Adolin Radiancy? (Potential Spoilers)

[Aizhen]

Adeline being banished might make for a "better" plot... I'm not convenience.  But people, the desolation is coming.  The Everstorm is going around the world turning all parshendi into void bringers- I would be very disappointed if Dalinar banish Adolin (anything is possible, but...).  This is not a normal time.  Any choice seems to carry the potential to divide, I can see Dalinar's command to unite the KR trumping his Alethi cultural in this instance specifically.  Sadeas had it coming period, the end.  Maybe Alakar will order banishment, BUT actually, they are in Urithiru- do Alethi laws have the same power in Urithiru?

 

As for him becoming a KR, I totally think he will for all the reasons already mentioned.  Though definitely not as one of Kaladin's "underlings."

 

If he doesn't become a KR, I think that is what could warp his character more than killing Sadeas, or maybe in addition to it. It would almost be like loosing his identity.  But I hope not.   

 

(sorry for any spelling errors- audible listener)

Edited May 16, 2015 by Aizhen

[Guest]

Adeline being banished might make for a "better" plot... I'm not convenience.  But people, the desolation is coming.  The Everstorm is going around the world turning all parshendi into void bringers- I would be very disappointed if Dalinar banish Adolin (anything is possible, but...).  This is not a normal time.  Any choice seems to carry the potential to divide, I can see Dalinar's command to unite the KR trumping his Alethi cultural in this instance specifically.  Sadeas had it coming period, the end.  Maybe Alakar will order banishment, BUT actually, they are in Urithiru- do Alethi laws have the same power in Urithiru?

 

As for him becoming a KR, I totally think he will for all the reasons already mentioned.  Though definitely not as one of Kaladin's "underlings."

 

If he doesn't become a KR, I think that is what could warp his character more than killing Sadeas, or maybe in addition to it. It would almost be like loosing his identity.  But I hope not.   

 

(sorry for any spelling errors- audible listener)

 

The "disgraced prince in exile" trope followed by the "return of the prodigy son" trope do have potential. Especially since it would feature heart-broken Adolin roaming across Roshar, which could lead to interesting adventures and meetings. However, I feel it contradicts my favorite theory for Adolin which is "Adolin revives his dead Blade and becomes an Edgedancer". I sincerely doubt Adolin in exile would be allowed to retain his Shards. Most likely outcome, if Brandon wants to play it this way, is to take them away. Now, I have often theorized Adolin will lose his Shards at some point in book 3 (my current option is he actually loses a duel due to his growing inability to control his slowly waking-up Blade and his increasingly unstable mental state), but regain them via reviving his Blades. Somehow, I think he needs to be close to the Blade, physically for it to happen which is why the banishment story line will kinda kill this really compelling theory. Or perhaps it won't, if Brandon wants to make it happen, he will find a away, but right now, I do not see how they could all work together.

 

Adolin without Radiant powers is dead meat, according to me. He rides too far ahead in the battle, most likely he'll get gravely injured at some point and die. He won't step down or back simply because he is not a Radiant, worst he may over compensate.  I do not see his story going this way, but again, everything is possible. The foreshadowing for Adolin to join the ranks of the Radiants is too strong to ignore it.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

A little late to the party but was trawling theoryland randomly when i came across one of the WoBs regarding Adolin reviving his blade

 

http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kw=spren

 

Interview number 105

 

Interview: Jan 17th, 2015

Firefight Tour - El Cerrito, CA

Cool. I’m not going to bother asking who did right now. With Syl being able to be revived, is Adolin ever going to be able to revive his own blade, or-

Brandon Sanderson

Ah, that would be very difficult, as the orig-, in most cases, the original person who broke the oaths has to be the one.

Question

Ok. Do you have to have done the third oath before you can convert your spren into a Blade?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, in most orders, yes.

 

(forgive the terrible linkage and sutff, been a looooooooooooooooooooooong time since i've done anything like that) but emphasis mine

 

I might be clutching at straws here but it seemed like, in this context/perspective, Brandon started to vaguely reference the original wielder of Adolin's blade in particular (again, clutching at straws but the wording struck me as odd). So crackpot theory brewing, what if there was some form of backlash from breaking the bond and oaths, which caused the ex-radiants to not age, or at the very least not die from old age (or something akin to them still having some cognitive/physical presence). Adolin, by some miracle would have to find the original wielder/cognitive shadow of wielder (maybe even as a curse vengeance from the Nightwatcher/Cultivation, especially seeing as the blade was like Wyndle), have them revive the bladespren by perhaps speaking and meaning the first oath to reforge the bond (possibly more oaths), then somehow find away to transfer the bond over to Adolin? 

 

TL;DR (ramble); Find original owner > get them to revive bond/spren by oaths, or some such > revival like this might reset bond to base level thus making it easier to transfer bond as Adolin speaks the oaths? or something like that

[Guest]

There has been several people asking Brandon about the possibility of reviving a dead-Blade. Each time, Brandon has reinforced the idea it would be extremely difficult, but he never closed the door completely. He did state Adolin could pull it of, but it would be a rare event. My personal thoughts are Brandon himself is not sure where he wants to go with Adolin as a character so he is keeping his options open. I believe Adolin reviving his Blade was not part of the original outlay of SA, but by writing Adolin, an unplanned character, Brandon ended up inadvertently stepping onto this possibility.

 

Since then, he has never brushed it of, nor has he confirmed it. Adolin's fate seems rather unsettled.

 

As for the WoB you are referring to, I read it as another attempt to not RAFO a question as a RAFO would have mean he intends to use the plot. He also does not want to close all doors on the possibilities and he may be himself working on seeing how it would fit within his plans for SA. Adolin is not one of his major protagonists (a tragedy if you ask me), so Brandon may be hesitant to give him a larger role and the Blade revival story plot requires a more prominent character to be carried on effectively. Adolin sure has the potential to be this character, providing the author wants to explore him further, which I am not sure he wants to for reasons beyond my understanding.

 

I do not think the original knight is by, some miracle, still alive and even if he were, the possibility of Adolin finding him seems rather far-fetched. My thoughts are frivolous, loving and caring Edgedancers did not leave their Blades on the ground to be pick-up by anybody. They killed them, but they still gave them a proper "burial" so they would be remembered which would explain why so many Blades are missing. One of my pet-theory is the former knight perhaps did not wish to break his vows and tried to salvage his Blade, to go back for it, but was prevented. The poor Blade thus ended waiting and waiting for a knight that never came back thus making it more receptive to her new young carrier. So perhaps this specific Blade is not broken as much as others and can still be saved. 

 

All this is wild speculations of course. I wish Brandon will use the revival story line as it is awesome, just as I wish Brandon would revise his characters outlay and make a place for Adolin to grow as a main protagonists. He deserves much better than keeping on playing the second fiddle to everyone else, including characters with much less POV or development.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

I have to agree on your view the Edgedancers; it seems very against their ethos to do as the other orders did in the way they did it, although without knowing the reason for the Recreance, as you said, it is all wild speculation. I think Brandon may just surprise us, he is quite good at throwing people for loop but i'll put my money on radianthood for sure. The foreshadowing is strong in this one. (or else i'll eat wayne's hat)  

[Guest]

I have to agree on your view the Edgedancers; it seems very against their ethos to do as the other orders did in the way they did it, although without knowing the reason for the Recreance, as you said, it is all wild speculation. I think Brandon may just surprise us, he is quite good at throwing people for loop but i'll put my money on radianthood for sure. The foreshadowing is strong in this one. (or else i'll eat wayne's hat)  

 

I love wild speculation: we can let our minds roam free. I based mine over the fact Dalinar saw only three orders abandon their oaths and none were the Edgedancer. Also, the sketches on the other Blades we have seen do not match Adolin's which leads me to think his may be one of the only Edgedancer blades. If the order had indeed hid or buried their Blades/sprens as I suspect they may, then it would explain why most of these were lost through the course of time.

 

Oh I agree there has been foreshadowing, but the fact remains Brandon did not plan out Adolin as a character. He added his POV to the last minute in WoK because he felt Dalinar's internal dilemma was too internal... He then thought the character worked well and he decided to use him more in WoR, but he is not giving him a book. Based on this specific conjuncture, I am reluctant to put all my eggs in awesome development for him. It'll happen only if the author wishes it and since he has stated on several occasion Adolin was not one of his main protagonists, I am starting to doubt we are going to see much more in the next book. I am deeply afraid the conclusion of Adolin's story arc will happen in the background and won't be conclusive.

 

I agree Radianhood should be the logical path for Adolin. The reason I now have cold feet about it sprouts from the fact Adolin does not have a story arc of his own: his seems to exist simply to emphasis that of others (Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar). Brandon also stated we would get more Renarin which I fear will come to the detriment of Adolin. Since Adolin has been used mostly to fuel conflicts into both Dalinar and Kaladin, will he be used to fuel one in Renarin? As to Adolin himself, will he ever get his own arc? If he were to have a book, I'd say yes, but since he isn't, I am starting to think that no, he won't.

 

In other words, I may be getting hype over a potential plot that won't happen. With all that is set to happen in the next book with characters we know are more important than him, will there be any room for him to grow? Probably not. Potential story plots for Adolin are awesome: there sure is enough material and ground work done for him to become a truly great character with a breathtaking story line, but can this truly happen with a secondary character? Can it really happen when Brandon has already announced who were his main characters and he is not one of them?

 

I am starting to doubt. So yeah, there is a lot of foreshadowing, we have speculate wildly on Adolin in the last year or so, but will it come to fruition? Only Brandon knows.

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

Hmm, is Brandon still dividing the books into flashback characters/present day viewpoint character and that they both won't necessarily be the same for each book (WoK and WoR just happened to turn out that with Kaladin and Shallan IIRC)? (grasping but I refuse to give up on Adolin! Maybe i'll take the route of Feather and start fan-fiction. Storms, what a dark path to take) either way, time will tell. Has Brandon ever been asked if most of the orders broke their oaths? I think it is too soon to count Brandon out with his plans just yet, especially with that cliffhanger.

[Guest]

Hmm, is Brandon still dividing the books into flashback characters/present day viewpoint character and that they both won't necessarily be the same for each book (WoK and WoR just happened to turn out that with Kaladin and Shallan IIRC)? (grasping but I refuse to give up on Adolin! Maybe i'll take the route of Feather and start fan-fiction. Storms, what a dark path to take) either way, time will tell. Has Brandon ever been asked if most of the orders broke their oaths? I think it is too soon to count Brandon out with his plans just yet, especially with that cliffhanger.

 

I am not giving up on it either, but I realized lately I was investing myself too much into a character which may lead me to be severely disappointed when book 3 comes out. I have thus decided to lower my expectations when it comes to Adolin's future as many clues indicate I may end up being deceived. 

 

You are absolutely right in stating flashback and present day viewpoint characters may differ, but I do not recall Brandon giving us any indication he planned on giving Adolin a larger role into the next book, whereas he has told us without a doubt current secondary characters such as Lift, Renarin and Jasnah would play a larger role as the series progress. So since clues we have for future books never involve Adolin, I am trying not to get my hopes too high.

 

Ah fanfiction... I tried writing one as well. It is not easy as I am not a writer (I have never written anything so daring in English (I'm French) and I have not written anything else than boring technical reports for the past decade or so) so I dunno how it reads. I recently lost my beta reader so I dunno if I'll ever publish it. I am very self-conscious it may not be good enough and I'm kinda stuck on chapter 12 right now... 

[Bort he/him]

Maxal, I have another Adolin theory for you.

 

Adolin is a dueling master. One of Dalinar's visions suggested the idea of vexing Odium, stopping his plans and forcing him to choose a champion. Now, the question is, will he be chosen by Odium as his champion, or by Dalinar as the Radiants' champion?

[liamcephus]

I personally think that the thus far the admittedly spotty evidence of Adolin becoming a Radiant at all points to his possibly belonging to the order of Willshaper. A collection of uncut gems who I imagine can cover a wide range of personalities kind of a catch all of the Knight's Radiant. This theory is partly based on the name of a chapter he was the POV in (he does have quite a few Maxal calm down) in Words of Radiance. However, I at this point don't see him becoming a Radiant for some time if at all.I disagree with some that his murder of Sadeas will "break" him. The SOB had it coming and I doubt anyone (Adolin included) are going to shed a tear about that. Now the ripple effects (ie unintended consquences) of this act might precipitate some discomfort that could be severe (I think his widow is potentially more lethal and treacherous than he was ) or moderate but we will have to wait and see.

At this point to me Adolin seems like a somewhat decent (if a little predictable) bloke who is used to having everything without having to try very hard (women, victories what have you). As I'm sure many have already stated he seems written to embody all those traits of the arrogant rich, blonde haired blue-eyed football quarterback/Captain America trope but in this portrayal is actually not a complete cremhole but still has some serious growing to do.  At this point he can still be petty just to be petty (Am I only the only one who got really irritated with the Bridgeboy comments?) and continues to be borderline racist at times in large part due to his privileged upbringing. Kaladin and Shallan's newfound status will change that irrevocably and we will see what becomes of him next.

Unfortunately for the shippers out there I find his attraction to Shallan mutually shallow at best. I believe her interest is akin to a school girl crush and that since she is still having a wretched time figuring HERSELF out not a very mature perspective at this time and his attraction to me is really only based on the fact that she is a novelty to him as she is not one of the many sycophants he encounters everyday, I think that instead of the oft-horrific love triangle people are so afraid of (odd since Brandon has already touched on a version of the "love triangle" in Mistborn and everyone loves that) we will see three people grow, mature, change and may continue romantically amongst themselves or all may go elsewhere with people we haven't even encountered yet. There are 8 more books people.

[DreamEternal]

liamcephus, Adolin was storming anoying calling Kaladin bridgeboy, but Kaladin isn't innocent either. Bodyguards are supposed to guard people while standing out of the way, while Kaladin acts like he was directly below the Highprince on the chain of command(wich is true, and he would be a full battalionlord if he was not a darkeyes, but you can't blame Adolin for not seeing it this way)

Edited June 29, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern

[Cartith he/him]

The Edgedancer theory has been gaining traction lately actually.

A bit late here, but I can't resist a good pun. 

 

I thought edgedancers were about losing traction, not gaining it. 

[DreamEternal]

A bit late here, but I can't resist a good pun.

I thought edgedancers were about losing traction, not gaining it.

They can walk on wires according to Nale, so they probably can increase friction.

[liamcephus]

CognitivePulsePattern,

My point is that for Kaladin and most of the other Bridgeman that may be akin to calling them the N-word. Not to mention he is intentionally bringing up a hellish part of Kaladin's past and he (like most other lighteyes including Shallan I mean as a former soldier who takes a man's boots that is really f-ed up) makes it seem like they are doing him a favor by making him a bodyguard and he should be grateful.  He needs to "know" his place. I find that funny since Adolin wouldn't be alive to call anybody Bridgeboy without Kaladin several times over. As a matter of fact I can't think of one instance where Adolin saved Kaladin's life. A little patronizing no?

 

A lot of people on this forum give Kaladin a hard time for WoR because they found him "mopey, whiney, and a bit uppity" like he doesn't have every right to be mistrustful of a people who throw thousands of lives away for their own amusement everyday and who have lied and slaughtered his friends not only once, but several times. And in fact have perpetuated a system of inequity since long before he was born.  In my opinion he has responded as well as can be expected and if he is a little judgmental it is only because a supremely naive person wouldn't be defensive against these people. How many times has he saved lighteyes lives only to be rewarded with death by those very same people (not for himself but even more painfully for those who choose to follow him). I think Brandon Sanderson has intentionally or not touched on a very poignant issue most people like to ignore. There is disparity and inequity in this world that most don't want to end because they and theirs happen to be on the winning side and unfortunately some of your favorite characters have helped perpetuate it (Dalinar, Elhokar)

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

A bit late here, but I can't resist a good pun. 

 

I thought edgedancers were about losing traction, not gaining it. 

 

I think the surges work in both directions, it is just the little things that can be done with the surge or how the power is used that differentiates the parent Orders (along with Oaths, Morals, Spren etc)

 

As for calling Kaladin Bridgeboy, I think it started as a half-ignorant/callous rich boy thinking it amusing banter to this awkward yet playful camaraderie in the vein of we'd-actually-be-really-good-friends/rivals-if-it-weren't-for-this-culture thing

Edited June 29, 2015 by ParadoxSpren

[DreamEternal]

liamcephus, I agree with you that Kaladin deserves better and that Adolin shouldn't call him bridgeboy, I was just explaining that you can't say Adolin is an insufferable man who is petty for the sake of being petty. Kaladin has all the right in the world to be angry, but unless he wants to start a revolution and change the way vorinism views eye color he can't expect lighteyes to understand why he acts like that. Adolin is willfully blind of the injustice of his society, and Kaladin could have easily changed how he views things, had him just talked to him instead of entering angry mode.

[Kaladin al'Thor]

I have been thinking a lot about Adolin and what would have to happen to revive his blade(I was the one who asked Brandon if it was an Edgedancer's blade). One thing I have come up with is what if Adolin's a direct descendant(no clue how to spell that word) of the Edgedancer who was bonded to his blade. It says that the blade had been passed down through his mothers side of the family. I wonder if this will make it easier for Adolin to bond the blade... Just a thought..

 

Also, if Adolin were to be banished he would take his shards with him. Dalinar said the puishment for a shard bearer was exile because you could not simply execute a shard bearer or put him in prison. Now I can see Adolin potentially giving up his shards of his own free will if Dalinar asked him to but I find it unlikely.

 

I also think Adolin is broken, re read the section. it says specifically something inside him broke, or snapped, i forget. Killing a man is not enough to break a proven warriors mind, I agree. But comitting murder? No matter what he deserves killing another human being in the manner that Adolin did would be tramatizing(again, suck at spelling).

 

Just  some thoughts. I have several questions to ask Brandon about this next time I see him. I will keep you all posted

[DreamEternal]

Actualy, Dalinar said the only punishment for a sharbearer would be execution, because they can't be jailed and you can't realy enforce an exilation against someone who can just cut his way back through an army. Most likely, Adolin would forfeit his shards.

And Adolin won his blade on a duel, it was his plate that he inherited. Not that it would matter, since surgebinding is not genetic.

Edited June 29, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern

[hoser he/him]

About the bridgeboy thing ... I think it is the "boy" part that is offensive.  As far as I can tell, Kaladin identifies as a "bridgeman" and does not find it an offensive form of address, as in Urithiru where Navani calls him that.  The "boy" part not only echoes United States racist history, but suggests immaturity and insignificance.  While Kaladin is a bit younger than Adolin, his achievements, responsibilities and (arguably) maturity make it a belittling word for him.  

 

The quote about reviving the blade (thank you, ParadoxSpren!) is quite tantalizing.  I read it not as suggesting that the original knight was alive, but rather that most wouldn't be able to revive the blade.  Which would mean that some could.  Possibly only those predisposed toward being Edgedancers?  That could be very interesting.  I'm sure others have commented extensively about Adolin's interest in fashion and the Edgedancer reputation for elegance. 

 

There are mysteries about Adolin that lead me to think that he is due more development. 

• Why does he screw up his romances by flirting outside of them?  Does he want them to fail?  Does that relate to losing his mother?  Fear of commitment? 
• Why is he reticent about physical connection w/the women he dates?  Strictly alethi propriety?  This is not typical male behavior.  Questions about sexual orientation? 
• Not experiencing the Thrill in the climactic battle could be an evolution toward Radiance.  It could also be due to the Unmade responsible for the Thrill being in Jah Keved. 
• What did Danlan say that caused him to break off their romance?

So Maxal, while his development will almost certainly fall short of your desires, I think you may have much enjoyment ahead.  My main concern is that, as Renarin's brother, he may suffer from the twin problem.  If there are twins and someone has to die, it seems that one of the twins is always disposable (e.g. Fred and George). 

[Guest]

Sorry this is quite long and broken into two messages.

 

...

 

I am going to respond to your post in general as opposed to sections of your post. I happen to disagree with most of your comments.

 

First, whereas it is true Adolin can come up as petty and shallow on the surface, he has proven to be much more than anticipated on the inside. You claim Adolin has never worked for anything he has, which is completely false. Adolin was not born a master swordsman: he became one after years and years of intense training and whereas it is true he grew up in wealth, he sure did his fair share of work. Back in WoK, when all the lighteyes are being petty and frivolous, Adolin is working hard to clean the aftermath of the hunt. This is only one of several examples where we see Adolin working hard, so any comments about him not having raised a single finger to justify his position does not hold, unless you consider one needs to be tortured like Kaladin to be worthy of any advancement.

 

Adolin has also proven to be an effective leader, a good one, one that cares for his men, one that listens to advice and one that treats those below him with respect. What fault does he bear in this regard? The fault of not revolting himself against the injustice of the eye color system? The fault of not being ahead of his time? The fault for not seeing the poor darkeyes below him and to advocate the entire structure of their world should be abolish because it is unfair? Adolin is the product of his upbringing and the fact he manages to come up as a down to earth guy able to laugh with darkeyes children and rescue lowly prostitute marks him as everything else than the entitled shallow bloke you are describing.

 

You fault Adolin for being racist? When has Adolin ever been racist? He has always been fair towards Kaladin, except for calling him "bridgeboy", but have you forgotten how Kaladin insulted Adolin on their first scene together? You claim Kaladin in entitled to be angry and distrustful based on his personal experience with a very small sample of lighteyes? Adolin is a thousand more times more entitled to be wary of the slave with a slash brand that miraculously saved them... What do they know about Kaladin? Nothing and yet you call Adolin out for not welcoming Kaladin with open arms? Kaladin saved them, yes. He deserved his freedom, but being named Captain was not part of his due. Dalinar made this decision, but he did not have to and nor did Kaladin expected it. As for being racist, Kaladin is the one who has express open racist towards lighteyes and refuse to acknowledge Adolin may have qualities. Adolin, on his side, is willing to give to Kaladin what he has earned: his respect.

 

As for his attraction to Shallan, I believe you are missing his entire inner dialogue on the matter when he is completely unsure of himself when it comes to girls. Shallan was the last chance he sees for himself. Whereas he sure has faults in his failed courtships, the fact remains this young man does not do it on purpose and does not understand what he does wrong. In a sense, he is completely clueless as to how to behave and he is awfully shy despite having an outgoing, friendly personality (yes it is possible to be both). You think it is shallow? I think there is nothing shallow about two young people learning to spend time with each other. They have been dating for a few weeks, what did you expect? That they would have the depth of a relationship going on for years? They hardly know each other, but they are happy together, they make each other smile, they make each other laugh and when it comes to relationship, that's a pretty good start.

 

For the Willshaper part: I disagree. Adolin is not resolute nor builder and nor does he have an eccentric personality. He is quite the opposite actually: the guy who wants to fit in. You are, of course, entitled to believe murdering Sadeas will not break him, but you may be overlooking other clues spread in the book indicating how Adolin has been lead to crack. He was horrified by what he did: not satisfied and just a few moments before, he was angsting over his own future, not too sure where he belonged anymore. Doubts. Insecurities. It may be hard to see with someone who express his confidence so much, but an excess of self-confidence often hides the contrary: a lack in it. Not everyone is introspective and extroverted people tend to hide their weaknesses in their outgoing personality and their over sociability. Think of it as a wall: you talk so much and are so open, you completely deflect people for your inner vulnerable self, worst you make them believe you do not have one. Everything in Adolin's inner dialogue points toward a rather insecure young man who knows he has talents, but is always afraid he may fail. The entire preparation ritual before his duels highlights it, especially when he gets nervous for an easy fight.

 

Also, Kaladin is not the only one who has saved life.... 

 

OK, back in another post... 

Edited June 29, 2015 by maxal

[Guest]

I have been thinking a lot about Adolin and what would have to happen to revive his blade(I was the one who asked Brandon if it was an Edgedancer's blade). One thing I have come up with is what if Adolin's a direct descendant(no clue how to spell that word) of the Edgedancer who was bonded to his blade. It says that the blade had been passed down through his mothers side of the family. I wonder if this will make it easier for Adolin to bond the blade... Just a thought..

 

I have thought of it as well, though we do know the Blade is not from his family... but the thought he may be, by a weird twist of events, related to the former knight has crossed my mind. Seems far-fetched though.

 

 

About the bridgeboy thing ... I think it is the "boy" part that is offensive.  As far as I can tell, Kaladin identifies as a "bridgeman" and does not find it an offensive form of address, as in Urithiru where Navani calls him that.  The "boy" part not only echoes United States racist history, but suggests immaturity and insignificance.  While Kaladin is a bit younger than Adolin, his achievements, responsibilities and (arguably) maturity make it a belittling word for him.  

 

Bah Adolin is immature at times... However, he does move past being an antagonist towards Kaladin rather fast when he is able to assess his worth with his own eyes.

 

 

 

There are mysteries about Adolin that lead me to think that he is due more development. 

• Why does he screw up his romances by flirting outside of them?  Does he want them to fail?  Does that relate to losing his mother?  Fear of commitment? 
• Why is he reticent about physical connection w/the women he dates?  Strictly alethi propriety?  This is not typical male behavior.  Questions about sexual orientation? 
• Not experiencing the Thrill in the climactic battle could be an evolution toward Radiance.  It could also be due to the Unmade responsible for the Thrill being in Jah Keved. 
• What did Danlan say that caused him to break off their romance?

So Maxal, while his development will almost certainly fall short of your desires, I think you may have much enjoyment ahead.  My main concern is that, as Renarin's brother, he may suffer from the twin problem.  If there are twins and someone has to die, it seems that one of the twins is always disposable (e.g. Fred and George). 

 

Adolin and his romances... I do not think it underlines a fear of commitment as Adolin has implied his desire to commit himself to one woman on more than one occasions, but I do think it hides a serious lack of self-confidence in his ability to attract a women. He is awfully shy, which I do not think indicates any divergent sexual orientation, but is symptomatic of his natural caring personality. Adolin cares a lot, about everything and because he cares, he has gotten self-conscious about what people think of him. It is a never-ending circle. We see him thrive through all of WoK to achieve reconnaissance among his peers, clearly being high influenced on how they perceived him. Since he is so self-conscious, it makes opening up to another being very tricky. What if they do not like him? What if they laugh of him? What if they shut him out? For all of these reasons, Adolin is shy. He is not only shy with intimacy, he is also shy to open-up to people. As a result, he has no friends. Opening up means being vulnerable and he can't bring himself there, because he gets hurt to easily when it comes to emotions.

 

As a result, he kinda of walled himself in. He projects an outside personality that does not reflect his inside one. How he ended up this way, I do not know. However, one thing I have suspected is he took upon himself to care for his family at a very young age, probably since his mother died. His father was demolished, his young autistic brother crippled with anxiety, so it all fall back on him to be the strong one, at an age where he did not have the maturity nor the capacity to be. As a result, he has systematically been putting himself last when it comes to his family welfare.

 

It could also be he is unconsciously looking for a woman similar to the mother he loved so much and it doesn't happen until he meets Shallan.

 

Not experiencing the Thrill, I believe he has steadily moved away from it all through WoR. First duel, he falls into it. Then, on the next duels, he progressively fights it and refuses to give in. He does it more and more and in the end, he can't find it. 

 

Danlan must have spoken against his family.... 

 

And yeah, I will probably end up being disappointed which is why I am gearing myself to be. I certainly hope however he is not disposable, but the arguments in favor of him being the next dead Kohlins are very strong. I see it as likely he would die by the end of either next book or book 5.

[liamcephus]

Haha I just can't join you on this "Adolin love" Maxal. I guess your going down with this ship come hell or high water. I don't dislike the guy I just think he's immature at times and ignorant at others. Paradoxically, in other situations he can be very perceptive and decisive. He's whole person (fictionally speaking). You do know he's fictional right?

[EvilNuff]

...

Oh I agree there has been foreshadowing, but the fact remains Brandon did not plan out Adolin as a character. He added his POV to the last minute in WoK because he felt Dalinar's internal dilemma was too internal... He then thought the character worked well and he decided to use him more in WoR, but he is not giving him a book. Based on this specific conjuncture, I am reluctant to put all my eggs in awesome development for him. It'll happen only if the author wishes it and since he has stated on several occasion Adolin was not one of his main protagonists, I am starting to doubt we are going to see much more in the next book. I am deeply afraid the conclusion of Adolin's story arc will happen in the background and won't be conclusive.

...

 

As much as I hate to say it, as Adolin is one of my favorite characters, I have to agree here.  I just don't see as much development for Adolin as other major characters.  (Which just makes me sad that a great character like Adolin is minor and a terrible one like Renarin is a major one...sheesh.)

[DreamEternal]

Renarin is not a terrible character. Please, try to remain civil and not say this kind of thing just because you like other characters more.

Also, if I was more fluent in this language I would write a long dissertation about Renarin. Sadly, I am not and must to leave it to someone else.

Edited July 2, 2015 by CognitivePulsePattern

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

Considering Brandon has so many front-runners going on in the first two books, Renarin is just a little underdeveloped given we don't have a lot of information about him yet.  (Don't let Feather see that comment, she frightens me more than the Nightwatcher!     Adolin isn't exactly minor, he's just not a priority at the minute given we've already got so much going on as it is (if ever   though here's hoping )