#dabbid

Every single word in the chapter 'Dabbid' in Rhythm of War is beautiful and worthy of tears.

Dabbid's voice throughout the chapter is so adorable. The way he doesn't speak because he's happy being Bridge Four different. He hasn't found the necessity to speak to be happy that he has friends now.

And the moments throughout.

Rlain taking charge and scolding Lift when she gets sidetracked.

Dabbid taking Lift's hand and thanking her. Twice. With so much feeling.

Rlain's anger at Dabbid having lied to his family, the kind you only feel about people you trust entirely.

And Lift defending Dabbid. The girl's a bit too...Lift at times but she's an Edgedancer through and through.

Lift 'accidentally' saving Teft and him starting to grouch as soon as he wakes.

Kaladin waking from his nightmares, and relaxing the moment he saw Dabbid and Rlain. Because they're people he trusts with his life. And then whispering, is this real? And Rlain kneeling to hold him and assure him it's real.

Kaladin laughing with pure joy when Teft says something (which we can assume would've been as grumpy as you'd have liked).

After the horror-nightmares, Kaladin being surrounded by family who has been worried about him, who saved him, who he feels completely safe with.

[major Stormlight spoilers!]

Subtitle: A List Of People Who Don’t Have Radiant Bonds Yet 

Three Bondsmiths are theoretically possible on Roshar: whoever bonds the Stormfather, whoever bonds the Sibling, and whoever bonds the Nightwatcher. We’ve got two...so surely the third is only a matter of time. But who are our candidates, and how likely do I personally think they are for no real reason?

#10: Kaladin again, somehow

I do not think this is likely, but let’s be real. If it WERE possible to form a second Nahel bond, the person to do so would be Kaladin. World’s first Bondsmith Windrunner, anyone?

#9: Rlain

I bring up Rlain mainly because, per this post, he’s apparently a popular guess/desire? To be fair, Rlain was nearly the Bondsmith for the Sibling, and I know that some people felt cheated that that never came to fruition. But Rlain is about to bond a spren of his own, so I don’t personally think it’s very likely that Rlain will abruptly refuse his offered bond and then go bond the Nightwatcher instead. But who knows!

#8: Evi

Evi is dead, of course. But every now and then, we learn that characters secretly had Radiant bonds way in the past--like Tien nearly being a Lightweaver or Shallan’s first spren. So I was just thinking: wouldn’t it be interesting if it turned out that Evi had already bonded the Nightwatcher before her death (if she’s even dead!!)? She does have the connection with the Old Magic, after all...

#7: Moash

Okay, now let’s go through various candidates who don’t yet have a bond, starting with a very unlikely candidate. Moash doesn’t have a spren yet, mostly because he’s on the Fused side, and the spren have mostly sided with the humans. But I think it would cool if Moash ultimately became the third Bondsmith, either because the Nightwatcher agrees that the colonizing humans are in the wrong or perhaps after Moash has a heel-face turn. 

#6: The Mink

Now this I would love. Dieno aka The Mink is a Herdazian General and one of the few characters to consistently bring up the whole “Alethi commit war crimes” business. Right now, not only do the Alethi have a Bondsmith monopoly, but our two Bondsmiths are even in the same family. It’s a Kholin household monopoly. So if The Mink were able to become the third Bondsmith, it would somewhat counterbalance the Alethi dominance of the Radiant order, and I would also LOVE to see the cool things he’d do with that power.

#5: Dabbid

Dabbid formed a close relationship with the Sibling during Rhythm of War, and I know that there are some readers who felt that he should have been the Bondsmith rather than Navani. He’s also, I think, the last remaining member of Bridge Four to not have a spren yet. So there is some setup for Dabbid to become the third Bondsmith and bond the Nightwatcher.

#4: Demid (or another unbonded Listener)

Okay! Now for my actual Top 4 both in terms of what I think might happen and what I wouldn’t mind seeing happen. I’ve seen people express hope that a Singer will be the third Bondsmith--we know Singers can bond a spren, and it would be nice to see the Singers start to recapture the bond they originally had with the spren. The one issue is that our main Listener characters have been Eshonai (dead), Venli (bonded), and Rlain (basically bonded). So...what then? There is Demid, Venli’s once-mate who could well become more of a main character in Stormlight 5. And if he does become a main character, perhaps he can be the Listener Bondsmith?

#3: Adolin

Adolin is the most main character we have who still lacks a Nahel bond. Plus, the other two Bondsmiths are his dad and his aunt/stepmom. I’m still hoping for Adolin’s Radiant / Radiant-adjacent plotline to center on Maya--that he will perhaps find a way to restore Maya and bond with her, or simply stay un-Radiant for Maya. But this just seems SO likely on paper that I have to include it, and at nearly the top spot.

#2: Lewshi 

Can a Fused form a Nahel Bond? Probably...not? But I don’t care! I love Lewshi, and I want her to become the third Bondsmith, especially now that’s she’s living among the Listeners. Now that I’m writing this, I feel a little bad putting someone so unlikely so high up but...eh, whatever! Lewshi Bondsmith supremacy!

#1: Someone who is currently a child

But if I’m making a real guess, I don’t think anyone will bond the Nigthwatcher in  Stormlight 5. I think it’ll happen after the time skip sometime in the later books, and I think it will be someone who is currently a child--like Gavinor, maybe, or even more likely to my mind, Shallan and Adolin’s kid who is surely on the way.