The Admiral's Identity

[Cocoa he/him]

This is very much a swing in the dark, but I think the Admiral is William Ann. I was suspicious that we didn't get a name or even much of a description for her, which in turn made me think that this is someone we already know. The three main female Threnodites we know are Silence, William Ann, and Sebruki. Silence was already past her prime in Shadows, so it feels strange to imagine her embarking on a whole military career after the events of that story. We also have this WoB saying that she'd be unlikely to appear in the The Night Brigade novel:

Quote

Questioner

Do you think that Silence might reappear?

Brandon Sanderson

Silence will not reappear. I'm sorry. Maybe a cameo, I don't know. The Threnody novel I'm planning, though, is going back to reclaim the continent from the Evil. And the opening scene is ships arriving. There's not a lot of room for a Silence cameo in that.

Oathbringer Newcastle signing (Dec. 1, 2017)

Sebruki we simply don't have a good grasp on as a character due to her young age as of Shadows.

William Ann, however, still had her life ahead of her at the end of the story. Due to her disfigurement drastically cutting down on her chances of marrying, she might have thrown herself into a military career. She's known to be tall, which is one of the few details we're given of the Admiral's appearance. She'd have had a mentor in the art of being a 'hunter' in the form of Silence. Technological disparities aren't a necessary issue due to the various forms of time dilation or life-extension in the cosmere.

[ConfusionSpren]

On 10/27/2023 at 6:55 PM, Cocoa said:

This is very much a swing in the dark, but I think the Admiral is William Ann. I was suspicious that we didn't get a name or even much of a description for her, which in turn made me think that this is someone we already know. The three main female Threnodites we know are Silence, William Ann, and Sebruki. Silence was already past her prime in Shadows, so it feels strange to imagine her embarking on a whole military career after the events of that story. We also have this WoB saying that she'd be unlikely to appear in the The Night Brigade novel:

Sebruki we simply don't have a good grasp on as a character due to her young age as of Shadows.

William Ann, however, still had her life ahead of her at the end of the story. Due to her disfigurement drastically cutting down on her chances of marrying, she might have thrown herself into a military career. She's known to be tall, which is one of the few details we're given of the Admiral's appearance. She'd have had a mentor in the art of being a 'hunter' in the form of Silence. Technological disparities aren't a necessary issue due to the various forms of time dilation or life-extension in the cosmere.

Isn’t Sunlit far in the in the future? I feel like it was mentioned that none of bridge four would be alive, and they have stormlight.

Edited October 29, 2023 by ConfusionSpren

[HavingTheHasHoidAPurpose?]

I dont think we know exactly when shadows of silence in the forests of hell takes place.

[ConfusionSpren]

5 minutes ago, HavingTheHasHoidAPurpose? said:

I dont think we know exactly when shadows of silence in the forests of hell takes place.

Thats true, ill see if i can find a WOB

here: 

darniil

Shadows for Silence, cosmere-wise timeline where does that fall with the rest of the books?

Brandon Sanderson

Shadows for Silence, cosmere timeline, where does it fall with the rest of the books. It is middle cosmere, a little on the late side but not-- I mean, it is pre-Stormlight Archive, so yeah.

JordanCon 2014 (April 11, 2014)

[Treamayne]

14 minutes ago, HavingTheHasHoidAPurpose? said:

I dont think we know exactly when shadows of silence in the forests of hell takes place.

8 minutes ago, ConfusionSpren said:

Thats true, ill see if i can find a WOB

Subject to change, of course, but based on current known data it is sometime between Mistborn Era 1 and Way of Kings. Please see Chronology. WoB:

Spoiler

Questioner

Can you put the Cosmere books into [chronological] order?

Brandon Sanderson

Here is the order that I have publicly confirmed. There are obviously other books and stories fitting in there. For those, you’ll just need to RAFO.

• Elantris
• The Emperor’s Soul
• First Mistborn trilogy (The Final Empire)
• Warbreaker
• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
• The Stormlight Archive
• Wax and Wayne Era Mistborn (Alloy of Law)
• Sixth of the Dusk
• Future Mistborn trilogy

Miscellaneous 2016 (July 15, 2016)

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by Treamayne
Clarity

[The Sibling she/her]

On 10/29/2023 at 7:06 PM, ConfusionSpren said:

Isn’t Sunlit far in the in the future? I feel like it was mentioned that none of bridge four would be alive, and they have stormlight.

I don't think that eliminates this possibility. There's a fair amount of immortal worldhoppers, and especially with the cognitive shadow weirdness on Threnody, William Ann could have survived.

On 10/27/2023 at 8:55 PM, Cocoa said:

Sebruki we simply don't have a good grasp on as a character due to her young age as of Shadows.

I think it would be cool if it were Sebruki. I don't remember what she looks like but I liked what little we learned about her character. 

[Elegy he/him]

William Ann has a half-blackened face at the end of Shadows for Silence, so probably not. It's possible she could heal it with some technique that we don't know yet, but that would mean that Brandon intentionally gave up the chance of having an antagonist with a badass half-blackened face, so I doubt it ^^

(Edit: She seemingly also lost a hand, which I completely forgot.)

Sebruki seems sensible to me. She's described as dark-skinned ... perhaps if the Admiral was her, that would have been mentioned about her? Though I definitely like the idea that Shadows for Silence - by far the most disconnected Cosmere story so far - would be more directly tied to the overall Cosmere narrative in a way like that.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Elegy

[ConfusionSpren]

Just now, Elegy said:

William Ann has a half-blackened face at the end of Shadows for Silence, so probably not. It's possible she could heal it with some technique that we don't know yet, but that would mean that Brandon intentionally gave up the chance of having an antagonist with a badass half-blackened face, so I doubt it ^^

Sebruki seems sensible to me. She's described as dark-skinned ... perhaps if the Admiral was her, that would have been mentioned about her? Though I definitely like the idea that Shadows for Silence - by far the most disconnected Cosmere story so far - would be more directly tied to the overall Cosmere narrative in a way like that.

I really like the Sebruki theory, I feel it could really fit with her character.

[Elegy he/him]

Fresh out of the oven - a WOB that confirms we haven't seen her before:

Quote

Questioner

Have we met the Admiral of the Night Brigade, or the family of said Admiral, before?

Brandon Sanderson

The Admiral of the Night Brigade is the protagonist of the unnamed Threnody novel. You have not met her yet. I didn't say "hero" on purpose, I said "protagonist"! But when I write the Night Brigade novel (it'll probably just be called The Night Brigade), she's the protagonist.

Dragonsteel 2023 (Nov. 21, 2023)

 

[Cocoa he/him]

On 11/25/2023 at 11:20 AM, Elegy said:

Fresh out of the oven - a WOB that confirms we haven't seen her before:

 

Welp, that settles that then.