Discarded Theories

[Letryx13]

I'd like to share my favorite theory that no longer seems possible.

So, when I started reading stormlight archives, my brother shared several ideas he had about the series.  He avoided spoilers, since he hates them, but since he was three books ahead of me at the start, he had a few ideas about the future of the series.  My favorite one that he came up with involved Taravangian's diagram.  

Since Taravangian isn't able to remember what his super brilliant self (brilliant T) was thinking the day he wrote the diagram, there's always been a lot of speculation about what exactly he was planning on that day. Based on the translations a certain king of Karbranth and his people were able to make, it seemed to be pushing him to try and assume control of Roshar to put himself into the best position to negotiate with Odium. Now, like Dalinar, I think Taravangian's pride and desire to prove himself the best and smartest ruler influenced the not-so-brilliant Tarangian's actions, but this isn't about that. What interests me is what was his brilliant self really planning.

This theory is probably not relevant any longer, since Taravangian is now Odium, but what if brilliant T was trying to maneuver his future self in a way that created an opening to defeat Odium? Not put him in a position to negotiate with him, but actually defeat him?

However, there's not much to support this idea, other than the fact that it would be a truly spectacular plot twist.  It seems similar to a detective style story where the protagonist was the killer the entire time, which is part of why I like it. Only in this case, it's the past self tricking the future self, knowing that the future self can't be trusted.  It would have made for a great reveal, if present Taravangian realized he'd been tricked the entire time by his past self, and deciding what he'd do going forward.

And again, I realize the theory is almost certainly debunked, now that Taravangian is Odium and no longer following the diagram.  Unless he thinks on what his past brilliant self wrote him at some point in the next book and makes a decision based on that, it seems impossible.

So, what are some of your favorite theories/ideas that didn't end up happening?

[Milk]

While I never thought of it, some readers believed that Timbre could be Eshonai's soul. Brandon later debunked it, but it seems like such a fun idea.