Alatar

In the epigraphs quoting the RoW book, presumably Raboniel says that she also has a chain which anchors you through Cognitive Anomalies. I'm on the phone so I can't quote the exact wording but she says something about the place of origin that seems Threnody. WoB from the release party may even exist? I'm not sure, sorry, I don't think I'll have time these days to dig that out but I remember being sure when I wrote that.

I remember that at one moment it's said that it was a mountain itself (can't remember if Venli says that or it was a WoB during release that I read here), so maybe the floors are what fits in the height of the mountain.

It's too late and I'm tired so I've only read some parts but I see the picture and just wanted to add one thing: These books are big, each one is bigger that all the LoTR story (the 3 volumes), and they are comprised of a lot of stories and characters and arcs. I think that you'll like one book or another, or none at all or love all of them depending on how much of what you like and dislike takes the space of that specific book. I, for example, struggled with WoK but found the scene of Bridge 4 rescue and then Dalinar handling the Shardblade to be the most epic thing I've ever read, so I liked it, don't remember anything of notice of WoR, OB feels the same as Wok, boring in parts but an epic ending that I love, RoW has some boring parts but the bits that I love compensate them. That was my example, everybody will have a different mix and some will love WoR while they'll loathe OB or whatever they feel about each book. This grows with each volume because we expect each one to be bigger, more epic, more magic. But I think the books in itself are awesome and all the parts are very well written, it's just that some things I like and some I don't. For example, R.A. Salvatore Crimson Shadow has a 200 pages battle. It bore me to death, but I know for a fact that some people enjoy that a lot. I can't stand Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magic realism, but it's praised all over the world. It's not that the plot is badly written, it's that there are several story arcs and your sensibilities make you enjoy some and hate others, and that's OK. Just seeing the "summary" that @quackquack has done in the OP, we can realise the amazing amount of stuff there is in this book. For the people who say that the story hasn't advanced, really, you should check how many things happen, to the characters, to the state of the war, to the countries, to the secret societies, to Shadesmar, to the cosmere... Really, A LOT of things happened in this book, maybe you're not interested in some of the things that happen, but they happened nonetheless, and to other people eyes, they're very interesting.

I've read that statement a lot of times, and as many times people try to clarify that point, they seem to be ignored. Kaladin doesn't ORDER Yunfah to bond Rlain, he orders him to consider Rlain as he's being sidelined just for being non human, that means, discriminated because of his race. He even gives Yunfah a timeline (2 weeks IIRC) to consider it before he can move to another squire. That means Yunfah has the choice, he's just ordered to stop discriminating Rlain. And that, when Syl tells Kaladin that he could probably order him to bond. On the morals of sapient spren, that's also a common human mistake. We humanize animals, objects and, in this case, supernatural beings from fantasy books. Spren aren't human in the sense that human being, although bound by morals and upbringing, are really free to act. You can actually act against your moral principles or values, while a spren would break (die) if it tried to do so. As Zahel / Vasher says, they are Investiture with awakened consciousness, but Investiture has Intent and Connection which bounds them. That's why the RK can't summon their Blades until the 3rd Ideal, for example, you need the Connection and Intent to align with that of your spren type. Once you reach that level, both spren and person are bonded in such a way that their intents align, so the RK won't summon the Blade to do something that the spren would disapprove. If they did, that would mean the bond breaking and, in the present situation, the spren becoming a deadeye. In fact, humans are so dangerous for spren because, as unlimited beings, they can act against their oaths, thus breaking the bonds and damaging the spren, but it'll be very difficult for a RK of a high Ideal to go against their oaths, because they're commited and the bond with their spren is really strong and also affects them. So, it's not that they have to debate with their spren whether to do this or that, they FEEL it through their bond. The only debates we see are nurturing said radiant towards advancment in the bond. As we see, they can even know how to advance, but they can refuse to do so because they're not commited (Kaladin's 4th Ideal, for example), or the advancment being denied because they're not really commited (Venli's 2nd one).

This chart is very good, but, with the name dropping and development seen in RoW (which can't be used because of spoilers), there are at least 2 Shards that I'd place instead and Autonomy in the quadrant of Passion / Feel. Autonomy fits better in the Survive quadrant. Also, as they are Commands, Inspire I don't think is a good fit for the name of the Dawnshard, Feel fits better with the Command Change, in my opinion. Also, I petition to use the names dropped in RoW here, they're just names, after all, I don't think they're even minor spoilers, but I submit to Moderator Wisdom.

I didn't say that, I meant going out of Roshar (maybe even as a servant of Odium) and UNITE THEM. You see, I think Cultivation is the best when seeing the different futures and has a lot of plans in place. It'd be just as twisted as Brandon does it to have Dalinar become Odium's pawn only to do the thing Odium doesn't want, with a little help of a friend. Also, as @trav said, he seems to have full power and no intent interfering, and that situation is interesting.

Would you please explain that to the millions of fans who love Mistborn EXCEPT FOR THE END? I'd rather you started with my wife, who keeps saying those exact words, more than 10 years later That's why I said no happy ending, I think that for the cosmere Dalinar acting as Odium's servant is much more interesting, so he has to lose. Of course, I think Brandon surely knows that we expect this, and I bet he already has something prepared to surprise us. Which doesn't mean they won't still lose the duel, of course, but nothing is that simple, and there's always another secret, specially since we know Scarred Boy is lurking in the background.

Sanderson's stories always have a "good" ending, he's not a grim dark writer. Sometimes the main characters die, sometimes the villain kind of wins... But the end is, at least, hopeful. That said, no way book 5 is going to be happy. Mainly, because this is a 2-series story, so this isn't really the end. Also, because this story is very Cosmere relevant and we need Dalinar out there, so he has to lose the duel and be tied to Odium. Furthermore, Kaladin will probably "die" one way or the other, maybe to save the day, maybe to reforge the Honorpact, or to become Honor's Vessel or... Well, as I see it, the end is going to hurt. Anyway, I think BS has confirmed that some of the youngsters here, like Lift, will be main characters in the second SA series, so book 5 is kind of a season finale, not really the end. Disclaimer: all of the above are opinions and assumptions, you're free to believe in a happy ending book 5

Very good point. It also seems that new Vessels are much more dynamic and independent of their Shard's Intent, see what happened with Scadrial! So, do you think we'll see Dalinar going out and Uniting Ambition, Devotion and Dominion so that someone takes them?

Maybe that's the importance of the final "Dirty Tricks", Hoid realising that something happened and prompting him to investigate and find out that the body is Rayse's. Remember that he sometimes have access to Fortune, which directs him towards locations or people at relevant moments, without the clear understanding of why he has to be there. So, maybe he realises something is amiss, checks on the body and swaps it to do shenanigans. We'll probably even have a scen in book 5 (or several) firmly stating that Taravangian's body was cremated, to misdirect us. On @Mason Wheeler's OP, that WoB is very good, but I don't know if it applies for something very relevant here. As @Karger says, maybe it would have been useful for Sazed to scramble the brains for their knowledge on how to control the Shards and get some insight from the Shattering. In this sense, it would be useful for Taravangian. Or maybe it will be relevant, who knows at this point.

@Seloun You're right, Hoid isn't infalible, in fact, none is in the cosmere, it seems. But the text you quoted seems to imply that Hoid acknowledges the failure, while Dirty Tricks implies that he's oblivious about it after having not one, but three hints that something happened. That on itself makes me think that Hoid is just acting as if he doesn't know, but he's really aware that something happened. How much? That's unclear, but I wouldn't say that he's completely aware of the first conversation.

I said it's good or bad depending on your mood and how it's written. Kaladin's arc hold no tension for me, I wasn't the least worried about him because I knew what the end would be, and that means bad in my book. If you like your expectations fulfilled (which I like ocasionally, too), then it can be a good experience. Granted, it's well written, even though I knew everything was coming that way, I enjoyed the details, like Tien's vision, and had some feeling about it, not just indifference. I like the book for other arcs and for the general feeling, but I can still think this part is the worst for me. Shallan and Adolin's part has the same problem, at least for me, although I thank Brandon for not healing Maya and Shallan in one go, at least, which is what I was expecting. So, I'll repeat it at the end: it's good or bad depending on what you want at that moment, to be surprised or to be fulfilled, depends on the reader.

I think the Wells count, and more, Kellsier has tricked Death itself, as mythic tricksters often do (I can't remember the names but I'm thinking more on the slavic folktales, like those compilated by Afanasiev, also I think the inspiration for the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter). When I first read the book, it seemed to me that Hoid was tricksted but the more I think of it I agree with @Serack , he's let himself been tricked. Technically, he was tricked, but he knew something was going to happen and he knows something happened. If just one question from Taravangian made him realise it wasn't Rayse, the obvious and repetitive hints (his spren and coins are not where he remembers them, the perfect pitch) should make him pause for sure, but he doesn't want Odium to know that he knows. Other thing is that he has some backup or he knows exactly what happened (I guess he doesn't) but he knows something happened which wasn't meant to. And, going back to the trickster archtypes, I think both Kell and Hoid have already stablished themselves as those archtypes and live the tales that lead them there, Kell with the Wells and the cheating Death, and Hoid with the story in Liar of Partinel that some people know (I don't) and will be retold, as well as other appeareances. Just, we haven't been told his story yet. In fact, I can imagine myself saying to Hoid (or Kell): "¿Do you know why you hate him so much? Because you're exactly the same" and, to his outrage, reply "That's exactly what HE said"

Maybe he doesn't even need to attack it, and he's been in contact with some of the important sprens to get them bodies because they want to live in the Physical Realm, we've seen those in charge have a very twisted sense of Honor and I wouldn't put them above a plot like that.

I don't mean predictable in the way of analysing them and predicting the way they can roll, but in the way that they're very stereotypical. It's bad or wrong depending on the mood you are on, the way it's done, so it's different for everyone. Kaladin and Shallan are the absolute protagonists of this series, and it shows in their arcs, they can be really bad and down but we know they'll end up the book in better shape than in the beginning. For me, that's bad but not irredeemable, you can see for other people it's quiet bad. Fortunately, we're coming to the end of the first 5 book series, so now they can end with sacrifice or happy ending or whatever, so it'll be at least a bit of a surprise.