Kaladin as a Herald

[Lunu’anaki he/him]

Okay so I've been thinking about this a lot. This is a fairly general theory that I might expand on in the future with book references and quotes but I wanted to get the basic idea of it out there and see what people think.

My basic expectation is something along the lines of this: 

At the end of book 5, Dalinar will learn of a method to take up the shard of Honor and do so. Upon doing so he will endeavor to form a new Oathpact. That oathpact will be with Kaladin and perhaps others.

Reasoning:

Kaladin has, from the very beginning been a tortured soul, and his pain always comes from protecting others or failing to protect them. This is a very Herald-like quality

The first Herald to be eliminated by Odium just so happens to be the patron of Kaladin's order, The Windrunners. If a replacement were ever needed, Kaladin is a perfect fit.

Dalinar's connection to the Stormfather and his incredible abilities as of Oathbringer give him a special link to Honor's power.

There will be a 20 year gap between book 5 and book 6. What would account for that gap? Kaladin forming an Oathpact and going to Braize in order to give time to his allies in preparation for Odiums eventual return.

 

I'd like to hear people input on this, for and against. I'll give it some more thought and eventually formulate a full fledged theory based on what we come up with.

[RShara she/her]

Sorry, I very much disagree. The Oathpact just binds the Fused to Braize. Since the Fused no longer return there after each death, the Oathpact is useless. There are a number of other reasons too, that I detail here:

 

[Lunu’anaki he/him]

10 minutes ago, RShara said:

Sorry, I very much disagree. The Oathpact just binds the Fused to Braize. Since the Fused no longer return there after each death, the Oathpact is useless. There are a number of other reasons too, that I detail here:

 

Interesting! And here I was thinking i stumbled onto something noone had thought of  

I'll give your post a read-through and perhaps leave my comments there. Would it be wise of me to hide this thread seeing as there are already theories on this out there?

[+Harrycrapper]

Yea I'm going to agree with RShara on this one, the Oathpact doesn't really fix the problem even if they are able to somehow disperse the Everstorm and get the Fused back to Braize. It's just a band-aid and I feel we will get more of a resolution to the current conflict, not just another break between Desolations. 

[RShara she/her]

1 minute ago, Lunu’anaki said:

Interesting! And here I was thinking i stumbled onto something noone had thought of  

I'll give your post a read-through and perhaps leave my comments there. Would it be wise of me to hide this thread seeing as there are already theories on this out there?

It's not necessary. You can add your thoughts here or there, it works fine either way

[KandraAllomancer he/him]

Based on the WoB below, figuring out the Oathpact will be a major topic in Arc 2, so forming a new one at the end of book 5 seems unlikely:

Quote

Questioner

The second set of Stormlight books, [six] through ten, will that-- will those be more focused on the Heralds' point of view, is that the idea?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, so Taln and Ash, who are both Heralds, are going to be main characters, and they'll each get books dedicated to them. The characters who survive the first five will still be main characters as well, but it's gonna turn more on what happened with the Heralds and things like that. The first five are turning more on what happened with the Knights Radiant and then the last five are more what happened with the Heralds... 'Cause we'll get flashbacks to the time of the Dawnsingers and things like that.

Skyward San Francisco signing (Nov. 8, 2018)

Personally, I think Odium will  be splintered by the end of Arc 1 and Arc 2 will be focused on searching for a more permanent solution to containing (now much more numerous) Voidspren on Braize

Edited November 7, 2019 by KandraAllomancer

[Karger he/him]

I think that the outlook for our Rosharans is going to be pretty bleak if somthing can't be done with the everstorm.  My personal Oathpact picks would actually be people who are more like Moash(obligatory f that guy!) or Taravangian.

[Lunu’anaki he/him]

6 hours ago, Karger said:

I think that the outlook for our Rosharans is going to be pretty bleak if somthing can't be done with the everstorm.  My personal Oathpact picks would actually be people who are more like Moash(obligatory f that guy!) or Taravangian.

I was actually considering putting in a stipulation to this idea. If the new Herald isn't Kaladin, then it's Moash! Honestly though. Moash doesn't deserve to be a hero....

9 hours ago, Harrycrapper said:

Yea I'm going to agree with RShara on this one, the Oathpact doesn't really fix the problem even if they are able to somehow disperse the Everstorm and get the Fused back to Braize. It's just a band-aid and I feel we will get more of a resolution to the current conflict, not just another break between Desolations. 

I just find it hard to see a 20 year gap between the current state of affairs and whatever comes after without a break from the fighting... Heralds at least going back to Braize would offer that, whether it's the originals or something new. 

[GoWibble he/him]

13 hours ago, KandraAllomancer said:

Personally, I think Odium will  be splintered by the end of Arc 1 and Arc 2 will be focused on searching for a more permanent solution to containing (now much more numerous) Voidspren on Braize

I think that Odium is a driving cause of the plot in the Cosmere and that it will take a while for hHate to die off

[Karger he/him]

4 hours ago, Lunu’anaki said:

I was actually considering putting in a stipulation to this idea. If the new Herald isn't Kaladin, then it's Moash! Honestly though. Moash doesn't deserve to be a hero....

But he is excellent at not caring also this way we can torture him to death repeatedly. 

[Yolenlightweaver]

2 hours ago, Karger said:

But he is excellent at not caring also this way we can torture him to death repeatedly. 

Now we are really thinking! I was originally against the Moash for Herald idea but I am on board now. MOASH FOR HERALD!

[KandraAllomancer he/him]

3 hours ago, GoWibble said:

I think that Odium is a driving cause of the plot in the Cosmere and that it will take a while for hHate to die off

I don't think Rayse's death and Odium's splintering will be the end of it. I posted my theory here.

@Lunu’anaki It also explains the gap between Arc 1 and Arc 2

@Yolenlightweaver MOASH FOR ODIUM!

[Frustration he/him]

Personally(and yes I am a little blinded by bias) I think Dalinar would take the spot for Herald and Kaladin Honor's shard though The heralds would serve more as agents of Honor  than as actual guards on Braise. 

[Lunu’anaki he/him]

On 11/9/2019 at 9:50 AM, Booknerd said:

Personally(and yes I am a little blinded by bias) I think Dalinar would take the spot for Herald and Kaladin Honor's shard though The heralds would serve more as agents of Honor  than as actual guards on Braise. 

If Kaladin became Honor then I definitely agree with you. He would never put people through what the Heralds went through. It wouldn't be honorable (excuse the pun) He'd find another way. 

Mistborn Spoilers:

Spoiler

I don't think Brandon would rehash Mistborn with our MC being groomed for shardhood again though, which makes me think Dalinar is a safer bet for Honor.