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KoW theory: Adolin as the next Bondsmith


ReaderAt2046

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I was rereading the passage in RoW c34 when Adolin was talking about his relationship with Dalinar, and something jumped out at me. Adolin talks about how Dalinar "has this misguided notion that I’ve always been better than him. To Father, I’m some pristine remnant of my mother—this noble little statue who got all of her goodness and none of his coarseness."

And it occurred to me that, based on what we've seen of Dalinar's PoV, there's a lot of truth to this. Dalinar believes in Adolin's honor, more even than he does in his own. And we've seen more than once that Dalinar expects and wants Adolin to join the Radiants. 

Now on the flip side, there's also the consideration of Dalinar's contest with Odium. If Dalinar loses the fight, his soul will belong to Odium, to join the Fused and serve as Odium's general. And Dalinar holds the remnants of Honor's name and power, that would give Odium the key to escape his trap. But there is a way for Dalinar to prevent this. We've seen that with Ishar's Blade, with the powers of a Bondsmith unchained, the Radiant bond can be transferred, stolen or moved from one to another. If Dalinar can acquire Ishar's Blade, he could give Adolin his bond to the Stormfather, make Adolin the Stormfather's Bondsmith. Then, even should Dalinar or his champion be defeated, the power of Honor will remain outside Odium's reach and his trap will be completed. 

This would make for a perfect exploitation of Odium's fatal flaw. Both Rayse and Taravangian share the desire to grasp power for themselves, to seize control of events at any cost, and it would be appropriate for their joint scheme to be checkmated by Dalinar giving up power.

Similarly, this would develop Adolin's character in an interesting new direction. A central part of Adolin's character arc through the past several books has been him dealing with being merely a mortal in what is becoming an era of demigods, and for Adolin to suddenly be thrust into the position of the mightiest of all the Radiants and the leader of the Orders would be an intriguing reversal. Similarly, a keynote of Adolin's character has been his unwillingness to "give up" Maya, and it would be interesting to see how Adolin deals with having these two very unusual bonds and how they relate to each other. Not to mention that the two grant complementary boons: the Stormfather grants Surgebinding and Plate at the appropriate Oath but will not become a Blade, while Maya will serve as a Blade for Adolin but (as far as we know) doesn't grant Surgebinding.

So that's my theory: near the end of KoW, Dalinar is going to use Connection to transfer his bond with the Stormfather to Adolin and make him the new Bondsmith. Thoughts?

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I really like the idea of Dalinar's path to victory involving giving up power, but I think the mechanism you describe wouldn't work. Death severs Nahel bonds, and the contest is explicitly to the death. Odium wouldn't gain any influence over Honor's remnants that way. He just wanted the Blackthorn.

44 minutes ago, CatgirlTheCrazy said:

A more likely path for Adolin is that he will play a key role in figuring out how to heal deadeyes.

This. Rehabilitation and healing is a major theme especially in RoW. He's not only righting a millennia-long wrong and recruiting new allies, I suspect this will also be instrumental in fixing the problem the Recreance tried to address - something makes Nahel bonds unsafe. There were hints that his bond with Maya is something else entirely, almost the reverse of a Radiant relationship.

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Transferring the Bond is a novel idea from a strategic viewpoint. Dalinar might have to serve Odium but the Stormfather does not need to be included in a better package deal for the new god. It's a good precautionary measure. But it really is contrary to Adolin's character arc and that makes it rather unlikely. There's also a mechanics question. The Connection might get transferred from Dalinar to Adolin but there's a sapient being on the other end of that bond and the final Ideal hasn't been spoken, so the Bond can be let go of and the new candidate for Bondsmith may be rejected by the spren. We don't really know how effective Ishar would've been with what he was trying to do because he didn't get to finish it.

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1 minute ago, Willshaper-Kalak said:

At this point, every Bondsmith that we have seen (other than Ishar) has been a Kholin. I have nothing against the family but I cannot see Sanderson making yet ANOTHER over powered Kholin.

That's why people said Navani wouldn't bond and look how that turned out.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Keep in mind, Adolin has shown traits relating to nearly, if not literally, every order.  He's a protector of the weak, he respects the law (at least in Kholinar, but it's not a knock against him to not be associated with Odium's Order), he's a master duelist, and he clearly cares about the common people. I'm not remembering an instance of him showing interest in philosophical truth, but he's definitely searching for the truth of who he is, and IMO "trying to always maximize his potential" describes him to a T.  Finally, the dude sat in prison until Kal was freed, he's a reliable squad leader on the battlefield, and he has a mind for politics.

This is all off the top of my head, though I did have to look up the philosophical impetus for the Elsecallers.

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On 5/29/2021 at 10:36 PM, CruelSadist said:

, he respects the law (at least in Kholinar, but it's not a knock against him to not be associated with Odium's Order),

Ok

first respecting the law and obidience to a code of law are different things, a Skybreaker doesn't break the law when they think no one is around to see, they hold to a code and refuse to bend.

And do not call them Odium's order The Skybreakers of the past would be horrified at what Nale has done to them.

 

Sorry, Skybreakers are my favs.

Edited by Frustration
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@Frustation Skybreakers are my favorite too. 

I also agree with this not fitting Adolin's arc. He will do something new. Not sure what he will do new but something. I personally want Kaladin and Adolin to form something like a VA support group for everyone currently struggling with PTSD.

P.s. To all non-Americans, Veteran's Affairs is a US government program that is supposed to help veterans.

Edited by DougTheRug
misspelled a word
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I generally agree with your point that Adolin's character arc is to forge his own path, not finish Dalinar's. I don't think a Bondsmith is his path.

On 5/10/2021 at 10:21 AM, CatgirlTheCrazy said:

A more likely path for Adolin is that he will play a key role in figuring out how to heal deadeyes. His whole life he's been told that his most valuable asset is his skill in combat, and he was unmatched in that arena. Being the only normal guy among Radiants is hard for him because it means that he is suddenly completely outclassed by everyone around him, with little chance of catching up. Him learning to see the value in his empathy and kindness towards others by healing broken spren is a much more interesting direction for his character to go.

I agree this is his main purpose in the narrative and if a Radiant order is in his future I think Edgedancer makes the most sense. Who is more forgotten than the DeadEye spren that most humans don't even see as living entities. He also has shown a history of caring about anyone, not just those who he knows personally. The girl in the market he saved from the aggressive lighteyes is the main big example but also the little things like remembering and being friends with seemingly every person he comes in contact with. He also seems much more greater good > the law.

Spoiler

The world being a better place with Sadeas dead

is the clear example.

It is also no coincidence that Maya is a cultivationspren

On 5/9/2021 at 9:27 PM, ReaderAt2046 said:

 

So that's my theory: near the end of KoW, Dalinar is going to use Connection to transfer his bond with the Stormfather to Adolin and make him the new Bondsmith. Thoughts?

While I don't think Adolin is likely who will receive the bond, I think Kaladin, who is more honorable than any other character and is referred to as Son of Honor by the Stormfather is the most likely candidate to receive the bond. I believe Brandon has stated it isn't impossible to have more than one spren bond, but it would be difficult.

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1 hour ago, Awakened Cremling said:

I think Kaladin, who is more honorable than any other character and is referred to as Son of Honor by the Stormfather is the most likely candidate to receive the bond.

Even more so, it would give a definition to the whole "Son of Tanavast" thing. That might mean less of he's related to Tanavast, but more of him carrying on the legacy of Tanavast. (It also fits with some of the messianic symbolism that Kaladin has - a son of man, but also called a son of God, who is God himself?)

Kaladin has some experiences with Gloryspren, which seem to have some relationship with Bondsmiths. (Syl fought off a Gloryspren early on in OB, IIRC.) 

And in many ways, this would feel like a next step for Kaladin's arc. While he was always a uniter of purposes, Kaladin is no longer a fighter - he's a healer, and a bringer of change. Before he united people to fight, but in ROW he gave them a space to recover from their trauma in. 

 

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On 5/31/2021 at 9:46 PM, Frustration said:

Ok

first respecting the law and obidience to a code of law are different things, a Skybreaker doesn't break the law when they think no one is around to see, they hold to a code and refuse to bend.

And do not call them Odium's order The Skybreakers of the past would be horrified at what Nale has done to them.

 

Sorry, Skybreakers are my favs.

That's actually why I called them "Odium's Order," because I think they're a perversion of the OG Skybreakers ;) I can see how it could muddy some peoples' opinions of Honor-able Skybreakers, though, so I'll just stick to Classic and Current from now on.

I meant that in Kholinar, Adolin -did- have a code of law that Dalinar passed down to him, he obeyed it even as he questioned it, and eventually he came to see the wisdom in seemingly-pointless codes.  IMO, that's the first step for any Classic Skybreaker; in contrast, Current Skybreakers seem content with simply accepting the laws of current authorities, never questioning whether or not it fits with the will of the people.  In Oathbringer they didn't bother to talk to any Singers, Odium just spoke for them and the whole order accepted that utter domination was what they'd want.  Basically, he's conscripted them into the system of belief that might makes right, rather than unity, and Nale is backing him up.  I hope in book 5 we'll get to see some Current Skybreakers who follow something other than Nale's judgement, but a nascent Skybreaker may have to form the bond entirely within Urithiru to avoid Nale corrupting them first...

Anyway, my hope is that Adolin remains a mediator: between spren and humans, between different Orders, between Urithiru and the general public - any one of these would take advantage of the way he's been written, the capacity to empathize with and understand the motivations of various types of spren and humans.

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Honestly from a meta perspective I don't feel like Adolin will become a radiant. He's right now the only non-radiant major viewpoint character, and I think that makes him less likely so become like everyone else. I know people think he'll find out how to revive deadeyes and bond Maya, but personally I think it would make more sense if deadeyes can only be partially restored in some way - as in they can't be restored to the point that they can bond humans again.

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