Unlikely WaT Theories

[Nick_Nack_Patty_Whack]

I thought it would be fun to hear some of your WaT theories that you highly doubt will happen (and I'm tired but can't sleep).  You can include any proof, if you wish.

Here are some of my "theories" that I doubt will happen:

1. I've posted this here before, but Cultivation's vessel is planning on shattering herself.  Basically, she has an end goal, and has been setting up a plan to get there, once she's done she'll shatter herself.  And we'll learn of her plan through the focus characters: Lift (bonded a cultivationspren), Jasnah (through her studying), Renarin (through his future sight), and Taln and Ash (through there long personal history).

2. The Oathpact is going to reform midway through the Contest of Champions, shenanigans will happen in the second half of the series.

3. Ishar is an Avatar of Autonomy (it's always Autonomy).  His connection to Honor temporarily overwhelms his connection to Autonomy (through a Trellium spike) when a Bondsmith makes an oath.

Edited December 1, 2024 by Nick_Nack_Patty_Whack
Added a little bit of context.

[logicless.bt]

This is unlikely but still within the realm of possibility: Moash hits absolute rock bottom this book, somehow getting worse than he was last book. This completes his five-book descent into villainy and sets up his five-book slow, agonizing redemption.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

El invading the Tower would be so sick, but probably won't happen

Adolin vs. Yelig-Nar final fight in which Adolin slows Yelig-Nar down enough to save Yanagawn, but is mortally wounded. Radiants arrive and finish Yelig-Nar off.

[Omoikane13]

I have basically no evidence for it, and I don't expect it to happen, but I like the idea of Kaladin actually becoming a vessel for Cultivation.

The "evidence":

- His focus on therapy doesn't really have much of a connection to "Honour" (not that it has to). But, it could be framed as restoring something to health, pruning a plant with unhealthy branches, taking people's psyches and cultivating them to be better.

- There's hints and connections to the spren throughout Kaladin's story, including maybe in the blurb for WaT, and half of Roashar's spren lean towards Cultivation.

- Kaladin is referred to as "Son of Tanavast", as opposed to of Honour, and this has been part of much speculation as to whether his heritage could come into play for some plotline or another. But if Tanavast is the progenitor of a genetic line, there would have to be a mother of some sort; the logical option being his lover, of course, namely Cultivation. Hence, "Son of Tanavast" = "Son of Koravellium", and Kaladin can be seen as a very gradually cultivated end product of a line of heritage overseen by his great-great-....-grandmother, Cultivation.

[Inevitability]

Still holding out hope that Lift is a dragon  

[Master Silver]

22 hours ago, logicless.bt said:

This is unlikely but still within the realm of possibility: Moash hits absolute rock bottom this book, somehow getting worse than he was last book. This completes his five-book descent into villainy and sets up his five-book slow, agonizing redemption.

Only thing that could possibly make Moash worse is if he kills Gavinor. Something like this, Gavinor through the shenanigans in the spiritual realm ends up as Odium's champion. Dalinar can't make the contest but somehow designates that Bridge 4 should pick the champion, not knowing Odium chose a child. Everyone in Bridge 4 hesitates because the choice of Honor (including Honor spren) is life. Moash says, "I have no honor," steps forward summons Jezrien's honor blade and burns out poor Gavinor's eyes. Poor Gavinor. Obviously, this would be terrible. 

 

Would this be rock bottom or the beginning of a redemption arc, since Moash would have just saved all of mankind?

Edited December 2, 2024 by Master Silver

[a Faceless Immortal he/him]

15 minutes ago, Master Silver said:

Moash says, "I have no honor," steps forward summons Jezrien's honor blade and burns out pour Gavinor's eyes. Poor Gavinor.

"Honor is dead, so I'll see what I can do." - Moash, before murdering a child, probably.

Edited December 2, 2024 by a Faceless Immortal

[logicless.bt]

27 minutes ago, Master Silver said:

Only thing that could possibly make Moash worse is if he kills Gavinor.

Hey, he could always kill Syl right after she becomes human and confesses her love to Kaladin! It would be a crime against writing, too, which scores bonus points.

[Philomath she/her]

Very unlikely to happen… Adolin will find a way to get the lost shardblades back into the physical realm to better protect Azimir. (You know, through an oathgate that is corrupted/enlightened now so no problems there at all /s)  He’ll draw them to him because of his bond with Maya, then he’ll start teaching the people who get those shards how to build a relationship with them and possibly find a way to heal more deadeyes. 

[Ewery1]

Not my theory but I’m still super into the Bells of Kharbranth are Pure Tones which repel Voidlight when rung at the proper rhythms and repel Odium’s armies.

[BinarySecond]

12 hours ago, a Faceless Immortal said:

"Honor is dead, so I'll see what I can do." - Moash, before murdering a child, probably.

I go beyond breathing out hard through my nose. You got a real chuckle out of me.

[Inevitability]

14 hours ago, a Faceless Immortal said:

"Honor is dead, so I'll see what I can do." - Moash, before murdering a child, probably.

Just imagine if this is the suckling child death rattle - and the whole world it refers to is the fused coalition. It’s Moash’s ultimate knife edge moment where he either embraces darkness fully or goes out like Darth Vader and makes the redemptive decision at the end

[Aredor]

Tien faked his own death and will be either Odium's Champion or Ishar's champion. And then Kal will have to fight him. 

None of the 3 (Kal, Shallan, Adolin) will actually die, but they'll all be separated somehow and will have to reunite in the back half. 

Adolin becomes the first Lifebinder. 

Jasnah will get overthrown by CS Gavilar.

Kal will have to fight Yelig-Nar/Szeth, and will win because even though Szeth is a master of all ten surges, Kal is aggressively mediocre at therapy. 

[TwinStorm He/Him]

After today's reading, I think it would be really cool for El to become a Herald. No evidence and it won't happen, but it would be sick and I have a feeling about it.

[BinarySecond]

It would be cool, I think El's idealogy involves the deprecation of the Fused and having mortals take care of their own affairs. Ideally no Heralds required.

[Ewery1]

I’m hoping El survives into the back half and I have a feeling he might. Alternatively I agree that he’s going to gain control of all the humans and then die, putting one of them as a successor. It seems like he & Raboniel are aligned in that they want the unending to end and return rule to the now.

[The Sovereign]

Thude was the first new age Willshaper and had fulfilled the 2nd Oath when he help the Elderly and Young Listeners escape Narak. He protected them in the Chasms during the clash of the Highstorm & Everstorm with Stoneshaping.

Edited December 2, 2024 by The Sovereign

[TwinStorm He/Him]

Valor getting killed and Leshwi taking the power, at least temporarily.

[elihaun]

My theory is that NAVANI will be champion. she can create anti-storm light.  She will use it to nuke the top of the tower (I like how Sanderson has already shown something like this happening, both in RoW -AND- the Lost Metal).  What if instead of a single bead of anti-storm light there was a LOT of it?  A ship holding 3 vats of ettmetal almost destroyed the entirety of elondell.  What would a mountain of towerlight do if introduced to anti-towerlight?

[FleetFoot14]

Turns out Dalinar is Nohadan as a result of his trip to the Spiritual Realm. Don't know if this is even possible, but it would be pretty messy and break causality, which isn't advisable.

[mullman]

Moash has a wild redemption arc and somehow takes up Honor's shard.

[NH2316]

Kal's terrible soup gives Szeth food poisoning, and Szeth never trusts him again.  Having failed as a therapist, Kal doesn't process the anger in a healthy way, and decides to steal Nightblood, kill Taravangian, and Ascend to Odium.  With the perspective of a Shard he intends to mine the Spiritual Realm for all the possibilities of how to be a better therapist on Roshar, but instead gets distracted by all the possibilities of soup recipes. He eventually learns that Rock's soup had the exact same recipe as what he served to Szeth, except for one extra ingredient: Love.  Kal-odium splinters himself in dramatic irony.  

 

The back-half of the Stormlight Archive is all about the surviving Rosharans plotting war to take back their most prized Culinary creation, chouta, from the Scadrians (who they despise because they think Scadrians can't/don't appreciate it, on account of them literally being willing to eat metal).

[teknopathetic he/him]

My Cracktheory:

Shallan will end up being honour's champion. 

Over and over again people have said she has been the person who has been broken and reforged the most. She is the person who has shown she is the strongest. There is that whole discussion of how a one armed dualist was actually the stronger man, or the swimmer who drown having put up the most fight. I think Shallan would be a harder person to mentally destroy.

Also, in terms of a visual, Shallan breaking into 2 or 3 people and fighting Odium's champion would be beautiful to see. Especially if a few of the alters die in the process. Or if Shallan calls on visions of people she loves. Or if Pattern dies, and Shallan pulls out Testament to keep on fighting. 

Odium's champion will be Chana Davar. Making that payoff epic. I could see Shallan saying "I have killed you once, Mother; I will do it again”

Other Version:

Chana had raised Shallan to be a champion. Lin and Chana were fighting over the issue throughout Shallan's childhood. I assume she was raised to be Honour's champion, but maybe Chana made a deal and was raising her daughter to be Odium's champion.

Perhaps Lin Davar had held a knife to Shallan's throat over this at one point, but he chose not to kill Shallan. Seeing that in the spiritual realm would be a fun end to the "child knife" deathrattle and would humanize Lin in the end, which I think is coming. Heck, maybe that was even what was going on in the parent flashback anyway. 

Edited December 3, 2024 by teknopathetic

[Ewery1]

3 hours ago, teknopathetic said:

My Cracktheory:

Shallan will end up being honour's champion. 

Over and over again people have said she has been the person who has been broken and reforged the most. She is the person who has shown she is the strongest. There is that whole discussion of how a one armed dualist was actually the stronger man, or the swimmer who drown having put up the most fight. I think Shallan would be a harder person to mentally destroy.

Also, in terms of a visual, Shallan breaking into 2 or 3 people and fighting Odium's champion would be beautiful to see. Especially if a few of the alters die in the process. Or if Shallan calls on visions of people she loves. Or if Pattern dies, and Shallan pulls out Testament to keep on fighting. 

Odium's champion will be Chana Davar. Making that payoff epic. I could see Shallan saying "I have killed you once, Mother; I will do it again”

Other Version:

Chana had raised Shallan to be a champion. Lin and Chana were fighting over the issue throughout Shallan's childhood. I assume she was raised to be Honour's champion, but maybe Chana made a deal and was raising her daughter to be Odium's champion.

Perhaps Lin Davar had held a knife to Shallan's throat over this at one point, but he chose not to kill Shallan. Seeing that in the spiritual realm would be a fun end to the "child knife" deathrattle and would humanize Lin in the end, which I think is coming. Heck, maybe that was even what was going on in the parent flashback anyway. 

This is a very cool theory. I would love this.

[Ewery1]

New crackpot theory: Dalinar will learn from Ba-Ado-Mishram’s ability to Connect with all the Singers to Connect all of the disparate Radiants with each other - becoming Unity. In that moment in OB he was connecting with himself.

Edited December 4, 2024 by Ewery1