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The plot arc of WoR involves Shallan coming across a group of deserters - a group of bloodthirsty ex-soldiers, most of whom have supposedly done heinous crimes putting them beyond easy redemption. As Shallan gradually approached the shattered plains in her convoy, one of the main tensions in the plot was what would happen to the deserters once they reached. Tyn was quite sure that Shallan would have serious problems in getting pardons for their crimes and implied heavily that Shallan would have to sacrifice them. By all intents, Tyn was right. The Alethi, especially Sadeas (from whose army most of the deserters came from) take deserting very seriously. They're a warlike society which puts fighting as the most important thing a man can do, so obviously deserting would be an extremely serious crime. On top of that, the deserters have done other major crimes as well. But nothing comes out of this potential plot point. Shallan (who was a near unknown entity at that point in time) tells Dalinar "they're heroes, they saved lives". Dalinar agrees, issues pardons and that's it. Nothing more is talked about it through the books. This has kind of bugged me, their crimes just vanished with a wave of the hand, and this seldom happens in the real world. Sadeas should have thrown up a major objection, using this pardon against Dalinar. No one tries to get revenge on the deserters, like Gaz's creditors coming for him (and Shallan being forced to rescue him), Sadeas men don't try to harm them, and I'd have expected Ialai to send assassins to kill them, as a way of subtly warning others what would happen to people daring to desert Sadeas' army. At the very least, Dalinar, a soldier to the core should have had difficulty in agreeing to pardon deserters. Basically, I feel Shallan should have had to work harder and been forced to make sacrifices and some hard decisions to get the deserters freed, Everything has consequences and those are completely missing here.

Hi. I’m new here, I think Shallan is the best, and I’m ready to defend that opinion. Bring it on

Big theory about Unmade, Roshar Races, Spren and Shallan. Please, my weakest aspect of fandom is the knowledge released in WOBs. Help me and show me why I’m wrong. General Theory / Ideas: Based on the convolution and details regarding the surgebinding chart that Brandon has mentioned, plus the thematic relevance of numbers 9/10 on Roshar in regard to how Odium’s forces align with the others. And finally, culminating in a human/spren theory that informs my SHALLAN theory. Enjoy and let’s poke some holes. Part 1: Odium Unmakes True Spren · The First Desolation begins and the Oathpact is made to help humanity. · True Spren start forming bonds to make Knights Radiant · Seeing how effective this was for human forces, Odium takes action. The same way creating a Nahel Bond makes Spren more physical and human like, Unmaking them does the opposite…even distorting these Spren cultural/personal inclinations. · Now because this is happening on Roshar, there are natural effects and laws of the world that separates the new Unmade into categories (this relates back to the Surgebinding chart alluded to before. o There are a couple ways to divide the Unmade into categories (physical, cognitive, spiritual realms, etc.) But for this I made a 3X3 organizer with Odium, Cultivation and Honor on one side and Intelligent, Middling and Unintelligent on the top. Nine positions for nine Unmades. o Starting at the TOP position with Honor/Windrunners, then counting three for each group: Honor = Windrunners, Skybreakers, Dustbringers. Cultivation = Edgedancers, Lightweavers, Elsecallers. Odium = Lightspren, Peakspren, Mistspren. o Also, within each of these three groups, there should be ONE intelligent Unmade, ONE middling Unmade and one unintelligent Unmade. · Odium Unmade the 9 TRUE SPREN to create these Unmade: o Honorspren = Odium pulled an Honorspren into the physical world and they became Ba-ado Mishram. BAM was a leader for their side much like Windrunners. Also, people think BAM gave the singers forms to help Odiums forces, but if you look at it like BAM wanted to do it in spite of Odium…BAM kind of broke its oaths. This is the Intelligent Unmade for the first three positions. o Highspren = Odium pulled a Highspren into the physical world and they became Chemoarish. This Unmade has little known about them. I predict they will be a middling Unmade (not too smart or too primal). Skybreakers DO have the Surge of Division, so maybe Dustmother incorrectly became associated with the Dustbringers when in reality, it was connected to the Skybreakers. No idea how Highspren’s sense of law factors into Chemoarish yet. o Ashspren = Odium pulled a Ashspren into the physical realm and it became Re-shephir. Re-shephir is the Unintelligent Unmade for these three. Dustbringers are interested in breaking things apart to see them. As a result, Re-shephir was altered and now observes how things work rather than breaking them. This doesn’t count if humans kill, because she doesn’t see this as breaking, but imitating. o Cultivationspren = Odium pulled a Cultivationspren into the physical realm and it became Sja-anat. Sja-anat is the Intelligent Unmade for the next three spots on the Surgebinding chart. Cultivation spren are defined as fearful and trepidatious. Sja-anat became a daring Unmade who was brave enough to take secrets, pruning and planting secrets into the world to manipulate it as she tries to forge her own way in the world. o Cryptics = Odium pulled a Cryptic spren into the physical realm and it became Moelach. Moelach is the middle intelligence spren for these three on the chart. This is because he can observe and speak through dying people. Cryptics enjoy truths and lies, so Moelach gravitated towards future sight and relaying it as a FACT even if it wasn’t…thus confusing humanity. Also, Moelach is in the Cultivation region of the Surgebinding Chart, and Cultivation is deemed the most gifted at foresight. o Inkspren = Odium pulled an Inkspren into the physical world and it became Nergaoul. Inkspren are logical but when they were Unmade, they beame the Thrill…an illogical force of nature and the Unintelligent Unmade for this section of the Chart. (Also a little connection, but Inkspren can’t disappear in the physical realm, and The Thrill can’t disappear in the Cognitive realm.) o Lightspren = Odium pulled a Lightspren into the physical realm and it became Dai-gonarthis. (First, rhythms and sounds seem to be more natural to Roshar, thus Light investure may be more of Odium or humans, hence his section of the Chart and his most intelligent Unmade is Dai-gonarthis.) Lightspren seem to have the strongest connection to singers…they can go in gem hearts, hear rhythms and understand them, know how to subdue Voidspren. We don’t know much about Dai-gonarthis, but if it was the Unmade that scoured Aimia, Odium may be behind this to get at the Dawnshards or something else. The one note in COPPERMIND I saw is that Dai-gonarthis is classified as a mid-level Unmade, but I NEVER see that mentioned anywhere in text. And the reference COPPERMIND has doesn’t seem to imply that either in my opinion. o Peakspren = Odium pulled a Peakspren into the physical realm and it became Yelignar. We don’t know much about Peakspren other than they are described as Individualistic. This was corrupted when it became Unmade because now it can’t exist without another person to bond and use. Since Yelignar can communicate once inside someone, it is the Middle intelligence Spren for this section of the Chart. o Mistspren = Odium pulled a Mistspren into the physical realm and it became Ashertmarn. Ashertarn is a mindless Unmade focused on extreme emotion and passion because it is from Odium’s part of the Chart. Mistspren are open to enlightenment and truth, and as such were corrupted into being an Unmade who seeks no truth, only carnal pleasure. These ideas leave no room or explanation for BONDSMITHS. There is always something funky going on with them, and this is about Odium’s balance to the 9 surges of Roshar. Part 2: Ba-ado-Mishram’s Powerful Effects · The next part of this theory relies on one major tenant: we have NO idea the extent of BAM’s powers or the ramifications of what they did before their capture. · So following the timeline, Knights Radiant and Heralds are fighting and succeeding in Desolations until Odium pulls these Spren into the physical world, Unmakes them and now the Unmade are making it more difficult for humanity to catch up, Heralds break faster and humanity can’t recover. · The Heralds Abandon their oathpact. · One thing to note here, which will become important later, is that based on most visions we get from the past through Dalinar’s eyes, the peoples of Roshar at this point do not look as varied in their races and physical appearances as later in Rosharan history. · Ba-ado-mishram does SOMETHING that we know gives Listeners forms. o But what’s more important…is what happened to Spren. · Spren who were of the fourth ideal or lower became Deadeyes. · Spren of the FIFTH ideal were ripped from the cognitive realm and became humans. · Despite this, most orders of the Knights Radiant wanted to imprison or destroy BAM. · Fearing this would never allow the problem to fixed, Windrunners and Stonewards…two groups dedicated to protection and winning battles that seem unwinnable, they gave up their powers so as to protect their Spren from this happening again…since they wouldn’t be killing BAM. · Once the False Desolation was over and the Knights Radiant disbanded, a more modern version of society began to take place as Roshar drifted away from the Epoch Kingdoms and the Desolations. · The fifth ideal spren who became humans, spread across Roshar, mating with humans and creating the diverse races we now see on Roshar. o I’ve tried matching Spren descriptions with Racial descriptions on Roshar, allowing for some tweaking, but there are some interesting connections and theories…there are 9 True Spren and anywhere between 8-11 races on Roshar depending on how you break it down or look at it…also which history or historian you believe. (Including Sanderson here) · As a result of all this, any Spren who understood how Nahel bonding worked or what was going on in the physical realm either a.) became humans trapped in the physical realm, or B.) became a Deadeye who can’t communicate. This means the old, reluctant spren who stayed in the cognitive realm and didn’t want to bond became the only survivors (why Syl was special?). This gives them a biased and illogical recollection of these events. Part 3: So What’s this Mean? · So far this theory really focuses on World Building and history that puts certain things more into categories and profiles, rather than using it as a basis for a theory going forward. · Everything on my theory going forward hinges on what we DON’T KNOW about Ba-ado-mishram. · My prediction is that when BAM is released and does the thing that it does…along with the aid of an UNCHECKED Bondsmith (Ishar), she will transport the ENTIRE spren population into the physical realm…or rather combine them together…thus eliminating the Nahel bond as we know it in terms of using STORMLIGHT. · One theory I saw online that helped spark this idea was the fact that the 5 POV characters in the back half are characters with SPECIAL circumstances that will allow them powers WITHOUT a typical Nahel Bond. o Jasnah will use ADVANCED fabrial technology to perform her abilities. o Lift uses food to power her abilities. o Taln uses his Honorblade o Ash uses her Honorblade (but about this time in the series I see the connection being fixed in time for Ash to join ANOTHER Order, thus proving it can be done again) o Renarin uses Voidlight to access abilities. Part 4: One Last Tin-Foil Connection to SHALLAN/SPREN NOTE – I’m not going to refer to Veil, Radiant and Shallan in this part because the specific actions taken my each don’t affect this theory really. ALL Shallan’s refer to whatever Shallan is speaking at a particular part. · As I’m doing my re-read, the one major theory I’ve had for a few years now ALWAYS pops back into my head as more evidence appears. I’ve written about it before on here but have ALWAYS been refuted because of one specific WOB: o Shallan’s parents are really Shallan’s parents. · This is relevant because I’m almost POSITIVE we have seen someone on page who is or was a SPREN…only they don’t know it because they were pulled into the physical realm similar to Ishar has done and BAM has done if you believe this theory. · I think when Brandon mentions Shallan’s history in WOBs, he answers sometimes as in world interpretations. If Shallan’s parents THOUGHT or BELIEVED in her enough, or took the proper actions to BRING her into the physical realm, maybe they truly DO think of themselves as parents. · I don’t want to repost my ideas and evidence about Shallan being a spren become human…but some new ideas connecting this to her RoW journey popped up as I read. o This all comes specifically from chapter 26 in RoW (A Little Espionage) o Shallan starts the chapter not great, comes out and does OK, but by the end something really freaks her out bad and she retreats again. o When we first see Shallan, she is drawing and Cryptics are standing around her observing her. The same way someone sent on a spy quest is debriefed for intelligence by their commanding officers, they seem to be acquiring the knowledge of what Shallan has come to understand about people and humans. o Next, Shallan begins investigating Ishnah who got into something she didn’t understand or realize the extent of and is now over her head. § SHALLAN transforming into the Physical realm and not knowing it and being over her head. o Next Shallan goes to Beryl who says: “That I could walk away if I wanted to. Nothing was keeping me there. § Nothing is keeping Spren from doing this if they know how. SHALLAN is proof of this. o Next, Beryl says: the almighty’s greatest blessing to humans, the ability to change. Sometimes all we need is a seed. § SHALLAN changes from Spren to human (not sure about the seed) o Next, Vathah says: Figure if I learn to Lightweave well enough, Maybe I’ll turn into someone else…” § SHALLAN is a Lightweaver and she changed from Spren to human. o The NEXT LINE After that quote, Shallan thinks: That stabbed her straight through. § It’s because she sort of remembers this… o Finally, when Vathah says it again that he would like to be someone new…Shallan replies with this! “YOU CAN DO IT WITHOUT LIGHTWEAVING” § Because she knows she has done it…become someone new. A human from a spren. o At the end of the chapter, Veil specifically says that something Shallan thought in the last few pages was about to stir the truth and her memories… § But SHALLAN ties herself in a knot and shuts down. TL:DR: · Surgebinding Chart gives clues to how Odium took the 9 TRUE SPREN and Unmade them; using this as justification to attempt it, Ba-ado-mishram attempts this as well and screws up the world by bringing over bonded Spren and killing bonded Spren when she connected to Listeners. This led to different Races on Roshar and gives evidence to my theory that Shallan is really a Spren turned human and doesn’t know it. PS – I have another big piece I’m working on that says Szeth was also a Spren, maybe Nale’s, before he was brought into the physical realm as well. (fifth book based on Szeth would be the place to present this.) Let me know what you think.

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this has been posted already, so go ahead and link it, delete or whatever needs to be done. I've been thinking about the way ideals progress since there's no ironclad definite way to know other than off of personalities of the characters and the information surrounding the knights. The majority of my information for this post will be referenced from this link: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/the-ten-orders-of-knights-radiant/ Well, I think I may have stumbled onto something, I believe that the progression of the ideals is correlated with the clockwise direction of the Herald Wheel. I think it's best I explain using each character so we can go in order: Windrunners 2nd Ideal: “I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.” —The Second Ideal of the Windrunners (as spoken by Kaladin and Lopen) The general motto and purpose of the order. Great. 3rd Ideal: These all have a common theme between them. They each maintain what is a positive distance between what they want to do and what they need to do. There is an order that focuses on moral justice and fairness, more specifically understanding that the rules must be followed over personal attachments. Like the Skybreakers. Their order is all about fairness and it makes sense that Windrunners would add a standard to this ideal. 4th Ideal: I accept that there will be those I cannot protect!” — The Fourth Ideal of the Windrunners (as spoken by Kaladin) Kaladin utters these words when he notices that his friend Teft is dead and he nearly resorts back to the state that did in Kholinar from Elhokar's murder. He is faced with death and will face it more. In order to progress as a leader he must accept that death is a possibility for everyone around him, no matter how hard he tries otherwise. Kaladin is always the first into a fight, he can't help himself. But when he is unable to accomplish his duty, he folds. Bravery is about moving forward despite what perceived failure one might face. While this seemed like an easy villainous act to kill Teft outright but it was actually clinical. He must have noticed how Kaladin reacted to Elhokar and then Roshone, knowing full well this would break him. Something that is a common theme among Dustbringers (I can sense the Moash Dustbringer theory fans rubbing their hands together in delight) The main goal of the Dustbringers is self-control and Kaladin will not be able to function optimally if he's not able to keep it together. 5th Ideal: I AM STORMBLESSED! We obviously don't know the last but I think some of you can tell where I'm going with this. It has been brought up on numerous occasions regarding Kaladin's medical background: He was meant to be trained as a surgeon in Kharabranth. He has trained those under him to render medical care. He talks with Syl about turning into a scalpel. He's trying to join the ardenture as well as help the mentally ill. During the tale end of RoW, we see that Kaladin had misremembered or rather misunderstood Tien's final moments and decision. This moment was instrumental in him reaching the 4th and I believe will play a bigger part in KoWT. These are all traits that an Edgedancer carries out. We know in Book 5 he is traveling to Shinovar to do some healing, in what way we don't know yet. Based on the order's focus on the simpler people, I would imagine he will be focusing on them. Other forms of overlap are that the Edgedancers were made up of nobility or at the very least had the demeanor of one and there are a number of instances in books like WoK and WoR have glimpses of his past with him being teased as a 'lordling' or 'wannabe lighteyes' to paraphrase. Both orders are noted for being scouts and accomplished weapon masters. Skybreakers 3rd Ideal: “I swear to follow the will of Dalinar Kholin. This is my oath. ” —The Third Ideal of the Skybreakers, as sworn by Szeth I skipped to the third to get more to the point. The order of Dustbringers is about being brave and obedient and with this specific oath, the Skybreaker has become precise and how they pursue justice. This guideline can be a law or an individual, in this case, Dalinar. Releasers are about self-control and holding themselves accountable. Szeth has struggled very similarly to Kaladin but in an even more grotesque way. His destructive power is known throughout Roshar as the Assassin in White. The man who killed many, in particular, Gavilar the brother of the man he now serves. 4th Ideal: I will cleanse the Shin of their false leaders, so long as Dalinar Kholin agrees. ” —The Fourth Ideal of the Skybreakers, as spoken by Szeth Here is where I start to stretch things a bit. From the phrasing of the words, it sounds like he is taking out an infection. The last ideal was about learning the boundaries under Dalinar's supervision and now he is acting out his sense of justice with his master's consent until he becomes his own. Edgedancers are all about remembering and this quest is very personal to him and he hasn't been home so he would find that his memory of things will be misconstrued or turn out a lot different than he remembered. Another thing to note is that if my theory is right - Both Kaladin and Szeth are on the same level of progression in the story. Kaladin is on his 4th and working on the 5th with Szeth currently working on the 4th. 5th ideal: I AM THE LAW “If you progress as a Skybreaker, you will need to become the law. To reach your ultimate potential, you must know the truth yourself, rather than relying on the crutch presented by the Third Ideal. Be aware of this.” —Szeth's highspren on the Fifth Ideal Szeth-son-son-Vallano is truthless. Was born in the Valley of Truth. The title is the next release is Knights of Wind and Truth. Need I say more? But in all honesty, will this hasn't been confirmed that I believe Truthwatchers has a resonance of empathy. They can feel people's emotions and in order to be the best law enforcer you need to balance upholding the law with the spirit of said law and how it translates to those involved. Edgedancers 3rd Ideal: “I will listen to those who have been ignored. ” —The Third Ideal of the Edgedancers, as sworn by Lift This one is connected to observing people. In particular, in this case, Lift is trying to convince Nale to see the ever storm which was the first time it forced him to acknowledge his conviction of killing Radiants was misplaced. 4th Ideal: "I will remember to care for myself/I will remember where I came from/I will remember who I used to be." Lightweavers are all about realizing who they really are and noticing the lies people tell themselves. Lift wished that she wouldn't 'grow' anymore but from a physical aspect she's growing. I imagine there is still something left in her past that we haven't come across. Maybe she will admit that she isn't a child anymore? 5th Ideal: "I will always cherish/remember what is most important about myself." Since we have so little on the Elsecaller oaths I can only go off of the purpose of the order which is to reach their potential. In terms of a character arc, this feels like it matches for someone who doesn't want to grow up but will eventually grow up while still keeping the parts of her that define her. Truthwatchers 3rd Ideal: "I will tell someone my truth." I remember towards the end of Way of Kings when Dalinar had commanded Renarin into battle, he tried to convince Dalinar otherwise because he was having his visions or he had seen something that scared him. Anyways, I think he might have sworn his ideal just before he told Dalinar and Adolin about him being a Truthwatcher in Oathbringer. Their order struggles with telling and giving others the information they possess. I even imagine that a lot of starter truthwatchers weren't upfront when they got their bond. 4th Ideal: "I will advise only on the best possible outcome." We get to the Elsecaller aspect which is about potential and the draw would be that with the vast amount of knowledge they know, they would prefer to give the information in a way that does the most good. However, I step out on a leg and say that Renarin's corrupted aspect takes root here. The scene that makes me think Renarin is close or has sworn his new ideal, was his involvement with Taravangian up to getting executed by Szeth. That scene involved T becoming a God. If that doesn't get you shardplate, I don't know what will. 5th Ideal: "I will seek to enlighten those who wish it." There is a subset of truth watchers that are linked to investigative journalists in some of the new info that came out with the release of RoW. Giving people certain amounts of information can be absolutely devastating so the Truthwatcher in question must be sure that the person they are presenting their information in the most altruistic manner even if the main consensus might disagree with it. Lightweavers 2nd truth: “What am I? I'm terrified. ” —A truth as spoken by Shallan It's obvious that most of her arc is about overcoming her fear by using various identities or telling even more painful jokes. 3rd truth: “I'm a murderer. I killed my father. ” —A truth as spoken by Shallan[7] The best connection I can come up with this is the fact that Shallan's father was the one thing stopping Shallan's growth as an individual. We knew that he had saved Shallan after her attempted murder and then covered it up. Whether overtime due to the influence of the unmade or his own personal frustration, his desire to protect Shallan turned into one of abusive control. Her brother might have died had she not poisoned and strangled her father and had she and her siblings never tried to leave, who knows where the family would have ended up. 4th truth: "I killed my spren." -Paraphrased truth spoken by Shallan I don't think it's any surprise that Shallan spoke this truth in RoW that is centered around Willshapers. Blocking out the death of a spren, especially in an environment where killing spren is the biggest taboo within Shadesmar. This is also the time when Shallan loses her persona of Veil. 5th truth: "I am RADIANT!" Shallan has one alter ego left, Radiant. The Stonewards are focused on team dynamics and working with others. We can see glimpses of this with Shallan's 'Unseen Court', her operation with Adolin in tracking down the Sons of Honor, etc. But has always kept things close to the chest with her interactions with the Ghostbloods which she ended in RoW. Up until this point she had one foot in the door and out the other by keeping her dealings a secret until the end of the latest book. It will be interesting to see how all that pans out but at this point, Shallan should be divorced of her wishy-washy attitude to things and acknowledge who she really is. Shallan the RADIANT! Elsecallers As we have no official oaths to link from, I'm just going to base what I think each ideal is off of clues in Jasnah's life. 3rd Ideal: "I will express what I think is the truth" We have a small timeline of seven years off which Jasnah has been bonded to Ivory as her flashbacks to the night of her father's death was were we get a mention of Ivory's appearance. I'm not 100% sure when she started making her secular views open but I will she sure of an ideal when she made such a thing public. 4th Ideal: "I will trust those beside me" For the longest time, Jasnah was on her own in regard to her philosophical views and her knowledge of Voidbringers. The closest was the Veristitalian, which is a group of scholars. I believe she wsore this oath in Oathbringer around when she is considering killing Renarin lest he betrays them all. 5th Ideal: "I will protect the potential for a brighter future." We see Jasnah in RoW standing on the front lines with a blade and plate on. This sort of thing is usually, Kaladin and Dalinar or even Szeth sort of thing. She is coming out of her comfort zone but Hoid reminded her that she is kneecapping herself for the sake of 'fairness' that even she can recognise is pointless. The Windrunners are some of the best warriors in the Radiants along with Stonewards so if my theory is correct, it makes sense this is where Jasnah would be. She is the current Queen of Kholinar and based on her intentions, the last monarch of Kholinar. I don't know how things will pan out but she will be wearing a crown of some sort for the foreseeable future. Willshapers 3rd Ideal: Venli at the end of RoW is now searching for a home for the singers that have left the Fused. Venli up until this point has only been figuring out a means of emancipation for herself and those who are like-minded. But the next stage will be establishing a community will all these singers that have various views despite their shared desire for independence. Most likely they will face persecution from Oduim's forces and she must now have a way of defending these people which means a militia of diverse forces must be established. 4th Ideal: Once her settlement is established, there is a high chance that they will set Venli up as their leader but she will be extremely hesitant to take it or pursue this. 5th Ideal: This will most likely be the most difficult challenge for Venli. For someone who had years of resentment for following the traditions of her tribe only to be shunted in favour of her adventurous sister was what brought on her desire to bring back the Fused. We saw this clearly in the flashbacks of her before the Alethi arrived. I think this definitely makes sense. Let me know what you guys think. Am I full of it and projecting too much or am I doing a poor imitation of someone else's post?

Veil sees the colors 'muted'. (RoW 13) Has Shallan, or Lightwavers, some investment from Nalthis?

I don't know if anyone has posted something to this effect before, but I think there's a concrete explanation for Shallan's dissociative identity disorder. I might just be dense for posting something that seems obvious to everyone, but here goes. I think the real reason for Shallan's mental problems is because of what happened to Testament. Up to finding out about the Cryptic, we're led to believe that Shallan's mental issues stem from the trauma she experienced when she killed her mother. To be fair, this likely contributed to the problem, but I don't think it's the root cause. I think that when a radiant breaks the mind of their spren, the spren isn't the only one to be damaged by the process. This leads me to wonder what happened to the ancient radiants of the recreance. I've always assumed that the ancient radiants spread stories about a betrayal to make people think they'd been tricked in order to make them hate the radiants so no one would pursue surge binding powers again. But maybe there's more to it. If the minds of the ancient radiants were broken similarly to Shallan, then maybe not all the tales of radiant's being traitors are false.

My Shallan Theory Timeline with Explanations: (Real Shallan – as yet unseen but mentoned) Formless = chronologically first Shallan with no Spren - No Spren chose her - Her parents loved her Someone or some force convinced Shallan she needed a Spren - Mystery so far that we will find out from Formless - Maybe connection to Nale and the Skybreakers? She creates Forgotten Shallan (Think how we don’t know much about Shallan before she kills her mom – and then how different her family thinks she acts afterwards) Forgotten Shallan can now make bonds because of her new identity. Forgotten Shallan says 1st Ideal off Page = Bonds Testament Forgotten Shallan says Second Ideal (1st Truth) off page = Sword for Lightweavers and limited abilities in Soulcasting and Lightweaving Forgotten Shallan breaks the oath with Testament the night she kills her mom. Now Book Shallan is created and has memory problems. Book Shallan can now make bonds again because of her new identity. Because Book Shallan can’t recall Testament or her past oaths, she bonds Pattern by saying the 1st Ideal off page. Book Shallan: “I’m Terrified” - Second Ideal (1st Truth) to Pattern, giving her Blade and limited Soulcasting and Lightweaving abilities. Book Shallan breaks her oaths to Pattern not by just lying to Jasnah, but also by then coming completely clean to her afterwards and showing remorse for an honorable lie? Book Shallan now becomes the version of herself that will invent and develop Veil. This new personality says the First Ideal again off page, fixing the oaths with Testament who pretends to be Pattern (good lies!) and Shallan accepts it because of her denial and mental condition. Veil Shallan can pretend she is new and rebond Testament. Veil Shallan says: “I killed my father” the first Truth which brings Testament back through her 2nd Ideal and gives her Blade again which she uses to open the Gates and kill Tyn and use in the Chasms. Veil Shallan says second Truth: “I killed my mother” to rebonded Testament to reach her 3rd Ideal at the end of Words of Radiance. Veil Shallan does something that breaks her bond to Testament in the time between the end of WoR and the creation of Radiant. (Coming clean to Adolin?) Once Oathbringer begins, Radiant Shallan has said her 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ideals off page, allowing her the abilites with Blade and Surgebindng that she gets from rebonding Pattern again. This also accounts for her having Shardplate people think she has at the end of Oathbringer in the battle. With no new personalities and no new oath breaking, Shallan, Veil and Radiant, now all somewhat content with life and abilities…begin to remember Formless because they fear losing everything. So chronologically, Radiant Shallan was the last new personality and Testament was the last of her two Cryptics to ‘take the bullet’ for her so to speak. This means that Testament would be a deadeye in Shadesmar when they see it. And then when Radiant Shallan with Pattern says the last line: “ "I killed her," Shallan whispered. "I killed my spren. My wonderful, beautiful, kindly spren. I broke my oaths, and I killed her." She is really saying TWO Truths which puts her Rebond with Pattern up to the 5th Ideal by the end of WoR…one ahead of Kaladin. - Two Truths? Maybe…but which ones? - “I killed my Spren” if you can consider a deadeye a Spren. - “I killed her” could be someone we don’t know about yet - “I broke my oaths” seems like it could be its own, shameful Truth. NOTE: To really buy into this theory, you need to accept that BS is going to do something narratively funky with Shallan because of her conditions. This means a lot of things are happening off page…something he started to foreshadow in WoR with the locked box and all that. Let me know what you think. There might be a Veil/Radiant/Book Shallan typo here or there.

Alright, so, 1st post here, but something clicked in my mind and I wanted to know what you all think about it. Shallan is used to having multiple voices (Intents?) in her head, to find a common path among them. Would she be more ready than most other people to hold 2 shards with conflicting Intents? (or even 3, given the ones in Roshar and the fact that 3 were the main personalities she's had). Is it too far fetched to think that her psyche's situation could be foreshadowing/preparation for this possibility?

The Call to Adventure! (see what I did there) 39,000 words, Teen/Mature/Explicit (see below for more details) Shakadolin, romance, friendship, sexual situations, polyamory negotiations, choose your own adventure style, asexual Kaladin, aroace Kaladin, bisexual Kaladin, questioning Kaladin, demisexual Kaladin Shallan and Adolin have been sort of kind of engaged for the last few years, and Kaladin has been an increasingly closer friend. But Shallan and Adolin have been talking about their relationship, and now Shallan has a proposal of her own for Kaladin… This is a choose your own adventure for Kaladin! What kind of relationship does he want to have with them, and how will he make that happen? The story guides through three questions and has eight happy endings ranging from platonic friendship to explicit sex. It takes place in a Canada modern AU setting and it references characters, themes, and quotes from Stormlight, all the way through to RoW. You will be amply warned for the rating of each chapter before you click! Teen chapters have discussions of sex and relationships in broad terms that one might find in a teen drama. Mature has discussions with more blatant sexual themes, complex emotions, and/or internalized acephobia/biphobia. Explicit has detailed descriptions of people having sex. There will be more details given at the top of chapters to help you out. Teen-rated excerpt below:

This is a question that most likely has been asked, but here we go. In WoR Kaladin was able to have his bond with Syl again after breaking his oath. Something patten says mentions that “ if their knigts still lived maybe something could be done”. He said that when talking of spren who are mindless. In RoW we see Shallans first spren, who she broke her bond with. Could she help her old cryptic and have two spren. I just want some theories or something for this question I’ve had.

So, we know that Shallan has earned her blade by book two via oaths. This is demonstrated when she lends her Blade to Kaladin in the Chasms. However, this was demonstrated after she swore her truth of killing her father and before admitting to killing her mother. So, when did she earn her Blade, because she needed to swear two truths and the First Ideal to earn her Blade. So, my question is, what was the other truth, and when did she swear it?

Hey guys, so I'm not sure if this is the kind of content you want to see, but I thought it would be fun! You see, I'm not smart enough to contribute to the amazing fan theories, so this is my contribution (; Anyways, so if you're not familiar with the Myer Briggs Type Indicator, it's basically a set of 16 personality types that everyone falls under. (take the test, it's fun) I decided I would try to assign these traits to the Stormlight characters as best I could. If you are familiar (or lowkey obsessed) with MBTI, I hope you can relate with this! Here goes: Kaladin - ISFJ, The Defender. First off, I know the cover image for ISFJ is a smiling, kind woman and that is the exact opposite image that we associate with our boy Kal. But, to quote the article, "Though sensitive, Defenders have excellent analytical abilities; though reserved, they have well-developed people skills and robust social relationships; and though they are generally a conservative type, Defenders are often receptive to change and new ideas." That seems pretty accurate. To break down the different letters, the I stands for Introverted vs Extroverted. We can all agree that Kal is Introverted. S stands for Sensory or obServant vs intuitive. I think as a surgeon, Kal is pretty Sensory. F stands for Feeling vs Thinking, meaning he processes most of his information through emotion. I'd say Kal is a pretty hotheaded guy who doesn't really think before he acts. J means Judging over Perceiving. He is logical and judges situations without the bias of perception. Shallan - ISFP, The Adventurer. I think this is a perfect match. At first I was tempted to say INTP, the Logician, but I think Shallan is more SF than NT. As an artist, she is very Sensory, and as Shallan, she is more of a Feeling person than a Thinking person. She uses the Thinking side of her personality a lot, but her emotions have so much control over her and so much say in her decision-making. As the article says, "Adventurers enjoy upsetting traditional expectations with experiments in beauty and behavior – chances are, they’ve expressed more than once the phrase 'Don’t box me in!'" Shallan most definitely hates being boxed in and trapped, due to her childhood experiences. Another spot-on quote says, "When faced with criticism, it can be a challenge for people with this type to step away from the moment long enough to not get caught up in the heat of the moment." Passionate insult battles, anyone? Adolin - ESFJ, The Consul. I find it hilarious that Adolin and Kaladin are almost identical in personality type, with only the E/I switched. Adolin is the Consul, most definitely. The article says that "Discussing scientific theories or debating European politics isn’t likely to capture Consuls’ interest for too long. Consuls are more concerned with fashion and their appearance, their social status and the standings of other people." That rings a bell to me. We can see that Adolin is a Feeling character rather than a Thinking character. However, he is a Judging character, because he has the innate ability to see people without bias. (Amaram, Sadeas, Kaladin, his dad) Renarin - ISTJ, The Logistician. Honestly, I don't really know Renarin's character too well, so this is a ballpark guess. I am positive that Renarin is Introverted, and I am not sure about the Sensory, but it seems right to me. He is very practical, so I can see him being Sensory. He is definitely a Thinking character, but we don't really know if he's Judging or Perceiving. For now, however, I think Judging is a good guess. Dalinar - ENFJ, The Protagonist. Dalinar is a natural born leader and is amazing at handling people. These traits put him as the Protagonist. "Protagonists radiate authenticity, concern and altruism, unafraid to stand up and speak when they feel something needs to be said... Protagonists easily see people’s motivations and seemingly disconnected events, and are able to bring these ideas together and communicate them as a common goal with an eloquence that is nothing short of mesmerizing." Honestly, the accuracy of this is astounding and a bit creepy. I think Dalinar is the Protagonist poster child. Also, this little quote here, "The interest Protagonists have in others is genuine, almost to a fault – when they believe in someone, they can become too involved in the other person’s problems, and place too much trust in them." Does that sound like a certain Sadeas vs Dalinar situation to you? Bonus note - because parents tend to pass on portions of their personality traits to their kids, we can guess that Shshshsh, Dalinar's mystery wife, is IST-. We can guess that she's IST because Renarin got the I and the T from somewhere and both Adolin and Renarin have an S that didn't come from Dalinar. We don't really know the J/P, because it seems Dalinar passed the J to both Adolin and Renarin. She could be either. Jasnah - ENTJ, The Commander. Jasnah is purely the Commander. The only thing that might be up for debate is the E vs the I, but I think she is more Extroverted than Introverted. She is definitely a Thinking and Judging type, because of her scholarly nature. I think she is iNtuitive over Sensory, but I think we might not know her well enough to discern that. For now, however, I'm sticking with ENTJ. The funny thing is, Shallan is the exact opposite of her, being ISFP, yet the way they interact with others is strikingly similar. Navani - INTP, The Logician. The tagline for the Logician is "Innovative inventors with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge." To me, this describes Navani perfectly. She is the amazingly smart scientist, the adorable nerd and the creative inventor. Navani is an introverted type, but she is so strong around people that we only ever see that side of her around Dalinar. She is an NT, like Jasnah, but she processes information through Perception rather than Judging. This sounds surprising since she is a scientist, but she is a creative and an inventor rather than a scholar. Bonus note - with the info that we have about Jasnah and Navani, we can guess that Gavilar was an E--J. Knowing the little that we know about Gavilar, we can assume he is a Protagonist, like Dalinar. Hoid as Wit - ENTP, the Debater. Hoid is honestly so hard to figure out. This is not my most confident guess, so if you have a better guess please let me know! (Keep in mind we're talking about Hoid as Wit) Wit is definitely Extroverted, moving through the crowds with ease and making fun of talking to people with confidence. "Debaters don’t [play devil's advocate] because they are trying to achieve some deeper purpose or strategic goal, but for the simple reason that it’s fun. No one loves the process of mental sparring more than Debaters, as it gives them a chance to exercise their effortlessly quick wit, broad accumulated knowledge base, and capacity for connecting disparate ideas to prove their points." This sounds like Wit to me. His iNtuitiveness allows him to create beautiful stories that apply to other people's specific situations, while his Perception allows him to poke fun at others with scary accuracy. Because he is a Thinking type, he is analytical and has a pretty good reign on his emotions. Bonus! Syl - ENFP, The Campaigner - Syl is ENFP all the way. She's got the childlike wonder and Perception and the iNtuitiveness that guides her decisions as honorspren in what Feels wrong and right. She is almost the opposite of Kaladin, yet their ideals are very similar. I believe this is what attracted her to Kaladin. Pattern - INTP, The Logician. Pattern, our adorable, miniscule scholar! He is the same Personality type as Navani, INTP. We see his Perception in how he views the world, and his iNtuitiveness and Thought through how he learns and applies those worldviews. He is similar to Shallan, but she is an SF and he is an NT. She an artist in her core, but she loves scholarship, and that is what drew Pattern to her. That's it for now! I hope it was understandable to those who have no clue what the MBTI types are :? I tried to do as many characters as I could, but if you want me to expand on this one let me know what characters to do! Also, if you would like to suggest a change in one I did, feel free-- I'd love to hear your opinions on this! Also, if you have any suggestions for Wit's personality that would be awesome (; Let me know your personality type! I'm INFP, and I'd love to chat with y'all about it. Here's the website where I got all my info, and be sure to take the test! (It's free, fun, and it will tell you things about yourself that are creepily accurate) I may do one for Mistborn! If you would like that, let me know. That's all, Catie

Ok so this has been eating at me since my first time through the series. Now finishing up my 4th time through, and I feel like this needs to be addressed sometime soon in the story. Shallan has been lying to Jasnah, constantly, about a great many things even after Jasnah was clear with her that she would accept no more lies from her. Honestly if I'm Jasnah, and I find out Shallan was working with the Ghostbloods, I would want her out of the Tower, and I don't see any reasonable way around that. Shallan has proven she will lie and manipulate whoever she wants to do things "her" way because she things she's the only one who can address any of these problems. Her arrogance is just shocking to me. I absolutely do not see how Shallan is following the First Ideal, not even close. She sacrifices children and other beggers in her "brilliant" plan to infiltrate the Cult of Moments. Does she feel bad about it? Yeah, for about 5 minutes. Does she change her ways based on this realization? Of course not, she then goes on a trip to Lasting Integrity where she lies to every single person continuously, literally every living being she encounters she lies and manipulates for her scheme to help the Ghostbloods, which she has done plenty of already regardless of what lies she tells herself the organization isn't "rewarding" her for doing things they find useless. She's advancing the interests of people who tried to murder her and the person who has given her access to do Everything she has accomplished or gained. Jasnah is extremely intelligent and good and figuring out plots. It seems unlikely in my view that Shallan could continue to hide that she was working with the Ghostbloods from Jasnah, especially since Wit definitely knows she is, and Wit is in a relationship with Jasnah. When she does find out Shallan has been lying and manipulating her and everyone else to continue following the Ghostbloods orders (regardless of the ending of RoW) Jasnah should be furious, and should never trust her again.. She has proven she is not trustworthy, period. No rational person would look at the lies and manipulations Shallan has performed and say "well maybe they're an honest person now". I'll even grant that at the end of RoW maybe Shallan made some huge breakthrough. Maybe she will go straight to Jasnah and apologize and beg forgiveness. If I was Jasnah I would thank her for the apology then banish her immediately from Alethkar and the Tower and tell her she's unwelcome in her lands or those of Dalinar. If I was Navani and I found out Shallan was working with the people who tried (and very nearly did) murder my daughter, I would want her executed.

Why does Shallan name Formless as male? Is it just another coping technique to distance herself from who she was?

Realizing that if Book 5 ends 10 days after the end of RoW (day of the contest), what part do Shallan and Adolin play? They'll still be traveling in the Cognitive Realm for at least 10 days, and they have no idea what's happening except with Wit and his communications box. They may be the part of the story that reveals a few big twists, investigating what truly happened at the Recreance. Thoughts?

Ever since I’ve read this Death Rattle, I believed that to truly break the bond with spren, you need to say Words opposite and contradictory to the Ideals you’ve spoken. This WoB suggests saying words is one of the ways to break the bond with spren. However up until RoW ch 93 there was nothing more to suggest this was the case. Until we saw Shallan breaking her own bond with Testament, by speaking words that might not feel important at first, yet are the key to her original Truths. To fully break the bond, she spoke inverted words of her original Truths and the First Ideal. First Ideal is contradicted with the last three sentences, as they fit together very well, this means breaking of the Oaths is in order from the one recently spoken, to the First Ideal “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination” - “You never existed. You are nothing. And I am finished!” Life never existed, the Strength is nothing, and the journey is finished. This bears very close resemblance to the Death Rattle quoted above. Knowing this we can say that Shallan's bond with Testament was on the 4th Ideal. “I’m done!” negated her 2nd Truth, “I hate you!” was for 3rd one, and “I don’t want you!“ inverted the last, 4th Truth she had spoken. These seems like a simple statements and I believe her Truths were also childishly simply, even Shallan said it herself: We can now guess her original Truths with Testament: 2nd Truth is the opposite of “I’m done!”, so it would be about starting of something, Shallan just simply admitting that “this is a new beginning” fits well enough. 3rd Truth was contradicted with “I hate you!”, so her Truth would be saying that she likes Testament. “I like you”. 4th Truth, the last one, was broken with “I don’t want you!“. Her Truth might be realizing that she wants to spend time or be with Testament, or even that she needs her. Now Shallan's situation with Testament is different from Kaladin’s with Syl in WoR. Kaladin didn’t say the contradicting words, he didn’t fully break his Oaths, he just didn’t live up to them. And when he started living by Ideals again, Syl was brought back to life, and he was able to say the 3rd Ideal. Shallan contradicted every single Ideal she’d spoken with inverted words. She can’t say the 5th Truth and make Testament alive again, she needs to reconstruct every Ideal she’s broken. And we have WoBs confirming it. She has already started doing it. She must have said her first Ideal somewhere in the past, maybe even at the same time she said it to Pattern unknowingly. Shallan said in RoW that she remembered using her surges after breaking the bond with Testament but before bonding Pattern, she soulcasted in WoK, and she was using Testament as a Shardblade during WoR. The most obvious candidate for her new Truth with Testament is “I’m terrified” spoken to a spren during events of WoK, when she soulcasted the goblet into blood. However, which Truth was reconstructed with these words is hard to say. It might be the 2nd one, or even the 3rd one, thus granting her ability to summon Testament as a Shardblade again, and allowing the blade to change shapes, open Oathgates, and look like a living Shardblade. To add more, Shallan admitting to killing or bonding Testament in RoW might be reconstruction of another Truth, as WoB posted above suggests this is a step in reconstructing her Oaths. But if that's true, then "I'm terrified" can't be 3rd one, as with the one in RoW she would be at 4th Ideal, and would fully reconstruct her Oaths. Yet Testament is still Deadeye. There might be something more needed, or her admitting to killing her spren might be just laying the foundation, not Oath reconstruction, because now she's aware of this, and now she can knowingly work on reconstructing more Oaths. What do you think? What were Shallan’s original Truths spoken with Testament? What Truths has she managed to reconstruct?