Difference between revisions of "Adolin Kholin"

Adolin is incredibly loyal to his father, though he doesn't always see eye-to-eye with Dalinar and is unafraid to voice his opinions.{{book ref|sa1|24}} Despite his opposing views he remains steadfastly obedient, listening to his father and following the [[Alethi Codes of War]]{{book ref|sa1|22}} even if he does not necessarily believe in them or wish to obey them. He shows an unwillingness to become the highprince when Dalinar considers stepping aside in favor of him, still intensely loyal to his father.{{book ref|sa1|52}} His skepticism surrounding the Codes eventually changes and Adolin begins to understand their purpose. He grows to become a better leader as a result and at the same time, he grows further away from the people he once considered to be friends.{{book ref|sa1|58}}

He is impulsive, often having to be held back by Renarin or rebuked by his father.{{book ref|sa2|12}}{{book ref|sa1|15}} Sadeas even refers to him as a "firebrand".{{book ref|sa1|15}} This impulsiveness of his has leadled to him throwing Kaladin across the practice grounds while sparring,{{book ref|sa2|18}} accidentally allowing Relis Ruthar to set him up in a one-on-four duel{{book ref|sa2|53}} and contributed in some part to his snapping and murdering Sadeas.{{book ref|sa2|89}}

Adolin has a strong sense of right and wrong. In his first encounter with Kaladin, he saves a prostitute from being beaten by one of Sadeas's officers.{{book ref|sa1|46}} He also throws himself in jail as a show of solidarity with Kaladin.{{book ref|sa2|66}}

Adolin inherited his [[Shardplate]] from his mother's side of the family on his 16th birthday.{{book ref|sa1|12}} The [[Iriali]] Queen consideresconsiders the Kholins to be thieves and wants the plate returned to Rira.{{book ref|sa3|16}}

Adolin has a series of traditions he performs before any duel he fights. While in the preparation room, which is used primarily for meditation, he talks to his unnamed Blade before continuing on to the staging room where his armorers help him into his Shardplate. [[Navani]] normally paints a glyphward for him, though by his final duel he has movedchanged to having [[Shallan]] paint them for him. Finally, [[Renarin]] will check to make sure Adolin has eaten chicken at some point before the duel and that he has their mother's chain on his person. {{book ref|sa2|14}} Navani passes these off as superstitions, which Adolin denies. However, beforeBefore his final duel, when he forgot his mother's chain,; boththis hedoes andseem Renarinto appearaffect visiblyhim shaken.psychologically, Thoughalthough by the time his armorers have finished, he seems mostly recovered. {{book ref|sa2|56}}

At age 5, Adolin visited Dalinar on the battlefront with his mother and a very young Renarin. Dalinar had last seen Adolin a little over a year before. Already Adolin was showing an energetic personality, playing with wooden swords, crafting armor from [[rockbud]] shells and string, and terrorizing the chulls. When presented to his father he saluted him but quickly shied away afterwards, and had to have confirmed Dalinar was his father. He told Dalinar that he and his mother offered prayers for him every night so that he would be safe. Adolin showed a desire to please his father even at such a young age. He told his father he didn't want Dalinar to give him a shardblade, he wanted to win one himself.{{book ref|sa3|52}}

Adolin and his brother Renarin accompanied King [[Elhokar]] and the Highprinces Dalinar, [[Torol Sadeas|Sadeas]], and [[Vamah]] on a chasmfiend hunt, and Adolin spendspent the early part of the trip worrying about the state of his father's mind and his reputation. He worried that Sadeas would make a move against his father now that Dalinar was appearing weak to the eyes of Alethi society. Adolin had been given effective command of the Kholin army by his father and restrictions had been placed on his dueling as per the [[Alethi Codes of War]]. To make matters worse Dalinar revealed he was considering leaving the Shattered Plains, a plan Adolin knew would ruin his father's reputation.{{book ref|sa1|12}}

When the [[chasmfiend]] appeared on the wrong plateau, threatening unarmed attendants, guests, and scribes, Adolin helped his father and Elhokar kill it. During the fight, Adolin was momentarily awed by seeing his father display the prowess that earned him the title of [[Blackthorn]].{{book ref|sa1|13}} Afterwards Adolin oversaw the cleanup, happy to be doing something, while the other lighteyes on the trip relaxed leisurely. When Sadeas insulted his father, Adolin was quick to defend him, though his manner in doing so was brash and led to a rebuke from his father and a gentle restraint from Renarin. Sadeas then turned his attention to his brother, and Adolin nearly summoned his Shardblade but stopped when he was ordered to by Dalinar.{{book ref|sa1|15}}

Adolin used a disastrous date with [[Janala]] to visit different leather workersleatherworkers (including [[Yis]] and [[Avaran]]) with the King's saddle strap. They all agreed it had been sliced, but did not agree on whether it was cut or an accident. During the date, they visited the temple where Adolin had a talk with [[Kadash]], one of his fathers Ardents, about Dalinar's visions. Kadash was disturbed by the visions and dismissed them coming from the [[Almighty]]. He said the only one who could help Dalinar would be Adolin, as he was family.{{book ref|sa1|18}}

During the feast, Adolin found his father once more and informed him that he had dueled three different men who had accused both Dalinar and House Kholin of being cowards and of asking the king to abandon the [[Vengeance Pact]]. Dalinar told Adolin to ignore what others said or thought. He added that the rumors were true. Dalinar had told the king in confidence they needed to end the war and return to Alethkar. Dalinar asked for Adolin's trust and promised to talk later, but Adolin replied he was worried that the visions may be delusions. His father then acknowledged Adolin was right to be worried about their House's reputation. Dalinar thought that Elhokar would keep quiet about their conversation. He explained to Adolin he had suggested winning the war by striking the Parshendi directly.{{book ref|sa1|18}} Once the Vengeance Pact was fulfilled they would be able to go back home and stabilize Alethkar.{{book ref|sa1|22}} Adolin agreed with the his father's plan without objection, to Dalinar's surprise. Adolin explained he could support a strike, but that they would need a solid plan to get everyone on board with it. They planned to slowly get the highprinces to start working together with them to build trust. As far as responding to the gossip, they disagreed when Adolin wanted to defend the house's honor. Dalinar countered by saying that dueling others wouldn't change how they thought about the Kholins. He would publish an official refutation, which Adolin admitted was better than nothing.{{book ref|sa1|22}}

Later, Adolin and his father inspected the army while discussing several topics like the purpose of Plate, the Thrill, the faith of the war camps, and the gemheart economy. During the conversation, Adolin was worried about his father's state of mind. At some point, he got distracted and thought about Malasha and the new woman he was interested in, [[Danlan Morakotha]]. Dalinar made Adolin inspect the Fifth Battalion for him, and afterwards his father praised him for his leadership. They went on to interview the men that were investigated by Sadeas. The men directly made it clear they were loyal to Kholin and hadn't told anything to Sadeas. Adolin noted that if they had acted this way around Sadeas, it would have seemed incriminating.{{book ref|sa1|28}}

After the interview, Adolin confronted Dalinar about how he had been pushing him into a leadership position during the day. In response, Dalinar reminded Adolin of his comments earlier pertaining to his mental health. Moreover, Dalinar told him he had a difficult decision to make. At that moment, they were informed that Highprince [[Thanadal]], who was the last one Dalinar had to approach except Sadeas, had cancelledcanceled their meeting. Thanadal had no intention of running a joint plateau assault, from which Dalinar inferred the other Highprinces had never liked his influence over the king. They would rather wait and see Dalinar fall, than let him regain his footing. Dalinar then left the rest of the inspections for Adolin to complete.{{book ref|sa1|28}}