geralt

If there was an affiliation between Odium and darkeyes, I would guess they'd be unable to bond with Honor spren or at the very least it would have an effect on the bond itself. From what we've seen of Kaladin, that doesn't seem to be the case.

That is some amazing skill you got there. To be nitpicky, though, the way Shallan often raved about Adolin's hair I always imagined his to be slightly more eccentric.

"Why is the True Desolation different from the previous Desolation? How is it different?" Well, the desolation that's about to occur will be the first one following the breaking of the Oathpact, so it's likely that once Odium is free there's no way to bind him again unlike before. This is also the first desolation in which Honor's dead, so it's sort of a definitive battle at this point.

I wouldn't worry about that too much. There's still 8 more SA books yet to come so Brandon has plenty of time to explore the other characters. I'm sure by the end of the series, at the least we'll know everything there is to know about the 10 primary characters and even tertiary characters will have had their share of development. That seems good enough to me and in fact I'd say much more than that would be counterproductive. On the climax thing, I agree on that. The 2 scenes where Kaladin swore his ideals are among my favourites, but there's no denying it'd be far too predictable if we knew that's where the story is going to go every time. It'd be a nice change of pace if for once Kaladin managed to say the words while in a more relaxed situation. In any case, Oathbringer will be very telling on whether Kaladin is indeed regarded by Sanderson as a more important main character than the rest.

While I'm not a fan of the "Game of Thrones" approach either, I still feel like killing a main character would do good to the story. I didn't mind it too much in the first two books, but it is hard to deny that there have been one too many instances in which characters (Dalinar, Szeth, Jasnah...) survived situations that they shouldn't have. Some plot armor is absolutely fine, but now that a desolation is occurring and with the Roshar population likely getting decimated, in my opinion the conflict would feel cheapened if the main cast didn't suffer any sort of loss. And who's a better candidate than Kaladin who already had a lot of time to shine?

I suspect Dalinar and Kaladin are the prime candidates, but probably not before book 5. Dalinar has already been almost killed twice in the previous books, so I reckon the third time may be the charm. He's also not a youth anymore so if the time skip between the first and the second arc is a long one, chances are he'd be too old, hence it might be easier to just get rid of him before then. The fact that he's the only bondsmith so far should give him some time, though. Kaladin, on the other hand, is progressing too quickly for his own good. At the rate he's going, he'll become a full-fledged radiant by book 4 and has already gone through a good amount of development, too. Considering he'll always be at the front in the coming battles, Brandon giving him a heroic death seems plausible enough to avoid stalling his character.

By then I reckon Kaladin will be dead and buried. In fact, I suspect most of the current primary characters will kick the bucket before the start of arc 2 with the exception of Shallan. Plus, Lift already has good chemistry with the Azir emperor.

^Oh wow, Parshendi are scary, I always imagined them more human-like. About the potential love triangle, I just don't see that ever becoming a major thing simply because Kaladin doesn't seem like a threat to Shallan and Adolin's relationship in my eyes. The dude is too obsessed with duty to truly get close with someone else and now that a desolation is about to start and he can literally fly anywhere, I just don't see him spending time courting a betrothed lighteyes when he could be saving people.

What a useful read this was, OP! Thanks for taking the effort to do this, as I learnt many things from it. Anyways, I have a few questions on certain points. About the Diagramists, if Graves was really part of it, I would have expected him to give the information about Kaladin being/becoming a radiant to Taravangian, especially because the latter was looking for the man Szeth had met during his assassination attempt. Also, I find it awfully strange how the Skybreakers are so effective in finding potential radiants and even more so, how they were able to find out about any crimes they have committed in the past. Are there any theories on how Nale is capable of that, like maybe he possesses some sort of power that can read in their conscience or something? Finally, is there any speculation on the following quote from the diagram? Hold the secret that broke the Knights Radiant. You may need it to destroy the new orders when they return The fact that Taravangian knows the reason for the recreance will probably play a huge role in the story in the future, so here's hoping the secret doesn't end up being the betrayal of the Heralds. Oh and one more thing, Gavilar was affiliated with the Sons of Honour, wasn't he?

Yeah, being a Kaladin fan has its perks. Still, one thing I appreciate about the SA series is that even when my favourite character doesn't show up, I'm still able to enjoy the other parts fully. With other books, more often than not I find myself try getting over the scenes told from someone else's point of view as quickly as possible, but I feel like the world building and the events taking place just make every scene worthwhile in this. If Oathbringer didn't include a scene of Kaladin, I probably wouldn't care that much, but I guess the fact that I really like Dalinar as a character helps with that... I'm not sure I agree about the prison chapters being cut out/shortened. While I didn't enjoy enjoy seeing Kaladin in his emo state and not realising something obvious, I feel like it was needed for the eventual payoff. Plus, in total there were 4 chapters about it and one chapter was Wit's story (which was great), one was Dalinar visiting him and telling him about Roshone and one was him being released from the prison and becoming buddies with Adolin. So there was basically only a single chapter about Kaladin brooding over his lost freedom and even then that was used to show Syl was losing herself. I can't deny at least two more chapters for Adolin - one after the duel and one while Kaladin and Shallan were in the chasm - would have been great to learn more about him and develop him. I would have loved seeing him deal with Shallan's supposed death actually. We know he cares deeply about her, but I'm still not convinced she means the world to him or that to him she's that different from some of the other women he courted. In an ideal world, Brandon could write a book with infinite pages that would include all this, but sadly that can't happen and it does seem Adolin isn't a priority. It would be really funny if the author's actually throwing a curve ball at us and in the end Adolin becomes incredibly relevant to the story. One way to do that would be to make him honour's champion that will fight Odium's and considering how it's been stated multiple times how he is incredibly skilled at dueling, I would really dig that. Actually, the last fight was disappointing for me, too. What I disliked about it wasn't that I knew Kaladin would win at the end, that was obvious, but the fact it was far too simplistic. There was no strategy involved, Szeth didn't really show his mastery over the lashings as he should have and Kaladin kept up with him far too well. I would have enjoyed the fight much more if they showed Kaladin was still outclassed and yet won because of some clever ploy or something. Well, I'm just doubtful there even is anyone who could lead this opposition really. I guess the ardents could cause some troubles and there might be people who could be suspicious of Dalinar, but at the end of the day he has the king and three highprinces on his side, Sadeas is out of the picture and he led the expedition which basically saved everyone. That seems too strong of a foundation to be overwhelmed by a few coincidences and the negative image of the Knight radiants, especially because when he refounded them in WoR nobody batted an eyelash.

That's a good point I totally didn't think about. At the end of WoR Dalinar was already mentioning how it was already difficult to get the other countries to listen. I can see where you're coming from, but what I like about it isn't the tactics used as those were far too simplistic, but the relationships between the various highprinces. All the bickering and the alliances were very entertaining to read. I can't say I felt the same about Shallan's infiltration missions and the like, as I found them slightly too unrealistic and convenient for my liking, but I am definitely excited to see the plotting of all those organisations. Personally, as of now, the second arc's main characters don't exactly thrill me. Other than Jasnah, none of them stood out to me as people I'd particularly want to read more of. Isn't that very unlikely, though, considering how all the known radiants so far have or will be given a main slot in the books? Adolin would be a very weird exception. I never really thought of it in that way before (probably because Kaladin's probably my favourite character ), but it is indeed kind of funny that we didn't get to see Adolin's reaction to having won that duel. Like, something that should have been a no-brainer should have been including a section of him being incredulous of the feat he had just accomplished, or one in which he faced his "friend" - Javalin I think? - or at the least showing the moment he was crowned champion and not just mentioning it like it was no big deal. Well, to be fair, Adolin's role in the last fight was actually quite prevalent. That most readers remember the more cliched, typical Kaladin vs Szeth fight speaks more of what people appreciate than anything else really. Adolin led the charge against the parshendi/voidbringers, won his plateau by using his brain and defeated Eshonai, so his feats may be considered on par with what the other radiants accomplished in my eyes, if not better. About the princedoms not accepting Dalinar, do they actually have a choice in the matter when they literally can't go anywhere without his permission and everything he said/done has been proven true? I'll be very surprised if he finds any opposition at all from the Alethi.

That is a bit weird if true. I understand why primary characters have to have their own flashbacks, but restricting the secondary character positions based on that doesn't make as much sense I think. As you said, though, it's Brandon's story and if he feels Adolin isn't a main character who are we to dispute that? In that case, though, it's harder to see what Adolin's place in the story will be as his chances of becoming an Edgedancer have become much lower in my eyes. I guess his part of the story could focus on him coming to terms with being overshadowed by the people surrounding him and take a more supportive role in battles. Like in the climax battle in Words of Radiance, fighting the big bad guy isn't the only thing to do and I could see him lead the troops as he did there. I suppose that'd be disappointing for his fans, though. On another note, am I the only one slightly worried about how the politics between the princedoms will become increasingly less relevant? They've been one of the most enjoyable aspect of the series, but as things stand I don't see how anyone could oppose Dalinar in any meaningful way, especially considering Sadeas is out of the picture now.

Honestly, I'm very interested in seeing what happens to Adolin's character in the future. His role in WoR was a step-up in importance compared to TWoK, but if the little info we got from Oathbringer does turn out to be correct, then he likely won't even be the main tertiary character in it. While that points to him becoming less relevant moving forward, there have been too many hints in the previous books about certain developments Adolin could take that seem to conflict with that. Reviving the blade, becoming a radiant, developing his relationship with Shallan and dealing with killing Sadeas are all plot points that if tackled have to be given a good amount of pages and viewpoints, which a tertiary character wouldn't get. So, Brandon could either make him a secondary character in the fourth or his fifth book or relegate him to the sidelines by not making him join the ranks of the radiants. I'd say the latter option is unlikely, though, otherwise the time spent on showing how close Adolin is to his blade and the clues given here and there (such as when he didn't feel the thrill in battle) would have been for nothing. The only reason I could see him not become a radiant would be to avoid giving every Kholinar powers, which is fair enough I suppose.