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You'd be broken too if your own father stole your nose and never gave it back.

Spoilers for all cosmere works including Words of Radiance, as well as the first couple chapters of Liar of Partinel Brandon posted years ago, with the understanding that the latter is not official canon and the eventual published version will probably bear little resemblance to it. One thing in particular jumped out at me in the epigraphs in Words of Radiance. In the dragon's response to Hoid's letter, there was this bit, paraphrased as I don't have the book in front of me at the moment: 'Haven't we caused enough destruction already? The worlds you now tread bear the mark and design of Adonalsium....' The phrasing of this struck me as extremely significant, because the arrangement of those words place the idea that the Shardworlds bear 'the design of Adonalsium' under the umbrella of destruction the dragon believes he and Hoid are responsible for. As in, the two of them are in agreement in considering Adonalsium's influence on these worlds to be a bad thing. We've speculated for a long time that Hoid was not only present at the Shattering of Adonalsium, but that he played a part in it. We also know that Adonalsium was opposed by a force or by an individual or individuals, and this opposition according to Word of Brandon is still around today. We've speculated that this opposing force might be the Great Evil spoken of on the world Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is set on. I propose that the dragon's response strongly hints that he and Hoid were actually the opposition, or at least part of it. We also know that there is a force possibly greater than Adonalsium in the cosmere (the God Beyond?), and at a recent signing Brandon said the opposition to Adonalsium once created a great weapon that is still around. Finally, let's look at the word Adonalsium. Adonai means Lord or God in Hebrew. The suffix ium can be meant to denote an element, metal or synthetic compound like barium or helium, it can signify a place like gymnasium, or it can be a derivative of personal nouns, often denoting the associated status or office. Point being, it sounds less like a name, and more like something ASSOCIATED with god or being godlike. Even though its doubtful the word Adonai has any significance in the cosmere, and its use is most likely a play on words, I think the intent behind its use is the same. So with all that said, here's what I think happened. In the few chapters Brandon posted of Liar of Partinel years ago, Yolen was depicted as a world where the gods were dead and the planet itself was in a state of slow decay, with all life being threatened by an unstoppable blight that was slowly consuming and transforming anything it came into contact with. Humanity huddled in cities built within dwindling circles of protection. Maybe the blight was a symptom of the gods being dead, maybe it was the work of the cosmere's Great Evil, maybe it was a completely natural force. Again, its possible all of this will change in the published version of Liar of Partinel when Brandon finally returns to it, but I think the basic setup there might still be similar. Picture a world whose people are faced with an evil slowly strangling the life out of their planet, with no hope of divine intervention, because all their gods are dead. So they decide to make a new one. Somehow, using some complicated bit of realmatic trickery, they harness the power of creation, tapping into the spiritual realm where it resides most fully and creating a physical manifestation of it, so it can directly manipulate the Physical Realm. They call this synthetic god Adonalsium. Maybe its a metal like atium, maybe its a place where the power can be concentrated, maybe its made up of little pieces of the world's dead gods, who knows. But like everything in the cosmere, it needs to exist across all three realms. It needs a cognitive aspect, someone to sit in the driver's seat. Someone needs to BE god. And this is where Hoid, the dragon and the rest of the opposition, including the original sixteen Shard holders come in. They're not all friends, some of them hate each other's guts, but they're all in agreement about one thing. Nuh uh, they say. No way. No one human can be trusted with the power of God. They're not going to just stand idly by while some human with delusions of grandeur ascends to godhood and remakes the whole universe according to his or her whims. They can't stop Adonalsium from being made, but they can make it less effective. They build a weapon that shatters it, splinters the power-of-creation-made-physical into sixteen Shards. Sixteen of them each become caretaker to a Shard, dedicated to keeping it safe and preventing it from falling into the wrong hands, lest anyone put Adonalsium back together again. Rayse ends up with Odium because truthfully, nobody else wants to go near that particular Shard. Hoid protests, but his concerns are ignored - it doesn't help that he'd abstained from taking a Shard, he didn't want that responsibility. With their newfound power, the Shardholders discover they aren't limited to this one little world anymore. They scatter around the cosmere, the better to keep the Shards apart from each other. Like Brandon always said, they have some choice on where they each end up, but not complete freedom as its decided that Ruin and Preservation should go somewhere together, in the hopes their opposing Shards will cancel each other out....Devotion and Dominion go somewhere together in the hopes their complementary Shards will balance each other - Devotion's presence softening Dominion's absolute tyranny even as Dominion's presence gives Devotion a slightly obsessive edge....Endowment's considered safe to be left on his or her own, and so on and so on. Time passes. They all, Hoid included, realize their mistake too late. They got their Realmatic Theory wrong. From the moment Adonalsium manifested a presence in the Physical Realm, it had a Cognitive aspect, even before bonding with a human mind. Like a spren in the Physical Realm without a Nahel bond, it didn't have full sapience, a personality of its own, but it had its own idea of what it meant to BE Adonalsium, to be God. When it was shattered, that fledgling cognitive aspect shattered too, becoming sixteen specific Intents. A spren bonded with a human mind is never going to overwhelm that human mind with its own cognitive aspect, because its too small a piece of Adonalsium. Its only a tiny splinter of a single Shard, its own identity not enough to supplant a human's idea of what it means to be him or herself. But a full Shard? No single human mind could compete. Eventually, every Shardholder's cognitive aspect warped, remolded until only the Shard's Intent remained. As the dragon said in his response, they, like Rayse, became more force than personality. And so, despite Hoid, the dragon, and the sixteen Shardholders' best intentions to prevent someone becoming God and ruling absolutely, they ended up with sixteen little gods and multiple worlds reshaped according to Adonalsium's designs, with countless billions of human lives rendered insignificant in the face of the Shards' grand power struggles and single-minded dedication to their Intents. Hoid hops from world to world desperately trying to do damage control while working towards some endgame he hopes will make things better. The dragon just wants him to butt out like he himself has so they don't make things even worse. Meanwhile, the 17th Shard, a collection of humans with knowledge of Adonalsium are convinced they know the secret 17th ingredient/Intent Adonalsium's original creators forgot to include, and if they can just put it back together again and add their extra 17th Intent (perhaps 'humanity'?) they can make everything right, but to do that they need Hoid to sit still and stop meddling. To which Hoid says 'oh you adorable little toddlers. I remember being that young and naive. Go play in the Purelake, the grownups are busy.' And that's what I think is going on.

I totally exist.

Dang. A lot of crap went down five years ago. Five years ago: Chidden helped his parents on the farm. It was a pretty boring day. Then he went to sleep.

But seriously, a stormform in full Shardplate falling a couple hundred feet? Highly unlikely to be fatal. Now, the storm itself was pretty dangerous, but I have great faith in her problem-solving abilities.

There probably isn't more of a source than the Stormfather saying she died. Why would he be so angry/upset if she just returned to the Cognitive Realm, essentially by his side? I think she was reformed (resurrected? rejuvenated?) as soon as Kaladin started following the Oaths again. This is not when he spoke the Third Ideal, but before, when he decided to protect Elhokar. I surmise that the Stormfather was holding her back from returning even then, but could not continue to do so once Kaladin spoke the Words.

I've been talking about this on and off in different threads, but I wanted to make an attempt to put my thoughts together in a cohesive manner and maybe create something I can call a theory. Perhaps not a terribly groundbreaking* one, but at least it will be all official. I believe the beings the Pershendi call their gods are the Unmade. There are two, maybe three, pieces of evidence I find significant here. First, there are forms the Parshendi refer to as "forms of power" - stormform being the one we see, but it is strongly implied that smokeform and decayform are two of the others. If stormform is any indication, those forms of power give certain abilities to the Parshendi, allowing them to perform feats of magic similar (in magnitude, not direction) to what the Surgebinders can do. In other words, listeners who embrace those forms turn into Voidbringers, creatures whose (primary) Investiture comes from Odium. This is never stated explicitly, but the destructive capacity and emotional direction of those forms and their Rhythms is as clear of an evidence as I can hope for. I find this an important, though perhaps a little obvious, point to make because it segues into the other beings we are almost entirely certain belong to Odium - the Unmade. We still know very little of the Unmade, but it seems like they are fixed in number (10), powerful, and spren-like - if not outright spren. They have unique names, personalities, and powers, and are capable of seeing the future to a varying degree. Assuming Taravangian is correct in his knowledge of the Unmade's spren-like nature, it's very likely that they can be trapped in gems, just like ordinary spren. When Eshonai examines the stormspren captured by her sister, she sees a "smoky creature moving about inside [the gemstone]." Since this is at least the second time we see smoke associated with Odium (the Midnight Essences being the other one), we can reasonably assume that it, and perhaps darkness, are (side) effects of his Investiture. Now, to the juicy bits. The sphere Gavilar gives to Szeth is described as black, somehow glowing with dark light. This is no smoke, it's straight-up darkness. Considering that this sphere is very likely related to his plan to bring back the Parshendi gods, plan that earned him a very quick assassination, we can imagine that it was directly related to them - either directly (i.e. the black sphere was the instrument that would bring back those gods) or as a stepping stone (i.e. the existence of this sphere, and whatever Gavilar meant to do with it, could or would lead to the return of those gods). By Occam's Razor, the first option seems more likely - and simplifying things even further, it's possible that the sphere contained one of their gods. How do we go back to the Unmade from here? Simple. In I-4: The Last Legion, Eshonai tells her mother that "dabbling in things we shouldn't, things that might bring the eyes of the Unmade upon us." She is concerned that embracing even a single form of power by a single listener will be enough to draw the attention of Unmade. She expresses pretty much the same concern to a few other people, only using the phrase "listeners' gods" instead of "the Unmade," very strongly suggesting that the two are the same. So the Unmade are related to stormspren, which are a type of voidspren, which in turn seem related to Gavilar's sphere, which is related to the Parshendi gods - and we've made a full circle, which validates the theory in my eyes. There is also the thing about the various Rhythms the Parshendi can attune to and listen to at will. From what I understand, they are like... well, rhtyhms, melodies without words, playing on demand in each listener's mind. Kind of like different radio stations, actually. Those Rhythms, and especially the new ones Eshonai discovers, are what governs communication and, to a lesser extent, behavior among the listeners. I have another theory, based on two recent Words of Brandon, saying that the Parshendi "weren't originally" of neither Cultivation nor Odium - implying that at some point they were Invested by either one of those Shards. My theory posits that it was Cultivation who uplifted the original Parshendi, creatures not very different from the modern day parshmen, by Investing them in a way that allowed them to attune / listen to different... Shardic wavelengths (see spoiler if you want), one of which is the Rhythm of Peace. If this is correct, then the new Rhythms (such as the Rhythm of Craving) are just Odium's radio stations, his wavelengths (and if the Rhythm of Peace comes from Cultivation, it is no wonder that Eshonai hears screaming when she attunes to it while in stormform). Which could be tied to the Unmade instead of the Shard directly. I admit, I haven't entirely thought this part through, so I have only a general idea about my argument... which is why it looks so all-over-the-place when you read it =\ The Well of Ascension / The Hero of Ages Spoilers As a final piece of supporting evidence, we know that Amaram was planning something with Gavilar - in secret - on the night the Alethi king was murdered. We don't know what, but Amaram's current plans include the forced summoning of a Desolation, which (he believes) would in turn summon the Heralds back. His chapter suggests that he is still following the original plan he had made with Gavilar, so it makes sense for Dalinar's brother to have been in possession of a captured Unmade, a creature I envision as a lieutenant of some sorts in Odium's army. TL;DR Version: Odium's Investiture seems to manifest as smoke and darkness. Eshonai was concerned that the smoky stormspren (a type of voidspren) and the stormform could bring the Unmade. She expressed similar concern on the night of the peace treaty when Gavilar shared his plans with the Five, except the subject of her concern were her gods and instead of a gemstone seeming filled with smoke, we have one that glows with darkness. Given how similar the two situations are, I find it safe to assume that Gavilar's voidsphere contained a being more powerful than Venli's stormspren, which was directly related to the Parshendi gods - in all likelihood by being one of them. Which, to complete the similarity between the two situations, would be the Unmade. * If you think about this, it's a really clever pun. You know, because the Parshendi now live in the Shattered Plains, where the ground is broken...

This is referring to the 'Front Endsheet' diagram that shows the relationship between the KR Orders and the surges. We know that: 1) The diagram represents the 10 orders (through the large glyphs), and that the order's heralds are in the boundaries radially associated with their sponsored order. The color of the Order glyph corresponds to the color associated with the Order and the gem associated with the Herald. 2) The Surges are represented by the smaller glyphs, and have an edge to two adjacent Surges as well as an edge to the two Orders that use that Surge. Observations: 1) All of the Orders have at least 3 edges connecting to other Orders. The Order graph exhibits point symmetry around the center. The 3 common set of Order edges are 2 edges to Orders sharing a Surge and 1 edge to the point-symmetric opposite Order. 2) 4 Orders have 4 edges instead of 3. These are the Windrunners, Edgedancers, Lightweavers and Stonewards. These 'extra' edges are plane-symmetric relative to the horizontal line (the axis parallel to the double-eye's long axis), i.e. Windrunners <=> Edgedancers, Lightweavers <=> Stonewards. 3) Note that this means all of the Orders have a connection across the horizontal axes; for the 4 Orders outside of the 'box' it's one of their adjacent-Order edges, while for Bondsmiths and Truthcallers it's their point-symmetry edge. 4) All of the Heralds above the line are male. All of the Heralds below the line are female (I also have a meta-theory on this relationship for the modern Radiant archetype character). Hypotheses: 1) The vertical axis is the Honor-Cultivation axis. The Orders closest to Honor are Stonewards and Windrunners, and the Surges closest to Honor are Adhesion and Tension. The Orders closest to Cultivation are Lightweavers and Edgedancers, and the Surges closest to Cultivation are Progression and Illumination. 2) The horizontal axis is the Cognitive-Physical axis. The Orders closest to the Cognitive are Willshapers and Elsecallers, and Transportation is the Surge closest to the Cognitive. The Orders closest to the Physical are Skybreakers and Releasers, and Division is the Surge closest to the Physical. 3) The Heralds are/were associated with Honor and Cultivation as appropriate based on their position on the chart. The genders are not coincidental but related to their Shard association. 4) The point-symmetry edge is indicative of the relationship of the associated Order's spren (e.g. Windrunner <=> Lightweaver). 5) There's some connection between the Orders horizontal symmetry edge still not explored. I'm assuming that this related picture might be the Voidbinding equivalent, but I'm not sure if there's been any information about that diagram (anyone know?).

This is my very first theory post! The sword fighting in WoR has been provoking fangasms in me. I’ve been looking for more information about the different new fighting styles in WoR, and after finding out that there are at least ten stances, one for each of the Ten Essences, I’ve been hunting the book for whatever I can find. I badly want to visualize the fighting styles as they’re described in the book. Thankfully Shallan’s artwork and the Ironstance scroll have been very helpful, but I’m having trouble putting the right image to the right stance. Has anyone already figured this out and/or is there a resource somewhere that has already catalogued this? I’ve already checked the Coppermind Wiki. My theory is that Shallan’s sketch shows all ten of the stances. (Edited to add) Ben McSweeney, aka Inkthinker, the wonderful artist who has created the following sketch and others in the books that make them come to such vivid, three-dimensional life and richness for me, has kindly explained to us a few things about the sketch. Larger image here Brandon told me at the signing in Philly that Ben made the final determinations about what the stances looked like, so we're all waiting with baited breath for Ben to reveal whatever Brandon sees fit to let us know. Meanwhile, the rest of this post consists of theorizing by us, the fans. ~~~~ Ironstance was easy, the scroll was displayed right before the Ironstance chapter. In my opinion, abdf gives a convincing argument here that the warrior in the lower left (the stance we call #4) that I previously thought of as Ironstance is actually Adolin in his favorite stance, Windstance. The "sigh" scribbled under the face convinced me that Shallan is drooling here over Adolin! On the other hand, name_here makes some good points here to indicate that the warrior in the lower left is in Ironstance. The six known stances are a bit harder to match but I think some can be recognized. The others may have to wait for future books. So far there are still four unnamed stances which will be after the essences of “oil/tallow,” “Lucentia/the eyes,” “blood,” and “sinew/flesh.” The Ten Essences are listed in this graph in the Coppermind wiki: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Ten_Essences ~~~~ These are some of the related threads I’ve found: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/3833-shardblade-forms/?hl=stances started by DocHoliday http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/3044-stances-in-twok/?hl=stances started by Mailliw73 A question was asked if whether each of the stances are specifically geared towards a particular order? I tend to agree with the explanation that these are fighting styles that have simply evolved with the names of the ten essences, with characteristics of the Order or Essence they’re named after. ~~~~ Also, here's the link to the thread where they're trying to translate the glyphs for the scroll, or fechtbuch as it is called: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6487-thaylen-and-alethi-glyph-translation/ started by Harakeke Larger image here Here's a link to the KR chart endpaper, created by of Isaac Stewart, that show the KR glyphs: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6888-knights-radiant-and-surges-endsheet/?hl=chart AwesomenessSummoned has created awesome graphics of the glyphs on the fechtbuch, as shown in this post. These are some of them: ~~~~ THE STANCES (Edited to factor everyone's input) (In Alphabetical Order) Flamestance “Flamestance: quick and flexible, better for shorter Shardblades.” -WoR, p. 224 “[salinor] fell into Flamestance, sword held one-handed, other hand touching the blade, standing with a square posture of the feet. " - WoR, pg. 224 "Salinor dropped his Blade— a weakness of Flamestance’s one-handed posture…” - WoR, p 224 Used by Salinor in Adolin’s first arena duel "[Adolin] needed the frantic fury of Flamestance. Not just for the power, but because of what he needed to convey to Eshonai." -WoR p. 1011 Interesting comparison by Rust and Ruin – Possibly based on this stance in Kuk Sool Won, the Korean martial art, as discovered by PorridgeBrick here: http://www.kuksoolwon-hurlburt.com/pictures/amado_sword_stance.jpg Ironstance “It wasn't time for a show. It was time for a beating...Adolin twisted and fell into Ironstance, with his sword held two-handed up beside his head.” - Wor, p. 224 "Adolin twisted and fell into Ironstance, with his sword held two-handed up beside his head. He slapped away Salinor’s first strike, then stepped in and slammed his Blade down into the man’s helm. Once, twice, three times" - WoR 224 Seems to favor quick, inelegant, powerful hits TheArcanist - abdf and PorridgeBrick's vote: abdf - PorridgeBrick - or or name_here's vote Smokestance "Dalinar moved to the overturned table and kicked off one of the legs. He scooped it up, falling into Smokestance's sword-and-knife form." -WoK p. 299 (Good catch by Harakeke!) "Dalinar leapt forward— remaining in motion was the essence of Smokestance— and spun between the creatures, striking to the side with his poker." - WoK, p. 299 "Dalinar let the fluid nature of Smokestance direct him, stepping to the side and smashing the poker into the beast’s legs." - WoR, p. 300 “[Dalinar] had been trained in classical Windstance, but he fell into Smokestance instead, as it was better with an imperfect weapon. One foot forward, one foot behind, sword— or, in this case, poker— held forward with the tip toward his opponent’s heart." - WoK, P. 298 “Adolin tried Smokestance, attacking with a quick sequence of jabs." -WoR p 1023 TheArcanist notes: Stonestance “…to be immobile.” "Adolin fell into Stonestance himself, smashing his Blade down again and again against Abrobadar’s raised sword until he heard grunts, curses." - WoR p. 660 Rust and Ruin pointed out how TheArcanist - [/size] Vinestance “[Relis] preferred Vinestance, slow and steady, but with sudden, quick lunges." - WoR, p. 656 “The man attacked quickly, using what Kaladin could now identify as Vinestance— a style of fighting that focused on defensive footing and flexibility." - WoR, p. 667 TheArcanist - Possibly? or adbf's votes: Windstance "Adolin used Windstance, turned sideways slightly, hands before him and elbows bent, Shardblade pointing back over his head." - WoK, p. 822 "Adolin dodged another blow, but he had begun to move into Windstance’s offensive forms." - WoK, p. 824 "Dalinar was once again forced to parry, something Windstance wasn’t intended do to." - WoK, p. 930 “Adolin fell into Windstance, elbows bent, turned to the side, sword’s tip pointing up and backward.” - WoR, p. 224 “Windstance: flowing, sweeping, majestic.” - WoR, p. 224 "Adolin danced away in Windstance— certainly the best against so many foes— with both hands holding the Blade in front of him, positioned sideways with one foot forward." - WoR, p. 659 Rust and Ruin also points out that TheArcanist (for fig. 1 & 9, which is removed) – adbf and PorridgeBrick's vote: PorridgeBrick - or name_here's vote ~~~ The only images we can't account for yet: ~~~~ Thanks to TheArcanist and PorridgeBrick, who think that possible influences are: German/Italian longsword fencing schools - TheArcanist's post here, and the pdf he linked. Kuk Sool Won, Korean martial arts - PorridgeBrick's post here Kendo, the Japanese sword martial art - PorridgeBrick's post here and TheArcanist's post here ~~~~ Thank you for everybody's help! Any quotes and input are appreciated! (Edited to add possible influences; corrected some typos and added Kuk Sool Won pic to Flamestance 03/15/2014) (Edited to add link to glyph translation thread, added links for pdf and Kuk Sool Won 0318) (Edited to remove my votes for Ironstance and Windstance. I think PorridgeBrick and abdf are correct. 03/18/2014) (Edited to add more links 03/19/2014) (Edited some paragraphs and corrected spelling 03/20/2014) (Edited to add new votes 03/23/2014) (Edited to add Inkthinker's quote 03/24/2014) (Edited to add AwesomenessSummoned's graphic glyphs 03252014)

Kaladin and Szeth's final battle.

Ah, the Purelake. The water actively hides underground to avoid getting rained (or something) during the Highstorm. And then returns. And has magic fish. And people are all "Why would you want to visit the pure lake Dalinar, there is nothing there" Definitely nothing out of the ordinary. No shardpool there. No siree. Move along now.

I wish Bluth had the chance to live up to the drawing. Not just heartbreaking, but also a bit of a omg-do-you-finally-get-why-killing-him-is-wrong-storms-you-are-slow moment. Regardless, it was a very emotional scene. Made me remember many Kal-Tien moments from WoK. Poor, poor Dalinar. All those years of guilt crashing him. But then: I had to take a break at this point. There were other scenes of course, but these two immediately came to my mind. Minor, yet so powerful... edit: Also this one: I swear I could hear Syl's voice in my head when I read it. She defied the Stormfather to go and find Kal the first time, she almost lost herself trying to cheer him up when she went for the blackbane leaf and she still fought for him after he betrayed his oaths and killed her. But Kaladin is still hers and the Stormfathers's will matters not.

"You sent him to the sky to die, assassin, but the sky and the winds are mine. I claim them, as I now claim your life." I think I shed a single tear of pure awesomeness.

Mistborn, Elantris, and Warbreaker spoilers:

"A dynamic character with an ability to survive certain death, and a questionable death scene leaving no corpse? Face it, we'll never see her again!" Eshonai actually being dead would be the bigger surprise. From a narrative standpoint it would make no sense, since her interludes raise more questions than they answer, and no one else is in a position to resolve them (except possibly Rlain to a lesser degree).

I firmly believe she's alive, and that we'll see her fight back against the stormform monster she's become. That's in my land of Roshar of course. No idea if it'll happen in Brandon's or not

I got this WoB from near the end of the audio of the San Francisco signing. !!!!!

As I was looking for this quotation, I noticed that Hoid asks something similar of Shallan during the flashback. Her response:

I was looking for places where Jesrien might be hiding in the present story. If he has become corrupted, like Shalash who instead of creating art and beauty destroys art (especially statues of herself) and Nale who brings a twisted evil form of justice that appears to be playing into the hands of Odium by destroying Radiants, and possibly Pailiah who may be the ardent assisting Taravangian with the silent gathering instead of healing, he would probably have taken up power for himself but in a twisted way that instead of leading by example and inspiring he became a despotic tyrant that led in fear. One example that is mentioned in both books is the Godking in Tukar in Sesemalex Dar who is being worshiped by the Tukari and the Emuli. In tWoK an ardent mentions that he thinks the war between the Tukari led by their godking and the Emuli is really about control of the city and Kaladin flies over the city and sees a war in the area. In WoR we learn that Mraize doesn't think that the "creature" in Tukar is human or "at least not the local variety" and we learn from Mr. T's guard/master that the war there has gone on for six years. (I'm not good at siting and don't have my book.) This seems like something a twisted, broken, corrupted Jesrien would do. Set himself up as Godking and convince two factions to go to war over him. Now it's possible Nale is just a little off and truly thinks what he's doing is helping and Ash just really hates that people make statues of her and the rest of the Heralds are fine but that seems unlikely. Just my theory feel free to rip it apart, question it, or point me to someone else who has already stated it better.

I doubt that his was just a commanding and "management" role. The fact that he usually chose impossible tasks for himself and often died while successfully completing them in my opinion speaks of the fact that he was directly involved in the battle. Also his physical condition/abilities leave much to desire for ordinary mortals. Remember the way he caught darts from the air? P.S. my first post here!

'Pattersyl'... Just sayin.

Greetings, friend. You may have noticed that many of the illustrations in the Stormlight Archives contain strange markings. I have determined that these markings are writing, and I have undertaken to decipher their messages. Crazy? Perhaps. But these markings are not simply decorative. They contain information about the Cosmere, hidden in plain sight. In The Way of Kings, we are introduced to the Alethi script. This is the writing system used by female scribes and scholars in Alethkar, understand? It shows up in the labels of Navani’s Notebook: Since the novel was first published in English, the labels were also “translated” into English, but Alethi letters were used to preserve the feel of the original diagrams. Each symbol stands for one letter – however Alethi has some letters that are not found in English (Th, Sh, Ch), and English has some letters that are not found in Alethi (C, Q, X, W). In Words of Radiance, we learn more about the languages of Roshar. Alethi script reappears, with greater variety. Navani’s Notebook again provides straightforward diagram labels directly transliterated from English into Alethi: (Translation credit goes to cris34b: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6418-navanis-notebook-page-406-translation/?hl=navani) Shallan’s sketchbook provides more cryptic text, friend. First spotted and translated by jcoop513, the text here is hidden, and is written phonetically so that each letter is an approximation of how it sounds when spoken aloud. Based on the context, this is most likely a page of Jasnah's notes that Shallan appropriated to use as sketchpaper. Note that the transliteration of Jasnah's writing is very different from that of Navani's. Read aloud, the passage would be thus: Translation efforts are ongoing at http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6619-shallans-drawing-page-354-alethi-script-translation-spoilers/. KalynaAnne traced over the partially-obscured letters by hand and was able to reconstruct several missing words: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6487-thaylen-and-alethi-glyph-translation-glyph-key-revised-418/?p=233114 Alethi is not the only language spoken on Roshar. That would be crazy. The Map of the Southern Frostlands introduces us to the written language used in Thaylenah: As with Alethi script, the Thaylen in this illustration is simply transliterated English, and can be deciphered using the following key: Thaylen people are renown for smashing their consonants together when they speak, and this is reflected in their writing. Written Thaylen has no vowels and is written vertically, understand? Both the Alethi and Thaylen pages include numerals. Just as many different nations on Earth employ Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) is quite possible that all Vorin peoples (indeed perhaps most inhabitants of Roshar!) use the same numerals, even if their written languages differ. The numbers are written as follows: And now we come to glyphs, friend. Glyphs are written in syllables, with each syllable corresponding to a certain subcomponent of the glyph. Glyphs can be written three ways: a “standard” blocky form with syllables somewhat similar to Thaylen consonants, a “radial” form in which the glyph is warped to form a circular shape, and a “calligraphic” form in which the glyph can be warped into any shape. Often, the shape of a calligraphic glyph is reminiscent of the word it contains. Extra lines that do not represent syllables can be added to enhance the effect. For instance, a bookseller might advertise the name of his shop with a glyph shaped to resemble a book, understand? Many men in Alethkar are illiterate, relying on their wives or sisters to read documents to them aloud, but most can recognize certain important glyphs based on their shape alone. Alethi glyphs are not simply transliterations of English, but represent words in the Alethi language. The esteemed jofwu has compiled images of all known glyphs in another thread. Edit: The next bit is obsolete, as of Oathbringer. See p.519 for a key directly from the Calligrapher's Guild, courtesy of Nazh. My efforts to decipher the Alethi glyphs are ongoing, friend, but I present here what I speculate thus far: Please refer to the further pages in this thread for the latest developments in the 17th Shard's ongoing efforts to decipher these glyphs. Original first post, for posterity:

Plane rides, it seems, are just as good for theorizing as for making Stormlight Elimination roles. Now, I know what you're thinking; "*sigh* Another baseless theory about Awakening from someone who doesn't like colour as a fuel in Nalthis's magic system." Not exactly. I've always thought colour was a little weird, but I was willing to roll with it until I read Words of Radiance. Each time a Shardblade cuts a limb, rather than through the spine, it (the limb) is described as turning grey. Until now, I had assumed a Shardblade's cut had the same affect as having a physical injury that paralyses a limb. But the greyness is doesn't fit that. The logical conclusion is that when something's Spiritual Connections are cut, for some reason, they lose their colour and turn grey. This means that an object's colour, or the wavelength of light it reflects, must be decided primarily by the Spiritual Aspect. Now, what else do we know of that turns things grey? Awakening. This makes me think that there may be something more to Awakening's power source. I still think that in a sense, colour is the fuel, but rather than the pigment itself providing power, it is the object's Spiritual Aspect. I think that Awakening breaks/changes an object's Spiritual Connection to light, causing it to reflect a wider spectrum. Ie. Turning it a light grey/white. Why exactly Awakening needs the energy from a broken Spiritual Connection, I'm not sure. I personally think that it provides the impetus for imprinting a Command on an object, but that's just a guess. TL;DR: I think that when colour is taken in Awakening, it happens fundamentally in the Spiritual Realm, rather than the Physical. Once, again, I'm sending this from my iPhone, so please excuse any typos.

I was listening to some random soundtracks while rereading WoR, and by coincidence Touhou's "Bad Apple" was playing in the background during the fight scene with Szeth and Kaladin. Its somehow epic and sad at the same time, and the lyrics could apply to either Szeth or even Kaladin(though mostly Szeth). Did any of you have any songs you think would go with a particular scene? EDIT: Links to Bad Apple for people who aren't familiar with it. English version Original(Japanese)

I just finished Words of Radiance and had a theory I thought I'd present. (I haven't seen anyone else put this one forth, but if I missed it I'm sorry.) We know that most spren gain sapience as they bond with humans. There are some noted exceptions to this, such as the Nightwatcher and and the Stormfather. In the Stormfathers case, it seems to be due to his being a remnant of Honor. But bonding adds something to the spren in the physical realm. Could it be possible that by binding with Dalinar the Stormfather will start growing back into Honor? That Honor's splintering will be fixed as Dalinar performs his oath to bind things together? Along those lines, could the Nightwatcher be a splinter of Cultivation? (And could someone bond with her?)

I fear that this might be lost in the noise, so I'd like to bring some new WoB to everyone's attention: Source: So that. I suppose we were all too quick to assume that Hoid was carrying around a second sword. And now I must say that I'm scared. Hoid might not be the most fuzzy of people, but I generally trust his intentions, or at the very least his general inactivity so far as potentially derailing plots and murdering main characters with super-weapons goes. I would have far preferred for Hoid to have added "Honorblade" to his list of powers and then called it a day, versus the disturbing possibility that some unknown party now possesses it. Alternatively, as I believe someone suggested on another thread, the Blade could be misty at the moment and Hoid still put in a regular Shardblade so that no one would be tempted to do evil unto Taln in order to get his.

What we know: Sazed holds the shards Preservation and Ruin loosely creating Harmony Preservation used his power the keep Ruin from destroying everything by trapping him in a prison. At the time of Way of Kings Sazed has held Preservation and Ruin for several hundred years. Sazed is not an original shardholder, and at the end of HoA is trying to figure out the cosmere. Sazed holds excess Ruin power. WoB suggests he is using it to do something. Rayse hates Harmony. Rayse is trapped on greater Roshar, the words in The Response state him as being "captive". The Theory: Based on what we know Sazed may be responsible for Rayse's captivity. I think this may be a little bit of a stretch as correlation does not imply causation, but that's why its a theory. Right? Hooray for for my first theory! (Sorry for my lack of quotes, I had to get this out before I forgot the facts.)

Isn't it equally possible that the Nightwatcher is a spren anthropomorphizing both Civilization and Odium - the boon and the curse? The Nightwatcher could still be Wyndle's "mother," but with a touch of Odium in her. (Just like Shallan's father...)

I may be grasping at straws here, but I got to thinking of the similarity between the names of the two, and if Vasher could worldhop to Roshar, is it possible that Shalash/Shashara is the same person and started on Roshar and then ended up on Nalthis? If this is a possibility the larger implication is that the Heralds could have gone to other planets as well after abandoning the Oath Pact. Perhaps we've even met some of them.

http://imgur.com/SvECwR9

Ok, Shallan makes it absolutely clear that she thinks Renarin is a creepy and weird. In the first book, it is stated that this is the general female reaction to him. So...It is clear to ME that if he ends up with anyone, it will be because Hoid convinces someone quite ridiculous (one of the less insane haralds) to go on a date with him. then, and ONLY then, Laral will realize she hates Roshone, leave him, and start courting Renarin (who ditches one of the heralds because she is downright insane). Afterwards, Renarin asks Adolin for relationship advice... So, the triangle is actually Kaladin-Laral-Renarin. This is the ONLY scenario Hoid will allow. ...Aaaaaannd that is just about as seriously as I have considered the Shallarin theory.

I'm going to Shatter this pun into 16 better ones. 1) I was thinking of making these puns in the form of rap lyrics but I don't have the Devotion to puns required. 2) If I could be bothered, I'd have complete Dominion over this thread. 3) Actually, I have been Endowed with the raw talent... 4) ...it's just a matter of Cultivating the skill. 5) That's why I went with this Odious list template that's everywhere on the internet that everyone hates but gets sucked in to anyway. 6) (What do you guys think of these puns so far? Be honest; on your Honor!) 7) Aw, man. Guys. I'll have to finish these puns later. It's my anniversary today and I've made Preservations at this really nice restaurant at the Casino on the Indian Preservation. 8) Besides, I don't know the name of all the Shards so this list was Ruined before it even started.

No, it's not strange. They were running for their lives with the highstorm and everstorm clashing right where they were. She most likely survived the fall as stormform is stronger and she had Shardplate, but unless she somehow became a full Voidbringer or something I can't imagine her surviving what happened. Kal saw rocks tossed hundreds of feet in the air, no Plate could save her from that. But i think she discovered some new form that allowed her to live. She's far too interesting to die so soon.

Gamut was still shocked. Not only was he too late to the lynching, but the Villagers had lost their momentum and had ended up killing one of their own. He mourned for Xaneth, but he wouldn't let his guilt cripple him. The villager of Blackwater still needed a hero. Maybe Gamut wasn't the Hero the town had deserved, but he would still do his best he could. I have failed you... Gamut looked again at the words he was writing in his journal, and knew the sentence to be true. He had initially panicked when he had returned from rushing out to the lynching earlier to find some of the pages from his journal missing, but he knew it was probably for the best at this point. He had been working so hard, and had yet to come up with anything solid. With a resigned sigh, Gamut continued writing. If you are reading this, then I have failed you. I am dead. I plan these messages, knowing calamity might strike me at any moment, I had hoped I would find some secrets that may be of use, should I fall to the Spiked's scheming, and yet, I have nothing. I do not know how to stop them. Gamut put his quill down and looked again at what he had written. As he was writing it, the prospect of his death didn't seem as tragic to him as he assumed it would be. Maybe it would be better, that way? Not having to listen to the Spiked's whispers, their constant lies, trying to influence and corrupt them. Yes, death would be much easier. No! The village needed him. He was a symbol of hope. A beacon of defiance, spitting in the eye of trepidation and the forces of Ruin. "I will survive." Gamut promised, standing up and leaving the farewell letter half-finished. He turned and strolled to the open window on the other side of the room, tendrils of mist creeping inside and pooling on the floor, and downed a vial or Iron. There was work to do tonight. And Gamut wasn't giving up without a fight.

Man, I loved this book. What I really like is that EVERYONE has a flaw. Some of the most important parts of the book for me were people coming to grips with their flaws or helping other people overcome theirs. Shallan working so hard to heal her brothers was just incredible. I loved the part where Wit tells her to look back at Wikim and she sees him looking at the equations she gave him. Also Balat getting control of himself. Kaladin annoyed me for most of the book because he just couldn't listen to Syl and let go of his bugbears until the whole Elkohar thing. He was freaking awesome after that, and it came from him finding peace with himself, which was cool. When Jasnah died, I was totally with Navani. Didn't believe it for a second. Then the book went on and she just didn't come back. The Epilogue made me so excited. Voidbringers? Already happened. Everstorm? Old news. Advice I got from the spren? Out of date. Crap. I loved Gaz's redemption with Shallan. That was really neat. And Rlain is just the coolest. Not a fan of the Adolin-Shallan-Kaladin love triangle thing. It's just too easy for Brandon. I'm sure he's going to invert it somehow. But really, the crowning moment of awesomeness was Shallan and Adolin's conversation (a full conversation, on a date!) about pooping in Shardplate. I've never laughed so hard in my life. The word poop is in WoR multiple times. That I did not expect.

I'd love to, but I've got some significant real life deadlines looming, so I've had to put deciphering Alethi glyphs on the back burner. Since it turned out the Ch. 84 doesn't actually have anything to do with the glyphs, I don't feel in such a rush now. I've also started *actually reading* WoR. (Just got to the end of Part III) Some general musings: I feel like having a basic grasp of the writing systems gives me a richer appreciation of the world. When Navani drew the big Justice glyph at the end of WoK, I could visualize the process. Spanreed communication takes on a more elegant feel. Even the names of passing background characters clearly indicate their ethnicity, and thus general appearance. The attention to detail and internal consistency in these books is fascinating. Like Hoid, I too am very curious about the etymology of Axehound. It's odd, isn't it? Strange choice of words. Archaic. It's why I took the case. "Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound." Why say "hound"? The Khokh and Linil glyphs in the chapter headings must have a bunch of screw you lines, since the words themselves comprise only two or three sub-glyphs. Likewise for Navani's big burny "thath". I love that the glyphs have been sitting under our noses for *years*, and we're only now getting around to deciphering them! The Frostlands map seemed a little too straightforward when I was first working on it, but here it's gone and kicked off this whole new puzzle! I guess there really is always another secret! One thing that would certainly be helpful for a joint effort would be to compile a collection of all the glyphs we've seen, cropped, oriented, and in the highest resolution available. @Khyrindor - for the moment, as best as I can tell. I'll try to keep the first post updated.

The pattern on the Shadesmar map near Khabranth was found ages ago, and it sparked a hunt on the other WoK maps which revealed other things, like the same symbol on the Shattered planes. I'll see if I can find the thread... Here it is: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/1640-isasik-shulin

Congrats on your first theory! However I think it is a definitive no. The Stormlight Archive is roughly cotemporaneous with The Alloy of Law so Sazed has held Harmony for about 340 years. Contrast that with this quote from the Response. So Rayse has been held captive for far longer than Sazed has held Harmony (far longer than Sazed has even been alive) by at least a thousand years.

I was flipping through WoR earlier and came across another parallel that I think is worth considering here. Compare Chapter 45... with Interlude 10... (Also, bearing in mind that Urithiru is completely flat on the east side, making it essentially an enormous cliff.) There's a marked similarity between these two quotes, from the world's tallest tower/cliff to the contemplation to the "end." Too many for me to believe that these two quotes are unrelated. Now, I'm not saying that Szeth is the other blind mand in Hoid's story (he does sound a lot like the disillusioned blind man, but I don't know when or why he would have had a conversation with Hoid.) I do think Urithiru is significant. Could Hoid have had a conversation with someone atop Urithiru at some point? It's been abandoned for ages, aside from Szeth's occasional visits. I doubt anyone else could have reached it, except perhaps Nalan/whichever Herald still has his/her Honorblade (assuming it grants the Surge of Gravitation or Transportation, or functions enough like a living Shardblade to operate the Oathgates.) So perhaps the conversation happened a long time ago. Say, in a previous Desolation? That would certainly qualify as "the end of an era," and could explain the part about "overlooking the land and seeing nothing." There wouldn't be much left to see after a Desolation. As to who the other blind man might be, my only guess is Nohadon. Mostly because he's this mysterious figure of legend living in eventful times. Seems like the kind of person Hoid would seek out for a conversation or two.

This has been discussed a lot in Shallan's Relationship thread, but it seems pretty clear given the evidence that Kaladin/Shallan is the most likely immediate pairing (in the long run, of course, much can change). I find it unlikely that Helaran's death will play a huge role. The main issue is that it's not really a problem if Shallan can talk to Kaladin about it. Even when she believes Amaram is responsible (someone who she is actively wary of given the evidence he's trying to bring back to Voidbringers) the worse she can say is: She's not happy about it, of course, but all things considered she's not all that broken up about it, and can pretty easily rationalize what happened. If Kaladin (with his 'So intense' eyes) explains what happens to her in person, it's hard to imagine it being a big deal. In fact, during WoR, there's a lot of effort spent on obfuscating Kaladin's role; there's at least three good places where Shallan could have learned enough Helaran's death to have made the connection. It's clearly being saved for when Kaladin isn't around to defend himself (conveniently, he's flying off immediately at the end of WoR), and where other people (like say Mraize or even Gaz or Pattern, due to Honorspren - Cryptic thing) who don't like Kaladin or have some reason to have friction between KRs might put it in an unsavory light. It's hard to imagine Shallan won't find out about it very early in the next book. Lots of people know about the truth of Kaladin's accusation at this point, and as soon as she finds out why Dalinar booted Amaram, the connection will be obvious (the people who know enough at this point minimally include Dalinar, Navani, Renarin, and likely Adolin, as well as pretty much all of the bridgemen; there's likely many more beyond those). So the most likely scenario is that Shallan will learn early on (like right after Kaladin takes off) that Kaladin was the one who killed the Shardbearer that attacked Amaram. She'll get a distorted version of what Really Happened or what Probably Happened from people with a vested interested in driving a wedge between the two (there are quite a few candidates). Kaladin will be out of touch for most of the book, so she'll stew over it until near the end. They get back in touch, she makes a big deal of it (after a period of sullen anger that bewilders Kaladin, naturally), Kaladin goes 'This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules?', misunderstood tension gets resolved and relationship resumes course. Meanwhile, while Kaladin is out of comms, he'll likely resolve his past romantic issues with Laran and Tarah. The setup feels so obvious that I keep think that this might be trolling, with an unexpected subversion coming.

It was raining. A light drizzle sifting down from the night sky. Mist lay heavy upon the land, tendrils curling up and around buildings as if trying to shelter them from the rain. A lone traveller limped towards the village of Blackwater. Wrapped around him was a torn and bloody cloak. He was a tall man, this traveller, his black hair plastered to the sides of his face. A scruffy and snarled black beard covered his lower jaw. The outskirts of the village was poor, with shabby rundown hovels packed next to each other, a wet, littered dirt street running down the middle. A torch burned fitfully at the intersection where the cobbled main road crossed the alley. Turning onto the cobbled street the traveller limped to the village square. A few shops remained open, their signs creaking in the wind. A young woman wrapped in a light blue cloak stood beneath one of the hissing torches ringing the square, looking like a pale ghost. Passing a food vendor, the stranger handed over a couple of boxings in exchange for a meat pie. Once he was past the square, the streets were dark and empty. Finishing his meat pie the stranger wiped his hands on his stained cloak and making sure no one was watching, he kicked the rain-soaked planks next to a gate. There was a peculiar rhythm to the kicks. The gate creaked inwards and a figure in a black hooded cloak looked out. Seeing who it was the hooded man opened the gate wider letting the traveller enter. Limping into the rain-wet courtyard the traveller slipped a cloth pouch to the cloaked man and crossed the courtyard. Mounting the steps leading to the upper floor of the inn, the stranger let his cloak open and drop to the floor. Underneth he wore a tanned leather vest and black cloth trousers. Belted to his waist was an obsidian blade with a bone handle. Reaching the top floor the traveller limped to the third door and tapped his fingertips lightly on the door. After a moment the door opened. The man inside was thin with an angular face and pale skin. "You're late." he said. "Ambushed on the way back. They killed everyone but me." the traveller replied, stepping into the warm room. Closing the door, the pale man slid a bolt across the a solid clank. Sitting in a heavy oak chair, the traveller looked around. The room had stone walls and floor. A fire crackled in the fireplace, filling the room with dancing light and shadows. A large bed was against one wall while a table with a burning candle was against another. "I've got a bath ready for you in next room, but first you're going to tell me what happened." the pale man said as he seated himself in another chair by the fire. "Later." the traveller said. "All I want right now is to soak in a warm bath and sleep in a soft bed for a week." "No! Now Alon! Things haven't been going well here. Bartson, Xaneth and Forage are dead. We can't let this continue. The spiked have taken out some of our more powerful allomancers." "You didn't think they would go without a fight did you?" "Of course not. But we can't let them find out what we've been hiding." "Don't worry old friend. The 'item' is safe. Your 'friend' has taken it with him." "I still want to hear what happened on your trip no matter how small." "Very well." the traveller said with resignation. Outside the solitary window, a figure huddled against the rain and wind, listening to the tale being told inside. I have found you at last.

Adolin + Shallan isn't working as far as I know. At this point Renarin has better chances with Shallan then Adolin. Kaladin killed her brother and most likely he's ex will be showing up at some point so there will be lots of trouble for them as well. But lets face it, she'll most likely end up with Lopen.

I like the idea of the placement of the orders signifying to what degree to each Shard they are acclimated to. I think Honor is partly about forging bonds, which is why Adhesion and Tension are the closest to Honor. Growth would also fit as the closest to Cultivation (not sure how Illumination fits). This may also signify how strict each group of Order-spren are; the closer to Honor, the more strict the oaths.

Your Words won't make me Snap and lose my temper. A few taunts won't Awaken my competitive nature, if that was your Intent. I possess enough Harmony of spirit to resist such Drab attempts to Pull on my emotions, Tap in to my pride, or Push me into punning pseudo-conflict. Unless, of course, you meant hypothetically. Because, in that case, I would, hypothetically, Lash out with some Kolossal puns, establish my Dominance as the best punner in this whole Damnation, and...and...Ya know, I'm getting a Thrill just thinking of the puns I might use. It's a pretty good feeling; I'm glad I Returned to this topic. Well worth the Sliver of time I Invested in reading these posts. EDIT: Splinter in my finger caused a typographical error. On my Honor, that's all this edit changed.

That stick is the best piece of fanart I have ever seen XD

That stick is a stick. (And I totally added the pic to the Coppermind article because it amuses me as well. Hehehehe.) I love how we have both "stick" form and Shadesmar bead form. Oh, and thanks for clearing up spelling/pronunciation. I know I've been calling you "Ex" for a while, but I will switch to Maki, since that's what you listed! ...I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, right. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HE'S SO CUTE I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE. IT IS THE MOST PERFECT THING EVER AND I LOVE IT AND I LOVE YOU AND YOU'RE PERFECT AND I HOPE ALL OF YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.

Appreauntis: I'm sorry, I just have to draw sad things... You know this scene is going to destroy us when it does happen. Argent: I'm still getting a handle on tumblr myself, I have a really hard time tracking conversations on there, haha. Just posting is so much easier... xD Feather: (Maki is preferable since it leaves no confusion on how it's pronounced) Hm, a thing you say? You mean this masterpiece? ... Just kidding! Shirtless!Renarin. ^^ (though Stick is legit awesome too... looking at the Coppermind page makes me laugh out loud every time)

Khriss is in White Sand.

The songs that he listens to are the death rattles, if you think of it that way it seems pretty clear that they are talking about Taravangian. Why would you describe Hoid as hiding in a city?

I think everything Renarin does makes sense if you believe that he doesn't trust his spren. He's come to the same conclusion as Lift - That he's bonded to a Voidbringer. Only he doesn't accept it as readily as she does. My conclusion (Listed in the Surgebinding/Knights Radiant thread) is that Truthwatchers have some way of predicting the future. Not by magic, like Voidbinding, but through pattern spotting and logical inference, the same way as Taravangian's Diagram. Imagine if you started being able to do that, in Alethi society? You'd keep it quiet too. There are some clues all the way in book one. Notice that he's the one most familiar with the Old Magic. He's the one that pushes for them to prove Dalinar's visions, and comes up with sound ways to do it. He isn't distressed at the thought of Dalinar seeing the past, but is less comfortable with the idea of seeing the future. Sure, it's not conclusive, but it makes sense. It's the research I'd be doing if I thought something was magically wrong with me. But then you get to Words of Radiance. He doesn't mention his issue with Shards, because Shards were designed to kill Voidbringers. What does it mean that he can't handle them? The logical conclusion, from what he knows, is that he's somehow tainted. He doesn't mention his predictions of the future, because he seems them as a curse. Seeing the future is "the essence of Voidbinding", after all. “I can see the future itself. Why? Why, Almighty? Why have you cursed me so?” He doesn't mention his healing, because it ties back to his spren. I'm guessing he joins Bridge 4 because his spren spotted Syl (Much as Syl spotted Pattern), and he wanted to find out more. I'm guessing his spren pushed him to it as proof that he's not evil. At the end of the book, with the revelation about the new Knights Radiant, he finally starts believing his spren, doesn't think he's evil anymore, and reveals himself.