teknopathetic

I would love a secret history about the guy they through into the shardpool in Elantris that eventually ends up in Rosharan Shadesmaar Lighthouse

I wonder if Nazh died intentionally and was given the sacred ritual that creates a Cognitive Shadow. Nazh says in SH: Becoming a Cognitive Shadow like Kelsier is "an important rite ... with requirements and traditions." Since Nazh died in formal wear, maybe it he was dressed for this ceremony?

I agree that we will likely see whatever world/location houses The Grand Apparatus. However, what I am hoping for is to see a Sho-Del world like UTol or some other Sho Del power base. With Dragonsteel Prime coming out, getting some modern Sho Del might match up nicely. It also would make this new secret Project 5 connect to some of the previous Secret Projects as well.

The timeline is less revealing than you’d think though. Before Kelak was done fighting, the other heralds had disbanded and abandoned their oaths. It’s possible that Ishar left the group early, and without any way to tell if anyone else had died, someone non-Ishar was asked to wait and see what became of Kelak. On another vein, it’s possible Ishar’s connection to the strained oathpact has changed over the past 4500 years. As the person who created it, maybe certain steps have been taken to maintain in, or perhaps resisting the return to Braize had caused other issues for Ishar as well.

Assuming that Ishar is not the Stormfaker (which he may not be; we just had him as a good guess) Could Ishar be the the newest target of the Stormfaker's manipulations? We see the Stormfaker abandon Gavilar during the SP5 project, and then fairly nearly in time Ishar is saying that Ishar is now a God King and needs to refound the Knights Radiant. Something must have prompted Ishar to suddently go God king; i always assume this was because he had learned about Chana's death, but maybe the Stormfake/father started manipulating Ishar instead once Gavilar fell through and once the Oathpact was in danger of breaking (re:chana) Could the Stormfaker be with Ishar now and causing him to do research on Spren and all the other things we see? And could Ishar be absolutely enraged by seeing Dalinar bonded to the Stormfather because Ishar was told that he had been working with the Stormfather this whole time? If there is no Stomfaker, then would this mean that the Stormfather was talking to both Ishar and Dalinar at basically the same time?

IMO, I disagree that saying that both brothers being deceived by the Real Stormfather is functionally the same as only Gavilar being deceived by a Stormfaker. This is because as i see it, Dalinar's last big lie to confront is the lie he tells himself about his brother not being as honourable as Dalinar has assumed. Multiple times Navani has tried to broach this subject, and Dalinar is unable to confront this issue. Dalinar blames himself for letting the great proto-bondmsith Gavilar die. Dalinar believes that the embodiment of honour had been guiding Gavilar. But what Dalinar needs to confront is that Gavilar was a two-faced monster. Adding in that the Stormfather is a two-faced monster in addition to Gavilar being a two faced monster really pulls us away from the Gavilar reveal and the emotional work Dalinar needs to do concerning Gavilar. Additionally, If Dalinar and Gavilar were both lied to and deceived in the same way, this gives Dalinar yet another reason to be an apologist about his brother. Dalinar will have to say to Navani "Gavilar was just like me; he was deceived just like me. Gavilar cant be blamed because the Stormfather tricked us too". We need a way to have Navani say "Dalinar, you are not just a 2nd son filling the shoes of your dead brother; Gavilar sucked. He was not honourable. YOU ARE HONOURABLE". Navini's ability to confront this is severely undercut if Dalinar is making the same mistakes as his brother and has been bonding a somewhat evil Stormfather. Instead, if Dalinar learns that Gavilar's vices attracted the attention of an entity that was not the actual Stormfather, then Dalinar and Navani can have a real and frank discussion about who Gavilar was and why Dalinar's drunkenness did not result in the death of a great and unifying man. Dalinar will learn that Gavilar had the opportunity to bond the Real Stormfather [who is nominally sending visions as per his oath to Honour], but Gavilar instead was pulled in by something as corrupted as the Stormfaker. And by learning this, Dalinar will see that he isn't just the 2nd son version of the brother he failed to protect. And while I totally agree Gavilar was Gavilar's worst enemy in regards to his corruption and eventual death, Dalinar needs a way to confront this and to realize that Dalinar is wrong to consider his brother a good king cut down in his prime. Knowing that Gavilar was drawn more to an opportunistic Stormfaker over the honourable Stormfather will let Dalinar confront his misconceptions about his brother, and will finally allow Dalinar to understand his own life, and to actually be present and be able to support Navani when it comes to the abuse she had been suffering through.

I think a Stormfaker would change things for Dalinar. This would help him reach character growth concerning the fact that his brother was a huge jackass. It would help Dalinar connect with Navani over how abusive and strange Gavilar was being too. If Dalinar finds out that Gavilar was being tricked and wasn't really on the path to bondsmithing nearly as much as Dalinar thought, and that Gavilar's greed and ambition actually wasnt really of honour after all but of someone like ishar, then we get the chance for some real emotional confrontation on the level of Dalinar confronting his relationship with who Evy was. And Dalinar needs to confront who his brother really was both for his own sake, but also for his wife's sake too.

Damn. I think you are correct. This makes a lot of sense.

"two blind men sit on a hilll and discuss beauty" - Moash and Marsh?

This may be too dark of a thought, but I wonder if any mixed children have been born in t he last 4000 years between desolations. I mean, if it is possible, you think it would have happened at least once in the interim. Unless you need mate-form or another form for that to work between species.

I am hoping Ambition comes back and is the Big Bad.

We are likely going to get some Ba Ado Mishram eventually, and if she returns then the rules regarding Dead Eyes might change. We seem to know that deadeyes didn't happen before Ado was trapped, so maybe they can be repaired after she is released. What seems likely in my mind is that Adolin figures out how to revive deadeyes once Mishram is released. The process wont be automatic but all the effort Adolin has put in will pay off.

I do admit that your spoiler makes things less likely, but I also think Hoid betraying Dalinar could have stopped being top-of-mind for that character anymore and also could have helped create a bigger wedge between them.

I think Hoid will be Todium's champion. I dont think original Odium would have done this, but Todium has seen the opportunity. Surely Odium can offer Hoid something that he wants. Add that to all the minor betrayals from Hoid to Jasnah and Hoid's "I would watch this world burn" comment, and I think we have a pretty foreshadowed solution. Hoid can't kill and basically cant be killed, so the battle will come out in a way that the contrsct didn't expect.

I wonder if the mists are some form of Solid ---> Gas sublimation. If other metals could be sublimated and ingested, would there be a different effect? That would ... i guess .... avoid causing any impurities in the metal. The sublimated metals would likely freak out when exposed to oxygen though, so that makes the whole process pretty hard to pull off. Cadmium, zinc, and magnesium have relatively lower sublimation temperatures. I am not an expert in this, but people who work with space-craft keep track of which metal perform best within a vacuum, and this is as aspect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_for_use_in_vacuum