Would Dalinar and Sazed get along?

[Chinkoln he/him]

In Bands of Mourning Sazed talks to Wax and explains how a god can’t get rid of all evil. In RoW, when Dalinar rides the storm, he has an argument with the Stormfather, who is arguably one of the most powerful entities on the planet, thereby classifying him as a god. He actually is worshipped as a god in parts of the west. Anyway, Dalinar tells the Stormfather to have mercy on some travelers, but the Stormfather refuses, saying that it is not his way and change isn’t good, but Dalinar insists that he must become something more, something better. This raises the question, would Dalinar and Sazed get along? Their philosophies seem to contradict one another.

[LuckyJim]

I don't think they would, and much of this comes from their ideas of rulership which I think provides the difference in their ideals.

Sazed is a god who is still kind of coming to terms with what level of control he should have over his subjects lives, while also struggling to use his powers to help in the first place. This reflects the contradictory nature of the shards he holds, he wants to protect and care for his people (preservation) while also recognizing the need for struggle in their development (ruin). One of the biggest mistakes (in his mind) that he feels he made was coddling his people too much, which limited their ability to grow.

Dalinar, on the other hand, is a tyrant. A benevolent tyrant, but a tyrant nonetheless. Dalinar desires control, and for the people under his authority to match his ideals, even believing that the Stormfather himself should obey his will. He is a general first, and believes that a king should be a strong singular ruler, and he clashes with Jasnah who desires to change the way Alethkar is run to give more power to the people. His desire for unity is noble in a time when Roshar must join together to fight a common enemy, and we see Elend show a similar desire in Mistborn when fighting Ruin, but only as a temporary solution. If he were to ascend to godhood, there's a decent possibility he would want to bring all of Roshar under his rule, under the belief that this was the best way to protect them (we even see Cord express fear of something similar happening to her home, which is why she wanted her shards in the first place).