Okay, that was a well played little easter egg at the end

[Jellomancer]

I assume I am probably late to the party, but did anyone else catch the easter egg in the ending ketek? I did do a search and couldn't find a topic about it. Will put spoiler tags just in case, but I imagine others already caught it. I am just enjoying the little squirt of serotonin from having spotted an egg. 

Spoiler

The first letter of each word in the ketek points to the names of the books in the series (and their Roshar literary counterparts) in order.

Original Ketek:

Trusted Words

Known Words

Renounce Once.

Renounce Words Known.

Words … trusted …

Once.

You have to goof with the ketek structure a little to spot it easier.

Trusted Words Known (The Way of Kings)

Words Renounce (Words of Radiance)

Once. (Oathbringer)

Renounce Words (Rhythm of War)

Known. Words … trusted … (Knights of Wind and Truth)

Once (the real mystery is figuring out what this one means! Any ideas? Or did I miss something obvious?).

 

Edited January 27, 2025 by Jellomancer

[ShatteredDiamond She/Her]

Sometimes I wonder if i'm stupid or just really really tired because I never find those things. Love reading about them, though.

[JohnnyKaizen he/him]

1 hour ago, Jellomancer said:

I assume I am probably late to the party, but did anyone else catch the easter egg in the ending ketek? I did do a search and couldn't find a topic about it. Will put spoiler tags just in case, but I imagine others already caught it. I am just enjoying the little squirt of serotonin from having spotted an egg. 

  Hide contents

The first letter of each word in the ketek points to the names of the books in the series (and their Roshar literary counterparts) in order.

Original Ketek:

Trusted Words

Known Words

Renounce Once.

Renounce Words Known.

Words … trusted …

Once.

You have to goof with the ketek structure a little to spot it easier.

Trusted Words Known (The Way of Kings)

Words Renounce (Words of Radiance)

Once. (Oathbringer)

Renounce Words (Rhythm of War)

Known. Words … trusted … (Knights of Wind and Truth)

Once (the real mystery is figuring out what this one means! Any ideas? Or did I miss something obvious?).

 

If Once is representative of both the book and it's author, it could be a reference to his coming story, outside of the front 5. I for one, am greatly looking forward to that story arc.

[Jellomancer]

Spoiler

It's also less obvious being the name of the book was adjusted to Wind and Truth and not "Knights of Wind and Truth".

 

[Through the Living Shadow he/him]

I swear

I never saw it

But as soon as you said Ketek

I thought

O. I doth be stupid.

[Akimikoisthecutest]

On 1/27/2025 at 9:17 AM, Jellomancer said:

The first letter of each word in the ketek points to the names of the books in the series (and their Roshar literary counterparts) in order.

Original Ketek:

Trusted Words

Known Words

Renounce Once.

Renounce Words Known.

Words … trusted …

Once.

You have to goof with the ketek structure a little to spot it easier.

Trusted Words Known (The Way of Kings)

Words Renounce (Words of Radiance)

Once. (Oathbringer)

Renounce Words (Rhythm of War)

Known. Words … trusted … (Knights of Wind and Truth)

Once (the real mystery is figuring out what this one means! Any ideas? Or did I miss something obvious?).

That is insane! I can't believe that I missed it. Kudos to Sanderson.

Edited September 3, 2025 by Akimikoisthecutest

[ScavellTane]

Chances of the 1st 5 lines are the title letters for the back 5?

Edited September 11, 2025 by ScavellTane

[FroggerCollectsHats they/them]

I had found the ketek in the first letters of the book titles, but I hadn't realized it matched up! My brain is so happy right now.

[Highprince645343]

I think the final once could be referencing Dalinar himself, this is where he died after all and Oathbringer is his book

[Usseewa ✾ She♡Her ✾]

I don't think you had to "goof with" the Ketek at all. Only the first "the" for tWoK is present, which can make sense since it was the first word in the title. Other than that (and the last "once," it matches perfectly. Also, it is important to consider that KoWaT could be referencing the actual in-world book (written by that Shin scholar, Szeth's future wife I think), which is called Knights of Wind and Truth.

Also, I wonder why the first "Once" is capitalized ("Renounce Once")? Could it be referring to a specific time period? Like "Before"? Also, note that all words in the Ketek are seem to be capitalized/proper nouns except possibly the second "Renounce" (since it comes after a period), the last "Words" (same), and "trusted" (the only true non-capitalized word). Also maybe the final Once but idk.