Razrback16

You know, I've been wondering about this myself as I've been reading Oathbringer for the first time. While Jasnah & Kal don't have a lot of interaction up to this point, there are things that just got me wondering. I was originally a fan of the obvious Kal / Shallan shipping that Sanderson has going on with Adolin as sort of a 3rd wheel, but it almost seems too "set up" and "obvious" and the more I read the two of them, the less I am into them eventually getting together, which kinda got me thinking about Kaladin + Jasnah. A few things that just sort of stood out to me while reading Oathbringer - * Early in the book, while all of the interactions weren't shown between the Radiants, I found it noteworthy that Jasnah asks Shallan what she thinks of "The Windrunner". Just kinda strange...Jasnah is the type who generally doesn't care a lot of about other people's opinions about other people. It's just beneath her - she's a scholar, and incredibly intelligent. She forms her own opinions and doesn't generally have much interest in other people's views on a simple subject such as other people in town even if they are a Radaint. Just a little out of place and it stood out to me. * Shallan openly wonders what Jasnah's deal is with regard to sexuality as she's basically confused by Jasnah's behavior. She notes that Jasnah has rejected a number of suitors over the years, some of which were very attractive men. She also notes that it's strange that if Jasnah is simply not interested in romance, then why in the world does she seem to care so much about her appearance - always wearing expensive / pretty clothing, adopting the latest hair styles, makeup, etc. [Generally when you have characters that are truly asexual, they simply do not care about their appearance] * Couple the above bullet point with Jasnah's interaction with Amaram where he is physically aggressive with her and from her POV she thinks about family not always protecting their kids from everything - I certainly could be wrong, but it seemed to me she had something somewhat traumatic occur years back that may have messed her up a little bit when it came to men, making her afraid of relationships, or getting close on an emotional level. She notes this herself at a point during OB where she thinks to herself how she feels that at times she herself is too emotional, and it's implied that she just doesn't show it. So, while she maintains an outwardly scholaresque appearance for those she interacts with, she's quite emotional on the inside, just tries to focus on logic instead of emotion. * About midway through the book where the group is going to Kholinar together, Shallan uses Lightweaving to make Elhokar look like a high born lady who looks very similar to Jasnah, and we're reading from Kaladin's POV, and he notes that he's certainly a fan of that appearance, there. So while Kaladin may have disagreements / idealistic conflict at times with Jasnah, he's certainly physically attracted to her. The more I've thought about some of these items, I've been able to see it more as a possibility down the road, and quite honestly I like the pairing. They would need to have something happen that forced them to interact closely for a while. Jasnah doesn't like getting close to people much as we've noticed and I do think it has to do with whatever happened to her years back that's made her a little strange with regard to these types of things. Of all the books I've read, one thing that I think is fairly standard is that as you start reading a book / series, the characters of that book are presented to you in a certain way at the beginning, but as the story unfolds and the characters interact, they have a profound effect on each other and will change as the story goes on, sometimes for good and sometimes for worse. Kaladin's had issues with trust of lighteyes for good reason, and as a result he's built up some pretty significant prejudices against them. It's clear Jasnah's had some issues of her own as well that's caused her some emotional guardedness and hesitation at allowing men near her - I don't think it's unreasonable to think that with the right circumstances that would be obviously up to the author, those two characters could potentially get close to each other and may or may not lead to a romantic relationship. I certainly won't hold my breath for it, but I do like the idea as I've come to find the Kaladin / Shallan pairing just a little too "predictable" and somewhat boring as a result. As far as the age difference between Jasnah & Kaladin, I really don't find that to be an issue, personally. He's an incredibly mature, and charismatic dude, and I think his intelligence paired with how direct he can be when emotionally triggered, might go a long way under the right circumstances with Jasnah as he's certainly not the type of guy who would ever be aggressive with her in a physical way as it sounds like she may have dealt with in the past. Either way, it'll be interesting to see what does or doesn't happen moving forward. Sorry for the length.