Spoiling to myself the next book in SA

[One_Armed]

I'm a bit afraid that reading the TWOK prime will spoil the next books in SA. Peter in the thread about the chapters that got released in the anthology said that there are aome plot elements in the book that won't be reveled until book 6.

What do you think?

[Honorless]

The original WoK had (coherent) Taln viewpoints, the most likely source of spoilers I think

And there are spoilers

Quote

Peter Ahlstrom

There are many reasons that not much of Way of Kings Prime has been made public. I think the most important is that it spoils book 6

General Twitter 2014 (March 19, 2014)

Suggestion: you could wait till someone else finishes the book and then ask them which chapters you should skip to avoid spoilers

Edited July 8, 2020 by R J

[Use the Falchion]

I THINK I know two of the reasons why this might be the case. The first is a major spoiler, but it's something the audience has already guessed. The second has to do with a character or two in particular, but I'm not entirely sure (since...you know...only three canonical Stormlight books are out). Overall we probably won't what Prime spoils for another 8-to-10 years, but we can guess. 

[LewsTherinTelescope]

The first thing that pops out to me that it might spoil is

Spoiler

Ishar being some sort of traitor

but that's something that I've seen as a pretty common theory. Something else that might be possible but doesn't feel likely to me is

Spoiler

a Taln-Jasnah romance, like happened in tWoK Prime, but I don't know if that'd actually be done. It just doesn't sound right to me, although admittedly we haven't actually seen Taln interact with her in a sane manner (or at all I don't think).

 

8 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

I THINK I know two of the reasons why this might be the case. The first is a major spoiler, but it's something the audience has already guessed. The second has to do with a character or two in particular, but I'm not entirely sure (since...you know...only three canonical Stormlight books are out). Overall we probably won't what Prime spoils for another 8-to-10 years, but we can guess. 

Out of curiosity, what two things are you thinking of?

And yeah, Book 6 is probably close to a decade off. Book 5 I think he said he plans to start writing January 2022, so would probably finish midway through 2023. From there, he plans to write two Elantris sequels and three Mistborn Era 3 books. Assuming a year a book, that gives 5 years after 2023, so 2028 would be when he's free to start Book 6. And that assumes he starts immediately. He hasn't said anything on it, but I'd probably guess he'd write something lighter for the 6 months after finishing Stormlight, to start Mistborn E3 Book 1 early 2024, meaning 2029 would be my guess for when he'll start Stormlight 6? And that's assuming he doesn't write other things, like the Nightblood novel.

Of course, I imagine his schedule isn't set in stone, so he could always start sooner or later than that. But like you said, it's gonna be a while.

[Karger]

He could be referencing my new favorite SA ship.  Alternatively it could just be Heraldic interactions.  Heralds doing stuff.  Who they are why they act certain ways.  Stuff about there personalities.

Spoiler

Or it might be that Elsecallers can get to where Heralds are.  Elsecaller travel between Braize and Roshar would be a huge plot point.

 

[Use the Falchion]

2 hours ago, beewall said:

The first thing that pops out to me that it might spoil is

  Reveal hidden contents

Ishar being some sort of traitor

but that's something that I've seen as a pretty common theory. Something else that might be possible but doesn't feel likely to me is

  Reveal hidden contents

a Taln-Jasnah romance, like happened in tWoK Prime, but I don't know if that'd actually be done. It just doesn't sound right to me, although admittedly we haven't actually seen Taln interact with her in a sane manner (or at all I don't think).

 

Out of curiosity, what two things are you thinking of?

And yeah, Book 6 is probably close to a decade off. Book 5 I think he said he plans to start writing January 2022, so would probably finish midway through 2023. From there, he plans to write two Elantris sequels and three Mistborn Era 3 books. Assuming a year a book, that gives 5 years after 2023, so 2028 would be when he's free to start Book 6. And that assumes he starts immediately. He hasn't said anything on it, but I'd probably guess he'd write something lighter for the 6 months after finishing Stormlight, to start Mistborn E3 Book 1 early 2024, meaning 2029 would be my guess for when he'll start Stormlight 6? And that's assuming he doesn't write other things, like the Nightblood novel.

Of course, I imagine his schedule isn't set in stone, so he could always start sooner or later than that. But like you said, it's gonna be a while.

My first thought was the same as yours with 

Spoiler

Ishar as the traitor. 

I'm 50-50 on the 

Spoiler

Taln/Jasnah romance, because I feel like he could have given that side-plot to Ash. But who knows!

The other things I was thinking about were 

Spoiler

Renarin's "I AM THE ANSWER" moment, with that either referring to Mr. T since he made the Diagram this time around, or Renarin again because of his weird Voidbinding shenanigans. 

Or possibly Shallan or Jasnah (as THE Elsecaller) being the key to everything. 

Not sure how those may work for Book 6 just yet, but those are my theories. 

[LewsTherinTelescope]

1 minute ago, Use the Falchion said:

I'm 50-50 on the 

  Hide contents

Taln/Jasnah romance, because I feel like he could have given that side-plot to Ash. But who knows!

 

Yeah personally I'm doubtful that

Spoiler

Jasnah x Taln will happen,

but I was trying to think of things that could possibly occur in later books based on tWoK Prime. Personally, I hope it doesn't, as seeing

Spoiler

someone remain happily single the entire series

would be nice, and I think a certain individual is the most likely candidate for someone who would do that.

5 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

The other things I was thinking about were 

  Hide contents

Renarin's "I AM THE ANSWER" moment, with that either referring to Mr. T since he made the Diagram this time around, or Renarin again because of his weird Voidbinding shenanigans.

 

Now THAT would be interesting indeed. Perhaps

Spoiler

Renarin tries to actually focus his visions, and similar to Prime Renarin, tries to seek an answer he can't comprehend (something to do with the underlying nature of Shards? maybe he tries to find a way to Splinter Odium and his brain breaks trying to understand a Shard? I feel like that's a bit too mystical almost for Stormlight though. But I could totally see him being overwhelmed by his visions and just... shutting down.

Or perhaps Taravangian has an extremely compassionate day, and can no longer excuse his actions to himself. I'm partial to the Stormlight-ends-with-the-destruction-of-Roshar theory (although admittedly it's probably unlikely with Sanderson), and if that did happen, Taravangian could realize "I did all those horrible things, only to utterly fail". It wouldn't be quite the same as Prime, it's more a random thought than a real prediction.

Maybe

Spoiler

Elhokar will return to life in Book 6 and start a civil war, leading to him executing Adolin, lol.

The other one you brought up:

14 minutes ago, Use the Falchion said:

Spoiler

 

Or possibly Shallan or Jasnah (as THE Elsecaller) being the key to everything. 

 

 

I'm still curious where this would have led if tWoK Prime had had a sequel. But it could possibly hint at something in the published version as well, yeah.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

Another possibility for the spoiler (should this discussion be a separate thread, since the whole point of this was OP being worried about NOT wanting spoilers?):

Spoiler

Whatever the door was under... was it Kholinar or proto-Urithiru? I don't know what it would've hidden in Prime, but what if it still exists in canon, or some version of it, and is where the missing Plates and Blades are?

 

[Isilel]

So, concerning  these plot points:
 

Spoiler

 

There is something hidden in Ral Elorim (canon). In Dalinar's Recreance vision, the parsh were desperately pushing towards it, before the mass lobotomy. Our heroes were trying to figure out the reason for it, but were distracted by more urgent matters. So, the door or an equivalent could still be there. We also got hints from Lift's PoVs that there is something important and ominous about this city.

Renarin, I think, is going to take over the Diagramm at some point in canon. Either one of the Diagrammists (Malata?) is going to flip after finding out about the lousy deal with Odium which doesn't cover non-Kharabrantians among them, or T. himself will give it to him for some reason. Renarin, of course has some obvious advantages in unlocking it's meaning and in using it crtitically, as a tool, rather than an object of blind faith, like the Diagrammists currently do. I don't think that proto-Renarin was supposed to remain a vegetable, it was just one of the cliffhangers, so there is no reason for canon Renarin to shut down in the first place, IMHO. There is a hint of what happened to proto-Renarin in Taravangian's confrontation with Odium, where T. thought that his low intelligence on that day protected him from going mad trying to comprehend all the complexities of what Odium was showing him.

Ishar stuff is barely a spoiler, since it was already spelled in canon that abandoning the Oathpact was his idea and that he was the one who directed Nale to hunt emerging post-Recreance Radiants. As well as "guided" him towards going over to the Fused.

I am with you about Jasnah not being saddled with a romance! I find it very annoying that important female characters nearly always get a major romance shoved into their arcs! And I'd hate it if Shalash had to be fridged to make room for yet another royal love interest for Taln. That's just the worst trope, ugh.

I don't think that the Elsecallers are going to be disproportionally important in canon, since Perpendicularities allow inter-planetary travel just fine. Transportation is merely more convenient.

 

So, honestly, there are a couple of possible spoilers, but no more. Most things were already incorporated into canon SA and Warbreaker, in various combinations.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

Spoiler

Sanderson said on the stream today (about 33 and a half minutes in) that some of Taln's stuff is minor spoilers. The biggest things I could think of from Taln's things are Jasnah x Taln (which I've already said I hope isn't the case) and the door. But if it's more minor, it might just be something like the Heralds dissolving when they die most of the time. 

 

[Eternal Khol]

I guess its Jasnah and Taln spoilers

 

Phantine

By the way, the chapters from Way of Kings Prime were pretty interesting when I read them in the [Altered Perceptions] anthology. I assume the rest of the book at the moment is still pretty spoilery... about where in The Stormlight Archiveseries would you consider it 'caught up' enough to do something with the rest of WoK'?

Brandon Sanderson

Unfortunately, one of the ways I made the series work was by splitting the character into two groupings, and doing half in the first five and half in the second. This means that WoK Prime doesn't spoil anything for Dalinar/Kaladin/Shallan. But it has huge spoilers for books six and seven, with Jasnah and Taln. So it will be a while.

General Reddit 2015 (Nov. 16, 2015)

Edited July 17, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Eternal Khol]

More evidence its Jasnah too. The WoB @Honorless posted and the ones i post are all from 2014-2015 and states it has spoilers for book 6

Back then, Brandon was planning Jasnah as the focus for Book 6. 
not proof, but its something

 

 

i plan to start reading it tonight, so well see if i can find anything 

 

Questioner

So the first one is Kaladin's backstory, the second is Shallan's backstory, who's next?

Brandon Sanderson

I actually haven't been able to decide yet. It's going to be one of the five for the first five books are Kaladin and Shallan and then Dalinar, Szeth, and Eshonai and I can't decide which one matches the next book best. And I'm going to have to write it...

Argent

What's the current list for the back five?

Brandon Sanderson

Current list for the back five... Jasnah, Lift, Ash, Renarin, and Taln.

Footnote: Brandon eventually decided to go with Dalinar for Stormlight 3.
Firefight Chicago signing (Feb. 20, 2015)

Edited July 17, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[Isilel]

Sanderson talks about it in the newest AMA:

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/430/#e13980

And the takeaway from it is that in the end:

Quote

"The stuff that happens to Taln is going to be so different from where I'm going to be taking him moving forward that it's okay."

Which supercedes these old WoBs, from when he still wanted to incorporate most of the Prime Taln-related things into canon. I think that some of the details that are going to be retained are:

Spoiler

Taln's mortal past as a footman, presumably serving Jezrien/Shalash. Herald bodies turning into smoke, as well as them not needing to eat or sleep normally  could make the jump, too. Heralds falling into a prolongued coma due to Jezrien's final death could explain why our protagonists would still need to discover everything about the Sibling on their own. 

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Isilel

[Eternal Khol]

3 hours ago, Isilel said:

as well as them not needing to eat or sleep normally

We kinda knew this one from Ash. The sleep part that is

i was never sure if she was being literal here.

 

 

“The ripping sensation finally ended. So abruptly that—for the first time in thousands of years—Ash fell unconscious.”   -Oathbringer ch.121

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Eternal Khol

[One_Armed]

On 15.7.2020 at 9:32 PM, beewall said:

should this discussion be a separate thread, since the whole point of this was OP being worried about NOT wanting spoilers?

 

 it will be more convenient to you.

Though its kind of wird not being able to read spoilered sections after being inline with the cosmere for the last years...