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A thought I had the other day of how FTL travel could work in the Cosmere: Brandon had dropped a number of hints over the years of works that have inspired him. What I can imagine is something that blends Dune and Star Wars for FTL travel. I think it will use a combinations of the magic systems that can be used by one Navigator, but probably needs a team just to be safe. First you will have traditional rockets to help with small adjustments, but they won't be used for FTL. A Misborn will be employed to steer the ship and give it its initial thrust. Momentum will become an issue in space, but I believe that "anchors" will be set up throughout space to keep the ship moving faster and faster (similar to the spikes Kelsier and Vin used in Era 1). However, they won't be traveling through space itself, they'll be traveling through Shadesmar. I believe the Cognitive Realm has shorter distances and would give a Hyperspace type feel as they travel between the Realms. An Elsecaller would be best since they seem to have the easiest time going back and forth (Am I correct on this?). I can see them surrounded by a giant dome of perfect spheres to use the stormlight. I can also envision Roshar becoming very important for fuel in the future. He who controls the Stormlight controls the Cosmere? Do we see conflict between the previously friendly House Stormblessed and House Kholin? Maybe Roshar will be known as Jasnian Prime? I know the use of Medallions could come into play, but I think having full blooded Misborns and Radiants would probably be more powerful. I also understand the work of Rabonnial and Navani demonstrated how magic has specific sounds and the insane amount of different Light-Magic there is on Roshar. I'm sure there is some combination of all the Cosmere magic that can make FTL work, so if you can point that out or poke a hole in my theory, please do!

So we know that 1. gemstones leak stormlight over time 2. Stormlight is gaseous investiture 3. aluminum is almost completely unknown pre final desolation 4. stormlight functions via gaseous principles of pressure so if you covered a large gemstone in airtight aluminum, perhaps with soul casting, then the buildup of high pressure SL leaking would eventually equal the pressure within the gemstone, forming an equilibrium. So if you cracked it open years later, it would still have SL, more or less depending on how large the gemstone is, and how much space there is in the aluminum packaging.

Main theory The Cosmere as a whole is a large story full of smaller stories. The story is supposed to have an ending, and in my opinion there is only one ending that works thematically to the story that starts with the shattering of Adonalsium: namely the re-unification of all the shards. There are several WoBs regarding if this is possible or not. Brandon often responds to questions in a vague manner, like that some (in-world) believe it possible but that it would be hard. My interpretation of that is that not any not-a-man with a couple of shards could do it. You would need to not only be able to reform splintered shards but also pick up shards that you lack connection with. In other words, you would need some kind of extra connection power. Some kind of power capable of uniting (or bonding) the shards together. You would need something like… a bondsmith. Let’s move on to the most controversial part of this theory, the interaction between Dalinar and Odium at the climax of Oathbringer: In this moment I believe that Odium is talking about Adonalsium, not Honor. I believe that Adonalsium is the name of the vessel, and the title of Adonalsium is Unity. This explains Odium’s momentary loss of control. For a split second he believes that somehow, no matter how implausible, Adonalsium is actually alive. This thought terrifies him. Soon afterwards he regains his senses. All the “Unite them” commands that Dalinar hears refer to uniting all the shards of Adonalisum. This is a very well executed escalation of storytelling, something Brandon is very fond of: First we interpret it as uniting the highprinces. Then as uniting all the kingdoms of Roshar. Then as uniting the splinters of Honor. Then as uniting all the shards of Roshar. Then finally as uniting all shards of Adonalsium. Dalinar will go on a quest to unite all shards of the Cosmere, his main opposition being Harmony (soon to be Discord). However, what happens when he picks up each new shard? Is he supposed to come up with a new name matching all the different shards’ intents that he currently holds? No. When Dalinar picks up the three shards of Roshar he will take the title of Unity even though he does not have all the required shards. Dalinar must pick up the fallen title of Adonalsium (Unity). The tower (towerlight), the crown (TBA, voidlight+lifelight) and the spear (warlight). These are all the combinations of the Rosharan shards that Dalinar will end up taking, which will probably be the end of SA10. He will call himself Unity, but he will be a less perfect version. You might even call him a broken version of Unity. The Cosmere wide war will be that of Unity versus Discord: quite the poetic pairup, and it fits well thematically with the Cosmere-wide plot. The shattered shards represent discord in the Cosmere. All (and none) of the Shards are evil because they are all extreme versions of their intent without other characteristics to balance them out. The only chance for stability and unity in the Cosmere lies with Unity. Bonus: The first chapter where Dalinar is introduced is called Unity. TLDR: Dalinar reforms Unity (Adonalsium) and restores stability to the Cosmere Side theory: Adonalsium’s plan There are multiple instances where we see that Shards are capable of creating huge complex plans that manage to outmanoeuvre other Shards. Most famously how Preservation’s plan worked for millenia to result in Harmony. Cultivation also set pieces into motion to have Rayse replaced by Taravangian. So far, the destruction of all the vessels we have seen has come from the intervention of another Shard. This begs the question: How could Adonalisum, holder of all 16 Shards, holder of the most powerful foresight powers to ever exist, be caught by surprise by a couple of mortals? Even if those mortals had Dawnshards to help them? What if Adonalsium was not caught by surprise? What if… Adonalsium planned for the shattering and set in motion a huge and complex plan to have all the pieces reunited again? What if creating Roshar was an essential part of that plan? TLDR: All the stories of the Cosmere have been part of Adonalsium's plan with the end goal of re-uniting all shards. Side theory: Adonalsium is not dead as long as he lives in the hearts of men I have previously pitched the idea that Dalinar currently has (or has access to) the Dawnshard of Uniting. This would be the voice speaking in his mind and the warmth he senses at times. However, Dalinar does not exhibit all the signs of holding a Dawnshard. Allow me to quote Brandon: There is a striking resemblance to the name of Unity and a Dawnshard that desires uniting. What if during the shattering of Adonalsium he imprinted on one of the Dawnshards? In a process similar to how cognitive shadows are created, parts of the vessel Adonalisum still exist fused with the Dawnshard. The voice that Dalinar hears could then possibly be the voice of Adonalsium himself, expertly pulling the strings in the background. This could also be the key that helps with picking up shards to which Dalinar lacks proper connection. TLDR: Adonalsium still lives in some form inside on of the Dawnshards. Bonus death rattle: If crown truly refers to (voidlight+lifelight) in the death rattle higher up then this could possibly refer to Odium (the darkness) picking up Cultivation and forming some shard that is related to ruling, giving the name of that specific light.

In the Coppermind page for women's script, there doesn't seem to be a character for "c". I looked at some of the translated bits and Navani uses the character for "k" as a substitute for "c". If thats the case, how would words with "ck" work?

So, no idea if anyone actually knows the answer to this, but seeing as Stormlight healing works based on the Spiritual self (hence why no Shash-brand healing), could Radiants use Stormlight to accelerate their gains from working out by speeding up the rate at which their muscles heal, stronger? I'm honestly not sure one way or another, and wanted to open up the question.

So I just recently finished RoW (I know, super late), and have been listening to my backlog of un-listened Shardcast episodes. In one (I think it was "lights") the possibility of Sja-anat forming a Bondsmith bond with someone was discussed, which got me thinking: We know that in the current system the Radiants are really all about Honor and Cultivation, so the three Bondsmiths bond (respectively) a spren for Honor (Stormfather), a spren for Cultivation (Nightwatcher) and a hybrid between the two (Sibling). But Radiants like Renarin seem to show that there are other ways of doing things beyond the system. Is it possible for other representative spren to for bonds for bondsmiths? Could Sja-anat, an Odium corrupted spren previously of Honor, become a hybrid bondsmith spren like the Sibling, but for the new Honor/Odium light? Could a spren of Odium bond a bondsmith specializing in Voidlight? Of course this hasn't happened before because anything connected with Odium was connected with an enemy. But one of the themes I picked up in RoW is that things aren't as simple on Roshar as good guys and bad guys. Also that the situation with shards can change very quickly. I can theoretically see (probably in the back 5) a new situation where Odium's investiture is used for good, and "odious" bondsmiths join the ranks. Or, alternatively, if another faction like Odium or Sja-anat forms a Bondsmith to rival those of the Radiants. They don't all have to be on the same team (I'm looking at you, you dirty Skybreakers). Whadda you guys think?

Harmony is imbalanced - there is too much Ruin not being used. rags How is Harmony balanced when a part of Preservation's power is expended on human sentience? Isn't that what caused all the trouble to begin with? Brandon Sanderson Indeed. Hm... What could Sazed be doing with that extra power... //1 Mojonero In Era 1 there was an imbalance between Ruin and Preservation because humans had a bit more Preservation than Ruin in them. After Harmony became a thing did this imbalance become [ir]relevant because both powers turned into one, or is it something Sazed had (or has) to deal with? Brandon Sanderson This is a RAFO for now--should come up in Era 3. //2 In addition, Harmony feels that he is largely unable to act in the ways that he wants to due to the conflicting nature of the Shards that he holds. To help rectify this, Harmony is searching for a Champion, though he doesn't directly name them as such. He says as much in the Stormlight Archive, and alludes to it in Mistborn Era 2 as well. "I have begun searching for a pathway out of this conundrum by seeking the ideal person to act on my behalf. Someone who embodies both Preservation and Ruin. A … sword, you might say, who can both protect and kill." - Rhythm of War, Chapter 29 I believe Waxillium Ladrian is being set up as Harmony's Champion. He has extremely strong morals which seem to align with Harmony's, at least according to the man himself. "I'm not Harmony's hands", Wax whispered. "I'm his sword." Shadows of Self, Chapter 25 I think we have sufficient evidence that Scadrian Metalborn are not restrained to their planet in the same way that, for example, a Knight Radiant would be. Hoid using allomancy on Roshar is a perfect example of this. They can easily leave their planet of origin and retain their abilities. Similarly, Metalborn only need specific alloys of metal to ingest in order to access their power; this is incredibly useful. They are not reliant on a specific fuel in the same way that Awakeners or Knights Radiant would be; metal can be found almost everywhere. Wax is also among the most talented living Metalborn, with an inborn set of abilities that are quite unique: Khriss claims Wax is one of only 3 'Crashers' (Feruchemical Iron + Allomantic Steel) ever born. [Bands of Mourning, Chapter 12] In addition to this, Wax is an extremely talented marksman, capable of making shots others would consider impossible. He may be the best marksman on Scadrial, which would put him in the running for the best in the Cosmere as well (at least with firearms). Now . . . What does this mean for Wax? Will he become immortal (through the Metallic Arts, or perhaps through direct Shardic intervention?) Wax, through Atium Hemalurgy, could become immortal very easily. This is discussed further below. Although we have not seen this onscreen, a Shard (especially the Shard of Preservation) could presumably just stop someone from aging. Will Wax gain additional powers? To call back to the first WoBs in this post, what better way to use up some extra Ruin investiture than by giving your main guy a few spikes? Maybe a boatload of Atium to boot? Hemalurgy by its very nature is destructive, but Wax could gain it's benefits without most of the downsides: Immortality through Atium Hemalurgy; obtaining Atium is a big roadblock for this method, but Harmony would presumably create a practically unlimited amount of it for his Champion. Having too many Hemalurgic spikes means you are you are subject to Harmony's direct control. This would not matter for Wax, as his would already be enacting Harmony's will. Other than Realmatic limitations to his Spiritweb, he would not be limited to any specific number of spikes. He could have a ton of them, not unlike Marsh. Hemalurgic spikes are gained by mutilation or death; this could matter less to Wax as he would presumably be using old Inquisitor spikes. In other words, Wax doesn’t necessarily need to kill anyone new to gain these powers. The spikes with needed powers may already exist. An even easier way for Wax to gain more powers, and perhaps the more likely method, is through the Southern Scadrian Medallions. It would also make sense for Wax (as Harmony's Champion) to wield the Bands of Mourning, or perhaps another object very similar to that in scope & power. What will Wax do as Harmony's Champion? Perhaps he will travel to Roshar . . . 3 Now I don't want to put too much stock into this, particularly because SA5 chronologically occurs before the entirety of Mistborn Era 2. 4 However, it does seem to indicate that there is a particular plot point (or character) from WW4 who will be important in SA5. How this will work out, I am unsure. Finally, I just think it would be really funny if a man known as 'Harmony's Sword' has never held a sword in his life & wouldn't know how to use one if he did. Thanks for reading. Sources: 1 https://wob.coppermind.net/events/105/#e1155 2 https://wob.coppermind.net/events/456/#e14607 3 https://www.tor.com/2019/12/20/state-of-the-sanderson-2019/ 4 https://coppermind.net/wiki/Cosmere#Chronological_Order

Can a Radiant only use Stormlight held within their body to fuel their surges, or can they use stormlight that is near them, but not currently held within them? If they can only use stormlight within their bodies, how did Jasnah use her Soulcasting abilities in WoK without glowing?

What do y'all think would happen to traditional Shardplate and it's wearer if they were caught in a Highstorm with no shelter? Sorry if this is answered in the books, I'm only halfway into WoK. This question has been bothering me though, and I couldn't find any answer in the forums.

i just love these two so i made this