Any chance Dalinar will de-shatter the Plains?

[Eluvianii he/him]

Before reading Oathbringer I heard something about Dalinar finally "Uniting them", and by the sound of it it was one big event rather than the slow process previous interpretations would require, so the first thing I thought of was the Shattered Plains. It fits with him being a Bondsmith and, well, they were shattered for a reason, maybe they had a purpose someone didn't want them to fulfill?

In the end it wasn't that but now I'm wondering if it might happen in the future. Power probably wouldn't be a problem seeing what he did at the end and he's already sticking things together and he's only in his, second Ideal? 

Any thoughts on this? Or could you tell me if I'm missing something? I tried to look for things related to this before posting but the search bar doesn't seem to like me.

[RShara she/her]

I think the Plains have been Shattered so long that "uniting" them would be really difficult. Also, I can't think of a really good motive for him wanting to do so.

[Weltall]

@Ookla the Dominion Well played on the Ookla name, well played...

Anyhow, I think RShara's right here and even if you could un-shatter the Plains, it's not going to happen. It took Dalinar a ton of effort to fix one temple when all the original bits of it were still right there, imagine how much time it would take to reconstruct an entire city, plus the surrounding land. Throw in that so many of the original pieces have been covered in crem or eroded away and the fact that it's been so long the place almost certainly now sees itself as shattered (reflecting both time and how everyone currently thinks of it) and I don't see it being possible.

As for the shattering in the first place, I don't think there's going to be a deep reason behind it. We're given to believe that it was the Knights Radiants who shattered it since the Listener songs say it wasn't their gods who did it.

Quote

They blame our people / For the loss of that land. / The city that once covered it / Did range the eastern strand. / The power made known in the tomes of our clan / Our gods were not who shattered these plains.

My guess is that it was some sort of last-ditch effort to deny the city/its Oathgate to Odium's forces during Aharietiam, an accident or a mix of the two.

[Yezrien]

I suspect he'll eventually be able to do it, and it would be awesome if he did, but think of all the ecosystems it would destroy! Haven't the chasmfiends suffered enough?

[king of nowhere]

yep, the shattered plains are now a full ecosystem that would be cancelled if they were mended. such is nature, always renewing itself, so that what is now only came into being at the expense of what was  before, and it will be something different in the future. You can't really say it has a "right" state.

And I really see no point in mending the chasms.

[Quantus he/him]

For all the reasons listed above I dont see it healing at this point. 

 

I see only one reason for the plains themselves to move/change (and it's a long shot):  I have a theory that all the geographic fractals we've seen, from the cities to the plains to the continent itself, are all giant slumbering Cryptics, with the Sibling being the continent itself contemporary to Stormfather, ie the Manifestation of the planetary Highstorm itself.

[Eluvianii he/him]

Well, I guess there really is no reason to do it. It's just something that popped in my head, like it would be interesting if it happened.

I hadn't thought about the ecosystem thing either, it would be a shame to destroy everything that's appeared there after all this time.

@Ookla the Gralsritter Likewise, I see it was a close one, a bit more and we would have the same name.

[sonoskay]

It could be a thing maybe, in the sense  that its mended at the very end in a "all of roshar is mended and  and shaped"

 

But otherwise, simply as a bond smith, i dont think so. Its been too long. Everyone who knows of the shattered plains  sees it as a shattered plain.

 

In the lore of  the book the plains themselves probably  dont feel shattered. It just is what it is. In this sense  there isnt anything to mend.