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Kaladin's hero's journey


Karger

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This has been taking up too much headspace lately.  Given that it has not been paying rent and in fact interfering with my brain's other tenants I thought it best to relocate it on to a page. 

https://venngage.com/blog/heros-journey/

Above is a quick guide to the hero's journey for the unfamiliar.  It may be partially incomplete but it touches the important points, not every story has every point anyway, and uses pop culture examples that I hope are accessible.  So now here is my breakdown of Kaladin's heroic journey.

The departure I. 

This explains how our hero leaves.

Every hero's story starts with a call to adventure.  Some don't recognize it for what it is.  Some do I think we can all agree that Kaladin's choice's during the WoKs flashbacks reflect this although they are not the only ones(you can reinterpret different scenes and that is fine I am just matching based on my understanding).  Kaladin's call at the time is to leave behind his boring life and instead be a soldier.  He wants to find Honor and glory on the battlefield.  Kaladin eventually realizes that this desire is stupid.  However it is his driving impulse during that part of his story.

Next we have the refusal of the call.  This is pretty much embodied by Lirin.  Both his teachings and direct presence deter Kaladin from leaving home.  This creates problems for Kaladin but also teaches him some important lessons.  Even when he is not there Lirin's beliefs effect Kaladin deeply.  They are one of the reasons that Kaladin refuses the shardblade he won saving Amaram.  The most dramatic part of this stage of his journey

The last part of the departure is the acceptance of the call.  This is usually accompanied by the supernatural aid(I wonder what that is?).  Kaladin commits to fighting for human life, acting honorably, and in short, being Radiant.

Threshold guardians.  This is an early test of our hero's resolve, skills, bravery, or commitment.  An entrance exam into heroing.  How the deal with the guardian also signals to the audience what type of story this is going to be.  For Kaladin it is Gaz.  A rather unimpressive guardian but how Kaladin overcomes him tells us both about what type of hero he is and what type of story it is.  The other type of entrance exam is....

The belly of the whale.  This is a release from the normal world.  At this point expectation's of normalcy end and the challenges to our hero begin.  Kaladin must change who he is in order to succeed on his quest.  He must become the leader of...  Bridge four!

The initiation II

Think training montage but we see the whole thing and it is awesome.

Test allies and enemies.  Basically how we level up our hero.  Lower level challenges that introduce villains, friends, and often a love interest.

BRIDGE FOUR!  Nothing more needed.

Approaching the innermost cave.  Our hero must determine for themselves if they are ready for their most dangerous test yet.

Kaladin is now the bodyguard to the king.  He does not like his job.  The temptation to abuse or at the very least use his privileged position is constant.  We all know the monster is going to show up soon.  What comes next is the ordeal.  Kaladin's ordeal is presented by Moash but to be fair he accepts the challenge by refusing to make a decision about how to deal with Moash's trechery.  It is a highly dangerous test to see if he is a worthy hero.  If he fails the consequences could be dire.  The monster is a Kaladin without compassion. 

The Ordeal.  A big test like a boss battle.  This can be internal or external.

Kaladin faces his enemy.  He protects even those he hates.  In doing so he passes the test and..

Seizing the sword.  The Hero's reward(or responsibility) for conquering the monster.

In this case this happens quite literally.  Kaladin shows up with a new shardblade, saves Dalinar, and is openly acknowledged as Radiant.  And the Brandonfans rejoiced!  We worried however.  We knew deep down that Kaladin's happiness could not be allowed to last...

The Return II. 

 I think Kitty Pryde of the x-men said it best (and yes I know she was quoting someone else).  How are they going to keep him down on the farm when he has saved the universe twice? 

The refusal of return/the road back.  How do you interact with the normal when you have been to the extra normal?

Kaladin's choice to return home is not just his responsibility to his family.  It is also a smart narrative device that allows us and him to examine how he has changed and what this means.  It is a sad reality but we can't be the people we were.  This actually consumes him through OB.  It is one of the reasons his chapters in this book are so hard to read.  This stage of the hero's journey is the most grounded, dangerous, and relatable part of our hero's saga.

Going forward.  Without going into spoilers a hero's journey has three branching paths at this point.  However it only has one title.

The death of our hero.  Sad as it is we cannot go back. 

Sometimes our hero actually does die.  Other times this is the origin of a villain.  In either case this means that our story is a tragedy.  Sometimes our hero can't pull through. 

The other option is that our hero accepts death willingly.  In this case they can move on.  Even if they do literally die their spirit remains to guide and inspire.  Alternatively they can accept death in a more metaphorical sense.  In this case although our farm boy does die the best parts of them live on.  Kaladin is going to have to come to terms with this kind of loss.  Not just the loss of others but loss of part of himself.  This is important in...

The resurrection.

As previously mentioned if our hero accepts either physical or metaphorical death willingly they can move on.  They will return with wisdom and inspiration that guides others forward.  We don't know what this will look like for Kaladin but I am open to theories.

Master of two worlds.

The master of two worlds is the fully realized hero who can balance the mundane with the supernatural.  I hope Kaladin makes it.

Comments and criticisms welcome.

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31 minutes ago, Karger said:

Kaladin commits to fighting for human life, acting honorably, and in short, being Radiant.s will look like for Kaladin but I am open to theories.

Well, here we have the core of the matter. Human? That is his central conflict. What we have missing here is that Kaladin keeps rejecting the fourth oath. Incidentally Bridge Four <-> fourth oath. Intended symbolism?

Kaladin the soldier started dieing when he fraternised with liberated Singers. This view is missing the central conundrum of Oathbringer. Others saw it. Nale  and Szeth both found a resolution. Kaladin keeps refusing. Going home pales compared to that.

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I think that at the end of OB Kaladin is still stuck in that refusal to return state (refusal to swear the fourth oath), on the way to that (hopefully) metaphorical “death” as a hero and that in future books his resurrection will come when he accepts certain things about himself and then swears the next oath. I think it would be cool for oaths four and five to come pretty close together for Kaladin, as sort of a major breakthrough moment (or series of moments), hopefully in the next book so that he’s ready to stand against the main external conflict with Odium in book five. Also, his breakthrough moment shouldn’t be an “I’m suddenly cured of my depression” moment, because that’s really unrealistic, but more of an “it’s okay that I’m like this and I can be a good leader and protector anyways because I don’t have to do it all alone” kind of moment. 

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16 hours ago, Karger said:

This has been taking up too much headspace lately.  Given that it has not been paying rent and in fact interfering with my brain's other tenants I thought it best to relocate it on to a page. 

Hahahaha! Nice extended metaphor, quit playing your music at 2 am Hero's Journey .

Like @ftl mentioned, in SLA we're seeing a recursive playing out of the Hero's Journey. I think like you highlighted in your breakdown, Kal goes through one full iteration of the Journey in WoK (which makes sense because it's his book), and each ideal (excluding the 1st) is it's own cycle of the Hero's Journey, with a subsequent regression to an earlier stage to begin the struggle that is attaining the next ideal.

And the thing that is so painful about Kal's journey right now is, like @Oltux72 mentioned, Kaladin has basically been stuck on the stage of Dying since he was unable to protect the Singers he had befriended and Elhokar. Kal has been hanging at this moment of choice for so long, and he's so tired from the protracted metaphorical death of his self image as the protecting Hero.

The SLA narrative structure is basically setup for each main POV character to experience the Hero's Journey in their own book, but with the flashbacks it can happen asynchronously.

Whenever I think about The Hero's Journey, I invariably think of the lexical ambiguity of the phrase. Is that a possessive apostrophe s, or a contraction. Sometimes I like to think it's a contraction.

Spoiler

The Hero Is Journey

 

 

Edited by hoiditthroughthegrapevine
Removed small RoW spoiler
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Let's say Kaladin's story can be accurately modeled with the Hero's Journey template.  If it is, his entire story should be contained within one "Journey".  As probably the 1A lead character (to Shallan's 1B) I expect Kaladin will survive at minimum until the final battle at the end of the Front 5, so his Journey must continue at least that long.  I personally think he'll survive longer.  Here's my take.  Note - there are no spoilers contained in this post, any references to future events are just speculation on my part.

 

Call to Adventure: Kaladin is living as an ordinary soldier in Amaram's army and gains the opportunity to advance to greater heights by taking the shardblade from Helaran's corpse.

Refusal of the Call: Kaladin refuses to take the shard blade because he knows accepting it would change his life forever.  He gives the blade to Amaram, choosing to stay a common soldier. 

Acceptance of the Call: After dealing with the consequences of his refusal to start his adventure, Kaladin finds himself a slave in Sadeas' bridge crews.  He slowly realizes that he is something more than average and with Syl's help he decides to try his best to use the power he's been given to help people.

Threshold Guardians: Kaladin faces a series of challenges, but what truly launches him on the start of his journey to be who he will be is the battle at the end of tWoK where he rescues Dalinar and Adolin.  He had the choice to leave them behind and remain in personal safety, but he chose to risk himself by fighting the Parshendi and saving Dalinar.  After doing this was when he was first considered a hero.  

Belly of the Whale: Rescue of Elhokar and Swearing of 3rd Oath - Throughout WoR, Kaladin was just a soldier and bodyguard.  Not important to the overall story and plot.  He was acknowledged as a war hero for saving Dalinar and Adolin, but was still a small player in terms of the overall forces of good.  He faces a huge personal challenge in letting go of his dislike of lighteyes and doing what he thinks is right, even to the point of fighting his closest friend to save someone he doesn't even like.  After this, he saves Dalinar again and enters the public eye as a hero and one of the first new Knights Radiant.

Tests Allies and Enemies: Mission to Alethkar - he goes on a relatively low stakes mission where he works with a key ally and love interest (Shallan) along with other important allies and faces Moash as a true enemy for the first time.  This is a possible hint that Kaladin's final direct enemy confrontation will be with Moash.

Approaching the Innermost Cave: Current state - struggling with his inability to deal with his emotions, unable to say the 4th Oath.  He is clearly stuck right now - can't advance his personal relationships or his radiant abilities due to the same underlying issues.  He will stay on "the approach" until he can resolve the problems he has with his inability to let go.  The approach to the Innermost Cave is all of Kaladin's prep to be ready to fight in the final battle of the front 5 Stormlight books.  It will culminate in him saying the 4th Oath.

The Ordeal (future): After saying the 4th Oath, Kaladin will face his part in the final battle during SA5, presumably playing a major role in winning the day for Team Radiant.

Seizing the Sword (future): In the final battle, Kaladin will say his 5th Oath or gain some other power up.  This will result in a paradigm shift in the nature of his power and abilities, where all previous powerups have been only incremental gains.  It will leave him in a position of great power at the end of the "Front 5".

Refusal of Return/Road Back (future): In the falling action of SA5 Kaladin will have the choice to return to a more simple life and start a family, ruling some small area as a minor lord.  His other choice will be to remain in power, leading the Windrunners and maintaining a large role in government and/or Radiant leadership.  Demonstrating character growth, he will choose to set down his burdens and lead the life of a minor, rural noble.  He will finally allow himself to be peaceful and happy.

Death of Our Hero (future): Kaladin will choose to leave the life of a hero behind after SA5.  During the 10-15 year gap he will have started a family and lived a simple life.  He will no longer be the Kaladin Stormblessed who must wade into every combat and save every poor young soldier.

Resurrection (future): In SA6, Kaladin will be called back to battle when something messes up the world again.  He will eventually, reluctantly answer the call.

Master of Two Worlds (future): At some point in the "Back 5", Kaladin will learn to balance being a father and family man with being a Windrunner doing each when it is called for.  He'll be filling a role similar to Jasnah in the Front 5 - few POVs but still important to the story.

Edited by agrabes
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On 10/09/2020 at 9:32 PM, agrabes said:

Approaching the Innermost Cave: Current state - struggling with his inability to deal with his emotions, unable to say the 4th Oath.

Unwilling may fit it better. Kaladin's problem is not that he would be too weak. He is uncertain whether the 4th oath is desirable in the sense of being ethically acceptable.

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On 9/10/2020 at 2:32 PM, agrabes said:

Death of Our Hero (future): Kaladin will choose to leave the life of a hero behind after SA5.  During the 10-15 year gap he will have started a family and lived a simple life.  He will no longer be the Kaladin Stormblessed who must wade into every combat and save every poor young soldier.

Resurrection (future): In SA6, Kaladin will be called back to battle when something messes up the world again.  He will eventually, reluctantly answer the call.

Thinking future possibilities this could also be Kaladin taking Jezrians place and returning to "damnation" 
the 10-15 years is the time it takes for the next desolation to start again, and again a "resurrection" as a Herald. 

If you look at it the Heralds have been stuck in a literal loop of Death and Resurrection. 

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