Erunion

I would say that WOT is not for the faint of heart. It’s long. Might be a good idea to get into the swing of things with shorter books. But WOT is also awesome. So, up to you.

Are you a fast reader? Then WOT is 100% worth it. Are you a slow reader? Your mileage will vary. The most valid criticism about WOT is that it is bloated - there’s too much world building that isn’t necessary to the plot. You go through a ton of stuff that really shows you how real and well realized this world is... but it slows the books to a crawl at several points. If you, like me, are a lightning fast reader? Not a problem. You blitz through those, love the world building, and get right back to the key plot sections. If you are NOT a fast reader, then you have to ask yourself this question: do you enjoy worldbuilding enough to let it slow down the plot? Because if you do, you’ll be just fine. There’s a strong argument to be made that WOT needed trimming. It would probably be a better series if it were 2-3 books shorter. But I love it anyway.

I read new spring first. I recommend people read Eye first. New Spring is very tonally different, and spoils some surprises from Eye. However, it still works if you read it first (and hints at the tone of the later series if people find Eye too LOTR).

Ugh. Now you guys are gonna make me reread this again. Come on! Aren’t I allowed new fiction? I loved Mat’s military campaign to escape the Seanchan + protect Tuon. It was fantastic. Well laid out, well written, and loved the characters. While I was a little disappointed with Brandon’s ‘Mat’ voice, I loved him in Towers. Storming the Tower? Brilliant. And poor Farstrider. Also, Nynaeve in the whole end sequence of books. Especially ‘will he ride alone?’

This is likely what’s going on with Odium/Passion. Shard intent originally something to do with justice/wrath/righteous anger. Through the lense of Rayse, it became Odioum - but Rayse himself claims it’s just passion. Or maybe we’ve been deceived.... or maybe there’s more to it.

Just gotta burn my way into the future! The very near future. As in, a few seconds in advance in order to predict your attacks. You foolish would-be murderer.

Thing to remember: ‘Looks Shin’ to a Rosharin means ‘light skin and no epicanthic fold’. It’s usually a good way to tell off-worlders; because many of them ‘look Shin’.

Curious? I’d be horrified. I don’t want to see an innocent Spren permanently destroyed Cuz I reckon Nightblood would destroy a common shardblade. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s probable.

Syl has a face in shadesmar. It’s commented on, and she hides it. It’s almost certain that Shallan reminds Kaladin of Tien - who may have been another proto-radiant. Rysn is an interesting possibility!

While the death rattles do show glimpses of the future, I am fairly confident that they do not exclusively show glimpses of the future, just primarily show glimpses of the future (as that’s more relevant to the story, the ones we’ve seen will be mostly future). It makes far more sense, magic wise, for the rattles to be glimpses of the spiritual realm, and thus could be future, past, or far distant present. All time and space is blended together in the spiritual realm; I don’t see why Moelach’s Connection to the dead would only show the future - that doesn’t seem to make sense with the magic? Rather, I think what they see are ‘truths’, as the Shin sailor so aptly named them. I could, of course, be 100% wrong.

Hmm, I think it’s pretty clear that Shallan still has a loooong way to go, and it will end either in tears or in a Crowning Moment of Awesome. She hasn’t had that yet - unlike Kaladin/Dalinar. On Adolin with Shallan. He’s not fixed her, and he’s not fixing her. He’s not her cure - he’s her Tylenol. He helps her, makes things hurt less, and makes things better/easier for her, but he doesn’t and hasn’t cured her. As Tylenol, he’s both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he helps her understand, function and survive. A curse in that she doesn’t need Tylenol, she needs surgery and she needs to want it. Adolin may take away her need/desire to actually heal, as she’s able to function around him. This is very dangerous. I suspect that Shallan has a lot of work to do, and will get her CMOA where she actually confronts and deals with her problems. And it won’t be because of Adolin fixing her. (As much as I like Adolin. Not as much as @maxal, but I think he’s pretty great and want to see more of his own character growth).

Could it be that Dalinar actually said three oaths here? I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man. I am Unity.

@Sunbird - went to the coppermind. Spinners are lucky. And unlucky. In equal measure. Spinners are chromium ferrings. Not gonna lie, being a spinner could be handy.

So, it was pretty nice to be Wyrn the King. But now I’m a Spinner? I.... don’t actually remember what that is? This is a first. I’m stumped.

Like the girl who looked up, I think this is a story that echos strongly in our myths and legends, but isn’t quite drawn from one of them. It’s unique to Roshar, but echos throughout humanity.

Nice - some corrections/questions. - Dalinar may have actually sworn two oaths there, with ‘I will take responsibility...’ and ‘if I must fall...’ being two separate oaths. - there are a LOT of theories about the bondsmith siblings. We also don’t know if Cusicesh is an Unmade. Generally, there are a few theories - one sibling per Shard, or one Honour sibling, one cultivation sibling, and one half/half sibling (who could be Cusicesh, the Spren I’d Urithiru, or both at the same time). It’s also possible that the siblings originally were related to Growth/Storm/Sea (And were Nightwatcher, stormfather And Cusicesh respectively) and had nothing to do with the shards, their being ancient Spren, but Nightwatcher/stormfather were later co-opted by Honour/Cultivation. A lot of unknowns there. - The oaths tend to vary after the second one especially, so we should use generalized terms (as you do for the Skybreakers), so for the wind runners third oath it should be the oath to ‘protect those you hate’ with the end of it varying - probably a good idea to include the minor Spren as well, eg. glory Spren for bondsmiths, windspren for windrunners, creation Spren for lightweavers

Likely this is an expansion on her fabrial magic where she raises siege towers. Airships built using fabrials to raise and lower them. We might well see some interesting stuff in the next book!

Hrmmm.... Lift ‘burns’ food in order to get power directly from cultivation, instead of from Stormlight as an intermediary.

Facts: Taln is awesome. He is the herald of soldiers, and was to teach people the art of war on his return. He had incredible will. He had a tendency to die in last ditch efforts. He is just so awesome. Ash thinks incredibly highly of him - and this certainly contributes to her incredible guilt/partial insanity - and references how wel she knows his hands. Taln was not supposed to be one of the original heralds. Inferences: Taln was a soldier, likely an NCO. He was an intimate of Ash’s, possibly bodyguard, likely lover, possibly both. Taln was lower ‘class’ than the other heralds, but got in anyway. Speculation: Taln was a soldier and Ash’s lover who fell into the role of Herald. He either stepped up to the plate when someone else stepped down, or he pushed himself into the role when he heard Ash was taking it on.

Just to modify @Leyrann - I wouldn’t say she hasn’t let her true self out, but rather that she used the spiritual aspect of Transformation on herself. She transformed herself from being completely broken into being something functional - but the transformation isn’t complete and she still holds onto that broken little girl who was forced to kill her mother.

He is normal and kind and generous because Evi was a storming amazing woman who was waaaay too good for this world. She was just lovely - kind, honest, honourable. Incredibly supportive and helpful. Encouraging her kids to love their oft-absent father, and seeing the best in him in his darkest times. The real best, not the brutal, deadly, Alethi version of his ‘best’. Shes the only one who was happy Dalinar didn’t brutally murder a child and his mother. Evi was a storming saint, and Adolin/Renarin are the result of that.

Absolutely agree with @Calderis and @hoiditthroughthegrapevine. Cultivation is playing a long-con against Odium and using Mr. T as a pawn in that game, a pawn that doesn’t know his own role. It’s possible, probable even, that she’s got better future sight than Odium (‘Cultivation’ requires fantastic foresight to do well, and she’s been consistently shown to do it well. I love her motif of pruning. She’s such a gardener). In addition to that, another interesting facet is that cultivation aligned Spren seem to be more eager to bond than Honour aligned Spren (until Dalinar bonded the Stormfather) or unaligned Spren. Did you notice how many truth watchers we’ve seen on screen? 3 at least. More than any other order except lightweavers and wind runners - and wind runners have squires, and of the 3 lightweavers (who are already more cultivation aligned) we have Elhokar who died and Hoid who snagged his Spren. My bet is that Mother cultivation is gonna be our sneaky gardener ally through this all. (Also note how the West, Her dominion, was more peaceful as of Kaladins WOK storm-flyover).

Haven’t read this full thread, but I want to make one key point: It is fairly common in ancient practice for prison guards to be executed should they fail and the prisoners be allowed to escape. This plays a key role in the biblical book of acts, where more than once jailers are either executed or anticipate their own execution for allowing prisoners to escape. I’d like to see other sources as well, but I’d need to do some more research. As it is, jailers who allow prisoners to escape can often face legal execution in ancient and classical contexts.

@deadlyDomino - she is, but Brandon has said before that dead characters can have flashbacks. We just weren’t sure how much we believed him. Eshonai was the most shocking. Did not see that coming - I was wondering how she would survive, not if she would survive. Elhokar’s death and that whole scene was absolutely gut-wrenching. Poor Kaladin. Poor Sah. Poor Beard. Poor world. Moash you storming cremling.

Interesting question - could Taln simply summon his blade? Is he still bonded? Did he dismiss it? Did Taln dismiss his blade, then Hoid put another blade there in order to hide the fact that he’s a herald (and thus blade-bonded but still darkeyed)? So many questions.