slavagh

Those drawings helped her to find what was wrong with the Tower. Random delusion helped her to identify that something was wrong? Unmade was in the Davar's household sometime in the past. There is no proof that it was there in that instance. But it is a possible explanation. I am just not convinced.

But Cryptics were there. And Tower was corrupted. She saw better than others. The light behind the painting was not lightweaving. And I don't see any proof that it was a delusion.

She "lightweaves" things that aren't there. In that case, others see them too. Jushy saw nothing. Don't remember any instance of her seeing something that was not there.

How to explain this: It was hidden behind a painting of a storm at sea that did nothing to dim the powerful white glow. Right through the canvas, she saw the outline of the strongbox blazing like a fire. She stumbled, pulling to a stop. “What are you staring at?” Jushu demanded, holding to the bannister. “The light.” “What light?” “Behind the painting.” He squinted, lurching forward. “What in the Halls are you talking about, girl? It really did ruin your mind, didn’t it? Watching him kill Mother?” Jushu pulled away from her, cursing softly to himself. “I’m the only one in this family who hasn’t gone crazy. The only storming one…” Shallan stared into that light. There hid a monster. There hid Mother’s soul.

I think Shallan killed Testament earlier than she killed her mother. 1) The thing that bothers me is that Shallan saw the presumable blade in the locked strongbox long after she killed her mother. The sequence of the events: -Killed her mother -Saw the blade being put in the strongbox -Went to sleep -Went to the garden -Summoned alive spren -Killed spren -Returned the dead blade into the strongbox. It doesn’t make sense. 2) My assumption is that she killed her spren before the encounter with her mother. That can explain why the blade was in the strongbox for so long. 3) One of the simplest explanations of why a spren would choose to bond with a child is bad intentions. I think Testament was using Shallan to get information about her mother. I support the theory that Shallan’s mother was a Herald. 4) Ghostbloods are interested in Mishram. Some of the Heralds were there during her imprisonment. Heralds may have information about her whereabouts. 5) Cryptics study deadeyes to find a way to bring them back. 6) It is possible to convince a Cryptic that finding Mishram is in their best interest. 7) Hence, Testament could have been working with the Ghostbloods. 8) Shallan could have found out, felt betrayed and killed Testament accidently in the Garden. Then told her mother about the whole thing. Why her mother freaked out? And who was the second victim, the man Shallan’s mother brought to the encounter?

I would be very surprised if a duel would be the only climax too. It probably will be something akin to Adolin's duel in WoR or the battle for Kholinar palace in Oathbringer. But I assume it would be a turning point for the whole series. That's why the involvement of the majority of the main characters either in the setup or actual fight is a fair point to make. Whatever the real climax, it will be directly set up by the aftermath of the contest.

I think after releasing Mishram, the first oath will suffice. But it's just a guess. It will be a nice way to end their conflict. Probably the most satisfying end of Adolin's arc. To be honest I never even considered Shallan. It will be odd if Shallan, as the main character, doesn't have any involvement in the fight. Shallan vs Kaladin is interesting in the sense that Kaladin won't hurt her in any circumstances and she is able to outsmart him. But my gut feeling is that her involvement will be crucial in the setup of the fight. Gaining some crucial advantage for the good guys.

That is actually a great point. Defeating the Shards not through some loophole or direct fight, but by rejecting them as a god. The "fight for the hearts of men" as Odium said it. And I think you are right about singers and humans making amends. If both humans and singers reject Odium, he is done. But it most likely will be the endgame of Book 10, not Book 5. Agree about a "good guys lose ending".But it won't be a total defeat. Just a position that is slightly worse than before with a glimmer of hope for the future. Taln is probably the best choice for the champion. But my pick will be one of the current main characters. It is more narratively satisfying. It is a huge plot point that should be resolved by the characters that we are attached to. Taln will most likely replace Kaladin in the back five as the main character. I think he will be "cured" by the end of Book 5, but not much more. Don't think there is much time for Oathbringer's revival. Maybe he will wield a Honorblade or Nightblood. Maybe he can summon part of Stormfather essence. Maybe you can't use the shard in the fight and both sides will use regular weapons.

I agree that the most poetic way to defeat TOdium is to outsmart him. But I am a bit skeptical that by the end of Book 5 the Odium threat is done. I believe the Cosmere wide stuff is beyond the Stormlight series, and that will leave us with Cultivation as the main threat. Though she does have some appeal as the villain. She is not evil but detached from everything human. The Radiants (who play with powers that destroyed their previous planet) vs the goddess of Nature is quite appealing. Lol. Honesty is seriously his best strategy.

Considering how good Moash, Eshonai, and Taravangian were in interludes, Szeth's story will be satisfying. Champion is a solid possibility, but my gut feeling is that his arc will end in Shinovar. I think the contest will be without surgebinding. What stops Odium to give some insane abilities to his champion? The idea of suppressing radiant and fused powers was already introduced in RoW. I keep forgetting about Cultivation. She is the wild card and I have no idea how she will impact Book 5.

Realy like the idea of Szeth becoming the Dalinar's champion, not Odium's. His redemption is more intriguing to me than the possibility of him becoming Taravangian's puppet yet again. I was really pumped to hear Szeth is the focus character of Book 5. But sadly, If I remember correctly, Sanderson confirmed he will be the main interlude character. So I doubt he will be the champion of either side.

Ishar is a valid option. But my personal preference is that both champions will be the main characters. To live up to the hype, the fight needs to be dramatic. Navani is too smart to be manipulated. Renarin is a no-go. (T)Odium saw subtle possibilities in the future. That means Renarin will be nowhere close to the fight. (Odium can't see his future). That's is why my main pick is Adolin. Agree about the Oathpact. If it will be revived, it's to contain Odium. It is a little anticlimactic to trap the Fused at the end of Book 5. I am split between Oathpact or Revived Honor to contain Odium. My Revived Honor prediction is actually Kaladin, not Dalinar. That will allow us to move on from Kaladin without killing him.

My main theory is not that the champion will refuse to fight, but that Dalinar, not being the champion himself, will not allow either champion to kill his opponent. I would be slightly disappointed If there wouldn't be a fight after all. Very interesting idea that melding 2 Shards will help to bypass Honor restrictions. Raise was the one who didn't want Shards to combine. He preferred to destroy them, to avoid other shards influencing his mind. Taravangian can be very into combining all the Shards. I keep forgetting that Raise and Taravangian have different intentions. There weren't nearly enough fused in the Physical Realm to have an army of Cognitive representations. Plus, why would they vanish if they were Cognitive representations? The Everstorm was there at that specific moment. And Odium can bring souls from Braize without Everstorm. That was how Lezian was brought back at the end of RoW. But you got me for a second. It never crossed my mind that they can be Cognitive representations.

The ones that remained to fight with Kaladin were a couple of fused with the bodies. Oathbringer 115: "Hundreds upon hundreds of strange spren stood in the lake of beads that marked the shore of Thaylen City. They looked vaguely humanoid, though they were twisted and odd, like shimmering dark light. More the scribbled outlines of people, like drawings she’d done in a maddened state" -sounds like the description Velnli gave the fused in RoW After Thrill vanished: "They joined him and watched as the strange army of spren began to vanish too, winking out in waves." Why have a champion then? It supposes to be different from Shard vs Shard battle. If it will be some Bondsmith stuff, the best match is Ishar vs Dalinar. Besides Ishar, who can fight Dalinar in the Spiritual Realm? The implication that fight is to the death, in a specific location and specific time tells me it is exactly what it seems to be. Western-style brutal fight. I agree that Sanderson is great with twists. But he is also great at delivering something you can see is coming in the most satisfying way. IMHO the best moment in the Stormlight is when Kaladin decides to save Dalinar at the Tower. It’s not a twist. It was something the whole novel was leading up to. My point something is that if the whole series was pointing at Kaldin as the main man, it wouldn’t necessarily be unsatisfying.

Thanks. Is it OK to answer multiple people in one post? The army of fused was in Shadesmar. Then they started to disappear. Where did they go if not possessing soldiers? It was not my point originally. I just pointed out that Frustration's point is valid. It is highly unlikely that Dalinar will possess anybody. “What happens, Odium, if you break your word.” “Then the contract is void, and I am in your power. Same, but reversed, if you break the contract. You would be in my power, and the restrictions Honor placed upon me—chaining me to the Rosharan system and preventing me from using my powers on most individuals—would be void. But that is not going to happen, and I am not going to break my word. Because if I did, it would create a hole in my soul—which would let Cultivation kill me." I was talking about this quote. I agree. There is not enough groundwork and foreshadowing for Adolin to be Odium's champion. He is my pick, because he, Renarin, and Kaladin are the ones for whom he will be willing to break his word.

Humans can be possessed. The end of Oathbringer shows fused disappearing from Shadesmar and Sadease's soldiers being possessed at the same time. Implying that fused are possessing the soldiers and not the Thrill. Thrill only facilitate that.

Interesting point. It never occurred to me that being a fused for Dalinar means killing an innocent singer or human. He wouldn't be able to do that. But Dalinar is more valuable if he breaks his word as Honor representative. After his death, he no longer is bonded with Stormfather, he is just Dalinar. Refusing to be a Fused will not make Odium free. So Odium needs Dalinal to breack his word before the fight ends.

I think it is directly said that Odium will be free from Honor's restrictions if Dalinar will break the contract Odium is not interested in winning whoever Dalinar chooses. He needs Dalinar to break the contract. He needs to be free. Odium Taravangian is not Raise. He didn't perpetuate war for a couple of thousands of years.The most horrific of his crimes only we readers know(killing people in hospitals to know the future). From Adolin's point of view, Taravangian made political assassinations with a lot of horrible collateral damage. Which his father, a war criminal, is guilty of too. And Adolin is not explicitly against Szeth's presence on his side(the guy who did all the killings. Adolin's death will not inflict Odium on the rest of Cosmere. And I assume that if he is fighting for Odium, he agrees with him.

Dalinar said he intends to be his own champion. I am not convinced he would be. Isn't the point of a champion to solve a problem between two powerful beings without clashing directly with one another? What stops Odium himself to fight? We don't know the rules of the fight of course. Maybe before the fight, you are stripped from your powers. But I feel announcing the champion before the fifth book is a little misdirection from the author. I may be wrong. Dalinar vs Gavilar theory sounds kinda intriguing.

Hi everyone! This is my first post. The weird thing about the setup of this battle is how relatively low the stakes are. No matter the outcome, Dalinar has already won. (Even Wit said that to Odium). The stakes basically are Alethkar, Herdas, and Dalinar’s soul. For us, the audience, the stakes are whether one of the heroes that we care about can die. When Taravangian took the shard, the stakes for Odium became even lower. His goal was always to save Roshar and now he basically has the power to end this war. For him, the outcome of this fight is even more meaningless than for Raise. The second weird thing is Taravangian-Odium thought about Raise being maneuvered into this deal: “The way to win was to make sure that, no matter the outcome, you were satisfied. Odium should never have entered a deal he could not absolutely control”. And literally the next sentence: “It can still be done”. And something about subtle possibilities. Both outcomes of the fight are unsatisfying for him. I think Taravangian really wants the same thing the Raise did: to be free of Honors restrictions. This is the outcome that he is looking for. Chapter Terms has this interesting bit: “What happens, Odium, if you break your word.” “Then the contract is void, and I am in your power. Same, but reversed, if you break the contract. You would be in my power, and the restrictions Honor placed upon me—chaining me to the Rosharan system and preventing me from using my powers on most individuals—would be void. But that is not going to happen, and I am not going to break my word. Because if I did, it would create a hole in my soul—which would let Cultivation kill me. I think this is the loophole that Odium will try to exploit. I see three possibilities here: 1) Dalinar refuses to become Fused (a very boring possibility) 2) Dalinar refuses to kill his opponent (child, Gavilar, etc). Terms are strict about the killing part. 3) Dalinar is not a champion but intervenes in the fight. The third option is the one I want to speculate on the most. Who will be Dalinar’s champion if not himself? I am leaning toward Adolin and Kaladin. Kaladin is Kaladin. He doesn’t need explanations. As for Adolin. Well, he is the best duelist. And from the narrative perspective, Adolin being chosen by Dalinar as his champion will be a very satisfying conclusion to their conflict: Adolin sees himself as not able to meet his father’s high standards. Dalinar choosing Adolin for the most important battle of this generation will be a powerful signal from his father that he sees him as a kinda cool son. But my bet will be on the fight between Adolin and Kaladin. Kaladin is Dalinar’s champion, and Adolin is Odium’s champion. That will explain why Dalinar is not fighting (not wanting to fight his own son). And this pair will allow for the same result: Dalinar will intervene if Kaladin will be on the verge of killing Adolin and vice versa. Why the hell Adolin will fight for Odium? It would have been a tough pill to swallow If Odium was Raise. Raise was the bad guy with bad intentions. But Taravangian can persuade Adolin that his father is the wrong party to support. And he can exploit the current shaky relationship between Adolin and Dalinar. The Evi part is painful and easy to use.