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I will soon release three different test's on your knowledge of the Cosmere. You will be tested on: A cosmere case study Shadesmar and Spren Knight's Radiant powers and how they work Study the effect of a shard shattering/splintering on an area of the Cosmere The systems and structure of the Cosmere Allomancy Any questions please ask, just as long as long as they don't spoil the actual questions and are instead focused on the topics:

Time to yeet in some random art without context.

Hi everyone, I had to sign up to make this post since it's something that's been bothering me a whole lot, and that's our dear Shallan Davar. In the first book, she was alright. I actually enjoyed her studying with Jasnah and all the spooky stuff that happened with Pattern. But by the second book, everything started going downhill so fast. By the time the split persona thing started coming out, it was too late. I absolutely despise Veil, she's such a tiresome character and is essentially just Shallan's powerfantasy (that has plot armor and cannot fail, of course). In RoW, I get actual physical cringe from reading her chapters. The personalities "taking her over", and other characters having to deal with that to not offend her is just so awkward. Poor Adolin, he was my favorite character in the series but now he's just delegated to a body pillow for Shallan. I won't even dare hope that she gets killed somehow, since apparently she can just casually take a crossbow bolt to the head and shrug it off, thanks to her super awesome radiant powers. This ties into another major gripe I've been dealing with in Stormlight - how there's just no stakes anymore. Everything's so meta, the world doesn't feel nearly as real and intriguing as before. I suppose nothing good ever lasts though.

Alright, I figure this is probably the post that will make me hated on this forum and shunned for life, but this has been an issue for me for a while so I'd like to see if it can be resolved. I don't get why a vast majority of the commentary and opinions I see on Jasnah are so positive. I honestly can't remember a time I've seen someone not like Jasnah. But to be honest, that's how I feel about her, especially after her few chapters in Rhythm of War. This last book pushed me from generally disliking her to being actively annoyed during her chapters. So, I guess I'd like to know why everyone seems to be such big fans of her. I don't want to dislike her, especially since she'll apparently be the focus of one of the books in the back half of the series, and I'd prefer not to be super annoyed with a lot of that book. I considered using this thread to explain in detail why I don't like her, but I'm worried that has too much of a possibility of me turning this thread into a rant, which I'd like to avoid. In general, I just find her unrealistically perfect and pretty much a Mary Sue as well as generally lacking in uniqueness and any really interesting qualities. So what is it y'all find interesting about her? What is it I am missing that really pulls her character into to the heights everyone else sees? I genuinely want to know.

FYI: I have only read Stormlight Archive, Warbreaker and Mistborn Era 1 and Secret History. This theory is based on what I know about hoid till now. Anyone who has read the other cosmere works, please correct me where I am wrong. Hoid usually is very content with he does. He seems to be in control most of times, nothing really surprises him anymore. He is one of the oldest beings in the cosmere and one of the most knowledgeable. His persona is of a chaotic trickster with no allegiance to anyone. And that is very much true to his real personality. But Roshar is where we have seen him be most... human. Rosharans surprise Wit a lot. For ex he is flabbergasted about something when he sees young Shallan at the marketplace ( we have no idea why. Not important to the theory, just mentioned it) He is at a genuine loss for words when shallan hugs him years later. I don't think he expected for shallan to be affectionate towards him. He is again shocked when Kaladin asks him for a story, saying that 'no one has ever asked that'. Also hoid is at his most wholesome with Shallan and Kaladin, giving them very heartfelt therapy- story sessions.'Accept the pain, don't think you deserve it' and 'You will be warm again' can make me tear up. He is very helpful this time for protecting the planet( instead of Mistborn where he accelerates the danger). He also has a romantic interest in Jasnah. He is also very open about his belief in a god. The main theme is that hoid is developing actual human connections with the Rosharans, something he has never had before. This will end only in tragedy. Because taravangian Brandon has confirmed that Taravangian completely ' hornswoggled' hoid in the epilogue. Hoid did feel true terror there. He did lose some of his memories. Hoid, for the first time, has been actually hurt in a confrontation. Brandon also said that Hoid will find out what happened in the lead up to the contest. (Prolly with the metalminds) This dude has not felt fear in maybe 7000 years, who says Hoid won't overreact? Because hoid was really motivated in having rayse- odium bound to the system. And todium has proven himself to be far superior of a threat already. There is also a lot of foreshadowing that Hoid will betray Roshar. When he talks to Dalinar, he says 'i will burn this world down to get what I want, even with tears'. He repeatedly tells shallan and Jasnah not to trust people. At the end of RoW, Dalinar has to choose between trusting odium and wit I think we will see Hoid betray the people of Roshar in a cruel,stone-cold way just to make sure todium stays bound. I don't know exactly how, but it will happen. The good guys will have to fix what he did too and some damage could be irreparable. He will definitely lose all his friends and this time, he will have genuine sadness and tears. This time? Yes, because hoid has definitely betrayed Roshar before. During the first desolation. We know he knew the heralds (as midius). Isn't it interesting that stonewards are associated with topaz and they swear an oath to be where they are needed? Two things common with hoid? Also doesn't rayse seem just a little too angry when he reads 'cephandrius' name in the contract. Like he really, really hates hoid for some reason. Is it because all of this has happened before, like this? Hoid bring up the idea of the oathpact and the heralds. Because whose plan was this exactly? Who the heralds bring up the idea of eternal torture themselves. No this seems cruel enough to be hood's idea He was meant to be the the tenth herald, the stoneward-ish herald, but the moment the oathpact was created, his business was done and he left the planet, leaving the Rosharans to panic. Taln steps up for the job and the rest his history. I think in this case Hoid knew that taln was going to pick his place. But what he did was still a betrayal. He just doesn't care much This time, he will care What do you guys think?

So in an earlier post, I outlined my theory that in book 5 there will be an event called night of sorrows, and one of my main predictions is that the stormfather dies. Tldr: There is a lot of foreshadowing for stormfather's sacrifice and learning mercy by choosing not to kill people in his storm. However this will prolly have unintended consequences. Like the total splintering of Honor's investiture. I think anti-stormlight will be used to kill a weakened stormfather( after showing mercy) in a very specific way. Stormlight will become very limited. The darkest point of the book, where we almost lose hope Now we know humans have a connection to Honor. The rhythm of anti stormlight sounds horrible to Navani, just like how the rhythm of anti-voidlight is horrible to fused' ears. But If honor is completely splintered? I predict that humans will lose that intrinsic connection and not be properly able to sing it. Things will look dire. Fanfic Time: I imagine Navani and Dalinar in a room after something catastrophic happens. Navani laments that it's all her fault. Dalinar would disagree and tell her not to blame herself. He will confess that he thinks there is no way to win against odium. Then he will say something like " If this is our destination, as long as my heart beats, I will keep resisting" Navani rests her head against his chest, somehow comforted by his decision. Then hears it "Honor's rhythm is orderly and staccato" Lub Dub. Lub Dub. Lub Dub. Lub Dub....... "Honor still lives in the hearts of men" I predict that Navani will realize that the beat of a heart( both human or singer) is the beat to sing the rhythm of Honor and be one step closer to reviving Honor Evidence: The wierd ten heartbeats rule for Shardblades. We know that the deadeye spren is getting partially revived everytime. Is it because it literally hears and connects with Honor? Thoughts?

Hi!! I'm a long time reader, and crazy obsessed fan.

Hi all, a quick question for everyone. As we know, Hoid and Jasnah are now romantically involved. I'm not going to lie––I was definitely a bit surprised here. My personal theories had been that Hoid was carrying a torch for someone from his past and that Jasnah didn't want a romantic interest, but here we are. I would usually never complain about a well-balanced intellectual relationship between some of the most beloved characters in the series, but I'm a bit concerned for these two. First of all, Hoid and Jasnah are both incredibly ambitious individuals. They both have their own agendas and, while they may line up at the moment, I'm not sure how much longer that will last. We know Hoid has to have some sort of end goal, but is it even something that we would consider "good" and not "evil"? We can't tell. He's been working to achieve something for thousands of years, so I think it's unlikely that he would stop for a single romantic interest, unless his relationship with Jasnah develops pretty seriously over the course of the series. Also, Jasnah has a very strong set of convictions and morals. She probably wouldn't change her entire mindset around just to accommodate any sort of emotional intimacy with Hoid, even if she enjoys it. In my opinion, while they both like being in a romantic relationship, they're both using each other for something. Hoid requires a social standing and access to resources (and an incentive not to kill him, even when he's being... himself), which Jasnah can provide him. Jasnah, on the other hand, is a scholar at heart. She wants knowledge about the Cosmere and its workings, and who better to aid her than the worldhopping, quick-witted menace himself? Another point of concern for me stems from the language that they use. Hoid tells Jasnah that he loves her for her paranoia, out of all of her qualities. I thought this was a little bit suspicious. It definitely doesn't seem romantic; if anything, it seems like he's seeking protection from something. Jasnah's paranoia could be keeping them both alive, sure, but a constant state of stress is not something that someone wishes on a partner. This seems especially unbalanced when we take into account the fact that his presence seems to put Jasnah at ease. At the very least, they seem to have some... minor communication issues. A third thing could be Jasnah's asexuality. Hoid doesn't seem to be completely considerate of that, hoping that his kisses and touch can spark something in her, when that's just not how it works. Jasnah does participate in physical intimacy for his pleasure, but I still think he should be more understanding about her preferences. To be honest, I'm kind of rooting for them. Hoid and Jasnah would make an unstoppable power couple, and I genuinely believe that they like one another and that they could actually fall in love. They just need to have a serious talk about what they want from each other, how far their relationship will go (unofficial lovers? marriage? plenty of possibilities), and their personal plans for both the near and far future. And if they decide that they can't speak about those things, well... that kind of speaks for itself. For future Stormlight books, I would love to see one's reaction when the other is in serious danger (it might be a bit difficult to find a circumstance that could kill Hoid, but Nightblood's on Roshar, so anything is possible). With any strong relationship––especially romantic ones––a reaction in that situation says a lot about the personalities of and dynamic between the two characters. And, I know between now and the next Stormlight book, I'm definitely going to be looking through everything Cosmere with a fine-toothed comb for mentions of Hoid and his end goals. Hoid and Jasnah are both already so interesting as individuals, so there's obviously a lot to analyze when considering them together. Thoughts? Opinions? P.S. I almost considered doing an astrology-esque analysis of Radiant order compatibility. Are a Lightweaver and an Elsecaller as meant to be as an Aries and a Libra? Or are they completely doomed, like a Taurus and a Leo? (I'm sorry if these relate to your life in any way––just picked the first ones off of Google. ) If anyone has actually done a zodiac-style analysis of the Radiants, I would love to see it. If not... well then. I guess I have a new project on my hands?

So I showed the show to some friends who have never read the books, and they really like it which is awesome, but we were coming up with acronyms for all the different characters. Lan: Legendary Asian Ninja Rand: Redhead antisimp noble dude. (antisimp because he and Egwene are drifting apart in the show as of episode 4) Mat: Manly alone time. (Not sure where this one came from.) Perrin: Perfectly Exquisite Really Really Interesting Nihilist Egwene: (not an acronym, but) Egwana, like the lizard thing Moraine: Motherly or rambunctious actually intelligent nice expediciant. Most of these make zero sense, but I thought they might be a little bit funny.

I'm using an "Incorrect Quotes Generator" for Spensa and Jorgen, and I'm not disappointed... these are gold.

Wow!! What an idea! I have never thought of this before. This is very interesting indeed. It think this actually makes sense because personally, I view the ultimate ending of Stormlight to be some sort of reconciliation between the 3 Shards on Roshar as well as, broadly, the Singers & Humans. Having a single storm that fuels both magic systems would make sense in this regard.

Alright, I have finally caught up to episode four, so I will post my thoughts and then will probably post again once season one is ended. I freaking love the show. Episode one wasn't great so I was a little worried, but the episodes just kept getting better. I think the casting is great and everything is well written and acted. The Lan and Nynaeve romance is awesome, and a bit more obvious than in the book. I like it. Most of what I have to say is about the changes from the book. I really should have anticipated them because every adaptation has changes, but since I didn't really think about it some caught me off guard. Some of the changes I really liked, and some I didn't as much. The good outweighs the bad though. Okay. These are my thoughts. Overall I really like the show, and like the fact that on aggregate it is different.

I haven't gotten that far yet. Why they decided to implement a lives system, I have no idea. Every third time I die, I restart at the beginning of the game and have to walk all the way back to whatever dungeon I'm at. And those dungeons are hard. I only beat the first one by making a save state right outside the boss so I didn't have to restart every three deaths.

There is one other possibility we haven't mentioned, The Death Rattle specifically states, dying storms, I think instead of having two storms we will end the book by having one, The Everstorm and the HIghstorm will fuse into a singular storm.

Hmmm, my understanding is that Podbean and a variety of these podcast apps always go off the RSS feed. Individual podcasts don't manually post these to any of these services nor do these services actually host the audio file itself. So either it loads off of the podcast's RSS feed (which hasn't changed). Many simply grab iTunes's information, and iTunes is just grabbing from the same old RSS feed. I am not sure why it wouldn't be loading the new stuff on Podbean as there is plenty of stuff on the RSS feed itself. You should be able to subscribe directly on most apps via the RSS feed: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:102123174/sounds.rss Anyway, I will try to figure out why this might be happening, but I really don't know currently. I looked at Podbean's entry and it does link to the correct RSS feed, and the RSS feed definitely has the most recent stuff there... I couldn't hazard a guess as to why it's not working on Podbean's end.

My thought is that this is how we get back his ship, he would be able to manifest a shape he knows, just like the delvers manifest as big versions of the drone orb.

If atium was actually an alloy then we don’t know what an atium mind does do we?

Episode 4 was the best one yet, and the biggest divergence from the books. Just guess to show that book "faithfulness" isn't always best. The books do several things better, that a TV show simply can't do. But its easily doing some things better. I think there's room for improvement, but for the most part this show just keeps getting better.

I know I have one LG with Burnt - that one is definitely on the backburner (sorry, couldn't resist the pun ) The idea was complicated (tldr; Murder on the Orient Express where players can send in any action they want) and the rules need to be simplified for it to be playable and that takes time and energy we don't have right now. But that wouldn't have been marked (feb-may) anyway.

See, I agree with this completely - but I am *very* concerned that Brandon's trying to write love here. His romances are often lacking some subtleties, and I think he might actually believe he's writing a romance here, where in reality their relationship is something more complicated. It definitely doesn't read to me like a hetero ace interest - it reads like an allo person's idea of an ace person in a romantic relationship. (I would love for Brandon to prove me wrong here, though.)

I, too, have some Cytonic memes! Here's a non-spoilery one: This next meme has Cytonic spoilers under the cut: And finally, some miscellaneous incorrect quotes between Jorgen and Spensa that don't really pertain to Cytonic but I thought were too funny not to post. Spoilered for length; there are no Cytonic spoilers.

My interpretation is similar. Basically, in that moment, Rayse recognizes Dalinar as someone he killed -- either Tanavast or Adonalsium (the latter lines up better with "we killed you," rather than "I killed you," but the former makes more sense given Dalinar's direct connection to Honor). Probably there were spiritual shenanigans via connection, so Rayse literally felt, heard, and/or saw that former deity in Dalinar. I don't think we need to assume there were additional shardholders between Adonalsium and the 16 that killed him (aside from dawnshard holders, of course).

I got my question asked! My breakdown: If I wasn't 100% behind Soulburner being a videogame before, I am now. I think there's a not small chance that Soulburner is actually the PS4 game Forspoken. Reddit sniffed out a couple of sources a few months ago, and the information from that speculation has been proved accurate. Add in Brandon's comment about doing a call with a videogame company earlier this week, and it feels like there's something brewing. This also matches up with Brandon not being able to tell us anything IMO. The only problem is why Brandon would have an NDA so far into this project when others seemingly don't. And that's something I can't answer. Other things of note: I asked Steven Bohls if he and Brandon have any cool ideas for the next Lux book in terms of cool settings or cities - he mentioned that Book 5 will most likely be set in the New Orleans bayou/deep swamp area. (Or at least that's what he'd like.) It will most likely be a shorter book, at around 100k words overall; and there's a good chance that Mizzy will be a major POV character in the next book. Fun fact - Mizzy was supposed to show up in Lux, as Jax was supposed to go from Boston through New York, meet Mizzy and see Regalia flood the city, and then end up in Texas. This part ended up being cut as it was too tangential to the story. (Wingflare's original gimmick was going to be sound and a sound effect, but this was cut - as were most sound effects - as it felt too much like a gimmick.) Brandon currently wants Lux to be a trilogy, and the second book in that trilogy may be released sometime next November. (The two have ideas, but they were waiting on some sales reports and contract stuff first, and that may have just arrived this past week.) Dan is writing the novelization of Dark One at the moment. It's not following the outline, so don't expect it to end up like the graphic novel (sadly). Dan is planning on this being about a 100-120k novel overall. Janci unofficially announced more Skyward novellas, with a surprise POV character for one of them coming up. Brandon will give the official announcement tomorrow/today. This isn't really big spoiler-y or surprising news, as Janci a few months ago mentioned that there were things she couldn't talk about related to Skyward and that we can infer from there, and then Brandon mentioned that he had talks with Janci during his 11/19 SandoWriMo update - the one where he also talks about a meeting with a videogame company. Brandon Q&A tidbits, all paraphrased: Hoid should not be a Rosharan and Yolish Lightweaver, as it's getting close to something related to Dawnshards. There are other Surges related to Yolish magic. There are other Godmetals that can be used/burned by anyone. The "Crown, Tower, Spear" Death Rattle has not happened yet, either on-screen or off-screen.

I like it. Makes a ton of sense, and nothing I can think of rules any of it out. Fits well with my speculation that Jasnah and Hoid are heading towards an ugly breakup, followed by an EPIC "evil ex" dynamic - two powerful, resourceful, and dangerous people who used to love each other but are now bitter enemies. Nothing would get Jansah fired up more than Hoid betraying her trust and throwing all of Roshar under the bus.

No luck cracking this one yet, which is frustrating because we’re told that it doesn’t move. And our characters use its fixed position to navigate, but they never tell us just how they’re using it. OB 112: I mean, c’mon Brandon, just tell us that they’re keeping the distant sun to their right or left or behind them or heading towards it. In RoW 75 there’s another missed opportunity. Adolin is looking out from Lasting Integrity describing what he sees in different directions. But again it’s not clear which direction the sun is: It seems like maybe we can infer that - since he’s seeing the beads reflecting the light while looking toward Tukar - the sun is in that direction? Which would be North I think. But it’s not clear, and light and shadows seem to behave strangely in Shadesmar so who knows.

I don’t think the Ire could have a fabrial. They couldn’t have gotten it to Scadrial. To get a fabrial off Roshar, you need to get a spren off Roshar, and while it’s been hinted that this is a thing people will figure out how to do in the future, it’s a plot point right now that they can’t do that yet.

Ivian nodded. "I'll find her." He pulled open the door and stepped out--but not right before a panicked-looking, month-pregnant waitress stumbled right into him. "Sorry! Sorry, sir, I--" Wendy looked up and paled. "Holy sh--" "As you were." Ivian said, glancing back at Nicolae. "He just asked to see you. Try not to jostle him too much; he's been through enough pain for one day already." Wendy nodded absently. The king left the room, giving Wendy the whole medbay to run up and throw her arms around Nicolae.

Navani and Raboniel is one of the more plausible and realistic ships, if anything, in RoW. They were very cute.

my problem with RoW Shallan is that its tiresome to read. I want a chapter about an established character and not reading about her 2 imaginary friends. Shallan hiding away inside is also very frustrating to read. Brandon tried something different with her, but for me it simply doesn't work. its not an appealing read and I catch myself skimming through her chapters. unfortunately.

The Windunner ideals seem to be progessing from more external to internal, i.e. from protecting others, to more internal epiphanies related to that first oath. My guess is that the Fifth will be something along the lines of a mirror of the First. Perhaps "I acknowledge that others can protect me, and I am worth protecting."

Odium/Toadium- I win this contest of champions!!!! Dalinar- NOOOO!!!! A blazing white figure fell down from darkest skies, like a falling star, like the heralds from Tranquiline halls. A brilliant Shardspear gleamed brighter than the sun, brighter than the day ever saw and his body scintillated with hundred thousand pinpricks of light, like stars illuminating the blackest night. His eyes smoldered as the birth and death of star, brighter and brighter until pure white energy wafted over his skin- Almighty's true essence. And when he spoke, it wasn't Stormlight that puffed from his lips. Kaladin (giving some signature pose) - I.....AM.....HONOR! The Stormfather grumbled in surprise- Oh, damn....I have been missing that all along!

Well, I'm going to guess that the fifth oath is something Kaladin is going to swear in the next book. The fourth oath was pretty straightforwardly what he'd been struggling against for most of the last two books, so it's not a surprise, but how tough it's been for him means that we probably have missed the foreshadowing of the fifth oath. I think we HAD to have some foreshadowing of the fifth oath, because giving Kaladin a totally new thing to struggle against would feel weird if we haven't had inkings of it before. It might be something to do with his new work helping people with their mental health. That got just a few chapters in this book - enough to show that it was important, but not enough to say that that storyline is complete. Hmm. think the fifth oath is going to be something about how you have to protect the whole person - mind, body, and spirit. Most of the protecting that Kaladin has done personally has been about preventing people from being stabbed - understandable, because they're in a war. But more abstract things like protecting a person's independence, protecting their spirit, are still there. Maybe it'll build on the fourth oath. The fourth oath was only about acceptance, knowing that a Windrunner can't protect everyone. But the fifth might be when he recognizes that some things are more important to protect against than bodily harm. I still think there's more realizations to be had there. Yeah, Kaladin is now accepting that sometimes, he'll fail and not protect someone. But there's a step further - times when Kaladin could step in and protect someone from physical damage, but shouldn't, because protecting that person's autonomy or integrity or honor or something else is also important.

Hero Of Ages

@ZincAboutIt

I...just want to point out that people don’t choose to have depression. Kaladin didn’t wake up one day and go “I can either be happy or be sad - welp I guess the answer is obvious” and decide he wanted to be depressed. It’s a medical condition. And while you do have to make actual, conscious effort toward happiness during heavily depressive states, sometimes that leads to very little, or only subtle effects can be outwardly seen. It’s exhausting to make an effort to be happy when your brain chemicals are coded against you and all you want to do is just lay there, thinking yourself deeper into the black hole, or even worse just lay there and feel nothing. I commend Kaladin for every time he did the opposite of what this meme says. ...Rereading this, I hope it doesn’t come off as aggressive to you because that’s not my intent. I realize that this was just intended as a fun, quick joke, and now here I come plopping a paragraph of mental health discussion on top But I feel that this is important.

I could also have gone for a pun on lameness, but I didn’t want to come off as rude

OB spoilers!

WoR spoilers

Khriss: *idly exploring Scadrial* *glances up at a street sign as Nazh hasn't arrived with her map yet* Kenton Street: *exists* Khriss: surprised Pikachu face

Here’s mine

Even during a reread:

How rude of your ‘frieds’. Also, may I ask, are they deep-fried or just normal?

There are windspren and even Stick in Frozen 2.

My second post.

Alcatraz:

Probably not infinite, then. Infinity would screw with a ton of stuff regardless. Regardless, the original question was about why Shards aren't concerned about losing their Investiture to the magicks performed by Invested people. The answer is, we don't know, but we speculate that the Investiture is just automatically returned to the Shard (or harvested by it).