess but they do look down on excessive violence. I find this second one more likely in my opinion. One thing I do find strange is that Kadash is present for Dalinar and Gavilars chat but not at any time beforehand. If this is the event that caused Kadash to leave their army and become an Ardent, we must be return to this event to clear up what Dalinar did and why it caused Kadash to leave. Last little tidbit from this chapter is that the Sunmakers name was Sadees. Sounds like Sadeas's family may be descended from him. No wonder he joined up with the Kholins conquest. Chapter 12 - Negotiations Open with Dalinar having a gander over the view from Urithiru. He has a chat with the Stormfather about the old Radiants and the Stormfather refuses to talk to him about the reason that the old Radiants broke their Oaths. Says it's best left forgotten. I have a feeling that the reason for this is because if the new Radiants knew, they would forgo their Oaths too. Dalinar goes to meet via spanreed with various world leaders. May Aladar get's mentioned again. We also get mention of Kalami and Teshav again. They were in Way of Kings and Words of Radiance so they won't be going on the Might be Vivenna list. Kalami's wards however... Azish are negotiating with the Voidbringers. The Thaylen voidbringers stole boats. Some think they are attacking these nations where they are strongest (Boats for the Thaylens, war for the alethi, diplomacy for the Azish) but I'm not convinced. I think they are simply taking advantage of the situations they are in. The Alethi voidbringers are simply heading for Kholinar because it's probably their strongest group right now, the Thaylens just wanted to get off that tiny island or deny the Thaylens their ships (Or both) and whilst the Azish think they are delaying the voidbringers with their negotiations, I think it's the other way around. During this scene, May Alader is mentioned like 4 times. I've got my eye on you May Elhokar seems to have made some realisations about himself, he even mentions he believes himself a liar. Is it possible he's admitted some Truths to himself? I have a feeling that Dalinar is going to give Elhokar the Honorblade to allow him to accomplish his mission. Taravangian messages saying he has a Radiant and is heading to Urithiru to accept Dalinars authority. There's no way this could go wrong. Taravangian's Radiant is female, VIVENNA?! Walking to Urithiru - Part 8 - Chapters 13, 14, and 15 "I ask only that you read or listen to these words. In this record, I hold nothing back. I will try not to shy away from difficult topics, or paint myself in a dishonestly heroic light. I will express only direct, even brutal, truth. You must know what I have done, and what those actions cost me." answers the question "Why bother writing this" - theory: Author did something bad, everyone thinks its good, this is to tell everyone what they did and why it's bad Three short chapters Chapter 13 - Chaperone Nearly nothing actually happens in this chapter, Adolin visits Shallan in the night Assumedly this is the last or second last night of the Weeping This chapter is hilarious and a suprisingly sexy for something Brandon Sanderson has written. You go Brandon Sanderson Shallan mentions that the walls can't be scratched by a knife, extremely strong stone or something more... cognitive? She'd drawn over 20 pages of drawings of the patterns on the walls, something definitely going on with those patterns Adolin mentions born under sign of nine, horoscope? MAY ALADAR MENTIONED AGAIN End on "Neither of us is going to mess this up" meaning they will definitely mess this up. Chapter 14 - Squires Can’t Capture Kaladin spies on some Voidbringers before being seen Voidbringers not in war form or storm form! I was right! small amounts of carapace so not workform but still with hair so not warform I saw Calderis from the shard point out that they don't seem to be speaking to any Rhythms "They spoke like Alethi. Not a hint of an accent. With his eyes closed, he wouldn’t have been able to tell these voices from those of common darkeyed villagers from Hearthstone" Kal is spotted by a yellow ribbon spren who seemed to have been on the lookout. Kal realises they are not warriors of any type and surrenders Chapter 15 - Brightness Radiant Adolin trains Shallan in the Blade MAY ALADAR IS MENTIONED AGAIN. SHE IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE IMPORTANT Pattern is described as humming a lot. This line "Pattern hummed softly a tone she’d come to recognize as confusion." I know it's a stretch but does pattern hum to the rhythms? Shallan created a new persona called Brightness Radiant which is... interesting Pattern offers to die "“I can die, Shallan. I can go. They will send you another to bond.”" So if a Lightweavers Spren dies, do the Cryptics just send another? Reminder that Spren have cities in the cRealm. Is this true for all Spren and orders? obviously not Bondsmiths but still That's it, not much else to say! Short chapters this week. For comparison, these three chapters clocked in at 8k words combined, Chapter 11 and 12 were 6k words EACH Walking to Urithiru - Part 9 - Chapter 16 Including last weeks prefaces just for a little context - Preface The book Oathbringer will give the reader an experience? Maybe will tell others how to experience what the writer has experienced? Maybe a guide to becoming a Radiant? Assuming the author is a Radiant Chapter 16 - Wrapped Three Times Finally find out where the Honorblade is at! Warm to the touch, no other shardblade has been described like this Room is described as having no strata patterns, this kills any theories about only Shallan being able to see them Stormfather basically confirms that the Honorblades are pieces of Honor, gifted to the Heralds and are part of an Oath, assumedly the Oathpact. had WoB on this before, nice to get it confirmed in text We also get a confirmation that Shardplate is linked to Oaths. Theories that it's forged by another Order have lost points and theories that it's a gathering of cousinspren has gained points Stormfather is unable to break Oaths. Tagent about why the Stormfather can't stop the Parshendi from transforming into forms of Odium and why he may be stopping them from taking forms of Cultivation or Honor, this may be part of the Oathpact Seems the Stormfather is aware of Adonalsium, I wonder how much he remembers of being Honor? Seems Odium is bound by the Oathpact by his nature. He is unable to break his own rules. Shards are unable to act outside of their Shards Intent much so it seems to me that the Oathpact isn't just something of Honor. It's something Hateful, yet also Cultivates Stormfathers odd comments about Odium: This makes it sound like there's a way of fighting Odium directly to cause damage permanently and this is different to the Champions thing which simply buys humanity time. Time to do what, who knows? Will this simply be the start of a new regular desolation cycle? So yeah, the Honorblade is being kept in a hole cut into a sewerline. I wonder what the Shin would have to say about that. Stormfather seems to confirm something long suspected about the Honorblades. Brandon has once said that if the Honorblades granted other abilities, you would have to know about those abilities in order to be able to use them. Stormfather all but guarantees that the Honorblades grant more powers than just the Surges."Like a Herald, nearly" As I said last week, Dalinar is considering giving the Honorblade to Elhokars team if Kaladin doesn't make it back, which it doesn't look like he will. Dalinar chats with a rude bridgeman from bridge 13. He has a Kholinar accent but is a little pale. He has a habit of rolling a coin over his knuckles. I'm sure we've seen this habit before in people but don't know where. If this is ringing a bell with anyone else, please let me know either in the comments before, Discord, Shard, Reddit, Twitter, I very much suspect this bridgeman is someone we've met before. Navani invented the watch Return of Zahel! Dressed with his robe belt as per usual. Looks like Vasher didn't take this oppurtunity to leave and stuck around. Dalinar has a wrestle and whilst this happens, he says that the Thrill was "The open secret of Alethi success.", do only Alethi feel the Thrill? Dalinar has a sword fight with Kadash whilst talking to one of the Iriali Triarchs which is such a Brandon Sanderson scene Iriali claims Dalinar stole Adolins plate And we get a mention of Evi! Feels nice to be able to say her name freely. Her brother is mentioned too, seems she did have family. Dalinar seems to have overcome his NW curse: Last time we heard shshsh was in Chapter 4, just before Navani and Dalinar got married. Options for what could have happened, some of these are heavily dependant on what the NW boon/curse is 1. Stormlight has healed his memory 2. Getting married to Navani means she is now his wife so he will start to forget her 3. Now that he has "moved on", it no longer fit the requirements for whatever the boon/curse is (e.g. Take away the pain) 4. Shadowfaxes theory: Navanis combined Timerial/Painrial resonated, with help from Dalinars Bondsmithing ability to do... something with other surges healed his pain through time. Walking to Urithiru - Part 10 - Chapters 17 and 18 Chapter 17 - Trapped in Shadows Syl mentions that the voidbringers seem to be being led by a higher voidspren, like her. I just think this means it's a thinking spren like she is instead of a windspren who just does as they please Syl also mentions that some, but not all, of the voidbringers are able to see her. I wonder what the difference between the two is... Some interesting info on these Voidbringers. So it seems that whatever the black spheres did (because at this point I believe whatever was trapped in the black sphere, this was key to stopping the voidbringers from transforming) it took with it a piece of the parshmans Connection and Identity. A part of their souls was literally torn away and they were unable to connect with one another and weren't even really aware of who they were. They were aware that what was happening to them was very wrong though. Assumedly, this also stopped them from transforming too Seems the voidspren isn't in control. He's directing them, but it seems he can't force them to do anything. I'm starting to think these voidbringers aren't being influenced by Odium at all. They are just running from humans and theres some spren that are willing to help them who just happen to be of Odium Chapter 18 Shallan goes out exploring as Veil Gets drunk and hit on, uses her Stormlight to heal herself from drunkness Shallan doubting her actual memories as not real is A VERY BAD THING Shallan forces herself more into the Veil persona, which is very worrying. We've even had a bit of foreshadowing from Tyn in regards to this. In Words of Radiance she warned Shallan: Shout out to SLNC for finding that Shallan is falling apart mentally. She's running from her problems by pretending she's someone else, she's convincing herself she is those people, she's starting to doubt she's actually who she thinks she is. This girl is developing some serious Dissacciative disorder I should also point out that Niveo on Reddit believes that the bouncer at the All's Alley bar is Demoux as the bouncer is described as having a large scar going from his cheek, to his forehead to his scalp. In the purelake interlude in WoK, we get this description of Demoux "Wonder how he got that scar across his scalp, Ishikk thought" It seems our copycat murderer isn't just copying Adolin. Seems they are copying other murders too. Could this be an Unmade? Just a Spren? A voidbinder? Does it just copy once or does it just keep going? I feel this may be our introduction to the next Unmade The Oathbringer inside cover with confirmed Uritiru location. Shoutout to Argent & others who pointed out that in the last video I said we haven't seen someone with a Curse using stormlight before. We have and it's Lift. Depending on what her Curse is though, it may actually be healing her. If it's the age thing, this may be why she's started aging again. Walking to Urithiru - Part 11 - Chapters 19, 20, and 21 As per usual, here are the two epigraphs we got this week Blightsong did point out that the talk of Spices kind of implies that if the author comes from a Vorin nation, they are male. Obviously this puts Dalinar at the top of the list Chapter 19 - Subtle art of Diplomacy 31 years ago, Dalinar 19 Our conquering trio are having dinner with some people from Evi's brother Mention how prolonged sieges are rare in Vorin kingdoms due to soulcasters. Would have thought soulcasters would be more common in the west as they are close to Aimia Dalinar being Dalinar Turns out all 10 royal families are descended from the Sunmaker, not just Sadeas Dalinar goes for a walk in the middle of a highstorm to fetch his knife, casual StormStrider which Dalinar flips off. Mention that StormStriders have been mentioned in WoK and WoR when Kaladin was trapped out in a highstorm both times. Could be cognitive entities or Spren, could be of Honor or Odium, we don't know much I actually am starting to like young Sadeas and Ialais relationship We see Evi enter the room. I want to say now that I do not think that Evi is Vivenna. I know I said I was going to suspect everyone, but I do not think this. Dalinar kills an assassin and we end the chapter with Dalinar eating the pork with the knife he used to kill the assassin and agreeing to marry Evi Chapter 20 - Cords to bind Another chapter of Kaladin talking with the voidbringers about the moral quandary of whether slavery is okay. Parshendi are learning that as you gain more freedom, you also gain responsibilities and those responsibilities can bind you just as strongly as any rope or chain. Interestingly enough, Kaladin tells them he's not able to see the yellow spren and this surprises the Voidbringers, which implies they can all see it. Kaladin saw it last Kal chapter so I assume he is lying? Syl can sense highstorms. Bit convenient "Oh, I can do it now that I need to" Interesting perspective on the Oaths and Radiants. The Parshendi are people too, doesn't that mean the Radiants Oaths apply to them too? Is Honor just a massive racist or were the Pasrhendi as we know them not the voidbringers after all? Chapter 21 - Setup to fall Shallan wakes up the next day after a heavy night drinking I like how open about her activities as Veil Shallan is being with Adolin. Shows the amount of trust she puts in him already. Though I am worried it's going to bite her in the chull at some point Shallan realises that they should have run out of Stormlight so far. Why hadn't they? I have a feeling this is related to the fact Urithiru is a little in the Cognitive Realm. The light from Stormlight is leaking because it's leaking into the pRealm. If Urithiru is partly in the cRealm, the leak would be slower Also, I thought a Highstorm signaled the end of the weeping but I guess not. Should have realised this last week. Interesting to hear that two of the warcamps are still in operation and that their transformed Parshmen are marching to Kholinar. Kholinar is definitely becoming hub Good to see Brandon didn't forget about Shallans guards. I'm not going to call them Squires cause I'm not sure they are Shallan teasing Adolin about him being like his father and how he's hiding something. Shallan is absolutely going to work out that Adolin killed Sadeas and it's not going to go well. Reach their meeting with Ialai Sadeas, and standing with her is Mraize Possibilities with what Mraize is doing there: 1. He is undercover and works as an aide to Ialai 2. Ialai is a ghostblood 3. Mraize somehow controls Ialai At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Thaidakar is a title just like Mraize and Ialai is Thaidakar. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Ghostbloods got their hands on Oathbringer (Sword) in some way. Walking to Urithiru - Part 12 - Chapters 22, 23, and 24 Prefaces Okay, I feel like Dalinar is basically confirmed at this point. The mention that this person isn't a Philosopher and that the reader may be smarter than them makes it sound like it's not Jasnah. Again, generally just more meandering about how this is a simple recounting of events Chapter 22 - The Darkness Within Now, I was hoping we'd get this meeting from Adolins perspective just for some fun dramatic irony but instead we get something far juicier It appears Mraize has a pet bird. Now, obviously everyone immediately jumps to "This is an Aviar". I'm going to make some for and some against arguments cause I don't think we can simply jump to this conclusion. For: Mraize having a pet bird is weird, why would he have a pet bird? Does this bird grant special powers? This would explain why he has a bird We know Mraize is a worldhopper, he could have gone to First of the Sun and gotten himself an Aviar We know Mraize likes to collect things from other planets, getting an Aviar is a Mraize type of thing to do Why would he have this bird on him now if he is undercover, this seems like a very bad idea. Unless his undercover position requires he be granted a special ability, like one granted by an Aviar Shallan doesn't recognise the bird, maybe that implies it's not native to Roshar? Against - Why would he have a pet bird? When in disguise, you normally want to draw attention away from your most obvious attributes. If he went missing one day, someone might ask where "The guy with the bird" went instead of asking "Where did the horrifically scarred guy go" - Mraize is a Worldhopper but First of the Sun is hard to get to, as per the Arcanum Unbounded essay - Having a bird with you is a bad idea when undercover even if it's a magic bird. Especially if this is a magic bird you want with you when you aren't undercover - Shallan isn't very well travelled and so may not recognise all species of birds. Either way, I'm not super convinced it's an Aviar but I do get why people have latched onto that idea and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Let me know what you guys think down below. Before we move on to Mraize and Shallans conversation, I would like to point out that Ialai is warming tea with heating fabrials. Urithiru is nearly all out of Stormlight but Ialai can't be without her tea! Makes a brit proud Things to note from Shallans conversation with Mraize Ialai is not a Ghostblood, Mraize is watching her Mraize is more than willing to accept Listener allies if their interests align with the Ghostbloods Mraize knows Shallan used the Ghostblood symbol the previous night Mraize seems to be under the impression Jasnah attacked them first. Jasnah did have an army of assassins and spies on her payroll so I'm not surprised. Mraize acknowledges that he feels the wrongness about Urithiru too. The idea that an Unmade is present has gained some weight for me. Mraize leaves Shallan with a promise of information on Heleran. Whether this information is on his death and Kaladins role in it or whether the information is that Heleran is alive, it could go either way. Both have dramatic implications that could take Shallans character down interesting arcs. I feel the Heleran being alive one is the slightly less likely one for me, purely because it would require quite a complex series of events to take place to really make sense. Notice that when thinking about Heleran, she feels the need to become Veil. Shallan came out of her shell alot in WoR but it feels like she's traded one shell for another Ialai says to look within Kholin ranks to find the murderer. Some think she suspects Adolin but her wording to me seems she actually might be trying to be helpful here We learn Amaram is leading Ialai's investigation. I wonder if he brought Taln with him? And we end on the highstorms returning! Chapter 23 Storming Strange Kaladin seems to really be feeling protective of these Parshendi, I'm going to stick him on the list of "potential Odiums Champion". He's right now really being prepped for fighting for the "other side" Kals group has gathered a few more, but they still seem to only have 1 voidspren with them Time to talk about the voidspren, and I do think it's a voidspren. Some people think it's more like a Radiant spren or something else. It's possible it's both and this is a Voidbinding Spren, we know nearly nothing about Voidbinding. She seems very condescending to me, other than the image of a girl she's exactly what I was expecting Her appearance is of a girl from Shinovar and she walks by stepping on stone. This is really messing me up. She seems to be specifically being... heretical. She's taken the appearance of a Shin and is then on purposely, EXPLICITLY, walking on stone. Few ideas, StoneSpren? HeresySpren? The only other spren of Odium we've seen has been StormSpren so I feel StoneSpren lines up with that... but it's just so very odd. They have a quick exchange which imply there is some higher authority present when they arrive at their destination which we are still assuming is Kholinar. I'm very looking forward to seeing Kholinar Chapter 24 - Men of Blood and Sorrow We start this chapter with Dalinar remembering Evi She had pale yellow hair, not golden, not true Iri, so DEFINITELY VIVENNA Evi memories are coming back slowly Seems the Weeping has lasted a lot longer than usual. This seems odd as if you count the days, as Jofwu has been doing, you'd find that unless there were several days between some chapters, which we've had no indication there is, the highstorms seemed to have restarted after 2 weeks as they should have. oh well https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wdigy6ZNX4EGRAaUskfM0LXNANksyM1JintSn4yKSyM/edit#gid=2005334307 Taravangian turns up with Adrotagia and a little retinue We get another mention about how good a friends Taravangian and Gavilar were and I just want to say at this point I think we can pretty much confirm that it was Taravangian hanging with ole gavvy in the prologue Taravangian seems to be having an off day. I don't see why he'd pretend to be stupider than he is, on a good day he may appear to be weak of mind simply by reputation and on a very very good day, he wouldn't have the empathy to know to pretend. To me, it seems that he's having a mid to lower day. Not so bad they had to cancel the meeting, but bad enough that Adrotagia basically talks for him. For those that don't know, an apoplexy is basically a stroke. This is what Navani believed caused Taravangians weak mindedness. And in Taravangians retinue, we get introduced to Malata of Jah Keved! Shes's a middle aged woman who likes to wear gloves instead of a sleeve over her hand, she is a Dustbringer or Releaser as they like to be called. She likes to stay quiet and smirk at people. I don't think she's lying about any of this so far. Her Shardblade isn't described as weirdly spike like so I don't think this is Talns blade. It wouldn't make much sense for her to pretend to be a Releaser with a Stonewards Honorblade. Gonna add her to the Might Be Vivenna list anyway just in case Dalinar offers to send some troops to help out in Jah Keved but it seems even the parshmen from there are heading for Kholinar I've noticed in this chapter how much Dalinar talks about his memories of Navani. Like, he talks about them a lot. I'm not 100% on board with the Dalinar-forgets-Navani theories but I'm not gonna lie, I'm definitely starting to bat for that team I love how Navani is almost acting as a stand-in for us Sharders, She's asking questions, she's doing research, she is literally confirming/denying our theories by confirming/denying her theories. I was very happy to see this. Dalinar worrying that Malatas Shardblade is an honorblade and this exchange where Navani asks Dalinar to check with the Stormfather that he's not healing his memories, it just feels nice to have characters actually being smart Dalinar thinks he asked for his pain taken away, and that took his memories too. I wonder how much of this is accurate. Taking his pain away seems to imply that he would remember his memories if they no longer pained him, but also taking his memories would take the pain away, so what was his curse? I'm curious about the "strange glass panes" on the inner walls of this chamber they chat in. I'm SUPER curious about the missing pillars in the rooms. What could have been placed there? Giant gems for storing light? Statues of Ash? It's almost a certainty that Tezim is a Herald at this point. I'm going to link Argents "Corrupted Heralds" theory http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/61089-the-heralds-obsessed-with-the-divine-attributes/ What a great storyline to have Dalinar fight against not just the Herald of his own Order, but having the guy who created the Knights Radiant in the first place fight against the guy who is trying to refound them! Dalinar once again has to fight against the urges and pressure to just conquer everyone. I don't doubt he could do it, but hot damnation if it's not a good ethical quandary. And we end on Dalinar saying he views his memories of Evi with a fresh and dangerous perspective. I wonder what that means? And to end today, we have this stunning inside artwork for the American hardback of Oathbringer. Done by Dan Dos Santos, we have confirmation that these are inworld pieces of artwork. The man on the left is Ishar, the Herald for Luck, Patron to the Bondsmiths and the absolutely stunning piece on the Right is of Ash, the Herald of Beauty and the patron of the Lightweavers. We also know that the back pages will have artwork for Jezrien, Herald of Kings and Patron of the Windrunners and Vedel who is the Patron for the Edgedancers. All around, these pieces are beautiful and I really hope we have these in the UK copies of Oathbringer Walking to Urithiru - Part 13 - Chapter 25 Prefaces: Still think this is Dalinar and I think the person they killed was Evi. The blurb mentions that Dalinar seeks the past and the past contains secrets he must not know. Could this be referring to the memories of Evi? Chapter 25 - The Girl Who Looked Up One of the best chapters we've had so far Shallan exploring the unknown parts of Urithiru. As it is my belief that Urithiru was soulcast, I think these strata were either done for the aesthetics of the place, or were legitimately placed in there to help people find where they are. It's wierd for them to be mentioned so much if not for a purpose The story tells of a great wall seperating the lands of people from the storms and the bad things. The girl climbs the wall to find out what's on the other side. There, she finds steps. The wall was built to keep them out. They were the evil ones. She climbs down the steps and steals some stormlight. The storms come and destroy the wall as punishment. The Spikes that the girl climbs the wall with are from a drawing when Shallan was younger. She's able to create Illusions of things she doesn't even remember drawing. Now the white hair on the other hand, I feel this is important. We've had a few intances of white hair, Hoid, last weeks image of Shalash, the imagery of the wall and white hair brings forth memories of Elantris. This I feel is important for something. I have a feeling by the end of the SLA we're going to slapping our foreheads when reading this story for how obvious it's meaning is. Now, the theme of the story to me is the most important part. The idea that those who think themselves safe from evil are the evil things themself. Now, if you think of pre-humanity Roshar as a crab paradise with the Listeners, this story could absolutely be framing things as humans are the evil intruders, coming to steal stormlight. The only question this raises is what does the wall represent? I've also seen a theory that this is representative of the Radiants. I really liked this theory and kind of ran away with it myself. In my interpretation, once humanity first came to Roshar, they were initially unable to bond Spren (The Wall) but once humanity was able to start surgebinding via Honor giving the Heralds the Oathpact (Shalash even has white hair in that piece of art!), the wall was destroyed by the storms (The Desolations) and the humans were punished. This even works with the "parshendi are evil" thing (They thought those on the other side of the wall were evil but turns out they weren't, just as we are finding with the Parshendi right now) The last figure standing up and walking out has to be, for me, one of the creepiest moments in any of Brandons works so far, I literally gasped Firstly, I do not think this is a Kandra. I've seen it suggested but I don't like it. Firstly, a Kandra wouldn't dissolve itself instantly to escape into the rock crevice like this one did. It would have stayed human for as long as possible. Plus, Kandra aren't that maleable, they can take several minutes to hours to shift forms, even if that shift is just thinning yourself out to fit in a crack. Shallan even says "Can a person look that much like a shadow?" whilst chasing them. I also don't think it's a dysian Aimian as it would have just disassembled and escaped in pieces. What I believe is that this is a Spren of Odium that is serving an Unmade. I don't think it's the actual Unmade itself as it seems to be rather... weak for simply an Unmade. If Unmade were as easy to defeat as simply catching a creepy looking dude, the desolations would have ended a long time ago. I think this Spren is on the level of the Red Spren that became a Thunderclast or the Midnight Essences, infact this may actually BE a Midnight Essence and Shallan is currently having to deal with Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother. A wierd moment occurs when Shallan first enters the room with all the exits, where a dozen versions of herself run into the room and disappear as they catch up to her. I'm not sure this is something Shallan did on purpose, is the stormlight around her fragmenting on it's own to reflect her own mind fragmenting? I really like the ventilation room cause it actually answers a question I had for Brandon. When you get a lot of people into any sort of enclosed space, it gets really hot really quickly. Heck, we have whole industries on Earth right now dedicated to getting rid of the heat generated by crowds of people and we still struggle. I've been wondering how Urithiru does it so it's nice to know that Brandon is taking these things into consideration. Description of the thing: Shallan transforms from Radiant to Veil and chases after the thing. It seems she barely even notices she turns into Veil and also forgets it when she finds Rock. Rock's been stabbed through the hand. Looks like this Spren is copying wounds as well as murders. This is another reason I think this is a Spren. I think there is more than one of these things about. There's so far been no correlation between where Sadeas was murdered and this market. It's not following Shallan or Adolin, Sadeas's murder wasn't anything to do with Shallan and the barkeeps murder wasn't anything to do with either of them. This still seems like a very wierd way for an Unmade to sow chaos but who knows, maybe it can only act if it's copying? We are then introduced to Ishnah who we met on the night Veil went out drinking as the woman who didn't say anything at the table of guards for Alls Alley. Ishnah is interested in the Ghostbloods and due to this interaction, she's going on the Might Be Vivenna list. Walking to Urithiru - Part 14 - Chapter 26 and 27 Chapter 26 - Blackthorn Unleashed Start this chapter with Evi and Dalinar hanging out Fun fact, in this chapter, Dalinar refers to Jezrien as Jezrien instead of the Vorin name Jezerezeh. Brandon has already confirmed this is a mistake and will be changed in the Audiobook, ebook and any subsequent printings. So make sure you guys keep hold of your first edition, dalinar-says-jezrien versions! They'll be collectors items one day! Not that we won't be the ones collecting... We see that Evi is clearly way more interested in this relationship than Dalinar. This supports the claim of "killing someone who loved me dearly" in the preface Dalinar preps for the battle ahead and mentions that Evi still owns her plate. Strange that she owns it and not her brother Toh At this point, I should mention that I believe that Toh will die before Evi. The complete lack of him or even any mention of him is suspicious to me We learn that Ryshadium also bond MusicSpren of all things. We know they have a Gemheart like most creatures on Roshar, but I really do wonder about MusicSpren, something related to the Rhythms maybe? Also find it interesting that the response is simply "They travel this far east?", for some reason I expected them to live in Shin like the other horses, but it makes sense that if they are more suited for Rosharan life, then they'll be found more commonly across the crabby part of Roshar Dalinar mentions the Thrill having a Rhythm to it again. I really do think the Thrill is simply opening someone up to a Rhythm somehow. But we also know from Way of Kings that there are different Thrills. There is the Thrill of Contest for duels and such and the Thrill of war, which is the feeling from mass slaughter we see Dalinar get. We don't know Nergaouls true ability but it may be that this is it. Sow chaos by opening people up to Rhythms that make them fight more. Nergaoul may be doing this on purpose for reasons we don't understand. Dalinar submitting to the Thrill here has his vision going red, everything stopping him from fighting becomes painful to his ears. My main theory of the night Evi died has always been Dalinar, cutting his way through a city full of rebellion to get to Evi whom he kills in the process. This, plus his accidental killing of Kholin forces, reinforces that theory in my opinion At this point, Kadash is still a captain in Dalinars guard. The event that occurs in Rathalas that made Kadash fall to his knees, wretching and leave being a soldier has yet to happen yet. This man just walked through a slaughter of hundreds and is barely fazed. What the hell did Dalinar do? To end this chapter, we have Dalinar, in the midst of the Thrill, goes to attack Gavilar but ends up coming to his senses before he does. Imagine a Stormlight Archive if Dalinar had killed Gavilar that day... Chapter 27 - Playing Pretend This chapter starts with Shallan hanging out with the all the political people Pattern even says it's a spren of Odium! The cities going dark is very scary. I feel like this is a bigger issue than they are currently making it. Cities going dark with all their spanreeds taken out will cause HUGE issues in terms of communication and logistics. It's like if every radio in an area went out, you'd basically be completely blind. Generally, the simplest explanation for this is it's something a voidspren can do. Other than that, not much else to go on. I'm wondering if this "army" is actually attacking Marat or if it's just passing through on it's way to Kholinar. It's got quite the distance to go Shallan works out some of the stuff we worked out, this is a mimic at play. She also starts drawing Sadeas without a specific Memory in mind, how long till she draws Adolin killing Sadeas? More Malata! Her Spren is called Spark, an interesting name. I've long suspected that Releaser spren are the higher version of FlameSpren, like HonorSpren are to WindSpren. Spark is a rather fun name. I wonder if they are DestructionSpren or something more clever... Apparently they like to break things to find out what's inside them Malata suggests not refounding the Radiants as they were before. I think she raises a good point, we've spent so much time focussed on the old Radiants and Urithiru, but why would the new Orders have to abide by this? I'm also certain that we will find out the secret that broke the Radiants in this book, it's been mentioned too many times in the book and in the extra material to not be an important plot point of this novel. If this secret is known before the Radiants become solidified, can a new Knights Radiant be created with this knowledge in mind? She also seems a bit dismissive of the Everstorm. Maybe this isn't a Desolation? Maybe this is something completely different? Shallan calls her annoying, I find Malata endlessly fascinating Ialai and Amaram turn up so that Ialai can declare Amaram regent. What I found odd is that she also names him heir. This basically means the Sadeas house is no more, it's now the Amaram Princedom. Is he heir to Ialai? Heir to the nephew? This is very odd, Ialai basically just commited political suicide Unless Ialai plans on marrying Amaram? And here we have Adolin blowing the lid off the Kaladin-Heleran connection. Shallan immediately shuts it out. I'm surprised she didn't become another persona to get away from it. Also, Adolin tells Shallan this, she very clearly is disturbed by it and instead of consoling her or talking about it, he wants to know why her brother wanted to kill Amaram. I think there's a reason Adolin isn't very successful with women I'm also thinking that if Adolin has revealed this information, either Mraize has lost his edge over Shallan or the Heleran information is something far juicier And then we have Shallan discovering the drawings she didn't draw. I'm not sure if she drew these. It seems strange that pattern doesn't remember her drawing them. I've seen someone suggest maybe it was the MimicSpren, that's what I've decided to call it, but that's able to mimic perfectly. It seems odd it would just scribble randomly. If it's not the MimicSpren, Shallan has started to forget things she's actually doing. I'm really enjoying watching Shallans descent into madness. Also her fifth Oath is so totally going to be "I am Shallan Davar" And we end with Shallan recruiting the Shallads to get up to some mischief. I'm assuming she's going to get them to fight someone or something then wait around to see if it gets repeated. Walking to Urithiru - Part 15 - Chapter 28 Prefaces: "I am the monster I fear we all can become" - I think my assumption from a few episodes ago still rings true. Whoever wrote this did something BAD and this account is to try and get people to understand what they did and why. This is a framing device. The last two chapters next week are going to confirm 2 things, something horrible to come and that Dalinar is responsible, then whilst reading Oathbringer, we're going to have that ever present dread of "What is it Dalinar did?" Chapter 28 - Another Option I almost forgot this chapter even happened cause 29 and 30 are so goooood We open with Azir declaring that the Oathgate in Azimir is going to be locked away until it can be destroyed. If you don't remember, Azimir was one of the cities negotiating with the transformed Parshmen. Looks like they've come to an agreement. Super happy that the Urithiru ventilation is getting a lot of attention. Urithiru is basically a science fiction Arcology, a city in a building. Years ago I helped some people try and work out some calculations about the feasability of creating a real life arcology. The main issues we found were the structural integrity of the center and accumulation of heat so I really am happy to see this addressed. I won't mention Urithiru's ventilation again... Dalinar knows about the "MimicSpren" and goes to check one of the vents in the room. He sticks a chair to a wall. Some people thought that the Surges manifested in fundamentally diferent ways between different orders but it really does seem like Adhesion works the same for Dalinar as it does Kaladin. Queen Fen also denies Dalinar with an air of finality and Dalinar takes a walk to clear his mind. Lyn comes to find Dalinar and let him know Bridge Four has found something. I had actually thought the Ghostbloods would have found this by now as it seems like the kind of thing they'd so but turns out Oathbringer hadn't been found any anyone. Makes sense, as it can't be easy to notice since the thing had sunk all the way into the stone Now, the screams of the Spren are interesting. I feel like people are going to dive on this for Adolin reviving his blade but it does seem, even in their dead screaming form, the Sprenblades still listen and remember what happens around them. Stormfather says he doesn't know of a way to revive Blades, once again another example of a character asking a question that I see asked a lot by the community, but I mean, stormzy doesn't know everything We get another mention of the secret that caused the Recreance. Again, I definitely think we are going to find out that secret in this book. Dalinar gives Oathbringer back to Ialai and they have an exchange which I really liked. Ialai really doesn't think that Dalinar killed Sadeas The rest of this chapter is just some wonderful philosophising. Amaram accuses Dalinar of being a hypocrite for standing on the corpses of thousands and then judging Amaram for killing just 4 men. Dalinar and Taravangian then have a discussion on God and what is right. Dalinar says he still feels there is a god. He has felt the warmth beyond. Whether this is referring to the actual beyond or Adonalsium, we can't know. We then get to hear another story from Nohadons walk to Urithiru, on our trip walking to Urithiru. It's about 3 farmers seen killing a man, but there were 4 farmers in the town. What would you do, if there is no way to determine the guilty from the innocent? How many innocent lives are worth a guilty one? How many are you willing to kill to save? Man, Dalinar really needs those Skybreakers backing him up... I really like the line about a hypocrite is simply someone in the process of changing. The Stormfather mentions an incredibly useful ability. He can show visions to whomever he chooses and ALSO have Dalinar appear in them if he wants. I actually thought this was about to lead to a SHOW EVERYONE THE VISIONS thing but he's just starting with Queen Fen. I had assumed that someone has to act a certain way to be considered a Bondsmith and have the Stormfather show them visions but no, I think he's free to pick and choose at will I wonder if both Dalinar and Tanavast will appear in these visions, or if Dalinar will take Tanavasts place. This also kind of solves the spanreed issue I was talking about last time. Instant communication is super helpful and for now, this will allow Dalinar to basically speak to whoever he wants to in the world. Its a helluva ability And that's it, thanks!

In case you didn't know, transliteration is when you keep the word as is, but write the sounds in a different alphabet. It was a bit annoying that the Russian translation transliterated Ham's name as is even though in WOA, a pun is made about his name and it made no sense. They had to add a footnote explaining the meaning of his name in the original English. Also, for some inexplicable reason, Shadesmar was transliterated as "Шейдсмар" even though the translation is otherwise good at translating proper nouns and terms when they are actual words. How hard would it have been to translate it as "Тенемар"? Or is there some deeper meaning to the word that I'm missing? Maps' name is transliterated the first time he's mentioned, and it's translated the rest of the time. That has the potential to confuse readers. Skar's name was translated despite the misspelling in the original English(side note-does anyone know why?) which I, at least, don't mind(if it doesn't take place on Earth, translate proper nouns if they are actual words. If they convey a certain meaning to the reader in the original, why not preserve it?). TFA became "Ash and Steel", not sure why. The other book titles were properly translated. I'm not sure if Warbreaker has been officially translated, but the version I read struggled a lot with the names of the Returned. Most were split up into two words, and I spend too much time trying to figure out how to keep it one word without making it sound clunky. In Mistborn, Ruin and Preservation became "the destroyer" and "the protector" despite the fact that the other books had the shard names translated correctly. Odium was translated as "strife" or "hostility", which is close enough I guess? I tried to translate "odium", and "hatred" is pretty much the only thing I can think of. I read an amateur translation where it was "malice", which was worse in my opinion. "Laral" got a soft sign tacked onto the end, as did "Wyndle". "Ialai" ceased to be symmetrical, with one 'i' becoming 'и' and the other one 'й'. The 'h' sound is sometimes written as 'x', sometimes dropped(depending on what makes it sound right) and that altered quite a bit of names. Nothing you can do about that, though. Shadows of Silence isn't officially translated, and the version I read transliterated "Earnest" and "Amity", and then added on a sentence explaining the meaning. Why not just translate the words, if you're going to go to the trouble of explaining the meanings? Names of very minor characters that are actual words in English are sometimes translated, sometimes not, sometimes both and people end up thinking they're different characters. This is a tiny nitpick(just like literally everything I just wrote hahaha), but the epigraph in WOR that mentions Skybreakers dividing the innocent from the guilty was changed to dividing the innocent from the sinners, which has an entirely different connotation. It does fit in with the archaic style of writing, but the meaning is changed rather drastically. Terms such as "shardblade", "soulcaster", "misting" were translated very well. The only compound word that wasn't kept as one word was "mistborn". Wow, this turned into an incoherent rant. Sorry about that, I have pretty firm opinions on how things should get translated.

Oh boy, the OB shipping war has finally began. It amuses me that Shadolin's supporters usually bring the love triangle issue as an argument against Shalladin while the real barrier for it is the Helaran's incident that was clearly left by Brandon for the dessert. I guess that happens because almost everyone subconsciously feel that the spark between Kaladin and Shallan is much brighter. To begin with the love triangle is only bad when its execution is bad. Im pretty sure Sanderson is talented enough and have enough assistants and beta readers to execute it in an enoyable and maybe even fresh untrivial way. I know the downsides and upsides of love triangle trope as well as i know the downsides and upsides of "Charming Prince-Book worm girl" tropes. And for me the second trope is much more cringeworthy and mawkish. Im glad Sanderson didnt make Shadolin's shared scenes too sweet and sugary. Otherwise i would hate it. But im not. Shadolin has a potential. It finally got some sources of future conflict and the conflict usually is the engine of romantic relationships in fantasy books. But in the form it exists now its intentionally artificial relationships. The same goes to the Helaran's incident. It is the source of conflict. Its good cause that means Shalladin's relationships wont stale. There will be the development, positivie, negative, positive again and so on. Good romance cant exist without the conflict to overcome. The main reason why i think Shalladin was improved more than Shadolin is that in Shadolin scenes Sanderson deliberately tells us what Shallan and Adolin thinking. He never misses the chance to tell us that Shallan melted looking into Adolin's eyes. Adolin tells us that he loves Shallan. While in every scene with Shallan and Kaladin, shared or not, Sanderson shows us what they thinking of each other. We dive into Shallans thoughts when she with admiration and delight describes Kaladin's nature. We see her randomly thinking about "brightlord broody eyes" while doing her work. We exactly knows how Kaladin feels and sees Shallan and what he think about her and Adolin. We see these moments when Brandon deliberately shows how unintentionally Shallan hugs Kaladin in the chasm, how she instinctively put her head on his chest, how he hugs her and fully appreciates the warm of her body. Yes there were circumstances Adolin and Shallan never shared. Shadolin also has this kind of unintentional things, but they are much less noticable and didnt strike an eye. Maybe its because im Shalladin supporter, who knows. But i know that good author tends to show us not to tell. And im pretty sure Sanderson intentionally uses that skill to underline the artificality of Adolin and Shallan's relationships, while underline the genuine and natural affection and glimpse of passion between Kaladin and Shallan. Btw, i would be glad if Brandon will put Adolin and Shallan in some dangerous situation because that can make them spark.

It gives me great pleasure to be able to say the immortal words "I agree with Mandamon."

I'm surprised as well, but I completely understand the desire to anthropomorphize characters in any fiction. Some people analyze by looking at what the author actually shows on the page in the scenes he chooses to present to the reader and the thoughts and words the characters say and think, and some people like to search for the meaning behind those scenes, thoughts and words and what they could or may mean and how that will cause the action to play out in the future. This seems to add to the vastly different viewpoints about the same scene! Looking at our "love triangle" based on what is shown on the page (in Oathbringer only): Shallan and Adolin: They spend time together, Shallan is enjoying it, Shallan thinks she likes Adolin quite a bit. We don't have an Adolin viewpoint on this in OB (right?) Shallan and Kaladin: Kaladin thinks about Shallan (once that we are shown, alludes to more than that), he doesn't like that he does, he states not a possibility because she is engaged to Adolin and a light eyes. Shallan rarely thinks about Kaladin, when she does it's pretty schizophrenic (Brightlord once, peasant the other time.) Kaladin and Adolin: Kaladin thinks fondly about how Adolin cares about clothes. Adolin says how shocking it is Kaladin (i.e. bridgeboy since he doesn't say his name) has a shardblade. (Digression but this bit makes me SO sad (as a member of Team Kaldolin) that Adolin is reducing Kaladin to the object of "bridgeboy" and "darkeye" versus acknowledging he is a person with a name - I was fine with the derisive "bridgeboy" name when A and K were in their "hatred" stage or later when the "bridgeboy" moniker seemed to be an inside joke between the two, but the use here in not in jest; it seems to be just how Adolin sees Kaladin - an unnamed darkeyed, bridgeboy object who shouldn't have a shardblade except that times have changed, and this after Adolin spent all that time trying to prove to Kaladin he wasn't awful! Here I go with reading so much into a simple bit of prose )

Then isn't it better to confine it to it's own section instead of having it clutter the main chapter thread? That way people who do want to discuss it can and those who don't don't have to read 200 posts about it.

I swear I am so done with the shipping wars. JUST LET THE BOOK HAPPEN FOR STORMS SAKE

via Imgflip Meme Generator

Touché Clearly Brandon is already foreshadowing this as all conflicts will be resolved in a massive card game tournament. The big reveal at the end?? WE WILL FINALLY KNOW IF SQUIRES CAN CAPTURE!!!

Ha, the Chinese translation of Mistborn is exactly the same as the German one, meaning Die Kinder des Nebels: 迷雾之子, The Mist's Children (Sons) /The Children (Sons) of Mist It is also interesting that Elend and Straff are actually German words. A very bad Chinese translation worth mentioning: The Worldhopper Felt from Mistborn series. His name is translated into some like "soft skin/fell" (柔皮), which bemused me a lot.

In one chapter Eshonai is relieved to see that the listeners had won another gemheart and says something along the lines of that her people would continue to eat as a result. I'm sure they use stormlight near plants to encourage growth too, but unless they were soulcasting they would not need replacement gemhearts. Leaving the gems near plants should not crack them, like soulcasting would. Their declining population makes it unlikely that they need more gems because they were growing more crops, so I think this is pretty good evidence that they do have at least one soulcaster. Also, as a sidenote, I think having many small gems spread out among the crops makes for a better stormlight distribution compared to a gemheart. I think they use gemhearts only for soulcasting but grow crops with the help of smaller gems as well. I really like the question in the OP of what soulcasting savant listeners are like. It's something I haven't ever seen mentioned or discussed and I would very much like to know the answer.

Note: I finally read Warbreaker! Yay! It was great! I decided to pay my respect to Old Chapps by firing up photoshop! I put the scene with Old Chapps in the spoiler below, Copyright Brandon Sanderson, all credit to him!

I don't think so. I think that an oath is only as good as it is wise. So, honoring a foolish oath will lead to foolishness, folly, and ultimately evil. Let's go to our real-life religions for an example: Jephthah is a character from the Bible; his account is recorded in Judges 11:1—12:7. He's a pretty interesting character who is best known for slaying his daughter in order to honor a foolish oath he made to God. Jephthah was asked by the elders of Israel to lead the defense of the country against the invading Ammonites. When he agreed, he made a vow to God, saying, “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” Jephthah then defeated the Ammonites and returned home. When Jephthah arrived at home, his daughter, an only child, was the first to come out of his house. Jephthah evidently expected an animal to exit, but... The moral of the story is that people are not to make rash commitments or promises (e.g. foolish oaths) to God. Also interesting is what Jesus had to say about oaths in his Sermon on the Mount: So, the Judeo-Christian god certainly expects people to honor their oaths. Jesus more or less says that it is better not to swear any oaths at all because God takes them so seriously. In light of that, I wouldn't say that honor unchecked leads to evil so much as the content of one's oath can bind someone to a course of action that is obviously wrong and against the intent of the person making the oath. Simply put, most oaths are foolish because we don't know what the future holds. As a result, oaths bind the future conduct of honorable people to a restrictive code of conduct that may result in acts that are obviously wrong (or prohibit them from doing what is right). TL;DR → A foolish oath can lead an honorable person to commit acts of evil, not the person's sense of honor. Dishonorable people might be willing to forsake a poorly thought-out oath in service to what is right, but a they will also ignore their own convictions about what is right when it's convenient for them.

This wins the internet.

Because you are being needlessly combative and rude. Reign yourself in, dude, we're all friends connected by the love of an artist's works. We're big kids and can disagree without slinging vitriol, kolo? That isn't the implication that I got. As mentioned by @Starla above, Syl says that she searched for Kal for a long time before finding him about a year before she first spoke to him. Yes, the fact that he is a literal paragon with the spear is due to his bond, but he is himself a very knowledgeable spearfighter. As I said before, and you brushed away seemingly without much thought: Depression is Hell. Intense depression, coupled with the fact that he was heavily injured would do more to Kal that you seem to be willing to admit. Also, while Kal's spearfighting ability isn't based in his bond-He is used to his spear forms while he has it. That means that he would move his body in a way that assumes he has the extra speed, strength, and balance of someone with the bond. Suddenly not having access to those three things, on top of his crippling depression and injury? I absolutely see why he was unable to perform. But that doesn't mean that his knowledge of spearfighting is because of his bond.

See for me, I figure the characters referenced in this blurb are the same that have always been referenced, just with updated titles. And those are the 5 perspective characters for arc 1. The Warlord became the King, and is Dalinar The Surgeon became the Captain, and is Kaladin The Assassin became the Stonewalker, and is Szeth (only one who has had any care about walking on stones) The Liar became the Spy, and is Shallan The Explorer became the Traitor, and is Eshonai (betrayed Venli by allowing the group to escape, and betrayed herself by being possessed, maybe. Mostly process of elimination) Disclaimer, my memory of what the original titles are is a little fuzzy. But I don't see why people are looking outside our main five POIs for the first arc for these characters. The Sleepless have always been looking at them. Moash, and the other secondary and tertiaries should not figure into it, I don't think. Hope we get an Eshonai perspective chapter, soon. Edit: Corrections, thanks to @Fulminato

"they could put up a warning sign or something. Hello. Welcome to Hinderstap. We will murder you in the night and eat your bloody face if you stay past sunset. Try the pies. Martna Baily makes them fresh daily."