...not food. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)
I propose that the Parshendi are to be the allies of humans in the fight against Odium.
Most of my evidence comes from the following death rattle:
“Above the final void I hang, friends behind, friends before. The feast I must drink clings to their faces, and the words I must speak spark in my mind. The old oaths will be spoken anew.”
This clearly refers to Kaladin's heroic leap across the chasm at the battle on the Tower. However, I haven't seen anyone mention the apparent discrepancy between the first and second sentences. Specifically, who does the "their" refer to? Clearly, the Parshendi. But, if looked at without any bias towards who the friends are, it seems like the "their" also refers back to someone in the previous sentence. Hence, I conclude that the Parshendi are actually the "friends before". This could certainly just be awkward phrasing, but given how subtle Brandon can be, I think it's worth looking into.
There is also some suggestion in this direction by the way the Parshendi are portrayed. Kaladin says he thinks that the Parshendi display more honor in battle than the Alethi, making him feel guilty for fighting them. And, of course, we have the viewpoint from Eshonai, showing that the Parshendi are reasonable and only fighting in self-defense, and that their transformation into (allegedly) Voidbringers is not what they want to happen.
If I am correct, this gives a whole new meaning to Honor's requests to Dalinar to "Unite them". I believe this actually means that he must unite humans with Parshendi. They have to figure out how to turn all the Parshendi and Parshmen back from stormform, then fight together against Odium.
What do you think?
