Colby Jack Posted January 21, 2014 Report Share Posted January 21, 2014 Okay, here's my latest crack theory.I've always assumed that the Knight Radiant built Urithiru in a place that is inaccessible to normal people, like another dimension such as Shadesmar. I am still convinced that the first part is true, but not the second.In the past, Urithiru served two purposes that I know of. It was the home of the Knight Radiants and it was the capital of the Silver Kingdoms. If the latter was not true, then Shadesmar would be completely right, but why would the Knight Radiant choose to build what is essentially the capital of mankind in what is believed to be the domain of the sprens? The Knight Radiants were spiritually connected to the sprens, but people? Not so much.So instead, could it have been been build in Roshar and remained there to this day? After all, Urithiru is considered one of mankind's legendary city, on par with our Atlantis or Babylon. Maybe the reason why no one found Urithiru is because it is build somewhere in Roshar that no man can reach, a place where man has no domain... Yup, title-readers, the sky. Babylon was cast back down into ruins and Atlantis consumed by the waves, but perhaps Urithiru once lived in the clouds and still do.The Knight Radiants were a legendary order. Word of God says their powers can be replicated with the right sprens, which is how frabricals are created. With all Ten Orders of the Knight Radiants united, in one of the greatest age in Roshar's history, is it that hard to imagine that perhaps they had both the power and capability to build a city in the heavens itself? A city in the sky would be majestic and amazing even if it looks completely ordinary. And if their shards are any of an indication, the Knight Radiants were probably very fashionable.Now it could just be a city that floats, but let's take it one step further. I imagine Urithiru as a hybrid of a city and a space-station that can be controlled. Say when the Knight Radiants disappeared, they could kick everyone out and just moved it as high up as they safely could and just abandoned it there. This function would open up a lot of options for our heroes when it's found, perhaps escalate events quite nicely to suit the series.In the lastest chapters, Jasnah said that the Brightlords and the other leaders in the world needs to be convinced that the Last Desolation is coming, but that would only happen if they somehow found Urithiru and showed everyone proof. It's also their only hope to fully and truly restore the Knight Radiant, so it must happen one day. Wouldn't it blow everyone's mind if they found Urithiru, flew it right over the camps, and leave it hover there for a few weeks while they make their plans? Forget betrayals and back-stabbings, the Brightlords won't be able to piss without being reminded of the Knight Radiant and the coming of the True Desolation.And that's about it. There really isn't any basis for this theory, other than the fact that I feel Urithiru should be in Roshar and the idea sounds really awesome. Hence, the crack part. It could just as likely be a submerged city or one that is hidden deep in the Earth, but I doubt the last one since people those days apparently didn't believe in caves and caverns. Any thoughts? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringWarmCold Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 its an interesting theory, but improbable given what we know so far about what the Knights were capable of. i think its much more likely that the shattered plains contain the ruins of the city. they have been unexplored and what lies at the center still remains a mystery for the most part. we also know that the parashendi live in the ruins of a city at the center of the plains which could be the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moogle Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Now it could just be a city that floats, but let's take it one step further. I imagine Urithiru as a hybrid of a city and a space-station that can be controlled. Say when the Knight Radiants disappeared, they could kick everyone out and just moved it as high up as they safely could and just abandoned it there. This function would open up a lot of options for our heroes when it's found, perhaps escalate events quite nicely to suit the series. It... suddenly occurs to me that this space station idea is a great one. New theory: one of the three moons is host to Urithiru. Voidbringers can't get to it because it's in SPAAAAAACEEEEE. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raevun Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 There is some support for this in Dalinar's vision where he fights the Midnight Essence. ...he saw a brilliant blue light falling through the air. It was like a star rock, dropping at an incredible speed. Dalinar cried out as the light hit the ground a short distance away, cracking the stone, spraying rock chips in the air... ...he watched in amazement as the light stood up, limbs unfolding. It was a man - a man in glowing blue Shardplate, bearing a Sharblade, trails of Storm-light rising from his body. Initially I just assumed they were windrunners, and when they detected the Midnight Essence they just lashed themselves to the sky in the direction of the village. Though a base in the sky would also fit; loading Radiants into catapults, pointing them at problems and flinging them away to save the day or what have you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstSelector Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Then, imagine when the Knights Radiant give up their oaths, whatever magic was holding up Urithiru suddenly failed... and it fell. And landed in the middle of a giant plain, causing huge cracks in the ground. Kaladin notices that the Shattered Plains appeared as though something heavy had been dropped in the middle, so a flying (then suddenly not) Urithiru would explain this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 As I started reading this I thought it wasn't likely but OMG I want this to be true! In that case though, what would have happened to the rubble of an entire city? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_karma_II Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Then Parshendi could actually be the people who were residents of Urithiru! ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aether Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Then Parshendi could actually be the people who were residents of Urithiru! ? I like this idea a lot, but remember that they weren't really native to the Shattered Plains. They hunted there from time to time, but it was only after the Alethi launched their offence against them that they moved their civilization to the Plains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_karma_II Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I like this idea a lot, but remember that they weren't really native to the Shattered Plains. They hunted there from time to time, but it was only after the Alethi launched their offence against them that they moved their civilization to the Plains. Yes, But they seem to be defending the tower like structure in the centre of the shattered plains more than anything. Maybe they're protecting the gateway to Urithiru which is somehow linked to the the tower like structure in the shattered plains. I also think the tower like structure will be very important to the whole thing somehow.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aether Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Yes, But they seem to be defending the tower like structure in the centre of the shattered plains more than anything. Maybe they're protecting the gateway to Urithiru which is somehow linked to the the tower like structure in the shattered plains. I also think the tower like structure will be very important to the whole thing somehow.! I didn't really get this impression from Eshonai's Interlude. It seems more like they had claimed the Tower out of convenience and defensibility than to protect it. The Alethi is more or less completely oblivious to the true nature of the Shattered Plains at this point anyway, so I am not sure it is even necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyzkle Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 While I seriously doubt this will be the case, it's a pretty fascinating possibility. What if Urithiru is on top of the highstorms? It would make sense for the home of Radiants to be so full of power that thousands of years later it is leaking this power back to Roshar. If we assume that highstorms weren't a problem before the Recreance (I'm pretty sure there is some evidence for this) then it is reasonable to believe Urithiru started to float around the world aimlessly since it was abandoned. It would be pretty awesome to see Kaladin flying a highstorm-city into an army of voidbringers. Pretty ridiculous speculation, but awesome nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numuhukumakiakiaialunamor Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I highly doubt that Urithiru is flying or in the air. Personally, I think it's somewhere far to the west, and it hasn't been found because it's so far away from Alethkar. I also get the feeling that the Parshendi know where it is. Either they lived there before the war there or stumbled upon it sometime. I don't know why I get this feeling, but I think it would be a great twist if they finally found Urithiru and there were a bunch of Parshendi. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macen Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I like this idea a lot, but remember that they weren't really native to the Shattered Plains. They hunted there from time to time, but it was only after the Alethi launched their offence against them that they moved their civilization to the Plains. The only thing we know about where they are from is the shattered plains. It has been stated numerous times in the books/preview chapters that they lived in the craters that the Alethi now live in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duladen Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Like several others here, I'm going to say "cool theory, but unlikely." There was a pretty lengthy discussion on what we know about Urithiru in a thread discussing whether or not it could be at the Shattered Plains. Moogle's post here will tell you a lot. We know that Urithiru is westward of Alethela/Alethkar and that there's some debate over whether or not you can walk there. I personally like the idea of it being in the Horneater Peaks, which is not THAT different from it being in the clouds. There is some support for this in Dalinar's vision where he fights the Midnight Essence. Initially I just assumed they were windrunners, and when they detected the Midnight Essence they just lashed themselves to the sky in the direction of the village. Though a base in the sky would also fit; loading Radiants into catapults, pointing them at problems and flinging them away to save the day or what have you. I assumed that they were using the Transportation surge and it was like how Jasnah soulcast without touching objects - a light beams down from the sky (I know I read this somewhere, but I can't find a quote...). Last bit to add: Whether Urithiru is floating in the sky, on top of a huge mountain, under the Reshi sea, or wherever, I think that there was a way to get there from each of the Dawncities. Most (all but one?) of the cities are still occupied, and the access point to Urithiru has probably long since been destroyed and/or forgotten. However, at the Shattered Plains, which I think was Natanatan's Dawncity, has been somewhat preserved in time. The city has crumbled, but perhaps the access point (oathgate?) was not destroyed. Jasnah and Shallan will find it, discover Urithiru, and convince everyone of the coming Everstorm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kersplattle Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 What if....the Shattered Palins are just that because that's where Urithiru landed ? It was a "Castle in the Sky" (Shades of Laputa, for those Myazaki fans amongst us) and connected to the Recreance or something, it "hard landed" and caused the shattering. Recall in Kaladin's storm journey, he noted that the Shattered Plains looked like something large had landed there, not able to reference my copy to get the quote, but I recall the substance (I think). Perhaps by using the Windrunner lashings the whole city was sent aloft, and it required continual support to stay there. Once the KR disbanded, without someone to keep the lashings going, it fell. Plausible maybe ? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duladen Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 What if....the Shattered Palins are just that because that's where Urithiru landed ? It was a "Castle in the Sky" (Shades of Laputa, for those Myazaki fans amongst us) and connected to the Recreance or something, it "hard landed" and caused the shattering. Recall in Kaladin's storm journey, he noted that the Shattered Plains looked like something large had landed there, not able to reference my copy to get the quote, but I recall the substance (I think). Perhaps by using the Windrunner lashings the whole city was sent aloft, and it required continual support to stay there. Once the KR disbanded, without someone to keep the lashings going, it fell. Plausible maybe ? I don't really agree with this theory, but +1 for the Laputa/Myazaki connection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarion Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Thinking about it, this seems oddly possible. We know that 2 orders can mess with gravity. Presumably, this can be replicated with fabrials. So if you set multiple fabrials into the base of your "island", it's perfectly possible that it would float - The only tricky part is working out the correct pull to keep it where you want it to be. But that's just mathematics, rather than anything insurmountable. And then, because it's floating (preferably over the storms, for the comfort of everyone "on board") it should be out of the way enough to be safe, while being periodically recharged through exposure to the storms. The biggest issue is the "batteries", which would presumably just be a whole load of gemstones set into the fabrials. You'd need enough storage to be able to run the anti-gravity (or more accurately I suppose, the counter-gravity) for 2 weeks (Assuming that the Weeping is the longest period of time between highstorms - 2 two-week periods, with a highstorm in the middle). That's a lot of stormlight, but I don't see the Knights being unable to afford the gems. Like most people here, I'm not sure it's going to happen, but it's fascinating that the world could support it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoser Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 It's a really cool idea, but I see some problems with it. What if....the Shattered Palins are just that because that's where Urithiru landed ? It was a "Castle in the Sky" (Shades of Laputa, for those Myazaki fans amongst us) and connected to the Recreance or something, it "hard landed" and caused the shattering. Recall in Kaladin's storm journey, he noted that the Shattered Plains looked like something large had landed there, not able to reference my copy to get the quote, but I recall the substance (I think). Perhaps by using the Windrunner lashings the whole city was sent aloft, and it required continual support to stay there. Once the KR disbanded, without someone to keep the lashings going, it fell. Plausible maybe ? Dalinar says that the nation that had been Natanatan fell centuries before. The Recreance took place thousands of years before. If we assume that the nation fell when the plains got shattered, then the timelines don't match up. The fact that the structures are still somewhat usable suggests to me that it hasn't been thousands of years and something big didn't land on them. There seems to be some crem buildup, but not the debris from a whole city landing there. I know nothing, so this is not a disproof, but it doesn't seem to me like something we should take as truth at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironeyes Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I don't think that's likely, but I'm definitely going to upvote you just for the anime reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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