Syladin

[Lord Ruler Sylphrena He/Him]

I'm a big Syladin fan. Don't care either if it happens or not the friendship is already great but if Kaladin does end up with anyone it's Syl or its no one. They are the most important people in each others lives and if Renarin and Rlain can handle the species gap so can they. Also being together doesn't mean physical intimacy. I myself am asexual and I've always considered a romantic partner just a extra close best friend that I'm comfortable being myself around. Kaladin and Syl already meet this definition is my eyes so the only thing they are missing is confirmation from Brandon. Hyped to see more cute moments in the back half. The dancing scene was so beautiful and I hope we get more moments like that. Having someone that stands by you even at your worst and helps through your sadness warms my heart and that's why I love Syladin.

[king of nowhere]

I was about to complain about spoilers, then I realized this is the spoiler area. And I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive via transoceanic shipping.

I have to get out of here

[Aeshdan he/him]

On 8/6/2024 at 1:25 PM, GudThymes said:

I understand your thinking but I personally strongly dislike this theory. I feel like it is a very reductionist view on their relationship to move it from the nahel bond to be some kind of romantic relationship.

The two rely on each other in so many ways and I think Syl is just comforting her radiant who has depression. She tries to make him laugh, keep his mind from the dark place, and reminds him of the good days. That is fully healthy and good in platonic relationships. 

I feel that it is a disservice to Kaladin and Syl's story to reduce the complexity and nuance of their relationship to be explained as "they have feelings for each other".

 

On 8/6/2024 at 7:42 PM, bmcclure7 said:

I don’t see what your problem is. Are you saying that romantic relationships cannot be nuanced and complex? Do you honestly think That there’s anything simple about “ having feelings for each other” ? Do you think that it’s wrong for A romantic couple to rely on each other? 
 

These are honest questions your perspective seems so different from my own that I honestly can’t understand what you’re thinking. 
 

@SwordNimiForPresident honestly I always got slightly romantic vibes from the two of them. I never ship them until recently mainly because I thought that there would be no way for cognitive and a physical being form a romantic relationship no matter how close they were. However, at the end of rhythm of war seemed to provide away. So if this is where Brandon is going, I have no problem with it. And honestly, I really don’t understand those do.

Personally, I just find that trying to imagine a sexual relationship between Syl and Kaladin feels... icky to me. It feels like it makes Syl less...herself, less magical and supernatural and divine, to imagine her bumping uglies with Kaladin. And that's where the confusion comes in, because I don't think we're accustomed to thinking of relationships which are romantic without being sexual. The middle ages had something like that with their idea of courtly love, and we have something like that in the Heterosexual Life Partners trope, but neither quite hits the note I'm aiming for here. It's something that is not quite friendship or normal platonic affection, but also not quite romance as we usually think of it.

[bmcclure7]

21 hours ago, Aeshdan said:

 

Personally, I just find that trying to imagine a sexual relationship between Syl and Kaladin feels... icky to me. It feels like it makes Syl less...herself, less magical and supernatural and divine, to imagine her bumping uglies with Kaladin. And that's where the confusion comes in, because I don't think we're accustomed to thinking of relationships which are romantic without being sexual. The middle ages had something like that with their idea of courtly love, and we have something like that in the Heterosexual Life Partners trope, but neither quite hits the note I'm aiming for here. It's something that is not quite friendship or normal platonic affection, but also not quite romance as we usually think of it.

Interesting, I admit that while I appreciate syl and the other spren becoming more human I do kind of miss the old days when they were more abstract, true living ideas that could never be fully understood by humanity and could never fully understand humanity. Brandon Sanderson has been steadily making them more human, especially in this book with the storm father. I understand that and there are many good things about that but still I do understand the desire to keep them unhuman. 

[Aeshdan he/him]

6 hours ago, bmcclure7 said:

Interesting, I admit that while I appreciate syl and the other spren becoming more human I do kind of miss the old days when they were more abstract, true living ideas that could never be fully understood by humanity and could never fully understand humanity. Brandon Sanderson has been steadily making them more human, especially in this book with the storm father. I understand that and there are many good things about that but still I do understand the desire to keep them unhuman. 

Agreed. I've honestly been bothered by this ever since we saw people entering Shadesmar in flesh and blood. I understand that we gain certain things by that, but I feel that making Shadesmar a place that can be physically entered, a place where you breath, need food and water and all the rest of it, really undermines the distinction between the Physical and Cognitive Realms. I would have preferred to keep Shadesmar as something more mystical and non-physical, a little closer to the way Brandon presents the Spiritual Realm.

[bdoble97]

I live this and have loved this idea ever since thw last book. I want them together Kaladin needs love. I know he is better now. But the love of a lover can heal your soul in ways that nothing els can in my opinion. I 1000% think she wants to be with him. I think it will help him in ways he coukd never imagine. To be in love with someone and to know they are in live with you too and will be with you no matter what happens strengthens a Pearson in way that I for myself can not artqulate properly but if you know what I mean you know what I mean. Lol, pluse I would love to see what there children would be like what typ of being would that be part human part spren. That's so interesting to me. Tha k you for post this topic

[AlmightyGir]

On 1/2/2025 at 11:17 PM, Aeshdan said:

Agreed. I've honestly been bothered by this ever since we saw people entering Shadesmar in flesh and blood. I understand that we gain certain things by that, but I feel that making Shadesmar a place that can be physically entered, a place where you breath, need food and water and all the rest of it, really undermines the distinction between the Physical and Cognitive Realms. I would have preferred to keep Shadesmar as something more mystical and non-physical, a little closer to the way Brandon presents the Spiritual Realm.

Before we actually had people going into Shadesmar, I thought of the Cognitive realm as kind of like The Matrix. It's your minds projection, and getting hurt in there hurts your physical self outside.

How it's turned out to be, and the Spiritual Realm for that matter, all feels a bit disappointing in that aspect.

[scottos]

Kal becoming a Herald moves him towards being more spren-like. I completely got romantic vibes from them in book 5 and expect this to develop more in the second half of the series.

[SomePog]

Personally I had no care for Syladin but as of WaT this has become my second highest Kaladin ship (Im still rooting for Leshadin) However I wouldn't mind Syl and Kaladin get together, Kaladin is now of the 5th Ideal and while we haven't seen everything that has to offer we know Sprenn become more Intune with the physical realm as their radiant progresses. Some say Syladin feels predatory due to Syl being "Childish" however if you still see Syl as a child you've ignored her character growth, She was always an adult with Kaladin, yes during the early stages of the bond she was bound to lesser knowing however I dont think this makes her childish, it makes her uneducated (At that point due to her losing many memories) She had her moments of seriousness and she on her own does many things that make her feel more adult than other characters (Approaching Dalinar to help understand Kal better, Telling Kaladin to let someone rescue him, ect.) 

Another point for Syladin is the fact that Kaladin is now Immortal, many people found Hoid and Jasnah a bit weird due to the age gap and while Kaladin has a time now where he could date someone and it not be weird thats going to taper off, and Kal already suffers from depression for losing people while hes still here, so I couldn't imagine him setting himself up in a situation like that, So Kal dating an immortal makes sense (Leshadin fans rejoice) I cant see many options besides Syl and Leshwi, Chana is more of a joke abt Kal owing Shallan a brother ect ect and the Heralds are essentially Kals patients which would be weird if he dated one.

 

[Mattel]

I'll throw in my two cents.

Syl I think is incapable of being in a truly successful romantic relationship right now. I personally do not like this ship at all because of what GudThymes put so well at the beginning of this thread. I also think that Syl cannot and should not be in a relationship, for the exact same reason high schoolers as a rule of thumb shouldn't date in high school, in my book. She is still very childlike at heart, and Kaladin is very much not. She is kind of too young for a relationship. She is old of body (technically) but young of mind, as we were told explicitly in the book. She lacks some of the necessary seriousness for a relationship.

I also just think it is so basic and boring to say she is trying to put the moves on Kaladin because she is trying to act human. Becoming more human is literally all what the Nahel Bond is about, essentially. It just seems so..... boring and bland to have this amazing, intricate, and complex relationship between two characters which inevitably ends up in a romantic relationship. With this worldview everyone with a very close connection to someone of the opposite gender should be dating. Can we not read stories of them dancing together and just let them be friends? Can we please read stories of people of the opposite gender and simply let them be friends? I said this on another thread (How do you feel about inter-species relationships) but there is so much more nuance to the word love. Almost every old language has several different meanings or several different words for our base word love. The Greeks had four, the French probably have a million, etc. I particularly like the Greeks, because they are the four main different types of love that everything stems from: Romantic love, Familial love like that between you and a friend (Example: Kaladin and Syl), Unconditional love like from a parent to a child, and affectionate love which is probably the most common and basic. There is more nuance to love than romance.