Unite Them

[Commander Azure]

Dalinar keeps hearing the words "Unite them". The Stormfather says it isn't him, and I don't believe it's any vestige of Honor, Odium, or Cultivation, because they all use different formatting and are described differently. So what could it be? My theory is that it's some...I'm not sure what the term would be, but let's call it a Splinter of Adonalsium (Probably not a shard, though maybe). That Splinter is telling Dalinar to Unite the Shards of Adonalsium. It's foreshadowed left and right. "I am Unity," Dalinar says. What does that sound like? The name of a Shard, possibly two, joined together, like with Sazed. Odium says that Dalinar Ascended. Dalinar keeps hearing the words after he's united not only the highprinces but also the whole world (excepting Iriali and Shinovar). I simply can't think of anything else it could be.

[Rock's Sous Chef]

I had a similar thought during my recent re-read of Oathbringer too! Question, did Dalinar ascend similar to (I'm going to butcher the spelling) Rashik using Preservations power at the Well of Ascension? Or in a different way? I was a little confused when Odium said that.

[IllNsickly]

After several conversations about this in various threads...

I really think it is a Bondsmith thing, perhaps particular to Dalinar, and from Roshar itself. We know that Roshar was constructed specifically by Adonalsium, but as far as I am aware, not WHY.

At first I thought it was referring to the Alethi Princedoms, but that seemed too small to me. I suppose it may be a reference to the Shards of Adonalsium, but I FEEL like it is more about the disparate people living on Roshar. The Parsh, Humans, Iri, etc. Either against Odium or something larger in the Cosmere yet to be revealed.

Edited September 21, 2020 by IllNsickly
Seppling

[Eternal Khol]

3 hours ago, Rock's Sous Chef said:

Rashik using Preservations power at the Well of Ascension? Or in a different way? I was a little confused when Odium said that.

his Ascension was quite different from Rashek.

when Rashek Ascended, he became for all intents and purposes, the Shard of Preservation.he could do almost anything a full Shard could. His only limitation was that his power supply was limited to the power that was in The Well of Ascension. Also His body would’ve vaporized like Vins did(even if only temporarily)

 

Dalinar on the other hand, just seemed to have access to a lot of power. His body never evaporated(which, to me, means that he himself wasn’t actually holding that much power. He just made a conduit for the power) and he never seemed to get an overload of info like he would if he Ascended like any other weve seen.

my guess is that because Honor is Splintered, he Ascended with just a few splinters

Edited September 21, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Realmatic Shadow]

2 hours ago, Eternal Khol said:

when Rashek Ascended, he became for all intents and purposes, the Shard of Preservation.he could do almost anything a full Shard could.

I would disagree with this. It was more like he had picked up a, while very large in raw investiture, moderate portion of Preservation that had been channeled into the well. He held a vast amount of power, but I don't think it is correct to say he was Preservation whilst he held it, especially considering that Leras still lived.

I'd say that Dalinar's Ascension (I think we have WoB that the capital-A there is debatable, will see what I can find) is very similar to that, in that he had access to, or channeled, very large amounts of Investiture, but not necessarily Shard levels.

2 hours ago, Eternal Khol said:

and he never seemed to get an overload of info like he would if he Ascended like any other weve seen.

Maybe the quantity of Investiture was too small for any noticeable enlightenment? After is 'Big Clap' he does seem to have the impression that there should be 10 Radiants gathered there, seeming out of nowhere.

[Eternal Khol]

8 minutes ago, Realmatic Shadow said:

but I don't think it is correct to say he was Preservation whilst he held it,

im not saying that Rashek was the one true Preservation at the time.
but he was Preservation

 

On Brandons website he says “When he held it he became the Shard for a short time” 

the shard in question is Preservation. So replace “the shard” with “preservation” and there you have it.

and Leras wasn’t technically alive, he was a mere Shadow

 

and when i said he could do almost anything a full shard could.
He can. His only constraint was very limited power.

When Rashek Ascended, he was capable of outputting as much power as a regular Shard(he was capable of creating new species, moving the planet, remaking the continent. He could’ve even willed himself to another planet if he so wished)

his only Drawback was that it was temporary(he had a cup of power compared to the ocean that is the Spiritual Realm)

[Realmatic Shadow]

1 hour ago, Eternal Khol said:

On Brandons website he says “When he held it he became the Shard for a short time” 

the shard in question is Preservation. So replace “the shard” with “preservation” and there you have it.

and Leras wasn’t technically alive, he was a mere Shadow

Never seen that one before, sorry! Turns out I was wrong then. Still going to stand by the idea that, while Dalinar didn't experience full Shard level enlightenment, he still got some insight from his Ascension.

Also found the WoB about Dalinar's Ascention maybe not necessarily being capital-A (Spoilered for length, bold italic on relevant line)

Spoiler

Questioner

Dalinar Ascends, right? Like, right then, there.

Brandon Sanderson

I have RAFO'd that. Whether he is Ascending or not is a RAFO.

Questioner

Okay, because I know he kind of mentions from that, I don't know how to say his name but the older guy who has the Diagram--

Brandon Sanderson

Taravangian, yeah. Whether that deserves to be a capital "A" or not is a matter of argument. It can be disputed.

Questioner

I guess my main question would just be Dalinar's now able to pull Stormlight and give it to people now.

Brandon Sanderson

He definitely can. That is a Bondsmith power, so.

Questioner

That is a Bondsmith power, okay.

Brandon Sanderson

That is specifically a Bondsmith power.

Questioner

Because my roommate was saying well, the Stormfather was surprised he could do that or was the Stormfather surprised that he was able to bridge--

Brandon Sanderson

He was surprised by what was happening to Dalinar as a whole.

Questioner

Oh okay, that's what I thought because I was like, because I felt like the Stormlight, that power would be a Bondsmith power.

Brandon Sanderson

Let's say that the Stormfather and Odium were seeing something in Dalinar that, perhaps, the average person watching even who is knowledgeable about Surges would not completely understand... But he will be able to use that power and Bondsmiths in the past have used that same power.

Footnote: Brandon clarified that he might have been unintentionally misleading in his answers to this question during his Stormlight 4 Update 1.
Idaho Falls signing (Dec. 29, 2018)

 

[Eternal Khol]

33 minutes ago, Realmatic Shadow said:

Still going to stand by the idea that, while Dalinar didn't experience full Shard level enlightenment, he still got some insight from his Ascension.

Ive always thought that it was the Stormfather who told him that there should be 10 radiants at the Battle of Thaylen Field.

though i wasn’t even Cosmere aware last time i read that part of Oathbringer, so im sure im missed lots of stuff

[Stormtide_Leviathan]

In... I think way of kings, there's a bit where you can put together the pieces of something and get something new. I think that's basically what Dalinar has done. He picked up the pieces of Honor and put them together into something new- Unity. "Unite them" is, intentionally, vague and refers to multiple things because Dalinar's purpose as Unity wouldn't just be to unite the kingdoms, or the humans and the parshendi or anything like that. His Intent would just be Unity, in all its forms. This would make for an interesting counter to Odium because Odium as a shard doesn't want his Intent tainted by other shards but Unity, by definition, would. 

(This does get rid of the possibility of Odium, when he said "No! We killed you!" He's referring to Adolnasium and not Honor, which does seem like exactly the kind of twist Brandon would pull.)