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I just finished reading Warbreaker for the first time and was puzzled by how the meeting between Susebron and Vasher played out. A few questions: Why was this meeting necessary at all? Why couldn't Vasher just send his phantoms to destroy the lifeless army on his own? Vasher's great fear was giving Hallandren/Susebron control of this invincible army, so why go through him at all? Why does Vasher tell Susebron he was responsible for having his tongue cut out? It seems that Vasher told the priests to "protect" the breaths, but the priests independently decided how to do so. Susebron does not seem to mind that he spent 50 years without a tongue. How much of this does Susebron understand at this point? When Vasher tells Susebron that he left "a wealth of power" here "some time ago" that he asked the priests to protect and promised to someday "recover". I assume that the wealth of power he is referring to are the thousands and thousands of breaths that Vasher/Peacegiver entrusted to the priests and that Susebron currently holds. Does this imply that Vasher intends (or perhaps intended?) to retake the Hallandren throne, or at least the God-King's breaths, someday? Susebron then kneels before Vasher and addresses him as "my lord". Why was Susebron not more suspicious of Vasher? Could not Denth have spun the same story? And in any case, why would Susebron kneel? They are both Returned, but Susebron is the current God-King with the overwhelming number of breaths. Was Susebron sufficiently learned in Hallandren lore to identify Vasher as Talaxin/Kalad/Strifelover/Peacegiver? Thanks in advance for any clarifications!

I read Warbreaker, but it seems a lot of time has passed since then. Vivenna is a very different person (the obvious part being that she can fight hecka good). Do we have any information on why?

So I've been thinking. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a Breath from a Returned heals you right? So since Lightsong gave his Breath to Susebron, does that mean that he could possibly be able to have kids with Siri now? The royal locks had to have come from somewhere, so maybe has this happened before? Can Siri have a kid with Susebron now? Hmm...

This post is to theorize about Nightblood: how he was made, and why he's so powerful. Warbreaker spoilers ahoy! What we know about Nightblood's' creation: -- Nightblood was made by a group of scholars trying to make a Shardblade using Awakening (Warbreaker) -- At least one of the scholars had worldhopped to Roshar and seen Shardblades (WoB) -- His creation involved around 1000 Breaths (Warbreaker) -- "Something more" than just 1000 Breaths was required (WoB) -- Nightblood has grown more powerful with time (WoB) Now of course one simple explanation is that Nightblood started off with no more Investure than those 1000 Breaths -- barely a fiftieth of what the god-king has and probably not too far off from a Radiant spren, and grew stronger over time by consuming other Investure. In support of this theory, we know that Nightblood seems to get somnolent after being unsheathed, like a person after a full meal, and we also know that some creatures (like Larken) can eat Investure. This explanation falls a little flat, though, when we consider the sheer amount of growth required to go from ~1000 Breaths to "the most Invested object in the Cosmere". Nightblood doesn't get wielded all that much -- he can't, given the speed at which he goes through his holder's own Breath, so it seems pretty unlikely that he'd have the chance to eat the millions (billions?) of Breaths' worth of Investure required. Having Nightblood gaining power by taking others' Investure has another problem, too -- at least, if his Investure comes solely from Endowment. Endowment's Breaths are all about giving to another person, not taking from another person. If Nightblood were made solely from Breath, this sort of consumption would be antithetical to the nature of Breath and Endowment. But what if his Investure weren't entirely from Endowment? Minor Mistborn spoiler: But I would like to draw your attention to another Shard that is about taking stuff, at least if his injunction to Dalinar to "Give me your pain" and the subsuming of Moash's passion are any indication. Everybody's favorite Rosharan Shard, Odium. It's also worth noting that all of his Unmade are about destruction. Sja-anat corrupts spren, Yelig-nar consumes his users, the Thrill drives entire armies to destroy each other. Why is this noteworthy? Because Nightblood's Awakened Command is to "Destroy evil." It's time to jump off the deep end, folks. What if Nightblood were made not just with 1000 Breaths -- not even primarily with 1000 Breaths -- but using as its base one of the Unmade themselves? Sound crazy? It is. (That's why I entitled this thread Crazy Theory Time.) But that doesn't mean there isn't evidence to support it. First of all, note that there's at least one missing Unmade. One indication is from the chapter headings: Another possible missing Unmade is in the fact that there are apparently only nine of them, when what we know about Roshar suggests that there probably ought to have been ten. So take your pick, whether from the chapter headings or from the nine/ten discrepancy. At least one Unmade is unaccounted for. Second, note that Nightblood bleeds black smoke. You know who else bleeds black smoke? The Midnight Mother, one of the Unmade. Although my memory's not the greatest, I believe that the Unmade and their works are the only instance in all the Cosmere where we've seen black smoke, other than Nightblood. Third, remember that at least one and perhaps all of the Five Scholars had been to Roshar (at the very least, Vasher knows how to get there). Remember too that the Manywar was going on at the time too, leading to an arms race. We know from Warbreaker that there was an arms-race with Lifeless; and we also know that Ysteel, like Vasher and Shashara, knew how to make Awakened swords (presumably Denth and Arsteel did, too). So it seems at least plausible that there would have been an arms-race with Awakened swords as well. So you've got a group of people who've been to Roshar, have observed the shardblade/spren interaction, and who were in the midst of an ever-greater arms race. Investure's a lot easier to get at on Roshar than it is on Nalthis, and at least some spren can already turn into Shardblades. Plus, spren can be stuffed into gemstones for convenient transportation. Why restrict yourself solely to Breaths when you've got all that convenient Rosharan Investure just sitting there? It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch that one of them would have thought to stuff the biggest spren of all -- one of the mindless Unmade -- into a gem for convenient Shardblade repurposing. In this case, the thousand Breaths would have been more of a...modification to the Unmade's original drive than a true Command. Not mindless destroying, but destroying evil. And hey presto, that gives you one of the most Invested objects in all the Cosmere. It gives you, in short, Nightblood.

Does anyone know if it's possible to power surges with breath?

Looking through my Magic collection and found this card.

Hello humans! A question here. If you can have a Nightblood of your own making, what command would you give it instead?

Hei everyone. I have some questions. Just read Warbreaker and absolutely loved it. Previously i have read Wheel of time, Kingkiller Chronicles, Malazan empire and more. Looking to start on a new series but with Brandon, where should i start? I THINK i understand that everything is in the same universe. But still, where should i begin? Best regards Eskild

I'd like to choose this topic to be my introduction to the 17th shard. Out of all the cosmere novels, what particular book and particular quote did hit you truly? Like, you just stop and put the book on your chest because it feels too close to what you are experiencing at the moment?

So I'm in the process of trying to make my own Cosmere blanket, based on this amazing one here, and I realized that Nalthis was left out of Arcanum Unbounded, as it doesn't have a short story. This means it doesn't have a fancy symbol, and won't have representation in the blanket. What's a girl to do? So far, my best idea is to tie multicolored strips of cloth in with the ties, but I'm feeling rather bummed that Nalthis wasn't included. Any ideas?

Spoilers for Mistborn and Warbreaker. So if you were to Awaken a Hemalurgic spike with a command (eg: destroy evil, preserve life, ruin life) and then use that spike to create a Kandra, Koloss, Inquisitor what would happen?

1. If one we to use Nightblood during a Highstorm would it instinctively absorb the surrounding Investiture? 2. Is there some correlation between the Mists and Highstorms?

Hi, so far I’m waiting for Hero of Ages to come in the mail. Read Final empire and Wells, for now I’m on Warbreaker im looking for answers and connections to this ‘cosmere’ universe. It’s mind blowing that they are all slightly connected and I’m intrigued to see the theories and postulations y’all have out there. I’m highly interested in discussing the mistborn trilogy, or what we can until I finish it.

Hi! I am new to the shard (obviously...). So far I have read The Mistborn Trilogy, Elantris, Warbreaker, and The Emperor's Soul. I am currently on page 12 of The Way of Kings. (I know... what a huge dent I have made xD) Super stoked to dive into this world (the Cosmere world)!

I was reading Way of kings and Warbreaker at the same time and I noticed that the glyph 'Shash' is used in both. I thought it was odd that they had different meanings, and it made me wonder if the languages had been shared at one point in time, then separated. It could also be a coincidence, but I doubt that. Thoughts?

So Azure (Vivenna) has a 'shardblade'. This is obviously another awakened sword like Nightblood which can be seen when Azure describes her as she and can't dismiss it like another blade. What do you all think the command for this new sword could be and would she have made it herself or with Vasher's help? Not sure he'd feel too good about making another awakened sword after what happened with Nightblood.

Nananav was a character in Oathbringer who was robbed by Veil and her crew. Veil's crew posed as carpet workers, which allowed them to infiltrate the keep. The name Nananav reminds me of Nalthian naming schemes, with the repetition of consonants, such as Vivenna or Llarimar. I would assume she would be at third heightening or higher, which would allow perfect color recognition, as one line of dialogue from her is requiring the new carpet to be a perfect match of color. Am I reading too much into this?

Hi Sanderfans/Sharders, I will be posting a series of "scrolls" about Moshe Feder, Brandon's Tor editor, on my blog. Moshe was the person who "discovered" Brandon and acquired Brandon's sixth novel Elantris in 2003. In 2005, Elantris became Brandon's first published novel. Moshe has kindly agreed to be interviewed for this series. Here is the first "scroll" in case any of you are interested to check it out: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/08/moshe-man-behind-copper-mind-scroll-1.html This is the first scroll in what is expected to be a multi-short scroll series on Moshe. A future planned "scroll" will document half of Brandon's twin inspiration for including characters like Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, who all suffer from various mental health issues, in his Stormlight Archive series. Moshe himself is one half of this inspiration, and I will be documenting Moshe's bout of bipolar that he wants to share in order to help raise awareness about mental health issues. When I asked him if it would be a painful thing for him to share, he had this to say: "Not painful to share. It’s a duty to help fellow sufferers and to work on reducing stigma. When I was Corflu (fanzine fan con) GoH, it was a major part of my speech." Hope you do enjoy the series if you decide to check it out! Warmest Regards Sharon Hooper

I've been relistening to Warbreaker and at 8 hours and 16 minute it mentions that if Vasher had more breaths he could have seen the "lichen" on the grass. I can't find if it has been discussed, any idea if it's the same lichen as mentioned in White Sands that fuels their sand Mastery?

Ok, so here is my idea. A Bondsmith, and an Awakener of the 10th heightening, team up to make the Bondsmith immortal. Here is how the do it: • First, they forge a solid metal man made of steel. (interlocking plates, joints on the arms and legs, opening mouth/eyes. Movable fingers and toes, ect...) • Secondly, the Bondsmith uses spiritual adhesion to bind his soul to the metal man. • Third, the Awakener Awakens the metal man using all of his breath, creating a nightblood esque sentient object, only this one can functionally move, and has the mind and soul of the Bondsmith. • Finally, they sew together a cloak of thin aluminum strands and the metal man puts it on to inhibit his world destroying powers. (though he can take it off to level his enemies) So, what do you guys think? Is there a way to use hemalurgy to give the now Metal Bondsmith the powers of a Fullborn? What awakening commands should be used on this Metal man? Would the metal Bondsmith keep his radiant powers? *EDIT* Ok, so I guess my the only thing that works here is awakening a metal man, and therefore have a walking nightblood.

This is my first post (besides the Introduce Yourself post) that I have done on the 17th Shard. I love coming on here and reading everyone's theories and speculations on the different series and books but I feel so completely overwhelmed that I'm hesitant to join in on any deep discussions. Besides The Stormlight Archives, I haven't re read any of the books yet as I have just recently finished them in the first place. Being a novice of the Cosmere I would love some tips and tricks from those of you who are well versed in the Cosmere. I'd love to join in on some discussions and not look completely ignorant! What are things you look for? Certain words or phrases to take note of? Next up on my list is the second Mistborn trilogy and then I will probably read the other Cosmere novels again. Help me go from 17th Shard stalker to contributor!

So, forgive me if this has already been discussed elsewhere, but: Do we know if Awakening actually alters the pigment of the Awakener's color source, or only the ability of people to perceive that color? Lots of naturally occurring colors, especially blues, aren't pigment at all, but structural--the result of various types of light scattering. You especially see this in things like bird feathers, insects, and so forth. Notably, this is also what causes blue and green tones in human eyes. But we don't see lifeless shambling in grayscale except for their eyes. They're entirely colorless. I mean, it could just be an oversight or a conceit for thematic purposes. But perhaps it shows that the draining of color we see in Awakening isn't as sinple as alternating pigments.

Ahoy, Thought I'd make my first foray into Cosmere forums with an actual topic as well as a general greeting. My interest below will concern at least the Stormlight Archive up to the end of Oathbringer, so spoiler warning?