Necarion Posted February 5, 2021 Report Share Posted February 5, 2021 Brandon once said that we have already seen how the Stormlight Archive ends, which clearly is in one of the death rattles. I strongly believe it to be the the Ketek at the end of The Way of Kings Quote Above silence, the illuminating storms- -dying storms- -illuminate the silence above. The final shot of the Stormlight Archive will be an empty, silent Roshar as the Highstorm and the Everstorm clash and wither out, with silence both below and above. More detailed thoughts: (I am not going to be able to find citations, but if anyone can help, I'll add them to the post). 1. Erosion: the geologic process in the formation of Roshar has been the steady deposition of crem during Highstorms. The entire continent is largely crem upon crem, which is why the entire thing is so insanely metal poor. And while the Highstorm has incredible erosive effects, it deposits more material on net than it takes away. The arrival of the Everstorm changes the calculus. We saw in the final fight of Words of Radiance that when the two storms clashed, the forces were enough to send entire plateaus hundreds of feet into the air. The erosion from this (and even from just the Everstorm, which wears away without bringing back) will start to wash Roshar into the sea. Brandon spoke of this animation of the Julia Set as the inspiration for the shape of Roshar. I think there's more than just the shape; the growth and decay of the shape seem appropriate to the crem-building and eventual erosive weathering of Roshar. 2. The story will not end with everybody on Roshar dead, simply with the entire sapient population evacuated through the Perpendicularity. I don't believe Brandon wants to end this series on a true tragedy (i.e., the complete failure of the anti-Odium forces). And yet the Roshar system is the focus for so much of the conflict within the Cosmere. It seems silly (on a Doylist writer-based level) to have the series end with "Odium is still trapped in Roshar" since we still need some conflict involving the reassembly of Adonalsium. And since Odium has no intention of becoming not-Odium, there needs to be a way for him to get out somehow. Plus, it lets us have our Favorite Rosharan Characters showing up on different worlds. (I desperately want Lift and Wayne to be friends. Wayne is the second most Edgedancer character we have met this entire series, and both Lift and Wayne are weird in part because of a trauma in their past, and are also actively trying to be weird, for better or worse. I think they will understand each other, be really good friends at a totally normal level, and help each other move past some of their other problems.) I also cannot see Wax or Nalan having any patience for each other, and it would be glorious. This is also going to be where the Checkov's gun of "something something Horneater Peaks, outsiders, something something" actually goes off with a bang. 3. Thematic parallels This leaves open the possibility of a "The Real Asgard is the People" ending, where there is a massive loss (the entire planet is uninhabitable, Odium is loose), but still a victory from the perspective of everyone we care about (Life placed before Death). The Stormlight Archive is the Journey, not the Destination. Roshar slowly wearing away into the sea (a process we will discover has become noticed and studied after our 5/6 timeskip) will be thematically paralleled with the Radiants slowly losing ground to the forces of Odium, at least on Roshar. The Storms are central to the story of Roshar (Stormlight Archive). The proscribe the actions of all the characters, where they can go, how they can move, what gives them power. I believe that there will be a thematic arc of the Storms themselves that parallels that of the characters, with the relative balance of the Highstorm and Everstorm being an in-universe metaphor for the progress of the war. I have a couple of additional thoughts, but they are specifically referencing things learned in Rhythm of War. I'm hiding them under spoilers, because I think this theory holds regardless (I've held it since the end of Words of Radiance, but there are new points that reinforce it). Mods, if you'd like me to move the post, I'd be happy to. Point 1: Spoiler Getting off Roshar There has been a lot of effort devoted to the question of "Getting off Roshar". It's hard for anyone tied to the world, for example, and there is effort devoted to getting Stormlight to other worlds. I think even a little Stormlight will end up compounded in a nicrosil mind, and result in a much reduced scarcity of investiture in the Cosmere. I asked Brandon this, and he RAFO'd me, but I'm pretty sure that other investitures will end up getting compounded. Regardless, I think that there will be a solution found eventually. And while it will initially benefit the real bastards, like Mraize, it will eventually be used to the much greater good. Point 2: Spoiler This will be Ash's book. The 9 Heralds (10 excluding Taln) were responsible for the destruction of Ashyn through the uncontrolled use of the Surges, at the instigation of Odium. (Brief interlude into theory I'll explain more in another post). The nine (and in particular, Ishar) were kings of Ashyn and ended being pushed/tricked into destroying Ashyn, and had to take their battered people to safety to Shinovar. I think what happened was that the nine (Nine, because they were of Odium) wished to repent and make right, and so forged Honorpact in order to hold back Odium by sacrificing their own minds. (This is the only reason I can see for them to have made such an obviously lousy bargain). However, since Honor's number is 10, a tenth member was unintentionally drafted into the Oathpack: Talenel (possibly already Ash's partner?) Quote There she found him, sitting alone in the dim light, staring ahead sightlessly. Dark skin, even darker than hers, and a muscled physique. A king, for all the fact that he’d never worn a crown. He was the one of the ten who was never supposed to have borne their burden. And he’d borne it the longest anyway. Oathbringer (p. 1120) In Book 10, I think we are going to finally learn the deepest details of the formation of the Oathpact in Shalash's flashbacks. We will have already learned about the history of the Desolations from Taln's book, but the final instigating details will be the last to learn. I predict that it will turn out to have been Shalash who helped lead the people through Shadesmar to their new home. This would make her "redemption" through the exact opposite: leading the people back out to a new home. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forms of mind Posted February 8, 2021 Report Share Posted February 8, 2021 I believe Honor will win. Quote bellow is from the epigraphs. The only one who is broken and splintered of the three (honor, odium, and cultivation) is Honor. High storms and everstorms may be dead but honor wins. It is possible that the tranquiline halls are fixed. Above is mentioned twice it is a direction. It means that maybe the reclaim halls like in vorin myth. Quote Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vessel of Theory Posted February 8, 2021 Report Share Posted February 8, 2021 I believe that "we've seen how SA will end" on Scadrial, with an unlikely stepping up to pick up multiple Shards. Posted this theory before, so I'll just spoiler it: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forms of mind Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Vessel of Theory said: I believe that "we've seen how SA will end" on Scadrial, with an unlikely stepping up to pick up multiple Shards. Posted this theory before, so I'll just spoiler it: How does the archive end up on a different planet. It would be awesome but the war is in the rosharan system. It only will happen if others invade. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vessel of Theory Posted February 9, 2021 Report Share Posted February 9, 2021 3 hours ago, Forms of mind said: How does the archive end up on a different planet. It would be awesome but the war is in the rosharan system. It only will happen if others invade. No, what I mean is it'll be one person taking up multiple Shards, as seen on Scadrial. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forms of mind Posted February 10, 2021 Report Share Posted February 10, 2021 okay i understand 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaconLord Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 do you think he'll ever bring all his cosmere works together? I mean that would have to take some serious thinking to manage to bring them together into a single planet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halyo_Alex Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 2 hours ago, BaconLord said: do you think he'll ever bring all his cosmere works together? I mean that would have to take some serious thinking to manage to bring them together into a single planet. It won't come together onto a single planet; but he does intend for Era 4 (space age) to be sort of Star Trek like, with the different cultures interacting on a large scale with their magic systems. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaidakar the Ghostblood Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 On 2/8/2021 at 10:20 PM, Vessel of Theory said: No, what I mean is it'll be one person taking up multiple Shards, as seen on Scadrial. I think that if this happens it will be Dalinar getting Odium and Honor, becoming Unity! because of the "I am Unity" part of Oathbringer I think it is likely to happen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argus the Awful Posted April 27, 2021 Report Share Posted April 27, 2021 On 4/20/2021 at 10:28 AM, BaconLord said: do you think he'll ever bring all his cosmere works together? I mean that would have to take some serious thinking to manage to bring them together into a single planet. He has done this on a small scale, like when Kelsier had his friendly chat with Hoid. Does this count? Hoid is technically a SA character, right? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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