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  1. Art by me. @/Cephandrius on Twitter.
  2. In OB, it sound like it's possible to force a person to bond a specific type of spren. (Nale would do it, to bond potential radiants to make them skybreakers, or kill them.) Is it? Does that mean that the type of spren is technically irrelevant?
  3. I have been trying to understand the following sentence from the letter by Amaran to Restares. English is not my first language so I am a bit confused. Doest thatmean that Nalan is communicating with Amaram or worse, directing him or is it something else completely.
  4. What follows is my current theory on how the 10 Heralds became the 10 fool's through the coarse of the Desolations. I will update this post as it evolves. I will try to provide links to all WOB. Quotes will come from the kindle versions of the books via cut and paste. I will list book, chapter, and location number. Bold will be my emphasis. Italics will be possible contradictory evidence. Number 18 here From Reddit Fantasy Bookclub Q&A with Brandon Sanderson Feb 28th, 2011 We will start with this quote which shows us all Heralds were in WOK. First, the Desolations occurred when the Heralds were sent back to Roshar after one of them broke under the torture of Odium. Second, each Herald is associated with a primary and secondary Divine Attribute. (Possibly primary from Honor, Secondary from Cultivation?) Third, the torture does not happen in the physical realm. It occurs in either the cognitive, or more likely the spiritual realm. Fourth, when Odium breaks a Herald, he is literally breaking part of that Heralds spiritual connection to the Divine Attribute. Fifth, Odium's goal was to break all the Heralds and bring about the the Everstorm, allowing him to shatter Honor and Cultivation. Sixth, breaking the Divine Attributes shifted them towards something more compatible with Odium and less compatible with Honor. This resulted in the attributes associated with the 10 Fool's. Number 19 in this WOB, says each is uniquely insane. NOTE: One of the biggliest issues with this theory is not knowing the 10 Fools attributes. Two Fools are named. Two have attributes. Cabine - He acts like a child although he is an adult. TWOK chapter 37, page 593, location 10668 Eshu - He speaks of things he does not understand in front of those who do. WOR chapter 71, page 593, location 16877 One issue I have here is that the 2 Heralds I would link these two too are both female. Paliah and Battar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) We have a WOB on this. Not a confirmation, but along those lines. 2) Herald. Primary Divine Attribute. Secondary Divine Attribute. Jezrien. Protecting. Leading Nale. Just. Confident Chanarach. Brave. Obedient Vedel. Loving. Healing Paliah. Learned. Giving Shalash. Creative. Honest Battar. Wise. Careful Kalak. Resolute. Builder Talenel. Dependable. Resourceful Ishar. Pious. Guiding 3) Since Odium was attempting to break the Heralds focus on their Divine Attribute, the torture most likely took place in the spiritual realm. The spren would probably know something if it took place in the cognitive realm. One thing pointing to the cognitive realm though is the fact that Taln appeared covered in condensation much like a shardblade. 4) By breaking the Herald, Odium shifted their Primary attribute to closer align with his shard and align less with Honors. This usually resulted in an almost inversion of the attribute. SPECIFICALLY I THINK ONLY THE PRIMARY ATTRIBUTE WAS BROKEN/TWISTED. Below I will show what I think the attribute shifted to after the Devine attribute. Herald. Primary Divine Attribute. Secondary Divine Attribute. Jezrien. Protecting. (Submission) Leading Nale. Just. (Arbitrary)(Judgement) Confident Chanarach. Brave. Obedient Vedel. Loving. Healing Paliah. Learned. Giving Shalash. Creative. (Destructive) Honest Battar. Wise. Careful Kalak. Resolute. (Weak-willed) Builder Talenel. Dependable. (Erratic) Resourceful Ishar. Pious. (Traitorous) Guiding These are based off of what we have seen or heard in the books so far. These are not perfect words, but the 17th shard manymind will probably come up with better. There are some subtle indications that only 9 of the 10 fool's have a strong history or mythology. Here is one concerning Lyft and pancakes. I think I subconsciously connected Lyft's silly quest to eat all 10 Pancakes with the 10 fool's. Research could not find a direct correlation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jezrien gives up on protecting humanity personally, submits to the Will of the group, and sacrifices Talenel to uphold the entire oathpact. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nale shifts from Just- working within the accepted standards of right and wrong to Arbitrary- following the rule of law without regards to morality.....he goes straight lawful evil. From Edgedancer Chapter 9, page 596 Arcanum Unbound, location 8565 Judgement not Justice. From Edgedancer Chapter 9, page 596 Arcanum Unbound, location 8565 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalash is pretty clear with her running around destroying art, and significantly art that depicts her and other heralds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kalak is in no way resolute when Jezrien meets him. He is in fact very weak willed, confessing that he cannot go back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talenel (if it really is him) comes back a broken man, highly erratic and unable to perform his duties as the Herald of War. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ishar formed the Knights Radiant originally, he led the Bondsmiths. He was also the one who promulgated the traitorous idea that 1 Herald could support the Oathpact. From Edgedancer: And And ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5) We know there were not literally 99 desolation. I suspect there were 9. One each time Odium broke a Herald. Then the next time that Herald would not be tortured as hard so that about her would break first. Nine also being the number of Odium I believe would work well with this. After the Oathpact was discarded, Odium let humanity rewrite Roshar's history and religion in preparation for the Final Desolation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6) The corruption of the 9 Heralds weakened Honor, but the Knights Radiant provided some support, until the Day of Requience when they abandoned all their oaths. Honor shattered shortly after. I have to go back and find some more quotes and WOB to fully support some of this, but I will edit them in as I find them.
  5. Do we have a WoB of wether or not Ym was able to Stormlight-heal himself and survive after being stabbed by our beloved Herald of Justice? Is he still alive?
  6. Given the ending parts of Edgedancer, I think we can shut the book on the following Death Rattle: I think this applies to Nale, when Lift breaks through the hold on him. He 'awakens' to who he is/was, turns ("spins") to see the parshmen responding to the Everstorm, falls to his knees, and begins to cry. Brandon's Postscript also states he wanted this to be a significant event and not have happen offscreen, so it feels like a notable event that would be a Death Rattle.
  7. From the album: crab land

    hug that man, lift. Hug that man.
  8. At Gavilars party, we think we see several Heralds. Darkness/Nalan seems to be there, and it is theorized that he is joined by Kalak. Baxils mistress, who is believed to be Shalash, is confirmed to have been at the palace, and is mentioned by Nalan during the party. Some believe that Jezrien is the drunk man who speaks to Szeth. So, why are all these guys there? Did they know that Gavilar would die? Did they just want to befriend powerful people (Nalan and Kalak speaks to Elhokar)? How come they all gathered there?
  9. So I was rereading the first chapter of WoK, where Szeth killed Gavilar. According to the chapter, before Szeth even tried to kill him, he noticed a Makabaki man with a pale crescent shaped mark on his cheek talking to a Parshendi, if I remember correctly. This, of course, is Darkness, or Darkness tried to kill Lift because she was using powers that "could return the Desolations to this world," and in Ym's case, he didn't show mercy, even though Ym had spent most of his life doing good by giving poor people shoes. And Gavilar who is kind of a mix between both of their cases. He was trying to/could return the Desolations, (Lift), but he still had somewhat good intentions, (Ym). So I believe that Szeth's real employer was not the Parshendi, but Darkness, or Darkness was influencing the Parshendi to send Szeth after Gavilar. Also, this is probably just a coincidence, but the name Darkness may have a connection with Gavilar's black sphere. So, am I correct, or partly? If so, (or not), please comment. Thanks!
  10. There's a question to be asked: Why Nalan hunts Surgebinders? Or rather: Why does he believe that Surgebinders may cause Desolation? Let's get a timeline. I'll be puting quotes in spoiler tags. There were no Desolations before humans were on Roshar. At first, Heralds were the only Surgebinders. At one point, spren figured out what Honor did and started bonding humans which resulted in Surgebinders. Heralds became patrons of the Orders, at the same time imposing organisation on them. We know that between Desolations Radiants fighted with some monsters (Dalinar's vision with Midnight Essence). We know that Heralds are sent back to Roshar before Desolation. We know that if they stay too long after Desolation ended, another one will start. Aharietam and Recreance: The Last Desolation was 4500 years ago. There is a connection between Heralds tortured and Desolation. Kalak seems to believe that if Odium cannot torture them to break them, he can't cause a Desolation. After Heralds walked away from Oathpact, Knights Radiant did not leave their posts. Steel stores physical speed. When Recreance happened, one of the soldiers in Feverstone Keep mentioned that Radiants should be fighting devils on the front line. So even after Last Desolation monsters showed up. After Recreance there were probably no Surgebinders (or next to none, since spren turned away from humans). Honor was Shattered after Recreance (or maybe Tanavast survived Shattering long enough. It is nor clear or known.) since it is in one of the Dalinar's visions Modern times: Taravangian believes that Desolation happens when Heralds break under torture and that spren came back because it was to happen. Stormfather forbidden spren (or maybe only honorspren) bonding with humans in fear of Recreance happening again. He has to accept Words, though. Stormfather sent Dalinar visions as demanded by Tanavast. These visions request Dalinar to refind Knights Radiant Spren started bonding humans at least ten years ago (Shallan's childhood) Nalan hunts Surgebinders down because he believes that Surgebinding may cause Desolation. Voidspren started showing up en masse after "Taln" returned to Roshar. But Venli is suspected to bear stormform earlier. True Desolation seems to be triggered by chain reaction: stormspren start hijacking Listeners -> large number of stormform Parshendi exist -> Voidbringers summon Everstorm -> Everstorm circles Roshar carrying more voidspren, triggering more Voidbringers out of formless Parshmen But Radiants existed for a long time after the Last Desolation, until Recreance. When Heralds abandoned Oathpact Jezrien said "There is a chance we might end the cycle of Desolations." But that wasn't their intention, they wanted to get free of the torture. They seem to consider End of Desolations as a side effect, not the primary goal. They know that Odium is somehow bound by their torture and they're afraid he will find a way around them not returning to the Damnation. True Desolation seems to be different to the regular Desolations, but we do not know why. The question is, why would Nalan hunt Surgebinders since they existed before without triggering Desolation? Why is the True Desolation different from the previous Desolation? How is it different? What is the exact connection between Herald's torture and breaking under it, their return, release of voidspren and start of Desolation? Do spren sense Herald's coming near to point of breaking? Discuss, provide more quotes and WoBs you find relevant.
  11. There are a few things about Nalan that have me curious about his (possible) abilities... and possibly the Skybreakers' as well. It's not really a proper theory or anything... but maybe you guys can help me figure this out and clear up my confusion. How many Nalan are we really dealing with, here? Here is where my confusion begins in Words of Radiance: Distance - (Interlude-2) We see Nalan in Iri hunting Ym. (Interlude-9) We see Nalan (aka Darkness) in Azir hunting Lift. (Chapter 88) We see Nalan in the Frostlands reviving Szeth (and offering him Nightblood). Iri, Azir, and the Frostlands are pretty far apart on the map of Roshar. Iri is far NorthWest, the Frostlands are far SouthEast, and Azir is nearer to the middle (but it's a little closer to Iri than the Frostlands). In any case, Nalan seems to be covering a lot of ground awfully fast during the events of WoR. How? I wonder how much time it really takes to travel across practically all of Roshar like that. If he is 'flying', then isn't that about the most overt way of getting around that he could possibly choose? If he is traveling by foot, then how would he cover so much ground so fast? Nalan's Minions- When he hunts Ym in Iri, he has no minions. When he appears in Azir, he has two minions. When he appears in the Frostlands, he again has no minions (and is carrying Nightblood). His minions are extremely knowledgeable about stormlight, investiture, and the like. One of them even has a shardblade... So I doubt that these minions were a couple of nobodies just drafted to help Nalan out in Azir only... and only for one case. Time - I'd be willing to believe Nalan simply travelled in one single direction during the events of WoR (First Iri, then Azir, then to the Frostlands) if it weren't for the time he spent on each case. In each case (Ym/Lift/Szeth) Nalan made it a point to explain how much work he'd put into each person. Nalan to Ym = "I had to look very hard to discover your indiscretion." Nalan to Lift = "Even the chaotic can be predictable with proper study.” (Presumably referring to her escape patterns, habits, etc.) Nalan to Szeth = "You? Not worthy? I watched you destroy yourself in the name of order, watched you obey your personal code when others would have fled or crumbled. Szeth-son-Neturo, I watched you keep your word with perfection..." On top of this, Lift already had prior experiences with him and knew he was dangerous. By the time she first saw him enter the palace during her story arc, she already had a name for him in her mind - Darkness. He seems to spend an awful lot of time and energy in each case and location he visits. Even understanding their laws and abiding by them. The mountains of paperwork he and his minions prepared in Azir to apprehend Lift could not have been an overnight task. To some extent, Nalan seems to have some roots in these places. His emotionlessness - When talking to Szeth: "He spoke the words calmly, without emotion." While chasing Lift: “'What was that?' Darkness asked, his voice cold, emotionless." Talking to Ym: “'You were an accomplice to murder,' the man said, pulling his gloves on more tightly, first one hand, then the other. He spoke with such a stark lack of emotion, he could have been conversing about the weather." Notable words from Lift: "He didn’t curse in annoyance. A fellow should curse. Made people feel real when they did that. But of course, Darkness wasn’t a real person. Of that, though little else, she was sure." and she also referred to him having "dead eyes" when she first saw him. All of Nalan's emotionlessness makes me feel like something more is going on than just a personality flaw. Are we dealing with more than one Nalan? Is it possible that we are dealing with Nalan's self-puppets somehow? ...mere husks of "Nalan Prime" whom we haven't really seen yet? Can he somehow use his Division surge to split thereby making "copies" of himself? Is the Nightwatcher involved? ...Or is he getting the help of an Elsecaller? Is he 'flying' and somehow avoiding detection from the general population? What the crap is going on? Am I missing something super simple, here?
  12. This probably has been said before but I could not find a topic on it. So we know that When I was reading the interlude of Lift I came across a intriguing passage. Sorry for quoting such a long passage. Your thoughts?
  13. After having a bit of a thought, and looking at the coppermind I've noticed some things, mostly involving Nale (or Nalan).. is he actually who he says he is? According to the coppermind, he is Darkness, he who hunted Lift and killed Ym, both who were potential radiants, then gave Szeth Nightblood. I know that Nalan hunts down people who have commited crimes, but if he is just finding people who he thinks should suffer for committing injustices, where is the talk of massive strings of murders in crime-ridden towns? It seems to me that he could be working for Odium, or something like him, to prevent the Radiants from returning in strength- but still trying to maintain the guise of Nalan. Note that I didn't throw in Szeth randomly, he could very easily be using Szeth to an end. I may be completely off, but I thought it MIGHT be relevant.
  14. Greetings, everyone! This is my first post after being a long time passive observer, so I apologize if this topic came up in previous threads. My question is this: Towards the end of WoR, when Szeth is talking to Nalan after fighting Kaladin, he mentions that there are seven Honorblades remaining with his people in Shinovar. Counting the one he dropped (8), and the Blade that Taln (wherever he is) ostensibly still holds (9), there are only nine blades accounted for. Who, then, could have possession of the tenth blade? It seems to me as though Nalan is the likeliest of the Heralds to have recovered his blade, as in Lift's interlude she describes him as being "awesome" as well. Without additional evidence, it seems as though the Heralds did not have a Nahel Bond, and as such require an Honorblade to use stormlight. However, I do not recall Lift's description of Nalan's Blade to be anything out of the ordinary as far as Shardblades go. Is there, then, the possibility that Nalan does NOT have an Honorblade? If so, do we have enough information to extrapolate where it could possibly be? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this. A second question came to mind just as I was about to post this: How did the Stone Shamans end up with ALL of the Honorblades? In Kalak's introductory chapter in WoK, there is no description of trees, grass, or dirt. Only rock. Shinovar, as we know, is the only place on the continent that has Earth-like...well...earth. Do we have any theories on how that came to pass? Are the stone shamans remnants of a Herald-worshipping cult from the Shadowdays (Proto-Vorinism?), or is it likely something else entirely? Once again, I'd love to hear your comments on this!
  15. So I was rereading the prologue to Way of Kings, and I saw this: A dark-skinned Azish man with a patch of pale skin on his cheek? Is that Darkness?!? Here's how Lift described him: "Surely she’d escaped Darkness, the man in the black and silver with the pale crescent birthmark on his cheek. ... The tall Azish man with the white mark on his cheek, like a crescent." And here's Ym's description: "The shadow separated itself from the darkness, resolving into a man with dark Makabaki skin, all save a pale crescent on his cheek."
  16. So I found this interesting gem: Note that this is before Szeth has either met Nin or picked up Nightblood. So a)from Adolin's perspective, Szeth is Commanding objects. b)It sounds awfully like Breath - in particular could command inanimate objects, and we all know how careful Brandon is with his wording. (Or at least, how careful we THINK he is. *ahem* Gibletish ) However a)It could have just been the wind, and generally Adolin freaking out about the Assassin in White. b ) Szeth wouldn't have had time to give a verbal command, even if he could use Stormlight to power and Awakening. c) It seems a bit much to me that on top of Vasher and Nightblood, Brandon would then cross over an entire magic system from Nalthis - especially since we're not supposed to need to have read any particular Cosmere book to understand the others. IF however, Szeth can Awaken, the only way I think he could learn it is from Vasher. 99% chance he's not a worldhopper, since we KNOW he's from Shinovar, plus it would make flashbacks very messy. I'm not sure I can see Vasher teaching him anyway, unless he learned Awakening in his past, before or in his early days of being Truthless. Which is doubtful because flashbacks. So I open the question to the rest of you theorisers and obssessors. What doth 17th Shard think?
  17. Ok, so I had this theory the other day while I was contemplating a new character or stoy I could write for a potential Fan-Fic or story of my own. Anyways... Nalan is THE Skybreaker right? That means that he must uphold the law, every law, everywhere. What the Stormfather says is considered as law to a Surgebinder right? So if ol' Stormy(not Stormageddon, the other one) says to his Spren "DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AT ALL return to Roshar or you'll be grounded," that would be a law in Nalan's eyes. SO, he goes around killing Surgebinders because that's the easiest way to kill a spren, THAT is the real reason why he doing what he is doing. He's just trying to carry out the Stormfather's commands to the spren. another theory was that he was killing Cutivation's spren because she sent them against Honor's will. The only Surgebinders we see him kill or try to kill is a Truthseer and an Edgedancer both of which are theorizd elsewhere to be Cultivation spren right? We know from Wendel that his "Mother" sent him across which would make one assume she sent her other spren out into Roshar for the same reason, thereby, in the words of Mufasa, Deliberatley Diobeying Honor. I think this is my first actual theory so please, tear it apart and make me see the truth... KURK, get over here!
  18. I don't remember exactly why we decided that Darkness was Nalan. I think it was because it seemed like he used Windrunner abilities, and had a Just-type demeanor, right? The thread in the steel-hunt forum suggests it was just kind of.... decided on. Mostly based on the Just thing, and the fact that Darkness has papers. I'm curious because he is described several times has having a mark underneath his eye, and we have a Herald who has just that in the drawing of his face - Kalak. He also has the Transportation surge, and we don't know exactly how that will play out for him. We assume Transportation is used by Jasnah to do Shadesmar stuff, but why couldn't it be used for fast transport in the Physical world? Lift does think it would be impossible for him to have followed her. That could be explained by a Windrunner's speed or something like that, but a Transportation surge might do the trick as well. It is starting to come up again in conversation as though we are sure Darkness is Nalan, but the physical description with the mark fits Kalak dead on, soooooo... thoughts? EDIT: I just found a picture online of Kalak with no mark, so I was wrong, but I was referring to the one on the Surgebinding chart. That might have been something that was just an effect on the art, but I figured it was worth talking about. One instance of a mark is better than none, right?
  19. So, as I expect most of you did, I concluded fairly solidly as I read that Szeth held an Honorblade (likely Jezrien's) and that was the source of his surgebinding ability. There are a number of passages to put that on a pretty strong foundation. Perhaps most notably, Syl tells Kaladin that she "thinks" that Szeth's former blade is an Honorblade and that it was the source of his abilitries. And then I read this WoB from the San Diego signing: source Then I recalled reading where Nalan told Szeth that he had died long enough to break the bond to his blade. I thought to myself: I have arrived at a few possibilities here: 1) Brandon misunderstood the question and/or mispoke/tricky-spoke. 2) Talenelat misunderstood Brandon's answer. or 3) Szeth actually did not have an Honorblade and Syl was/is mistaken. While I am leaning towards door number 1) or 2), I find door number three rather compelling. Here's why: 1) Szeth leaked Stormlight like a sieve. He needed to consume far more Stormlight than Kaladin. 2) We never saw Szeth's blade shift to better suit his situation. 3) So far, we have no indication that the Heralds had shardplate and Szeth indicated that he could not use plate and effectively surgebind (seems pretty obvious that he would suck out all the Stormlight from his gemstones that powered the plate). For at least those three reasons, it seems that each KR (at least modestly progressed in the ideals) was more powerful than the Herald associated with their order. Now, could perhaps the proper Herald wield their Honorblade in a more Stormlight efficient manner? Could they actually have a form of plate which pops in and out fairly instantaneously? Could Jezrien's Honorblade change shape according to Jezrien's desires/needs while using it? Sure. It is quite possible that we simply have not had the opportunity yet to see these things. But I find it compelling nonetheless. Even if all these things were in play for the Heralds, is the only functional difference between the Heralds and the KR then the Heralds' funky immortality? Let's hash this out a bit. Could there still be some life in the idea that Szeth's blade may actually have been the third type? Parting thought, if Szeth's blade is an Honorblade: Could the three types of blades be the Honorblades, the dead KR blades, and the vital KR blades?
  20. Nalan has consumed too much stormlight over the millennia. Syl says too much stormlight is “dangerous.” We know it leaches the soul by lightening eye color. I think the corollary is that increased Investiture forces out emotion to the point of having “dead eyes.” My evidence is from the Taravangian interlude. Szeth is described as looking at Adrotagia “with those too-blank eyes of his.” Then Taravangian observes: “Those eyes. The tone of the man’s voice. A dangerous tone. What – “He spoke with emotion, Taravangian realized. That last sentence was said with passion.” Szeth, like Nalan, has used his Honorblade way too much over the preceding six years. He has used excessive stormlight. It has killed his emotions. Szeth's expression of emotion surprises Taravangian. The same with Nalan. Many of us have posited that Nalan was the Herald that returned for his Honorblade. Honorblades are inefficient users of stormlight, making them, as Syl says, dangerous. WoB is that Cosmere magic acts by “wedging open cracks in the soul by letting the Investiture come in, and it can open the cracks more.” The cracks in the soul let the emotions out, just as Investiture comes in. That is why both Szeth and Nalan have “dead eyes” and are emotionless.
  21. Theory in brief: Nalan sends Szeth to kill the Stone Shamen because they are the original Skybreakers whom Nalan believes have failed the purpose of their Order. We know from the epigraph to Chapter 41 that one KR Order “entertained great subterfuge” “not [to] abandon their arms” but to continue as functioning KR. I believe these were the Skybreakers who moved to Shinovar and became the Stone Shamen. Evidence: Only Skybreakers and Windrunners utilize the Gravitation surge, and only those with the Gravitation surge could have taught Szeth how to use Jezrien’s Honorblade to fly. If Kaladin hadn’t seen Szeth, and Syl hadn’t helped him, he might never have learned to fly himself.Nalan apparently still has his Honorblade. When he went back to retrieve it, the Skybreakers were with him and collected the other Heralds’ Blades. They took them back to Shinovar with them.Of all the lands on Roshar, Shinovar is the most politically and ideologically orderly. Everyone knows their place. Very Skybreaker-like.The Skybreakers believed the Desolations were over, since they had lived a long time without encountering another one. This was unlike the other Desolations, which occurred at shorter time intervals I do think KR are immortal, or close enough to, for whatever reason – whether from the healing effects of Stormlight (sorry, Kurkistan) or their bonding with a splinter of Honor, or something else. (Of course, how do they get their Stormlight, if they live in Shinovar?) Having such personal knowledge of the normal sequence of Desolations, and perhaps relying on the effectiveness of whatever the Bondsmith Melishi had accomplished against the Voidbringers (Epigraph, Chaper 58), over time the Skybreakers came to believe that the Voidbringers would never return. That is why they made Szeth Truthless (after Taravangian’s intercession and instigation, as another thread concluded based on the epigraph to Chapter 78). Nalan now wants revenge on the Skybreakers for, I believe, limiting their activities only to the Shinovar political/spiritual system, rather than actively maintaining order throughout Roshar. Nalan was the last of the Heralds to accept his role as an Order’s patron (Epigraph, Chapter 43): "And thus were the disturbances in the Revv toparchy quieted, when, upon their ceasing to prosecute their civil dissensions, Nalan’Elin betook himself to finally accept the Skybreakers who had named him their master, when initially he had spurned their advances and, in his own interests, refused to countenance that which he deemed a pursuit of vanity and annoyance; this was the last of the Heralds to admit to such patronage." This passage suggests Nalan accepted his role only after the Skybreakers agreed to “ceas[e] to prosecute their civil dissensions,” thus quieting the toparchy’s “disturbances.” Nalan viewed such involvement in civil affairs as “a pursuit of vanity and annoyance.” But when the Skybreakers retreated to Shinovar, and focused solely on establishing an orderly system there, Nalan believed they returned to such a “pursuit of vanity.” He tells Szeth he was “banished by petty men with no vision.” Nalan wants Szeth and Nightblood to kill the Skybreakers/Stone Shamen – “justice for the leaders of the Shin.” Those whom Nalan has gathered to him – the “new” Skybreakers – are not surgebinders, merely people who believe in order as strongly as he does. Because Nalan’s mind has been twisted, he believes surgebinders are the cause of the Deolations and cannot be trusted. He and his new Skybreakers seek to kill them as well. That’s the theory anyway…
  22. Firstly, this theory has many holes, so feel free to pick on them, or fill them in. We know that Szeth is a Surgebinder with Gravitation powers, but (as far as I know) we never see his supposed Windrunner Adhesion powers in use. Perhaps this is because he was a Skybreaker from the start. This would be a good reason for Nalan to 'retrieve' him. But you say, "Szeth has Jezrien's Honourblade!" Perhaps not. Maybe he had Nalan's Honourblade from the start (This is the hole). We know Syl thinks that It is an Honourblade, but I think that Kaladin getting Jezrien's Honourblade would be redundant. MUCH cooler for him to have a third power. There's also a lot of confusion with Taln and Dalinar, so there's a lot we don't know about them. Brandon says that you can't bond with them, and yet Szeth can summon/dismiss his (This is another hole), which may imply that he doesn't even have Nalan's. AND he doesn't have a spren, which means that he doesn't have Skybreakers' powers naturally. Am I missing anything? Now that Szeth UNBONDED his blade (according to Nalan) when he died, does that mean he lost whatever powers he had? Let's hope we get more information in book 3!
  23. I don't know if this has been mentioned, but has anyone noticed this: from tWoK- City of the bells describing Tozbek "He wore...a silver buttoned black coat. She's imagined him getting that scar on his jaw in a furious sea battle..." Ummm...don't we know someone else who wears a black uniform with silver buttons with a scar on his face? Don't know what to do with this information, please help.
  24. Was anyone else not entirely convinced that Darkness is actually Nalan? He didn't actually even say that he was--he just let Szeth draw his own conclusions. I mean, it's clear that the Heralds are capable of being selfish, giving up, and other human things, but Nalan going around and executing judgment on Surgebinders doesn't sound very Herald-ish. That along with giving Szeth (who's pretty crazy at this point) the most dangerous sword in the cosmere, just feels wrong. I have no other evidence to support my assumption, but I think Darkness is probably somebody running around with Nalan's Honorblade and delusions of grandeur (or nefarious plans of his own) or a rogue Skybreaker just pretending to be Nalan to further his own ends. Thoughts? Anything I'm missing?
  25. This theory is a simple one. Unlike the other orders of Knights Radiant, the Skybreakers never abandoned their oaths and disbanded. They have remained active, albeit covertly, under the control of Nalan. Firstly, I want to present evidence that one of the orders of Radiants never disbanded, at least entirely. This epigraph makes it quite apparent to me that one of the orders of Radiants stuck around for quite some time. Nalan offers Szeth a place in their ranks, and Helaran was apparently attempting to join them. It seems evident to me that for whatever reason, the Skybreakers refused to abandon their Blades and their oaths to stick around. As one final piece of evidence, I'd like to look at the spren. First, I'll establish the type of spren the Skybreakers were bonded to. Given Nalan's penchant for laws and one of the divine attributes of the Skybreakers being "just" this makes me fairly certain that the highspren belong to the Skybreakers. Now, lets look at who Jasnah goes to see for information while she is in Shadesmar. Why would she go to see the highspren? While I'm sure that they are knowledgeable, would not the spren of other orders be better? Why not see the spren of the Willshapers or the Elsecallers, her own spren? They are associated with knowledge and wisdom, surely they would be better equipped? But here, Pattern provides a clue. The answer is clear. She went to the highspren because they are the only spren who survived the Recreance because the Skybreakers did not abandon their oaths. They are the only ones who were alive during the Desolations.
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