CosmicSieve

This is one of things I want resolved in SA5. It seems like an odd thing to have the Shardbearer Kaladin killed turn out to be Helaran if it isn't going to have much of an impact. Right now we only have Shallan having stuffed into a box in the back of her mind, and occasionally saying nasty things to Kaladin in Oathbringer (he notes in Kholinar that she swings back and forth on her treatment of him). So if that was Helaran, it needs to be resolved in some way. Maybe Kaladin will do something spectacular for Shallan out of guilt, or maybe Shallan will get some character growth and come to terms with it. There is still a slight chance it wasn't Helaran, though it is very slight. Lin Davar sent someone to kill Helaran with the instructions to bring back the Shard Blade. The guy might have succeeded, kept the Blade and lied about how and where he died. Also, that Ghostblood women (Iyatil? Can't remember her name offhand) wanted to kill Amaram personally, and that has never been explained. So there is a slight possibility that the Shardbearer was actually a Ghostblood who had gotten ahold of Helaran's Blade.

Shallan did not use Pattern to send her illusion in the chasm. She specifically thinks about how much easier it would be if she could. Kaladin heard the illusion of Shallan yelling, but it echoed oddly, probably because she was actually yelling from her hiding spot. The biggest hint that the Blade is Pattern is that it glows. Dead Blades don't glow. Kaladin would not have heard screaming in either case, as he'd killed Syl at that point.

Some Knights Radiant get Squires. For example, Shallan picked up a bunch of mercenaries, and some of them became Squires. At the same time she acquired slaves. None of them became Squires. She definitely viewed those two groups differently, with the mercenaries seen as redeemable men, who she drew pictures of to show them their heroic potential. The slaves she treated more like they deserved their position, but she'd help out of debt so they could restart their lives... eventually. Her family had owned slaves, but the only person she had seen as they were being enslaved was her brother Jushu, who had run up great debt, and her assumptions about her slaves might be based on that. In Bridge Four, almost all its members become Squires-- but not Dabbid or Rlain. Dabbid is seen as almost their mascot, and Rlain is often unseen and on the fringe of the group. So, I guess my question is, is the Radiant's view of their followers falling outside their group what keeps some of them from being able to become Squires? What about Pattern's and Syl's view of them? Or does how these people on the fringes view the Radiant also factor in, so that if they feel like an outsider who is excluded, they are excluded?

The faceplate almost looks like a glyph, but if so it isn't one that I can identify.

Thanks for posting that. I heard someone else talking about Sanderson changing RoW because of it being too dark, and was curious about what that meant. I think it is cool that instead of deleting some of the darkness, he handled it by adding in more light as a counter balance.

These are great. I always picture Stonewards as big muscly soldier types thanks to Taln, Herald of War, but that description does sound just like Hesina.

The dun sphere that Kaladin and Shallan had in their cubby when they were stuck in the chasms did become infused. They were way up on the chasm wall, but still under the part of the chasm wall where it narrowed near the top, and in a cubby. So I think yes.

Yes! to Hesina being chosen. I've been trying to think which order.

I am currently listening to Stormpod read The Way of Kings, so I guess it is currently my favorite? Really, all the books have their strengths and weaknesses, and I have a hard time picking out which I love most. TWoK has the best Sanderlanche in my opinion, culminating in Dalinar giving up Oathbringer. But really, the answer might actually be, "Whichever one I am currently rereading."

Possibly. I remember Malata burning a design into a wooden table, and being unimpressed because Jasnah could burn words onto paper with incredible precision using soulcasting.

I think it is a combination of Wit having first met Shallan when she was a child, and Shallan's reaction to seeing him again once she was an adult. She gave him a big hug, and quite disarmed him. I really love their relationship.

I've only just read the SA5 prologue, so haven't had much time to think on it, but I was wondering if that was the cognitive shadow of Tanavast speaking to Gavilar. I think Tanavast does something between then and Dalinar to remove himself more from the Stormfather. There is a gap of years before Stormfather starts bringing visions to Dalinar, and the personality seems markedly different. I suspect Tanavast sent out windspren to find someone honorable (Kaladin), and set in motion the refounding of the Windrunners. I had been thinking it was Cultivation who did so until I read the prologue. I haven't yet digested all the rest of the information I just learned and where it fits in.

He wore an officer's uniform-- Dabbid had acquired them all uniforms for their final mission-- for the last battle with The Defeated One. Before that he just wore his civvies.

Szeth has a much narrower definition of honor, which makes it easier to adhere to. He doesn't let what's right interfere with keeping his word. Having to balance things would make it much more difficult.

Stormfather is on my list of Most Likely To Die. Since the power to kill spren now exists, I expect to see it used to spectacular effect.

That part where Teal'c, Harry Potter, and Arnold J. Rimmer showed up to confirm Kaladin into the Men With Forehead Art Club was just downright weird. I think the worldhopping is starting to get out of control.

I feel a bit cheated that we didn't get to see Syl and Pattern's wedding. There was just the time skip and they had six babies that had sworn an Oath to always tell Lies. I'm still trying to untangle their conversations.

Could put non SA stuff in spoiler tags. Unless reading Mistborn or whatever Marsh is from is now mandatory to come here. I might read it someday, though the more spoilers I get the less likely I will because it kills the enjoyment for me. I try to skim over posts when I see unfamiliar names but sometimes I trip up (Marsh as Moash).

Is Marsh one of the worldhoppers on Roshar?

Dang, I messed up by voting for the RoW cover. I was thinking that it is the prettiest of the covers, but after I hit submit I realized that TWoK is the most intriguing and ambiguous cover, and much preferable to me as a book cover rather than art. It makes the book look interesting without being spoilery at all, because really, who are those people? Cool terrain, though. (WoR and Oathbringer are automatically disqualified for me because they are so spoilery--- here, let's take something that happens at the end of a book and slap it on the front cover!/s)

I would be sooo down for that.

What if.... Syl picks up the Shard of Honor? She is a little piece of Honor, she is intelligent and articulate, and Dalinar is shipping her off to the mad scientist Herald who is looking for more Honorspren for his crazy conversion experiments. I mean, who better than the personification of Honor to pick up Honor?

Rlenarlain. Okay, maybe it isn't the simplest, but I love the repeating RL's.

I think Hesina and Hessi are relatives from the same learned family (maybe one was named after the other). Hesina does sound intelligent and well educated. However, her resources are too limited in Hearthstone to do any research or publish any writing. She couldn't even get a message out to her sons when they were in the army.

Maybe. Or maybe not. I still don't see Tien in the quote: "Besides, there was . . . another voice. Pure, with a song like tapped crystal, distant yet demanding . . ." It is an odd quote. So far, no other spren has mentioned anything like this. Pattern has not yet mentioned how he and Shallan were drawn to Jasnah-- and Jasnah rejected Shallan to start with, despite having a bond with a spren that has been maturing for six years. So I can't conclude that crystalline voices have anything to do with Radiant spren glomming to the same area, though information in future books might change that. We do know that they tend to glom to the same area once a bunch of them have bonded a potential Knight (Nale mentions this). There is also that poor little Cryptic that was after Elhoker-- maybe something attracted it to the Shattered Plains, or maybe it just wanted to bond with the King of the Alethi. Rather coincidently Kaladin and Syl arrived on the Shattered Plains at about this time. The Honor spren later all show up where Syl and Kaladin are. I am curious to know the source of the crystal voice, and whether any other spren experienced it.