specialNEDstark Posted October 15, 2017 Report Share Posted October 15, 2017 (edited) Being a student of GRRM's school of fake out deaths, there are 2 rules one must accept when any semi-major, or above, level of character dies. Rule 1; if you don't watch them die up close and personal they can, and prob will, return (though I readily admit this can lead to shoddy writing, and the only reason GRRM gets away with the abundance of fake outs he uses is bc, unlike most authors, his main characters are given no plot armor whatsoever, allowing him quite a bit of leeway with this device). Rule 2; Even if u watch them die, don't think for a second ur front row seat means they won't be back. I believe Brandon said he'll allow no more than 1 'omg they're alive' per character. That got me thinking in regards to the identity of the prefaces author. Like most I was positive the writer was Jasnah, and like most I realized soon after that it prob isn't her. Problem is, I don't think Renarian, the current favorite, or any other reasonable guess is the true author either. So here goes, my insane, tin foil, i know I'm wrong, but what if, theory on the identity of the preface author. It's Sadeas!??? Now hear me out a moment, the books so far have given us a mechanism by which this could work. I keep thinking back to the cult Teft grew up in where members put themselves in situations where they'd either manifest powers, or die. Then there's the preface where the author says I thought I was dead while hanging between Shadesmar; even those that see farther than I thought I was dead (sic). Is it possible that the moment the knife pierced his fat bolbous head his ability manifested uncontrollably, shooting him in between realms, much like Jasnah experienced when she was stabbed to death, and we saw her lifeless body in a pool of her own blood? The preface is obviously written well after the actual events, so not knowing what became of Sadeas can explain some of the quotes that don't seem to fit. Maybe he becomes a hero. Maybe he's pure evil then redeemed. Maybe he was bonded with one of the more unsavory Spren, who with or without his knowledge at the time, pushed him into the betrayals, the evil deeds, the pointless deaths he caused. Think it's obvious now not every Spren is as awesome as Syl or Pattern. Absolutely believable that a 'bad guy' Spren could be drawn to Sadeas the way we've seen with others. Of course I'm wrong, but it's an interesting concept, not impossible based off what we know so far. Honestly don't think any other possible authors makes sense with all the quotes so far taken as a whole. Lots of quotes that mostly make sense if it's Dalinar, or Renarin, or Jasnah, ect, but in every case there's several that don't fit at all. Thanks for taking the time to humor my stupid idea, love to hear what everyone thinks! Edited October 15, 2017 by specialNEDstark Grammar/punctuation 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverTiger Posted October 15, 2017 Report Share Posted October 15, 2017 (edited) Welcome to 17th Shard! As long as your theory is, it is unlikely that Sadeas survived. His corpse was found, hours later, by soldiers, was seen by numerous major characters, and thus is unlikely to be alive. Also, Sadeas is not a character anyone wants to come back. And it is also unlikely that he was any sort of candidate for Radiancy. All Radiants had some redeeming quality, Sadeas had none. Plus, all of our Radiants were willing to ultimately do the right thing when push came to shove. Sadeas wasn't willing to do anything that didn't benefit him. P.S. Please use better grammar. Abbreviations that make sense to you might seem as intelligible as ancient Greek to other people, and it makes you sound... well... a bit childish and lazy. (the exception is if you're one of those people to whom English is not their first language). I'm not trying to be mean, just making a helpful suggestion. (Abbreviations like WoB, though, are used by pretty much everybody and are useful. They are part of the nature of this site.) Edited October 15, 2017 by SilverTiger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wax Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 (edited) Yeah. I am not quite sold on dead remaining dead in the Cosmere. After mistborn and Jasnah, I wonder if there are more coming alive ones in SA. Gavilar and Sadeas have definitely no bodies in the physical realm. So, they are unlikely to return that easily, unless a spiking type mechanism in SA comes along. Shshshsh’s body status is unknown, so that is one theory. Edited October 16, 2017 by axcellence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 9 minutes ago, axcellence said: Yeah. I am not quite sold on dead remaining dead in the Cosmere. After mistborn and Jasnah, I wonder if there are more coming alive ones in SA. Gavilar and Sadeas have definitely no bodies in the physical realm. So, they are unlikely to return that easily, unless a spiking type mechanism in SA comes along. Shshshsh’s body status is unknown, so that is one theory. Don't wanna spoil anything for you, but there's new info about one of the things you mentioned above. I suggest that you read the chapters released on Tor. I believe it's the first 20 or so chapters with more added every Tuesday until the books released. If you need a link let me know, but I doubt you'll have any trouble finding them. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calderis Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, specialNEDstark said: Don't wanna spoil anything for you, but there's new info about one of the things you mentioned above. I suggest that you read the chapters released on Tor. I believe it's the first 20 or so chapters with more added every Tuesday until the books released. If you need a link let me know, but I doubt you'll have any trouble finding them. Enjoy! You're on the spoiler board, so the people here have read the chapters. What new evidence are you talking about? Gavilar is dead. We saw Sadeas body days after the fact, and if they follow normal protocol, his body will have been soulcast into a statue. The only new thing we have about Evi is her name. So, care to elaborate? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wax Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 (edited) I didn’t say Evi’s name because OP mentioned it had spoilers for each chapter’s opening quote only. Other than that I am curious to find out if I’ve missed out on a tidbit... Edited October 16, 2017 by axcellence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 10 minutes ago, Calderis said: You're on the spoiler board, so the people here have read the chapters. What new evidence are you talking about? Gavilar is dead. We saw Sadeas body days after the fact, and if they follow normal protocol, his body will have been soulcast into a statue. The only new thing we have about Evi is her name. So, care to elaborate? No, that's all was referring to. When you said shshshsh I thought you might not have known about the early chapters. Didn't mean to imply something amazing though it took me about the same amount of time to catch it as it took Dalinar lol Did a cartoonish double take, wa wa what??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormingTexan Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 ^^ I had to read those lines like 3 times before I realized we got Dalinar’s wife’s name. All I can say is man I hope this is not the case. Brandon has said he uses the “not really dead” very rarely and I hope we do not see this with Sadeas. If the body hadn’t been discovered I may be able to suspend disbelief but that’s pretty good evidence he’s dead dead. I can however see where your coming from with him being the author to an extent but I think he also doesn’t fit the bill completely. I don’t know how anyone would think of him as a heretic for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsdaughter613 Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 To be fair, Jasnah not being dead was supposed to be pretty clear initially. Then it got altered and Brandon has admitted that was a mistake. And I'd argue that until eight minutes have passed from the heart stopping without any sort of intervention that 'death' is questionable. WE 'resurrect' people everyday. So instead of an AED Nale used a fabrial. As far as I'm concerned Szeth wasn't fully dead. Now, with regards to Mistborn: we've Spoiler known he was alive (sort of) for years. If anyone was coming back it was him. It was HEAVILY foreshadowed, and the character still had to really earn it. First just to not-exactly die; then he had to figure out resurrection by himself. If anyone had a right to come back it was him. (Besides, I'm pretty sure he threate- convinced! Brandon to bring him back. Or as Sanderson put it: "He doesn't listen to what I say. He just does what he wants." I've known he would find a way back since then. It just happened to coincide with two similar events... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 1 hour ago, StormingTexan said: ^^ I had to read those lines like 3 times before I realized we got Dalinar’s wife’s name. All I can say is man I hope this is not the case. Brandon has said he uses the “not really dead” very rarely and I hope we do not see this with Sadeas. If the body hadn’t been discovered I may be able to suspend disbelief but that’s pretty good evidence he’s dead dead. I can however see where your coming from with him being the author to an extent but I think he also doesn’t fit the bill completely. I don’t know how anyone would think of him as a heretic for one. No I never really took it serious. Mainly wanted to hear fresh ideas on who it could be. Seems popular opinion is Renarian but I don't think it fits him or any of the most popular guesses. It's not Sadeas obviously, but that's got me thinking if maybe there's an opposite to the Radiants we've yet to meet. Seems there are evil Spren and if they exist do they bond to people like Sadeas. They'd be exactly like Radiants in terms of ability and the process required to form a bond. The only difference would be in what they'd do with their abilities. What's more is Radiants seem to be changed from the bond, becoming more like the Spren that chose them. So it's possible that a person being evil before the bond isn't a requirement. A nasty enough Spren could push a good person into becoming evil. Not to mention the possibility that Odium could work his will through a person bonded with an evil Spren. All speculation of course, but if I'm right about Spren that are evil existing then it would be weird if none of them bond humans. That line of thinking leads me to wonder if the hypothetical evil radiants already exist, and are hiding in plain sight. There's so many secret organizations in the story so far at least one of them could be comprised of dozens of anti-radiants already bonded and trained, just biding there time, waiting to be unleashed. If i had to make a guess about who one could be my money would be on Sadeas widow. She's been overlooked inside and outside of the story,and she was always the more dangerous of the two, much more dangerous than her late husband. When she is next mentioned we find her chatting with Mraize.The guy I'd have picked out as most likely evil radiant, except that he's likely a world hopper. Dont see him being on the same team with Hoid which almost guarantees he's evil. Why would he be talking to the widow of a despised man in a society that considers women to be useless. Makes more sense if she's teamed up with an evil Spren just itching to give her new blade a workout. If I'm totally wrong about everything I still believe strongly that at some point we'll see someone bonded to an anti-spren. Open to naming suggestions btw. Anti, evil, dark side, sith, ect They all get the point across but we can do better, and I want to settle on a moniker now. Otherwise when I'm proven to be right no one else can lay claim to my idea. Odium Spren, Black/Dark Radiants maybe? I'm very open to suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverTiger Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 Sith Radiants? Oh, Almighty, no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmithki Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 @specialNEDstark well, based on how Sanderson tends to write things, I feel like it's unlikely we will have a strictly "evil" group of radiants, it seems to me that we would more likly have a group working for odium but more out of a "righteous anger" style then a kill everyone for odium style opposition (righteous anger falls perfectly under the meaning of odium). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 16, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 I prob shouldn't have said a 'group' of evil radiants. I agree that it's not likely such an organization exists, but I do expect to see at least one person bonded with a malicious Spren in a similar fashion as Radiants, gaining abilities through that bond just as Radiants gain their abilities from their bond. Could turn out that a person bonded with such a Spren becomes much more powerful than Radiants in terms of sheer ability. Much like how Jedi outnumber Sith by a huge margin but as individuals one Sith is generally far stronger one Jedi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmithki Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 4 hours ago, specialNEDstark said: I prob shouldn't have said a 'group' of evil radiants. I agree that it's not likely such an organization exists, but I do expect to see at least one person bonded with a malicious Spren in a similar fashion as Radiants, gaining abilities through that bond just as Radiants gain their abilities from their bond. Could turn out that a person bonded with such a Spren becomes much more powerful than Radiants in terms of sheer ability. Much like how Jedi outnumber Sith by a huge margin but as individuals one Sith is generally far stronger one Jedi. Based on the "ars arcanum" in either tWoK or WoR it would appear that voidbinding is it's own distinct power set, so I would assume that those people wouldn't be quite like the radiants in terms of what they do, but otherwise I feel like it's rather likly we see some humans bind voidspren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salkara Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, Blacksmithki said: Based on the "ars arcanum" in either tWoK or WoR it would appear that voidbinding is it's own distinct power set, so I would assume that those people wouldn't be quite like the radiants in terms of what they do, but otherwise I feel like it's rather likly we see some humans bind voidspren. We probably have to be a little skeptical of the ars arcanum in regards to voidbinding. Brandon has already shown a willingness to contradict his own glossaries in future novels (10 Allomantic metals anyone?). The ars arcanum is written by Khriss, and there's hasn't been any voidbinding on Roshar in the last 4,500 or so years. Seems unlikely that she or Nazh have witnessed any voidbinding (yet). Edited October 17, 2017 by Salkara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Blacksmithki said: Based on the "ars arcanum" in either tWoK or WoR it would appear that voidbinding is it's own distinct power set, so I would assume that those people wouldn't be quite like the radiants in terms of what they do, but otherwise I feel like it's rather likly we see some humans bind voidspren. I think we're both thinking the same thing more or less. I agree we'll see bonding involving Voidspren. Although I think it'll be the Voidspren bonding a person, not a person bonding a Voidspren. I think the difference is much more than an issue of semantics. So far it's been the Spren that chose the person not the reverse. The person isn't forced into the bond, but it's the Spren that wields all the power, at least until the words have been spoken, and the bond has begun. I wonder if that will hold true with Voidspren. Could some or all of them be strong enough to force a bond on an unwilling person? Again I believe the dichotomy between the good and the evil at play may resemble the Jedi/Sith dynamic where the good dwarf the evil in sheer numbers, but the evil forces are much stronger individually which balances the scale. I believe the Voidspren will be considerably stronger than those we've met so far. The question is whether or not their greater power includes the ability to force a bond on an unwilling person. Curious to see these Voidspren in action. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrann Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) As I only finished the Stormlight Archive (including Oathbringer chapters) just this week, why is Jasnah considered an unlikely author of the preface? (by the way, totally unrelated, but I'm fascinated by the member reputation titles. What decides the title someone has?) Edited October 17, 2017 by Leyrann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleksiel Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Leyrann said: As I only finished the Stormlight Archive (including Oathbringer chapters) just this week, why is Jasnah considered an unlikely author of the preface? (by the way, totally unrelated, but I'm fascinated by the member reputation titles. What decides the title someone has?) Welcome to the forum! Reputation titles change based on the total number of upvotes one has. Jasnah is a popular pick. Here's one thread about it. In short, Jasnah says she is a heretic, whereas OB author states others consider them a heretic, little details like that make her unlikely candidate in my eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2017 21 hours ago, Aleksiel said: Welcome to the forum! Reputation titles change based on the total number of upvotes one has. Jasnah is a popular pick. Here's one thread about it. In short, Jasnah says she is a heretic, whereas OB author states others consider them a heretic, little details like that make her unlikely candidate in my eyes. I think the majority of readers knew it was Jasnah after only a few chapters, and after a few more, they knew they were wrong. I have to admit that's how it went for me. Seems like popular opinion is now split close to evenly between Renarian, Navani, and Shallan in that order, with Dhalinar a distant 4th. I'll save the arguments for the proper thread, but I gotta say I believe the reasons I don't think it's any of them, are just strong as the reasons it isn't Jasnah. Problem is that I don't have the slightest idea of who else it could be. Not even a crackpot tin foil theory. Someone in the community will figure it out, and when they do I think we'll all be surprised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleksiel Posted October 18, 2017 Report Share Posted October 18, 2017 @specialNEDstark It split between Jasnah and the Sunmaker early on and it still is, but I think you are right, some people no longer think it's her. I'm not sure why you put Renarin, Navani and Shallan among the popular candidates, that's not my impression. Dalinar is third based on the poll, but lags behind by a large margin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrann Posted October 18, 2017 Report Share Posted October 18, 2017 (edited) The new chapters say "I am no philosopher, to intrigue you with piercing questions. I am no poet, to delight you with clever allusions. I have no doubt that you are smarter than I am. I can only relate what happened, what I have done, and then let you draw conclusions." The third part mostly, to me, indeed says that it is most likely not Jasnah. Though she's probably not going to walk around like "I'm smarter than you", she does know that it is typically the case. I have no idea who it then can be, though. Edited October 19, 2017 by Leyrann Typo removed to avoid more confusion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmithki Posted October 19, 2017 Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 On October 18, 2017 at 7:05 AM, Leyrann said: The new chapters say "I am no philosopher, to intrigue you with piercing questions. I am no poet, to delight you with clever allusions. I have no doubt that you are smarter than I am. I can only relate what happened, what I have done, and then let you draw conclusions." The third part mostly, to me, indeed says that it is most likely Jasnah. Though she's probably not going to walk around like "I'm smarter than you", she does know that it is typically the case. I have no idea who it then can be, though. I'm sorry, the part about the author saying he/she is not as intelligent as her readers makes you think it's Jasnah because she knows that she is most often more intelligent then others? Is that a typo? I'm sorry I'm just not sure if you think it is or is not Jasnah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leyrann Posted October 19, 2017 Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 4 minutes ago, Blacksmithki said: I'm sorry, the part about the author saying he/she is not as intelligent as her readers makes you think it's Jasnah because she knows that she is most often more intelligent then others? Is that a typo? I'm sorry I'm just not sure if you think it is or is not Jasnah. That is a typo. It was supposed to be "most likely not Jasnah". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmithki Posted October 19, 2017 Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 52 minutes ago, Leyrann said: That is a typo. It was supposed to be "most likely not Jasnah". Thanks, I just wasn't clear on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialNEDstark Posted October 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2017 On 10/18/2017 at 4:33 AM, Aleksiel said: @specialNEDstark It split between Jasnah and the Sunmaker early on and it still is, but I think you are right, some people no longer think it's her. I'm not sure why you put Renarin, Navani and Shallan among the popular candidates, that's not my impression. Dalinar is third based on the poll, but lags behind by a large margin. For awhile i kept seeing Renarin everywhere but I'm sure you're right if you're seeing other names brought up more often. Hard to keep up to date sometimes. I also hadn't read the newest chapters yet, and after reading them I'm more confused than ever. The first two quotes from the most recent update made me think Navani the likely author, but then the third quote doesn't seem like Navani at all. For now I give up. No one person makes any sense to me. Maybe it is the Sunmaker. Only character that we can't rule out due to the wording of the quotes, but only because we don't know him well enough to say it sounds like him or not. We'll know by the 15th at least. I'm seriously considering taking the day off work and try to read it in a day. If only I was still in college with a roommate selling Adderall lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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