#skar

(Do you mean to tell me Adolin went drinking with all of Bridge Four? 😭)

As requested by @karlathewitch :)

[THIS POST CONTAINS WAT SPOILERS!]

Oh no! You've been kidnapped! But don't worry--the following Cosmere characters are on their way to save you, and I've calculated your exact survival odds. I'm sure that'll make you feel better...

1. Tress: 100% Survival Odds

Oh man, are you ever lucky! Not only is Tress great at rescuing people--whether emotionally or physically--but she's also in the sort of story where protagonists don't die! Just sit back, relax, and wait for the Power of Friendship to save you.

2. Vin: 95% Survival Odds

Vin is coming to save you? You're (basically) golden! She can leap tall buildings in a single bound, cut down whole armies with her giant sword, and hates to fail people! Now, if for some reason she had to make the choice of whether to save you and doom the world or let you die to save it, then she's going to let you die. But what are the odds of that, right??

3. Skar: 80% Survival Odds

You can rest (somewhat) easily if Skar is coming to save you. This guy managed to rescue baby Gavinor from the Siege of Kholinar, which is more than the major protagonists accomplished! Plus, he's based on a real-life friend of Sanderson's, so you know that Sanderson doesn't want to make him look bad. HOWEVER, keep in mind that if it would be especially tragic for you to die--perhaps if you are a beloved Bridge 4 member and Moash is coming for you--then not even Skar can save you from the narratological tragedy coming for you.

4. Silence: 73% Survival Odds

You're pretty lucky if Silence is coming to save you. She is tough and skilled and good at finding people. And she will be willing and able to kill people trying to stop her. But also...Silence is a Threnodite. And that means her story is gritty and bloody and full of dead people. You have no real genre armor here. Except for the fact that if you die, you won't really die. You'll be a miserable Shade forever. Don't worry about how much of this survival percentage includes the half-life of a Shade. Don't worry about it.

5. Wax: 66% Survival Odds

Oof, listen, it really depends. Your odds aren't bad here. Wax is good at fighting. He's a lawman, so if you were kidnapped, he'd definitely want to do something about that. On the other hand, if there's any chance that your death might make him sad, especially if you are a woman he cares about, then your odds are much, much lower. But don't worry--he will feel sad if you are gunned down during the rescue attempt. And that's a comforting thought, right?

6. Vivenna: 50% Survival Odds

It's all about where we are in her story, man. Is this early Vivenna who still needs to learn about life? Oof. You're dead in that basement. Is it late Vivenna, who has had a glow up and started going by Azure? You are going to be totally fine. So between the two of them, your odds sit at 50%, I'd say.

7. Nightblood: 40% Survival Odds

Look at me. Look at me. Are you evil? Do you desire the evil power of a cool definitely-not-evil sword? Because if Nightblood is tossed into the lair in which you are being held, you could be okay... if everyone in there is evil except for you, so that they all get eaten by Nightblood but you don't. On the other hand, and I say this with love, Nightblood does have a tendency to eat his friends too. So you really need to have every aspect of this scenario happen in your favor for a Nightblood rescue to work out. It might be okay. It might be. I'll give you nearly even odds.

8. Dusk: 33% Survival Odds

Listen, Dusk himself? Highly skilled. Highly competent. If he actually wants to rescue you, he has the skills (and the death-predicting bird) to make it there. But if Dusk is coming for you, then you're presumably on Patji. And your odds of surviving there are pretty darn low. Dusk is raising the odds! But even he can only raise them so much...

9. Lightsong: 10% Survival Odds

Listen, Lightsong was pretty much in the business of not saving people for most of his novel (in his defense, saving people meant dying himself, which is a pretty high price when you have crowds of people asking for that every day). So it just depends. Are you one of the many, many people whom Lightsong won't save today? Or are you the glorious, shining example of Lightsong's character development, and the one he will actually fight to save?

I'm not to lie to you. It's not looking good.

10. Kaladin: 5% Survival Odds

Listen, you have a chance here. Kaladin is highly competent, cares deeply about saving people, and will do everything--and I mean EVERYTHING--to save you.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" Adolin asks, once safely down on the ground.

The Way of Kings

Of course, his introduction. He'd been assigned to the bridge crews, and he was smiling. He gave such an introduction to Kaladin about why he is called the Lopen that Kaladin is left blinking and wondering if the man ever paused to take a breath. And at the same time, he can't help smiling either: Lopen's sunny outlook towards the world is infectious.

Throughout the book, he keeps up his cheeriness on their suicidal bridge runs. He salutes when given an order and executes them with the same cheer. He can't learn to fight with a spear due to his disability, but he's trying with full enthusiasm when Teft teaches anyway, and then when Kaladin assigns him to get the salvage from the chasm, he does that with equal enthusiasm.

A scene that particularly stands out to me is the first time Kaladin has pulled off the stunt with the Parshendi bones, and Bridge Four is resting and a bunch of archers comes to attack them (Dalinar eventually saves them, of course). Lopen says, "Kaladin!" and Kaladin instantly knows something is wrong because Lopen sounds serious and he never calls him by his name instead of 'gancho.' When Lopen sounds serious...things are truly bad. [We see that in a heartbreaking moment in Wind and Truth, too.]

When Bridge Four goes back to save the Kholin troops, after Kaladin collapses, drained out from attracting a whole volley to himself, he sees his men with Moash at the lead continuing with the bridge. And he sees Teft, Skar and Lopen, two injured and one with a missing arm, following them without a second thought.