Ink Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 What’s going on with M-Bot’s sluggish friend? I’ve seen theories that he is the Cytonic Hyperdrive, but what is the general consensus? Was he/she like a dog, a companion for M-Bot’s pilot? A native species? Is he actually able to use the hyperdrive? Or is he the pilot itself? The way he can mimic human speech is interesting, too. So what do you guys think he/she is? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidpen Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 iirc Spensa uses she for Doomslug. That's all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 she has no apparent function in the book, so we can speculate but it will remain a mistery. The main theories before the end were - component of cytonic drive - former pilot - krell All those were shot down, however. The cytonic drive only needs the human pilot. The former pilot was human. the krell are not slugs, and they weren't on the planet so long ago. She could also be a part of texture, and a red herring to confuse readers ("everyone will expect that slug to be important, while it has no significance whatsoever. I'll drive my fans crazy, muahaha!"), but she has too much screen time for that. And it does seem that the slug can teleport. I guess we'll see in the next books 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidpen Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, king of nowhere said: The cytonic drive only needs the human pilot. I don't know that that one is completely shot down. The human pilot has to be cytonic for it to work, and doomslug could hypothetically be for when/if a pilot is not cytonic. That being said, I don't think it's very likely. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 I said this in a previous post, but I believe that Doomslug is a "watcher" from the aliens, checking to see if humanity is ready to join other species among the stars. I think humanity joining the stars again because of Spensa's actions (her determination in fixing M-Bot, friendship and leadership with Rig and Skyward Flight, compassion and sacrifice when dealing with the Lifebuster at the end) would be a very Sanderson ending, and fits slightly with some of his other series endings. Spoiler See Mistborn Era 1 and the Reckoners trilogy 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidpen Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 1 minute ago, Use the Falchion said: I said this in a previous post, but I believe that Doomslug is a "watcher" from the aliens, checking to see if humanity is ready to join other species among the stars. I think humanity joining the stars again because of Spensa's actions (her determination in fixing M-Bot, friendship and leadership with Rig and Skyward Flight, compassion and sacrifice when dealing with the Lifebuster at the end) would be a very Sanderson ending, and fits slightly with some of his other series endings. Reveal hidden contents See Mistborn Era 1 and the Reckoners trilogy You get a star if this is right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 Just now, Kidpen said: You get a star if this is right. Lol thanks! Only 3 (potentially 4) more years to find out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sariel Posted November 11, 2018 Report Share Posted November 11, 2018 I don't think it is, because (spoiler to the ending) Spoiler The Krell decided to kill them all. From the epilogue: "It seems this last bomb really was meant to destroy us." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sin165 Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 On 11/11/2018 at 10:13 PM, king of nowhere said: The cytonic drive only needs the human pilot. 1 The cytonic drive needs someone with cytonic abilities. And there aren't that many humans with cytonic abilities. So I'm pretty sure it was Doomslug's job. On 11/11/2018 at 10:13 PM, king of nowhere said: krell are not slugs We don't really know what Krell (or rather the Varvax, since Krell is basically an organization that runs the "prison" and not a species) look like inside their armor. So theoretically Doomslug could be a Varvax. On 11/12/2018 at 1:28 AM, Use the Falchion said: I said this in a previous post, but I believe that Doomslug is a "watcher" from the aliens, checking to see if humanity is ready to join other species among the stars. I think humanity joining the stars again because of Spensa's actions (her determination in fixing M-Bot, friendship and leadership with Rig and Skyward Flight, compassion and sacrifice when dealing with the Lifebuster at the end) would be a very Sanderson ending, and fits slightly with some of his other series endings. If she (not sure it's a she but whatever) is a watcher why did she stay near the ship and away from humans? And would that even be a good thing? Does humanity really want to join their "Elysium"? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowj Posted November 14, 2018 Report Share Posted November 14, 2018 Picked this up from Def. Ely. Spoiler "Jason reached for the saltshaker, then sprinkled some salt on his hand. “Taste this,” he ordered. She did as asked, then nodded. “That’s it. I do not like it very much.” Abrams rolled his eyes. “You’ve figured out that she doesn’t know the word for salty. So? She doesn’t know what any of these foods are, or even what her name is.” Jason sat back, ignoring the kid. Then he turned to his food and continued to eat in silence." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomness Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 I am very suspicious of this slug, ever since she first showed up. My guess: we know not every human is citonic. Maybe Doomslug is a kind of citric creature that was kept in the black box (don´t remember the proper name) as biological component to activate the device, so anyone could use it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king of nowhere Posted November 15, 2018 Report Share Posted November 15, 2018 21 hours ago, Awesomness said: a kind of citric creature So doomslug is also akin to a lemon? This keep getting more complicated 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomness Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 1 hour ago, king of nowhere said: So doomslug is also akin to a lemon? This keep getting more complicated jaajajajaj Sorry!! The autocorrector strikes again! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Invested Beard Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 (edited) I'm definitely on the crazy train. I believe Doomslug is a component of the cytonic hyperdrive, either as a backup for non cytonic pilots or as an actual complimentary piece to a cytonic pilot. I have a feeling that a human cytonic doesn't have enough power to move something with as much mass as a spaceship on their own and Doomslug's race is capable of cytonics. Of special note is that Doomslug mimics the humans quite a bit. I don't think Brandon just threw that in there. I think it's a mechanic of how the slug and the human work together to move the entire ship. Human moves themselves where they want and the slug moves the ship. There are also these WoBs: Questioner What does Doomslug eat? Brandon Sanderson Doomslug eats mushrooms, among other things. I don't want to say anything more... Questioner I know, I was trying to find something that wouldn't be RAFO'd Brandon Sanderson Yeah that's actually shockingly relevant of a question, so... Hmm! Sciencetor2 I am subscribed to the, "Doomslug is the hyperdrive," theory. Can you confirm or deny? Brandon Sanderson I cannot confirm or deny. So Doomslug was the reason the original pilot told M-Bot to collect mushrooms. Gotta keep your slug alive. Edited November 30, 2018 by Ookla the Bearded 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoid8489 Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 17 hours ago, Ookla the Bearded said: I'm definitely on the crazy train. I believe Doomslug is a component of the cytonic hyperdrive, either as a backup for non cytonic pilots or as an actual complimentary piece to a cytonic pilot. I have a feeling that a human cytonic doesn't have enough power to move something with as much mass as a spaceship on their own and Doomslug's race is capable of cytonics. Regarding the second part of your comment, I‘d like to quote DE: Spoiler There was probably a technological aspect to the suppressant device. Many Cytonic abilities had mechanical halves—like the FTL comm feed, which wouldn’t work without physical receivers. The Cytonic behind his imprisonment would be feeding part of his mental energy into a physical device, one that used electricity to amplify the effect. But because of that augmentation, Jason would never be able to break free. He would be trapped forever in the blackness. so i don‘t believe a second cytonic capable being would be necessary to move the ship. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoid8489 Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 On 13.11.2018 at 4:43 PM, sin165 said: So theoretically Doomslug could be a Varvax. If she (not sure it's a she but whatever) is a watcher why did she stay near the ship and away from humans? And would that even be a good thing? Does humanity really want to join their "Elysium"? After the other aliens kicked humanity out of the „space club“ and considering what they tend to do to their „discontents“ i also don‘t believe doomslug to be a watcher. I like the idea of it being the former pilot though. With the option of switching one‘s mind with another as read in DE, even between different species, i think it may be possible that the pilot - which i believe to be cytonic - switched his mind to another species. Doomslug immitating the human language may be him trying to relearn what he has forgotten due to the mindswap. I still need to re-read Skyward and as english is not my mother language i may very well have missed or misunderstood something. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Invested Beard Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 40 minutes ago, Hoid8489 said: Regarding the second part of your comment, I‘d like to quote DE: Hide contents There was probably a technological aspect to the suppressant device. Many Cytonic abilities had mechanical halves—like the FTL comm feed, which wouldn’t work without physical receivers. The Cytonic behind his imprisonment would be feeding part of his mental energy into a physical device, one that used electricity to amplify the effect. But because of that augmentation, Jason would never be able to break free. He would be trapped forever in the blackness. so i don‘t believe a second cytonic capable being would be necessary to move the ship. Necessary? Maybe not. Awesome? Yes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoid8489 Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 7 minutes ago, Ookla the Bearded said: Necessary? Maybe not. Awesome? Yes. On that i can only agree ;-) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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