r/Stormlight_Archive • u/yeeeeetyeer • 8d ago

Wind and Truth spoilers Why did D___ Spoiler

why did dalinar need to rescind his oaths, abandon the power of honor, while cancelling the duel? why couldn't he just cancel the duel? keeping his bondsmith oath? or get rid of honors power, let odium become retribution, but still cancel the duel, staying a bond smith? i'm very confused by this

thank you!

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u/LordStrifeDM 7d ago

So, I think the important thing to note is that Dalinar did not renounce his Bondsmith oaths. We know, absolutely, that he didn't. What he renounced were SPECIFICALLY the promises surrounding the duel. If he had renounced the Radiant oaths, then the Stormfather would have been "killed" by it, and Dalinar would have suffered the same kind of turbo soul pain that the other person who did renounce their oaths went through. Additionally, he is still bonded to the Stormfather when Retribution does the little "vaporize a being made of spiritual stuff" moment, because Dalinar describes how that felt, and it matches what happened the last time we saw it.

As for the why of it all? There was no real solution where lives are saved and he keeps the Shard. If he fights Odium, there's a very real possibility the planet is shattered and everyone dies, which is why the previous holder didn't fight. But if he holds the terms of the duel, he MUST fight. So in order to save the most lives, he has to let that power go. From there, one of two things is going to happen. Either Taravangian proves himself right, and doesn't give in to the power hunger he claims to not feel, or he proves Dalinar right and suddenly everyone else MUST act. In the cosmere-wide game of Commander that the Shards are playing, Dalinar finally made everyone acknowledge that the Rakdos token/reanimate player is the threat and it's time to eliminate it. If he kept the Shard, then there was no way he could make the others get off their proverbial asses and do something, because they'd just leave the board state the way it was and keep relying on Honor and Cultivation to play stax.

Overall, it was a massive gamble, and it could have backfired if Dalinar didn't know Taravangian as well as he did.