Stormlight Archive Villains

[MasterGhandalf]

Having recently been giving some thought to Way of Kings and to the release, hopefully before the end of this year, of Stormlight 2, I've been attempting to map out what we know so far of who our major, series-spanning antagonists will be based on the first book. What I've got is as follows:

Obvious Villains

These guys were obvious (at least to the reader), major antagonists who played an important role in the first book.

Sadeas: If I considered anyone to be the main villain of Way of Kings, it would be him. Claims to be acting out of patriotism, seems just as likely to be acting out of ambition. Dalinar seems to think he was a good man at one time. I'm not seeing him as a major antagonist for the entire series- I'm thinking that at some point during the next couple of books he'll either die or become an ally.

Amaram: Mostly important in the flashbacks, executed Kaladin's squad and sold Kal himself into slavery to make sure he got the shardblade and 'plate. I'm kind of ambiguous on him myself, being unsure if he's just evil or if he's been listening too long to people (Restares?) counselling him to do bad things. I imagine the truth will come out when he shows up on the Shattered Plains, and until it does I find it hard to predict his role.

Szeth: The Assassin in White, basically kicked off the plot by killing Gavilar. Not really evil, but certainly antagonistic and very dangerous. I can foresee three roads for him- either he'll attempt to find redemption, lose himself completely to being a Truthless killer, or wind up a Gollum/Padan Fain/Severus Snape type wild card- which probably being based on why exactly he was made Truthless in the first place. Eagerly awaiting his book, in any case.

Taravangian: Probably the biggest villain introduced directly in book one, and I anticipate that he'll be a major villain for much of the series. I'm very, very curious about how much he knows and how he knows it. I've seen speculation that he may be the same person as Restares.

Hidden Masterminds

These guys get namedropped a couple of times each in the first book, but never show up in person (that we know of) and are generally mysterious.

Thaidakar: Seemed to have been Gavilar's numer one suspect for who would send an assassin after him and based on Amaram's conversation with the stormwarded is likely a high-up in the Ghostbloods, presumably their leader. Other than that, we know very little about him. Considering how much the Ghostbloods seem to be involved in, I'm guessing he'll be sticking around for a while.

Restares: Another person Gavilar thought might want to assassinate him and apparently Amaram's backer. Seems to have something to do with Stormwardens. If anything, even more mysterious than Thaidakar, though the name sounds masculine. May be the same person as Taravangian.

Cosmeric Forces

Higher powers, mentioned mostly in visions, legends, etc.

Odium: Apparently our Big Bad for Stormlight, maybe even for the entire Cosmere, a human named Rayse who took over a shard embodying hatred and dishonor (and was apparently a right piece of work before that). Not really a whole lot to say here, really.

The Unmade: Mentioned a handful of time across the first book, appear to be the leaders of the Voidbringers and personifications of destruction. One named Yelig-nar gets particular attention. I'm guessing that they have likely been heavily mythologized over the milennia, but since Yelig-nar is mentioned directly in one of Dalinar's visions, it looks like they really did exist as discreet entities. I'm anticipating them to be evil counterparts to the Heralds and Odium's lieutenants, and I'd also guess that they won't show up directly for awhile, maybe not until the second arc. I do think that Yelig-nar will end up being important, if only because the narrative goes out of its way a couple of times to draw attention to him.

Voidbringers: Ancient demons who may or may not be the same thing as the Parshendi. Until that whole issue is hammered out, it's really hard to speculate what role they'll play.

So, anyone else spotted likely story-spanning villains I missed or have theories regarding the roles of any of the above?

[cleric]

What I really loved is while there are villains in the first book, a lot of them think them selves in the right. Szeth and Tarazangian especially. they recognize that they do bad things, but Seth is being controled and Taravangian's motivations are to protect mankind, even if he has a messed up way of doing it.

Amaram and Sadieas are not long term baddies. Amaram is a middle ranking light eyes whos main conflict is a personal one with Kaladin. Sadieas has ambition but not of the take over the world kind. I think both will be more annoyances and character opposed villains than major story villains.

The Parshendi are also not villains. they are just opposed to the Alethi. They want to stop the Voidbringers and the desolation as much as anyone. more than most.

I think Odium has yet to make his major play. while Roshar is in chaos, everyone is pretty much opposed to him. It is smart for him to sit back and let everyone beat the crap out of each other.

[Observer]

Don't forget Shallan's remaining family. They'll probably be an irritation that shows up at an important moment to This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules HERO!? her.

[hoser he/him]

I like the list, but have some suggested adds for completeness.

The Ghostbloods may be should be listed rather than just mentioned as associates of Thaidakar given what we know they've done with Shallan's family, attempting to kill Amaram and attempting to assassinate Jasnah.

The Stone Shaman seem to deny the existence of Voidbringers and inflicted Szeth on the world. They could be a problem, particularly if they are manufacturing Shardblades.

The ten deaths, of which Midnight Essence is one, and which can apparently be summoned. I think the thunderclasts are another of them. They may have particular associations with particular unmade.