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Can Felt manipulate his connection? I came across this WoB and I remember reading OB and that no one really gives much thought to the line Felt says when he says he's foreign. He explains this is why the night watcher won't visit him. The WoB says he should stand out more. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] You know Felt? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Felt, I know Felt. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Is Felt originally Scadrian? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Yep. Yes. You guys know about that, right? I don't think that's a big secret. But, he is, and that should be raising other questions. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] About his name? Or how he's showing up on Roshar? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] About that and the fact that... He should stand out more. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/331/#e9429 This reads to me like he can manipulate his connection? My guess would have to be hemalurgy but I don't think we have confirmation yet on what kind of spike steals connection. But that brings up questions like how did he learn about hemalurgy or did he come across a different investiture to manipulate his connection?

I would like to polity and respectfully ask why some readers like Adolin, because right now I hate him. Sure, I would love to be his drinking buddy or friend, but as a character I fail to see any compelling inner conflict or struggles. He's just to good to be true. It bugs me that a main character is that, especially in a book in which everyone is broken, where the Heralds themselves turned their back on humanity at the very beginning of the book. It is hard to care for him when he is written alongside: A: A young women who is apparently suffering a mental breakdown due in part of a lack of a self assured identity and past emotional trauma at the hands of an initially well meaning father B: Mr. Chronic Hero Syndrome (which thank god is proper deconstruction) who is being constantly thrust into situations that he fears most (watching those he worked to protect die while he survives, and his struggle with depression) With such a wide and varied cast, there is no way someone will like all of them, and that's good. My favorites happen to be Jasnah, Szeth, and, after Oathbringer, Dalinar, in that order. But even those who I don't personally like I can say that they are well written, compelling characters that add something to the story. For example, I personally don't like Lift, but there is no doubt value in showcasing a destitute street urchin seeking a higher and vital purpose. It is interesting to see such a bizarre and chaotic child become a freakin Knights Radiant. I want to understand so could Adolin fans please explain why his story is worth caring about or is compelling in any way. There are no wrong answers, I just don't see him being worthy of holding up the mantle of a main character, especially when we have yet to see much insight into his brother. I will say that while I don't like him at the moment, my thoughts of Adolin are similar to how I thought of Dalinar in the beginning of Way of Kings. Dalinar at first was also to noble, even though he had struggles with putting honor before reason. But Dalinar's growth has been nothing short of amazing and his slow change from becaming a diplomat to forming a coletion to seeking forgivness have injected depth into his character, depth that right now Adolin simply does not have. Back in Words of Radiance, my ears started to perk up a bit when I read Adolin showing a thirst for battle during his duels. However, this plot point seems to have fizzled out and, after Oathbringer, going down this path would obviously be redundant. But like I mentioned above, I have grown to love Dalinar, despite his less then interesting beginning, the same could happen to Adolin. But three books later and I still having doubts seeing the point of Adolin. Until his character gets interesting I will be calling him "Poor Man's Dalinar". Hopefully this will change, maybe he will be worthy of the name "A(n)dolinsm". Am I alone in hating him? Why is he so popular with readers?

My brother has found something while reading Oathbringer his first time around. Does anybody have any other evidence to back this up? Comments, for/against?

So let’s talk Renarin, shall we? Now, if you fine folks are anything like myself, you might have found yourself confused by some of the reveals that Oathbringer brought about regarding Renarin and his powers. This was a twist that I saw coming a long way off, and so I was more than ready when we found out that Renarin had been affected by a voidish corruption and that this was the reason for his strange and ominous visions. If you’d like to see how WoR foreshadowed this moment, you can check out my theory Renarin’s Visions and Truthwatching and see all the reasoning for this twist. However, what I want to do here today is get into the nitty gritty of what’s really going on. Is Renarin a Voidbinder or a Surgebinder or both? Is Glys a Voidspren? How do the visions work? How did this happen? All those good questions are the ones that I’d like to try to tackle here. Theory Disclaimer: Most of these things have not been confirmed in canon and Brandon has been cagey about answering or confirming. However, this explanation is the one which seems most plausible to me based on the evidence at hand. So let me do a bullet point run-down of what I think is happening: Glys is actually a valid Truthwatcher spren, not a voidspren. Renarin is a valid Truthwatcher Radiant and therefore a Surgebinder with access to the surges of Progression and Illumination. Renarin uses Stormlight to power his surges, just like other Radiants. Glys has been corrupted by the Unmade Sja-anat. As a result of this corruption, in addition to his normal Truthwatcher powers, Renarin is afflicted by involuntary visions of the future which neither he nor Glys can control. The points above are those that I feel are fairly concrete, and I’ll go into the reasoning behind those ideas later below. However, upon this assumed situation, I believe that the following ideas are viable possibilities. The following points are less certain than those above, but these are the ideas that seem the most plausible to me, given the circumstances: The powers that the Fused display are expressions of Voidbinding. Renarin’s future visions are possibly also an expression of Voidbinding, but his other powers are not. If Renarin’s Voidbinding and Fused Voidbinding work in the same way, it is possible that all Voidbinding powers come from the influence of the Unmade, in that Sja-anat can grant Voidish future visions while other Unmade grant different powers, like illusions, frictionlessness, or gravity, as we see other Fused use. And upon these assumptions, we find several questions arise regarding the nature of the situation: If both Renarin and the Fused are Voidbinders, is a spren involved in the granting of Voidbinding powers to the Fused in the same way they were granted to Renarin? If Voidish powers are each affiliated with an Unmade, why are there seemingly 10 powers on the Voidbinding chart if there are only 9 Unmade? Does Odium grant a Bondsmith equivalent himself? If Voidbinding powers are not granted by the Unmade, how are they gained? In what way are Renarin and the Fused similar in situation that grants them the same powers? What caused the hypergraphia that accompanied the visions of the Everstorm, and why does that no longer happen when Renarin gets visions? All of which are fascinating, but unfortunately, more likely to get a RAFO than an answer in a signing line. The first I have already asked and been RAFO’d and I believe the others are going to be answered similarly, if attempted. If I had to guess, these are reveals that will happen in Renarin’s flashback book. Considering that book is in the back five, we’ve probably got a while to wait. Alas. Regardless, no use fretting over the information we don’t have when it’s so much more fun to dissect the information we do have. And Oathbringer certainly gave us plenty to dissect. So, let’s take the situation that I’ve outlined above and break it down with some textual evidence to help explain where these ideas come from. Glys the Truthwatcher spren and Renarin the Radiant This is one of the easiest points to guess, considering the wealth of information we have on the topic. A lot of this is due to the Renarin point of view chapters in Part 5. (Thank you, Brandon, I owe you my soul for those.) Renarin’s surges seem to work perfectly normally. He heals people with Regrowth at several points in the novel, fairly naturally. I believe we see a slight, unconscious use of Illumination in the scene with Adolin and Gallant, when Renarin makes a perfected vision of Adolin appear. Renarin also mentions trying to train with Shallan in using Illumination, but he has difficulty with it. Now, it could be assumed that Renarin’s failure to grasp Illumination is a sign that his surges are wrong, and yet I think this is simply another example of a Radiant finding one surge more easy to pick up than another. Shallan is naturally better at Illumination than Transformation. Lift is better at Abrasion than Progression. It seems common enough that Radiants have an affinity for one of their surges over the other. For Renarin, I believe this is that Progression is easier than Illumination. In addition to his surges, Renarin’s other expressions of Radiant abilities seem normal. Glys is able to form as a Shardblade, which no one deems as looking out of the ordinary. It also functions to open Oathgates. His healing factor works as the other Radiants’, albeit augmented by his power of Progression to make healing extremely rapid. Most tellingly, his powers use Stormlight, just as all the others do. Ivory says that there is a rightness to the bond between Renarin and Glys and that spren of Odium should not be able to bond with humans under normal circumstances. Through all of these things, one can assume that Renarin and Glys have a valid Nahel bond and are bonded as Radiant and spren, just as the others are. Sja-anat’s Corruption However, in addition to the normal suite of a Truthwatcher’s powers and the Nahel bond, there is another factor in the mix: Sja-anat. When Sja-anat speaks with Shallan she speaks of her son when telling Shallan that she is not an enemy, as though he would vouch for her. This is undoubtedly Glys. It’s interesting to note that this seems to indicate that Glys is working with Sja-anat, possibly willingly. Perhaps she approached a Radiant spren hoping that by giving changing one of them, she would have an ally who would help the Radiants trust her. Or perhaps it’s something else. Hard to say at this point. Regardless, it is because of this that Renarin can see the future, and why he is consumed with visions. Though it is possible that other Truthwatchers have a manner of foresight, I don’t believe it would manifest as Renarin’s does. Ivory states that future sight is a power of Odium, as the Vorins believe. I believe Sja-anat has been hoping to swap sides and is using Glys as a way to do it, as well as helping Shallan instead of killing them when they went through the Oathgate. Voidbinding So in the end, what is Voidbinding? Hard to say with certainty, since despite how often we see Voidbinders, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of answers about it. Working under the assumption that the Fused’s powers are Voidbinding we can see a few things, at least: Voidbinding seems to line up with surges in many cases, as we see Fused manipulating gravity and friction, just like Kaladin and Lift. It’s hard to tell if this means that Renarin’s corrupted sight is also a form of Voidbinding as well, since it doesn’t seem to line up with a Surge the way the others are. The Listener Song of Secrets speaks of Nightform, a form of power which can see the future, which seems as though it might be more similar to what Renarin can do than anything else we’ve seen. The question is, Renarin is getting his void-powers from a corrupted spren, but I don’t believe that the Fused have a corrupted spren giving them powers, which initially made me think that Renarin’s visions were not Voidbinding like the Fused. Now, I’m not so sure. For the moment, I think I will lean toward the idea that Renarin’s visions and the powers of the Fused are both Voidbinding somehow, even if we don’t have details to confirm anything either way. There’s just not enough answers for the moment. Time will tell. If anyone can get answers out of Brandon regarding this topic, I’d be greatly appreciative but I doubt he’s going to answer things. Conclusion There’s a lot that we just don’t know yet, but I’m excited to see where this goes in the future. For now, this is my best guess at what’s really going on until we get some more information on all of it. One thing that hasn’t changed is that I adore Renarin with all of my heart and somehow Brandon continues to write his plotline and character arc in ways which are intensely fascinating to me. Oathbringer has been a triumph and I can’t wait to see what’s in store!

Happy Solstice, everyone. Let's do some Cosmere themed holiday carols to bring some extra brightness to our lives! I'll start with this, set to the tune of "12 Days of Christmas". Mild Oathbringer Spoilers, which is why it has to be in this forum. On the Twelfth Day of Weeping, my Highprince gave to me Twelve Living Shards, Eleven Spren A'Spinning, Ten Heralds Leaping, Nine Odious Splinters, Eight Princes Squabbling, Seven Books for Writing, Sixth of the Dusk, Fiiiiiiiiiiiiive Thousand Breaths, Four Mistborn Eras, Three Realms United, Two Twinborn Twins, And a dark Blade in a Bright Sheath. Let's hear yours!

Okay, let me say I believe that chances of this happening is slim to none. But it’s pretty cool. What if Urithiru isn’t just a tower, but a giant barrel of some sort of “shardgun” that can fire into the Cosmere to other planets. I cant even jokingly back this up, but it’s so cool. Also: I’m almost positive Urithiru has a basement or sub levels.

So in Kholinar, there was a bunch of guards that got locked away and the time flow for them is different. Bendalloy from Scadrial is know to be able to compact time. Is there a thread about this or did anyone ask Brandon about this? Maybe I'm stretching it but none of the Unmades seemed to be able to control time and we know there are Scadrial worldhoppers on Roshar. Any thoughts??

https://www.tor.com/2017/11/10/spoiler-free-reactions-to-beta-reading-brandon-sanderson-oathbringer/ Ones I'm pretty certain about “You little whore!” I feel like Brandon could be taking direct comments from prior beta reads as dialogue here. That book the interlude ardent was reading, obviously. It’s a little alarming when Nightblood is the voice of reason. The conversation with Szeth when Nale defects. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S DEAD IN A DITCH? Alas, poor Eshonai... Pattern is a Vulcan. Dividing by zero. She’s CREEPY! I wasn’t expecting her to be creepy… ^^ I expected creepy, just more humanoid creepy, not mist-like, incorporeal creepy. The visit to the Nightwatcher. Ones I think I might have He’s going to die, isn’t he? I'm guessing Dalinar in the climax, or, if this reader has better plot-sense than I do, poor Elhokar. Oh, you make me weep! You just don’t see anything wrong about him, do you, no matter how he treats you? You are far, far too good for him ::sniffles:: Evi and Dalinar. My feelings about [this character] have been all over the place throughout the series thus far, but this was almost a ‘WHOOP!’ moment for me. I’m… I don’t know about happy, but certainly pleased for him. Big WHOOP!! moment for me too! I’m loving the journey from “OMG THIS DUDE IS BAD NEWS ” to “oh wait I kind of love him??? and want him to be happy???” Same here. I have such mixed feelings about him. I love him and he scares me. Szeth? Chuckle. Well that’s one way to get a ride. I’m looking forward to learning more about this Princess business. Some point in Shademar, but I'm going to have to reread that section again. “OH SH*T. Eeeek. Yeah Dalinar he’s super great… Oh no.” “Ruh roh.” “NO! IT’S A TRAP!” “OH CRAP NO” “Oh My God.. No…..” Odium names his champion. Oh crap! Anti-Radiants & stormlight. Stormlight? Stormdark. Stormshadow? Everlight? Ahem. Well, that cannot possibly be good at all. Kaladin meets the Fused. What about you guys? What did you come up with?

I came across a word I couldn't find the meaning of. What is aspry? There was another word too. I cannot remember this exactly but something akin to reveligation. If someone can help me out with the meanings, I'd be really grateful.

In Oathbringer, Cultivation addresses Nightwatcher as 'daughter'. As we know that Honor and Cultivation were romantically involved, could Nightwatcher be their daughter? She'd be a shard in her own right...

Sorry for the vague title but something I noticed in Oathbringer was comments by the Stormfather regarding changes to Honor, I will check again to get more specifics but wanted to start the conversation first, but he started to act oddly as time went on. Honor began to care only for the letter of oaths and not the spirit and what he said to the Knights Radiance that helped cause the Recreance doesn't sound like what we've seen in visions and discussion from the Stormfather. My question is simply "why?" Influence from the collective actions and perceptions of humans? Another shard? Some grand plan that requires him to act quite odd or otherwise cripple himself before his death? Hoid? Or was this a byproduct of him being in the process of dying? If so, how was he killed only now? (The corruption of the Oathpact would be my best bet) Let me know what you think and tell me if I'm an idiot and it was spelled out in Oathbringer but I'm not finding anything. Page 1052 has some stuff with the Stormfather that planted the seed of this question.

I was processing books for the library at my school, and I decided to take a look at the beautiful endpaper maps and diagrams for the copy of The Way of Kings that had just come in. I noticed that on the "Double Eye" diagram of the radiant orders, the two orders in the center were the Bondsmiths and the Truthwatchers. This interested me, and got me to start wondering why the Truthwatchers are in the center with the Bondsmiths, who we know were the leaders and generals of the Knights Radiant. Here are a few of my theories: Truthwatchers are close to Cultivation like Bondsmiths are close to Honor - Some problems with this one: We don't really know if the Bondsmiths are specifically closer to Honor than other orders like the Windrunners. All we know is that Dalinar is bonded to the Stormfather, the godspren of Honor, and I think the prevailing theory is that there are three Bondsmiths, each bonded to a different godspren. We also know that Truthwatchers aren't bonded to a godspren - Renarin is bonded with a spren named Glys, not the Nightwatcher. A different direction with this theory would be that the surges, not the orders, are what's important on this chart. This would mean that some surges are more associated with Cultivation, and others with Honor, i.e. Feruchemy with Preservation and Hemalurgy with Ruin. This would just mean that Illumination and Progression just happened to be the most closely associated with Cultivation, and Adhesion and Tension with Honor. This still brings up some interesting thoughts about what this could mean for Truthwatchers. Like Bondsmiths, Truthwatchers are a key support Order - So far, what we know of the Bondsmiths' abilities seem to be providing support for other Radiants Following this idea, it would also seem to fit with the few details that we know about the Bondsmiths from Words of Radiance. According to their epigraph, they were the generals of the Radiants - leadership, but also support. From this, we can infer that by their placement on the chart, Truthwatchers are also a powerful support Order (although, the "powerful" part may just be wishful thinking about Renarin - wouldn't it be awesome if the character that everyone thought was weak turned out to be one of the most powerful?). Another thing that may hint at this is The key here is that it's not something that directly relates to Renarin - more so to Adolin. Therefore, it could be reasoned that this is a kind of "support" ability. It doesn't really mean anything and it's just how the diagram happened to be laid out - This is unlikely, considering it's Brandon we're dealing with here. Everything means something. E V E R Y T H I N G. As Kelsier would say, there's always another secret. Please tell me what you guys think, and if you have any theories about why the Truthwatchers are in the center of the Double Eye - I would love to read them!

We didn't have a thread on how the book's writing is or how it comes across. With the preview chapters, there's a more minute review of the writing. Now, fairly, we all love Brandon and are waiting with anticipation for our weekly dosage and the eventual book. But, I think it's OK to discuss the writing itself. From my point of view, it's been good, but here is a summary of good and not so good Good Consistent new surprises and intrigue - murder mysteries, copycat murders. Seriously could have continued with a predictable turn on the Sadeas murder, but instead we now have this copycat murder intrigue. Introduction of new characters - May Aladar - who is she? Kaladin finally lessening his "I am a pain" act and realising he can't hold it against Roshone ALL THE TIME Pattern speak (no mating, wanting to marry Adolin) Frustrating Cliffhangers at the end of every chapter - it doesn't help we can't turn the page because it's only a 3 chapter release each week. I want the full book now. But cliffhangers fatigue is getting to me. Pacing - all that seems to be happening at times is just people jibbering about at times - That Adolin-Shallan chapter where they discussed food, fighting stances, etc. Overall, I get worried we'd get to the end of the book and they have not done much or end up with a cliffhanger. Some language - still miffed at "Just a sec" by Shallan. Really? Medieval times people didn't even have clocks or just timed by the hour with no minute hands, let alone seconds...

The intervention of another Shard irrevocably changing the balance of power in the system. My theory is rooted in the knowledge that Odium is diminished somewhat making him weaker than other Shards, though he would be safe from Cultivation as her intent likely keeps her more passive another Shard would be able to defeat him. So that gives me 3 main variants of this idea, A) Odium is shattered and/or absorbed by another Shard between books 5 and 6 creating a new antagonist and changing the game entirely B.) Odium finally absorbs another Shard, prizing his survival over his purity, making the Champion plan likely unusable and likely necessitating intervention from outside forces C) Another Shard arrives in Roshar but doesn't immediately shatter and/or absorb Odium, likely being hostile to the native humans this could force a 3 way conflict and/or intervention from outside forces All of these are also founded on the idea of needed a significant status quo shift for the second arc and the Desolation of the first arc being over by then, it would also be likely that Hoid might try to engineer one of the above scenarios given his opposition to Odium and all could result in the destruction of life on Roshar which he's stated wouldn't deter him from his goal. I admit this is all a bit vague and wild but let me know what you think and if you agree which scenario is most likely or the one you would most like to see. edit: also please be forgiving of this topic, I haven't started one in a long time if ever.

No one had made this yet, so I figured I would! Who do you think it is?

OK guys, Here's a little summary I am pulling together based on what's been disclosed or can be clearly inferred about Oathbringer excluding any spoiler chapter releases. Kind of like a preview build:- Revealed confirmed elements Amazon Hardcover Link There will be a scene where Jasnah will be in a city which is under attack from a Thunderclast (see revealed cover here ) The book will have Dalinar as a key focus character and bondsmiths will be a focus. One scene will include his visit to the Nightwatcher. (Source) The book will feature Lift in a minor capacity. She will have some viewpoint chapters as well. The book will feature Nal/Nin but his attitude towards the surgebinders would have changed significantly by then (see Arcanum Unbounded). Nal is also using his own honorblade with an asterisk. (Source) Dalinar's wife's name is (Source) Gavilar was also on path to become a bondsmith (Source ) Vivienna might be looking for Vasher in Oathbringer (Source: WoB) Nal's Taravangian will have an interlude (source:?) Rysn will get an interlude (Source) Szeth has 6 chapters in the book, mostly in the last part Sigzil will get a viewpoint chapter (Source) 2 more veristatilians will appear in the next book (Source) Renarin is not healing others with his powers. He’s not really confident in his powers at all. He will develop that way more in book 3. Axies the Aimian is mentioned in Oathbringer, but not seen All the revealed chapters are linked here and the released chapters by Tor.com from Part 1 are linked here Unconfirmed but inferred facts This is a Jasnah chapter between WoR and Oathbringer (link) - uncertain if it will be included in Oathbringer or it is a standalone item like Edgedancer It's speculated that there might be some further developments involving Shallan and Kaladin (perhaps on a romantic/spark/etc). The exact nature of these scenes is uncertain. (Source: WoB) What other things can you add to the list? I want to build a compiled post here, and if you have anything particular, I can append it to the post to provide a compiled list. Revision: pdates from theoryland searches, added the bits from Supernova (Sydney), changed link to the spoiler chapters, Rysn interlude confirmation, bondsmiths book, , link to Jasnah chapter, reworded the Shalladin comment, added amazon preview