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I was thinking about the timeline of the magic coming back in stormlight and I think we are missing something there, atleast I am. We have different events happening at different times which maybe related. Firstly, the breaking of Taln. Do we have an approximate idea as to when this happened? I assumed this happened pretty close to the end of WoK when he makes an appearance, do we know for a fact from some WoB that it is (or isn't) so? (The fact that Hoid was right there leads more in the favor of yes) Next, we have the Stormfather sending out visions to Gavilar (and maybe someone other people before that). How long has this been happening? Surely not since the Honor's death. I figured it was a more recent occurrence but I don't think there's anything in the books to confirm that except for the fact that we haven't had any bondsmiths since. But that is neither here nor there. Then we have the first spren venturing over and forming bonds (Pattern and Ivory). The first I think was pattern since Shallan was eleven when her mother discovered that she was a radiant (and she probably already had shardblade then for all we know). Jasnah was also pretty close behind. More recently, we have Syl and the rest. Then we have the mysteries surrounding Szeth. He was branded Truthless because he predicted the voidbringers would return? How the hell did he know that? This was before Gavilar's assassination, presumably before Pattern came over. Assuming the breaking of Taln didn't happen six years ago (which is very reasonable), I think it suffices to say that there was a different event that happened that triggered the spren coming back and it seemed to have happened around 8 years ago (I got that number right from my behind, that is my earliest estimate for when pattern got to bond Shallan). I have nothing to support this, but I think it was the same event that led the Stormfather to send his visions out to the "worthy". I think it also has to be related to the weakening of the Oathpact and breaking of Taln since it wasn't too far in the future (8-10 years compared to 4500 years he was in Damnation). (Time is weird in the spiritual realm after all :P) Now, it could also be argued that the spren coming back was/is a gradual process slowly happening over the centuries but the proximity in time to the breaking of Taln seems to be too much of a coincidence. Easy way out is to say Brandon needed these events to happen for the plot, but Brandon is too good for that. I think we'll find more answers in Szeth's book. For all we know, it could be one of Gavilar's antics when he did something he did not intend (in the process of acquiring voidlight) and started out the chain reaction that is the Stormlight archive (Book 4 prologue weirdness). That would ironically mean that the Sons of Honor were successful after all. Anyway I have rambled on enough, what do you guys think?

I wonder if one of the important Shards on Roshar might actually be named Desolation, instead of, or in addition to, Odium. In the preview chapters for WoR, there are several instances where characters (mainly Darkness) refers to Desolation coming. Not "a" desolation, not "the" desolation, but Desolation, as in a proper-noun type entity. So, maybe Odium has evolved to Desolation, ala Harmony=Ruin+Preservation? Or Desolation is another Shard in the Greater Roshar area, coming to team-up? Curious as to what everyone's thoughts are. ***** EDIT: Thanks for the feedback! I posted below (http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/5897-odium-or-desolation/#entry94384) with an updated theory, and updated post title from "Odium or Desolation?" to "Odium, Desolation, and Recreance"