#Stormlight Archive Spoileres

[cosmerelists]

What Will Be The Windrunner Fifth Ideal?

[MAJOR SPOILERS FOR STORMLIGHT THROUGH RHYTHM OF WAR!]

So far Kaladin has sworn four ideals: (1) "Life before Death" etc., (2) "I will protect those who cannot protect themselves," (3) "I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right," and (4) "I accept that there will be those I cannot protect."

But what will be the fifth and "final" Ideal (we all assume there will be secret extra oaths, right)? I've put together some guesses!

[Final Note: I'm sure this has already been discussed on Reddit and elsewhere, but I haven't done any research. These are just the ideas I could come up with!]

1. "I will protect what is right."

So far, the Windrunner oaths have focused on who you protect: the helpless, the hated, etc. So perhaps, for the Fifth Ideal, it goes abstract, and has the Radiant promise to protect what is right. This would parallel the Fifth Ideal of the Skybreakers, wherein they become the embodiment of Justice. The Windrunners, then, would perhaps become the embodiment of Honor.

2. "I will protect without doing harm."

Aka, the "Lirin was right all along" theory. Not gonna lie, I would HATE this, but it would perhaps be thematic. Lirin has been telling Kaladin all along that you cannot protect by killing, and Kaladin has at times felt discomfort about the fact that, say, protecting Dalinar & Adolin meant killing Singers who were just trying to protect their homeland. So perhaps the ultimate Windrunner ideal is to find a way to protect without causing harm?

3. "I will even sacrifice myself to save others."

I would hate this even more, not gonna lie. I think Kaladin desperately wants to die protecting someone, and I think instead that he should live. But at the same time, self-sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice, and it could precede Kaladin, like, becoming Honor's vessel or something. So I had to throw it in.

4. "I will protect everyone."

This is going back to the idea that each Ideal has Kaladin focusing on a specific group of people: the helpless, those he hates, those he could not save. Perhaps the final oath is to realize that his protection extends to everyone. This would be another way to address Kaladin's discomfort about killing innocent soldiers in order to protect his friends. If instead his ideal is to protect everyone on every side of the conflict, then perhaps he would find a better way.

5. "I will protect everyone that I can."

I do like this small variation, as I think it's a nice callback to the Fourth Ideal & Kaladin's realization that he can't actually save everyone. By focusing on saving everyone he can, maybe he can continue to recognize that he can't do it all, but that he has to try as hard as possible anyway.

6. "I will protect everyone no matter the cost."

Aka, the "the Fifth Ideal is actually where it all went wrong" theory. So...we know that Surgebinders destroyed their original planet, which is why the humans are on Roshar to begin with. I am highly suspicious of the Skybreaker Fifth Ideal where they become the law. Nale has presumably sworn the Fifth Ideal, and he's still cool with hunting down & killing children. Maybe the Fifth Ideal is where the Radiants go too far, becoming the sort of people who could destroy a planet, you know? In that case, what if the Windrunner's Fifth Ideal is to go too far into protecting, so that they're willing to do anything?

7. "I will protect everyone, including myself."

This one doesn't quite feel right, I'll admit, but I also desperately want Kaladin to realize that taking care of himself also matters. This would be picking up the thread of Kaladin refusing to partake in his own therapy, because others need it more or whatever. Maybe to be truly self-actualized, he needs to realize that you "can't pour from an empty cup," as it were.

8. "I will protect more than just people's lives."

This could be another way to follow up on on the "Kaladin invents therapy" thread. Maybe Kaladin will realize that saving people on the battlefield is great, but he wants to do more--saving also their minds, their sense of self, their emotional wellbeing, etc. Making their lives better & happier rather than merely keeping them alive, you know? Maybe he'd even do that for himself...

[awishwee]

Kaladin and Syl dancing! The amount of Joy I felt while drawing these two is actually indescribable. I love them both so much! ❤️

The old "Thought of you" animation was a huge inspiration.

[hyoukanee]

 A Perfect Moment sketch 💙

[themetalhiro]

early days

[occhiolysm-art]

i RAN to make this when i read WAT chapter 35

[cuubism]

i kind of sympathize with Sadeas re: Dalinar in Way of Kings. if I knew a guy who was basically like a rabid dog barely contained on a leash back when we were launching a military coup together and he had a kill count of like 999999999 civilians and then he had a complete mental breakdown and then came back from it like "hey I'm Catholic now and by the way God Is Speaking To Me and told me the apocalypse is coming" well i probably wouldn't want that guy in charge of anything either. to be honest

[duckngk]

decided to share a small comic of one of my favorite little parts from Rhythm of War in celebration of the release of Wind and Truth! i hope to colorize and maybe remake this when i have some time. kaladin and adolin’s dynamic is one of my favorite things to read.

[awesomepossumredux]

Gavilar assassination flashback at beginning of the series: this Totally Cool © guy is being brutally & unfairly murdered at a fun party, who tf would do this?

Gavilar assassination flashback by Wind and Truth: you guys wanna see this lame asshole get his shit rocked again?

[chetney-pockopea]

Adolin Kholin saved an entire nation armed with nothing but a candelabra, trans rights, and the power of being nice. Character of all time.

[jennydolfen]

We! CHOSE!

Adolin pulled free and crossed the stage. He supported Maya, putting her arm across his shoulder to hold her up as he would a wounded soldier. She clung to him, stumbling as she struggled to remain upright. Even as she did, however, she whispered it again. “We chose,” she said, her voice ragged as if she had been shouting for hours. “Adolin, we chose.”

Brandon Sanderson, The Rhythm of War

Prints are here! =) https://www.etsy.com/de-en/shop/JennyDolfenArt

There haven't been many times in my life when I dropped my book, AND my jaw, at the same time.

Painted in Procreate. For brushes, see my Gumroad! https://jennydolfenart.gumroad.com/

Also, drawing this in the staffroom was a funny experience. Colleague: "WHOA! What's THAT?" - Me: ... ... ... ... ... I really can't explain in less than twenty minutes. ... But that's not a human. ... You might say she's his sword." Colleague: *slowly backing away*

[daughter-heir]

one thing about kaladin is that he loves a dramatic entrance. absolutely fucking loves it. his Herald ass is about to touch down on Roshar sooooo dramatically with Syl in circa 10 years after being presumed dead. levels of drama never before seen. The Duel put to shame. he's gonna be wearing his cape

[himbotheninth]

ishar: behold the power of my Mega Depression!! you cannot possibly--

kaladin: yeah, yeah. the Mega Depression. we've all felt it. anyway, here's wandersail

[virtualtear00]

I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo. Okay well I'm Shallan Davar.

[mushimallo]

A perfect moment :')

[themetalhiro]

[hay-bails]

every day i post stormlight things on here that they would tar and feather me for on reddit