This Is One Of The Gayest Things Ever Written And He's Not Even Canonically Gay

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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...

he's a horse girl. he's knows everything there is to know about swords and will talk about and to them for hours on end. he has saved the world with the power of friendship on more than one occasion. he once went to jail in solidarity with a friend. he helped create therapy and has no idea. he fought off a kind of immortal guy with a candelabra. he regularly talks to multiple talking swords. he's one of the best, if not actually the best, duelist of his age. he's an amazing tactician and no one talks about that. he's got daddy issues. he thinks about his friends all the time. he makes a conscious effort to learn everyone's name. he respects trans rights. he's a slut trollop at best (worst?). he once investigated a murder he committed. he's an amputee and has a prosthetic foot made out of talking armor. he turned down being a king and is now an advisor(?) of another nation. he has a complicated relationship with the idea of fighting. he fought off 20 men with only his talking sword and horse for help and won. he is so incredibly determined. he loves his wife and her alters very very much. his love for his friends has had a huge effect on the world. I didn't say his name but you hopefully know who i'm talking about.

Red or Green?

If you're a color, are you red or green?

This has a silly low viewcount considering how much I've watched it in 1 day since it popped up in my recommended.

I never noticed in Shallan’s original drawing of Taravangian (in WoK) there were TWO cryptics!

Sanderson’s foreshadows stretch so far back it’s ridiculous sometimes.

You guys do know you're supposed to reblog things, right

In a world of Moashs, be an Adolin:

Be kind!

Maintain healthy platonic relationships!

Train hard in the field you're passionate about!

Dress to feel good about yourself!

If someone threatens your family, put a dagger through their eye socket and into their brain, then throw their corpse out a very high window!