The Stormlight Archive Timeskip clarification

[PanicPug]

I have a question regarding the time skip between the two arcs of The Stormlight Archive that I hope can be clarified here.

I'll put the question itself in spoilers since it includes a spoiler for the end of Wind And Truth.

Spoiler

Is the "roughly 10 years" timeframe relating to 

1) the writing time (which I think was said to be approximately 7 years in the last State Of The Sanderson blog post)?

2) the in-world time on Roshar? 

3) the in-universe time of the Cosmere?

Because time flows slower right now on Roshar, so 10 years there would be 70-80 years in the rest of the Cosmere according to Thaidakar.

I'd guess 2) but wanted to know if anyone actually knows.

 

Edited January 13, 2025 by PanicPug
Trying to get rid of the automatic B ) emojis

[Treamayne]

12 minutes ago, PanicPug said:

I have a question regarding the time skip between the two arcs of The Stormlight Archive that I hope can be clarified here.

I'll put the question itself in spoilers since it includes a spoiler for the end of Wind And Truth.

  Hide contents

Is the "roughly 10 years" timeframe relating to 

1) the writing time (which I think was said to be approximately 7 years in the last State Of The Sanderson blog post)?

2) the in-world time on Roshar? 

3) the in-universe time of the Cosmere?

Because time flows slower right now on Roshar, so 10 years there would be 70-80 years in the rest of the Cosmere according to Thaidakar.

I'd guess 2) but wanted to know if anyone actually knows.

 

Your assessment is correct. WaT Spoilers:

Spoiler

1. State of the Sanderson puts book six at approximately Dec 2031
2. Roshar timeskip will be approximately 10 years (though WoBs have expressed everything from 10-15 years, the final time will depend on Cosmere Timeline continuity which is one of the things that Brandon will be working on in the interim)
3. Yes, Thaidakar estimated about 70-80 years will pass off-Roshar during the timeskip. 

WoBs:

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

You'll definitely make it through the first five. The thing about it is I'll break in the middle, but the first five come to a natural climax, and then there's an in-world break of 15 years. Not 15 years away for us but an in-world break. And then I'll do another trilogy. I think you'll make it through them all. I think you'll easily make it, you look very hale and healthy.

Firefight Chicago signing (Feb. 20, 2015)

Quote

Questioner (paraphrased)

How long of an in-book time break between the two 5 book arcs in The Stormlight Archive?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

10-15 years

Firefight Phoenix signing (Jan. 21, 2015)

 

Hope that helps

[LÜM3N]

On 1/13/2025 at 7:08 AM, Treamayne said:

Your assessment is correct. WaT Spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

1. State of the Sanderson puts book six at approximately Dec 2031
2. Roshar timeskip will be approximately 10 years (though WoBs have expressed everything from 10-15 years, the final time will depend on Cosmere Timeline continuity which is one of the things that Brandon will be working on in the interim)
3. Yes, Thaidakar estimated about 70-80 years will pass off-Roshar during the timeskip. 

WoBs:

 

Hope that helps

Spoiler

So if the Heralds will experience time slower than Roshar(approx. 10-15 yrs) , and Roshar will experience time slower than the rest of the cosmere(approx. 70-80 yrs), How much time will Kal and the Heralds experience? 

 

[Treamayne]

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4 hours ago, LÜM3N said:

So if the Heralds will experience time slower than Roshar(approx. 10-15 yrs) , and Roshar will experience time slower than the rest of the cosmere(approx. 70-80 yrs), How much time will Kal and the Heralds experience? 

We do not yet know, and likely will not know until Book 6. The only indicator is in the Postlude of WaT:

Spoiler

“Not true,” Kaladin said. “Ishar says … says that with the merging of Honor and Odium … things are odd. An unexpected warping of time has happened, so it will pass strangely for us. More strangely even than what is happening on Roshar. While years pass there, months will pass for us. We have time, for once, and peace.”

If it is 1:1 (years for months) then the Heralds will experience 1 Rosharan Year (10 months) - if that is only an estimate/average, then likely the Heralds will experience 0.75-2 Rosharan Years over the 10-15 Rosharan Years for the Physical Realm. The subjective time being lower is implied to be quite important, because one of the Herald's problems is Millennia of Memories in their brains not meant to hold that much history (which is implied to be why Wit offloads memories into storages like Breath - to maintain his sanity).

Hope that helps

Edited September 2, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG