Kaladin and Shallan

[Deldraedair]

On 6/16/2017 at 7:49 PM, maxal said:

Because Dalinar believes his mission is to unite the Highprinces. His son murdered a Highprince which is against the law. He can't be seen playing favorite, pretending to be the honorable one while allowing his son to get away with it. He can't allow other Highprinces to think he might have sent Adolin to kill Sadeas, on purpose. So, all in all, Dalinar might very well not have the chance to punish his son, not to forget Brandon basically told us he would. When asked if Dalinar would punish Adolin if he knew, Brandon said yes, he would, except he doesn't know. 

Also, the book is named Oathbringer in reference to an in-world book which is presume to refer to Dalinar's former Shardblade and his former owner. Other theories have it might be a biography of Dalinar, but I think not as Dalinar isn't the Oathbringer, he did not name the Blade nor does he carry it anymore.

All in all, punishing Adolin probably isn't against Dalinar's oaths. Gavilar was willing quick-start a Desolation in order to strengthen his kingdom and yet he too was on the path to become a Bondsmith. I say, it is quite likely the Stormfather won't care one bit what Dalinar does to Adolin

Hahahahahahaha! Um no. Do you not remember the seen in Words of Radiance when he finds out Shallan is a radiant and gets teary eyed. Then realized that his job was to gather the knights radiant. Now this is just evidence that he completely knows that his mission is not to unite the high princes. You yourself recently said that the government would be destroyed because of the everstorm. His mission is not just to unite the knights radiant either. He swore an oath to unite all who he could. If he can't keep unity among his own family how on earth can he unite the world (which is essential since it's coming to an end). Now lets say you're right, and I'm right. It's possible we both are. I'm sure that Dalinar will not break his oaths witch are to unite and not divide. You're saying that Adolin will get disowned. Now it's possible that Dalinar needs to disown Adolin and that not doing so would cause more damage and divide more than doing so. Now, what would that say about Adolin. That he was so out of control that he needed to be punished severly and disowned, that he murdered a high-prince in cold blood and is unworthy to inherit the throne. That kind of man does not deserve Shallan. There are three ways of how I could see this working out.

1. Adolin gets out of control and Dalinar is forced to disown him. 

2. Dalinar decides that in these desperate times he can't afford to do something rash like disowning him so decides not to.

3. Dalinar makes a mistake in disowning him and it is portrayed as the wrong decision, not because the times are hard but because he was "totally justified" in killing the high prince in cold blood without a fare trial. 

The problem is that Dalinar has impeccable judgement and had far to selfish a childhood to wrongly chastise his son. Unless of course he is right to chastise his son. So in the end you are left with two options. Either Dalinar doesn't disown his son or he does because as the book portrays it. He deserves it. I agree with the later. 

On 6/16/2017 at 11:28 AM, Krandacth said:

Actually, it was Avramelons (or [something similar]melons) not roses, and Adolin jumped at the opportunity. Also, Kaladin charged towards the Chasmfiend to save the drawings that were vitally important to Dalinar (his liberator, commanding officer and only halfway-decent Brightlord Kaladin has known) and his strategy for ending the war (also a great thing in Kaladin's book).  He did, admittedly, offer to distract the Chasmfiend in some other manner to save Shallan, but still largely out of duty to Dalinar, as she is his son's betrothed and (again) carrying information vital to his forthcoming extremely dangerous expedition. I'm not denying there wasn't an element of Kaladin's budding respect and attraction to Shallan in his decision, but it was almost definitely the smaller part.

Oh sure it may seem like he jumped at the idea, but the moment Navini said he had to do it now, he backed out. Evidenced by the fact that he never delivered the Avermelons and and there relationship did end. So he actually didn't jump on the idea, and my previous point still stands. 

As for Kaladins part with the chasme fiend. Sure I guess you could say that, personally I think his affection played a bigger role, but there isn't exactly any evidence for that. I guess a better example would be when he was in the hole during the highstorm and she asked him to share his story ( something he hasn't even shared with bridge four) and he did. Because she was terrified. Which, by the way, that scene is one of the most touching scene's in the book. Far better than any scene with Adolin and Shallan together in my opinion. Also for those of you who have been commenting around the shard of Kaladin getting to much screen time. It's because he is the single most boss character Brandon's ever read. (Keep in mind I haven't read War Breaker, or the sequel mistborn series, and granted I guess Hoid is probably more boss.)  

[Penumbra]

I can kinda see Shallan going the Jasnah path and deciding that she doesn't need to marry if she can get away with it, sweeing as she currently does mostly for "business" reasons. It seems more likely to me she'll end up with Kaladin, but I don't like the idea really. Mostly because I'm not fond of two main characters getting involved like that and for fear that it will become a story about this overly powerful couple / "love conquers all" rather than their individual traits and stories I guess. 

[maxal]

7 hours ago, Deldraedair said:

Hahahahahahaha! Um no. Do you not remember the seen in Words of Radiance when he finds out Shallan is a radiant and gets teary eyed. Then realized that his job was to gather the knights radiant. Now this is just evidence that he completely knows that his mission is not to unite the high princes. You yourself recently said that the government would be destroyed because of the everstorm. His mission is not just to unite the knights radiant either. He swore an oath to unite all who he could. If he can't keep unity among his own family how on earth can he unite the world (which is essential since it's coming to an end). Now lets say you're right, and I'm right. It's possible we both are. I'm sure that Dalinar will not break his oaths witch are to unite and not divide. You're saying that Adolin will get disowned. Now it's possible that Dalinar needs to disown Adolin and that not doing so would cause more damage and divide more than doing so. Now, what would that say about Adolin. That he was so out of control that he needed to be punished severly and disowned, that he murdered a high-prince in cold blood and is unworthy to inherit the throne. That kind of man does not deserve Shallan. There are three ways of how I could see this working out.

1. Adolin gets out of control and Dalinar is forced to disown him. 

2. Dalinar decides that in these desperate times he can't afford to do something rash like disowning him so decides not to.

3. Dalinar makes a mistake in disowning him and it is portrayed as the wrong decision, not because the times are hard but because he was "totally justified" in killing the high prince in cold blood without a fare trial. 

The problem is that Dalinar has impeccable judgement and had far to selfish a childhood to wrongly chastise his son. Unless of course he is right to chastise his son. So in the end you are left with two options. Either Dalinar doesn't disown his son or he does because as the book portrays it. He deserves it. I agree with the later. 

What Dalinar may or may not do remains, at this point in time, a difficult guess. He most definitely considers his tasks is to unite the Highprinces and potentially the world to stand against the Desolation, but he is just a man and he is flawed. I thus think the followings:

1. Adolin will get out of control, but not in the ways you re foreseeing. He will not start killing people left and right nor will be become a lose canon, but he won't cope. He'll push himself to the extreme in trying to avoid to appear weak and one day, he will just explode. So yes, he'll get out of control, in ways Dalinar never saw him, but it will be more sad than actually dangerous.

2. Upon finding the culprit is Adolin, Dalinar may make the rational decision he can't lose Adolin and refuses to prosecute him. I however think he is more likely to want the culprit punish to get the fealty of the former Sadeas's princedom. Dalinar is slow to recognize Adolin's worth, so it may be he will rationalized an entire army is worth more than Adolin and he is probably right. 

3. This is the most probable. Adolin was justified in killing Sadeas, not in cold blood, but in a hot blood, a crime of passion made after being put to extraordinary circumstances. Too many people forget how much pressure, stress and coercion Adolin was put under when he ultimately cracked, too many people forget it should have never happened, it would have never happened had Sadeas not wanted to break Adolin. He succeeded, he just never foresee it would turn against him. Dalinar however has a hard spot when it comes to Adolin: he put his son onto a pedestal, he is not ready to see him in another light. He is not ready to see a Adolin who needs him, who needs help, so when it happens, I fear Dalinar's reaction will be out of proportion and yes, it will be a mistake

All in all, three points are linked together. Adolin will cracked, will get out of control while doing so because he does not know how to express weaknesses, he spent a lifetime having everyone believe he did not have any. He has refused to show them any side of him which may hint towards weakness, so when he has to put himself into this vulnerable state, it won't happen willingly, it won't happen smoothly. It will happen because he will crack and won't be able to maintain the facade. Dalinar will punish his son too severely: he may not break his oaths doing so but he will think it is best to sacrifice Adolin in order to avoid more turmoil. In the end, he'll come around. It could be Adolin cracks after Dalinar punishes him or something along those lines.

I however don't see how it makes him unworthy of Shallan though: these are two separate story arcs.

[Naight]

Shallan/Szeth anybody? No..?

[Nathrangking]

I sincerely hope that there is no love triangle between Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin. Each has a fascinating arc that would be in no way enhanced by such a cliche trick. Shallan  should venture off on her own and take on the ghostbloods. The embracing of her scholarship and strengthening of her character is perhaps the singularly most interesting facet of her arc. This would be overshadowed by any potential triangle. Adolin's guilt and his uncertain place in the new society is a great arc which has great potential. Kal's arc would be so disrupted by a triangle that it would destroy the believability of the story. 

[Seloun]

9 hours ago, Nathrangking said:

I sincerely hope that there is no love triangle between Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin. Each has a fascinating arc that would be in no way enhanced by such a cliche trick. Shallan  should venture off on her own and take on the ghostbloods. The embracing of her scholarship and strengthening of her character is perhaps the singularly most interesting facet of her arc. This would be overshadowed by any potential triangle. Adolin's guilt and his uncertain place in the new society is a great arc which has great potential. Kal's arc would be so disrupted by a triangle that it would destroy the believability of the story. 

Kaladin having killed Helaran will need to be resolved somehow, and given the build up over two books, it's likely to become a significant plot point. I would wager that during Oathbringer Kaladin will be out of comms from Shallan, that she'll find out about Helaran's death from some shady source (Amaram or Mraize most likely), and make some bad decision about Kalaran as a result. Classic miscommunication plot.

So it may not be a conventional romantic triangle, but Kaladin will certainly strongly be in Shallan's mind one way or another, and Adolin-Kaladin bromance is real. I woudn't be surprised if the romantic angle gets played up a bit early on, before the Helaran revelation (you could argue WoR already started this) as to make the reveal more impactful for Shallan.

[Vissy]

10 hours ago, Naight said:

Shallan/Szeth anybody? No..?

Szeth with anybody is a bit of a stretch, personally xD

[Reaperess]

As much as a part of me wants a Kaladin/Shallan pairing, I very much doubt it. The fact that Kaladin is the one who killed Helaran is going to come to  (storm) light. I don't think that she will actively try to kill him, but I do believe that that would definitely be too big of an obstacle for her to overlook.

As for Adolin/Shallan... I'm not sure. The physical attraction is there, and that pairing just seems to fit better to me. I actually have a theory (I haven't looked into others just yet about this) that Adolin murdering Sadeas will actually look good to some spren (WoB hinted at this), and I think his personality fits with the Dustbringers/Releasers. That would put him on the same level as Shallan, if not Kaladin.

As for Kaladin having a legitimate Romance... it's hard to say. I can almost see him being with Lift eventually, but for the time being I would expect him to be reminded of Tien by her.

Edit: I also want to point out that I see Jassnah as a lesbian. Maybe I'm projecting (l want to see more lesbians!) But that's the impression I got from her in WoR.

Edited September 7, 2017 by Reaperess

[mariapapadia]

On 04.09.2017 at 1:01 AM, Nathrangking said:

I sincerely hope that there is no love triangle between Shallan, Adolin, and Kaladin. Each has a fascinating arc that would be in no way enhanced by such a cliche trick. Shallan  should venture off on her own and take on the ghostbloods. The embracing of her scholarship and strengthening of her character is perhaps the singularly most interesting facet of her arc. This would be overshadowed by any potential triangle. Adolin's guilt and his uncertain place in the new society is a great arc which has great potential. Kal's arc would be so disrupted by a triangle that it would destroy the believability of the story. 

Actually I  think this is a good case where a love triangle could work. I feel like the characters are strong enough on their own and have so much more to them, that a love triangle woudn't turn out to be a cliche, but would add another layer to the story. As BS keeps saying in his lectures, it's not about original plots or new ideas, but about how you can take something that seems trivial or has been done before a million times and do it in a new way. I have enough faith in Brandon's writer skills and in the characters for this not to become cheesy. He actually has an interesting lecture on creating romances and tension between characters. 

I understand not many people like romance in books and this is the reason they don't want this to go anywhere. I don't actually mind it and I feel like sometimes, if it's done well adds more depth to the characters as it makes them more human (showing flaws or emotions otherwise we wound't necessarily see). But I know this could turn into a polarizing topic which is why many people are not that happy about it. Sometimes I think that a part of the problem with the love triangle trope is how invested the fandom becomes. 

Personally I think that the ammount of romance that has been present in BS's books so far was a good balance and it complemented the plot, rather than taking something from it.

Edited September 11, 2017 by mariapapadia

[iRemedy]

I get that since its literature there needs to be obstacles to overcome with relationships but Kaladin killing Shallan's brother is too tall an obstacle to get over. I don't care how much I think I love someone, if she kills one of my sisters, I think it's time to see other people.

If Shallan ends up with either Kal or Adolin, I'd go with Adolin, but Shallan is a strong independant woman who don't need no man.

Copied a comment I made on Reddit a few weeks ago about this topic:

Quote

By the end of WoR, I was feeling Kaladin + Shallan, mostly because of the first point you made. If/when they get to know each other better they'll realize they have almost as much in common as they have differences. Then I randomly saw someone talking about Kaladin + Jasnah and I think that's infinitely better and I can't wait for them to interact.

Kaladin + Shallan have a few small things to overcome, you know like Kaladin killing her only sane brother for example. One who gets by being honest while the other gets by with fabrications. Shallan being all in on Vorinism and Kaladin basically being agnostic.

Kaladin + Jasnah on the other hand feels like it could mesh very well. I'm currently reading TWoK again, and just recently got to a part where Kal said, paraphrasing, why would the Almighty need people to burn prayers if he's everywhere at all times and knows all things and has admitted to Syl that he doesn't really believe. Kaladin can read and write glyphs, has experience as a surgeon, and before joining the army he wanted to learn; granted he mostly wanted to learn how lighteyes thought so he could outwit them, but other things as well and I think these things will be attractive to Jasnah.

Oh, Jasnah is an older woman, and that bothers people? Don't knock it 'til you try it, friend.

I don't expect Kaladin + Jasnah to happen but it'd be pretty awesome. We have the reunion with Laral soon, and I didn't read the spoilers about what happened with Tarah, she might still exist, so who knows. I'd assume that Kaladin will end up alone, though. Which is a bummer, dude needs some lovin'. 

[PlanetReelo]

6 hours ago, mariapapadia said:

Actually I  think this is a good case where a love triangle could work. I feel like the characters are strong enough on their own and have so much more to them, that a love triangle woudn't turn out to be a cliche, but would add another layer to the story. As BS keeps saying in his lectures, it's not about original plots or new ideas, but about how you can take something that seems trivial or has been done before a million times and do it in a new way. I have enough faith in Brandon's writer skills and in the characters for this not to become cheesy. He actually has an interesting lecture on creating romances and tension between characters. 

I understand not many people like romance in books and this is the reason they don't want this to go anywhere. I don't actually mind it and I feel like sometimes, if it's done well adds more depth to the characters as it makes them more human (showing flaws or emotions otherwise we wound't necessarily see). But I know this could turn into a polarizing topic which is why many people are not that happy about it. Sometimes I think that a part of the problem with the love triangle trope is how invested the fandom becomes. 

Personally I think that the ammount of romance that has been present in BS's books so far was a good balance and it complemented the plot, rather than taking something from it.

I couldn't have said it better myself. The problem is not with love triangles themselves, but with the level of investment/obsession of members of the fandom. It's appears to be so extreme in some people that I'm convinced that their entire enjoyment of the series will be ruined if their ship does not sail. So a love triangle will always end up disappointing someone, and for that reason I believe that people would prefer to avoid them altogether.

Personally, of the current pairing potentials I have enjoyed Kaladin and Shallan's interactions the most. However, it won't be world-shatteringly disappointing to me if they don't end up together. I just hope that they all get to have happy endings, but even that might be too much to ask for so I'm cautious in my hope for it. I hope that BS continues to include romance at the level which he did for WoK and WoR, because I found it to be perfect and complementary to the main plot.

[maxal]

1 hour ago, PlanetReelo said:

I couldn't have said it better myself. The problem is not with love triangles themselves, but with the level of investment/obsession of members of the fandom. It's appears to be so extreme in some people that I'm convinced that their entire enjoyment of the series will be ruined if their ship does not sail. So a love triangle will always end up disappointing someone, and for that reason I believe that people would prefer to avoid them altogether.

Personally, of the current pairing potentials I have enjoyed Kaladin and Shallan's interactions the most. However, it won't be world-shatteringly disappointing to me if they don't end up together. I just hope that they all get to have happy endings, but even that might be too much to ask for so I'm cautious in my hope for it. I hope that BS continues to include romance at the level which he did for WoK and WoR, because I found it to be perfect and complementary to the main plot.

I think the general dislike of love triangle might be a by-product of Twilight where the story essentially revolved around a girl fawning over two boys and two boys desperately fawning over her. It is a perfect case of a "love triangle" which took over whatever narrative there was meant to be to focus quasi exclusively on Bella's inner feelings about the boys. I suspect this is exactly what many readers dread: endless monologues made by Shallan as to whom she loves the best. I once wrote a parody featuring Shallan trying to figure which set of abs she thought was the best: Adolin's or Kaladin's. It was meant to be funny (and I think it was), but I do think there was some underlying truth to it: nobody wants Shallan's story arc to revolve around her love life and nobody wants either of Adolin's or Kaladin's story arcs to be about their feelings towards Shallan.

I do not fear Brandon will turn SA into Twilight especially since he said he considers his main ship to be Dalinar/Navani, much to my personal utter dismay.

This being said, a love triangle needs not be grating or painful to read, but it does imply one of the boys will be left alone. The best denouement would be if Brandon makes it so one of the two pairings turns out being platonic as opposed to romantic and have both partners simultaneously figuring it out. This allows the threesome dynamic to be maintained while not forcing one of the boys to go into a mopping arc over their lost love.

I am personally quite interested in seeing where the love triangle will go, even if my favored ship does not sail (and I don't think it will). I wish Brandon would push those ships further as I just do not have the same level of interest into Dalinar/Navani as I have in between either Adolin/Shallan or Kaladin/Shallan, but everyone's millage may vary here.

[PlanetReelo]

27 minutes ago, maxal said:

I think the general dislike of love triangle might be a by-product of Twilight where the story essentially revolved around a girl fawning over two boys and two boys desperately fawning over her. It is a perfect case of a "love triangle" which took over whatever narrative there was meant to be to focus quasi exclusively on Bella's inner feelings about the boys. I suspect this is exactly what many readers dread: endless monologues made by Shallan as to whom she loves the best. I once wrote a parody featuring Shallan trying to figure which set of abs she thought was the best: Adolin's or Kaladin's. It was meant to be funny (and I think it was), but I do think there was some underlying truth to it: nobody wants Shallan's story arc to revolve around her love life and nobody wants either of Adolin's or Kaladin's story arcs to be about their feelings towards Shallan.

I do not fear Brandon will turn SA into Twilight especially since he said he considers his main ship to be Dalinar/Navani, much to my personal utter dismay.

This being said, a love triangle needs not be grating or painful to read, but it does imply one of the boys will be left alone. The best denouement would be if Brandon makes it so one of the two pairings turns out being platonic as opposed to romantic and have both partners simultaneously figuring it out. This allows the threesome dynamic to be maintained while not forcing one of the boys to go into a mopping arc over their lost love.

I am personally quite interested in seeing where the love triangle will go, even if my favored ship does not sail (and I don't think it will). I wish Brandon would push those ships further as I just do not have the same level of interest into Dalinar/Navani as I have in between either Adolin/Shallan or Kaladin/Shallan, but everyone's millage may vary here.

I agree, endless monologues would indeed be dreadful! But I can't see BS letting it get to that - SA's story and world are too rich in detail and plot-heavy to allow for devolution in to something so one dimensional. Twilight's plot would be virtually non-existent without romance, but the same definitely can not be said for SA.

His main ship is Dalinar/Navani? That's rather interesting to hear! I'm not partial to the pairing myself, potentially because I never warmed to Navani. Still, I enjoy when an authour has the ability to change my mind about something, so I look forward to seeing what's to come for the two of them.

[mariapapadia]

3 hours ago, PlanetReelo said:

I couldn't have said it better myself. The problem is not with love triangles themselves, but with the level of investment/obsession of members of the fandom. It's appears to be so extreme in some people that I'm convinced that their entire enjoyment of the series will be ruined if their ship does not sail. So a love triangle will always end up disappointing someone, and for that reason I believe that people would prefer to avoid them altogether.

 

2 hours ago, maxal said:

I think the general dislike of love triangle might be a by-product of Twilight where the story essentially revolved around a girl fawning over two boys and two boys desperately fawning over her. It is a perfect case of a "love triangle" which took over whatever narrative there was meant to be to focus quasi exclusively on Bella's inner feelings about the boys. I suspect this is exactly what many readers dread: endless monologues made by Shallan as to whom she loves the best. I once wrote a parody featuring Shallan trying to figure which set of abs she thought was the best: Adolin's or Kaladin's. It was meant to be funny (and I think it was), but I do think there was some underlying truth to it: nobody wants Shallan's story arc to revolve around her love life and nobody wants either of Adolin's or Kaladin's story arcs to be about their feelings towards Shallan.

Yeah, I agree. I also think that SA has a more mature and diverse audience than Twilight, so it woudln't get to ship wars. Plus I feel like there are more important topics on which to have endless debates. I do appreciate a bit of conflict and turmoil as long as it's not over the top.

[drza44]

I've read/skimmed most of this thread as my intro to this site, and I found the differences in POV interesting. I just read the first two books, and before coming here I would have been shocked to be told that people find Adolin particularly interesting. From my reading, he was a nice character to have and useful to the story, but pretty vanilla overall. He's a good looking prince that is a great fighter, loves his family, gets swarmed by the ladies but never really keeps them, and generally does what he feels is right (I've got no problem at all with him taking out Sadeas, and frankly it was heavily foreshadowed as the thing he was going to do at some point). Solid character, but not particularly interesting or someone that had all that much gravity for me.

Obviously, Kaladin and Shallan are the main characters, so I'd expect them to be more fleshed out. But...well...they are more fleshed out. They're interesting. I vibe with them better. I saw someone keeping track of words, and one had like 240k and the other 180k, then there was a giant chasm until the next folks checking in around 50k? Yeah...I've got no problem with that. They're the main characters. Same thing happened in Mistborn, Elantris and Warbreaker...the two main protagonists got more words that everyone else combined. I'd frankly expect that to continue here, at least up until Book 5 (things may change after that). But again, I see nothing wrong with the two protagonists being the most fleshed out, being the most interesting, and dominating the word count.

As for the actual topic, I really don't see much that recommends Shallan and Adolin. From a reader standpoint, I've already stated where my preferences and interests lie. But trying to separate from that as much as possible, there were trends that seemed clear to me as I read:

1) It's been mentioned somewhat sparingly in this thread, but I see huge parallels between the older and younger triangles. Down to the very words that Brandon uses to describe them (e.g. how Dallinar/Kalladin were too intense and thus scary as a love interest). Navani and Shallan are the brilliant, independent women, and Galivar/Adolin are the beautiful lead-princes. I felt like part of Brandon's reasoning in laying out the Dallinar/Navani/Galivar history was to point out that Navani didn't follow her heart and go with the more scary Dalinar, and ended up regretting it. It seemed unlikely to me that, in the next generation, he'd have Shallan repeat the same mistake.

2) Shallan and Adolin's interactions feel scripted. Shallan came into this NEEDING for the relationship to work, and went about doing whatever she could to make it work. She attacked it intelligently, and is doing her best to make it work. She was pleasantly surprised that he was so physically attractive, and he's a nice guy so she's got things to work with. But she never seems fascinated by him. He doesn't challenge her. She doesn't have much emotional response to him, at all. Now, in real life this could still lead to a relationship. Not every marriage has to be a roaring inferno. And there's still books to go, so maybe proximity and shared experience eventually bonds them together. But for me, as a reader...it's boring. And not boring in an "overused trope" kind of way, but boring in a ... where's the fun in that? kinda way. There's just no "there" there, to me, when it comes to something I'd want to read about, especially in the presence of all of the huge, dramatic events of the story. I was frankly meh on Vin and Elend in Mistborn, in large part because I found Elend just as bland, and the lack of chemistry between them made their interactions some of the hardest parts of the story for me to read.

3) Shallan and Kaladin's interactions feel genuine. There is no in-story necessity pushing them together, so their reactions would tend to be true to character. A lot has been spoken about their time in the chasm, and I agree that those were some of the most interesting scenes in the story to me. But their interactions were natural long before that. Shallan pulling the boot prank was unscripted, just cuz she felt like it at the time, and really seemed like something Syl would do if she were a person with her mischief. Shallan and Kaladin getting into the shouted insult match on their first re-meet was also a natural reaction from both characters. It actually worked against both of their interests in the story, but they drew emotional responses from each other and went with it. Kal's stereotypical annoyance/suspicion of her as a Light Eyes and her disdain for him being an over-serious bully were true emotions, and they actually expressed them to each other, communicated through it, and came away with changed opinions. With very few pages together, we've seen character chemistry (not directly implying romantic, more chemistry in the literal sense of the word...they react to one another.) that I haven't seen in many more pages of Shallan and Adolin. Further, that chemistry led to direct growth in their relationship, again in only a few pages together. 

All told, obviously, nothing has happened that makes either relationship a given or definite moving forward. And Brandon, as the author, can certainly develop the characters and relationships however he sees fit. And maybe he wasn't consciously putting in what I was taking from it. We'll certainly see. But to me, Shallan and Adolin is just dull. From what I feel like the characters are telling me, they're either a non-starter or else a generally meh plotline. Shallan and Kalladin, on the other hand, have produced an interesting pop in very limited interaction. It just seems natural, to me, that it'd be interesting see where that chemistry would lead if the author ever puts them in the same place for any period of time...