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During my reread of TWoK, this death rattle stood out to me. My working theory is that these are the thoughts of Cultivation, reflecting on her current situation. All is Withdrawn for Me - While there's still a lot of story left to tell in the SA, Cultivation does not seem as active in the conflicts on Roshar as Honor/Odium, especially now. There are lots of magic systems going on, but the main battle seems to slate the Knights Radiant/Heralds (Honor) against the Voidbringers/Unmade (Odium). Where is Cultivation in this? Withdrawn. The One Who Saved My Life - Odium, whom Cultivation now stands against. Why? Because... The One Who Killed My Promises - Odium, who killed Honor (her promises/oaths/commitments). I'm wondering if Rayse somehow helped Cultivation's Vessel in the past (maybe on Yolen?), or perhaps there's more to the shardic interaction than we realize. Maybe Honor had become a threat to Cultivation and Odium saved her by splintering Honor. We know that Honor has focuses on oaths and binding and ideals, while Cultivation seems an intent focused on growth and progression and expansion. I Raise My Hand - a clear reference to Rayse (that's stupid) I Raise My Hand. The Storm Responds - Cultivation acknowledges Tanavast's Cognitive Shadow in the storms, who acknowledges her, however in his splintered and dead state, all she gets is the storm, which from our limited interactions with the Stormfather (and the driving insane power of a highstorm) doesn't seem super happy. She sees her lost love and longingly reaches for his hand, but gets the rage of the storm in return. Speculation. It puts Odium in a somewhat tragic place, a tragedy that I think we'll learn more about as the story unfolds (the Vessel of Divine Hatred? What a prison!). May we learn more in Oathbringer!

So, I want to run this by everyone to see if I am repeating something that is generally understood. Odium comes to Roshar. The goal is to Splinter Honor. Honor knows this. He lays a trap. The cost of possible Splintering (edit: of Honor) is that Odium must be bound to the Roshar system and therefore not be able to leave and chase other Shards. Something Honor would do - put himself between the danger and those it pursues. The Oathpact suddenly makes sense. The way to keep Odium bound to a system is to have Odium Invest. How does one do it on Roshar? Give up its Investiture to create a lot of spren. The more spren, the higher one's Investment. So, Odium, by Oathpact, can battle Honor, but in the way that bounds him: by Investing in Roshar, and fighting the spren war. Basically, the voidspren, the Unmade, *any other object* Invested by Odium on Roshar, makes Odium's Connection to Roshar higher. Which is why there MUST BE multiple Desolations - Odium must be permitted to grow its influence on Roshar to the point of active war. And this is why, short of Splintering Odium himself, this must repeat - if Odium's influence on Roshar wanes, he leaves the system and goes after other Shards. So, Honor chooses to play a long and dangerous game with Odium, just like Preservation chose with Ruin. Also explains Hoid's "I sympathize with you, Dalinar, but what I seek to achieve and what you do are not one and the same, and *my* goals are more important!" Hoid wants Odium bound to Roshar. Odium whose influence is purged from Roshar is free to roam elsewhere. Hoid does not want it. The problem right now is that Odium has splintered Honor. Achievement unlocked. Now is the time to leave the system (or Splinter Cultivation and leave the system). To do this, there must be an all-out war that ends with destruction of all Odium's assets on Roshar (at the cost of a massive devastation), and frees him. TL;DR: Desolations and voidspren are the means of keeping Odium Connected to Roshar. Odium must be kept Invested. This obviously skims over a lot of things (like, why Heralds). But overall, what am I missing? Edit: It has been wisely pointed out that the Oathpact refers to the deal Honor made with the Heralds, not Odium. I struck that unfortunate phrase. The rest of the point remains salient: Honor promises Odium a chance to take him out, but Odium must Invest in Roshar to be able to Splinter Honor.

Hi guys, I am writing this post to expose a theory I worked on for a while, recently I got some new possible contros and I developed a derivated theory of the main one (but that I like very very less). The core concept of the theory for both the main and the derivate ones is that an Highstorm is actually a perpendicularity...a mobile one (to be honest I think it better to say that an Highstorm has a Perpencidularity at its inside) Pros: - An Highstorm spreads Stormlight...Investiture that comes directly from the Spiritual Realm (many WoB about Stormlight as lightbulb to the spiritual realm), a perpendicularity is a place where the Realms are spiked and the Spiritual is "in contact" with the phisical. - Shadesmar seems really poor of Stormlight, another clue about the direct travel Spiritual->Physical (with maybe some minor leak in the Cognitive, that may be the origin of the proto-Spren) - The Perpendicularities we saw are all in a liquid state and may be part of a greater waterpool (often called water of live in certain Cosmere Culture) and the Hightstorm is actually a great amount of water (as every storm's cloud) compressed together. The Highstorms help to grown plants and have some benefit to the living healt (I think it's the reason the "Herald's wisdom" suggest to go out in the Highstorm to wash) fitting well with the "water of life" concept - The phase where the Spheres get the Stormlight is actually the same phase when Listeners can obtain a new form and the phase where people willing or unwilling are slightly pulled out of the Physical (the "calm eye" of the Highstorm). - Roshar is a place where the boundary between the Realms are less strong, what is better than a Perpendicularity that regularly pass over the whole planet ? Contro: - We never actually saw a mobile perpendicularity The previous part is common by both the Main theory and the Derivate one. Now I will talk about the difference between the two: Main theory: Adonalsium's design We know that Adonalsium explicity created Roshar as we see it, We know that the Listener predate the Shards there and that the Listener were created by Adonalium to fit the Roshar's ecology. As other Rosharans' beings the Listener are quite dependant from the symbiosis with a Spren. My idea is that Adonalsium left on Roshar as part of his design a great "Investiture Vault"(I see it as a willing analogue to the Ruin's stolen power) to put in place the Invested Highstorm as a tool to made the Spren's birth naturally possible. The bounday between Realms are weaker and the Mind of the physical being may more easy influence-gave birth to the Cognitive beings (thanks also to the higher level of Investiture). A specific Adonalsium's Splinter was put in charge or developed on his own the purpose to carry and manage the Highstorm (of course I am talking of the Rider of the Storm). Pro to the main theory: - Roshar's ecology seems to be strictly dependent from Stormlight - Roshar's flora/fauna is high developed to the Highstorm (this is actually a doutbful pro, because the Highstorm may be a regular uninvested powerful Storm in the Ancient time) - This would fits to the theory who saw the Purelake as a Shard's Perpendicularity along with Horneater's peaks and leave a place for the Highstorm as other source perpendicularity Contro to the main theory: - A recent WoB said that is possible to create a Spren from Stormlight while isn't possible to create it from Preservation's power because it comes from a different WoB. This suggest that Stormlight is from one of the shard that are actually parents of the Radiant Spren (without put an exception like "Adonalium's Investiture as untainted Investiture may be used corrupted with an Intent and be used as Shard's Investiture) - The presence of an huge amount of Adonalsium's Investiture is something never saw in other places of the Cosmere and in my opinion it would be cause a Manifestation of Investiture to arose on Roshar (like if a Shard was Invested).... I actually think that the Fabrial aren't from H&C but this is quite an external topic in this theory. - The Drominad System's essay seems to point as First of the Sun as an unique case in the Cosmere, where you can find a perpendicularity without a Shard on the planet. This may be semanthic, but actually on Roshar the Adonalsium's perpendicularity may be masked by the presence of H&C or it's not so relevant because you may actually use the Shards' perpendicularities Derived theory: Cultivation's will Cultivation is the Stormlight's source (I have another topic in working called "Stormlight isn't of Honor"). Pros to the derivate theory: - More in line with the Shard's investiment on a Planet - Stormlight has healing and growing proprieties on large scale, this seems to fit Cultivation's mandate/Intent - If the Purelake's theory is false, we have a good candidate to the second Shard's perpendicularity on Roshar (thanks to the guys who informed me that the Purelake's perpendicularity is a theory not a confirmed fact) - It doesn't need to put exception to the Cosmere's mechanics Contros to the derivate theory: - How the hell Did Roshar's survive before the Shards' arrive ? I would really know your opinions about... Soon or later I will wrote all my Roshar's model PS: If you find some horrible grammar horror in the theory please let me know it...I will fix it as soon as possible

In this post I tried to aswer to a doubt of mine. I thought it was a well known fact that I only missed. The unsure answers pushed me to ask both to Brandon and Peter on Twitter and the second gave me a much more vague answer Also if I don't recive a sure answer, now I know that it isn't something explored in the books and maybe may hide some worldbuilding information about Roshar and the GreatShell's Spren-bond. It's even possible I was right about the idea exposed in my tweet (but I am not too sure about)

So, I wrote this paper a while back for a communications class... about a year back... and I promised to post it after I was finished and got the paper graded. I never did, and I apologize for that. Well, here it is. Its terrible, but if you like it let me know. If you have thoughts, please post. I'd like to see what everyone else's head cannon is and where I got it wrong. I did try and get this published in a student publication but it sadly got ignored, which stung. Please let me know what you think. Gender differences in the World of Roshar.docx

Let it be known that I'm so excited about the essays that I haven't even read Edgedancer yet (even though Stormlight is my favourite series). We got some lovely information from Khriss that clarifies so many old questions. I have a few main theories that I want to bring up, that I know some people have already tossed a few of these around, but well, I'm just so excited I needed to make my own thread. Sorry, not sorry. Selish Observations Scadrian Observations (Secret History spoilers as well as Arcanum Unbounded) Taldain Observations Threnodite Observations Drominad Observations I have to go for now, I'll continue later tonight with the Rosharan system, Silverlight, and some theories I've got about all this new info. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Time to do a complete cosmere reread and hunt for clues.

What do we know about the origin's of the Heralds (pulled from the Coppermind)? They are servants of The Almighty (Honor) There are 10 of them in total, each with an Honorblade given by the Almighty They are not Slivers (having never held the power of an entire shard) If they die, they return to what we assume is Braize to be tortured If they don't die, they are supposed to return to the place of torture on their own In the last desolation, Taln died and returned to torture, but the other 9 remained on Roshar, but gave up their Honorblades I have some questions that I'm curious for feedback about. It's a running list and some of it just might not be known right now, but I believe in the power of the 17th Shard - you all help me gain so much insight into this amazing cosmere Brandon has created for us! Did the Heralds have to give up their Honorblades to stay on Roshar (instead of returning to torture)? Are the Heralds always the same spiritual being (but change bodies each time they return)? Why and how did the Shin come into possession of the Honorblades? Do the Honorblades normally go back to the place of torture with the Herald? Are Honorblades splinters of Honor? Do they have any sentience of their own?

Tor.com has, as part of the marketing for Arcanum Unbounded, released the essay (either in whole or in part is not clear) for the "Drominad System" (Otherwise known as the system where Sixth of the Dusk takes place). However, when discussing Drominad's record 3 human societies, Khriss drops this bombshell: "only the Rosharan system can rival it, and there one of the planets is inhabited solely by Splinters." Roshar obviously has humans on it, so that's out. If "The Silence Divine" remains canon in some form, then humans are present as well, so that's out. So therefore, the only remaining relevant planet in the Rosharan System is Braize. Discuss.

As I'm rereading through TWoK, I got to the section where Wit (Hoid) appears in the story and something hit me. We know that physical death on Roshar is off a bit, that "warriors are needed to fight for the Tranquiline Halls" in the afterlife and all. The ardents teach that all callings are helpful in the afterlife, so it seems that death takes a person into service in the next life. It's been theorized that the reason the KR abandoned their oaths was because they learned that death would send them to Damnation (Braize) to fight voidbringers or to be tortured or whatever happens there (obviously unpleasant because they abandoned their shards and oaths to avoid going). But, even after the Recreance, this idea of moving on into the afterlife to fight for the Tranquiline Halls continued in culture/religion, but obviously didn't apply to average people because giving up the shards/Nahel Bond caused the KR to become average (read "uninvested" maybe?) people again, avoiding this unpleasant future. That said, of all the kinds of people and disguises Hoid could have taken, he chose to be a King's Wit, a position who insults others and is often killed for the offensive nature of the position. We know Hoid is invested with all kinds of magic - do you think he wants to be killed so he can be transported to whatever this next life, the "Tranquiline Halls/Damnation/Braize/Cognitive Realm," to further his mission in the Cosmere? Maybe there's no other way to get there specifically, so he's biding his time insulting powerful warlords knowing that he will eventually get his chance to go. Theory Hole #1 is that Hoid seems to be worried about Odium/Rayse and the terrible power he holds, so why would he want to go to where Odium is? I'm not honestly sure, but he does strange things - maybe he's ready to take the fight to Rayse directly?

I am in the middle of a WoTK second reading and I just notice a big ignorance of mine about Roshar's Ecology. On Roshar only the 10 Polestones may naturally store Stormlight. We know also that many GreatShells (possible all) have a gemheart, a gem of possibly great size (depending by the Greatshell's size). Now began my great doubt: How is the gemheart type decided ? I explain myself better. when you kill a Greatshell and retrive his Gemheart. There are rules about what kind of Polestone this Gemheart would be ? For example: all the greatshell for a specific species give the same Polestone as Gemheart or it's a complete random factor. In the books is often stated that the Alethi and the Listeners hunt Charsmfields to retrive their gemheart to soulcast food, this mean that from the Chasmfields they may retrive Emerald but I think it's never stated that all the Chasmfiends's Gemheart are Emeralds.

Hi, While trying to uncover the secret location or Urithiru, I found myself totally at a loss about the size of Roshar and the relative distances between places. This is most probably because most characters so far have been confined in specific areas, and the book doesn't really deal with travel in the way some other books do (LotR, NotW, aSoIaF to name a few). So I decided to try and look for clues in the book which may help me set at least a few limits on the size of the planet and the continent. The first and most solid clue that we have is the gravity on Roshar. gRoshar = 0.7 * gEarth.. (I'm not sure where we know this from, since I've only been a fan for about a year, and it has been on the stormlight wiki for at least that long) Now in a simplified model g is related to the size of the planet by the formula g = G*M/R2 = G*d*V/R2 = G*d*4*pi*R/3 where G is Newton's constant, d is the density of the planet and R its radius. So constant multiplicative terms aside, the acceleration due to gravity should be proportional to d*R. If you look at the densities of the terrestrial planets in our solar system, most of them seem to have a pretty typical value, that of around 5.5 g/cm3 , If we assume Roshar to have the same density, then that would mean that its radius is 0.7 times that of Earth. However, I think Roshar is likely to be a tiny bit denser if anything, given that it seems to have a sandy or soily crust only on about a sixth of its area (Shinovar) and seems to be made of solid rock everywhere else (which is presumably denser). If it is denser, then that would mean that its radius is smaller than 0.7 times that of Earth. In any case, the point I'm trying to make is that we can safely say that Roshar has at max 0.7 times the radius of Earth. This would put its circumference at 28000 km. Our next, and to the best of my knowledge, only other clue about distances in Roshar is the following epigram from WoK Ch 39. So we know that there are two places on the Roshar continent that are far enough apart that it takes four months to travel by foot. Now one Rosharan year is 1.1 Earth years, and has 10 months. So 4 months would be about 0.4*1.1*365 earth days ~ 120 days. I assume if you're traveling on foot, you'll walk for at least 9-10 hours at a leisurely pace of 5 km/h. So that would make a total distance covered in 4 months of 120*5*10 =6000 km. Now this might seem like a small number compared to the circumference of 28000 km quoted above, but to put things in perspective, that is the approximate distance between Geneva and Mumbai. So that's at least how wide Roshar (the continent) is in one dimension, assuming Alezarv whoever he was had to travel across the continent to get wherever he got to. The original motivation of this study was to check if Roshar the continent covers most of the planet, because that would put more weight into the idea that Urithiru was somewhere in Shinovar, and westward in the place nearest to honor is actually pretty near the Origin of Storms which is in the East. After all these calculations, I don't think I can say anything either way. Alezarv may have travelled within Alethela, in which case the continent could ver well span Roshar, or he could have crossed the entire breadth of Roshar in which case over half the planet is as yet unexplored in the novels. As they say in academia, no result is still a result, and while I may have been unsuccessful in pinpointing the location of Urithiru, at least we have a better idea of how big Roshar really is. In case there is some more information available about this (WoB etc.) please let me know. I think both these questions (how big is the Rosharan continent in comparison to the planet, and how big is it in absolute terms) are really fascinating, so if any of you get a chance to ask Brandon, I'd be really grateful if you did!

Do we have any theories on how strong Vasher is on Roshar? We know that he's still suppressing his Divine Breath, and that he's at least hacked the magic systems enough to survive on Stormlight/raw Investiture rather than Breaths. My thoughts are as follows; What effect would the red lightning (Voidlight? o3o) have on him with regards to living? How does his body differentiate between using up his Stormlight stockpile and his Breath stockpile? I assume he still has a stockpile of Breath for the Weeping, or some stored in clothes etc like emergency rations. When he absorbs Stormlight, does he glow like Kaladin would, or can he suppress it like Shallan does with her Lightweaving? Since we have WOB that he's been on Roshar before the events of WOK, has he met any of the Heralds? He certainly knows the stances of swordsmanship well... did he have a hand in creating them? And finally... how strong is Vasher? We know it's possible to fuel a Returned with Stormlight, so it stands to reason it can fuel Awakening too... but would the Stormlight run out of the Awakened object at the natural rate of disappation of a Lashing or being infused in a sphere? What about a Stormlight fuelled Lifeless? Would it be able to function for more than a few minutes? I'm just wondering if during a Highstorm, after seeing a Thunderclast and figuring out the visualisation, Vasher could make one of his own with Stormlight-fueled Awakening. Or an army of Stormlight Lifeless that would be able to fight on for the duration of the storm. Of course the Thunderclast would require the Heightening that allows for bringing rock and metal to life... but we don't yet know the rate of conversion for Breath and Stormlight. Does one Broam equal one Nathalian Breath? Does one Highstorm equal enough Breath to reach the Fourth Heightening? We don't see in the narrative anyone notice pockets of bright colour or changes in it around Zahel, so he doesn't have much Breath on him when he meets Kaladin, enough to notice at least. Though Kaladin would have other things on his mind, and unless the effect was striking enough to make a Darkeyes' eyes seem bright while being close to Zahel I doubt the Alethi would notice anyway. I wonder if Stormlight Heightenings would have the same kind of effect as Biochroma with the hack? Anyways, what do you all think? Thoughts? ^-^ Condemnations for stuff that's already been discussed/answered in another thread?

So, yesterday night, during a particularly interesting moment of clarity brought on by a lack of sleep and energy drinks, I finally stumbled on what I consider to be my biggest theory related to the Cosmere as a whole. That is, I have a pretty solid idea on how Honorblades function. So, let's get down to business, and take a look at the facts that we know. We know that spren (but only certain types) are able to imitate what the Honorblades are capable of. We know that most of the spren are made from either Honor, Cultivation, or both (I'm not including Voidspren here). There are even some pre-Shattering ones hanging about. We know that some spren, like the honorspren, are actually Splinters of Honor (Syl is a "little piece," I believe the term is). Similarly, there are other spren who either Splinters of Honor, Splinters of Cultivation, or quite possibly both. Splinters are primarily things of the Spiritual and Cognitive Realms, and not so much Physical. (Source) We know, from Warbreaker, that Splinters can be made from living Shards of their own free will. Odium just likes Splintering Shards so that he doesn't absorb them, and so it's immensely difficult for others to seize that power. So, with these facts assembled, I'd like to make the following proposition: Honorblades are Splinters of Honor. Simply put, the honorspren (as an example) were able to mimic what the Honorblades did in the form of the Nahel bond. If that is the case, then there must be some similarity between them (ie, Jezrien's blade and an honorspren would both bond to someone's Spiritweb in the same place). However, there are some key differences, and that's where things get interesting. From what I can gather, the Honorblades lack any form of Intent, or their Intent is not particularly relevant. This is presumably designed by Tanavast, as the Honorblades are capable of bonding to any individual and granting them access to Surgebinding. The spren, on the other hand, can use their bonded individual's alignment with their Intent (ie, adherence to their Words) in order to greatly increase the efficiency with which Investiture is processed and controlled. So, in exchange for being available for virtually anyone to use, the Honorblades lack the ability to process Stormlight as effectively as a Radiant who is fully attuned with their spren's Intent. I've got some further speculations, but these are mostly rough ideas, and heavily rely upon further understanding of the Spiritweb and the Spiritual Realm. Since these aren't subjects we fully understand yet, it's something I'll reserve for a later date.

So, was just thinking, we all kinda assume that Odium was the one who came to Roshar to hunt Honor and Cultivation, though we don't really know why those two would be at the top of his list, but wouldn't it make more sense if Honor came to Roshar hunting Odium, Honor would have felt obligated to stop Odium and protect other people. So wouldn't it make more sense for either Cultivation to have set up her own planet and have Odium arrive and then Honor shortly after, or for Cultivation and Odium to have set up the world together and then Honor arrived to stop Odium. Just a theory, and I know its a fairly unimportant one at that, but to me it seems to make far more sense for Honor to have been the one Hunting Odium, and not Odium hunting Honor

This is an interesting thought I had. It probably won't turn out to be true but hey. It's possible so far as I know. So basically, we know there are two kinds of Amian on Roshar. Hoid lets us know that one of them is the "Dysian Amian" which apparently is sort of pieced together. We've also seen an Amian in one of the interludes of WoR. I would guess this is a Dysian Amian if my theory is true. This one did not seem much like a kandra. This theory is... Simply put... What if the second kind of amian is actually just kandra? I think somewhere else it has already been established that kandra might have at one point been able to worldhop... They share certain similarities with the Amian description, like being able to shape their flesh.

On page 385 of Hero of Ages, I found an interesting quote: The Stormfather gives Kaladin some interesting information as well: Doesn't this sound like an interesting coincidence of words? Maybe I'm missing something entirely, but do you think there's an in-Cosmere connection to what Elend is saying and what's happening on Roshar, or do you think this is just Brandon introducing this foreshadowing as an easter egg into the Stormlight Archive?

Okay, so we have a WoB that the Nightwatcher is connected to Cultivation similarly to how the Stormfather is connected to Honor. There's another WoB I've seen that's even more explicit, but I can't find it. Basically, he says that the Nightwatcher is to Cultivation what the Stormfather is to Honor. But the Stormfather isn't really Honor's spren, even though he thinks of himself that way. He's Tanavast's Cognitive Shadow (or we might even call him Tanavast's Spren, at least Rosharans likely would, considering that's even how they'd refer to Adolnasium according to Brandon). While Cultivation's Vessel is still alive (and I don't think we know her name, though we know it's a she), so she doesn't have a Cognitive Shadow, I think that she's able to appear in a physical form (perhaps intentionally spren-like, perhaps forced into that due to the way magic works on Roshar), and that we see not Cultivation's Intent playing out directly in the Nightwatcher, but the personality of Cultivation's Vessel. I.E., if Cultivation's holder is named Jane, then the Stormfather is to Tanavast what the Nightwatcher is to Jane. The Nightwatcher isn't carrying out Cultivation's Intent directly, though certainly colored by it, but rather is a glimpse into the personality of the original Vessel, who has not been completely subsumed, just like Tanavast wasn't and Odium probably hasn't been. Just a theory, but I also asked this in a simpler way on Reddit and I'm hoping Brandon himself might weigh in (probably not since it's a bit more complex than he likes to answer there, but I had to try): Question on Reddit about the Nightwatcher and Cultivation jW

This is an RPG that is based off of a map. The rules are loose and each player gets 4 turns per day. The goal is to control as much of the map as possible and to be the most powerful player. Each player starts out in a small territory and the starting tech level is the stone age. To progress your technology, you must research new things, eg. bronze weapons, iron mining, Calvary etc. Your population ( and therefore your army size ) depends on how much land you have, your trade routes, and the amount of cities you have. Credit to kevino36 for the map. This type of RP is popular in a game called The Powder Toy. I recommend it to anyone who likes RPs. The maximum number of players is 20. joining is now open! Joining: Tell me where you want to start at and what color you want to be represented as.

So I guess other shards effects last despite what world your on. I'm just wondering how Nightblood still has power and consciousness on Roshar without breaths. Also how is Vashor still alive since he needs one breath a week to stay alive? Can they substitute stormlight?

The reason Elantris stopped working properly was because the shape of the land, meaning the shape of the aon on which Elantris was patterned, had changed. This obviously speaks to a very intentional design of the city of Elantris, one focused on a specific pattern. The city is obviously much older than we know (or even the people of Raoden's time know), but how old, and where did it come from? This idea of a city laid out in a specific way sparked a connection in my mind to the Dawncities on Roshar. They too had interesting, intricate patterns to them, and the cites were believed to be very, very old. I wonder, did the same group of people who built Elantris on Sel also happen to build/influence the Dawncities on Roshar?

So I have been re-reading WoR and have noticed something perhaps significant. So it is time for my first theory. After a few Sanderson novels, I have come to expect initial impressions and suspicions to be reversed. Who/whatever you think is the antagonist at the beginning never ends up as such. For example (beware of spoilers): -Treledees -Denth and Vasher -Preservation -The Lord Ruler (I would still say he was evil but he was not what you thought) I could probably go on. The point has been made, however, thus I won't. There is probably a similar reversal down the pipe in the Stormlight Archive. Starting with odium. I think it is fairly clear that odium is evil. Storms, he is the shard of hatred! Also, Hoid has a very poor opinion of Rayse, which probably does count for something. However, there is something else of note down this vein in the Stormlight Archive, linked to all these secret societies. We know that Gavilar was assassinated because he approached the Parshendi wishing to bring back the voidbringers. We also know that Taravangian loosely aligned with Gavilar. We also know that both of these people at least started out wishing to save the world, but it looks like what they actually tried to do was quite destructive. We also know that Ameram was interested in bringing back the voidbringers. And the ghostbloods are embroiled in all of this but we have no idea what they are looking for. So lots of people are interested in either bringing back the voidbringers or averting their return. I also want to highlight the "cover synopsis" of the Way of Kings: From the above information, I feel we can conclude two things: 1. The presence of radiants is associated with the desolations. Correctly or incorrectly, many presume a causal relationship between the return of voidbringers and the return of radiants. It would be interesting if this assumption was in fact correct. 2. The fact that both voidbringers and radiants have disappeared is not necessarily a good thing. So in light of this, Gavilar's efforts, one way or another, may have actually be saving Roshar. He tells Dalinar to "find the most important words a man can say" which probably means the radiant oaths. He tries to return the voidbringers, but this may actually be an attempt to restore the radiants as well. However, Gavilar foretells the approach of the everstorm to Taravangian. It even seems that all of his efforts are to prepare for the everstorm. So why would he be trying to bring back voidbringers? Wouldn't he realize that the voidbringers would cause the everstorm? It is possible he did not. Or perhaps the everstorm would have come eventually even if Eshonai hadn't caused it. Then there is also the motives of the society Ameram is a member of. We don't know very much about those other than that Ameram wants the voidbringers to return. I am inclined to believe Ameram's motives are not good, based on what he did to Kaladin. And there is the ghostbloods, which contains worldhoppers. The presence of worldhoppers implies that their motives are connected to the actual struggle between shards of adolnasium, something I doubt the others are keenly aware of or embroiled in. However, their motives are as of yet an enigma. All that being said, this theory doesn't really have a resounding conclusion. On the contrary, I am really making the point that we are probably wrong about a lot. Nevertheless, in conclusion: The return of the voidbringers means more than we think it does. Given that multiple groups are competing to return the voidbringers, there is probably some benefit to be had for whoever first creates voidbringers. However, restoring the voidbringers might not be as insane of an idea as we think. Gavilar might actually have been saving Roshar.

So, I was just thinking about a WoB that says that the end of SA 5 is hidden in the epigraphs, and I had a few thoughts. We also have a WoB that Mistborn Era 2 takes place after SA 5. There is another Shard on Scadrial, and for the purposes of this theory, I'm going to assume that it is Odium. So, what if at the end of SA 5, someone releases Odium from the Greater Roshar system to save their own planet? Odium might offer to spare them if they break the bonds that Honor placed upon him to limit him to the Greater Roshar system Evidence: "So the night will reign, for the choice of Honor is life..." This Death Rattle could mean that someone honorable (basically all of the KR) would choose to save the lives of everyone on Roshar, but it would cause Odium to reign everywhere 5else. "I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it give us further breath to draw" This is another Death Rattle; I think it symbolizes someone metaphorically cutting the bonds restraining Odium in order to delay him destroying Roshar. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this!

New Year, new theory! Well, the idea isn't new, but I want to provide additional insight. I'll be drawing pararells with Scadrial here. So, on Scadrial metal is undoubtely the focus, right? And if we had another Shard come to Scadrial, it would get its own godmetal, probably. Now, let's take a look at Surgebinders. They get powers by bonding a Splinter (spren in Roshar's example). What would happen if somebody bonded to a Splinter came to Roshar? Like person from Sel bonded to a Seon? It would also grant him some abilities (there was a WoB, but I can't find it). So what's important is having a bond. Parshendi bond spren very tightly, to the point of somewhat merging with them. (Shame we don't know which spren are used in Listeners' forms) Spren are bound to gems in fabrials to make them work. Now, let's take a look at Returned. They don't 'bond' a Splinter, they are one with the Splinter. Just like Listeners. Both of them possess some shapeshifting ability as a result. Your thoughts?

Does anyone have an idea what a Rosharan clock might look like? Example: Shallan looked at the clock to realize it was half past the first moon's bell. Sorry if this topic has already been answered. If so, could you link it below.