[OB] One of my favorite parts of Oathbringer

[kaellok he/him]

One of my favorite parts of Oathbringer is when Kaladin fails to Say the Fourth Ideal.  He knows what it is, and how important it could be, but he just can't say it.  I think this speaks a lot to him as a character.

On the other hand, shamefully I must admit that 90% of the reason why I'm so glad that he fails is because when Dalinar gets his turn to shine it's so much more powerful.  This was Dalinar's book, and the focus was on Dalinar's story arc.  Other characters definitely had their own time in the sun, but Dalinar was allowed to be the hero of his own story.

After reading WoR, one of my larger fears was that every book would just be Kaladin coming in to save the day again, and the climax would be on how he does it this time (there were arguably two major climactic points in WoR, and Kaladin was the hero-focus of both of them).  However, even in the brief moments that they had on-screen, Jasnah and Renarin's scenes were emotional and awesome.  I'm still waiting for a moving climax scene from Shallan's point of view, and slowly accepting that we may never get one (I was happy to see her using an army of illusions for combat, which I had predicted as a tactic years ago, but the climactic scenes of her lacked...I dunno what, but something)--but I have restored faith that we will get those scenes for more than just Kaladin. 

Edited November 25, 2017 by kaellok

[Greywatch she/her]

I was really pleased with it, for Kaladin's sake. It breaks my heart that Kaladin really thinks it's a personal failing that he wasn't able to say the Fourth Ideal at this time, but I'm excited to where he goes in SA4. I thought it was actually a relief for Kaladin that he doesn't need to save everyone, even though he certainly feels the desire to.

Dalinar's crowning moment is so worth it, though. It was so powerful, and I'm glad we got to see for good that Dalinar came to his own realization on his own. He needed to face down his own past, and someone else riding in to the rescue might have turned that battle in a different (worse) way.