Theory: Kaladin Helps Free Ba-Ado-Mishram

[Duxredux]

I listened to the Shardcasts on BAM and Kaladin and had a thought. I won't be too surprised if this isn't how it goes down, but I like the theory. I'll have to lay out a few pieces first though.

First, I'm going off the idea that BAM is an Unmade that has Connection powers, which normally is just a power of Honor, but somehow she has access to it despite being of Odium. It's not crucial to my theory, but I do like the idea that was presented in the Shardcast that BAM was a spren of Roshar prior to becoming an Unmade of Odium, and I could see that BAM, who was/became Connected to the Singers, had a special relationship to the Singers and wasn't happy when humans barged in and spread from Shinovar which lead to her deciding to join Odium.

Next piece, this theory has to do with whatever was going on with Kaladin's glowing yellow eyes when he took down Lezian. As far as I can think of, this is the only time we see someone actively using Adhesion to rend or kill someone. Szeth uses Adhesion as part of his collection of tricks to immobilize or cause mayhem when operating as the Assassin in White, but I don't think he kills someone directly with Adhesion. We know that BAM could grant Singers forms of power, so I'm wondering if there's some connection between Kaladin's weird glowing yellow eyes and BAM, though I don't know what that would be with BAM imprisioned.

Third piece, now it could just be Bondsmith-specific hijinks, but this ties into why Odium's forces have never been able to free BAM themselves. We know that after Nergaoul was captured by Dalinar, they chucked the gemstone into the ocean as you can't easily hide an Unmade because it's extremely visible in Shadesmar. So if they know where BAM is, why not free her? If she's in a gemstone, presumably they would break it if they could, so it's not something that could be fixed with just an application of force. Hence my wondering if they have to have some sort of Adhesion or Connection power in order to free her, considering Kalak thinks they can free her, something reserved for those on the side of Honor, which would make sense why Odium's forces can't do it themselves.

Last piece that ties this theory together, is that when Dalinar bound Nergaoul, he followed Navani's directions on how to capture a spren - you draw it in with something it loves and understands. Of all of the characters we've seen, Kaladin seems to be the only human that really cares about protecting the Singers. Others follow his example, but he was the one that made Rlain equal in Bridge Four, and we saw him emotionally ripped up at the battle in Kholinar when his human and Singer friends were killing each other. He also can/has used the power of Adhesion, Connections, in order to kill which is almost oxymoronic. BAM is deeply connected to the Singers and granted them forms of power, possibly so that they could kill to protect/retake their homeland from the human invaders. I think that might let her Connect with Kaladin in a way different from anyone else. All of this is why I think that not Shallan, but Dalinar and Kaladin might be the the ones to free Ba-Ado-Mishram.

Thoughts?

[Wandering Shade]

I love this theory. Can't wait to see if you're right when book 5 comes out.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

On 1/19/2022 at 8:56 AM, Duxredux said:

Third piece, now it could just be Bondsmith-specific hijinks, but this ties into why Odium's forces have never been able to free BAM themselves. We know that after Nergaoul was captured by Dalinar, they chucked the gemstone into the ocean as you can't easily hide an Unmade because it's extremely visible in Shadesmar. So if they know where BAM is, why not free her? If she's in a gemstone, presumably they would break it if they could,

They might not want to. From the sound of it, BAM was growing pretty bold (Ulim frames the False Desolation as a decision made by the Unmade themselves, not Odium, and mentions how she was making herself into "a little god"), and Odium might not necessarily trust her not to betray him to try to gain herself more power (especially with his suspicions about Sja-anat).