Ok, so I was rereading and noticed something big I think.
There are no Spren AT ALL whenever Dalinar goes back in time for his various visions. And there are plenty of times where there should have been.
Dalinar even mentions that he should be seeing Terrorspren at one point with Taffa's daughter, but figures its just too dark.
There are no painspren when he and Taffa are being cut to ribbons. And no terrorspren from Taffa or her daughter.
In the prelude, even with all that death and destruction, there are no spren.
There's no anticipationspren even when 300 radiants begin to charge Feverstone Keep.
Nohadon does mention spren, such as honor spren, but I get the impression he's talking about spren like Syl and I think she's something different entirely.
Also, in all of his visions Dalinar notices something that wouldn't work during his time. Flimsy buildings, long winters, etc. He explains them all away, but during his visions there are no signs that the world is plagued by highstorms.
So here is my theory:
The Almighty tells Dalinar that most of the things he's shown him he witnessed himself. Meaning he was alive at the time.
But during Dalinar's time the Almighty is dead.
I think that in the past there were no spren for everything. Anticipationspren, terrorspren, deathspren, etc. There were the sentient ones like Syl, but they were everywhere like they are now.
The modern spren came about when the almighty was killed, they are a remnant of his power, maybe his body, etc. Like the Mist in the Final Empire. And his death brought about the highstorms as well.
I think maybe the face in the storm is the spirit of the Almighty, his body has been destroyed, but he lives on as the raging source of the storms.
Thoughts?
