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Hey everyone this is my first theory, it’s a pretty straightforward one. I apologize in advance if this has been discussed before. Alright it’s all based on this scene. Chapter 83 page 1003 “Storms” the surgeon said, “Highprince, you’re all scars under here. How many time have you been wounded in the shoulder” “Can’t Remember” “How can you still use your arm?” “Training and practice” “that’s not how it works…” she whispered eyes wider “I mean… Storms…” So my theory is that Dalinar got crippled and went to the Nightwatcher to be healed. Also after he bond with the Stormfather he breathed in stormlight and “he felt his wound healing in a familiar way, He’d done the before." The Nightwatcher healed him with stormlight.(see straightforward ) So what do you think?

Whose Blade did Dalinar bond in WoR? I think it is unlikely that he did in fact bond Talenel'Elin's Honorblade as we were led to believe. We know that at the end of TWoK Hoid shows up to meet Talenel'Elin. I think it's likely that at this point Hoid swapped the Honorblade for a regular Shardblade. The only reason I say this is because when Dalinar bonds with The Stormfather he has to get rid of his blade and after summoning it hears the screams. If it really were Talenel'Elin's blade then there would be no Spren involved and no screaming. I guess my question really is, what happened to Talenel'Elin's Honorblade and why was it taken? Did Hoid take it? If so, then why? ~sbi

I recently finished some character designs just in time for Words of Radiance. I posted them to the gallery and would really love to hear some feedback from you guys. Here is a link to my Behance portfolio for higher res images: https://www.behance.net/gallery/WoK-Character-Concepts/15065047

Hello! Long time lurker, not-so-long-time poster. I'm doing a very slow (I have 3.5 yo twins, so EVERYTHING I do is slow) re-read of The Way of Kings and when I was reading the scene where Dalinar was fighting the Chasmfiend, it became really apparent that he was instinctively surgebinding. Points of evidence (although without quotes as I am at work and my book is at home): 1.) As he is sliding / tumbling, his shardplate seems to "know" which way it should be oriented and helps him land on his feet. No other users of shardplate seem to comment on this. 2.) From Adolin's viewpoint, he notices that Dalinar is moving with a strength, speed, and grace even more than would be granted by plate alone - this seems like Kaladin's enhanced skill with the spear. 3.) Adolin also states that Dalinar's shardplate seemed to be glowing. This is similar to how KR had glowing shardplate in the Highstorm flashback. And all of this was happening when Dalinar was LIVING the ideals of the KR as fully as possible - Going to rescue Elkohar - instead of when he felt the Thrill. It all seemed too much like when Kaladin was training with the spear and Syl was initially drawn to him to not be a similar parallel. There were hints all through WoK that Kaladin was going to be a KR, and I think this was a big clue that Dalinar was headed the same way. (Of course, now with WoR, this is probably obvious. I haven't read it [YET], and I have been TRYING to stay away from spoiler threads, but alas, I am weak and the internet is omnipresent.)

So in Jasnah's prologue, I found an interesting little tidbit that Brandon did his sneaky "I'll mention this is passing to make it seem like it's not important" trick on. It's right after her shadows are playing with her the first time on screen. Jasnah's other experiences? So what kind of experiences would Jasnah have had? The closest we know to other supernatural happenings around Jasnah is Dalinar visiting the Nightwatcher. This theory is pure conjecture, but I would have to assume that the statement here references that event. Otherwise I have no idea what experiences this would be pointing to. Then again, there's the book Shallan is reading in Chapter 3: Pattern. So this snippet leaves me with a few questions. First off, I'm making it a rule to pay attention to every question Shallan asks. They always seem to be important and insightful (and usually aren't answered.) If it was one of the earliest works Jasnah published, then I would have to assume that she wrote and published it before her foray into Shadesmar, so what made her want to study it and the KR? If that's the case, did she not want Shallan to read it because she had learned some information is false? Does it maybe hold the information about Jasnah's "other experiences?" The other in universe book we know of Jasnah writing is about gender roles in the modern Rosharian society, which seems much more to Jasnah's character considering her thoughts on marriage and the subject. This book was read by Shallan a year and a half ago (Chapter 65 The One Who Deserves It.) Now granted, we don't know when this book was published, but considering that her experience in Shadesmar was 6 years ago, and this was available to read, most likely widely available, I assume that it has been released for quite some time, but not overly old. So if the book on Shadesmar is one of the first published pieces, why the sudden topic change either from gender roles to superstitions, or superstition to gender roles? These other experiences that Jasnah had seem very important to me, maybe they are the base that allowed Ivory to bond with her? What else does anyone supposed it could be, it not Dalinar's run in with the Nightwatcher. Jasnah seems like she'd be astute enough to recognize Dalinar's discrepancies relating to his wife, and the superstitions surrounding the old magic seem to be the ones that are the most verifiable, especially for Jasnah. Later on in Chapter three during Jasnah's discussion with Shallan, they are talking about the Stormfather and the Almighty: So Jasnah admits that the Almighty and the Stormfather might be real, might be a powerful spren. Might be a powerful spren such as the Nightwatcher. Jasnah all but admits that the Nightwatcher is proven to be real. For a skeptic like Jasnah, I wouldn't expect this idea to be presented without Jasnah being completely sure. Anyone else have any theories on what Jasnah could have experienced before that confirmed some superstitions were based on fact? EDIT: Added third quote.

Just noticed. People noticed in the Surges chart how each order is connected to the one next to it, the one that shared a Surge, but that there were liens to other orders as well. I just noticed something. Lightweavers has a line going to Windrunners, directly opposite from each other on the chart. We have seen a Lightweaver and a Windrunner, two of our first Surgebinders. Couldn't stand each other for the most part, but who knows, maybe a coincidence, though we know for a fact the spren of the two orders dislike each other. Next is Bondsmiths connected with Truthwatchers, also directly opposite from each other. Now, I find it would be a bit of a coincidence that Dalinar, our Bondsmith, happens to have a son who is a Truthwatcher. Perhaps there is something here also, maybe the spren of Truthwatchers don't get along with the Stormfather? I don't know, but I thought it a good idea to point out the relationships there so as to possibly help others with their theories. Let me know your thoughts. Please and thank you.

I thought about this one today when I was meant to be studying other things (Learning is difficult when you're still living in a book's world). The specific number of Bondsmiths was stated in WoR as three. Always three. The epigraph implied heavily that the Bondsmiths made the choice to keep their numbers limited. However, Dalinar's actions at the end of WoR gave me another idea: What if the Bondsmiths can only bond with unique spren? I know, every sentient spren is unique, but there are other honorspren than Syl, more Cryptics other than Pattern and so on. The unique spren would be of the Stormfather level, and he is a fragment of Honor. (I don't know if this makes him a Splinter, or so on) So what if the NIghtwatcher is the same to Cultivation as the Stormfather is to Honor? That would account for another Bondsmith. The final one gets interesting. Would they be tied to Odium's spren? I think it has a kind of poetic balance, based on the idea that to truly unite a people, you have to understand every aspect. One Bondsmith represents Honor (Dalinar), another Cultivation and yet another Odium. I'm interested in seeing what effect bonding with the Stormfather will bring about on Dalinar's personality. Does he remain a separate entity, or will the two minds fuse to a degree? If they remain separate, a Bondsmith could bond with Odium's unique while remaining level headed and not poisoned with hate. My previous theories have all been proposed before, or WoB'd out, but I think I'm finally getting on top of the speculation around here!

This is more for a meta-narrative question than a strictly literal one; obviously the narrative itself offers a reason for Dalinar not to go meet Eshonai (security, et. all). However, this seems like a peculiar excuse. Dalinar goes out on the the plateaus without much concern in every other situation; now, those situations do involve having an army with him, but it's not like you can hide an army on the Plains; there's no cover for anything. The situation seems rather contrived. Dalinar has to communicate using a spanreed, so it's not strictly Dalinar's words or Eshonai's words that are being interrupted; it's just Dalinar never meets Eshonai. Eshonai also implies that she's met Dalinar before (though this might have been a reference to the feast, and it's also implied Eshonai might have been part of the first contact group). It's worth noting that only Adolin (of the main protagonists) meets Eshonai during the final battle of WoR, as well (in particular Dalinar does not see her). So, from a meta-narrative perspective, what could be being hidden by Dalinar not meeting with Eshonai? Of course, he dueled her during TWoK and didn't recognize anything special (though he was pretty dazed at the time). One possibility is that it's not Dalinar, but Kaladin that's being 'hidden' (Kaladin explicitly stays behind to protect Dalinar). I'm not sure how valid this is, because it seems like Kaladin could have been left behind even if Dalinar went onto the plateaus (covered by Skar or Moash and team). Shen/Rlain is part of Adolin's bodyguard team (specifically noted) but it's unclear that that has any bearing here. I'm not completely convinced that there is something hidden here, but when I read the scene it felt very peculiar; re-reading it still seems contrived why Dalinar can't go meet with Eshonai. Something related to his gift/curse from the Nightwatcher? It seems quite possible that Dalinar visited the Nightwatcher shortly after first contact with the Parshendi, as he has an interesting hesitation when he talks to Kaladin about why he wasn't around for the Roshone affair:

I've seen it posted places that Dalinar went to the Nightwatcher to ask for a boon and the result was that he was cursed to forget everything about his wife, including not hearing anything specific people say about her. If this has already been confirmed somewhere then I apologize. I'm new to the online community and don't know for certain what has and hasn't been discussed. My theory is that the empty place in his mind where his wife used to be is actually his boon, rather than his curse. We know he gets one of each, and the details of the event remain vague, along with everything related to his wife. It's possible that after his wife died he was so stricken with grief that he thought it would be better not to remember anything about her at all. In this sense, maybe the loss of memories isn't the curse, but the boon, or possibly both, as with Taravangian's variable intelligence.

Spoilered for length. TL;DR version is that Dalinars biases are causing him to interpret the visions incorrectly, and this is making Bad Things happen. Also Alodin killing Sadeas was a really good idea, And Kaladins Wangst could have been avoided if he had gone in a slightly different direction. Here is an excerpt...

In chapter 26 when Dalinar is fighting the Parshendi, he loses the thrill and begins to feel revulsion at all of the death. A voice, possibly his own, speaks to him. “Once these weapons meant protecting, a voice inside of him whispered." Then a few Windspren dance by on the air and he hears: “Life before death." "What was that voice?” We know that Syl looked very much like a Windspren before her bond matured. My theory is that while Syl may have been the first Honorspren to disobey the Stormfather, she was not the last. There are other Honorspren wandering Roshar looking for bond mates.

Does anybody have any guesses on who this is? -Mraise -Hoid -Lift Just wanted to Gather some general opinions on who they think this is, could this be the champion to fight Odium?

So this is kind of an interesting question, but how long has Dalinar been using Stormlight? From his interaction with the Stormfather towards the end, it would seem he only spoke the first oath there, but there are a couple other things that would imply that he has used stormlight before. First, there is his amazing fighting capabilities. We know from Kaladin that Syl, or the stormlight that came with her, grant a surgebinder better fighting instincts. And as we all know, the Blackthorn was known as the greatest fighter of his time. Next, we have an interesting scene in WoK where Dalinar catches the claw of a Chasamfiend, and afterwards notices that his shardplate has broken gems in it. My thought is that he drew on those gems in order to get the strength needed to catch the claw, something that others thought wasn't possible, even in a shardplate. Finally, there is an interesting exchange between Dalinar and one of the healers towards the end of WoR To me this is definitely implying that Dalinar has been using stormlight to both heal himself in small ways, so that wounds that would normally have caused serious internal scarring heal perfectly, and to gain an edge in fighting over just what the Shardplate grants him. This would imply that he has been using Stormlight to augment his fighting for years, possibly before Gavilar's death. What do people think? *Edited for spacing*

I was surprised the first person Kaladin confided in completely was Dalinar. He did mention to Moash that Amaram was the one the enslaved him, but I think Dalinar is the only one he gave the specifics to. Dalinar's reaction did not surprise me. He barely knew Kaladin and Amaram had been a close friend for many years. The fact that he listened as he did at all and did look into the story is admirable. And what Dalinar learned, from seventeen liars, was also to be expected. However, when did Dalinar decide to test Amaram? He didn't bond the Shardblade until Kaladin was in prison. Just before Kaladin went to prison he told he that he was wrong about Amaram, but while Kaladin was in prison he admitted that he understood why Kaladin did what he did. Also, if he had doubts about Amaram's innocence before the disadvantaged duel why did he make him a Knights Radiant. As unwise as Kaladin's choice was to ask do duel Amaram after Adolin's duel, if hadn't done it would Dalinar have continued to investigate Amaram?

One of the most fascinating parts of the Stormlight Archive to me so far is the Old Magic and how it affects people. We got more clarification in WoR when Wyndle in the Lift interlude refers to the Old Magic/Nightwatcher as his mother. I thought that it would be good to put together a list of the people who have been affected by the Old Magic and what we know they received and what happened to them because of it. Dalinar - Received: ??? , Punishment: Forgot Wife Lift - Received: Get stormlight from food and can touch spren , Punishment: ??? Taravangian - Received: Intelligence , Punishment: Intelligence OR Compassion Av’s brother (Interlude 1-7 WoK) - Received: ???, Punishment: Numb Hands Av’s father - Received: “a heap of good cloth” , Punishment: Saw world upside down It is also mentioned by Dalinar that “you’d be surprised how many devout lighteyes turn to the Old Magic at one point in their lives or another. The ones who can make it to the Valley, at least” (Chap 61, WoK) There must be some trick to getting there as Av’s entire family except him has gone but not everyone can do it. Also the punishments seem very random and seem to be things that while not pleasant do not affect the askers life significantly. What are other peoples thoughts on the Old Magic and the Nightwatcher? (if I missed anyone shown going to the old magic just post in the thread and I’ll update it)

So I'm hoping this topic can remain as civil as the last LDS connections in Brandon's work thread. I'm not even sure there's much for people to say, but when I was reading this book, I had two Mormon connections scream at me, so I had to get them out: 1. Kaladin's internal debate over whether to kill Elhokar: In the beginning of the Book of Mormon (1st Nephi 4), a righteous man (Nephi) is commanded to slay a man in order to bring back the scriptures for his family. A couple of quotes from this chapter seem to have direct parallels in Kaladin's struggle. First, Nephi comes upon Laban drunk and passed out in the streets, and is commanded by the Holy Spirit to kill him. It's interesting that Kaladin makes exactly the opposite choice. I listened to the audiobook, so I don't have the direct quote, but he says, "If I was going to kill him, I'd do it out in the open in front of everyone, not when he's lying there helpless and drunk." As Nephi is debating the morality of slaying this man with the Spirit, the Spirit says, "Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." In addition to the obvious way that Kaladin goes directly counter to this statement, this idea is a major tie in to the Taravangian plot-line as well: who has the right to say a man's death is for the greater good? Anyway, as a Mormon reading this Kaladin scene, it seemed like it was constructed to directly contrast with this scriptural story, and it really enhanced my reading of it. 2. Dalinar's visions being exposed at the party: When Dalinar found the altered vision texts going around at the party, my mind instantly went to a story from early in the life of Joseph Smith. After translating the first 116 pages of the Book of Mormon, these pages were lent to an associate from whom they were then stolen. Smith received a revelation that stated he should not retranslate these pages because his enemies would alter the previous translation, so that the comparison would discredit him. I dunno, maybe this is a tenuous stretch, but it instantly jumped to my (Mormon) mind in reading this scene with Dalinar being discredited with a slightly altered version of the truth. What do you think? Not sure where I'm going with this, but wanted to share in case anyone else is interested.

Does anyone else find it a bit odd that nobody seems to have noticed just how incredibly well Kaladin fought in the duel ? He's in an arena with 4 opposing shard bearers and all he has is a normal spear. He also takes a flying leap, smashing into the back-plate of a set of shard plate with just his legs and cracks the plate. The impact is huge and he breaks his legs which may or may not be obvious, but he heals them with storm light and gets up and continues to fight. He then performs the known but fabled "kiss of death" in catching a shard blade between his hands to stop it. The audience must surely be absolutely amazed by this, light and dark eyes regardless. That he is immediately arrested afterwards for his faux-pas about Amaram may be a temporary hiatus, but storms, that fight should have generated a huge story about Kaladin and his feats. Surely people noticed how he jumped and cracked shard plate, I bet nothing like that has ever been seen before, and yet he comes out of it uninjured (after healing that people don't know about). How is this not news of the utmost interest ? It just strikes me that it gets passed over too easily. But I liked the scene itself and absolutely loved Adolin's last trick of locking himself around Jakamav, brilliant improvisation.

Does anyone else feel that there is a potential problem with Dalinar and Amaram's particular friendship ? Amaram is a vassal of Sadeas; Sadeas and Dalinar aren't on particularly good terms now, so Amaram must be significantly conflicted. Any forces he brings will reinforce Sadeas, plus he adds a second (after now Sadeas himself) full shard-bearer to Sadeas' warcamp. In the event of any conflict between Sadeas and Dalinar, he's going to have a serious problem resolving his loyalties is he not ? And he must indeed be the subject of considerable suspicion from Sadeas as well, can't be an easy position for him.

So, I know a lot of people aren't going to like this - but here we go. Let's start off with the reasons people think that Dalinar is becoming a Radiant: The back cover implies about a Bondsmith whom many feel is the name of the last unknown order of the KR. He is acting more Honorably something we associate with KR His visions His obvious desire to reform the KR OK, I'm probably missing a few in there, but that's the gist of it. Now take a step back from your bias and your love for Dalinar (he is a bleeping amazing character). While I agree he is the Bondsmith (WoB have confirmed t he 5 PoV characters, and it would make sense if they matched up with the 5 titles on the cover) I personally believe that Bondsmith has a different meaning and is not an order of the KR. I think Dalinar is taking over for his brother and leading the front to reforging the Bond with the spren. What is another for when you forge something? You Smith something. This making me feel he is more playing the roll of Nohadon in the creation of the KR. I believe that he is the Bondsmith for the radiants and his actions are helping unite the world in preperation for the Everstorm. *Caveat* if there is a WoB stating he has a spren, just go ahead and tell me so I know my last 30 minutes looking up stuff was wasted for nothing. Pick it apart ladies and gentlemen!

Here are all of the readings from Words of Radiance that have been released so far. This list is going to be updated when more come out. Also, the spelling of any new names are merely approximations, not intended to be completely accurate. Jasnah Prologue Kaladin - Chapter 2 Dalinar's Vision Shallan Flashback 1 - Red Carpet, Once White Eshonai Interlude Rysn's Interlude Ym Interlude Lift Interlude Taravangian Interlude Enjoy!

Here is Glimpse 11 again. So much information and yet so little in just one sentence. There has been a lot of discussion about this Glimpse, so I thought a pole of public opinion on it would be fun. Which son shall lay in Dalinar's arms? What happened to him? And what is his fate? What do you think?

It seems that Roshar needs to be united in order to survive the impending Desolation. We currently have two separate individuals who are attempting to accomplish this task that we are aware of. Taravangian is the ruler of Kharbranth, a small city-state renowned for it's hospitals and the Palanaeum. He has thus far attempted to achieve the goal of unifying Roshar through assassination and through trying to interpret the future by listening to the death chants of innocent people he murders. To date he has eliminated close to twenty world leaders through assassination and murdered a large number of innocent civilians who were under his care. We have seen no indication that other plans are in motion to stabilize the nations affected as yet, though to be fair those plans have been eluded to. Taravangian appears to only be worried about eliminating any possible rival leaders thus far. Taravangian appears to be aware of the efforts of the second person attempting a unification at a smaller level and chose to order the assassination of Dalinar Kholin rather than make any effort to work with him. Dalinar Kholin is High Prince of War, uncle to King Elhokar of Alethkar. He is attempting to unify one of the most powerful nations on Roshar through politicking and an iron fist. He has prophetic dreams that appear to have been sent to him by a being he believes to be a god called Honor. Honor is dead and Dalinar is aware of this as well. Dalinar began his efforts to unite his fellow High Princes through political maneuvering and encouraging them to work together in concert against the current common foe of the Alethi people. This strategy failed dramatically at the plateau called The Tower when High Prince Sadeas deftly outmaneuvered Dalinar and stranded him along with his heir and a large portion of his men surrounded and cut off from retreat. It was only through the actions and rebellion of bridge four and it's leader Kaladin Stormblessed that Dalinar was capable of retreating and salvaging a quarter of the forces he had brought to battle. Having recognized the futility of trying to coerce his fellow High Princes to work together voluntarily, Dalinar has forcefully bent his nephew to his will with the goal of finally unifying his nation under the rule of the king. It has been postulated that the methods of these men are, for all intents and purposes, little different. That by using the war that Dalinar seeks to end as an excuse for unifying his people, Dalinar is no better than the man who murders the sickly and feeble in their beds and orders world leaders assassinated so he can unite the world under his own banner. I would postulate that the difference between these men is immense. That Dalinar seeks to unite his nation to enable its survival. He doesn't seek power for himself, but takes what power he needs to accomplish his goals. He wants to see his people become more than they are, and he wants this for his people. Taravangian on the other hand seeks to unite the world under his rule, for his own personal glory and to ensure his own survival. He has no compunction about murdering innocent people and removing any obstacle from his path. What do you think?

When Kaldin spoke the Words, "I will protect those who cannot protect themselves," we rose to our feet and roared with excitement! When Lift spoke "I will remember those who have been forgotten," we shed tears and begged for more! Speaking the Ideals of the Knights Radiant have become some of my favorite moments in modern literature. I can't wait to see more Ideals! And so, dear friends, this poll. Who do you think will get to have their shining moment next? And please, drop a post to let us know why you chose them, how it might happen, and what the words might be!