[OB] So about Eshonai

[Aggrax]

So, if Eshonai is actually dead like we saw at the start of the book, does that mean she is no longer a candidate for a Flashback PoV in the books? Since according to Coppermind the 5 Flashbackers were Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, Szeth and Eshonai, but now shes dead. Would we maybe see her as one of the Fused? or in some other capacity?

[RShara she/her]

Brandon said that the flashback character doesn't necessarily need to be alive.  Also, that he doesn't like to pull a Gandalf.

[Storyspren]

Maybe her almost Spren could give Venli a flashback from eshonai’s sort of POV.

[+Wax he/him]

Or maybe Eshonai is stuck in the Rosharan CR?

[shawnhargreaves he/him]

Eshonai can be both a flashback character, and also an active ongoing participant as a future Parshendi Ancestor.  Death isn't necessarily permanent for them, and we saw that yellow spren separating from her corpse.  I expect that to combine with some other body to create a new kind of Fused.

[Dah Pie]

The other possibility I see is that maybe Venli's spren is actually Eshonai as it seems that as parshman die they can become spren it seems like it could be possible. 

[Windrunner he/him]

I think Eshonai is dead. The spren at her corpse is a lightspren that was in the process of bonding with Eshonai that Venli inadvertently picked up. Timbre mentions her grandfather being killed by the Radiants, that doesn't make sense for her to be Eshonai. I want Eshonai to be dead, we've had enough lucky breaks for our characters.

[dantlee]

I'm really hoping Eshonai is actually dead, given that Brandon said he was going to do less of the revival thing. I think the way the flashbacks could work is if it's a Venli-centric book, but she's featured in most of Eshonai's flashbacks. I imagine Brandon has some very cool ideas for how to meld the two sister's flashbacks so they eventually combine into one narrative by the end.