[OB] Oathbringer Back Cover

[+Extesian]

1 hour ago, Silarn said:

I'm going to take a stab, without reading the whole thread yet.

Edit: after my initial post I've read some other attempts and included those I agree with. I'm now reasonably confident in this rendition. I had a lot of overlap with @Calderis and pulled in a few phases in the first paragraph and confirmed hunches in the second and third with a final cross check.

----

A new storm has come.

Ash and red lightning sweeps the land awakening our ancient enemies. The Unmade - shadows of the enemy's mind - stir, while the eyes of men open. This war is not - and never was - what they thought it to be.

We may soon hold Surges again, for the Radiance has resurfaced in some, and shines toward others. The Captain, broken by loss, seeks reconciliation. The Spy, broken by cruelty, seeks completion. The Stonewalker, broken by oaths, seeks truth. The Traitor, broken by ambition, seeks freedom.

And finally, The King. Broken by war, he seeks the past. That which was abandoned. That which he must not know.

For those secrets will crush him as they did the Knights who came before.

 

----

I think "seeks completion" is the only one I'm unsure about from a story point of view, but it's the only word I can see that accurately fits that blur, based on the length and shape.

Yes, nice, that was the main one I wasn't sure of, but that does look more like completion. 

[ScavellTane]

Am I the only one who went this way:

The Traitor - Moash

The Spy - Shen/Rlain

 

It will be interesting when Dalinar (The King) learns of this:

Listener Song of Histories

12th Stanza
Tis said it was warm in the land far away
When Voidbringers entered our songs.
We brought them home to stay
And then those homes became their own,
It happened gradually.
And years ahead ’twil still be said ’tis how it has to be

[lastofus]

Almighty above, what have you done? *faints*.

First of all you guys rock, I have to revisit it this week to give more upvotes. 

The king is definitely Dalinar, I cannot wait to see what he had forgotten...  

 

9 minutes ago, ScavellTane said:

Am I the only one who went this way:

The Traitor - Moash

The Spy - Shen/Rlain

I like Moash as traitor. But to be honest it can refer to more than one people. Eshonai betraying their Gods is more interesting.

 

9 minutes ago, ScavellTane said:

It will be interesting when Dalinar (The King) learns of this:

Listener Song of Histories

12th Stanza
Tis said it was warm in the land far away
When Voidbringers entered our songs.
We brought them home to stay
And then those homes became their own,
It happened gradually.
And years ahead ’twil still be said ’tis how it has to be

What the hell... I didn't remember this. Are humans of Roshar the voidbringers to the Listeners and vise versa? That's ... the storm!

 

EDIT: WOW some curse words turning to "the storm", lol. 

Edited September 26, 2017 by lastofus

[Steeldancer]

Upvotes

[+Wax]

1 hour ago, ScavellTane said:

Am I the only one who went this way:

The Traitor - Moash

The Spy - Shen/Rlain

 

It will be interesting when Dalinar (The King) learns of this:

Listener Song of Histories

12th Stanza
Tis said it was warm in the land far away
When Voidbringers entered our songs.
We brought them home to stay
And then those homes became their own,
It happened gradually.
And years ahead ’twil still be said ’tis how it has to be

Warm land = Ashyn

[ScavellTane]

1 minute ago, axcellence said:

Warm land = Ashyn

And it is inhabited, according to Khriss.

[hypatia]

There are so many questions:

In the good old times, before Honor and Cultivation - how many Listeners lived on Roshar?

Did they inhabit the whole continent?

Where were their centrals - their cities?

What happened with the arrival of humans?

Perhaps we see the story too much out of the eyes of humans.

[Oversleep]

2 hours ago, Ciridae said:

Knowing that this was written by Sleepless, is anyone else wondering why they may hold surges again? 

Same reason as previous blurbs.

Quote

Surgebinding and Shardwielding can return; the magics of ancient days can become ours again.

They seem to include human races in "us".

[What's a Seawolf?]

I'm disappointed in you guys, missing some obvious connections.

Massive Cosmere spoilers ahoy

Spoiler

Ash and red lightning (Kelsier and Lightsong  confirmed!) sweeps the land awakening (teaming up with Vasher!) our ancient enemies. The Unmade (massive plot twist - who unmakes things into other things?  Shai!) - shadows of the enemy's mind (damnation Brandon's even bringing Silence into this) - stir, while the eyes of men open. This war is not - and never was - what they thought it to be (obviously referring to us, the reader.)

In conclusion, Vasher recruits Kelsier 2.0 and Lightsong 2.0 to combat Odium's combined force of Shai, Silence and an army of Shades, while everyone else frets about a little red rain.

 

Also Lift, just because.

In my honest and sleep deprived opinion.

Edited September 26, 2017 by What's a Seawolf?
Correction

[Ciridae]

31 minutes ago, Overstorm said:

They seem to include human races in "us".

Ah, forgot that was on the other blurbs too. That makes sense, but can we be entirely sure that it isn't specifically about the sleepless?

Kaza interlude spoiler:

Spoiler

We know there is a secret the Sleepless are trying to keep, that has to do with Akinah and maybe ancient fabrials. We know so little about the Sleepless, I dont think we can say for sure that it doesn't relate to something that is Dysian-specific. Phrases like "there are four we watch" are clearly by the Sllepless, maybe for the Sleepless. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that they were talking about themselves in that moment as well.

But you're probably right, the casual reader probably wont think 'Dysian' after reading the blurbs for the first time. I just like the idea of the Sleepless having an ulterior motive.

[+robardin]

Wow, I don't check on the 17th Shard for 18 hours and THIS happens. Very impressive, guys!

How do we know the POV for what's on the back of the book is an Aimian?

 

[Pagerunner]

5 minutes ago, robardin said:

How do we know the POV for what's on the back of the book is an Aimian?

From the AU Chicago signing: 

 

Quote

 

Questioner

Who writes these perspectives?

Brandon Sanderson

Those are written from a group called the Sleepless. You'll find them referenced in Edgedancer. They are Aimians.

 

Arclo talks about "watching' new Radiants, which was the first clue we got.

[+Wax]

1 hour ago, ScavellTane said:

And it is inhabited, according to Khriss.

Has a lot of things... including floating (or was it flying?) cities according to her.

[ScavellTane]

Just now, axcellence said:

Has a lot of things... including floating (or was it flying?) cities according to her.

Tranquiline Halls?? 

[ryshadium90]

9 hours ago, Calderis said:

WHO IS THE TRAITOR!?! 

 

 

 

 

 

inb4 Renarin. 

Maybe it's Moash

[Silarn]

I originally fingered Moash for the traitor but wasn't sure why he would seek freedom. There are a few ways Eshonai could fit that label - both the betrayal of the Alethi and her own people to Odium. I think it's pretty obvious she wants freedom, deep down in that trapped part of her mind that's screaming.

Definitely some ominous hints about Dalinar's path. I suspect some of it is about the Parshendi history, but I also wonder if it ties into the Heralds and their inter-desolation torture. Though it's not clear why the Knights Radiant would have broken and forsaken their oaths simply because the Heralds did. Very interesting!

I suppose Shallan rejecting her 'truth' could make her 'unwhole' in a sense, which is why she might 'seek completion'.

The one phase I'm still on the fence about is 'shining toward'. 'Shepherds forward' is a nice phrase, but I'm not seeing that p in shepherd and it's just too long. It could be forward, but "shines forward" is an odd phrase. Ultimately, "shines toward" gets a similar meaning across and is thematically appropriate with Radiance and light.

[+robardin]

If the list is of people the Aimian in question has observed sprenbonding, Surgebinding, and Radiance, where are Jasnah and Lift? (The latter of which has directly interacted with at least one Aimian, in Arclo).

The "obvious" interpretations, in order of obviousness:

The King, broken by war, he seeks the past - Dalinar
The Captain, broken by loss - Kaladin
The Spy, broken by cruelty - Shallan
The Stonewalker, broken by oaths - Szeth (who's now a Skybreaker in training)
The Traitor, broken by ambition - ???

Moash fits the description of The Traitor, even to himself ("he was a traitor, twice over"). Though his immediate motivation for his betrayals was more vengeance than ambition, he has definitely exhibted a lot of ambition all along, and you could interpret his defiance of Kaladin's repeated and direct orders to break off with Graves' plotting, and comment of "I guess I wouldn't want it any other way" before moving to strike Kaladin down, as "ambition" to be at Kaladin's level of command.

Not sure what Order's spren he'd attract, though.

Holy crap. Time to read Ch 13-15!
 

[17th Splinter]

YES! The aimians are still watching. Has anyone checked the new chapters for cremlings? I forgot about all that.

[frozndevl]

What I find interesting is that the ARCs are softbound, looking like trade paperbacks. Thanks to all for deciphering.

[lol_king]

I don't think the spy is Shallan, she has been through some difficult situations but i don't think anyone showed intentional cruelty towards her (unless it's something abstract like fate or god). Also whether the Spy is the one being cruel or cruel things are being done to them is a bit vague, it's probably the former if they are seeking vindication.  

Also it depends if these things have happened in the past or will happen in the course of the book, if it is the latter it could be Shallan if ghostbloods make her do something, given the recently released chapters i could kinda sorta see that happening but i don't think it's likely. And who exactly will she be spying on and for whom? Both the ghostbloods and Knights radiants know who she is and what she can do.

Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar, and Szeth have been part of both previous backcovers but i don't know if it will continue or not. Maybe it is someone working for Aesudan who has had to be cruel to follow her orders? It could be a spy working for Jasnah (like Liss but she's more of an assasin). Or a spy for the Diagram or other secret societies? Or Nan Balat who has a history of cruelty? (although i don't know who he would be a spy for). We still have 4 Orders without known radiants. 

Edited September 26, 2017 by lol_king

[Guest Edonidd]

Couple things

The Unmade - shadows of the enemy's soul.  It doesn't look like mind to me.

 

The Traitor has got to be Amaram, right?  Only one we have seen do anything for ambition, and pretty sure he still has a bigger part to play.  Moash was my first thought, and he was certainly ambitious grabbing the blade and plate.  But I feel like if he was broken it was for vengeance.  King Taravangian was certainly ambitious, but not sure he was broken by it, and I don't feel like he would be looking for freedom.  

Actually on second (fifth) thought Eshonai fits really well too, maybe better than Amaran.  Broken by her sisters ambition and looking for freedom from Odium.  Her sister and the rest of Stormform would consider her a traitor if she left, while Thude and probably her own conscious considers her currently a traitor to her own ideals.

The Spy fits Shallan, but doesn't feel right.  Cruelty by her mother to try and kill her, and cruelty by her father the rest of her childhood.  While true, it just feels wrong.  Seeks completion?  Her fifth ideal to become a full KR?  Completion of her understanding of Uruthiru?  I just don't know.

Maybe Rlain works better as a spy, but what kind of completion would he be seeking?

[+Wax]

7 hours ago, 17th Splinter said:

YES! The aimians are still watching. Has anyone checked the new chapters for cremlings? I forgot about all that.

Kal scattered some when he landed near a village/town after leaving Hearthstone

[xtra_ore]

42 minutes ago, Edonidd said:

The Spy fits Shallan, but doesn't feel right.  Cruelty by her mother to try and kill her, and cruelty by her father the rest of her childhood.  While true, it just feels wrong.  Seeks completion?  Her fifth ideal to become a full KR?  Completion of her understanding of Uruthiru?  I just don't know.

The line is "broken by cruelty" and we know Shallan had Pattern before she used him to kill her mother, so she was likely broken before she killed her parents.

19 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

Oh, Brandon, you should know better.

...

The second one is a real mystery; "vindication" and "completion" have both been proposed, but I think I see a "ng" in the middle of it, so who knows. But you get the gist.

I think the word is actually "evangelation", basically meaning the act of bringing/spreading good news, which is a pretty good fit for a Lightweaver. Evangel is a word by itself, meaning good news, and "-ation" is basically a suffix actioning the word it is attached too. 

The letter the word starts on seems to be curved like a "c" but I'm posivite there is a "v" before getting to the "ng" shape. Then the "ng" shape has a letter than what I see as an "l" and the "ng-l" takes place around the middle of the word before the "-ation" ending suffix. So it looks like "cv--ng-lation" to me. Evangelation would fit what I see.

Edited September 26, 2017 by xtra_ore
Autocorrection if Lightweaver to Lightbringer.

[+Spicker]

22 minutes ago, xtra_ore said:

19 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

Oh, Brandon, you should know better.

...

The second one is a real mystery; "vindication" and "completion" have both been proposed, but I think I see a "ng" in the middle of it, so who knows. But you get the gist.

I think the word is actually "evangelation", basically meaning the act of bringing/spreading good news, which is a pretty good fit for a Lightweaver. Evangel is a word by itself, meaning good news, and "-ation" is basically a suffix actioning the word it is attached too. 

There is definitely a g in the middle of that word.
I see where you are coming from with evangelation, and that word fits with what I can read. My reservations are that it sounds like a made up word, and feels weird that Brandon would use it. Wouldn't a more correct/better term be evangelization? So is that to long to fit for that word? If evangelation is the real word (which it looks possible) then I start questioning Brandon's choice of vocabulary (which I never do). It's just a weird word, and as much as it could fit, I hope that it's not it.

[Modal Seoul]

I think the traitor maybe Adolin, because he killed Sadeas.

Even though everyone hates Sadeas, Dalinar will not let that slide.

Also, Adolin as traitor would just be interesting. (or traitor=Jasnah, maybe because she betrays religion?)