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Here we go . . .

I feel like I’m being called out

To all my fellow nerds: May the Fourth be with you!

One level higher: The schoolbus is a really overweight kandra.

I'm thinking Truthwatcher

Theory that Gavinor plays a major role in the back half of the stormlight archive, with his whole purpose devoted to killing the man who killed his father. He also becomes a radiant. Moash, on the other hand, has been tossed aside by Odium after becoming blind. He lives the life of a hermit on some remote part of Roshar, or maybe even on a different planet. Gavinor finds Moash, intent on killing him, only to find a pitiful, broken man with no fight left in him (think Katara finding the man who killed her mother). Gavinor stops himself and swears a Radiant Oath that is something along the lines of "I Will forgive those that have [hurt/robbed/pained] me the most."

Is Fadran gonna post a May 4th SU? Is he? Is he? Is he? Yes. Duh. You can stop asking now. It's late! Prolly not even May 4th for some of you anymore. In any case, I decided to do a last-minute piano jig of Imperial March for y'all. I haven't played it (or basically any other Star Wars song) in ages, though, so it's kinda trash. I got about half the melody wrong I think, and that's not even mentioning all the flips and flops I've got in there. Hopefully it's okay enough though. So... enjoy! Heheheheh.mp3

The end of Words of Radiance, and everything after that

Ok, so I just read Dawnshard (because I didn't realize it existed until last week) and my engineer brain has been percolating ideas for how to improve Rysn's mobility, and make her more self-sufficient. Here's an idea I've come up with. Take her chair, and affix a freely rotating crank approximately 7 inches in radius to the side of it at a height which makes reaching both the top and bottom edge of it comfortable for her. The handle of the crank will be about 6 inches out from the center, and will be -- for lack of a better term yet -- a spanreed. (We'll probably want to make this spanreed more like a belaying pin in size and shape, in reality.) Put another of these spanreed-belaying pins on a similar crank in Rysn's cabin. This crank is on an axle, but is rigidly affixed to a small diameter gear. The small diameter gear is meshed with a larger diameter gear (ratio TBD for Rysn's convenience) which is, in turn, rigidly affixed to a capstan. The capstan has a line which runs vertically, with a very small weight on the end (for stability) and a number of conjoined gemstones that match the ones in her chair. The weight and gemstone plumbob should be constrained in a tube. Yes, the selective dissociation of forces means she won't move side to side if the bob swings around, but she would bob up and down as the cosine of the arc it describes. Give the crank on Rysn's chair a setting brake so she doesn't have to worry about inadvertent vertical motion, and using the power of gear ratios and conjoined gemstones, she can crank herself both up and down. If the tube is the same height as the ship, she could go all the way from the hold to the top deck under her own power. It might even make sense to run this device from the top of the Eelsnest. It should be noted that we're not using the "opposed motion" principles of Navani's archery platform. The gemstones in Rysn's chair and on the capstan line move in the same direction, not opposite. So she's not using a counterweight to lift her, she's doing it herself with her own muscle power. -Hephaestus

I was recently pointed at this thread Has anyone mentioned that the Stormfather explicitly says that none of the other Heralds has died and returned to Braize since Aharietiam? Oathbringer chapter 38

I defeated the god master! I beat the third coliseum level! I am the greatest Fool that arena has ever seen!

Reading some fanfic. One of the comments after a particularly heartbreaking chapter was: And if that ain't the highest praise an author can receive, I don't know what is.

‘Tis a joyous day, for I have discovered that my dog answers to “Sploots McGoots”.

Just got my act scores got a 33

Like, it's not a deal-breaker or anything, but I just really hope my future girlfriend and I get each other's music. Y'know?

I’m rereading Name of the Wind and just noticed something weird. Ambrose is never actually introduced. The very first time we see him, he gets a description, and then suddenly it’s just “Ambrose put down his pen...”. He never tells Kvothe his name. It’s kinda weird. It’s on page 258 of the ebook if you wanna check it out.

Do remember that Odiums says that it's the intent of the agreement that matters, not the wording. I'm pretty sure BS added that so reader and theorists wouldn't be looking for loopholes in the wording. He hasn't had much luck, it appears.

Well, another year. I don't really have much to say this time but I want to stress this point as much as I can, particularly for new people. We are here for you. This is one of the most welcoming communities you'll ever find and if you're dealing with something, anything that you need to get out of your chest, you can talk to any of us. Mental health is not an easy subject and it's still common to disregard it as unimportant. Feels weird to say it in the middle of 2021 but a lot of people still see things like depression and axiety as normal, and that if you have them, you just have to grit your teeth and keep quiet. I have a friend who's life would be a lot easier if his family took his mental health a little more seriously. Know that you don't have to grit your teeth, that's what this thread is for. We don't only talk about books and share memes. If you want to share experiences you're in good company. If you're scared of telling your family, I know the fear, but that step can make all the difference. And if you only need an ear to listen, because I know simply talking can help sometimes, well, you have all of us. Pick the friendliest looking person, I'm sure they won't mind.

So I’m just beginning a new D&D (5e) campaign as the DM. The players are each making their characters, but don’t know each-other’s backstories just yet. One player’s character (PC) was once an assassin, eliminating high-value political targets, but had a change of heart, and now is trying to run from his bloody past, which continues to haunt him. Another PC is an aristocrat who loves to gamble at high-stakes games. His wife was murdered on the night of their wedding, by an unknown person. He has literally sold his soul to an arch-demon to find and kill his wife’s murderer. Guess who the murderer is. *Completely maniacal DM laughter*

SPOILERS AND ADDED INFORMATION: I had posted other bits of this else where in 2020 before the "Taln never broke" WOB, but consolidated all the ideas here in this post This theory and post came out before Rhythm of War, but updates have been made to include information from ROW SA5 Prologue: This is not discussed to avoid spoilers, but SA5 Prologue has some interesting information --- Weird Questions: 1) TALN BREAKING SEEMS ODD What broke Taln? He is crazy and insensate for 4000 years and then one day he says "No thank you". What could have broke Taln? And, in terms of timelines, Taln returned before the Everstorm crossed into the physical realm, so it can't be that the Everstorm freed Taln. Yes the Everstorm was in the Cognitive, but all the doom and gloom seemed to be about the Everstorm being pulled in the Physical Realm by Eshoni and her team. Since Taln returns at the end of The Way of Kings, then Taln must return in a way that is not related to Eshoni. And as I mentioned before, I don't think it makes sense that Odium suddenly found a way to break Taln after 4000 years of trying. Edit: we later got a WOB that Taln did not break 2) DAVAR FAMILY CONNECTIONS Why was the Davar family so connected to secret societies despite being a Vaden house of little note? They have connections to the Ghostbloods and the Ghostbloods have handed them a confirmed soulcaster AND possibly a Seon box. Why? And it seems Skybreakers may have been visiting as well for "reasons". As well, the Skybreakers are breaking paterns when it comes to the Davars. As far as we know, Shallan's older brother is the only Skybreaker to be using a dead blade. Is this special treatment for a member of the Davar family? And finally, Mraize seems to know the Davar family well enough to recognize the name immediately. The Davars would need to be pretty active for that name recognition to be so apparent. 3) CHILD SHALLAN AND HER IMPORTANCE Why did the cryptic go to Shallan as a child? Lift was chosen due to her strange connection to Cultivation, but why Shallan? And why twice? And what were Shallan's parents fighting about? Shallan remembers her parents having huge fights over Shallan's future starting from a very young age. What was that about? Connected to that, why is an dark influence attacking the Davar family? Why is Heleran given a shardblade and brought into the skybreakers? No other Skybreaker acolyte was given a dead-blade and sent to war (that we know of), so why is Helaran so non-standard? Shallan's parents also fight A LOT about Shallan's future. This seems to be a hint that Chanarach had a major plan for Shallan. 4) MAMA DAVAR IN THE KNOW Why was Shallan's mother so quick to try and kill "one of them". How does she know "them" so clearly? Why would she have such a quick and radical reaction? 5) MORE SECRETS What is Shallan's last secret. There is still something horrible in Shallan's past, and this has something to do with a Seon box and whatever Radiant was created to protect Shallan from. What is worse than killing testament? We also have strange internal thoughts from Shallan from WOR in Chapter 10: "The world ended; and Shallan was to blame". This thought has never been explained. What did Shallan do to end the world? "The world ended, and Shallan was to blame.- Words of Radiance, Chapter 10. Mentioned by @honorblades Another strange but overlooked instance occurs in TWoK when Shallan almost summons her Shardblade: If this is indeed Patters/Testement, then why would that Spren ask "What are you?" Testament should full-well know "what" Shallan is in terms of her being a human or a semi-radiant or anything like that. If this voice is Testament, then asking "What are you?" is very odd in my opinion. Shallan answers "I am terrified", but to me that always seemed ... not what the voice was asking Shallan. I always felt there was more to this that simply speaking truths. 6) THE FAMILY'S SAFE AND THE GLOWING LIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT (main data point for me creating this theory) People are very quick to discount Shallan's recollection of Lin Davar placing a glowing soul into a safe. I have always been very confused as to why Shallan is taken as "lying" to herself in this scene. Shallan has no reason to lie about the item being her mother's soul instead of a Shardblade. Lin Davar acted extremely quickly in that situation and made sure to place the item in that safe before dealing with any other issues. That to me is extremely telling. Why would Lin think the Shadblade wouldn't disappear eventually whenever Shallan dismissed it? Why would Lin think the Shardblade would stay in a safe if he managed to place it there quickly? Why would Lin so quickly run to place the item in the safe in the first place? Why is there an unused safe in that room? And then why do Shallan and Lin seem to continually see light coming from that safe for years and years? None of that vibes with "it is just a blade and Shallan is lying to herself" in any way. I just don't get it. Shallan having a Shardblade is not in anyway covered up by this lie, nor is the lie that Shallan killed her spren hidden by this lie either? There is no mental cover-up being done by Shallan making up a lie here. It seems everyone else dismisses Shallan, including Pattern, in favour of "Lynn put a sword in there". 7) EDIT FOR ROW: Then in ROW we get the timeline, and this does not hold up to scrutiny either. Shallan says her father put the item into the safe. WoR Shallan thinks that was a soul, but Pattern convinces her she is misremembering and that the item was a dead spren-blade. But that can't be a dead spren blade because Shallan has not unbonded Testament yet. Shallan does not think that a spren is trapped in that safe and we know this because Shallan then leaves to go speak with her spren in the garden AFTER the item is placed in the safe. Shallan acts immediately as a child in a way that doesn't even consider that her "blade" is in that safe. It just doesn't make sense to think a blade was placed into that safe based on the reactions of the two witnesses involved (which we learn Pattern is not one of) We take it from Pattern that Shallan is wrong here in her memory. However, In ROW we learn that Pattern is NOT an eyewitness to what went down in that room. Pattern sure has a lot of opinions about what Shallan saw, but Pattern was not actually there in the room and cannot actually know what Shallan saw go into the safe. Pattern assumed Shallan is lying to herself as Pattern sees many other lies around that event. But Pattern has no knowledge about who Mother-Davar was, what the safe was for, or why Skybreaker/Ghostbloods may have been in the home. Pattern is not a credible source of information on the events of that day. Shallan is the only living witness, and the actions of her father are consistent with the understanding Shallan had as a child. Shallan too noticed her father staring at the direction of the safe and the light. Only later in life is Shallan told again and again that her memory of those events are wrong by people who were not there. Both Lin and Shallan believe something is in the safe, and a sword does not match the other data points we have. There is "light" in that safe, and it is leaking out over time. And where di the blood come from? A Shardblade should not have done that. The blood has to be some other injury? The box is something. The light was something. Pattern is making assumptions and is wrong about this history with the safe. And why does Shallan see a glowing light coming from the box? Is it a soul like she believes? We learn in RoW that no herald soul can be trapped completely, and that the light of a herald will slowly leak out (is that what Shallan was seeing her whole childhood come out of the safe?). Is it her mother's soul escaping slowly to Braize? Or maybe could it be a perfect gem with Mishram inside? Who knows? But it is something. We have seen other glowing lights (Dawnshard and Dalinar hearing TwoK), so is she just mad, or did she really see something? Whatever it is, it does not make sense that Shallan thinks Testament is trapped in the safe if Shallan went and yelled at Testament after her mother was killed. Something was put into that safe, and to me the most likely answer is "her mother's soul". And firhermore, there is no reason to believe that Lin Davar would think a safe would ever prevent a Shardblade from reappearing in Shallan's hands. 8) HOID and MIDDLEFEST Hoid is downright shocked to see child-Shallan at the Middlefest celebration. Hoid sees something, but that something is unclear. When we originally read WOR, we assume HOpid is shocked to see a Radiant Child or perhaps a bonded spren. However, Shallan does not have a regular active sprenbond at the time of Middlefest, so Hoid did not see Testament or an active radiant bond There are a few things Hoid may have seen: a. Hoid saw Odium's touch on her family b. a dead-blade living-radiant connection line was still active c. the Cryptic team that watched Shallan. d. Shallan is so obviously a part of Chanarach that Hoid was gobsmacked by the resemblance. e. Shallan is noticeably different than other Rosharans due to her strange parentage. But whatever Hoid saw, it was not an active Spren Bond since we know Testament is a deadeye at that point in the story. ---- It All Put Together - A Timeline 1) JAH KAVED Chararach settled in the Davar estate in rural Jah Kaved. Chanarach is involved in several of the secret societies of Roshar just like most of the other heralds we have seen. Chanarach learns of the theory that a return of surgebinders will bring about a desolation. Chararach is completely terrified of returning to Braize and supports the culling of nascent surgebinding. Chanarach is involved in research and is a part of the search to create a method that prevents a herald from returning to Braize upon death. Kalak is also involved. 2) COMMUNICATION NETWORKS Chanarach commands a fair bit of influence and even has a Seon to communicate off world. It is unclear who knows who Chanarach is, but as she did settle in a rural area it is likely Chana's identity is not common knowledge even within secret societies (similar to Restares and Amaram). Chana exerts some form of influence and stays in-the-know with investiture theory and is able to contact others on Roshar or off-world. 3) CREATING THE SAFE Chana tries to devise a way to never return to Braize. She creates a special kind of safe that her soul could be placed in to. She thinks it will entirely prevent a return or will greatly delay her return to Braize. Chana has no way to test this as there are no herald-souls or returned-souls to experiment with. Possibly, the safe is akin to the Seon box in design or the safe may even actually be the Seon Box Shallan remembers playing with as a child? At some point, Chana tells Lin Davar what to do in case she is ever killed (place her soul into the box). In ROW we learn Kelek has some knowledge on this herald soul-leakage issue, so perhaps he was also involved in the Soul Box experiments in some way. 4) SHALLAN IS BORN Chanarach eventually has a daughter and names that daughter after her friend Shalash (Shallan says she was named after Shalash). Shallan may not be a "typical" offspring. She seems to be different from her brothers in some meaningful way. Perhaps Shallanis a cutting of Chararach or maybe Shallan conceived through some form or parthenogenetic process. Perhaps Shallan was created using breaths, as Tyn notes that Shallan seems to see colours better than most other people. EDIT: In a later WOB we learned that that non-returned Cognitive Shadows have had children Edit: In a later WOB we learned that Heralds can have children but it is complicated and effortful to do. Chana has special plans for Shallan. We know from WoR that Shallan's parents fought A LOT about Shallan's future. This implies to me that Shallan is somehow more intentionally convieved than her male siblings, and that Chana had something planned for Shallan that Lynn Davar had moral misgivings about. We are not sure what this is, but I think a lot of us will assume it has something to do with the Oathapact and/or returning to Braize. 5) SHALLAN IS DETECTED BY SPREN The Cryptics find out that one of the heralds has children or they discover a weird child who stands-out and is similar to the child of a Returned. The Cryptics send a delegation to investigate (WOB confirms heralds can have children though maybe it is difficult). At the same time, an unmade is drawn to the family. Testament begins to bond Shallan similar to what happened with Lift. Shallan eventually discovers what her mother is by playing with a Seon box at the Davar estate. The unmade's influence increases in an attempt to get the Herald to go insane and potentially get herself killed by Lin Devar or Shallan. 6) SHALLAN IS DETECTED BY SKYBREAKERS Shallan is discovered to be a surge binder by her mother. Her mother, fearing a return to Braize, refers to Shallan as "one of them". Note that Chanarach does not seem surprised that surgebinders are real. Chanarach has an absolute PTSD breakdown and attacks her daughter. Lin, who likely knew, steps in and Shallan is able to kill her mother in self defence. Lin Devar takes something and locks it away in the safe. We are told this is the Shardblade and Shallan's mother's soul. Shallan goes to the garden to scream at Testament and break her bond AFTER Testament is supposedly locked away in the safe. This timeline does not make sense even if we believe Testament could escape the safe. Why does Shallan believe her spren was trapped but also then in the garden? And how is Testament-blade = her mother's soul? There isn't a connection there logically. 7) SHALLAN KILLS A HERALD AND THEN TALKS TO TESTAMENT IN THE GARDEN After Shallan kills her mother, Shallan goes to Testament and breaks her bond. It is possible Testament told her more here as well. Shallan then begins to repress everything since Shallan has, in her mind, done the most evil act in history. "The world ended, and Shallan was to blame.- Words of Radiance, Chapter 10. Mentioned by @honorblades 8) CORRUPTION SETS IN Lin Devar begins to be corrupted even more. Lin also has mental guilt and wrestles with killing his herald-wife to save his daughter. He beings to protect Shallan at all costs for reasons that may be more than just guilt. Then Davar family hell ensues. The ghostbloods continue to cultivate the family. The Ghostbloods may not believe a herald could be killed by Lin or may not know she was a Herald. The Cryptics stay with Shallan as they don't blame her for what happened. They are still curious about what Shallan is and are researching what happens to a bonded-deadeye to its original radiant. The dark influence in the house may be more than an unmade as well. One of Chana's divine attributes is "obedient". I think this is significant. Lin is driven to rage every time one of his children will not obey him, and the word obey is emphasized many times. It may be possible the Lin's rage was a dark consequence of something Chana was doing, the safe's magical effects, or something else. It is also possible that Lin thought his children would inherit the divine attribute, and the fact they dont obey him drives him to rage. 9) BRAIZE AND SOUL LEAKAGE Chanarach returns to Braize. It may have taken some time for her to get to Braize. It seems the soul is leaking out of the safe over time (ROW: as we see with Jezrian in the gem). Or maybe it takes 5 years to find Chana on Braize since arrival was unexpected and because in earlier returns the heralds were able to "hide" for some time. Either way, the other heralds do not know that that has happened as they cannot detect the pain-bond while on Roshar. Edit: Ishar created the oathpact so he may be able to sense changes in it. 10) HOID SEES SHALLAN Shallan, with no bond, goes to Middlefest. Wit's magic or memory allow him to detect that there is something very strange about Shallan. Wit somehow knows what Shallan fights "is not truly natural" and encourages her to make a path for the light. It is unclear what Wit saw, but he knew more than the fact she was a surgebinder (even though she's actually a deadeye-binder at the time). 11) CHANA IS CAPTURED ON BRAIZE Chanarach is eventually found on Braize. For some reason, Chana either breaks to the pain or gives in to some deal Odium offers. It may have taken a while or been immediate. What is strange is that Chana has not been seen returning to Roshar, either Chana took some deal meaning she did not have to return or perhaps she intentionally landed somewhere remote. 12) TALN RETURNS WITHOUT BREAKING THE OATH Taln returns to Roshar completely insane and without breaking. What happens to Chanarach is unknown. All assume Taln broke. 13) SHALLAN BEGINS TO REMEMBER THAT HER MOTHER WAS A HERALD Radiant is created from memories of Shallan's mother. Or potentially, Radiant is somehow part of Chanarach. Radiant dresses in the same blue and red warrior outfit as the Herald Chanarach in artworks. Radiant is Shallan's repressed memories of who her mother was. It is also possible that Radiant is in someway Shallan's mother (connection mumbo jumbo and cognitive shadow stuff along with cultivation weirdness possibilities) Here is a description of Radiant: “She [Radiant] had chosen to wear her vakama; the traditional Vaden’s warrior clothing. It was similar to the Alethi takama but the skirt was pleeted instead of straight. She wore a loose matching coat with a tight vest and shirt beneath. The bright clothing features vibrant blues embroidered over reds with gold woven between and it had trim on the skirt” Here is Chanarach: 14) TESTEMENT MEMORIES Shallan is forced to confront what happened with Testament, and Radiant begins to see that she must help Shallan deal with her final truth. [Option 1] Shallan knows she killed a herald and that she sent her mother to damnation - possibly ending the world and starting the final desolation. [Option 2] Shallan does not know her mother was a herald, but will put that together in regards to the "hole" in her memory"

I know there's a contingent on the forums who think that Todium will choose a child-champion and that this will cause Dalinar to either break the contract or lose the contest of champions by refusing to fight/kill the child. But let's set that aside for a minute, and consider what I think is a simpler and more likely way that Todium might manipulate events so that Dalinar breaks the contract. First, here are the three key contractual terms with which the parties must comply: On the tenth day of the month Palah, tenth hour, each side must send a willing champion The champions must be allowed to meet at the top of Urithiru, otherwise unharmed by either side's forces The champions participate in a contest to the death These are the terms that, if violated, would constitute a breach of contract. Now, if you're Todium looking for a way to maneuver Dalinar into breaking the contract, which of these would you try to exploit? Number 1 doesn't seem likely. It's pretty hard to see how Todium could arrange things so that Dalinar either doesn't show up to be his own champion or fails to send an appointed champion. To maneuver Dalinar into violating number 3, Todium would have to find a way to ensure that either Dalinar's champion doesn't participate in the contest at all, or that his champion quits the contest before one champion dies. Again, I struggle to see how Todium can arrange things in a way where he can be sure that Dalinar's champion will violate this provision. (Please let's not go down the child champion rabbit hole; there are enough other threads where folks have been through those arguments ad nauseam) That leaves number 2, which I think has the most wiggle room and the most factors that Todium might be able to control. The reason for this is that the terms forbid either side's forces from harming either champion. Dalinar would violate this provision if someone from his forces harmed Todium's champ. But it would also be a violation if someone from his forces harmed Dalinar (or his champion, if he changes his mind about being his own champ). So Todium can plot on two fronts - manipulating someone into harming Dalinar (or his champ) and also manipulating someone into harming his own champ. If he's successful with either, that's a violation of the contract. For Dalinar, I imagine there are plenty of folks out there with a lingering grievance against him from his Blackthorn days. Or, perhaps there's a religious zealot who hates Dalinar for his blasphemy against the Vorin church. I'm sure there are other options as well, but suffice it to say that I imagine there are a significant number of folks out there who might, given the opportunity, take a shot at Dalinar. For Todium's champ, who's the most hated person you can think of on his side, someone that a number of characters would probably like to harm? Storming Moash. Todium can make him his champion, then try to manipulate Gavinor, or someone from Bridge Four into taking him out. Again, there are probably lots of other folks out there that might want a piece of Moash. And if the scheme doesn't work, with Moash now blind, there's still the possibility that Dalinar's champion may think that it's not a fair or honorable fight. Alternatively, depending on how his story plays out in Book 5, Szeth might be another option for a Todium champ that lots of folks would probably like vengeance against. Actually, Szeth is also a prime candidate for someone that Todium might try to manipulate into harming one of the champs. Manipulating Szeth is, after all, T's go-to move. There are two main problems I can think of with this theory. One is that I may just be reading the language of the agreement too technically. Dalinar says "otherwise unharmed by either side's forces" but it could be that what he meant - and what Odium understood him to mean - was "unharmed by the other side's forces." But the terms of the contest of champions seem like the type of thing where Brandon would be very intentional in his word choice. And reading the terms the way I suggest fits with Todium's realization of the subtle opportunities available to him. Another problem with this theory is that I'm not entirely certain who is considered to be part of Dalinar's forces. Further, would a person be considered to have defected if they moved against Dalinar's champ or harmed Todium's champion against Dalinar's will? I don't think these issues kill the theory; they're more things that would have to be addressed and sorted out. In conclusion, this seems to me like a much more straightforward route to arranging things so that Dalinar's forces cause him to break the contract. What do y'all think?

Happy mental health awareness month!

tLM: 15%!!

Yes, that was my intent. And my Intent. I carry the Shard of being frugal with crossbows.

The big issue I have with this is that it has to be Dalinar or Odium that break their word. The whole point of it would be to put one in the other's power, by "creating a hole in their soul" according to Rayse. For a gambit like this to work, it would have to be Dalinar himself Intentionally breaking the agreement. We saw in Oathbringer that trickery and deceit don't work with these kind of divine agreements. There has to be Intent. A solider from one side acting out might be an excuse to hold off or modify the agreement, but not to beat the other side. Plus, Taravangian wants the agreement to go ahead, one way or another. He wants peace on Roshar. I think he doesn't care which side wins - he'll be scheming to make sue he's happy whatever the outcome, not rolling dice in the hearts of men like Rayse.

When you’re listening to the song “Brown-Eyed Girl” and you expect it to go “Youuuu’re my darkeyed girl”

Stormlight Collectible Card Game.

The Nightwatcher: Hey Odium! I'm thinking of making the Valley into an automated system so I have some more me time. Odium: Tell me more. N: Well, I’ll put two pieces of Investiture out in the Valley for people to take. One is for a boon, the other for a bane. I'll put a sign out telling people to take one of each. O: Interesting. But how will you know people won't just take a boon? N: Oh, it's honor system. O: ._.

Well, I doubt Honor + Odium would become "War", since shards never seem to have the same name as their light. I think they may become something like Harmony since they are very different (almost opposite) shards. I think perhaps, the name/form a fused shard has depends partly on the vessel, since I believe there is a a WoB on how Harmony could just as easily have become "Discord", so Honor + Odium could become a Harmony synonym perhaps. Besides that though, Hatred/Passion but with Honor/Integrity makes me think of some sort of idealized war, the sorta glorious think people who haven't been to war think of. Only problem is this seems rather similar to the Shard "Valor". Honor and Cultivation, I think back to what Navani says when she and the Sibling made Tower Light for the first time, she called it "The Song of Science itself". The issue is, that may have been said because she found out how to do this with science, and not that the Intent of the Rhythm was science. Plus there's already a Ingenuity Shard. Honor/Law with Cultivation/Life makes me think of like Civilization, though that's a weird name for a shard. Cultivation and Odium, some sort of hateful life? I think I'd call the light "Plaugelight", but idk about the shard itself. Maybe if you think of it like Cultivated (planned/thought out) hatred, you could call the shard something like Revenge or Grudge? Honor + Odium = "Glory" or "Harmony" with Warlight Honor + Cultivation = "Civilization" with Tower/Science Light Cultivation + Odium = "Revenge" with Plaugelight? All three, I have no idea, maybe that's a better fit for Civilization?

Hoo, boy, here we go. To say that the last year has changed me profoundly would be an understatement. This year brought some of my darkest moments, but also some of my brightest. I’ve yet to be officially diagnosed with anxiety, but I don’t think you need a diagnosis to know that something is very, very wrong. Like with a physical ailment, you see the signs, deal with the pain, all before you see the diagnosis. I had my first major anxiety attack in November of 2019, and both before and after, I’ve had this weight on my mind. It never leaves, and at this point, I don’t expect it to. I almost can’t imagine my life without anxiety. A year ago, I was stuck in my house, seeing pretty much nobody but my family save for over video call. I felt so alone at so many points. That didn’t change when I was able to see people again either. I can feel alone in a group of people, even if they are my best friends. My anxiety whispers that there is nothing but loneliness. The first day of school came, finally back in person, and I slipped into the background, thinking that nobody noticed me. This fall, I’m headed off to college. My anxiety is almost overwhelming when I think too much about it. But I’ve learned to find strength from others. Serving others has a power in it—when we turn our hearts outward, looking for the people who need help, we receive help in return. I have incredible people in my life, from my parents to my girlfriend to all of my best friends—they bless my life every day. I recently started therapy, and that has allowed me to find strength in myself as well. My message to you all: There is hope. Even in your darkest moments. Without the darkness, there could not be light. Find strength, wherever that may come from. There is no one size fits all treatment, but there is power in enduring. Enduring is a battle that lasts forever, but it’s a battle worth fighting. Never forget that. Fight that battle, and come out the other side stronger than before.

This is great. I forgot about his wanting to tell Dalinar something to help him. Only thing I add is how he always exemplified Odium's "blame me" "let me have the pain" M.O. since book 1. In addition, Rayse liked to be worshipped and Taravangian does in his way as well.The chip on his shoulder and insecurity about his potential "diminished capacity" from his difficult birth lend him to being needy in that way. This goes underscores your point on him needing to be THE hero to save everyone, he can't let it be Dalinar. "It is better for one man to sin than for a people to be destroyed" WoK Ch. 71 "He worshipped only one god now. The man he was on that day" RoW I-14 "I must hang all four men." He paused "And I would weep, every night for having done it." OB Ch 28 "Taravangian finally faced something greater than himself: a different version of himself." OB I-5

I've sorted through what I think are the 5 possible outcomes of the contest of champions based on the terms discussed, and which seems most likely. Possibility 1: Dalinar wins Impact on Roshar: Odium returns Herdaz and Alethkar, but keeps the other lands he's conquered. Odium vows to cease hostilities and maintain the peace Impact on wider Cosmere: fairly minimal; although Odium does say that he will be able to focus his attentions on sending agents to the rest of the cosmere using what he had conquered Narrative impact on SA back 5: kinda boring; it's hard to see what the conflict would be and why the back 5 would focus on the Heralds (whose original purpose was to seal away the Fused) Likelihood: moderate to low Possibility 2: Odium wins Impact on Roshar: Odium keeps everything he's won, but will still cease hostilities. Impact on wider Cosmere: greater than with Possibility 1; Odium remains bound to the system but now has a wider pool of Rosharans to send out as agents, most notably the terrifying prospect of Fused Dalinar (assuming Odium can figure out the Connection problem) Narrative impact on SA back 5: less boring; sets the stage for a longer-term rebellion by our remaining heroes; although Odium still offered to cease hostilities one imagines that would not continue if the humans continue to fight; fits with the focus on the Heralds and possibly trying to reforge the Oathpact to seal away the Fused again Likelihood: moderate to high Possibility 3: Odium breaks the contract Impact on Roshar: pretty freaking big; Odium would be in Dalinar's power and would have a hole in his soul that would allow Cultivation to kill him Impact on wider Cosmere: also big; removes the biggest known threat to the remaining Shards Narrative impact on SA back 5: again this would seem boring; what's the conflict unless Cultivation does something crazy? Likelihood: very low, too much has been invested in the danger of Odium as a Shard and Taravangian as a vessel Possibility 4: Dalinar breaks the contract Impact on Roshar: big; Dalinar would be in Odium's power and the restrictions Honor placed placed on him - chaining him to the Rosharan system and preventing him from using his power on most individuals - would be void; Odium would no longer need to cease hostilities but we know that he mainly wants out of the Rosharan system, so maybe not super terrible for Roshar Impact on wider Cosmere: terrible Narrative impact on SA back 5: it becomes harder to imagine any kind of effective rebellion against Odium, which would make it all the more satisfying if they could pull it off Likelihood: moderate to low, I initially considered this just low, but given the prevalence of the child-champion theory (to which I do not subscribe, but which I think properly belongs in this category: one champion is capable of killing the other but refuses) I bumped it up to moderate to low Possibility 5: The contest results in a tie; no winner; some other shenanigans Impact: ??? ??? ??? Likelihood: moderate to high, if only because it's been heavily foreshadowed and seems to keep the most options open for where the story goes, both for Roshar and the wider Cosmere That's where I come down. Most likely outcomes are tie/shenanigans or Odium winning the contest. Are there other possibilities I'm missing?

It's time.

I think most people will agree that the Night of Sorrows is not a synonym for the Everstorm or the True Desolation. Here's my new take on what the Night of Sorrows could be. In Stormlight 5, Dalinar loses the contest of champions. How exactly? Not important. However, after losing the contest, Dalinar is now sworn to serve Odium. Taravangian is a smart dude, and he's almost certainly going to find a way off of Roshar. Well actually, if Dalinar serves Odium, Odium can simply make Dalinar release him, so that's that. SO. Odium now owns Dalinar, and Odium decides he wants to go somewhere else in the Cosmere and do some exploring. He firgures why not take my new Bondsmith servant with me? Dalinar leaves Roshar too, and along with Dalinar, the Stormfather. So what happens if the Stormfather is no longer on Roshar? I think that results in the loss of Stormlight. Maybe highstorms still happen, but they no longer replenish Stormlight. This is the Night of Sorrows. Roshar now loses its primary resource for Investiture, and is forced into finding it someway else. Not only would this have catastrophic consequences for Roshar, but it could lead very nicely into the Kelsier/Ghostbloods plot. Kelsier wants to figure out how to transfer Investiture across worlds, and Roshar would all of sudden be VERY interested in that too. Era 2 of Stormlight could become a much more Cosmere-wide series, with multiple characters from multiple worlds interacting with each other on a regular basis. Finding and saving Dalinar could be of utmost importance, among tons of other stuff Brandon has in store for us.

If it's not too late, would it be possible for you to send me chapters 2 & 3?

The other viewpoint characters will all be members of the Skyward Flight on Detritus, as it seems: That means there's not much to choose from. Besides FM, probably Kimmalyn and Jorgen, since those have been established as important characters and are popular with the fan base.

Atium is like an investiture black hole, you can push on it because at that level the rules start breaking.

Happy Birthday!

GAY BUS!

I LOVE THIS THEORY! The moment I saw saw the title I immediately started theorizing on how this could work. I haven’t re-read the rithmatists in a while so I couldn’t point out some of the holes in this theory I’m sure there are, but, overall, this is such a cool thought!

Mistborn Tarot: Suit of Spears The Suit of Spears represents the Mists and is symbolic of the Cognitive Realm and the Mind. The suit is centered around the Intellect. It is led by the Survivor and this deck is often associated with him. As such, it is said to represent knowledge, action, power, and change. The Suit of Spears symbolizes action, change, force, power, oppression, ambition, courage and conflict. It can also indicate anger, guilt, harsh judgement, a lack of compassion and verbal and mental abuse. The suit represents the Preservative and Ruinous nature of actions. Those who are primarily Spears are often intelligent, thoughtful, rational, logical and excellent communicators. They can also be ruthless, domineering, confrontational and rigid. The Suit of Spears is said to represent Hemalurgy. It has been noted by some readers that this Suit does not feature Harmony in any form. This is the only suit not to include the Mistborn of the other suits in its imagery. On Earth this suit would be known Swords and in a standard deck would correspond to Spades.