The next prologue viewpoint is currently planned to be from Gavilar himself. Source That is going to be VERY interesting! 3 years from now, haha.
From the mantra that Taln endlessly repeats: "Kalak will teach you to cast bronze, if you have forgotten this. We will Soulcast blocks of metal directly for you. I wish we could teach you steel, but casting is so much easier than forging, and you must have something we can produce quickly."
So they did know steel (and still do, from the half shard comment posted earlier) but it seems they can't soulcast to steel. Interesting!
The Fourth Ideal seems to have something to do with letting go of guilt, or recognizing that he can't protect everyone. I think a heavier burden of guilt would make it harder to say the Ideal, not easier. I think Kaladin needs a better balance, to not put so much on himself, to let others have agency and recognize that many things are out of his control, he's not a failure. I do hope he reaches it in this book!
