ALAKA

In the battle of Thaylen city, Szeth obliterates (possibly on all three realms!) a thunderclast just by flying into it with Nightblood. He then loses the sheath for a while and nearly dies, before getting back the sheath. From then on he keeps Nightblood sheathed for the rest of the battle. Why doesn't he use it again, at least to take out high-value single targets like ships or the other thunderclast? Maybe wipe out a few slower-moving Fused, or even Amaram? He's of similar speed to the flying Fused, so they can't stop him easily. He just has to make sure he doesn't lose the sheath again, which can't be that hard for a super-duper flying psycho-ninja...

I would note that Dalinar's guilt doesn't seem to be just for killing Evi. In OB he's tormented by all of his victims- killing Evi just forced him to confront what his bloodlust had turned him into. Had she not died in the fires of Rathelas he would not have been broken by the massacre, as per Stalin's Rule: A death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is just a statistic... The best way to bring that out would be for Dalinar to commit what even the Alethi would call a war crime, and be shown, by killing Evi whilst doing that, the true horror of all his actions. A straight killing (as expected by the OP) could be psychologically separated from his general actions. He could have just viewed it as 'bloodlust going too far'. It's the association between his war-persona and killing Evi that saved him.

Wait, isn't Cusisech Vivenna? She's around there somewhere?

Honour and Cultivation: The Shard of Ethical Investment Strategy. Seriously, Honour and Cultivation are opposites (like Ruin/Preservation) by virtue of Honour being about the here-and-now, doing what's right without thinking about the future, whilst Cultivation is about Diagrams and planning for the future without caring about the means*. Honour even says somewhere that he's no good at predicting the future, but that Cultivation is much better. I don't know where Odium fits into this particular axis- maybe he's just a convenient bad guy? He is a later arrival to Roshar, and who might not even be defeated entirely by the end of SA10. His Shard's arc could end at the finale of the Cosmere Epic, with the reunited Adonalsium will giving 'context' to Odium's Hate, and re-absorbing it. *"Journey before destination" versus "Destination before Journey". That said, Cultivation seems to have spren that bond with Radiants (Lift with Wyndle), so I might be off track here...

Good point, and Brandon does tackle the issues. But at the end of the day a feudal Alethkar is going to be immoral by modern standards, and it's unlikely that even a decent person like Dalinar would question the system. It's just not in their cultural consciousness. Does that make him "deeply flawed"? Perhaps, but he wouldn't even think of it like that. What him and Gavilar, as well as every highlord, do and did in their any of their wars, would be considered a war crime today, but all he and his soldiers regret is the Rift, because that was, even by their standards, beyond the pale.

Could be, but why would the ability to stick things together allow one to make world-affecting deals? Don't forget, Dalinar only had one power when he made the deal. (Unless he had the other power in potentia) It would make more sense for it to be to do with their connection to Roshar through their spren, although you're right that we don't know.

Cringe-inducing Deus-Ex-Machina as that might be, it will satisfy all the readers who don't enjoy the Shallan-going-crazy arc... And next up to resolve annoying plot threads: Book Four, Chapter Two: Moash felt empty inside. Leshwi flew up to him, with a mysterious smile on her face. "Moash- kill this adorable bunny rabbit and-" Moash, feeling empty, agreed without listening further. Suddenly, a grand piano fell from the sky, flattening him. Roshar, the Cosmere, and several alternate universes rejoiced.

I'm not sure that Honorblades make someone into a member of "Order X"- I'd suspect they just give powers. Hence there's no way for anyone to become a Bondsmith without binding the appropriate spren. If Odium could get someone to bond the Nightwatcher/"The Sibling" he might get a deal to leave. TBH it's not very clear why Bondsmiths are entitled to negotiate for all Roshar, so maybe it is just the powers... Any thoughts? PS "Odium has options" made me think of stock trading

Can't understand some of the hate here- a villain and/or mistaken, maybe, but power-hungry pure evil? Taravangian does terrible things, but they are, to his eyes, the only way to save anything at all from the apocalypse. He weeps for the suffering he has caused- that's not the action of an evil man. As he tells Dalinar (in the discussion about the four farmers), everything has a price. He just takes it to its horrifying conclusion for the sake of the world, and bears the pain of his decisions.

If you read a Sci-Fi novel about, say, medieval England, in which the entire country was about to be annihilated by aliens, would you: a. Cheer as Richard the Lionheart decapitates little green men, or b. Say- "well, feudal society was immoral and those knights had it coming" - and throw the book away. I assume the answer would be (a) In the context of a medieval society, Alethkar is relatively moral. Projecting the 21st century onto another era is not a good idea.

What evidence is there that they are native? They're just more native than humans are. Unless there's something I missed. Are there any other suggestions why the Parsh dead ended up on Braize. The Oathpact just sealed them there, but what sent them there in the first place?

Has anyone noticed that dead people don't seem to 'spawn' in the CR (like they do on Scadrial)? The heroes are near two physical battles (Kholinar and Thaylen City) and nothing pops up to look confused and hyperjump off to the beyond. Could it be that dead Parshendi/Voidbringers 'spawn' on Braize/Damnation, and humans 'spawn' on Ashyn/TQH. The Oathpact kept the VB stuck on Braize (CR or PR?) and the spawning on Ashyn (and possible trapping or fighting with something?) gave rise to the Vorin war in the afterlife. What MIGHT follow from here is a nice story resolver- everyone goes 'home' when they die. The humans are from Ashyn and the VB are from Braize. No-one is native, and everyone will have to share Roshar, and live happily ever after...