Chrono

Mainly my conclusion about this topic at the end of Words of Radiance: Lighteyes suck at apologizing. And the greatest examples of those are Elhokar and Shallan. I think a lot of people tend to skim over the fact that Kaladin is asinine and offensive, according to lighteyed culture. Shallan is used to people calling her "Brightness" and opening doors for her. The fact that Kaladin doesn't do that, and instead condemns her entire race for something she didn't do is very insulting. It'd be like me going on a date, and instead of having my date be polite and courteous, he insults me the entire time. When I ask him why, he says "Because you're white." Ouch. Now, I'm not advocating that what Shallan did was right. She was mean and responded childishly and never apologized for it. It was petty. But coming from that viewpoint, it makes a little more sense. Obviously we're more sympathetic to Kaladin because we've been through his struggles with him. Shallan hasn't. While arguing, they have little to no idea what sort of mess they've been through. After Shallan describes the feeling of hopelessness, both she and Kaladin are surprisingly civil. As for Elhokar, I believe that mess has been adequately explained by Moogle. But I'd like to add in my two cents. Elhokar at least made the attempt to apologize. And that's got to count for something. True, he was a brat about it. True, he kind of waffled back and forth between begging for help and being condescending. But he at least made the effort. That's a step in the right direction. It's not enough, and I'm not impressed by that whole conversation, but at least he's trying.

Sebarial probably brought waterproofed suits just to make the highprinces stare at the fact that he's not even wet. That sure sounds a lot like him. He also could be an Edgedancer and Slicked his clothes so no water would stick to him. Chalk it up to Dalinar being stressed out and flabbergasted by Sebarial that he didn't notice the Stormlight. As for Palona's novel, it is a miracle of the gods. *Handwaves dramatically*

Which I why I said seriously challenged instead of "Doing just fine and dandy, ladies." Besides, luck is always a factor. If Adolin had managed to take down one shardbearer without getting hit, he might have been able to win on his own. Except, that didn't happen, as evidenced by Kaladin being awesome.

Shallan: To Be Confused, Because I'm Not Even in Alethkar! Rock: To Horneat Lopen: To Glow Moash: To Vengeance Tarah: To Remain Unknown (frustratingly for the Shalladin shippers)

I agree with this as well, especially with the whole "Adolin is stupid, so Shallan's going to dump him." First things first: Adolin is not dumb. He's not. Sure, he may be a little slow when it comes to witty sayings or cracking jokes, but he's a smart guy. His intelligence shines in a military setting: he uses the fact that the plateaus have buildings inside of them to attack the Parshendi, for example. He's extremely talented at dueling as well, which requires a lot of strategic thinking and practice. Dueling is not all about swinging a sword fancy-like to impress the ladies. In dueling, you have to read your opponent, figure out which moves will spoil his moves, and find a quick and low-risk way to end the battle. Meanwhile, your opponent's thinking the same thing. The fact that Adolin can easily best most people and is only really challenged with four combatants says something about his intelligence. I have several friends who are quite intelligent; they're just intelligent in different ways. One of my friends is very good in social situations: she's extremely good at reading people, finding out what their problem is, and helping them solve it. However, she struggles with tests. Would you say she is dumb? I am a very talented person at tests, but I am physically uncoordinated. Would you say I'm stupid? The point I'm trying to make here is NOT that Adolin and Shallan are compatible. I don't think they are, and I'm certainly rooting for the Shalladin ship. It just bugs me, however, when people say that Adolin's "stupidness" will be a detriment to the relationship. Adolin is smart, and Shallan likes him even though he's not that fast in wordplay (although judging from her thoughts, this may change...) I believe that other, more significant things will get in the way: Shallan hiding the truth about her family, for example. Heck, at the end of WoR, she hadn't even told Adolin entirely about how she was a Knights Radiant! There are definite trust issues running through the relationship. Okay, rant over. Proceed with your lives.

Shallan could be genetically predispositioned towards towards alcoholism, but I doubt it. I don't see Shallan as the hard drinking party girl, and she never drinks enough of it to get truly drunk. It's mainly just for the flavor or for the warmth. Alcohol does make you feel warmer, after all. Of course, she could have to get drunk in order to keep her cover as Veil. I'd laugh so hard if she was in an espionage situation, all cool like, and then she passes out drunk. Cue Adolin finding Shallan in a longcoat and cowboy hat mumbling about fabrials and the mass of Roshar's moons.

Can I just say.... AWESOME?! I love your artist style, ExMachina, and your depictions of Kaladin are always so great! Also, little baby Renarin is adorable. Very much so. I'd like to see your rendition of Shallan and Kaladin in the chasms. Doing whatever. Shouting at each other, in the highstorm, fighting the chasmfiend, making terrible puns, whatever. Keep it coming! Also, your picture of Kaladin and his parents made me want to cry. THAT IS QUALITY, MY FRIEND. Ight, I'll stop fangirling now.

From what I've seen of Nalan's lackeys, they exhibit no surgebinding powers whatsoever. Oh, they may know that they exist - they certainly knew enough to keep Lift away from Stormlight - but I don't think they actually have a spren. If they had a spren, they simply could have Lashed themselves after Lift, or used their Division surge to do... I have no idea. You could argue that they wanted to keep the surgebinding a secret, but Nalan glows it up while he's chasing Lift, so that's unlikely. Alternatively, has anyone considered that Nalan's hunting of surgebinders kind of rules out that his minions have Nahel bonds? If he was really devoted to his code (and there's no evidence to the contrary) he'd be forced to kill his own men. That's a powerful argument. The Word of Brandon that we've received could easily apply to just Nalan. Since he exhibits the surgebinding powers, he could technically be a Skybreaker - just one without a Nahel bond. Of course, I'm just rehashing what other people have said, so go pay attention to their arguments. They're better than mine.

I'm sorry, but I don't see what your line of reasoning is here. Are you saying that Syl tried to bond with another person before Kaladin but after the Recreance? Because there's nothing supporting that theory. The exact quote that you're talking about is this: Chapter 9 "Walking the Grave", p. 133 Here's my timeline for what I think happened to Syl. Before Recreance: Syl is bonded to a KR. He/She dies. Syl goes back to Shadesmar to either recover or wait for a new person to activate the bond. Recreance happens. Thousands of years pass. The new Desolation is coming. Syl defies the Stormfather and comes to the Physical Realm to look for Kaladin. Syl finds Kaladin. Bond is created. If I totally misinterpreted your idea, I apologize.

I agree with Kurk and Shardlet. Syl was probably bonded to a Knights Radiant, who died shortly before the Recreance. She was in Shadesmar in the interim, either recovering from her bonded person dying or waiting for another person to begin to form a bond. She easily could have survived.

For now, at least in the romantic department, I kinda want to see Jasnah end up with no one at all. She's a very independent individual, and I think she kind of has to work on actually making friends first before she catapults up to love. The one thing I'm praying for, though, is that if she gets a love interest, she gets it sooner rather than later. The thing that drives me crazy in TV shows and books is that the authors have a "Pair the Spares" mentality: "Oh, X character is not in a relationship. Um, um, throw them together with Y! That will totally work!" Now, if Jasnah had a nice Beta Couple arc, as opposed to Kaladin/Adolin/Shallan Alpha arc, I'd be completely cool with that.

It's theorized that Jasnah was going to use the assassins to kill a member of her family. Probably Aesudan (Elhokar's wife), judging by the dialogue and context of the conversation. And frankly, I don't blame her. If Lhan's interlude is anything to go by, she makes a really crappy queen.

Now I feel like a total idiot. I totally thought that the ardent was Shallan in disguise and just snooping around. But then, she has a POV right after and she doesn't mention it... Man, am I slow. Her lightweaving wasn't even up to that point yet. Either way, Nazh does seem the type to sketch bridgemen, even though he complains an absurd amount of the time. Has anyone else noticed that a lot of worldhopping characters pose as ardents? Must be a popular standby in the disguise department.

Historians all have their different views, mainly because they all have different goals. I have two different textbooks on American History, and they can be startlingly different at times (criticism of different presidents, opinions on political movements, etc). Not only that, but every country has their own version of what happened. Pearl Harbor according to Americans is a travesty that should never have happened and was a brutal violent attack. To the Japanese, it was justified because the Americans were ruining their economy and they had to fight back. I've overly simplified the arguments, but you get the gist. Historians all have their own opinions and justifications for why things happened.

From a person who experienced depression, Kaladin's story arc is painfully accurate. Sure, you may have been frustrated with him. Sure, it may have been boring to read. Sure, it's repetitive. But it's also realistic. My mother has told me time and time again (she's a mental health counselor) that relapse is part of the healing process. Addicts go through relapse. Emotionally sensitive people go through relapse. Depressed people go through relapse. Kaladin goes through relapse too. And it's wonderfully done. I was frustrated with him a lot, but I was also frustrated with myself during depression. And to be honest, if I'd have been in his shoes, I'd have done exactly what he would have done. Including becoming suspicious of others, unwilling to listen to advice, and harboring a rather dangerous sense of vengeance and justice. We often forget just the sheer amount of crap that fantasy characters go through on a normal basis. A lot of them just shrug it off, and I hate it when they do that. Have your best friend killed off? Oh well, at least I'm alive. Have your love interest shot? Eh, she wasn't that great anyway. Get made a slave and get regularly beaten and abused? This will be a great learning experience! And so on. Kaladin is annoying, frustrating, and makes you want to claw your face off because he's acting like a normal person. We often forget that when we read fantasy, because characters struggle with these sort of problems all the time in the same manner that they struggle with schoolwork. Kaladin is a real twenty year old who has had his brother killed, been sold into slavery, made to run bridgeruns, and generally had a life made of crap. And he reacts with anger, frustration, sorrow, and rage. And it's amazing.

Hrm. Dustbringer/Truthwatcher combo. The ultimate DPS. Blow stuff up, then heal if wounded. If not that, then Kaladin with Pailiah's blade would be most excellent. He could finally be both a healer and a soldier. As a random aside, maybe the reason why Renarin is not good at fighting is because he was always meant to be a healer. Anytime he's mentioned with his Shardplate, he's stated to look awkward in it. I just think the poor kid isn't meant for the front lines. Not to mention his screaming Shardblade.

Another Word of Brandon! When asked about Eshonai becoming a KR, he's stated that it's never happened before, but it could happen. However, first, she'd need to get that nasty Stormspren out of her and get rid of Stormform. I actually feel terrible for Eshonai. She was just trying to save her people and she got taken over by Odium for it. When she bonded with the Stormspren, I felt awful. Hopefully, if she gets a viewpoint book, she'll have gotten rid of it by then.

Nalan's reasoning may come off as incredibly flimsy to us, but not to him. Lift is a great example of this: she did break the law in a way that earned death as a punishment - she interfered in an Azish religious ritual. The Azish people may have been hesitant at first, but they eventually went along with it (except for that one lady whose name escapes me because I'm too lazy to look it up). Which means that almost every single Surgebinder in the book is screwed. Kaladin: conspiracy and potential treason against the King of Alethkar. Shallan: Three counts of homicide - one premeditated - attempted theft, and impersonation of royalty. I'm sure that if he really looked, Nalan could pull something up on Dalinar too. About the only safe one in the group is Renarin. But, I've jacked the thread. I don't think that Nalan's group can actually Surgebind. There might be some in the group that can, but most are probably just squires or random followers. As for Helaran, I'd really love to know how killing fifty guys and attempted killing of a prominent brightlord is justice or serving the law. My guess is that Helaran fell in with the Ghostbloods, or an offshoot thereof.

If Adolin gets a spren, it will be entirely dependent on how he handles Sadeas's death. He's gonna be under a lot of pressure, especially once fingers get pointed at Dalinar. Hoo boy, this could be enough pressure to crack Adolin! And I'm on the Dustbringer wagon too. The way he killed Sadeas though, was not very courageous. Slightly injured man in his twenties taking on a fit but middle aged unarmed man doesn't seem very courageous to me... Either way, I'm excited for how this will be resolved.

Characters. Characters, characters, characters. I love the freaking characters in this series. They are realistic. They make choices not because the plot demands it, but because it fits in with their mold. Kaladin is a great example of this: in WoR, he did several things that I was absolutely frustrated with. But I understood his reasoning, and it totally fit with his character. As a person who used to struggle with depression, his mental reasoning and emotional turmoil were both exquisitely done and painfully accurate. Shallan is also wonderfully done. And on and on and on. Oh, and the plot was good too. And the setting. And the cultures. Really, just everything was good. The pacing was unbelievable.\

The picture actually fits Shallan killing her father better, though. It describes a dining hall, with a half eaten meal on the table. And there actually was blood. Nan Balat managed to graze Lin Davar with his sword, though it did not kill him. There was enough blood, though, to theoretically pool around him, especially once he died.

The woman's Shardplate glowed bright red, so that chalks up one point towards Dustbringers, in case you're interested.

Unfortunately, Brandon has stated that the Skybreakers would seriously disapprove of Adolin's actions. Probably because murdering people is against the law (in which case, Shallan had better watch out for Darkness, because she's got a laundry list of prior offenses). I'm pegging Adolin as a Dustbringer or a Willshaper. However, it's tentative at this point if Adolin will even get a spren.

Darkness being Nin is the easiest explanation, as mentioned above. Kalak mentions that they were all broken when he spoke with Jezrien. Out of all the heralds, the one I feel the least bad for is Taln, actually. Sure, he's wacko due to being tortured for five thousand odd years, but he hasn't lived with all the guilt and warping that breaking the Oathpact did to all the other Heralds. Shalash is wandering around destroying anything that looks like her. Nin is gathering men who murder in the name of justice. Five thousand years of carrying that shame and self-loathing has got to leave them mentally and emotionally scarred. In short, Taln may be restored to sanity. But some of the other Heralds - mainly Nin - may be beyond redemption.

Upvote for listening to Bad Apple and actually paying attention to the lyrics. A lot of those lyrics can apply to Shallan as well, if you think about it. The song is very much about fear and guilt clouding one's actions. As for songs, I think that this song would go perfectly for (link in spoiler): As for the battle between Szeth and Kaladin, this one works spectacularly as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G-Rsu_MQQg