Who is Wit really?

[The Night Watcher]

I know his name is Hoid. Brandon revealed that he's Cephandrius. He's a worldhopper, too, isn't he? So what's he doing on Roshar? Does he have a personal score to settle with Odium? He's obviously sympathetic to Dalinar's cause -- I mean, he told Jasnah imperative information, has offered hints and advice (and juicy tidbits, my gosh), but he hasn't said outright what it is he wants. When he and Dalinar had that heart to heart in WoR, and he told Dalinar not to mistake him as a friend, I got the feeling that Wit was avoiding attachment or relationships with people. He's always kept himself a bit apart from everyone else, cutting off conversations or shying away before he can make true connection with someone in an interaction. It's almost like a foreshadow that something bad is going to happen...? Or maybe h's guilty about something? I don't know, but of all Stormlight characters (besides Jasnah), he's fascinated me the most. 

Thoughts anyone?

[Khyrindor he/him]

Wit is probably the most important worldhopper there is. He was there when Adonalsium shattered thousands of years ago, and possibly had something to do with it. The hints we've gotten in the books suggest that his goal is to somehow reassemble Adonalsium, but even that is dubious evidence, so we can't really say anything with certainty.

Specific to Roshar, we know from the Letters that Hoid is working directly against Odium and is looking for aid. His goals in this happen to line up with Dalinar's in this way, but if it came to the destruction of Roshar in order to permanently get rid of Odium, then Hoid would let that happen (as he alluded to in the discussion you referenced).

If you want to know more, here's 504 WoBs on the matter: https://wob.coppermind.net/basic_search/?query=Hoid (though most are probably RAFOs)

Welcome to the Shard!

[Calyx]

If he is looking to avoid attachments (which I'm not sure of), he is doing quite a bad job of that with Shallan. He has, without doubt, been the most helpful person to her so far.

[The Night Watcher]

@Calyx that is very true! I totally forgot about her. But that, too, felt unintentional to me, as Wit was obviously surprised in that scene when Shallan gave him a hug (or something). I just get the feeling that Wit is guilty about something, and I was reading his letter thing in the Oathbringer italics before each chapter, and I wonder at what he's talking about and how complex his emotional ties are with people, from Roshar or out. 

[CelliCellos]

Maybe he just doesn’t want to get too attached to people because it makes it harder to leave a world eventually.

[The Night Watcher]

Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking. More than that, I also thought that maybe it's because he's going to do something that will cause damage, and maybe he doesn't want to be close to people when that happens.