Czernobog

The incredibly deep ocean on Threnody is called the "Lilting Abyss." Hmm...why would a deep ocean chasm be called rhythmic? My hope now is that the Evil that attacked the Homeworld is a Cosmere kaiju with a penchant for peppy showtunes.

I think we are in complete agreement. I fully assume Wax will in some way assume the mantle as Harmony's Sword. It is the addition of a shield to the iconography I find so intriguing, particularly since it is the shield that is bearing the symbol of Harmony. Harmony has explicitly mentioned preparing Wax to become his Sword. That has always troubled me as being too unbalanced (i.e. too much of Ruin), and a possible path towards Discord. But...if he has secretly been preparing someone else to become the Shield of Harmony, that would maintain balance. Alternatively, perhaps Harmony himself (Himself?) acting as the Shield for all of Scadrial against the external threat from another Shard forced him to manifest a Sword in some fashion, in order to maintain a balance to continue to be Harmony. As I said, I always read too much into cover art; in any case, I'll continue to ponder the fascinating implications over the coming months, until publication day.

I always read too much into covers. Wax is meant to become Harmony's sword, but...is someone else destined to become his shield? That would fit with the Ruin/Preservation duality.

The most confusing thing to me from the prologue: the Unmade are of Odium; why would the Heralds speak of betraying Mishram, and not defeating her?

Color me intrigued. Kudos to Marvin on the trailer!

I was planning a reread leading up to the release of the conclusion of era two. This should be fun, and provides an excellent excuse to enjoy reading through the Mistborn leatherbounds once again. Looking forward to it!

Adonalsium-Will-Remember-Our-Plight-Eventually is a most curious name. Do Threnodites share the Iriali notion that the One chose to become Many in order to experience the Cosmere, and will eventually coalesce back into One?

Possibly, but "when my ailment first struck" speaks to a certain lack of volition in the matter.

I would like it if at least part of the desire to recruit Marasi is due to her being a Pulser...perhaps by a group of Investiture physicists trying to solve the FTL conundrum.

Definitely getting it. Love the new art, and am looking forward to the realmatics fixes and arcana.

That was a fun discussion. Thanks for doing it, and welcome @Cheyenne Sedai to the ranks of Shardcasters!

Way back in Secret History, the Eyree had a fortress in the hinterlands of Scadrial's Cognitive realm, so that makes them equally likely to be the offworlders in my mind. Though "protect at all costs" is not really the vibe they project. Unless they somehow have gained information that Bavadin was involved somehow with what Rayse did to Aona and Skai; that could lead them to oppose anything she's up to anywhere in the Cosmere, at all costs.

There's always the possibility of unrevealed joker cards. Fingers crossed!

If I found myself in possession of a nicrosil spike and with a pressing need to steal some Investiture, and I also found three potential donors in front of me, each a median-of-normal-distribution sample of human, dragon, and Sho Del species, would my selection of species yield any meaningful differences in the harvested Investiture?

I find it somewhat curious that even post-RoW statements along the lines of "what the Radiants did to their spren during the Recreance" persist. It feels like the full import of arguably the two most emotionally laden words in the entire novel have not been properly internalized by the fandom.

I came into this episode expecting to dislike it, because I so viscerally hate Moash, yet I left feeling it was one of the most enjoyable discussions I can remember. I love Big Idea thematic sorts of conversations, and this delivered thanks to many nuanced points made by everyone, I think. (As an aside: during the upcoming Cosmere lull, I'd be giddy if there were a "what is the point of the Cosmere" discussion. Yes, it's a framework to allow Brandon to tell lots of really cool stories, but what is the overarching Big Idea of the Cosmere that led to it becoming Brandon's life's work?) As for what's behind Moash becoming blind, and what his future is, for a while now I've been having largely inchoate thoughts along these lines. Despite his betrayals of Kaladin, I think Moash to a large extent almost worships Kaladin (the "he can't be killed" talk, for instance). If Dalinar fails in the contest of champions, and becomes a tool of Odium, I don't see how he could continue to hold any of Honor, and so someone else would likely then be able to take up Honor. If the son of Tanavast is that someone, then Moash's near worship of Kaladin might transmute into undying zeal to be in service of Kaladin-as-a-god. Kaladin/Honor could probably make effective use of a devoted blind prophet.

These epigraphs made me wonder if Navani would agree with Thomas Jefferson on his thoughts regarding invention and profiteering (with bonus point regarding peculiar uniqueness of flames):

Mixing of allomantic abilities is not what Khriss was referencing with respect to blending investiture leading to an added effect, I think. It was specifically in reference to Twinborn, which is mixing allomancy and feruchemy. My more general question is whether or not hemalurgic allomancy blended with hemalurgic feruchemy would lead to that added effect.

Tangential thought, having just finished a reread of Bands yesterday, Khriss says in the ars arcanum Does this extra "effect" only arise for natural-born blendings of Investiture, or does hemalurgy also grant the same sorts of effects? Tying it back to Kelsier, does he possess the extra "effects" from blending allomancy and feruchemy?

On the topic of Kelsier's body being somehow being formed from a mistwraith: could the fact that mistwraiths were originally formed from Terris feruchemists partially explain how he then gained feruchemical powers? Interesting line of thought.

That was a blast! Thanks for making this happen!

On the ancient spren as fabrials front, I've been wondering if perhaps the ancient spren historically chose to manifest as a fabrial as a temporary coping mechanism after experiencing the death of their bonded Radiant.

The Bridge Four Kickstarter poster inspired me to learn how to make picture frames. That was sufficiently fun that I decided to splurge on a signed Way of Kings giclee from Michael Whelan's store. That demanded I up my game, so I learned how to make custom moulding and inlay. Then I learned how to cut beveled mats. Turned out okay.

Fun to watch, as always. Many thanks to @FelCandy and @Paleo for such a fun journey, both pre- and re-view. You guys have a great dynamic, and bring some subtly different perspectives from the regulars on Team Shardcast. Fingers crossed that there will be some future topics where you guys will be the hosts!

Very fun episode! In my head, every time I hear a phrase along the lines of "the strike on Ba-Ado-Mishram" I end up thinking of it as "the strike (not at Shayol Ghul but) on Ba-Ado-Mishram." I'm truly curious how much of the capturing of BAM and its unintended consequences was possibly influenced by that amazing short work by Robert Jordan from 1996.