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Over on Reddit we're making an effort to build a list of theories as a resource for new fans, to make it easier for them to get up to speed with the rest of the fandom. We've named 8 categories, and every two weeks we'll be collecting theories for one of those categories. Voting (on Reddit) will determine how theories are ordered in the list. The final list will be posted on Reddit and on the 17th Shard forums. For more details, see the announcement post here. If you don't have a Reddit account, we can still use your help! Please feel free to submit theories in this forum thread and we will make sure that they get included in the vote and in the final list! Right now we're collecting theories that relate to Kaladin and Bridge Four, so any theories involving Kaladin, his family, Syl, and Bridge Four. Don't post full theory explanations here! Just share a brief name/description, a link to the full theory, and credit to the person who created the theory. It would also be helpful if you could note any relevant tags/keywords related to the theory, as well as the level of spoilers involved. If you do have a Reddit account, feel free to submit theories and vote here. We're taking submissions for the next 9 days, followed by 3 days of voting only. Let me know if you have any questions!

This is a brief theory I had regarding the next series. Kaladin still has 2 more ideals to reach, and is likely to speak more Words while visiting his home. Personally, I think that he will swear his next oath while saving or sparing Brightlord Roshone's life. We know that both times before when Kaladin swore to the ideals, it was at a point where he was suffering from intense despair, (out on the shattered plains, exhausted, empty of Stormlight and watching the parshendi kill his men, and suffering a flashback to the day his brother died,) or doubt (lost his connection with Syl, having to choose between fighting one of his closest friends or letting Elhokar be murdered.) What would define "doubt and despair" more for Kaladin then having to save the life of the man who singlehandedly turned his family into outcasts, forced Kaladin and Tien into military service, (thus resulting in Tien's death), and killed Moash's parents (thus resulting in the betrayal of one of Kaladin's own men)?

OK, so after I read (most of) Words of Radiance, I spent a long time fantasizing about how Kaladin would return to Hearthstone, Challenge Roshone and basically just do stuff. I didn’t really develop it into a real story, but I wrote down some initial ideas about what could happen. Here’s what I came up with: Kaladin practicing half lashings (where you’re weightless, since your Gravitation and gravity are equal). When he masters this, he disguises himself as a lighteyes who’s visiting Hearthstone so that no one recognizes him. He then lashes himself to Hearthstone in about an hour (that’s a lot of lashings, which means a lot of Stormlight. Sigh), but sets himself down a few minutes’ walk away from the main gate, out of sight from the town. He then goes in and Roshone invites him to stay at his place for dinner and a place to rest. Kaladin accepts and keeps a calm demeanor, but is raging inside. At this point, a few things could happen. Either he goes to the town square and reveals his true identity, he stays at Roshone’s house for a night and does that the next day, or travels about town and meets his parents, who at first don’t recognize him, but eventually realize who he is, and the next day he reveals himself to everyone else. Whichever one happens, it doesn’t really affect how the story will turn out (or at least, not too much). Either way, he reveals his true identity and summons Syl as a Shardblade. In the first and second options, everyone (including his parents) is amazed to see that Kaladin has returned, and shocked to find that he is a lighteyes, he has a Shardblade and that he is a Knight Radiant. The only difference with the third option is that Kaladin’s parents know that he has a Shardblade and that he is a lighteyes, but they don’t know that he is a KR. Anyway, after a few moments of silence, Roshone sneers and says something along the lines of ‘So, the underdog has returned, has he? Or will he leave and betray us, just as those who did before him.’ Kaladin quiets him and warns them of the Everstorm. When he is done, he covertly threatens Roshone by saying something like ‘Oh, and by the way, you better not try anything, or-‘. After, this, Kaladin goes home (all three options) and tries to persuade his parents to come to the Shattered Plains. ‘It would be safer’ Kaladin insisted. ‘Roshone wouldn’t be able to do anything, and even if something does happen there, I’ll be around to protect you.’ His father replies that he must stay here, to help the townspeople if they get injured or ill, and repeats what he said all those years ago: ‘If no one starts to do the right thing, then no one can follow.’ This pretty much ends the argument, but before he leaves, Kaladin leaves a spanreed for them to contact him if the need ever arises, so that he can come and do whatever needs to be done. ‘I’ll send you some of my income.’ Kaladin said. ‘It’s not like I don’t have enough of it; I’m the leader of the personal guard of the Highprince of War, and on top of that I’m a KR. You don’t need to worry about money anymore.’ With this, he leaves. What do you think? Please tell me whether you find it interesting or not (of course, since it isn’t a fully formed story and it hasn’t been edited, it’s sure to be at least a little bad, but tell me what you think of it anyway)

So, I was discussing with several people on the Cosmere Discord, and I came up with a question about the Oathpact. I wanted to ask the wise members of the Shard what they thought. Do you consider Heralds to be an integral part of the Oathpact? Or is it more based upon the Honorblades? Is it both?

An idea I'm sure can't be original but now that Kaladin has an honorblade AND a spren will we see him duel wield with a sword and spear, because that would make me squee at the commencing bad*ssery *burns a thousand glyphwards in prayer for this to the great Brandon Sanderson*

So my wife and I are having another boy and we've, well I badgered her, into naming him Kaladin. Because of this, I wanted to have a custom outfit made for him when he is born but I am having a hard time finding good short quotes made by Kaladin. The one I have found so far is, “Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right.” Anyone else have any ideas?

Spoilers for those who haven't finished either Stormlight Archive books. As we all know Odium has shattered Honor's shard and killed its holder. However, as the series goes on it might be impossible for the main characters to fight against a shard holder, without another shard holder. I think that they might have to gather the shattered remnants of Honor's shard and remake it. I don't know if this is possible, but I think it would be interesting to have one of the main characters take up the shard to fight Odium. As for who would wield it, I think it either has to be Kaladin or Dalinar. Dalinar already has the Stormfather as his spren and is set to be a very powerful player in the days to come, but on the other hand there is Kaladin. He already holds an honor spren and these first five books are more or less built around him and I believe that he will be the champion that Honor hinted at in the visions he sent Dalinar. I prefer the idea of Kaladin becoming the new holder of Honor's shard since I feel that it would show the most growth of a character who went from a slave all the way to a God.

Hey there everyone! This is my first post, although I have lurked on here for a little while. I stumbled across something while browsing the forum and some things I noticed on my most recent read through of the books. Essentially the idea is that Kaladin was bonded with syl long before either of them remembered. This might be because Syl disobeyed in bonding with Kaladin and has memory problems. Bascally this comes form a bunch of different things that I've found, but the two main points are: In a flashback where Kaladin and his mother and brother are sitting on their roof during the weeping, he mentions something about he always hated the weeping because it was harder for him to find motivation to do things. Could this be because there wasn't any stormlight for him to be refreshed by? Also the whole thing he said to Szeth when they were fighting about the skies being his since birth. I don't know, its just something weird I noticed. I don't know if there was a post discussing this already. So I apologize if someone already brought it up.

If this is in the wrong board, please let me know where to put it. I was listening to the song "Through the Fire and Flames" by Dragonforce, and I looked at the lyrics and realized they almost perfectly describe Kaladin. Here's where to find the full lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dragonforce/throughthefireandtheflames.html I was gonna copy/paste my favorite lines, but I realized I'd just be pasting the entirety of the song. _

So I was inspired by @ShadowLord_Lith and his post about Shards. I wanted to ask this question in a broader forum area. If you were to be a Shard, what would your name be? Also, if you feel inclined, enlighten us on your magic system and world. I would be happy to hear! If I were to be a shard, I would be Affirmation. Magic in my world would be based upon strength of belief, being similar to Soulcasting. If you believe something, Investiture would affirm said thing, making it true. Also, another form of Investiture would be able to work upon the mind, Affirming certain beliefs inside of someone, similar to Soothing and Rioting. I could Affirm certain beliefs to make them stronger, while Dismissing others. In terms of a world, I would have several high mountains, which sat above a shadowed world covered by clouds. Below, your abilities would be far more powerful, due to the planet being undefined, while above, humans lived normally. There would be two types of magic, the mental Affirmations and Dismissals, and the physical Affirmations and Dismissals. As I said above, you can only truly change reality within the lower areas of the planet, the ones below the Godpeaks. So, this would prevent the destruction of humanity before it could develop a set of rules. The further one goes from the ground of the planet, the weaker their physical abilities would become. Conversely, those who possessed mental abilities would grow stronger the further you ascended. After all, creation is impulsive, while belief is built on already created ideas. Creation must come from something unformed, while honing something, that comes from what has been built. The Godpeaks were built by me personally, and as such, can not be affected by physical Affirmation. Someone could only destroy my Affirmation with intense amounts of Investiture, as to destroy an idea, you need a more powerful one.

Discussing the Cosmere with a friend of mine, and we were considering who'd win in a straight up fight against the Lord Ruler.The obvious combatants we pitted him against was Kaladin and Vasher. The discussion raised two points we couldn't agree upon, so I'd like to know peoples opinions. 1) Would Nightblood view the Lord Ruler as evil? He had good intentions but ultimately acted in a tyrannical way. Assuming he is affected by Nightblood, would the metallic arts function the same as breaths for how Nightblood draws out investiture? 2) Surgebinders can use investiture to heal from a shardblade attack (according to the Coppermind, I can't remember this happening but my friend tells me Szeth cut Kaladin who healed from it via stormlight. Would the Metallic arts count as investiture to heal a shardblade attack, if so, could the Lord Rulers compounded Gold keep him alive long enough to beat Kaladin in a fight? This point is assuming Kaladin is in possession of his full surgebinder abilities also.

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forums, and am a big fan of the Cosmere novels. Particularly the Stormlight Archive, and after going through The Way of Kings a few times I found a question that I couldn't answer. I did a quick search in the forums and couldn't find anything, although I'd dare say it's likely that I didn't look thoroughly enough, so I apologize if this has already been discussed. Anyway, on to the question! In the chapter Eyes of Red and Blue in the first book of the series Sigzil calls our favorite Radiant (or at least mine) "Kaladin Stormblessed" which is the same name he had when he was in Amaram's army. It seems like an odd coincidence that Sigzil would give Kaladin the same nickname that he had before as nobody in bridge 4 ever talked about their past. I suppose it is possible that the nickname is at least a semi-common thing to call someone in Roshar given the nature of the planet. It's commonality seems less likely to me after reading through the 2nd book in which Kaladin is referred to as "Stormblessed" on multiple occasions, as though it were becoming his surname. I don't suppose anyone knows the answer to this or has any thoughts on it?

Hi all, I'm a pretty infrequent poster here, though occasionally I stop by and read what people share. I was thinking about the oaths of the windrunners, and something came to me, and I wanted to speculate about it here because I felt it had some merit. I think the last oath of the windrunners could be something like, "I will die for those I protect, if I must." My train of thought was of course this is the ultimate sacrifice and way to protect someone. And then it hit me. Honor was dead. What better way to exemplify what Honor did by following his example, and dying? I've always thought that poor Honor was killed by Odium. What if, instead, he sacrificed himself in order to protect Roshar from destruction? It not only makes Honor seem way cooler, but it just really fit. For me at least. And now that I'm speculating, what if the highstorms somehow protect the world (like cleaning it from voidspren or making such spren unable to carry out the will of their master)? Highstorms are almost always described as leaving the world clean, and I feel like they are also tied to Honor.

I am not confident about what I am about to ask, So if I am being stupid tell me. At the end of Words of Radiance Dalinar became a bondsmith after bonding the stormfather. Then he summoned his Shardblade (Taln's Honorblade) heard screaming after which he unbonded it. As for as I know Shardblades are dead spren and when a Knights Radiant touches them he heards screams but Honorblade are different. Honorblades were given to heralds by Honor and are not spren. When Kaladin took Szeth's blade , He heard no screaming as he heard when he touched a Shardblade. So My Questions then are: Dalinar heard Screams when he touched an Honorblade but Kaladin did not why? Maybe because Dalinar was bonded to one and Kaladin was not OR if not then........................ If a knights radiant can touch an honorblade So does it imply that Dalinar's blade was not an honorblade but rather a shardblade? if so then the madman Taln is not the Herald? Was the man switched or just the blade? Could it be due to different orders of Kaladin and Dalinar? Or does it have something to do with Dalinar? Maybe he is not who we think he is.

So I was reading through WoK again and I was struck by something I have never heard anyone discuss. So maybe it's nothing. Anyway, on Kaladin's first bridge run he is encouraged by a nameless bridgeman who, during the plateau assault, refers to Talenelat as "bearer of all agonies." The nameless bridge man dies shortly after, and Kaladin takes his padded vest and sandals. My question/thought is: how would anyone know to call the Herald of War by this title? Is it referring to his torture in Damnation, or just his role/function as a Herald? And if so, was it common knowledge that the Heralds returned to Damnation between Desolations? And if so, since the previous Desolation was the "last" one, why would anyone think that a Herald would return there? After all, aren't they all supposedly fighting to retake the Tranquiline Halls from the Voidbringers? I have a suspicion that this nameless bridgeman either knew something he shouldn't, or was someone special. If he was someone special, (like a HERALD!!!!) is he really dead? And if so, are there any unforeseen consequences due to his death? Or is this all just a meaningless tangent?

This has been in my head for a while, and I keep forgetting to post it, so hopefully it'll not be as rambling as I worry it will be xD Forgive me if this has already been speculated/shot down elsewhere! So, Brandon has been rather close lipped on the origins of Shardplate, if Kaladin is going to get his own, and we've theorised all kinds of things, like the Plate being made of non-sentient Spren locked into Plate forn the same way Spren are locked into non-living Shardblades... My thought/random theory is this. When a Radiant reaches the final Ideal of their Order, or progresses far enough, they create their own Shardplate... but through Stormlight manipulation. "But Rawrbert, you crazy, mad, lovable, handsome fool," I hear you say, "What would make you think that? Shardplate has to be more than just hardened Stormlight!" Well, you flattering reader, let me explain my way of thinking. We've seen Shallan can dim the Stormlight from her skin to blackness, and we've seen that as a Radiant progresses through their Ideals that holding and using Stormlight and Surges becomes easier and more natural to them. And from what I recall from Dalinar's visions, when he was fighting with and saw Radiants in their prime, their Shardplate glowed at the joints with inner light correspondending to their Order. What we DIDN'T see... was their skin glowing. At no point (Unless I'm recalling incorrectly, as I don't have the book in frony of me at the moment.) does Dalinar mention that the Radiants he sees' skin glow with light at all. Now, he doesn't specifically say that they AREN'T glowing, but that seems like the kind of detail everyone's favourite war dad would notice, especially when he instantly remarks on the glowing Plate in his head. This, along with Shardplate being powered by infused spheres, and that it can regrow when fed Stormlight, makes me think that a Surgebinder will be able to convert the Stormlight that would make their skin grow, or escape from their pores, into Shardplate, when they become proficient enough with metabolising/using it. This would also explain why the Radiants in the visions were able to summon and dismiss part of their armour at will, by simply reabsorbing the Stormlight they've hardened around their head to create a helm, or around their fist to make a gauntlet. I suspect the reason Brandon didn't have Dalinar see the dismissal/resummoning of the armour pieces to keep us guessing, since if it formed first from mist or from light we could pretty easily narrow down how it was happening. ^^ Of course it COULD maybe be summoned from the Cognitive Realm, a perfect ideal of armour for each Radiant.... Anyway, thoughts? Praises? Insults? ^-^ Hit meh!

So in Hoid's first meeting with Kaladin, he tells Kaladin a story about the Wandersail. This story led Kaladin to finally overcoming his depression/apathy and embracing his surge binding abilities. Note the underlined part (added for emphasis). I see a connection between the behavior of the Uvara and that of the Skybreakers / Nale who are murdering new surgebinders. I also see a connection between the Emperor of the Uvara and Honor/Tanavast (because he's dead and the people don't realize it) or perhaps Ishar (since Nale was justifying his actions on Ishar's assurances/warnings) . I was hoping that others might ... consider this connection and offer your thoughts/criticism, and think about whether any other events in Edgedancer connect to the Uvara (or other stories, legends, etc.) Thanks!