Starla

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.

In chapter 25 Shallan mentions that merchants have sent expeditions to gather salvage from the abandoned war camps. What are the chances that someone finds Hoid’s flute in Sadeas' bridgeman barracks and brings it back to Urithiru? I am in a constant state of concern over the whereabouts of that flute.

I am so happy to catch some glimpses of Bridge Four today. Even though he's a radiant now, Renarin still wears his uniform and hangs around with them. And Adolin is joking with them. They seem to be truly fitting in. Now if only their windrunner would return so we can see some of those squire abilities... Rock has a hand to heal. Oh, and Shallan lightweaving Lopen lounging in a tree was perfect. This made me wonder for a moment if Urithiru could be a type of living entity, like the mountain version of a Reshi Island greatshell. I like this explanation better than mine. Stargate Urithiru, where one needs to be a KR to activate the tech.

I bet Taravangian would let Shallan bring them through if she asked. Or does she need to ask? She can go through any oathgate any time she wants. The bros have been traveling for a few weeks, so I imagine they've reached the shattered plains by now unless they ran into problems along the way, like the mysterious caravans that went missing in Alethkar. I'm curious if they're traveling on their own or with Ghostblood escorts. I'm guessing the Ghostbloods would want to keep an eye on them they may have guards. Either way, I'm looking forward to their reunion with Shallan, and seeing their reaction to her new status.

I wonder how annoyed Shallan's brothers are going to be when they arrive at Urithiru via the Narak oathgate, having traveled halfway across Roshar for weeks, through the weeping, everstorms, and highstorms, only to drive to find the Vedenar oathgate open?

I doubt he'll take a backseat since he's one of the three main characters along with Dalinar and Shallan (at least for the first five books), but I expect the world to open up if they can get the oathgates open and more radiants will filter into Urithiru. The action will probably still focus on the main three, but the supporting cast will expand. I'd love to see radiants of different orders using their surges in combination to pull off some really cool tricks.

I think this is because he's the only battle-oriented radiant we've seen in the main action so far. Once we get more of them I'm sure they'll all fight together to save the day. Kaladin was the first focus character and he's a natural fighter, Captain bodyguard to the Kholins, and as a Windrunner, possibly the only person alive who could challenge Szeth in a fair fight. It would have been odd for a normal person without surgebinding ability to do the things he did (the Tower, four on one duel, facing down two shardbearers to save the king, Szeth x 2). I do look forward to other surgebinders fighting in future books. Magical fights are the best.

I wonder if the everstorm slows down over the ocean? Otherwise it doesn't seem to work out properly. I assume we have 20 timezones for a 20 hour day. Looking at the timeline of the storm from Yeddaw (sunset) to Urithiru to Hearthstone (next day noon), it moved across four timezones in about 3/4 of a day or 15 hours, give or take a couple hours for variable sunset times. That's 3.75 hours per time zone. 3.75 x 20 times zones at a constant speed is 75 hours to circle the planet. That's a little less than four days. It's possible I'm thinking about it wrong, but it seems the storm must have variable speed in different parts of the planet for it to work out right.

I think another indication that it's a voidspren is that he/she gave warning that the everstorm was coming. Just as Syl gave warning that the highstorm was coming. Syl can probably sense the storms because she's connected to Honor and the Stormfather, which means the voidspren is probably connected to the originator and/or spren of the everstorm.

It seems this week is Kaladin's turn to be in the "Odium's Champion" hot seat, previously occupied by Renarin and Adolin. I'm sure Dalinar, Shallan, Jasnah, Szeth, Eshonai, and a number of others will have their turn. Personally, I don't think any of these will be Odium's Champion. I feel like it is not a human or a Listener. Maybe it's a spren, unmade, or some other supernatural entity. As for Kaladin hanging out with the parshmen and voidspren (if that's what he/she is), it seems he is on an information gathering session to figure out what the heck is going on. I don't think there is anything more nefarious going on than that, and I don't expect him to fall for some voidspren trap. He and Syl are playing dumb in the hopes to learn more about where everyone is headed and what they plan to do there. Somebody needs to do it and he is the only one in the position to interact with the parshmen right now. Hopefully he'll wrap up his spying mission soon and report his findings back to Dalinar. The sooner everyone knows what's up with the parshmen, the better chance they can prevent a massive voidbinding of the entire species. My hope is that Kaladin can bring Rlain in to help these parshmen. They need someone they can trust to teach them how to care for themselves and how to bond regular Listener spren rather than voidspren. Maybe Eshonai will also factor into this. @WhiteLeeopard I had the same thought that Tezim sounded like Masema. Made me grin when I read it.

Ialai’s comment that someone in the Kholin army killed Sadeas makes me concerned for the bridgemen. They have a strong motive to kill Sadeas and several members of Bridge Four found the body. With Amaram investigating, he may have incentive to discredit Kaladin in some way. If not him directly, then one of his men/squires. I wonder what Adolin will do if one of the Bridge Four guys is accused. He seems to have developed some respect for them and they risked their lives to save Dalinar, Adolin, and a couple thousand Kholin soldiers. I don’t think he'd will let one of them be accused without speaking up. It’s interesting that Elhokar was not mentioned as a supportive monarch in the meeting with Taravangian. I suppose it is a given, but it seems like he should have been present, or at leased mentioned in some way. He seems less and less relevant as time goes on.

@She Who Cannot Be Named The process for procuring Stormlight is mentioned in Oathbringer Chapter 4: I too am interested in their process for maintaining enough infused spheres to run the place, including the oathgates, lifts, heating, sewage system, lighting, etc. It must take a fortune in spheres and people constantly raising and lowering those cages and moving spheres around. I don't think they've mentioned finding any gemstones at Urithiru. Or maybe there were some in the oathgate, but I don't recall hearing of any in Urithiru itself. Regarding this from your original post: I'm not sure if Dalinar and co. have figured it out, but the location is included on the map on the interior cover of Oathbringer. You can see it if you zoom in on the map in this thread. It is next door to the Valley, where the Nightwatcher is located.

Vivenna being his mother might explain Adolin's awesome hair.

Do we know for certain that a female cannot be a Highprince in Alethkar? If anyone were to try it, I think it would be Ialai. Sadeas does not have a male heir and I can't see her handing it off to someone outside the family. She was sitting on a throne in this scene, so she is already projecting herself as a leader.

Maybe the storm carries "voidlight," which heals the connection, whereas stormlight does not. That sounds ominous, even they bond a good spren.

I’m confused about what the everstorm has done to the parshmen. I assume they have bonded non-void spren. If this is the case, why were they transformed by the everstorm, but never by a highstorm? Does the everstorm provide some sort of healing that restores their ability to bond spren? Does it also carry the normal “good” Listener spren in addition to voidspren? This is probably all RAFO, but I am curious if anyone has insights I’ve missed.

I can't help but think there was better alternative to the parshmen situation than genocide or enslavement. I'm not certain what that is without knowing more about their mental state and capabilities. With time and sufficient training, can they learn to care for themselves? Is there an environment in which they can live and have some autonomy without causing harm to themselves or others? Being severed from the rhythms mentally handicapped them in one way, but there must be other ways for them to learn and evolve without the rhythms, without being robot slaves to humanity. Slavery is the easy way out of the situation, but not the most humane. I would hope that humans would try every possible way to integrate them into society to give them the most freedom, or at the very least let them live in their own habitat and send teachers to try teach basic survival skills.

What if Ialai accuses Shallan of the murder to get Adolin to confess? Adolin is probably high on her list of suspects, but she doesn’t have proof. Instead of accusing Adolin directly, she accuses his betrothed, eliciting a confession from Adolin to protect Shallan. Ialai has known Adolin his whole life, and probably knows he is honorable and would not let an innocent person take the blame for his crime.

I don't think he would distinguish between Alethi/Parshman who need help. The parshmen haven't become voidbringers yet. He is helping them in the same way he helped the human bridgemen and his former fellow slaves, and their species/race does not matter. I cannot see him siding with Odium and voidbringers against the humans he has protected, including the bridgemen, his family, and the general innocent commoners of Roshar, I think his focus will be to prevent the parshmen from becoming voidbringers, and serving as a bridge between them and humans. Untransformed parshmen could be an asset to fight alongside humans against the voidbringers. I see this dilemma as fulfilling his Windrunner oaths, not breaking them.

This made me think of the old school but still awesome Sixteen Candles, and now I can't get Molly Ringwald as Shallan out of my head.

I wonder how Shallan's brothers arriving in Urithiru will affect her. If she can tell them the whole truth about what happened with their mother, maybe they can help her begin to forgive herself. I keep thinking of the iconic scene in Good Will Hunting... Shallan needs Robin Williams to show up and tell her “It’s not your fault.” Of course, telling her brothers the truth of what happened could also go horribly wrong. It's a risk, but one she might need to take. I feel that she desperately needs to talk to someone she trusts and her brothers are the only ones who can fully understand the horror what she lived through as a child. @maxal Regarding the murder story not moving along as fast as you’d like... I had a similar reaction the first time I read WOR. I couldn't wait for Shallan to get to the Shattered Plains to meet up with the other characters, and it took forever for her to get there. I had very little interest in her adventures with the slave caravan the first time through (I like it now). However, once she reached the war camp in Part 3 her story really took off. Something similar could happen with the murder plot, where it is drawn out until things explode later in the book. Also, I think it may be better for Adolin's involvement in the murder to be discovered toward the end of the book, because if he’s exiled we might not see him again until book 4. Better to have his storyline play out through the whole book rather than being over too soon, and then he's gone.

He did finish The Wheel of Time, so he has some experience in writing this type of relationship. Maybe we don't have to completely rule it out.

I voted for Adolin to be a normal badass like Batman. I like to have at least on non-magic using POV character so we can see events unfold from various perspectives. Unless I'm forgetting someone, at this point we don't have any other POV characters in the main narrative who are not radiants. We have Elhokar and Navani, but we rarely see the world from their perspectives (I think Navani has one POV in two books so far). If Adolin does became a radiant, I think we'll need a new non-radiant secondary or tertiary character to give us some insights on the world through the eyes of a "normal" person. I'd like to see how non-radiants view the events of the desolation, voidbringers, etc. Unfortunately, a new main character would take away screen time from the characters we know and love, so this is not ideal. I'd also like to see some fallout from the Sadeas Situation. I look forward to seeing how Adolin handles it. I think exile would be interesting, though not if it takes him totally out of the action. Maybe there is an interesting storyline in another country, like Jah Keved (Taravangian/Diagram) or Azir (Lift), that he can be involved in for a time before coming back to Alethkar or Urithiru. I'd like to see him interacting with unfamiliar people and situations. I do hope he can keep his shardblade if he is exiled. Dueling is such a passion for him, and his skills will be so useful in the coming war, I think it would be a waste of an awesome fighter to have him without his blade. I also voted for the bromance, because... that's just be fun to read.

Thanks for that, I'll sleep better at night.

I'll put it in a spoiler tag in case someone doesn't want to know: Edited to add the link to the reading. It starts about 3 minutes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlDHUCemF9U