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  1. Preface: Someone correct me if I'm breaking any rules here, as I just made my account a couple hours ago. I posted this theory on a King T discussion thread, but I'm thinking that it was a little off topic since that discussion was about T as a character and this is a theory about the Diagram. So pardon my ignorance if this is a breach of etiquette! Theory: The Diagram is Fake I think the Diagram itself is part of the subterfuge. As others have pointed out, the original concept of "make a deal to protect my kingdom, then become king of everything" is so simple, that I believe Odium was meant to see through it. In order for the bluff to work though, you have to make it look like you're trying, hence the takeover of JKeved. If T was so brilliant when he made the Diagram, then it stands to reason that he was smart enough to realize that Odium would be able to read/interpret it. That is the entire point. It is a classic misdirection, just on a grand scale. It's all meant to bait Odium into certain actions, presumably to put Him in a position to be vulnerable. It also stands to reason that genius T knew that Odium would never negotiate on one of T's smart days. So why put in the "negotiate from a position of strength" line? It's part of the misdirection. If Odium is confident that T and the Diagram are not a threat, then He is much more likely to let his guard down. T is playing the Severus Snape role. We are going to hate him for a long time and he is going to do some awful things. In the end though, it will be his actions that ultimately make Odium vulnerable to be defeated by someone else. Basically, I just don't accept the narrative of "Odium saw through the Diagram, therefore it is moot and T is now a traitor." Genius T knew that would happen and planned for it
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  2. I was incredibly disappointed with the way things ended with this. Shallan and Adolin always felt so very boring and shallow to me. The whole "Adolin gets me" thing is outright baffling. He has only every seen one side of her for the longest time and that side was always a mask to begin with. He sees Veil and Radiant in Oathbringer, but he never really sees Shallan imho. It feels so forced. If Sanderson had developed things in a more meaningful manner between the two maybe I could buy it, but I just don't. Now does that mean Kaladin and Shallan would work? Not necessarily. They both have a lot of growing to do I think before they could ever enter a truly healthy relationship with each other. But the thing is, it could have happened. It could have become something special. Instead their relationship is just brushed aside in a very unsatisfactory manner. Outside of one scene, there were no really good discussions/interactions between the two characters. And once that scene on the ship in Shadesmar happened I knew where the author was heading. It was very clear that he would push Shallan and Adolin. Kaladin and Shallan just had the potential to be more interesting to me. Maybe Sanderson was afraid they were too predictable a couple, but if he was going to go the Shallan and Adolin route he really needed to sell it and he just didn't.
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  3. This is my first actual theory post, but let me preface by saying that I’m super tired right now writing it and don’t actually 100% believe this myself, I just think there’s some definite odd things going on that could possibly be connected/explained by Honor being dead. So things seem to be pretty abnormal with several Radiants so far. I think that Honor’s death changed how Radiancy can be granted. Honor was still around or was very recently dead when the Recreance happened. So Honor’s death and what that might mean was never an issue for the ancient Radiants. The Stormfather says: The three main examples of the oddness are Dalinar, Renarin, and Venli. First, Dalinar. This is the most explainable, I think. His combining the three realms has never been done before. While looking for evidence for what Honor’s absence might mean for this though, I found this: So prior to Honor’s death and the Recreance, the Stormfather was nothing like he is now. Dalinar’s bond as a Bondsmith (the one bound to the Stormfather) is the first of its kind. Of course, Dalinar himself says as much: This really just establishes that something definitely has been changed by Honor’s death. Renarin I think there is the least evidence for. It just feels wrong that a corrupted spren would be able to bond with someone. If Glys is the son Sja-anat was talking about, I doubt any of the other Truthwatcher-spren were involved with his decision to bond Renarin, so he bypassed any kind of selective process they have (I’m not trying to imply that Renarin isn’t Learned or Giving or that he could have bonded just anyone regardless of their attributes, Syl and Ivory obviously also acted alone in their decision to bond Kaladin and Jasnah and they embody their Orders’ attributes quite well). Ivory himself says the bond is super weird right after Jasnah decides not to kill Renarin: But Ivory was still young at the time of the Recreance so he wouldn’t really know if it was possible. With Sja-anat potentially trying to work with the Radiants though, maybe she’s showing them that this kind of bond is possible now. She’s trying to get some message across with this. Whether it was possible before Honor’s death though I don’t think can be determined yet. I really got off track there, but I guess I was just reiterating how wonky and one-of-a-kind Glys and Renarin’s bond is. Last we have Venli and the most glaring evidence that something big has changed. We have the WoB that listeners have never bonded a Nahel spren: The listeners must be a persistent presence on Roshar since the Fused have to have one to bond to when the new Desolation comes around, so I assume some listeners were left in some kind of manageable form for the humans after each one. All being universally put in slaveform doesn’t seem to be a possibility either since it sounds like something newly achieved in the epigraphs. When there were still hundreds of years between Desolations, surely the listeners must have been capable of displaying attributes that would have attracted a spren, but it never happened. Honor’s death must have changed this. While looking I know I saw a quote where the Stormfather also said that Honor was more obsessed with oaths themselves as opposed to what the oaths might mean, but I can’t find it now. When he was around, I think he heavily regulated the bonding process, and even if he didn’t, the spren were too afraid to go against him and bond a Parshendi anyway. That’s why it has never happened before Venli. Tl;dr Honor’s death opens the door for listener Radiants and other possible funky bonds for human Radiants. Hope I didn’t go off on too many tangents in that, now please pick it apart.
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  4. I thought Kaladin made great progress in this book in several key areas where he struggled in the first two books: He has embraced his status as a Knight Radiant and is no longer hiding. When he visited Hearthstone and the other towns in northern Alethkar, he revealed himself to his family and the townsfolk, and gave advice on how to prepare for what is to come. He spent time training his squires and recruiting new squires, he participated in KR meetings when he was in Urithiru, and he devoted himself fully to protecting Dalinar when he learned he was in trouble. His distrust and hatred of lighteyes has been greatly reduced. He befriended a group of lighteyed guards in Kholinar and came to understand the power dynamics between the varying dahn levels. He mourned these same lighteyed guards when they died, alongside members of his old squad, fellow slaves, and Bridge Four members he’s lost. He doe not flinch when referred to as “Brightlord” and he accepts the land Elhokar gave him. He no longer mentally dwells on intense feelings of hatred toward Amaram and Roshone, and deals with them both in a straightforward manner. He punches Roshone to get it out of his system, then talks to him about what needs to be done to help the people of Hearthstone. We do not see him ruminate on his hatred Amaram at all through the book. He doesn’t seem perturbed by the fact that Amaram Highprince of the Sadeas princedom. When he finally confronts Amaram in battle, he faces him head on in the fight, and in their moral discussion during the fighting. His mood is very stable during the first three parts of the book, and he even smiled some. When he begins to fall into a depressive episode in Part 4 after losing Elhokar, he reflects on his dark mood and considers why it was happening and how to stop it. There is a scene in Chapter 95 where he has attracts anger spren in Shadesmar, and he spends a fair amount of time analyzing his emotions. He says to the group "My emotions are irrational. I’ll try to contain them," and the anger spren move on. He realizes he is being grumpy towards Adolin and forces himself to stop, acknowledging that Adolin helped him. He sees himself sinking into a negative thought pattern, and chooses to “fight it” (his words) by turning his attention to the task at hand. This is the first time we have seen him actively work to pull himself out of a funk instead of succumbing to it. He spends the rest of the Shadesmar trip focusing on getting to Dalinar, or getting Syl out of prison, rather than brooding and dwelling on negativity. All of these areas show psychological growth. He may not have progressed in his ideals or developed new super-awesome surgebinding abilities or gained shardplate, but I think the progress in his mental health will contribute to his progression as a radiant in the next book.
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  5. I've just found another quote that I don't think we've had here: (Storms I'm never going to get over it if these things continue to pop up.) I like how it shows Kaladin is not the only one that gets the cheer-up boost.
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  6. Oathbringer has given us a much more in-depth look at Odium's forces, particularly the Unmade. Unquestionably, one of the most interesting of the Unmade is Ba-Ado-Mishram. This is a promising villain. The mindless Unmade are terrifying enough, let alone an Unmade that commanded Odium's troops. Surely she has to be a major villain in this book series. However, a question remains. Where is she? Both of these are possibilities. However, returning to Damnation seems unlikely, the rest of the Unmade seem fairly active. We've seen evidence that Nergaoul, Moelach, and Chemoarish have remained active, if subtle during the Era of Solitude. In fact, we know that it is impossible that Ba-Ado-Mishram was destroyed during Aharietiam or returned to Braize afterward. These epigraphs are from the gemstones left behind in Urithiru, from around the time of its abandonment before the Recreance. So Ba-Ado-Mishram was still alive around the time of the False Desolation, allowing the singers to take on the forms of power and providing Voidlight. A strike team went to go to imprison her, and nothing has been heard of her since. Since the arrival of the Everstorm, she has made no appearance at either Kholinar or the Battle of Thaylen Fields, the two largest direct conflicts so far. So it seems possible that they succeeded. So, if she is imprisoned, where could she be? We know that she is crafty and that she provides Voidlight, which seems to have been entirely absent in Roshar since her imprisonment. With one notable exception. Gavilar's dark spheres have long been a subject of discussion. Some have considered the possibility that those spheres contain Unmade. Given what we've seen this book, I consider that to be unlikely. We have at least six of the Unmade accounted for, with only Dai-gonarthis, Chemoarish, and Ba-Ado-Mishram absent. What are the odds that Gavilar happens to have two perfect gems each containing an Unmade and that he values them so little that he's willing to give them away? The most simple explanation is that these spheres are charged with Voidlight. Where could Gavilar have gotten it from? The easiest answer prior to the Everstorm and the new Desolation is that he got it from Ba-Ado-Mishram. Gavilar seems to give additional credence to that idea. The spren he refers to must be Ba-Ado-Mishram. How does he know about this? He's presumably seeing the same visions that Dalinar did (I'm making the assumption that he bonded the Stormfather because there is no evidence so far of a connection between Gavilar and the Nightwatcher and the Sibling remains elusive). Dalinar knows nothing about the capture of Ba-Ado-Mishram from his visions, so how does Gavilar? Gavilar has long seemed to know things he shouldn't. He even mentions a new storm here, something that did not appear in Dalinar's visions (one may make an argument about the destruction of Kholinar vision, but that doesn't match the description of the Everstorm, more like a metaphorical wave of destruction in my opinion). Gavilar has also taken the Stormfather's visions in a much darker direction than Dalinar, trying to trigger the Desolation to unite Roshar rather than prevent it in the first place. It has long seemed to me that he may have been in contact with some sort of nefarious force that was manipulating him to its own ends. The fact that Gavilar has Voidlight, implies that he was at some point in contact with Ba-Ado-Mishram, who has the ability to provide Voidlight. Even if Gavilar was not being manipulated, he must have come in contact with Ba-Ado-Mishram to gain the Voidlight and perhaps learn about how she was imprisoned. So the question remains, where is she? The Fused are destroying a portion of the palace for a specific reason. I believe that the reason is that Ba-Ado-Mishram is imprisoned somewhere within or below the palace in Kholinar. Gavilar as a budding Bondsmith came into contact with her somehow and she spoke to him and gave him Voidlight. Gavilar may have intended to release her to trigger the Desolation or he may have been following her instructions to start it some other way. The question remains, why was she imprisoned beneath the palace? Well, when the ancient Radiants captured her, they needed to put her somewhere. Urirthiru is the obvious choice, however the city was failing by that point. The Radiants were abandoning it in droves. Where else could they put the prison? Perhaps in the capital city of Alethela, the ancestral homeland of the Radiants? Where else could have been better defended? When the Radiants fell, this knowledge was lost and the location of Ba-Ado-Mishram's prison was forgotten. The Fused focused on taking Kholinar first to ensure the return of their finest leader, who will become a real problem for humankind in the next few books.
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  7. Ok, here is a serious attempt from me. I hope it doesn't come off totally cheesy -------------------------------------------- Shallan paced back and forth across the green and yellow checkered floor. Each footfall sounded far too loud in this room. With large wooden beams standing vertically in each corner, unusual for any room in Urithiru, it felt like something more fitting for a remote outpost rather than a preferred audience chamber with the Queen. Twin braziers, both, oddly enough, burning fire, sat at each side of a plain, straight-backed wooden chair. The chair itself was carved to resemble a throne, but contained no spheres or gems, or even any gold. Purple tapestries made of thick cloth hung on each side of the room, covering windows which were currently closed. Of the three times that Shallan had been to this room, her impression of the audience chamber was at its worst now. She didn't know if she hated the room so much, or if it was what took place within the room that she dreaded. She hadn't heard any of the guards in the room complain about the temperature. Storms, she hadn't seen any of them sweating either, and that was no small feat considering the formal armor that they wore. But if the room was pleasantly warm, then why did Shallan keep feeling beads of sweat running down her forehead. The handkerchief that she used to contain the perspiration was already getting damp and she had only been in here a few minutes. She glanced around at the guards who stared straight ahead. “Pardon?” she asked one of the guards, a man with bushy drooping mustaches, dark brown eyes, and grey at his temples. He jerked slightly, then glanced at her, as if he wasn't expecting her to address him directly. “Yes, Brightness?” he asked, recovering quickly and saluting. “Do you think the Queen would mind if we open a window or two?” She gave him an innocent smile. “It's a bit warm in here.” “Brightness Radiant,” the guard replied, pausing. He saluted again, and licked his lips. “I... I would love to be of service to your needs. However, I also need..” He stopped talking and stood up straighter. The rest of the guards similarly straightened, saluting smartly. Storms! Shallan spun as Queen Jasnah Kholin entered the room. As usual she was the image of perfection. A curvacious figure that made Shallan blush slightly, flowing black gorgeous hair, done in intricate curls, held in place by miniature shardblades, she was what any man would consider desirable yet she didn't seem to notice her feminine beauty nor encourage the favor of suitors. Now that she was queen, she seemed even more disinterested in marrying, perhaps even a bit suspicious of it. No, Jasnah's only love seemed to be research. Research and... shaming her ward? Shallan felt a slight bit of guilt at that last thought. Shallan bowed deeply, her eyes fixed upon the floor as she did so. “Your majesty,” she said, formally. “We can dispense with the formalities, Shallan,” Jasnah replied, briskly, allowing an attendant to remove her outer robes. She sat down on her plain chair and looked at Shallan with eyes that seemed to know.. far too much. Shallan felt herself squirm slightly. “I have had a long day, and I'm sure you've been busy as well,” Jasnah continued, her tone even and neutral. Her eyes rested on the stack of papers that Shallan clutched to her chest. Jasnah's eyebrow raised when she took in the crinkled edges. “I trust you have brought the transcriptions from the books in the library that I assigned to you?” “I have,” Shallan nodded. “I hope that my work will be up to your standards.” She took a step forward and handed the papers to Jasnah. Oh storms, her hands were trembling... visibly! As the queen received the stack, Shallan tried, without success, to smooth the edges of a few of the more errantly crumpled notes. She realized what she was doing and blushed brightly, whipping her hands backward. Jasnah looked down and began turning through the pages. At first, she went slowly. Then began turning pages faster and faster. She audibly sighed, then looked up, her face a scowl. Shallan felt her heart begin to beat faster. “Let us be frank,” Jasnah said, again in a neutral voice. “You do not wish to be my ward. The quality of your work attests to this. As queen, I no longer have the time that I once did for this type of relationship between us.” “Brightness... I... I mean, your majesty,” Shallan sputtered. “I do wish to be your ward, and do wish to do better. My mind has been.. distracted as of late.” She found herself staring at the floor again. Fool, she thought. Making excuses to Jasnah Kholin? The queen studied her for a moment without speaking. Then she said, “I am giving you what you asked of me. I am releasing you. There is no point in making this difficult.” “I am very grateful, your majesty,” Shallan began. “I am just not sure that I want to be released.” “Not sure,” Jasnah said. It was more of a statement, than a question. “Have you ever been sure what it is that you want?” Shallen felt her shoulders begin to shake slightly. Oh, storms, no. Not now. Jasnah sat up straighter in her chair and leaned closer to Shallan. “Those tears are evidence to me that I've made the correct choice. You have been overwhelmed. And people who are overwhelmed do not do their best work. In fact,” she glanced down at the papers again, “sometimes they do far less than their best.” Shallen wiped her face, her cheeks flaming. Storms! She rarely cried in public. And now crying in front of the last person on Roshar that she wanted to be vulnerable to? Bury it deep inside and get ahold of yourself! “Your majesty,” she sniffed. “I simply ask for one more chance.” “But this isn't what you want, child!” Jasnah huffed, leaning back in the chair, spreading her hands out to each side. “I don't understand you, Shallan!” “What do you mean?” Of course you don't. I don't even understand myself. “You are married to a High Prince, you are a Knight Radiant, you clearly have gifts and skills that can and should be employed to help the kingdom, yet you keep begging to remain my ward, all the while proving through your actions that you don't have the heart for it.” Jasnah's eyes seemed to.. burn. Was that anger? Or just frustration. “One more chance,” Shallan repeated, voice calm and collected. This is what I want. This is who I am. Jasnah closed her eyes. Her lips moved but no sound came out, as if she was talking to herself. She rested her head in one hand. “This is getting absurd,” she muttered. “Inefficient. Silly, even. Ridiculous.” She opened her eyes, and her posture seemed to calm. “Very well, Shallan.” Her voice sounded resigned. She handed the stack of papers back. “Get me the research I asked for, do it right this time, and omit the unrelated sketches, and I may consider still allowing you to be my ward. As if a ward for a queen even made sense. Part of you seems determined. You may prove to me just how determined.” “You won't regret this, your majesty,” Shallan promised. She bowed again, then tried to walk slowly out of the room. She felt like she was running. * * * * * Veil sauntered along the wide street of one of the many markets in Urithiru. Pattern clung to her trousers, blending in, but yet not at the same time. He hummed, vibrating. “Shallan,” he buzzed. “Why did you tell the queen that you wanted to be her ward?” “Because I do,” Veil replied, her eyes looking at each random person that she passed. “But.. but... Shallan, this confuses me,” Pattern oscillated. “You ignore her assignments. You come to the market every night. You visit the housing sections. You imitate other people. This does not seem to be to be someone who wishes to be a ward?” “Shallan wants to be a ward,” Veil amended. “Veil has other goals.” Please don't ask me to explain that. “Mmmmm I do not mean to object,” Pattern hummed. “I like the lies. I look forward to tonight's new lie.” “Shallan will do her duty,” Veil insisted. “Just like I will do mine.” Pattern didn't immediately reply which gave Veil a chance to think about what he had said. She slowed her pace slightly. “What do you mean tonight's new lie?” “Shallan,” Pattern buzzed. “You have imitated a different person each night for the last week. Am I not to assume that tonight will be any different? Humans have patterns, I have noticed. This is your pattern.” Storms, thought Shallan. Had she gotten that bad? Surely it had only been once or twice. She didn't reply to Pattern and he didn't say anything else as she continued walking. The markets were bustling activity. Taverns, firemoss dens, brothels, blacksmith shops, and places to dine were common and plentiful. The spurt in crime that had occurred during the presence of the Unmade, and the subsequent invasion of Voidbringers into Urithiru had largely subsided with Jasnah in command. While the queen didn't overtly micromanage Aladar or the other High Princes, there was a definite order and structure that existed in this place that Elhokar was never able to bring. Her touch was on many aspects of Urithiru now, and it showed. Urithiru had grown to become more than just a military encampment. It now held houses and families. The housing section was located near the military section, but separate. It would not be prudent to have prostitution and male soldiers milling around housewives and children. Even Veil could see that, and she had grown up in the streets where that sort of thing was more common than in the more affluent areas. Yes, Veil definitely approved of the changes that had occurred since Jasnah's coronation. Crime was down, hunger was down, poverty was down. Veil hoped that the harsh street life that she had struggled with as a child would be something that none of the families living here would ever have to know. She felt a slight pang of regret as she thought about Kholinar and what the people living there must be experiencing now. She wondered if any of them had been able to escape? Would they be able to find their way to Urithiru? She slowed as she had reached the housing section. Sturdy, single family dwellings, made of wood, lined the streets here. None were too large, nor were any too small. They did tend to look the same, with little variety. That was one of the costs of limited space and a growing demand. Veil sat down on a cement block across from a row of ordinary looking houses. She took out a pad of paper and a writing instrument, and a small chip for light. Veil couldn't afford massive spheres like Radiant or Shallan could, so she would have to make do with a dimmer sketching environment. “Mmmmm,” Pattern hummed from her clothing. “Which house will it be tonight?” “That depends on who comes out,” Veil answered. She reached into her pack and pulled out a bottle of spirits. Not the horneater white. She had tried that a time or two again and decided that drinking liquid crem would be more enjoyable. This bottle was a mild yellow. Perfect for relaxing, but not intense enough to get drunk. She had some stormlight just in case. “Will it be another daughter?” Pattern wondered. “Or perhaps a son this time.” “I haven't decided yet,” Veil murmured, absently. She took a pull from the bottle, but quickly put the lid back on as a women exited one of the houses. Veil began to sketch. The woman was young, perhaps late teens. She had on a non-descript green havah, and long, straight dark Alethi hair. Her eyes were a pale yellow. Veil took a memory and began filling in the details. “Mmmmm,” Pattern buzzed. “Another daughter. It has been a daughter every night. Never a son. I am sensing a pattern here. Mmmm.. yes.. a pattern.” “It could be a son some time,” Veil whispered. Of course, it couldn't. Shouldn't she just tell Pattern the truth? Keeping secrets from him seemed silly at this point. He probably had figured it out anyway. Did it matter to him? Did he care what she did as long as she was … as long as she was lying to people? The young woman walked off down the street, toward the markets. Judging by the basket in her hands, and the faint glimmer of spheres, Veil judged that she would be gone at least 15 minutes. Veil took another pull from the bottle, a rather long one. Considering what she was about to do, she could afford to get a little tipsy. She stretched, then shoved the bottle away into her pack. Veil stood up and breathed in stormlight. The alcoholic effect, as brief as it had been, vanished instantly. Her skin almost glowed, but Veil restricted the flow through force of will. She then looked at her sketch and breathed out. The air shimmered in front of her. Veil became the young woman that she had sketched. Her hair became longer, darker. Her clothing was replaced by the green havah. It wasn't real, but you'd never know without touching it. She adopted the stroll she had seen the young woman make and sauntered toward the house that the woman had come out of. She almost knocked. Storms, you idiot, you live here. You don't knock. She opened the door and stepped in, trying to project confidence. A man and woman were sitting at a long wooden table that had some remnants of dinner scattered on it. They looked up in surprise when she entered. “Haia?” the man asked, eyes confused. The top of his head was bald, with grey and white curled hair encircling his head. He was stoutly built with a bit of an expanding gut and large, strong arms, slightly flabby with age. He wore a grey outfit that looked to be some kind of military uniform. “Did you forget something?” “Yes, Father,” Veil replied. Please let him be my father, not an uncle or random visitor. The man nodded, and shrugged. Veil relaxed and let out an inaudible sigh. Her back muscles loosened, slightly. “What did you forget, dear?” the woman asked. Her hair was similarly dark as the daughter's but had streaks of grey at the sides. It was pulled into a bun and she wore a plain dress, of a lower station for a light-eyes. “I had to tell you something, Mother,” Haia answered. “You and Father both.” She tensed up again, slightly. If the woman was not the daughter's mother, this would be very awkward. The women and the man both gave Haia their attention, looking calm and unphased. This was a good sign. “I...” Haia hesitated. “Do you remember a while ago when we had a quarrel?” The man squinted and looked at the ceiling, rubbing his fingers on his chin. The mother paused for several moments, then looked away, her hands tightening around her dress slightly. “I've hurt you,” Haia continued. “Hurt you both.” I hope? What a strange thing to wish for. The man looked confused. “Are you talking about the … no... that was just a little thing.” He looked to his wife, he seemed to have gone a little pale. Or am I just seeing what I hope to see? She finally met Haia's eyes. “Haia,” she sighed. “I don't like playing these games. Yesterday, you were shouting at me. Said you wanted to leave. And now, tears? It's too much, dear.” Haia wiped her eyes. This was becoming an awkward habit. But part of it felt so.. so right. “I was wrong, mother,” she sniffed. “You were right. I can see that now.” “And what about the rest of it?” her mother asked, eyes narrowing slightly. Storms, she was skeptical. Haia took a gamble. “You were right about me. About who I am.” The father and mother cocked their heads, eyes showing confusion. “I mean, about me playing games. I do that sometimes,” Haia continued. “I'm so sorry. So, very very sorry.” The mother looked at the floor, frowning. The father's chair scraped as he stood up from the table. “Haia, dear,” he smiled, coming toward her. Was that a slight tremble in his voice? She didn't know him. Didn't know if it always sounded like that. “What is bothering you?” He casually opened his arms and she fell into them. She felt him jump. Don't seem too eager. She forced herself to pull back slightly. “I've just been thinking,” she said, her voice quavering much more than she wanted. Stormfather, she was losing control already. “What right do I have to be ungrateful? When you've both given me so much?” This wasn't going so well. She didn't know enough about the real Haia to sell the lie. But then again, what child was not ungrateful to her parents? What parent wouldn't enjoy hearing the apologetic words of a repentant child? “I...” He didn't seem to know what to say. Haia caught him sharing a look with his wife. She looked... bewildered. He patted her back, hesitantly. “There, there,” he whispered. She didn't know what kind of relationship she had with her parents. Her family seemed at least willing to hold her. Had he done this before? Many times? Almost never? She didn't know, couldn't know. But she needed him to love her. Needed him to cherish her. She wanted to be strong, but a part of her wanted to be vulnerable. So vulnerable. Storm it, she thought. This man adores me. Taking a deep breath, and with that thought firmly planted in her head, she surrendered. She buried her head into his shoulder, a stranger whom she did not know... and she wept like a child. * * * * * Veil walked down the street, slowly, wiping her eyes. Pattern hummed at her side. “That was a very nice lie,” he purred. Veil didn't speak, continuing to walk, eyes forward. What am I doing? “Humans,” Pattern buzzed, “are sometimes hard for me to understand.” Don't think about it. Shove it away. Keep it locked up tight. “You had never met those people before,” Pattern continued. “Yet, you seemed to care for them a great deal.” Veil kept walking. What could she say? Did she even understand herself what she was doing? She passed house after house, all looking the same. She was nearing the market again, and the bustle of military life reached her ears. There were a few people walking the opposite direction as her but she didn't stop until she found the one she wanted, a woman whom she had never met but whose name she knew. “Haia,” Veil said to the startled woman. “Yes,” Haia replied, jumping slightly and putting one hand to her chest. Her alarmed face changed to one of confusion. “Do I.. do I know you?” “No,” Veil answered, nonchalantly. “But do me a favor. Be nice to your parents tonight.” “My.. parents?” Haia's eyes widened slightly and her head tilted to the side. “You know them?” “In a way. Please... I.... this may sound like an odd request. Treat them as if you've apologized.” “What?” Haia laughed. “Please,” Veil pled. She took out some glowing spheres. The other woman backed away, scowling. “I... I don't understand what is happening.” Without a further word, she side-stepped Veil and continued walking along the path. Veil continued to face her, with one hand outstretched, holding glowing spheres. Storms! Veil took one step toward Haia, then stopped, hands clenching and unclenching. “Mmmmm...” Pattern hummed. “She did not want the lie.” Veil noticed a pile of refuse lying along the side of the road. With one sturdy boot, she kicked into the center of it, where crem and other offal went flying spectacularly. “What am I doing?” she growled. Keep it in. Don't feel it. “Mmmm,” Pattern oscillated. “I do not know.” Veil stalked into an alleyway. A quick glance told her she was alone. She slumped against one of the brick walls, then slowly slid down into a sitting position. Her buried her head into her hands and her shoulders began to shake. Gently at first, then fiercely as her body was wracked with sobs. Tears ran down her cheeks and splashed onto the dirty alley floor. “Shallan?” Pattern vibrated. “You.. do not like the lie?” “I hate myself!” she screamed, raising her tear-streaked face to the sky. “I hate what I did, hate who I am, hate who I am becoming!” She stood up, with fists clenched. “HATE!” she yelled again. Pattern was silent for a moment. Then he buzzed again. “Jasnah can help, Shallan.” No, she thought. Not her. The shame I feel simply being in her presence. The guilt. She will never trust me again. “Shallan,” Pattern hummed again. “Jasnah understands you.” “Of course she doesn't,” Veil sobbed. “She only understands how to balance a budget or manage a spanreed.” She winced at her own callous words. “Jasnah lies too, Shallan,” Pattern purred. Veil frowned, and looked at the ground, blinking back tears. “Lies? About what? That she never feels tired?” “She hides deep secrets, Shallan. Very very good lies. Mmmmm yes.. very good.” “Of course she doesn't. She's Jasnah Kholin.” Pattern vibrated, obviously pleased. “You do not know of this? I had thought you did. She will tell you if you ask her.” Veil wiped one sleeve across her nose and sniffed. “Are you saying I should just come up to her and ask her what she is hiding?” “It will work,” Pattern buzzed. “Mmmm yes. She will not be able to hide it from you if you ask her.” Perfect. Storms, this was yet another problem in a long line of problems for Veil to deal with. She didn't want to know anything more about Jasnah. She wanted to be as far away from Jasnah as possible. But... Shallan... Shallan might be willing to do what Pattern wanted. Shallan might be willing to ask Jasnah. After all, Shallan wanted to be a ward. Didn't she? “We will ask Shallan to do this for us,” Veil informed Pattern. “She might. I won't, storms, no. But she might. Can you convince her? Can we convince her?” “Mmmm, yes,” Pattern hummed. “The lies. I like these lies. I will convince. Mmmm, yes.” “Very well,” Veil nodded, walking out of the alleyway. No one seemed to have noticed her outburst. “Let's return and find Shallan.”
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  8. So I have to disagree with this reading of Adolin. He's not Dalinar or Kaladin or Shallan, but those three are extreme examples of how people break. Adolin is the heir to a highprince and he's seen how Dalinar acts. I think Adolin has made a conscious effort throughout his life to not let loss bother him for long. I suspect that is extremely unhealthy in the long term, but it's how he deals with things. Adolin is far from perfect. He is impulsive and not nearly as tactically brilliant as Dalinar, and we see both of those flaws land him in situations where he almost gets himself killed in WoR and OB. He's also developing an inferiority complex about his lack of Radiant powers, which is a completely logical flaw for someone like him to have. Adolin also has a seemingly large distrust in his own abilities. It's there in WoK and WoR and is coming more to the foreground in OB. He holds himself to the idealized vision of Dalinar that Evi gave him, and finds himself always falling short of that perceived mark.
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  9. For Mayalaran to be healing, and the in book evidence shows that she is, a Nahel bond already has to be forming. This implies he's already broken enough. While I agree that finding that out would definitely widen those cracks, I doubt their necessary. Rather than type it out, I'm just going to quote myself from the Mayalaran thread.
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  10. From the album: Gaz Appreciation Station

    Red REALLY wants to learn how to stab things. I’m glad that Shallan’s guys get to be yknow, actual characters, even if it was kind of a running joke that she keeps forgetting about them.
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  11. Hey guys! I just thought I would make a topic commemorated to Kaladin's total awesomeness. So I'm curious. What did you guys think of Kaladin in this book? What were his highs? Lows? How did he change? And what did you hope would happen that didn't? And finally a lit meme...
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  12. Like many before me, I have tried to predict the names of the remaining unrevealed Shards of Adonalsium. This is what I’ve come up with. First, read these two WoBs. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/256-oathbringer-london-signing/#e8689 https://wob.coppermind.net/events/247-ancient-17s-qa/#e5518 When asked if all shards have direct opposites, Brandon says no. But when asked if all shards are paired, he gives it a RAFO. So these are clearly two different questions, and “no” is only the answer to one of them. Here’s my interpretation. All shards are paired, but not all pairs are direct opposites. I propose that there are two different kinds of shard pairings: Hard Opposites and Soft Opposites. Hard Opposites are directly opposed to each other. Their intents are in absolute conflict. The obvious example is Ruin and Preservation, destructive change and benevolent stasis. The conflict between them is Irreconcilable. If the intents of Hard Opposites are like enemies, the intents of Soft Opposites are more like rivals. They ultimately seek the same goal, or address the same issue, but with different philosophies. I believe Devotion and Dominion are Soft Opposites. They are two opposing philosophies on God’s relationship with his people. Dominion thinks God should rule his people, and Devotion thinks God should serve the people. It’s easy to see these two forces warring in the mind of the original God, Adonalsium. But despite their conflicting values, they are not entirely different from one another. They agree that the people-God relationship should exist. They would both be against an atheistic world, where gods keep to themselves. They have differing views, but common interests. Simply put, Soft Opposites have conflict, but they could probably settle on the same planet without killing each other, unlike Ruin and Preservation. Their intents can potentially compromise. Now that I have these terms defined, the next step is to look at all the unpaired shards we know of, and figure out if any of them are actually each other’s counterparts. Odium Honour Cultivation Autonomy Endowment Ambition I think I see a match. I think Autonomy is the Hard Opposite of Endowment. Autonomy is all about noninterference. She doesn’t want any cosmeric stuff to interact with her native people. That’s why Khriss was allowed to leave Taldain, but not to return. And I might even theorize that Autonomy doesn’t want her people (or people in general) to have magic at all, and that she constructed the astronomical weirdness of Taldain specifically to isolate her own magic system on the Dayside, and allow the Nightside civilization to develop magic-free. Endowment is clearly the opposite. Not only does she elevate people to godhood on a whim, she gives every human on Nalthis a little bit of magic to play around with. Endowment interferes, Autonomy doesn’t. Endowment gives power, Autonomy withholds it. Direct opposites. This is where things get highly speculative. We have four shards left with no obvious opposite, so I’m going to propose some hypothetical ones to complement them. Odium’s is the easiest. Odium is hate, so his opposite is love. Or, to use a more shardy-sounding name, Adoration. A Hard opposite. I know the love shard is an unpopular guess because it seems too easy, but bear with me. Adoration is not too similar to Devotion. Devotion is divine, paternal love; Adoration is personal, intimate love. Devotion is a philosophy, but Adoration... is Passion, Dalinar. Ambition’s opposite is Humility. This one also seems a bit obvious, but I think it works. Ambition always strives to achieve more, Humility is content with what it has. They are the two halves of God’s self-image. Ambition is the justifiable arrogance of the most powerful being in the universe, and Humility is the part that empathizes with the little people, and might even be appalled by its own power. Ambition wants power, Humility doesn’t. Ambition would have fought hard against the Shattering, Humility might have welcomed it. These are irreconcilable attitudes, and therefore Hard Opposites. I think the Hard Opposites are easier to figure out. Honor and Cultivation are more complex concepts, without an obvious opposite, which, I think, means they’ll have Soft Opposites. Cultivation’s is Artifice. I propose that this pair is the part of Adonalsium that dealt with creation. Creation is their shared priority, but they approach it in different ways. Cultivation is creation by encouragement, pruning, growth, and evolution. It’s the slow, organic, gentle kind of creation. Artifice is creation by construction, assembly, engineering, gears, and wrenches. Artifice builds things. Artifice will probably be found on a constructed planet, with perfect geometry in its geography, and whole species of golems. It’ll be a world where no one would ever conceive of evolution because everything was so obviously designed. Artifice’s magic system will probably resemble a crafting system. In Arcanum Unbounded, Khriss says “[Scadrial] is one of only two places in the cosmere where humankind does not predate the arrival of Shards.” I propose the other place is Artifice’s planet. Artifice would insist on creating her own variety of humans from scratch. Honor’s Soft Opposite is Conviction. Maybe there’s a better name for that. My first thought was “Ruthlessness,” but that doesn’t sound very shardy. Honor and Conviction are both committed to right action. They both encourage doing the right thing. But Conviction believes in “the ends justify the means.” Conviction encourages getting results by any means necessary, especially underhanded or devious means. He encourages healthy competition, and the survival of the fittest. Honor, of course, is committed to consistent rightness, in both ends and means. He is the thing you don’t sacrifice in pursuit of your goals. He believes in unity and cooperation. In other words, Honor is Dalinar. Conviction is Sadeas. We now have fourteen shards. Honor and Conviction Odium and Adoration Ruin and Preservation Devotion and Dominion Cultivation and Artifice Autonomy and Endowment Humility and Ambition That means we’re missing one pair. And this pair should include... the Survival Shard. Looking at what we have so far, I think we can group the shards into categories, each with four. Divinity Shards, which deal with the role of God in human society. Devotion, Dominion, Autonomy, Endowment. Physical Shards, which deal with creating and maintaining the physical universe. Cultivation, Artifice, Ruin, Preservation. Attitude Shards, which deal with God’s own values and morals. Honor, Conviction, Humility, Ambition. Emotion Shards, which are pretty obvious. Odium and Adoration. Look at that! One category is missing a pair. And you’ll notice that each category contains a pair of Hard Opposites (marked in bold) and a pair of Soft Opposites (marked in italics). So we need a pair of Soft Opposite Emotion Shards. I propose Sorrow and Fear. This idea comes from some old mental health wisdom, and I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out exactly who to attribute this to. It says that depression is when you’re fixated on the past, and anxiety is when you’re fixated on the future. Some people get stuck in one of those. Some people oscillate between them. I think Adonalsium was one of the latter. Sorrow is God’s depression. Fear is God’s anxiety. And Fear, which constantly obsesses about the future, is the shard with the most powerful precognitive abilities. It has foreseen things none of the other shards know about. Things so terrifying that it flees from them, fearing for its own survival. I could (and perhaps will) create a table of shards, like the allomantic table, which divides them into quadrants and into Soft vs Hard Opposites instead of Internal vs External metals. Thoughts? Scathing criticism? Insults?
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  13. When you have to do a project on a book for English, (I couldn't do a plain book report, for some unknown reason) caller Character in a Bottle, and you choose to write your paper on Kaladin. Then I decorated a jar like Kaladin. Syl, spear, brands, and Bridge Four patch included.
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  14. Lady Noodlington knew she was being followed, something was moving in the night, slowly following her. "Show yourself!" She yelled into the darkness, and a man in dark clothing stepped out into the night. The way that he had followed her showed that he was specially trained, and knew what he was doing. A smile appeared on his lips as three other people, that Lady Noodlington had not noticed jumped out of the shadows and attacked her, killing her quickly. A Budgie has been killed! He was a Noble 1. 106 2. 86 3. 87 4. 71
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  15. From the album: Gaz Appreciation Station

    Red, Gaz and Vathah getting lunch. I read a post somewhere on here that joked about “kholinar fried chicken” and it’s just been HAUNTING me because the whole concept is so funny.
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  16. This one is for @RShara Shallan plodded through the alien landscape of Shadesmar. It was difficult for her to judge exactly how long she'd been in Shadesmar, it felt like a day, but who could even say if time flowed the same in this place. Jasnah had explained that Shadesmar was a realm of the collective thoughts of sapient beings made manifest. Did that mean if enough people thought time worked differently it changed in this place? Shallan was supposed to learn the secrets of this place, it was an essential aspect of her surge of transformation. Perhaps it was the blood from one of her earliest uses of it, but the very thought of taming shadesmar filled her with dread. Storms, what were the implications of that? I think it's bad, and its thought made manifest, did I just make this place more dangerous to myself? thought Shallan. Shallan was relieved when a small campfire became visible in the distance. The sooner this expedition was over, the better. She was supposed to be a newlywed for storms sake, and this was a far cry from the comfort of her husbands bed. As she drew closer to the campfire she was able to make out an assemblage of people in animated conversation around it. It was a very odd collection of individuals. Shallan had met people from all corners of Roshar since becoming a Radiant and taking up residence with the powerful of her world, but the clothing these people wore was quite bizarre in many cases, and of a style she had not seen before. A tall blonde woman in an elegant dress of an unknown cut stepped forward confidently as Shallan approached the assemblage. "Shallan Davar I presume? Welcome, you're the last to arrive. We'll be able to get started after the introductions. I must say, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I've heard a lot about you." began the woman. "My name is Sarene. Princess Sarene actually, but then you're a Princess too now aren't you as are many of us, and I think we should dispense with the honorifics if we actually mean to get anything done here today. My colleague here is called Shai," she said, indicating a smaller, dark haired woman dressed in trousers and a loose shirt wearing spectacles. "or at least she is when she isn't pretending to be someone else. We're from Sel." continued Sarene. Shallan cast her eye over the rest of the group. Certainly a very odd group of people. Wait. Shallan recognised one of the members of the group, perhaps she hadn't noticed right away because she was feeling really quite overwhelmed. "We've met" said Shalash. "Don't even think about reaching for that sketching pad!" she continued in a no nonsense tone. Shallan immediately put any thought of doing so from her mind, there was no way she intended to confront the herald of her order of Knights Radiant. A second woman in the group drew her attention as well. There was a familiarity about her that Shallan had trouble placing. Like the others, this woman was elegantly dressed in a distinctly alien way, and as Shallan observed her she was shocked to see her hair change colour! "Welcome Shallan, my name is Siri." the woman said as she approached and embraced Shallan as though they weren't meeting for the first time. "I believe you know my sister? Tell me, is she still as full of herself as she used to be? You'll be able to tell, if she still behaves as if she has a second sword firmly lodged up her backside then she hasn't changed.". Shallan found herself smiling, this was a woman after her own heart, and her description of lady Azure wasn't far from Shallan's recollection. "This here is Shashara." she said indicating the woman standing next to her. Shashara was impossibly tall and beautiful, and her face was painted with a scowl that was almost physically painful. "Don't mind her. She's my sisters boyfriends wife who he killed. Yeah, it's confusing. Some kind of cosmeric shadowy ghosty thing. I'm not the best person to ask about that." Another woman approached Shallan and reached out to embrace her as she had seen Siri do, before seeming to change her mind mid embrace and instead try to shake Shallan's hand. The indecision didn't go well, the outcome had been that the woman had walked up to Shallan and grabbed her by the breast! The woman was clearly mortified at what she had done, and began fishing around in her handbag and pulled out a small notebook. "Oh dear." she said "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This wasn't on the list. How did that happen? What do I do? Apologise. I must apologise!" The woman looked up at Shallan, smoothed out her odd stiff backed and high necked dress and composed herself. "I apologise your highness. I'm not very good with people I'm afraid. My husband usually helps with these types of matters, but they said this was something my attributes were required for and he would just get in the way. My name is Steris, and I'm from Scadrial." An imposing woman stepped forward next, standing next to a small man with a meek expression. Odd thought Shallan. He seems to be the only man that was invited here. "Now that the introductions have been taken care of, I think it's time to move on to the business at hand. I am the Supreme Supervisor of the Silverlight Sodality for the Sensible and Sustainable Subsistence of S, and my friend here has approached us with a request." the woman said. "Go ahead Tom." "Ladieth" began Tom. "We need to dithcuth the exthethive uthe in the cothmere of the letter eth."
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  17. I’ve been toying with the thought that it’s gonna be reverse. That his Spren is broken and he’ll be the one who brings wholeness. It would explain to me why he seems so perfect in a way that still allows his character to grow... its just a thought and I know it’s not super realistic. But I like the thought anyway haha.
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  18. I absolutely love Jasnah as a character, the brilliant and outwardly abrasive genius scholar. She is going to be an utterly terrible choice for Queen of the Alethi though. Jasnah is in many ways a great example of what not to look for when choosing a leader. As an individual she is brilliant and competent and high performing. The same personality characters that make her excel as a scholar will make her a terrible leader though. I think this scene from Navani's perspective perfectly encapsulates why Jasnah will make a poor leader: Jasnah is brilliant, and loves working with a very select group of people that can match her intellect, most other people just annoy or frustrate her though. She grows easily frustrated with Shallan. She manages to convey her arguments in the first Radiant meeting in such a way that Kaladin is perfectly motivated...to completely oppose her (this isn't implying that Kaladin is without fault or Jasnah is wrong, but to show that she is not persuasive in the way she crafts arguments and interacts with people). She is full of intellectual skills and battle prowess, but seems very lacking in "soft" social skills. I absolutely love that paragraph I quoted, because the offhand way Navani describes the minor part she takes in her projects is a perfect description of what role a good leader should take. Leaders don't need to be the most intelligent and gifted person in a group, indeed this is secondary as they can't do all the work themselves. What great leadership does require is the ability to assemble other gifted people, get them to work together, smooth over conflicts, and gently/subtly encourage and guide them to excel in their own ways. Jasnah is very much not suited to this role, although it is remotely possible she could learn some of these skills as she is surrounded by many characters who have demonstrated great small or large group leadership skills (Navani and Kaladin in particular, Dalinar and Adolin in a lesser sense).
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  19. I think you’re right about the Diagram being a misdirection, but I think it’s fooled Taravangian too. The diagram comes totally from Cultivation, and she’s going to use it to take down Odium, all while mr T thinks he’s doing everything for Odium.
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  20. I'd like to say I support this and add what sense I've made of the situation in my own head. Autonomy chooses planets where there are significant landmarks of some kind, the sun on Taldain, and Patji on First of the Sun. In some cases, it results in an Avatar, such as the Sand Lord, but from the letter, we know that Patji can't communicate, and can assume that it has no Avatar. As Steeldancer says in the OP, this is a way of circumventing the limitations of Vessel's mind by splitting into smaller autonomous personas that each run their world. They also have very much restricted investiture which is manifest in how the investiture works on those planets. Taldain requires very little investiture outright, but lots of finesse for Sand Mastery. Investiture is very limited to only Patji on First of the Sun, and it's very constrained. Compare this to Rosharan investiture, you've got a thimble next to a waterfall. By selectively splitting off new personas to take on new avatars invested into objects or pantheons that are then worshipped, Autonomy then had created an empire where other shards have created a kingdom. Each autonomous personas has enough investiture and awareness split off from Bavadin theirself to hold dominion over their own territory. Wherever Bavadin theirself resides may be able to connect with all of them through the spiritual realm, and be the center of the hive, able to appear as any and all of them, having created them all for their purposes. The Shard* exists in each of the planets in a limited capacity. The Shard is housed somewhere, probably finding new planets to continue to assimilate into the autonomous collective. Edit: found a nice WoB
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  21. I previously made a compilation of the curses and exclamations used in the Stormlight Archive. Because moving that topic to the OB board would remove it as a reference for people who have not yet finished Oathbringer, I have decided to start a new topic here that will incorporate the new material. This can replace or merge with the other thread when spoilers are no longer a concern. To my knowledge, the list is exhaustive for WoK, WoR, and Edgedancer. I have added all the new instances from OB of which I'm aware, but I'm sure that I have missed some. I appreciate your help in completing the collection. OB entries have been incorporated into the catalog below, but a list of the new curses is spoilered here for those who want to identify the novel entries discovered in OB. On attributions: In most cases, speaker attributions are omitted for the sake of clarity, but speakers are identified parenthetically if their identity adds important context to the entry. If you think a particular phrase should be attributed (or not), please make your case in a comment. Storms and Storming are universal, and people use them frequently. So far we haven’t had many scenes from people on the western half of the continent where the storms are weaker; there is a good chance that the storms are invoked far less in such regions. Notably, Taffa uses a storm-related curse in Dalinar’s Starfalls vision, indicating that it was used historically as well. Variants and related curses: "Stormwinds" (Lirin, Taffa), "Storms alight" (Jasnah), "Blustering" (Yalb, a Thaylen Admiral), The Heralds, collectively and as individuals, are invoked across many Rosharan cultures. Vorin speakers most frequently swear by Kelek, but by the end of WoR Vorin speakers have invoked each of the ten Heralds at least once. As they occur in curses, the Vorin forms are: Jezerezeh, Nalan, Chana, Vev/Vedeledev, Pailiah/Pali, Ash, Battah, Kelek, Talat, Ishi [Herald] knows or [Herald] send are frequent formulations. ”Chana help” is a similar construction [Herald’s] [attribute] A herald is often paired with a body part or attribute. Some appear to be traditional associations, but others are most likely spontaneous variations. Examples Kelek's breath / tongue Ash's eyes Ishar's soul Nalan's hand Pali's mind—(Adrotagia) by Vedeledev's golden keys—(Kabsal) Talat's hand / palms / nails Other Variants: “Living Heralds above” "Heralds send” "What in Kelek's name” Azish speakers use alternate names for the heralds, primarily invoking Yaezir (Jezrien) Variants: "for Yaezir's sake," "Yaezir help" Kadasixes and Stars -- Kadasix is the Azish word for Herald, but the association with stars is interesting, especially considering cosmological features like Taln's scar and the gas giants shown in the star chart in Arcanum Unbounded. Tashikki speakers frequently invoke Tashi, probably either Taln or Ishar (see this thread for discussion). Variants: "Tashi above," "Tashi, God of Gods and Binder of the World" Other Vorin Curses Almighty is a frequent Vorin curse, referencing Honor/Tanavast. Many variants of usage are found: "Almighty above" "by the Almighty's tenth name" "what in the Almighty's own eyes?" "by the names of God himself" "Almighty, cast from heaven to dwell in our hearts" Stormfather is a ubiquitous Vorin curse. NOTE: While the general usage is distinct, we should remember that Vorinism has conflated the Stormfather with Jezerezeh/Jezrien. In contrast, the Natan people conflate him with Kelek. Damnation is an especially common curse among Vorin speakers. Variants and related phrases: “What in Damnation's eleventh name?"—(Sebarial) “What in the Halls”—(Van Jushu) a reference to the Tranquiline Halls Other Cultures Passions--Thaylen. Rendered "Blessed passion" on one occasion (Yokska). Thaylen speakers also say things like "I had Passion that help would come," meaning hope or expectation. Both usages are related to (but distinct from) the Passion spoken of by singers Fused, and Odium himself. The singer version so far does not appear to be used as a curse. Flick my sparks –(Lopen) Herdazian exclamation, a reference to sparkflickers. Blight it all – (Axies) presumably Siah/Aimian, but Axies is a traveler and could have acquired it elsewhere Dustmother—(Ton, a Bavlander in a Szeth interlude of WoK). Possibly Vorin? Glories within—(Szeth) Shin Stones Unhallowed -- (Szeth) Shin Kali’kalin’s ghost – (Rock) Unkalaki, possibly referencing a Herald Beautiful lights and fallen stars -- (Rock) Unkalaki Blessed gods of sea and stone -- (Rock) Unkalaki Starlight - (Geranid) Speaker is a Vorin ardent with extended residence in the Reshi isles Spren It is not yet clear how spren culture divides, so instances are noted by speaker: Wyndle: “Sweet virtue” and variants of "Mother" including “Oh blessed mother” and "Oh Mother, oh Cultivation!" Stormfather: "Why in Damnation", an apparently Vorin appropriation. Unique or Uncategorized Drynets—a sailor curse implied to be quite inappropriate. Starving--unique curse used by food-obsessed Lift. Variants include "Starve me" Storming Mother of the World and Father of Storms Above. (Lift) Originally Reshi, Lift has travelled widely, so it is difficult to assign a parent culture. Blood of my fathers / ancestors - Used so far by Dalinar, Amaram, and Moash, this may be a feature of the violent Alethi culture frozen -- (Malata) derogatory adjective, possibly Veden By the Brightcaller's Rays -- used by Drehy, so presumably a phrase from far western Roshar (presumably Rira) Past Eras, as seen in Dalinar’s visions Three Gods--(Taffa) Sweet wisdom of Battar--(Taffa) Worldhoppers Shadows—(Nazh) Threnody By purity's eye - (Nazh) Threnody Merciful Domi - (Riino) Sel Damnation--(Azure) A Vorin curse, notable because Azure uses it ungrammatically as "Damnation me" and "Damnation these creatures," betraying her incomplete command of the language Oh God. Oh Adonalsium! - (Ash) Heavens, no--(Wit) Notable only for the lack of similar phrases by native Rosharans.
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  22. From the album: Stormlight art by Stormwatcher

    What can I say. I just love Kal so mach, I had to make this. Hair color fixed. I'v been told that he looks too young, but I dont care. He is so sweet so he needs to look sweet
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  23. Hi all, signing in :-) I've read all the stormlight archive books so far and the original Mistborn trilogy. Plan is to work my way through all of the Cosmere books :-)
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  24. I recently exposed myself (get your minds out of the gutter haha) to the writing of Brandon Sanderson. About a year and half ago, I read the Final Empire. I loved his ability to write an action sequence, I've never seen anyone write more engaging action with magic and skills where I had no idea what they were. Then his ability to capture fashion, style, emotion, relationships allows him to be a stealthy world builder without info dumping. Neil Gaiman is similar in that regard by focusing on characters, their styles, their language and their relations, he is able to create the world in which they live as a matter of fact. The Sanderson worlds that I've exposed to now are all so unique and full of detail. I feel like I know them, without being crammed full of info and magic rules, instead I've told a really fun action and emotion packed story. Anyway I just wanted to say hi to the community, as I just signed up for the boards here. I've currently read the mistborn series, Elantris, and most recently Stormlight Archive. Oathbringer was just 5 stars. 3 of them amazement, 1 of them tears, and 1 of them needing more. Stormlight just fulfills all of my Fantasy desires. It is in no way derivative. It is a completely unique world that just continues to get more intriguing. The interplay of the cognitive, spiritual, and physical realms is really thought provoking, and unlike anything else I've read. And how do you not love Kalladin and Shallan, whose internal conflicts symbolize the conflict of the world Mistborn was a great action adventure love story with the most creative magic system ever. This was my first exposure to Sanderson, I was hooked and had to finish the whole series back to back. Lol. Though honestly I really dig the Wax and Wayne stories even more, but then I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan and I dig the steam punk mystery vibe of it. Elantris just a beautiful heart warming story. I hope he revisits this world sometime, but the story was so strong on its own its not really necessary. Just more of a desire. Looking forward to exploring more of the cosmere. I was skeptical of Sanderson at first because I tend to like my books to be a bit more risque, and so it took me a while to try him out. His characters have me engaged now. So I'm in.
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  25. He strikes me as a particularly stubborn character, one who'd dislike a final solution, so to speak. @Briar King, I just ordered all the ICE books on audible! They had a sale so I got them cheap. It's next on my list after Riyria.
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  26. Yeah, cause knowing that one of his men wants Elhokar dead in the King's guard is a little thing to forget. Before the trip to Kholinar its even teased that he needs to come clean, and it's dropped. Edit: "Hey Dalinar, that guy who I gave my plate and blade too, his grandparents were the old people Roshone was exiled because of. I knew that he wanted Elhokar dead, but I gave him shards and his own command anyway. It's all good though, cause I stopped it right?" Nah. I don't think so.
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  27. Aiding an attempt by agents of a foreign power to assassinate your Head of State ("not immediately reporting what you know" counts as aid) is treason, full stop. You may feel the government that you're betraying is not legitimate (and I agree with you in the case of Alethkar), and that that justifies committing treason against it. You might even be right. Doesn't make it not treason, though. (Yes, I think the members of the Continental Congress were guilty of treason against England. I'm fine with it, but let's call a traitor a traitor.) ((The fact that Kaladin changed his mind and foiled the assassination plot would play well in a trial, and might keep him from being convicted, but the charge is treason.))
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  28. I wasn't going to join due to work only giving me a couple of hours a day of free time but how can I pass up a game with random lynches on ties? I can't. The Gods of Luck and Chance demand that their chosen representative attends the game. As such, sign me up as Ra.
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  29. I actually hope he continues to provide social commentary on lighteyes in Alethi society and that he doesn't lose distrust and dislike of the caste system. Kaladin should be wary of being allowed to "succeed" as a Brightlord within this society, because the title itself holds the connotations of a slavemaster. Moash was briefly a good vehicle for this analysis. He saw it in the prison camps of the Parshendi - how lighteyes reinforce the racist Alethi status quo, with lighteyes taking an excess of food and resources while an old darkeyed woman (and child?) starves outside of their quarters. I think Sanderson put that scene in for a reason. What saddens me is that the way Moash has been radicalized against the Alethi elite has been tainted by his own nihilism. I hope that the validity of Moash's grievances against the Alethi class system does not get lost in his transformation into a villain. I don't fully understand this claim of treason, but mostly because I don't classify an attack on the ruling elite lighteyes (the king), by disenfranchised darkeyes, as treason. It may not be entirely well-timed given the looming world war, but absolutely understandable in its motivations.
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  30. Yes, this would be the opposite of explicit . /end pedantry More seriously, the problem with it being implied, and with no evidence of the end result of any implicit consequences is that it's entirely a matter of interpretation. The disagreement in the other thread shows just how wide the range of interpretations of Adolin's portrayal really is. I don't think it's particularly unreasonable to view Adolin as not experiencing consequences, certainly not by comparison to Kaladin.
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  31. Yeah, I totally disagree. Things with Adolin are subtle, because we don't get much from his PoV, but there are multiple points throughout the story that you can tell he's mentally beating himself. He has to keep himself buried in work to keep himself from. Confronting his actions. You see how discomfitted he is at times from the very mention of Sadeas' death. Just because the mental consequences weren't pointed out with neon signs, doesn't mean they weren't there.
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  32. Kaladin screws up constantly and has yet to face any real consequences for it. He gets powerups to save the day in Wok and WoR, and while he fails to do so in OB, he gets saved by Dalinar, and then by Rock. Kaladin's flaws are there but put him in no real jeopardy, no matter how bleak his situation. I mean that's exactly the things that bother you about Adolin correct?
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  33. Actually, it is you have to have a crack in your sprit web for the spren to get in. And we know from Vin the stress of being born can be sufficient. Also there ways of artificial getting such a crack, Hemalurgy being the obvious one, and bonding a dead shardblade is likely another. The necessary level of brokenness isn't that high if you remember Ym.
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  34. The Last Jedi was really good. So good that I went again 6 hours later. Edit: I should note that the 2nd time was better like Lasagna. I knew the flavours to expect and really got to taste them. That being said, my face was dry the first time around. The 2nd time I was a blubbering mess.
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  35. The death rattle ones are so good. The last one is my favourite because in the reversal contextualises the narrator's grief to be something personal, not just than just witnessing death. And you've made it feel so natural the whole way through, despite the reversal. Absolutely well done.
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  36. I think this book wasn't a Kaladin book. We saw a lot of him not being the lead power savior guy. He did all of that during the last two. We got to see him constantly have to rely on other people. Even his big hero moment where he was fighting Amaram and the fused Rock ended up killing Amaram. But I really apreciated that. I was kind of starting to feel like Kaladin was turning into super man and when all was getting dark KALADIN WOULD SWOOP IN! (Which I love but it was happening to much) I think this book was a very humanizing book for Kaladin. We see that he isn't the major power who saved the day. We got to see him as a part or piece in a group.
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  37. hahahahah There is no getting over this... I love this guy. He is really empathic and knows how to help people when they need it.
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  38. Mandatory upvote for cosmere meme. And I think OB holds the 2 best Kaladin scenes so far, as well as some other really good smaller scenes. Which is saying something because Kaladin's confrontation with Moash at the end of WoR is one of my favorite book scenes period. The scene with Kaladin attempting to stop his friends among the Singers and Wall Guard from killing each other was one of the best executed emotional scenes I've ever read. Elhokar being brutally killed by Moash and the Moash's salute to Kaladin was just absolutely gut wrenching. Kaladin realizing that sometimes it's okay to be the one being saved and protected and not swearing the 4th Ideal was one of the best parts of the books climax. On top of that, the Kaladin and Amaram fight was everything I hoped for. Kaladin's return to Hearthstone was awesome. Him taking his responsibility as KR in front of his people as well as his refrain from doing to much damage to Roshon was a really good piece of his character development. From him being terrified of telling any lighteye's about his powers in WoR, to him taking responsibility for his position and being honorable in OB. Pretty much every fight scene of Kaladin's was epic. His actions in Shadesmar and his recovery from the Battle of Kholinar was nice to read compared to the other story lines going on during the Shadesmar arc. My only complaint is that he was the same amount of depressing and self-deprecating as he was in WoR and WoK. But I feel he had better reasons to be those things in previous books compared to this one. I know he's grown a lot in other areas, but it just seems that even the smallest of triggers leads to a Kaladin dark mood in this book. That's only a small thing though, and next to Szeth and Dalinar, I think his POV's in OB are my favorite.
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  39. From the album: Gaz Appreciation Station

    Something about gambling addiction.
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  40. I wrote another one about peace.
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  41. This is something that has confused me about the Lightweavers. Can they just blurt out five truths and then consider themselves full-blown Knights Radiant? I am sure that Hoid has at least 5 truths stored up, that he can say to the Cryptic in quick succession and cross them off the list. I think that the truths need to be said when the Lightweaver is "ready." With Shallan this makes sense, as she has a lot of growth that is necessary before she is ready to accept another truth and advance in her Surgebinding abilities. However, Hoid is ancient and vastly intelligent, and extremely practiced with many forms of Investiture. I have a hard time imagining that he has a lot of necessary character growth left at this point - he is extremely self-aware and has already figured out who he is and what his goals are. All of the spren-Knight relationships we've seen so far have grown on a mutual level. Kaladin and Syl slowly grew to understand their powers together, at the same rate, and the same is true for Shallan and Pattern, and even to a lesser extent Dalinar and the Stormfather. However, Hoid is extremely intelligent and aware of the powers that are entailed with being a Lightweaver (in fact, he already can Lightweave). I imagine him bossing around his little spren, hurriedly rushing through the Oaths and dragging it behind him at the end of a string, because unlike the other Knights Radiant we've seen he is far more cognizant and informed concerning Surgebinding than the spren he is bonding. For these reasons I see the Hoid-Cryptic relationship being very different from the other Knights Radiant bonds we've seen so far, and possibly not even working. Hoid can't through the same gradual, step-by-step path as Shallan, since he already is at the top of the staircase and his just waiting for his spren to catch up.
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  42. My position is that Adolin doesn't see much of realShallan because she wears a mask for him. She isn't an alt in WoR but she doesn't share her scholarship ith Adolin much at all and I wonder how much he knows about her genuine passion for it. Remember that most of her true scholarship happens when she is alone because it is related to the Radiants, Urithiru and the parshmen/voidbringer conundrum. She shares a bit then withdraws her position a bit (highstorm date) because he is viscerally opposed to her point and doesn't ask about evidence etc the way she asked Jasnah etc. He also doesn't share her love of learning - we see him actively walk away from her when she engages in her own scholarly pursuits for example. I don't think he dislikes her intelligence and curiosity, but he doesn't actually value it particularly - indeed he is pleased that she just doesn't make him feel stupid, despite her being cleverer than him. We don't need to share a partner's interests all the time, imo, but Shallan's intelligence is a primary part of who she is, so him not valuing it feels.... wrong to me. But I admit I might be projecting a bit. I personally value intelligence very highly. I actually disagree a bit here I'm afraid. Helaran tells her to draw safe things, but not to take an interest in them. He essentially encourages her art, the questions come directly and only from Shallan. Her intelligence is not a cover, it is inherent to who she is. The art is also her, but it is the combination of her curiosity and her artistic nature that results in natural history becoming her calling.
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  43. You're always going to have those people - "Well, *I* didn't have any trouble getting in, so I don't see what <person>'s deal was." Take pictures. Take pictures of the snow. Take a picture with a ruler showing the depth. Take pictures of the accidents. Record the news and bring the video in. Drown them in evidence. You were being responsible - responsible for yourself and your own safety.
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  44. Guys. You know what Dalinars first chapter in WoK is? Unity.
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  45. Throw in Cultivation and then that makes Unity
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  46. In a relationship. Yes. Pop culture has next to no good relationships. We need to change that. People learn from fiction and if all they learn is drama all they do is drama.
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  47. I love the book. I suffered from serious sleep deprivation while reading it, there is just no place where you can stop reading properly. Dalinar ascending was definitely impressive, most touching for me was "The Girl who Stood Up" though. Hoid and Shallan together retelling the story was just beautiful. In his youth, Hoid promised to be there where he is needed. Although he himself thinks in the end he was in Kholinar to pick up the Patternspren (I guess it's the spren Elhokar was cut off bonding), I think him giving Shallan a view how to deal with her past is the true need to be in Kholinar. Reading that chapter, I had tears in my eyes. The secret that caused the Recreance was a bit underwhelming for me. That humans are the invaders on Roshar was clear to me beforehand. Nonetheless I see the problems it would have caused for the KR of old. Odium not being only the God of Hatred but of all Passions. I am not sure whether he lied there or not. Be it as it may, I have got the impression that the Thaylen "Passions"-superstition is a remnant of old Odium worship. Renarin has bonded a Sja-Anat spren. Seeing the future is in fact of Odium, but I don't see Renarin as an evil guy. The lines blur between good and evil. Sja-Anat wants to change sides - as she says herself and the Ghostbloods also assume. The letter "E" seems to be Oathbringers Redshirt. Eshonai, Elhokar, Eth dead. For Eshonai I was sad. Elhokar died just when I started to like him a bit better, well Eth was not such an important member of Bridge 4, now he can join his brother who died in WoR. RIP. Moash. What a jerk. And now equipped with a mysterious blade, enabling him to kill the Heralds for good. The Oathpact is in true danger now. When will we get book 4? There we come to the great flaw of Oathbringer. It is too short! I could continue reading forever, I guess.
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  48. On one hand, I agree that it's nice to have a non-Radiant in there, but on the other hand I want to see him revive Maya, and I don't think that's going to happen without him becoming a Radiant (Edgedancer to be precise). Edit: And that's my first popular post... A bit of an anti-climax...
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