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Syldaras

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  1. Looking forward to the podcast! I know it's something you folks hear too often, but is there a timetable on when Shardcast will be posted to any of the common podcast hosts? I'd love to be able to subscribe in a proper podcast app. The Soundcloud app is not my favorite, and it does a crummy job of keeping track of location if I need to stop and re-start.
  2. Good point, but given how little we know about how Splinters work, I’m not sure that alone invalidates the theory. Odium regularly corrupts investiture of other shards, with the prerequisite red glow as a tell-tail, so is there anything that prevents splinters of Cultivation becoming Splinters of Odium?
  3. I believe that Ba-Ado-Mishram was in part responsible for the creation of the Parshmen, as they are known to modern Rosharans. Her description in *Hessi's Mythica* reads, “She is said to have been keen of mind, a highprincess among the enemy forces, their commander during some of the Desolations.” Then, looking back to the Epigraph of Ch. 80, a Knight Radiant records, “Ba-Ado-Mishram has somehow Connected with the parsh people, as Odium once did. She provides Voidlight and facilitates forms of power. Our strike team is going to imprison her.” My theory is that prior to Odium’s arrival on Roshar, Cultivation employed Ba-Ado-Mishram as a coordinator, or possibly originator of the Singer’s unique ability to transform by bonding Spren in their Gemhearts. Odium found their connection to Spren an easy in. As his Shardic Intent is of Hatred and passion, any person with a living invested splinter of emotional investiture bonded to their Gemheart is an easy target for him. Something about Odium’s banishment to Braize impairs this direct ability, but Odium plays the long game ALMOST as well as Cultivation. He corrupted Ba-Ado-Mishram, using her connection to the Parsh as a convenient middleman in his plans. Then we have the next Epigraph. “We are uncertain the effects this will have on the parsh. At the very least, it should deny them forms of power. Melishi is confident, but Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warns of unintended side effects.” I believe the Knights Radiant strike team were successful in their attempt. Ba-Ado-Mishram was imprisoned, and cut off from the Parsh. This left them without control, mindless, and so complete was her hold on them that they had not the wherewithal to return to their songs to find their people again. Unwittingly, the Knights Radiant created the perfect slave race. It is entirely within human nature (sadly) to see this resource and exploit it. Thus the Parshmen as they are known to modern humans on Roshar. They are described as “without songs” and behave as nearly mute subordinates merely content to do as they’re told. The moment this stuck was, oddly, unrelated to the Parsh. I was puzzling over something in Part 3 of Oathbringer. It was the description of the Palace Guards in Kholinar. They were described as “Human, but *wrong*”. One of them ran Shallan through without warning, expression, or reaction, in the middle of a sentence. Their actions were ordinary, but too much so. They had no emotion, no passion. They had given it to Odium. I believe there were not three but FOUR unmade in Kholinar that night. Ashertman, Heart of the Revel is obvious. As is Sja-anat, Keeper of secrets, seen in the mirror and later conversing with Shallan. Yelig-nar bonded with Aesudan and destroyed her. But among those three, each an Unmade with a clearly defined power-set, I see none who could cause this behavior amongst those in the palace. I see two possibilities: 1) They are now of Odium. This is most ambiguous, and sadly a bit likely, given Brandon’s penchant for giving us just a few pieces at a time. It is entirely likely that their behavior is simply that of Men who, like Moash, have succumbed to his siren call, “It is my fault, you need not bear this burden”. Thus their passion is lost to Odium and with it their will 2) Ba-Ado-Mishram is breaking her captivity somewhere in Kholinar (Her prison possibly involving the Windblades? That’d be fun) and turning the humans of Kholinar into slaves. The similarities in their behavior are just too stark for me to dismiss. I see humans acting as mindless slaves in an environment that should be driving them to madness, and I look for a reason. I think it’s Ba-Ado-Mishram. Now that it’s written, I’m less convinced of the Kholinar connection, but moreso on the Parshmen connection. Tell me what you think?
  4. I think you're on to something here, but I have a few notes: I think that there's something that connects all investiture in the Cosmere, and that Music is a part of it. However I think the story in which music features most heavily is Stormlight. Right before Oathbringer came out, I wrote a brief theory on the SA subreddit espousing that Rhythm or Music is the unifying theme of Rosharan investiture, just as metal is to Scadrial, shapes are to Sel, and color is to Nalthis. Here's the theory if you're curious: [WoR] - A theory as to the nature of Rosharan investiture. I plan to update it soon with all the additional evidence from Oathbringer, but suffice it to say, I feel vindicated after reading book 3. But beyond that, knowing Brandon's love of physics, and knowing physics' affinity to patterns, rhythms, and that confounding wave/particle duality of the EM spectrum, I think there's significant fuel for a broader Cosmere rhythmatic theory. Keep digging!
  5. Well, this would be wonderful. I want to imagine the realmatic implications of legos with a Brandon signature providing the soul stamp to make it real! Please bless me with this!
  6. I too wonder about Odium's Spren. I have a feeling it's related to the Thrill. But I disagree about the Nightwatcher. To me, her boon and curse align perfectly with Cultivation alone. Feel free to correct me if there's information I don't know, but AFAIK all we know about Cultivation is her name, that she's on Roshar, and that she's in hiding. Based solely on her name, then, cultivation is the promotion of a chosen species through the systematic suppression of other species and the nurturing of the chosen species (agriculture). Abstracted, I see in this concept a duality of nurturing an aspect of a person (boon) while suppressing/altering another (curse), at the whim of he or she who cultivates. So I don't think Odium has to be brought in to explain the curse. Edit: Also, a tangential thought: based on the characters we've had the most POVs from so far, and the Stormfather's Highstorms being the source of stormlight magic fuel for Roshar, I had fallen into the assumption that Honor was responsible for Surgebinding. Heralds are frequently referred to as Heralds of the Almighty, for instance, though one could attribute that to the Vorin Heirocracy's manipulation of history. Now, though, I'm starting to think that Cultivation has a decent hand in Surgebinding, given how Wyndle refers to her as Mother. Probably old news to most 17th Sharders, but fun thoughts abound in my brain around this.
  7. Glad there's a WoB backing me up, or at least telling me I'm not barking up the wrong tree. But wow, I totally missed Wyndle, and the "Ring" he spoke of, and "mother" being the Nightwatcher. Just reread the Lift interlude to catch up. There's definitely something here, though not enough to really expand upon. But I'm more sure than ever that we're gonna see a lot more of the Nightwatcher in upcoming books. So let me Tangent this post a bit: if we accept that Surgebinding is the fundamental Magic system of Roshar, and there's been plenty of theorycrafting on that front, there seems to be a secondary magic possible through the intervention of these "superspren" e.g. Nightwatcher and Stormfather. Nightwatcher is obviously responsible for the "Old Magic" which doesn't seem to be directly related to surgebinding, but closer to soul stamping, as it seems to rewrite specific bits of your sDNA. And the Stormfather so far manifests in Highstorms, which are obviously magical in nature, if closer to our understanding of surgebinding as a magic type. But I feel we'll see more from him now that he's bonded to Dalinar. When I first read the Stormfathers lines about not coming when called, and not providing a traditional Shardblade to Dalinar, I was sad that Dalinar might be operating with a bit of a handicap compared to Kaladin and Shallan. But now that I'm beginning to realize that the Stormfather's powers might be as powerfully enigmatic as the Nightwatcher's, I'm getting excited. Storm it! WHEN is book 3 coming?!
  8. Ah well. I'm not as traveled among these forums as I'd wish. Figures someone else would have thought of it first. Still, fun to think about!
  9. Here's a thought that occurred to me as I was rereading WoR: the Nightwatcher is repeatedly referred to as an unusually powerful Spren. There's one other character in the books referred to in this way. In fact, he referred to himself as the Almighty's "Spren". The Stormfather. I argue that although Cultivation keeps herself hidden from both Odium and humanity, her Spren is in fact the Nightwatcher. Think of how the Nightwatcher grants a boon and curse of her own design, mirroring the life and death duality of living creatures in nature. There are wild tangents that spring to mind, such as: who is Odium's Spren? Is it trapped on Braize with him? Might it bond with Eshonai, leading to a titanic clash with Dalinar and his bonded Stormfather? That's a meeting we got cheated out of when Adolin went to the meeting in his place, but I just KNOW Brandon won't leave it at that. Thoughts?
  10. The last few chapters of this book have become a bit of a happy pill for me; I read them whenever I feel down because they leave me feeling so energized and hopeful. Seeing Kaladin realize his potential in this way is so cathartic. Of course, it helps that I never shipped Renarin/Shallan as Feather did, so mine is an untainted happy. I do feel for you though, Feather. The pain, shock and anger in your voice makes it clear how much you had invested in the potential between those two. And to be fair, I think that potential still exists. They are birds of a feather, in some ways - Renarin was just dealing with having to be Bonded to a blade that screamed at him every time he held it, and having visions of a surely nightmarish future as a Truthseer must be a bit… off-putting to say the least. I think when he comes into his own (he is getting a POV book at some point, right?), he'll be more ready to find a ship of his own.
  11. Oh, and the avalanche continues… Without sounding unappreciative, I sooo wish I could listen to the whole of part 5 at once. Maybe I'll wait a week or so to let them build up. That's just silly. I could never muster that kind of self-control. Keep it up, Feather! Can't wait to hear your reaction to Kaladin's oath, and… and… gah - all of it!
  12. Feather, you have caused this devoted pragmatist who occasionally dallies in epic fantasy to embark on, literally, not figuratively, the dorkiest thing I have ever done. I delight in listening to someone else read a book. But not aloud. Your reactions are what my inner geek screams as I read, and it is wonderful to hear them externalized. Please continue. Thanks.
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