Leaderboard

We have some exciting news to announce. So far in order to obtain some unpublished works of Brandon's, you'd have to email him through his site, and his assistants would distribute them. Well now you won't need to wait for that, because we will be in charge of distributing Aether of Night! All you have to do is post in this topic (you'll need a 17th Shard account, but that's it), and our staff will PM you the document. You do not need to post an email address here; we will send it to you through this website. Once we do this, we'll remove your post here. We'll be using this topic as a to-do list for requests. Ideally since we have lots of staff members, we will get this out to you soon, within a week or two. We hope you're excited about this, so many of you will be able to get this text in a much more obvious way now! You will receive a .docx file, and if you need to convert it into a .pdf or .epub, there are many converters to do that for you. (We are not distributing the old prose version of White Sand; that is distributed in Brandon's newsletters.) Thank you Dragonsteel for letting 17S do this! Edit as of 2024: This is still going! We've gone through over 300 pages of replies distributing. It's just that we remove posts here once we send them out.

General Brandon stuff: Cosmere spoilers: Mistborn spoilers: Stormlight Archive spoilers:

Important note: This list would be far less complete if not for the efforts of everyone who helped me compile it. Specifically thankyou to: Awesomeness Summoned, Delightful, Argent, PorridgeBrick, Kurkistan, Quiver, Green Hoodie Mistborn, Senor Feesh, Observer, ccstat, Swimmingly, Alvron, Metacognition, The Only Joe, GreyPilgrim, Aether, jasonpenguin, Mailliw73, Moodle, Tempus, Baine, Kobold King, LeftInch, Sir Jerric, Tensoon, Ashiok, Theorymaker, Seonid, Shaggai, TheYoungBard, Curiosity, Snoopy, Voidus, Frosted Flakes, Kasimir, Shallan. (Let me know if I missed you.) Hokay, for those who want to know the ranks, I looked through everyone who had at least 10 posts. Here are my findings. 10000+ God Beyond 9000 9999 Adonalsium 8500 8999 Hero of Ages 8192 8499 The Broken One 7800 8191 Shard 7500 7799 Splintered Shard 7200 7499 Splinter 6800 7199 Dragon 6400 6799 Stormfather 6000 6399 Herald 5700 5999 Sliver 5350 5699 Nightwatcher 5000 5349 Worldhopper 4750 4999 God of Color 4500 4749 Lord Ruler 4250 4499 Unmade 4096 4249 Dawnshard 3761 4095 Prime 3500 3760 Lerasium Mistborn 3250 3499 Bondsmith 3000 3249 Voidbringer 2750 2999 Knight Radiant 2500 2749 Most Ancient 2250 2499 Steel Inquisitor 2048 2249 Mistborn 1900 2047 Tarachin Superstar 1800 1899 Dawnsinger 1700 1799 Rambleman 1600 1699 Savant 1550 1599 Gerontarch 1500 1549 Midnight Essence 1450 1499 Listener 1400 1449 Enefel 1370 1399 Kalad's Phantom 1338 1369 Compounder 1337 So l337 Hoid Can't Compete 1300 1336 Surgebinder 1260 1299 Radiant Squire 1220 1259 Kandra 1180 1219 Twinborn 1145 1179 Returned 1111 1144 Scadrian Waffle Cook 1080 1110 Stone Shaman 1050 1079 Cryptic 1024 1049 Honorspren 1000 1023 Sentient Awakened Object 980 999 Truthless 950 979 Highprince 920 949 Worldbringer 890 919 Full Feruchemist 860 889 Full Shardbearer 830 859 Shardbearer 800 829 Seer 777 799 Spinner 760 776 Wyrn the King 730 759 Elantrian 700 729 Originator 667 699 Svrakiss 666 Torturer of Heralds 650 665 Shade 625 649 Soulcaster 600 624 Forger 575 599 Dakhor Monk 550 574 Lord Prelan 512 549 King's Wit 496 511 Son of Honor 475 495 Vanisher 450 474 King's Tester 425 449 Ghostblood 400 424 Envisager 375 399 Artifabrian 350 374 Ferring 325 349 Stormwarden 300 324 Bloodsealer 278 299 Silent Gatherer 256 277 Misting 225 255 Arbiter 200 224 Gyorn 180 199 High Prelan 160 179 Oldblood 145 159 Cobalt Guard 128 144 Hazekiller 110 127 Forescout 100 109 Houselord 90 99 Babsk 80 89 Prelan 75 79 Arteth 70 74 Idrian Monk 64 69 Obligator 56 63 Lighteyes 50 55 Grand 45 49 Noble 40 44 Crew Leader 32 39 Ardent 25 31 Pahn Kahl 20 24 Awakened Object 16 19 Noble-Blooded 10 15 Bridgeman 7 9 Spearman 5 6 Darkeyes 2 4 Skaa 0 1 Spren --- -1 -2 Negaspren -3 -5 Lifeless -6 -10 Hoed -15 -19 ? Beheaded Inquisitor -20 -24 ? Rotting Chull Carcass -24 -25 Lamespren -26 -100 Zucchini -101 and below Chasmfiend Corpse Note: negative reputation titles are no longer obtainable due to downvotes having been removed. I'll update this as we learn more We now know them all! I like the new levels. Good work Chaos Please don't ask me how long that took. Current lowest Unknown rep: nonexistent. We're so close to getting them all =D Edit: Wooohooo first popular post Later edit: For the record, at the time I added that comment 10 rep was a little more exciting Another edit: The lower rep ranks have changed at some point, I don't know where all of the new boundaries are yet.

Kaladin will get a ryshadium with wings in Stormlight five and name it Rainbowdash.

Highspren have come off as rather weird and distant in the Stormlight books so far - in fact, I don't think we'd ever seen or heard a highspren talking to their Radiant yet, and Szeth mentioned that his spren "rarely showed itself" to him, much less converse with him constantly as most other spren do with their Nahel bonded person. And their approving and enabling of hundreds of years of Skybreakers hunting down and eliminating all other spren bonds under direction of a mad Herald has always made the whole group of them seem bonkers. And we see them through the POV of how the honorspren and all other Radiant spren regard them for siding with Odium in the Final Desolation. But Auxiliary... Even as a monotone fragment of a highspren, he comes off very, very well. This is even more moving than Maya's declaration of WE... CHOSE! to the court of honorspren in Lasting Integrity. Aux chose. HE CHOSE. Not "with" his Knight, Sigzil, but FOR him.

You all warm my heart. I don’t come to the forum very often anymore, but this still makes me laugh.

When you finally have them all:

This is a cropped version of a Way of Kings drawing I did for my own enjoyment. Couldn't decide on what color version I like more. I know it's not quite how the visage of the Stormfather is described but this image has always overridden the cannon in my mind ...

SA spoilers:

Hi! Hope you like the birthday cake I just made for my son’s 16th birthday. No one in my family has any idea what it is, but they are impressed that it’s is so shiny….

Specifically when speaking to the Scadrian's and the comment about giving aid and doing all that was required of them by intergalactic law. When they actively enable the oppression of an entire society at the hands of a tyrant, when they give him the ability to created the Charred, and when they withhold the knowledge of recharging Sun Hearts because they would lose an advantage that the people of Canticle couldn't exploit for economic/militaristic gain anyway seems the ultimate display of inhumanity that 'civilised' societies often justify or excuse. The Night Brigade may not be very nice but honestly, considering the fact that the Scadrians were complicit in enabling the Cinder King's tyranny and directly interfered to the detriment of the general populace, I'm glad that you know they're going to get their comeuppance. If you're not going to help a less advanced society, don't engage in activities that will actively make things worse. They were, in my opinion, the true villains of the story. The Cinder King may have taken advantage of the knowledge he received but the Scadrian's enabling of his tyranny made them worse, given how 'civilised' they are supposed to be. Screw those researchers and good riddance.

MAJOR bands of mourning / secret history (original work I drew it)

631 spoilers

MEMES?! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!! I have a meme:

We have a sighting of @Toothless of Shinovar! (Or @Toothless In Shinovar. I'm not sure.)

Hellooo! I finished my handmade mistcloak the other week and just threw together some stuff I have collected for Ren faire over the years. My Vin cosplay is about 80% complete, I plan to change out everything that has metal to just leather so I have to craft that myself, and I will be adding some bandages to kind of represent Vin more so in book 2. But overall I am super happy so far with how it looks! In action: https://imgur.com/gallery/ZS2n2cI

And it came to pass that they became exceedingly sour...

With the announcement of the prose version of the graphic novel version of white sand... (spoilered for length, no spoilers)

Not an expert in Cosmere/Connection stuff by any means, but something in RoW sparked curiosity: In my opinion, Adolin is personally suited to Stonewards (team dynamics, being there for those who need them) and not so much Edgedancers (being there for the common folk). If Maya did not exist, he may have attracted a peakspren already? Also, I was just reading RoW for the second time and stumbled upon these 3 Adolin thoughts italicized in Chapter 35 as he fought the Tukari off with Maya alongside him, and Brandon's italicizing seems suspicious to me: 1. Never underestimate the strength of a soldier trained to stand fast. 2. Never underestimate the simple intimidating force of a man who won't back down. 3. Never underestimate the worth of being willing to hold. Your. GROUND. Do these sound suspiciously like Oaths? I have noticed Brandon previously italicizing Oaths. Especially the first one which sounds very similar to what Coppermind thinks will be a Stoneward second Ideal! Has Adolin already sworn his Stoneward Ideals, but no peakspren around obviously, but do you think Maya somehow accepted these (they can sense each other's thoughts/feelings) and What decided that cultuvationspren would be Edgedancer spren and peakspren be Stoneward spren? Could Maya and Adolin be making a cultivationspren Stoneward???

The stick Raoden uses to save Elantris is the same stick Shallan tries to convince to become fire. Galladon brought it to Roshar when he visited during his search for Hoid with the 17th Shard in an interlude chapter of WoK.

One final update :p. Champs season 10 is over, I’ve placed third place overall in the tournament: https://www.mafiauniverse.com/forums/threads/41644-Season-10-Finale-Over-the-Owl-Falls-and-the-Dragonbender-of-Power-(The-Mafia-Championship)?p=7359757&viewfull=1#post7359757 Town won in a perfect D2 sweep in the finale (first and only town sweep of the season) so that’s pretty cool :p. I did get mafia-killed N1 so one villager technically did die but it’s still a sweep. LFG. With 135+ players competing,,,top 3 is definitely more than I expected to achieve Looking back on it, this entire thing took 5-6 months. It’s insane and I’m so exhausted lol

In Brandon's defense, I will say I really connected with that moment where Sig talks to Aux out of habit and then is flooded with pain again because Aux is gone. I've lived that moment in real life. I see that moment replayed in lots of books and movies because so many people who have gone through that kind of grief can identify with doing the same thing.

Stormlight meme

"Why do we tell stories?" You are all readers, so you've all undoubtedly read countless books in your lifetime. Books that you enjoyed, books that you loved, and... books that you've forgotten. I wish those groups never overlapped, but when I was looking back on my reading history the other day I ran into tons of books that I remember enjoying, but are doomed to forever be forgotten. And yet every once in a while a story comes along that changes you. A story that means so much, something so incredibly personal, that it just won't let you go. Those are the stories we remember. Five days ago, I finished reading the ebook files for Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. I've never forgotten a book in five days, so it may not mean that much when I tell you that Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is a story I remember, so I'll say this instead: Yumi and the Nightmare Painter was one of the most satisfying journeys Brandon Sanderson has ever taken me on. It's not just a book I liked reading, it's a book I want to think about. It's beautiful. Every part of that story had me hanging on the interactions between those two main characters, Yumi and Painter. Every quiet moment, every conversation, had me loving these two characters. But though this book was a masterpiece of character development, and a study on how to write a romance that feels believable, there was something more to the book, something that made me want to remember it forever. To figure out what it is, I think we should start with the ending. (So if you haven't read it I honestly don't know what you're doing here...) I know there are people on the Shard and otherwise on the internet who will say that the ending of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is unrealistic, and would have wanted it to end with Yumi's death. I know your type, those people who hate happiness and just want an ending that proves that stories are sometimes sad, and an ending that goes against the normal "happy ending" cliche. (I'm talking to you, Wit. And obviously Dan Wells, but that goes without saying.) There will be others among you that dislike the ending because it's too much of a fake out, making some people (but definitely not me, because I never feel emotions, so don't be ridiculous) burst into tears, just to burst into tears again when it turns out that Yumi is actually alive. (Again, not me.) So my question is: What's the point? Why did Brandon decide on this fake-out ending? Was it a simple "Gotcha, you thought she was dead, but turns out you're wrong!" Or was there more to it? I've always thought that the last line of a book should be twice as significant as the first. The first line, for all intents and purposes, is just clickbait. Make people intrigued, make them want to know more, etc. But the last line is what readers remember. The final tone. That last line, be it dialogue or narration, decides if the ending is happy or sad. I think it's no coincidence that the last thing Yumi says in the book is a plea to Painter. "Remember me." Those two words killed me. They broke my heart, right along with Painter's. And then I wanted to throw the book across the room when the next chapter was an epilogue. And the only question I could ask myself is: "What was the point?" My thoughts aligned perfectly with Wit's question in the epilogue. The same question I began this essay with. "Why do we tell stories?" I have finished five complete stories and started many others, but recently I've been feeling more burned out then I ever have before. I just finished writing my greatest book yet, and before revising it I decided to dive into the sequel. I've never had to write a sequel before, and suffice it to say it's the hardest book I've ever written. I wonder daily: "Will I ever finish this book? Or will it all go to waste. Am I supposed to be a writer? Because a writer could write a sequel..." And it goes on and on. The pressure feels incredible, because now for the first time in my life there are people counting on me. And so I keep asking myself the same question. What is the point? Why am I wasting hours upon hours writing stories, when I don't know if I'm a good enough writer for those stories to ever be seen? Why do these stories mean so much to me? I'm not writing for the money, and I hope I'm not writing in pursuit of fame, so why do I tell stories? Why do I spend hours writing essays that are probably only ever going to mean something to me? It wasn't until I read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter that I discovered the answer to this question. I write stories to remember, and just as importantly I write stories to be remembered. That may be equally selfish as writing for the purpose of becoming famous, but I want to be clear, it's not the same. I don't write stories to be known, I write stories to be remembered. It's not about having a crowd of admirers, it's a plea as simple and intimate as Yumi's plea to Painter. Remember me. And so perhaps Wit's question in the epilogue of the book could be restated, as "Why do we remember?" And that's a question which is much more complex, and much more interesting to me as a reader, and a writer. That's the question that I feel like the book is asking. What is the point of memories? "There's an old joke that mentions lost items always being in the last place you look for them. It doesn't say anything about memories though. Those, once lost, are the sort of things you don't even know to look for." As a society I fear we are often told to forget. Some people discourage the teaching of parts of history, because of the terrible things people did in the past. Governments cover past sins, because they don't want people to remember their mistakes. The same is true for the lies families tell about their ancestors. And perhaps the biggest and most crushing lie that I've heard people tell is the concept of "moving on." To many people all you have to do to move on is forget the past. Whether it be tragedy or bliss, no good comes from "dwelling on it" now. And... this is a lie that is so easy to believe that for years I told it to myself. I lost someone I loved, and for the longest time the easiest path was to pretend I'd never loved her in the first place. I couldn't remember her because it was too painful, so I told myself that I'd "moved on." In reality, I had forgotten. Why do we remember, when all memory brings, is pain? Maybe we all fondly remember brighter days, days when we were happy. And now we only wish our life could compare. What is the point? I suspect that Brandon Sanderson knew exactly what he was doing with the ending of Yumi and the Nightmare painter, because it's right where the story is at its most heartbreaking that he asks the most important question. And this entire beautiful book is the answer. It's not about the plot. Stories were never about events, they're about people. That's what separates a story I'll remember from one I'll never think about again. People are worth remembering. It was the characters that made Brandon Sanderson's third secret project memorable. It was Yumi, and her plea to remember. It was Painter, not giving up on her. But for him, it's more than remembering her. When bringing her back he tells her "I know you." I don't think a lot of people realize what "moving on" really is. It's not about forgetting the past, it's about remembering it. Knowing it. Not in the way you remember a painful event, but in the way you remember a great story. Once again in the words of our narrator wit, “Memory is often our only connection to who we used to be. Memories are fossils, the bones left by dead versions of ourselves. [...] Enjoy memories, yes, but don’t be a slave to who you wish you once had been. Those memories aren’t alive. You are.” Yumi thought she wanted to be remembered, but in reality she wanted to be known. That's what brought her back, not someone who remembered her but someone who knew her. Memories are snapshots, fossils, images of people we'll never really know. But stories? Those are something so much greater. They're somehow alive, even if the people inside them never will be. We all have our own story to tell. Every human on earth has a story. This essay is my last plea to you, remember. It's not about remembering me, who is nothing more than a profile picture to most of you, it's about remembering your own story. And that my friends is the answer to Wit's question. That's why we tell stories. Because every story is about a person who deserves to be known. And when I remember a masterpiece like Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, perhaps I'm really remembering my own story. And that's why it means so much to me. We don't tell stories for the endings, happy or sad, we don't tell stories for the plot, we tell them because that's how we remember, in a way that can actually change us. Even when the story was at its most heartbreaking, Yumi's story was worth telling. And even when it's at its weakest, your story is too. Thank you all, for taking the time to read the ramblings of a tired author, if you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them. I know it's unusual for people to post topics like this, but I've always been fascinated by themes, and it's rare that that aspect of a book is discussed. I love you guys, I hope you all have a great life.

One main character death (excluding bad guys) makes the tone a lot darker. A million deaths of nameless, faceless characters has little impact on tone. That’s just kind of how it works.

Not sure how relevant it may be or if Brando ended up changing his mind, but I feel this WOB from the livestream ties into this discussion.

Hello! For those who don't know me, I'm Tesh. I've been on the Shard for nearly six years now, though I've been primarily active in smaller Sharder circles on Discord the last couple years, so I'm guessing most of you don't know me and I probably don't know most of you. For the last few years, though, I've posted a thread at the beginning of May to recognize mental health awareness month. (I'm doing it early this year because my AP tests start on May 1st so if I don't do it now I'm definitely going to forget. ) Mental illness and just brain stuff in general has had a huge impact on my life, and I know that individuals in circles such as these tend to be more likely to deal with mental illness. Every year, I share a bit of my experience with stuff related to this and encourage others to share theirs, as well as encourage everyone to change their profile pictures green for the month. I started posting these when I was in middle school and developed some pretty bad depression and anxiety, as well as a dissociative disorder (depersonalization/derealization disorder). My entire family has dealt with mental health things of some sort, and that year was really bad because of that. Not only was I struggling, but due to the struggles of my family members I didn't get anywhere the level of help that I needed at the time. I was able to make some friends that year, though, and beginning with that my depression began to lessen. Now I just have occasional depressive episodes but it's nowhere near as bad as it was that year. Over two years ago now I began to do some research into autism and how it shows up differently for AFABs than the more commonly portrayed AMAB presentation. Aaaand I kind of had a "oh wait that kind of explains everything." I have an informal diagnosis now, but decided not to pursue a formal one for a variety of reasons. (I know quite a bit about low support needs autism now, so if anyone has any questions or would like some resources on it just let me know. Oh, and I should note that autism isn't a mental illness, it's technically a developmental disorder.) Please feel free to share your experiences below. Just try to spoil potentially triggering topics (and mention what's spoiled so people can stay away easily if they need to). Remember to be respectful and kind and to change your profile pictures green! You are not alone. Resources For people in the US, you can call or text 988 to contact the national suicide hotline. Here's a link to the website of a suicide hotline in Canada. Here's a link to The Trevor Project's website, an organization with support services for LGBTQIA+ youth. Feel free to reply with any other resources I should add! Past Mental Health Awareness threads! (I'm going to leave out the first one because I was rather uninformed and the post is just a mess. I'd definitely encourage you guys to read through people's responses to these though.) 2019 2020 2021 2022 Some pfps some people have made in the past Green Szeth Green old Shard logo Green Stormlight symbol If anyone has any Cosmere symbol or something similar they'd like green-ified feel free to DM me and I can do that.

Not exactly a meme, but I didn't know where else to post it. I saw this on Reddit. Honkai Star Rail made a Mistborn reference.

We had to make a poem imitating the rhyming scheme and rhythm of The Raven. I made mine about the Cosmere. Also I got to go on The Coppermind for homework. Which was fun.

Just came up with this

As my two-thousandth, two-hundredth, twenty-second post, I wanted to do something a little special. So, I think now is the best time to dump a stockpile of memes I made (plus one I found earlier today). Enjoy Mistborn spoilers; More Mistborn spoilers; Probably counts as a Mistborn spoiler; Era 2 Mistborn spoilers; Warbreaker spoilers; Mistborn Secret History spoilers; Just to be on the safe side, Mistborn spoilers; Stormlight and Mistborn spoilers; Aaaaaand, that's all I've got for right now. Hope you got a good laugh!

I made this sign with a laser cutter at my library. I used gold pigment and charcoal to get the coloring. Pictured with my new 1st/1st or WoR.

Well, I finished Frugal Wizard, and let me tell you, it went in a different direction than I'd thought. A much better direction.

Yumi Spoilers

Uhhh, I've never posted an image before, so this might not work, but here's something I made: (RoW spoilers)

Mistborn Secret History:

OK BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING - I KNOW IT SEEMS WEIRD AND NOT LIKE SCADRIAL AT ALL AT FIRST GLANCE but its because north is in upper right corner, i hope now it looks better So, i know its not 100% accurate, but i had this vague idea of map with the final empire as a coin pulled/pushed by 2 allomancers for a long time and just had to make it (not sure if it looks like it meant to tho) I guess i just wanted to ask what do you guys think about it, does it make sense? do you like the result? Should i change something? I will post pictures post adding color (i mean, pouring coffe and tea all over it) tomorow but i couldnt resist myself, i had to show it already

oathbringer(kind of)

K, when I said that I would disappear for a month or so, I didn’t think I would actually mean it, but here we are. Anyways, uh yeah. I’ve been doing really good! :)) I just came back from lifting a buncho beeg rocks, so I’m buff now. Working on getting through The Lost Metal, and it’s heccn’ good so far. I have over 170 notifications on here that I’m just not going to look at. So yeah. I dunno how many people look at my stuff anymore since my activity is fairly.. inconsistent. Uh.. on to the arts! there’s quite a few so sit back and relax

Ok, so here is the supporting observations that led me to come to this conclusion 1. Wit revealed that there is a siah aimian among the ghostbloods Dawnshard spoilers I think that's everything off the top of my head.

RoW

When you very nearly start crying because the video for the new secret project won’t load at school …when you have a teacher who loves Brandon and he sees you almost crying in class and asks what’s up and you wordlessly turn around your phone to show the video that won’t load and he says “go to the doors at the end of this hall, that’s where you get the best service” and he suddenly becomes your favorite teacher.

I got my mission call today Brazil Curitiba South Mission, Portuguese speaking! Reporting to the Brazil MTC on July 31. Incredibly excited and grateful

The Way of Kings/Words of Radiance spoilers, I guess:

Just finished the book, and its gotta be one of my favorite Cosmere stories of all time. But one aspect of it just felt.....so off. After Aux sacrifices himself to give Nomad his final burst of flight, Nomad's reaction is just.....wrong. like its literally just the wrong reaction. He's obviously sad, but one moment in particular just ruins it. He's back in unity, just a few pages later, and we get this: like what. I don't think I need to explain how this is weird. it COMPLETELY took me out of the book when i first read it. The nahel bond is one of the most intimate relationships I can even imagine. Your spren is literally your most constant companion, and with Sigzil specifically, he's been bonded to Aux for maybe hundreds of years. Your best friend, your most intimate companion, who you've been with for entire lifetimes just died...and you forget????? And it's not just that, that last line is terrible too. "it hurt anew when he remembered" That just sounds weird right? like you could make the argument that Nomad was talking out of habit, he didn't literally forget, but even still, we should be getting more pain from him. those 3 words "it hurt anew", are all we get, and the story just continues. just "it hurt". that's all. no further description. He should be a broken man at this point. He should be fighting through tears. His ONLY companion through all these years of running, His ONLY friend, just DIED SACRIFICING HIMSELF FOR YOU, and we barely get anything. The weirdest part is, Brandon did an amazing job at writing the fear of grief. The scene where Nomad is swinging on Aux as a chain under the ship as they climb the mountain, that was beautiful. I genuinely felt as terrified as Nomad did that Aux was about to sacrifice himself. The tension there is insane, and the way Nomad mentally screams at Aux to not do it, its just awesome. (Page 172 if you want to reread it. It's the ENTIRE PAGE too. We get actual CONTENT regarding this conflict, rather than the TWO WORDS we get after it actually happens.) That's the sort of reaction we should be getting AFTER Aux sacrifices himself too. the actual specific moment where Aux sacrifices himself was...alright I guess. it was very high in emotion, but I still think it wasn't as good as page 172. It's the aftermath of this moment that I specifically have an issue with though. nomad should not be as high-functioning as he is. I think part of the reason I feel this way is actually because of page 172. it set up Aux's death SO WELL, showing us how TERRIFIED Sig was of losing him. and then he does. and we get barely anything. The payoff is just not there. also. it's weird because I know Brandon has written grief well before! Kaladin's entire character for example. RoW is tragic. but I feel like he just..... absolutely missed the mark with this one.

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"

Final Empire Stormlight Archive