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As anyone who has read Shadows of Self knows, Bleeder is revealed to have a spike made from an unknown God Metal, originating from a shard that is neither Ruin, nor Preservation. This spike allowed her to fool Harmony. There are two ways I could image this coming about. A. Bleeder used a piece of a splintered Shard, and somehow gained the knowledge to use it. This is unlikely, since there are very few that Cosmere-literate. B. Bleeder met a Shard that willingly gave her a piece of it's power to mess up Harmony. If we pick the first option, it could either be Devotion, Dominon, Honor, or the other Shard Odium splintered. Again, I find this unlikely as only a Shard or Splinter would be able to give her the knowledge to use it. With the second option, I can only think of two that could possibly cause this: Autonomy (mildly suggested by Bleeders talk of 'freedom'), or Odium. Although, I am much more inclined to believe the metal belongs to Odium, considering that it is stated to have red on it. Most other people probably came to this conclusion also, but I figured I'd write it down since I haven't seen it anywhere else.

SPOILERS for Words of Radiance After Kaladin defeats Szeth he takes possession of the honorblade Szeth used so my question is can Kaladin bound to it while he is bounded to Syl? This might have been answered somewhere before, but I don't know where to find it and am interested to hear what people have to say on it.

In a WoB that I read but can't be bothered to find, Sanderson said that aluminum does strange things in every magic system. I may be jumping at phantoms (or however that saying goes), but I decided to make a list of everything aluminum does, and I noticed a surprising pattern: Allomancy: Wipes out all metals in the Allomancer's stomach. It is also immune to being Pushed or Pulled, Emotional Allomancy can't penetrate it, doesn't produce an atium shadow, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it served as a shield like a Coppercloud, and prevented Pushing and Pulling on metal beyond it as well. Feruchemistry: Stores identity, which has been heavily hinted and theorized to allow access to another Feruchemist's metalminds, possibly even if the Aluminum Ferring can't store that attribute. Hemalurgy: Takes Allomantic enhancement power. Surgebinding: We don't know much about it yet, but we know that Aluminum is apparently only able to be made by Soulcasting. AonDor: I honestly don't know. I'm not very familiar with AonDor in general, and I don't know of any mention of aluminum or the like in AonDor. Forging: Although it isn't mentioned by name, it is extremely likely that the Unforgable Metal that makes up Shai's wall is aluminum. I'm also not ignorant of the possibility that aluminum does the same thing in AonDor as in Forging. That is, nothing. Dakhor, ChayShan: We don't know enough about these magic systems to make any sort of speculation, unless I'm mistaken. Awakening: This one is tricky, since generally metal cannot be Awakened. However, there is one notable exception: Nightblood. Nightblood is heavy, but that is potentially solved by the fact that it is (pun) heavily Invested. Nightblood drains large amounts of Investiture, releasing it as corrupted black smoke. He also is devoted to destroying evil, but he was Awakened with that command. With all the magic systems we know of, (unless I forgot any), aluminum tends to act as a black hole for Investiture, draining it if not simply leaving the magic ineffective. Such consistency in a pattern indicates some sort of larger picture. Perhaps aluminum somehow was responsible for the shattering of Adonalsium, or aluminum is the God Metal for Adonalsium, trying to get its former power back, or aluminum is somehow related to Odium and his ability to Shatter Shards. If anyone has any information on this topic that I missed, or a magic system I forgot, or any other possible theories about why aluminum drains Investiture, I'm open to suggestions. I realize that this is a topic that we know very little about, and so the speculation is likely quite off, but I like speculation on big topics like this.

All right, I tried to keep that title from spoiling anything, considering the reader knows Paalm has at least one spike the whole book, but let me know if it needs to change. So we've all been clamoring with theories, and rightfully so, particularly about Paalm and her wonderspike. We also know, thanks to Chaos, that the spike is from a Shard we know. As many have detailed in other threads, the likely candidates are Autonomy or Odium, as none of the other Shards we know of are 1) alive or 2) give a flying lick about Scadrial or Harmony. In addition, we've all been curious as to how Paalm could speak to Wax's mind in a way similar to Harmony, and many have been saying this ability is due to the wonderspike. I apologize if this has been stated before, and if so please point me to the source. Hypothesis 1: The spike is of Autonomy, and not Odium. As a result, the spike grants Paalm her autonomy in regards to Harmony. Reasoning: Paalm kept her sanity. This means that she had more than one spike within her. I know what you're thinking: Blaze, that's obvious, it says so in the book, as they found that polka-dotted spike in her along with the one granting her allomantic steel! Correct, and I'm saying she keeps her autonomy because of that spike. The spike grants her the ability to be autonomous of Harmony. We know that Preservation had some access to the spikes, even though Hemalurgy is of Ruin. Harmony says outright that while Ruin could speak to spiked individuals, it was Preservation who could hear those people's thoughts. So why, then, would this new spike be invisible to Harmony? Sure, it being of a different Shard might prevent Harmony from controlling it, but that doesn't mean Harmony should be blind to it. Hypothesis 2: Paalm got her hands on that extra bit of Ruin, either directly or indirectly from Harmony. Reasoning: It was made very clear in the book that Paalm had Ruin's power to speak with hemalurgic people. She couldn't hear them, only speak to them. As I've said, this is specifically something Ruin could do. In addition, Paalm's plan of "overthrowing" Harmony is exactly the plan Ruin would use. Her whole purpose was to bring Elendel into chaos. There could easily be other ways of doing so, given her more expansive knowledge about the situation, but she specifically focuses on bringing Elendel to its knees. Now, we know that Harmony has an extra bit of Ruin due to Preservation's gambit to keep Ruin in check prior to and during Era 1. We also have a very coy WoB of "Well I wonder what Harmony could possibly be doing with that extra Ruin?" My theory would suggest that Harmony did one of a few options: 1) He gave this power directly to Paalm. This seems rather unlikely, but it would fit with the theory. Perhaps Saze did so as a means to convince/force Paalm to kill herself as Lessie, just a thought. 2) He gave this power to kandra as a whole. None of the other kandra have spoken to Wax using this method, but it too is a possible reason for why Paalm would have the ability. Perhaps the little bit that Paalm gets is enough, or perhaps she managed to take some from other kandra. We don't really have enough information to judge this possibility further, aside from TenSoon's comment which seems to contradict this possibility. He says that Wax is Harmony's Ruin, while he is Harmony's Preservation. Perhaps TenSoon wasn't given part of the power, but other kandra were, though that feels a bit like straw grasping to me. 3) Harmony discharged the Ruin into someone/something else, and Paalm got her hands on it. The first thing that jumps to my mind are the Bands of Mourning, as it offers us an easy lead into the next novel, as well as providing a base story line to follow throughout the trilogy. In addition, the Bands are made of atium, so perhaps that's the reasoning why Harmony can store some Ruin in them. I can't really think of any other possibilities as for where Sazed would store the extra Ruin, but I am a bit rusty on my Era 1 knowledge for important artifacts. tl;dr: The extra spike is of Autonomy and grants autonomy from Harmony. The ability to speak to spiked people's minds came from that extra bit of Ruin that Harmony has hidden somewhere.

I almost feel silly starting a thread for one small observation...but what the heck...it's a free internet isn't it? While poking around pondering the nature of the unmade, corrupted investiture, nightblood, etc, something from one of the lines from the diagram stood out to me... "Powered by the spark of death itself" is the thing that really caught my attention. I've spend hours pouring over quotes and other info trying to puzzle out what the deal is with the unmade, but this is the first time that this particular line ever caught my interest. Could this have some correspondence with all the discussion about Black or Corrupted stormlight (investiture). What I mean is...sapient life is possible because ALL sapient life is in some small way invested...so...could the unmade be fueled by the negation or corruption of that life...death (specifically the death of an intelligent being) or even just the pain and suffering of one. to broaden the topic of conversation a bit...could this have something to do with how Odium goes about splintering a shard? We know that it's time consuming, we know that it's very taxing for him. Could it be that Odium has used Unmade like splinters to do his dirty work on other worlds before? The name Svrakiss springs to mind...The Svrakiss were the souls of men barred from entrance into heaven for hating Jaddeth in life,[1] and so were condemned to wander Sel, bitterly cursing their fate and preying on the living.[2] The Derethi believed that they had the ability to take of the bodies of living men and control their actions.[1] When someone who followed Shu-Dereth had bad luck or a difficult time, they believed that the Svrakiss were to blame.[3][4] The Svrakiss were considered to be a representation of absolute evil. Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, giving birth to abominations with her essence so dark, so terrible, so consuming. She is here! She watches me die! Let me no longer hurt! Let me no longer weep! Dai-gonarthis! The Black Fisher holds my sorrow and consumes it! Though all of them have some relevance to precognition, Moelach is one of the most powerful in this regard. His touch seeps into a soul as it breaks apart from the body, creating manifestations powered by the spark of death itself. Well...have at it 17th shard...I know there are holes (feel free to point them out) but don't be afraid to run with the idea a little either!

Ok, Friends. Help me out here. For I have gone and convinced myself of something crazy! Sorry, I'm new to the forum and I don't know how to do that cool "spoiler" button yet. Please be aware that this theory mainly concerns The Stormlight Archive: Way of Kings and will have spoilers for the stormlight series. But because of said theory, this post will also contain spoilers from the Alloy of Law. So please continue reading at your own risk! If you have read both books, please give your thoughts on this theory. Many thanks! Toward the end of Interlude-6 when Szeth finds Gavashaw dead along with his [former] master Makkek, he's greeted by this dark figure who bears Szeth's Oathstone and gives him Taravangian's kill list. I'd like to discuss who this dark figure might be... Because I don't believe he's just some unimportant messenger. Szeth doesn't recognize this man's accent. This seems to be a gentle suggestion that the figure might originate off world. I figure Szeth would have traveled many places since becoming Truthless and having his Oathstone traded so frequently. Szeth guesses that the dark figure's accent might be Alethi, but he isn't sure. No real description of the dark figure is really given except that his voice is "male and deep" so a physical match can't really be made. The figure even wore a mask. So all we can really go on and take clues from is the shrouded man's words. Monologuing - This shrouded figure is heavily opinionated for someone who is presumably unimportant and needs to only deliver proof of the Oathstone exchanging hands and the new orders from the new master. That being said, what the man starts monologuing about is, i feel, key to discovering his true identity. He says things like: "Are you satisfied with this... are you satisfied with trivial crimes?" "What a waste... You are squandered." "You are a work of art... a god." “But do you not rebel against this frivolous use of your skills? Were you not meant for greatness?” "It's time you stop wasting your talent." Very interesting statements. He had virtually no reason to monologue to Szeth... and combining that with his strange accent, I keep feeling like this shrouded figure is more important that the interlude makes apparent. He shows up nowhere else in the series (as of yet) to pick apart more clues. These statements come dangerously close to many things said to Waxillium Ladrian back on Scadrial. My vote is that the masked and shadowed man giving Szeth his new orders is Miles "Hundredlives" Dagouter who is now on Roshar. As implausible as it seems, he may not actually be truly dead. It was never explained how he was still able to heal after all of his metalminds were apparently removed. Therefore we don't know to what extent his death was an act or irreversible (including his missing pulse). We know nothing of the remains/body of Mile Dagouter. Beyond that, the cosmere has "Returned" and fabrials that can revive people from the unthinkable (like with a certain someone at the end of WoR). Miles Dagouter is my best guess as to who this man might be... he doesn't actually have to have survived his experienced on Scadrial to be alive on Roshar right now. He's Miles Hundredlives Dagouter... he's been through a lot worse. He probably had gold implanted in his bones. He was very confident when he went up for execution. Why would he have been so confident if he knew he'd eventually run out of gold during the execution and die anyway? As for what he'd be doing on Roshar? Probably doing the same thing he was doing on Scadial. Serving someone, believing in a higher cause. Like Taravangian. Thoughts?

First ever thread!! Hopefully I can construct these thoughts properly. Though I warn you I will probably end up all over the place. SoS - I've just finished SoS and have seen some bits around about Bavadin's shards intent, Autonomy. It strikes me as pertinent that the identity of a shard has been released so close after finding out there is another likely god metal on Scadrial. I would guess that Autonomy/Bavadin is working with Oduim to splinter the shards to remove the interference of the shardholders from the Cosmere, including himself. As we've seen with Preservation Shards are not frightened to destroy themselves to ensure there intent is met. This fits with the Autonomy. Bleeder also had a fanatical belief she was freeing people from Harmony's interference. The god metal spike seen at the end of SoS had, I believe, bits of red rust on, I wonder if Autonomy and Odium are working together and this has corrupted his investiture, the rust the physical realms representation of this. I like the name Autonium Rust and ruin - WoB has said to look closer at the rust and ruin phrase closer. Ruin is obviously just ruin, but rust could represent a completely different shard. It could be everything I've written so far is wrong. Rust could represent a shard, pluck from the air, Decay maybe? Someone also mentioned on a post a while ago that BS had put a clue in his book regarding Trelagism and Trell was mentioned in SoS, Trell had a brother and his name was Nalt. Nalthis is the planet Endowment is. More overlapping Cosmere theology. Belief - My thoughts on the way Odium splinters Shards and the way shards are powered in a sense would be rooted in belief. One of BS best qualities as a writer is how he incorporates religion into the magic system, and how normal people can become figures or religious belief. Now what if the shards themselves are powered by belief, Bleeder tried to break free Elendel from Harmony's control, for the lack of a better word, but this also would have broken down the belief system and government as part of the plan. This would weaken Harmony and give Autonomy or Odium an opening to attack maybe? Not a great theory but could be plausible. Gateways and Stormlight - This is just a thought I've been having regarding the way magic interacts with different worlds. WoB is that when an allomancer burns a metal it is giving access to the power of the shards/creation, a gateway to access magic, each metal is a gateway to a certain power much in the same way that drawing an Aon accesses the Dor with a specific outcome, channeling the power for a specific purpose. On Nalthis each person has a breath to begin with, they are Endowed with a small part of the shard, much like the way life on Scadrial has both preservation and ruin in them. In Mistborn people are picked for there actions to become more, but as the powers come from both preservation and ruin it's not about good or bad actions but almost random, balanced. This is opposed by the investiture on Nalthis, where you have an innate breath at birth, a link to god, but you are Endowed with a divine breath if you are found deserving, dying to save someone. Each of these links or gateways can run out or be used up with The exception to the rule is Roshar, I think anyway. Spren are the gateway and stormlight is the power that is used. Does this mean that Roshar is the nexus for the power of creation as stormlight is freely available to all people, just most don't have the link to access it personally. Like I say these are mostly the ramblings of a madman, think I may have been spiked by BS to miss all points. Thoughts anyone?

I'm just going to post this as a new topic because right now the discussion is spread across many threads. So after the climax, when Marasi is showing Wax the spike made of an unknown metal, and when she's talking to MeLaan about it, she comments that it is "one of the spikes [bleeder] was using". I've seen a lot of people assuming that this means she was using it at the time she died, and that "one of" means that she had other spikes in her (that she put there). While I'm not ruling this out as a possible interpretation, I think that it far from ironclad, and not the most likely possibility. Here are a few reasons. 1) We are told repeatedly, including by Harmony, that Bleeder only has one spike, that any above and beyond this would allow him to take control of her. It's entirely possible that the characters are wrong (less likely about Harmony, though he admits that he cannot see her consistently), but... 2) The characters, who knew that Bleeder was supposed to have only one spike, don't suddenly express surprise at finding two. If Harmony/MeLaan/TenSoon (and Wax) had all been wrong about this, Marasi might be expected to mention that. 3) Marasi calls the spike "one of the spikes she was using" (emphasis mine, obviously), which can imply that she's talking about one of the spikes she's been using for various powers. She doesn't say "one of the spikes she had in her" or something to that effect. This is lent further credence by the fact that... 4) The narrative constantly points out is that Bleeder has access to multiple spikes. When they find Idashwy, Wax points out that the antagonist might have any number of powers, or all of them. Furthermore, they know at least one place where Bleeder changed powers (where Wax was right before he saw her using Coinshot abilities), so they could have gone back there for the spike. But that's assuming she wasn't just carrying them all on her person at all times. They also know where she's been a lot of the time (or, at least, who she's been impersonating), so they could have conducted a search for her "stash." 5) It has been assumed that the "Trellium" spike is what allows her to avoid detection by Harmony. In fact, Harmony outright explains that this is because having god-like powers is "complicated." It isn't mysterious to Harmony, just frustrating. He and Wax have a good laugh over it. (I'll post more on this if I have time.) I do see some problems with this theory. One is how Bleeder is able to communicate with spiked people. This isn't an ability we have clearly seen a metal capable of doing. But it appears that Brandon has gone out of his way to avoid explaining this. The only clue we have, that I recall, is TenSoon's apparent surprise that Bleeder spoke to Wax directly, and the fact that he wasn't surprised (and knew about) Bleeder's ability to speak directly to Wax's mind. But I don't think this ability necessarily demands another spike, and if we assume the spike enables it, then that spike is doing two things according to the theories already proposed. The second... I forget right now, but it had something to do with the various powers Bleeder used. I plan to update this theory header as we get more discussion. Also, I anticipate a lot of people's questions at signings to pertain to this Trellium!

I was thinking a while ago about who else might turn out to be a surge binder/potential radiant. If this has already been a topic somewhere else, please point me there so I can move this discussion there. If not, please post any and all thoughts on which characters we'll see turn into binders/radiants - and which ones will get a book. My thoughts on this stemmed from the thought that Brandon might be playing out a principle that certain families may predisposes their members to being radiants, or maybe it's that association with a (potential) radiant or surge binder allows others around them to connect with spren more easily. The three main families we have insight into so far are Kholin, Davar, and Kaladin's. The Kholin family has four confirmed potential binders (Elhokar, Dalinar, Jasnah, and Renarin - Elhokar is really the outlier here, he sees spren, but I don't know what to make of him) and a pretty strong indication that Gavilar would also have been. My interpretation of the reading leads me to believe that Adolin and Navani are potential candidates based on their personalities/displayed characteristics, bringing the family total to a potential seven. In Shallan's family, she is one, and her oldest brother had some connection as well. Frankly, this is the weakest part of my theory and I'm very curious to hear more about Helaran. Regardless, Shallan's not alone in her family. Under different circumstances I think her mother and father might have had the strength of personality to become binders, but rather than breaking (as Syl mentioned to Kaladin) and remaking themselves, they shattered completely. As for Kaladin's family, I think there is a significant chance that his mother or father or both could become binders. Their characters seemed to fit the mold of having certain guiding principles they adhered to, and, looking back on the story after WoR, both seemed to have met their potential breaking points: Lirin with Roshone right before Kaladin left, and what mother wouldn't be devastated with the loss of both her sons. I can't wait to see how they've handled themselves in the interim when Kaladin goes back to see them again. As a side note, when considering the PoV's for the 10 books, with 10 books, each on a different character, we'll probably get roughly half men and half women, and half light eyes/half other (e.g. Eshonai). thoughts?

Spoilers.

Hi guys, With the release of Shadows of Self and the Elantris Anniversary edition, I wanted to remind you about spoiler policies. 1. No spoilers in topic titles! I mean it. Not only will we be removing said spoilers, we will be extremely upset if you do this in Cosmere Theories, Shadows of Self spoiler board, or Elantris. Keep topic titles vague! 2. If you're making spoiler topics in Cosmere Theories or the Elantris board, make sure the topic title explicitly has "Spoilers" in it. I like using [spoilers] for that. (This isn't necessary for Shadows of Self, as you can assume there are spoilers there.) 3. If the topic is clearly marked with spoilers, spoilers are allowed inside topics in the Shadows of Self board, Elantris, and Cosmere Theories without the spoiler tags, that is, without [spoiler][/spoiler]However, if you are adding information to an older thread that does not have [spoilers] in the topic title, make sure you use these spoiler tags! For Cosmere Theories, keep Shadows spoilers marked through the release of Bands. (Usually Cosmere Theories has a much shorter turn-around, but be nice, because some will just wait to read Shadows until Bands comes out.) 4. If you are posting in General Brandon Discussion, always use the spoiler tags in the post themselves. That forum is basically a spoiler free zone.

I just started a re-read of The Final Empire, and FORESHADOWING. I mean, everywhere. So, I thought it would be fun to make a thread about the various hints I'm finally picking up on. I haven't seen anything similar in searches; hopefully I'm not missing anything. Basically this will demonstrate how blind I was to foreshadowing on the first read-through. I will only include long-arc foreshadowing, I think, perhaps with a few exceptions. Though, I'll note that names of significance were dropped much earlier than I thought -- Kelsier references Lord Renoux in the prologue, for instance. Henceforth there shall be spoilers for The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages. I'll be re-reading the whole trilogy, and intend to update the original post as I go. References to page numbers are for the paperback editions, and as there will be a section for each book, unspecified page numbers are for the book of the section they're in. Mistborn: The Final Empire Page 1, Epigraph to the Prologue: They say I will hold the future of the entire world on my arms. Page 29, Chapter 2: If all went well, there would come a time when Kelsier would want to be seen and recognized. Page 32, Chapter 2: Sometimes, Kelsier felt that a skaa Misting's life wasn't so much about surviving as it was about picking the right time to die. Page 48, Chapter 3: In her mind, she thought she heard a voice whispering to her. Reen's voice. Page 65, Chapter 4: "The mistwraiths are out there. They'll grab a man and take his face, sure as the Lord Ruler." Page 77, Chapter 4: "And the koloss?" Ham asked quietly. Kelsier paused. "If he marches those creatures on his own capital city, the destruction it would cause could be even more dangerous than financial instability. In the chaos, the provincial noblemen will rebel and set themselves up as kings [...]" Page 85, Chapter 5: Yet, overthrowing the Final Empire? They'd sooner stop the mists from flowing or the sun from rising. Page 92, Chapter 5: As he stood, the mists curled slightly around his body. They twisted and spun, running in a slight, barely noticeable current beside him. The mists knew him; they claimed him. They could sense Allomancy Page 92, Chapter 5: And you can't change how much you weigh -- you're an Allomancer, not some northern mystic. Page 104, Epigraph to Chapter 6: I can feel our goal now, can sense it, though the others cannot. It . . . pulses, in my mind, far off in the mountains.

I rather hope people don't complain that I'm...errr...complaining...but anyways. On to the show. We all know that Brandon's books (particularly his Cosmere books, I can't address his other books, but I mainly want to talk about epic fantasy anyways) have strong and polarizing female characters. This is wonderful, women like Vin, Jasnah, Shai, and Siri are fine characters, and yes, Shallan is alright too, although she isn't personally my favorite. But, these strong characters are...well...all on the side of "good". It's funny. since, that's what I have a problem with. All the women (generally speaking) are on the side of good. Most of the villains (particularly the major ones) are men/male, and while it might seem odd, I have a bit of a problem with this. It might be due to genre, but I would like to see an intriguing female villain, or even a super-powered one...just because, I can't exactly remember when a female was the "big(ger) bad" of an epic fantasy novel (think Ruin sized, I guess). A part of me finds this...unnerving, strange as that may sound. All I really want to see, though, is a well-written/powerful/cool female villain. So, a few topics of discussion for you guys: 1. Do you feel there's a lack of (well-written/powerful) female villains in epic fantasy, and if so, what do you think contributes to this. (Perhaps I'm not reading the right stuff?) 2. Is this perhaps linked to audience expectations? Why can't women be evil (and "strong") when men can be? 3. Finally, in the Cosmere novels (this is why this post is marked for spoilers) do you think their may be a problem that there really are few (I can only think of that Mistborn-chick in Finale Empire at the moment) female villains? Yes, this what got me thinking about this topic in the first place, and since Brandon often seems to like reversals, I'm a little surprised this is the case... Yes, I kind of realize this topic makes me into a super-feminist weirdo, but yeah. Also, if this needs to be moved, that's fine. I wasn't exactly sure where to put it...

1. How are Truthwatchers able to see the future, if their surges are Progression (The Surge of Growth and Healing) and Illumination (The Surge of Light, Sound, and Various Waveforms)? Is it related to their spren or ideals or something else entirely (Cultivation influence maybe)? 2. It seems that Truthwatchers can predict future just based on present circumstances without considering the drastic changes that may immediately happen. Renarin Kholin predicted that everyone would die due to the clash of Everstorm and Highstorm, but Shallan is able to use the portal at the end and prevented this from happening. This might be the reason for them to be silent and secretive since being vocal about their prediction could bring about some changes which may cause the prediction to fail. Are there any holes/faults in this theory? I'm new to 17th shard, so if there has already been a discussion on these topics, please post that thread. Thanks!

So I just finished the book and returned it to my friend. I have no other means to reread it again coz' I don't have it anymore. Anywaaay, did Obliteration die? And if so, how the hell did he die? He became a porcelain right? How? What is his weakness? WHAT? WHY? HOW? I'm totally confused right now.

Let me start this by apologizing for spelling, I'm listening to the book this time round instead of reading and don't have the book on hand. This may have been mentioned in other posts, but I have come to the conclusion (due to taravangeen's (Tv) journal) that shallan's brother helleran is still alive and the loose idea that TV may have created szeth. In his conversation with szeth in Jah Keved, he muses that Shallan may have been trained by Jasnah or her brother. This means that at the very least TV's smart self thought helleran was a surgebinder. This means that he likely wouldn't be able to stand to hold a shardblade (dead one), let alone charge into battle to kill Amaram. All we actually know of the assassin is that he had red hair and wielded the same shard that Helleran possessed at one point. Since many in Jah Keved have red hair, it doesn't seem so far fetched to assume that Hell could have handed off his shard blade upon taking some of his oaths. In a chapter header, TV smart comes to the conclusion that the honor blades are in shin and muses that a truthless with an honorblade would be useful. It seems oddly coincidental that szeth just happens to come along at this time, and makes more sense if TV created him. It's not as though he isn't capable of it.

OK, just thought this one up: SPOILERS,of course. Is it possible to steal someone's Allomantic ability before they "snap?" Do you think that the Allomancy is part of a person's spiritweb enough that their ability could be stolen before it has become active? Having run this through my head, I can't decide. I'm leaning more towards no, because it hasn't manifest itself as an active part of their spiritweb, same as you couldn't use a Hemalurgic spike to steal someone's life force once they are dead, since, at that point, their spiritweb isn't tied to their body anymore. But, on the other hand (sorry for sounding like Tevye), it is ultimately a part of their spiritweb, and therefore could possibly be stolen. It all depends on if the ability has to be active to be stolen. Tell me what y'all think. Thanks, Nathan "Schventagon" Swensen

So, I've seen a lot of discussion about whether or not Adolin would end up being a Radiant. At first I thought that would be just a little too cliche, especially with the rest of his family, but then I started thinking about the Shardblade he already has, and I started wondering... would it be possible for Adolin to actually bring back the spren in his Shardblade? He already shows it an incredible amount of respect, and thinks of it to some degree as an actual, sentient being (talking to it before duels, refusing to give it a new name, etc). I know Kaladin and Syl have already talked about whether or not you could bring back a "dead" spren, but as far as I could tell, nothing conclusive was decided. My brother is convinced I'm wrong, but as I'm currently borrowing his copies of the books he can't disprove me. Thoughts?

So...I'm really just looking to start a fresh discussion about the Unmade. I've got several theories and am very interested in hearing some of yours as well. Many of you are also way better and referencing WoBs and other cannon material than I am so I am eager for your input. By the way...I hate having to do the whole spoiler tag thing so just assume that every post could possibly contain spoilers... To get started, I'm just going to put some stuff out there for you guys to pick at. - The Unmade are slivers of Odium...true or false? - There are 10 Unmade that are the opposite of the 10 heralds...? - The giant figures that Kalidin and Shallan see striding the storm were Unmade. It is my personal theory that the Unmade are somehow fuelled by...created by...tied too...the heralds' torment in damnation between desolations. I've also seen it tossed around that the mysterious Black Sphere may somehow be tied to the presence of one of the unmade. Let me no longer hurt! Let me no longer weep! Dai-gonarthis! The Black Fisher holds my sorrow and consumes it! We know that Moleach causes the Death Rattles. We know that another one (not sure of the name) causes the Thrill. -Are there any other unusual phenomenon that could potentially be attributed to the presence (proximity) of Unmade? GO!

Szeth is headed to Shinovar to exact justice upon the people who named him truthless. If I am correct, the Everstorm is less than a day away from Shinovar? What will Szeth and Nalan do if their plans for the week get cancelled by a storm?

I've been trying to figure out the alethi script translation on Shallan's drawing on page 354. Can anyone help me out? I haven't seen any other references to this particular drawing/translation yet, so I'm not sure if others have noticed it yet. It's from this image: The script is mirrored (unless I'm completely wrong about this, which is entirely possible), and I think I've made out some of the words, but it's just so hard to make out. A lot of this is complete guessing, but here's what I have so far (no doubt a lot of it is wrong). line 1: "the statement that intrigues* me though is that of king Nohadon (he/which) implies" line 2: "Uritheru could be reached (if/by) me ?? (sites/cities) if such a thing" line 3: "(our/where/war) (possible/passible/possibly) evidence of the roads ... ...be in place among the" line 4: "kingdom(s) of today I (leave/have) since (vetoed/visited) ... ... and found" line 5: "what I believe to be gateways there but the ..." line 6: "(once/ones) and how to work them it is likely too dangerous to activate them on the" line 7: "center of a populated city as (a/I) ... ... planned with my uncle" line 8: "I hope to find them (an/in) unpopulated ..." *"intrigues" was a guess from what looks like "intnegs"; hoping for a misspelling until I'm corrected. Has anyone else figured any of this out? I was hoping it would be part of the key for the chapter 84 epigraph, but it doesn't seem like it so far. Edit: changed translated text, added a few comments (in bold).

So I just found this on Theoryland when I was looking for something else. Healing from Shardblade is 1, Amount of Stormlight used is 2.... Do we know 3/4? Is there a previous thread about this that I missed?

I just finished rereading Firefight for the sixth time, and I realized that we never hear much about David's mother. We know that she died a year before Calamity's rise (I think), and so I was wondering if her death or her work was somehow linked to the creation of Calamity, and maybe David would find something about his link with his mother which would help him shut down Calamity or something. If Brandon was to be really cliche, he could have her come back in Calamity, and show how she faked her death and launched Calamity, and blah blah blah, but I'm pretty sure that would be too unoriginal for Brandon. Any thoughts?

So while I was standing upon a large rock, looking out to the horizon and wondering what to do with Lady Pifferdoo for Valentines Day (PM with ideas because I'm stumped) I began to think about why people slain by shardblade have their eyes burned out of their sockets. It seems very strange, compared to other shardblade wounds. Normally, the killed bits turn grey and die, having their spiritual connection to the rest of the body and soul severed. But when a shardblade wound passes through the spine or the brain, the individual is killed and their eyes 'burn' out. This seems strange to me, but I have a theory, fueled by horizon staring, what I know about eye-color, and Diet Coke (don't hate me 'cause you ain't me). Assumptions: 1. Non-Radiant Roshari people have normal eyeballs with normal pigmentation 2. When eyeballs are "burned out" there is no fire involved, only a blackening and a wither II effect 3. Individuals have souls, and when those individuals die, their souls leave their bodies. 4. Shardblades, living or dead, 'kill' by severing one's spiritual tie to one's own body. The body itself doesn't die organically. But without the soul to keep things motivated, the body starts to give up and die on it's own, slowly. This is why Nale was able to revive Szeth, and why it was so important that Szeth's brain hadn't died. 5. When a Shardblade is "summoned", spiritual energy is spent to "revive" the blade. I theorize that when a living thing is slain with a Shardblade, the reason their eyeballs burn out is because the energy released when a spiritual connection is cut, similar to how energy is released with chemical bonds are broken. The reason that the energy is focused through the eyes has two sub-theories: A - "The eyes are the window to the soul", and windows are fragile. Think of the spiritual side of people flowing through them like a river underneath the ground. Eyes are like the point where that river is most close to the surface, forming something akin to an underground pond or maybe a spring. Realmatically Speaking, just like how Shadesmar is the closest point in the Cognitive Realm to the Physical Realm, an individual's eyes are the closest point in the Physical Realm to the Spiritual Realm. B - Because of how closely related the Cognitive Realm and Spiritual Realm are, there is a sort of "weak bind point" of those two Realms inside of a person, and that bind point manifests as the part of a human where they observe the most and take in data from the surrounding area. *The problem with this theory is that non-human's eyes burn out as well, and they don't rely on sight for data collecting. A gruesome experiment to conduct would be to slay an individual who had been blind their entire life and see if their eye's burned out. ~IRL BIOLOGY WOOOOOEEEEEEOOOOO~ Now, human eye color was once all brownish or greenish or brownish-greenish. Thanks to a mutation in an individual in Northern Europe, however, certain members of the population have blue eyes (including myself). In fact, everyone that has blue eyes can be traced back to this one individual. Brown-eyed and green-eyed people have various pigments that cause the colors seen in their eyes. Blue eyes (and various light shades of these eyes) are a result of a reduced amount or lack of pigmentation. ~BACK TO THE COSMERE *TARDIS NOISE*~ Shardblades must have a ton of Spiritual Energy, because Honor seems to be very tied to the Spiritual Realm and the spren that bonded with the Knights Radiant were a combination of Honor and Cultivation. (I'm not going to delve into non-Roshari Shardblades until I finish this post) Either that, or just the act of having an object completely knackered with Investiture gives it the ability to sever spiritual bonds, thus releasing stored Spirtual Energy, thus eyeball-burning. When an individual bonds a Shardblade, it makes sense that the summoning of the Blade expends some Spiritual Energy, presumably from the anchor gem through the user. This explains the queasiness that Dalinar felt when wielding his Blade in Way of Kings. Odium could be manipulating Shardbearers, however, with the addition of the Thrill. The Thrill of battle and fighting overwhelms the loss of Spiritual Energy, and makes it unnoticeable. The energy expended when summoning a Shardblade causes a Shardbearer's eyes to slowly light up. The process of becoming Lighteyed works by "burning" away pigmentation in the eyes. The energy added to an individual comes from the anchor gem's Stormlight. Individual's eyes won't gradually change; eye color changes in increments as the Shardblade is summoned, and kept 'alive'. I believe there is a quote in Words of Radiance where someone remarks to Moash that the longer he keeps his Shardblade out or the more times he summons it, the quicker the Lighteye-ing process. This also explains how Kaladin's healing doesn't fix his Lighteyed-ness. There is a ton of Spiritual energy going through Kal when he Radiants up, and his eyes reflect that. However, if Kal does not use a ton of Stormlight for a while, his eyes return to it's natural, Dark-eyed state. I believe that this is his natural Stormlight healing overcoming the eye-pigmentation burning thing through it's attempts to restore Kal to his Realmatic Homeostatis. ---------- This is my first official theory post. I would appreciate some feedback, and I would be happy to answer any questions about my theory. Bonus points if you can disprove. But don't disprove it too quickly. I'll probably do a post about how Rayleigh Scattering pertains to this, but for now, I'm sleepy. Your Lord and Pifferness, Lord Pifferdoo

If this has been answered a link to the thread is all I need, but I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not Zahel (Vasher) is going to have a significant role in the Stormlight Archive or even his own POV book? I read that Warbreaker was written as a prequel to his role in SA so I figured he must get a decent amount of involvement in the plot of this series.