Section I: Shallan

When we talk about heroic and good-natured characters, I feel like Shallan gets left out of the conversation. There are probably many different reasons for this, but part of it is that she has defense mechanisms that make her more easily misunderstood and less straightforward than characters like Kaladin.

When we are in her POV, we don't get a whole lot of self-reflection or wrestling with difficult moral issues (unless she's forced to, such as with Jasnah's lesson). This is because she has defense mechanisms like avoidance and disassociation. For example, after she kills Tin, on a first read it might almost seem like she's shrugging it off, as if ending someone's life is no big deal to her. However, this is far from the case. She was so affected by it that she started to disassociate and put all her emotions in a proverbial box to deal with later (or never).

She is so conscientious and overwhelmed with feelings of guilt over things she's done that she believes herself to be monster (which manifests as formless in RoW). It may seem like her avoidance and dissociation is an easy way out of dealing with issues, but is it really? She struggles with these things constantly, and just never learned how to deal with it in a perfectly healthy way. Can you really blame her, given the way she grew up?

If you think about it, what characters do have perfectly healthy ways of dealing with their personal issues? Kaladin doesn't, but he constantly tries to improve. Shallan tries to improve too. It just takes her awhile, and it's more in the background, since her POV has a lot of her trying to distract herself from thinking about these things. However, we can see her self-improvement process through her alternate personas as she slowly works things out in her subconscious.

Section 2: Shallans

Speaking of her alternate personas, I think that is another thing that causes her to be misunderstood. Would you describe Shallan as a brave and valiant knight who commands respect with air of confidence? Maybe not the Shallan we're originally introduced to, but how about one of the other Shallans? Radiant could certainly be described that way.

I've seen comments from people saying they don't like Shallan because all the personality traits they like are in her alters. This girl's done such a good job of disassociating that she even has some of the fandom thinking she and Radiant and Veil are all separate characters. In reality, they're not. They're all different aspects of who this character is. The heroic things they do, their actions, are Shallan's actions.

Yes, she separates them in her mind, but that's because she doesn't accept that being brave and confident are part of who she is. Just like almost everyone she comes across, Shallan underestimates herself. That's why, when we're in her POV, we don't get a lot of reminders about how courageous and kindhearted she is. We do see it, however, in her actions. In Veil's actions. In Radiant's actions. Her actions say she cares very much about others and about doing what is right.

Contrast this with the Kaladin, another amazing character who does amazing things. His actions say he cares about protecting people, but unlike Shallan, the thoughts on the forefront of his mind also say he cares about protecting people. His POV reinforces his actions, making him a little easier to understand than Shallan. He doesn't have an alternate persona named Paladin who does all the protectory stuff for him. If he did, would that mean Kaladin himself is not heroic? I'd argue that actions are what ultimately matter more, and any actions done by Paladin would still be Kaladin's actions.

Looking at another character for contrast, Amaram thinks he's honorable and heroic, but his actions tell us he's not. Shallan is basically the opposite. She does not think she's honorable and heroic, but her actions, overall, say that she is. Many of those actions are done by her alters, but they are still her actions. Despite how she perceives herself, her personas are still very real parts of who she is.

Section 3: Shallan?

So who is Shallan? Don't let her trick you into thinking she's selfish, uncaring, destructive, or just a scared little girl. This, my friends, is an illusion. It's a proverbial lightweaving she does for herself and, by extension, for us. She is so much more than what she accepts herself to be. If you look past the illusion of Shallan, you will see this character for what she really is: a true Knights Radiant.

You know the words, and so does she.

Life before Death

Strength before Weakness

Journey before Disassociation Destination

😉