Herring... Pickled or just plain salted?

[IllNsickly Misting]

So, I am going back through WoT, just for some light reading... And it occurred to me that I can’t recall any hardcore Red Herrings in any of the BS books that I’ve read (The Big Herring in WoT doesn’t count here). And for those not familiar with that story, I won’t spoilerify it here.
 

So I really started thinking about SA and who would make a truly AWESOME Red Herring. I’m talking thousands of pages of build up, antagonist or protagonist, whose story promises an epic confrontation or resolution... And just...  ends with a period at the end of a sentence. 
 

For instance:

Hoid: has appeared in (nearly?) every Cosmere work so far. He seems to be the driving force behind all of the behind the scenes stuff going on in the Cosmere. What if his ending is just “Well, damnation... this is truly inconvenient.”?

Odium/Rayse: After all of his build up and how he has manipulated the emotions of people, Listeners and Human alike, to set events in motion for the current conflict. To just be finished in some inauspicious, unheralded way.
 

Or...’shudder’... The Lopen. He is the lighter side of the backbone to Bridge Four and no matter what he says, has probably literally been through the ringer. 

I mean in completely unsatisfactual fashion. 
 

Good, Bad or heavily Gray Characters. Who would you be most unhappy to find out was a Red Herring?

Edited November 2, 2019 by IllNsickly
Punctuationing

[Halyo_Alex Cryptic]

I think I'd be legitimately mad if Shallan doesn't get to realize her full potential before the end. Lightweavers in general have such an interesting pair of Surges, and Shallan herself is using Illumination in such an interesting way, that I'd be mad if we didn't get to see her apply that sort of creativity and skill to the Transformation surge. Heck, with the way things are shaping up, it seems like her Shardplate was teased during the end of Oathbringer. I'd love to see her as (one of) the first new Radiants to have "living" plate that is fully functional and able to be summoned and dismissed as we saw in Dalinar's visions of the old Radiants. Kaladin getting his plate and Lashing around would be cool and all, but Shallan, the one who's most thorougly involved with stealth, would probably find all sorts of unique uses for the abilities that Plate confers. And if we don't get to see how she applies that I will be mad.

 

Not that I honestly think Brandon would do that to us, but still. It would make me so mad if she WAS a red herring...

[KandraAllomancer Forger]

15 hours ago, IllNsickly said:

Good, Bad or heavily Gray Characters. Who would you be most unhappy to find out was a Red Herring?

For me? Moash killing Taln before he gets his sanity back

[Honorless Lord Ruler]

Hoid. Right now he reads too much like what fanfic authors call a self-insert character.

Hopefully he'll get more characterization in future Stormlight books, he seems more invested (no pun intended) on Roshar.

His story better be epic to have gotten him where he is, and while I wouldn't mind an ignoble end or "living long enough see yourself become the villain" end (I'd actually like this one) or failing whatever his mission is. He's been given far too much importance for his conclusion (whatever it might be) to be inconsequential, I'd be very unsatisfied if that happens.

[Config2 Idrian Monk]

Shen/Rylain

He is conspicuously absent from the back half of OB, which some people think is because he went off looking for the surviving Listeners. If he just pops up on pg 12 of SA4 saying "hey how about that battle of Thaylen Field, oh wait none of you remember me there cause I'm different wahhh" I'll be pretty salty.

and Shallan's brothers

They have all this great characterization in WoR, and finally show back up in OB. If they are just around in the background from now on that would be sad. They need to get some screen-time, maybe become squires to Shallan or part of her burgeoning intelligence organization.

and Jenet (the horse lady from WoR)

Sanderson has mentioned leaving Rashadians as a future plot point, and Jenet is given some good characterization in WoR as well. I'm hoping we see her again as a key side character.

and Azure

If she is nothing but a glorified easter egg, and doesn't show up in any meaningful way, then I'll be sad. I don't think that SA is necessarily the place for her and Vasher to have it out (it's not their books), but she had a lot of screen time to not show up again.

and last, Cusicesh

Cool world-building element, but kinda weird if it doesn't pop up again.

[Kon-Tiki Misting]

I don't know that Rlain gets overlooked because he's different. I think the Parshendi still have some capital-I Identity issues