Geniuses Wanted- Well Read Sanderfans -with restrictions

[1stBondsmith]

Well met, my bold Friends! This thread is going to be very different from others we have seen. I ask that you abide the rules of the thread to make it more enjoyable for all. The thread topic is: 

THEORIZED PLOT TWISTS FOR FUTURE COSMERE STORIES

Specifically, Share your ideas about the upcoming plot twists for the yet to be published books or beyond. 

Here is the goal and hope of this thread:

1. To have a place to share ideas or hopes for characters that are not going to be shot down by fellow readers, so that we all can get a new perspective. After several rereads, we tend to get very opinionated.

2. Using our collective brilliance, and the fact that we know Peter and Brandon peruse our musings on occasion, try to outguess planned changes to plots, OR drive new ideas to unwritten works, OR be able to smugly sit back and say "I predicted that on this date...", all of which bring amusement to the reader. It may also give us a larger number of RAFOs, but may raise Team Sanderson's opinion of our "Over Analyzing" his work.

3. Give us some deeper fun before the release of Stormlight 3, like rabid sports fans making fantasy leagues and betting playoff scores before the season starts.

4. Induce some of the more brilliant Sharders, past and present, to rejoin the discussion, and make us more cosmere-aware, without the fear of having to defend their ideas.

 

This leads us to...

THE RULES FOR THIS THREAD

1. All submittals should contain a plot prediction, or idea that involves the stories that are now cannon.

2. There will be NO reply to each others ideas in any form other than the upvote. Since they are all future predictions, any reply, retort, or rejoinder is not appropriate and should not be included. We want new, unproven ideas, without scaring off submitters who are afraid they do not remember details well enough, be called wrong by too many other people, or seem unpopular. We want a brainstorm as much as we fear the Everstorm! Because this could be interpreted poorly, even positive feedback needs to be restricted here. Use the upvote if you like the idea, like some part of it, or feel happy today. If it is close to your idea, you can say, "My idea is like so-and-so's, but with this twist" to save writing.

3. You can state why you think it will happen based on book quotes, Words of Brandon or other sources, but should not use them to respond to someone else's entry.

4. We are literature fans here, so we expect well thought out, clever, amusing or otherwise enlightened entries. Please use your best skills to share your ideas about the future books. If you have just a funny thought, make it witty when delivered. Remember, you only get to share the idea once, with no rejoinder or explanation, so edit well, then publish.

5. Any future plot or twist is fair game. It does not have to be in a planned book, or a plot ending for what we have read. It can be big like the Cosmere, or small like Vivinna has a baby boy. Just make it relevant, inciteful and entertaining, and having to do with the Cosmere worlds.

 

And with that, I will start the thread with a submission of my own:

In the SA, the end of the Second Arc will be the final driving of Odium from the greater Roshar System, but his defeat will come at the cost of several magic system elements, many lives, and the end of Kholin rule. The last Kholin standing will be the Champion mentioned, and with the help of Radiant orders on many fronts, will draw to a complete end the Oathpact, the mission and lives of the Heralds, and the destiny of the sword Nightblood. In Brandon's effort to avoid the Avengers-like megawar,  nearly all the world-hoppers we know will have left Roshar to avoid its final demise. Two of the World-hoppers will not make it off, and one will die (Vasher) and one will witness the end, (likely Kriss or Nazh). The second Arc will also see the release of all spirits in Silence's world, who will also take part in the Final battle for what will ironically be no longer Tranquiline Halls. Finally, Honor will remain shattered, and Cultivation will be unrestricted, bringing life to a world now devoid of Highstorms, and seeking solace for her missing love. Also, Taravangian dies at the end of the first arc, but the Diagram organization drives blindly forward, a continuous thorn in the Radiants' progress.

 

Please, add your Genius below!

Edited October 25, 2016 by 1stBondsmith
grammar

[PallonianFire]

Autonomy is Trell. I won't go into all the details here because this has been hashed over so many times already, but I'll add one more prediction:

The reason Taldain is currently inaccessible for worldhopping is because Autonomy has divested himself from Taldain and is trying to move onto Scadrial. There's no perpendicularity left on Taldain to transfer from Realm to Realm.

[1stBondsmith]

Another...

Hoid, working against Oduim's purpose, gets caught by the shards on Roshar, He had eluded them well in the past, but made the mistake of working too long with and caring about the people on Roshar too much, thus increasing his Connection and bringing him to Cultivation and Odium's attention. Far from being insignificant to them, Hoid is forced to fight or flee, and the second wins out; at great cost to Roshar. His flute must be found, before he goes, and at least one last story with Kaladin will happen. On his way out, Hoid throws a final useful tool to Dalinar, (and because he has perfect pitch), it is received and used to great advantage in the conflict.

Edited October 25, 2016 by 1stBondsmith
grammar

[What's a Seawolf?]

At least some of the main characters in Mistborn Era 2 will be in Era 3, and roughly the same ages as they are in Era 2.  This will be done by Marasi learning how to create a massive time bubble, effectively transporting herself and others to the future.

The Era 2 characters may not be mains in Era 3, but their presence will be felt.

The impetus for this could be many things, but I think most probable are to help Harmony ward off some future threat that cannot be dealt with at the present, to complete an investigation that cannot be completed in the presence, or to guarantee the future generation has critical knowledge that is gleamed in Era 2 book 4.

Also, Wayne becomes and Kandra and starts worldhopping with MeLaan.  (I don't actually believe this, Wayne probably is most likely to die in Era 2 book 4, but I would love to see him and MeLaan worldhopping around.)

[1stBondsmith]

The Shin, lead by the Stone Shamans, must now face the truth of the Radiants' return. This leads all the Shin to question the dogma taught to them. As they discover the powers the Radiants will possess, including the ability to heal the spiritual wounds of shardblades, the collaps of their religion ensues. Their religion has beliefs that the Honorblades alone could grant these powers, and that all the rest were fabrications created by the Historians or Ardents to promote Vorinism. Revolts in Shin lead to a diaspora where Stones once thought hallowed are trodden underfoot regularly, and Truthless now are widely known. Shinovar looses its protection from the Highstorms and most life there is wiped out. Zeth's sad "I told you so", is heard by no one else.

Edited October 25, 2016 by 1stBondsmith
Spelling

[Pagerunner]

This is a phenomenal idea. I like to slip in my baseless conjecture into other topics; I'll probably bookmark this. I love extreme speculation, and then being able to point back and say "Ha! I knew it! Please ignore all the other things I predicted that didn't happen"

So, here are my crazy thoughts:

• Stormlight
  • The ten main characters will become ten new Heralds. Taln and Ash will carry over to the new group; Ash might join another KR order, since Shallan is definitely our Lightweaver.
  • A new Shard will Invest in the Roshar system, either to assist Cultivation or to keep Odium trapped after she dies. I suspect Frost might be this Shard. Possibly Endowment, to go with existing Warbreaker connections.
  • Books set in the afterlife and the war there have well documented theories elsewhere, but I think they will be the main setting of the Back 5, with a major cataclysm happening at the end of Book 5 that might actually involve the end of the world and the destruction of the planet.
  • Odium cannot be destroyed - just look at Sel, the Shards are reforming. The series will end with his power being exiled from the Physical and Cognitive Realms, locked up in the Spiritual Realm, until it will eventually be taken out for the eventual reassembly of Adonalsium.
  • Nohadon is Ishar.
• Mistborn
  • One of the four unused Steel Alphabet symbols belongs to ettmetal. It is in a group of metals which interact with magic systems and Investiture, but cannot be burned/stored in/spiked.
  • The bad guy in the Modern trilogy will be a Mistborn assembled from Hemalurgy. A major trope in thrillers is for the hero cops to become the hunted; a serial killer going after their Allomantic powers would fit the bill quite nicely.
  • The Future trilogy will largely take place off of Scadrial. We did some Shardworld math elsewhere: 10 major Shardworlds, minus Scadrial, Sel, Nalthis, Roshar, Braize. Ashyn, Taldain, Yolen, leaves two main Shardworlds without a series in their systems. I think each of those two worlds will be the setting of a Future Mistborn novel, as the heroes try to deal with the Red Rip destroying the universe, with the third being the hunt for Yolen and the final solution to the Red Rip. (The Red Rip is distorting Shadesmar, meaning conventional space travel will be required instead of traditional worldhopping.) Recent WoBs on Yolen make me wonder if there is another major Shardworld in the system.
• Dragonsteel
  • I think we'll see a number of Shards killed on Yolen during Dragonsteel by Rayse, which will prompt the Shards to flee to other planets. This is also somewhat based on math: 16 Shards, minus Ruin, Preservation, Dominion, Devotion, Endowment, Honor, Cultivation, Odium, Autonomy, and [Worldless] leaves 6 Shards to go among 3 remaining Major Shardworlds, including Yolen. I think 1 per each of the two mystery Major Shardworlds is reasonable, and Frost on Yolen, leaves 3 other Shards that Odium has splintered. I suspect the Red Rip may be an amalgamation of these three Shards, which is why it is overpowering Odium; no one holds it, and whatever Intents drive the power are causing it to go haywire. Ambition is also not on a world, so that leaves 5. But Ambition may be part of the Red Rip; we don't know its ultimate fate.
• Aethers
  • The world the Aethers are from is one of the two unknown Major Shardworlds. Even though it does not have a series on the outline anymore (with many of its original elements going to Mistborn), it does have a Shard and does have a magic system. That's why Peter said Aethers are already canon - because their world will be visited in the Future Mistborn trilogy. It will be a very technologically advanced world.
  • As other series get more established, Aethers will begin to appear, being used by supporting Worldhopping characters. The magic system behind them will be extremely straightforward (LoP sample chapters, it was basically a symbiote in the hand) and will be useable anywhere in the cosmere, so it will fit easily into other series without needing a lot of explanation (unlike trying to place a Surgebinder on Scadrial or an Elantrian on Nalthis).
• Homeland
  • I think the other missing major Shardworld is Homeland. Justice, the Shard of Justice, died there from the Red Rip's influence, and the inhabitants fled to Threnody.
  • When they visit it in Future Mistborn, it will be a post-apocalyptic world the heroes need to escape from.
• Secret Books
  • As we've seen with Alcatraz, Brandon can keep a long con running about book number. He's told us the series he has planned for the Cosmere and their lengths, but I think he's lying to us. I don't think Mistborn 3 is the finale. I think there'll be a separate book or three that will serve as the true Cosmere finale, a total ballin' Conflux with Hoid leading people from every world to reassemble Adonalsium.
• Additional Shards
  • I've posted extensively elsewhere about how I view the Shards: as Divine Attributes, separated from the other aspects of God (Adonalsium) to become flawed caricatures of themselves.
  • Based on that, here are the other Shards I think we'll see:
    • Tribulation (God tests those he loves)
    • Justice (God gives people what they deserve)
    • Duality (God, who has revealed himself at various times in various ways)
    • Omniscience (Frost, staying on Yolen and observing, a.k.a. the Survival Shard; alternatively, a Shard that runs The Restaurant at the End of the Cosmere)
  • Oh, yeah, I think Silverlight is built around the second Shard that's not on a planet.

I think those are most of my crazy speculation... I don't have any for Warbreaker, Elantris, or White Sand, 'cause I've mostly thought about the backbone series for the cosmere. The other ones will be relevant, but probably not as big-picture. If I come up with any I've forgotten, I'll probably make a new post, and then edit this one for reference.

Edited Dec 13, 2016, for Arcanum Unbounded info and associated WoBs from the tour.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Pagerunner

[Landis963]

More Shards than just Harmony will change hands by the time all is said and done.   Dalinar will take the reins of Honor from the Stormfather, Vivenna will ascend to Endowment, and the Dor will be reforged into a new Shard, among others.  

[ScarletSabre]

My thought us that Harmony will give up his Shard to the protagonist or a main character of the Space Opera Era of Mistborn, and possibly return as Sazed the Feruchemist to join some kind of battle.

This is based entirely on the WOB from a book signing which is going to roughly be around book 8, where Harmony says "Then.... it is yours." Now this could simply be help, as he gave to Wax, but I choose to believe the much wilder, more interesting speculation

[1stBondsmith]

The Purelake, with its magical fish, amazing geography and Very interesting obsidian tower, will be very important. Its history and the reason for its strangeness hides a secret that effects worldhopping, and the Cosmere-wide "Big Stage" mentioned in the Secret History. The obsidian tower has ties to the Cognitive Realm, and the flowing of water before the Highstorm uncovers amazing places, but due to the storm, no one is there to see it. Our fisherman friend learns some of this and when he learns to trust a stranger, shares the knowledge.

[ArmbarBanker]

I thought we were getting a 3rd and 4th Mistborn series. 3rd taking place during a 1980's era and the 4th one a space opera. 

Sanderson has said that Hoid will be a main character in the Space Opera series but never mentioed that this will be the wrap up. I also think that if he has the time he will do a final book series warp up with everyone who is still alive

[1stBondsmith]

Tut, tut! A slight breach of protocol noted above. Were it not for the last sentence, I would have assumed this strayed into the "Response" category. For the integrity of the openness of the thread, please make no comments regarding other posts, even if you leave them unnamed.

However, I just noticed that this was your first post, and not wanting to appear less than neighborly, Have an upvote! Also, Have a nice cookie. I hear they are well spiked  Spiced.

Thank you.

Edited October 26, 2016 by 1stBondsmith
Welcome added

[kenod]

Jasnah and Renarin won't be doing a lot in the coming book. We maybe see a bit about their orders, but they won't do too much because they aren't the main characters in these five books.

More Radiants will come to Urithiru, but the influx of numbers will cause internal arguments between the orders (and maybe individuals) because of the differences between their oaths.

The leaders of the Radients will learn about the true nature of the Cosmere, or at least the part that is of influence to their situation on Roshar.

The first five books will end with the Desolation being won, but Odium still in power. They will win through a fight between champions, but because of this weird manner of winning (and maybe a deal/trick with Odium to give them more time) the Desolation will continue/a new one will come in the next five books.

[What's a Seawolf?]

The 5th Stormlight book will involve Kaladin (or another main character, but probably Kaladin) dying.  In the beginning of book 6 or end of book 5, he will awaken on Braize, and it will be revealed that the secret that broke the KR in the past is that KR's also go to Braize after death, similar to the Heralds.  (I'm assuming it has something to do with the Nahel Bond/Oathpact.)

Edited October 27, 2016 by What's a Seawolf?
Small grammer correction

[1stBondsmith]

Perpendicularities, the residual of a Shard travelling between Realms, will soon no longer be just the place where Worldhoppers traverse, but ,with the use of Urithiru's Oathgates, an unexpected influx of other-world travelers will occur. This will be both covert and by request of the travellers, and will form the basis of the entry of Roshar into the Cognitive expanse. Perpendicularities from the Horneater Peaks, to Cultivations pool, to the Selish pool and several others will not just be categoried by Chriss, but a full list given to Dalinar and Co. This ends up crossing purposes with several shards, who, angered by the now blatant commerce between worlds, work to close the perpendicularities, as was done on Yolen. This forces the space travel of the 4th Mistborn era, where Hoid has lept just prior to Roshar's forced closure. He accomplishes this though his relations with the Knights Radiant, and the use of Elsecalling (which is the last known way on or off the planets).  

Edited October 27, 2016 by 1stBondsmith
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[1stBondsmith]

Oh, the sad future of the Ardentia! The trusting Ardents who follow the tennets of Vorinism are about to learn that the highest in their order, (the Soulcasters), know good and well that Jasnah is right, and that their own intercourse with the Cognitive Realm is tepid at best. The reemergence of soulcasting by the Knights Radiant hits at the very foundation of their beliefs and undermines the revision of history undertaken by their masters before them. Thus, many are asked to fight against the new KR, and an internal war of religion vs. Radiants begins. Good, honest Ardents are torn, and as was shown in a previous interlude, revolution from within starts anew concerning the excesses of the church, the obvious doctrinal errors (lies), and we don't know where Ardents will ally themselves.

Soulcasters (the people) are found to be not just mutated, but become savants, with residual powers and soul damage. Their Ancient devices are soon replicated by Kolin fabrial engineers, and all out war is declared. Vorin people are called to fight against the Kholin-led Radiants, while lack of rulers elsewhere (thanks Szeth!) create new kingdoms and new allies. Taravangian himself sides with the Vorin Ardent faction "to preserve what we know is right and Holy". Knights Radiant are called Voidbringers, just to muddle things worse, but honest Ardents, and those revolting against the order, join the Radiant faction and work to proselyte for unity with the Radiants. A real mess!

[Blightsong]

Before my theory, a little lesson about the universe relevant to the theory!

Before the Big Bang the universe was packed into an extremely tiny, low entropy space that was very uniform and had very little complexity. After the Big Bang both entropy and complexity increased, creating galaxies, stars, planets, and life and shutting them in every direction. We are at a point of medium entropy and high complexity now, but as entropy increases even more complexity will begin to lower drastically again until there are no stars, planets, or life.

We recently learned that the reason investiture eventually becomes sentient is because Adonalsium had a goal/purpose/intent of bringing life to the Cosmere, but I think the answer is much more complex than that. I think that Adonalsium's intent are the laws of physics and that his vision was for investiture and the Cosmere to slowly enter a high entropy, low complexity stage where investiture would cease to form sentience/life.

My theory is that the Sixteen who shattered Adonalsium learned this and decided that the best course of action was to shatter Adonalsium, who they believed would let the universe die, and then use his power to maintain a high complexity moderate entropy universe. I also think that it is possible that this was part of Adonalsium's plan, and that he counted on his power being shattered as the natural order of things and as the natural progression of his power spreading out and existing in a higher entropy state. 

[What's a Seawolf?]

Vivenna dies in Warbreaker 2, and most likely because of Nightblood.

This is the event that causes Vasher to leave Nalthis, and also the event that causes him to dispose of Nightblood.

[Ecthelion III]

Szeth visited (or will visit) the Nightwatcher.

In Oathbringer, the Parshendi will assault Urithiru.

[ScarletSabre]

I think in future Elantris books we'll find out that Devotion is actually related to the Dhakor Monks, while Dominion is related to Elantris and Elantrians. For the reasons why, check out my new thread -

Edited November 1, 2016 by Rawrbert
Typo

[VirtuousTraveller]

I believe that the shattering of Honor had less to do with something Odium did and more to do with the Oathpact, either done intentionally by Honor (possibly to trap Odium) or as a result of the Heralds refusing to leave Roshar at the end of the last desolation.

I think that the emerging KR believe their cause is just, however our new KR will eventually learn the same "dark secret" that caused the original KR to give up their shards and to abandon their oaths at the Recreance.  I think this may be related to the shattering of Honor, or to Honor's real motives for investing in the Heralds/KR in the first place.

I also do not believe that Odium is the end all, be all bad guy in the Cosmere, but is a red herring for the greater problem Sazed shows Wax (represented by a red haze attempting to attack Scadrial).

[VirtuousTraveller]

I believe the shards of Devotion and Dominion will eventually be recombined into the combo shard Unity, but will only happen after a powerful sentient splinter of Dominion which calls itself Jaddeth is defeated.  I believe this story in the cosmere narrative (Elantris 2 or 3) will be where we learn how shards can be combined (as this idea is currently fuzzy; only that it is possible).

I think this story could also reveal the backstory of Aona and Skai and how their love originally formed the single shard of Unity in the first place (though this may not be revealed until Dragonsteel, as it would have been a decision of the original shard holders shortly after the shattering).

[VirtuousTraveller]

I believe that Vasher and the others that made up the 5 Scholars became cosmere aware in their research on BioChroma, but had not yet learned how to leave Nalthis as of the time period we see in Warbreaker.  I think that with Vienna's help, Vasher learns how to leave the planet and worldhop, however it comes at a great cost (perhaps Vienna's life).  Vienna's life either ends in a physical death or she assumes responsibility for Endowment, but in a way Vasher does not want/anticipate.

[Blightsong]

3 hours ago, VirtuousTraveller said:

I believe that Vasher and the others that made up the 5 Scholars became cosmere aware in their research on BioChroma, but had not yet learned how to leave Nalthis as of the time period we see in Warbreaker.  I think that with Vienna's help, Vasher learns how to leave the planet and worldhop, however it comes at a great cost (perhaps Vienna's life).  Vienna's life either ends in a physical death or she assumes responsibility for Endowment, but in a way Vasher does not want/anticipate.

We know that Vasher had been to Roshar prior to the creation of Nightblood.

[1stBondsmith]

Tut, Tut! Once again, remember that for this thread only, there are no responses. Despite what we know, think, or can divine, this is a correction free thread. 

Thank you for your cooperation.

Cheers.

Edited November 1, 2016 by 1stBondsmith
syntax

[DrakeMarshall]

My predictions for the end of the first five books in Stormlight Archive:

Dalinar will have properly bonded with Ishar's old honorblade and will thus be a herald and part of the oathpact. As such, he will be the designated champion for honor. In response, Odium will appoint Eshonai as his champion. Dalinar will defeat Eshonai, and in some way prevent Roshar from being destroyed, but he will not ultimately defeat Odium.

Kaladin will become the head of the order of windrunners. He will probably be the character that is dealing with voidbringers and stormclasts and all the horrors of the desolation, more than any of the others. In the fifth book he will die. Probably his death will have something to do with saving people.

Adolin and Shallan will get married by the end of the third book or the beginning of the fourth book. Shallan will become a full member of the ghostbloods, and as such, cosmere aware. If Shallan chooses to inform the other radiants of this, then they will know that the fate of the universe may very well depend on them. Since Dalinar will potentially no longer be able to serve as a highprince in his new role, Adolin may well end up the kholin highprince. At the close of the fifth book, I predict that it is possible that Shallan ends up trapped on a different world. It is also possible that they both die.

Szeth will hold on to nightblood and carry out Nalan's goals, whatever they are. I can't predict with any confidence what happens by the fifth book, but in Oathbringer he will definitely confront the stone shamans. It is possible that Szeth ultimately decides to betray Nalan, but if he does so, it will be in the interest of carrying out true justice; he won't break his oaths. If he survives the end of the fifth book, he will probably not be taking on a major role.

Zahel will, by the fifth book, have become a radiant. I don't know enough of the different orders to guess which he would belong to.

Elhokar will change dramatically. Not sure if it will be a good sort of change or a bad one though. I predict that he will either survive the fifth book's ending, or be killed in the fourth book and not have made it to that ending.

Renarin will be some kind of tactician for Alethkar during the third book and dealing with a desolation. I predict he will stick around during the second set of five books.

Taravangian will nearly tear the new radiant orders apart. Szeth will ultimately kill him. It is possible that some of the things Taravangian has done however will be instrumental in ultimately saving Roshar.

I predict that at least one of these guesses is dead wrong and at least one of these guesses is dead right.