Rybal

At the end of the day, I think it would be interesting to have a main character of an extended series that did NOT end up in a romantic relationship.

A lot of Brandon's stuff has parallelism. I see the triangle of Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin repeating the history of Dalinar, Navani, and Gavilar. I think that, regardless of Kaladin's personal feelings towards Shallan, he will step aside for Adolin, who becomes more like a brother to him throughout the book. One of my biggest issues with the Kaladin-Shallan pairing, though, revolves around Syl and Pattern. The cryptics and honorspren just don't get along. I can't see either of them ending up with someone (or their spren) that their associated spren doesn't fully approve of. It would be something akin to the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. Also, I'm kind of hoping that Brandon decides that Kaladin doesn't necessarily need a love interest in the first quintet. I'd be content with him finding someone between the two halves of the series off-page. For now, he really isn't likely to have a whole lot of time to pursue a relationship, what with his KR duties and all.

Consuming Stormlight is not the same thing as Surgebinding. The enhanced speed could just be a product of Stormlight. It is also possible that the Heralds only need their blades to have access to the Surges, not Stormlight. Additionally, it has been theorized that some, if not all, of the Heralds are worldhoppers, so it is also possible that they have accessed other magic systems. There is certainly evidence that they are not native to Roshar, so the speed could be related to their other abilities..

Maybe Windrunners can affect their squires as easily as they can affect themselves. Maybe they can even use their squires' Stormlight to use the surges on them. (complete theorizing)

I wouldn't be surprised if Adolin is one of the champions. Bonus points if he and Kaladin are opposing champions, especially since they seem to be becoming something akin to friends. Of course, knowing Brandon's style, I also wouldn't be surprised if the champion was not a fighter in any way, if only because that would be unexpected.

The anger was magnified by that incident, but it was started because of the spheres. Then again, Roshone seemed negatively inclined towards Lirin from his very arrival in the town. It is also possible that the spheres weren't even the real issue and that Roshone was more upset over the fact that a darkeyes had the gall to stand up to him and not bow before his wishes (which probably reminded him of Moash's grandparents, now that I think of it).

To your first point, he didn't mention the results of his investigation to Kaladin until after Kaladin decided to act on his own. To any reasonable person, 17 witnesses all saying the same thing is more than enough evidence. Granted, Amaram would have been their boss, so their statements could be considered to have been given under duress, but that doesn't change anything. As for Roshone, Dalinar wanted him stripped of authority and exiled, but was overruled. GAVILAR agreed with the assessment that Roshone should be sent away, but retain a measure of authority. Dalinar would not have overruled his brother. I get what you are saying with the thought of blaming the victim, but I was saying that others had just as much reason to be blamed for Tien's death as Roshone. I don't blame Moash's grandparents for what happened to them, for instance, because they were punished solely for doing well. Lirin, on the other hand, stole from the brightlord. Does Roshone deserve blame for Tien's death? Some. Lirin? Some. Amaram? Some. Sadeas? Some. Tien's squadleader? Most of it. The main point that I was trying to make was that, if you are going to go back to that point to say that it was his fault that Tien died, then you could just as effectively go back one step further to the cause of that hatred. Lirin may have been a victim, but he was in no way innocent.

The thing is, with Kaladin and Dalinar, when they hear/feel the blade scream, we never hear what it is that they are hearing. We just know there's screaming. For all we know, it could be that it's screaming that its holder (or the KR/ProtoKR touching it) killed it the entire time.

But made on the wrong world with the wrong magic system. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't have a spren, though his lifesense is probably the reason he can sense Kaladin and Syl.

My guess is that it's both. He asked for the capacity to save the world and got it - both in the most literal form in the Diagram and the more symbolic form with compassion. We notice that his compassion/empathy tends to be inversely proportional to his intelligence on any given day and my guess is that the two would conflict too much if they were directly proportional. The world needs both aspects, so that's what he was given.

Their descriptions are the same.

First, as has been mentioned several times in this thread, Dalinar absolutely did not need to apologize to Kaladin. He went much further in investigating one of his best friends than anyone would expect or believe possible, especially on the word of one of the "lesser" class. Regardless of the determination of that investigation (which any reasonable, unbiased individual would agree with), Dalinar still treated Kaladin with a great deal of respect. I believe that he didn't tell Kaladin the results of the investigation BECAUSE it turned up negative and he didn't want to cause additional damage to Kaladin's psyche. Acting like it hadn't happened was a measure of trust. Regardless of whether Shallan actually said the words to apologize, she made one. She may not have even realized that she had done so. Her act of confiding her story in him was more of an apology and an acceptance of him than any apology could have been. During that time in the chasm, he even accepts her actions. Elkohar's reaction and warning to Kaladin not to overstep his place has more to do with the epic chasm that is the difference between the social status of a king and a bodyguard, which is how he sees Kaladin. That difference is not related to the difference in eye color. As for Amaram, technically, he did apologize. Considering that the denotation of "apology" involves giving an explanation or account vs. the connotation that we typically attribute to it, his was the strictest definition of the term. Amaram believed that his actions were the best for Roshar, regardless of whether they were "right". Also, I notice that people talk about how awful Kaladin was to everyone else, but no one mentioned that they thought that HE should have been apologizing for his own actions. We cannot hold him to a lesser standard than we do the others. All in all, he was treated fairly well by lighteyes in this book, given the specific circumstances. In return, he hates them and is condescending towards them constantly (though several admittedly act the same way towards him). One final note for Moogle - yes, Dalinar sent Roshone to Kaladin's town, but if you are going to blame Tien's death on him, then you need to be willing to go back further and blame Lirin for stealing the spheres in the first place, considering that that is what put the target on their back.

Really? Because Brandon said at a recent signing that he was expecting the next book to be released at the end of next year (2015). He also said he was aiming for an 18 month release schedule, at least until the first set of five was complete. Apparently, there's also an in-world gap of 10 years between the sets of five. When he announced that, he didn't say that that time gap was in-world. He said "then, there's a 10-year break". Sitting in the front row, I apparently looked like I was going to have a heart attack when he said that, because he mentioned that as he clarified himself.

I need you to become fire. I'm a stick. Please, become fire. I'm a stick. But you're dying already. What? I'm a stick. You're away from your tree - cut off. You're dead. You're no more alive now than if you were fire and becoming fire can help save me. I'm a stick. Fine! I guess we'll both die - together. Die? Yes. Cease to exist. Become nothing. You're already on your way and I suppose I'll be joining you. Maybe . . . <FIRE>

Personally, I doubt that she's a Surgebinder. There are several ways that she could have had a Blade. It could be a scenario where she is a part of a guild of assassins (even if only one or two exist at a time - the primary thought is that there is a lineage) where the Blade gets passed down. I think that the most important part about no one knowing that she was a woman has to do with the fact that no one expects an assassin to be a woman - especially in Alethkar. Because of that expectation, she'd be able to get closer to her targets than a man would. What intrigues me about this, though, is the fact that she trusts Jasnah enough to reveal this fact.

It could also be interpretation. Each of the orders probably interprets the core of those ideals differently. For instance, in saying "Life before Death", the Skybreakers could be saying that the lives of the many are worth the deaths of a few. Life for all would be more important. "Strength before Weakness" could also indicate why they tend to focus on newer Surgebinders (though I suppose most would be). If you're strong enough to go against them, you are strong enough to stay. "Journey before Destination" could mean that EVERY step of your journey is important. Since they see things through the eyes of legalism, any misstep (probably within certain bounds) would be relevant.

Well, we DO know that they aren't "normal". They have some sort of power, even without their blades. We just haven't seen it yet.

One thing that I thought of early this morning is the relationship between brokenness and investiture. Conceivably, in order to reach that next level of investiture, one would need to be broken just a bit more, which would provide additional reasoning for Kaladin's need to deal with his depression again.

I could go with this, especially since Syl always looked like Tinkerbell in my mind. Syl even tries to get Kaladin to think happy thoughts in order to fly.

At the DC signing a couple days ago, Brandon explained that crem was initially created in his mind as a means of countering the extensive erosion that would occur with regular hurricane-like storms. While the Highstorms would weather the land, they would also deposit crem. Otherwise, Roshar would have disappeared ages ago.

Of course, there's also the fact that Shallan makes Adolin better. He learns to be himself around her, which would be a strength. At the end of the day, a Highprince (or the heir) needs someone that they trust and that they can confide in. Navani would certainly see this. You can't forget that she has her own vested interest in Adolin and would arguably put him above Shallan regardless of the relationship between Shallan and Navani. Also, I will reiterate one of my prime arguments against the Shalladin theory - Syl and Pattern. Honorspren and Cryptics neither like nor trust one another and that has to be taken into account when considering the potential of such a relationship.

I think that the internal conflict within Kaladin was very necessary for the series. We needed to learn that there were other ways that the Nahel bond could be broken/damaged to see that it wasn't simply a "Once you have it, it's yours forever" kind of deal. Sure, it may have felt like it lasted a LONG time, but it still felt RIGHT.

Now that you mention this, it is certainly a plausible theory. We know that Taravingian at least THOUGHT Heleran was a surgebinder (or capable of being one). Also, whatever group he was with may have been the type to periodically transfer their Shards among them, whether as punishment or simply to whomever needed them at that time. Then again, Taravingian also confirms that Heleran is dead. So, unless he ALSO died (assuming this was prior to the incident in WoK), which resulted in the Shards being passed to another Veden who then went on to attack Amaram . . . Truth to tell, I still don't have a clue of what happened with this. It is possible that Taravingian/The Diagram is wrong on this count, but it has thus far only been negligibly incorrect and he DID seem certain of that.

First off - to say such a thing about Syl!! Beyond that, the reason that the bond weakened was because of Kaladin's own internal conflict. Regardless of what he said at any point, he KNEW that killing Elkohar was not the right thing to do. His decision to tell Moash that he was on board with their plan didn't further damage the bond because the damage had already been done the moment that he decided that killing the king was acceptable. The quote that you read was one where Kaladin was essentially trying to convince himself that he was trying to do, hence the emphasis on "trying". He knows he's wrong, but he WANTS to do it. The stronger the bond gets, the closer the two of them get to one another. The difference is that Syl wouldn't have the protection from emotions that people do. We tend to push stuff down when we don't want to deal with it (see - Shallan's entire storyline in this book). Syl would feel the full force of those emotions (theory). As their bond weakens (due to Kaladin's internal conflict), Syl's level of intelligence and sentience decrease to the point where she is just like her cousins, the windspren. That's the reason that they don't have the same types of conversations. Kaladin's depressions in the first book were a result of his inability to protect those he cared about. In this one, they were due to an internal conflict over what is right. Because he couldn't decide which one was right, his bond was also weakened. Oh, as for Wyndle, of COURSE the spren would want to be able to mold those they bond. They don't want to be killed.

What about the probable Releaser/Dustbringer in Dalinar's flashback early on in this book?