Zanarkand

This idea might be a bit thin, but where did the investiture come from to open the perpendicularity which Autonomy's army was planning to use? Could it have come from the Bands?

One possibility that came to mind was that the Set used the investiture in the Bands of Mourning to fuel the perpendicularity that was to let the red/gold army in. Though I have no clue how they would have accomplished this.

Thanks! I'll have to give this a good think, I'll admit it's a very good point against my pet theory.

It's also possible that Melishi is simply another name for Ishar that has since been forgotten by history. The Sibling and the Radiants of the time were aware of Melishi's identity as the herald Ishar, and the Sibling is not purposely obfuscating that fact, but rather it is unaware of the name currently being used to refer to said herald and is simply using the name that was common at the time. Could you please quote the passage where Stormfather refers to Melishi by name? I have been unable to find it. Thank you in advance.

Beat me to it, lol.

I'm definitely leaning this way too. Honor was unstable but still alive at the time of the Recreance. He had to be alive in order to create the vision of the Recreance to show to potential bondsmiths. Instead of reassuring the Radiants of their righteousness he ranted that they would destroy the world, thus adding to the tensions instead of diffusing them.

Possible but highly unlikely in my opinion. Brandon only very recently decided to canonize the shard Mercy. If it played such an important part in the history of the SA I think we would have had hints long before RoW.

When Dalinar ascends in Oathbringer, Odium himself says: "We killed you!" Almost certainly in reference to Honor, given the context. Not airtight I guess, but pretty close. I don't buy this, simply because breaking oaths or pacts goes against Honor's intent. Besides, if he had broken a deal, it is likely Odium would be completely free from whatever bound him to the Rosharan system. I find it more likely that the terms of Odium's imprisonment included a clause that made Honor vulnerable to Odium in some way, perhaps unbeknownst to Honor himself. My question is when Odium says "We killed you!" Who besides himself is the "we" referring to?

How do we know Kalak didn't know? He hasn't referred to Melishi or Ishar in the context of the imprisonment of BAM. I think the presence of other heralds at the imprisonment strengthens this theory, not the other way around. They might have been there to support Ishar/Melishi. I've been a proponent of the Ishar=Melishi theory for a while and I have thought that the binding of BAM somehow caused the madness of the heralds but never could figure out how. This makes a lot of sense to me. In Oathbringer we find out that in order to trap a spren you have to offer it something it wants in order to attract it. Perhaps BAM wanted a bond, and Melishi/Ishar gave it one. The Stormfather is not omniscient, it is conceivable he was not aware they were the same person, especially if we consider the Stormfather's evolution into full awareness (prompted by Honor prior to and in response to his imminent demise) might not have been complete yet.

I'm going to go in a different direction here. I think Kaladin will become the new vessel for Honor. The obvious choice for vessel if you think the Honor shard will return is Dalinar, but I think there are enough subtle hints in the books so far to point to Kaladin being the one (child of Tanavast and whatnot.) It would be and interesting twist. As to whether or not he pleads the fifth (ba-dum-chiii,) I think he will, kind of like a Goku going super-saiyan moment. Here's how I see it going down: Dalinar loses the contest, becoming Odium's champion, and Kaladin has to fight him. Kaladin gets whooped by fused Dalinar until he says the fifth ideal, powers up, and manages to defeat him, mortally wounding him with anti-light. We get a very sad scene with Dalinar dieing, thanking Kaladin for releasing him from Odium's control, and Kaladin gets control of Dalanar's splinter of Honor. Kaladin is already bound to the second most powerful splinter of Honor (Syl,) and with the combined splinters there is enough power for Honor to be restored with Kaladin as the vessel.

Valid points for sure. My main reason for thinking Melishi = Ishar other than their character similarities (ambition, megalomania, innovative use of bondsmith powers) is the withdrawal of the Sibling's bond with Melishi, as discussed during Adolin's trial in RoW. The timing is ambiguous so I can't be sure but it seems to me that the Sibling withdrew their bond with Melishi BEFORE the imprisonment of BAM, as evidenced by the abandonment of Urithiru by the Radiants prior to the Recreance. However in the Urithiru gemstone archive we are basically told that the imprisonment of BAM required bondsmith powers. Where could Melishi have gotten bondsmith powers without his bond to the Sibling? Perhaps a quick jaunt to Shinovar to pick up a certain blade... As to how nobody knew that they were the same person, who is to say they didn't? Melishi could just be one of Ishar's many names and the record of his true identity perhaps just didn't survive the millenia. I know its not airtight and it poses potential problems but it's my pet theory dang it and I'm sticking to it!

I know that there are people who don't like this idea, but I'm almost willing to put money on the theory that the last bondsmith of the old Radiants was actually Ishar. There are too many connections between Melishi and Ishar to be coincidence. Regardless, I agree with you that Ishar is important, maybe the most important non-diety in Rosharan history.

The word "cent" in english is used to denote the smallest unit of currency in the centesimal currency system that most societies use across the world. Not all call that unit a "cent" but many do besides the U.S. It is not inconceivable that some societies that Hoid has visited, perhaps even his native one, use the same centesimal currency system and thus their word for the smallest unit in that system would translate in english to "cent."

So surgebinding might be Honor's magic, with a touch of Cultivation mixed in? The surges of the fused might be a corruption or repurposing of Honor's magic by Odium. Odium's distinct magic is voidbinding, and Cultivation has her own distinct magic system. Lifebinding perhaps?

I'm waiting for the heating fabrial-powered steam engine. Probably won't happen though, they would instead use fabrials to power their machines directly like they already do with pumps and lifts, etc.

@Aspiring Writer I agree with your logic but from a more meta point of view it seems to me that the author is pointing Adolin in a different direction. Just my opinion though.

I know I can't be the only one thinking along these lines and I don't mean to steal anyone's thunder, however I couldn't find a topic on this subject. Basically I have been reading a lot of theories and speculation about Adolin bonding Maya and becoming a Radiant, however I am utterly convinced this won't happen due to the following reasons: First off, let's remember that Adolin and Maya are already bonded, and their bond seems to be functionally distinct from the radiant bond (admittedly this could just be due to the deadeye status of Maya though I doubt it.) Secondly, if she becomes able to again, why would Maya want to bond with a Radiant? She previously participated in an act specifically designed to destroy the old order of Radiants. Why would she now walk that back by helping to create a new Radiant? Finally, there is Adolin's general character arc. This point is hard for me to articulate, but Adolin just doesn't seem like he is heading in the direction of becoming a Radiant. He is trying to find his place in the world and become his own man, not the man he thinks his father wants him to be. What does he think his father wants him to be? A Knight Radiant. To be clear, I do think Adolin's arc is leading to Maya being healed (duh?) I also think they will stay bonded in some sense. However, I think their bond will lead them to become something new. What that is I couldn't begin to guess, but I'm excited to find out.

We know from Secret History that a former vessel can live on as a cognitive shadow indefinitely if they so choose. Will Rayse choose to go Beyond or will he persist? I think it would be cool for him to give some 11th hour info to the good guys to help them beat T-Odium, simply as vengeance for killing him.

I didn't mean it like that. More like when you can't save everyone, you need to choose who to save in order to do the most good sort of thing. Not like Taravangian would do, i.e. doing evil for the sake of a "good" end.

I'm also thinking along these lines. My feeling is that the 5th ideal is about sacrificing a few to save many. Kind of like Spock's: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Whereas the 4th ideal is about passive acceptance that you can't save everyone, I think the 5th ideal will emphasize agency, choosing to let some die in order to achieve a higher purpose.

Just wondering if anyone else has speculated on who Vasher/Zahel will give his divine breath to. It seems obvious to me he will do it at some point, much as Lightsong did. And given how long he has been alive and how important he has been, I would surmise Zahel's sacrifice will be a doozy.

The surge of Adhesion, specifically as used by Bondsmiths is just too different from the other surges. Something more is going on there.

Am I the only one who sees the ending of Secret History, with Kell and Spook, as the founding of the ghostbloods? Cognitive Shadow + Hemalurgy = Ghostblood. Their goal seems to be generally to discover and exploit the secrets of the cosmere for fun and profit.

The following is a pet theory of mine that has been simmering for a few months. Apologies in advance if this has already been discussed. Odium mentions a few times that Dalinar is the only one that can release him from Roshar because he commands the greatest part of Honor's power. But it never made sense to me that Honor could trap Odium unilaterally like that, unless they made some form of agreement. But why should that agreement bind Odium? We see an interaction between two Shards elsewhere in the Cosmere where one breaks an agreement with the other and that in and of itself didn't seem to affect the balance of power between said Shards. I feel there has to be a secret sauce explanation for how Honor bound Odium. I think a Dawnshard is a reasonable conjecture. Let's call it the Dawnshard of Unity. It's a Command that binds things together. And if I'm right, Dalinar has it. My theory is that somehow the Dawnshard ended up on Ashyn, possibly carried there by Odium and was given to/taken by Ishar. With it he was able to bind the surges so that men could use them, but in a way that was unchecked. I don't think the surges at this point come from Honor because he wouldn't give access to them without conditions. The use of these unchecked surges led to the downfall of the Tranquiline Halls and the exile of mankind to Roshar. To me it seems likely that Honor would require mankind to give up the Dawnshard and the surges as a condition of their rescue. Thus Honor becomes the holder of the Dawnshard and uses it to bind Odium to the system. Honor also gives the heralds access to the surges again to fight the desolations but this time under his sanction and control. When Honor is succumbing to Odium's attack he is worried that humans will get the Dawnshard again once he dies and will destroy Roshar with unchecked surges like with Ashyn. So he leaves it with his cognitive shadow, the Stormfather. Now the Stormfather is tasked with finding a new bondsmith, but this bondsmith won't be ordinary, they will also have the Dawnshard passed to them through the bond with the Stormfather. In the "Dawnshard" novella, we discover that the Dawnshards are Commands and there are four of them. The one Rysn obtains seems to be the Command of Change and at one point she hears that command in her mind. Well Dalinar throughout the series repeatedly hears the Command of his Dawnshard too: "Unite Them."

Didn't Navani liken the combined rhythms of Honor and Cultivation to "Science" at one point? I only have the audio books so if someone can find that I would be eternally grateful. Was close to the end of the book if I remember right. Anyway, my head-canon name for the combined rhythm/light of Cultivation and Odium is "Pestilence." @Dreamwa1ker love your "Malignance" idea too, I think we're on the same page with the virus/cancer vibe: Unchecked and destructive growth.