one winged jhereg

Yes, maxal, yes! and then Adolin's shardblade mysteriously won't bond with another person....they can't figure out why and so a side quest happens in which Adolin revives his shardblade. Side quest will get scant mention in main books, but Adolin gets a novella devoted to this. wild speculation on my part of course, and i am most certainly wrong, but would that not be storming awesome?

So how long after the heralds broke the oathpact did the recreance happen? what were the KR doing the whole time before they gave up their blades and plate? who were they fighting?

Sorry to jump in late here, but...the two shardic (?) intents seem to work very well together to make a cohesive magic system as I see it. You have to be very devoted to x in order to gain dominion over it's practice. The two seem very intertwined IMHO. Edit: I realize that what I said has been stated before, but i just wanted to put my 2 cents in the conversation.

oh well, i wasn't that invested in this theory anyway just looking for anything to provide proof Adolin will be the Big Hero of SA when it's all wrapped up

Vin starts of with a horrible "boyish" haircut that she mentions Reen just hacked at, and Elend is specifically described with messy disheveled hair in the first few meetings between he and Vin. Spirit and Serene go both lose their hair to the Sheod and Galladon is always bald. As for Siri, Dalinar and Jasnah (and her mother too) they are the exception that proves the rule.

Due to some things i've just noticed in Sanderson's works, I have come to the conclusion that Adolin will ultimately be the Big damnation Hero of SA, in a very bitter sweet sorta way. Disheveled hair, check. Important character but not considers a main character, check. Part of a quasi love triangle, check. It all points to Adolin being the Hero of Ages, or at least the Roshar equivalent. Consider the microphone dropped

So I've noticed a trend in Sanderson works. Good guys (especially the heroes we follow) have disheveled or messy or unkempt hair, or are bald. Bad guys are usually very well groomed. There are a few exceptions I admit (Dalinor I'm looking at you) Has anyone else noticed this? This leads me to believe that Adolin is the true unsung hero we should be watching in SA.

But do the ardents/vorinism really know that? We as readers have that knowledge b/c of Dalinor's visions, but has that but of trivia survived the thiusands of years since the last desolation? And was it tried before? Seems to me that if it were common knowledge that you could stop desolation with a simple one on one fight that it would feature prominently in the mythology of the world. We have no tales of a single hero saving the world. It's all about groups, heralds or radiants, and no hints of singular combat i.e. duels deciding the fate of all Roshar

I can shoehorn the fine arts into the battle scenario by saying they can be used to inspire and provide hope to those fighting, farming, healing, etc. But dueling seems directed towards internal conflicts within your own forces, not directed externally towards your enemies. It almost seems self defeating, which is why the in world WoK prohibits the practice (much to Adolin's chagrin).

So, if callings are somehow connected to reclaiming the halls in the after life, why is dueling a calling? Given the whole warfare theme of the after life I understand the support roles as callings, but can't figure out how to fit dueling into a battle for "heaven". Sure, Dalinor is told in visions to try to get Odiuim to select a champion but how would the priests know about that? And still don't see how that helps in the after life. Is this some kind of hold over from before the breaking of the oathpact?

With the WoB about reviving shardblade being a once in a lifetime thing, that would make it epic. It would also keep him low powered til it happened, and then we have to deal with the consequences of a revived blade...which is a topic I have some (not so popular) thoughts on

I feel bad about bringing up Adolin becoming Odium's champion now. It wasn't so much that I thought what he did was in anyway influenced by Odium, nor do I think that any of the "ramifications" of his actions will truly lead him to a path where he turns "evil." I just want something EPIC to happen with him because he's such an interesting character. I worry that he is going to get overshadowed or placed on a back burner to provide room for the powered up characters to keep growing and new ones to show up. I don't want him to become a KR just like all his friends and family, I think that could get old quick. I like the thought of an Average Joe finding his place in a world of super humans. I was just hoping that that place was as Odium's Champion in a final duel for the fate of the world, in which neither side got to use magic. Just your basic to 2 men enter 1 man leaves kinda thing. Stupid, I know, but...sometimes in this crazy Cosmere it's got to come down to just the regular people who live in it, not the 1%er magic users.

I guess it's a matter of how effective the blades will be in the upcoming war. If they are useful against the "forces of evil" i just can't see getting rid of them altogether. You don't use them in KR heavy units, but KR can't be every where and it's down right foolish to discard at least 100 effective weapons just because your new friends don't like them. Sure the blades won't be as effective as a full KR but they are still a substantial force multiplier that could have a major impact for non-super powered field units. The soldiers in Dalinar's vision with the stone monster would have a much better chance with blades, especially if they were separated from their knight during a random encounter with something like that. Unless there are enough KR to go around it just doesn't make an sense to discard, or even free the blades. Use every method available to you to win. "Life before death" is the first part of the first oath, so you gotta make some hard choices to be around for the other parts.

So if the shardbearer only heard the screams when a KR was touching it also, does this have dire implications for using these blades against the voidbringers? Could the evil version of KR also produce this effect? Have we just discovered a big weakness in what should have been one of the humans greatest assets? I can see sending a squad of shardbearers with "broken" blades to help shore up a line of spearmen that are being overwhelmed by VB only to fall to pieces when their blades start screaming at them. Total rout and now they have to rethink everything they thought they knew about how to fight the VB.

I think the real question to ask is: Why would you revive a shardblade? Looking at it in a purely pragmatic way, you stand to lose more than you gain reviving a shardblade. As they stand you have a wonderfully effective weapon that anyone can bond. Revive the spren and at best you have a slight chance to make a KR if you can convince the, almost assuredly PTSD crippled, spren to bond with a human again. If the human were compatible enough with spren to form a bond they most likely will attract a new, non traumatized, spren a become a KR anyway. At worst you have a crazy spren that either wants nothing to do with humans, or even actively hates humans. Either way you end up with no net gain of weapons to use against the voidbringers, and likely have a net loss. Not to sound to callous about it, but there is no reason to revive the shardblades. Keep the practical weapons you have and hope you can bolster your forces with KRs.

With all the talk about Adolin never losing a duel, and the multiple times it's mentioned that its possible to get Odium to choose a champion, there is only one possible outcome in the long run: Adolin will be Odium's champion and will have to duel Kaladin for the fate of Roshar.

Well, I guess I shouldn't have expected my very first theory to be a game changer. I was just hoping that we might have Lady Teldra/Godslayer kind of thing going on with Division. Thanks for surge/fundamental force analogy, that clears up some of confusion.

Is it possible that Division works across all three realms (Physical, Cognitive, Spiritual)? In regards to the Dustbringers, they preferred the name Releasers iirc. Could it be that they sever that bond between opponent and their spren? Could the Skybreakers do something similar, thus letting them police the other orders? I know we don't have enough information to make an educated guess on this, just something rolling around the old noggin. PS first time post, and cosmere noob so please forgive me if this has been discussed before.