redbishop

It all depends on how it is done. I can't see a circumstance where "Seize him!" aren't the next words uttered - can you see Kaladin allowing himself to be caged again under those circumstances? I could see him summoning Syl and just telling them to step away - Lirin will attend to Roshone presently. He doesn't have to pull rank, he can just ignore it altogether. I agree with your allusion, though - the likelihood of a "This is my boomstick"-esque scene is unlikely and not befitting Kaladin's journey. Of course, Kal also has a history of being rash at times when he should be patient, and pensive when he should be decisive.

He may very well have a copy of the writ of emancipation that the tattoos (that never held for him) were supposed to be a backup for. This wasn't the way I expected Kal's return to go, but it is pretty believable. He still hasn't gotten over his disdain for lighteyes, and Roshone was the one that kindled it. He is a good soldier, and sees inept soldiers acting self-important. He very recently overcame his fear of showing himself to be a KR. Also, he is in Sadeas' territory, and has little love lost for Sadeas' soldiers. Overall, I think it is entirely in character for Kaladin to opt for brute force rather than finesse in his opening negotiations, especially since time is of the essence.

I can only assume that this is pretty much his plan, since he discovered things are largely intact. His initial warn-them-and-help seems to be overcome by events, so... now he can right a few wrongs. He has seen a lot of maltreatment by Roshone, and there were quite a few comments where his scorn for the local soldiers is apparent. Punch the Citylord out, summon a lambent shardspear, defeat the guard - bona fides established. I wonder if his reunion with his parents - and the fact that they don't seem to hold ill-will regarding Tien's death - will lead to him no longer seeing himself as a slave, and the brands being healed in the first gasp of post-Weeping Stormlight?

I thought that particular message applied to Venli, as it was she that enabled Stormform, and we suspect that she had toyed with the form before giving it to Eshonai. As for Gavilar, it looks very much like he was a Son of Honor. Perhaps there is more to them, but they seem to feel like "Roshar + Heralds + Devastation > Roshar," and were willing to restore the Voidbringers if it meant mankind would have the guidance of the Heralds again. Based on Jasnah's continuing research well after his death and her continued uncertainty, it seems unlikely that he knew that the parshendi actually were the Voidbringers, however (unless that was known in hidden Son-of-Honor lore).

3/5. Lightweavers don't feel like the "having Squires" type. I don't think Sebarial becoming a Lightweaver in his own right is beyond the pale, but I think the most likely next Lightweaver is Elhokar himself, as it seems the Cryptics are already watching him. I'll add another: 7. Roshone to Kaladin. This could play into a redemption and growth arc. After some conflict, Kaladin earns the begrudging respect-then-admiration of Roshone, who is catalyzed by the devastation of the Everstorm and the Parshmen conversion to actually become a leader and warrior. This leads to a Squirely bond (allowing him to draw Stormlight and restore the limp Lirin couldn't save), but with Roshone being self-confident enough to be one of the first to follow Kaladin's steps as a Windrunner. Additionally, this will ease tension with Lirin, as he will see that Kaladin actually can both heal and kill, and set up for Moash to face a Roshone who is now more honorable and like his friend Kaladin than he himself has become.

At risk of a thread-jacking? I'd say low, for two reasons - one narrative, and one realmatic. Narratively, Rlain beginning to manifest Squire-like powers could be a useful plot device to help bring around folks that believe the only way to deal with the Parshmen is murder-death-kill. Realmatically, I speculate that Rlain's formal severing of ties with Kaladin weakened his Connection to Kaladin, which may be the form of the link (I almost said bond, but that word is already reserved!) with the KR. I believe you are correct, though I shall draw from the text: The Parshendi, at least, think they can be... somehow... but have not before. I think of all of Bridge Four, Rlain may actually be one of the first to be in the right headspace to attract an Honorspren of his own - he is honorable, dedicated, and is doing everything he can to protect and restore his people, even though that means working through enormous challenges like trying to convince Alethkar to view their recent enemies as a group to redeem and save. Of course, for a variety of reasons he probably won't be the first to actually become a KR in his own right.

It seems to me that the Vorin kingdoms already have a construct in place that will fit this new situation well enough - elevation of Shardbearers. We saw a darkeyes obtain shards and catapult to the 4th dahn. I suspect that, in the short term, KRs will be treated equivelently, because there may not need to be any change in the near-term. Totally speculating, but we may also see higher dahn placement for principles and other ranks within the KR as they re-establish. I'm interested in how Squires will be regarded. I would expect dark-eyed squires to rise in nahn, because that seems in keeping with advancing darkeyes via military service. Likewise, it should be interesting to see what becomes of a lighteyes of a higher dahn who chooses to become a squire, as that will likely occur at some point. There is always the possibility of a new additional caste system arising that will incorporate both Knights and Squires, although the ardentia and many lighteyes will likely argue against a fundamental change, as they have a great deal to lose by upsetting the existing system too much.

What can the two-armed Herdazian do that the one-armed Herdazian can't? Nothing! He just does it twice as fast!

I feel like Lopen's sudden ability to heal was a first, obvious way to show that Kaladin's breakthrough allowed his Squires (Bridge Four) to start manifesting additional capability. Otherwise, Dalinar's comments about Squires would have been jarring. Aside from that, the timing of him being able to draw on stormlight just as Kaladin broke through seems a little beyond calling it coincidence. Aside from that, I see Lopen as loyal and dedicated to Kaladin, but not inherently dedicated to the same ideals that Kaladin and the others do. We also see no specific sign of a spren, nor obvious indications of him saying the Words with any sort of effect. Besides, I doubt Lopen would be able to keep sufficiently quiet about being a KR to avoid Dalinar's notice, especially since he noticed the regrown arm. On the other hand, you could argue that perhaps Syl's redoubled defiance of the Stormfather gave the other Honorspren a chance to "make a break for it,"

I like this, especially the way you articulated something that had been itching in my brain about the scene. Alternatively, I got the impression that Brandon wants us to think that the Stormfather had stopped watching for some reason. Whether he didn't see it or couldn't see it may become clear later.

Certainly, and I in no way meant to diminish a perfectly valid theory. Rather, I meant to field that there were many possible sources of authority - including the fact that matters were sufficiently murky and urgent that he himself didn't feel the need to seek one out specifically. Doubtless, those that flock to Dalinar will choose from a variety of possible sources of authority.

My guess is that May is an homage by the author, perhaps to a friend or a fan. The name seems unusually non-Rosharan. As to the lady with orange eyes, I expect there is some Elsecaller influence in her ancestry, purely based on Battar's association with Zircon from the chart of the Essences.

Perhaps, but not yet. Emphasis mine: My guess is that he is, presently, so overwhelmed by the next step that he isn't stopping to worry about this at the moment. Heck, just about any of Dalinar's men would have some motive for this, after the Tower. That doesn't narrow the field very much.

My assessment was that the Champion is much like the rest of the vision - Honor's best guess. The Desolations were the results of the destruction at the hands of void-powered Listeners, so the imposing figure of an empowered Listener with eyes-aglow is a very rational (and frightening) image to use. I think the thing he is reacting to in the eyes of the Champion is likely going to come clearer as we get more book/November. My guess is that he is chilled, because the men that he was earlier in life (the Blackthorn) would have made a fine Champion for Odium. Destructive. Remorseless. Awe and enjoyment in slaying. Unquestioning of direction and unswervingly loyal. We saw in Chapter 3 that he used to be addicted to the Thrill. In WoR, he showed that he was now revolted by the feeling. We also know that the Thrill is linked to one of the Unmade, and we saw the presence of them in the form of shadows. I would not be surprised if we see other similarities that fill him with dread at what he once was. Of course, Adolin is following his path in some significant ways, though I suspect he is more likely to become Dalinar's Squire (if Bondsmiths have them) or die dramatically than become the Champion of Odium.

Based on his stated purpose of uniting the entire continent, I would suspect that he views his role as a divine mandate. He may not have decided what the nature of that will look like, but I imagine it is more of "This needs doing, and the Almighty told me to do it. I only know one effective way, and that is via blunt force." Whether he intends to set himself up as Overlord or simply bully everyone is largely irrelevant; Dalinar is the de facto leader of the Alethi, the nominal head of the reborn Knights Radiant, and the former warlord that dominated the historically-warlike kingdom. If there were ever someone for whom finding a specific source of authority was moot, it would likely be Dalinar Kholin.

Granted. I meant that what would be an inverse-square relationship (Optical flux, for example) in our universe may have realmatic analogues that operate on inverse cubes or some other, using the existence of the other realms to justify the change. I apologize for getting too cute with my phrasing without adequate clarity. We do see another example of location-based decrement of power in Elantris, although we don't really have enough data to model when the dropoff begins and how abrupt the cessation is, either here or in Elantris.

This seemed pretty natural, and feels like a manifestation of Identity. We saw in Bands of Mourning that location is tied in with Identity (EDIT: Or Connection!), and also that certain manifestations of Investiture (I am specifically thinking of Speed Bubbles) are based on the position of the practitioner. As the squires seem to gain power from their KR, that is likely due to proximity. Given Brandon's self-admission of being an armchair scientist, I would expect that we may later find that this effect follows some sort of inverse-square (or cube, so all three realms are accounted for) fall-off in potency. I'd also suspect we'll find that the proximity factor is common amongst the orders.

Kind of a consolidation, but perhaps there is a numeric link that incorporates 8-9-10. Unrepentent spitballing follows. 10 - Honor's number. Rosharan system. Number of Heralds and Orders. 9 - Odium's Number. Braize. The Unmade. 8 - Perhaps Cultivation's number? Number of Orders in the Outer ring of the Double-Eye of the Almighty. When combined with 10 (Honor), the number of levels in Uritheru.

I love this. Adds a little more color to the Shin holding most of the Honorblades, and naming Szeth Truthless as they did. The question is whether most of them realize it.

I viewed this as a part of TenSoon taking on OreSeur's identity. In order to keep up with Vin the way he needed to in his disguise, he'd need the extra strength from the blessing of potency. Perhaps taking his blessings as well, in TenSoon's mind, was as much a part of consuming and recreating a kandra as is eating a person and using their bones. Regardless, there was no expectation with TenSoon's use of OreSeur's blessings that those blessings would be restored to OreSeur. In that sense, they were forfeited and 'up for grabs.'

Crawling out of the shadows of anonymous reading... I may be a little late to the party, but onto the original subject, might it me that Rashek was influenced subconsciously by Preservation's Intent from his time in the Well? A lot of tech involves change, which Preservation has been accused of opposing to the point of stagnation. Other things like gunpowder are explosive, which leads to ruination and destruction. No one has, to this day, blown something up to preserve it. What technology did he encourage? Canning. Which is a form of food preservation. I read that as a tip-of-the-hat from Brandon.