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Really interesting and useful to see the RoW word count by character laid out in a graph format, thanks for doing this! Navani having more words than Venli was a bit of a shocker. In hindsight RoW felt more like a Navani book than a Venli book, both in length and in terms of the impact each character had on the story. I mean what did Venli even do that was significant in the grand scheme of things, apart from rescue Lift? Didn't feel to me like Kaladin had as many words as he did but it makes sense since he is basically THE main character of the Stormlight series (books 1-5 at least). Also more people should check out your blog, it is awesome.

Finished the book about an hour ago and generally walked away with good positive feelings. Lotta good, some bad but overall a solid book that I had no problem reading through from start to finish without feeling like I needed to put it down. Best moment by far: Maya's speech and her bond with Adolin, that scene had me blubbering like a baby. Easily one of the best stormlight moments along with "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do" and Kaladin going back for Dalinar and jumping across the chasm in WoK. Underrated MVP of Urithiru: Dabbid. Dabbid had so many amazing moments and his character really came to life in this book. I can't count the number of times I teared up when he was coming to grips with his problems and rescuing Kaladin early on. Kinda suprised he hasn't bonded an Honorspren yet. Honorable Urithiru mention: Navani going into full matrix fabrial expert mode right after bonding the Sibling. That was an awesome moment and Navani deserved all the good things that happened to her at the end of this book. I predicted she would become a Willshaper so I was slightly disappointed, but the way it turned out in the end fit much better. I definitely didn't miss the nod to that possibility when she wiped blood all over the mural of a cometspren while stumbling through the pillar room. Most interesting arc: Surprisingly enough it was Adolin and Shallan's arc in Shadesmar that I was looking forward to reading the most. Shadesmar is such an interesting place that I never get tired of reading about it and the whole legal defence thing in Lasting Integrity was pretty fun to follow. Least interesting arc: Unsurprisingly the flashback sequences were the worst part of the book. There's only so much Brandon can do to be interesting when you basically already know exactly what happened and where the story will go. I especially found the early flashback chapters to be the hardest to get through. If anything in the book could be described as a slog, it would be the flashback chapters. There are so many more things I could mention, from T becoming Odium to Hoid's memories being wiped to Ishar just casually murdering spren, but I don't want a massive wall of text so I'll leave it at that.

Nice theory! After reading the Coppermind article on Ishar, it seems likely to me that Ishar was a Dawnshard holder. In my mind the quote is referring to Ishar ascending the steps (possibly of Urithiru or what would become Urithiru) crafted for Heralds, while holding the Dawnshard, to create the Oathpact which would bind Odium. Check out some of these quotes from the article: Ishar had powers before becoming a Herald - perhaps that was Honor bestowing the Dawnshard upon Ishar? I feel like it would take something as powerful as a Dawnshard to bind a Shard (especially a Shard as wily as Odium) to a system. It fits in with why Odium fears Dalinar so much and why he was talking about Intent when referring to Dalinar releasing Odium from his bonds by accident. It also supports the theory that Dalinar is a holder of a Dawnshard, likely bearing the same Dawnshard that Ishar held.

It wasn't something like voidlight, it was a spren that it held for 6 years. Voidlight or stormlight likely would have leaked out by then. It's almost certain that Nem would have recognised the gem as a perfect gem if it was one.

Practically flawless, not flawless. The Kings Honor gem held stormlight for 200 years, this gem only holds stormlight for a few years at most.

It seems obvious to me after reading all the WoBs that it is a voidspren captured within the gemstone. It likely isn't an unmade (Gavilar would not have had several captured unmade, also unmade need a perfect gemstone to capture them properly and that gemstone clearly isn't perfect), nor is it voidlight (as Rlain says it is different from voidlight). That leaves either a fused (unlikely because capturing a fused would be a massive deal and it doesn't appear as if that has happened yet) or a voidspren. In my opinion, Ulim was the voidspren captured inside the sphere given to Eshonai and that basically was what kicked off the beginning of the end. This is further reinforced by the fact that in the RoW prologue, Gavilar was talking about transporting spren (likely captured voidspren) back and forth from Braize. The only odd thing is the quote from Rlain Either this is a case of Rlain mistaking a voidspren sphere for a voidlight sphere or my theory is completely off. The fact that Brandon says in this WoB that the two spheres contained the same thing (either voidlight or voidspren) imply strongly that both spheres had voidspren inside them, even though Eshonai appears to imply that it was voidlight inside her sphere during the Oathbringer Prologue. Maybe Brandon had things muddled up at the time or maybe Eshonai was referring to a voidspren all along.

Nice train of thought and people were definitely thinking the same thing, but unfortunately Brandon has killed that theory.

Depending on your point of view, this little exchange could be seen as banter or even a bit of flirting. Jasnah Kholin is used to commanding respect and obedience from others and in 99% of her interactions with people up until now, she would have either been in complete control or would have been challenged in a hostile manner (over her heresy). She is certainly not used to someone not only being able to handle her pressure, but being able to fire right back at her and hold his or her own. Kaladin might well be the first man in her life who has challenged her in that manner, with that half friendly, half competitive banter. We know already from Jasnah's POV chapters that she is not nearly as certain or as in control as people believe her to be, and that while she projects an air of absolute authority, deep down inside she harbors doubt and uncertainty. She is likely not used to having someone (outside of her family) who is smart enough to be on her level intellectually, yet who is not afraid to challenge her point of view. Kaladin is in the unique position of an outsider who can serve as a check to her authority. Perhaps she has realized that that can be a useful thing to have. Reading further into it, I feel like there is a very real possibility that this dynamic could lead to admiration or even romance down the line. Kaladin is a strong, charismatic leader who can banter on her level, who does not wilt under the first sign of pressure and who no one is telling her to marry. At the very least, I believe she finds this a novel experience. Also, it is clear that this is not the first exchange that they have had that has proceeded in this friendly, bantering manner, and it is unlikely to be the last. Finally, while she might appear to be asexual, I believe that this is a projection made necessary by both events in her past (Amaram, Gavilar's death, possible childhood trauma) as well as recent events (her research into the Parshman, and the arrival of the True desolation). We know that she is extremely good at disguising her true feelings and keeping a facade, but she is far from being the emotionless machine she portrays herself as. In my opinion, she is capable of romantic love, but simply has yet to find someone even remotely on her level.

I completely agree with the OP. My first instinct while reading the book was to cast doubt on the marriage, especially the way it played out so quickly and the fact that Shallan clearly still had unresolved issues with Veil and Kaladin. I was somewhat taken aback after a vast majority of forum goers said things like: "now can we stop shipping Shalladin" and "finally we can put this love triangle to rest". In my mind, the situation is anything but resolved, and we are definitely going to see developments in both books 4 and 5, as well as in 6-10. I would be shocked if Adolin and Shallan stayed as a happily married couple for the rest of the Stormlight series. Now after reading that WoB, my hunch (with absolutely zero evidence backing it) is that Adolin will end up dying and that books 6-10 will have a time shifted Shallan/Kaladin dynamic much like Navani/Dalinar. Sadly, we probably won't get anything until at least 2020.

I think regrowth will be key to restoring Maya. Remember the scene where Renarin heals Adolin's left hand and Adolin sees a vision or image of himself being whole. Pretty sure something along those lines will happen with Maya.

Not sure if this is foreshadowing but here it is anyway.

I was one of those people following the Tor.com early release chapters religiously and I would literally count down the hours until the next set of chapters were released, so no, I definitely did not find the start to Oathbringer slow. My advice is stick to it because things definitely pick up. Compared to some of Brandon's older books, where nothing happens until right at the end, the Stormlight Archive books are like a rollercoaster.

Not sure how relevant this quote is but I did note it down during my first read, before knowing that Elhokar would die. To a certain extent it foreshadows his death but not exactly. Here's a bonus quote from a WoR epigraph that has been bugging me, maybe someone can make light of it using the new OB knowledge that we have. Our gods were born splinters of a soul = Adonalsium Of one who seeks to take control, / Destroys all lands that he beholds, with spite. / They are his spren, his gift, his price. = Likely Odium A challenged champion. A strife even he must requite. = Talking about Odium's champion? But what does "A strife even he must requite" mean?

How do we know for certain that it is Vivenna and not Siri or some other random Nalthis character for that matter. My first instinct was that it was Vivenna and that only got stronger as we learned more about her, but I never got full proof or solid confirmation that it 100% was her. I'm wondering how people have come to that conclusion and what I missed.

I just thought of something crazy (Cosmere/Elantris/Mistborn spoilers incoming). Brandon Sanderson loves playing around with geography and geometry when talking about magic systems, he did this with Elantris (the city) being a giant Aon as well as in Mistborn with the location of the well of ascension moving about. What if the 10 oathgates with Urithiru at it's center were one giant fabrial/weapon system, like the death star? And the dawnshards/super gemstones were a piece of the puzzle to make it all work? Sorry that this is coming from left field but it is slightly related to the topic at least.