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Top 10 theories going into Oathbringer


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On 7/29/2017 at 7:22 PM, maxal said:

Adolin is not dying. I think we can safely rate this one as a very low probability of occurrence.

Sorry this is a little late but I was scrolling through and this caught my attention- What compelling evidence is there that Adolin isn't going to die? Personally I din't really expect him to die, I'm just curious. I do think he could disappear for a while, though, like he could (accurately) be accused of killing Sadeas and run away and not be seen for a while. It would be like

WOT spoilers

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Mat disappearing for all of PoD or Perrin disappearing for all of FoH

 

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1 hour ago, Fatling said:

Sorry this is a little late but I was scrolling through and this caught my attention- What compelling evidence is there that Adolin isn't going to die? Personally I din't really expect him to die, I'm just curious. I do think he could disappear for a while, though, like he could (accurately) be accused of killing Sadeas and run away and not be seen for a while. It would be like

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Mat disappearing for all of PoD or Perrin disappearing for all of FoH

 

The compelling evidence is Brandon saying Adolin's entire story arc, within the first half of SA, would likely be bigger than Szeth's. This is not happening if he dies and/or disappears from the story, especially considering Szeth has a focus book while Adolin doesn't. Brandon also refers to Adolin as the Spook of SA. 

I would also point out the WoT book are you referencing was one of the most disliked and hated book within the series for precisely the reason you stated. It does not matter what big plans the author might or might not have, when readers love a character as much as they love either Mat or Adolin, they expect to read them. One of the greatest mistake Brandon could do with SA is ignore how anticipated and loved Adolin's character has become and decide the story is better off within him because he is not what he originally planned. 

Jordan learned this lesson the hard way and excuse himself for having omitted a fan's favorite from a book. I doubt Brandon will do the same. While he can have Jasnah, a minor character, disappear from the story, he can't remove Adolin. He's just one of the most talked about and liked character within his entire cast. 

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That's not to say that a character's role cannot be minimised for an entire book. Jasnah was a personal favourite amongst the secondary characters of tWoK (she had more or less just a large role as Adolin in the first book, although she had less of an active role), and I was looking forward to seeing how she developed in WoR. We did get a few nice chapters with her, but then she disappeared for 90% of the book, only to return in the epilogue.

Not that I was mad. Shallan needed to lose her mentor for the mono-myth thing to make its course. It felt natural, and I was tricked (in a positive sense) into letting one of my favourites be away for more or less an entire book.

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11 minutes ago, Aether said:

That's not to say that a character's role cannot be minimised for an entire book. Jasnah was a personal favourite amongst the secondary characters of tWoK (she had more or less just a large role as Adolin in the first book, although she had less of an active role), and I was looking forward to seeing how she developed in WoR. We did get a few nice chapters with her, but then she disappeared for 90% of the book, only to return in the epilogue.

Not that I was mad. Shallan needed to lose her mentor for the mono-myth thing to make its course. It felt natural, and I was tricked (in a positive sense) into letting one of my favourites be away for more or less an entire book.

It depends on the character. Adolin is one of the major viewpoint characters of the story and one of the most loved whereas Jasnah currently wasn't a viewpoint character (which isn't to say she isn't love, but fact is Adolin has created more discussion and currently has a bigger vibe than her). Worst, she served as Shallan's mentor, a character archetype known to die and/or disappear. There was nothing within WoK's ending which promised great character development for Jasnah, all clues indicating she would continue within her current role. The same isn't true about Adolin who's ending promised greater character development and a bigger story arc or at least it did to many readers.

All this to say removing a character from a given book within a series is extremely tricky and dangerous to do. It worked with Jasnah because she was a relatively minor character at the time when she was removed. It wouldn't work now with Adolin because he has currently morphed into a fan's favorite nor would it worked for Jasnah now either.

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1 hour ago, maxal said:

The compelling evidence is Brandon saying Adolin's entire story arc, within the first half of SA, would likely be bigger than Szeth's. This is not happening if he dies and/or disappears from the story, especially considering Szeth has a focus book while Adolin doesn't. Brandon also refers to Adolin as the Spook of SA. 

I would also point out the WoT book are you referencing was one of the most disliked and hated book within the series for precisely the reason you stated. It does not matter what big plans the author might or might not have, when readers love a character as much as they love either Mat or Adolin, they expect to read them. One of the greatest mistake Brandon could do with SA is ignore how anticipated and loved Adolin's character has become and decide the story is better off within him because he is not what he originally planned. 

Huh, I hadn't heard that before, about Adolin's arc being bigger than Szeth's. It's true I guess that Adolin is more compelling than Szeth (in my opinion). Also, I didn't realize PoD was so unpopular, I actually really liked what Jordan did. I guess I just have a weird taste. Anyway, my strategy is to roll with whatever the author wrote. I like speculating about what's going to happen, but it's never occured to me to protest what the author has written. Given Aether's comments,

24 minutes ago, Aether said:

You make some very good points here, @maxal. Consider me convinced. Let's raise our pitchforks and torches together if Adolin ever disappears for an entire book !

maybe I should be more of an activist instead of sitting back and just watching what happens

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4 minutes ago, Fatling said:

Huh, I hadn't heard that before, about Adolin's arc being bigger than Szeth's. It's true I guess that Adolin is more compelling than Szeth (in my opinion). Also, I didn't realize PoD was so unpopular, I actually really liked what Jordan did. I guess I just have a weird taste. Anyway, my strategy is to roll with whatever the author wrote. I like speculating about what's going to happen, but it's never occured to me to protest what the author has written. Given Aether's comments,

maybe I should be more of an activist instead of sitting back and just watching what happens

I think what Brandon meant is despite getting a flashback book, Szeth's roles within books will be smaller than Adolin's. His story arc may be bigger than Adolin's within his focus book, but overall Adolin is likely to get the most word count. This was my understanding. I took it as meaning being a flashback character did not automatically implies large story arc like Kaladin or Shallan, just a focus which can alternatively be big or small, depending on the character.

PoD is unpopular among those readers who had to wait four years to read it, waiting to see the continuation of Mat's story arc, especially after what happens to him within the previous book only to get nothing. Obviously, those not having waited for the book and being able to move onto the next one weren't as negatively affected, but it is one example I often use in order to highlight how dangerous it may be for an author to ignore characters their readers have latched onto. Of course, authors can't do fan service and start to give bigger story arcs to every minor character currently suiting the fancy of their readers, but when they have a character they have been writing and developing, when this character turns out being popular, removing him/her is not a good idea. Think of Brandon writing an entire book without showing us Dalinar, for instance.

Of course, all readers are different. Some readers really do get attached to a few given characters viewpoints more than others. I would say there are books where I don't mind so much what the author chooses to write, but when I turn out having a favorite and a character I really enjoy reading, if this character happens to be an important viewpoint one who's story arc ends in a cliffhanger: I expect to read more of him, not less. Obviously, if a favorite character of mine turns out being minor, I will not antagonize over him/her not getting viewpoints as I never expect minor characters to get them and, by being minor, they often are expendable. I however do not expect major viewpoint characters to be removed from the story just because "oh they don't fit in the plan" or "oh he does not have a function, best getting rid of him" or "oh I need not to write a love triangle so let's get rid of Adolin to settle it.". 

To me, it all comes down to what readers expect out of a book: if the strongly expect something and the author does not deliver, then they are likely to not feel satisfied. Adolin happens to be one of the most anticipated story arc and one character readers have a lot of expectations for (both good and bad): not meeting them will have some readers feel dissatisfied with the story. Mind, I don't think that's what Brandon has in store which is why I really, really don't think Adolin is dying anytime soon.

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44 minutes ago, maxal said:

Of course, authors can't do fan service and start to give bigger story arcs to every minor character currently suiting the fancy of their readers, but when they have a character they have been writing and developing, when this character turns out being popular, removing him/her is not a good idea. Think of Brandon writing an entire book without showing us Dalinar, for instance.

Of course, all readers are different. Some readers really do get attached to a few given characters viewpoints more than others. I would say there are books where I don't mind so much what the author chooses to write, but when I turn out having a favorite and a character I really enjoy reading, if this character happens to be an important viewpoint one who's story arc ends in a cliffhanger: I expect to read more of him, not less. Obviously, if a favorite character of mine turns out being minor, I will not antagonize over him/her not getting viewpoints as I never expect minor characters to get them and, by being minor, they often are expendable. I however do not expect major viewpoint characters to be removed from the story just because "oh they don't fit in the plan" or "oh he does not have a function, best getting rid of him" or "oh I need not to write a love triangle so let's get rid of Adolin to settle it.". 

That's true, that's true. Like Lopen is a popular character, but Brandon has indicated that he will probably never play anything more than a minor role.

As for removing major viewpoint characters, I agree it wouldn't make sense to get rid of them because of the role they do/don't play in the story. But that doesn't rule out getting rid of major viewpoint characters altogether- for instance, losing that character could turn out to be a major part of another character's arc. Most of the time authors write minor roles for characters like that, but writing them as major viewpoint characters allows the reader to feel a sense of loss along with the other characters (and personally I like it when authors do this). As I said, I doubt this for Adolin's case, especially hearing now that Brandon intends for him to live on, but back when I didn't know that seemed plausible that Adolin could fill that role of a likeable character dying as part of the other major characters' arcs. But I guess Adolin has moved up in the world

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8 hours ago, Fatling said:

That's true, that's true. Like Lopen is a popular character, but Brandon has indicated that he will probably never play anything more than a minor role.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, though. Some characters (particularly of the "comic relief" variety) work best when they are in the background, only used as a contrast to whatever the film or book is supposed to be about. Consider the minions from Despicable Me and how poorly they worked in their own movie when the whole bloody thing was about their rather stupid shenanigans. They were cute in small doses.

I am not saying that Lopen would not if given a larger role, but as he is now (ditzy and FUN! primarily), he would likely have a disrupting and distracting effect on the narrative.

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9 hours ago, Fatling said:

That's true, that's true. Like Lopen is a popular character, but Brandon has indicated that he will probably never play anything more than a minor role.

Yes this is a good example. Although, like @Aether is saying, it is typically a bad idea to give bigger story arcs to characters serving as comical relief as what makes them work is precisely the lack of exposure. Another example of mine would be Asmodean's character in WoT which I did fancy back when I was reading the series. For some reasons, I really enjoyed his character, but he was minor. He was a villain. He was not a viewpoint character. I couldn't allow myself to expect anything more than a minor side character arc likely ending badly. I mean, readers have to be realistic about those things.

9 hours ago, Fatling said:

As for removing major viewpoint characters, I agree it wouldn't make sense to get rid of them because of the role they do/don't play in the story. But that doesn't rule out getting rid of major viewpoint characters altogether- for instance, losing that character could turn out to be a major part of another character's arc. Most of the time authors write minor roles for characters like that, but writing them as major viewpoint characters allows the reader to feel a sense of loss along with the other characters (and personally I like it when authors do this). As I said, I doubt this for Adolin's case, especially hearing now that Brandon intends for him to live on, but back when I didn't know that seemed plausible that Adolin could fill that role of a likeable character dying as part of the other major characters' arcs. But I guess Adolin has moved up in the world

What you say isn't wrong except not all characters are suitable for what you are suggesting. Remove a character readers truly enjoy reading and the backlash may be worst then the upside of creating an emotional impact within your remaining characters. For instance, GRRM has made a business of killing many characters, but he hasn't killed the ones his readers truly enjoy reading the most. Had he kill Arya back in book 3 or 4, of course, he would have written a massive OMG moment, but these are short-lived. Arya is a popular well-loved character: readers would have been more antagonized then pleased at the unexpected turn.

Adolin is not Arya yet. Many readers still think he could fill the role of the nice guy who dies just to give Dalinar a "moment", but I personally feel his character adds more to the story alive then dead. Think of re-writing WoR without Adolin, which is possible, but we loose so much the resulting story would not have been as enjoyable. He's also one of the most discussed character on the cast. Would it truly be a good idea to remove him? For which purpose? So Shallan and Kaladin could end up together without having to think of how they are hurting Adolin? So Dalinar could finally realize he loves his son? Are these truly worth losing Adolin when Adolin's story arc consisting of the one prince falling down from grace and going to unexpected places? I would say no. It isn't.

1 hour ago, Aether said:

I am not saying that Lopen would not if given a larger role, but as he is now (ditzy and FUN! primarily), he would likely have a disrupting and distracting effect on the narrative.

I personally dislike when characters such as Lopen get bigger roles. For instance, I like Wayne, on paper (I like the idea of Wayne), but within BoM he had quite a few too many viewpoint chapters which were painful to read. Alright. He's funny, he does stupid things. I just don't want to read about them, I want to read about characters evolving, not them exchanging random objects for 10 pages. IMO, being funny hardly is the most interesting thing about Wayne's character.

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3 hours ago, Aether said:

This is not necessarily a bad thing, though. Some characters (particularly of the "comic relief" variety) work best when they are in the background, only used as a contrast to whatever the film or book is supposed to be about.

 

1 hour ago, maxal said:

Yes this is a good example. Although, like @Aether is saying, it is typically a bad idea to give bigger story arcs to characters serving as comical relief as what makes them work is precisely the lack of exposure.

Sorry I'm cutting out most of your stuff out of the quote boxes to avoid mile lomg posts. So this discussion of background characters is making me think about Hoid. So far our exposure to him has been him popping up, making witty or mysterious remarks, or maybe doing something weird, and then disappearing again. I feel like writing Hoid as a major viewpoint character (will he be one in Oathbringer? Do we know? I know he will be in later books) could pose a considerable challenge, because he has to have some depth to him, but at the same time he has to be presented in a way that will let Brandon unfold all the mysteries of the cosmere little by little, even though Hoid knows so much. As a major viewpoint character he won't be able to just pop up and then disappear again. He'll have move beyond just being witty and mysterious all the time. Of course I'm sure the great wizard Brandon will amaze us once again, but how?

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I doubt Adolin will last the entire Stormlight series, and I also dont think that it is wrong to kill him. It should happen in a satisfying way that benefits the story, yes. But other than that, Brandon should be able to kill anyone of his characters in my opinion. 

Given the WoB that @maxal mentioned, I doubt that Adolin will die in Oathbringer specifically (though he could probably reach a higher wordcount than Szeth even if he did). I dont think Oathbringer will give Adolin a happy ending though, but that is a completely different thing.

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17 minutes ago, Fatling said:

Sorry I'm cutting out most of your stuff out of the quote boxes to avoid mile lomg posts. So this discussion of background characters is making me think about Hoid. So far our exposure to him has been him popping up, making witty or mysterious remarks, or maybe doing something weird, and then disappearing again. I feel like writing Hoid as a major viewpoint character (will he be one in Oathbringer? Do we know? I know he will be in later books) could pose a considerable challenge, because he has to have some depth to him, but at the same time he has to be presented in a way that will let Brandon unfold all the mysteries of the cosmere little by little, even though Hoid knows so much. As a major viewpoint character he won't be able to just pop up and then disappear again. He'll have move beyond just being witty and mysterious all the time. Of course I'm sure the great wizard Brandon will amaze us once again, but how?

Hoid will not be a main protagonist until he gets his own series which isn't to be written for another 15 to 20 years. He will keep on being a minor character popping back here and there for the time being or so is the plan as far as I am aware of.

1 minute ago, Toaster Retribution said:

I doubt Adolin will last the entire Stormlight series, and I also dont think that it is wrong to kill him. It should happen in a satisfying way that benefits the story, yes. But other than that, Brandon should be able to kill anyone of his characters in my opinion. 

Given the WoB that @maxal mentioned, I doubt that Adolin will die in Oathbringer specifically (though he could probably reach a higher wordcount than Szeth even if he did). I dont think Oathbringer will give Adolin a happy ending though, but that is a completely different thing.

I have no idea on how long Adolin is meant to survive: not all characters from the first arc will survive it, but some will and have an on-going story arc. Nothing ever precluded Adolin from being one of those characters. Nothing precludes him from dying within book 5 either: it really isn't something I can comment on. I would rather Adolin survives to get a story arc within the next half of SA, but it is hard to predict how he'll evolve within the next three books. 

Brandon will definitely kill some characters, but I quite frankly think killing characters is over-rated. I don't read books so I can watch those I enjoy reading die only to be replaced by characters I enjoy less. Thus to me, killing off main characters is not important. Characters ought to die when their story is over and not before: I don't see Adolin's story being anywhere near over yet.

Adolin reaching a higher word count than Szeth means he definitely survives Oathbringer... I mean, Brandon cut down most of his chapters for Oathbringer which means he will need book 4 and 5 to make the count, IMHO. 

I agree Oathbringer is likely to give Adolin's character a bad ending. The one year gap in between book 3 and 4 definitely gives wiggle room to have Adolin ends up into a bittersweet position where he feels hopeless and unloved. It will only make his future arc more compelling, IMHO.

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21 minutes ago, Fatling said:

 

Sorry I'm cutting out most of your stuff out of the quote boxes to avoid mile lomg posts. So this discussion of background characters is making me think about Hoid. So far our exposure to him has been him popping up, making witty or mysterious remarks, or maybe doing something weird, and then disappearing again. I feel like writing Hoid as a major viewpoint character (will he be one in Oathbringer? Do we know? I know he will be in later books) could pose a considerable challenge, because he has to have some depth to him, but at the same time he has to be presented in a way that will let Brandon unfold all the mysteries of the cosmere little by little, even though Hoid knows so much. As a major viewpoint character he won't be able to just pop up and then disappear again. He'll have move beyond just being witty and mysterious all the time. Of course I'm sure the great wizard Brandon will amaze us once again, but how?

Hoid's being saved for the Cosmere's grand finale, I believe, and is set to be a major character in that particular story.  It wouldn't do to kill him off permanently before that point.  (An aim aided by Hoid's ridiculous durability, among other powers). 

EDIT: Dang ninjas!

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1 hour ago, Toaster Retribution said:

@maxal

We have different ideas about killing apparently. I like when characters die, partly because of the stakes, and partly because of the emotion, and the fact that something happens. Sometimes I even get disappointed when characters doesn't die.

I agree to disagree with you because all readers are different :P We aren't all looking for the same experience whenever reading a book. While I don't mind characters dying within GoT, because the story has been built onto this premise, I do mind it when I am reading Brandon Sanderson. Why? Because his writing style is overly more optimistic and relies on the idea greatness can await after many hits and bumps. Other authors, such as Robin Hobb, often take the bittersweet ending where the hero doesn't get resolution or if he gets it, it often is unsatisfying. Brandon? I expect the heroes to win, but I expect to do it with a twist. I expect things I didn't consider to ultimately matter and if main characters die, I don't expect it to be done within great tragedy. I expect it to be done with melancholia, feeling we have reached the end of a journey. I don't expect Brandon to slaughter Adolin just to create a shock moment: this really isn't his style.

Hence, my enjoyment in reading Brandon is absolutely not tied to his ability to kill or not to kill his protagonists. He might keep them all alive, baring Szeth and Eshonai, and I wouldn't mind one bit. If he wants to kill characters, he can off side characters such as Elhokar, Navani or any of the bridgemen. Killing Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin would however definitely diminish my ability to enjoy the story as no other characters currently proposed in replacement as, IMHO, as interesting. Dalinar is one I am partial about, probably because I do expect him to die.

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@maxal 

I definitely agree with that we all look for different things in the things we read. I am probably affected by GRRM, since I am a big fan of his. So far though, Brandon has filled my hubger for death in his stories (I basically sound like Odium or Ruin right now, don't I?).

I have a question for you though. Lets say that Adolin dies at the end of Book 5. Would you mind it then?

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Brandon is not averse to killing characters, but he only does so after their story lines have been completed. Adolin may die, but I think it unlikely that he will die before his story is finished, and right now it is far from finished. Its why people had such mixed feelings about mistborn era 1 ending, it hurt, but everyone knew it was the right path and felt satisfied with it. 

Maxal, could you point me in the direction of those WoB? I think I have fallen behind on recent ones. 

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6 hours ago, Toaster Retribution said:

@maxal 

I definitely agree with that we all look for different things in the things we read. I am probably affected by GRRM, since I am a big fan of his. So far though, Brandon has filled my hubger for death in his stories (I basically sound like Odium or Ruin right now, don't I?).

I have a question for you though. Lets say that Adolin dies at the end of Book 5. Would you mind it then?

It depends on how it happens and where his character has gone to when he does die. If Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar survive, but not Adolin, I will probably be mad about it, unless it turns out being a very rational and logic death. I would however currently state if Adolin dies while everyone else's survives, yeah, I'd probably mind it, but if he dies together with other characters, then I will probably mind it less.

Honestly, hard to predict.

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On the characters dying thing:

The way the desolations have been described, I for one will be severely disappointed if everyone survives. 

The insane healing and near impossibility of killing the Radiants has been shown as needed. 

If Adolin doesn't revive his Blade, is involved in the fighting and survives... 

The desolations killed 90% of the population in the past. People better be dying this time around or my suspension of disbelief will fail pretty hard. 

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10 hours ago, Calderis said:

If Adolin doesn't revive his Blade, is involved in the fighting and survives... 

And you get one of my main reasons for wanting Adolin to become a Radiant: without their healing powers, he is doomed. I once said the probability of anyone currently being a soldier to survive to the end of the Desolation was probably slim to none. Humanity's only hope is to make as many children as possible, to get young men to shire as many kids as they can before they are killed, at a young age, during the battle and have those kids grow up fast to take up their place. The few survivors would likely be those born towards the end of the Desolation.

A man like Adolin has virtually zero chances of survival if he doesn't join the ranks of Radiants, this is very much true, unless our heroes does succeed in stopping the Desolation before it truly comes back for real.

This being said, I do think the death toll can be shown without killing the characters we enjoy reading about. Radiants obviously need to die in order to show they aren't invulnerable, but I see no reason why those deaths have to come at the expense of the major protagonists. We have many supporting characters readers do enjoy who can die. Here is a short list of characters of importance who can die without ruining the narrative: Navani, Elhokar, Lopen, Rock, Teft, Skar, Drehy, Moash, Sebrarial, Lirin, Hesina, Laral, Jakamav, Relis, Elit, all the Highprinces, General Kahl, Captain Kahl, Gallant, Rysn and yes also even at a later time Dalinar and Renarin. Already, Teleb and Roion died in the battle. Teleb was a full Shardbearer and a highly experienced soldier and yet he died. I didn't need Adolin dying in the same scene to get the feeling the battle was harsh. Sureblood also died.

I understand my take is completely outside the current fashion which wants authors to kill as many main protagonists as possible in order to show they can or to increase the emotional toll. I just personally disagree you need to kill your main protagonists to achieve it. I also personally disagree killing of your main protagonists is great for story telling, especially when your story is not over. It implies a change of focus and while Brandon did say he would change the focus for the second half, I still have a hard time finding much enthusiasm towards reading a Jasnah/Renarin/Lift centered main narrative with incursions from Taln/Shalash. I'd rather keep on reading about Kaladin/Shallan/Adolin with bigger roles being given to other characters, preferably younger characters and not older. Say Shallan and Adolin's first born son ;) I would love this.

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I don't want a blood bath. You don't have to be Martin and make everyone question who dies next. 

But if death never touches your main cast, the danger either feels fake, like there was a never a chance of loss, or the story becomes far more obviously contrived. If only side-characters die, like I said in my previous post, my ability to suspend belief has to stretch much further. The bigger the cast, the farther the stretch, and the more likely it just fails. In a series with 10 characters getting their own books, and arguably more "main" characters than that, if every one of them survives a situation literally capable of ending life on Roshar, I'll be disappointed, not because of a desire to see them die, but because without it it seems like the risks they faced were exaggerated or that the author was too attached to the characters and kept them all safe. 

The larger the correct cast, the more likely deaths become. SA's cast is far too large for everyone to survive. 

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16 minutes ago, Calderis said:

I don't want a blood bath. You don't have to be Martin and make everyone question who dies next. 

But if death never touches your main cast, the danger either feels fake, like there was a never a chance of loss, or the story becomes far more obviously contrived. If only side-characters die, like I said in my previous post, my ability to suspend belief has to stretch much further. The bigger the cast, the farther the stretch, and the more likely it just fails. In a series with 10 characters getting their own books, and arguably more "main" characters than that, if every one of them survives a situation literally capable of ending life on Roshar, I'll be disappointed, not because of a desire to see them die, but because without it it seems like the risks they faced were exaggerated or that the author was too attached to the characters and kept them all safe. 

The larger the correct cast, the more likely deaths become. SA's cast is far too large for everyone to survive. 

As I said, everyone who is not Kaladin/Shallan/Adolin can die without ruining the main narrative, to me as a reader at the very least. Szeth and Eshonai are main protagonists who can readily die in tragic ways if need be. Dalinar is likely to die, worst we expect him to die, but I maintain my point, I really do not see the need for either Kaladin, Shallan or Adolin to die. The suspense of disbelief is already stretched when it comes to Kaladin's character entire story arc, him dying wouldn't change anything to it, it would just deprive the story from its most popular character without offering another one in exchange. Shallan is the only young female character within the cast, the only candidate to have some romance (which many readers like to have in small dose within their fantasy), she increases the emotional toll just by existing, what purpose would killing her accomplish? Adolin is another popular character readers enjoy reading who still has a full story to tell: he hasn't even started growing, why kill him now when he can be further developed? And offer whom in replacement? 

Honestly, each time I read "main characters need to die", I get slightly irked. Which main characters should die and how would their death be preferable than keeping on reading about them? How is it preferable to wipe the main cast, with the exception of one or two characters in order to replace it with another cast? The list of characters I proposes was made of low to high importance supporting characters, some being considered main characters even. How is Adolin dying preferable? Because that's quite the issue now isn't it? Nobody is arguing Kaladin or Shallan ought to die, but everyone states Adolin should die because it would increase the emotional toll. What if the story is actually a better one because he is in the story? And how is Elhokar dying not increasing the emotional toll? After all they have done to keep him alive, what if he dies? Why is it so much better to kill one of the most enjoyed character on the cast? If Adolin dies, then he won't be around anymore, how does this make the superior story?

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