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  1. Today I was thinking about how the highspren interact with their knights differently than any other order that we've seen so far. For one thing, they hang around in the Physical Realm to observe the squires. This seems weird to me because, if they are like the other radiant spren, they're running the risk of losing their sentience by hanging out too long in the Physical Realm. Second, the knight-spren relationship seems closer to a veteran-rookie relationship than a partnership based on the fact that the spren chooses when the knight completes their Crusade, the knight must get to the Second Oath before bonding a spren, and they seem to hide from their knight even after bonding. The biggest difference is how much control Nale has over the order. He can choose who joins and is the only 5th order knight around. I think there's a potential explanation for these differences: Nale has (maybe by accident) formed protobond with all of the highspren currently found in the Order which allows them to hang around like this and gives him more control over all of them. I think the timeline roughly goes like this: Before Nale joins the order, the differences are mentioned above is minimized outside of the fact that they're concerned with justice as police officers, judges, and etc. Nale joins and immediately has enormous influence due to the fact that he's the Herald of Justice. Nale ascends to the Fifth Order. Every Skybreaker after this feels weird about ascending to the Fifth Order because it would be strange to be his peer. The result is that Nale now is the Skybreaker Herald and routinely commands everyone including the highspren. The highspren get used to him commanding them over the centuries and may even view him like the Honorspren view the Stormfather. Eventually, Nale's "metaphysical mass" (for lack of a better term) as Herald, the centuries spent shaping the order into his own image, and the fact that the spren are used to him bossing them around, they develop a protobond with him which allows them to hang around much longer in the Physical Realm. Because the spren can spend so much time in Physical Realm, they walk into every bond after this with the assumption that they know more than their Radiant and should be treated as the senior member of the partnership. What do you think?
  2. From the album: Stormlight Archive desktop wallpapers

    1920x1080 wallpaper using the general Skybreaker's second ideal. (If you'd like a version with one of Szeth's ideals, just comment.)
  3. Welcome to the order of the Skybreakers. A home for the patriotic, the religiously zealous, and the firm believers in right. The faint in heart and disloyal will find no shelter here. To join, simply speak the hallowed oaths; Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. I will seek justice until I find a more perfect ideal. I want to hear all about your “perfect ideal”. In a way, everyone swears themselves to something. For me, that something is (apart from my church) upholding American ideals.
  4. This is a simple observation. Despite Skybreakers being known to follow all laws, and Brandon even saying that the generic Second Oath is "I swear to follow the law", Szeth never swore to follow the law. His second oath was "I swear to seek justice, to let it guide me, until I find a more perfect Ideal". This is not explicitly an oath to follow any law, and considering Szeth being willing to take advantage of technicalities of phrasing (like with the dye-throwing contest), he can get away with breaking laws if he thinks they are unjust and gets his highspren to agree. His Third Ideal is also not to follow exactly the laws of the land (as many Skybreakers do) but rather to follow Dalinar, which still does not explicitly restrict him to legal actions.
  5. Our aircraft fight each other with guns and missiles. Our preferred position to kill an adversarial aircraft is behind it and often slightly above. This is because Bullets and missiles are much faster than aircraft Sight is best to the front, visually and by radar It is easier to aim the whole aircraft Your missile gets your speed and height To achieve that position you use maneuver. Aircraft differ in their characteristics for maneuvering by direction. It makes a difference whether you are going up and down versus left or right. Airplanes cannot turn on the spot. A user of gravitaion is quite different. They are failing, not flying aerodynamically. Hence: They can go into full reverse. Changing acceleration 180 degrees is an option. You cannot stall. Any attitude is possible in the air. You cannot be behind and above an enemy. Pursuit means that you are under an enemy. You cannot trade height for speed and vice versa. You are always at the very top and falling. You cannot roll with Gravitation The weapons are also quite different. Unless you are going straight down, any missile will always fall behind or sideways quickly, as it does not share your acceleration and the speed you can add to a spear is small compared to the speeds you are falling at. And good luck handling bow and arrow or a crossbow under these conditions. Naively I'd try to get into the position to stab an enemy into the back or to get into grappling range with you facing your enemy's back. Direct pursuit is a bad idea. Anything nasty he drops will hit you. Our maneuvers for air combat as far as they trading potential energy for kinetic energy, will not work.
  6. I know I’m not alone in struggling to see Skybreakers as not sorta evil, particularly in comparison to Windrunners. Like it seems to come down to Honor vs. the Law, which seems pretty biased. Especially when the easiest comparison is best boy Kaladin vs. dumpster fire Szeth. After some thought here’s my outline for how Skybreakers are actually kinda valid. Skybreakers are their core are about consistency and fairness. It's not so much the law, as a willingness to follow a personal code, that Nale is most interested in (WOB). So it’s not really about following the law. It’s about following a code. It’s not supposed to be about abdicating moral decision making. It’s supposed to be about putting fairness over your own opinion. By swearing themselves to a code, Skybreakers are trying to transcend their own biases. This doesn’t mean Skybreakers can’t be flexible. See Szeth choosing to punish the Warden over prisoners (OB). In fact, the pattern of Skybreaker ideals is about developing and understanding your own set of ethics. Kant would probably be a great Skybreaker. 2nd Ideal: “I swear to seek justice, to let it guide me until I find a more perfect Ideal.” and “I will put the law before all else” It's about making a commitment to justice, a promise to follow a higher authority than your own biases. Notably, unlike the next, this ideal gives the flexibility to try out different codes and rules of ethics. A 2nd level Skybreaker is working to eliminating biases and exploring different ethical frameworks. 3rd Oath of Dedication Here the Skybreaker makes a commitment to a specific external code/authority. It could be a person (Dalinar) or it could be "the law of the land" or anything. The Skybreaker has explored what exists and chosen a code they think is most just. 4th Ideal of Crusade I think this is supposed to function as a test of the code they’ve chosen to follow, like a practical version of thought experiments like the Trolley problem. The Radiant has to see how the code they’ve chosen applies to a real-world situation they have a deep personal investment in. It’s both a test of the Skybreaker (how well can you ignore your own bias to apply a code) and also a test of the law they’ve chosen to follow (does it actually work in the real world). 5th Ideal of Law The Skybreaker has gained such an in-depth understanding of ethics and proven ability to ignore bias that they grow beyond the need for an external guide and ‘become the law’. This is were they synthesize everything learned through the other ideals and formulate their own set of ethics. Side Note: An example of a case where a Skybreaker might make a “better” (at least to my view) decision than a Windrunner would be Kaladin’s WOR dilemma. Both a Skybreakers and Windrunner would have a similar problem: help my friend get justice vs. support the assassination of someone I’m guarding. The Windrunner (Kaladin) is supposed to protect people, and people therefore either fall into the ‘protect’ or ‘protect from’ category. Elhokar ends up getting slotted into the ‘protect’ category and Moash into ‘protect from’. He saves someone’s life temporarily but ultimately does nothing to help the underlying issue. Elhokar never has to confront what he did to Moash and Moash still wants blood. A Skybreakers is supposed to find justice. Elhokar doesn’t deserve to die for negligence and being a bad leader but Moash was truly wronged and has valid complaints. To be just would balance that Elhokar both deserves to live but also to be punished. A good (not modern) Skybreaker could better equipped to take in the grey areas of issues. In short, Skybreakers play the role of the legal system while Windrunners are more like first responders. The Windrunner keeps people from being murdered but a Skybreaker's role is to figure out how it got to the point of murder in the first place.
  7. So I’ve been bouncing this idea around for a while, and finally decided to type it up. So we know that Pattern bonded Shallan when she was younger, to the point that she could summon her shardblade (to kill her mum). After this she regresses somehow, possibly due to her self-forgetting stuff. Another example we know much less about is Tien, Kaladin’s younger brother. We don’t know a lot about what he did in Amaram’s army, but it is implied that he had reached a point in his Ideals that caught the attention of the Skybreakers enough that Nale felt he needed to be eliminated. I personally think he was at the first Ideal, but have little proof to back that up. So: what are the common threads in these two young lives? My theory: not their own lies, but the lies of those around them. We know that (Pattern at least) Cryptics are very curious about humans. Lyrin was hiding the gem theft, and we know that this caused a lot of strife in Hearthstone. Shallan’s mother was involved somehow with the Skybreakers before her death, and Lin was dealing with political issues (or was that just after Shallan’s mum died?) as well as dealing with debts. Also maybe the Ghostbloods. We know that Pattern is interested in the lies of people besides Shallan. Shallan and Tien are both “the light” of their respective households. The Lightweavers have been described as the “spiritual sustainers” of the Radiants. They are both artistic, and very curious about the world around them. If Cryptics are the spren of natural forces and the laws of nature, the interests of the spren and the knight would align in this. A few other parallels I don’t think are relevant: Shallan and Tien each have depressed older brothers. They are both interested in the creatures around them. They like gentle rains. Please point out anything that I’ve missed!
  8. In OB did we see any skybreakers mention having shardplate or getting shardplate ?
  9. From the album: Fanart

    Another version of my picture of Szeth with some fancy stormlight and Nightblood effects.
  10. From the album: Fanart

    I had this piece in my mind for far too long and I'm so happy I finally came around drawing it!
  11. "This Ideal is also called the Ideal of Crusade, and requires that a Skybreaker undertake a personal quest and complete it to the satisfaction of their highspren. Once completed, the Skybreaker is elevated to the rank of master."- The Coppermind. So what are all of your personal quests? Have some fun with it! I will cleanse my room of all disorder, so long as my procrastination agrees. -Zallek Windblade
  12. In Oathbringer we see Szeth and some other Skybreaker 'squires'/hopefuls progress from squire to a Knight Radiant. We've also seen Bridge Four having squires under Kaladin and some of them became Windrunners themselves. It struck me that there's a huge difference between the process of how the Skybreakers and Windrunners we've seen become squires and (full) Radiants after that. Gathering facts: (I will assume that Szeth follows the standard Skybreaker procedure) Kaladin is able to breathe in Stormlight after he speaks his First Ideal, but Szeth is only able to breathe in Stormlight after he speaks his Second Ideal. In all cases we've seen the Radiant speaks his/her Ideal to his/her spren, but when a Skybreaker swears the First and Second Ideal it is accepted by higher members of the order, in other words: by humans. Kaladin and Shallan get squires (who can breathe in Stormlight and can Surgebind without their own spren) out of people whom they see as part of their group. Skybreakers can only Surgebind and breathe in Stormlight after they speak the Second Ideal, but they still don't have their own Spren at that moment. Kaladin thinks of Bridge Four as 'his men' no matter if they're squire or not, but Skybreaker master wait to accept a squire as 'their apprentice' until the squire has sworn the Second Ideal. Windrunners bond a spren with the First Ideal, but Skybreakers bond a spren with the Third Ideal. In both orders a squire seems to be more likely to attract a spren than a non-squire. My interpretation: I think that Skybreaker hopefuls are trained to have the characteristics and personality of a full Skybreaker in order to be more likely to attract an own highspren. If my theory is correct, nothing really happens when a Skybreaker swears his First and Second Ideal, but they will be living up to the Ideals they have already sworn. After speaking the Second Ideal a Skybreaker master is willing to accept a hopeful as his/her squire, and for that reason they get access to Surgebinding and Stormlight from that point onwards (if only when their master is near). This way Skybreakers can already begin their training before they have even started to attract a spren, but will probably impress a highspren sooner or later because of this training. Then we see Szeth bond his highspren. But hey ...!? Didn't he swear his Third Ideal at that moment? Yes he did. This would mean that Szeth actually only became a squire at his Second Ideal (before that he was just a hopeful), and when he finally bonded his highspren he instantaneously promoted from squire to full Radiant of the Third Ideal.
  13. From the album: General SA Art

    Law is light, and darkness does not serve it. Finally finished this! My favorite order other than the Lightweavers =) Highspren are just so cool! More KR lineup pieces to come!
  14. So do we have confirmation (via WoB) that Oathbringer was the Bondsmith book? Brandon has confirmed that just because a books flashback is about one character, doesn’t mean the Knights Radiant Order focused on in the book has to be theirs. My question stems from the fact that other than Dalinar’s whole Unity thing going on, which we don’t understand yet anyway, plus a little showcase of his Surges, how much info did we get about Bondsmiths in general. (As I write this I realize there were all the conversations about the Sibling, but still, not that much stuff) On the other hand, we learn ALOT about Nale and the Skybreakers, their training, their hierarchy, their mindset, their ideals. In fact, this is the only Order of Radiants that we’ve seen even hinting at the 5th ideal. I haven’t seen much about this but if I’m missing something, please fill me in
  15. So I was rereading era two and I thought wax would make a pretty awesome skybreaker. He said he always told on other children when they broke the rules and the fact that he is a lawman could make it work. Combining it with being a crasher would be amazing There will probably be mistborn spoilers and possible oathbringer spoilers since we see the skybreakers there
  16. From the album: Stormlight Archive desktop wallpapers

    I decided to create some more simplistic version of the different order wallpapers, starting with the Skybreakers.
  17. Epic matchup: Szeth Son Son Vallano V.R.S. Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, Black Widow, War Machine, Falcon, and Spider Man. Who do you guys think would win? In my opinion it would be Szeth, because he could just draw Nightblood and throw it at Hulk’s feet. Hulk would destroy the Avengers and Szeth would finish them off.
  18. Ok so I have a couple theories on some of the things that Division can do in the Stormlight Archive. •Rot: someone using Division could theoretically cause something to rot, mold and die. •Blasts of Stormlight: similar to how Kaladin fire blasts of adhesive Stormlight that causes people and things to stick to it, a Skybreaker/Dustbringer can in theory fire blasts of Stormlight that burn through any thing or person that it touches.
  19. So I want to talk about the Skybreakers. I know that they are conflicted because of their oaths, but it doesn't seem as straight forward as "we will support the parshmen as the lawful heirs of Roshar." I don't think that the Skybreakers are going to simply start taking orders from Odium. The Fused want to eliminate humanity from Roshar and Odium seems to have promised this to them. But it seems like Shinovar was given to the human so I can't see the Skybreakers supporting an Odium/Fused assault on Shinovar. The Aimians also seem to be native to Roshar, so I can't see the Skybreakers supporting Odium over the Aimians. There are humans with Parshendi heritage. I think that the Skybreakers will have trouble working against them. This includes the Horneaters, the Herazidans, and perhaps the Natanatans and even some of the people from Jah Keved. Odium is the interloping shard, Honor and Cultivation are in some sense the native shards, so it becomes difficult to support Odium over Honor and Cultivation. The translated stele says that the Parshendi were commanded by their gods to welcome the humans, that seems to legitimize human presence on Roshar. The Skybreakers are in a tough place, but I don't think that their oaths require them to support a genocidal campaign against the humans.
  20. So - let’s talk about the Skybreakers. They are all about the law. Nale has been convinced that the law he should be following in this conflict is that of the Singers (something that he wasn’t previously convinced of, but has later decided upon). This is terrible. And makes me think he needs Lift to hug him again. Why is this terrible? Because Odium. Odium has corrupted the singers, and by proxy their law. Much as he was corrupting the Alethi, but even more pervasively. But Nale is right in this - humans aren’t exactly innocents, and their laws aren’t necessarily trustworthy. Plus, the Singers ought to be treated fairly. So what does Nale need? He needs the Geneva Conventions. Less anachronistically, he and his Skybreakers need to get outside of the Singer/Human conflict and fight for true Justice. They need to fight against war crimes. They need to protect non-combatants and punish war criminals. In this way, they would support both the humans and the Singers while foiling Odium, because what does Odium crave? What does he inspire? Hate. And hate leads to war crimes (as war crimes lead to more hate). So we need Nale to get his head together and set up the International Court of Justice.
  21. So I was wondering why szeth didn't become a skybreaker a long time ago,and I must say I'm surprised even baffled that szeth hasn't yet bonded or at least attracted a highspren,given how that guy sticks with the law to the very end,hell even the order's patron was attracted to szeth and even invited him to the order,I know some people will object that no spren will choose szeth because some of the things that he does are evil even kaladin mentioned it,but I don't think the highspren will worry about that,skybreakers are all about following the law no matter what,their second ideal is "I will put the law before all else." And to szeth he is just following the laws of the shin. Skybreakers don't care if their actions seem evil or not right,if you break the law they will execute you without any hesitancy and with no mercy,look at how Nale for example executed ym because he unwittingly played a part in the poisoning and death of a person or how he wanted to execute lift (who's a child) for petty stealing,so I doubt skybreakers and highspren will bother much about szeth previous killings and assassinations because he was technically following the law Why do you think he doesn't have a spren? Or is that he has already attracted a spren but that the spren hasn't revealed itself to him yet? Like how syl was following kaladin since when he was in amaram's army but never revealed herself to him until he later became a slave in the wagon,personally I do think in my opinion that even if szeth doesn't have a spren now,he'll eventually attract one now that he has been officially invited to the order.
  22. Hey Sharders! Sorry about the title, it just feels right though. I know this theory has some holes in it. I can see some main ones myself. But I'm still going to post it. For me it started like this: Could the screams that Szeth hears be related to the screams of the dead Shardblades? I then thought that Szeth could have already been bonded to a spren, and that was why he heard screams. One of the things that go against this is that his Blade is not a spren, and therefore would not scream when he touches it. I also found a WoB that says directly that Szeth isn't bonded to a spren, so... Obviously, Szeth has had some emotional and mental trauma. (Hearing screams whenever you blink can do that to a person.) Anyway, his Honorblade once belonged to a Herald who had to go to a place of pain and torture between Desolations. Could this mean that his Blade "remembers" the pain and makes it's wielder hear screams? That's one idea. Another is that when Honor died, the Honorblades suffered and now scream, or something like that. In short it's like this: He hears screams because he's already bonded to a spren. (I'm pretty sure this one is false) He hears screams because he mentally unstable and his Blade had decided to be reminiscent. (More plausible than the first one) The Honorblades were somehow broken or are suffering now that Honor is dead. (Also plausible) Let me know what you guys think.
  23. A Rosharan Political Analysis: Secret Societies Ghostbloods, Diagramists, Skybreakers, Sons of Honor, Envisagers, Stone Shamans, Ardentia The following is intended to be a comprehensive guide on known secret societies on Roshar, especially ones interfering in The Stormlight Archive. Due to the complexity and excessive number of such societies, this will hopefully be a useful reference for newcomers, confused fans, and those that want to double check or reference any information. If you note any inaccuracies or things that I missed, feel free to let me know so that I can update the information to be as accurate as possible. The Ghostbloods: The Ghostbloods are the most encountered secret society with the least information given. As Mraize told Shallan at the end of Words of Radiance, we know next to nothing about the Ghostbloods or their purpose. We can, however, make some educated approximations, and codify the information we have been given. · Jasnah Kholin: She and the Ghostbloods seem to be engaged in a policy of mutual assassination; but unfortunately we don’t know the history or reasons behind this. · Sons of Honor: There seems to be a specific rivalry between the Ghostbloods and the Sons of Honor. The Ghostbloods have a keen interest in Amaram at the Shattered Plains, and Iyatil tried to assassinate him at the end of Words of Radiance (most likely, she has at least one nonlethal poison); Amaram also suspected the Ghostbloods of sending Helaran as the Shardbearer to kill him, though later evidence indicates that it was really the Skybreakers. Gavilar’s two suspects for his assassination were Thaidakar (probable leader of the Ghostbloods) and Restares (probable leader of the Sons of Honor). Both are also seeking maps and Urithiru. · Maps and Urithiru: The Ghostbloods have an uncanny interest in maps. (This is not singular to the Ghostbloods; the Sons of Honor, Parshendi, and others seem to have the same interest.) Either they (as well as the others) are putting plenty of effort into the search for Urithiru (as seems likely), or the maps have something else of interest. · Taravangian and Tukar: Mraize, in his conversation with Raspy Voice, seemed to indicate that he thinks Taravangian and the Diagram of little importance. Either he is unaware of the Diagram or its extent, or the Diagram is of less importance than we are led to believe. In the same conversation, he speaks of a “creature in Tukar” that is either not human or not of the local species. As pointed out, this is likely the "god-priest, Tezim," leading the Tukari in the conflict over Sesemalex Dar. · Worldhoppers: Secret conversations, key props, the Diagram, and Words of Brandon confirm that Mraize and Iyatil are worldhoppers. The conversation Shallan overheard in Chapter 54 of Words of Radiance seems to indicate that there may be at least one other. A person with a raspy voice. Conspiracy theory! Dreok Crushthroat! The Ghostbloods could, therefore, be a Cosmere-wide organization in either membership, expanse, or at least information. Significant Members: · Mraize: A man who, on first sight, reminds Shallan of Hoid. He is twisted an scarred, fixates on courage (in his first conversation with Shallan), and likes to use local weapons to learn of different cultures. He is the ward of Iyatil, and a worldhopper. In fact, Adrotagia wondered (in her annotations to the Diagram) if he was the “wanderer Taravangian spoke of. · Iyatil: She is considered the “babsk” of Mraize. The only other babsk we see is Vstim, and from Rysn we learn that the babsk is considered the parent of the apprentice, in charge of “rearing” them to be a full trader. I am not sure how this relationship works with the Ghostbloods. She has an orange carapace mask she refuses to remove, is a skilled actress, and is also a worldhopper. · Tyn: An expert con artist that took Shallan under her wing. She was in league with the Ghostbloods but may not have been an actual member. She was in charge of the operation to assassinate Jasnah Kholin. Shallan killed her with her Shardblade when Tyn discovered her identity and tried to kill her. · Thaidakar: This appears to be a leader or high ranking member of the Ghostbloods (he is spoken of in conjunction with the Ghostbloods in a way that implies he is the head of the organization by Amaram in The Way of Kings, and Words of Radiance reaffirms a Ghostblood position, with the term “Master Thaidakar” used by Mraize. Gavilar suspected Thaidakar for his assassination, telling him that he was “too late;” though Restares (a Son of Honor) and Sadeas were also suspects. We have no other information at the moment. Lin Davar: Father of Shallan and Helaran (along with three other siblings). He assumed the blame for the deaths of Shallan's mother and her friend in order to preserve the secret of Shallan's Radiancy and the fact that Shallan had killed them (albeit in self-defense). He grew politically ambitious, increasing House Davar's importance and preparing to make a bid for Highprince, but making enemies and alienating allies. His steward, Luesh, was his intermediary with the rest of the Ghostblood organization, which had been backing his bid for the Highprince succession and had loaned him the Soulcaster. He was killed by Shallan when he tried to kill Nan Balat during one of his rages. Luesh: Steward to Lin Davar and his intermediary with the Ghostbloods as they backed him politically. He was trained to use a Soulcaster. He (purportedly) died in his sleep after Lin's death, while Shallan was in Kharbranth. Kabsal: A Ghostblood posting as a Kharbranthian Ardent. He befriended and fell in love with Shallan, but his main purpose was to assassinate Jasnah Kholin. He died from poisoned bread during the assassination attempt after Jasnah inadvertently Soulcast the antidote. Shallan: Following Jasnah's "death," Shallan's encounter with Tyn, and her arrival at the Shattered Plains, Shallan infiltrated the Ghostblood organization under the alias Veil. She was ultimately admitted as a full Ghostblood member, but her true identity was ultimately discovered. Despite this, Mraize still offered her the membership. "Let Shallan Davar be a Radiant, conformist and noble. Let Veil come to us. And let her find truth." Interesting quote (from Mraize's conversation with Shallan at the end of Words of Radiance): "Your family [the Davar's] has a long history of involvement in these events." The Sons of Honor: The Sons of Honor are a group of Vorin extremists. Fortunately (or unfortunately), we see a lot of them through the interactions and investigations of Amaram, especially from Words of Radiance. (Ironically, the English singular – Son of Honor – is only one letter away from perfect Rosharan symmetry, a good Vorin name.) Their purpose is to return the Desolations in order to bring back the Heralds and restore the Heirocratic dominance of Old Vorinism. While obviously misguided and misinformed, and seemingly unimportant, they still manage to kick up quite the storm. Restares: We know little more of Restares than we do of Thaidakar. The apparent leader of the Sons of Honor, all we truly know is that he is Amaram’s superior, one of Gavilar’s murder suspects, and that his cronies were “close,” according to Mraize, presumably to finding Urithiru. He is usually mentioned in context with Thaidakar. He is the individual to whom Amaram sent his progress report at the end of Words of Radiance. Amaram: A devout Son of Honor, he has been seeking Heralds (namely the “person who calls himself Taln), gathering maps (presumably seeking Urithiru), and trying to get the Parshendi to transform into Voidbringers. While he has garnered much dislike in the novels and among fans for murdering Kaladin’s men and being generally dishonorable, I feel he is no worse (and absolutely no better) than many of the other misguided, semi-antagonistic members of such secret societies; while he is more misguided than most, he honestly feels he is doing what is best for Roshar, without regard to himself, but has a very destination-before-journey mindset that is common in similar individuals (Taravangian, Mraize, and even Hoid to an extent). The Diagramists: The most appreciated and generally understood secret organization, the society of the Diagram is the prime example of “Destination before Journey,” summarized by the Catechism of the Back of the Flowered Painting: Q: What cost must we bear? A: The cost is irrelevant. Mankind must survive. Our burden is that of the species, and all other considerations are but dust by comparison On the night of his death, Gavilar confided in King Taravangian of Kharbranth, telling him of his visions of the Almighty. Following this, Taravangian sought out the Nightwatcher, asking for the capacity to save humankind. The result? Daily intelligence fluctuations, inversely connected with compassion levels. Then came one “singular day of unparalleled brilliance,” “making connections no man had ever before made”: The Diagram. Information written in an alien script (devised by Taravangian that day to express information more clearly) all over Taravangian’s bedroom, with a key fortunately carved into his table; now codified (in its original form) for more practical use. Although Taravangian’s Interlude maintains that he did not truly see into the future, the Diagram has made “eerily accurate” (though not entirely infallible) predictions of the results of specific actions necessary to unite the world (under Taravangian) to resist the Desolation, as his interpretation of Gavilar’s visions required: “You must become king. Of everything.” Quotes: · Inaccuracies: The Diagram, while startlingly accurate, has been off about a few things, more so the farther into the future it goes. Taravangian hopes for another day of equivalent intelligence to revamp the Diagram, but Adrotagia’s calculations declare this to be unlikely. Therefore, the current method is to use Death Rattles, little precognitive phrases uttered by the dying, created by Moelach (according to the Diagram, one of the Unmade) and powered by the “spark of life itself.” Two problems thus arise: First, that the Diagram is gradually decreasing in accuracy; Second, that the method of updating the Diagram is controlled by an evil, powerful being most likely a Splinter of Odium. These could have interesting future ramifications. · Death Rattles: · Sleepers: These are members of the Diagramist group, likely a term for a specific type of undercover agent. “Wake every Alethi sleeper we have; send every agent in the area.” These may include Graves and his men. · Silent Gatherers: These Diagramists are headed by Joshor and are in charge of murdering the terminally ill in the Kharbranthian hospitals in order to find and record as many Death Rattles as possible to augment the Diagram. Members: · Taravangian: King of Kharbranth and now Jah Keved, Taravangian was the confidante of Gavilar Kholin on his final night. After seeking out the Nightwatcher, he received the boon of intelligence fluctuation and created the Diagram on a day of unparalleled genius (as explained above). Through his occasional brilliance, he is able to interpret the Diagram and is the leader of the society. “Besides, in dealing with the Diagram, he might not remember what he had written or why – but there were echoes sometimes.” · Adrotagia: Head of Taravangian’s scholars and his boyhood friend. Following Taravangian, she probably knows the most about the Diagram. · Mrall: Taravangian’s bodyguard, in charge of determining his capacity to serve in public on a daily basis. A peculiar figure, he claims to be able to “change emotions on a whim,” such as ceasing to take pleasure in suffering. · Graves: A self-styled Alethi patriot and a Shardbearer, he was in charge of the group trying to assassinate King Elhokar. He is now fleeing the Shattered Plains. Through the assassination attempt, he recruited Moash to their cause. · Szeth-son-son-Vallano: Truthless of Shinovar, the Assassin in White. An explanation should be unnecessary. From the middle of The Way of Kings to the end of Words of Radiance, he is under the control of Taravangian and acts on his orders. The Skybreakers: The name originally applied to an order of the Knights Radiant. Whether they remain so, are the organizational remnant of what used to be Radiants, are Radiants ("This act of great villainy went beyond the impudence which had hitherto been ascribed to the orders; as the fighting was particularly intense at the time, many attributed this act to a sense of inherent betrayal; and after they withdrew, about two thousand made assault upon them, destroying much of the membership; but this was only nine of the ten, as one said they would not abandon their arms and flee, but instead entertained great subterfuge at the expense of the other nine."), or merely share the same name and Heraldic leader remains unknown. In any case, they are a group headed by Nalan, Herald of Justice. They do seem to “put the law above all else,” though laws are twisted to suit their needs, and they certainly have a proliferation of Shardblades; however, their actions do not seem Radiant-worthy and they seem to be trying to assassinate – pseudolegally, of course – Surgebinders along the path to Radianthood, all in the name of preventing another Desolation. The best knowledge comes from the Interludes of Ym and Lift, along with Szeth’s portion of chapter 88 of Words of Radiance. I hope for a vast increase of information with the release of the next book (such as the information and references in The Way of Kings versus those in Words of Radiance.) · Nalan’elin: “Nin” to Szeth, almost certainly Darkness to Lift and the man in Ym’s story; Herald of Justice, Divine Attributes of Just and Confident. We don’t know what the years since Aharietiam have truly done to the Heralds, though they seem to be “doing worse.” This one has gained a penchant for assassinating Surgebinders and (Jezerezah only knows what else he’s been up to! I’ll leave it up to your imagination). · Szeth-son-Neturo: Once again, the Assassin in White needs little introduction. Now he has and a mission to bring justice to the leaders of the Shin, and he is learning at the feet of a dangerous Herald who may or may not be just as unstable as Szeth. · Helaran: Shallan’s oldest brother apparently “sought out the Skybreakers,” presumably where he received his Shardblade and Plate. Taravangian and Adrotagia considered him a possible tutor of Shallan in her Surgebinding. Nothing else is known, despite Shallan’s flashbacks (I am beginning to tire of saying that. I expect some good information from the third book!) The Envisagers: A cult, as Teft called them, that “believed in the Radiants, Heralds, and Old Vorinism; especially Old Vorinism.” They believed that if they could return the Voidbringers, it would bring back the Knights Radiant (comparable to the Sons of Honor in the preceding respects). They believed that if they put their members in mortal danger, they would manifest Surgebinding powers – a Snapping concept, of sorts. None did, but many (including Teft’s mother) died trying. Teft turned the Envisagers in to his citylord, who executed them all. If other groups exist, he (and we) is unaware. NOTE: This concludes the section on all known secret societies – at least, those known to be secret societies. The two following are potential candidates once more information is known; as things stand, any accusations of ulterior goals remain theorization. I hope the information is helpful, regardless. The Ardentia: The Vorin ardentia are the religious officials that remain after the Sunmaker destroyed the Heirocracy and Old Vorinism. While they lack the overwhelming political power they had previously, they are extraordinarily well placed to be a massive secret society in the Vorin nations of the East: ardents include cutting-edge scientists, scholars with access to practically all of the Eastern world’s knowledge (especially the Palanaeum), politicians (though they technically aren’t supposed to be), religious authorities and advisors, fighters, Shard-trained soldiers, and Soulcasters – in fact, they control all known Soulcasting fabrials. They seem too suspicious and well-positioned, especially with the fact that they once controlled the major Vorin nations. Stone Shamans and the Shin: I hesitated to include these, but the information, while mildly speculative and not truly a secret society, could still be of use. Stone Shamans seem to be the leaders of the Shin – certainly of their religion, which worships the spren of stone. They have the Honorblades and have kept them safe “for millennia” – likely since the Last Desolation. Szeth mentions eight of the nine, specifically (though he wasn’t terribly surprised with the fabricated news that one was stolen), and we have WOB that a Herald came back for his. Unfortunately, insofar as I know, we lack a time indicator – whether it was immediately following the Desolation, before Szeth’s expulsion, or afterwards is unknown, and the latter would mean that there is another unaccounted Honorblade. Presumably, the Stone Shamans use them, for they would have been able to retrieve the Honorblade following Szeth’s death in normal circumstances (whether they will try or succeed to regain the Honorblade from the new Knights Radiant remains to be seen) – though how this reconciles with the societal abhorrence of weapons and soldiery is unknown. Regardless, we know Szeth plans to “face enemies with Shards and with power.” Besides the ownership of the Honorblades (and potentially other Shards), however, is the potential knowledge, both generally held and that discovered by Szeth, leading to his naming as Truthless. Unfortunately, all that we know is very vague and will likely remain so until Szeth visits Shinovar or we see his flashbacks. Regardless, we can extrapolate from the few glimpses Szeth does give us, namely in Interlude 9 of The Way of Kings and phrases screamed while fighting Kaladin. Something made Szeth believe that the Radiants and Voidbringers had returned. He told others, probably the Stone Shamans, but was convinced or forced - despite what he claims his honor demanded - to become Truthless. (I am of the opinion that he was forced religiously, and he complied in the name of law and order, which Nalan claimed Szeth worshipped - “They told me I was Truthless,” emphasis added, and “There was no place for him in the Valley of Truth,” a name that seems to imply religious significance. There is also an interesting dichotomy following his acceptance of his station; while “his honor demanded” that the Voidbringers existed despite the fact that “his punishment declared that they did not,” the appearance of Kaladin as a budding Radiant made Szeth question his nature as Truthless until Taravangian’s explanation forced him to remain in his place.) Along with a possible knowledge of Radiants and Voidbringers, Szeth recognizes a Herald on sight (albeit by a different name than they are called in Vorin nations), and he knows more about Surgebinding than the Ars Arcanum from The Way of Kings and arguably that of Words of Radiance, despite Shinovar’s lack of access to Stormlight. They also had a knowledge of Urithiru. It will be very interesting to learn more of the Shin in future novels. Honorable mention: These are groups that deserve notice but lack requisite information for full consideration. Worldsingers: An order that travels across Roshar, "spreading knowledge of cultures, peoples, thoughts, and dreams; bringing peace through understanding." They claim that their charge to do so came directly from the Heralds. Related to the Worldbringers of Terris and probably founded by Hoid, Hoid is a member and was the mentor to Sigzil, graduating him during The Way of Kings. Veristitalians: A group of scholars that seeks to find the truth of what has happened in the past, such as finding natural explanations for supernatural phenomena and discovering unbiased history. Jasnah is a prominent member. Stormwardens: A group of make scholars finding loopholes in Vorin restrictions. They mathematically predict highstorms, use glyphs as a written phonetic script, etc. Several stormwardens have been involved with secret societies, but nothing indicates that the organization as a whole is. Vanrial: Am order of artists at Silent Mount in Jah Keved, responsible for preserving the full text of The Way of Kings throughout the Hierocracy. Each year they sing songs believed to be in the Dawnchant, of which Dalinar's visions seem to be giving a translation. Oldbloods: The descendants of the dynasty that once, long ago, ruled Alethkar. They mark themselves with blue tattoos on the cheek. Teleb, a Kholin highofficer and ultimately a Shardbearer, is an Oldblood. "In Yulay, there are groups of people who talk of the Radiants. And wish for their return." This quote from Sigzil may refer to the Envisagers or a separate group. I hope that this compilation is helpful. If you note any inaccuracies or know of anything I overlooked, any and all help is appreciated – I mean this to be a full, complete resource for anyone that could use it. Thank you! Edit 1: Updated the Ghostblood information, switching Iyatil for Mraize (as the assassin fit Amaram), added nonlethal poison as an option, fixed ambiguity of worldhopper status for Mraize and Iyatil, fixed "creature in Tukar," and added Lin Davar, Luesh, Kabsal, and Shallan/Veil. Edit 2: Added Worldsingers, Veristitalians, Stormwardens, Vanrial, Oldbloods, and Yulay groups.
  24. Several months ago I posted a theory on what the surges of Cohesion and Tension do. Here is a link to that post, but I'll sum it up below: Cohesion: Weaken, or even dissolve the intermolecular bonds within a substance. Tension: Strengthen the bonds within a substance However, this theory has a major problem: the actual force of cohesion (wikipedia page) holds substances together, while in my theory Cohesion breaks them apart. Also, my idea for the Surge of Tension doesn't have much to do with what Tension actually is. (and the Coppermind page says that it alters the stiffness of an object.) So, here is my new theory for what the Surges of Cohesion, Division, and Tension do: Cohesion: Strengthen the intermolecular/atomic bonds within a substance or object. Example uses: - Create a wall of solid air by strengthening the bonds between the air molecules. - Make your armor virtually impregnable by strengthening the metallic bonding. Tension: Make a substance stiffer--increase its tension Example uses: - Stiffen a carpet, allowing people to walk on it--and then when they've fallen for your trap, release it, and watch them fall into your strategically located pit. - Walk on water by increasing its surface tension Division: Weaken, or even dissolve the bonds that hold an object together. The opposite of Cohesion. Example uses: - Weaken the intermolecular bonds that hold your enemies together, and watch them dissolve into piles of sludge. - Destroy the bonds that hold a wall together, allowing you to walk right through. That's my new theory. Please reply with feedback, speculation, and/or possible uses for these powers.
  25. So, I've put this idea out in passing on some other threads, and thought that such an important event deserved its own thread. Basically, who tried to kill Amaram on the battlefield? Who was Helaran working for? Now, the two most likely options, based off of textual evidence between WoK and WoR, are the Skybreakers and the Ghostbloods. After the assassination, Amaram mentions the Ghostbloods as the prime suspects. However, Mraize tells Shallan that Helaran had looked for the Skybreakers. Personally, my feeling is that Helaran was working for Nalan and the Skybreakers, and I will explain why. First off, the Skybreakers definitely have the resources to get a shardblade and plate, as Nalan is carrying one around with him. Even if that is actually Nalan's honorblade, which it might be, it would provide the Skybreakers with the capabilities to forcefully take another blade and plate, which Szeth could have done 10 times with Jezrien's honorblade. Second, the evidence does not suggest that the Ghostbloods want to kill Amaram. Instead, the evidence suggests that they want to capture him, and Helaran's charge does not suggest that the be the intent. The poison dart at the end of WoR was coated with a paralysis poison, not a fatal one. Now, some people may ask "Why would Nalan want to kill Amaram? He's busy killing surgebinders!". Nalan is not simply killing surgebinders, he is attempting to prevent a desolation from occurring, and surgebinding causes (or Nalan thinks it causes) desolations to occur. Not so incidentally, Amaram and the Sons of Honor are attempting to start a new desolation to cause the Heralds to return, and appeared to be attempting to drive the Parshendi to adopt stormform (perhaps Restares supplied Venli with the stormspren?). This would be more than enough reason for Nalan to arrange for a special kill. To be clear, Nalan could not have killed Amaram himself. Nalan is a constable in Azir, and likely holds similar positions in all the kingdoms and provinces of those kingdoms, meaning that Amaram would be off-limits to him, since he did not commit a crime. However, a random member of the Skybreakers with no prior affiliation to Amaram would have free reign to... say... join an army that Amaram happened to be fighting at the time, bring some shards, ride into battle, then make a beeline for Amaram and kill him. Essentially, Helaran was said Skybreaker. As for why Nalan didn't make another attempt on Amaram's life, that's easy. Amaram's leg was completely shattered. In fact, his bridge run with Sadeas was almost certainly his first combat action since the injury, so Nalan didn't have another opportunity to kill him in battle. In addition, Nalan likely did not know about Kaladin, or else he likely would have executed Amaram immediately. And for the final reason, Amaram and Sadeas were fighting together, and it would be too risky to attack multiple shardbearers and risk even more of the Skybreaker's resources. And there we go. Who agrees with my "Nalan sent Helaran to kill Amaram on the Battlefield" theory? Who disagrees? Who has any new culprits that could have pulled off the attempt? Please discuss! Edit: Oudeis suggested that Helaran's intent may not have actually been to kill Amaram. I do not believe this to be the case. Amaram's leg got pinned by Helaran. A slightly different position easily could have severed an artery and killed Amaram. For a capture mission, that would have way too large of a risk of killing him.
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