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New Dustbringer

Tiberius Gracchus

By Tiberius Gracchus
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Tiberius Gracchus

Tiberius Gracchus

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So Brandon has outright stated that we will be seeing an new Dustbringer in Rhythm of War. I have seen surprisingly little speculation about who this will be, so I will lay out my theory. My theory is that the next Dustbringer to be introduced in the series will be Balat Davar. 

I will start with a few extra-narrative reasons that I believe this: Firstly, Brandon likes writing Radiants with tragic backstories and Balat comes with a pre-packaged one that can be seen through Shallan's flashbacks. Secondly, Balat has been given a surprising about of screentime including his own pov interlude, it would seem a little odd for this much time to be spent on him if he was just going to be Shallan's kinda pathetic older brother. Finally, from a timeline prospective for all of the first 3 books Balat has either been far away or in the past, RoW will be the first time when Balat is in the place where modern plot is happening and it just so happens thats when we get our Dustbringer.

As for in-world reasons that Balat could become a Radiant. One is that it has been confirmed that while radiance is not hereditary being related to Radiants can bring someone to the attention of the spren. This is supported by, Tien being a proto-lightweaver, the astonishing number of Kholin Radiants, and the fact that the Davar family has already had at least 2 members start the process of bonding spren. This familial connection suggests that we should take the idea of more Davar Radiants seriously.

As for why I think Balat would specifically be a Dustbringer. During Shallan's brief conversation with Pattern about Malata, he talks about how the Ashspren and their Radiants are very destructive and enjoy breaking things and tearing things open because they want to know what is inside. Balat has demonstrated similar interests (though admittedly even more destructive ones) by his interests in tearing apart animals, setting fires, and watching axehound fights. 

Additionally, the primary and secondary divine attributes of the Dustbringers are brave and obedient. This fits thematically with Balat's history and personality. Balat spends most of Shallan's flashbacks in a strange position as the only one of the Davar children actively resisting their father while at the same time (at his own repeated admission) not being brave enough to truly stop protect his siblings. 

I would love to hear any reactions or other possible theories. :P

Note: I am not saying that Balat would have to be a successful Dustbringer or that he would necessarily be on the same side as his sister, just that I think he will be the primary Dustbringer character for the first half of the series.

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26 minutes ago, Bigmikey357 said:

I think that we got confirmation that the Herdazian General in the interludes would be the Dustbringer introduced in RoW. That being said, I do think Balat would make a good candidate for the order.

That's news to me too. Could you provide the reference? I'd love that to be true!

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StrikerEZ

StrikerEZ he/him

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Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, Bigmikey357 said:

I believe it was in the AMA after the Kaladin ROW excerpt. At least that's where I thought I read it. If I'm mistaken please call me out on it.

The part you're thinking of just mentions that the general is important in some way. I guess, technically speaking, that could mean he will be the Dustbringer Brandon was talking about, but I doubt it.

Quote

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

So the rest of the chapter outline goes—and the rest of it’s in a real big mess—Lirin is there, he’s kind of looking through the refugees for sickness. Really, he’s keeping an eye out for that Herdazian general that had an interlude in the third book. He’s gonna be relevant here, they’re gonna try and hide him. But then they’re looking through the refugees, and one of them is Kaladin!

 

Edited by StrikerEZ
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Toaster Retribution

Toaster Retribution he/him

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I like this. I dont think Balat will be a major character, but I do think he would fit. Also, we know that spren can take interest in peoples relatives. The entire Kholin family are KR, more or less, and both Kaladin and Tien attracted spren. It might wind up being the same with the Davars.

I wonder how Balat would react to being a KR though. If his spren would be as malevolent as Spark. That could create interesting conflict between him and Shallan, and I think we will see conflicts between orders. 

Herdazian Houdini might be able to access Division though. That would explain how he can get rid of handcuffs so easily. 

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Steeldancer

Steeldancer he/him

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10 hours ago, Invocation said:

Oh, I'm aware. Just wanted to note Taln because I love the idea of learning more about Taln.

I concur with this point. More Taln is good. Even more Taln is better. All the Taln is all the best. 

Balat being a Dustbringer would be REALLY cool, and would make a lot of sense honestly. The general, knowing nothing about him, might make more sense as a Stoneward. After all, cohesion could melt bonds as well. 

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Steeldancer

Steeldancer he/him

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12 minutes ago, Kramerfarve said:

Couldn’t Ash be the new dustbringer? It is heavily implied she’ll become one at some point.

Eh... I agree with the theory that Ash will be a dustbringer, it just makes too much sense. But the thing is, I don’t think that’s going to happen until the back 5. I’ve felt like the dustbringer Brandon talked about was going to be a radiant more like Malata or Stump, radiant, but not KEY radiants, you know? Ash will need to go through some serious character development in order to bond a spren, and as of this point, she hasn’t had the screentime, and she likely just won’t have the screentime until the back half. 

That all being said, if Ash does end up being the new Dustbringer, I would be thrilled. Anything that allows me to learn more about the oaths of the Dustbringers is a good thing. 

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Toaster Retribution

Toaster Retribution he/him

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6 minutes ago, SwordNimiForPresident said:

I think its Ash. She and Taln have now joined the main story with their discovery by Jasnah at the end of OB. I expect both of them to be present for at least some of RoW.

I think they will be somewhat present. I do expect Taln to be cured for example, at least relatively. But as my hivemate @Steeldancer said, Ash needs to go through character development to be a Dustbringer. It will probably be a major plot point in the back half, given that a Herald joining another order might end up being controversial in-world. I dont think Ash will be our Dustbringer before SA6. 

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Wintersu

Wintersu

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I have theorized loudly and often that the Herdazian general is a Dustbringer. I’ve also guessed that one of the reasons Kaladin is on his mission at the beginning of Rhythm is that he’s there to extract the general and bring him back to Urithiru

Lets look at what we know. The general is really good at slipping manacles. And he is obviously very brave, in a very Herdazian fashion 

My opinion is that we are seeing him ‘slick’ his hands, without having it described that way in book. That surge, Abrasion, is shared by Edgedancers and Dustbringers. Also, the primary attribute of the Dustbringers is Bravery

Those two things are what I am basing my theory on. Now, that isn’t a super conclusive verdict, but to me it’s solid enough that him being a Dustbringer makes sense

 

I will say that the most likely alternative would be for him to a Stoneward. However, for that to be the case he would need to be stretching out his manacles. While possible, they aren’t described as distended or warped when he’s finished escaping them

So, I’m going to stick with Dustbringer baring further info

Edited by Wintersu
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22 hours ago, Bigmikey357 said:

With an expanded KR roster there are sure to be Radiants who are not main characters. As for Dustbringers, I may have conflated the Herdazian general. 

No worries. I will however blame you for making me want it to be true lol. 

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Cæcilie

Cæcilie she/her

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What about the illegitimate son of Highprince Valam, Redin, as a non-main character Dustbringer? Hasn't this been discussed before? Dustbringers' secondary divine attribute fits Redin's act of killing his father. When he is introduced in chapter 39 (titled Heterochromatic) of WoR, Chanarach even appears in the chapter header.

Edited by Cæcilie
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StrikerEZ

StrikerEZ he/him

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5 minutes ago, Cæcilie said:

What about the illegitimate son of Highprince Valam, Redin, as a non-main character dustbringer? Hasn't this been discussed before? Dustbringers' secondary divine attribute fits Redin's act of killing his father. When he is introduced in chapter 39 (named Heterochromatic) of WoR, Chanarach even appears in the chapter header.

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that guy! I could totally see him becoming a Dustbringer. Do we know if he was apart of the Diagram? Or did he just happen to be there when Taravangian was?

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Toaster Retribution

Toaster Retribution he/him

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4 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that guy! I could totally see him becoming a Dustbringer. Do we know if he was apart of the Diagram? Or did he just happen to be there when Taravangian was?

He is not part of the Diagram. Taravangian would have mentioned it if that was the case. But yeah, the guy is being setup for something.

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StrikerEZ

StrikerEZ he/him

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Just now, Toaster Retribution said:

He is not part of the Diagram. Taravangian would have mentioned it if that was the case. But yeah, the guy is being setup for something.

I could see him going one of three ways. Either he’ll join the cast at Urithiru, he’ll find out about some anti-Urithiru group (Diagram, Ghostbloods, etc), or he’ll be a rogue. Any of those options is cool, as long as he gets some more screen time. 

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Invocation

+Invocation

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10 minutes ago, StrikerEZ said:

I could see him going one of three ways. Either he’ll join the cast at Urithiru, he’ll find out about some anti-Urithiru group (Diagram, Ghostbloods, etc), or he’ll be a rogue. Any of those options is cool, as long as he gets some more screen time. 

I think, knowing what little we know of him, he'd be the kind to go rogue and do whatever he wants, siding with neither Odium nor Dalinar, only joining other groups when they benefit him.

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Karger

Karger he/him

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2 hours ago, StrikerEZ said:

I could see him going one of three ways. Either he’ll join the cast at Urithiru, he’ll find out about some anti-Urithiru group (Diagram, Ghostbloods, etc), or he’ll be a rogue. Any of those options is cool, as long as he gets some more screen time. 

He could also become king.  Stormfather knows that Jah Kavad is low on options not to mention in need of a better one.

Perhaps Taln will become Dustbringer?  He is brave and obedient...

Edited by Karger
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