Tazren

I think it's just directly tied to promises or oaths. There's probably something inherently magical about making oaths a certain way, and that's what binds him. But if he just randomly lies to someone, there's no oaths or promises involved. Maybe a real Oath has something to do with a Connection between the parties involved, and going back on that just backfires dramatically. Maybe more so the greater your power?

This is my feeling as well. Although, personally ... I really feel like there will be a lot of situations in which the Radiant wins, a few where the Mistborn wins, and quite a lot where the Mistborn runs for their life, since they'll be able to outrun almost any order. Feels like at the end of the day, you have to come up with very niched and specific scenarios to be able to defeat something that has absurd healing powers and increased strength/speed as a base, in addition to their more unique abilities. Surprise, pure luck or the Radiant having a significant extra disadvantage.

Could also be that Lifelight just behaves slightly differently in subtle ways with it. Lift's Surgebinding doesn't seem different in general, at least no one has commented on it, right? So maybe the Lifelight doesn't make her surge stronger in general, just affects it differently enough that she could use overcome, or circumvent, the protection. Or maybe it has nothing to do with Lifelight, and more to do with the whole surge. Maybe the security system doesn't block all forms of surgebinding equally. Maybe the fact that Progression wants to "restore" something to its natural state just kind of goes past it - or at least that those sorts parts of it would be the last to go. Maybe they're more "natural" than something like reversing gravity or reshaping stone.

Finished the book yesterday. I have some really mixed feelings. I really enjoyed reading it. It had a lot of good scenes, and I loved all the discussions about the magic systems, Cosmere stuff, and such. There was really good character development. There wasn't really a lot of parts that I found boring, it was a really good read. The plot twist at the end was pretty nice. But. As a part of the greater story, I felt like almost nothing happened - certainly not for such a long book. Things only really progressed close to the very end, with the contract signed between Dalinar and Odium. Up to that point, I felt like nothing was progressing. There was only a lot of info given out and character development, no plot development at all. Which doesn't feel like the other books, or Sanderson in general. So in that way, I am very disappointed. Still, I can rate it badly, because I enjoyed it as a book. Just not so much as a part of Stormlight Archive. it felt more like one of the novellas, or like a 1200 page prologue to book 5.

The name made me think of the god Sieh, in N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. The god of childhood, both good and bad. Whimsical, capricious, childish, etc. Also some other stuff, like childish cruelty.

My completely unfounded theory while reading was that Lifelight just works exceptionally well with Progression, and that's what allowed Lift to "push through" the resistance. Felt like something that would make sense, at least.

When I read Way of Kings, I had no idea the Cosmere existed. I had read Mistborn, Warbreaker and Elantris. I remember someplace in WoK when both Honor and Cultivation were mentioned at the same time, and I was like ... wait, what? Isn't this a little uncreative, naming your gods in this book after the same pattern as Mistborn? Then I made a quick google and had my mind blown.

Depends on the context and limitations. Being an Elantrian seems pretty neat, mostly because the AonDor is extremely versatile and pretty much generic fantasy magic. That is, you can do whatever you want, more or less. So if AonDor worked on Earth, that would be my pick. But if I'd have to stick to the same city for the rest of my life, that would be too much of a drawback. In our modern world, Feruchemy just seems like the most useful magic system for having a better life. Easy enough to fill most metalminds while sitting home and taking it easy, or while commuting. You could have a really huge store of goldmines, since most people wouldn't have a lot of use for it ... except when they really need it. Save it for a would-be tragic accident or when you develop a fatal disease. Bronze, Zinc and Electrum would allow you to accomplish anything just when you want to the most. Bendalloy is basically, eat whatever you want without any drawbacks. So, in our world, a Feruchemy for sure.

Difficult to say without really knowing anything at all about most of the orders. Based on what little we have, I'd say either a Truthwatcher or an Elsecaller.

Could Cognitive Illumination be something like, showing the truth? Maybe it could somehow highlight what other people are thinking (revealing lies), and cancelling out other kinds of illusory magic?

In our world, I'd easily take Feruchemy. It would be the easiest to use without anyone noticing (wear metal instead of consuming it), and it has a lot more everyday uses than Allomancy. Storing wakefulness, determination and energy would all be insanely useful. Not to mention health, senses, knowledge, etc. Hemalurgy is just too brutal and bothersome. Nevermind that you'd have to spike a lot of people (maybe you could find volunteers or use condemned rapists and murderers) - you couldn't exactly be discreet with it, walking around with dozens of spikes through your entire body.

That is all true, but it would still seem odd to throw the basic limit of the system out of the window. Even in Mistborn when you have Mistborn or even Mistborn/Feruchemists, they still follow the same limitation as others. The God-King in Warbreaker still has to consume colours (but can use colours others can't). I'm sure that the Fifth Ideal would give great benefits, but I don't think it will break the system's main limitation in such a way.

Brandon Sanderson also makes a big deal about believing that magic systems are defined by their limits, or something along those lines. Stormlight is clearly the major limitation of Surgebinding, so it would be strange if the Fifth Ideal suddenly removed it altogether.

Interesting idea. It makes me wonder what Spiritual Soulcasting would be? If the typical Soulcasting is physical, and what Shallan did in Shadesmar was cognitive (?) ...

Maybe it's not wasteful, so much as a very different choice to make, that we haven't seen others do. If she is basically a hive-mind, that'd make her difficult to kill. If you've got many parts that make up a single whole, it doesn't matter so much if one or a few are destroyed. Maybe it's not the best way to fight off Odium in a direct confrontation, but could be a good way to survive, and perhaps oppose him in a more strategic way.