Shardbearer Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 I'm doing my first reread of WoK since reading WoR when it was first released, and I have a few questions, maybe with more to come as I keep reading. I'm about halfway through the book now. In the Prologue, Szeth recalls a rumor about the Alethi being close to producing new Shards. Is this just a baseless rumor? Or maybe not, since many of the proto Radiants were Alethi... What exactly are spren? The best I can figure, they are cognitive aspects drawn partially into the Physical Realm by change. But cognitive aspects of what, exactly? The part that confuses me is when multiple spren dealing with emotions are drawn to one person. For instance, multiple creationspren, or gloryspren. So are these the cognitive aspects of the persons different thoughts that the person is having? Can thoughts have their own cognitive aspect, independent of the person thinking those thoughts? Or are they the cognitive aspects of different archetypical versions of the basic emotion? Or what? When Jasnah soulcasts the thugs, how does that work? Shallan has trouble convincing a stick to become fire. How could Jasnah convince the cognitive aspects of sapient humans to become something else? And why did she not have to touch those last 2? And what's the difference between whether the clothes were also transformed or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 The "new Shards" are either just baseless hype, or in reference to the Half-Shard shields (Augmenter Fabrial attached to metal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipper Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 Spren are physical representations of Cognitive Ideals. I have no idea about the Soulcasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardbearer Posted July 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 The "new Shards" are either just baseless hype, or in reference to the Half-Shard shields (Augmenter Fabrial attached to metal) I thought of that, but those weren't made by the Alethi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 From WoK, Dalinar's thoughts regarding the Half-Shards He’d heard rumors of this, though he’d discounted them. Men were always claiming to be close to creating new Shards, yet the promises were never fulfilled. Gives weight to the "baseless rumor" idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SingTheSorrow Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Concerning spren, my understanding is they were created by those holding shards of Adonalsium (ie Tanavast/honor and Cultivation). It seems like many spren were created when Honor was shattered (for instance when Syl says she is a tiny piece of a god) although, from other posts I have read, it seems likely that some spren were created even before Honor shattered. Tying that in to Jasnah's explanations about spren being physical renderings a of a cognitive realm, perhaps spren were simply created that way by the Shards; they were created as cognitive beings that could find physical form and sentience through bonds with conduits of the physical realm. Very interesting stuff and if others can shed more clarity on the topic I'd love to hear it! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shardbearer Posted July 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Couple more questions: Where does Syl go? Several times Kaladin notices that she's been away for awhile and won't say where she's been. Why does Shallan draw so many Cryptics around her? Are they just interested in her? There's also the death rattle that makes it look like there's at least one hanging around Mr. T and his people. There's also one or more that Elhokar sees. Maybe Cryptics like to watch important events taking place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ascendant Warrior Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 When Jasnah soulcasts the thugs, how does that work? Shallan has trouble convincing a stick to become fire. How could Jasnah convince the cognitive aspects of sapient humans to become something else? And why did she not have to touch those last 2? And what's the difference between whether the clothes were also transformed or not? I believe that Soulcasting has a lot to do with willpower. Jasnah, as we know, is a very strong-willed person and can be very persuasive; Shallan not so much. As far as the clothes go, the clothes probably considered themselves a part of the person as a whole, and vice versa, so they were included in the Soulcasting. And distance Soulcasting may be a way to demonstrate Jasnah's skill with the Surge, but also remember that distance in Cognitive Realm (Shadesmar, where the Soulcasting actually takes place) doesn't really reflect exactly the Physical Realm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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