Who wrote the back cover synopsys of The Way of Kings book?

[maxal]

In my opinion the only thing that ISN'T debatable is that it is a spren speaking.

"The age before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against US." (Emphasis added)

From the feel of it, it also sounds like an older spren. . . If spren have age?

 

Well, we know Syl is a pre-Recreance spren whereas Pattern isn't. So I'd say spren have "age", but perhaps they do not feel it as humans do.

 

It is a good point you are highlighting.

[ljósmóður]

In my opinion the only thing that ISN'T debatable is that it is a spren speaking.

"The age before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against US." (Emphasis added)

From the feel of it, it also sounds like an older spren. . . If spren have age?

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong but  I assumed that spren were eternal but their sentience wasn't so all the spren with nahel bonds have existed pre-recreance but not all of them would have had personhood / "sprenhood" at that time, at least not in the physical realm. So, with regards to age, they are all old but their consciousness might not be?  

 

The speech might also be made by a spren who was not themselves 'old' but who knew the history of spren interaction with humans. A spren historian, maybe a Jasnah-type spren .... ooh, a Veristitalian spren! Which, maybe, brings Ivory into the frame too. Although I still think Glys is possible too.

[natc]

All spren formed from Honor should date back to his splintering or earlier, but the same probably can't be said for ones formed from Cultivation or Odium, who could conceivably still be creating more from investing in Roshar. The Adonalsium-aligned ones being the most ancient.

So honestly idk.

[ARARITA]

I think it may be the Nightwatcher

 

it refers to spren - the Ring is watching

 

or

 

I'm not sure how they are watching   but ... it could be a Parshendi

I believe they live a very long time --- sorry - no desire to elaborate at the moment

it may be Eshonai specifically - she is the one of the 5 mentioned on WoR left out on the back of WoK

 

@maxal -- Mistborn - prophecies / Sanderson - what's not to love ?  ermerfreakingerd

[Kelsier Kenobi]

I think it may be the Nightwatcher

 

it refers to spren - the Ring is watching

 

or

 

I'm not sure how they are watching   but ... it could be a Parshendi

I believe they live a very long time --- sorry - no desire to elaborate at the moment

it may be Eshonai specifically - she is the one of the 5 mentioned on WoR left out on the back of WoK

 

@maxal -- Mistborn - prophecies / Sanderson - what's not to love ?  ermerfreakingerd

Nightwatcher seems very likely to me.

[Nef]

I'm also leaning towards it being a powerful spren given it seem to be an omnipresent entity able to monitor our four protagonists and is accurately familiar with the history of Roshar.

 

Regarding the value of prophecies, I honestly can't remember the last fantasy book I've read that didn't feature a prophecy of some sort as part of their plot, and for good reason in my opinion. Usually a prophecy poses more questions than answers leading the reader to ponder possibilities. Much like the prophecy that is the topic of this thread.

[The Honor Spren]

Nightwatcher seems very likely to me.

I think so too, but there is another possibility.

From what I've been told, there are 3 "God Spren". Stormfather, The Nightwatcher, and Cusicesh, the Protecter (the very large spren in Axies' POV). These three sound like they have managed to retain their sentience after the Final Desolation. I may be wrong and please (nicely) correct me if I am, but it I think it is one of the God Spren. The Stormfather is not as likely, because he seems against the return of the Radiants. The Nightwatcher is very possible, but we do not much about her personality. The last option, which is the one one I am most fond of, is Cusicesh. My proof, however, is very flimsy; it is described as looking longingly towards the origin.

That is my opinion.

[ljósmóður]

One more thing that lends itself to it being the NIghtwatcher is the boon/curse structure of the "prophecy" - one to save/ one to destroy.

 

If the Stormfather is of Honor and the Nightwatcher is of Cultivation, do we know who the Cusicesh is of? 

 

And I like your flimsy proof - I would like it to be true!

[the winter system]

I assumed the Explorer was Jasnah, actually. Huh. 

[kaellok]

In my opinion the only thing that ISN'T debatable is that it is a spren speaking.

"The age before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against US." (Emphasis added)

From the feel of it, it also sounds like an older spren. . . If spren have age?

The Heralds also turned against the humans of Roshar. So did the Radiants. A spren being the speaker is far from certain.

Someone who has true knowledge of Roshar's history, and enough Cosmere knowledge to know that the Final Desolation was a lie, is all that is certain.

 

If the Stormfather is of Honor and the Nightwatcher is of Cultivation, do we know who the Cusicesh is of? 

 

Three Shards, three god spren; the math is pretty simple. And that may reflect part of why Odium is referred to as The Broken One. Personally, though, i think it's an amalgamation of the spren killed by the Recreance.

[IAmTheBeard]

The Heralds also turned against the humans of Roshar. So did the Radiants. A spren being the speaker is far from certain.

Someone who has true knowledge of Roshar's history, and enough Cosmere knowledge to know that the Final Desolation was a lie, is all that is certain.

This. I don't think there's any reason to assume this is from the viewpoint of a spren. 

 

I still think it's being written, after the fact, by whoever is "archiving" the Stormlight Archive. Do we really know anything about why the series is named as such and who is keeping this chronicle? Whoever they are, they have access to Hoid/Frost's correspondence and to the Diagram and its Deathrattle collectors. The only candidate that clearly has that capability would be the Seventeenth Shard, though the Ghostbloods also apparently have worldhoppers, so they might as well. 

[natc]

The Heralds also turned against the humans of Roshar. So did the Radiants. A spren being the speaker is far from certain.

Someone who has true knowledge of Roshar's history, and enough Cosmere knowledge to know that the Final Desolation was a lie, is all that is certain.

Three Shards, three god spren; the math is pretty simple. And that may reflect part of why Odium is referred to as The Broken One. Personally, though, i think it's an amalgamation of the spren killed by the Recreance.

But those spren would be shardblades right now?

That thing might date back to the Adonalsium era of Roshar for all we know, really. So might Stormfather. The listeners are of the storms, but there seems to always have been a Rider of Storms.

Edited June 21, 2015 by natc

[kaellok]

But those spren would be shardblades right now?

That thing might date back to the Adonalsium era of Roshar for all we know, really. So might Stormfather. The listeners are of the storms, but there seems to always have been a Rider of Storms.

Brandon has described a Radiant breaking their Oath as akin to ripping a bit of something out of the spren.  My current head-canon is that they drifted until they formed Cusicesh.  There's nothing to support this, but nothing (yet) that actively contradicts it.

[Nef]

I feel like distinction in the wording used to reference the actions of the Heralds versus that of the Radiants could indicate that the speaker is a Spren. In referencing the actions of the Heralds versus that of the Radiants, the speaker describes the Heralds' actions as abandonment versus the more strongly worded "turned against".

 

Perhaps I could be looking too deeply into the language used, but it seems to reflect the actions of the Heralds and the Radiants accurately from a Spren's standpoint given we what we knew i.e. the actions of the Radiants hurt the Spren and I imagine the actions of the Heralds was simply abandonment as stated.

[kaellok]

I feel like distinction in the wording used to reference the actions of the Heralds versus that of the Radiants could indicate that the speaker is a Spren. In referencing the actions of the Heralds versus that of the Radiants, the speaker describes the Heralds' actions as abandonment versus the more strongly worded "turned against".

 

Perhaps I could be looking too deeply into the language used, but it seems to reflect the actions of the Heralds and the Radiants accurately from a Spren's standpoint given we what we knew i.e. the actions of the Radiants hurt the Spren and I imagine the actions of the Heralds was simply abandonment as stated.

And yet humans in Roshar refer to being betrayed by the Radiants, in-text. It's certainly possible for the speaker to be a spren, but in no way is it certain.

[Bort]

Oh I hate prophecies because they give spoil the readers as to how the story will end. 

 

I'm guessing you've not read the Mistborn trilogy then?

 

All of that is prophesied, yet it doesn't make for a particularly predictable read.

[Bremen]

Am I the only one who thinks the blurb was written by someone who wants the Desolations to return?  Someone like Amaram?

[ljósmóður]

We don't have this on the back of the UK WoK (well not the paperback edition which I have anyway), just a traditional editor's blurb so that's the first time I've read that.

 

Is it repeated on the back of WoR or does the second book have a different blurb? Just wondering if we're meant to read as referring specifically to WoK or whether its a statement that is supposed to span the whole archive. If so, I agree with Maxal that it's odd to only reference the four characters who are bought to the forefront in book 1 and not the other characters who will (presumably) become more prominent as the books progress.

 

Initially, I wondered if it might have been written by one of the Sons of Honor (so, Amaram?) because it references wanting the return of the Heralds and "honor in the hearts of men" but then, they're trying to bring the Desolation, not prevent it so that theory is probably not a valid one.

 

 

Am I the only one who thinks the blurb was written by someone who wants the Desolations to return?  Someone like Amaram?

 

As you can see - you weren't the only one! But, as you can also see, I wasn't sure due to the tone the speaker takes regarding Desolations.

 

I'm being terribly inconclusive on this thread - I've already suggested at least three different possibilities without reaching a definitive conclusion!

[Lirins hand]

WoK:  "....

There are four whom we watch.
...........
The world can change. 
Surgebinding and Shardweilding can return; the magic of the ancient days can become ours again.
These four people are key.
One of them may redeem us,
And one of them will destroy us."

 

WoR:  ".........

The ancient oaths have at last been spoken; the spren return. Men seek that which was lost. I fear the struggle will destroy them.
.........
It is past time for them to awaken, for the Everstorm looms.
And the Assassin has arrived."

 

I think it is interesting how everything is written from a plural viewpoint and in the present tense.  I don't think this is someone writing about the past, that just doesn't make sense to me with the writing style.  

Whether it is prophecy or not, I don't know.  It has a sense of future sight but also current interpretation that is very accurate.  Most prophecies are of the past to the future, not of today (current events) to the future.  Along the lines of "someday one of 4 possible people will rise and save us", not "one of these four currently alive people will rise and save us in the future"

 

To me, it definitely reads as an outsider (will destroy THEM) from the situation but for whom the outcome has definite consequences (redeem/destroy US).   Do we even know if both are written by the same character/group?  "The spren return" sounds like an outsider-type comment, different from the WE/OURS/US in the first blurb.

 

So, then the question becomes: how much do the events (in SA) on Roshar affect life in the cosmere?  If the SA is internal to Roshar only (and the random worldhoppers there), then it only makes sense to me that the writer is a spren that is aware of pre-recreance life.  If the SA has cosmere wide consequences, then the writer could also be from any worldhopping organization, or all the way up to the shards, who may be affected by the outcome of this conflict.

 

*Edited to add the question.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Lirins hand

[The Honor Spren]

Three Shards, three god spren; the math is pretty simple. And that may reflect part of why Odium is referred to as The Broken One. Personally, though, i think it's an amalgamation of the spren killed by the Recreance.

Not poking holes in your theory at all, and not trying to disprove it, but where did we find out that The Night Watcher was of Cultivation?

I really just can't remember. Thank you!

[Vaspin]

Nothing what the speaker says is relevant outside of the history of Roshar. The Heralds, Radiants, and any talk of the Desolations matters only to those born into this world. We have a a couple of bits that allude to the conflict on Roshar not being important in the Grand scheme of the Cosmere. The replier to the Letter is firm in his unwillingness to intervene in war and pleads with the Letter's author to not interfere as well. Hoid himself said he'd let the world be destroyed if it helped his greater purpose. But the speaker in question is very much so concerned with fate of Roshar. 

 

I'm on the side of it being a spren. I don't think the Heralds would refer to themselves in the third person and too much is said for anyone not present at the origin of the conflict to know. The lie of the Final Desolation, the fate of men, the knowledge of the loss of Surgebinding. We the readers also know that the spren have been watching & waiting for the potential Radiants. Syl, Pattern, and Wyndle have made references to this being an action of the spren, they are systematically searching for appropriate people to bond. It's also in the way it's said "...return to men the Shards they once bore" it refers to Shardblade/plate as Shards just like the Stormfather did upon bonding with Dalinar("You will be a Radiant with no Shards").

 

If we also assume the speaker in WoR is the same as WoK, then it lends more evidence of being a spren. "It is the nature of the magic. A broken soul has cracks into which something else can be fit. Surgebindings, the powers of creation themselves." The first time Syl explains Kaladins ability to Surgebind she describes it as taking something away, but replacing it with something else. She also alludes to all the Radiants being broken.

[kaellok]

"The magic of the ancient days can become ours again. "

Speaks pretty heavily against this being a spren. The Radiants wield the magic, not the spren. And we have no evidence that they view the benefits they are granted by the bond AS magic.

"The ancient oaths have at last been spoken; the spren return."

Speaks pretty heavily at not being a spren. Or, at least, by someone who strongly associates their own identity as significantly other/different than the majority of the spren that can form the Nahel Bond.

@Vaspin's last paragraph, the quoted section sounds like someone who knows a lot about Roshar's magic system explaining it to someone who doesn't. We saw this sort of discussion in Warbreaker.

I could go on, but i should be using direct quotes, and they're a pain on mobile.

If it's a spren (which is very possible, but definitely not probable) my money is on the Night Watcher.

Not poking holes in your theory at all, and not trying to disprove it, but where did we find out that The Night Watcher was of Cultivation?

I really just can't remember. Thank you!

http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kwt=nightwatcher'

Edit: i love conversations like this one because I find language fascinating. I do hope that I'm not coming across as a belligerent bully; i keep responding only because, to me, it's interesting (both linguistically, and with the mystery element added of "whodunit?"). I've spent nearly as many hours trying to decide who wrote the back cover as i have reading one of the storming books, after all.

Edited June 22, 2015 by kaellok

[Vaspin]

They both wield the magic. Neither have access to surgebinding without the other. That's something Syl and Pattern confirm to Kaladin and Shallan respectively. The spren have shown to refer to themselves as both a collective and individual and all it would take is a higher order spren to be the one speaking, she would be more of an individual and speak more like a person, than an entity. The Stormfather acts like this and "the Mother" Wyndle refers to could be the spren in question( or some other higher level spren we don't know yet). 

[hypatia]

I've always read this more literally.

Yes, the heralds had abandoned the oathpact and humans, but first of all they had abandoned their blades.

There's a gap - we know nothing about what happened with the "swords in the stone", but I don't think they came right after this to the Shin where they are more or less safe.

Perhaps this is the reason people started to see the knight radiance as traitors - if the holders of the shardblades were fighting against people, who had taken the honorblades.

Perhaps this is my wishful thinking - I want to know more about honorblades and their magic.

[Lirins hand]

I've always read that Hoid comment not as "I don't care what happens here, this planet can die for all I care" but as very much important to him, "I would be willing to destroy this planet rather than let a bad result endanger my plans".  That the end result of Roshar's conflict can affect his plans, whatever they are, speaks more to their importance cosmerically than their lack of importance.

 

I do think it is most likely an on-planet voice, but I wouldn't be shocked if it turns out not to be.

 

Different idea: who is most removed from everyday life on Roshar but seems to be in the know from snippets we've seen/heard?  Could this be a Shin observing what is happening in the outside world?