Bort

You can take Spren offworld... WoB:

We've seen plenty of examples in Dalinar's vision about what happens when you "deadeye" a Spren. Also, it's confirmed by Navani in, I believe, Oathbringer that adding a gemstone to a "dead" Blade was what permitted it to be summoned and dismissed, not bonded. In one of Adolin's duels, he pulls out the gemstone and crushes it, but says it's unimportant and just symbolic. Here is a very good question though... Where is Testament now? We know where her deadeye version is... But where's her Blade? Edit: Sorry for the double post.

While not confirmed precisely, there is a scene in WoR where a distracted Adolin is finding it very difficult to maintain a summoned Shardblade when it's not in his hands. Adolin Kholin, quite possibly the best duelist in Alethkar, with years of training under his belt, couldn't maintain his Shardblade in training because he was bit distracted by the visit from Szeth the night before. If someone like Adolin had problems then, what makes you think Shallan could maintain Testament after going through that? Also, you don't judge him fairly if you just dismiss him as evil "plain and simple." He wasn't evil. He was broken.

No, I don't think he has the determination to take the necessary steps. If he did, he wouldn't have so many problems come RoW. When you're feeling that low, caring for yourself is far, far harder than caring for others. Caring for others actually helps you feel marginally better, where trying to look after yourself, you just end up staring at what you perceive to be your own failings. You've never said anything about my depression, apart from every comment in the thread arguing we're wrong in our interpretation because it doesn't match your own experiences. You accuse me of dismissing your experiences, yet you don't seem to understand that you've been doing exactly the same to us this entire thread. If that's your only takeaway from OB about Kaladin's mental health, you really need to reread it. He's basically catatonic in Shadesmar, partially due to seeing one group of friends butchering another group of friends, only to be put down by a third group of friends, then seeing your "best friend" killing the person you're supposed to be protecting. And while that certainly would have hurt Kaladin, it was his own feelings of uselessness that utterly crippled him. This is why he was so focused on reaching Dalinar. Because there was someone he might actually be able to help, and that would help banish the shadows from his mind... For a short time at least. It was a desperate clinging on to something vaguely resembling purpose, to try to keep his head above water, metaphorically speaking. I wouldn't assume he's going to improve because saying you're going to do better is just the first step. There is still a hell of a long way to go before he'd even consider himself to be even a little bit healed. 1. Therapy not existing in the world in a formal capacity does not change the fact that it would be incredibly helpful for him, and if anything, makes his actions in RoW even more important because he's not only changing how he views himself, but how everyone views mental health problems. Huge step forward. 2. Kaladin spent a year between OB and RoW on the front lines. How many people do you expect died during those conflicts? Now imagine that each of those deaths is utterly pointless because your enemy can simply respawn. How crappy would that make you feel, assuming you were already in a highly depressed state? 3. You read the first part of the sentence, but not the second part. Yes, he has plenty of people to talk to, but he also needs to learn how to open up. Until he can do that, talking about his problems is impossible. His mind would just shut down at the attempt. Trust me, this is a big part of my mental health problems, so I know how it goes. Also, it's really not very easy. Even if you can open yourself up like that, actually doing it with someone you are close to and who knows you well is really difficult. 4. Characters can have more than one arc. You may just see the mental health stuff as a tangent to Kaladin flying around kicking ass, but for me at least, I view it the other way around. Kaladin learning about his mental health issues and learning how to deal with them is far more important to character development than kicking yet another fused's behind. To me, at least.

So, let me get this right. You have a "single choice" for your depression to go away. You have to stay physically active. So, what happens when you stop being active? You find yourself getting depressed again, yes? So, your "single choice" isn't a cure for your depression, it's a temporary fix to make you feel better for a while, correct? With that in mind, how could you possibly look at a single line and say "Well, that means he's getting better"? You should be well aware that depression doesn't work that way. Otherwise, you'd not need to stay active to keep the depression at bay. And I would just like to point out that you've been very dismissive of my experiences in this thread, basically telling me I'm wrong about my own depression, because it doesn't match up with your experience. And no, I didn't say your experiences didn't happen, I said I doubted them, because of how dismissive you're being, and how flippant you're being with regards to Kaladin's depression. Then you immediately jump into it again, saying it didn't seem too bad for him in OB. Did you even read the book? Kaladin is seriously damaged in OB. Just because that may not match up with your personal experiences, doesn't mean you should be so dismissive of others discussing it, because it does match up with their experiences of depression. So, does that bit mean you are saying our experiences didn't happen because they don't match your own? As for what help Kaladin needs, therapy would be good, or even an environment where he isn't forced to watch people die, and a friend to talk to. More than that though, he needs to figure out how to open up about all of the stuff he's going through. You know, his story arc in RoW.

Recognising you have a problem is not magically fixing said problem. You said that I don't have the monopoly on dealing with depression. That's true, I don't. I do somehow doubt that you have had to deal with it though, otherwise you would know what absolute rubbish it is to take this one line as "he's getting better." And yes, he's worse in RoW... Because he doesn't get the help he needs after the revelation you commented on from OB and assumed he could keep going. So, he kept going, he kept seeing people he cared about die, and he kept feeling like a failure. And that would, in turn, make him a little bit worse, and a little bit weaker, and a little bit less able to protect people in the future. It's a spiral he's stuck on, and he can't find a way off it by himself, and he's not willing to open up enough to get the help he needs.

Having Kaladin's death relegated to a Ned Stark/Hoban Washburne shock factor moment would be terrible, and really shoddy writing. And no-one was saying Kaladin cannot die, only that it would be a massive shame for him to work through all that depression, finally find a reason to continue living for himself, rather than others, only to sacrifice himself to protect others, thus never realising that he could actually be happy too. While utterly in character for Kaladin, it would paint a massive "What's the point?" on his entire character arc, which would in itself, be a kick in the teeth for those of us with depression. Those of us who do struggle with the question, "What's the point?"

It certainly looked like that's why the choices were made the way they were to my eyes. And as for Kaladin's depression not looking real in your eyes, that's just your eyes. I recognised a lot of what Kaladin was feeling and going through as stuff I've felt. And while the ending would "add stakes," as you put it, it would also take a massive dump on all of Kaladin's personal development. If you absolutely have to have someone killed off, make it Dalinar. Also, perhaps you'd care to offer more of an opinion than "You're wrong!" For example, why do you think the choices were made the way they were? Why do you think the depiction of depression in RoW is worse than WoK. This is, after all, how a discussion works.

Because Kaladin was trying to fight through his pain and depression, without getting any support, and it was breaking him. Especially seeing what friends could do when they turn against you. And when you've got a soldier that close to breaking, with no intention of getting help, as a Commander like Dalinar, you have only two options. The first, let him continue fighting, is a terrible idea because it will get people killed. The second, relieve him of duty and force him to confront his problems is the only way someone like this is going to get the help they really need. The choices made were perfectly reasonable given the characters involved, their personal beliefs, and their current states of mind. As for the rest of your post, how would cameos from Kaladin in the back half be any different from cameos from Jasnah, or Lift or Renarin in the front five? I somehow doubt it'll all be sitting talking about mental health, but so what if it is? In Avengers: Endgame, did you have a problem with Captain America running a support group?

I have to disagree with you on this one. Kaladin's mental health issues have been right there for all to see since WoK. It was about time they finally came out into the open.

The whole "self sacrifice for the greater good" theme is one that keeps cropping up in Brandon's books/series. It happens in Warbreaker with Lightsong, Mistborn with Vin, Elend, even Sazed and Kelsier. In Elantris you've got the guards who become hoed, and of course, Hrathen. I could absolutely see Kaladin being one of these sacrifices. It would totally fit with the character. But, that said, I don't want to see it happen. I want the Windrunner 5th Ideal to be "I accept that my life is as important as those I protect," and for Kaladin to realise that self sacrifice isn't necessarily the best way to protect or lead. I also agree with the comments that this would be a reversal of Kaladin's story arc. It would feel like such a let down for him to spend 4 books fighting for a reason to live beyond just protecting others, for him to give up his life, just to protect others, in book 5.

We've already seen a way for the Heralds to have their sanity restored, even if only temporarily. It will take Dalinar though, or maybe the Stormfather... Ooh, there's an idea. Kaladin needs to kidnap Ishar, and drag him into the middle of a Highstorm. Then they can sit and chill in the eye, where the Stormfather refreshes Spheres, and Ishar will be at least partially sane, thanks to the Stormfather's connection to the spiritual realm.

I quite like this theory. With it in mind though, I would want to know, what did Nightblood learn from Cultivation when it spent time with her?

Maybe not in WoR, but after he has bonded the Stormfather, he feels the stormlight healing him, and realises that he's felt that before, out on the battlefield. That must have been before he swore his first oath

Just browsing through some of the threads in here, and a thought occurred. People are talking about Ishar, and how he's killing spren by bringing them into the physical realm. What if he isn't? We know he can summon a perpendicularity, which is basically bringing the physical, cognitive, and spiritual realms together. What if, what Ishar was really trying to do is mend Shardblade Spren? Reconnect them with their spiritual aspect.

Keteks of Words.

He becomes briefly lucid because Dalinar opened the perpendicularity. Dalinar combined the physical realm, shadesmar, and the spiritual realm, into one place for a few seconds, meaning Taln could, however briefly, reconnect with the bits of him that are in the spiritual realm. That's my theory at least. You see it elsewhere too, with Adolin and Maya. Touching the spiritual realm allowed Maya to regain a mote of her sentience, because that's where part of her is. Also with Dalinar and Evi, and the "I forgive you" line.

They had to have this scene, just to show the Fourth Bridge undergoing flight testing for later on. Somewhere in the back 5, it's my belief that they will need to use the Fourth Bridge, or another flying vessel based on the science, to reach the Origin. It's much more believable to see them develop the technology in the book, rather than just suddenly say "We need to go to the Origin, fine we'll just fly there!" without any indication of flying vessels in earlier books.

During the First Desolation, perhaps?

Ialai Sadeas, perhaps?

I've not seen episode 4 yet, but from the first three, I rather liked it, even the changes... Most of them. The one change they made which I didn't like was a total undermining of how Robert Jordan wrote both character and world. Namely,

I've been wondering of late, if it's not Kaladin who is special, but Syl. She was one of the only generation of Honorspren that the Stormfather "birthed" after Honor Invested in him, and iirc, is the only one that survived.

I wonder how close soulcast bronze is to allomantic bronze.

I cheered when Teft finally forgave himself, and cried right afterwards. A beautiful ending for him, but I would have liked to have seen some of the non-self-hating Teft before we lost him.

Honestly, I'd probably not play this style again. Not that I don't like the concept, but full cosmere meant I had no idea about half of the items listed. Maybe if it was limited to, say, just Mistborn or Stormlight, then I could be tempted back.