Excerpt from Words of Radiance: Chapters Ten, Twelve, Fourteen and Interlude 1

[Scriptorian he/him]

I read the whole thing through, then reloaded the page and found the Adolin and Estonai sections had switched places on the page. Whaaaaat???

[Beautor he/him]

I thought it was interesting that the Parshendi spy on humans using dullform, "It was a form of low intelligence, low capacity. They used it now to spy on the humans (Interlude 1)" It seems that this form must be very similar to slaveform if they are able to pass off as spies. I think that we can now safely assume that Shen is a Parshendi spy.

 

 

Maybe not, maybe by his relationship with Bridge 4 he is on the verge of discovering a new form, friendform?

 

Personally I don't think Shen is a spy, although I can see it as being a distinct possibility. Looking at the last epigraph, which is talking about the Listeners and bonding it suggests that the forms need more than just the right spren. They also need the right emotion or trait.

 

 

 

Mateform meek, for love to share,

Given to life, it brings us joy.

To find this form, one must care.

True empathy one must employ.

—From the Listener Song of Listing, 5th stanza

 

He might just be developing a spren bond/form. I am excited to see how this develops and how the Listeners (love the name) change forms.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Beautor

[Scriptorian he/him]

I just realized that someone should probably check on FeatherWriter. Just based on her previous reactions to any thing Renarin-related, she's probably catatonic right now.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

OOOok. 

-Love the new chapter headings. 

 

-If Shallan believes herself to be a monster, she must have killed those people, but some are bleeding, so it wasn't a Shardblade. At least not all of them. ALTHOUGH, the part where she says a monster should not be held in affection could be referring to her father, and he just killed them all in his temper. Technically she was also holding him. 

 

What the heck is glowing in the safe?

 

-Kaladin's scene was awesome. I'm glad it sounds like he's going to really go through with the Radiant stuff. Can't wait for the next chapter with Amaram; looks like that conflict will take place through a good portion of even the early book. 

 

-OK. Eshonai is the Explorer. I think we can also confirm Szeth has an Honorblade. Stormform sounds scary. 

 

-Adolin sounds scary too. It is noticable that right when he starts thinking of the duel as war, he feels the Thrill as he never has in a duel. Also loved hearing him talk to his Shardblade. I think the fans of "spren are inside Shardblades" theories are going to get there way. 

[Fistsofrage]

I'm not sure how I feel about the Adolin chapter. After weeks of reading "mature" Kaladin chapters, the older Adolin seems...childish? Hope I don't offend any Adolin fans by saying that, it's just the feeling I get from the chapter.

 

Edit: And this feeling has nothing to do with his duel rituals, those were nice. Gotta love that brotherly bonding time.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Fistsofrage

[ProfessorMLyon he/him]

“Sure,” Lopen said from behind them. “Just go ahead and leave the Herdazian stuck to the wall. The view here is wonderful. Oh, and is that slime running down my cheek? A fresh new look for the Lopen, who cannot brush it away, because—have I mentioned?—his hand is stuck to the wall.”

Kaladin smiled, walking over. “You were the one who asked me to stick you to a wall in the first place, Lopen.”

“My other hand?” Lopen said. “The one that was cut off long ago, eaten by a fearsome beast? It is making a rude gesture toward you right now. I thought you would wish to know, so that you can prepare to be insulted.”

Lopen is awesome. He and Lift would have a great time, I believe.

[Shardlet he/him]

“And can they all hold the same amount?” Sigzil asked. “We know that uncut gems hold less than cut ones. So is one that was cut better going to hold more? Plus, Stormlight fades from a sphere over time. How many days has it been since that chip was infused, and how much Light has it lost since then? Do they all lose the same amount at the same rate? We know too little. I think perhaps I am wasting your time, sir.”

 

Sounds like Sigzil has spent some time on our site here. 

 

Finally!  The Parshendi name themselves.  The listeners.

 

Eshonai holds the only Parshendi...err, listener shardblade and plate.

 

Red lightening spren are angerspren?  Or at least attracted to Parsh anger.

 

The warcamps are in collapsed domes.  Amazing that such a large dome could be constructed!

 

Surgebinding risks the return of the listener gods, but Honorblades DO provide surgebinding capabilities.  Good support for Szeth carrying an Honorblade.  (Assuming that particular listener song is true.  Eshonai recognizes that some are not.)

 

I now envision Adolin and Renarin as the Elric brothers.  (I recently started watching Fullmetal Alchemist).

[Chaos he/him]

I just realized that someone should probably check on FeatherWriter. Just based on her previous reactions to any thing Renarin-related, she's probably catatonic right now.

I've just messaged Feather, as I also worried about this. She didn't reply for a time, so I thought she may have died. But no, she is alive, she's just in class. For the next hour and a half.

So let's make sure we check on her when she's actually read these chapters.

[Bremen]

 

-Adolin sounds scary too. It is noticable that right when he starts thinking of the duel as war, he feels the Thrill as he never has in a duel. Also loved hearing him talk to his Shardblade. I think the fans of "spren are inside Shardblades" theories are going to get there way. 

If Brandon goes down that route and has spren turn into the blades I will throw up in my mouth.  It's just far too cliche for me and I cannot take it seriously.

 

I will cling to the theory that shardblades are a shard of the KR's soul until WoB states otherwise.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

I read the whole thing through, then reloaded the page and found the Adolin and Estonai sections had switched places on the page. Whaaaaat???

I wanted Eshonai last because it feels better to me as the final preview chapter.

[Moogle]

If Brandon goes down that route and has spren turn into the blades I will throw up in my mouth.  It's just far too cliche for me and I cannot take it seriously.

 

I have to agree. Syl is a beautiful independent spren woman. She is not getting stuck in a Shardblade for a man to wield. I don't even visit tumblr and I feel this way! It's more likely that the Shardblades are just little bits of Honor/Cultivation/Odium and that speaking all the Ideals opens you up to getting enough Investiture to craft a set. Plus, there's Plate too, not just Blades.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Moogle

[lummi he/him]

I wanted Eshonai last because it feels better to me as the final preview chapter.

 

Wow , I feel like an addict who just found out he had his last fix.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

I now envision Adolin and Renarin as the Elric brothers.  (I recently started watching Fullmetal Alchemist).

Huh. There does seem to be some personality alignment there, but it's certainly not perfect.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

If Brandon goes down that route and has spren turn into the blades I will throw up in my mouth.  It's just far too cliche for me and I cannot take it seriously.

 

I will cling to the theory that shardblades are a shard of the KR's soul until WoB states otherwise.

 

 

I have to agree. Syl is a beautiful independent spren woman. She is not getting stuck in a Shardblade for a man to wield. I don't even visit tumblr and I feel this way! It's more likely that the Shardblades are just little bits of Honor/Cultivation/Odium and that speaking all the Ideals opens you up to getting enough Investiture to craft a set. Plus, there's Plate too, not just Blades.

 

I also agree, but it does look like it is headed down that sort of path. Something to consider though: Kaladin uses different little bindspren in his lashings. Maybe it is not necessarily the bonded spren that creates the Blade? Maybe she allows/grants the blade or something like that. 

 

Edit: It is definitely bladespren. THERE IS A SPREN IN EVERYTHING SAYS MAMA KALADIN!

Edited January 28, 2014 by Bloodfalcon

[Chaos he/him]

So this just happened to Feather:

Feather: Ow, frick.

[11:46:38 AM] Feather: I'm bleeding.

[11:46:48 AM] Feather: I just bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood.

She was so frustrated that she can't read these immediately she hurt herself. That happened.

[SirVarrock he/him]

Well, It seems that whichever theory it was that each order had it's own stance was correct.

[Maresia he/him]

i just finished reading these chapters.. O M G. omg HOLY rust! THE HYPE TRAIN HAS ARRIVED, ALL ABOARD. God. Im hyped as f---. Its like reading WoK but from the ending to the begining.

Edited January 29, 2014 by FeatherWriter
Please, watch the language.

[weebojello]

So I'll bite on the honorblade theory.

 

If the honorblade does confer surgebinding, then we assume Szeth has an honorblade. As his surgebinding is identical to Kaladin's, I posit that Jezrien went back to get his blade.

 

This would lead to the drunk asking if Szeth has seen his blade on the night of the assassination? Would the drunk then be Jezrien? The only issue I have with that is when would Szeth have been given the blade to be so good with the surgebinding as he's very practiced in it.

[Moogle]

So I'll bite on the honorblade theory.

 

If the honorblade does confer surgebinding, then we assume Szeth has an honorblade. As his surgebinding is identical to Kaladin's, I posit that Jezrien went back to get his blade.

 

This would lead to the drunk asking if Szeth has seen his blade on the night of the assassination? Would the drunk then be Jezrien? The only issue I have with that is when would Szeth have been given the blade to be so good with the surgebinding as he's very practiced in it.

 

What makes you think the Honorblades that were left by the Heralds weren't picked up?

 

Also, re: Kaladin+Amaram, I honestly thought Kaladin was going to suck up a bunch of Stormlight and jump on Amaram and beat him up. Kinda disappointed he didn't go all the way. Let your emotions free, Kaladin! I want as much drama as possible screw being reasonable.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Moogle

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

So I'll bite on the honorblade theory.

 

If the honorblade does confer surgebinding, then we assume Szeth has an honorblade. As his surgebinding is identical to Kaladin's, I posit that Jezrien went back to get his blade.

 

This would lead to the drunk asking if Szeth has seen his blade on the night of the assassination? Would the drunk then be Jezrien? The only issue I have with that is when would Szeth have been given the blade to be so good with the surgebinding as he's very practiced in it.

The drunk just asks "have you seen me" or something like that. 

 

Also, Szeth was a respected member of Shin society before he was truthless. He could have been a great warrior. i think we now also know him to be around 38 years old. That's like twice as old as Kaladin was when he mastered the spear. It's not hard to believe Szeth has had a lot of time over 38 years to train in any abilities.

[Kurkistan he/him]

I've just messaged Feather, as I also worried about this. She didn't reply for a time, so I thought she may have died. But no, she is alive, she's just in class. For the next hour and a half.

So let's make sure we check on her when she's actually read these chapters.

 

You assume here that she did not immediately leave class to read the chapters as soon as she heard Renarin was in one.

 

Huh. There does seem to be some personality alignment there, but it's certainly not perfect.

 

Apparently all of Tumblr is convinced that Adolin is Roy Mustang's clone (visually, at least).

-This from what I can make of the sight. Honestly I feel like an old man whenever I try to navigate over there.

 

EDIT: Wow, I double-posted. Haven't done that in a while.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Kurkistan

[Elwynn]

Enough listeners in stormform could control a highstorm?!?

 

 

 

"All is withdrawn for me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds."

 

-Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed mother of four in her sixty-second year.

 

I'm calling it, that's Eshonai. (I'm aware many think it's Kaladin at some point)

 

 

 

edit: can't spell

Edited January 28, 2014 by Elwynn

[skavoovee]

The drunk just asks "have you seen me" or something like that. 

 

Also, Szeth was a respected member of Shin society before he was truthless. He could have been a great warrior. i think we now also know him to be around 38 years old. That's like twice as old as Kaladin was when he mastered the spear. It's not hard to believe Szeth has had a lot of time over 38 years to train in any abilities.

If Szeth was a respected member of Shin society (I just don't remember reading that), it definitely wouldn't have been because of any warrior-type prowess. The interlude with the merchant makes it clear that even picking up a weapon immediately bumps you down to the lowest level of their society. My guess is that his great skill with the abilities came about when and immediately after he became Truthless. As we don't know how that happened, and I don't think we'll find out until book 3 (I think that's supposed to be Szeth's flashback book), we'll just have to keep guessing.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

If Szeth was a respected member of Shin society (I just don't remember reading that), it definitely wouldn't have been because of any warrior-type prowess. The interlude with the merchant makes it clear that even picking up a weapon immediately bumps you down to the lowest level of their society. My guess is that his great skill with the abilities came about when and immediately after he became Truthless. As we don't know how that happened, and I don't think we'll find out until book 3 (I think that's supposed to be Szeth's flashback book), we'll just have to keep guessing.

That's a good point, he probably wasn't a warrior before. It has long been my belief that he is a Truthless because he took the Honorblade (whether it was because of the Blade itself or because it was lodged in the stone). Your point almost supports that theory, and there could still be so so much time for him to learn if he took it when he was.. 25, even. If he killed the king when he was 31-32, that would still have him years of practice. 

[Daishi5]

I wonder what this means for Adolin.  He does seem a bit scary, but at the same time he is following in his father's footsteps of treating it like a war.  The quote about how every lighteyes was a raw recuit makes the scene more like some first day of bootcamp where the drill sargent lays down the law on the first recruit dumb enough to act out.  

 

He did not go out and dance and perform a graceful show of skill, but used brute force to smash his opponent and win.  The question is, is Adolin going to lose himself in shows of power like this, or can he hold himself back and use it for bringing the other lighteyes into line.