Theory: Dalinar & Nightblood (spoilers)

[Walker]

This is not going to happen for one simple reason: Nightblood's personality is completely incompatible with a Bondsmith.

 

Nightblood wants to kill Evil.  He does not care what chaos ensues from his actions; he just wants to kill it.  If Dalinar is trying to unite together men that Nightblood think are Evil, it is time to roll the Ego check against the Intelligent Weapon table.

 

He is the perfect Skybreaker weapon.  

[Guest]

This is not going to happen for one simple reason: Nightblood's personality is completely incompatible with a Bondsmith.

 

Nightblood wants to kill Evil.  He does not care what chaos ensues from his actions; he just wants to kill it.  If Dalinar is trying to unite together men that Nightblood think are Evil, it is time to roll the Ego check against the Intelligent Weapon table.

 

He is the perfect Skybreaker weapon.  

 

I agree. I believe I have stated in another similar plot how I felt Dalinar taking hold of Nightblood would bring him backward and not forward. Dalinar has given up being the Blackthorn, he has given up being a warrior altogether. He has spent the last 6 years coming to term with this, he gave up his shards. Holding a blood thirsty sword urging him to kill people would be awful for him at this point in the story.

 

I also believe choosing to become a Bondsmith is also choosing to fight behind the lines and not at the front. Dalinar has made that choice and the choice to never hold a shardblade again, to never be at the foremost of battles anymore.

 

I also agree Nightblood is perfect for a Skybreaker.

[TheBrian]

Nightblood is perfect for a Skybreaker....  Which is why someone from a rational KR order needs to get Nightblood away from them.  Someone needs to restrain the bloodthirsty sword.  Of everyone we have seen so far, I think Dalinar would be least likely to misuse such power - similar to how Vasher kept it in check in Warbreaker.  Nightblood is the perfect weapon for killing Knights.  I would not trust Nale or Szeth with the thing.

[Guest]

Nightblood is perfect for a Skybreaker....  Which is why someone from a rational KR order needs to get Nightblood away from them.  Someone needs to restrain the bloodthirsty sword.  Of everyone we have seen so far, I think Dalinar would be least likely to misuse such power - similar to how Vasher kept it in check in Warbreaker.  Nightblood is the perfect weapon for killing Knights.  I would not trust Nale or Szeth with the thing.

 

Oh me neither, but I do not think Dalinar is the best person to hold this weapon. Zahel is and I hope it will get back to into his hands.

[Edgedancer he/him]

Nightblood isn´t really a good blade for proper Skybreakers, they care more about the law then actual evil, which means they have to work with guidelines, while Noghtblood trusts more into his gut feelings or the ones of his wielder at the very least. In my book that´s just more proof that Nalan´s group isn´t the actual KR order.

From what we asume of the Dustbringers/Releasers they would be a better fit for good old Nightblood, he even turns the things he destroys into some kind of dust (well, more like mist but it´s close enough).

 

Dalinar would be the best person to not use Nightblood and keep it from causing terrible destruction but he should never use it himself, which would be a waste with all the Voidbringers around, so someone like Vasher would be a better choice to keep him.

[TheWarriorPoet he/him]

Before I put my theory here, can someone please tell me if the identity of stormfather is confirmed as a Herald?

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

Before I put my theory here, can someone please tell me if the identity of stormfather is confirmed as a Herald?

That has not been confirmed, though I'm pretty sure he says straight up that he is a spren. Theorize away though!

[TheWarriorPoet he/him]

So what I found on wikia and what I can speculate is -

Dalinar will not bear any shard, he is bonded with a God spren and will have some very unique powers, my guess is that he will be above the KR, probably equivalent of Herald or honor's champion. I read that there were only three bondsmith in the history. I suppose one was bonded with honor godspren, one was bonded with cultivations and last was bonded with odium's. They might be the three champions which the gods will choose to fight on their behalf. Nightblood might a deadly weapon but ofcourse gods have much more powerful weapons then this.

I believe that eshonai will be the second champion (odium's) and for the final fight they will wield god weapons.

For KR I believe their leader will be kal as he has the power of Jez who was the king among heralds.

Sorry if it didn't make much sense

[Moogle]

In regards to Dalinar having Nightblood, that is a huge waste of Nightblood.

 

The KR are royally screwed without the Dawnshards and the Heralds. For thousands of years, the Unmade have plagued Roshar. Nohadon himself remarks that Yelig-nar ate a bunch of wordsmen (scholars?). Nightblood can, unlike any other weapon on Roshar, kill the Unmade, since it consumes Investiture and is ridiculously powerful.

 

Nightblood offers a chance for the Radiants to finally gain an advantage over the cycle of Desolations, maybe even ending it.

 

Szeth is definitely one of the best wielders for the sword (he was the one originally warning his people about the Voidbringers returning). He can be trusted to deal with the Unmade, and he is extremely skilled. Kaladin would also be a good choice, though I imagine he'd have issues with the sword and would throw it away.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Moogle

[Guest]

In regards to Dalinar having Nightblood, that is a huge waste of Nightblood.

 

The KR are royally screwed without the Dawnshards and the Heralds. For thousands of years, the Unmade have plagued Roshar. Nohadon himself remarks that Yelig-nar ate a bunch of wordsmen (scholars?). Nightblood can, unlike any other weapon on Roshar, kill the Unmade, since it consumes Investiture and is ridiculously powerful.

 

Nightblood offers a chance for the Radiants to finally gain an advantage over the cycle of Desolations, maybe even ending it.

 

Szeth is definitely one of the best wielders for the sword (he was the one originally warning his people about the Voidbringers returning). He can be trusted to deal with the Unmade, and he is extremely skilled. Kaladin would also be a good choice, though I imagine he'd have issues with the sword and would throw it away.

 

Kaladin is not a good nor a talented swordfighter. I definitely do not want to see him with Nightblood. Szeth, providing he can overcome his madness, is not a bad choice. Dalinar certainly has the skill, but his mind is not there anymore. Adolin would have the skill, but not the mental fortitude nor the experience to deal with Nightblood.

 

Zahel remains the best choice and sadly Szeth is a good second choice.

Edited July 28, 2014 by maxal

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

Yeah, I think Dalinar will have too much on his plate off the field to be Nightblood's best option, I actually prefer Szeth because he is so mad. They would certainly match. Both have the loose understanding of morality that would just feed each other, and Szeth has some crazy skills that could put that power to good use. I would love if Szeth's/Nightblood's story was our side quest that settled the score with some of the baddie spren/forces of nature. If Zahel got him back at the end, that'd be cool too, just to kind of show off what he is capable of with his long lost friend. I still think Adolin's vague sense of morality is a good match for Nightblood too, so there aren't a lot of scenarios that would really disappoint me other than Kaladin having him. But I think he found his home already, with Szeth. 

[Guest]

Yeah, I think Dalinar will have too much on his plate off the field to be Nightblood's best option, I actually prefer Szeth because he is so mad. They would certainly match. Both have the loose understanding of morality that would just feed each other, and Szeth has some crazy skills that could put that power to good use. I would love if Szeth's/Nightblood's story was our side quest that settled the score with some of the baddie spren/forces of nature. If Zahel got him back at the end, that'd be cool too, just to kind of show off what he is capable of with his long lost friend. I still think Adolin's vague sense of morality is a good match for Nightblood too, so there aren't a lot of scenarios that would really disappoint me other than Kaladin having him. But I think he found his home already, with Szeth. 

 

I have to agree with you on the whole. Kaladin is indeed the worst option for Nightblood. Besides, I also think Kaladin is getting too big of a hero, I would hate to see him having all the goodies in the end. I mean, he has the coolest spren, the coolest powers (so far), the coolest sense of morality, the coolest fighting style, the coolest relationship with Dalinar as he trust him SO much and give him SO much leeway, the coolest leadership attitude as he leads without even trying or wanting to, so yeah Kal's pretty much set up. Please don't give him Nightblood on top of everything! Actually, I am hoping we won't see another Kal/Szeth match as I felt there common story plot pretty much ended with WoR. I want to see Szeth clash with other people. Let Kal deal with Heartstone instead.

[TheBrian]

I don't have my copy of WoR with me, but I think there is an epigraph quote about one of the Heralds putting restrictions on the Knights Radiant.  I interpreted this (perhaps incorrectly) to mean that the Herald who had been the template for the Bondsmith order imposed the restriction of forcing the bonded human/spren to make and hold to oaths on pain of "death".  I think the specific oaths were selected to reflect the intent (right word?) of the particular spren type of each order.

 

I could see Dalinar doing some Bond-smithing on Nightblood to temper the blade a bit.  Maybe ingrain some rules about restraint or something.  OK, I'm going to post this now so everyone can tell me I'm crazy....

[Localconfusi0n]

I think Szeth would probably be a pretty good match for Nightblood at this point. And if you think about it we haven't seen much character development with Szeth at all because his whole story has basically been about following his consequence. Im not saying weve seen absolutely no development but very little. I think that now that Szeth isn't going to be bound by his Oathstone/the stone shamans or whatever, he'll really be able to come into his own and might be a really strong hero. In a little bit I could see him as someone with the right mental state to rein in Nightblood a little and use hime in a seriously awesome way. The second one is something I think he can already do though.

 

At the same time I think it would be pretty bad chull if Dalinar got Nightblood. I can see how you might see them as incompatable, but their really not. Nightbloods goal is to destroy evil, not kill evil, and since all any KR really does in a loose sense is destroy evil, any KR could make good use of Nightblood. But I feel that Dalinar would be especially suited to destroy evil. Yes, he is no longer a warrior, but I can almost guarantee he will have to fight at some point. And he will influence Nightbloods perception of evil, just as Nightblood might influence his, together they would make a great combination. Dalinar leading and helping the KR in a huge way, supported by Nightbloods absolute drive to destroy evil would create a huge drive to wipe out the Voidbringers for Dalinar, making him come up with better tactics and such.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Hmm... Szeth and Nightblood make a pretty good pair on their own, actually. Nightblood has the capability to further unhinge Szeth, and Nalan's simplistic view on morality would probably appeal to Nightblood, who hasn't ever really understood what the complex definition of evil is.

[Kyats Rani she/her]

Currently, Szeth is not a good wielder for Nightblood (from what I know of the sword, I still didn't have the time to read Warbreaker but I am vaguely aware of what Nightblood is and how it/he works). Especially not while being Naln's follower. Maybe if he gets away from Naln and gain retribution somehow, as in decide not to get revenge on Stone Shamans or not to chase after the Radiants, then he could be correct partner for Nightblood.

 

Personality-wise, Dalinar would be good to temper Nightblood somehow, but that would be a waste of the sword's powers, as he/it should be wield by a warrior ready to kill the Unmade The way I interpret Dalinar's character progression and his conversation with Stormfather, I see that Dalinar will step back from fighting and focus on "uniting" and generally taking care of both Alethkar as a kingdom and the new Radiants. Nightblood needs someone more active in fighting.

 

Kaladin prefers to fight with a spear, not a sword. Besides I doubt he would be able to see eye to eye with Nightblood so knowing Kal he would refuse such a weapon (besides - he has Syl, she won't agree to be left out only for Kaladin to get a more powerful sword, while she can by anything, from spear to shield). And as somebody pointed out - it would be unfair for Kal to get all the goodies

 

Nightblood should come back to Zahel. But since Zahel is not meant to play a big role in SA (I believe Brandon mentioned that somewhere...) it would also be a waste of propably the only weapon that can kill the Unmade. I'd rather see someone (by now it's most possibly Szeth) fighting off the Desolation with Nightblood and at the end the sword being reunited with Zahel.

 

By the way, someone mentioned Kaladin leading the Radiants. Right now, Dalinar is the best possible leader. But I can see Kal leading the Radiants after the time skip (as I think that Dalinar will be dead by then).