Salkara

Yeah, Azure's sword and the WoB about needing more than 1,000 Breaths are what led me to the question. Also, the new WoB about red eyes meaning one Shard co-opting or corrupting another Shard's Investiture.

Thought I'd throw this one in here. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/35-arcanum-unbounded-hoboken-signing/#e4067 So, it may have taken 1,000 Breaths to Awaken Nightblood, but it's more invested than some other object that had 1,000 Breaths stored in it. Fun thought: If Nightblood had eyes, would they be red?

Like many here have stated, I initially found the reason for the Recreance to be a bit anticlimactic. I, like many here have also stated, quickly came to the conclusion that there's more to this than we were told. So what could be the "more" that we don't know? I have a couple ideas. My first idea is that Melishi and his strike team destroyed Stormseat when they captured Ba-Ado-Mishram. This is predicated on the theory that Melishi's capture of Ba-Ado-Mishram is what placed most of the parsh population into permanent slaveform. In Eshonai's interludes, she notes that Narak is where they were separated from their gods. As we know that Narak is the ruins of Stormseat, it's not difficult to conclude Melishi and his strike team were responsible for the Shattered Plains. Perhaps the survivors from the strike team tried to hide their responsibility for the destruction and blamed the parsh and/or the Unmade. Chapter 38 of the in-world Words of Radiance does indicate that some "discovery" led to the Recreance. In any case, at a time when the Radiants were divided because Honor was saying surgebinders would destroy Roshar, Melishi destroyed an entire city (and it's inhabitants). Would that be enough to cause all members of 9 out of 10 orders to break their oaths? I doubt it, and this leads to my second idea: The Recreance was motivated not by agreement among all but rather a decision to act by some. I believe a Radiant civil war of sorts occurred. The WoR epigraphs do speak of an "act of great villainy" which many attributed to a "sense of inherent betrayal" and fighting which "destroy[ed] much of the membership." Eventually, I assume that around 300 Windrunners and Stonewards remained (and the Skybreakers in hiding). Perhaps they were on the side which wanted to break all bonds, or perhaps they were appalled by the in-fighting. Either way, they believed that humans couldn't be trusted with surgebinding. After tying up some loose ends, I believe they traveled to Feverstone Keep and killed their spren, as we see in one of Dalinar's visions. Thoughts?

Well the 5th Ideal for the Skybreakers is about the Radiant becoming an embodiment of law. We don't really know what that entails except that Nale felt it gave him some "leniencies," but other orders may follow the same pattern (i.e. Windrunners will embody honor, Lightweavers will embody truth, Elsecallers will embody knowledge, etc.). As for what it grants... I don't think we really know. Notum mentioned to Kaladin that there were methods the honorspren could do to remove his Nahel bond up until the Fifth Ideal, so I assume that it makes the bond permanent in some way. I'm thinking this probably means a complete merging of the spren and Radiant. I believe we've seen the progression of this with Kaladin. As his bond with Syl has strengthened, she's become more than just more sapient. In OB, she started having access to Kal's memories from before the bond, and when he mentioned this to her, she shrugged it off as though it didn't really matter. Also, when Kaladin is attracting windspren on Notum's ship, he's able to hear Syl in his head which is a surprise to both of them. If the 5th Ideal does completely merge spren and Radiant, I have to wonder about the pros and cons. Spren are immortal and humans are not, so what is the life expectancy of a full Radiant? If 5th Ideal Radiants are each fully bonded to a Splinter, are they essentially a mini Heralds? What happens if/when the full Radiant dies (in battle, by accident, from old age, etc.)? If I had to answer those questions with the tiny bits of information we do have, I'd say: (1) full Radiants probably have extended but not eternal lifespans; (2) yes, they are probably mini Heralds; (3) the spren dies as well, and the Investiture floats around in Shadesmar until it coalesces in those areas where baby spren come from.

My $0.02: I think that the Fused were quite overpowered in OB because Odium was playing a no-holds-barred game. As Vargo mentions in their meeting, Odium has agreed to a contest of champions and now must act through his agents. I assume this means that things like a stationary Everstorm during battles are on hold. Fused probably won't have unlimited voidlight during battle anymore. I also assume that there will be similar restrictions on Dalinar generating a perpendicularity during battle. And this is the meta reason that Nale and the majority of the Skybreakers are siding with Odium. If all the flying Radiants sided with the good guys, future battles would be pretty lopsided. And to preemptively respond the argument that "all the Radiants fought for the good guys in the past," I'd argue that previous battles were pretty lopsided in favor of the Heralds and Radiants. I mean, there was less than a year in between the last two Desolations, and yet 9 of the 10 Heralds managed to survive the final Desolation. Don't have my book on hand, but isn't it possible that he stabbed Leshwi in her gemheart? I think Kaladin did the same when defending the wall in Kholinar. If we assume that singers/Fused store Investiture in their gemhearts, we can also assume that cracking or shattering the gemheart will result in an immediate loss of most or all stored Investiture.

Or made by Adonalsium.

Alright, in parts to this doesn't take too long: Please name a major character who doesn't get a partner and also does not end up dead (e.g. sorry Dox). Are you disagreeing that readers connect to characters through emotion, that relationship are a good method of displaying emotions, or both? No, she doesn't need one. Neither did a whole host of other characters, but they're better off for it. I'm not saying that Jasnah will have a sappy love story. I highly doubt she will. However, she clearly has emotions in this area, based on her "some men" comment and the reaction to Amaram. Unless she pulls an Eshonai, there's going to be some sort of resolution to this part of her character. It will probably involve her having feelings for another character in some capacity, and since this is a Sanderson series, the ending is probably going to be happy (again, unless she ends up dead). First, the Jasnadin thing is mostly a joke because they're the most prominent unpaired characters of opposite sex. I don't think most of us are serious about it. Second, "defrosting the ice queen" is not how I see a romantic arc happening with Jasnah. In all likelihood, I see the headman's axe headed toward any character she takes a fancy to, so it doesn't really matter if they're a guy or girl because they'll be dead. Third, no she doesn't need a romantic arc. Many characters don't need one, but they end up getting one because it gives readers a chance to see the character deal with emotions they wouldn't otherwise experience. Fourth, Jasnah has expressed almost no desire for a relationship, but we've also gotten only a handful of viewpoints for her. Every single main character in a Sanderson novel has had a romantic partner. If Jasnah survives to her book, I bet that she gets one as well. Fifth, I'd argue that an author having a history of main characters getting a romantic partner by the end of a series (provided they survive) is very pertinent. I think even Jasnah would agree that past actions are the best data for predicting future actions.

Thanks. Fixed it.

A lot of people seem to think Jasnah doesn't need a romantic storyline, but that ignores a pretty general trend in Sanderson novels (also, pretty much every other author too) where main characters get a romantic pairing. I'll spoiler tag this both for length and potential spoilers for those who are for some reason on a spoiler board without having read any other Sanderson stories. Did I miss any? I think that's pretty much every major character in Sanderson's major works. I will agree that Jasnah comes off as very asexual; however, the same could be said of a certain eunuch during the first book we saw him, and his romantic arc shaped an entire world. I'm not married [2] to the idea that Jasnah will pair off with Kaladin, but she's most likely going to have some sort of romantic arc, eventually. The reason for this is simple: readers connect with characters through emotion, and strong emotions are found in relationships. When did we connect more with Jasnah: when she was lecturing Shallan on Soulcasting, or when she decided not to kill Renarin? There are numerous ways to do a good romantic plot-line for a character like Jasnah without being a cheesy rom-com, Shadolin-style affair, so I think it's a bit shortsighted to say a relationship will ruin Jasnah as a character. Does she need one? No. Will a well-matched, well-executed romantic arc make her better? Most assuredly. [1] - Just checking if anybody read this. [2] - Pun completely intended.

I'm pretty sure Dalinar is very close to getting his Plate:

Shallan was the first to fall for him, but basically all the women are going to have a thing for Kaladin: He is clearly Stormlight Batman, and it's a well known fact that all women have a thing for Batman, even if they publicly say otherwise.

First, it's important to note that the Spiritual Realm is not the Beyond: Second, Nightblood does destroy the soul since your soul is Investiture: Third, nobody knows for sure if this means a person won't go to the Beyond: So, is it ever morally right to use an unsheathed Nightblood? Probably as much as it is ever morally right to kill someone, but no one really knows.

The bit that I always find interesting about the Voidbinding chart is that Void-versions of Bondsmith and Truthwatcher have no lines connecting to any of the surges.

And yet, that's only half the oath, unless Dalinar spoke two Ideals at once.

Mortals and possibly also immortal dargons.