Implications for the timeline [Discuss]

[+Oltux72 he/him]

This novel is highly connected to the rest of the Cosmere. That should allow conclusions on the timeline

1. Captain Crow - this novel must be timed within a few decades after Tress
2. Hoid is married. That is really new. So this means that IoftE is the youngest
3. Huio is still alive and resides in Silverlight. Roshar must have opened up to the Cosmere soon after WaT. Soon here meaning a few decades.

[Erremin]

57 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

That is really new.

We only know that his wife is still alive (presumably) and that she doesn't remember being married to him, so there it doesn't have  to be the youngest (although I think it is).

58 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Soon here meaning a few decades.

Few decades in Roshar time does mean probably at least a century in the rest of the cosmere. 

[+Oltux72 he/him]

14 minutes ago, Erremin said:

Few decades in Roshar time does mean probably at least a century in the rest of the cosmere. 

Yes, but not multiple centuries as one might expect from Earth's progress. The technology of the Dynamic is not that advanced. If we had Harmonium and aethers, we could do better.

[DSCrankshaw]

Huio is living in Silverlight, which is under a 10:1 time dilation. So while he must have left Roshar within a few decades (under its time dilation), he could have lived at Silverlight for hundreds of years Cosmere time, which is decades under its time dilation, and still be 60 or so (which could still be youngish, given we know of at least one local resident who offers life extension for services).

Edited July 3, 2025 by DSCrankshaw

[Atlas333]

We don't have proof or anything, but there is a chance that oaths could also extend a radiant's life (seems a benefit of being highly invested). Probably not nearly as much as breath, but I imagine the higher the bond, the greater the effect.

[RedBlue]

As much as I would like to draw conclusions from Huio being alive and well, this fact alone doesn’t tell us much other than Huio survives the event of Stormlight.

There are just too many plausible ways in which one person’s lifespan could be lengthened beyond conventional limits.

[Treamayne]

The only definitive we have is that this is after Tress, as this was Crow's second Mutiny and she was already in service to Xisis. 

Tress is already believed to be the story furthest in the Future prior to IED (Spoilers)

Spoiler

• The Sunlit Man (early uses of FTL)
• Yumi (Hoid and Design, but Hoid is not yet Elantrian)
• Tress (Hoid becomes Elantrian - story is told to an audience of First of the Sun - but unclear if it was before or after events from Sixth of the Dusk)
  • Use of the Idiom "want tales of people like Linji, who tried to sail around the world with no Aviar." (Ch 24) indicate the audience 
• Emberdark - has to be after Tress, due to Crow's status as vassal to Xisis

Hope that helps

Edited July 7, 2025 by Treamayne
SPAG

[Yumiya]

For timeline purposes:

-12 years Starling did the thing that got her exiled/bound and Nahz killed involving some individuals Starling refused to give up, presumably becoming Hoids apprentice shortly after.

-5 years Sixth of Dusk: at this point Hoid had not been to the First of the Sun per WOB

-2 years A Mawlish Prime Minister was assassinated but not by Chrysalis, who was brought aboard the Dynamic by Hoid 

-6 months Hoid abandoned the crew of the dynamic, Xisis installed Crow as Captain

Then the events of the Isles of the Emberdark 

 

So events of Triss obviously before IoED and likely before Sixth of Dusk since Hoid was on the Dynamic . Telling of Triss after IoEd.

 

So where does this land Yumi? Is the "vault " actually a ramen shop?

[RedBlue]

Quote

For millennia, the dragons had kept the secret that it was the source of nearly all life in the cosmere and the origin of the Shards, though that news had been revealed quite dramatically a few decades back. — Chapter 30

This revelation sounds like something that will come up in one of the main series, maybe Ghostbloods or Stormlight back half. That will help us pin down the timeline better.

[alder24]

We have a WoB on the timeline. It's Tress -> Sunlit -> Yumi -> Emberdark. The separation between TSM, Yumi and IoD is apparently small and Brandon only thinks that IoD is after Yumi.

Spoiler

Questioner

Is this the furthest forward that we have seen?

Brandon Sanderson

I intend this to be the furthest forward. Now, we don't have the full master timeline done yet, but I intend this to be just a little after Sunlit Man, which was our furthest forward at that point. So, this is just a little bit forward, but it's kinda the same era, just a little further than Sunlit Man.

Questioner

Is Yumi further than Sunlit Man?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh, yeah, Yumi is further than Sunlit Man. The question is, is this further than Yumi? And I do think that it is. Yumi, technically, is further than Sunlit, which is a good point. It doesn't feel like it, because it's taking place on a world that's not as technologically advanced, but it technically is. Good catch.

Once Stormlight Five is out, the idea is to release a nice, full timeline for everybody.

Secret Project #5 Reveal and Livestream (March 22, 2024)

Although, the mention of Virtuosity's uncertainty is baffling. It was said that "no one knows where Virtuosity is these days," but Virtuosity Splintered herself ages before Yumi took place, before the Father Machine was activated (as the lack of Shardic presence allowed the Father Machine to do what it did and create Nightmares), so this can either mean that nobody knows what has happened to her for at least 1700 years and the U-Tol system is relatively unknown to the wider Cosmere, or Virtuosity was very recently restored (but in Hoid's narration of Yumi nothing is hinting at this so I doubt it as Hoid is telling this story probably somewhere around the time IoE takes place).

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, alder24 said:

It's Tress -> Sunlit -> Yumi -> Emberdark

That WoB does not place Tress at all - only clarifies Sunlit -> Yumi -> Emberdark. Tress is still implied to be after Yumi because in Yumi Hoid has not yet gained access to AonDor. 

[alder24]

37 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

That WoB does not place Tress at all - only clarifies Sunlit -> Yumi -> Emberdark. Tress is still implied to be after Yumi because in Yumi Hoid has not yet gained access to AonDor. 

The WoB talks about the book which is the furthest in Cosmere timeline, the fact that Tress is omitted means that it happens earlier than any of the books that were mentioned. 

You can hide and suppress your Elantrian powers and look with ease so Hoid not looking like an Elantrian is not a proof of anything. Riino does this, a simple Lightweaving does it as well and Hoid has now 3 separate Lightweaving powers. Moreover, we know that there is a vast trade network of spores established on Lumar and its moons during IoE and in Tress there is no sign of Spore mining anywhere. The presence of Worldhoppers and futuristic technology is also not prominent, but it would be if Lumar had a full scale production of one of the most important resources for any space and Shadesmar-faring civilization. For me those are little clues that point towards the conclusion that Tress is happening early on in Era 4, when Lumar is not the main source of Aethers yet. Instead, Dhatri could be the main or even only source of Aethers in Cosmere at this point of time, and the presence of Riina and Xisis might have even discouraged others to get close to Lumar. Of course, this is a bit speculative, but the WoB is more definite, so together they all go well with placing Tress earlier than other three novelas.

However, Hoid telling the story of Tress on the First of the Sun happens quite far in the timeline. I would suggest it happens even after IoE as that's when Drominad opens itself to visitors from outside and that's when it would be easier for him to get to the planet. Hoid of course could find its perpendicularity on his own and cross through Patji without problems, so it's hard to say if it's before or after IoE or SotD.

[lacrossedeamon]

There is also implications for the deep history timeline with some of the elements of the Cakoban myth. The "giants of Epelli" could reference Aona and Skai but that would then contradict the wob about them being splintered before Ambition or somehow the original Eelakin migration started before Ambition's splintering. Alternatively it could be a different clash between Vessels like Rayse and Tanavast (although they didn't both die) or Vin and Ati (although that seems rather late in the timeline). Less useful is if it refers to an as of now known contest of champions. That these are called "giants of Epelli" in the myth but Ambition is alluded as "a distant god" could imply contest of champions rather than Shards.

[Isilel]

On 7/5/2025 at 7:46 PM, alder24 said:

I would suggest it happens even after IoE as that's when Drominad opens itself to visitors from outside and that's when it would be easier for him to get to the planet.

 

Or Hoid just re-joined the crew of the Dynamic and is telling the "Tress" story to Dusk et al. Having visited First of the Sun in the past and learned their legends.

P.S. Given that Iriali left Lumar three centuries _before_ the events of Tress, their soujorn there must have been a couple of centuries at most. So, was it really their Fifth Land? How did they fit the whole population of Rosharan Iri on a modest island? Or did their migration split?

Edited July 10, 2025 by Isilel