Shallan's Relationship

[taveren]

i think kal and shallan are going to end up like a brother sister type relation ship

[Botanica]

I couldn't decide well when reading the book so I voted unknown. Anyone among these three lads that ends up with Shallan is Ok for me. But I didn't quite expect a possible Kal-Shallan-Adolin triangle. My only hope is that their friendship won't get ruined because of this.
 
 

Shallan can very well end with Hoid, I'd be happy for her. That could have  battles of wits day and night. Both are curious, searching for some truth just beyond the horizon, love traveling, wanting to see more and more. To know more and to do more. She can access Shadesmar and they could be worldhoppers together. She will be drawing strange plants and animals while he's gathering stories.

Ah most of me is always on Shallan x Hoid ship! Upvoted! Love to see two clever people get along with each other well. =)

[Aminar]

How were their interactions shallow? I understand that Shallan was lying, but she does that a lot. I mean she has a Liespren. They interact together comfortably. That's a pretty deep connection on its own. That's what real love is made of, finding someone you can talk about pooping shardplate with. Someone who makes you laugh and feel at home with. Kal and Shallan just bickered constantly...

[EHyde]

I ... I honestly can't decide if Adolin and Shallan are right for each other or not. I think right now Shallan thinks that the person that Adolin is interested in is not the person that she wants to be but I also think that Adolin would be interested in who Shallan really is if given the chance to meet her (he's caught a few glimpses).

 

I think Kaladin and Shallan may well have a deeper connection but I don't necessarily see it as romantic. I wouldn't necessarily complain if it were but for those two, I think they would be friends for a long time before letting it develop into romance, and they would both be very surprised when it did.

 

Unfortunately it does feel like it's being set up as a love triangle ... I really hope it doesn't turn out that way. If Shallan does end up breaking up with Adolin, I'd much rather see her end the relationship simply because it wasn't working and not for another man. There are eight more books, she can afford to spend a few of them single ;-)

[Seloun]

How were their interactions shallow? I understand that Shallan was lying, but she does that a lot. I mean she has a Liespren. They interact together comfortably. That's a pretty deep connection on its own. That's what real love is made of, finding someone you can talk about pooping shardplate with. Someone who makes you laugh and feel at home with. Kal and Shallan just bickered constantly...

Well, that's just the thing - Adolin and Shallan don't talk about anything of substance. And the fact that she treats Adolin like she treats almost everyone she interacts with is really further support that there's nothing particularly special about their interaction. Her attitude towards Adolin is very calculated - as she is with most people, as noted above. The fact they're comfortable with each other doesn't really mean much - again, that's just how Shallan typically reacts to people (e.g. Gaz). She's nicely manipulative.

 

Conversely, Shallan's behavior towards Kaladin is completely different from how she treats almost everyone else. From the very beginning she's very comfortable abusing him in a tsundere manner (we don't see this with anyone else). She speaks her mind directly to Kaladin and he's about the only person she doesn't try to manipulate. We also have examples of surprisingly flattering descriptions of Kaladin as we get near the end of the book; she blanks out mid-conversation with Adolin as she tries to define just exactly what Kaladin has that Adolin doesn't (which she doesn't care about but is going to wax on for an entire paragraph just so she knows what she doesn't care about...). The fact that Shallan and Kaladin bicker a lot is actually a dead giveaway (Slap-Slap-Kiss-Kiss in trope terms...think Leia and Han Solo).

 

Likewise, Kaladin's interaction with her is unique. He mentions it himself in internal dialogue about how he can't understand why he lets her get to him so much when he can deal with other, much more annoying lighteyes. He spends a _lot_ of time trying to understand her, more than almost any other character we see. Then there's the entire chasm scene, where - among other things - Shallan pretty much single-handedly convinces him that lighteyes are not actually categorically evil (something Syl is unable to do over the course of a book and a half). And look at how he compares Shallan to a well-used spear in the chasm scene; I'm not sure there's anyone else he describes in more flattering terms. He even compares her to _Tien_, favorably.

 

By the end of Book 2, Kaladin likely knows more about Shallan than anyone else on Roshar barring Pattern - more than her siblings, more than Jasnah, and far more than Adolin. He is explicitly interested in her despite (because) knowing so much about her. Conversely, Shallan knows more about Kaladin than anyone else besides Syl (the main players of Bridge Four are perhaps the only possible exceptions, and none of them are really aware of his history before Bridge Four). Her interest is not quite as explicit as Kaladin's but it's so blatant that it's hard to ignore. Again, this doesn't mean this is how things will end up, but there's a ton of stuff there that needs to be addressed, way more than any of the other Shallan relationship possibilities.

[Seloun]

I ... I honestly can't decide if Adolin and Shallan are right for each other or not. I think right now Shallan thinks that the person that Adolin is interested in is not the person that she wants to be but I also think that Adolin would be interested in who Shallan really is if given the chance to meet her (he's caught a few glimpses).

I'd agree that Adolin probably would be interested in the 'real' Shallan, but he would likely have difficulty relating with her (both due to personal histories and her intelligence). More to the point, I don't think Shallan is actually all that interested in Adolin as he is now, and she seems to have no desire to let him see the 'real' her. Adolin as he is now is just not that complicated. Of course, Sadeas might change that in the near future.

[Gaussian]

Now I will add my two cents worth.  I am in the Kaladin-Shallan camp, and I argue in their favor because I feel that being able to actually understand each other is the most critical to the growth of a relationship, and at this point Adolin hasn't had the proper experiences in life to be able to really understand Shallan.  He could have these experiences, but it seems unlikely, especially as I am very suspicious of the way he ended up killing Sadeas.  It needed to happen, but he didn't seem to do it in a very "Journey before destination sort of way".

 

Kaladin has had the experience necessary to understand Shallan.  Broken souls go together, Shallan doesn't need a whole souled Adolin or vice versa, as that is simply having a crutch, and relationships where one is the crutch aren't healthy.  I think it will be done tastefully, though, in the end, and we don't need to worry about endless romantic driveling.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Gaussian

[taveren]

can't really blame him for the way he did it thought sadeas was given every chance to change his ways and despite the evidence still wanted to kill Dalinar and told that to his sons face

 

and you don't need to have the same experiences to empathize with someone

Edited March 7, 2014 by taveren

[Aniki]

One does not need to be Mr T on a smart day to know which pairing is more emotional, action packed, interesting, furthers the plot, so on and so forth

BS is making it so obvious what he's aiming for that I'm thinking it's a trap

[Edgedancer]

One does not need to be Mr T on a smart day to know which pairing is more emotional, action packed, interesting, furthers the plot, so on and so forth

BS is making it so obvious what he's aiming for that I'm thinking it's a trap

I dunno Mr T on a smart day is not the best at empahizing with stuff like this but yes the only problem I have with Kal/Shallan is the potential plot-tumor.

[ssd6]

I'd agree that Adolin probably would be interested in the 'real' Shallan, but he would likely have difficulty relating with her (both due to personal histories and her intelligence). More to the point, I don't think Shallan is actually all that interested in Adolin as he is now, and she seems to have no desire to let him see the 'real' her. Adolin as he is now is just not that complicated. Of course, Sadeas might change that in the near future.

 

To be honest, I don't know if Adolin is really interested in her either, other than superficially. Their conversations are a little awkward to me as well, it's like a tutor and student or she tries to lower the "complexity" of the conversation to keep him in the loop. Not to say Adolin is an idiot, but his entire life revolves around battle. Additionally, it seems like Adolin is pushing for this relationship to work out because he's desperate to just make a relationship with a woman work for once. 

 

 

Politically speaking, Shallan is a knight radiant now, as Adolin mentioned, she's above him at this point and can protect her family on her own. 

 

I don't know if he'll continue with the love triangle angle, I think it's going to go more the route of Adolin and Shallan breaking up in the next book. 

- Adolin is going to be haunted by what he did, as much as it was awesome, it goes against EVERYTHING his father taught him and who he has grown up to be. 

- I think the last scene hinted at him being jealous as well, Shallan, Kaladin, his father, Jasnah and his brother are all Knight Radiants. Bridge 4 are squires of Kaladin it seems as well now. I don't see how you don't feel jealous or at least find something wrong with yourself if you`re the only one left out. 

- No problems have cropped up with how Adolin is a womanizer, only discussions how Shallan doesn't care if his eyes wonder. 

- As much as it makes Shallan seem like a bitch, as Adolin distances himself because of his problems, I expect her to start seeing problems in their engagement, especially since she no longer needs the marriage to save her family. 

- I don't think you`re going to see much of Kaladin and her until Anderson wraps up the Adolin/Shallan relationship, except maybe keeping in contact through spanreed. 

 

I don't know who Shallan ends up with at the end of the day, but it'd be poor writing in my opinion if he keeps these two together. Unless Adolin becomes a totally different character or somehow their interactions with one another have a real connection, I just don't see how they work at all. Especially after seeing how well her and Kaladin interact, I actually looked forward to more scenes between the two.

Edited March 7, 2014 by ssd6

[bludvein]

Let me just start by saying this is the relationship that I think will happen, not the one I hope will happen.

 

I think Kaladin is being shipped with Shallan from the start, despite making an irritating love triangle. They are the 2 biggest viewpoint characters, they have both have been through hell, and they both seem to find the other attractive. Adolin just drew the short straw. Shallan likes him, but she wouldn't be courting him if she didn't need the Kholin name to help out her family. Now that she is a Radiant and can openly soulcast, she isn't in quite as tight a spot.

 

All the obstacles between Kaladin and Shallan just scream foreshadowing. She is also keeping a ton of secrets from Adolin, but she practically spilled her guts to Kaladin(while he did the same to her). Adolin is crushing on a pretty idealized version of her.

 

I kind of hope I'm wrong though, cause I am not Shallan's biggest fan, and this would actually make me feel sorry for Adolin. The one time he actually likes a girl and he can't get her. Stabbing Sadeas in the eye actually managed to get me to like the guy.

Edited March 7, 2014 by bludvein

[TomR]

Not to say Adolin is an idiot, but his entire life revolves around battle. 

 

Adolin's smarter than he appears. He says he knew how to get to the singing Parshendi because Shallan asked him to attack a boulder once, which is mostly true. However, if you go back and read that scene, she never told him why. When Shallan and Kaladin discuss it, Kaladin's first guess is that she's looking at crem strata; after he's told he's wrong, he has to think for a second before he notices the quarried stone.

 

Adolin, on the other hand, after being mocked by Kaladin, played dumb: 

 

Adolin dismissed his Blade. “Women!” he said, shrugging at Kaladin. Then he went jogging off to get a drink without asking her for an explanation.

 

He figured out what she was doing before Kaladin did! He would never have known to cut through the building if he didn't realize why she asked him to slay moss for her. However, Adolin likes to be liked, and he was trying to make up with Kaladin, so he let Kaladin feel superior in his intelligence, get one up on the arrogant lighteyes.

 

Shallan also underestimates Adolin here. She goes on to accuse Kaladin of taking advantage of Adolin, much as she did with Jasnah and Taravangian in The Way of Kings.

 

ETA: I voted for Adolin. There is an obvious growing love triangle, and given past Brandon books I agree it's looking like that's just a prelude for Kaladin/Shallan. However, this may just be a time that he decides to mix it up.

Edited March 7, 2014 by TomR

[Cayden]

Myself I voted for Adolin, I think Shallan and Kaladin would be terrible together, they are TOO damaged for each other, I had hoped that Kaladin would end up with Jasnah but with what happens to her

I was glad that she returned at the end

as I thought they would have complimented each other far far better.

 

Lets face it Shallan and Kaladin arent far off being the same person in some respects, their character traits would not make for overly interesting reading after a while, or she will end up growing her hair, braiding it and tugging it whenever Kaladin annoys her. No I think Kaladin will back off, and maybe find someone else to interest him, one of the other orders.

 

Lightweaver and a Wind Runner? Yeah there spren would pitch a fit, those two types loath each other.

[Aleksiel]

The series has 10 books, but don't forget Brandon has planned the last five to happen a lot later than the first five, so we most likely won't see neither of those characters beyond the fifth book.

 

Shallan and Kaladin are both broken in their own way, which is exactly why they aren't right for each other as in a romantic relationship. They both need someone to set an example and help them heal.

 

Otherwise it will be 'Oh, I've been through so much pain, but you've been through so much more pain!'. Plus they have the most amount of screen time and if they were to get in a romantic relationship, we would have to hear about it every other chapter. They could be close friends and I certainly hope Kal and Adolin develop their friendship further without petty problems between them. 

 

With both points above in mind, I think Adolin could be the one to show them how good life can be, teach them how to be lighthearted and smile genuinely. But that won't happen if jealousy gets involved. So, I think Adolin is better for Shallan and Kaladin can have one of the other main female characters that we haven't seen yet. Someone who could show him that not only you can smile through the pain, but you can also outgrow it and move on. Shallan needs the same. Two broken people can't have a healthy lasting relationship, too much luggage from the past and none of them would know how to deal with it. 

[lummi]

Kadolin ? U never know with brandon. Hahaha

[ssd6]

Adolin's smarter than he appears. He says he knew how to get to the singing Parshendi because Shallan asked him to attack a boulder once, which is mostly true. However, if you go back and read that scene, she never told him why. When Shallan and Kaladin discuss it, Kaladin's first guess is that she's looking at crem strata; after he's told he's wrong, he has to think for a second before he notices the quarried stone.

Adolin, on the other hand, after being mocked by Kaladin, played dumb:

He figured out what she was doing before Kaladin did! He would never have known to cut through the building if he didn't realize why she asked him to slay moss for her. However, Adolin likes to be liked, and he was trying to make up with Kaladin, so he let Kaladin feel superior in his intelligence, get one up on the arrogant lighteyes.

Shallan also underestimates Adolin here. She goes on to accuse Kaladin of taking advantage of Adolin, much as she did with Jasnah and Taravangian in The Way of Kings.

ETA: I voted for Adolin. There is an obvious growing love triangle, and given past Brandon books I agree it's looking like that's just a prelude for Kaladin/Shallan. However, this may just be a time that he decides to mix it up.

I think you`re giving Adolin way too much credit here, Shallan specifically told him about the inner plateaus and the rock formations on them. He didn't figure it out on his own, and he could barely recall what she said:

"What had Shallan said about these inner plateaus? And the rock formations on them?"

During the scene you`re referring too, she doesn't say anything to Adolin other than to "slay" the moss like he's some kind of big brute to do her bidding. No explaining her reasoning, which is extremely telling since she assumes he either won't understand or he won't care. It corresponds to how she see's him throughout the book, a superficial appeal, always discussing how good he looks or giving him generalized characteristics like being "genuine". However, her interpretation of Kaladin is far more specific and deep, practically swooning thinking about just what his eyes convey about his personality.

The scene is another contrast between the two characters and how they interact with Shallan. Adolin didn't care about her interest and he didn't want to learn more about her through understanding what she was doing. Kaladin on the other hand wanted to figure out what she was doing to understand her more and appeared to be genuinely interested after he got his first guess wrong. It's just another demonstration of how well the two of them complement one another and how Adolin is on a different wavelength. It's become almost too obvious that Kaladin and Shallan is the direction Sanderson wants to go, which makes me believe that he's leading people on with the idea of a love triangle and plans to cut the Adolin/Shallan relationship before anything deep develops between Kaladin and Shallan.

Additionally, in that scene, Shallan gets so frustrated with Kaladin that she snaps her pencil in half while drawing. I mean how many times have you seen her distracted from finishing a drawing and get so irritated that she snaps a pencil in half? Has Adolin even once managed to get an emotional response from her anywhere near that? Kaladin easily penetrates her "fake" personality and gets her to do things that are true to who she really is. At the moment Kaladin appears to be the perfect character to bring out the real Shallan and get her to completely own up to her past.

Edited March 7, 2014 by ssd6

[Darkarma]

Why isn't Lopen in this?

 

That aside, Andolin. The fact that Kaladin mentions they fit each other means by his honor he'd probably never let him god that far. Beside Kaladin has Syl. What other Rosharan can he ride the Storm with?

Edited March 7, 2014 by Darkarma

[Paradox]

@ssd6 Please teach me how to be concise, you make a fine point about how Shallan views Kaladin and Adolin that many people seem to be ignoring.

There is a TL/DR

I feel as though the interactions between Shallan and Adolin were nowhere near as genuine as the interactions between Sallan and Kaladin.

First, the conversations between Shallan and Adolin are very superficial and lack any real depth. Its pretty obvious that Shallan is merely playing a part when being with Adolin. Sure she is undoubtedly physically attracted to Adolin, but i feel that there is no real emotional attachment to him. I don't think there ever will be considering the only reason she approached him was due to his political standing and power. Since Shallan is now one of the 'four' Radiants and her brothers are supposedly out of danger I feel that she has no real motivation to continue the courtship. Also consider any of Shallan and Adolin's physical interactions, kisses and the like, they are all described as Shallan 'forcing' them, every time we see anything intimate about them from Shallan's point of view she describes it as being 'force'.

I think this is something we CAN'T ignore in terms of a successful relationship between the two.

This is not even taking into account the fact that Adolin knows absolutely NOTHING about Shallan other than what she shows him on her outer mask. She hasn't spoken a word about her past to him willingly, the only insight he has into her character is from when she freaked out about him wanting to protect her. I can only gather that Shallan just doesn't feel comfortable sharing any part of inner self with Adolin and honestly, I don't think she ever will. When it comes down to it Adolin just doesn't have the capacity understand the hardships that has shaped Shallan's entire existence. I think that without this ability to emphasize with and understand your partner there can be no hope of a lasting and meaningful relationship.

Lets move onto what we know with Kaladin and Shallan.

Other than the first meeting there is little interaction between Kaladin and Shallan in the first half of WoR. But from what there is, the first meeting and before shallan enters the brightlord meeting, we can see that Shallan seems to be able to get under Kaladin's skin in record time. Even Kaladin admits that he doesn't understand why he reacts so strongly to Shallan. From these two scenes I personally think that their two personalities work very well together and that they feed off of each other very well.

I also feel that even with the initial deceit and stealing of boots that Shallan has been more her 'real' self in these interactions with Kaladin then she was in any of her conversations with Adolin throughout the book. To elaborate on that, I think that Shallan truly loves not just scholarship and scholarly pursuits, but the act of learning itself. She quickly puts herself under the tutelage of Tyn I think, not simply because she felt she needed to learn the ability to con effectively, but more because she saw in Tyn the opportunity to simply learn about and master something that she previously had very little experience with. In this sense, blatantly (and somewhat not seriously, i mean its pretty obvious that Kaladin NEVER believed her and just played along) attempting to deceive Kaladin into believing that she is a Horneater princess is one of the most genuine things she does in the entire book. I think the side of her she shows here is the inquisitive and playful young woman that would have been her norm were she not so broken.

The meat of the development in their relationship comes from that very memorable chasm sequence. The most apparent thing from the start is how well they feed off of each other in conversations. Their back and forth quips, even the ones that were intentionally bad, just seemed to flow so well. Between this and how quickly they are able to get rises out of each I think hints at a natural connection between the two. even when arguing it is never a one sided affair as you'd expect from a learned lighteyes v darkeyes argument, but a rather heated back and forth with both sides making strong points. The most telling conversation of this part of the sequence is when Shallan begins describing just how she feels, as though she is completely broken inside. She says these things because I think, because she senses if not a kindred spirit in Kaladin, but someone who understands just how she feels below her surface personality. I think she senses that Kaladin could be someone who can truly understand her because of how both insistent he is that Shallan is trying too hard to be witty, to make jokes, be lighthearted and how one of the reasons he doesn't like her is because the smiles and expressions she shows are fake.

Kaladin describes Shallan's smile after revealing just how broken she is as the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. From that point on I think Kaladin sees Shallan in a completely different light, both physically (before this he has never made particular note of he attractiveness) and perhaps emotionally.

The more important part of this sequence is with the flight from and fight with the chasmfiend. Something changes in Kaladin before he rushes out to confront the chasmfiend, he comments internally about how is acutely aware of Shallan holding onto him from behind. This seems to indicate physical attraction to her. It is worth noting again that before this Kaladin makes no particular note of her physical presence beyond objective descriptions ('pretty', facial structure, hair, eyes, posture, etc...). We then have their heart to heart about why they are the way they are. Kaladin confides in Shallan things about himself that he has divulged to no-one, not even the men of bridge 4 (there is no mention of him sharing his past with them and no indication that they know any of the details). Kaladin doesn't mention Syl in his story, HOWEVER he doesn't omit her because he is unwilling to share even that part of him with her. instead it is because of the rawness of so recently losing Syl ("He didn't talk about Syl. Too much pain there right now.") Likewise Shallan shares with Kaladin everything about her childhood. Her ****ed up father, her mother's death, her ****ed up brothers, Her family's destitute state and even how she tried to steal Jasnah's soulcaster. she doesn't say that she killed her mother or that she can soulcast and all that, but since this is Kaladin PoV we don't know her motivations for not doing so. I believe she would have HAD Kaladin's attempt to draw stormlight been successful. After hearing her story it is clear that Kaladin admires Shallan and her strength of will and character.

After having such a laid bare conversation about how broken they are, sharing almost everything of their pasts, saving each others lives and falling asleep curled up together during a highstorm, of all things, it should be nigh impossible for them not to forge bonds. Bonds that in every way are deeper and more meaningful than any she may have with Adolin. It is clear in part 5 that they are attracted to each other after these events. Kaladin describes Shallan as gorgeous and that he craved to hear her voice. On the flip side Shallan completely zones out just thinking of all the ways that Kaladin is simply better than Adolin. The first thing she thinks that about Kaladin is that he is 'brilliant' in a way that Adolin is not THEN she spends an entire paragraph simply trying to define that brilliance.

I don't think Sanderson is heading towards a love triangle situation because Shallan's relationship with Adolin just seems to lack any kind of substance. for example I can't see her ever talking about her past to Adolin, and she has known him for over a month. She talked about almost everything about herself to Kaladin as did he after knowing each other beyond bodyguard and random brightlady for no more than a freaking day and a half.

I would be thoroughly surprised if the relationship survives even the first half of book 3 with or without Kaladin actually being physically anywhere near the two of them. I simply can't conceive that Shallan will continue to pursue such an unbalanced relationship for much longer especially since she no longer needs the protection of his status (since she has superpowers and all) and not to mention the disaster with Kabsal.

Since the only other realistic relationship choice is Kaladin, he gets my vote.

TL/DR: Shallan/Adolin = shallow and won't last long (imo), Shallan/Kaladin = not shallow.

NOTE: I don't think there will be a 'love triangle' of the type most seem to fear.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Paradox

[Islington]

It's not a love triangle unless Adolin and Kaladin also love each other. It's a love angle. 

 

If Renarin's involved I suppose it's a love splayed-foot-of-a-bird or something. Love trident. 

[Aleksiel]

...

 

I'd say Adolin/Shallan is lighthearted rather than shallow, but that's a matter of perspective I guess. Shallan really needs to leave the I'm-so-much-smarted-than-anybody-else attitude she has developed and realize there are different kinds of smartness. She'd never known how to handle to the situation with the singing Parshendi, because she has the mind of a scholar just like how Adolin has the mind of a warrior and isn't interested in moss and the likes.  One is not better than the other, they are just different.

 

Kaladin and Shallan are both too broken to be able to have a healthy romantic relationship. Plus they have so much screen time, we'd have to read about their feels for each other every other chapter, which would be very annoying, not to mention not really how epic fantasies are. They can be really good friends, but they both need someone who had learn to outgrow the pain and the suffering they are going through.

 

edit: spelling

Edited March 7, 2014 by Aleksiel

[Natans]

Well, if Brandon objective are make us think about this for sure worked, this one of the more active topic in the forum =)

 

Love or hate the ship battles officially begun =)

Edited March 7, 2014 by Natans

[Aniki]

Well, if Brando objective are make us think about this for sure worked, this one of the more active topic in the forum =)

Love or hate the ship battles officially begun =)

There's no war like a shipping war. This thread is intense.

@Paradox. Well said. It 's like you took all the points in my mind and arranged them in a convincing manner.

Two broken souls or not, the author has the ability to make anything work. And I think it's apparent where he wants this romantic subplot to go.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Diagram

[shinintendo]

I think Adolin/Shallan is very superficial, she's smitten with his looks but otherwise she compares him to Kaladin and he's wanting, in intelligence at least.

All throughout the book she keeps repeating that she wants to marry into his family to save her's, is it a good reason to marry him? I don't think so.

and one more thing before I conclude:

 

“Your house is no more,” Mraize said. “Your family’s grounds seized by a passing army. I rescued your brothers from the chaos of the succession war, and am bringing them here. Your family, however, does owe me a debt. One Soulcaster. Broken.”

He met her eyes. “How convenient that you, by my estimations, are one, little knife.”

She summoned Pattern. “I will kill you before I let you use them as blackmail—”

“No blackmail,” Mraize said. “They will arrive safe. A gift to you. You may wait upon my words and see. I mention your debt only so that it has a chance to find . . . purchase in your mind.”

Shallan has now no reason to marry into his family. so one reason to keep them together is gone.

Edited March 7, 2014 by shinintendo

[TwistedMisting]

I haven't read the whole thread but I'll stick my two pennies' worth in here anyway. I definitely caught hints of some feeling between Shallan and Kaladin so it's possible we could have a love triangle in the making. However, we're only two books in and a hell of a lot could happen. Any one of the three could get killed off, for one. Perhaps Shallan marries Adolin, he gets killed and once she's finished grieving she falls for Kaladin (as one example)

 

Kaladin definitely has feelings for her. I doubt that he'd act on them due to his bond with Syl and what happens when he betrays his honour.