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I don't know if this has been talked about somewhere else. I searched, and couldn't find anything. So, I was rereading the Lhan interlude and realized something: So yes, Kholinar Palace and the Vorin temple are built right on top of the Kholinar Oathgate.

This is my very first theory post! The sword fighting in WoR has been provoking fangasms in me. I’ve been looking for more information about the different new fighting styles in WoR, and after finding out that there are at least ten stances, one for each of the Ten Essences, I’ve been hunting the book for whatever I can find. I badly want to visualize the fighting styles as they’re described in the book. Thankfully Shallan’s artwork and the Ironstance scroll have been very helpful, but I’m having trouble putting the right image to the right stance. Has anyone already figured this out and/or is there a resource somewhere that has already catalogued this? I’ve already checked the Coppermind Wiki. My theory is that Shallan’s sketch shows all ten of the stances. (Edited to add) Ben McSweeney, aka Inkthinker, the wonderful artist who has created the following sketch and others in the books that make them come to such vivid, three-dimensional life and richness for me, has kindly explained to us a few things about the sketch. Larger image here Brandon told me at the signing in Philly that Ben made the final determinations about what the stances looked like, so we're all waiting with baited breath for Ben to reveal whatever Brandon sees fit to let us know. Meanwhile, the rest of this post consists of theorizing by us, the fans. ~~~~ Ironstance was easy, the scroll was displayed right before the Ironstance chapter. In my opinion, abdf gives a convincing argument here that the warrior in the lower left (the stance we call #4) that I previously thought of as Ironstance is actually Adolin in his favorite stance, Windstance. The "sigh" scribbled under the face convinced me that Shallan is drooling here over Adolin! On the other hand, name_here makes some good points here to indicate that the warrior in the lower left is in Ironstance. The six known stances are a bit harder to match but I think some can be recognized. The others may have to wait for future books. So far there are still four unnamed stances which will be after the essences of “oil/tallow,” “Lucentia/the eyes,” “blood,” and “sinew/flesh.” The Ten Essences are listed in this graph in the Coppermind wiki: http://coppermind.net/wiki/Ten_Essences ~~~~ These are some of the related threads I’ve found: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/3833-shardblade-forms/?hl=stances started by DocHoliday http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/3044-stances-in-twok/?hl=stances started by Mailliw73 A question was asked if whether each of the stances are specifically geared towards a particular order? I tend to agree with the explanation that these are fighting styles that have simply evolved with the names of the ten essences, with characteristics of the Order or Essence they’re named after. ~~~~ Also, here's the link to the thread where they're trying to translate the glyphs for the scroll, or fechtbuch as it is called: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6487-thaylen-and-alethi-glyph-translation/ started by Harakeke Larger image here Here's a link to the KR chart endpaper, created by of Isaac Stewart, that show the KR glyphs: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6888-knights-radiant-and-surges-endsheet/?hl=chart AwesomenessSummoned has created awesome graphics of the glyphs on the fechtbuch, as shown in this post. These are some of them: ~~~~ THE STANCES (Edited to factor everyone's input) (In Alphabetical Order) Flamestance “Flamestance: quick and flexible, better for shorter Shardblades.” -WoR, p. 224 “[salinor] fell into Flamestance, sword held one-handed, other hand touching the blade, standing with a square posture of the feet. " - WoR, pg. 224 "Salinor dropped his Blade— a weakness of Flamestance’s one-handed posture…” - WoR, p 224 Used by Salinor in Adolin’s first arena duel "[Adolin] needed the frantic fury of Flamestance. Not just for the power, but because of what he needed to convey to Eshonai." -WoR p. 1011 Interesting comparison by Rust and Ruin – Possibly based on this stance in Kuk Sool Won, the Korean martial art, as discovered by PorridgeBrick here: http://www.kuksoolwon-hurlburt.com/pictures/amado_sword_stance.jpg Ironstance “It wasn't time for a show. It was time for a beating...Adolin twisted and fell into Ironstance, with his sword held two-handed up beside his head.” - Wor, p. 224 "Adolin twisted and fell into Ironstance, with his sword held two-handed up beside his head. He slapped away Salinor’s first strike, then stepped in and slammed his Blade down into the man’s helm. Once, twice, three times" - WoR 224 Seems to favor quick, inelegant, powerful hits TheArcanist - abdf and PorridgeBrick's vote: abdf - PorridgeBrick - or or name_here's vote Smokestance "Dalinar moved to the overturned table and kicked off one of the legs. He scooped it up, falling into Smokestance's sword-and-knife form." -WoK p. 299 (Good catch by Harakeke!) "Dalinar leapt forward— remaining in motion was the essence of Smokestance— and spun between the creatures, striking to the side with his poker." - WoK, p. 299 "Dalinar let the fluid nature of Smokestance direct him, stepping to the side and smashing the poker into the beast’s legs." - WoR, p. 300 “[Dalinar] had been trained in classical Windstance, but he fell into Smokestance instead, as it was better with an imperfect weapon. One foot forward, one foot behind, sword— or, in this case, poker— held forward with the tip toward his opponent’s heart." - WoK, P. 298 “Adolin tried Smokestance, attacking with a quick sequence of jabs." -WoR p 1023 TheArcanist notes: Stonestance “…to be immobile.” "Adolin fell into Stonestance himself, smashing his Blade down again and again against Abrobadar’s raised sword until he heard grunts, curses." - WoR p. 660 Rust and Ruin pointed out how TheArcanist - [/size] Vinestance “[Relis] preferred Vinestance, slow and steady, but with sudden, quick lunges." - WoR, p. 656 “The man attacked quickly, using what Kaladin could now identify as Vinestance— a style of fighting that focused on defensive footing and flexibility." - WoR, p. 667 TheArcanist - Possibly? or adbf's votes: Windstance "Adolin used Windstance, turned sideways slightly, hands before him and elbows bent, Shardblade pointing back over his head." - WoK, p. 822 "Adolin dodged another blow, but he had begun to move into Windstance’s offensive forms." - WoK, p. 824 "Dalinar was once again forced to parry, something Windstance wasn’t intended do to." - WoK, p. 930 “Adolin fell into Windstance, elbows bent, turned to the side, sword’s tip pointing up and backward.” - WoR, p. 224 “Windstance: flowing, sweeping, majestic.” - WoR, p. 224 "Adolin danced away in Windstance— certainly the best against so many foes— with both hands holding the Blade in front of him, positioned sideways with one foot forward." - WoR, p. 659 Rust and Ruin also points out that TheArcanist (for fig. 1 & 9, which is removed) – adbf and PorridgeBrick's vote: PorridgeBrick - or name_here's vote ~~~ The only images we can't account for yet: ~~~~ Thanks to TheArcanist and PorridgeBrick, who think that possible influences are: German/Italian longsword fencing schools - TheArcanist's post here, and the pdf he linked. Kuk Sool Won, Korean martial arts - PorridgeBrick's post here Kendo, the Japanese sword martial art - PorridgeBrick's post here and TheArcanist's post here ~~~~ Thank you for everybody's help! Any quotes and input are appreciated! (Edited to add possible influences; corrected some typos and added Kuk Sool Won pic to Flamestance 03/15/2014) (Edited to add link to glyph translation thread, added links for pdf and Kuk Sool Won 0318) (Edited to remove my votes for Ironstance and Windstance. I think PorridgeBrick and abdf are correct. 03/18/2014) (Edited to add more links 03/19/2014) (Edited some paragraphs and corrected spelling 03/20/2014) (Edited to add new votes 03/23/2014) (Edited to add Inkthinker's quote 03/24/2014) (Edited to add AwesomenessSummoned's graphic glyphs 03252014)

You're reading far too much into this. Secret societies explain every single thing that's weird about Gavilar, that black sphere wasn't a Grindr orb.

(Hopefully this is the right place to post this.) So, while reading WoR, I fixated on the wording of one sentence... this is what came of it. Theory: Vin is Iyatil. Evidence: “Vin rode on the seat directly across from him – her legs tucked up underneath her...” Mistborn, page 149 “Vin sat in her overstuffed chair in the conference room, legs tucked beneath her..” Mistborn, page 200 “She still wore her dress … though she sat in an unladylike position, legs tucked beneath her.” Mistborn page 320. (I can't find my copy of Mistborn, but I found those with a quick google search.) “Iyatil sat across from Shallan, legs tucked beneath her, watching with beady, masked eyes. The woman wore simple trousers and a shirt, such that Shallan had originally mistaken her for a boy that first time.” Sanderson, Brandon (2014-03-04). Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, The) (p. 757). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition. Flimsy evidence, yes, but Brandon Sanderson seems to be the type of guy who chooses his words carefully. More circumstantial evidence: Iyatil carries a dagger; Vin, as a Mistborn carried glass ones, so her non-allomantic weapon of choice would likely be a dagger. Iyatil is tiny and dresses in simple trousers and a shirt... like Vin. It's been a while since I've reread Mistborn, so I can't say much for personality – Vin changed a lot throughout the series, so I'm going of vague memories here – Iyatil is mostly quiet – she definitely speaks before she speaks. She's very cautious. Seems to be the way I remember Vin. But wait, you say. Vin is dead. Yes, and Sazed was unable to bring her back to life. But, there are approximately 300 years between the Mistborn Trilogy and Alloy of Law. The events in the Stormlight Archive occur during that 300 year gap. It's not unreasonable to think that Sazed may have found a way to bring her back sometime after the close of Hero of Ages. Also, if Demoux is a worldhopper, why not zombie Vin as well? The Ghostbloods don't really seem like the kind of organization Vin would be a part of, right? Well, we don't really know a whole lot about them... maybe she's on an infiltration mission?

Hey, first time post apologies if I've erred in any way. Just finished WOR, probably my favourite of Sanderson's work so far! Was just wondering about the following and whether anyone has any theories etc Page 728 - Wit said. "I will tell you one, to get you in the mood. A Bunny rabbit and a chick went frolicking in the grass together on a sunny day". Obviously Kaladin has no idea what Hoid is talking about. My question is whether there has ever been mention of these particular animals in the cosmere?

Pai is a perfect image of a sincere soul disgusted of an outrageous corruption by those who should care for the ideals she cares for. Pai doesn't need to be put on her path by somebody, she can do what she's done quite well all by herself. The situation in Aesudan's court is disgusting enough for any honest person to make a storm. But why not focus her attention entirely on the current problems, on current sins, on current ways to redeem? Why the very last question she raises is about some time as far in the past as the Hierocracy and the issue of why the Heralds never appeared then? Of course it could be all by herself still. She is deeply concerned about the Ardents not doing their duty, i.e. about the Ardents betraying their calling, and it can easily lead her to questions about the very root of the corruption. How deep is the rot, how deep in the past the Devotaries were for the last time arguably clear of this Corruption? That Pai’s questions reach as far as the Hierocracy time, i.e. as far as the time when the Devotaries begin their existence, is a hint that she comes to the answer “never”. She could come to these thoughts all by herself. Possibly she could. Possibly but how probably, having in mind those who could help her? Those who are interested to help her and to use her. Pai could come to those thoughts all by herself, but what if somebody carefully spoke to her? If somebody carefully asked her the right questions? Somebody who knows how to get the trust from sincere idealists. Somebody like the Sons of Honor. Because Pai’s last questions in her conversation with Lhan just stink of Amaram’s ideology. The craving for the return of the Heralds, this “But shouldn’t He have sent them to speak with us, to counsel us?”, which actually opens the way for the desire for a prophet, this questioning about the right to denounce the Hierocracy. It just stinks of some Restares’ crony having spoken with Pai. Probably even spotting Pai, assessing her mindset and carefully maneuvering her into being transferred into the Queen’s court, knowing that Pai will surely create a real storm. Possibly the riots could have started without any instigators. Possibly but how probably? The revolution in Alethkar looks too much timely, to much on schedule. As if somebody knew about Pai coming and creating the revolutionary situation, so that the riots would be prepared. Pai is too perfect a martyr. Exactly the type of martyr to create a revolution and found a font of sayings the later revolutionary ideology will quote when the need appears for them to justify difficult decisions. So who manipulated Pai into becoming martyr? Cui prodest. Taravangian obviously would benefit form the chaos. But I don’t find it like Taravangian’s style. Taravangian more like removes all hope, so that he can come from outside as the only possible relief. Creating a martyr however is one of the worst things to do if you want to kill hope. A true martyr inspires broad masses of people to fight for something very very hard in quite difficult a situation. The Diagram could probably use a revolution as a long-term chaos-maker, having in mind that just now Taravangian’s hand are full of the Veden and he hardly would have the resources to fill the chaos in Alethkar right now. And the course of action through Faith strikes me as out for character for the Diagram. And Pai’s thoughts about the Heralds and Hierocracy have nothing I see could benefit the Diagram. The Sons of Honor though, they are a completely different beast. If I want to restore the Hierocracy, I would expect my most vocal opponents will be who? The Devotaries. The nobility would not like to cede any power to the Church, but they will most likely use the Ardents again for the vocal part of the opposition. So if I want to refound the Church, I will have to strike the Devotaries. The Ardents of the Queen’s court are just perfect for this goal - they could be as much minority as you’d like, but they are very very visible. They are ideal to be pointed with a finger as an example of how all Ardents are suspects to be corrupt. And because the symbol of the revolution against Corruption is a true believer, it can be used for a much more devious ideological brainwashing system: A True Ardent denounced the corruption of Queen’s ardents. Therefore every true ardent will think and act like her. And every Ardent not thinking like saint martyr Pai will be suspect for corruption. … And Pai was incidentally ominously open to revisal of the idea of the Hierocracy. It doesn’t matter that Pai herself never actually spoke in favor of the Hierocracy. The important part is that Pai’s words essentially killed the automatically unthinking opposition against the idea of Church with Prophets. Restares would need only a clever interpreter to justify a renewal and Reformation of Vorin Faith based on Pai’s posthumous legacy. I would think Restares will be quite capable to do so. In the end of WoR Amaram is writing to Restares from the Shattered Plains via spanreed. This means that Restares is located somewhere else. Why so, if the Sons know that the most crucial events are now at the Shattered plains? If the Ghostbloods and Taravangian regard Restares as the leader of his group, why is he absent from the center of events? He would have a perfect place as the Stormwarden in Amaram’s staff, as he was when we saw him last. So Restares must have good reason to be somewhere else, he should have important job to do. Restares was last seen in Alethkar, with Amaram. The warcamps are know the second capital of the kingdom and the true center of power. What will be then the other most important place in the Kingdom? The capital of course. So what is the most probable location Restares will like to be? Back to the Reformation of Vorin Faith: a revolution will need spiritual leaders. Ardents are know discredited because of the crowd at the queen’s court. Educated scholars are usually and traditionally lighteyed ladies - that places them in the other group of targets of the revolution, as part of lighteye establishment. Which group of learned people remains? The Stormwardens. The same group that is notoriously frowned upon by the Ardents, i.e. who now will be least suspect. Restares is a Stormwarden himself. As this group is quite a recent development, there is too good possibility that Restares was heavily involved in founding and organizing the Stormwardens as a group. I don’t think this means all Stormwardens to be SoH. Even far from the majority of them would be in the secret society. Just like most Kharbrant surgeons wouldn’t be initiated in the Diagram. But what are the Stormwardens if not a living proof for Joe Everybody to see, that not every prophecy is bad, but some predicting is Okay! If this theory is true, I will expect in the next book that the riots in Alethkar will have very strong religious flavor, a full reformation of the Vorin Faith, as popular and as violent as the 30-years war, and this reformations will be spearheaded by some Stormwardens.

So old King T asked a boon of the Nightwatcher. As expected, his boon came at a price. In Words of Radiance, we learn that his request was . So the Nightwatcher gives him fluctuating IQ. Different every day. A boon and a curse in one. Oh but that wasn't all. Unless someone already said this and I couldn't find it...any thoughts?

So this is my first Topic, so be gentle please. I found this very telling passage in Words of Radiance "The sun hadn't quite set, but in the darkening sky, stars had begun to appear around Talns Scar. The Tear hung just above the horizon, a star much brighter than the others, named for the single tear Reya was said to have shed." (Kindle Edition, pg. 362 of 1080) Since we know the names of all the Heralds, I can only surmise Reya is Cultivation's real name and that the tear she shed was when Tanavast died. Thoughts?

Let's start this with Brandon. You're awesome, I love the books. Next on the agenda, me. I am pretty neutral on this topic. This is my first post, but I have read most of Mr. Sanderson's books and I have been a fan of this site for awhile. I am an enlisted turned officer in the US Army with a bachelors in organizational psychology that focused on leader development.I like to think I have 2 or 3 cents to add on a number of things concerning leadership, perseverance, and moral philosophy. I was talking with a close friend about this series. Shocking I know, but we started to get on to a topic a little less discussed. It started when I thought " The Stormlight Archive in today's world is a near equivalent to Nohadon's book The Way of Kings on Roshar". What I mean by that is when Dalinar picks up the book The Way of Kings by Nohadon he reads a book on how we ought to think and act. When us fans of Mr. Sanderson pick up The Stormlight Archive we pick up a series on how we ought to think and act. When my mind finally came up with this idea after a lot of reading (and a lot of drinking...responsibly...ish) I started thinking why would I become a writer? To find this out I reflected on why I joined the Service. Soldier's join this organization that is devoted to protecting Americans and their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you're an anti government protester then we join the Army to kill and commit war crimes ( I know that is a generalization, but I had a poor experience). Anyway I joined because of the former. It was for a purpose greater than myself, and greater than an organization that is worried about profit. It was to make myself better, and to launch a career outside of the Army if I chose not to serve for 20 years. I joined to make a difference by bettering myself and the lives of others. If I became a writer I would do it to make a difference by bettering myself and the lives of others. So that leads me to my main point. Why does Brandon Sanderson write these books? Well I have no idea since I do not know him, but this what it looks like to me. In a world where war has dominated an entire generation, where children commit atrocities in school shootings, where politicians call each other Nazi's, where a sense of entitlement is the norm, where pop culture is re-enforcing superficial values, where families end up broken, we need a counterbalance in the culture that idealizes love, honor, humility, integrity, loyalty, perseverance, and many other values you can find in Mr. Sanderson's writing. If you have read Dave Grossman's On Killing you will realize the extremely significant impact our culture of movies, video games, media, and general entertainment has on the population. Through these books Sanderson commits a set of constructive ideals, philosophies, and critical thinking into the culture of this nation. As an Officer I can make a powerful impact on 7-10 people, who can make a powerful impact on roughly the same amount of people, and so on. So if we take a battalion commander who is in the military for 20 years and they could influence around 500-900 people (that influence may or may not be too large). In his or her entire career he/she could influence thousands in some way, but only significantly influencing a handful at a time over 20 years. I also should add that when I or my commanders and mentors train me and others we often read. As a successful writer Mr. Sanderson can influence as many people who picks up his books. To make a significant change over 350 million people or more you cannot just have a single leader, parent, president, CEO, or general that is an excellent person. That will most certainly make a difference, but to change an entire nation or the world you need an entire people making better choices. To make a difference over an audience that large you need to adjust the culture. In American culture entertainment is very dominate. It takes a massive amount of resources and a great many people to inject constructive movies, media, video games, gossip etc into the culture. As an author you need relatively less resources and people, and you can impart a more detailed concept and potentially greater impact through a story people want to read ( in my case I can barley put the books down). What I see Brandon Sanderson doing is creating a story that entertains us ( which does make a nice living for him and his family), but he does it in a lens that inspires us to be better. When we make ourselves a bit more honorable and competent, we in turn can influence others to do the same. He has the potential in reaching millions, which is a step this world needs to making it a better place. So I salute you Brandon for making a difference in this soldier's life and any others that agree.

Hello all. Long time stalker, new poster. I was listening to the beginning of chapter 14, the second time through, and a theory formed. Knowing what shardblades are, this scene seemed to be rich with foreshadowing. Adolin may be bonding with, and eventually reawaken, the dead spren that is his shardblade. The scene is of Adolin kneeling, with his summoned weapon, before his first duel to win shards. He shares a quiet moment with his "spren" and confides in it. He seems to honor and respect his blade. He knows a Radiant once held it, understands it once had a name. He doesn't know it's a spren, but still seems to have a bond with his weapon. He just doesn't know his bond may be reciprocal. Adolin confides in his shard. He personifies it and imparts an identity to it. Adolin could have been pouring life into his blade for years, growing the Nahel Bond with this spren trapped in it's tortured state of unending non-sentient pain. Maybe one day, very soon.... BOOM! Adolin has powers. Just a thought that I wanted to share. Thanks.

This is the epigraph from Chapter 58 "Never Again". So, first part. Melishi is going to destroy the Voidbringers. Simple enough. However, we know that the voidbringers have not been destroyed, but enslaved as parshmen. Part 2 So, in his tent he comes up with or is presented with a different tactic. Something that only Bondsmiths can do. As stated before, we know that the voidbringers were not destroyed, but enslaved as parshmen. So, logically this tactic would be some way to change the voidbringers into parshmen. Part 3 So, he was too hurried to write it all down, but it was something only the Bondsmiths could do. I haven't thought through exactly what "it was related to the very nature of the Heralds and their divine duties" refers to. My initial hunch is some kind of forceful bonding of the voidspren that is bonded to the voidbringer. That bonding pulls the spren from the voidbringer, turning them into a parshman. Or perhaps something to do with the Storm Father, as he seems vital to the bonding process of both the Knights Radiant and the Parshendi/Voidbringers. Anyway, it was just something that caught my attention while listening to the audio-book.

I think what makes that so hilarious is that it's usually Jasnah who far ahead of everyone else.

From the Houston signing thread. This got me thinking... If I'm at all in any way right - and you don't want to think about how it all ends. DON'T READ FURTHER! Of course - I'm probably not right though! Theory: I propose this last chapter mentioned in the WoB quote above is (at least partially) the story that Wit and Kaladin concoct while Kaladin is in prison in WoR. (sorry?). I realize that it may be connected to the epigraphs also(and/or) but consider how Hoid and Kaladin's story fits within the larger framework: Words of Radiance p. 730 and Words of Radiance p. 730, 731 and most convincing for me: Words of Radiance p. 731 I think this has to do with beating the everstorm through strength of will, belief and perseverance, and self-sacrifice. Or maybe Wit is just talking about other cosmere stories we have seen (or will see ). Chances are excellent that I am 100% wrong and I freely admit that and actually wouldn't mind a bit if that turns out to be the case. This just seemed kinda like it might fit as an ending... Thoughts? Disagreements? Other ideas? *hides*

I'll start us off. "He saw it in her eyes. The anguish, the frustration. The terrible nothing that clawed inside and sought to smother her. She knew. It was there, inside. She had been broken. Then she smiled. Oh, storms. She smiled anyway. It was the single most beautiful thing he’d seen in his entire life."

Obviously Adolin killed him. Ha ha, of course that's crazy talk; happyfunAdolin would never murder someone in cold blood. It's actually pretty strongly hinted that Sadeas is the Stormfather. We never see Sadeas and the Stormfather in the same room at the same time. Coincidence? Also: Who else would consider Kaladin a traitor? Obviously Sadeas. Sadeas is really bitter about Kaladin's 'betrayal'. Kaladin recognizes it because he's quite familiar with Sadeas's anger. Dalinar gives up his Shardblade to Sadeas for Kaladin and the bridgemen at the end of WoK. Dalinar gives up his Shardblade to the "Stormfather" for his Radiant bond (maybe he'll give up his third Shardblade in book 3?). The parallel is obvious. Note how Dalinar confronts both at the end of the book and forces both to accept his offer. Yet another echo of WoK: Sadeas abandons Dalinar on the Tower, the 'Stormfather' abandons Dalinar on another plateau in the climax of the book. Could this be more obvious? Eeriely similar to what Sadeas says about Dalinar's final plateau expedition. Amaram hinting to Dalinar the truth. The reason Oathbringer is found in the flowerpot in Urithiru is because Sadeas wasn't expecting Dalinar to call him. In Stormfather form Sadeas can't carry Oathbringer (he has no arms) so he had to drop it in a hurry to meet with Dalinar (usually he leaves it in the table). Once Dalinar binds him, Sadeas can't go back into human form. It's why he's so angry about the binding; Dalinar has 'killed' his human form by doing so:

"Hey, up there? Anyone? We're down here, and we're making bad puns. Please save us from ourselves!"

I disagree here. I don't think people like Sadeas or anything, it's just that most people who disagree with Adolin's actions have this thing against murder and like things to be honorable and official and legal when people are killed. Or at least, that's my impression from the thread I made on it. It really comes down to personal preference here. There's no understanding to be done here. (I agree with Adolin killing him incidentally. I wish Adolin had done it sooner.) Strictly speaking, Adolin did it in the heat of the moment and unplanned. So it was done in hot blood. Does that change things for you?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he shows up to find his father as a budding Edgedancer; Lirin was always obsessed with helping people at any cost.

Hello. Would you like to destroy some evil?

I don't really view this as something to be afraid of. Adolin has a lot of growing up to do. It was obvious in TWoK, and although he's made progress, it's obvious in WoR as well. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Adolin and Shallan got along in this book--it was definitely enjoyable to read. But from the very beginning of WoR, Adolin likes the idea of not having to choose his girlfriend. Although he doesn’t let it show, he’s rather disappointed that so many of his relationships haven’t worked out. But I think the problem with all of Adolin’s previous relationships was that he was with the girls for the wrong reasons (or, at least, wrong reasons for a long term relationship). Even though Adolin quickly grows to like Shallan, I think he is still in this relationship for the wrong reasons. Deep down, I think he just wants for it to be over so he doesn’t have to worry about failing relationships any more. Even the way he words it to Kaladin kind of bugs me, cute though it is: “I really want to keep this one.” I don’t know, the way he phrases it kind of lumps Shallan in with all the others. It shows that he cares more about her than his other girlfriends, perhaps. But she’s still just “one” of them. When Adolin finds a relationship and a girl that he wants to be with--not to make life easier, not because he’s afraid of failing, not because it’s what he’s supposed to do--then I will ship Adolin. And if that girl winds up being Shallan, then awesome. But I really won’t support Adolin in any relationship until he finds someone that he cares about so much that he will only pay attention to her. And so far, even Shallan can’t do that. Beyond that, I think Shallan will realize that her relationship with Adolin is not working before he does. In the end, they both are in it for the wrong reasons. Yes, they like each other and they’re attracted to one another--they even admire one another. But I don’t think that’s enough to build a strong, healthy relationship off of. My thoughts are that Shallan will break it off. It’ll probably hurt Adolin immensely--once again, he’ll fail in a relationship. But I think that he’ll come out the other side having actually learned a lot about both himself and the nature of dating in general. Just like Shallan had to face the truth of her situation head on, I think this will be the kick in the butt Adolin will need to face the truth of his relationships head on. Don’t get me wrong, his relationship with Shallan is a step forward from his previous ones. But I think it’s just a part of his character development as a whole.

“So yes, I Adolin Kholin— cousin to the king, heir to the Kholin princedom— have shat myself in my Shardplate. Three times, all on purpose.”

If I can bring it back to the Shallan Shipping, i like thinking about it in terms of what it would do to the characters to be on the outside looking in. On Writing Excuses, Brandon always preaches that you should make plot decisions based on what would cause the most difficulty for the characters. Shallan staying with Adolin probably wouldn't harm Kaladin much at all, they would just become closer platonic friends. Shallan would be perfectly happy (I actually think that her and Adolin get along better than most people here do: their best moments together are always when Shallan forgets her act) because remember, she's 17 and she loves a pretty face. Adolin obviously would be best off since Shallan is literally the perfect woman for him. Adolin and Kaladin saying "Forget Shallan" and continuing their awesome bromance would be the most hilarious by far, but it wouldn't hurt anyone. Shallan would be fine, because that would happen around the tme she realizes Jasnah is alive, and I'm sure she could bury herself in her first love - studying. Shallan bouncing back and forth between them would be soap operatic, which BS doesn't do, thankfully. I'm most intrigued by what would happen if Shallan left Ad for Kal and they managed a rocky but ultimately succesful relationship. That would destroy Adolin. Here he is, having said multiple times that what he wants most in the world is for a relationship to work out, and he's found the perfect girl, and she leaves him for his new best friend. Ouch. This also helps because BS has implied that Alodin has a future as a Dustbringer, but Spren don't take on people who haven't been broken.

This sounds like it could be Honor's story. We know his body (Tanavast) is dead. But his soul (or at least pieces of it) in the form of Stormfather and Honorspren are still flying and racing the wind. I could really imagine something like this coming up at the very end if it were telling a much bigger story about the shards.

Reya is somebody female and important.

I posted this idea on tor.com on sunday but I prefer a focused forum discussion to the sprawling comment sections over there so I wanted to post this idea here and hopefully get some reaction. I think Shardplate and Shardblades are in some way fundamentally different. I have seen that many people who speculate on the nature of Shardplate suggest or even assume that Syl is directly responsible for the shardplate. I don't think so. the plate and blades left behind by the Radiants behave completely differently in several fundamental ways. Also Kaladin doesn't hear screaming from touching plate. Some have suggested that the plate might be formed from a second spren bond but I dislike this suggestion, bringing a third person into a close personal relationship between two people is hard (and would be harder to write believably, not that Brandon wouldn't be able to do it). It also doesn't address the lack of screaming. My hypothesis is that the answer lies in the connection of the bond forming spren to a different kind of spren, f.ex. honorspren - windspren. It is a connection that has constantly been reinforced with Syl and I think it was mentioned in general for bond forming spren (I don't remember where and might be completely wrong on this). It seems like too much for just a casual connection, windrunner - windspren (wind being caused by pressure differences in the atmosphere). When Kaladin performs the greatest displays of his power (flying) he is surrounded by huge numbers of windspren (greater than any we have seen or heard of before). I think that is where the plate comes from. It would explain the lack of screaming, the screaming being caused by the betrayal which the windspren are incapable of comprehending thus making the plate merely distasteful. Also, cryptics - creationspren? We see Shallan being surrounded by creationspren in similarly huge numbers when she draws Pattern in her cabin on the ship (Chapter 3). It is obvious that to use lightweaving to anything approaching it's full potential requires a great deal of creativity. The link is far more tenuous than with pressure and wind but unless we see lightspren the It's as good a connection as I can think of. We have seen no indication of any other possible connections with cryptics (that I can remember at least) and I don't see why honorspren should be special in this regard. I hope I am not reposting. If I am, sorry.

When Shallan was breaking into the monastery Yatil said something that sounded disturbingly like Gollum in Lord of the rings when she tries to immitate madness. “Should we kill them?” she muttered. “No. No, we shouldn’t. But someone will see! No, do not say these things. No. I will not listen to you.” I haven't read LoTR in english but I do remember something like that in the scenes with Gollum.

Note: I'm currently on my phone so I'm unable to provide sources for my WoB. I'll try to link it once I get on a computer. As the title suggests, I think Adonalsium is the creator of the native life forms present on Roshar. How? WoB: 1. all 16 Shards were present on Roshar at one point in time (suggests that Adonalsium itself was present) 2. There are Adonalsium spren running around on Roshar. 3. Parshendi are NOT of Honour. 4. Parshendi were not originally of either Odium or Cultivation. So unless another Shard came and created the Parshendi, Adonalsium is the only remaining explanation. Feel free to rip this apart if you see something wrong with it.

“I don’t talk to myself because I’m crazy.” “No?” “I do it because I’m awesome.”

Bathroom break. He'll be back for the climax of book 10. Oh, and he left Oathbringer behind with Wit. Wit is pretending to be a flowerpot so that Grump, Blunt, and Thinker won't find him.

My theory is when Sadeas was at Urithiru, he bumped into Jasnah, who had just arrived there at many months of hard travel and self discovery. On learning that Sadeas had got there first and that Shallan was getting all the credit, she got so angry that she soulcasted Sadeas into a flowerpot. As a flowerpot, he did not have enough of a cognitive or spiritual presence to bond a shardblade, so it appeared, and fell into the flowerpot. I think that ties up all the loose ends. In book 5, we discover that the flowerpot was actually Gaz, and that Shallan employed him to stand in for Sadeas with some light weaving tricks to make him look like Sadeas. What actually happened was that they found Oathbringer in his room with a note saying, "Went out for some milk, should be back in three months from Shinovar. S." Sadeas was later revealed to have died en route, crushed by a falling greatshell. (Wit's fault)

No, there's Windspren. You airsick lowlanders just can't see them! You are not of the alaii'iku!

"Ah. forgot myself for a moment," Wit said. "Sorry. Let me make it more appropriate for you. A piece of wet slime and a disgusting crap thing with seventeen legs slunk across the rocks together on an insufferably rainy day. Is that better?" Gotta love Wit messing with Kaladin. It'll never get old. Or when Wit says to Amaram, "You're what Sadeas aspires to be!" or something like that. Basically, anything Hoid says. But, let's not forget the forever-classic, "I am offend!"

So in future (non-SA) cosmere novels we should be on the lookout for a glove wearing individual who is roughly 5'6"? Probably commenting on the tameness of the weather or looking for jam. Edited because my memory kind of sucks.

My personal take on it is that “Capacity to stop what was coming." is fulfilled by the Intelligence. "The capacity to save humankind.” is fulfilled by the Compassion. The curse is that he's never capable of both at the same time, and that they are wildly unpredictable both in occurrence and strength. It's not a trick on Nightwatcher's part, it's just a failure on Taravangian's part to see what is necessary and when.

Looking over the Parshendi epigraphs, it seems that some of the forms match up to the Divine Attributes. I wonder what the significance of this is? We know eight of the normal forms: - Warform ("Warform is worn for battle and reign, / Claimed by the gods, given to kill. / Unknown, unseen, but vital to gain. / It comes to those with the will.") - Workform ("Workform worn for strength and care. / Whispering spren breathe at your ear. / Seek first this form, its mysteries to bear. / Found here is freedom from fear.") - Mateform ("Mateform meek, for love to share, / Given to life, it brings us joy. / To find this form, one must care. / True empathy one must employ.") - Nimbleform ("Nimbleform has a delicate touch. / Gave the gods this form to many, / Tho’ once defied, by the gods they were crushed. / This form craves precision and plenty.") - Dullform ("Dullform dread, with the mind most lost. / The lowest, and one not bright. / To find this form, one need banish cost. / It finds you and brings you to blight.") - Scholarform ("Scholarform shown for patience and thought. / Beware its ambitions innate. / Though study and diligence bring the reward, / Loss of innocence may be one’s fate.") - Artform ("Artform applied for beauty and hue. / One yearns for the songs it creates. / Most misunderstood by the artist it’s true, / Come the spren to foundation’s fates.") ("Artform for colors beyond our ken; / For its grand songs we yearn. / We must attract creationspren; / These songs suffice ’til we learn.") - Mediationform ("Mediationform made for peace, it’s said. / Form of teaching and consolation. / When used by the gods, it became instead / Form of lies and desolation.") Here are the divine attributes, meanwhile. (With associated Heralds, because why not?) - Protecting/Leading (Jezrien) - Just/Confident (Nin) - Brave/Obedient (Chan-a-rach) - Loving/Healing (Vedel) - Learned/Giving (Paliah) - Creative/Honest (Ash) - Wise/Careful (Battar) - Resolute/Builder (Kalak) - Dependable/Resourceful (Talenel) - Pious/Guiding (Ishar) Now, onto those divine attributes. - Artform obviously matches up to Creative. - Workform seems to match up with Resolute/Builder. Workform is all about building and doing labour with determination. - Mediationform is Wise/Careful. You need to use wisdom to find peace. - Mateform is Loving. It is associated with love, of course. - Scholarform seems to be learned, because those that use it are knowledgeable. I'm not sure where Nimbleform or Warform would fit, and I question whether Dullform even has a divine attribute. Meanwhile, the Song of Spren talks about the Surges of humans becoming the powers of the Listeners. (Chapters 32 and 33) The ten surges are Adhesion, Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Progression, Illumination, Transformation, Transportation, Cohesion, and Tension. We know four of the bad forms. - Stormform ("Stormform is said to cause / A tempest of winds and showers, / Beware its powers, beware its powers. / Though its coming brings the gods their night, / It obliges a bloodred spren. / Beware its end, beware its end.") - Smokeform ("Smokeform for hiding and slipping between men. / A form of power, like human Surges. / Bring it ’round again. / Though crafted of gods, / It was by Unmade hand. / Leaves its force to be but one of foe or friend.") ("Smokeform for hiding and slipping ’tween men. / A form of power—like Surges of spren. / Do we dare to wear this form again? It spies. / Crafted of gods, this form we fear. / By Unmade touch its curse to bear, / Formed from shadow—and death is near. It lies.") - Decayform ("Decayform destroys the souls of dreams. / A form of gods to avoid, it seems. / Seek not its touch, nor beckon its screams, deny it. / Watch where you walk, your toes to tread. / O’er hill or rocky riverbed / Hold dear to fears that fill your head, defy it.") - Nightform ("Nightform predicting what will be, / The form of shadows, mind to foresee. / As the gods did leave, the nightform whispered. / A new storm will come, someday to break. / A new storm a new world to make. / A new storm a new path to take, the nightform listens.") - Smokeform sounds like Illumination, because it lets you hide and slip by men. I imagine this would let you cloak yourself with darkness. However, "slipping between men" could also be Transportation. - Decayform sounds like Division, the surge of Destruction and Decay. Because it destroys stuff. It could also be related to the Dustbringers/Releasers, who had the power of Stuff Blowing Up. - Nightform doesn't sound like a specific Surge, but rather like the Truthwatchers, the Radiant Order that predicts the future. Stormform doesn't seem to be like a Surge or Radiant Order we've met, and unlike the other three, we only see its entry in the Song of Winds, not the Song of Secrets. Something different, perhaps? They're called the Voidbringers, and they start the Everstorm, so maybe it's their job to start up the power of the Voidbindings? I may have screwed up on some of the divine attributes. By the way, the Ars Arcanum mentions that there should be a power other than Surgebinding and Voidbinding, one with ten different versions. Surgebinding seems human exclusive, while the dark forms could very well be Voidbinding, and would thus be Parshendi exclusive. So, what would come about if those two powers mixed? And what does all this stuff mean?

Nalan's dialog with Szeth. Just chilling. My favourite bits of it: Nalan: "You were banished by petty men with no vision. I will teach you the path of one uncorrupted by sentiment." ... Nalan: "I watched you destroy yourself in the name of order, watched you obey your personal code when others would have fled or crumbled. Szeth-son-Neturo, I watched you keep your word with perfection. This is a thing lost to most people - it is the only genuine beauty in the world." ... Szeth: "If I am to bring judgement on my people, I will face enemies with Shards and power." Nalan: "This is not a problem. I have brought a Shardblade for you. One that is a perfect match for your task and temperament." *tosses sword* Nightblood: Hello. Would you like to destroy some evil today?

Sorry... what is awesome about breaking up relationships and encouraging infidelity?

"I am a stick!"

My theory on this is a little out there but here goes: I think plate is like a second skim that develops at the highest level of the bond. We see Kaladin getting better at holding stormlight and his healing capacity seems much stronger that Szeths. In the fight with Gavilar, Szeths face takes a good few minutes to heal (he still can't speak properly when Gavilar is dead). However, in the arena duel, Kaladin heals two broken legs and two broken feet in a matter of seconds. My theory is that the strengthening and healing effects of stormilight get stronger and stronger as the bond / oaths progress until eventually a critical mass is reached and the stormlight crystallises into shardplate. From that moment on, the sharplade appears whenever the Radiant holds any stormlight and glows when they use the surges. As I said, a bit out there. But it would explain how plate can be a consequence of the bond without involving any spren.

Makes perfect sense, Phonetically, it's everywhere in the books. Knights Reyadiant No? Alright, I'll take my cheap pun and sit in the shame-corner, XD

That is totally right. In the Domain of cosmere puns yours have been Endowed with great Honor. (Oh that was horrible...)

Double posting to let people know that there are now paraphrased answers in the first post, and quoted in this one for quick reference.

The Ancient of Stones is clearly Taln. Supporting points: Taln is associated with the ninth essence (Stone). His moniker is Stonesinew. He was of the order of the Stone Wardens. Mr. T has not demonstrated any knowledge of the Shards, or that they have holders, so it's highly unlikely he is referring to them. At the beginning of Way of Kings, Taln was left as the sole holder of the Oathpact by the other Heralds - the timeline given in the book by Church doctrine is not-so-coincidentally four millennia. We know that Taln did not used to be mad, and used to 'return' before each Desolation to warn and to give instruction. He says so himself. The quote implies that the Ancient of Stones has gone mad (cracked). This is open-closed, the Ancient of Stones is Taln, the evidence is really kind of overwhelming. There are other things, though. We know the Knights Radiant were founded after a large number of Desolations had already occurred. We have both the word of the Church, the word of Taln, and the WoK prologue to support this. Ergo, the KR can not be the cause of the desolations. We know that the Recreance was approximately at the time that the desolations stopped occurring. We know that the Bondsmiths had some sort of plan, involving bondsmithy bonding things, to end the desolations. We also know the bondsmiths were the 'guardians' of the Nahel bond. Suggestive. We know that around the time the desolations stopped, the Parshendi were all turned into Parshmen, which is not Dullform, but something lower still. We do not know how, but considering the bondsmith bit, and the fact that the Parshendi also bond to spren to control their forms, and the fact that the Recreance involved all the Knights Radiant breaking their bonds with the spren... Suggestive. We don't know when Honor was shattered. It should have been before the founding of the KR, as spren are splinters/shards of Honor and are required to have existed for the KR to bond to. We don't know when, or how Odium was bound, or why Odium has a specific spren, voidspren. Spren are splinters/shards of Honor, and we know Odium is not shattered. Well, Brandon has been a bit muddled about Spren - he's said before they are in fact all splinters from 'the shattered one', but he's also said they are a combination of Honor and Cultivation. Not certain how Odium spren exist at all, either way you look at it. And lastly, we know that the voidspren started appearing in the books around the time we first saw surgebinding, and increased in numbers as we saw more surgebinders. So, what I'm trying to build this all up to is, I think it's likely that the reason Odium was bound, the reason Parshendi lost their spren bonds and became Parshmen, the reason the Knights Radiant underwent the Recreance, and the reason the desolations stopped for a time are all related to the mysterious bondsmith plan in someway, which is in turn likely to be related to the Oathpact of the Heralds in someway (upheld exclusively by Taln at this point). The Parshendi mentioned explicitly that the stone would bring back their gods, and that their gods were the cause of the stormform in the past (and thus, the everstorm and the desolations). So it's quite probable that the stone is indeed some artifact related to the bonding of spren/voidspren. It's also likely that there is a key piece of information that goes along with the stone in some way that we are unaware of at this time, possibly involving the binding of Odium. If anyone else can fit these pieces a different way, or has other pieces that might be significant, I'd be interested to hear it.

Unless Brandonalsium is trying to mislead us for some reason, the "two dead men" death rattle is definitely referring to Kaladin and Shallan, because the chapter where they climb out of the pit is called "True Glory". Similarly (unrelated but being brought up for the hell of it), "All is withdrawn from me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds." almost certainly refers to when Kaladin spoke his Third Oath, because a chapter focused on how much Kaladin hates Elhokar is called "The One Who Killed Promises".

Steelheart hit #1 too, but YA books have their own list. This was by no means a foregone conclusion, but the closest competitor ended up not being very close. It's a real testament to how much people have grown to love the Way of Kings over the past four years. You guys really wanted to read the sequel, and you told all your friends. And by the way it won't go on the Times website until...Saturday? Monday? next Friday? Their calendar is really screwy. It's the best seller list for March 23rd.

Completed code. Got lots of help reading everyone's ideas.

Gee, Peter, try not to be too helpful all the time...

Again, I searched the forums, but didn't see this topic specifically unless it was commented on in the body of other threads. In WoR epilogue when Wit is talking to the "ugly lizard-crab-thing" he states: Then he goes on to have a very interesting conversation with the ugly lizard-crab-thing about art which I suspect is more important than I can fathom at the moment BUT, it made me wonder about the blind man story that he had with Shallan earlier on. Does this statement mean that he's also the blind man in THAT story? It's from the end of chapter 45: There's more to that story, but I didn't want to type it all out. These quotes/points may have been brought up in another forum or thread specific to Wit/Hoid or maybe the Cosmere, but thought I'd bring it up here since these passages are WoR specific. Questions: 1. I think it's safe to assume that Wit is one of the blind men in the story that he tells Shallan. Any ideas which one? 2. Do we know who the blind men are?? I doubt it, but thought I'd ask since I have absolutely no idea. I LOVE the cosmere, but it hurts my brain most of the time thinking about it! 3. When he references "that other statement" is he talking about the "contemplating the beauty of nature." part? If so, any ideas why that statement is so important? He makes a point to italicize very stating that it's a very clever statement. I'm not sure why that would be. Unless he saying that it's clever because that's what he's doing at that very moment?? 4. If he's spiritually bind, does that mean he can access/see/interact with the cognitive realm and physical realm, but NOT the spiritual realm? Or does he just not believe in spirituality anymore??

I finally got around to transcribing the few minutes I had alone with Brandon for a Q&A at the end of the Seattle signing. Some of the questions were from tor.com rereaders, some were mine, and I found a couple on the 17thshard forums. I told karaokeang I’d post what I found, so here they are:

Yea, I suspect Hoid's words, at least so far in the series, will require some pondering, preferably by literature majors.