Nellac

I think the problem is that different people have different ideas of what they want when they put out a theory. Personally, I like when other people point out the flaws in my theories. It leads me to either find more evidence and refine the theory, or to start over and come up with a new theory. I enjoy the back and forth with people as we explain and debate our ideas of what's going on in the cosmere. I think there was a post a while back about a tag that you can add onto your post to let people know if you want to debate your theory or if you just want to throw it out there for everyone to see.

I totally agree with you here. A Skybreaker very well could swear to a set of tribal customs or a religion. My point was that they couldn't swear to pure anarchy. They could even swear to something that would require them to tear down the current government and laws, in order to build up something else. The thing is that they need something to follow and anarchy wouldn't supply that.

I think you're getting really close here. I would say that the biggest theme is being good not despite your flaws/mistakes, but because of them. The entire series focuses on people and how they work through incredibly difficult situations and grow to be better than they were before.

This is one of the best theories on the subject I've heard so far.

Deadeyes are only seen in shadesmar when they, as a blade, are dismissed. Whenever they are summoned, they disappear out of shadesmar. Since current shardplate can't be dismissed the spren, or what's left of them, are trapped in the physical realm.

I think we just don't know enough about Dustbringers yet. I'm not sure why there are no Bondsmiths though

Possibly, but that doesn't matter much because they have to swear the other oaths first. Journey before destination, right?

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here. I don't think skybreaker oaths that don't follow something external would work.

I think we have different understandings of Skybreakers. A Skybreaker isn't just following their personal code, they're following an external code. Whether that be a person, a specific set of rules, the law, or a certain religion. In all situations what a Skybreaker swears to in there third Ideal is something greater than themselves. The whole idea is that they know their own moral code is insufficient or corrupt so they rely on an external one.

Anarchy: Anarchy: a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority. If there is a lack of, or a lack of recognition of, authority then there are no rules. A Skybreaker's entire third ideal is based upon swearing to something else as a higher authority than them. There's a difference between being an anarchist and swearing to follow an Anarchist. By swearing to follow someone you are allowing them to be your authority. That goes against the very nature of anarchy.

For the second ideal, you are correct, but you're ignoring the third ideal. The third ideal requires a Skybreaker to pick some sort of code of ethics to follow. I can't see anyone who says we need an external code of ethics being an anarchist. In my understanding, an anarchist would have a problem with any rules or any codes of ethics. They would see this as limiting and restrictive. You can't have someone who's goal is to destroy all rules and laws who also devotes their life to following a set of rules or moral code. I think you have too wide of one.

You don't become a Skybreaker.

Just because it can have a crusade doesn't mean it matches the order's ideals and attitudes. Let's not forget that you have to attract a spren to become a radiant. I don't see spren who usually love all things to do with laws, rules, and ethical codes choosing an anarchist to bond. They simply wouldn't have the right mindset.

I'm not sure you could have an anarchist Skybreaker, they seemed too focused on maintaining some sort of order or code. You could have an extreme libertarian Skybreaker though. Something like "I will allow people to do as they like, so long as it doesn't hurt others." Although, at that point you're getting really close to Willshaper territory. Willshaper politician that thinks the most freedom can be found through good legal systems

Know Our World's Tragedy A reflection on how they lost the war against Odium. It would be written by Jasnah to warn other world's of Odium's power and give advice on how to defeat him. This would of course be reliant on them losing the war in book 5

I think you need to look at what Dalinar struggles with on a personal level. The history of the Blackthorn is fairly common knowledge in Alethkar, and even all over Roshar. He doesn't need to admit it to anyone because most people already know. At the time he says the third ideal he isn't struggling with doing the right thing, he's struggling with believing that he is and can continue to be a good man. I get what you're saying, and I agree that in general that is a better sounding ideal, but for Dalinar it is less important. It was more important for him to personally accept his shortcomings than to do so publicly. It also shows that he is more worried about his own morality than other people's perceptions of that morality.

Ahh, thanks for the quote. I listen to the books on audio so finding a specific passage is a pain. Yeah, I think the ones in currency are pretty small. I think it's noted that gemstones that are cracked by fabriels or soulcasters are cut into smaller pieces to be used in spheres. You can fit three gemstones on the back of the hand with a soulcaster, so I'd guess that makes them like grape-ish sized. If those are broken down, the ones in spheres are probably closer to the size found on most real world rings.

Yeah, but I thought that Honor's drop was noted as being much, much bigger than most other gemstones.

Honestly, I'd rather this not happen. I want Kaladin to just be a normal man who faced incredible challenges and came out on top. I don't want there to be anything supernatural about him

I mean, let's consider the size. The one's that come from chasmfiends are supposed to be huge and how big are they? I think they're like the size of a softball, but someone can correct me. If we then compare the size of chasmfiends to the size of most creatures on roshar their gemhearts must be tiny. Most are probably no bigger than a grain of sand.

I think I may have been unclear before. I don't think anything you've said is doctrinally false. We absolutely believe that God was once like us and that we can become like unto him. I'm nnot trying to minimize this point r claim it isn't there. It actually is a key principle. The point of this life is to learn how to be righteous so that we can inherit all that our Father has in the eternities. I guess there are two reasons why I'm disagreeing with you. First becoming a god isn't unique to our religion. I've read several stories that were highly influenced by Asian culture where they were all about progression and one day ascending from the world the person was on. We know Sanderson has been influenced a lot by asian culture so he might have brought it from there. The times we see someone become a shard are much closer to the ascensions from these books and their powers are much more similar. The second is that I don't like when people declare what a writer was trying to do. I know reading is up to interpretation and I agree with that when you're looking at smaller things in a book. For example "Life before Death" and Hoid's stories can be interpreted differently by everyone. It's very different though to say that an Author's entire series of books is something that he says it isn't. I refer you back to my last post on Sanderson talking about the rarity of his religion being purposefully put into the books. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't some influence in the books. I just think calling it an allegory is going too far. The definition of allegory is "a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one." I don't think the cosmere is meant to be interpreted to give some big hidden meaning. It's simply a good, hopeful story written by a man whose beliefs are so ingrained that they slipped through into the story.

Just ascending to honor would not fit the requirements of a Christ figure. The epitome of who Christ is can be found in His atonement. Through His atonement he took the sins and sorrows of all people upon himself. For someone in a story to represent Christ they have to take someone else's debts and pain upon themselves. Aslan does this in Narnia. I might also add that those books were openly meant to be allegorical. In the end the only person who could say whether or not it's allegorical is Sanderson. I refer you back to the quote in the past @Weltall made. Sanderson clearly states that it might have a subconscious affect on his writing, which I totally see, but that he rarely does it intentionally. I couldn't see him saying he does it rarely if the main character from his biggest series is supposed to represent Jesus or if his biggest project is done big allegory.

I don't see the comparisons between Joseph Smith and Dalinar. Other than seeing visions they have nothing in common. Dalinar is very old while Joseph was very young when he saw the visions. Dalinar was a war-mongering nobleman while Joseph was a simple farm boy. I honestly don't understand the comparison between Christ and Kaladin you are trying to draw. Everything you have cited are examples of are our belief that we can become like our Heavenly Father one day. I don't see any comparison between this and the cosmere. We believe that everybody who acts righteously can become like unto God. In the cosmere there are a very limited number of shards and only certain people with certain attributes can carry them. This seems too exclusive to be symbolic. There may have been a slight influence, but nothing more.

So I will say that as a member of that church I didn't pick up on any of these things. That being said I'll do my best to explain my thoughts. On the first point, there are some parallels. For example, the Lamanites and Nephites (descendents of the jews who came over) were at one point very righteous people who later fell away and became wicked. This could be representative of how the Singers had a bond with honor and the spren, but then that broke. This doesn't seem quite right though. In ancient days the people turned away from God, while in Stormlight it seems to suggest that honor and the spren turned away from the Singers. Also if we were making a direct comparison the Parshendi would seem to symbolize a group that stayed righteous. In the end, all of the Nephites and Lamanites became wicked and it destroyed their civilization. Another note is that in Stormlight the Singers turn to Odium after humans come from Braize. The Nephites and Lamanites turned away from God long before any European settler made it to the Americas. In the end I don't think that this is supposed to be symbolic of the Nephites and Lamanites already being in the Americas. I don't know a ton about the specifics on the Mountain Meadow Massacre, so I'm not going to touch on the second point A couple notes to end this post. First, I am not trying to convert anyone. I am simply stating my beliefs and how I think they relate to Stormlight. Second, I don't want this to turn into some big religious/moral debate. Third, I don't have a perfect understanding of all the teachings of my church and I definately am not perfect at explaining what I do understand.

Could be something with the queen and a worldhopper or someone from Braize before the full evacuation.