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Tiberius Gracchus

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  1. All right, I will weigh in with perhaps a different perspective. I thing lots of Brandon's character arcs can be summarized as a character who has a dominant type and a stong wing moving from one of those wings to the other. (I also subscribe to the theory that wings are always one of the adjacent numbers) Dalinar type 8 (he is always described as a domineering man who runs over everyone to get what he wants)with a strong 7(constantly chasing the Thrill and alcohol) wing in his youth that moves to a 9 (focused on unity and much more reserved) wing Kaladin 1 (he holds everyone especially himself to an incredibly high moral standard and lashes out in his low moments at those he feels don't meet it) he has a strong 2 wing (shown by his focus on everyone elses needs, at the detriment of himself) he is moving, very slowly, to a 9 wing where he can accept failure and allow himself to do less. Shallan, the 7est 7 who ever 7ed (all she does is run away form painful things, distracting herself by trying to do everything all at once. everything except deal with her issues) She starts with a 6 wing in her Father's house (terrified of everything and focused on keeping her family together) but quickly moves to an 8 (through Jasnah, Tyn and Mraize's influence) Jasnah 5, I can imagine her starting as a 6w and moving to an 4w as she overcomes her paranoia and starts expressing herself more Taravangian and extremally dysfunctional 2w3 (his martyr complex mixed with his ambition is terrifying) but I don't think he will grow to another wing he will just keep degenerating Adolin 3 starts with a 4 wing and moves to a 2 I struggle to place Navani, maybe 3 or 6 Venli 4 with 3 wing (shown by her ambition) and moving to a 5w but not there yet Tib
  2. In a recent interview for the Kickstarer on Youtuber Daniel Greene's channel, Brandon talked about how he wishes in every future visual adaptations of his works to be unceremoniously killed on screen as an extra. I am trying to think of specific scenes in each cosmere book that Brandon could be killed in. It seems to me that the best options would be ones where multiple people, particularly bystanders are killed quickly. Final Empire- one of the skaa rebels killed by Luthadel garrison just as Vin and Kelsier arrive, one of the random citizens executed by inquisitors in Luthadel square Well of A- Killed by Vin and Zayne during attack on house Cett (mentioned by Brandon), or torn apart by Koloss during seige Hero of A- executed by Quelllion, torn apart by Koloss at pits Alloy- shot by thieves at the ball Shadows- killed by bleeder with F steel in the beginning, killed by rioting workers Bands- killed in train shootout Warbreaker- killed in chaos of uprising by Pahn Kal, killed by guardsman possessed by nightblood WoK- Killed by Szeth at Hanavanar's feast or for one of his crimelord owners, killed by chasamfeind on disastrous hunt WoR- One of the deserters who dies to the bandits, one of Dalinar's entourage killed by bridge assassin Ob- one of the villagers fighting with Fen in Starfall vision, one of the illusions killed by sadeas soldiers, thaylen banker killed by fused near Rysn RoW- killed by Raboniel's soldiers during fighting in catacombs, human resistor killed by Lezian's soldiers while trying to save radiants anyone else have ideas? TIb
  3. Interesting, I hadn't thought of this but he speaks of feeling like something is always there in his blindspot. It could be about Syl but it also reminds me of Elokhar's awareness of Cryptics watching him. (also Shallan's possessed drawing scene in Karbranth.) So perhaps his spren was watching him before he met Shallan, and possibly helped lead him to her, like how Jasnah credits the spren for leading Shallan to her.
  4. Hello, I have been rereading ROW and trying to focus on some of the Radiants with less screen time. We see that Gaz, like all of the other members of Shallan's Deserters has joined the Unseen Court and presumably bonded a Cryptic. I remembered that Brandon said that if Elokhar had been allowed to progress with his oaths he would have had to eventually admit to being a bad king. We know more about Gaz than any of the other new Lightweavers, so I tried to guess some of his Truths. I imagine his first truth (besides the oath) would be about his gambling. Admitting that an addiction is real and out of control is the first step after all. Gaz reads as a pessimist because he is always complaining and expects the worst from people, but he is one of several people to become inspired after seeing Shallan's drawing of them. I imagine another early oath might be admitting that he actually can become a better person, like in the drawing. However I think that a later oath (4th or 5th) would have to be him admitting his culpability in the deaths and mistreatment of the bridgemen. We see in WOK that he is bothered by what he is doing and in WOR when he explains it he is quick to pass the blame onto Sadeas and his superiors. This oath is the one I would be most interested in seeing on screen, either the actual swearing or a scene where he apologizes to the bridgemen and its made clear that this is part of him admitting truth. He may also have to admit to his cowardice Tib
  5. All of the Crystals are recorded a short time before the CG there is discussion of Melishi setting off on a mission to capture Ba Ado Mishram, but none about the results of his mission, also the soldiers at Feverstone Keep obviously have not received word that the war is won. My understanding of the timeline is 1: Radiant's losing faith in themselves. (Honor, Ashyn reveal, infighting) 2: False Desolation begins (proves Herald's promise false) 3: Problems in Urithiru (Re Shephir, Climate, Sibling) 4: Abandoning of Urithiru 5: Cognative Genocide 6: Recrence (those last three take place over like a week) I hope Brandon gets into some more detail about this in RoW, I think many people are confused about this (I was when I first read OB) because the main narrative is really only concerned with the Colonialism angle and the rest is relegated to visions, epigraphs and Stormfather ramblings.
  6. The Radiants didn't continue after the Cognitive Genocide (good term btw) it is suggested that the Recreance took place immediately after that. (The Radiants are seen abandoning Roshar during wartime) it is my view that the factional fighting between Radiant orders, Honor's madness, the fear of destroying Roshar and the instability of Urithiru (Re-Shephir and The Sibling) first convinced the Knights to slowly dissolve the orders and downscale surgebinding but then the unexpected disaster of the Cognitive Genocide was the factor that forced the Radiants to abandon their shards immediately en masse. (and imho the Skybreakers would have fully disbanded with the others without Nale's personal intervention)
  7. I am pretty sure that the more complicated explanation of the Recreance is canon, it is just rather poorly communicated in OB, (a lot of the details around the additional factors are hidden in epigraphs and the reveal of the Elia Stele is given more narrative weight)
  8. I would point out that the secret that was the primary cause of the Recreance was the knowledge that the humans destroyed Ashyn through "surgebinding." (or at least some form of magic, Dawnshards probably involved) This combined with Honor's descent into madness, raving at the Radiants saying that they would destroy Roshar as well, and the disastrous end of The False Desolation (the mind-breaking of almost all of the Singers) forced the drastic action of abandoning the shards and disbanding the order. (worth pointing out that the Knights tried more moderate steps like abandoning Urithiru first) Your theory seems like a plausible explanation for the still not understood mechanism that means that surgebinding=planetary destruction, However the only examples we have of similar events are the destruction of Ashyn and the shattering of Nattanattan, both of which are implied to have been fast, explosive events of mass destruction leaving few survivors, not gradual ecological degradation.
  9. I imagine them doing a lot of both, and way less ruling and general-ing than Dalinar does. (I do see the guidance counselor duties as their primary peacetime role)
  10. There is also the question of the Rshyadium. There is a moment (I think in WoR chapter Monsters) where someone remarks that there was no cavalry in the desolations with the sole exception of Radiants mounted on Rshyadium. It is unclear to me who this would be as steeds would be irrelevant to Windrunners, Skybreakers, Edgedancers and perhaps Willshapers and Dustbringers whose surges already provide either comparable or superior mobility. Most of the other orders I do not see having a frontline role, (Elsecallers, Truthwatchers, Lightweavers and Bondsmiths don't seem the type to lead charges) and the Stonewards are too suited to the role of heavy infantry and would seem a poor fit for the aggressive glory-seeking attitude of cavalry. Tib
  11. A few more thoughts I agree that the Dustbringers were probably quite terrifying combatants, but I have no idea how they would be used. Would Knights and squires form into elite, explosive demolitions squads like a slower, more destructive version of the Windrunner sledgehammer, or maybe would they be interspersed like the Stonewards and serve as the point of every advancing regiment like many modern shardbearers do (Dalinar and Adolin at the Tower and Narak), or perhaps (if Division can be used from any distance) they would be behind the lines raining fire as a form of magical artillery. We just don't know enough about their abilities and worldview to ascribe them any specific role yet. I think you read an implication into my words that I did not intend. as this (powering up other orders) is exactly what I imagine the Bondsmiths doing. Tib
  12. I have spent quite a bit of time recently trying to imagine how the various orders of Radiants would function on the battlefield. Of course we are frequently told that most of the Radiants were not warriors, however the Desolations were desperate narrowly fought global wars that would have seen many situations where everyone was required to focus on military affairs. If a people are in a situation where (as I am confident they often were) where spears are put into the hands of 12 year olds, then I can be quite confident that every single knight with power armor, deific swords and magical powers would have long since been called to fight. Windrunners- I see this order as the closest thing that the armies of honor had to cavalry. On ancient battlefields cavalry was often used as a shock force. The mobility provided by horses and chariots allowed a division of (often the most skilled and equipped) troops to slam into an enemy where they were weakest. Of course we have seen that the powers of the Windrunners can easily transport both themselves and others around a battlefield, and we know that the Windrunners were the closest to “professional” soldiers of the Radiants. 2 or 3 Windrunners with 60-100 Windrunner squires carrying 100 or so of the other best “normal” troops in the army would have made quite the mobile sledgehammer. Skybreakers- I see the order of the Skybreakers doing many of the same things as the Windrunners, simply on a smaller scale. The fact that the Skybreakers spend most of their time as law enforcement, rather than soldiers and their relative lack of squires would make them more inclined to fight in smaller bands than the Windrunners. I see a small band of Skybreakers and squires flying around the battlefield raining down Division and bringing “Honor’s Justice” to high priority targets like a particularly problematic Fused or squadron of Regals. I also see the Skybreakers as the order most practiced at slaying Thunderclasts. Dustbringers- Well I don’t think I know enough about the Dustbringers to really form an opinion about them yet. Edgedancers- I see the Edgedancers as the Radiant’s medics, using Abrasion to zip around the battlefield distributing Regrowth and other supplies. I also see Edgedancers as useful in a siege situation; using progression to help grow edible crops as a supplemental food source to soulcasting. Truthwatchers- I find it difficult to place the Truthwatchers as we don't know that much about them but I imagine them filling a role somewhere between the Edgedancers and Elsecallers. Lightweavers- I think it is uncontroversial to suggest that the Lightweavers often served as spies, assassins, and saboteurs. Unlike the Skybreakers who I see swooping down to cut the enemy commander in two in the middle of the battle, I see the Lightweavers as the reason that the enemy army arrives to the battlefield with poisoned supplies, inoperable siege machines, their troops receiving incorrect orders and their reinforcements delayed. Elsecallers- I see the Elsecallers as the primary tacticians and weapons designers of the Radiants. I imagine they would spend the most time at the planning table drawing maps, accounting supplies (and refilling the stocks through soulcasting) and perhaps preparing countermeasures against the enemy’s less conventional threats. The exact line between their roles and those of the Truthwatchers are unclear to me. Willshapers- As with the Dustbringers, I do not feel like I have enough information to speculate. Stonewards- This order are the followers of the Herald of War. I see their role as being interspersed amongst the common infantry of the Radiant’s armies. Unlike the Windrunners who I see as directly leading the most elite regiments, the Stonewards would be standing with the weakest regiments creating stone earthworks, inspiring cohesion, and generally bearing the agonies of the soldiery. Bondsmiths- I think that Dalinar is a poor example of the traditional role of the Bondsmiths. While they might often serve as diplomats and emissaries. I think that they spent much of their time as personal advisors to the rest of the Radiants, helping them grow in their oaths and surges. I imagine that on the battlefield that the Bondsmiths would float around a provide support and perhaps powerups to the other Radiants in their times of most need. Thoughts? Tib
  13. Yeah the exact mechanics of the beginning of this new desolation is quite confusing. What exactly changed the moment that Taln broke? How much of the process was sidestepped by the Everstorm? What would have happened if Gavilar and the Son's of Honor's plans(whatever the hell they may have been) were enacted?
  14. So am I correct is believing that we still do not have a conclusive answer on what ends a particular desolation. Obviously the Heralds returning to Braize is the true end but when do they decide that a desolation is won. The only thing I can think of is when they have "killed" all of the fused, but that doesn't make sense as it it implied by Kalak's prelude that desolations would end with a (often closely fought) final battle that the heralds could predict would be the final battle before hand. (shown by the heralds having a pre-set meeting place for after the battle to start the return to Braize) Given the powers of the fused it seems that even if they lost a battle they would be very easy for some of them to just fly off and hide preventing the end of the desolation. But if it is not the fused, then what is it? Tib
  15. I agree that these kind of stories should be written and I would advise Brandon or anyone else to consider making dead-lover-revenge plots centered around women, but I don't think it would be appropriate to make that major a change to Mistborn, it would have enormous effects on almost every character to make Kelsier a woman. At that point I think you need to write a whole new story.
  16. What is he unwilling to do? Kill literally every single nobleman? I don't see his backing off of his original genocidal goal as much evidence of compromise or moral restraint. there is a big difference between deciding not to do something and being unwilling to do it.
  17. Well, I fell like I need to say that I agree with many who suggest that in fact Yeden and Dockson wouldn't be the best candidates for any actual genderbending. A lot of the criticisms of that idea are real and ones I agreed with before I started this post. I mostly wanted to share how the thought experiment of genderbending these two characters imo enhanced what I see as the tragedy of their respective arcs and relationships to Kelsier. Ooh, I like this a lot, I always thought Yeden was an underrated character and didn't love how he sometimes dipped into caricature. I have a soft spot for the "honest revolutionary" archetype and his early indignation and hostility towards the rest of the crew is one of my favorite parts of the early chapters of TFE.
  18. Hey, So I was listening to shardcast the other day, (I don't remember which one) and somebody mentioned that Brandon regrets not making any other female characters in TFE, especially in Kelsier's crew. when I first heard this I stopped and tried to think which of the crew members I would make a woman. i decided that i would most like Yeden and Dockson to be women as I always liked them and felt they were underused. I thought that making them women would make them stand out more and perhaps create more interesting dynamics with the rest of the crew. I quickly realized that if Yeden were made a woman, that this would drastically change how I would interpret his character arc. Yeden goes from vocally loathing Kel to beaming from his praise and jealous of his attention to getting himself and a many others killed in a foolish attempt to impress Kel. If Yeden was a woman the subtext would be that Yeden was obviously sexually infatuated with Kelsier and desperate to get Kel to love her back. As an avid fan of the "Kelsier is actually a monster" side of the fandom I really like this interpretation of their relationship. Kel is a manipulative narcissistic who is also a very handsome, charming and charismatic man, the idea that he would use his sexuality to trick someone into dying for him is entirely within character and just the right amount of monstrous. He is even shown consciously using his sexuality to manipulate in the scene with Vin's barber. The genderbending also had an similar affect on Dockson's character. Dockson is Kelsier's best friend. He is incredibly loyal and dedicated to Kelsier. He has a past that he talks about from before he met Kelsier but he never talks about his current life with Vin, or anyone else. Its reasonable to think that Dockson has no life outside Kelsier and their shared work, because Kelsier is his life. I read Dockson as being hopelessly trapped in an unrequited marriage to Kelsier, in an even less healthy reversing of the Kelseir-Maer-Marsh dynamic. I also like that Dockson is self-aware enough that he would be aware of his feelings, Kelsier's very real problems and that Kelsier will never love him back that way. He is simply unwilling or unable to tell Kelsier no. Of course neither Yeden or Dockson have to be women for their arcs to be read this way. I am doing a re-listen to TFE with this perspective in mind and it's holding up really well. Thoughts? Tib
  19. So a theory just popped into my head, I was re reading WoK and thinking about the parsh/parshendi desire to leave the bodies of their dead undisturbed. Brandon has confirmed that this tradition is formed by the cultural scarring that all parsh-people experienced when humans chopped up parsh corpses to get gemhearts in the early human-singer wars. I asked myself why the modern Alethi do not continue the same practice of harvesting parsh gemhearts either from their slaves or the Parshendi killed during the war of vengance. Given that Kaladin refers to teams of Alethi being sent to loot from the battlefields of the shattered plains taking equipment and even the gemstones from Parshendi beards, the only explanation I can think of why the Alethi do not steal Parshendi gemhearts is that they do not know that Parshendi have gemhearts. I find it inconceivable that humans across Roshar know that parsh grow gemhearts and no one bothered to collect them. I also find it inconcievable that the humans have been living among Parshmen for millennia and just haven't noticed that their slaves grow valuable gemhearts. My theory is that the parsh slaves that existed in between the False Desolation and the First Everstorm either had gemhearts that were changed to not be one of the 10 polestones or they simply didn't have them at all. This would explain why they were unable to change form and how the spiritual damage of the False Desolation was passed from generation to generation. Tib
  20. Just re-listening to WoK and it mentions that the important variable for soulcasting without shattering is gem size. (this being the primary reason that the large gemhearts of the Chasmfeinds are so valuable) It even says that a chasmfeind sized gem could make a near infinite amount of food. I also would assume that making a marble quarry would be a relatively simple transformation as all you would need it to transform a single (albeit large) chunk of bedrock into marble. As we have seen with Jasnah soulcasting is difficult when creating complex objects like jam or starting with amorphous substances, but turning a big rock into another kind of rock seems much like the routine soulcasting that the army uses Tib
  21. So, as we have seen with Rashek and Miles Hundred-lives, compounding is possible when a allomancer burns a feruchemical metalmind that they have the necessary identity to access. So far everyone we have seen was allomantically and feruchemically able in the same metal or all the metals. Since all of the Metallic Arts metals come in pairs of one element and one alloy containing that element, and metalminds are (in a non-magical sense) identical to uninvested chunks of the same metal, it is theoretically possible for a metalmind to be filled and then forged into it's paired metal. My question is if this metal were then allomantically burned by the same feruchemist that filled it prior to forging, would that allow feruchemical investiture to be accessed and with which power? As an example Wax Ladrian fills an ironmind with a significant amount of weight, he then takes the ironmind to a forge and has it forged into steel, he files the steel down and burns it. Would he have access to a compounded version of F-iron, or less likely F-steel? Tib
  22. In the recent Shardcast the casters were discussing how we know very little about Cultivation's vessel. We don't even know her name or race, merely that she is considered female. Brandon has many times stated that not all of the original vessels are/were human, and there is rampant speculation about which ones (namely Endowment and Autonomy) might be dragons. It seems to me that it would be an inappropriate waste to have the gathering of the most powerful people in the Cosmere reflect only two of its species. This has led me to theorize that Culitivation's vessel might be a singer. I know that the one time that we have seen Cultivation "in the flesh" so to speak she appeared closer to human than singer, however she was appearing to Dalinar at that time and as Odium shows at Thaylen Field species swapping is easy for shards. Cultivation being a singer could help explain why she and Honor decided to settle on Roshar, and an ancient deific singer-human romance-to-last-the-ages would fit the Stormlight Archive thematically quite well. Tib
  23. You're right that spren cannot break specific oaths, I shouldn't have used that word. But they're are many things that they could do to help/favor humans that the dawnsingers would interpret as betraying them for the humans. We even see Odium accuse Honor and other elements of His investiture of only following the letter of oaths rather than the spirit.
  24. I always just interpreted this as confirmation that the dawnsingers worshiped the spren, much like the horneaters still do. It makes sense that a society so reliant on spren, living on stone and surrounded by wind would deify these concepts. How much the dawnsingers actually understood about Honor and Cultivation is unclear, but interpreting the "spren; stone and wind," as the 3 God-spren doesn't make sense to me. We know almost nothing for sure about the Sibling and we have never heard it referred to as a "spren of spren" and the Nightwatcher is associated with plant-life, never with stone. The idea that the dawnsingers' gods betrayed them is very well supported, however I don't think it is possible that Honor could have broken an oath, but the spren definitely could have. Several of the Listener characters refer to the spren as traitors (Venli does and I believe Eshonai as well), The Listener songs suggest that the spren are more attracted to humans. Eshonai confirms that emotionspren come to humans more often than singers. The Stile says that surges were forbidden to singers and we know that Venli is the first singer to ever form the nahel bond. I think it is likely that when the humans arrived on Roshar the dawnsingers saw the spren's attraction to the humans and the first uses of the nahel bond, (to use surges in early battles against the dawnsingers) a betrayal. These dawnsingers saw that their gods were leaving them for someone new and so they reached out with passion to the only God in the area who would help them fight humans; Odium.
  25. I am not sure they even have a tangible ultimate goal. From how Iyatil and especially Mraize speak, they seem more dedicated to a philosophical world view and value system (namely the superiority of "hunters" over "prey") then a specific end result. I get the impression that the Ghostbloods are merely a loose collection of spies and power-brokers who only meet to find support, more like a Thieves' Guild than a specific conspiracy. We only ever see the Ghostbloods act to protect themselves by striking against their rivals (Jasnah and the Sons of Honor) or making sure that they have access to power. (getting to and securing Urithiru, recruiting Shallan and Sja-Anat) Given that many of the people and items associated with the Ghostbloods are from other worlds, and Brandon has confirmed that they recruit directly from the Seventeenth Shard, I suspect that the Ghostbloods that are engaged with the events on Roshar are but a minor sect of a giant Cosmere-wide organization, so big and loose that no one person knows about it all.
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