Starla

I believe there is a WOB that says Jasnah arrived from Shadesmar in the Unclaimed Hills at the end of WOR. This would put her starting point between Alethkar and the Shattered Plains. I doubt she would pick up Lift from there. I wonder if she arrived in Urithiru via the Narak oathgate? If so, did she travel by foot/caravan along with people from the war camps, or did she transport herself there? If she transported, can she bring others with her? If not, she probably came alone. Or, did she go to Kholinar and open the oathgate from there? I doubt this is likely, because someone would have noticed the Kholinar oathgate opening and alerted Shallan before Jasnah walked in the room. That said, if she did open the Kholinar gate, I could see her bringing Aesudan and Elhokar Jr. (do we know his name?) I am leaning towards Jasnah's entourage being people already in Urithiru, like her family, servants, people carrying books, etc.

Maybe they'll be the seed that starts a counter-movement within the parshmen. They can teach others the survival skills they've learned and help them remain free of the voidspren/voidbringers who want to transform them to another type of slave. This could lead to two groups of parshmen: those who transform into the Odium forms, and those who transform into the standard Listener forms. Perhaps this latter group can ally with the humans to fight against the voidbringers.

Well yeah! I'd tell you my construction joke but I'm still working on it.

I got Shallan too. I guess it makes sense, though I never make bad puns.

@Fifth of Daybreak I like your theory because it provides an outcome for Adolin that doesn't involve exile or execution. My main concern is there were no witnesses, so it's Adolin's word alone. I don't feel like Ialai will let him off the hook that easy. She seems ruthless, and if Adolin confesses I think she would try to get the maximum punishment. A duel with Amaram doesn't seem like a very severe punishment since Adolin has a good chance of winning. Amaram hasn't had his blade(s) very long, and Adolin is a highly skilled duelist. Even if Adolin does lose his blade and plate, he can probably obtain others fairly easily. I don't recall the exact whereabouts of all the shards he won in WOR, but there is probably a spare Kholin shardblade (or honorblade) lying around that he can use to win back more shards.

@maxal I put in the hard labor and counted the chapter POVs: Dalinar: 7 (chapters 1/2/4/12/16/24/28) Dalinar Flashback: 4 (chapters 3/11/19/26) Shallan: 11 (chapters 8/9/13/15/18/21/22/25/27/29/30) Kaladin: 8 (chapters 5/6/7/10/14/17/20/23) Adolin: 2 partials (chapters 2/10) There are two chapters left in part 1. I feel like Shallan's arc for part 1 is complete, so I'm guessing the next two chapters will be Dalinar and/or Kaladin. I hope Dalinar's is related to the shared visions and he can sway some leaders over to his side, so we get some oathgates opening soon. Kaladin's chapter may involve the Parshmen arriving at the gathering outside Kholinar. This could also lead to the Kholinar oathgate opening if we're lucky. I'm really looking forward to travel opening up between Urithiru and other parts of Roshar.

@WhiteLeeopard If only we could be the judges in Adolin's trial, he'd get off with a party instead of a punishment. Unfortunately, in the context of the story, I doubt anyone can get away with killing an Alethi highprince without punishment. Note this thought by Adolin in WOR chapter 50: If Adolin is found guilty, will he be subjected to one of these punishments? Dalinar has said that a shardbearer can't be imprisoned, so I can't see any other punishment aside from exile or execution. I wonder if it will make a difference if Adolin is officially announced as highprince. Maybe he's "exiled" back to his home princedom/Kholinar. Or would he be stripped of his rank and Dalinar goes back to being highprince? Another option is for the trial and/or punishment to be deferred until after the desolation, like Amaram's, but I doubt Ialai will allow this. Or, another person could be accused of the murder, but I suspect Adolin will step up and confess. I can't see him letting an innocent person pay for his crime. The only way I can see Adolin getting off free is if no one is ever accused, and I don't see Ialai or Team Sadeas being content with that. I'm having a hard time seeing a good way out of this for Adolin.

I'm guessing Shallan is the missing POV. The pink and blue colors make me think female/Lightweaver and male/Windrunner. Also her first arc seems to be at a good stopping point as of the last chapter. Isn't Part 2 supposed to include odd POVs? Perhaps something to do with the parshmen? Tertiary character three may play a role in that... maybe it's Eshonai.

Poor Kaladin. He returns to Urithiru to find that Amaram is Highprince of his home princedom, Shallan knows he killed her brother, and Gaz is the significant other of one of his squires. This will not be a good day for him.

I love this style of art. I wonder what the straight blue lines in the bottom right corner represent. It looks like the blue spren are coming from it. We have stone, grass, fire, vines, and clouds. Maybe the straight lines are rain? I don't imagine Urithiru looking like that at all. I imagine it being more natural and mountain-like with a wide base. Maybe the artist has never seen it, and it's all imagination. They did get the 10 levels correct. I also doubt they've seen a lion or dragon. Perhaps tales of mythological (or real) creatures from other worlds have found their way to Roshar.

@Knghtstlker I agree that it is odd that so many witnesses claim Amaram won the shardblade four months ago. I just read the chapter today where Dalinar tells Kaladin the results of his investigation. Here is the exact quote from WOR Chapter 58: I think it is safe to assume that Dalinar interviewed seventeen random men in Amaram's camp, both officers and soldiers. Why would all of them tell the same story? My guess is that he staged a fight four months ago, with many witnesses present. Perhaps he had someone he trusted bond the blade, then they fought and the other person played dead, while breaking the bond with the blade. It's a stretch, but staging a fight seems more logical than Amaram having coached every man in his army to tell the same lie. I think Amaram would rather have his men believe he won the blade fair and square, than to have them all know he is lying.

I've never seen Watchmen, so when I looked at your spoiler picture all I thought was "Adolin in shardplate."

I found our friendly scout Lyn in WOR Chapter 81, when Shallan is looking for the oathgate:

@Darkness Kaladin sobbing is quite an impressive work of imagination. Good job.

It’s funny you mention this, because the first time I read WOR, I disliked Shallan because she reminded me of Egwene from WOT (the dreaded “Mary Sue”). She was a sheltered 17 year old girl from a rural estate who somehow managed to single-handedly charm the socks off everyone from slavers and deserters to highprinces and secret society worldhoppers. By the end of the book she had become the most important person in Alethkar, beloved by all. However, as I have reread the books a couple times, I've come to understand Shallan more and how she can do the things she does. She is a lightweaver, and in WOR she is learning the surge of illumination. It is all about using illusions to do what needs to be done. Shallan’s natural drawing talent and perfect memory give her a head start with this surge. All she needs to do is decide who she needs to be to accomplish a specific task, draw an image of that person, mix in a little stormlight, and she instantly transforms into that role. It’s all smoke and mirrors and she is still the 17 year old country girl underneath. Seeing her this way, I realize she is no Mary Sue, she just has a vivid imagination and is good with illusions and playing pretend. I've come to love her as a character and can relate to her a bit. Unfortunately, I never came around on Egwene but that's a different story. On the topic of Amaram, in my current read-through I just came upon this quote by Shallan in Chapter 52: I had forgotten that Shallan had discovered that Amaram was trying to bring back the Voidbringers. Why hasn't she told Dalinar? It seems to be an important bit of info for him to consider during the Highprince discussion. Perhaps she is trying not to reveal how she knows (spy mission for the Ghostbloods), but as I noted above, she's very good at pretending so she can make something up. This information seems to vital to withhold.

Ah okay, that's a relief. Was this mentioned in the text? I searched the books and wiki and couldn't find any specific descriptions of their division abilities, aside from the WOK prelude mentioning them burning corpses and rock.

One thing I'm curious about... we know that Releasers have the surge of division, which is related to destruction and decay. Combine this with Pattern's quote about wanting to break thinks to see what's inside. At what level can they break things? Can they break/divide matter at an atomic level to create a nuclear explosion? If so, they are serious weapons of mass destruction, which would certainly cause people to fear them. That said, from a storytelling perspective this makes them seriously over-powered in relation to the other orders and voidbringers (what we've seen of them so far), so I doubt they have this ability.

Thank you for bringing this up. This reminds me of one of the early Oathbringer chapters where Shallan mentioned moving to Sebarial’s section of the tower so she could get a room with a balcony. Shouldn’t Shallan have first pick of any room she wants in the entire city? She’s the one who found the place and figured out how to open the oathgate to bring everyone there. Yet it sounds like she’s in a tiny room with a couple blankets on the floor and not much else. At least she has that balcony. Meanwhile Radiant City is becoming a colony of Alethkar. My hope is that the Kholinar oathgate will be open soon and most of the Alethi Highprinces and their armies and camp followers can return home, and the city can become more multi-national and radiant-focused.

Alrighty then. I think both @Pattern and @Aleksiel have a point. Helaran was killed in battle, and I agree that’s its often best for the grieving process if the family of the deceased does not know or come face to face with the battlefield killer of their loved one. It’s much more difficult to overcome grief and move on when you have a specific person to blame, and that person is still living. However, this is not some random battlefield killer. It’s Kaladin, and Shallan has had some vulnerable moments of trust with him in a life or death situation. I doubt it is something she can easily forget when she looks at him. Think of how Kaladin would respond if he met the soldier who killed Tien on the battlefield. He’d want to kill that man, or at the very least he would feel a deep hatred for him, just as he does for Amaram, Sadeas, and Roshone, all of whom played a role in harming people he cares about. Logical, rational thought goes out the window when it comes to loss of loved ones. This is just speculation, but I imagine Kaladin feels awful knowing that he killed Shallan’s brother. He probably expects Shallan to hate him, just as he hates that random soldier that stuck a spear through Tien. I doubt he wants to think about it, much less face the look of hatred on her face when she knows the truth. That being said, I think there is a great opportunity for healing and growth here, for both of them. If Shallan can forgive Kaladin for killing Helaran, can she forgive herself for killing her mother and father? And if she can forgive him, can he forgive those who killed his brother and his men, and forgive himself for not saving them? Between the two of them, Kaladin and Shallan have killed half of her family. That’s some crazy reality to face, but I think facing it is a huge step they both need to take. They both killed in self defense, and in defense of those they love. At this point, I feel that the only way Shallan can progress as a radiant is to realize it’s not her fault, that she’s not a despicable murderer, and forgive herself. Forgiving Kaladin is a step in that direction. It might take time, but I think they are both strong enough to get through it and eventually make peace with the whole situation.

This is a common shape for crystals, called a wand. They're often used for healing and other esoteric purposes. You'll notice Vedel's earrings are also this shape. I don't know that we've seen them anywhere else in the story, but I can see the heralds using them for some magical purposes. Edited to add an additional thought based on @Jaconis comment: I imagine the crystalline structure and shape of gemstones is important for the storage of stormlight. There are probably certain shapes that hold more light. Maybe the wand is an economical or powerful shape for stormlight usage.

If you look at the artist's other work, he focuses on classic religious paintings (see his website here), and these definitely have that feel. The Vedel one has a more Eastern Hindu or Buddhist Goddess feel with the circular window in the background framing her head, and the Jezrien one looks like standard Western religious art with the golden clouds and deep rich colors. I prefer the more cosmic style of the first two paintings (I love anything with planets, moons, stars, eclipses, etc), but I understand the religious symbology of the second two makes sense for depicting heralds. I imagine that a lot of in-world art might look like that.

Vedel is gorgeous, and I love the stained glass window behind her. I'd love to see the whole thing as a separate drawing. I wonder if it's a real in-world window (maybe in Urithiru)? Jezrien looks quite kingly with his golden crown and shardplate. I like that the circle of gems on his belt matches the stained glass window. He's quite handsome, but his skin is lighter than I expected. The windspren are a nice bonus.

@Starla I really, really, really want this to come true! I had another thought about the flute. What if Sadeas had it, and Amaram finds it in his stuff and keeps it? Remember when Shallan was sneaking into Amaram's house, she finds one of the servants polishing his flutes. How awful would it be if Hoid's ancient, magical, otherworldly flute ends up in Amaram's flute collection?

I get the sense that Amaram is way creepier than we've seen so far. We've seen him kill four men who trusted and protected him, send one to slavery, steal two shardblades and one shardplate, and lie to Dalinar's face about all of it. This is bad enough, but it seems he's had more shady dealings than we've seen onscreen. A few quotes from WOR: This is from Jasnah's POV in the prologue. What went on between them that makes Jasnah say their match would never happen, and cause Amaram to meet her eyes then hasten away? If Sadeas is saying you're a ruthless bastard, then you probably are. Adolin gets the creeper vibe from Amaram. Adolin also sensed something different about Kaladin, and he was right. I trust his instincts. This is a part of a longer episode where Wit rips Amaram apart. Wit seems to see hidden things about people that others cannot. What has he heard or sensed that makes him think Amaram is worse than Sadeas? These tidbits make me think Amaram has been up to no good for quite some time. I hope we get to find out more about what he and the Sons of Honor have been doing. I'm curious how they feel about the Knights Radiant and what this means for Dalinar now that Amaram is Highprince. Will he undermine the KR's efforts to fight the voidbringers and other agents of Odium? It seems that much chaos may come from this latest development. As much as I dislike Amaram as a person, I enjoy reading about him and hope he stays around for a while, causing trouble for our protagonists.

Regarding Kaladin not telling Shallan the truth, I don’t think he’s had much of a chance so far. When Shallan told him that Amaram had her brother’s shardblade, and Kaladin realized the truth of what he had done, they were in a life or death situation in a tiny hole in the wall during a highstorm. It was possible they wouldn't live through the night. Shallan was shivering, afraid, and telling her life story to distract herself from a bad situation. I don’t think this was the best time for Kaladin to say “Oh by the way, I killed your brother.” I think telling her in that moment, when she is relying on him for comfort, would be a bit insensitive. After the storm they hobbled back to the war camp as quickly as possible, and she left with Dalinar and the army later in the same day. His leg was broken and he couldn’t move around much. The next time he saw her was in Urithiru. There was a five day period between the time they arrived through the oathgate and the time they met with Dalinar at the top of the tower, then Kal left for Hearthstone. We don’t know what happened in those five days. Perhaps he could have pulled her aside and told her. However, we know that on her first night in Urithiru, Shallan confronted the truth about her mother’s death. At the start of Oathbringer, she is still trying to process that truth. Throughout the book so far, she seems to be alone a lot, not interacting with the people around her. I doubt she was hanging out with Kaladin much in those first few days, and he was probably getting his 1000 men settled in Urithiru and he didn’t take the time to seek her out and tell her. My guess is that when he returns to Urithiru neither of them will bring it up while they're around others, but if they get a moment alone, she’ll eventually ask him about it. He may even bring it up himself if senses she’s acting weird (the scenario presented by @SLNC above). Either way, I think he’ll tell her the truth. I imagine he feels terrible about it and is afraid the truth will hurt her and she’ll hate him for it, but I don’t think he’ll lie if she asks him outright. I think he’ll apologize and expect her to never want to speak to him again. It’s how he’d feel if he met the man who killed Tien on the battlefield. For Shallan’s side, I don’t think she’ll react that way. I think she’ll eventually forgive him if she hears the whole story. My larger concern for Shallan is that she’ll learn that Helaran was not the man she thought he was. She’ll learn he was an assassin and part of some questionable organization (probably from Mraize), and that he carelessly slaughtered men on the field who were not attacking him. This will shatter her illusion of him as her knight in shining armor. He was absent for a lot of her childhood so she has been able to separate him from all the bad things that happened to her, and put him on a pedestal. But if she finds out he abandoned their family to participate in some morally ambiguous activities, it might be the last straw for her and she’ll break down about it. I think the main conflict here is between her and Helaran, more than her and Kaladin, but the Kaladin truth coming out might trigger the full realization for her. I think she’s strong enough to get through the meltdown, and hopefully she can begin to face difficulties in a healthier way going forward.