Book 2 speculation *Spoilers*

[CrazyRioter]

I can see Daliinar being like, "I won't order you to do this because you'd probably get killed, but if you want to take that risk I appreciate it.", and we know darn well Kaladin wouldn't be able to walk away and Bridge 4 wouldn't walk away from Kaladin. Heck, knowing Kaladin even if he was ordered to not get involved he'd still get involved.

Edited September 16, 2011 by CrazyRioter

[CabbageHead]

Last but not least, I really hope Kaladin does not get an important position in the Kholin Warcamp. While I like that guy, I don't want to see a 'from zero to hero' scenario taking place.

I think its a bit late for that: Kaladin is now leader of Dalinar's personal guard, and is in command of an entire battalion outside the chain of command. He already has an important position, and thats his starting position in the Kholin army. I'd argue however that the "zero to hero" thing really doesn't apply. The first chapter of the book, a scene from Kaladins past, shows him already a hero:

Cenn stumbled backward, dropping his spear and shield. He fell to rocky ground, splashing in someone else’s blood. His foe raised a spear high, a looming silhouette against the stark blue sky, ready to ram it into Cenn’s heart.

And then he was there.

Squadleader. Stormblessed. Kaladin’s spear came as if out of nowhere, narrowly deflecting the blow that was to have killed Cenn. Kaladin set himself in front of Cenn, alone, facing down six spearmen. He didn’t flinch. He charged.

[frozndevl]

...

1. The heritage-After returning to Sadeas' warcamp, Dalinar trades his shardblade in exchange for the bridgemen. That weapon was a part of his soul, and I don't see him living in good conscience now that he had been parted from it. Worse, the one who left him for dead owns it. After he talks with Sadeas and beats some sense into Elhokar, he's talking about giving his Shardplate away. This is going to left him exposed, with nothing valuable to pass on once he dies. Except for his visions. But these have already been scribbled down by Navanni, so Dalinar is not unique anymore.

...

So, brand new here since I just finished the book last night, which means I have thoughts / theories that have probably been previously debunked and I just haven't had a chance to find out yet. That being said, let's talk about Dalinar giving away his Shards. I seem to remember, although I did finish the book up late last night, that Dalinar felt a sort of relief / good feeling when he gave up the sword. If I am remember correctly, and we use Syl's reaction to a Shardblade as a guide, then perhaps Dalinar was feeling a bit of the bad mojo coming from the sword.

[happyman]

So, brand new here since I just finished the book last night, which means I have thoughts / theories that have probably been previously debunked and I just haven't had a chance to find out yet. That being said, let's talk about Dalinar giving away his Shards. I seem to remember, although I did finish the book up late last night, that Dalinar felt a sort of relief / good feeling when he gave up the sword. If I am remember correctly, and we use Syl's reaction to a Shardblade as a guide, then perhaps Dalinar was feeling a bit of the bad mojo coming from the sword.

That the blades are tainted has been tossed around a bit, without coming to much of a conclusion. That Dalinar was feeling it seems to be a new idea, though. It's possible, I suppose, especially if he is becoming more in tune with Honor.

[Sunblesser]

That the blades are tainted has been tossed around a bit, without coming to much of a conclusion. That Dalinar was feeling it seems to be a new idea, though. It's possible, I suppose, especially if he is becoming more in tune with Honor.

i'm really interested to see how dalinar's character will develop without his shards. it's interesting because dalinar has been acting honourably for a long time now, but he has no spren. we know syl hates the shardblades, or at least dislikes them, maybe now that dalinar is de-sharded, he will attract an honorspren? i'd really like to meet more of them. super-cool sidekick idea. not even really a side-kick, the nahel bond is more like a partnership.

[lordofsoup]

What about Jasnah. She can shoot lightning bolts at people. Szeth doesnt know about her, she could definitely foul up his plans to kill Dalinar.

[Zas678]

You know what would be funny?

If Szeth and Jasnah and Shallan all took the same boat to the Shattered Plains.

I mean, they are leaving from the same place to go to the same place, at about the same time. It would be an awesome way to pull some more character and background info from Szeth (probably by Shallan), but none of them says who they are (for ransom/safety reasons). And then it would make the battle between Szeth and Dalinar much more intense when it happened, because at the last moment Shallan and Jasnah burst in to protect Jasnah's father, and Szeth and Shallan meet eyes, and Szeth runs away. Even his honor isn't worth destroying the woman he loves.

Hmm. I think this may be an outline for a short story.....

Ooh! Even better. Jasnah and Szeth.

[kari-no-sugata]

Hi all, my first post here. A collection of ideas...

One hard thing to predict in specifics would be the effects of certain "late arrival" who turns up right at the end of book 1. I would speculate on the following general stuff though: that most people would have trouble accepting anything he says (despite his special sword), probably because it would go against Alethi customs / generally accepted customs. I bet Kaladin would want to talk to him though - I'd expect he'd find out about him quite quickly and would likely have access. Maybe Kaladin will (secretly) start to believe much earlier than anyone else but will keep it to himself to protect his own secrets. However, I'm sure some things our late arrival will say will be proven true during the course of the book, forcing people to take him more seriously.

Kaladin has a really deep and dangerous hatred of bightlords and brightladies in book 1. While he's finally found a brightlord he can trust a bit, I doubt this hatred has suddenly gone away. If anything, the pending arrival of a certain Shardbearer is going to make things worse. Basically, I suspect Kaladin still has some inner demons to fight.

Shallan is definitely going to be interesting. Here's a fun bit of speculation I'm going to throw out - I bet she gets "assigned" to help Kaladin with clerical duties and the like. Kaladin would need a permanent one, given his rank, I should think. However, he would probably not want a brightlady clerk at all, and has probably chased some away already. Shallan is low in rank and so wouldn't be able to refuse. I suspect she might also need the money. She's also stubborn/strong enough that he wouldn't be able to chase her away. I also get a small feeling that maybe she will remind Kaladin of his mother in some ways (I haven't checked the reference but I think she had a similar way with words). I think setting up Shallan as Kaladin's clerk has a lot of "fun" potential (I started grinning to myself when I thought of it).

One major problem facing Shallan in book 1 is saving her family from a financial crisis. I was a bit surprised at how readily she hopes to find some alternative solution at the end of the book, but I suspect there is an easy one - Jasnah will buy up the family's debts and give them a single low interest loan, effectively. I'm sure Jasnah has the financial muscle to do this easily, that she would want to help Shallan in general (and stop her doing anything crazy to save her family), and this would also give her an extra bit of leverage with Shallan (who is potentially dangerous to Jasnah, even if they get along in person). So instead, Shallan would probably be on the lookout for more normal ways to make money (hence clerk for Kaladin).

Though I normally try to resist "pairing up" characters, it's hard not to with Shallan - there'll be a bunch of options within easy reach, as it were. First there's Kaladin the brooding up-and-coming commoner. Then there's Adolin, who'd effectively be the opposite of Kaladin - much higher ranking, much easier to be with than Kaladin, though still serious and certainly not some court fluff. Given how quickly he goes after new girls, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise if he made a pass as Shallan, and he certainly wouldn't fail to notice his cousin's new ward. Then there's Renarin - of the 3, I wouldn't be surprised if Shallan feels most comfortable around him... and as others have speculated, it may well be that Shallan helps cure his "blood sickness". That being said, I'm not sure how ready Shallan would be for romance, given what happened the last time things seemed to be going well.

One thing I definitely hope and expect to see is Shallan getting into some kind of drawing competition with the other court ladies. After all, we've seen Shallan bring out dozens of creation spren, if I remember correctly, but the average court lady could barely manage a tenth of that. I'd expect we'd see some bitchy types to challenge Shallan early on, suspecting she's no good since Jasnah isn't known for her drawing skill, only to find they couldn't be more wrong

Lots to look forwards to, and lots more to speculate on still, but this post is already long enough I think.

[Zas678]

Brandon said something interesting. He said that WoK handled Shallan's first apprenticeship. I wonder who else she could be apprenticed to?

So that's why I think another option for Shallan is when she gets to the Shattered Plains to be Navani's Apprentice. It would be great (from our point of view) to get a lot more info about fabrials and spren. But it doesn't have that same "fun" potential that being Kaladin's assistant would.

And my prediction for a far-off book is that Shallan becomes Hoid's Apprentice. That would be FANTASTIC.

[Tortellini]

Speaking of Shallan - in one of Kaladin's few less gloomy moments (in a chasm a few chapters before spear training begins) he makes a (bad) pun - something about thoughtful v. stomach-full... The others note this and he explains that his mother constantly did them and he liked it. Could be a hint that he's being set up to like Shallan as well.

[CrazyRioter]

he's either going to like her, or get mad cause he thinks she's making fun of him and he takes it personally.

and I'd be disappointed in Sanderson if Kaladin's issues with lighteyes just disappear, issues like that don't get resolved overnight.

and as for what's going to happen with the "late arrival", well I don't know, but a certain other person is with him, and probably has ideas about who needs to talk to him, Kaladin may well be on the list.

and watching Shallan utterly pwn some arrogant bitch would be highly entertaining. Especially since she'd probably add a verbal pwning to the deal.

[Arcanist Lupus]

As far as romance goes:

The relationship (romantic or otherwise) between Kaladin and Shallan will be just too much fun to watch. Between Kaladin's hatred of lighteyes, his previous almost-girlfriend, and Shallan's last almost-boyfriend, this is going to be very interesting.

I think Shallan far more likely to have a romance with Renarin than Adolin. First off, he seems more her type. Secondly, Adolin currently has a girl, and she's been mentioned just enough that I think she's going to be a major player later on. That being said, a love triangle between Adolin, Shallan and Kaladin could be very interesting.

On the other hand, this is Brandon we're talking about. It would be just like him to bring several young men and women together, and have them all end up single.

[Chicken]

Shallan is definitely the kind of lighteyes Kaladin hates so much. I'd be surprised if they get along at all, not to mention the caste difference. On the other hand, what's one more heresy for Jasnah...

More seriously (for a given value of serious), I'm expecting Shallan to somehow end up with owning Szeth oathstone. She seems to be getting the most powerful stuff whether she wants to or not. She has a Blade and can Soulcast, a pet Windrunner is all she's missing...

Even more seriously (for real this time), I'm expecting next book to be Dalinar's and not Shallan's. We know Szeth is coming and it'd be very unSanderson if that gets resolved in Book2. There's much more tension to be drawn from that. He'll come at the end, leaving us with a huge cliffhanger. If Book2 is Shallan, we'd know that Dalinar will definitely survive because Szeth's attack can't last the entirety of book3 and Dalinar's view would be broken with his death. But if Book2 is Dalinar with Szeth showing up at the end, we'd never know whether Dalinar's role is complete and is going out with a bang, or he'll survive and Szeth somehow be repelled or captured.

In fact, even Book3 might pass before Szeth makes his move. If we get occasional glimpses of Szeth's preparations to attack Dalinar while other Dalinar/Shallan stuff going on at the forefront, it'd build even more tension, with the last cliffhanger being start of Szeth's assault. Then we'll get Szeth's view at Book4 because if we don't, we'd know that he'll survive the attack because we still haven't had his viewpoint.

So Book2: More warcamp uniting stuff happens (with great success, because Szeth wouldn't be coming if Dalinar was gonna fail by himself) with Szeth reaching the warcamps at the end, Book3: Jasnah's research proceeds from Shallan's view (I'm thinking that'd be the most suitable main plot for Shallan view, because research actually being done would be a boring read from Jasnah's view, she'll prolly have something more interesting happening in her book) with Szeth's attack starting at the end, Book4: Epic showdown! from Szeth's view.

Far as I can see, this is the route with maximum suspense. Of course I might be wrong and Szeth's attack can be resolved right at the start of Book2 (from any point of view), but where's the heartless, terrible suspense mongering in that?

[Aashyma]

And my prediction for a far-off book is that Shallan becomes Hoid's Apprentice. That would be FANTASTIC.

The King's New Wit!

[CrazyRioter]

Sanderson has said he's leaning towards book2 being Shallan's book for what it's worth, and I really hope it is, because I want to find out what the heck happened that ended up with Shallan killing her dad.

And I doubt very much that Szeth will show up at the beginning of book 2, it'll be at least halfway through the book before he shows up, if he shows up in book 2.

and I can't see Kaladin with Jasnah, she's way too old for him and doesn't seem into romance at all. I think Kaladin would end up liking Shallan if he doesn't get too annoyed with her sense of humour.

[Cheese Ninja]

I also prefer seeing Shallan's past fleshed out before Dalinar's. I can't even get people to agree that she used her shardblade to kill her father, so I'd like to be proven right or wrong(preferably right) and have all the mystery involved in his death resolved. Also, I'd like to get more information about Helaran, since I'm pretty sure that the Shardbearer Kaladin killed. Helaran was the one closest to her father, and the only one who imposed him outright. We know almost nothing about the Ghostbloods, and we could learn some more in her flashback chapters as well, even if she doesn't catch the greater meanings of those scenes.

Quick recap of what we know about Shallan's past:

Helaran went missing and was declared dead by their father a year ago.

She has a Memory of a body face down in a pool of blood. (Requires either multiple shardblade slashes or a more mundane weapon)

Nan Balat was beaten badly, his leg injury was from the night their father died.

The Soulcaster was sheared in multiple places, discovered in an interior breast pocket of their father's coat, likely indicative of a shardblade slash. ("Shear" has only been used been used for shardblades so far.)

She considers the shardblade the fruit of her sin.

Selling the shardblade did not seem to an option for resolving the family's finances.

Shallan took charge after the death of their father.

The mystery of what boon Dalinar got from the Nightwatcher doesn't seem ripe enough. After one more book, then it'll start eating at me. There's a lot we could learn from seeing his past in viewpoint chapters, maybe even about the greater mysteries of the series, but they haven't been shaped enough for me to even anticipate them yet.

Romances: I see a very small chance of the girl from Kaladin's childhood being a romantic interest for him, but at this point there's too much to overcome. She's married, for one (or engaged?, I can't remember).

Still a fan of Shallan/Renarin/Adolin love triangle. Dalinar/Navani has already been spelled out for us. If I had to pick someone for Jasnah, I'd just go with some random member of Kaladin's bridge crew, like Rock. And relationship Jasnah gets into will be so unexpected that I can only guess while using most unlikely characters to pair up with her. Hmm, Rock/Jasnah could be fun.

[CrazyRioter]

she was engaged at the time Kaladin left home, she's probably married by now, it's been 5 years since then. Still a meeting between the two could be interesting.

And if you want interesting romance, how about Sigzil and Jasnah?

Edited October 22, 2011 by CrazyRioter

[Chicken]

I've always thought that girl whatsherface could've easily killed the old and crippled Roshone on wedding night and tell everyone he couldn't take the excitement. No one liked Roshone, he didn't have an heir, no one powerful would care for him, a 19(?) girl wouldn't appreciate being forcibly married to an old loser like him and who's gonna challenge her word? Not to mention, that way she'd inherit whatever wealth Roshone had left. It'd be a suitably Alethi thing to do.[/straightface]

For the tangled twisty romance knot enthusiasts, I'm sure you'll get your fix in Dalinar's background. In fact, Sanderson might get cute and give us a Shallan-Renarin-Adolin affair to specifically mirror Dalinar's flashbacks in that book.

[Sunblesser]

h'okay, so, here's what i'm thinking:

one of shallan's flashbacks is happening, she's happily sketching away when she decides she wants a nice iced tea, or something, it's not important.

she goes into the house and hears yelling, cringing to hear nan balat and her father arguing. the arguing descends into the sounds of screaming and fighting and shallan rushes into her father's study to see him beating nan balats leg with a chair. or something, again, not important.

scared as hell/damnation, she finally decides to do something and takes a sword off the wall, intending to draw her fathers attention away from nan balat. holding it before her, she yells, "Father! Leave him alone!"

he turns around and, in a rage at seeing his daughter holding a weapon, comes toward her. unthinking, shallan squeals and.... stabs her father in the chest, damaging his hidden soulcaster. he falls to the ground, and a shardblade condenses from mist to land next to him.

nan balat is in immense pain, and screaming for his brothers, and as they enter, they see shallan standing over their father's dead body, holding a glistening shardblade.

[CrazyRioter]

I doubt Shallan's brothers have any clue about the Shardblade even existing, otherwise it would have come up in NB's viewpoint. Also, I'm pretty sure her father was stabbed in the back, he was lying face-down (which conveniently prevents us from conclusively disproving the theory that he got killed with a Shardblade).

and as for Laral killing Roshone, I doubt it, she could have physically done it, but I doubt she would have. He might have died of natural causes due to age, or in another ill-fated hunting trip or something though. Or maybe Kaladin will end up killing him.

[Asha'man Logain]

I doubt Shallan's brothers have any clue about the Shardblade even existing, otherwise it would have come up in NB's viewpoint. Also, I'm pretty sure her father was stabbed in the back, he was lying face-down (which conveniently prevents us from conclusively disproving the theory that he got killed with a Shardblade).

and as for Laral killing Roshone, I doubt it, she could have physically done it, but I doubt she would have. He might have died of natural causes due to age, or in another ill-fated hunting trip or something though. Or maybe Kaladin will end up killing him.

I don't see him being in a pool of blood if he was killed with a shardblade. Blades don't cut living flesh, and even if for some reason she went crazy and stabbed him after he died, a dead body does not bleed much at all, there's no heart pumping and no blood pressure. At most you get minimal oozing from the effect of gravity on coagulating blood.

I think the father beating Balat scenario would work, but most likely shallan picked up somethinh heavy-ish, and concked him on the head, picked up the Blade when he died and Balat was unconscious.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Asha'man Logain

[prehistoricman]

Just a crazy thought, but what if Shallan created the shardblade when she killed her father? With something as valuable as a shardblade, it seems only logical that people would keep track of them, yet Shallan has one and nobody seems to know this. Some people have speculated that it is really the shardblade that the ghostbloods want back, but given the actions of the ghostbloods, it doesn't seem likely that they would put a shardblade in the hands of Shallan's father. If I recall (I don't have my copy with me so I can't check this), she describes her shardblade as a "fruit." This seems to be more in line with her having created it, not her having acquired it.

Also if she did create it by killing her father, this might explain why Syl dislikes shardblades.

[CrazyRioter]

if you believe that then you have to explain why killing her father just randomly created a Shardblade, if you could create them by killing people, then I think it would be known.

[Sunblesser]

not to mention that the shardblades are all relics of the knights radiant, and thousands of years old. whereas it is entirely possible that there are tons of unnaccounted for shardblades, seeing as how dalinar sees near two-hundred of them on the day of recreance, while in his own time, he knows of less than one hundred in all of roshar.

@CrazyRioter

obviously the details of shallan killing her father could be tweaked a bit, i like the idea that she conked him on the head. but my scenario doesn't have to rely on her brothers knowing anything about the shardblade, nan balat could have just seen it and wanted anyone but shallan to pick it up.

[prehistoricman]

if you believe that then you have to explain why killing her father just randomly created a Shardblade, if you could create them by killing people, then I think it would be known.

Shallan has latent radiant abilities however, so this could play a role in it. Also, it could be that she actually created the shardblade via another means, but she believes it was made as a result of her killing her father. Also, if you think about the theme of the rediscovery of magic that Brandon is trying to include, someone is going to rediscover how to make shardblades. If Shallan did make hers, then she would provide a great starting point.

As for it simply being a "forgotten" shardblade, that's a possibility, but just owning a shardblade is a great symbol of prestige and even those who hide theirs (king of Jah Keved) still can't suppress the rumors. Although her family was no more than backwater nobility, her father's rising position must have put them under a much greater deal of scrutiny and rumors would get out (plus letting rumors out is sometimes beneficial if you need more clout).

I haven't convinced myself regarding this, but I don't think that we can rule out Shallan making her shardblade.