Kessler

I think they are refering to "earning" the right to be a cool character on a meta level, rather then about qualifications for being a Radiant. Which in this case I don`t agree and I don't mind her stumbling into being a Radiant, since that's how most of the current Radiants got the job. And technically, Venli commited genocide against Listeners. That's not what he did. And those are not the reasons they give for not wanting him to have a redemption arc. That was Oathbringer.

I feel like this is an issue with pacing and book size. The working out Seth's situation scenes would have slowed things down, when they needed to move fast and there simply wasn't enough space to address situation properly in Oathbringer. So, things must have happened, they just weren't covered by the book. I expect his situation would be expanded in the next one, including political implications of the person, who murdered kings through Roshar now serving Dalinar, who is suspected to have desires of world conquest. Or whether Taravangians role in it be revealed (likely not - Dalinar would hide the fact to preserve coalition, since he may think Taravangaian is still on side of humanity, despite terrible methods).

For me Moash inspires sadness and a bit of revulsion, rather then hate. He feels dead and numb, maybe something like, Kaladin, if he allowed "the wretch" to win.

It's likely that Parshmen would use the same technological advancements as humans. Jah Keved is under control of Diagram and Taravangian knows how to make fabrials that block shards. It's likely his deal with Odium would include transfer of all knowledge, including the secret to its manufacture. What we've seen of Fused, makes it clear, they are the sort to use every advantage - both technological advances and supernatural powers. I agree, if humanity united and organized, they could likely defeat Parshmen. But Odium and his agents aren't going to allow that to happen. The possession of Amaram's Alethi was as much about seizing the city, as it was about portraying Alethi as treacherous or susceptible to Odium's control. Even with his victory, Dalinar would now have to persuade others it wasn't his fault and that his troops can be trusted not to fall to Odium again. As far as Odium's plan, I think, he need whoever is in charge of the world (by some unknown definition, but likely political/military control) to release him from Oathpact. Right now Dalinar by virtue of being Honor's champion and world theoretically being controlled by "Honor's Children" has this authority. If Fused succeed in their conquest, they'll be legitimate masters of the world and thus able to release Odium.

I believe Jasnah was proven to be right in her interactions with Kaladin and Shallan. She pointed to Kaladin's hesitation in making sacrifices to win, and he ended up freezing in combat, which led to the worst possible outcome of everybody dying. She treated Shallan as still needing to learn and not to skip basics, and Shallan proved herself ignorant and shallow in her grasp of situation in Kholinar, leading to torment and death of those she tried to help. I think she's not very good at expressing herself to people, but I think Shallan was right, when she said, that most infuriating thing about Jasnah is how she is always right.

Odium's chances of successful conquest are not as unreasonable. It has been mentioned, that not all of the Fused & Voidspren have arrived yet, and that their best warriors are still absent. I expect once the veteran Fused arrive, Knights Radiant would have much harder time fighting. And the trick of fusing humans and voidspren would certainly make things complicated - clearly it's an experimental weapon, still being tested, but once perfected it gives Odium potential to make both obedient human armies, like palace guard in Kholinar, and champions capable of fighting Knights Radiant (granted Kaladin wasn't full KR). Plus a lot of KR seem to be shifting to Odium's side and he has Diagram, which is powerful conspiracy, in position of trust to Odium's enemies.

I agree, that there's always another secret - there are gaps in what we know of Recreance, that may change it's meaning completely, if filled. For example, are we certain Radiant's spren didn't agree to Recreance? It could have been a sacrifice on their part - eternal torture to save the world, like Heralds. And I find it odd, that in vision they left Shardblades in a place, where people would fight and kill for them. Why didn't they try to leave such terrible weapons with somebody more trustworthy or hidden away. Granted at the time, people's opinion seemed to be turning against Radiants for some reason, if some books are to be believed.

I think we've actually seen the result of merging Odium and Honor's influence - Dalinar Kholin. And he is indeed terryifing. Though a bit of Cultivation's spice in the mixture may have helped.

So, now that we had our first real look at Odium, what are your impressions of him? For me, the revelation of Odium as Shard of "Emotions" was certainly surprising and not what I expected. I think it does make sense why somebody, whom Hoid described as "loathsome" would pick this Shard. Not out of something simple like - he's evil, so he picked evil Shard. It's likely, because Odium is the only Shard that would let a person enjoy being a powerful god. Other Shards are more like elemental forces of nature, grinding down personality of their bearers, until all they care is the Shard's intent. Since Odium is about emotion, it allows it's holder to revel in it's power, retaining enough personality to be a human-god, rather then elemental force. You can see it in the way he presents himself - I've got Zeus-ish vibes, a greek god, powerful and human, at the same time. Of other gods we've seen - Ruin was more of a malevolent force, while Harmony is a god, who helps those, who help themselves. Odium, he'd wear a crown and scepter, and make himself an Olympus to look down and rule the ant-like mortals. As far as threats go, Odium is certainly fearsome. His ability to predict future lets him plan intricate strategies to utterly devastate his foes. Odium also proved to be able to adapt and innovate - it's clear, he is always coming up with new tricks to gain victory, so there's a bit of an magic arms race between him and his enemies. He is immortal, so his defeats are only temporary setbacks. And his power is enough to persuade others to serve him, rather then fight. I'd say there are three things, that can derail his plans - interference of other Shards, limitations of his own Shard and human choice. The majority of Odium's power is restrained by Oathpact and concern, that Cultivation would strike against him, if he overextends. I'd say Odium Shard's limitations are his human emotions. I've got an impression, that he is like Conan the Barbarian - wishing not merely to win, but to have his enemies driven before him and hear lamentations of their women. The way he set up the battle at Thaylenah was a bit theatrical, a demonstration of his power and personal touch at destroying his enemies. I think with less showmanship and more caution and restraint, Odium could have arranged more favorable odds for victory - but being who he is, he couldn't do it other way.

I think not every Alethi was susceptible. Amaram's troops were specifically primed for possession, led for years in a way without honor and directed to hate Dalinar Kholin for "murder of their Highprince". Dalinar's army disciplined and led according to codes wouldn't have fallen. And I don't think Odium had enough of his spren to possess more then that.

I think Odium is emotions without any restrain. For example we consider love to be a positive emotion, but taken in excess it can mean stalking, murderous jealousy, trying to make the other person love you, against their will. Anger is good, if it's anger at injustices and evil, but in excess it's hatred. Joy is good, until it's taken too far into addiction and hedonism. There aren't good or bad emotions - it's all matter of balance and self-control. In this, like the balance of Ruin and Preservation, Odium's counterpart is Honor - the ability to restrain/bind your raw desires and emotions. Odium and Honor united may create a paragon - Dalinar Kholin, a man of both Odium and Honor, made powerful and driven by his passion, beholden to righteous course by honorable intent.

Pure speculation of course, but I think it's Cultivationspren, who didn't cross from Shadesmar, but lived on the Roshar. 1. Cultivationspren wouldn't be able to sense storms, since they are of Honor, not Cultivation. 2. Cultivationspren could have predicted Everstorm and arrived in its aftermath to guide Parshmen. I believe Cultivation's ability to see future is pretty good and she seems to be one for making careful plans. Perhaps she plans to cultivate Parshmen into something aligned with her goals.

Wait, doesn't that Spren look more like Cultivation Spren, then Odiumspren? We just assumed that Voidspren would be the ones leading Parshmen, but what if it's Cultivation making a move of her own. Granted, it's unknown, whose side she is on.

Darkness was convinced, that Radiant's connection to Spren would invite new Desolations. So, it would make sense, that Radiants, who trusted Heralds, were told the same thing. As I understood from visions, Radiants were protecting humanity from Odium's Spren. The Orders are essentially Paladins, it's unlikely they would abandon their duty for entirely selfish reasons, so my theory is that they did it to somehow prevent Odium's Spren from coming to Roshar. I think, Radiants believed they were preforming a noble and necessary sacrifice to save Roshar from Desolations - nothing else would justify murder of their bonded Spren.

The Knights Radiant killed their Spren, by breaking the Oaths. So, it got me thinking. If all Orders shared only the first Oath, all others being different, then it seems natural, that if they did it all together, they would break the first one: "Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before the destination." So how exactly did they break it? Would wishing to kill their own Spren, count as violation of the first Oath and thus kill the Spren?