Who Will Be Odium’s Champion?
[Major spoilers through Rhythm of War!!]
Poor Odium. He needs a champion to fight Dalinar, and none of his plans have been working out. He tried to get Dalinar to be his champion, but that failed. Then I think he tried to get Kaladin, if I understood Rhythm of War correctly, but that also failed. And he needs a willing champion, so it has to be someone he can convince, and it needs to happen within the next ten narrative days.
So let’s write a list that will probably age very, very badly! Who are some candidates for Odium’s champion-to-be?
How Odium would pitch it: “Hey man, want to be my champion?” I mean, I feel l like this one would be easy. Moash works for Odium. Moash was already willing to kill Teft and volunteered to drive Kaladin to suicide. Plus Moash lowkey wants to die himself. Asking Moash to fight Dalinar to the death would be like asking him to go grab some eggs from the grocery store.
Likely Effectiveness: Not high, to be honest. I’m not convinced that Moash would win a fight with Bondsmith Dalinar--especially under the assumption that we’re going to get a big Bondsmith training montage in Book 5. And I feel like this wouldn’t be narratively satisfying either. Moash vs. Kaladin? I’m already sobbing. Moash vs. Dalinar? I mean...kinda meh, right?
How Odium would pitch it: “Hey, man, want to be my champion?” El is one of the Fused, and works for Odium. He’s the guy who appeared right at the end of Rhythm of War and killed the Pursuer, if you don’t remember. He used to be Vyre. He likes humans. He wants Humans & Singers to join forces under Fused rule. So presumably he’d be up for the Champion business.
Likely Effectiveness: Somewhat high. We don’t really know what El is capable of, but he appears dramatically at the end of Rhythm of War and the Pursuer seems scared of him. So presumably he is very powerful. I don’t know how emotionally resonant it would be for El to fight Dalinar, but I do wonder if that’s why he’s being introduced.
How Odium would pitch it: “Singers are the rightful rulers of this planet, and I am their leader. I am the highest law.” Nale and the Skybreakers have joined forces with the Singers, arguing--and they have a point--that it’s the Singers’ planet to begin with. Nale follows the law of whatever land he is in, and he kills criminals. If Odium presents himself as the Law and Dalinar as the Lawbreaker, then, well...
Likely Effectiveness: Pretty high. Nale is a Herald and has gone through all of the oaths. We haven’t seen him in many fights, but he has been fighting for a very, very long time. And he knows what Bondsmiths can do, so he’ll be ready for whatever Dalinar has learned.
4. Kelsier/Thaidakar or Restares
How Odium would pitch it: “Hey, do you want to finally get off of this fucking planet?” I’m putting these two together because I think the pitch would be the same. Kelsier and Restares are both bound to their planets, and they both DESPERATELY want off. Kelsier also needs a body. If Odium could make that happen for them, would they be willing to kill one dude to make it happen? Maybe. This feels to me like a very Taravangian-esque plot, too.
Likely effectiveness: Pretty high. Restares is a Harald, so the stuff I said about Nale applies to him as well. If Kelsier got a body back AND could use his powers, then he could almost certainly give Dalinar a run for his money. Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to see a stormlight vs. allomancy fight?
How Odium would pitch it: “Ready to take your rightful place as the new Honor?” I ran out of ideas and stole this one from Kaladin22 from this forum. Kaladin22′s post is very detailed, whereas my post is jokey, so I’ll just point out that Ishar believes that he is a god-king and wants to rule the land. If Odium offered him that at the price of Dalinar’s life, how could Ishar refuse?
Likely effectiveness: Very high. Ishar is a bondsmith like Dalinar, but one who actually knows how to use his powers. A Bondsmith vs. Bondsmith fight sounds incredibly cool. Plus Kaladin is heading to Shinovar specifically to therapy Ishar better. If instead Ishar decides to go kill Dalinar, that would break Kaladin. And if there’s one thing Sanderson likes to do, it’s to make Kal suffer.
How Odium would pitch it: “Do you want to get revenge for your father’s death? It was Dalinar’s fault, you know.” Once again, this idea is stolen--this time from PootisPoot on this Reddit thread. Gavinor is a serious and traumatized child who knows his dad was murdered. The idea is that Odium could pretty easily twist that--and that Taravangian-Odium totally would.
Likely effectiveness: Very high. Dalinar killing his brother’s son, after failing to protect Elhokar? When the price of losing is just Dalinar’s own soul? I think Dalinar would throw that fight.
How Odium would pitch it: We’re back to my ideas! Jasnah is logical and cares deeply about the greater good. If Odium could convince her that his winning is actually the key to protecting Roshar in the coming, all-Cosmere war, then perhaps Jasnah would listen.
Likely effectiveness: Very high. Not only is Jasnah extremely badass, but I’m not convinced that Dalinar would be willing to kill her, no matter what. Whereas if Jasnah had to kill Dalinar? I think she’d do it. And I think she’d do it well.
How Odium would pitch it: I mean...we know very little about this character. I suppose it would be something like: “Hey, Zellion. You know that thing that you, Zellion, value above all other Zellion things? You, Zellion, shall have it!”
Likely effectiveness: Assured. So far as we know, Zellion has never failed at anything.
