summersnow

Nale wasnt certain what Lift was. I dont think he hunts Edgedancers specifically. I think he's really going after the surgebinders that are easier to kill. The prelude made very clear just how afraid the Heralds are of dying; I think the idea of hunting a surgebinder as dangerous as Kaladin or Jasnah just doesnt match with Nale cowardly nature. Oh, by the way, the surge that Lift used when Nale first saw her was Abraison, so he was trying to decide between Edgedancers and Dustbringers.(not Truthwatchers, with whom they shared the Progression surge).

it would seem anticlimatic if all this broken and reforged men/women derive most of their skill and abilities from a supernatural bond. it would be interseting to see a timeline of the first encounter between Gavilar and the Parshendi alongside the start of spren coming in the Physical Realm and seeking people to grant surges(also if possible when Taln started breaking, but dont see how we could do that). When exactly does the skill and abilities granted by the bond start happening? Syl gives a really vague response about when exactly their bonding started and how much is the her gift and how much was already there. And it feels like this should not be left to interpretation: is Kaladin talented on his own/or is he just someone chosen by a spren; are Shallan's skills purely something recived through the bond/or is it something perfected.

Not sure if it's a red herring, but Nalan presence in Tashikk does raise some interesting plotlines. He seems to hunt down surgebinders with some connection to Cultivation, but also the very young and the very old (though this might just be so he's seen as unlikable by the reader). I'm not sure what form of Travel he uses, though he get around far too much for conventional means (Iriali, then Marabethia, then Azir, then The Shattered Plains). If he doesn't have the means to Elsecall and he wants to get from The Shattered Plains to Shinovar he would probably pass through tashikk. I don'tt remember any of his minions actually displaying surgebinding abilities and I'm fairly certain he doesn't want any rival skybreaker around. Lift could be someone with the necessary information for Hauka to survive Nalan's "justice".

Supposedly, Kaladin bonded Syl (at least, first interacted with her) just before the battle when he killed Helaran. By that time he was already an accomplished soldier and squadleader. I think in one of Teft's POV he hypothesised that stormlight and the Nahel bond doesn't grant skill, it perfects. Probably Hauka already possess some amount of capacity in that direction. I don't think Kaladin consciously Invests before speaking the First Ideal, but he does use surges: he displays unusual amount of strength, endurance, deflect s parshendi arrows. It's also inferred that the more Words spoken the greater the presence of the spren in the Physical Realm, and the more capacity to Invest Stormlight and retain it for longer periods of time.

The way her reactions are worded it seems she's almost maternal to me. There are also many parallels between Lift and Vin; I could see Hauka as a parental figure in lifts life who teaches her about trust and life outside the thieving world. But, again, I might be reaching at this point.

Hauka, the captain of the guard in Tashikk, manages to see through the merchant lies almost instantly and with barely any thought finds an exceedingly reasonable explanation for his presumed crime(which proves to be correct). While later, talking with the deputy scribe she complains about dun spheres. Perhaps this is just me reaching, but I think there's a very good reason why we get her POV. I think she's the 1st protoSkybreaker we meet. Also, there's the added benefit of Nalan having been seen in Tashikk recently. I have a feeling that his reaction to a skybreaker surgebinder will interesting. Not sure how Lift and Hauka will get along, tho. What do yea think?