I don’t think I’ve ever found Adolin as compelling as I did in Book 5. The ending only made me more excited for where Brandon might take him in the back half. These are a few things I really hope we get from his arc going forward:
Exploring his Ririan heritage - Up to this point, Adolin has been shaped almost entirely by Alethi culture, especially after his mother’s death. But he’s half Ririan, and I’d love to see him reconnect with that side of himself — their culture, their values, maybe even contact his uncle (Evi’s brother). He’s as much Ririan as he is Alethi, and it feels unexplored.
A chance to “talk” to Evi - Something akin to Kaladin’s experience with Tien — Spiritual Realm shenanigans, visions, whatever form it takes. I want Adolin to be able to tell Evi that he didn’t become the war-mongering Alethi she feared. He fights for what he believes in. He has real friends who care about him, and a wife who is very much not like the Alethi lighteyed women Evi was used to. It feels like emotional closure Adolin has never truly been allowed.
Deeper philosophical conversations with Kaladin - I already love their scenes together, but I’d really like to see them engage in explicit moral debates — similar to Kaladin/Jasnah in Oathbringer. They’re different enough to clash (Adolin tends toward a more utilitarian outlook, Kaladin is more idealistic), yet similar enough to genuinely understand each other’s perspectives. With Kaladin potentially holding a major position of authority in the back half (herald of Kings), I’d love for Adolin to become his closest confidant — someone he regularly debates ethics, leadership, and responsibility with.
Yeah I think those would all be cool! And to see adolin living in azir for a decade I think there's some good possibility of him reevaluating alethi ideals, him learning to read is part of that.
With the kaladin discussion I think especially focusing on his view on oaths vs promises would be interesting. Since he started the unoathed that would be cool.
Yep — and Kal very firmly believes in oaths (he even took extra ones in WaT!).
That said, I actually think their views are closer than Adolin seems to believe. Kaladin isn’t as rigid or absolutist about them as Dalinar was.
Yeah I think the discussion would be a good one for adolin to have. He's viewing oaths more negatively than I think is fair. Some do go too far with them but I agree they are closer than adolin thinks and I could see him realizing that and tempering his beliefs a bit. And it might be good for kaladin too.
i agrre with all that. now that all thats left of dalinar is the blackthorn, im really hoping adolin gets to face him with evi in mind. the adolin dalinar rift (haha) genuinely has evi haunting its narrative.
im also so hyped to see how adolin deals with being an absent father. that must be absolutely heartbreaking for him but we'll get to see a parallel with how dalinar and he handle being away from family.
I know this is a serious post, but I can't help but express my disappointment that Adolin didn't turned into a sword for Maya to use.
I wanted her to swing him around by the feet like a club lmao
*foot
He's definitely becoming a truly compelling character. He's perfect for our era... his job seemed for a time to be made obsolete by the new "technology" of radiants.
I like your thoughts here. I’ve been feeling like it would be really cool narratively if the three points you’ve mentioned help Adolin grow into someone who is capable of changing and redeeming the Blackthorn spren.
I really like your second and third ideas. Especially your second one as I have a massive soft spot for Evi and by the nature of the series , those types of 'rewarding' scenes work fantastically well.
As someone who doesn't care much for Adolin I'd like for him to get a bit more grit to him. 10 years in isolation should do that hopefully. I wouldn't think there'd be much space for the story to treat him as ''Oh look at our little Himbo isn't he so nice and kind and aloof'' at the very least in the beginning. Him working back towards that attitude for the remaining books would be very satisfying.
But again I'm not a fan of the guy so I don't know if I have the best idea for what the general reader base would want from him.
He transforms into that man when he's around Shallan. When he's not with her, Brandon's way of writing Adolin is peak.
This seems like it’s written by AI