Ytsken

Yes, Adolin is definitely Edgedancer material. Apart from this finale... haven't you noticed that both Adolin and Lift have the exact same effect on people? Yes, they're awesome (in very different ways) but people keep reflecting on them being weird and dismissing them as (in Nale's words) "... always so concerned with small-minded things... ". The funny thing is, that very small-mindedness may be just why a cultivationspren could be resurrected.

I just reread the chapter 'Strength ' and it struck me.... wouldn't Navani be the perfect person to bond the Sibling? She literally thinks "She had no problem being a wife and mother to monarchs, but to be one herself -- storms, what a dark path that would lead them all down." She is also the one who's very interested in Fabrials, we get a reminder how she's dealing with getting Urithiru to work on a day to daily basis... And if the hints we get about the Sibling are true, its Bondsmith is bound to the Tower. With other fabrials... the spren is always the one bound, but with the Sibling... the human is bound to one place as well. And who knows what being bound to the Sibling and running the city might do to one's psyche, or physique (I'm getting Babylon 5 Machine flashbacks now). Whomever bonds the Sibling would thus have to be someone who is willing to make this sacrifice but also capable of understanding what it takes to run a city-state. And this chapter... imho it does suggest Navani could do this.

Thank you for finding that reference, the one who connects. I also recall a theory that this implied that Shalash was turning into a Dustbringer. And I can totally see our crazy art destroying Herald coming to the ancient city in order to wreak havoc...

Wouldn't this description apply more to Laral? And as for the 'other thing he needs to know'... how about the fact that Laral's engagement was not to Roshone (which they all believed back when Kaladin left) but instead was to the other Brightlord present at the time... Amaram. And she is here... maybe with her husband the Shardbearer who helped defend against the Voidbringers. But regardless... Laral being the person both Syl and Hesina refer to makes a lot more sense than a toddler sister/apprentice Kaladin never knew.

To be fair, my first thoughts upon reading the prologue were exactly like yours and I was stunned to read that everyone else assumed it was Mr. T. So glad to read I wasn't the only one.:)

Does this mean the second Bondsmith and his or her spren has already been identified.

Where does WOB say that the first 5 flashback characters won't be in the other 5 books? Me, I've always felt that book 5 will end with the decision of (most) of our main characters taking up the place of the by now corrupted Heralds in order to give the world more time to prepare for the final Desolation. Then by the time book 6 begins we'll be 15 years further on, and all our surviving heroes/Heralds will return after having been tortured by Odium for all those years and find out exactly what has happened... did the world indeed prepare itself? Or has it gone completely to pieces and was their sacrifice for naught? Wouldn't it be doubly exciting to read the reactions of those who did agree to be tortured (Kaladin and Shallan) vs those who did not (Adolin/Lift)?