Difference between revisions of "Kaladin"
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Ever since childhood, Kaladin has had a strong protective instinct, which only grows once he begins discovering and swearing the [[Immortal Words]]. He uses his medical skills to save people, first as an apprentice surgeon and later as a battlefield medic. As a youth, he joins the army so he can look after his younger brother, Tien.{{book ref|sa1|44}} As a squadleader in Amaram's army, he recruits the youngest members with the least training to his squad so that he can train and protect them{{book ref|sa1|47}} As captain of Dalinar's personal guard, he protects Dalinar and [[Elhokar Kholin|the king]] from assassins on multiple occasions.
Kaladin shows a deep sense of loss when those under his protection die and has a tendency toward depression in various forms. By the time he joins Bridge Four, he has lost so many people that he has fallen into a deep depression. He thinks himself cursed because he always survives when others do not.{{book ref|sa1|2}} At his lowest points, Kaladin falls into apathetic despair and becomes suicidal. This happened twice, the first during his first few weeks as a Bridgeman, where the constant death broke what little will he had left; the second when Teft was murdered and his father was thrown off Urithiru.{{book ref|sa1|11}}{{book ref|sa4|106}} He is also prone to seasonal depression, feeling a sense of heavy melancholy during the weeks of the [[Weeping]].{{book ref|sa1|43}}{{wob ref|6260}}
Kaladin is deeply conflicted about killing, finding it philosophically hard to justify and the notion that one must kill in order to protect ironic and paradoxical. Although he is a soldier, he has been trained as a surgeon, whose highest calling is to save all lives. Additionally, as a member of the [[Order of Windrunners]], he lives by the [[Immortal Words|Ideals]] of his order, to which protecting life is central. It is further irony that Kaladin's powers of killing appear to be at their strongest when he is actively protecting something or someone. This paradox has plagued Kaladin and [[Syl]], who have both been unable to explain why killing is justified if the protection of life matters.
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