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Anyone name the process that was discovered at the time of the last desolation, or false desolation, that downgraded the Parshendi (listeners, last legion, non-human Voidbringers, insert name here) to Slaveform? Dulling (though would that be limited to just Dullform)? desprenning? Unmading? Unsplintering? Tweased?

Here's a WoB from earlier this month. There's been a lot of talk about the Unmade corresponding to heralds because their numbers are so close (9 and 10), but this WoB suggests the Unmade have more to do with Radiants. What if the Unmade were made (or un-made) from the souls of Radiants who died during desolations? There have always been theories that Recreance was partially due to Radiants learning that some awful fate awaited them after death. Maybe this was it. Maybe the investiture in their Nahel bonds allows Odium to trap their souls when they die. The same way he turned dead Dawnsingers into the Fused, he's turned dead Radiants into the Unmade. One Unmade for each order of Radiants. Except Bondsmiths, because it probably takes hundreds or thousands of souls to make an Unmade, and there just haven't been enough Bondsmiths to make it work. The "fuzziness" Brandon mentions is because the Unmade aren't 100% from each order. Re-Shephir might be 99% Lightweaver souls, but it's possible that some Elsecallers got mixed in. The Unmade with more humanity and intelligence might be the ones with the most souls, representing the larger orders.

Okay, so anyone who finished Oathbringer will remember Sja-anat, the sapient unmade that (seems to) want to defect from Odium's forces and either be free or perhaps even join the other side. So here's a really crazy storming theory I came up with: You know how Renarin bonded a corrupted spren? Well, why can't someone bond an unmade if said Unmade, say: (A) Is willing (B) Has defected from Odium, and (C) Technically a godspren like the Nightwatcher, the Stormfather, and the third one (which I suspect is Cusicesh the Protector)? Yes, you read the third one right: I think that Sja-anat (and all the other unmade, or at least the sapient ones) is technically a godspren, meaning that if someone bonded her, they would become a bondsmith. I suspect that, if she turns out to be genuine, one of the characters will bond her, becoming a fourth bondsmith, and the second knight radiant to bond a voidspren. This would, of course, be a monumentous event, and possibly even turn the tide of the war. However, it would also be extremely awesome, and I would like to see how her and her radiant's spren-radiant relationship would be like and how it would be affected by her being an unmade. Don't forget to leave your opinions on this theory, questions, comments and concerns, and who you think will/would like to bond Sja-anat in the comments below.

Kaladin sees the nine shadows in the painting "intended only for a divinity to see" the painting by Nenefra (an obvious Nalthis name) from the Court of Gods (in Hallandren). Of course it was supposed to have been burned in the court. So, was the painting, in fact, intended for Kaladin (who kind of qualifies given how much Investiture he uses), or can the same piece of art in fact function for more than one deity to different ends?

Also, since the highstorm incident happened between Gadol's and Maps' death, it's more than likely that Moelach was near the Shattered Plains during Kaladin's recovery. Is it possible that the death spren are of Moelach, kind of like the hordelings of a Dysian Aimian? EDIT: For some reason there's a duplicate thread now, I have no idea how that happened.

If we were to follow the idea that Shardplate consists of lesser Spren (windspren for windrunners, creationspren for Lightweavers, gloryspren for Bondsmiths), Sja-anat's ability to corrupt becomes far more dangerous than imagined. Maybe her ability, by corrupting the Spren, result in a Surgebinder not being able to summon their Shardplate (as she has now influenced them). We know that hungerspren don't get corrupted, (and they don't seem to be the kind of Spren that could make Shardplate). We do see gloryspren, creationspren, lifespren and many others corrupted by Sja-anat's influence. This could be just one aspect of her ability, and if the theory that that is the manner in which Shardplate is made, she seems even more dangerous than previously thought. The ability to remove the KRs defence leaves them in harms way. I do realise that their are other types of Spren which are affected by her abilities, maybe these are for different reasons than mentioned above. What do you guys think?

The end of OB brings to the forefront of my mind the question: How powerful is Nightblood? Considering that it is being wielded against the fused and even a thunderclast and that it instantly turns them into smoke, this leads to the conclusion that maybe Nightblood can even be used on the Unmade and maybe even a shard (I doubt this is possible as it would be hard to pin down an exact physical location of a shard). If Nightblood can destroy the unmade, then that sure sounds like a better alternative than trapping them in a flawless gemstone. Evidence supporting the idea that Nightblood can destroy the Unmade: 1. Nightblood can destroy splinters. He does this when he kills Returned in Warbreaker (the Returned are splinters, but they don't appear to have the same level of investment as the Unmade). 2. Nightblood easily destroys a Thunderclast (which may not be a splinter, but is at least heavily invested). 3. Nightblood destroys on all three realms (physical, cognitive, spiritual). 4. Resisting Nightblood's directives seems to be at least as hard as resisting the unmade (only Szeth and Vasher have proven able to resist Nightblood and only Shallan and Dalinar have successfully resisted the unmade). This seems to mean they are at least near the same power level. One of the questions this creates for me, is if Nightblood uses up more investiture while destroying something more heavily invested than it does destroying other things, or if only eats investiture at a steady rate.

So here is my theory: Prior to the Humans coming and ruining the Roshar party for everyone, the Listeners worshiped 10 really cool spren. when those softskinned human jerks showed up with Odium in tow the natives got ticked and were seduced by Odium, trading some autonomy for power. Most of that is pretty much confirmed cannon. the theory part is that 9 of those gods went to become the unmade. I think the 10th was the Stormfather. He opted not to accept any of Odiums corrupting power. We know that the Listeners were aware of the surges, but were forbidden to use them. Therefore surgebinding existed prior to the humans. All 10 surges and possibly 10 orders of surge/void binding. There are only 9 types of fused because the Stormfather stayed strong. There is a 10th fused form and a 10th type of surgebinging but it can't exist unless the Stormfather submits to Odium and is corrupted like the other 9 unmade.

I've had a bit of a theory for a while now that I'm going to get out. When Venli speaks to the Fused, they refer to Honors death/splintering as if they were there This could mean that either the Fused are partially from Honor or their part in killing him gave them power. Another point to this is that Sja-Anat says this I personally think that means they were from Honor, but Odium corrupted them. So, what if the Listeners/Unmade/Fused were from Honor, but were later corrupted by Odium. We have to also consider the fact that the Listeners used to bond with spren from Honor (As Venli is showing), but then as the Listeners put it " Were betrayed". What if they were corrupted by Odium forcing the spren to stop bonding with them, and the Listeners saw this as betrayal.

So this is an Idea that has been bouncing around since my first read through, and is heavily influenced by To start we know spren are bits of power, shaped by the cognitive definitions of physical realm inhabitants ( human, listeners, etc) For the sake of this idea i will only focus on true spren ( bond capable spren) These spren are made from a combination of Honor and Cultivations power. Some are more honor, some are more cultivation. Now with the Advent of the everstorm It seems Odium has greater ability to effect/ invest in Roshar. So his generals/unmade may all be made more powerful due to this advent. So Sja-Anat can now effect greater spren, spren with more investure. So here is the question/ what i am thinking. Sja-Anat makes a connection between a spren and Odium, inserting his investiture into the touched spren. In the case of true spren, does the touch of Sja-Anat insert odium investitures such that they are formed from the power of three shards, or does it replace the investiture of one of the shards, or both? I can think of a number of questions id want to ask Brandon to see if we can start teasing this out, what does the shard think about this ?

Nightblood is one of the great mysteries of the cosmere. A shardblade made out of awakened steel that bleeds black smoke and can force those it deems unworthy into murder and suicide. feats similar to Ashertmarn the Heart of Revel, or Neragaoul with the Thrill. I am not saying that nightbood is one of the Unmade merely that he (or she) could be a recreation of the Unmade's powers with the intent to DESTROY EVIL, and like the Unmade has an intense desire to understand his intent. Please feel free to poke holes in this idea or add to it at your leisure.

I'd like to bring your attention to Maleshi, now mentione twice - in WoR and OB (emphasis mine): Melishi – the sole Bondsmith of the last Radiant generation during a False Desolation. He imprisoned Ba-Ado-Mishram, the highprincess of the Unmade and commander of Odium’s forces (according to Mythica), who was providing voidlight for the parsh in the absence of Odium - already imprisoned by Honor at that time I assume. These parsh are ‘the devils’ the KR were said to be fighting at Feverstone Keep in Dalinar’s vision of Recreance. Not only did Melishi and the coalition of Radiants manage to capture Ba-Ado-Mishram, but also caused the fighting parsh to lose their ability to form bonds with spren. Around this time the Last Legion escaped all and hid until their descendants were discovered by Kholin expedition. Somehow they managed to avoid losing the ability to bond spren, so the imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram is not the main reason other parsh were stuck in dullform. So, matching False Desolation, cognitive destruction of most parsh and Recreanse, we get Windrunners and Stonewards abandoning their Shards for people to easily find and take. If the reasoning behind it was what was done to the parsh, surely this wasn’t the best way to do it. They deliberately left both Plates (that could have been dismissed for all we know and disappear as a footnote in history) and Blades out in the open for anyone to take at Feverstone Keep. The only threat I can think of that is worth fighting with Shards are Odium’s forces, so I suggest the Radiants were inclined to think they did not permanently defeat their enemy. In the light of all that, I do not believe the revelation humanity isn’t originally from Roshar played as big a role as the Stormfather claimed. They disbanded for whatever actual reason, yet left invaluable weapons to humanity for future war. It is interesting to point out previous books claimed Urithiru was abandoned before Recreanse, yet there doesn’t seem to be much of a time difference between the two. How whatever was happening with the Sibling, Urithiru becoming unsafe and uninhabitable (for more see Urithiru the corrupted city), along with the tensions between Windrunners and Skybreakers, the only ones who kept their Oaths to present day, is related to it all remains to be seen.

My research into the Unmade has convinced me that these things were not simply "spirits of the void" or "nine shadows who moved in the night." They were each a specific kind of spren, endowed with vast powers. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 3 I have done my best to separate fact from fiction, but the two blend like mixing paint when the Voidbringers are involved. Each of the Unmade has a dozen names, and the powers ascribed to them range from the fanciful to the terrifying. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 4 I should point out that although many personalities and motives are ascribed to them, I'm convinced that the Unmade were still spren. As such, they were as much manifestations of concepts or divine forces as they were individuals. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 7 The most important point I wish to make is that the Unmade are still among us. I realize this will be contentious, as much of the lore surrounding them is intertwined with theology. However, it is clear to me that some of their effects are common in the world -- and we simply treat them as we would the manifestations of other spren. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 12 Taxil mentions Yelig-nar, named Blightwind, in an oft-cited quote. Though Jasnah Kholin has famously called its accuracy into question, I believe it. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 26 Yelig-nar had great powers, perhaps the powers of all Surges compounded into one. He could transform any Voidbringer into an extremely dangerous enemy. Curiously, three legends I found mention swallowing a gemstone to engage the process. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 27 Yelig-nar is said to consume souls, but I can't find a specific explanation. I'm uncertain this lore is correct. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 51 Of the Unmade, Sja-anat was most feared by the Radiants. They spoke extensively of her ability to corrupt spren, though only "lesser" spren -- whatever that means. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 89 Lore suggested leaving a city if the spren there start acting strangely. Curiously, Sja-anat was often regarded as an individual, when others -- like Moelach or Ashertmarn -- were seen as forces. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 90 Nergaoul was known for driving forces into a battle rage, lending them great ferocity. Curiously, he did this to both sides of a conflict, Voidbringer and human. This seems common of the less self-aware spren. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 121 I am convinced that Nergaoul is still active on Roshar. The accounts of the Alethi "Thrill" of battle align too well with ancient records -- including the visions of red mist and dying creatures. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 140 Moelach is very similar to Nergaoul, though instead of inspiring a battle rage, he supposedly granted visions of the future. In this, lore and theology align. Seeing the future originates with the Unmade, and is from the enemy. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 143 Moelach was said to grant visions of the future at different times -- but most commonly at the transition point between realms. When a soul was nearing the Tranquiline Halls. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 144 Many cultures speak of the so-called Death Rattles that sometimes overtake people as they die. Tradition ascribes them to the Almighty, but I find too many to be seemingly prophetic. This will be my most contentious assertion I am sure, but I think these are the effects of Moelach persisting in our current times. Proof is easy to provide: the effect is regionalized, and tends to move across Roshar. This is the roving of the Unmade. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 170 Ashertmarn, the Heart of the Revel, is the final of the three great mindless Unmade. His gift to men is not prophecy or battle focus, but a lust for indulgence. Indeed, the great debauchery recorded from the court of Bayala in 480 -- which led to dynastic collapse -- might be attributable to the influence of Ashertmarn. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 203 I find Bo-Ado-Mishram to be the most interesting of the Unmade. She is said to have been keen of mind, a highprincess among the enemy forces, their commander during some of the Desolations. I do not know how this relates to the ancient god of the enemy, named Odium. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 224 There is very little information about Bo-Ado-Mishram in more modern times. I can only assume she, unlike many of them, returned to Damnation or was destroyed during Aharietiam. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 226 Chemoarish, the Dustmother, has some of the most varied lore surrounding her. The wealth of it makes sorting lies from truths extremely difficult. I do believe she is not the Nightwatcher, contrary to what some stories claim. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 231 Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, is another Unmade who appears to have been destroyed at Aharietiam. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 250 The Midnight Mother created monsters of shadow and oil, dark imitations of creatures she saw or consumed. Their description matches no spren I can find in modern literature. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 252 It will not take a careful reader to ascertain I have listed only eight of the Unmade here. Lore is confident there were nine, an unholy number, asymmetrical and often associated with the enemy. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 266 I am certain there are nine Unmade. There are many legends and names that I could have misinterpreted, conflating two Unmade into one. In the next section, I will discuss my theories on this. - From Hessi's Mythica, page 266 If I'm correct and my research true, then the question remains. Who is the ninth Unmade? Is it truly Dai-Gonarthis? If so, could their actions have actually caused the complete destruction of Aimia? - From Hessi's Mythica, page 307

Some pre-publication observations and predictions: Spren Wars I think Syl and the yellow-white spren Yixli both personify the “protection” ideal. Yixli shepherds the listeners to Revolar, warns them of Kaladin, and then recommends Kaladin (Mr. Protection himself) to other listeners. Yixli’s spren type overflies the crowds and inspects buildings, like a police force. But Yixli appears to be a stone spren. I interpret this to mean listeners personify stone as “protection,” not the wind like humans do. This represents a different cultural perspective and relationship with their environment. Just as humans enslaved the listeners, I think human ideas (personified as spren) banished listener ideas (also personified as spren) from Roshar’s subastral (its place in the Cognitive Realm) to Braize’s. Brandon’s message: Colonization eradicates native cultures. Brandon says Braize is “like a prison.” Odium’s Invested and “captive” there. I think Braize is also a prison for the listener spren. IMO, the Oathpact bars the Cognitive Realm bridge between Roshar and Braize. When the Herald’s “break,” listener spren pour across the bridge; then into Roshar’s Physical Realm as listeners (and other lifeforms) assume their symbiotic forms. I bet Braize’s subastral holds gemstones instead of glass beads. IMO, that’s how listeners perceive ideas. Re-Shephir and Taln This reminds me of Taln left behind in Damnation while the other Heralds escaped. (I may have missed someone else first suggesting this.) It parallels the WoK Chapter 54 Epigraph’s death rattle: Posters think this epigraph refers to Taln (and it may). But what if it refers to Re-Shephir? It says the burdens of nine, not ten. Taln bears the burdens of ten, since he’s part of the Oathpact. Maybe Re-Shephir says, “Almighty, release me,” because she was glued to Urithiru’s Stormlightning Rod by massive amounts of Stormlight? Other questions: What were the Unmade doing in Urithiru’s basement when Desolation ended? Could this be the same moment as the Heralds’ Aharietiam “triumph?” Why weren’t the Heralds and Unmade fighting each other? Was Re-Shephir abandoned because Taln was abandoned? The Fused I’ve said for a long time that Odium’s magic can’t form bonds. Instead, Odium severs Connections. I think the Fused prove this. IMO, voidspren act like viruses and change the Spiritual DNA of a target spren. The “infused” voidspren mutates the “natural” spren, giving Odium control of the natural spren’s bonded host. The voidspren itself doesn’t bond the host. I think Syl hissed at the Fused-Spren because she sensed the corrupted natural spren that’s part of it. If the Fused can direct Odium’s power without a bond, then bonds can’t be Roshar’s Focus. (Sorry, @Calderis.) “Fusion” may turn out to be a form of bond, but the word implies a full joining, a union, not merely a symbiotic Connection. Gavilar’s Sphere @Pagerunner and others view Chapter 31 as proving Gavilar’s Sphere holds only Voidlight and not an Unmade. I think the Sphere holds both. Fabrial gemstones hold both Stormlight and a spren. I think this type of parallelism is important and intentional. I continue to believe there must be an “Everstormfather.” Just as the Stormfather personifies the highstorms and distributes Stormlight, the Everstormfather is a giant Odium spren that personifies the Everstorm and distributes Voidlight. (I agree the Everstorm is Odium’s Rosharan perpendicularity.) The Fused infuse themselves with (IMO) bond-breaking Voidlight. The Fused use the energy from their internal broken bonds to summon the Surges. I think the Urithiru Fused looks wasted and incomplete because his body breaks down to make his magic. The Origin As a total guess, I think the Origin may be the entrance to the Cognitive Realm bridge between Roshar and Yolen. Yolen is the “origin.” I’m unsure how this squares with our knowledge of perpendicularities, but I’ll throw this possibility out there…

Based on what we have learned about Re-Shephir in the latest chapter I've come up with a theory, could the Unmade all be modeled after the spren of the Night Radiants? To me it would make sense because there are 9 Unmade and with the Bondsmiths only bonding to the Stormfather there would be 9 "naturally occurring" spren. With Re-Shephir being discribed as a messed up kind of creationspren, I think that the other Unmade will be much like the other Orders' spren, only made by Odium.

So we know/think we know what some of the unmade gimmicks are (or at least the common consequences of them): Re-Shepir- makes midnight essences Moelach- death rattles Sja-anat- thunderclasts (or something more broad with spren inhabiting inanimate objects?) Ner-Gaoul- the Thrill *********** So what about the unmade we have yet to see it that we may have seen but not identified? I invite your best theories on what some of the yet-to-be-seen Unmade do. I believe that true to Rosharan symmetry, each unmade is a sick parody of a KR order. I know that leaves one order unaccounted for. I have no explanation for that. Anyway: Re-Shepir seems to be the anti-lightweaver Moelach- anti-truthwatcher Sja-anat- anti-stoneward? Ner gaoul- anti-skybreakers? Dai-gonarthis- ??? I think that the anti-windrunner may be what turned the parshendi at Narak to stormform. It leads them, but by compulsion rather than compassion. The anti-elsecaller might corrupt written records (we've seen this elsewhere in the cosmere) It would be interesting to know that an Unmade orchestrated the corruption of history that had been such a nuisance. Is there any other mischief (read: horror and destruction) on Roshar that may be tied to Unmade?

Could this be a way to trap the Unmade or would it mean **shiver** that someone else would be driven to commit suicide?

Crazy theory. After reading the newest Chapters I'm increasingly convinced Renarin and Elhokar as potential Champions for Odium are red herrings being thrown out by Brandon. Reading about Dalinar under the spell of the Thrill and presumably the touch of one of the Unmade, it's clear that it induces a form of psychosis, including delusions of invincibility, unnatural rage and aggression and loss of judgement. Which led me to hypothesize, what if every Unmade can touch and alter humans like that? What if one of the Unmade can induce hopelessness and deep depression or even bipolar thinking that can alter judgement and behavior as well? Kaladin has been battling severe depression since the start of tWoK. But given how the Thrill works, it may not even be completely natural mental illness. Kaladin may be in the claws of one of the Unmade, and Brandon may be seeding hints of Kaladin (or at least a darker version of Kaladin) being influenced into being Odium's Champion through the touch of the Unmade on his mind. I can only imagine the state of mind any human would have with all nine shadows touching them. The key to this would be to tear away Syl. Syl hangs a lampshade on it, "My job is to bring light and joy and chase away shadows when you're being a dour idiot, Kal." I think this will be another one of Brandon's clever ironies before the series is done. As Syl's influence on Kaladin increases, his depression (and the touch of the Unmade?) shrinks and he becomes less...odious. As Syl's influence wanes and she grows more distant in the first and second book, when Kal was considering suicide or letting Elhokar die, his depression was worse. We saw with Dalinar that the closer he came to Radiant, the less the Thrill was able to affect him. And just as removing Syl from the equation would be the key to making Kaladin Odium's champion, reviving Syl would be the key to redeeming Kaladin and defeating Odium.

I was thinking about the Unmade a bit, and realized a few things. First, they must use up a huge amount of Investiture. Nergaoul and Moelach have auras that can reach across entire kingdoms. They seem to be around the power level of the Stormfather. And there are at least six of them. That's a lot of power. So I started wondering: What if that was how Odium was trapped in the Rosharan system? He's so Invested in it that he can't leave without giving up a vast amount of power. So, to start with I'll list the facts about the Unmade that we know so far, and explain how they fit in. They're extremely, extremely powerful spren (or sprenlike beings). There are at least six of them. They each have different powers (Moelach seeing the future, Nergaoul causing the Thrill, Sja-anat corrupting spren). They hate humanity. They're implied to be ancient Parshendi who "gave of themselves to destroy" by taking on vast amounts of Odium's power. So, how that fits in. Each of them would hold a large amount of Odium's power, thereby weakening him and forcing him to stay on Roshar. Since there are so many, they wouldn't become the holders of Odium. Basically, a safety precaution. They would also take up more of Odium's power. This is where Odinalsium comes in. When Adonalsium shattered, each of the Shards created its own magic system. Each Shard had different powers. Something very similar is going on here, with the different Unmade. It's possible that the Unmade will become a source of information for how the shattering worked, or at least how the Shards work. This is the Intent seeping in. They were considered "personifications of different types of destruction." They contain different fragments of Odium's personality, similar to the Shards of Adonalsium. However, Odium's personality is composed mostly of hatred, so they don't have as much variation. Nevertheless, they still have different aspects. But the overall Intent remains. This is why Moelach gives glimpses of the future - it's trying to undermine Odium, but has to do so in an Odium-like way. They "gave of themselves to destroy". But to destroy what? It's usually assumed that they wished to destroy humanity. I postulate that they took on the power of Odium, giving up their selves, in order to destroy Odium. A reverse Resolution, almost. The intentions were similar, at least. As you see, this theory fits everything we know about the Unmade. Further, it explains why Odium is the Broken One. Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns. The use of "sixteen" implies that it refers to Shards, and the use of "reigns" implies that it refers to Odium. But Rayse likes his Intent. Rayse/Odium would perhaps be the least broken of the Shards. However, if Odium has had a semi-Adonalsium pulled on him, and the Shard proper has relatively little power, he would certainly be broken. He could still harness the Unmade to Splinter Honor, but would have difficulty leaving the Rosharan system. So, what do you think? Am I a complete nutcase who's making up evidence where there is none? Am I the most brilliant person to have existed since the invention of the wheel? And if I'm wrong, where am I wrong?

Long time troller, rare poster here. Just read the prologue posted here for Oathbringer, and had some thoughts I haven't seen mentioned. The two black spheres that Gavilar mentions (and shows one to Eshonai), let's assume that these spheres are holding 2 of the Unmade, holding the "Parshendi gods" Eshonai is so fearful of. . Regarding dawnshards, Tanavast mentions in one of his visions to Dalinar that "without the Dawnshards, you're doomed". What if these spheres are two of the lost Dawnshards, the purpose of which was to trap the Unmade ("known to bind any creature voidish or mortal"), which is part of the ending of a desolation? Other posters here seem to think that the dawnshards are like shardblades, and while I agree that each contains large amounts of investiture that doesn't mean that this would take on the same form. I also assume that since we're in Roshar that there are 10 Dawnshards, and probably 9 unmade (since 9 is the number of Odium), which leaves one dawnshard to spare for purposes of ending the desolations. Also, has anyone thought that perhaps the Dawnsingers were the original "god spren" that the 9 Splinters of Odium corrupted into the Unmade? If this has any merit to it, could there be one dawnsinger left that remains uncorrupted? Maybe these are all just crazy theories. I'll leave to the more versed on this board to chime in

"One is almost certainly a traitor to the others".--paragraph 27, book of the second desk drawer. All other quotes from the 2dd are about the unmade. Jasnah says in an epigraph of WoK that the unmade are considered "personifications of kinds of destruction". What if the traitorous unmade is the personification of betrayal?

So in the deleted WoR interlude, where Thoughts?

/u/Topsyt on Reddit posted a great theory today about Cusicesh. And I think one of the comments, by /u/statemint, rounded the theory out really well. You can see the link for the original. Cusicesh Cusicesh is a massive (100 ft tall), strange spren (supposedly) who appears every day in the Kasitor Bay of Iri. He appears at the same time (7:46 am), splashes out illusory waves of water, rapidly flashes various human faces while facing the Origin, and then submerges. He is locally known as "Cusicesh the Protector", and many worship him. Those nearby, who witness Cusicesh's display, feel "drained" according to Axies: Dai-gonarthis Dai-gonarthis, also called the Black Fisher, is only mentioned once (quote below). /u/Topsyt notes that his name (and alias) has a strong resemblance to Dagon, a pagan, Canaanite deity associated (traditionally) with fish. This follows the usual naming convention for suspected Unmade (see Moelach/Nergaoul and Moloch/Nergal). Paired with the cryptic introduction of Dai-gonarthis, there is little doubt he is an Unmade. Connection: the sea Note that both Cusicesh and Dai-gonarthis are related to the sea. Cusicesh "resides" in Kasitor Bay and splashes illusory waves of water. Dai-gonarthis is known as the Black Fisher and is perhaps inspired by a god that has connections to the sea. Connection: "draining" people Notice what the person in the Death Rattle above is saying. The speaker feels deep hurt and sorrow then calls to Dai-gonarthis. Next Dai-gonarthis "holds" that sorrow and "consumes" it. Might we say that he has "drained" the speaker's deep emotions? We have strong reason to suspect that the Unmade affect (or, perhaps, infect) the people within a certain area. Nergaoul causes the Thrill while Death Rattles are related to Moelach, and from what Taravangian says we have reason to believe that proximity to these matter. Could it be that Dai-gonarthis is an Unmade who siezes and consumes... emotions?... something from those who are nearby. This is very similar to Axies' experience with Cusicesh, who left feeling "as if something had been leeched from him". Two Interpretations /u/Topsyt argues that Cusicesh is Dai-gonarthis. There are a number of connections between the two, as we have seen. He further argues that Brandon likes to hide things in plain sight, and Cusicesh as an Unmade would be just that. There's also a notable conversation between Shallan and Pattern where Shallan (somewhat mistakenly) relates Cusicesh and Odium. A tease perhaps? /u/statemint takes another approach. The connections between the two are certainly present. But how do you explain Dai-gonarthis's... apparent weakness? Under the original theory, we can only guess. Maybe he has been weakened somehow. Maybe he is biding his time. Maybe he is having more influence than we realize. But perhaps there's an obvious answer. Cusicesh is known as "the Protector". Could it be that he is, indeed, protecting the Iriali from Dai-gonarthis? Could it be that Cusicesh is actually a spren who is holding Dai-gonarthis captive, consequently limiting the range and effect of the Unmade's influence to nearly nothing? Additional Speculation From the Wikipedia page, Dagon was sometimes viewed as a "protector". If Cusicesh is indeed Dai-gonarthis himself, this connection seems fitting. Furthermore, Dagon was also sometimes considered a judge of the dead. Perhaps this is related to the faces that Cusicesh displays? (this fits with either theory, I think) What do you guys think? See any other connections here? Anybody have additional insights on Dagon which might hint at more? If the "draining" feeling is associated with Dai-gonarthis, what do you think is going on there?

Reading the Starfalls chapter again, I noticed something odd about the Midnight Essence. It's not hidden, but somehow I had missed it before. That started me on a train of thought that leads me to speculate about how Midnight Essence is related to voidbinding, voidbringers, and the unmade. In the past I have imagined the monsters as basically a magically corrupted axehound, but the description is clearly different. These creatures can't see well (or at all?) but have excellent smell. As you will recall, they deflate when injured, leaking black smoke. The important point, though is that when the Radiants arrive, they slice the things in half with their shardblades. If you are like me, you probably glossed over that without a second thought, since cutting things in half is something these swords are really good at. But not things that are alive! Shardblades famously fuzz when they pass through living flesh, severing the soul instead. So what does it say about these animated smoke monsters that they can be dispatched in such a way? I know that we have discussed the complementary piece in the past: the ability of the creatures to damage shardplate: Their unusual interaction with plate and blade tells me that they have a strong cognitive aspect to them but no true physical life. So what are they? Recall that this attack is considered a sign that a Desolation is on the way, but hasn't arrived yet. I take that to mean that Midnight Essence is found on Roshar proper (contained, somehow) rather than jumping over from Braize with the rest of the Desolation rabble. Interestingly, the Knights seem to refer to the group of creatures (or to the phenomenon of their appearance) in the singular. There is just one Midnight Essence there that night, and it is apparently responsible for animating/embodying all of the monsters: The idea of black smoke (corrupted investiture, anyone?) and a power being trapped / released makes me think of Gavilar's sphere. Especially with the reveal in the recent reading Brandon did from the prologue for Oathbringer that it makes me think that Gavilar's sphere does hold a spren after all, but one of the more mundane odium spren (i.e. not a named Unmade). In particular, it might be one of the types that enable Listener voidforms. Perhaps the spren responsible for, e.g. smokeform, is also responsible for Midnight Essence. We know that the power of spren can be accessed in multiple ways: nahel bonds, fabrials ancient and modern, listener forms, and the mysterious "voidbinding." Read again what Khriss has to say on the subject in the Ars Arcanum (identical wordings in WoK and WoR): Speculation: Voidbinding is a method of commanding/using spren, likely the same ones involved in Listener voidforms. One manifestation is the Midnight Essence, in which {terror/darkness/nightmare} spren are bound to some physical form, then sent to wreak havoc. Note that there is likely far more to Voidbinding than generating the Ten Deaths, but it makes sense under this paradigm that they would be a subset of the voidbinding powers. Personally, I am not yet entirely sold on this idea. While it makes a lot of sense to me, I am still hoping to be surprised and have voidbinding be substantially different and less Odious than the predictions I've seen so far. What I do particularly like about the theory is the parallel it sets between the Listener forms and the multiple types of human-spren interaction, with potential for all sorts of interesting twists.

We know almost nothing about the Dawnshards, so obviously this theory isn't built on any concrete evidence. But here's my thought process... In Dalinar's vision, Honor himself used the word "Dawnshard," so it's clearly an official, accurate term. He also used the word "shards" for the shardblades of the Radiants. So there would seem to be a connection. Suppose Dawnshards are "shards" in the same sense as the blades. Spren. Powerful, ancient spren, sent by the Almighty to aid mankind. Which is exactly how Vorins describe the Dawnsingers. But that belief could be a product of its time. In the Age of Solitude (when SLA takes place), most people don't understand that shards are spren. So I'd theorize that the Dawnshards and the Dawnsingers are the same thing. (Or, potentially, that the Dawnsingers were humans, bonded with the Dawnshard-spren.) Now here's the weird part. So Honor says we are "without the Dawshards." But if we don't have the Dawnshards, what happened to them? They can't have been destroyed; they're splinters, pure investiture, which cannot be created or destroyed. They might have been killed, like the common blade-spren, but that wouldn't make them gone. They'd still be around, at least partially usable, and potentially even revivable. I guess they could be 'splintered' beyond repair, the same way Shards (of Adonalsium) are splintered. But as far as I know, that doesn't happen to spren. It could, in theory, but let's assume it hasn't. What if Honor lost the Dawnshards because Odium took them? Took them, tortured them, infected them with his own malignant investiture, and twisted them into monstrous agents of hatred and destruction. Ergo... the Unmade. This might explain the name "Unmade." Honor made them as beautiful, benevolent Dawnshards, and Odium un-made them, ruining Honor's work. It also makes sense when you consider the names of the known unmade. Nergaoul and Moelach are clearly named for the Mesopotamian gods Nergal and Moloch. These 'gods' are identified as demons in Judeo-Christian mythology, and demons, generally, are fallen angels. And what are the Dawnsingers, if not angels? Thoughts?