I don’t think he is fully dead

[LumberZach]

When Retribution tried to grab Dalinar’s soul, and it slipped away from him, supposedly going to The Beyond, the power said “You cannot have him, for he is claimed by another.”
I think that means Valor
Because in doing what he did, I believe Dalinar showed great Valor, either that or it just meant The Beyond and/or Adonalsium has claim on him.

-LumberZach

[Immortal Platypus]

2 hours ago, LumberZach said:

When Retribution tried to grab Dalinar’s soul, and it slipped away from him, supposedly going to The Beyond, the power said “You cannot have him, for he is claimed by another.”
I think that means Valor
Because in doing what he did, I believe Dalinar showed great Valor, either that or it just meant The Beyond and/or Adonalsium has claim on him.

-LumberZach

I kind of interpreted it as Evi in the Beyond, because the book explicitly says he goes to the Beyond. I also have trouble believing that anything that could match a Shard's power (ie, other Shards) would have as strong (or stronger) of a claim on him than the Shard he held minutes before. While he does act with valor, I doubt that Valor would intervene (due to the opposition of a very powerful double Shard). I think it could be cool if he's not dead, and Valor did save him, and he eventually has to fight the Blackthorn that Retribution took from the CR.

[LiftisaDragon]

I don’t have the exact WOB, but i believe Brandon has said when you see someone “stretching into the beyond” it means they’re gone gone. He wanted some way to show someone is gone with no tricks 

[Soccorro]

59 minutes ago, LiftisaDragon said:

someone is gone with no tricks 

And then T finds Dalinar 2.0 on the next page  

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

Dalinar Kholin is dead and gone. That is what going Beyond means, that is kind of the border Brandon has set up for when people are dead and won’t come back. 

However, the Blackthorn is alive and well, unfortunately.

[Kfish]

6 hours ago, LumberZach said:

When Retribution tried to grab Dalinar’s soul, and it slipped away from him, supposedly going to The Beyond, the power said “You cannot have him, for he is claimed by another.”
I think that means Valor
Because in doing what he did, I believe Dalinar showed great Valor, either that or it just meant The Beyond and/or Adonalsium has claim on him.

-LumberZach

I was thinking about the Nohadon stuff with this, to be honest. We still don't really have an explanation for those visions - especially the last one which seemed not to be made by Dalinar while holding Honor. 

[Chaos he/him]

No spoilers in topic titles.

[LumberZach]

4 hours ago, Ookla the Arbiter said:

I kind of interpreted it as Evi in the Beyond, because the book explicitly says he goes to the Beyond. I also have trouble believing that anything that could match a Shard's power (ie, other Shards) would have as strong (or stronger) of a claim on him than the Shard he held minutes before. While he does act with valor, I doubt that Valor would intervene (due to the opposition of a very powerful double Shard). I think it could be cool if he's not dead, and Valor did save him, and he eventually has to fight the Blackthorn that Retribution took from the CR.

Heavy speculation here, I’m just theorizing hard right now but the reason I think it might be possible, is that Valor doesn’t necessarily have to be powerful enough to intervene against Retribution, if Valor laid claim on Dalinar’s soul, then that would be considered an Oath, a contract maybe, that the Honor within Retribution would have to respect, that’s why I think the power within Taravangian was telling him “He’s been claimed by another”. Because remember, someone holding two Shards doesn’t necessarily mean they are “combined” both intents of Honor and Odium are in there.

Another reason I think it might be possible, again HEAVY theorizing here I’m just playing with, but Valor has remained ridiculously hidden from others, how is this possible?
What is the one place that not even Shards can see into? The Beyond.

Maybe Valor is riding somewhere between life and The Beyond, or inside it somehow? So perhaps during the stretching that Retribution observed, Valor could have snagged Dalinar along the way?

It’s been stated that Valor is a dragon, and they seem to have their own set of rules or things they can do different than other magics in The Cosmere, like the “Meditative Realm of The Dragons” that Hoid reached into using that bone he pulled out at the end, stating “There he sought the wisdom of the ancient dead, who could see far more clearly if you knew how to get them to talk to you.”

Maybe the realms are somehow connected? Or closely related, I’m really just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing with sticks.

33 minutes ago, Kfish said:

I was thinking about the Nohadon stuff with this, to be honest. We still don't really have an explanation for those visions - especially the last one which seemed not to be made by Dalinar while holding Honor. 

Yeah there’s still so much we don’t know, those visions are a very big mystery still.

[FleetFoot14]

Spoiler

Dalinar's soul slipped away from him. Stretched. And vanished into the Beyond.

I think it is pretty straightforward. He's gone. He said his goodbyes and was ready to go. And how he stretched is similar to other instances. Here's one from TLM:

 

Spoiler

With that, Wayne stretched into another place, into another time. He stretched into the wind. And into the stars.

And all endless things.

 

Edited December 13, 2024 by FleetFoot14
Switched from quote to spoiler

[CognitiveShadow he/him]

I think Dalinar is dead and gone for sure, but that doesn't rule out Valor here. She could have claimed him and therefore protected Dalinar from being grasped by Retribution at the end.

[LumberZach]

11 minutes ago, CognitiveShadow said:

I think Dalinar is dead and gone for sure, but that doesn't rule out Valor here. She could have claimed him and therefore protected Dalinar from being grasped by Retribution at the end.

I like this answer

24 minutes ago, FleetFoot14 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Dalinar's soul slipped away from him. Stretched. And vanished into the Beyond.

I think it is pretty straightforward. He's gone. He said his goodbyes and was ready to go. And how he stretched is similar to other instances. Here's one from TLM:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

With that, Wayne stretched into another place, into another time. He stretched into the wind. And into the stars.

And all endless things.

 

He probably is gone, I’m having my fun theorizing really!

[wormotif]

Dalinar's definitely permanently dead, in my view, based on the same evidence others have given.

I'm pretty sure who claimed him will indefinitely be left ambiguous. I think it's clearly intended by Sanderson to be a reference to the God Beyond - i.e., real capital-G God. Dalinar's basically the only person we've seen die who actually outright worships the God Beyond.

As with all Beyond-topics, Sanderson has committed to leaving it ambiguous (see here) so that it's not in conflict with anyone's beliefs, even as his writing is naturally influenced by his own religious views.