Was Adolin a good person to do what he did at the end of Words of Radiance

[Caleb]

So, I know that this has been discussed somewhat, but I think we all need to decide if Adolin was doing good when he killed Sadeas. He did rid Dalinar and his cause of a large problem, but it also put a great deal of more strain on him and his family. What do you guys think?

[Kenneth]

It depends on your point of view.

What he did is surely better for the humans and Roshar as a whole (assuming we are on the side of the humans);

However it weighs on him personally and brings complications into his family, both of which are bad.

Yet as of now his role is unknown to the greater court and hopefully stays that way, it could cause issues down the line if it were discovered but at this point Dalinar has established enough power via Radiants and Credibility Via all his warnings coming true that it shouldn't truly matter.

[Leah]

Did Sadeas need to be brought to justice for his actions and stopped from further sabotaging Dalinar? Yes. However, no I don't believe Adolin was "doing good" by taking matters into his own hand to kill him.

That being said, it was a key plot point which allowed us to see a flaw in Adolin's character (he was a bit too perfect up until that point if you ask me) and it allows for the perfect set up for Jasnah to become Queen. I don't think it will cause too much fall out with the family per say as they've all done terrible things, I think it will be more of an outside strain if word ever gets out. There will be fall out at some point for sure, it will be interesting to see how Sanderson handles it.

[Travis]

I wouldn't say Adolin was doing good, per se. If they'd been in a duel, that would be different. But no, Adolin straight up murdered Sadeas. And the act weighed on him heavily throughout Oathbringer.

And like Rebekah, I too noticed all the rage burning deep inside Adolin throughout the first two books that he managed to stifle and suppress. But he had outlets for it before, the duels and battles in the war. Sadeas (and his actions) were just the one thing that was able to push him over the edge and let the rage consume him. Was what Adolin did good? From a certain point of view, yes. But he was most definitely not in the right, which his guilt and shame throughout Oathbringer shows.

Now saying that, Sadeas definitely needed to be punished, and his death was a good thing for the coalition of human kingdoms Dalinar was building. But killing Sadeas is hardly the worst thing anyone in this family has done... Dalinar himself has done far worse.

[Cristina]

I wouldn’t say that Adolin was being bad for killing Sadeas. Sure, it was a cold and cruel way to kill someone, but if anybody deserved it, it would be Sadeas.