ByDanielD
Kaladin is perhaps the most important protagonist in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. The first chapter of the first book is from his point of view, and he’s currently got more page time than any other main character. Despite his youth, Kaladin has been through a lot — from an apprentice surgeon in his father’s clinic, to a squadleader in Amaram’s army and slave in Sadeas’, to the Knight Radiant he eventually becomes.
Below, we’ll summarize all of the key events in Kaladin’s life, discuss the key relationships in his life, and describe his appearance and personality.
The following biography covers all of the most important events in Kalidan’s life. Note it does not contain every last thing that happens to Kaladin, but instead tries to focus on the stuff most relevant to the narrative of the books.
Kaladin is tanned and tall, even for an Alethi — he is 6’4″, which puts him around 7 feet tall by Earth standards. He is lean but muscular, with shoulder length wavy black hair. His eyes are naturally brown, with an epicanthic fold typical of Rosharans. However, after summoning Syl as a shardblade, Kaladin’s eyes temporarily turn a pale blue and glow. Kaladin had slave brands on his forehead, but after swearing the Fourth Ideal, these finally healed and vanished.
Kaladin sounding a lot like Paladin isn’t a coincidence. Kaladin has a desperate need to do the right thing, and to save people — to a fault. This ends up being both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. This may have started when he wasn’t able to protect Tien, as we can see him working hard to protect the new recruits in Amaram’s army by the time he’s a squad leader. He draws strength from this need to protect, however, as it often serves as motivation for him to keep going when all seems lost. Kaladin does what he thinks is right, no matter the consequences.
Because of this deep-seated sense of morality, Kaladin struggles with his role as a warrior. He hates killing, and often struggles with the idea that it is possible to kill in order to protect — but the reality of war means that sometimes killing is indeed what it takes to protect. He struggles with nuance in general at times, especially when it comes to lighteyes; he tends to feel lighteyes are cruel and spoiled until proven otherwise.
Kaladin is a master of the spear — he has trained extensively with spears, and while he is becoming a competent swordsman, the spear remains his preferred weapon. He is tactically minded, and able to think quickly in the heat of battle; he is equally effective when planning strategically. Kaladin is a natural leader, and will take charge in any situation where a leader is needed — sometimes even if there is already a leader present.
Kaladin struggles with depression and seasonal affective disorder throughout the series. During the weeping, or anytime there isn’t much sunlight, he gets particularly depressed. He has almost committed suicide twice, but both times has managed to continue fighting thanks to the help of those around him. By the events of Wind and Truth, he is doing better at managing his depression; he has both come to terms with his negative feelings, and found he is able to feel OK more often.
He is intensely curious about the world around him, always questioning the how and why of things. He comes across as dour and serious initially, but with friends or when in a good mood he has a sense of humor and displays both intellect and wit — these traits, and his curiosity, are both attributes he seems to have gotten from his mother Hesina.
Kaladin is a Windrunner, an order of Knights Radiant with a philosophy of protection — perfect for our little Paladin. He has sworn the Fourth Ideal, granting him Shardplate. He already has the ability to summon his spren Sylphrena as a Shardblade, as he’s sworn the Third Ideal.
Kaladin’s Shardblade can cut through any substance besides aluminum or living beings — it can still pass through living beings, severing their soul, but does not cut their flesh. The Shardblade is actually his spren, Slyphrena, and can be turned into any style of weapon, or indeed any tool the pair can imagine.
His Shardplate is made of Windspren, and can be summoned or dismissed at will. Shardplate is incredibly tough armor, able to protect the wearer easily from conventional weapons, and even offering protection from Shardblades. He can command his armor spren to protect someone else, or form it around himself. The Windspren that are Kaladin’s armor seem to follow him around, always present and available.
As a Windrunner, Kaladin has access to two Surges:
There are Five Ideals, or Oaths, that a Windrunner can possibly swear. Each level of Oath sworn increases the strength of the Nahel bond, and the power gained from the bond. Kaladin has currently sworn the Fourth Oath, reaching the Fourth Ideal
Sylphrena, his Honorspren, is his most important relationship. Syl prevented him from taking his own life in the Honor chasm, and helped him become a Knight Radiant. The powers their bond grants him has saved his life, and the lives of people he cares about, on multiple occasions. She also serves as a foil for his foul moods, joking or being silly in an attempt to cheer him up. Her curiosity about the world is similar to Kaladin’s, and he seems to find it amusing (and sometimes frustrating) how little she understands about people at times. They can communicate telepathically, even at a distance. When Kaladin does not honor his Oaths, Syl can grow weak and forget herself — we saw how much potentially losing her affected Kaladin when she disappears during the events of Words of Radiance.
Adolin Kholin is similar to Syl in that he often works hard to cheer Kaladin up when he is feeling depressed. Adolin will insist that Kaladin go out with friends to social activities, and that it will make Kaladin feel better — and despite Kaladin’s protests, Adolin is usually right. Adolin both meets and defies Kaladin’s expectations of lightyeyes as spoiled and ignorant — when Kaladin meets Adolin, it is when Adolin is protecting a darkeyed prostitute from a cruel lighteyed officer; still, Adolin is in many ways a spoiled lighteyes who doesn’t know about how life is for darkeyes. But when Kaladin was put in prison for challenging Amaram, Adolin insisted on being locked up as well in protest, demonstrating both his loyalty to Kaladin and his sense of justice.
Shallan Davar and Kaladin didn’t get along at first, with Kaladin suspecting Shallan of being a spy or some kind of opportunist. He also hated her for the same reason he hates all lighteyes at first — because he’s prejudiced. But after being trapped together in the chasms of the Shattered Plains during a high storm, and fighting off a Chasmfiend together, they have the kind of bond only shared danger can forge. Kaladin is attracted to Shallan, and her alternate personality of Veil is attracted to Kaladin in turn, but Shallan eventually chooses to be with Adolin — Kaladin accepts this relatively easily. Kaladin describes the way Shallan makes him feel as similar to how Tien was able to make him feel better when he was sad, rather than it being a deep love connection.
Bridge Four as a whole means a lot to Kaladin, as it was in leading them that he became a Knight Radiant and a leader once again. He views the entire bridge crew as both friends and as his charges to protect. Teft served as a second in command and supported Kaladin in making Bridge 4 a cohesive unit — his death was particularly hard on Kaladin. Moash was perhaps the only member of Bridge 4 Kaladin felt he could be close to, which made his eventual betrayal, and the fact that he now serves Odium, all the more painful.
Kaladin’s Family is very important to him as well. He has often had a strained relationship with his father Lirin, a stubborn man who was very upset Kaladin ended up a soldier instead of a surgeon. There is mutual respect there as well though, with Kaladin getting his strong sense of duty and Honor from Lirin; by the end of Rhythm of War, Lirin has come to accept Kaladin’s choices. Kaladin’s mother Hesina is where Kaladin gets his sense of humor and curiosity. His brother Tien died in war at a young age, and only after swearing the Fourth Ideal was Kaladin able to accept that Tien’s death was not his fault. Tien often cheered Kaladin when he was at his lowest.
Wit (Hoid) only speaks to Kaladin occasionally, but always tells him a useful story or offers crucial advice just when Kaladin needs it the most. Notably, Wit is much nicer to Kaladin than he is to perhaps any other character.
We hope this biography had what you were looking for! Questions, suggestions, and love letters to Kaladin welcome in the comments section below.
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