RoW plothole...?

[Xabben]

Right now, I'm in chapter 65 of RoW, and there is something that it's bugging me A LOT. Let's briefly describe the situation:

A- The fused have conquered Urithiru. By doing so, they have incapacitated most of the radiants and fabrials.

B- Dalinar suspects that something goes wrong in Urithiru, so he sends some Windrunners to watch the tower. Obviously, these Windrunners cannot get close to the tower without getting affected by the tower's defenses, so they cannot physically enter the tower to check if everything is okay.

So, given A and B, wouldn't the most logical solution be to bring some non-radiant person with the Windrunners, leave him/her near Urithiru, and then make him/her go to physically check if everything is okay by foot?

Edited 16 hours ago by Xabben

[PanLin they/he]

Windrunners are their best scouts, and Dalinar only suspects that something's wrong; he doesn't know that Stormlight and Radiant abilities are being blocked.

I'm cautious to say any more while you haven't finished the book, as I don't remember which bits happen when exactly.

Not a plot hole though, in my opinion. Keep reading 

[Xabben]

6 minutes ago, PanLin said:

Windrunners are their best scouts, and Dalinar only suspects that something's wrong; he doesn't know that Stormlight and Radiant abilities are being blocked.

I mean, he knows that radiant powers are being suppressed, as some of the Windrunners that he sent to Urithiru fainted after getting too close to the tower. Moreover, I think that "Navani" told him that, in order to contact him by spanreed, she had to sent someone to the mountains so that the fabrial could work... So, in my opinion, he should be much more worried about the situation.

Edited 16 hours ago by Xabben

[Returned he/him]

I think Dalinar accepted that his information was incomplete and was going to remain that way. Sending a mundane soldier to physically trek through the forbidding mountain peaks around Urithiru, into a fortified location he believes may be under enemy influence and which is already sending reports that everything is mostly OK, seems like a mediocre plan at best. If an enemy has enough control to hold the tower, send false reports, and suppress Radiant powers, what is a random soldier wandering inside going to accomplish and why would that soldier's report be trustworthy?

Even worse, what would Dalinar be able to do even if he could confirm that Urithiru had been taken? His army was stuck in an engagement with an enemy army (by the enemy's design), and the Oathgate (even if unlocked) doesn't seem like a good option if the whole city is occupied. Maybe I'm not imagining the same sort of plan as you, and so I'm missing something you intend. Even if he did as you described, how would that be conclusive for him? What would the outcome be except more false reports and continuing suspicions? What actions could he have taken even if he were able to confirm that the Fused had conquered it?

That's how I think of it, anyway. Dalinar is an excellent military strategist and tactician, and he knew and accepted the limits of his information and ability to act on information in that scenario.

Edited 14 hours ago by Returned

[alder24]

15 hours ago, Xabben said:

So, given A and B, wouldn't the most logical solution be to bring some non-radiant person with the Windrunners, leave him/her near Urithiru, and then make him/her go to physically check if everything is okay by foot?

And where would you leave that non-Radiant person? On a vertical mountain cliff? Urithiru is placed within mountain peaks, you can't just walk up to it. The only path you can enter on foot is the one Fused took when attacking Urithiru, through a cave stretching from the foot of a mountain up to the basement of Urithiru. But that path was blocked during the invasion.