Mage of Lirigon

Maxal already answered this wonderfully, but yes, a lot of Adolin's arc in the latter part of the book was developing his relationship with Maya. That's a significant investment to use as a throwaway Easter egg. I would even dare to say that reviving Maya might have deeper impications for spren-human relations going forward, but that's just me. It's not the same narrative, but that doesn't mean it should be dismissed so simply. Adolin had just come back from a serious brush with death, was battling with self-esteem issues, was unarmoured, and, lest we forget, was fighting a monster he was totally unmatched for, and yet without hestitation, jumped back into a house to save someone. You're right that that was his duty as a soldier, but I do think many people in his situation would have given up that child for dead out of sheer pragmatism. That was a clear sign of Edgedancer values: focusing on smaller issues rather than the big picture. No offense, but Maya is barely a character right now, so saying you like Adolin but you like her a lot more than Adolin doesn't say much.

Spending all that page time just to show that something might be possible for some fans that asked a question seems like a huge waste, though. I don't think what happened with Sadeas is enough to disqualify Adolin from being an Edgedancer.

Why are you so sure that Nale’s companion isn’t Ishar?

I can understand what you're saying about Oaths vs Truths, but I see as simply a difference in how Brandon is dealing with each character. For Dalinar and Kaladin, yes, the Oaths will have a greater impact than any Truths they could say. But Shallan's character arc is more introspective than either of theirs, IHO, so I believe that Truths suit her character better. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see Rock or Sigzil swear their Oaths, yes. In fact, if we must be prudent with who we get to see swear Oaths, I'd rather we see older characters than new ones. The problem is, once you have slaughter to that point, it'll either become a statistic with little to no impact on the characters, or it'll become a major part of the plot. Both have major issue He's been wrong before though. I don't mind a huge horrible devastation like that, just keep it to a point where you can tell a story in that setting. Even if it was Adolin's Plate they wanted, wouldn't Dalinar have just given it to them.? After all the talking he did to form the coalition, he doesn't realy have a choicr in the matter anyway.

I think Truths are just as interesting as Oaths, if you want character progression. Eh, too many Oaths and they lose their impact though. Doesn't Shallan already have plenty to deal with, though? Consequences would have rung a bit false, considering what happened to House Sadeas at the end. The interesting thing about Adolin is that he already knows all of these, yet he still worships Dalinar as basically a god. He basically justifies all of these things about Dalinar in his head. Considering that Dalinar lied to him and Renarin about it, I don't think Adolin can just justify what happened with Evi away. We got the beginnings of that. It's pretty clear that Adolin and Dalinar's relationship has been shook by what happened with Sadeas. I wouldn't be surprised if we see their relationship change after the timeskip. The two aren't remotely comparable though. Kaladin was defending his highprice from a Shardbearer on a battlefield. Dalinar was murdering civilians in their beds, plus he lied about it after. Not to mention the fact that Shallan didn't know Kaladin at the time. No way the reaction would be the same. Wow, you're bloodthirsty. Worse than 9 in 10 people dead? At the point, don't you think it'll become too hard to justify even continuing the fight anymore? I guess assassination is still a possibility, though I think the Desolation might make getting assassins more difficult. If I were Jasnah, I would use House Sadeas' betrayal as an excuse for some civil asset forfeiture, Heralds know Fen could use the money... I think running a war may get in the way though...

House Sadeas is in total shambles now, so if Ialai does try to get revenge, Odium, or maybe the Ghostbloods are the only way. I doubt it'll be by way of betrayal, since that has happened way too often with those folks for anyone to trust them. This will definitely happen for sure; Brandon has been moving in this direction since the first book, and he pushed it very hard in OB. If the Sadeas thing makes you worry, I suspect Brandon decided not to bother with it as much because House Sadeas was going to get ruined anyway. In one year, with all the other stuff he has to do, in the middle of a war? Doubt it highly.

In my own opinion, I've never thought that Adolin and Shallan had some super deep understanding of Shallan, but I do think that he is ready and willing to support her as much as he is able. Kaladin might understand her better because of shared experiences, but is he really in a place right now where he could support Shallan with her problems, or even life in general? I took Shallan deciding to to choose Adolin as preferring the former to the latter. Anyone I choose to go out and drink with regularly I consider a good friend, so maybe that anecdotal qualification isn't universal?

Regarding Adolin treating Veil and Radiant as separate from Shallan, isn't he following her cues on that front? She acts as if they are different people to Adolin, and he goes along with that. It's a function of how she was trying so hard to maintain the arranged marriage in WoR. She wasn't trying nearly so hard with Kaladin. Isn't that going a bit far though? Yes, he said he wasn't going to be intimate with her, but it's not like he completely rejected her, or am I not remembering something?

Was it really Elhokar's death that shook him that much, or was it his friends killing each other? You're forgetting about his relationship with Dalinar. That is definetly going to go through some serious stresses in the near future. Yes, he won't be getting any legal punishment for that. Frankly, considering that House Sadeas is a dead force in Alethkar now, and that Alethkar is a occupied nation, plus Sadeas' crimes that were also swept under the rug, Adolin getting any punishment would have been pointless anyway. However, killing Sadeas had a significant affect on how Dalinar sees him. We can see from the end of the book that Dalinar is still not OK with it, or him. That's another thing that will most likely be brought up. Considering the sate Alethkar is in, I doubt Adolin's duties will see any significant change from what they are right now. Plus, we know Dalinar is bad at letting responsibilty go, when you add that to his diminished opinion of Adolin... Killing the king didn't cause much of an issue, why would Adolin be any different?

I must say, I was quite surprised when Adolin killed Sadeas (I don't know why, in hindsight, he was itching to do it since WoK). I agree with Green Hoodie Mistborn though, if Shallan can kill her father and get in, I don't see why Adolin couldn't. The fact that he's resisting the Thrill shows promise. I think he will be a Radiant, later on, perhaps next book? I'm really looking forward to seeing what going to happen with him.

I'm a bit slow, so I've just noticed these new excerpts. Every time I read one, I get more excited for the full thing. Kaladin's slow, somewhat reluctant journey to being a Radiant is going to be a pleasure to read, I can tell that much. I'm also interested to see how exactly this thing with Amaram is going to go down. Adolin is also getting more and more interesting to me as a character, and I liked him to begin with. The way he schooled that guy so casually was amazing, and I particularly liked the way he echoed his father's words. It's a shame he's still anti-Kaladin, but I hope that will change. However, the highlight was undoubtedly Eshonai. Seeing more of the Parshendi was amazing, Eshonai's character was really interesting. Her desire to travel the world, only to be curtailed by forces beyond her control and responsibilities she has to live up to really struck a chord in me. Her frank attitude about the war and it's causes were refreshing to read about. Putting that aside, learning more about the Parshendi was quite enlightening as well. I'm really looking forward to March more and more. I'm really going to have to spend some more time on this forum to hype myself up as well as educate myself.

Out of everything I saw in the excerpts, the stuff about Dalinar and the Radiants was the most interesting. He really is a lynchpin for what's going on and what's going to happen As usual, Kaladin and Syl's relationship is pretty interesting, and a true joy to read about.

A wonderful start to the day! I especially liked the parts with Jasnah: she came off rather detached to me in the Way of Kings, so seeing a little more range of emotion from her was great. I'm looking forward to WoR even more!

Hello, I'm the Mage of Lirigon, a new member here. I've been a fan of Brandon Sanderson ever since I read Warbreaker. From there I read Elantris, then the Mistborn trilogy, the the first book of the excellent Stormlight Archive. I look forward to discussing things with you guys!