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I've been re-reading the Stormlight Archive and Into the Sky, chapter 52 of Words of Radiance combined with The Last Day Chapter 81 has begun to bother me the more I think about it. Kaladin asks Sly if his skill with the spear is from her and calls it cheating. Sly, however, points out what he has trained with the spear every day for years. She further elaborates that it is both of them, together, and compares what she and Kaladin do to a genius of music picking up an instrument for the first time and finding music. I was fine with this, Sly gives Kaladin an edge allows him to focus more and move with the winds and just generally enhances his skill with the spear. The problem for me is in Chapter 81 when Sly is "dead" and her bond with Kaladin is, at the very least, severely damaged. Kaladin tries to wield a spear and is utterly incompetent. Imo it goes beyond incompetence as he has difficulty with simple thrusts. It is like saying that both of them created or enhanced or developed his skill with a spear and then showing that it's all Sly. It irritates me all the more because Kaladin has legitimately trained with the spear for years and then without Sly he can't even do the basics. I'm not saying I don't like Sly, frankly I don't think that's possible, but I am saying is that Sly seems to be THE factor in all of Kaladin's skill when it shouldn't be. It should be 50/50. I'm posting this because I feel like I'm not correctly interpreting the scenes and I would like to see how other people interpret/view this to give me a better perspective. Edit (There was an edit button): I have dyslexia so little things like Sly instead of Syl tend to slip by. I'm kind of angry I missed this as I had re-read this comment over ten times before posting it. Anyway, I don't know how to respond to everyone at once (is there a reply all?) but I do appreciate all the personal experiences shared and it has helped me put myself more in that position. I think I partially ignored Kaladin's metal state because of how he said he had lost people before and this was no different. This was most likely my greatest mistake when revisiting these chapters as Kaladin has never worked like this, idk how I skipped over how out of character those words where. Everyone's comments have helped me better understand what is happening within the chapters and I am grateful you took the time to comment your thoughts.

I'm sure it has been discussed to death but... Having looked around and seen nothing I can agree with I wanted to kick around my initial thought on Sly's reaction to Dalnar's blade. Contrary to popular thought I don't think the problem is with the blade per say. Syl: "He's a good man. I've watched him. Despite that thing he carried." Kaladin: "That thing?" Syl: "The shardblade." Kaladin: "What do you care about it?" Sly: "I don't know. It just feels wrong to me. I hate it. I'm glad he got rid of it. I think what she hates the is the wrongness of it. She is still remembering more about her true self and her nature. I think deep down for her to see a shardblade used by one who has not KR is a perversion, more than tragic a mockery of what has been lost. Therefor in keeping with being a good man she is glad to see him give up something he (for the moment) has no right to have.