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I know there's a contingent on the forums who think that Todium will choose a child-champion and that this will cause Dalinar to either break the contract or lose the contest of champions by refusing to fight/kill the child. But let's set that aside for a minute, and consider what I think is a simpler and more likely way that Todium might manipulate events so that Dalinar breaks the contract. First, here are the three key contractual terms with which the parties must comply: On the tenth day of the month Palah, tenth hour, each side must send a willing champion The champions must be allowed to meet at the top of Urithiru, otherwise unharmed by either side's forces The champions participate in a contest to the death These are the terms that, if violated, would constitute a breach of contract. Now, if you're Todium looking for a way to maneuver Dalinar into breaking the contract, which of these would you try to exploit? Number 1 doesn't seem likely. It's pretty hard to see how Todium could arrange things so that Dalinar either doesn't show up to be his own champion or fails to send an appointed champion. To maneuver Dalinar into violating number 3, Todium would have to find a way to ensure that either Dalinar's champion doesn't participate in the contest at all, or that his champion quits the contest before one champion dies. Again, I struggle to see how Todium can arrange things in a way where he can be sure that Dalinar's champion will violate this provision. (Please let's not go down the child champion rabbit hole; there are enough other threads where folks have been through those arguments ad nauseam) That leaves number 2, which I think has the most wiggle room and the most factors that Todium might be able to control. The reason for this is that the terms forbid either side's forces from harming either champion. Dalinar would violate this provision if someone from his forces harmed Todium's champ. But it would also be a violation if someone from his forces harmed Dalinar (or his champion, if he changes his mind about being his own champ). So Todium can plot on two fronts - manipulating someone into harming Dalinar (or his champ) and also manipulating someone into harming his own champ. If he's successful with either, that's a violation of the contract. For Dalinar, I imagine there are plenty of folks out there with a lingering grievance against him from his Blackthorn days. Or, perhaps there's a religious zealot who hates Dalinar for his blasphemy against the Vorin church. I'm sure there are other options as well, but suffice it to say that I imagine there are a significant number of folks out there who might, given the opportunity, take a shot at Dalinar. For Todium's champ, who's the most hated person you can think of on his side, someone that a number of characters would probably like to harm? Storming Moash. Todium can make him his champion, then try to manipulate Gavinor, or someone from Bridge Four into taking him out. Again, there are probably lots of other folks out there that might want a piece of Moash. And if the scheme doesn't work, with Moash now blind, there's still the possibility that Dalinar's champion may think that it's not a fair or honorable fight. Alternatively, depending on how his story plays out in Book 5, Szeth might be another option for a Todium champ that lots of folks would probably like vengeance against. Actually, Szeth is also a prime candidate for someone that Todium might try to manipulate into harming one of the champs. Manipulating Szeth is, after all, T's go-to move. There are two main problems I can think of with this theory. One is that I may just be reading the language of the agreement too technically. Dalinar says "otherwise unharmed by either side's forces" but it could be that what he meant - and what Odium understood him to mean - was "unharmed by the other side's forces." But the terms of the contest of champions seem like the type of thing where Brandon would be very intentional in his word choice. And reading the terms the way I suggest fits with Todium's realization of the subtle opportunities available to him. Another problem with this theory is that I'm not entirely certain who is considered to be part of Dalinar's forces. Further, would a person be considered to have defected if they moved against Dalinar's champ or harmed Todium's champion against Dalinar's will? I don't think these issues kill the theory; they're more things that would have to be addressed and sorted out. In conclusion, this seems to me like a much more straightforward route to arranging things so that Dalinar's forces cause him to break the contract. What do y'all think?