ob Heralds

[Humpty he/him]

Anyone else getting the feeling that Cultivation is setting things up so that the ten main characters are going to end up being her heralds now and not just mere Radiants in order to renew the Oathpact.  I mean she has taken a direct hand with two of them maybe even more. I also so think that the "immortal words" is not just a fancy name.

[emailanimal he/him]

No.  

Selecting Heralds is the way Honor approached the problem, because his powers were to enter into binding agreements and hold other parties to it. So, Honor had an agreement with the Heralds and also some agreement with Odium that is still binding for Odium (as he wants Dalinar to release him from it).

 

Cultivation's powers have nothing to do with making agreements and watching that people follow their oaths.  She is the power of transformation (see a recent WoB) - essentially the middle ground between Preservation and Ruin.  So, Cultivation very well may be playing a long game, and setting up some of the characters for certain actions - in fact, we know she is doing it - but it ain't going to be new Heralds and new Oathpact.

Additionally, note that the Oathpact was an imperfect solution selected by a somewhat desperate Shard.   From the point of view of meta-reasoning I do not see ten books in the Stormlight Archive all leading to basically the status quo from 5000 years ago.  We are now looking at the True Desolation. There will be no more Desolations, no more cycles. Either Odium wins, or Odium loses. 

[taveren he/him]

i suspect that a planed break from the desolation will happen. like they will go back for a set number of years in order to prepare to end the desolation's once and for all. and that is what the time skip after book 5 will be.