GarrethGrey

15 minutes ago, RShara said:

I agree that it's integral to her being able to bond.  I empathize with her so much.  Like everything she's said about herself, I'm like, DING! ME EXACTLY! that I devotedly want to know her backstory.  That it's going to be something like a decade before I get it almost kills me lol

That wait...its kind of depressing to be honest, I want more Jasnah now lol I find myself drawn to her, and I'm really excited for when she gets her chance to shine. Do we know which book is hers yet?

I've always been very interested in Jasnahs past and what actually happened. I think its safe to assume, that whatever did happen, had a huge effect on her development as a person, and might have even been what lead her to being able to form a Nahel bond. Her book is probably the book I'm most looking forward to in the back 5, she's still a pretty big mystery at the moment though.

8 minutes ago, RShara said:

But it'd be nice to have a non-Radiant among them too.  It's why I'm so torn on wanting Adolin to revive Maya or not.

Exactly my thoughts, every other Kholin is becoming Radiant. Adolin is still the "normal" guy, I kind of want to see more of that tbh. But Navani the Bondsmith is super intriguing! But then that would basically make the entire Kholin family Radiants...hmm.

There really is alot we don't know about her, and I'm actually very interested. She's always kind of stuck out as character I want to know more about, hopefully we'll get some more information on her eventually. As @Naurocksaid, Jasnah's book seems a likely spot for that to happen.

Very much looking forward to this! I am also someone who fell in love with Shallan in the first two books, and think BS has done a fantastic job crafting such a complex character. Although I did struggle with her in OB (still love her, but she was tough to read in this one at times) and I haven't been able to jump into a reread myself (OB kind of put a damper on the series for me at the moment), it will be fantastic to get your perspective on her character after a Shallan focused reread of the series. Good luck! And can't wait to see your thoughts and analysis 

2 hours ago, Mage of Lirigon said:

Maya is communicating with and actively helping Adolin. It started before the perpendicularity so you can't use that as an excuse. If it were anyone else, would you really hesitate to say that they're bonding a spren? Why does Adolin need to jump through extra hoops?

He's supposdly reviving a dead blade. Nobody in thousands of years has done this. This isn't some normal spren that he's potentially bonding, you can't compare the two. Why would Adolin not have to jump through extra hoops? 

29 minutes ago, Mage of Lirigon said:

I simply find it odd that while Adolin is doing the same thing as everyone else and their spren, people seem to go out of their way to find answers out of nowhere to negate what he is doing.

Again, Adolin is not doing the same thing, its not that hard to understand. Reviving a dead blade, there is no precedent, it has never happened, so there is no process, you can't compare the two. Nobody is going out of their way to find answers to negate what is potentially happening, I find it to be logical to question something that has never happened before, and try to find reasons as to why it might or might not be happening, and what other things could potentially come from what we've seen. Could he potentially revive her? Yes. Do I think we've seen enough in the text to say he is 100% going to revive her? No.

2 hours ago, DeployParachute said:

I would love to jump off the Shalladin ship before the next book. Believe me, I do not want to think any more about it, I want to be able to believe that it is done. All somebody need do is answer one question for me:

"To what purpose did introducing a romantic triangle with Kaladin serve the narrative?"

That is all I need. No one has been able to put forth a suggestion and argue it convincingly using the evidence provided. I am still waiting...

Pretty much this. I understand Brandon wanted to showcase Shallans identity issues and fracturing, and having her develop feelings for Kaladin was a way to show that. But there was absolutely no reason to have Kaladin reciprocate those feelings, we're practically beaten over the head with how much Syl approves of, and wants Shallan and Kaladin together, and then Kaladin himself starts to accept that he has feelings for her. It makes no sense, all we needed was Shallans feelings for these two men to show her indecision and identity issues, not Kaladins for her as well.

I would much rather be convinced and completely on board with Shallan and Adolin, but I'm just not. And that's not because its not Kaladin, its because of the way he wrote it. Shallan and Adolin were written in a very unconvincing way, and I understand this isn't a romance novel, but then why include a triangle at all, especially with two of your main characters, if its going to be written so poorly? For all the time Shallan and Kaladin don't spend together, their interactions were far more convincing of real, tangible feelings and understanding than Shallan and Adolin who spent significantly more time together, it just doesn't add up. How hard would it have been to give some of those more genuine scenes to Adolin? Why didn't Adolin get a Chasm-esque scene? Brandon says he spent alot of time tweaking the romance to get it right, you're telling me this is what he spent so much time on? As such, its impossible for me to push Shalladin aside and just accept this rushed conclusion to the romance arc as a whole.

I don't want more relationship drama, I dont want to be so invested in this sub-plot, I do however want to be convinced of something, not strung along and then blindsided with rushed decisions and vain declarations of love from a girl who was barely functional 10 minutes prior. As I said, I wish I could get on board with Shallan and Adolin, it would make my life easier. But unfortunately the text is telling me something different, that not everything is adding up, and as things are, I can't come to terms with how everything played out, and just accept that this is the end of all of it.

@SLNC Well said on everything. In regards to Adolin, having him die or go dark would both serve as very interesting and impactful uses of his character (I prefer death if we're picking between the two, I'm not really a fan of going dark, but it could happen). Although as you mentioned, there are other avenues his character could go (Rira would very interesting to read, and be a nice change of pace for his character).

But, as you said, he's largely been used as a tool to drive other characters narratives, never a fully fleshed out character on his own. His death could be the ultimate use of his character in driving forward our core characters development, without having much impact on the overall narrative.

1 hour ago, RShara said:

Yeah, with super high infant and maternal mortality...

Shallan would likely be ok but...

And then there's the mental and emotional part...

I don't think having a healthy baby is really an issue, she's almost 20 earth years old, its more the mental and emotional aspect. Shallan was a complete mess in OB, and its really hard to tell where shes at in the end, she's better, but how much? Shallan can barely take care of herself at this point, and so many other things are going on in her narrative, I just dont see how her having a baby makes much sense not only for her character, but from a narrative standpoint. Knowing Shallans character and all her issues, coupled with the fact that shes one of the most important people on Roshar when it comes to fighting this new desolation; shes not only emotionally incapable of raising a child at this point but she doesn't even have the time to be pregnant for 6 months, and then take care of a newborn. It just seems like an odd time to add a baby to the mix, considering Shallans mental state and the point at which we are in the story.

I feel like if Shallan is going to have a child, the gap between books 5 and 6 would be the ideal spot. The desolation will most likely be over, and Shallan will hopefully be much more mature and responsible, ready and willing to take on the responsibility of being a mother.

1 hour ago, Alderant said:

I heard something interesting the other day with regards to this triangle that I didn't understand. People like to tout on here that Adolin is just this perfect guy for Shallan, that he just gets her and he understands her and that he can help her, and that Kaladin is so bad for her and is encouraging her bad habits and fracturing mental state. Based on what I've read in Oathbringer (and to a lesser extent, Words of Radiance), how is that conclusion being drawn? Because what I read in Oathbringer was Adolin actually furthering the problems of Shallan's mental state, not helping them. Kaladin aside, who I think was largely unavailable emotionally to be able to help Shallan, how is Adolin's behavior to Shallan actually beneficial to her mental state, when he is actually encouraging the problem, as Kaladin has been accused of doing?

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I'm not saying that I think she should have ended up together with Kaladin in this book. I don't think that would have been a good idea and with the massive amount of material covered in Oathbringer, I think minimizing the importance of the triangle in the book was actually a good idea, and I'm happy that the triangle wasn't heavily pursued. I like the angle the book went, but I would have been more satisfied with its resolution if I had actually seen some actual romance between Adolin and Shallan. If this is the angle that their relationship is going to continue ad infinitum, I really hope their relationship blossoms in the timeskip between 3 & 4.

 

In regards to this, I can't really speak for anyone else, and I'm coming from the opposite side, because I too, just don't agree with this idea that Adolin is great for her and Kaladin is bad. If I were to venture a guess however, I would say a large majority of people are taking Shallan and Adolins romance at face value. When taken at face value, I can see how people find Adolin good for her, Shallan says herself, "he knows me", and "nevermind if he actually encourages you to be yourself" (subtle dig a Kaladin) so if you believe her, then yeah, I suppose it makes sense. This entire thread however, is full of people who don't buy what Shallan is selling when she says things like this, because it just doesnt makes sense based on what we've seen from Shallan x Adolin and Shallan x Kaladin. If someone is pleased with the romantic ending in OB, I can understand why they would disregard many things brought up in this thread, or even avoid it altogether, not even bother trying to look any deeper, why would they? They're happy with the romance, they like Adolin, he "won". (Not sure if this is actually the case, and even if it is, I'm sure many people have different reasons as to why they feel that way. But if I was on the other side of this debate, thats probably what I would be doing.)

1 hour ago, ale said:

There's plenty of room on the Jasnadin ship. From Kal's "how-does-she-deal-with-the-pain" perspective Jasnah's got similar grief as Shallan (Shallan herself notices this in TWoK), but deals with it with more grace. She also operates on the philosophical level, and can give a sound verbal thrashing when necessary. Also, I suspect Syl won't like Jasnah (or Ivory) very much -- at first. Can't wait.

I'll be honest, if Shalladin isn't happening, I'm 100% on board with Kaladin and Jasnah, I think they would actually make a very interesting pair, and be very entertaining to read. I don't buy the whole "theres just too big of an age gap" "Jasnah doesnt need a romance", those just don't hold any water for me. They had one significant interaction in OB and I found it highly entertaining. Theres definitely more there to be explored between these two if Brandon wants to do that. (Plus, it would be mildy satisfying and hilarious for Kaladin and Jasnah to get together, and then get to see Shallans reaction.)

@DimChatz everything you brought up is spot on, and I just hope Brandon realizes he's writing things this way, and its all actually going somewhere. Because my biggest fear is that its all just there, it doesn't actually matter, and we've picked apart the text too much.

58 minutes ago, DimChatz said:

But frankly that's weak. By the same logic every potential romantic interest should be dismissed if they vaguely remind you of a sibling. Is your crush funny like your sibling? Tough luck buddy, you can't love them romantically. Oh, you're as comfortable around this person as if they were your family or as if you've known them for a long time? Tough break. 

This. It drives me nuts when people use this as a reason for a lack of romantic feelings. Tien was the most important person in Kaladins life, he loved him more than anything. You'd think that him comparing a woman to Tien would speak volumes about how much said woman actually means to him. 

19 minutes ago, Subvisual Haze said:

Kaladin's ship seems to have sailed.  He might previously had made a good match for Shallan, but he's accepted that she chose Adolin.  To a large degree he just isn't extremely interested in romance at the moment.  He might be a good friend and emotional confidant for Shallan, but I can't see Brandon Sanderson having his protagonists carry out an adulterous relationship no matter how "well matched" they were.

I agree with almost everything you're saying except this last part. Saying he accepted that Shallan chose Adolin assumes we're taking what he said at the end of OB at face value, I'm not sure that we should. And he might not have been interested in romance in the WOK (he was a slave) or WOR (he was just plopped into a position of power after being a slave, and was just discovering his powers). In OB, he starts to show that he's interested in romance, atleast when it comes to Shallan. And again, with the whole "adultery" thing, nobody expects Shallan and Kaladin to run around behind Adolins back. If anything happens between these two, its because either Adolin died, or they got a divorce.

Oh I absolutely don't think they'd end up together, I've always seen Adolin as more in the way of Shallan and Kaladin post-chasms. But there is just no way Shallan splits from Adolin once the causal was in place, he's handsome, nice and genuine, oh and a prince, more than she ever hoped for growing up knowing she'd eventually be married off to someone of her father's choosing. Then you have the fact she needed his family's standing in order to save hers (not when they got married, but by then it was far too late to back out) Jasnah reprimanding her for wandering eyes, and her basically not really being able to back out even if she gave herself that choice, that wasn't an option. She was too indebted to the Kholins, particularly Jasnah, and she had gotten close to Navani. Sure, she made the decision to marry Adolin and pass on Kaladin, but circumstances essentially forced that decision, which wasn't even really a decision (she thought about it for all of 15 seconds before she realised Adolin "knows" her, and then repressed her feelings about Kaladin). She felt she needed to honor the causal, and well Adolin is a great guy and super handsome, so things could be worse right? So she clings to him and basically starts chopping off pieces of herself she doesn't think Adolin would like, or things she doesn't feel she should have as a prim, proper, lighteyed Alethi woman, betrothed to an Alethi prince. And then these things remanifest in Veil, who she claims is "not her", even though we know it is her, underneath that mask of Veil, its Shallan, hiding and lying to herself.

But I digress, if you take out the causal, and give both Kaladin and Adolin a fair playing field (Adolin isn't given a 9 second head start in a 100 meter dash by automatically being betrothed to her) I can almost guarantee 100% it's Kaladin in the end. Even with her handsome prince who's everything she could have ever wanted, she still started falling for Kaladin, while only having limited interactions with him. Does she start falling for Adolin if she's in a relationship with Kaladin first? I just don't see anything in the text that would imply she would, they'd become pretty good friends, she would appreciate his sculpted appearance, but nothing deeper would develop, she would not be drawn to him, like she is with Kaladin.

I know Brandon said things would happen during the one year gap (pretty obvious things would anyway) and that some might be disappointed, but I would be incredibly surprised if Shallans issues are resolved off page. I just can't see him putting so much time, effort and page space, making it Shallans whole entire arc in OB, and building up to it in the first 2 books, only to solve it off page, that just doesn't make sense. And why would Brandon say she has a long way to go if he's just going to solve everything during the one year gap? I personally found Shallans struggles in OB incredibly painful to read, but the fact that we readers and Shallan went through that, I want to actually see the the growth, the healing, not just open up book 4 and have her be all fine and dandy. 

53 minutes ago, maxal said:

The best analogy I can find is Kaladin's depression. After WoR, some readers said it was a bit much and the theme more or less over-powered the narrative. In OB, it was considerably toned down: it is still there, but it does not drive Kaladin's narrative as it did within OB. I expect more or less the same with Shallan: I expect she will still sometimes use her masks, but she will no longer pretend they are real. I expect she will be more comfortable with who she is, she will not run away from responsibilities and she will stop trying to evade the truths she has spoken. This is what I expect.

And as for Kaladin, he has shown consistent growth throughout the books, his depression has been clear from nearly the beginning of WOK, he had 2 books to work through things and he still struggles with it in OB. Shallans identity issues have built up slowly over 2 books and finally became an actual problem in OB. It sounds like you expect Shallan to be a mature, responsible, whole Shallan, that has zero identity issues, has divulged all her secrets and is no longer lying to herself or others, and be ready to speak her 5th truth at the beginning of book 4, I just don't see that happening. While I do think she will have made some progress, I doubt it's to the extent you describe. But who knows what will happen in the year gap, its pretty much all speculation at this point and Brandon can do a great many things with it.

I don't know, expecting someone to perceive another persons mental illness and understand it without some sort of explanation, when nobody around them does is a little unfair. Also, Kaladin has shown he understands Shallan to a pretty good degree, when they first got to Akethkar and Shallan tripped on purpose and hiked up her skirts so she'd be embarrassed, Kaladin knew exactly what she was doing and why, Shallan even makes a note of how he was the only one who understood. Then again after she was stabbed, Kaladin knew the exact right thing to say to calm her down. And then there's the conversation on the Honor sprens ship which I've brought up before. I think Kaladin has actually paid great deal of attention to Shallan, he just never made a move or tried to get closer romantically, if it wasn't for Adolin, I'm sure he would have. As far as how much attention Shallan has paid to Kaladin? That I'm really not sure, she thinks he's hot, and loves his eyes, but for Adolin, it's his great hair and his muscled arms, she just comes across as very superficial. But with all of her identity issues, I can hardly blame her, she doesn't even understand herself, how can she understand anyone else?

4 minutes ago, SLNC said:

I understand and I felt like that on the first read too, but after thinking about it I quickly reconciled with it. Failure is a part of life and especially Kaladin has a problem with it. It was the best for his future character growth.

But I absolutely feel the frustration

Oh 100%, it seems we had almost the same reaction and then thought process. It took me a little while but I'm definitly on board with how most of his arc turned out, really looking forward to seeing what this 1 year gap and SA4 has in store for him.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Kaladins arc in OB or that it was bad, and maybe stagnant was the wrong word, It was just frustrating and hard to read at times towards the end when everything kept going wrong. (I had grown used to an awesome Kal kicking chull at the end of books, this was not that).

And yes, that scene with Kal over Adolin in Shadesmar was fantastic, but marred in my original read because I was hoping for his 4th ideal...

32 minutes ago, Greywatch said:

Nine times out of ten, Shallan puts my hackles up whenever she interacts with Kaladin, but that's getting into it a bit. Personally, I thought Kaladin and Adolin were golden in OB, I loved every single ... everything about them in OB.

Yeah, I agree interactions between certain characters can be very subjective depending on the person, as someone who loves Kaladin, and really loved Shallan pre OB (I just cant figure her out atm, her arc in OB was really painful to read, and I can't decide what to feel about her until we see how she is in SA4) I've always enjoyed their interactions and their banter especially, to me they click, but I can see how other people might not enjoy them. As far Adolin and Kal, yes, 10x yes, they were pretty great in OB.

Just now, Greywatch said:

 (Again - really interested to see what happens in this year gap.)

Definitely with you on that, ugh the next few years are going to be torture.

As far as Kal goes, I'll admit, I was super disappointed with his failures towards the end of the book, and his fight with Amaram was underwhelming to say the least. But upon further reflection, and letting my nerves simmer down for a couple months, I actually think its great that he didn't pull another ideal out of the hat so to speak. It will make it so much more emotional and rewarding when he finally does next book. Overall he was pretty stagnant to be honest, which I guess is to be expected after his growth in the first two books. He did have some moments though, I could read his return home and him revealing himself to be a Radiant over and over, it'll never not put a smile on my face. And I did enjoy the few moments he had with Shallan, I love it when those two interact (even if she was kind of a terd when they got to Alethkar, it was funny).

Fair enough, I'd argue that a large majority of things discussed in these forums pertaining to future plot and character developments is partially speculative, what one person might see as textual evidence for one thing, another might see it as something else entirely. I do agree that if there is a problem with Shallan and Patterns bond, we haven't been made aware of it to the degree that we have in the past. Although Shallan was an increasingly unreliable narrator in OB, so its entirely possible that she herself doesn't notice the fraying of her bond, or she's just ignoring it (she likes to do that) which would explain the lack of her pointing it out to us readers.

1 hour ago, Greywatch said:

It's only speculation to say that her bond with Pattern is suffering; when their bond was in real danger in the past, Shallan always noted Pattern diminishing or his distress, which isn't present here.

I wouldn't say it's complete speculation, pretty sure this was covered much earlier in the thread but Pattern becomes less and less talkative throughout OB, to the point to where I even forgot about him. Pattern and Shallan barely engage each other and he brings up Shallan killing him more than once. Shallan seems to be less aware of Pattern and their relationship was markedly different in OB than in WOR. Also, we have the scene in Shadesmar where Shallan clings to Adolins hand and pulls him up, but Pattern slips through her fingers and he gets lost briefly. I'm pretty sure Brandon wrote it that way for a reason. 

I think the the idea behind the divorce stems from the idea that Shallan married Adolin for the wrong reasons. And she's still lying to herself and ignoring aspects of herself she doesn't think she she should have or want and hiding behind masks. Eventually she's going to have to confront herself and these truths she's been hiding/locked away, it would make sense for some of those truths to have an effect on her marriage and how she feels about it. As others have said, Shallan's order of Radiants is pretty much the only order that will not care about broken oaths, especially when said oaths are broken in the pursuit of truths, and a higher fuctioning form or self awareness.

I agree that Brandon writing a divorce for one of his main characters doesn't seem super likely, but there is reason to believe it could happen just from what we know of Shallan and her order. Also, Dalinar set a precedent for breaking so called Alethi propriety and laws when he not only married Navani, but had the Stormfather do it. There is a way to write it where it makes sense, and it wouldnt destroy any of Shallans relationships. And tbh, with the way Adolin has been written, it probably wouldn't even effect him that much. 

@Alderant I don't think anyone is thinking or implying that there would be infidelity before she ends her marriage, that would be awful and would ruin both Shallan and Kaladins characters (not to mention Kal would never do that). It's perfectly possible and quite normal for her to realize she married the wrong person/got married for the wrong reasons, without a need for infidelity. I also don't really agree with "sticking out" a marriage even if you realize its not what you want and it was a choice made while you weren't mentally stable. I agree people should work at maintaining their marriages and not just give up, but Shallan and Adolins is a unique case to say the least.

I don't hate Adolin, he's a pretty cool guy, but a boring character overall. One of his only "flaws" now (which isn't even a flaw), is the fact that in a world of Radiants, where basically all the important people in his life are Radiants, he is not. Having him be the only person in the thousands of years that there have been dead shardblades, revive his blade and become an KR is just ridiculous to me. All this does is further pound home this perfect, can do no wrong, awesome Adolin. He's so great he's the only person that treats his blade nice and because of that he revives it, oh and it just so happens to be an Edgedancer blade that he presumably has, and he just happens to be perfect for the role of an Edgedancer...I mean come on.

I'm pretty sure he will revive Maya though. It seems pretty likely from what we read in OB, but it's more than a little frustrating because again, Adolin just keeps getting things to work out for him because well, he's Adolin. 

Now if he actually has to go through some trials and tribulations in order to ultimately revive her, and shardblades as a whole start reviving, then I'll be a little more accepting of this plot. But if its just Adolin doing it because he's Adolin, no thanks. 

Obviously this all just my opinon, and this wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Just frustration with Adolins character in general.

@DimChatz Ahh thank you! That makes perfect sense, I guess that's kind of what I was thinking on my end too, I just couldn't put it into words.

Just to clarify, what does everyone mean when they say that the love triange is over? Do you mean that Shallan and Adolin are married and that's the end of it, they're together and nothing will happen in the future between Shallan and Kaladin? Or is it something else? Tbh, I don't really even think it was much of a "triangle" to begin with, Kaladin never pursued Shallan, and Shallan never confronted her feelings about him.

I do think that Shallan is going to throw herself into her marriage and won't really ever think about Kaladin (especially since she's hidden away those feelings in Veil). And I also think Kal is probably going to distance himself from those two, he might even be mostly absent from Urithru for the majority of the year time skip, busying himself with other things, subconsciously making it easier for himself to not think about Shallan. But I really can't accept that there's no chance something can happen in the future. 

@GoddessIMHO Thats a really interesting theory! That would definitely be an intriguing plot development. Poor Pattern though if it does happen

@SLNC I know right?

Actually, I've been meaning to bring this up because I'm pretty sure nobody has mentioned it. But Shallan and Kaladin have a conversation on a ship in Shadesmar while Syl is captive. During this conversation Shallan slips into "Veil" speak and starts talking about stealing stuff and breaking Syl out. Kaladin just keeps talking to her like normal, zero reaction whatsoever, then at the end of the conversation Shallan realizes what she was saying and says to herself  "Was that Veil just now?". What that says to me is that Shallan is so comfortable with Kaladin, that she lets her guard down and actually forgets about her masks, and so aspects of her personality that she shipped off to Veil, start to slip back into Shallan and she doesnt even realize it. This leads me to believe that it is Kaladin who is the one that truly encourages Shallan to be herself. Contrast this with Adolin, where is she is completely on guard with everything she says and does, so as not to let anything but the perfect Shallan he's always seen, be seen. 

Another section (this one has been brought up several times) where Veil starts to slip into Shallan is the scene through Adolins POV, when she's looking at Kal and all of sudden stands up straighter, solidly on 2 feet, and essentially drools over him, obviously Veil-esque reactions to Kaladin, but she's Shallan at the time, and she mentions to herself about having to draw that image of him later, not something Veil would say. So again Shallan is letting her guard down and the masks are slipping away without her even realizing it when she's around Kaladin. 

I'm definitly not on board with that version of healing, because it basically amounts to Adolin supposedly wanting to accept all of 'Shallan', but then he essentially forces Shallan to further repress and suffocate two aspects of herself. This then leads to her having to reintegrate (not sure if there is a better term) those aspects of her personality because she basically cracks and can't use them anymore. And then Adolin, being Adolin, just accepts everything that's happening and again he plays the role of the perfect prince charming who can do no wrong. 

This to me seems not only like a very negative way for Shallan to heal (forced repression, suffocation) but also shows a situation in which Adolin does not accept pieces of Shallan (Veil, Radiant) but then when those pieces of Shallan wear Shallans face, he's completely fine with them and accepts everything. Seems a bit odd to me, but it is something I could see happening, I just really hope it doesn't. It just makes Adolins character even worse in my opinion (from a narrative perspective) by having him essentially do the wrong thing, and yet it still all works out for him. 

A better way for him to help Shallan heal, would be for him to start treating Veil and Radiant the same as Shallan, because Veil and Radiant are basically Shallan (minus a few personality traits she gave them that she herself didn't have) they're just masks that she wears to hide behind. This would hopefully lead to the realization by Shallan that those aspects of herself that she didn't like/think she shouldn't have, or didn't want, are actually ok, and that its perfectly fine for Shallan to just be herself. This gets a little more complicated when you think of why she created these masks, particularly Radiant, she couldn't wield Pattern because she killed her mother with him, and shes not ready to accept that. But this seems like a much more positive route for Shallans healing, instead of repression and suffocation, we would get acceptance and understanding. But, seeing how Adolin was treating Veil at the end of OB, and Veils feelings about Adolin, I don't really see something like this happening. So I'd say that the situation @Dreamstorm suggested is probably more plausible, especially from the way Adolin has been written as a character, it just really wouldn't sit right with me.

I'v been following this thread since the beginning, but haven't really felt a need to post as everyone has pretty much covered my thoughts. But at this point I want to say that @Peanut perfectly encapsulates what I've been thinking to myself, this whole romance and "love triangle" just make zero sense. Why bring in Kaladin? Why have these elements of foreshadowing and symblism (some are certainly open to interpretation, but many are pretty obvious) if there's literally no payoff? I was fine with Adolin and Shallan going into OB but having read it, I just feel like my emotions have been toyed with for no reason. 

Also, @SLNC pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole Shadolin thing, If I have to sit through chapters of Shallan being all lovey dovey and swooning over Adolins arms I'm going to go nuts, please no. And this thought terrifies me because I loved Shallan up until OB. 

I guess I'm just a little lost right now too.

Sorry for the long winded post everyone, I've really enjoyed this thread and all of your insight. Felt it was a good time to finally jump in with my own thoughts