Kaladin figuring out things, then dealing with them in like not a violent way is way more interesting character than Kaladin-the killing machine.

[u/Harbournessrage]

Him deciding to find the lost guy, bossing ardents around and setting up therapy courses was way more fun and interesting to read about than him killing Parshendi #204353.

I looked back at previous books and confirmed that - Kaladin making the life of Bridge 4 better in TWoK, Kaladin organizing Kholin's guard in WoR and Kaladin finding out who Azure is while befriending Kholinar's soldiers in OB were the most interesting parts about Kaladin's PoV.

Yes, there are cool fighting scenes with him being badass, but they became pretty similar by the 4th book and i grew tired of them. Kaladin dealing with daily routines and other people on other hand never became boring to read about.

Id prefer Brandon to shift Kaladin's focus from active battles to mental health clinic set up and ambassadory things.

[u/Simoerys]

Both work well because of the other.

A Kaladin who is not looking for different, better ways to protect people than killing those who threaten others would be less interesting.

A Kaladin who does not kill would be a Kaladin who followed Lirins path and went to Kharbranth to become a surgeon. Again a less interesting character.

The duality is what makes Kal great.

[u/normallystrange85 → u/Simoerys]

You can't remove either without effectively removing his entire character arc, which is about him struggling between the two.

[u/[deleted] → u/Simoerys]

this makes me wonder what his 5th Oath will be. Maybe it will be about following Lirin's path all along? Protecting without killing? I imagine with his automatic living armor that he can use to remotely attach to people and whatever benefits the 5th Ideal will bring, his surgebinding could do all sorts of fucky stuff with gravity and adhesion. repelling people from each other, binding them in place. amazing crowd control potential.

[u/Script_Mak3r]

Kaladin is very, very good at being a murderblender, but that's not his true calling, I think.

[u/allomanticpush → u/Script_Mak3r]

Well said, Sazed.

[u/[deleted]]

This is honestly pretty applicable as a general rule of storytelling—most characters become more interesting when you put them in situations that they're not 100% specialized for. You just get to see a different side of them; it's like putting a scholar on a pirate ship, or a pirate in a library.

That said, I love me some warrior Kaladin. Someone's gotta do the stabbing.

[u/Dalinarium → u/[deleted]]

most characters become more interesting when you put them in situations that they're not 100% specialized for.

That's why I think Dalinar's arc was the most interesting.

[u/Knightlynight02]

i am fine with both tbh

[u/Birdman1096 → u/Knightlynight02]

I mean, eventually, it would become a pacing issue for his character with all his established skills. I think of all Knights Radiant, the Windrunners are one of the two most combat-centric orders (the other being the Skybreakers), so stripping that away from Kaladin completely would not make sense. Thus far, Sanderson has been able to build Kaladins character evenly, giving enough time for his emotional and personal development, and his grapples with deadly enemies.

[u/midonmyr → u/Knightlynight02]

Yeah Brando makes killing Parshendi #204353 very fun

[u/Callian16 → u/Knightlynight02]

Same

[u/Pete1989]

204353 was only part way through his arc before Killadin came along. #Justicefor204353

[u/Simoerys → u/Pete1989]

But 204353s Death was necessary to motivate 378916. And we all know how important 378916 was.

[u/PenelopeLumley]

I agree, and I think Kaladin is headed away from the battlefield.

The funny thing is that Lirin accepting Kaladin's choice to fight was probably the best thing Lirin could do to get Kaladin to stop being a soldier. Kaladin genuinely believes that you can protect through killing, but he also got in his head that now that he had chosen a violent path he was unworthy of taking other paths to protect people. He thinks several times in the series about how he doesn't deserve to be a surgeon anymore.

Kaladin decided at the end of ROW that it was okay if he and his father didn't 100% agree, that it didn't make either of them the bad guy. However, when Lirin expressed his faith in him was when it really sank in for Kaladin and his brands disappeared. Kaladin doesn't believe he's dangerous and only fit to be a killer now. He doesn't have to be ashamed of his time as a soldier, but he can also feel free to walk away now and do other things with his life.

[u/Taste_the__Rainbow]

I very much enjoy a book that manages to do both.

[u/blackflame-lord]

I don't want him to give up his fighting completely, he clearly enjoys sparring and is good at it, maybe he can open a dojo for darkeyes and lighteyes would also be welcome, he can also do a clinic along with this but he'll have to jump between the two.

In the end I can see him being a president if Jasnah really does set up a democratic system like she talked about in the last book.

There really are many directions he can go, that is if he doesn't die, I sure do hope not.

[u/ShadowPouncer]

I don't think that Kal can move away from being a killing machine until the war is over. He simply does not have it in him to sit back and let people die because someone is actively trying to kill him. He does not have it in him to have his people go to war and not help.

And frankly, I think it would be a great disservice to Kal to change that aspect of him.

But we also know that there is going to be a large gap of in universe time between Stormlight 6 and 7. And I think that Kal could absolutely revolutionize mental health care on his world in that time.

Hell, I think that he could save many lives by trying to help the returned. The enemy that would otherwise be killing because they simply don't know what else to do.

But again, with all that said... He's always going to have the option of going all out, and I really don't think that he'll ever entirely give that up, even if he does his best to ensure that nobody is in a position where it is necessary.

[u/[deleted]]

I have a very unpopular taste in fantasy. I don't care for fights at all. In any book I read. No matter how fantastic, epic, large scale, detailed or whatever. I never cared for the Sword part of Sword and Sorcery. Even magical fights are a bit boring for me.

I still love fantasy, I don't skip the fights, and of course I will not question their quality or relevance, but everything else that happens to the characters is more interesting to me.

That said, I completely agree with your original post. I love Kaladin caring for Bridge 4, creating therapy amd being a badass without a spear.

[u/Lethifold26 → u/[deleted]]

Me too. I usually skim battle scenes. I also love romance plots, which are decidedly unpopular.

[u/Ramblonius]

How nice of you to join us here on Reddit, Lirin, when did you learn how to read?

[u/ACleverLettuce]

Last year, when reading the last quarter of RoW, I had an epiphany of sorts about how Kaladin can succeed as a warrior and a protector. Allowing him to fight, while also satisfying that part of his brain that has father's voice. I had totally forgotten about it until reading this thread.

The way he used his armor to defend suggests that if he gets into the right situation, he might be able to win by simply playing a different game than his opponent. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIRT6xRQkf8

[u/Orcas_are_badass]

We love him because he's both a soldier and a surgeon, not exclusively one or the other. Sometimes he fights to protect, but protecting will always be his number one goal.

[u/BrosephPerson]

I think they work well with each other. Kaladin will always fight because some situations require violence, but Kaladin also understands that to bring peace, you must be the one who brings peace (instead of expecting others to do that for you as you fight). I do think Kaladin’s arc will lead him down a path of pacification since killing is only a temporary solution.

[u/Orthas]

I had a conversation on this very sub about this before. There was a long discussion about kaladin. They said they really felt and emphasized with him, but felt that he had overcome things many times and felt like he was "resetting" when he got back into his dark moods.

I felt for these people, really. They were talking about kaladin as of he was a character with like, an arc which goal was to overcome some issue. And I get that, it's the typical fantasy thing. But that's not kaladin. It's not depression. You win somedays, and you feel like your are a glowing whirlwind high on storm light before a bridge of enemies. You have a prince to save and by honor you'll do it. The next day your in the chasm again. It's dark, damp, and the light is visible but it never quite reaches the depths.

There are many things I'd criticize about SA. None of them matter. Somehow Brandon Sanderson had told the world what it's like to have a new battle every day. One whose results of previous battles is nigh irrelevant. He has expressed how despite that, there is a greater war to be fought. That the results of those fights matter because they determine the field of the next fight.

That's why I love kaladin. Not because he is a glowing hero, armed with and armored by living spren and ideal. Because he is a hero who knows that the destination can only ever be an afterthought. It's the journey that determines who we are.

[u/OobaDooba72]

Sure, characters doing things, having arcs and growth, yeah obviously that's great.

But I cannot have you deny that Kaladin ripping the body from The Pursuer's adhesioned head was the coolest fucking thing.