So I was thinking... someone has to die in book 5. It's basically a certainty at this point. So who would be the most devastating loss to the coalition?
I've got two groups of people in mind. First, there's Dalinar. King of Urithiru, basically the leader of the KR, most powerful oathed Radiant, bonded to the Stormfather, and Unity, whatever that means. His death is the one I've seen floated about as the most devastating one to the new radiants.
I don't think it would be, though. First, we have Navani as a new Bondsmith, Queen of Urithiru, and another very powerful KR. And having Dalinar as a Fused, while it would be cool, wouldn't be the most devastating loss. Dalinar basically spent the entirety of book 4 ensuring that his death wouldn't cause the amount of damage it would have at the end of, say, OB.
So if not Dalinar, then who would be the most devastating loss for our heroes? I posit that the deaths of Renarin and Rlain would be the worst and most impactful deaths for the coalition. And Taravangian knows this. The only reason that Rayse couldn't use futuresight is because of these two. They're only being unpredictable because Odium doesn't know what they'll do.
So I posit that in wind and truth, TOdium will either attempt and fail or attempt and succeed to assassinate both Renarin Kholin and Rlain. This is Odium's only weakness in his planning- the fact that those close to those two are unpredictable. A predictable enemy is the easiest to defeat, after all.
Thoughts?