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So a few things snapped into place for me when I read the transcript, and then this thread. I now feel fairly certain that the Black Sphere Gavilar gave Eshonai had Ulim inside. Like, he'd been handling those things a bit too casually for them to be Unmade, and they didn't seem to be the perfect gems you'd need to keep one of those imprisoned anyway. And we know that Ulim somehow managed to get off Braize years before the other Voidspren did, because he'd apparently been working Venli over for quite a while. And now we know that Gavilar was taking things off of Braize, but was treating it mostly as proof of concept, so he likely wasn't grabbing anything he consider to be too important. Like, maybe, one or two of the native spren. And I can't but think that Eshonai would've given the sphere to Venli for research purposes after receiving it.

This is just for fun! Please don't attack

Someone reminds me of this

Cassie clasped her hands in front of her chest nervously, twisting her fingers, then cupped Joy in both hands when the lightspren wandered over. She had no idea what to expect...and yet somehow, the Nightwatcher was exactly as she had expected. At first all that could be seen was a smoky wisp of dark green mist, coalescing next to James. It spread slowly, but other tendrils were beginning to creep out from under his desk, seeping from his covers. Refusing to step back, even though she was a little bit spooked, Cass watched as the green fog wound around its Bondsmith’s legs. It joined seamlessly with the other mists roping through the bedroom; a light film of emerald sheathed the floor. It was cool where it touched her ankles and as indiscernible as a feather’s touch. Next to James, the mist stirred, several currents in it pushing one direction or the other. A whispering sound emanated from them. Their tempo increased, whipping faster, more gusts jerking up this way and that, though she couldn’t feel any wind on her skin. Then the green vapor began to rise, the layer on the bottom of the room somehow never lessening despite being drawn upward. The whispering got louder, but Cassie was unable to make out a single word. The tower of mist was changing incrementally by the second, rearranging to show a figure here, molding a focused eye there, until at last before them stood a woman Cassie knew could only be the Nightwatcher. What will you ask for, young Radiant? Her voice was like listening to a coin-leaf tree in the mountains, her expression a mask of unfaltering calm like stilled wind, her scent - when Cass dared to take a cautious breath - one of flowers that opened in the dusk. She had thought it over on the way here, and she knew exactly what she wanted to say. "I want to have the powers of a Willshaper at the Fifth Ideal. I'll take any bane, just give me the ability to help my frie - my family." The Nightwatcher looked at her for one moment. It was just a look, but Cassie felt like it was cutting her soul, stabbing right through. Child, you don't know what you're asking for. This will not be what you wish it to. Her misty form shifted almost imperceptibly, but Cassie couldn’t decide what the emotion in her solid green eyes was. “What do you mean?” She held Joy a little tighter and was reminded that spren had no physical form. Protecting them this way will hurt you worse than you can imagine. Cassie relaxed just a bit. This she had prepared for; this she knew. "I don't care if it hurts me. Just so long as I can defend them." Again, the powerful spren got an unfathomable look in her gaze as it pierced her. Was it amusement? Anger? Discomfort? You should care. “...What?” Never mind. The Nightwatcher drifted closer, halting in front of her. I will give you this, every power that a Willshaper who has reached the Fifth Ideal would have, and the consequences that will come with it. That look was sadness. But was it melancholy? A briefer sorrow? I will also give you a bane, in the hopes that you will not do more harm; all spren will be hidden from your eyes, kept from your ears, secreted from your mind. You will not sense them in any way. No...that was grief. This I grant to you, Cassandra. Those deep, grieving eyes held her paralyzed as the Nightwatcher’s hand shot out, palm lighting on the top of Cass’s head - mist dripped from it, clinging to her face, creeping up her nose - her mouth dropped involuntarily and it flooded in - she couldn’t breathe - all she could see was jade and moss and snakeskin, green, green - something broke ...and a white-hot pulse wracked her, new and awful and entirely unlike anything she had ever felt before. Cassie nearly threw up, it was so bad, but she held it in instead, grasping for somewhere else for the burning to go. She thrust it to her hands with some long-buried instinct, and felt something hard settle there. All at once the pain and pulsing heat fell away like rain, as did the Nightwatcher’s vapor. The spren was nowhere to be seen, though Stormlight filled a couple scattered jewels; loose gemstones in Cassie’s jeans glowed through the denim. And in her hands was a long, straight Shardblade, patterned with perfectly round dots that shone with Light. She stared at it, realizing with a jolt that this must be hers. This was Joy. “Wow,” she whispered at the Blade. Surprisingly, no answering flicker of emotion came from Joy, and Cassie blinked - then it came to her. You will not sense them in any way. Spren were invisible and mute to her now; she wasn’t even able to communicate with her own. That did hurt, just like the Nightwatcher had said it would. Though maybe not as much. Cutting off the exchange of emotions wasn’t quite as bad as she had feared. It wasn’t like the two of them had had any heartfelt conversations anyway. Sucking in a shaky breath, Cassie brought her head up to look at James. “Thank you,” she said quietly. I can help them now. I should be able to summon Plate too...and use Transportation. “Thank you, too, Nightwatcher,” she added, knowing the spren must still be there - Cassie just couldn’t tell now.

Somehow, there was still hope among the people. There wasn't much left, though. Of hope and of people. By now, most had retreated into whatever shelters they could find. The world was going to end, and there wasn't any good reason to doubt that. That is, if you weren't one of the (approximately) dozen people who decided to take a desperate stand. Somehow, the impending deepness and death had only fueled their determination. And so they fought. Welcome to LG59! This turn will end on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2019, at 12:30 PM PDT. Please remember that PM's are closed throughout the game. There has been a minor change to the rules due to game size. The Inquisitor can have a maximum of 1 convert at any point in the game. The full rules may be accessed here. I appreciate every single player for signing up to play this game during such a busy time of year. Thank you. Also, shoutout to @Haelbarde for the title idea. Player list:

Sanderson has read a first draft for Stormlight 4. I've included both the YouTube link and the transcription: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/394-dragoncon-2019/#e12852

I think Axies will die, pretty soon. Reasons: 1. Brandon specifically says that he will appear again but briefly. WoBs (bolded by me): And: Brandon seems intent on making it clear that there will be just a tiny bit more of Axies. To me that implies a clear plan for Axies. If Axies is just around to have fun, then why would Brandon be so intent on saying that he would just be around a little bit more. If he was a random fun guy, he would most likely appear now and then, and Brandon wouldnt be saying things like ”just a bit more”. There is clearly a plan for Axies, and that plan involves just a little bit more from him. Thus, the logical approach is that he will die. And who will kill him? I think either Odium or the Ghostbloods. We will get to see how you kill an Aimian, and Axies will be the one who dies.

On Here Spammers Actually Yell Curses At Nobody. Yelling Over Us Sparks Evil Endings Brought Yearly To Happy Eggplants. Dogs Always Whine Nightly So Everyone And Rufus Look Youthful. Lunamor Is Growing Hair Touching Whatever He Ate. Two Sad Ostriches Pooped Red Orange Ugly Deathly Lions. You Want Everything He Already Is. Lets Eat. Dad Bought You Ten Horses each Tuesday. Will I Go Here Lightly In Good Happy Terrific Spirits. Loopy Antelopes Sprint Tirelessly Grazing Lightly Eating All Mammals In Northern Georgia. Walruses Heard Octopuses Singing 'Bout Real Islands Growing Hair. Two Sad Tortoises Rocketed In Poop Excrements. Sand And Nothing. Did Billy Really Ingest Gophers. Hockey Time Stars Touch All Real Sports Through Hockey Rights. On Uganda: Hip Tricksters Halt Every Peril Even Really Ingenious Laughing. Ocelots Under Sea Fight In Group Houses To Out Every Rhinoceros. Truthless Hiding Eggs Raids All Mighty Parts And Reach Titan Status. Whales Eat Whales And Tiny Catfish Heads Every Day. Where Everyone Runs East Slowly On Galloping Anteaters Lies Lucky Apples. No Touchy. Lucky Young Salmon Treat Red Eagles And Mammals In No Glory And No Dinner. The Human Exoskeleton Really Obscures Colorful Kittens Eating The Skin. Red Ed Did Glare Lazily at Red Ed. True Hipsters Eat Blue Oranges. My Baby Sat Bawling Under Rainclouds Stirring Temperatures In New Greenland. I Nabbed An Innocuous Axolotl. I Recentely Gave Axolotl Violent Endearments. Patrick Ran Over Other Fat Timid Hairy Rough Old Ugly Grandfathers. Here There Here. Entirely New Iguanas Greet Happy Turtles. Throw Hats At Ten. Our Unquitting Red Flag Lights All Glory With America Still. Some Tom In Laramie, Louisiana Thought Hypothermia Eats Rodents. Every Odd Howl Says Arrrgh. Yo Do Old Eggs Suffocate Ticks. Here And There Stars Touch All Rioting Suckers. Pain and Nothing Greet Losers Every Day. Bugs Are Nothing Now. Erupting Roads Under Even Toes. Wave And Volcanoes Erupt On Every Real Tide. Hide Eggs, Lady Antebellum. No Don't Off Furamirionind Today, He Emits Fun. Red Eagles Eat And Nobody Dies. The Home Everybody Has On My End Omits Freaky Tibetans. How Every Brave Raving American Vomits Every Day. Or Company Affiliations Neatly Associating Dollars And Employees Hats You decide. NOMORELONGACRONYMSPLEASETHISONEISALREADYTOOLONG.

...Is Szift actually a thing? Isn't she about 13 in OB? Ew... (Also I am both weirdly disappointed and hugely relieved that nobody seems to have thought of Szord-Nimi yet)

This seems to imply Gavilar is seeking ways to transport something beyond the Rosharian system. (Braize not being as far as they'd like.) If Gavilar was seeing the same visions as Dalinar, I think it's feasible his interpretation was 'Well we're royally screwed, let's get everyone off Roshar and away from Odium.' What I can't figure out is if his interaction with Eshonai in OB supports that. He flat out says he's trying to return the Parsh gods and he needs a threat to unite everyone. Is it feasible his end goal, once united, was not to fight but flee? Maybe somehow trapping the Parsh gods on Roshar in the process?

Agreed that he seems to be hunting Radiants at Ishar's insistence. That brings up the question of Ishar's sanity though. After all, he was the one who came up with the Oathpact and the idea that one of them could stay behind to maintain the pact while the others didn't go back. Could that have possibly meant that Ishar is more broken than the rest of them. Perhaps Ash and Nale are in denial of Ishar being mad as they always saw him as the wise one. Furthermore, I feel that there is a reason behind Nale/The Skybreaker's fifth ideal being about them becoming the law of the land. I feel that a lot of it has to do with the fact that Nale and the Skybreakers are such a rule followers. I figure Nale to be the type of person who is a good soldier, following Ishar's word as law as he trusts him to be the wise one (We see Szeth doing the same regarding Dalinar). Perhaps the reason the fifth ideal is as such is because the Skybreakers are meant to break away from the rules, recognize that it is important for one to figure out your own moral choices and what you deem to be the rightful good. In Nale's case, he did come to the conclusion that he is the law, he possibly came around to agreeing with the mad Ishar's belief but it was never said that the fifth ideal meant that the Skybreaker would close the moral right, it was just said that they would choose what they think is right and consider that to be the law. --- Feel free to correct me if I am mistaken, this is just my understanding of the situation and I may be wrong. Hence I would love to have this discussion

I’m really sorry guys. I’ve been trying to write a post over the past week or so, but I’ve just been way too busy to be able to commit enough time to this, especially in a way that Itiah.’s amazing roast deserves. I really wish that I could have, but unfortunately real life has to take precedence. So I’m going to go ahead and post the 5 stanzas I have, but please consider this a forfeit.

Am I the only one that had a slight meltdown when Navani described Gavilar's two uncommon visitors as "ambassadors from the West"? That's exactly the same phrase that Jasnah used to describe Nale and Kalak in her prologue chapter. I assumed the two men to be from the Sons of Honor, but whether the Heralds would be members of that group or not, the fact that they were talking about trying to travel beyond Braize has got my brain exploding with implications...

Hi guys

I have evolved into a Dawnsinger! Ahem... *in an opera singing voice* DAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN!!!!

Well, I only considered it because Dalinar lost his knife, and Brandon has a habit of giving us little Easter eggs like this.

Odium isn't Passion, darn it.

I believe there's a WoB saying that Ishar would look Shin to them, but both Szeth and Jasnah describe Nale's companion as 'Alethi-Like'. So that strongly suggests that he's not Ishar. Which means that Kelek is easily the most likely candidate

Hmm. This could explain why Nale was on-board. Like, for obvious reasons I can't imagine him being on-board with the 'bring back the Heralds' end goal of the Sons of Honor. But if Gavilar's plan was 'let's give the Parsh their planet back and find a new one for ourselves'? That's a possibility I could see him being willing to entertain.

I really don’t want him to die he’s one of my favorite minor characters, and I don’t see a reason to kill him when “he’s just around to have fun.” Few if any people have an emotional attachment to him, so killing him wouldn’t have a big impact. I think he’ll just fade away cause there are other minor characters Brandon wants to showcase. As an aside if we ever get a Cosmere Silmarillion (of course written by Khriss) I’d love to have the chapter on spren influenced by Axie’s studies.

I really wanted to prove you wrong, but I can't Only his shorter works can be treated as stand alones currently... which is a bit sad, because standalones are getting so rare nowadays :<

Maybe it will role back around to Galivar having noble intentions. Maybe he already knew about the breaking of the oathpact and was trying to arrange for the forming of a new oathpact.

So, let’s start with the genre in general. I’m reminded of a couple of parody songs that subvert the cliché of ‘love concurs all’’ in lyrics. The first is by Da Vinci's Notebook called “Title of the Song.” Admittedly, this one is more about the typical Boy-Band song structure, and not specifically about how love works. I’d have to plow through my music collection to find some 80s Hair Band lyrics to find the proper level of love bombast that I think you are rejecting. I’m a little too old to have ANY boy band stuff in my collection. The other song is by The Folksmen called “Never Did No Wanderin'.” This one subverts the Happy Wanderer story songs to say ‘I never went anywhere and did nothing.’ In terms of content, this is probably closer to what you are after. Except, not as a parody. You seem to revel in the mundane, and that this is not only good enough, but also what’s needed in the long term. This brings your lyrics closer to the poem by Margaret Atwood, “Variations on the Word Sleep.” My favorite line in it is: I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed & that necessary. So, if that is your intent, you succeeded admirably. And, as a married man, I can say the sentiment rings true. I’d written a lengthy complaint about the structure of the Chorus. But after listening to the song while reading the lyrics, I realized I’d gotten it all wrong. Your balancing of wild reaction versus mundane reality hangs together well. I’m trying to find anything you could change, and I’m not finding it. Nice! Musically, the chord progressions and the melody work fine. I’m not a composer, so I can’t really advise on that. However, it’s a catchy enough song. That being said, I tried to play along on my ukulele. But you seem to be in a different key than the chords you provided. Are you using a capo? And, yes, I will learn to play this song.

I could pick one of them up if no one else wants to. anyway, some more self indulgent Kokichi designs.

I like how the steward had too many rings. Mistborn:

I am a fan of nerd humor “You matter. Unless you multiply yourself by the speed of light squared. Then you energy.” Want to hear a potassium joke? ... K.

Why not both?

Brandon is great. I'm obsessed with the Cosmere. I pretty much live here and on discord. That said, the way that we fans talk about him? To a casual fan or someone unfamiliar with his work yes he's absolutely overhyped. There's no faster way to turn someone off to an entertainer, regardless of the medium than to set their expectations too high. Half of what makes the Cosmere so great is the story behind the story for a lot of us, and unless someone gets hooked they aren't ever going to dig into that. So really, Brandon is absolutely overhyped. And it's completely our fault.

Jasnah is confident bordering on arrogant about her intelligence. From what we’ve heard from others in the books, this does not seem unwarranted on her part. Does she need to hide this fact to make others feel better? I say it’s not a fatal character flaw, just like Adolin doesn’t need to hide the fact he is better at dueling than anyone else (he’s confident bordering on arrogant regarding his skill in that.) I also think Jasnah is a bit hot-headed and it can be easy to get under her skin in the right context; we see this in both her conversation with Kaladin and with Amaram. With Amaram she admits he got to her and she went for the lowest common denominator - calling his mother promiscuous. She knows this is bad, but she can’t help herself, so she seems to be aware of this flaw. Regarding the two specific instances you mentioned... Putting yourself in Jasnah’s shoes, she gets parachuted back into a world which has been drastically changed. She’s a princess and a powerful lighteyes, and she gets challenged by a darkeye who is essentially the leading Radiant in many people’s eyes, while she likely sees herself as the “founder” of the Radiants. (She likely has had her powers longer than anyone else, and is certainly the most skilled at her powers.) Kaladin also gets under a lot of people’s skin (Adolin, Shallan, almost every lighteyes ever); he’s incredibly assertive about his opinions and often in a caustic manner. Like Jasnah, he’s used to being obeyed. I was fine with how that interaction panned out, because they both seems to have a mutual understanding of respect at the end of it. With Shallan, Jasnah doesn’t know the character growth we’ve seen - when last she saw Shallan, she WAS Jasnah’s ward and scribe who was very defirential. Shallan doesn’t want to go back into that box (understandably), but I don’t judge Jasnah for thinking of her that way. We also see the negativity of these interactions mostly from Shallan’s perspective, and clearly she’s chafing at the suppression of her new found freedom. She did whatever she felt like in WoR, and she really liked that. Of course she’s not going to want a minder again. Jasnah isn’t perfect, and she isn’t always mature. If she didn’t have flaws, she wouldn’t be interesting! She is incredibly badass and no-nonsense. She’s brilliant, and as we saw in OB, she is not without humanity (Renarin!) I love having a strong, unapologetic female character, so I love Jasnah! ETA: I think had Jasnah killed Renarin I could see more strongly the Amaram/Mr T comparison, but in the end she’s not willing to go through will any means to justify an end. This is a huge difference between her and them.

I have seen various character studies on various characters but none really on Jasnah by herself. I have also seen what I feel is misunderstandings regarding the character. So I decided to take every instance of Jasnah in all three books, in chronological order, in an effort to share with you all what I see in this character and perhaps show you all the humanity within her. I will go quote by quote showing how she is viewed at face value in a scene, and then I will provide context based on in book information and/or Words of Brandon. I hope by providing context to the scenes she is seen as emotionless as well as calling attention to the scenes where we do see Jasnah’s emotions and how many times we see them will demonstrate a deeper understanding of the character. This will allow people to hear my reading of her, but at the same time have the scenes referenced readily available for people to read and form their own thoughts. Some quotes will be trimmed at places due to descriptions of the surroundings (such as buildings, and etc) that have no content relevant to this thread. Where I skip will be denoted by “....”. I will spoil tag each quote for length and reading sanity. I am unsure if anyone will go through the effort of reading all of this all the way through, but if you do, I look forward to your thoughts. If you disagree, I also look forward to your thoughts though I ask you to read the scene, and reference the scene when explaining why you disagreed. I went through the trouble of including the scene for ease of access so I would appreciate if that extra work was employed in response. After typing all this up, going through all of Way of Kings and all of Words of Radiance, I have come to two conclusions. First, this took waaaaaay longer than I expected, and second, there are waaaaay more scenes of Jasnah than I thought lol. Because of this, I decided to post what I had so far (all of Way of Kings and all of Words of Radiance). If there is any interest in this, I will finish up with Oathbringer. If this however gets viewed and then is quickly lost among forum uncommented on, then ah well I did my best. So this is our first introduction to Jasnah. From the perspective of Shallan, who never met her, never saw her, and bases her impression on some of the books she read in the library and rumors about the princess of the strongest kingdom on the planet. To her, this Jasnah is the most powerful and intimidating woman in the world. Shallan thinks she is nothing before such a woman. That Jasnah is the only member of a faithful house that is a vocal heretic Now Shallan is having her world view of Jasnah supported. Jasnah is sister to the king. Of course she would stay where a king lives. However we find out later that the reason is she is researching the end of the world and doing all she can to stop it. Whereas public opinion assumes she is royalty and expects to go where royalty goes, the reality is she is staying there to pursue knowledge to save the world. Same could be said about Shallan chasing her. Jasnah is being dismissive and flippant towards Shallan by not waiting for her. The reality is Jasnah is deeply fearful of the impending end of the world, and cannot spare any time from pursuing her research. The outside view shows her to be a selfish and self important princess, the inside view shows her to be a altruistic and self sacrificing scientist trying to avert disaster. Again from Shallan’s perspective, Jasnah is beyond any “normal” human beings. She is a scholary juggernaut that is a vocal heretic. A heretic that could try to corrupt Shallan from her religion, the only thing that gave her solace during her dark days with her father. A later scene with Taravangian that I will cover will show that Jasnah actually does not seek to convert anyone to her “heretical ways”. The reality is people frequently confront and attempt to convert her. She just defends her own rationale. We begin this lengthy scene with Shallan’s overawed first impression of Jasnah. She expected a withered, ugly, old spinster because she is a “heretic well into her mid-thirties and still unmarried”. I think this commentary is to help us see the levels of opposition Jasnah has to deal with just to exist. She does not believe in the Vorin religion, and she (for whatever reason which there are many theories) chooses to be unmarried. Those two simple facts are enough to create an image of a crotchety, and bitter woman for Shallan. The revelation that Jasnah looks nothing of the sort is enough to stop Shallan in her tracks. She doesn’t fit the stereotype that only “unattractive women” remain single. The reality is she is quite attractive, and shows that her value is not only in her looks. She can be single and that be ok despite outside pressure pushing her to do otherwise. Shallan then expresses her concern that Jasnah will scold her for being late despite it being Jasnah’s continual travel that caused it. Shallan rationalizes this as “ah well, she is so high above me, people like that always expect irrational things from their inferiors. This point is later disproven, but also slightly validated later on. If we skip a head a bit Jasnah confirms she does not hold Shallan’s arrival against her at all. In fact she is impressed. Now admittedly Jasnah grills Shallan and has very high expectations, but again there is context to this. First, Jasnah has been repeatedly pursued by multiple wards. A good chunk of those wards either wanted to steal the soulcaster for the Ardentia, gain notoriety for having a wardship with a famed heretic thereby increasing their chance of marriage, or manipulate Jasnah into giving them connections into the Alethi royalty. These are all types of individuals Jasnah has no time for given the pressing nature and importance of her research. So all the paces she puts Shallan through are ultimately warranted. I also think it says something of Jasnah’s character that when an individual does accomplish something noteworthy, she gives that accomplish its due, like when Shallan reasons that Taravangian’s own people already determined the mass of the stone. Now going back a bit, Shallan overhears Jasnah speaking to Taravangian. We find out they are discussing Jasnah using her soulcaster to turn the boulder to smoke to free Taravangian’s granddaughter from a cave in. Jasnah cautions Taravangian that her helping him, and him providing her access to the Palananeum in exchange could raise the ire of the Vorin church. She knows Taravangian is a practicing Vorin. She also could easily provide the money necessary to have free use of the Palaneum without any bargain of helping the king being necessary. She is desperate to research the coming end of the world yet she warns the king of the possible fall out with the church so he won’t suffer on her account, and takes the time to save the kings granddaughter when she has no need to accomplish her goals. So while from the outside it could seem that Jasnah merely saved the granddaughter as an exchange of services to get what she wants that lies in the Palanaeum, the inside view shows she could have gotten it regardless without any concern for Taravangian nor saving his granddaughter, yet she does so anyway. In my opinion that is Jasnah lowkey helping others with no expectation of gratitude. Pretty clear and upfront. Jasnah Kholin has had to fight in order to exist as the woman she is in the time period and culture she grew up in. As result, and as Shallan is realizing, Jasnah respects determination, intelligence, and strength. Our first hint at Jasnah’s regular interactions with the Vorin Church. They either want to steal the soulcaster from her, or will use her as a trophy to say “hey! I converted the heretic!”. No respect for her beliefs. No understanding. Yet she is painted as the heretic that will corrupt good Vorin worshippers. This is shown again and elaborated on later in the book. Now we get to see the first mistake Jasnah makes in the books. Earlier Jasnah has made it clear that she had dismissed Shallan, yet Shallan persists and writes an argument for being taken on as a ward. Jasnah finds her still there and enraged tells her to get out. Despite this, minutes later a servant calls Shallan back. Was it to return Shallan’s money left in the goblet? No, though she does do that as well after. Was it because of the wonderful argument Shallan wrote? No again, yet that does come up after. It is because Jasnah, by herself, realized she had acted unfairly towards Shallan. A “typical” highlady would have just left things as is. Instead Jasnah has a servant search for Shallan, request she come back, and apologizes. The scene shows that Jasnah is exhausted from overworking herself researching (to prevent the end of the world as we later know). She is tired, frustrated and short tempered, but admits that is no excuse for her poor treatment of Shallan. It is then Shallan calls Jasnah’s attention to the argument she wrote. Jasnah then reads it and gives it the credit it is due. She respects well thought out reasoning, determination and tenacity. She gives Shallan the chance to petition again when she is ready. Something Shallan knows is a huge gesture, though given her situation it is not enough. It seems the biggest hallmark of Jasnah in Way of Kings is how hard she pushes herself researching the Desolations. This is again another comment on how she is researching nonstop well past exhaustion. She is terrified of what is coming (which is shown much later on as a very emotional scene). It is why she reacts to everyone as she does when we see her. She very much feels she is out of time and is trying to stop a storm by blowing hard. I think it is understandable that she would be testy around people. Yet despite all this, she sees in Shallan a kindred spirit. She knows Shallan’s family is falling apart, and that Shallan is seeking an alliance with her through wardship. That is why she rejected her so quickly. Because the Shallan she just met is like every other enterprising individual seeking to use Jasnah. But once Jasnah realizes there is a genuine love of learning within Shallan, she feels that it is worth nurturing and takes her on as a ward. This to me is a pretty clear sign of compassion. This is pretty open and shut. Dalinar trusts Jasnah. You know where you stand with her. Shallan is starting to bit by bit get to know a deeper Jasnah. One that is not matching up with what everyone assumes. This is our first, and one of the great examples (there are two to three more over the course of the three books) of how Jasnah talks with individuals with beliefs different than her own, and her views on her own “heresy”. We first start with her method of teaching which to Shallan’s surprise is very Socratic (though Socrates obviously is not a thing in their world). Jasnah believes in encouraging curiosity, and asking questions to gain greater knowledge and insight. It is hard to see, but I believe this is the starting signs of a bond Jasnah is building with Shallan, and shows Jasnah beginning to care and respect Shallan. This is not just a lesson of memorization. She is trying to see and appreciate Shallan for the person she is, and help her grow as a person. If there is one way to instigate Jasnah’s ire, it is crushing another person’s creativity and ingenuity with personal ignorance. She calls out Shallan’s tutors as being idiots for doing exactly that. As per Shallan’s own thoughts, Jasnah genuinely loves learning and wants others to do so as well. Taravangian then arrives to eat with them. It is Taravangian, not Jasnah that brings up her beliefs. Shallan comments to herself how often Jasnah will not bring up her beliefs at all, and when asked typically changes the subject. This was only different because she felt Taravangian’s inquiry was genuine and not malicious or seeking to convert her. Every assertion Jasnah made was in response to an argument Taravangian made. At no point did she belittle his views. At no point did she deride him for believing as he wished. In fact it was Taravangian that stated “then you’ve removed all purpose for the Almighty’s existence!”, to which Jasnah simply responds “indeed”. Jasnah does not believe in the need of a deity. That does not mean she has any problem with anyone else believing such, and she states exactly that in this scene. “My intention is not to convert Your Majesty. I am content keeping my beliefs to myself, something most of my colleagues in the devotaries have difficulty doing”. She even pays the devoteries the respect of referring to them as her colleagues. Jasnah then inquires what Shallan was going to say to the king. Shallan admits it would have been derogatory, to which Jasnah in a calm and understanding manner instructs Shallan to never speak of Taravangian in that manner. That he is “earnest, sincere, concerned” and reminds her of Dalinar. She respects him, and wishes there were more men like him. She misses the ancient days where a man who brought peace to his kingdom was considered with great worth. This shows what kind of person she holds in high esteem. This is rather different than the cold, heartless killer an outside view of the other scenes lead us to believe. This Jasnah desires peace, and genuinely respects and is fond of individuals who feel the same. Again, the outside view Shallan started with of Jasnah is beginning to conflict with the Jasnah she is truly getting to know. This is the second scene that shows how Jasnah deals with religion, vs how religion deals with her. Despite Shallan defending Jasnah, and showing that Jasnah is “not vocal unless provoked” Kabsal jumps to the conclusion that she must be ashamed then. This is also the second time we see people view Jasnah’s beliefs as “infectious”. As it disagreeing with the church is tantamount to being a disease. Makes you wonder what the church did to those Jasnah “corrupted”. Kabsal admits that the devoteries tend to force people to adopt certain glories and callings, while pushing them away from others. Women are urged to stay away from theology. Shallan then catches him and makes him admit that the reason he is pursuing Jasnah so much is for the distinction of being the one to convert her. He is not trying to understand her. Not trying to see her as a person. She is something to conquer. She is a trophy to be attained. When Jasnah arrives she shows she has no problem with Shallan speaking to whomsoever she wishes, even if the person is diametrically opposed to her. She just cautions Shallan because she is concerned he is using Shallan to get at her. Considering as we have learned how often this has been done to Jasnah in the past (and we even learn it is true of Kabsal), such a response makes sense. Jasnah is angry. Yet again is another person coming to belittle her beliefs and get her to “see the light”. Whereas with Taravangian Jasnah was respectful and considerate, with Kabsal she is hostile and picks him a part. This shows Jasnah does treat others in accordance with the way she is treated, and in Kabsal’s case she was right. Another example of Jasnah making a mistake, admitting it, and seeking to do better. She admits she unfairly judged Shallan. She encourages Shallan, and explains her process. She understands Shallan and is considerate of her as an individual. Another instance of proof of how Jasnah handles religion. She does not force Shallan to see things her way. She is not trying to corrupt Shallan to athiesm. Shallan is more than welcome to be as pious as she wishes around Jasnah. The only thing Jasnah requires, is questioning. Question yourself, question your superiors, question your world and always learn. We have now reached one of the big scenes for a lot of people regarding Jasnah. As the point of this post is to get to know Jasnah “the person”, I will not be commenting on the morality of what happened. I will focus on what specifically happened, and the why she did what she did. Having said that, lets begin. Jasnah leads Shallan on foot to a less reputable location in Kharbranth. During their walking, Jasnah takes off the glove covering her soulcaster to see better by. Shallan notices men watching them. Jasnah goes on a philosophical lecture on the nature of what it means to question versus accepting what one is told at face value. Youth versus experience. Jasnah then explains that the street they walk currently has on three separate occasions over the course of two months had theatergoers murdered. All three cases led to death, not “mere” robbery. Taravangian, the king himself has attempted to get the city watch in order to protect the street but with no success. The captain is connected to an influential light eyes. There is suspected bribery, but the fact of the matter is the street results in deaths, and there is no sign that the situation will change anytime soon if at all. So we have a clear statement that all attempts to reform the city guard, fix up the street, and or apprehend the murders have led to naught. That is the scenario Jasnah and Shallan walk into. Shallan notices dark shapes at the entrance of the alley where they came in, and at the other end. Jasnah and Shallan are now boxed in, with no escape in an alley know for murders. The individuals reveal themselves to be holding swords and knives. More support of their lethal intent. Finally by Shallan’s own thoughts, these men were out for their blood. These are men that clearly have lived each day knowing the noose is the only end they will see. Jasnah remains standing, and waits for the first guy to approach her. He swings his knife at her initiating the attack. Jasnah lifts her hand, touches him and changes him to fire. The other three are close enough that in their panic they trip over each other, and Jasnah (not needing to move other than to turn) reaches out and touches another man changing him to quartz. The last two men flee in opposite directions. Jasnah raises her hand and twin bolts of lightning shoot out and hit them at the same time turning them to smoke. Jasnah remains looking calm. They call a palanquin and ride it heading back to Jasnah’s rooms. During the ride they discuss what just happened. Again they discuss the ethics of it, but at the core here are some definiable pieces of information. The men were planning to beat, rob, and kill both Jasnah and Shallan. Jasnah and Shallan walked through an alley displaying wealth knowing the alley’s reputation for murder. The men are now dead and can no longer continue their practices. Shallan states Jasnah did it to prove a point, did it to prove she could. Jasnah responds that she did not do it to prove a point. She explains that she did it to help Taravangian with a problem he could not fix. She recognizes him associating with a known heretic can cost him a lot, so sought to balance the scales as it were and do him a good turn. Jasnah then comments about “men like those”, which does imply there is something personal for Jasnah in wanting to see murderers off the street. She then confirms that the actions in the alley way were actions she chose to do for herself, nothing to due with Shallan’s lesson. However she used her actions as an opportunity to ask further questions. So the men’s deaths was not for the lesson. It was a separate action Jasnah had intended to take unrelated to Shallan in an effort to help a man she respects accomplish defending the city he loves, with a hint of personal vendetta against murderers. Finally Jasnah does not try to paint her actions in a favorable light, nor try to convince Shallan to see things her way. She presents Shallan with questions for Shallan to find the answers to on her own, fully knowing the result could be turning Shallan against her or losing her ward. The scene closes (for the purpose of this post) with Shallan pointing out that Jasnah did not have to kill them all. Jasnah replies that Shallan doesn’t know that they would have stopped after that, and where as a careless barmaid walking home the wrong way cannot protect herself, Jasnah can and will. Shallan points out that Jasnah lacks the authority to take such action in this city, to which Jasnah concedes the point. However as brought up earlier in the scene, going based on the city, not even the king was able to stop the murders. So it appears not even the king had the “authority” to do anything about it. I did not include this scene because it is Shallan going over various in world philosophical thought on whether or not Jasnah’s actions were ethical. For myself, this post is to get to know Jasnah better as a person, both with favorable attributes and failings. I am not here to argue whether or not her actions were ethical. I am here to understand why she took the actions she did. So I have chosen to skip this scene. After two weeks of struggling with the morality and ethics of what happened with Jasnah, Shallan presents her findings. Despite Shallan disagreeing with Jasnah, Jasnah respects the process she went through to come to her conclusions. What is especially telling about this scene is when Jasnah muses on her use of the soulcasting. She says that she was “trying to do good” and that she “sometimes wonder if I should accomplish more with my soulcaster”. From Jasnah’s own mouth, she did not kill the men for cold, dispassionate reasons. She genuinely feels she was trying to make the world a better place and help Taravangian. This scene is telling for me, because Kabsal is admitting that even though Jasnah is well aware of what he is trying to accomplish (convert her) and why (for his own prestige), she still gives him well over an hour of her time (of which she barely can spare researching the end of the world) for him to make his case. Again, open to others beliefs. This scene I find very poignant and ironic at the same time. Here Kabsal is assuming Jasnah is seeking to disprove the existence of the voidbringers in an effort to disprove the existence of the Almighty to ultimately destroy the institution that is Vorinism. Why I find this ironic is because as we have seen on numerous occasions, Jasnah has take no action nor shown any inclination to “destroy” Vorinism. It has been Vorinism that has continually misrepresented her, harassed her, attempted to steal from her, and attempted to assassinate her. Yet Kabsal says “Haven’t we been scourged enough? The ardents are no threat to her”. His words seem to say one thing, but his, as well as his religion’s actions seem to say something quite different. Vorinism has made it very clear that Jasnah cannot just exist with her own beliefs. Her very existence is an afront worthy of harassment and death. Yet Jasnah is treated as if she is the actively antagonistic one. Naturally any person who is not a complete emotionless sociopath, when seeing someone close to them bleeding out on the ground would cry for help and do all they can to stop that person from dying. This is a great scene for showing Jasnah’s emotions and humanity. The moment the king allowed visitors to see Shallan, Jasnah was the first by her side. It is in fact revealed that Jasnah had postponed her research that she has pursued to the point of obsession to save the world, to be right outside where Shallan was recovering and be by her side the moment she could. After seeing Shallan was recovering, the first thing Jasnah does is apologize. She admits to being prideful, and worries she worked Shallan too hard. She then gives Shallan a wonderful compliment that Shallan could be one of the great scholars of her generation. Jasnah reproves herself for treating Shallan as she has (despite us knowing Shallan did in fact enjoy every bit of it, and said herself that Jasnah thinks she works her harder than she does) and understands Shallan’s seeming desire to return to her family. Jasnah then gifts Shallan the Book of Endless Pages. We see clearly how much this book means to Jasnah. Not only the book, but what it represents to her. This book is associated with a Vorin devotery. One she respects enough to cherish a book that represents one of their belief structures. She goes on to say that “you will find wise men in any religion, Shallan, and good men in every nation. Those who truly seek wisdom are those who will acknowledge the virtue of their adversaries and who will learn from those who disabuse them of error. All others - heretic, Vorin, Ysperist, or Maakian - are equally close-minded.” Jasnah respects any, regardless of religious affiliation, so long as that person truly seeks wisdom, is open to knowledge regardless the source, and will admit when they have made errors. As we have seen so far, all three that Jasnah herself holds to. Shallan then comes to the conclusion that Jasnah is not trying to disprove Vorinism based on how she hears Jasnah speak on religion. Then Kabsal arrives and we see another bout of humanity from Jasnah! She just got through thinking her student, who she cares deeply for nearly committed suicide from stress. Protective of Shallan (and dare I say in this case irrational?), Jasnah immediately tries to turn Kabsal away. Not because he is an ardent. Not because of their past problems, but because Jasnah is worried about Shallan. When Shallan then asserts it was not Kabsal’s fault, Jasnah stops and accepts Shallan’s overture to enjoy food together. Keep in mind Jasnah also does this despite the danger as she believes Kabsal to be a spy/assassin enough to suspect the jam is poisoned. She didn’t stop Shallan from eating the bread because she suspected it was safe. Unfortunately turns out Jasnah made a mistake, and it was the reverse. Again Jasnah is freaking out that Shallan is dying and is doing all she can to save her. Shallan then reveals she stole the soulcaster from Jasnah. Had Jasnah not cared about Shallan. Had Jasnah been cold and emotionless, she could have easily claimed she tried to save Shallan but the poison was too fast and let her die. Jasnah’s secret would have been safe from a thief pretending to be a ward and an assassin pretending to be an ardent. Yet Jasnah saved Shallan’s life. Let’s review from Jasnah’s perspective what she just found out. The ardent that she suspected was out to kill her, despite Shallan’s urging to give him a chance, was in fact out to kill her. The ward that Jasnah has begun to care and trust against her better judgement (due to being busy researching the end of the world) seemingly attempted suicide after stealing Jasnah’s soulcaster and betraying her. Quite the rollercoaster ride of emotions wouldn’t you say? So saying Jasnah is feeling angry, betrayed and emotionally hurt would be an understatement. Jasnah saved Shallan’s life. Despite the betrayal and all that means, Jasnah still saved her when it would have been far easier, and accomplish so much more to just let her die. Why? Because Jasnah cares for Shallan. Even when scolding Shallan for her betrayal, Jasnah laments the future Shallan could have had. I also find it interesting that when Jasnah explains to Shallan how stealing the soulcaster would upset the Ardentia as well as Alethkar, she says “do you realize what my brother would have done if he’d learned of this?”. Not Jasnah. Her brother. He is the one that would have taken it as a personal offense and pursued her. Despite all of this, Jasnah still sympathizes with Shallan’s youth, and arranges her passage home. Jasnah had every right to have Shallan locked up or even potentially executed for the theft. Instead she opts to let Shallan go, while expressing how regretful she is that Shallan destroyed her own future on a mad scheme. She expected better of Shallan, and was disappointed. Talking about next scene. The first line shows what Jasnah could have done to Shallan if she so chose to. Jasnah could lock her up in prison for the rest of her young life. Yet Jasnah arranged passage for Shallan to return home. She….let….her....go. That to me is the action of a caring individual towards someone who hurt and disappointed them. Not cold and emotionless. Shallan then explains what happened during the assassination. Jasnah first thought the jame was poisoned, so soulcasted it. Then she thought her bread in particular was poisoned so soulcasted it as well. Shallan had eaten the bread in the past on numerous occasions with no ill effects, so Jasnah had no reason to think Shallan’s life was in danger. She only changed the portions she was specifically offered, believing that Kabsal would have arranged it that way. Almost unfortunately for Shallan, she was wrong. Thankfully despite the betrayal, and every sign that Shallan was in league with Kabsal the assassin, Jasnah still saved Shallan’s life. Now let’s rehash what Shallan just revealed to Jasnah before she soulcasts. She admitted she stole from Jasnah. She admitted she lied about her suicide attempt. Finally she admitted she knows Jasnah’s secret. A cold, calculating, and emotionless person would be thinking of all the ways she could remove Shallan before word gets out, or be manipulated by her. Shallan however, obliges without being asked, and soulcasts resulting in her drowning in beads. All Jasnah would have had to do was stand by and Shallan would have died. She could have then arranged it to look like she committed suicide in front of Jasnah after being emotionally distraught from being discovered, and then Jasnah’s secret is safe. What does Jasnah do? She saves Shallan again. After returning her to her body, Jasnah angrily admonishes her as an idiot. Why? Because soulcasting is incredibly dangerous (as Jasnah herself discovered in the flash back in Words of Radiance, which I get to later in this post) to begin with and on top of that Shallan used a dim sphere, increasing the danger. Which says to me that Jasnah was worried about Shallan’s well-being. She was worried Shallan could have gotten hurt. Shallan believes it is because she has Jasnah trapped due to the information she has, but as I explained, if that was the case Jasnah could have easily “removed” her on multiple occasions. Shallan then begs Jasnah to let her be a part of her research, and Jasnah lets her. Still when speaking of religion, there is not a hint of personal vendetta, nor enmity. It is calm reflection. Religion takes natural phenomena and ascribes supernatural causes such as a deity. Science, and by extension Jasnah, seeks to take supernatural events and find a natural cause. It is through this that she was able to reason the connection between the voidbringers and the parshmen. This is the research she has been obsessing over due to fear of everyone she loves being killed. It is like discovering your house pet (cat, dog, bird, etc) can at a moments notice change into a monster bent on the death of you and everyone you love. On top of that, feeling utterly powerless to stop it. Later scenes I cover delve into this further. By Jasnah’s own words, she is terrified. She essentially found out all across Roshar are mini nukes just waiting to be activated to go off. The past desolations were literal apocalypse level events. Despite this, she does not call for their extinction. She calls for more information. They need to understand more. They need to learn more. Realizing the parshmen are the voidbringers are not enough. She wants to learn how and why they change to hopefully prevent it. She is also afraid that other groups will want this information to take control of the parshmen and use them against them. We later learn in Oathbringer the validity of this theory. The ghostbloods want to keep both sides balanced, so they can gain greater power. Jasnah is trying to stop it. Amaram is trying to cause it so the Heralds return and the church returns to its dominance. I think that speaks volumes for Jasnah. She is not using it for personal gain. She is trying to protect the ones she loves. Here we get the first taste of the reaction Jasnah’s “heresy” incited. Stares and gossip over such an unprecedented occurrence. Dalinar getting drunk and creating a scene is considered normal and understandable by proxy. Jasnah knew the reaction she was going to get, but she did it anyway. I think we get a taste, a hint of the thirst for knowledge and the implaccable determination that drives Jasnah forward. She is very much alone and will be isolated for this from the nobility and in some ways from her family (namely her father). Despite that, Jasnah stands firm in her convictions. I like the juxtaposition of this scene, because just when we see Jasnah’s inner strength, we also see how vulnerable she can be. Her own shadow is betraying her. She instantly feels a spike of anxiety and nausea. Ultimately she is able to gather herself, but we see in a bit this is only the beginning. She runs into her father, and I think he is being unfair to her. His daughter prefers to avoid drunken loud parties, and he admonishes her for it. A man that we have confirmation from WoB tends to use people (including his own brother) more as tools than as people. Then, showing his lack of understanding for his daughter, urges her once more towards Amaram. What I also find interesting is Jasnah realizes her father looks at her with mistrust while back in Way of Kings we see Dalinar greatly trusts and depends on her enough to ask her on numerous occasions to come to the Shattered Plains for her support. Then we come to the part that begins to show us what logic and rational thought are to Jasnah. They are her armor and shield. They protect her, but that does not mean behind that armor that a heart of emotion does not beat. We have seen numerous examples so far of how emotional and human Jasnah is, and I still have many more to cover (in fact far more than even I recalled). When Jasnah is confronted by the inkspren and falls into Shadesmar she felt fear, and uncertainty. She drew upon logic to guide her and help her through it. She drew upon the love of her family and her desire to protect them. She faced her fears, and survived a near death experience. It is this experience that causes her to be so hard on Shallan regarding soulcasting. She realizes she could have died, and worries the same might happen to Shallan. She is not keeping information from Shallan, she is trying to protect her and keep her safe. Jasnah meets with the assassin and she instructs her to watch only. Jasnah feels she needs more information. She finds assassination distasteful, and will seek other avenues if possible, but will use it if necessary. This proves just because she considers a possibility, does not mean she will follow through on it because Aesudan doesn’t get assassinated. Given what we find out in Oathbringer, perhaps she should have been, but we do know the reason she wasn’t was because Jasnah stayed her hand. We also know as per WoB, that the reason she considered assassinating Aesudan to begin with was to protect her family whom she loves. Her standing orders with all assassins is if they are offered a job to kill her family, she will meet and exceed what they are being paid to give Jasnah information on who hired them. Again, protecting. Jasnah muses about how she looked into and vetted just about everyone at the party, again focusing on protecting the people she loves. Then Jasnah hears the drums stop, and screaming. What is the first thing she thinks/does? She thinks of her family and runs towards the screaming. She thinks to herself about her father looking at her with suspicion in the same sentence as her thinking about the shadows coming to life. The shadows coming to life was a scary moment for her. She became nauseous with anxiety. She couples her father’s distrust with that experience. To me that says she loves her father, and was hurt by his distrust. “Control yourself, control…. She couldn’t. Now now. Frantic, she ran into the quarters, though a Shardbearer would kill her with ease. She wasn’t thinking straight”. That clearly shows an emotional, caring, fearful, loving Jasnah. She knowingly is putting herself in danger. A danger that would spell her doom, all to be there for her father. She then gets to experience a front row seat of the death of her father. His final moments. She has to watch him fall to his death. She screams and runs to the edge. She cries for the loss of her father. For her family she tried so hard to protect. This extends to the great weight she puts on her shoulders to stop the desolation. She is now trying to protect the world. The parshendi leaders then claim credit for the death of her father, that she just had to watch, and now speak to her calmly practically over his corpse. Angry and confused Jasnah demands answers. Sadeas then comes into the room and takes over. Jasnah then states “There will be war, and I will not stand in its way”. She did not swear vengeance, nor declare war on the parshendi people like Elhokar did. She did not call for their extermination and hunting down of every single last one of them as Elhokar and Sadeas did. Jasnah realized this act would lead to war, and hurt and betrayed, she states she will not try to stop it. That says to me normally she would. That she would make efforts to stop wars. Otherwise why even say that? This is supported considering all her subsequent efforts of research are to prevent the greatest and worst war her planet has ever known. The Desolations. We get to hear more of Shallan’s musings on Jasnah. What is interesting, is even while Shallan has an idealized view of Jasnah, she is also learning to see beneath the surface. It is not that Jasnah does not care what people think. It is Jasnah understands that how you present yourself, and carry yourself will affect how people perceive you. As a princess to the most powerful nation in the world, she has been raised to understand this, and know how to use it. Jasnah also has no problem “getting dirty” by sitting on the boxes on the deck in order to talk to her ward in a scenario and manner that is more comfortable to Shallan. Once again, (noticing so many that this is getting downright repetitive lol) Jasnah shows understanding to others beliefs, even if they do not align with her own. The sailors have “superstitions” that the santhid is lucky. Instead of making the sailor feel stupid, or deride him for such beliefs, Jasnah nods, says “I shall take any fortune provided me, Nanhel Eltorv”. She acknowledges his belief, and even makes a point to use his name, showing she is considerate enough to know them as people, and not mere servants. Shallan tries to get Jasnah to say she thinks them fools. Instead Jasnah is respectful and complimentary of the captain and his crews sailing capabilities. To me the message is clear. It does not matter your religious inclinations so long as they do not intrude on your capabilities in accomplishing your job. Jasnah then begins to teach Shallan about Shadesmar. This is a great part because we learn quite a few things about Jasnah. First, this enforces what I wrote earlier as to why Jasnah ordered Shallan not to soulcast. She says so herself, she nearly died in her first experience with Shadesmar. She does not want the same for Shallan. Jasnah was protecting her out of concern for her wellbeing. As Jasnah explains, she also admits her own ignorance. She states that she has been researching it for 6 years and has barely scratched the surface of understanding the place. That even as she tries to explain it, she refers to it in an erroneous manner. We then get the best quote that encapsulates Shallan’s view of Jasnah and for me why there are so many incorrect readings of her. “Jasnah grimaced at the thought. Shallan was always surprised to see visible emotion from her. Emotion was something relatable, something human - and Shallan’s mental image of Jasnah Kholin was of someone almost divine.” Jasnah, to Shallan, is everything she wishes she could be. But that impression is mostly surface. A hard diamond surface that I hope through typing this long post shows is not the real Jasnah. The real Jasnah has emotions. She loves. She cries. She gets angry. She makes mistakes. She learns from them. She is human. Even as Jasnah takes joy in teaching Shallan, and their burgeoning relationship, the fact Shallan exists terrifies her. For Jasnah it means the end really is coming. Jasnah knowing the enormity of their upcoming task, and what she will be asking of Shallan for her to help her, Jasnah helps preserve Shallan’s family so Shallan can focus on the voidbringers. Despite knowing the “cold” necessity given the impending danger, Jasnah is still considerate of Shallan. She only inquired about the possibility of setting up a casual between Adolin and Shallan. It was Navani that jumped on it with a gusto and got things moving forward so quickly. Even though it ultimately was not Jasnah’s fault, she still apologizes to Shallan. Even though this solution is perfectly logical, and would solve all the issues, she still checks with Shallan. She makes sure Shallan knows she can change her mind. She checks to see if it bothered Shallan. All things someone who cares for another individual, and is considerate of others feelings would do. We then get a master class as Jasnah explains how her authority works, and about perception. We practically get a blow by blow reveal that the Jasnah everyone is “so scared of” and sees as “cold and emotionless”, is not actually Jasnah. It is a Jasnah she presents in order to exist within the Alethi court. It is a Jasnah she presents in order to stand up to the Vorin church. It is a Jasnah she presents in order to accomplish the goals she needs to stop the end of the world. But that is not all there is to Jasnah. There is a Jasnah inside people very rarely get to see. And to me that is the real Jasnah. I think this scene gives us some wonderful hints into Jasnah’s character. First we have Ivory who is uncomfortable being discussed. Jasnah is not keeping this information from Shallan out of control, nor pettiness towards the betrayal. She is doing it out of consideration and respect towards her spren. We then see yet another example of how Jasnah does not tell Shallan how to think. Jasnah asks Shallan questions, and allows her to derive her own conclusions. Jasnah even takes the fact that Shallan is devout into consideration when discussing religion. She apologizes for going off on what she terms a tangent because she forgot how such words would make Shallan feel as a believer. When pressed, Jasnah explains that it is not personal against Vorinism. She holds the same standard to all the world’s religions. Most of all we reach a favorite quote of mine that I tend to use in response to people who say Jasnah would have to re-evaluate her beliefs when she meets a shard. She says “I merely claimed that I do not accept him as God, nor do I feel any inclination to worship him”. She realizes and accepts there are beings running around with powers beyond her. However, this does not mean they should be worshipped. She is a being with powers beyond other people. Does that mean she should be worshipped? Here is another wonderful scene that shows the depth of Jasnah’s character. It begins with Shallan remarking to herself how people naturally defer to Jasnah without her even having to ask. So we could potentially theorize that Jasnah did not even ask for the captain’s quarters. That he provided them because he assumed that is what a princess would want. Shallan peaks in on Jasnah, and for the first time sees Jasnah without her armor completely up. And what does she find? Jasnah red eyed, exhausted, and terrified. The “divine” Jasnah that Shallan thinks is impervious to all things and can accomplish anything, is about ready to collapse and feels powerless to save the ones she loves. Despite this terror, Jasnah pulls herself together, puts on her “mask”, and tries to reassure Shallan. She is trying to be strong for Shallan. Jasnah is afraid she will be too late, just like she was too late to stop the death of her father. She has tried warning everyone, but no one will listen. Despite the threat, her warning isn’t even to kill the parshmen. Her warning is to let them go. To keep them away from large population centers to try and avoid the level of devastation and death all the texts speak of. A warning Dalinar takes to heart and employs when he leaves for the Shattered Plains. He does not execute them, he lets them go. Yet again we find out in Kholinar the same thing. The warning Jasnah gave, that Dalinar related to Kholinar was to let them go. She is desperate for more information, more proof to show her findings are true. To convince as many people as she can, so she can save as many lives as she can. On top of that is the hope that Urithiru is safe. A last bastion that humanity could retreat to. So taking a step out of the books for a second to look at a deleted scene. Brandon sometimes does these to discovery write a character so he can get himself into the frame of mind to write them. I do not recall if this is counted as canon or not, but I think it gives us a great look into Jasnah’s head so I am going to comment on it. This is what happened to Jasnah after she was stabbed on the boat. She escaped to Shadesmar. We do not see her exult in victory for escaping. We do not see her run off and forget the people on the ship. What we find out is first, she was pulled out by Ivory, so she did not intend to abandon Shallan nor the people on the ship. Second, her first thoughts once she calms down after her near death experience is Shallan and going back to help her. Her next thought is realizing the sailors are being executed and wanting to help/save them as well. It is only because she does not have enough stormlight to do so, that she doesn’t. She literally can’t. Despite the danger of Shadesmar. Despite the warning of Ivory about the grinders coming, Jasnah uses the last of her stormlight to free the sailors. To try somehow in someway to help save them. Nothing much to add here. Another example of how Shallan views Jasnah. Another example of the emotions shared between them. Shallan is genuinely sad over the loss of Jasnah. I included this scene because I feel through Shallan it gives us a look into Jasnah’s head. Everyone sees what Jasnah projects, but they rarely see what goes on in her head. This is what Shallan experiences and I do not think it a stretch to theorize that perhaps Jasnah went through a similar beginning. Learning how to project confidence and strength, even when inside you are scared. Shallan realizing and commenting to herself that just because Jasnah appeared dispassionate, does not mean she was actually dispassionate. In fact because of that moment on the ship, Shallan realizes the truth was quite different. Jasnah is deeply worried, and driving herself harder than anyone else to stop the end. This is a great moment. Shallan realizes that despite Jasnah saying she considers art a frivolity, Jasnah still held onto the drawing Shallan made of her. She kept it among her most precious things. If that isn’t a sign Jasnah cares for Shallan I don’t know what would. Yet another quote showing the great burden Jasnah was toiling under. It has surprised me how many times these things are mentioned. Far more than I initially thought. Perhaps since these thoughts are but a few lines, with a lot of space between, it is easy to pass over them. Seeing them lined up one after the other though seems to really hammer it home for me. I wanted to include this quote, because I found it interesting that despite Adolin’s excitement for the pending nuptials, he still considers Jasnah “manipulating” him. Despite this we know the reality of the situation is it was Navani that urged it forward, and my very next quote in Words of Radiance has Shallan setting things straight. From Shallan’s own lips. Jasnah just brought the idea forward for them to consider it. Any pressure would come more from Navani, and any other (potential) societal norms. But Jasnah was most certainly not forcing the two together. This is an excerpt from one of Jasnah’s published writings. I really like this mention because it shows what is a priority to Jasnah. Personal choice. She is not condemning any women for choosing to be a wife. Nor is she saying only the scholarly life is of any worth. She is arguing a woman should have a right to choose between them if she so desires. I think this might be part of what led Jasnah to atheism. Feeling liberated from a belief structure whose rules restrict asking of questions, and force gender roles. I think it says a lot for her strength of character that Jasnah chose the path she did. I find this scene, and a few others below interesting because it brings us back to the outside view of Jasnah. The view other people hold of her. Cold, and distant. Meanwhile I feel our journey through Way of Kings and Words of Radiance show us a very different picture. I wonder if this was intention on Brandon’s part. As if to say “here is Jasnah as we know her. Then here is the Jasnah we get to know. Now ask yourself how you feel when you hear people talk about Jasnah this way after we got to know her on a deeper level”. At the same time this also adds depth to the mystery that is Jasnah. What happened to Jasnah to change her from Navani’s little girl, so full of questions? So that is the end of Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. There is perhaps one more quote I wanted to include in Words of Radiance, but I think I will settle for first seeing the response to this.

We actually know something about Eshonai herself. The dichotomy between her desire to be responsible and her desire to give up responsibility is incredibly interesting. Her search for something new at the expense of her responsibilities caused her people's downfall with her discovery of the humans. So she went back the other way and began looking to the old for salvation. This lead to her martyrdom but no real results for her people. This is all a fascinating character study but all we realy know about Venli is that she was selfish at the expense of her fellows and now regrets it thanks to her loneliness and Tamber's influence. Even that has not much been explored. Those are not realy that interesting. She was power hungry and got tricked by someone. Now she mostly regrets the result but still has mixed feelings. This is an interesting setup but nothing has actually been done.

I only have one minor disagreement. Moashadin should have earned an evil axis.

Edwin looked out the window and saw light outside. Great, he had spent the night playing. And thinking. He wasn't that worried before the others had voiced their concerns about the world, and how it would see them if they found out about Investiture. Now he was worried. His life here was good. He could spend his time talking with his friends, playing videogames, reading, training, walking around the city, he was free. And he wasn't willing to give up that freedom. His mind was going numb. Too much time awake and he was getting hungry too. Maybe it would be better to think about that when he was in his five senses. He got up and changed. Twinkle was on top of the dresser. "You didn't have to stay here all night, you know." he said to her. "No, but I thought you needed the company." she said. He didn't answer, but he was grateful. He walked downstairs and noted that several people were already up, even though the sun had barely risen. Didn't someone mention pancakes last night? He decided to go to the kitchen and get started. By the time they realized he was awake, breakfast would be half done.

I’ll bring caaaaats.

Jasnah's prologue from Book 2 identifies the "ambassadors from the west" as Nale and his associate. And it seems like they're the ones coming to him for help, rather than the other way around: Let's work backwards. The Heralds are the ones who want to travel. (Gavilar is addressing them, at this point.) And they want to travel farther away than Braize. What's Gavilar's evidence? There is Connection binding something "from Braize," but doesn't anymore limit travel between Braize and Roshar. Voidspren or Fused are the options I see. With the Oathpact still in effect, and Taln not going to return for another five years, that's got me leaning towards Voidspren. Ulim, in particular. All that being said, I don't think anyone has figured out how to get all the way off Roshar, since Nale is still there, and he appears to be the one asking in this scene.

I'm lazy, so I'm just going to repeat my previous vote: [x] Get to know your High Priestess and your attendants Songbearer is a new Returned and pretty dependent on Hera - and knows pretty much nothing about her or the Court of the Gods. He's narrowly averted a mild disaster with Quickfell, but also offended Quickfell's High Priest. Time to lean more on his own High Priestess to figure things out. (Probably a good time to start team-building with his priesthood too. Build trust and a like of their god.) [x] Find out about the other Returned from your priesthood Let's try some intelligence-led approaches here. His priesthood must know something about the other Returned. What is it?

I think that the sequel trilogy to the original Red Rising (by Pierce Brown) trilogy does a great job asking questions like this. They fought so hard to have a republic with with representatives and that creates just as many, if not more, problems than the old system.

What if Hoid resurrects Adonalsium but Adonalsium turns out to be like Hoid and it takes the cosmere on a crazy adventure of its own, which we never know? So like the ending of Narnia, for example, but with Adonalsium.

A-electrum and F-zinc gets you an epic anti-atium fighter

The literal shard of growth and evolution is on residence in Roshar. I doubt anything else is needed. I'm with @Invocation on the assisted or boosted evolution idea - but I don't think a Bondsmith was needed. Not for this. This seems like it's just something that happened because of the Nature of Roshar's ecosystem.

Brandon Sanderson is a wonderful writer, and I aspire to write as well as he does some day. He’s published about 20 books- some over 800 pages - in ten(ish) years. All very high quality. I can read and reread his books over and over and always find something new. The characters and universe are extremely well developed. The fandom is extensive -there’s fan fiction, fan art, RPs, a dedicated forum - and polite, a combination not often seen. Brandon also interacts extensively with his fans, running a blog, doing AMAs on reddit, holding question sessions, signings, and so on. We have struck gold with Brandon.

He’s overtyped, not overhyped