Dalinar Kholin
| House / Order | Bondsmiths; House Kholin |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Alethi |
| Status | Alive |
| Origin | Alethkar; Urithiru |
| Born | Alethkar |
| Died | |
| Weapon | Formerly Oathbringer (Shardblade); the Stormfather bond |
| Fate | Bondsmith and leader of the refounded Knights Radiant; ascends in the wake of Wind and Truth |
| Portrayed by |
Dalinar Kholin is a central protagonist of The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. Once the most feared warlord in Alethkar -- known as the Blackthorn -- he becomes a Bondsmith of the Knights Radiant, bonded to the Stormfather himself, and the chief architect of the human coalition against the returning Voidbringers.
Dalinar's story is one of redemption: a man drenched in the blood of conquest who, guided by the visions sent during Highstorms and the words of the dead King Gavilar, chooses to unite rather than destroy. His personal mantra, journey before destination, captures a life spent climbing out of his own atrocities.
Background
Dalinar is the younger brother of King Gavilar Kholin, at whose side he conquered and unified the Alethi princedoms in a brutal series of wars. In those years Dalinar was the Blackthorn: a peerless, bloodthirsty warrior who reveled in battle and the Thrill, a supernatural battle-lust that gripped Alethi soldiers. His conquests included the sack of the Rift, in which thousands died -- including his wife, Evi.
Consumed by grief and guilt, Dalinar sought out the Nightwatcher and was instead granted a boon by Cultivation: the removal of his memories of Evi, including her name. This loss shaped the haunted, principled man he became.
Biography
The Way of Kings
Years after Gavilar's assassination, Dalinar serves as Highprince of War under his nephew, King Elhokar Kholin, during the stalemated War of Reckoning on the Shattered Plains. He begins experiencing visions during highstorms in which he relives the days of the ancient Knights Radiant and is commanded to "unite them." Mocked as senile, he nonetheless holds to the Codes of War and the principles of the lost book The Way of Kings. When Sadeas betrays him on the Plains, Kaladin and Bridge Four save his army.
Words of Radiance
Dalinar works to unite the fractious highprinces, courts and weds Navani Kholin, and pushes an expedition to the center of the Shattered Plains to forestall a coming disaster. He bonds the Stormfather and becomes a Bondsmith, helping bind the new Knights Radiant together at the Battle of Narak as the Everstorm is born.
Oathbringer
The book's heart is Dalinar's confrontation with his own past -- the burning of the Rift and the death of Evi. As the coalition fractures and the Voidbringers advance, Dalinar relives his worst atrocity, and at the Battle of Thaylen Field he refuses Odium's offer to take his pain away. Declaring "You cannot have my pain," and speaking the words "I am Unite," he opens a perpendicularity and turns the tide, accepting his guilt as the foundation of who he has become.
Rhythm of War and Wind and Truth
As leader of the coalition and the refounded Radiants from Urithiru, Dalinar contends with Odium's shifting champions and ultimately a contest of champions to decide the fate of Roshar. His Bondsmith powers and his moral authority make him the linchpin of human resistance, leading to a transformative confrontation in Wind and Truth.
Character
Dalinar is disciplined, principled, and stubborn, holding himself and others to the Codes of War even when it costs him politically. His greatest strength and burden is his capacity for guilt: rather than excusing his past, he owns it. A former alcoholic, he renounced drink as part of his reformation. He believes deeply that the most important step is the next one.
Powers and abilities
- Main article: Bondsmiths
As a Bondsmith bonded to the Stormfather, Dalinar wields the Surges of Adhesion and Tension and the unique ability to bind people and forces together -- including opening a perpendicularity that connects the physical and spiritual realms. Bondsmiths are among the most powerful and rarest of Radiants; only three Bondsmith spren exist. Dalinar can also access and share the Stormfather's visions.
Relationships
- Navani Kholin -- his wife, a brilliant scholar and engineer.
- Gavilar Kholin -- his late elder brother, whose death set the series in motion.
- Adolin Kholin and Renarin Kholin -- his sons.
- Evi -- his first wife, whose death he caused and long could not remember.
- Sadeas -- his former brother-in-arms turned bitter rival.
- The Stormfather -- the immense spren of the Highstorms, his bonded companion.
Quotes
I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.
You cannot have my pain.
The most important words a man can say are, 'I will do better.'