Earendil

I'd be hesitant to make many assumptions about the heralds at this point--so far, the only thing we know is that they derived some of their powers from the Honorblades. Since they're all still alive, and they've demonstrated at least some supernal knowledge, however, it's clear that they have some source of power that didn't derive from the Oathpact. As for the theory-crafting: - I'd be very surprised if someone from Roshar could become a Returned. Brandon has been very hesitant to talk about how magic would interact between worlds, but it seems clear that there is at least a degree of inherited ability in most of the systems we've seen so far. - It seems to me to be more likely that someone from Nalthis could become a herald by claiming an Honorblade. I seem to recall Brandon mentioning that if someone on Roshar ate a bead of Larasium, they would gain some powers (not necessarily allomancy). - Timeline wise, either way seems unlikely. We don't know enough to conclusively rule it out, but given the fact that he died a few hundred years ago and then returned, he would have had to been alive for a LONG time before suddenly dying. Since it seems that none of the other Heralds have died in the intervening millenia, that means something surprising would have had to kill him. - There's also the question of whether the Heralds can die, since dying is required to become a Returned. Did giving up their Honorblades make it possible for them to actually die? Overall, I'd consider the problems with this theory far stronger than the possibilty that Zahel is both Vasher and Ishi, especially since the the only evidence is four of the same faces on the chapter heading--Eshonai's chapters also have a single herald (can't remember who's who), and we know she's not a herald. Personally, I consider it more likely that Zahel is Ishi and not Vasher, and the hints are misdirection.

I don't think we ever actually saw the Lord Ruler storing age. Think about it--in order to store age, he would have to spend time being older than he actually was, and just catching up to where he should have been killed him in the end. I find it more likely that the time the Lord Ruler spent as an old man was actually more about conservation--after a certain point, he would be unable to store any more age, and could just live off his reserves, so conserving that reserve would be very important for him.

"You're welcome"

Initially, this is what I thought was happening as well (before I read Alloy of Law). However, Wax specifically states on several occasions that tapping/filling his metalmind would not change his trajectory during a jump (at one point, he makes himself heavy enough to blow out the ceiling while in mid-air, so we know that's not just his perception), so he can't be changing his personal gravitational constant--that would change the way he moves in the air. It's equally interesting that his density doesn't change (at least noticably). Also, if it does change mass, it does it in a way that violates the law of conservation of momentum (normally, adding mass without adding energy would decrease speed). Regarding the question of strength, I see it in the same vein as the effects of a mistborn burning atium--there's a corresponding change to make you capable of utilizing the power.

Batman should obviously hook up with Rachel Dawes ...uh, I mean, Marasi

I just realized that this theory perfectly explains one of the most intriguing mechanics in the books--Allomantic Snapping. Think about it--of all the magic systems we have learned about, only two have a required event before you can access them. The first was the Elantrians, which may behave differently because the shards that power them were Shattered. Even there, though, it appears that there are ways to access the same power without first becoming an Elantrian. Allomancy, however, requires that the user "see death and reject it" before they can access the power. No one can use Allomancy at all until they first use it to Preserve their life.

I like this idea. I think it also fits in well with Chaos' Theory of Intent in that so far, all of the magic that we really understand seems to be intent, working on the spiritual aspect of people. Feruchemy (Ruin) requires that you take someone else's life force, Allomancy (Preservation) gives you a buffer around your life force, and Awakening involves endowing things with a part of your life force.

For the same reason that people used to smash gold into roughly circular pieces and put symbols on it? Basically, if you don't do something to make money easily distinguishable, everyone has to be an expert money changer to use it. Testing the value of gold/a gemstone is hard, and requires specialized tools and training. By forming the precious material into something easily recognizable, you make it possible for common people to use it as money. Why spheres, and not some other configuration? It's possible that it's got something to do with Shadesmar, but it's equally likely because of Stormlight. A clear glass sphere is the most efficient way to disperse light while covering the gem.

That depends on what you mean by "The Almighty". Brandon has mentioned that Vorin understanding of the Almighty is muddled, and so I don't think you're correct in saying the Almighty held a shard. The more I look at the Vorin ideas of the Almighty, the more confused I get--in some ways, the Almighty seems like a pretty good reflection of Adonalsium (sp?), more so than just Honor (for instance, each of the devotaries has different aspects...). Of course, there's also the being that has communicated to Dalinar through the Highstorms. Dalinar refers to him as the Almighty, and I think there are some good indications that it is, in fact, Honor. Either way, you're most likely correct that the Almighty did not hold Cultivation.

First, as to your spoiler, you can go ahead and replace "probably" with "definitely". As to why... Second, I'd be skeptical that the Shin are "holding" Honor's body. That would require a level of foresight that I'm not willing to grant anyone we've met on Roshar yet. It's possible that Honor's body is located somewhere in Shinovar, and the Shin might even revere the cavern, but I doubt they are consciously aware of what's going on--Odium will be working too hard to make sure that no one is. However, I'll admit that a lot of my skepticism comes because I think that the reason that Szeth is Truthless is directly tied to him being a Shardbearer.

This actually does a fairly good job of explaining Venom--Venom was an honorspren, but somehow twisted by Odium. Partner up for massive powers, with the teensy tiny downside that you start hating everyone.

I actually didn't like it as much as the others--it felt like the whole book was setting up book 5, rather than telling a compelling story in its own right. This is especially annoying, given the likely difficulties that Brandon will have in getting book 5 published (sounds like Scholastic doesn't want it, but what publisher is going to want the last book in a series that someone else has the rights to?)

Going back to the origin of the Highstorms, have you considered that they might be mostly caused by the extreme tidal forces Roshar is under? We know that Roshar is less massive than Earth, spinning faster, and has a number of moons, including some that are quite large. Those characteristics will combine to give you some wicked tides, and might also be the reason that the seasons change so "sporadically". If Roshar has n-body gravitational problems going on, even assuming a stable orbit, the period of that stable orbit could be long enough that it's almost impossible to realize (imagine if the pattern of the seasons only repeated every hundred years--it would be really hard to deduce the signal from the noise). Obviously the Highstorms contain some supernatural component, but I think it's likely more a case of someone using the storms, rather than causing them.

I actually don't know if I agree with either of these ideas. Here's why: 1) I have two problems with this idea--first, interstellar travel (necessary to get from Scadrial to another shardworld) is hard. Even with allomancy to help out, crossing the vast distances that exist between the stars in a vaguely scientific/magical way is likely to be very, very boring. So far, Brandon's science has been surprisingly accurate, so I doubt he'd go the Star Trek route and hand-wave it all away, either--especially when he has proven that there are better ways to get between worlds. Second, having a Scadrian (?) spaceship crash land on Roshar (for instance) would probably make for bad storytelling. For those who have read both series, explaining how things work is boring, but if you don't, then new readers get thrown off--which is why Brandon has pretty much explicitly said that we won't see a Mistborn/Surgebinder battle in The Stormlight Archive. 2) This is closer to what might happen, but I see two problems with trying to write this book. First, once you write it, you've pretty much let the cat out of the bag as far as the Cosmere goes, and so it hampers your ability to write other intriguing stories in the universe. Second, mythic backstories sound cool, but rarely turn out as well as you'd think they would. Take, for instance, The Silmarillion. The idea is cool, but there isn't much of an actual story--certainly nothing worthy of Lord of the Rings. I think Brandon would make something significantly more readable, but prequels will always be hard, if for no other reason than because everyone knows the ending. On another note, did the BYU Library ever actually get another copy of Dragonsteel, or find their original copy? Last I heard, someone had walked off with it...

If it turns out that Brandon did that on purpose, I might just die of awe. As it is, I'm assuming that it's a happy coincidence, and he's just smiling at our vain attempts to puzzle out the numerology of Roshar.