(Edgedancer Spoilers) Similarity between Verdant and Wyndle

[Mercy]

Is it just me that sees a similarity between the vine-like growth of Lift's spren Wyndle and the vines of the Verdant Aether?

There are little bits of crystal that grow out of Wyndle, and he decays to dust when his trails disappear - I seem to remember a similar property for Verdant?

[BlackYeti]

I think this would have more to do with Wyndle being closely aligned with Cultivation, rather than a connection with Verdant.

Remember that when you see Wyndle you're seeing into Shadesmar, whereas with Verdant the vines are part of the Physical Realm.

[Weltall]

There is at least a conceptual similarity in how Lift uses Wyndle to help climb and how D'Naa used her aether to become a wall-climbing ninja. Whether that's relevant in the long term or not is another thing, since Aether of Night is likely to be so heavily rewritten if/when Brandon gets around to doing somethng with it that it's hard to predict what will remain and what won't. Given its appearance in the Liar of Partinel sample chapters and possiblly in Mraize's collection, I imagine it's a safe bet Amberite will be retained in some form but who knows for the rest? Though seeing Ferrous further explored/expanded upon would be pretty cool, not to mention how it would work in terms of realmantics, so I'm all in favor of that being retained.

Actually, I remember Peter said there was a specific reason that Brandon cannibalized aethers for Liar of Partinel so whether they show up in that book's final form or not, there's something about them that Brandon wants as part of the Cosmere.

[emailanimal]

I think what is going here is more of a writer's transference, that we know Brandon does no occasion: Aether has already been poached for a certain Shard.  My guess is, Brandon liked the image of Verdant growth and decided to reuse it/re-imagine it with Wyndle. 

[Auger]

I feel like a lot of Aether was dissected and used in other books, which unfortunately means that when Aether gets re-written, there will be loads of stuff to redo so that it's not too similar to other books.

[Weltall]

Definitely, Brandon's even said as much from time to time. Off the top of my head:

- Decay becoming Ruin, so we'll probably never learn whatever Brandon originally planned for that unresolved plot thread. By extension the conflict between the Fell Twins, Decay and the Former was tightened up and turned into Ruin and Preservation's attempts to out-gambit one another for the fate of Scadrial.

- The whole 'end of the world' plot with the Forgotten threatening the heartland of the Imperium was the forerunner to the even more apocalyptic ending of Hero of Ages.

- The way the conflict was resolved with two godlike beings killing each other (except not, damnation that cliffhanger that will never be resolved) was cannibalized for Vin sacrificing herself to stop Ruin.

- The Dari hiding secrets from the bulk of the populace and having access to a magical ability that isn't quite what they make it out to be seems to have inspired some elements of Vorinism, how strongly will depend on what happens in the next eight Stormlight books.

- If you ignore the fact that one appears human and the other monstrous, the Forgotten and Midnight Essence are described pretty similarly.

- Aedin customs regarding the birth order of sons determining their place in life may have inspired the custom of the Horneaters, just with the emphasis changed.

- I find myself wondering if the Shentis may have inspired the Siah Aimians, both being small outcast groups with distinctive traits that make people fear them, and who seem to know more about the magic system of their world than most people.

And there's probably other cannibalized bits that I'm forgetting or are subtle and I haven't noticed them yet. Either way, major changes are definitely going to happen. Maybe we could play a game of 'try to guess what will remain aside from Aethers themselves' to pass the time? xD

Edited February 5, 2017 by Weltall

[+Extesian]

5 hours ago, Weltall said:

Definitely, Brandon's even said as much from time to time. Off the top of my head:

- Decay becoming Ruin, so we'll probably never learn whatever Brandon originally planned for that unresolved plot thread. By extension the conflict between the Fell Twins, Decay and the Former was tightened up and turned into Ruin and Preservation's attempts to out-gambit one another for the fate of Scadrial.

- The whole 'end of the world' plot with the Forgotten threatening the heartland of the Imperium was the forerunner to the even more apocalyptic ending of Hero of Ages.

- The way the conflict was resolved with two godlike beings killing each other (except not, damnation that cliffhanger that will never be resolved) was cannibalized for Vin sacrificing herself to stop Ruin.

- The Dari hiding secrets from the bulk of the populace and having access to a magical ability that isn't quite what they make it out to be seems to have inspired some elements of Vorinism, how strongly will depend on what happens in the next eight Stormlight books.

- If you ignore the fact that one appears human and the other monstrous, the Forgotten and Midnight Essence are described pretty similarly.

- Aedin customs regarding the birth order of sons determining their place in life may have inspired the custom of the Horneaters, just with the emphasis changed.

- I find myself wondering if the Shentis may have inspired the Siah Aimians, both being small outcast groups with distinctive traits that make people fear them, and who seem to know more about the magic system of their world than most people.

And there's probably other cannibalized bits that I'm forgetting or are subtle and I haven't noticed them yet. Either way, major changes are definitely going to happen. Maybe we could play a game of 'try to guess what will remain aside from Aethers themselves' to pass the time? xD

I love the summary and it makes me want to read Aether again. But I'm not sure we're allowed to discuss in this much detail outside the password protected Aether sub forum? There's a thread there that talks about some of this stuff. But I'm sure a mod will say if it's a problem

Edit - urrrgh how awkward. I didn't realize my Aether password had been saved (it didn't in the past, I had to login each time) and this post is in fact in the Aether sub-forum. Please ignore me. I'll go hide for a little while again, nice summary

Edited February 5, 2017 by Extesian
I'm a doofus