Wild Prediction

[CtrlAltDepressed]

HI all,

 

I have a wild prediction that I wanted to get out there. There is no evidence for this and wont be proven right or wrong for some time.

 

At FanX recently, Brandon was talking about his writing process. In that, he mentioned that there is a character in stormlight 5 who makes a decision. In the outline that has existed for years and years, this character makes that decision. However, when he actually went to write that section, he had grown attached to the character, and couldn't write them making the original decision. So he changed it because he felt the new decision fit the character better. He said we would know when we got to that part. 

 

Heres my prediction: This is about Adolin becoming Odiums champion. 

 

We know that Adolin originally was not going to be a main character (or character at all, either way tho). We also know that Brandon loves Adolin, because of course he does. The most recent chapters have been starting to point Adolin towards a path of becoming Odiums champion. I think that Adolin was originally going to become the Champion, but when Brandon got to that point, he couldn't kill off our beloved (at least in that way). 

 

I know we wont know for a while but wanted to make this early in case im right!

 

If you all have your own guesses please share!

[Shacharma]

I think because Adolin wasnt slated to take such a big role then that would preclude him from being the planned champion? There also isn't much foreshadowing for that n the previous books? (personally I think his arc will be focused on Maya on one hand and on Gawx on the other)

I dont have a clear guess as to who he meant though...

I think there was an old WoB that Tarvangian becoming Odium was another one of those forks where he only made the final decision while writing it?

[listerfeend]

28 minutes ago, Shacharma said:

I think because Adolin wasnt slated to take such a big role then that would preclude him from being the planned champion? There also isn't much foreshadowing for that n the previous books? (personally I think his arc will be focused on Maya on one hand and on Gawx on the other)

Really feels like Adolin's arc with Maya precludes him from being the champ, in my head. Like, regardless of the reasons why someone becomes Odium's champion, even if it is presented as a reasonable conclusion, they are being set up as "the bad guy". I don't feel like we'd have the arc with Maya AND them becoming an antagonist. Just doesn't really feel right to me. The only person in 2500+ years to reach through to a deadeye and (presumably) restore them, ALSO decides to join with the forces of evil? That just doesn't sit right with me. 

I'm not sure who Brandon could be talking about though. 

Also, here is the WoB being referenced
 

Quote

Questioner

As an aspiring author I know how your own characters can surprise you while writing. My question for you was, especially during Stormlight but for any of your books, which characters have surprised you the most by the direction they went, how they affected the plot, etc?

Brandon Sanderson

Excellent question! So the way I view this as an author is, I'm a heavy outliner. But I always give the characters volition. I don't know a character until I've seen through their eyes, and as I write things change. I would say Adolin is the most surprising. Adolin was not meant to be a main character. He did not have any viewpoints as I was originally planning The Stormlight Archive, and, as you can see from the books, he has a lot of them. And so Adolin is the big surprise of Stormlight.

I will say, oftentimes, I was actually talking about this to some people in the line just recently, characters will reach a point of decision. And at that point the outline usually will say "have them do this." But I will have written them for months at that point to be who they are at that point and I give them the opportunity to make different decisions. And someone at the end of Wind and Truth made the opposite decision. It's not magical where I'm like "oh the character is alive", no, it's just that who I wrote them to be and how the themes of the plot progressed I realized that at that point they can't make this decision. And so I rewrote their part and revised it to have the opposite decision get made. Once Wind and Truth is out I can tell you what that is. But you will have to read it and see if you can guess who, in the outline, was making a very different decision.

FanX 2024 (Sept. 26, 2024)

I think that if it were Adolin that were making the decision, he probably wouldn't have brought him up there. He also says "you will have to read it and see if you can guess who". He doesn't really say that it's going to be obvious

[coolsnow7]

22 hours ago, CtrlAltDepressed said:

HI all,

 

I have a wild prediction that I wanted to get out there. There is no evidence for this and wont be proven right or wrong for some time.

 

At FanX recently, Brandon was talking about his writing process. In that, he mentioned that there is a character in stormlight 5 who makes a decision. In the outline that has existed for years and years, this character makes that decision. However, when he actually went to write that section, he had grown attached to the character, and couldn't write them making the original decision. So he changed it because he felt the new decision fit the character better. He said we would know when we got to that part. 

 

Heres my prediction: This is about Adolin becoming Odiums champion. 

 

We know that Adolin originally was not going to be a main character (or character at all, either way tho). We also know that Brandon loves Adolin, because of course he does. The most recent chapters have been starting to point Adolin towards a path of becoming Odiums champion. I think that Adolin was originally going to become the Champion, but when Brandon got to that point, he couldn't kill off our beloved (at least in that way). 

 

I know we wont know for a while but wanted to make this early in case im right!

 

If you all have your own guesses please share!

That would definitely fit child champion theory!

22 hours ago, Shacharma said:

I think because Adolin wasnt slated to take such a big role then that would preclude him from being the planned champion? There also isn't much foreshadowing for that n the previous books? (personally I think his arc will be focused on Maya on one hand and on Gawx on the other)

I dont have a clear guess as to who he meant though...

I think there was an old WoB that Tarvangian becoming Odium was another one of those forks where he only made the final decision while writing it?

There’s like… semi-foreshadowing.

- We’re told Dalinar is the very best at fighting, and yet Adolin makes it out alive vs. 4 fighters. So he’s one of the few candidates to be a fighter that can give Dalinar a run for his money.

- Adolin kills Sadeas in a fit of rage and hatred (justified, to be sure). His justification for doing so is “it had to be done for the good of the world” - awfully Taravangian-sounding…

- as noted it would fit child champion theory very nicely, and I think there’s been enough (inconclusive, of course) clues in that direction that we could call it foreshadowing

- Adolin’s mom is Riran, who have sided with Odium. More than enough times, we’ve heard that Adolin takes after her much more than Dalinar.

 

I dunno. On the one hand there are some hints. On the other hand I agree with you that if Adolin took such a dark turn, saying it would feel jarring is an understatement.

Edited October 10, 2024 by coolsnow7

[LewsTherinTelescope]

I think it's about Kaladin. In the original reading of the Kaladin and Wit chapter, Wit gives Kaladin a speech about his responsibility as a lighteyes. In the final preview chapter, that's replaced by a new rant (though still centered on the Passions being BS), and suddenly Wit is telling Kaladin he won't be returning to Urithiru and by the way the wind is alive and talking to you. My theory is that Brandon outlined Kaladin as taking the throne of Urithiru and his conflict for the book was going to center on using authority correctly (perhaps tying into the story of Szeth and the Shamanate), but he decided that didn't fit his arc and replaced it with however the Wind stuff concludes. Ironically, this mirrors Kaladin being plotted as taking the Shardblade in The Way of Kings Prime but Brandon deciding to make him turn it down in the published The Way of Kings.

[feruchemicalrockband]

With how much of an outline writer Brandon is, I find it unlikely that the character who makes a different decision at the end would be any of our main characters, Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan, or Szeth. They are all poised to have decisions that make far reaching impacts (both based on where they are in the story as well as the summary of TWoK). It probably has to be some side character who's characterization evolved over the course of the books, or at least over the final book.

Here are my picks for side characters whose choices wouldn't have a heavy impact on the main plot, and have enough relevance to be given a chance to grow.

Sigzil: We already know that Sigzil takes on a life of his own after the events of book 5, and it would make sense if this started here. Maybe in some attempt to either step out of (or into) Kaladin's shadow he makes the opposite choice Sanderson intended. Maybe this is what led to The Sunlit Man? I'm not certain the writing timeline lines up however.

Gawx: Gawx has already made more of an appearance in the preview chapters than I was expecting, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who made the different decision. His proximity to Adolin, who is already a wild card in the story, makes this more likely. Gawx might end up idolizing Adolin by the end of the book, maybe leading to some political decision at the end.

Moash: We still haven't heard anything from Moash over twenty chapters in, which I'm somewhat surprised by as his situation at the end of book 4 left us on a cliffhanger in some ways. The blinded state he's in is reminiscent of Saul/Paul the Apostle, which means that maybe Brandon intended Moash to turn over a new leaf by the end of the book, but how events unfolded left Moash in some kind of neutral position instead of a positive one. (Holding out hope for Moash to lose the honorblade and go through the cosmere finding other ways to emulate windrunning).

 

Lift, Renarin, Jasnah, Ash, and Taln seem unlikely, as two of the 5 have (probably) disappear at the end, and the others just don't get enough screentime for that kind of thing.

Navani is another option but I can't think of anything. Adolin I don't think is likely for reasons others have stated. Maybe Venli?

Edited October 12, 2024 by feruchemicalrockband

[Sedside she/her]

On 10/11/2024 at 11:07 AM, LewsTherinTelescope said:

I think it's about Kaladin. In the original reading of the Kaladin and Wit chapter, Wit gives Kaladin a speech about his responsibility as a lighteyes. In the final preview chapter, that's replaced by a new rant (though still centered on the Passions being BS), and suddenly Wit is telling Kaladin he won't be returning to Urithiru and by the way the wind is alive and talking to you.

Could this speech be moved to Dalinar instead of Wit? Dalinar says something like that in the next Kaladin chapter. Would probably be repetitive, and also there was a need to introduce the Wind to the narrative more properly perhaps?

[LewsTherinTelescope]

2 hours ago, Sedside said:

Could this speech be moved to Dalinar instead of Wit? Dalinar says something like that in the next Kaladin chapter. Would probably be repetitive, and also there was a need to introduce the Wind to the narrative more properly perhaps?

It's not really like what Dalinar says at all. Dalinar talks about how not wanting to be king is racist but also maybe there shouldn't be a king, Hoid talks about how doctrines like the Passions are a deliberate lie of those in power to pretend they deserve it and since Kaladin is a lighteyes now he needs to be wary of moral rationalizations for why others didn't succeed like he did. Wit still has a similar rant about the Passions, the new version doesn't take up any less space, but the part about people in power has been toned down to be more implicit and the specific reminder to Kaladin of his station is gone entirely.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Wasn't Adolin supposed to die early in Stormlight original drafts? In WoK or WoR?

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 10/12/2024 at 6:10 AM, feruchemicalrockband said:

With how much of an outline writer Brandon is, I find it unlikely that the character who makes a different decision at the end would be any of our main characters, Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan, or Szeth. They are all poised to have decisions that make far reaching impacts (both based on where they are in the story as well as the summary of TWoK). It probably has to be some side character who's characterization evolved over the course of the books, or at least over the final book.

Why does it have to be a human character? It could be a Spren or a Singer.