[OB] Characters that surprised you in OB

[mariapapadia she/her]

Hej! So I noticed that there are a lor of threads about favourite characters or individual threads about some minor and major characters, but if we were to have one for each, there would be dozens( not that there aren't already). We all know and disected our main trio plus the characters surrounding them so far, so I was thinking this could be a merged thread for some more indepth talk about characters that got a bit of action in OB, but they aren't big enough yet. (Of course you could argue that the one's I'm going to talk about are quite big, but ehh.. ) 

My questions are : what minor(or not so minor) characters arcs( new or old)  surprised you in a good way in OB and why and where do you think they could go from there? 

• My first pick is Venli, this comes after a previous post I saw today, but that was more Eshoinai related and I deviated. 

When I listened to the first Venli interlude, I have to admit I wasn't that impressed, I didn't have any strong feelings towards her, but I thought it will be a bit tiering to hear an Odium fanatic in the making and especially because some thought she was going to be Odium's champion I was a bit meeeh. But I was pleasantly surprised by her. Her next chapter( or was it an interlude), when she was going to be transformed into a Fused, but she ended up staying herself, but loosing her friend/partner I knew I was into her. It was a bit of a shock to me that she seemed to get hit so hard by the loss of Demid, but not Eshonai, her own sister. It made me realised that despite her agenda, she actually cared about someone else as well.

The moment when she was close to being transform during the storm, but that voice inside her said "Choose another, This one is mine", was such a precios moment for me. Maybe I read it wrong, but did anyone else thought that was Timbre fighting for her with the "spirit"(for lack of a better word) of the Fused or was it something with the voidspren she was already bonded with? ( I haven't started my reread so most of the scenes, I read only once and I don't get things the first time). 

I was glad that she slowly started to doubt the Fused and the cause and she hide Timbre from them. I almost had a heart attack when she was interrupted in the middle of saying her Oaths, thinking she'll have the same faith as Elhokar. I am glad how her story progressed and that she doesn't seem to fall in any of the two established camps, so I hope she will try and gather her people, the Listeners, back and lead them. Towards what? I have no idea, but I am curious to see. I wonder if she'll meet with Eshonai's old group that fleed the Shattered Plains in WoR before being killed or transformed. 

Also, the way she comunicates to Timbre, seems special, as I haven't seen any words( this is if Timbre wasn't the one repelling the Fused) so far, but only "pulsing". I wonder if it's because the bond is still in the beginning and she will evolve to words (much like Pattern in WoR). 

• Second, Szeth. I had a wierd appreciacion for Szeth from the beginning of WoK, though I couldn't give a specific reason why. So I waited to see more of him for a while and was a bit scared that he might go to much into being a crazy law enforcer, like Nale. But of course some of those worries were resolved with Edgedancer. Him and Nightblood are my current favourite pair of human/pseudospren. I like that he was some sort of prodigy among the other Skybreakers and I couldn't help but feel amused at how the situation was presented. He looked like the bullied lonely guy in school, that has a magic friend  And when he played air paintball with the others, I was sure he was going for the "water cleared my shirt" excuse . And all the test he had with the other Skybreakers, it really felt like Skybreaker academy 1.01. Ohhh ! I just loved him and he is probably my most anticipated character for the next book. Nightblood.. I had no doubt I was going to love everything about him/her. This sword could side with Odium and I would still love it <3 It's been one of my favourite characters written by Brandon, ever since Warbreaker. I was really dissapointed with the fact that there wasn't more of a reaction to Szeth's arrival, the fact that he was alive and etc. I really look forward to see him from other POV's and hear other's opinion about him. Especially interacting with Kaladin and Lift. 

 

• Lift . Lift was a wierd character for me for a while. I didn't thought that much of her in WoR, haven't give her a second though and she annoyed me a bit with the "awesomeness". After I joined the 17th Shard and saw that she was such a polarizing character I got put off even more, so I was postponing reading Edgedancer. After I did, I didn't love her, but I didn't dislike her either. But suddently a couple of weeks before OB I read a post on this forum, that made me realise I am really excited for her and her arc. It was new to me, as it was like something brew and grew inside and one day I just went to 180 degrees. I really enjoyed her in OB. She had such a small appearance, but had a stong impact. Saving/helping Szeth with Nightblood, moking Dalinar, asking him if he was planning to fight the Voidbringers with a book, her telling Shallan to stop hugging herself haha. I am really growing into loving her ! And the more time  passes the more I start to forget why I didn't like her. She breaks all the tension happening around the other characters nicely and I think it's great that in a world that's ending, she's the one cracking jokes. Though I really hope she drops the "awesomeness" and stop reffering to everything Stormlight related like that . I see some resemblance/parallels with Shallan here so I am curious how she will interact with Wit as well. I would love to see her as Kaladin's perstering little sister 

 

These were my top three, but two honorable mentions go to Teft and Elhokar. I was pretty vocal that both their scenes (saying the Oath and dying have been the two most emotional scenes for me in this book). Before OB I didn't care much about Teft, though I could tell something was happening to him, but the way Brandon managed to portray his addiction, even though he had such a short POV, was so real and emotional to me, especially because I had known people IRL struggling with drug abuse. What else is there to say about Elhokar? I was actually getting fond of him since WoR and it's still painfull to think about him .

Yeah, these were my surprises when it comes to characters for OB. What characters  weren't you sure you'd enjoy, but ended up loving? (releasing this into the world, hoping it won't be ignored. Sorry if there are similar threads out there, but I needed to gush about these guys). Sorry for being a bit incoherent, I should get more sleep instead of spending time here. 

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by mariapapadia

[Ironeyes he/him]

Elhokar grew on me considerably over the course of book 2, and I was heavily invested in his arc in this book. When I read his death scene, well, I'm pretty sure my roommates thought I was dying after the sound I made. 

 

Venli takes the runner up spot. I'm psyched to see where she goes in future books 

[StormingTexan he/him]

I'd say the biggest surprise had to be Elhokar. I just didn't like him in the first two books and thought more than anything he was there to progress Kaladin along in his oaths. I thought he was a sniveling entitled drunkard and was ready for Dalinar to take over his spot. Then this book comes along and we see him start to turn in to the leader he was meant to be. We see his softer side worried about his family and his kingdom. Then he dies... Thanks Brandon you made me like a character then you killed him off and no less right before he was about to say the first oath.

I was also a little surprised on how much more I liked some of the Bridge 4 guys. I always liked Lopen and Rock but the POVs really made me connect with the rest. 

[Maximus]

Szeth and Adolin started to be actually interesting in this book. I have a personal connection with Teft. Elhokar grew up.

[Modal Seoul he/him]

1. Dalinar

2. Szeth

3. Moash

4. Skar

5. Lift

6. Vivenna

[Sprendiferous]

1. Dalinar: He was the star of the show. I loved his story of pseudo-retroactive character development. I wasn't a huge fan of his before this but wow did OB change my mind.

2. Jasnah: I can't really say I really cared about Jasnah one way or the other before this book. She is terrifying.

3. Szeth: Szeth has been one of my favorites since WoK so no surprise here. He and Nightblood may be the most dangerous duo in the Cosmere.

And a quick note about Venli. I don't care for her. I really don't see why she would have drawn a Radiant Spren and I really hope she does more in the future.

 

 

[StrikerEZ he/him]

These aren't in any particular order, I'm just gonna be listing them off as I think of them. 

• Venli: I'm putting Venli first because something about her character arc really, really surprised me in this book. It just was so unexpected (rip Eshonai), but it was absolutely amazing. I never really liked Venli all that much in WoR, but that was because we only got to see glimpses of her from Eshonai's perspective. The interactions between her and Timbre throughout the book were freaking awesome, and the progression of her character throughout the book was so satisfying to read. It's weird because we all expected Eshonai to be our Willshaper, because she basically fit the description of loving adventure, novelty, or oddity. Now though...I see that Venli almost fits it even better, in her own unique way. Her version of adventure is the discovery of power. I'm tired and can't explain this very well, but I just really loved how Venli progressed in this book.
• Elhokar: I never thought I'd someday actually like Elhokar. But storms, Sanderson somehow made it happen. And then proceeded to crush my hopes and dreams by getting him Elhokar'd (a term I have been coining in the discord server). Elhokar went from a man who complained about being less than people expected him to be to becoming a man who tried so hard to live up to those expectations, even though he knew he couldn't. He was a man who just wanted to be something better, and it pains me that he had to die. His arc in OB was beautiful, though less explored than others, and it's frustrating that he was killed.
• Moash: I was surprised by Moash's character arc in this book, but not in a good way. There's not really much to say about him except that I feel like his path to the "dark side," so to speak, was pretty pointless. Plus, I'm still mad at him for killing Elhokar. Though, I guess it will be cool to see how Vyre develops. I really hope he doesn't get a redemption arc. He had his chance and he blew it. He doesn't deserve another one.
• Shallan: I really did not like how Shallan progressed in most of this book. It didn't even feel like character progression but more like regression. She just kept getting worse and worse with her split personalities, and it was just not something I enjoyed reading. Maybe it was good for her to go through this, so it wouldn't happen to her later when she really needs to be just Shallan, but I just felt like it was handled pretty poorly. Though, I do like that she choose Adolin over Kaladin; I shipped Shadolin from the start over Shalladin.
• Adolin: I've always been an Adolin fan, but this book made me love him even more! (*fights with Shallan over Adolin*) For some reason something about Adolin this book just really spoke to me. He's a man who tries his absolute best to be the best he can be, and he always puts up a good act for the others. He may have his own problems for himself, but I feel like Adolin feels like he has to be the rock for the others to hold onto. Adolin never complains about anything that happens to him, never complains when something goes wrong. It's storming awesome. And MAYA!!!! Oh my gosh, I'm so happy he's actually on the path to reviving her. While Adolin does bring a special point of view to the story as a non-Radiant, I think he'd be storming awesome as an Edgedancer. Plus, he fits the Ideals so well. He talks to all of the soldiers of the army whenever he can, he helped that prostitute way back in WoK, when he was in the middle of fighting a storming thunderclast, he risked getting himself killed to save the little boy hiding under the table. Ughhh, it's so perfect, I'm gonna be so mad if he doesn't revive Maya. Like, he's already got her name, he was able to summon her early, and he fits the Ideals almost perfectly. 

Okay, that's enough mini-ranting for me. These are the characters I was surprised by, both positively and negatively. I'm so excited to see more of Adolin in the next book, and I'm storming pumped for the Eshonai flashbacks in the next book as well. That will help us understand Venli so much more. 

[King Cole he/him]

Shallan-I didn't think she would get so rusting crazy

[What's a Seawolf?]

I didn't expect Lift to be anything but an interlude character until the back 5 books, so seeing her entering the main narrative so quickly and wonderfully was phenomenal.

[mariapapadia she/her]

18 hours ago, Captains Domon said:

3. Moash

I would be curios to hear in what way Moas surprised you (good or bad?). I will probably be forever biased when it comes to Moash, but I hate it (he's written well) but ohter than that I want to hear some thoughts from someone who enjoyed him. The others were great ! 

17 hours ago, Sprendiferous said:

1. Dalinar: He was the star of the show. I loved his story of pseudo-retroactive character development. I wasn't a huge fan of his before this but wow did OB change my mind.

3. Szeth: Szeth has been one of my favorites since WoK so no surprise here. He and Nightblood may be the most dangerous duo in the Cosmere.

And a quick note about Venli. I don't care for her. I really don't see why she would have drawn a Radiant Spren and I really hope she does more in the future.

 

I never felt a particular connection to Dalinar's character, I don;t either after this book, but he got more interesting to me and I enjoyed his flashbacks and his Accension.

Yesss! Team Szeth from the start! I feel like he was always so underrated! 

IMO Venli is interesting because she doesn't fall in one of the two camps, I think she will do her thing with the Listeners and lead them. Plus I love redemption arcs! 

14 hours ago, Ookla the peer-pressured said:

Shallan-I didn't think she would get so rusting crazy

 

14 hours ago, Ookla the StrooklaEZ said:

...

@Ookla the StrooklaEZ Great summary of all the characters !

I absolutely hated Moash and I want him to burn in hell . #NOREDEMPTIONARC

I enjoyed Adolin's arc with Maya and I am sure he will revive it, it's too obvious not too. I was a bit dissapointed because I expected to see more conflict from his side and maybe some more POVs to clarify some things about Shallan or to see some of his inner worries  

@Ookla the peer-pressured I was quite let down about Shallan, because she has been my favourite character so far. But as the book progressed she became a bit tiring to read and by the end I don't particulary like how her story wrapped up, but that's a story for another day(never). She's becoming one of the most polarizing characters after her ending in OB and I am starting to get a bit saturated by her, so I am focusing on some others characters