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So I'm not sure if this is a theory that's already out there and I'm late to the party - it's probably something a lot of people have speculated about, but I came across this quote in a WOBs Shardcast recently and decided to gather all of the evidence in one place: The panelists and questioner didn't remmeber the scene clearly (it's a confusing one), as Venli actually notes that the spren of the thunderclasts do not seem like regular Fused: From WoK days, there have always been some parallels between thunderclasts and Fused: we see thunderclasts in the prologue, and then the Alethi assume that the chasmfiends are the Parshendi gods. Pre-Oathbringer, a lot of fans thought chasmfiends might actually be thunderclasts, though this was debunked. There are, however, some further parallels between the two: the thunderclasts clearly have a degree of intelligence, as seen in the Battle of Thaylen City when one of them targets the King's Drop (receiving instructions from Odium via a Fused). The same creature is smart enough in its clash with Adolin to concentrate on him, identifying his Shardblade as the greatest threat to it: In WoR, we get Kaladin and Shallan's perspective as they face a chasmfiend. The creature is cunning enough to wait for them, rather than going away once they hide in the slit in the wall. Kaladin observes: We also have one more instance - that I could find - of a character picking up on similarities between the two - this time when Adolin faces the chasmfiend: We get a description of this head from Venli at the end of RoW: The arrowface reminds me of the shape of the mandras who inhabit chasmfiends and other greatshells, enabling them to defy gravity. As for why the spren of ancient chasmfiends - and possibly other greatshells - would be assisting the souls of ancient singers in an eternal war against the humans, the scene quoted above may hold the answer. At the end of RoW, Venli finds the remaining listeners and discovers that they have somehow bonded or befriended the chasmfiends, who helped them survive the chasms. As we are often told, new things are made from old things. It seems plausible that the ancient singers may have had this ability, as this kind of symbiosis is common for Rosharan species. For singers, this bond may grant them protection, while for chasmfiends - and greatshells in general - it might increase their intelligence/cognition, similar to the Nahel bond: new things are made from old things. We have seen in Rhythm of War that Chiri-Chiri - a larkin - has developed her intelligence to the point that she can speak with "mouth noises". If the ancient singers had this bond with chasmfiends and other greatshells back at the time of the First Desolation, and it did indeed enhance their intelligence, then I think Odium may have Elevated these greatshells into what we now see as thunderclasts. When they manifest, they rip free of the earth, forming a great shell of stone around their spirit.

The Wiki Page https://coppermind.net/wiki/Nahel_bond starts with: But I remebered this: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/452/#e14509 I came to this Topic when i wanted to mention, "This Character has a Nahel Bond" in a WTCC Question but checked the Wiki to not confuse everyone. Can we change this in the Wiki? I know that WOBs are only secondary canon but the quote is from December 2020, so it is pretty recent and past RoW. And he literally said, that it is the definition. It does not just change "human or singer" to "being from the Physical Realm", but also "sentient spren" to "spren".

Still trying to get Brandon to send out book 4 early. I loved the response to my previous post Blackmail Theory: Lift's Gifts. Brandon send me book 4 or I'll just keep reading your books and talking about how much I like them. ... Do it. Blackmail Theory #2: Hoid's Holiday "Tell me what you know, Wit. (Jasnah) I once spent the better part of a year inside of a large stomach, being digested." (WOR Epilogue, 1094). Also there was a good find of a reference to Hoid in Edgedancer from Skaa, that has him winking at Lift and then jumping into a Marabethian Greatshell's mouth. So what was Hoid doing on holiday in a greatshell's stomach? Why did he chill out there for the better part of a year? Has he been eaten by more than one nightmarish crab creature? Hoid has the skills to hide without being digested, nor is he simply crazy no matter how he may sometimes act. I suggest that he is doing what he often does, searching for rare and powerful magical artifacts. In this case perfect gemstones. The greatshells must feed on all the things littering the floor of the reshi sea, lesser greatshells, the rotting carcases of the tai na, each other. The stomach of each must be littered with thousands of undigestable gemhearts, grisely trophies of past meals. Why bother? Hoid doesn't want wealth and he can pickpocket Shallan whenever he feels like it. He wants a perfect gemstone, so he can he capture an unmade (Sja-Anat?) and add to his ever growing collection of magical artifacts. Hoid gave Jasnah a valuable piece of information, while making it look like he was giving Jasnah a bit of useless nonsense, knowing that Jasnah would dismiss it because he's a clever boy. Brandon gave us a valuable piece of information, while making it look like he was giving us a bit of useless nonsense, knowing that we would dismiss it because he's a sadist of questionable parentage.

Greatshells - such as the Chasm Beasts - pupate as storms approach so that new Spren can enter their gemhearts.

Hi everyone, I was wondering if we have any WoB on what a greatshell would look like from shadesmar? I was following another post and noticed that the mandras are likely the 'luckspren' commonly noticed around chull, chasmfiends, and other greatshells. Does this mean that in the Cognitive Realm we would see these mandras swarming and supporting them? What do you think they would look like? Do we know if the greatshells have a manifested presence, or is it more likely that they are like humans and they resemble a candle flame.

After doing a search through Kings and Radiance for "Gemheart" and "Greatshell" and concluded the texts supports all Great shells having gem hearts but does not state a chull as a greatshell. Any WoB stating that chulls have gemhearts?