Ba-Ado-Fisherman

1. Oathbringer 2. Words of Radiance (top 2 are basically interchangeable for me) 3. Way of Kings 4. Rhythm of War 5. Shadows of Self 6. Warbreaker 7. Hero of Ages 8. Yumi 9. Emperor’s Souls 10. The Final Empire

I agree with a lot of this. While there are strategies an Allomancer can come up with to kill a Surgebinder, I think the base power of any Surgebinder is too hard to ignore. (imo stormlight healing is OP and basically ends the argument itself). Even the most powerful Allomancer with Atium can’t catch a Windrunner if they fly away, much less if they have living Shardplate on. I love seeing the creative ideas people come up with for how an Allomancer could win in a fight. Like I don’t think Shallan is going to beat Vin in a 1v1. But if we staged 100 random fights, I’d bet money on Radiants winning 75%+. And that’s assuming many Mistborn do have small amounts of Atium they can use. Atium could give Mistborn an advantage, but Stormlight healing is OP and could probably outlast it.

That would make much more sense.

In the scene with Hoid, Harmony and Wax in Alloy of Law, Harmony says something interesting to Wax. He's talking about the way humanity has progressed on Scadrial since his Ascension. “You don’t explore, Harmony continued, ignoring Wax’s confusion. Why would you? You have everything you want here. You’ve barely progressed technologically from what I gave you in the books. Yet others, who were nearly destroyed …” Could the "others, who were nearly destroyed" be a reference to mankind on Roshar? People that were nearly destroyed by Desolations, and then built up technology and civilization for thousands of years afterwards? Even if this is the case, it's really not much at all, but I thought it was an interesting idea.

I disagree. A few years ago he directly confirmed that RoW's prologue would be from Navani's perspective, and book 5 would be Gavilar. So Brandon has spoiled future viewpoints in the past. However, I think the reason he RAFO'd this question is because he doesn't want to explicitly confirm anything that happens after the end of book 5. I fully believe that it will be from Hoid's perspective though. I completely and utterly disagree. The entire theme of the Stormlight Archive is about redemption and growth. "Journey before destination". What you do in the past doesn't define your future, and anyone can take the next step towards being a better person. Moash might be the best possible example of this at the current time in the series. If we're gonna sit here and accept Dalinar in spite of the monster he used to be, then we need to accept the idea that Moash is not irredeemable.

Well damn there you go lol. I will say that Hoid talking to a Skaze doesn't imply that he would know exactly what it was. I stand by my theory. That's what I said... I'm theorizing that they could be anti-Investiture Splinters of Dominion. And if this were the case, then there's no way Brandon would hint at that being the case in previous WoBs. He has a long history of dodgy and misinterpreted WoBs in the past.

I don't understand why you think Hoid wouldn't know more than Khriss? He has been alive since before the Shattering, knows each original Vessel personally, was previously a Dawnshard, and his been to every world that a book has taken place on, except Threnody (that we know of).

I have no idea where that quote came from. I got it from this page https://stormlightarchive.fandom.com/wiki/Khriss#Sel Khriss says that anti-Investiture has been "long theorized". It isn't that she was unaware of the possibility, only that she didn't know how it could be made. If a group of people on Sel figured out how to do that, it makes complete sense that they would keep that knowledge hidden.

Well Khriss is actually wrong about anti-Investiture in the Ars Arcanum. Gavilar had a sphere of it 7 whole years before RoW, but Khriss didn't know about it until after Navani figured out how to make it. From stormlightarchive.fandom.com: "She's begun to wonder if something greater is happening on Sel than they, at Silverlight University, have guessed. Something with origins lost in time. She believes that there is a link between entities known as seons and skaze and the puzzle of Sel's nature". So Khriss clearly doesn't fully understand what's happening on Sel, and she doesn't know how Seons and Skaze are linked. I guess it could be possible that Skaze are essentially anti-Seons too, based on this passage.

So I recently bought the Elantris leather bound, and it turns out that Brandon released a two-page, bonus chapter for Elantirs' 10th anniversary that I never read... Reading this after Rhythm of War, something stands out to me. In the scene, Hoid is talking to a Skaze. Per a couple WoBs, Skaze are described as "evil Seons" and they are Splinters of Dominion. What caught my attention is the way it's described by Hoid. He says it's "a hovering dark sphere, about the size of a melon. It somehow sucked in the light, and didn't have distinct edges Hoid could make out--it just kind of blended out into the air, warping everything around it like a stone dropped onto a sheet of silk stretched tight. It was ringed with a pattern of misty symbols" In Rhythm of War, Navani describes the sphere of anti-Voidlight as, “Like the ordinary Voidlight sphere, its blackness expanded, making the surrounding air dim. But there was an added effect with this sphere, one she hadn’t noticed right away. It warped the air around it.” Both the Skaze and the anti-Voidlight are explicitly described as "warping" the air around it. Sel is also "the most realmatically knowledgeable of the known Shardworlds" (Coppermind). I think there are people on Sel that are not only aware of anti-Investiture, but have also figured out how to create anti-Investiture Splinters of Dominion, called Skaze.

I feel like everything Moash has done since WoR is setting him up to be a more important character in the future. I hope Brandon doesn't kill him off to sate the "f moash" crowd.

So I was listening to latest Shardcast episode, and someone, I believe Grace, made a very interesting observation about Moash. Brandon has said that the ending to The Stormlight Archive is hidden within the first two books. In both tWok and WoR, Hoid tells an interesting story. One of my favorite scenes in WoR is when Hoid tells a story to Shallan. He says, "Two blind men waited at the end of an era, contemplating beauty. They sat atop the world's highest cliff, overlooking the land and seeing nothing." Now this is certainly a stretch, but when Grace mentioned it, it really piqued my interest. There is also another story from Hoid, in the epilogue, but it's a little different. He says, "A blind man awaited the era of endings, contemplating the beauty of nature." The biggest difference in these two variations are "end of an era", and "era of endings". So, what if the first story is foreshadowing the literal end of Stormlight "era" 1, and the second story is foreshadowing the ending of the entire series? And if so, the fact that Moash is now blind becomes very considerable. Kaladin is basically the main character of the series so far (he has the highest word count by a large margin), and Moash is a crucial part of Kaladin's story. I find it to be plausible that Moash could be involved in the climax or very ending of book 5. In the epilogue, Hoid refers to himself as being "spiritually blind" as well. Each book so far has had an epilogue with Hoid as the pov character. The epilogue of book 5 could consist of Hoid and Moash sitting on a mountain, looking over the land and seeing nothing. Of course, this all hinges on the idea that Hoid's two stories are the previously mentioned "ending of the series" that Brandon has said exists in the first two books. It's quite a stretch, but a fun theory nonetheless. -Credit to Grace on Shardcast for sparking this idea.

Exactly what I was thinking. *Imagines a spiked Dalinar with Bondsmith abilities working for Odium, conquering the Cosmere*

I have also theorized that the Night of Sorrows will be the end of Roshar's continuous Stormlight supply. For one reason or another, I think either Highstorms will stop, or they will just stop producing Investiture, leaving Roshar in a sort of permanent darkness. My pet theory is that Dalinar will leave Roshar after losing the contest, and somehow take the Stormfather with him.

Every anti-Investiture weapon we've seen so far hasn't resulted in explosions, so that argument doesn't really hold up. Also, as far as we know, anti-Investiture does destroy on all three realms. Considering that it literally destroys Investiture, I'd be inclined to believe that it does. Jezrien is dead. His body, mind, and spirit are gone.

Well yeah, but what is he too late for?

I think I found a pretty good piece of evidence for Nightblood being a form of anti-Investiture In Rhythm of War, from Vasher “These enemies of yours though, I think they’re too strong for that. They’ve lasted thousands of years already, and seem Connected to Odium to feed directly on his power. You’ll have to find a way to disrupt their souls. You can’t just rip them apart; you need a weapon so strong, it unravels the soul.” He squinted, looking off into the distance. “I know through sorry experience those kinds of weapons are very dangerous to make, and never seem to work right.” So Vasher sounds like he's describing Nightblood here. "a weapon so strong, it unravels the soul". Then I thought this sounded familiar. Lezian's death: “He plunged the knife down as the Pursuer struggled. And his soul ripped itself apart” So Lezian's death is described as his soul ripping itself apart, and Vasher seems to think that Nightblood is a weapon that unravels the soul. Obviously this isn't confirmation, but I think this is a very strong piece of evidence pointing to Nightblood being some kind of weapon of anti-Investiture.

It'll be interesting to see how Brandon works all of these new Shards into the story, if even at all. I'm sure there'll be some Shards that don't really play a major role, like Whimsy. Of the 4 new Shards we got in RoW, I think Invention and Mercy are the two we'll see the most of. I have a feeling that Mercy will side with new Odium, and Invention will side with Harmony/Honor(or whatever Honor becomes).

After Rhythm of War, the prologue of tWoK carries an entirely new meaning. Not only did Brandon name-drop Kelsier, but we now know that Gavilar was fully aware of Kelsier. "You can tell Thaidakar that he's too late". What does this mean? Gavilar hands the sphere of anti-Voidlight to Szeth and tells him that "they" must not find it. I'm going to assume that Gavilar is talking about the Ghostbloods when he says "they". Given what we know about Kelsier's goals as well as the goals of the Ghostbloods, I'm trying to figure out why anti-Light would be of importance to them. Why would Gavilar think that the Ghostbloods should not be allowed to discover anti-Investiture or how to create it? Why would Kelsier even want anti-Investiture? Does he want to make a bomb? Could converting Investiture into anti-Investiture allow for it to be freely transferred between worlds? Was Gavilar even referencing the Ghostbloods when he said "they", or was he referencing the Parshendi? So many questions... I think I'm looking forward to book 5's prologue more than the book itself.

I could definitely see Invention coming in at some point. That Shard could be very helpful in building up to the space age of the Cosmere.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. It seems as though Odium--either on purpose or by accident--invested in Roshar, and I think it'd be really cool to see Knights Radiant of Odium.

Pretty sure it was Cultivation. The Stormfather accepts Oaths, but he's basically the remnants of Honor. Dalinar accepts an oath, because he is essentially becoming Honor, slowly. I think only Cultivation and Honor can accept oaths, and MAYBE Odium, but idk about the last one. Maybe Odium will accept oaths spoken by Renarin?

Yeah I'm making assumptions about what Dalinar can and can't do. Before Tanavast died, I would say that it'd be impossible, but now that Dalinar is a Bondsmith without restrictions, and is bonded to the remnants of Honor, I think at least on some level he manipulate Connection in the same way Tanavast could. If Rashek can't be touched, then how did Kelsier stab him with multiple spears, and how did Vin kill him? Fullborns are immensely powerful, and right now, in a 1v1 fight to the death with Dalinar, I'd take the Lord Ruler. However, that doesn't make Fullborns more powerful. Dalinar literally Ascended, whatever that means. He actually scared Odium, a Shard that has murdered multiple gods.

I don't understand... You say he isn't strong at all on a pure power level, yet you realize he has the most raw investiture? Dalinar can theoretically manipulate, create, steal, and destroy Connection. If he went up against an Allomancer, it would be a piece of cake. Remove their Connection to Preservation and boom, no more Allomancy. Remember what Ishar did in RoW? He literally Connected like 5 different Windrunners to the ground, forcing their Investiture out of them. Dalinar has the power of literal gods. Bondsmithing is by far the most powerful Invested Art that we know of so far in the Cosmere. Not to mention he has Stormlight healing, making him basically invincible with enough Stormlight, which he has a unlimited source of with Honor's perp.

lmfao ok dude