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The other night I got into a philosophical debate with my fiancé regarding the definition of opposites. In summation we were debating the following topic: Ruin and preservation being opposites. I made up these terms so my fiancé could understand what I was talking about (she has only read Sixth of Dusk). Shard Description of Action Higher Level Description Ruin Entropy, intelligent decay, take away Change Preservation To preserve, keep things the same No Change Cultivation To grow, intelligent growth, to add Change If you focus on the “Description of Action”, then you can see that Ruin and Cultivation are opposites (from one perspective). Or you could call them compatible, but those could also mean the same thing; opposites attract y'know. If you focus on the “Higher Level Description”, you can see that Preservation is opposite of both Ruin & Cultivation. Regardless, that is not what this theory is about. The non-sober debate that I had sparked an idea regarding: the three shards, Harmony’s role in the Cosmere, and where this Mistborn/Stormlight Archive plotline is heading. I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty details of how this is all going to play out, I’m merely commenting on the larger moves. Here we go… Something is going to happen in the final installment of the Mistborn Era 2 or 3 events that causes Sazed/Harmony to head for Roshar. (Not sure how the timelines match up so not sure if it will be after Mistborn Era 2 or 3 or somewhere in between) · Maybe Sazed can’t beat whatever enemy is attacking Scadrial and so searches how to resolve his problem with acting (finding cultivation to balance him out) · Maybe he beat the enemy attacking Scadrial, learns some info from the enemy and its possible relations to Roshar/Odium, travels to Roshar and discovers the existence of Cultivation In any case, in this theory Harmony will end up on Roshar and play a role in the climax of the first half of the Stormlight Archive. I have a feeling that Harmony will interact with Cultivation, maybe fall in love with Cultivation, then Cultivation dies and Harmony picks up a third shard (Sad stuff often happens to Sazed). Or maybe Harmony shows up just when Odium kills Cultivation’s vessel, and conveniently picks it up (sound familiar?) Oh and probably some of the characters we like will die sadly but also badassly in this climaz. Anyways, Harmony will pick up Cultivation and become…Ouroboros? Balance? Nature…idk. So this new shard will trounce Odium, but Odium is actually a coward and leaves Roshar to go into hiding, greatly diminished (like Sauron or Voldemort). Boom, end of book 5. Then maybe the second half of the Cosmere will be Odium slowly regaining power, maybe he realized he needs to pick up some more shards to challenge the New Harmony Shard so he searches for some of the more sinister ones. Maybe the New Harmony shard will figure out how get the Dor on his side and it will be like Harmony + 6 shards vs Bodium (Badass Odium) + 7 shards…or something like that I have no evidence, didn’t do much research, I just thought it was a cool/possible idea. TLDR; Harmony goes to Roshar, picks up Cultivation, beats up Odium, Odium flees

Spoiler warning maybe? So the unmade are spren right? And the keeper of secrets tells shallan to ask her son about trust, who im assuming is pattern when she refers to it, in oathbringer when shes at the gate. Heres a theory and prove me wrong if u want my friends and i argue about it, were the unmade the original "higherspren" of honor like the stormfather, only of each order of radiant. But then corrupted by odium before the nahel bond started? Why she says they were made, then unmade?

Hello Everyone! Now that Halloween is coming up and I have decided to go as Szeth, to really complete the experience for my other SA friends I need quotes from him. Current Quote list: Thanks everyone

So, what are your predictions for Voidbinding, if any? Powers, spren involved, anything? Do we even have any leads?

I was reading Way of kings and Warbreaker at the same time and I noticed that the glyph 'Shash' is used in both. I thought it was odd that they had different meanings, and it made me wonder if the languages had been shared at one point in time, then separated. It could also be a coincidence, but I doubt that. Thoughts?

Spoilers for SA and Mistborn series.

Hey, I'm a new member. Willshaper Wallar. Name is from Madman Wallar from Bloodborne. I made an account because I've been dying to ask this question. So, we were told that there's going to be a book dedicated to each order of the Knights Radiant, right? Kaladin/Windrunners, Shallan/Lightweavers, Dalinar/Bondsmiths, Szeth/Skybreakers, etc. Well, we know that Ash, Patron of Lightweavers, will have a book focused on her viewpoints and whatnot. That just seems a little weird, since that means there will be two books focused on Lightweavers. What are your thoughts?

Was just doing a little thinking, and remembered that there are 10 books planned of the main series, and also 10 orders of the Knights Radiant. As a result, I attempted to see if they lined up with one another, using the main flashback characters, from what we know so far. Kaladin - Windrunner Shallan - Lightweaver Dalinar - Bondsmith Eshonai - ??? Szeth - Skybreaker Lift - Edgedancer Jasnah - Elsecaller Shalash - Lightweaver?? Taln - Stoneward Renarin - Truthwatcher The two missing orders from this are the Willshapers and Dustbringers, with Eshonai and Shalash wavering a bit. I know that Shalash is the patron of the order of the Lightweavers, but that made me think of something else. Is it possible that a Herald would bind to a KR spren of an order which they aren't the patron of? We know that Nale bonded to a highspren as well as having his Skybreaker honorblade. We know that Eshonai's sister, Venli, is on her way to becoming a willshaper - so that could be the association of that order as well. Any thoughts? It seems to match up decently for most of them, but it could just be a co-incidence but our lord and savior Brandon likes his numbers and associations, so I'm not sure.

Under the description of the Illumination surge, it says it is the surge of "light, sound, and various wave forms." Going by this description, can we conclude that Lightweavers can manipulate microwaves? And therefore are just walking microwaves with the power to heat things up?

Hi everyone, I just wrote this article about how Brandon was partly inspired by his editor, Moshe Feder, who has bipolar disorder, to create characters with mental issues like Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar and Teft for The Stormlight Archive: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html Moshe wanted to share his story because he felt that it was important to do so: “It’s a duty to help fellow sufferers and to work on reducing stigma. When I was guest of honor at Corflu 19, it was a major part of my speech.” I hope that it provides an insightful read if you decided to check it out. Warmest Regards Sharon

I've just finished a re-read of Stormlight, Mistborn (Secret History, Era 2), and Arcanum Unbounded and stumbled across a few insights that may be novel. While cursing Kaladin refers to Taln in either WoK or WoR as the "bearer of all agonies". I was wondering if Taln was known by this moniker before or after Aharietiam, and whether this has been discussed in a WoB. If the latter is true, this means that the Heralds breaking of the Oathpact, in some form, has become distilled in Rosharan culture and vernacular. What if the Vorin Church opposes Dalinar's preaching of Honor's death for reasons other than heresy. Could the upper hierarchy of the church in-fact be aware of the Herald's betrayal, and their rejection of a Dalinar a fear that the spread of this knowledge could further diminish their historically diminished power base? In one of the Stormlight Epigraphs it refers to Urithiru as being placed westward "in the place nearest to Honor". We know that Urithiru's location differs drastically on a variety of in-world maps, and that it is located above the Highstorm. Could Urithiru be located near the Origin and or were Honors vessel resided at one point in the physical realm? The Diagram speaks of "making to use a truthless" and "crafting a weapon". I posit this did not mean employing Szeth's services post Gavliars Assassination, but rather Taravangian had a direct role in orchestrating Szeth and his becoming a Truthless. This could be one reason why Mr T is proficient in the Shin language, which is noted by Szeth as being an oddity outside of Shinovar. This theory falls apart depending on when Mr T first visited the Nightwatcher, and I do recall this taking place after Gavilar's assassination. As far as I understand spren (on Roshar) are the personification of forces manifest. Syll mentions that some of the ancient spren had four-genders, two not having being imaged by humans. We also know that before humans migrated to Roshar spren had a bond of sorts (pre-nahel) with the Dawnsigners. Does this mean that these extra two genders arose by the Dawnsingers personification of Spren, and were subsequently lost following the collective loss of the Dawnsingers identity post-recreance? Why can Sja-anat corrupt greater or "true spren" (as per the Stormfathers distinction between the classification of spren) when it was said that she could only corrupt, as per the epigraph, lesser spren? Is this related to the weakening of the Oathpact? For example, in one of the Truthwatcher memory gems a radiant of that order mentions that they have seen the future; this is likely dated near the end of the Knights Radiat as a military organisation. Are the "vines" Nightblood induces on its host when consuming that hosts investiture reminiscent of the way Cultivation and her "vines" interacted with Dalinar in their dialogue. Afair Nightblood was based upon Honorblades/Proto-Shardblades as per a WoB. In Secret History, Leras gives Kelsier a vision where he sees an "image of an unfamiliar man sitting on a burning throne looking towards Luthadel with a twisted smile on his lips" (paraphrased). Is this Ruin, or could this be an early depiction of Trell granted by Fortune? Note that the evidence leads towards the latter because by this point Kelsier is intimately aware of Ruin and the appearance of his vessel. In the Mistborn Era 2 Ars Arcanum on compounding, Khriss notes how the combination of powers on Roshar causes a unique chemical reaction. Does this refer to how orders of Radiants had access to two Surges, or Renarin's binding of a corrupted Truthwatcher spren presumably granting him access to the Surgebinding version of Regrowth and the Voidbinding version of Illumination. Apologies for the long-winded post.

Heyo guys! I finally made a 17th shard account! (Finally!!!) Okay, this is really, really random, so be prepared. You guys, do you ever think that maybe Brandon Sanderson was stumped on the stick scene (pun intended)? And so, at 3:00 AM in the morning, with a stroke of pure and amazing genius, he wrote I AM A STICK as a joke and then it became a thing when someone else read it or something? Then somehow it became the most iconic and poetic line in the entire series. You guys we should make a kelek stick poem.

This has been bugging me for a long time. I believe that when Szeth released Jezrien's honorblade he should have lost the surges of the Order of Windrunners, as according to Sylphrena, "He's nothing without the sword," and "He is no longer the weapon he once was." (Chapter 86 of Words of Radiance) Anyway, when Szeth is restored by Nalan, he possesses Nightblood, which as far as I know grants access to no surges, he has bonded no spren I can find any mention of, and he should not possess any residual powers from using the honorblade that I can think of. Yet when he is serving his squireship at the purelake, he uses lashings. I suppose it is possible for a knight radiant to share his powers with those near him, Kaladin for example, so this could explain those actions. However, these powers apparently fade when the "giver" of these surges is no longer near the "recipient," and Szeth uses the lashings at the Battle of Thaylen Field when, as far as I can tell, nobody of the Order of Skybreakers is present. Furthermore, he continues on the swear the first through fourth ideals of the Skybreakers without bonding any spren I can think of. I can understand the possibility that he is swearing these without a spren and simply intends to take them to heart, and that he may have to reswear them if he receives a spren, but according to coppermind.net a budding skybreaker must bond a highspren before swearing the third oath, allowing him the surge of division. The fact that Szeth has no spren, and has no other way of obtaining the surge of gravitation I can think of, confuses me as to why he can use the surge of gravitation at the Battle of Thaylen Field. If anyone has a decent explanation for this, I would be very grateful, as I am unable to find one as of yet. It would also be helpful to know if he has access to the surge of division, as I can find no record of him using said surge. I currently believe he doesn't, but would be grateful for any proof.

This is my first post (besides the Introduce Yourself post) that I have done on the 17th Shard. I love coming on here and reading everyone's theories and speculations on the different series and books but I feel so completely overwhelmed that I'm hesitant to join in on any deep discussions. Besides The Stormlight Archives, I haven't re read any of the books yet as I have just recently finished them in the first place. Being a novice of the Cosmere I would love some tips and tricks from those of you who are well versed in the Cosmere. I'd love to join in on some discussions and not look completely ignorant! What are things you look for? Certain words or phrases to take note of? Next up on my list is the second Mistborn trilogy and then I will probably read the other Cosmere novels again. Help me go from 17th Shard stalker to contributor!

This has been bugging me for a long time. I believe that when Szeth released Jezrien's honorblade he should have lost the surges of the Order of Windrunners, as according to Sylphrena, "He's nothing without the sword," and "He is no longer the weapon he once was." (Chapter 86 of Words of Radiance) Anyway, when Szeth is restored by Nalan, he possesses Nightblood, which as far as I know grants access to no surges, he has bonded no spren I can find any mention of, and he should not possess any residual powers from using the honorblade that I can think of. Yet when he is serving his squireship at the purelake, he uses lashings. I suppose it is possible for a knight radiant to share his powers with those near him, Kaladin for example, so this could explain those actions. However, these powers apparently fade when the "giver" of these surges is no longer near the "recipient," and Szeth uses the lashings at the Battle of Thaylen Field when, as far as I can tell, nobody of the Order of Skybreakers is present. Furthermore, he continues on the swear the first through fourth ideals of the Skybreakers without bonding any spren I can think of. I can understand the possibility that he is swearing these without a spren and simply intends to take them to heart, and that he may have to reswear them if he receives a spren, but according to coppermind.net a budding skybreaker must bond a highspren before swearing the third oath, allowing him the surge of division. The fact that Szeth has no spren, and has no other way of obtaining the surge of gravitation I can think of, confuses me as to why he can use the surge of gravitation at the Battle of Thaylen Field. If anyone has a decent explanation for this, I would be very grateful, as I am unable to find one as of yet. It would also be helpful to know if he has access to the surge of division, as I can find no record of him using said surge. I currently believe he doesn't, but would be grateful for any proof.

Apologies if this has already been discussed and I missed it, but do we know why the Listeners were hunting chasmfiends so vigorously on the Shattered Plains? We know they have been experimenting with capturing spren in gems, but that doesn't seem to account for why they would need greatshell gemhearts. And it can't be just about killing them, because then why bother fighting pitched battles with the Alethi? I have a vague sense it has something to do with thunderclasts, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I'm just missing something obvious. (I've only just crawled out of the woodwork because I'm re-listening to the series from the beginning.) Anyway, hi folks!

As my friend and I read about Urithiru and learned it was the home of what were essentially a bunch of gods in human form, we realized how hard it would be to manage that many people. Therefore we created our patented: List of Urithiru PSAs That Must Have Happened: Original set: -To the lightweaver who put an illusion of a chasmfiend in the oathgate entrance, a foreign emissary was coming on a diplomatic mission, and suffice to say relations are now…strained. -Windrunners, while sticking someone to the ceiling might be an excellent way to stop a fight, please remember to let the participants down gently afterward, particularly in rooms with high ceilings. -We understand that the hallways might be twisted and confusing to many, but please refrain from soul casting the walls, even if you are quote “late for a meeting.” Particularly do not soulcast any walls into blood. What is wrong with you? There were children nearby! -Edgedancers, slicking the floor for a “fun prank” is not acceptable, particularly in public hallways. We have a laundress with a broken hip, and she’s threatening to sue. -This is a general reminder to those of you with a gravitation surge, please keep track of your altitude and stormlight. We’ve had three accidents already this month. -This is a general notice to all knights radiant. We ask that you use the stairs to get down from the top floor and refrain from jumping off the balcony. The ground is full of cracks and the bondsmith are getting irritated. -Please remember that there are people here who are not knights radiant and therefore possess no special abilities or healing factor. There are currently eight people in the hospital due to negligence in this area. -Since there are still many of you who refuse to refer to the Dustbringers by their preferred name, Releasers, mandatory sensitivity training will be held within the week. Please check the notice board for your order’s scheduled date and time. There it is. Feel free to add more. Some of the other good ones from my tumblr post on this: - Stonewards, please refrain from creating handholds and staircases in the walls. The city planning committee is in an uproar and the traffic congestion is immense. - Lightweavers, please remember to remove your illusions after you’re done practicing. We have multiple falling injuries from people assuming that the holes in the floor are illusions and not actually scheduled maintenance. - To whomever Lashed the barracks doorway shut, we understand you are not on speaking terms with other members of your order. However, they do have a right to be able to sleep in their own bed. And no, you can’t Lash them to the ceiling as a substitute. from aspiringwindrunner - Skybreakers, we know you’re all about the rules, but covertly rerolling a saving throw doesn’t warrant an out-of-character death penalty. - Windrunners, please stop going up to visiting dignitaries and offering to “show them the world”. - Stonewards, we know your herald is the best, please stop getting in shouting matches with the skybreakers in the hallways. - Edgedancers, please stop talking the skybreakers in circles. Their Highspren have filed complaints. - Lightweavers, while your practice is certainly important, please stop sending images screaming salacious rumors through the halls. On a similar note, please stop making fake dead ends, the ambassador was lost for nearly two days. from kyerinell

Hello all, I have invested some stake in the idea that Cusicesh the Protector is the third Sibling, referred to as a sleeping "they" by the Stormfather in Oathbringer. The Stormfather refuses to divulge more information than their existence and their relation to himself and the Nightwatcher. Cusicesh is described in Interlude I-5 of the Way of Kings as a spren of great size (over 100 feet tall) with four arms and a body with a deep blue center. It* rises out of the ocean at the same time every day (7:46am, though I won't pretend to know what that means,) and looks toward the Origin for the full ten minutes of its "performance". While doing so, it rapidly changes between human faces--male and female. Axies cannot tell if there are any repetitions of the faces shown. People who have watched Cusicesh have reported feeling drained afterwards. From Oathbringer's exploration of the Cognitive Realm, there is mention of a link between humanity and the spren. If the Sibling is "sleeping" as the Stormfather said, I believe they would still need to sustain that interaction with humanity. So, everyday, Cusicesh wakes up from its pseudo-hibernation, drains some energy from onlookers to sustain itself, and looks toward the Origin with longing, bearing the faces of those it bonded with in the past, then goes back to sleep. *Though I believe Cusicesh to be the Sibling in question, my belief does not constitute as evidence for sentience in said spren, so I will use the pronouns given to me from the book for Cusicesh until I am proven correct or other pronouns are given.