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We have some exciting news to announce. So far in order to obtain some unpublished works of Brandon's, you'd have to email him through his site, and his assistants would distribute them. Well now you won't need to wait for that, because we will be in charge of distributing Aether of Night! All you have to do is post in this topic (you'll need a 17th Shard account, but that's it), and our staff will PM you the document. You do not need to post an email address here; we will send it to you through this website. Once we do this, we'll remove your post here. We'll be using this topic as a to-do list for requests. Ideally since we have lots of staff members, we will get this out to you soon, within a week or two. We hope you're excited about this, so many of you will be able to get this text in a much more obvious way now! You will receive a .docx file, and if you need to convert it into a .pdf or .epub, there are many converters to do that for you. (We are not distributing the old prose version of White Sand; that is distributed in Brandon's newsletters.) Thank you Dragonsteel for letting 17S do this! Edit as of 2026: This is still going! We've gone through over 300 pages of replies distributing. It's just that we remove posts here once we send them out.

Hey all, I want to let you know that we've updated our Forum Policies with some new rules regarding posting and discussing AI generated content: If you suspect that something someone posted is AI-generated, we ask that you simply report the post rather than confronting the poster directly, and the staff team will deal with the issue as needed. In addition, we've also clarified our stance on how the rep system is to be used: If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to either reply in this thread, or PM me or another moderator.

So I was looking at @Doc12's old trailer concepts for Mistborn and the Stormlight Archive, and I realized that this is actually something I've envisioned a lot. Especially for Wind and Truth. The trailer script here is decently long, so it would probably be the final trailer before the release, not that it really matters in this case. This took me way longer to make than I thought it would. Finding quotes for the voiceovers was especially grueling. So, yeah. Here it is. Not every scene in this trailer concept is actually in the book; but we can assume they took place, at some point or another. Words in red describe the sound playing; normal words describe what's on the screen. Voiceover sound generally corresponds to the scene below it. Music is intended to be an epic, highly edited version of Half Light by BANNERS. Needless to say, spoilers for Wind and Truth ahead: ... (black screen) Silence. Then thunder. (Shot pans around Dalinar as he stands atop Urithiru, holding the Way of Kings in one hand. He overlooks the landscape as the Everstorm rages below the tower.) Music begins. (Smooth transition to a mirroring shot of Shallan, standing atop Lasting Integrity overlooking Shadesmar with the same camera angle. Pattern and Testament stand nearby.) First musical beat. (Remaining members of Bridge Four party (muted sound), while Kaladin watches on wistfully from the doorway. Syl, life size, puts her hand on his shoulder.) Nohadon's voice: The question... is not whether you will love, (Black and white shot, Endgame trailer-style, of Kaladin playing in the fields with Tien as kid) Hurt, (Black and white young Shallan stands, holding a Shardblade, in a pool of red blood) Dream, (Young Shallan entertains her brothers, before looking back towards a doorway across which in another room, her father screams at his lover and hits her) And die. (Black and white older Kaladin holds Tien's body in his arms, weeping to the world, in a field of corpses) Silence. Fade to black. Music crescendos. (Series of flashes of quick shots: Kaladin carries a bridge in Sadeas's army. Kaladin stands above the Honor Chasm. Kaladin is strung up on the roof of the barracks, ravaged by the Highstorm, left to die) Music stops. Fade to black. Heavy breathing. Footsteps clatter. Music explodes. (Kaladin, Radiant, leaps across the chasm to the Tower, absorbing Stormlight from the parshendi. He lands, and a blast of Stormlight sends everything pushed back. From here on, the scenes are still black-and white, except the characters and Stormlight are in color) It is what you will love, (Shallan, also exempt from the black-and-white, draws on the boat approaching Kharbranth) Why you will hurt, (Kaladin stands between Moash and the conspirators, wielding Syl as a spear, protecting Elhokar) When you will dream, (Shallan stands in front of a mirror on her wedding day. Behind her, Veil and Radiant walk up and place their hands on her shoulders) and how you will die. (Kaladin falls through the sky, until suddenly exploding in a burst of radiance. Armor forms around him, and he catches Lirin.) This is your choice. (Kaladin lifts Lirin back up to safety, and joins the battle in Urithiru) Voiceover change to Dalinar: What is the most important step a man can take? (Black and white scene of younger Dalinar standing above the burning Rift, blade outstretched, eyes alight with flaming fury) The next one. Always the next one. (In the present, (no longer black-and-white) Dalinar plays with Gav, but as soon as the kid is distracted, he gazes into the distance, expression sorrowful) Child Szeth's voice: But... how do you know what to do? (Young Szeth dances around the family rock) The right choices. How do you know what they are? (Young Szeth weeps in the rain, holding up blood soaked hands and kneeling before Molli's corpse) (Older, but still young, Szeth defeats a pirate in hand-to-hand combat, then, chest heaving, looks down at his bloodied hands before glancing at the camera with a murderous gaze) Lirin: Somebody has to start. Somebody has to step forward and do what is right, because it is right. (A grinning Adolin greets Azish generals in the dome, shaking hands, Colot at his side) If nobody starts, then others cannot follow. (A wave of Regals crashes against the Azish line of defense at the dome, and Adolin, glowing in brilliant shardplate, stands against them) Hoid: It will get worse again. Then better. (Dalinar and Navani trot along Shin foothills, with a pack of ancient Singers. Dalinar stops, and pauses to overlook the expansive landscape) This is life. And I will not lie by saying every day will be sunshine. (Dalinar and Navani fight as Knights Radiant in a desolation. They pause to overlook a valley, where Fused and Radiant forces crash into each other.) But there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. (Kaladin lands alongside Szeth to look over the plains of Shinovar (essentially the first concept art piece Brandon released)) Kaladin and Hoid, together: You WILL be warm again. (Kaladin dances with Syl, who morphs in his hand from spear to woman. They laugh, together) Gavinor: Everyone dies. So many people. Killing. (Abidi the monarch stands in the Azish dome, Fused forces surging to battle around him. He looks at the camera, demonic grin on his face) And dying. (Aerial shot of Vyre's body, strewn on a snowy mountaintop, eyes burned out, being found by Fused) And killing. (El wipes a bloody knife) And dying. (Close-up of Mraize's face as he sits on his chair in the Ghostbloods headquarters, sipping a drink carefully) So many being killed... (Back view of Ishar walking up an outcropping in the foothills of Shinovar as the sun rises before him, lines of Connection leaking from his fingertips) Adolin: People break. And sometimes... (Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain look through a Spiritual Realm barrier at the smoky form of Ba Ado Mishram. Shallan outstretches her hand towards the barrier) The strong ones break harder than the weak ones. Because they're the ones you pile everything on top of. (The floor beneath Shallan gives way, and she falls through a Spiritual Realm vortex of memories) (Young Renarin is held against the wall by a squad of bullies) Hoid: Would that any of us could protect ourselves from the costs that heroism often requires. (Abidi stalks, grinning with blade in hand, towards Shallan who is scrambling on the floor of an ornate room) But again, if there were no cost, no sacrifice... (Jasnah kneels in a Thaylen temple, face obscured. Fen walks up behind her) Would it be heroism at all? (Aerial view of Sigzil lashing himself across a battlefield in the Shattered Plains, strewn with corpses and wreckage, rain pouring. Sigzil catches himself, then looks up at the camera) Fade to black. Music dims. Adolin: The four of us. Drinks, once this is done. Promise me. (Adolin huddles with Kaladin, Shallan, and Syl in Azimir.) Shallan: Promise. (Everyone turns to Kaladin, who looks down. Finally, he looks up.) Kaladin: Drinks. Jokes. Laughter. At the end. I PROMISE. Music strengthens back up. Hoid: Everything you've done - everything you've been - has prepared you for what's next. (Venli pushes open the entrance of a cave and steps out into the Listener camp. massive chasmfiends lounge in the sun) Fade to black Music dims. We're heading straight into the most difficult moment in our lives. (Quick shot of Dalinar Kholin climbing the steps up to Urithiru, face stern, Way of Kings in hand, with a shadow looming over him (essentially the second piece of concept art Brandon released) before a quick fade back to darkness) Remember. Music explodes in rapid bursts (no longer a set song) Black screen w/caption: Urithiru (Quick shot of Renarin, Shallan and Rlain on the fields outside Urithiru, looking ominously into the distance) Hope is wonderful. Black screen w/caption: Shinovar (Spinning camera around Szeth and Kaladin brandishing weapons back to back, but without clear view of who they're fighting) Keep it. Black screen w/caption: Azimir (Quick shot of Adolin rushing across Fused forces in the dome in full plate, leaping over bodies and soldiers to get to Neziham) Treasure it. Black screen w/caption: The Shattered Plains (Quick shot of Listeners riding Chasmfiends into battle on Narak Prime) And if hope doesn't mean anything to you when you lose... Black screen w/caption: Thaylenah (Quick shot of Jasnah summoning Ivory while watching ships prepare for war in the harbor) Black screen w/caption, in different, crackly font: The Spiritual Realm (Quick shot of Dalinar and Navani rushing through human pilgrims during their arrival in Roshar) Then it wasn't ever a virtue in the first place. Fade to black. Music stops. Azish general screaming hauntingly: HOOOOOOOOOLD!! Silence. Taravangian's voice, taunting: Dalinar, Dalinar, Dalinar... (Close up of Taravangian's eyes flashing open, revealing infinite depths of gold and red) Fade to black. Hoid: This... it frightens me.

Made a chart combining all 3 metallic arts for ease of reference, thought I'd post it here as well

Overall I *really* liked this story. I really liked the mix of sci-fi and (I believe Polynesian) mythology, and I really appreciate Sanderson’s rendition of Moana. Dusk’s character arc was awesome, and I love the idea of finding a purpose in a world that is advancing beyond your skills. I also like how that mirrored starling and chrysalis’ predicaments, where this is showing that space age Cosmere is where technology advances past even gods. This story felt like a mythological journey that we’ve never yet seen in Sanderson’s work, and I think he did it wonderfully. I really liked the fact that the Dakwara was shaped by people’s cognitive perceptions of it, which makes perfect sense, but is frankly really poetic. As a big Greek myth fan, and a Percy Jackson reader, the idea that gods are shaped by the people who worship them feels really fitting. I also like that it showed how even “primitive” peoples had the ability to shape the Cosmere in significant ways, and that it is effort, not place in the world, that can determine success. I also found the idea of the space age superpowers fascinating, but also deeply depressing. Like one of the things I often do when reading is imagining what it would be like living in such a world, and in most other Sanderson works, I could see the silver lining, but this particular part of the Cosmere timeline seems like a terrible time to live in. Which is a neat concept, but is also kinda sad. I think dusk’s story was stronger than Starling’s, though I did like the fact that this painted Hoid in a good light. He might be a bit of an asshole at times, but he at least strives for kindness. And that (for the most part) lines up with what we see of him. He’s a problem child, but a caring problem child. I also really liked the fact that Starling willingly imprisoned herself, and that given the chance to free herself, she chose to keep herself trapped in order to save the ones she loved. That’s honestly a really nice tale, and while the message is a bit on the nose, it felt appropriate for the story. overall great book. Were there weaknesses? Yes, of course. However, the feel, the message, and the worldbuilding was just the right flavor for me, and that’s what counts. I loved this style of Sanderson, and am glad he branched out from his standard fantasy style into a more mythological approach.

the ten orders of purrbinders:

Important note: This list would be far less complete if not for the efforts of everyone who helped me compile it. Specifically thankyou to: Awesomeness Summoned, Delightful, Argent, PorridgeBrick, Kurkistan, Quiver, Green Hoodie Mistborn, Senor Feesh, Observer, ccstat, Swimmingly, Alvron, Metacognition, The Only Joe, GreyPilgrim, Aether, jasonpenguin, Mailliw73, Moodle, Tempus, Baine, Kobold King, LeftInch, Sir Jerric, Tensoon, Ashiok, Theorymaker, Seonid, Shaggai, TheYoungBard, Curiosity, Snoopy, Voidus, Frosted Flakes, Kasimir, Shallan. (Let me know if I missed you.) Hokay, for those who want to know the ranks, I looked through everyone who had at least 10 posts. Here are my findings. 10000+ God Beyond 9000 9999 Adonalsium 8500 8999 Hero of Ages 8192 8499 The Broken One 7800 8191 Shard 7500 7799 Splintered Shard 7200 7499 Splinter 6800 7199 Dragon 6400 6799 Stormfather 6000 6399 Herald 5700 5999 Sliver 5350 5699 Nightwatcher 5000 5349 Worldhopper 4750 4999 God of Color 4500 4749 Lord Ruler 4250 4499 Unmade 4096 4249 Dawnshard 3761 4095 Prime 3500 3760 Lerasium Mistborn 3250 3499 Bondsmith 3000 3249 Voidbringer 2750 2999 Knight Radiant 2500 2749 Most Ancient 2250 2499 Steel Inquisitor 2048 2249 Mistborn 1900 2047 Tarachin Superstar 1800 1899 Dawnsinger 1700 1799 Rambleman 1600 1699 Savant 1550 1599 Gerontarch 1500 1549 Midnight Essence 1450 1499 Listener 1400 1449 Enefel 1370 1399 Kalad's Phantom 1338 1369 Compounder 1337 So l337 Hoid Can't Compete 1300 1336 Surgebinder 1260 1299 Radiant Squire 1220 1259 Kandra 1180 1219 Twinborn 1145 1179 Returned 1111 1144 Scadrian Waffle Cook 1080 1110 Stone Shaman 1050 1079 Cryptic 1024 1049 Honorspren 1000 1023 Sentient Awakened Object 980 999 Truthless 950 979 Highprince 920 949 Worldbringer 890 919 Full Feruchemist 860 889 Full Shardbearer 830 859 Shardbearer 800 829 Seer 777 799 Spinner 760 776 Wyrn the King 730 759 Elantrian 700 729 Originator 667 699 Svrakiss 666 Torturer of Heralds 650 665 Shade 625 649 Soulcaster 600 624 Forger 575 599 Dakhor Monk 550 574 Lord Prelan 512 549 King's Wit 496 511 Son of Honor 475 495 Vanisher 450 474 King's Tester 425 449 Ghostblood 400 424 Envisager 375 399 Artifabrian 350 374 Ferring 325 349 Stormwarden 300 324 Bloodsealer 278 299 Silent Gatherer 256 277 Misting 225 255 Arbiter 200 224 Gyorn 180 199 High Prelan 160 179 Oldblood 145 159 Cobalt Guard 128 144 Hazekiller 110 127 Forescout 100 109 Houselord 90 99 Babsk 80 89 Prelan 75 79 Arteth 70 74 Idrian Monk 64 69 Obligator 56 63 Lighteyes 50 55 Grand 45 49 Noble 40 44 Crew Leader 32 39 Ardent 25 31 Pahn Kahl 20 24 Awakened Object 16 19 Noble-Blooded 10 15 Bridgeman 7 9 Spearman 5 6 Darkeyes 2 4 Skaa 0 1 Spren --- -1 -2 Negaspren -3 -5 Lifeless -6 -10 Hoed -15 -19 ? Beheaded Inquisitor -20 -24 ? Rotting Chull Carcass -24 -25 Lamespren -26 -100 Zucchini -101 and below Chasmfiend Corpse Note: negative reputation titles are no longer obtainable due to downvotes having been removed. I'll update this as we learn more We now know them all! I like the new levels. Good work Chaos Please don't ask me how long that took. Current lowest Unknown rep: nonexistent. We're so close to getting them all =D Edit: Wooohooo first popular post Later edit: For the record, at the time I added that comment 10 rep was a little more exciting Another edit: The lower rep ranks have changed at some point, I don't know where all of the new boundaries are yet.

So...you joined a Sanderson fansite forum, just to bash on a book and proclaim you're done with the author...? You do you, but this feels a tad much IMO.

Sorry, if someone said, "Hello, my religion's values say Black people are inferior. What's the problem, I feel uncomfortable with people celebrating Black Pride. Why won't you leave a space for me in your community?" would you really be surprised if that person was removed from the community? The fact that you can replace Black people in that statement with LGBTQ people should be very illustrative; it's the same terrible argument, and should be treated the same. The pendulum is not swung too far to recognize that queerness exists, that trans people exist, intersex people exist, and that their existence is affirmed. God forbid people exist and don't want to be hated for existing, right? That is not a radical or out there statement. And I don't really think a middle ground exists where like... queer people just need to hide themselves so that others can be in blissful ignorance about things that don't affect them. If an icon showing that a very much marginalized group just... exists is offensive to someone, well... that sounds far more like their problem than ours? Our stances in our Code of Conduct have been very firm, and it always has. We have lots of queer people in the community. That's how it is. They are people, they are all around, they always existed, and they are not going away, despite some groups very much wanting them to. There are lots of religious people who find queer people existing to be perfectly compatible...

I wanted to start a compilation of differences people have noticed between the original novella and the new revision. Feel free to chime in - I’ll update my original post with my observations as I continue to reread! There are more minor differences than I remembered at first, so I’ve started putting the ones I consider particularly interesting or important in bold type. * Much longer monologue about Dusk’s navigation techniques when first approaching the Pantheon. Only the new version acknowledges that he “hates” the more modern equipment, where his view seems more neutral in the original text. * Dusk’s age - he is 10 years out of apprenticeship in the original, but 15 years out in the update. * Dusk catches a fish before paddling closer to the Pantheon in the updated version, while he snacks on the previous night’s catch in the original (these lines are shifted to slightly later in the update). * The line “Patji. King of the Pantheon. God of the Eelakin.” is unique to the updated version. * Lore is introduced about the trappers’ medallions while Dusk is offshore from Patji in the new version. We learn they depict Cakoban, are rubbed for good luck, and are carried by a trapper until he dies. * In the original, Dusk sees the meekers immediately after noticing some of the trading company expedition has fled to the woods. In the new version, we get this somewhat chilling line and then a chapter break: “And so, he moved beneath the dark canopy, this time trapping not birds, but humans.” * In the update, Dusk is explicit about what questions he should not be thinking: “about why Patji was so terrible” * In the original, Dusk thinks Vathi’s name is “a name like the mainlanders used” while this reference is removed in the update (presumably to tie in with new information about the mainland) * In the new version, Dusk and Vathi pass a hive of masher wasps, which are not mentioned in the original. * In the original, Vathi refers to “Dusk” as a name, while in the update it is clarified as a forename. * In the midst of their argument about changing times, new version Dusk is shocked to hear Vathi doesn’t know the story of Cakoban, who of course is not mentioned in the original. * Original Vathi stated that all twenty chiefs have agreed to explore Patji, while new Vathi mentions one hundred and twenty! She also describes a supermajority vote and a Senate. * New version Vathi notes that the Ones Above have two arms and legs, and wear helmets, while original Vathi just says they look and speak like her people. * Original Vathi says the Ones Above ambassador choked to death and left his machines behind, which demonstrated they could die of normal means. New Vathi just says he left the machines behind by accident. * Original Dusk is warned of a sinkhole by Sak, while in the new version this is a den of a tokka. On the whole, I see many more creatures described in the updated version, which does lend more uniqueness to the setting compared to an Earth jungle. * New: Dusk thinks about the pool as the reason a bird could become an Aviar if raised on Patji, while Vathi is questioning him on the subject. * Patji’s Finger renamed to Cakoban’s fingers. * Dusk takes a medallion from the dead trapper in the new version. * More new flora in the updated version: stinging terror vines. * New version Dusk gives Vathi his uncle’s medallion after scolding her. * In the new version, Vathi opens a fruit to reveal the glowing worms inside. * New Vathi takes a moment to reassure Dusk about change meaning a person has the capacity to be someone new. * In the update, Dusk sees glowing butterflies while hiding from the nightmaws in the lake, and is told “well done” by a voice - presumably Patji. * Some rewording of Dusk’s inner monologue about the Ones Above’s plan in the update. * Dusk and Vathi hold up their medallions next to each other in the new version, rather than mating plumes.

We get quite a few insights and hints into the cosmere’s big-picture political situation, and I’m making this post to try to put some puzzle pieces together. Scadrial and Roshar are major superpowers. They are the two planets making a play for Drominad, and there are numerous references to those two being the big fish of the cosmere. There are several other spacefaring powers of note including Dhatri, Yolen, Silverlight, and Taldain. Sel and Nalthis are not mentioned much in this book, but should probably also go on the list. Everyone is scared of Threnodite shades, but it’s unclear how organised and cohesive the Threnodites are as a political entity. Lumar and Drominad are likely to count as notable powers following the events of this book. Scadrial is not politically unified judging by the separation between the Northern culture and the Malwish culture. The Malwish Empire has its own prime minister and its own military that is distinctly Malwish, and has no cultural features in common with the Northerners that I noticed. This is especially interesting as it suggests the tension between the north and south is still unresolved, and possibly a big part of what drives their rapid technological advancement (and aggressive territorial expansion). Going forward, we should keep in mind that planets in the cosmere are (generally) home to several people groups that are not necessarily unified under one government by the space age. It is probably more correct to view Scadrial as two powers, not one, and that may go for Roshar as well. The ‘Silverlight Accords’ form an international law that even the biggest superpowers have to at least pay lip service to. It seems that no single power has the ability to fight against all the other powers at once, which keeps their behaviour somewhat in line. The Accords have rules about how much a spacefaring culture is allowed to interfere with an industrial culture, and in what circumstances. These rules are designed not to limit contact, but to limit unchecked conquest. Silverlight views Hoid as a notorious outlaw, which suggests he is acting against most political powers’ interests and is effective enough to scare them. There are hundreds of accessible, inhabited planets currently documented as per Dajer’s slide show. It’s fair to assume that these are public knowledge, not military secrets, or the military wouldn’t be showing the slide show presentation to outsiders. (And yes, Dajer is unreliable, but photographic evidence is photographic evidence.) The discovery of a new planet is an exciting event in academia, with implications for business and political interests. Of these known planets, dozens have spacefaring cultures judging by the number of people groups from different planets that can be found in Silverlight. This implies that not every spacefaring culture is a notable political power. There are many more undocumented, unexplored planets which may be inhabited. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Following the events of the book and the availability of Navigators, there is likely to be a discovery boom and a rush to claim land and resources, which will have a big impact on the balance of power. There are several non-human species with human-like intelligence out there. Dragons and Sleepless are the obvious politically relevant ones, but there are more we haven’t heard of, including ones with different physical requirements than humans. The Shards are still relevant in that you don’t mess with them or take them lightly, but they seem to avoid direct involvement most of the time. There is uncertainty around what happened to Virtuosity and what is going on with Autonomy, so there is a degree of mystery still there.

WaT was supposed to feel bleak, but even in that bleakness there are rays of hope and potential for the future. I'm not sure we can paint a picture of the whole planet or even the faction these people represent. I'm not sure Odium or Retribution are still in charge of Roshar not to mention the only Rosharan we've seen so far was solo and a member of the Skybreakers who've already been shown to be hardliners in the timeline of the books. He doesn't seem to mind so much. I choose to be hopeful like Starling and view his absence from the Eternal Shores as an indication he's alive So he's just about as useful as usual? He doesn't seem to concerned or he probably would have tried giving starling a hint at where he is. Brandon's Dragons seem to be a combination of Tolkien's most discompasionite elves mixed with biblical angels. It sounds like their society has only gotten more calcified as the moderating voices in dragon society have died or cut themselves off from the cosmere. Its almost a stereotype of Brandon's at this point to have a protagonist that's diametrically opposed to their society. I felt it was pretty obvious from Starling's pov that her culture is stagnating and dyeing because they refuse to take part in the affairs of mortals. It's ok to no longer feel like a series is for you. But I would argue the current state of the Cosmere is not much bleaker than it was during Mistborn era one.

Yeah, there's no way you're not a troll if you insist those are totally your pronouns but you hadn't thought about how they would function in practice. Goodbye.

Hey everyone! ^_^V TL;DR: Built an interactive timeline map for Mistborn Original Trilogy with character tracking, spoiler protection, and city zoom. Still super early (WIP) — looking for feedback, domain name suggestions, and let me know if you'd like milestone updates! Will be fully open sourced on v1.0 release! --- I'm a first-time reader of Brandon Sanderson's work. I just finished the Wheel of Time series and was introduced to Sanderson through his work on the final books. Took me 2 years to read those amazing books. I was trying to decide which books to read next, but I really enjoyed Sanderson's writing style and dove right into the Mistborn trilogy. Coming from WoT, I really missed having a good timeline visualization tool. There was an excellent one for the Wheel of Time that helped me track character movements and understand the geography. When I started Mistborn, I found Cosmere Maps which was okay, but it hasn't been updated in four years and was missing some features I really wanted. So... I built my own! Mistborn Atlas I used Isaac Stewart's official Final Empire maps as the base - I liked his cartography work and wanted to stay true to the official geography. Mistborn Atlas Features: Interactive Maps: Full Final Empire world map with 38+ locations (cities, ashmounts, landmarks) Detailed city maps for Luthadel, Urteau, and Fadrex City Easy switching between world and city views via dropdown Timeline & Character Tracking: Timeline playback through all three books (The Final Empire, Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages) Real-time character movement visualization across the map "Follow mode" - track individual characters with auto-opening popups during playback Character paths showing their journey throughout the story Chapter-by-chapter navigation with slider control Spoiler Protection & Customization: Characters only appear after they debut (by book/chapter) Toggle for "Show All" if you don't care about spoilers Show/hide locations and paths Character visibility filters Color-coded markers for easy identification User Experience: Fully responsive design (works great on mobile!) Information panels with rich location descriptions and lore Click locations/characters for detailed popups Play/pause timeline with smooth animations Book switching (TFE, WoA, HoA) with automatic chapter reset Saving where you were last when you visited the page Mobile friendly, a good partner to have while reading. Internationalization: Support for 10 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, French, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese Auto-detects browser language Language is set via the `lang` URL parameter (e.g. `?lang=es` for Spanish) `/?lang=en` is the default and does not need to appear in the URL Easy language switching via dropdown Current Status - Super Early WIP! Fair warning: this is still super super early! I'm actively working on it over the next couple of weeks. Think of this as a sneak peek rather than a finished product! Here's roughly where things stand: Location Mapping: ~70% done — most major cities, ashmounts, and key landmarks are placed, but some minor locations still need plotting Descriptions & Lore Accuracy: ~50% verified — going through all location and event descriptions to ensure accuracy and consistency with the books Character Movement Data: ~50% done — the movement system is built and working, but only a fraction of the chapter-by-chapter character tracking has been entered so far Known Issues: Popup positioning for markers near map edges can be a bit janky, and the timeline playback transitions between chapters need to be smoother — working on both! Translations: Completing translations for all supported languages (currently English is prioritised and when finished I can translate to all other languages with the help of AI) Polish: Fixing bugs and refining the user experience There's still a lot of data entry and verification ahead, but the foundation is solid and I'm chipping away at it daily. Your feedback, bug reports, and suggestions are incredibly valuable as I work toward v1.0! Would you like me to keep updating this thread (or post follow-ups) as I hit milestones? Happy to share progress updates if there's interest! The Future Right now this is just a passion project I've hosted on a temporary Azure address while reading through the series. If this gets some support/interest from the community, I'd love to buy a proper domain and host it publicly. I'm currently calling it "Mistborn Atlas" but I'm open to other names — if you have a cool suggestion for the domain, drop it in the comments! Some ideas I've been tossing around: mistbornatlas.com scadrialatlas.com finalempiremap.com cosmereatlas.com (if I expand to other Sanderson worlds later) Open to lore-themed ideas too — anything that fits the Mistborn/Scadrial vibe. What sounds best to you? I'm still making my way through Hero of Ages (no spoilers please! ), but I wanted to share this with the community and get your thoughts. Would this be useful for other readers? Any features you'd want to see added? Tech Stack (for the curious): React, TypeScript, Leaflet.js, SCSS Open Source: The entire project will be completely open sourced once v1.0 is complete. The full source code will be available on GitHub for anyone to fork, contribute to, or learn from. If you want to collaborate on translations, movement data, or features, reach out! A Note on Location Accuracy Since this is still early days, not all locations and descriptions have been fully verified yet. I've placed things as accurately as I can based on the books and the official maps, but I'm still working through everything and some things are definitely off or incomplete. If you spot anything that looks wrong — a misplaced location, an inaccurate description, a lore mistake — please let me know! Once the project is open sourced, you'll be able to contribute fixes directly via pull requests or just right here. Debug Mode: Add ?dbg=1 to the URL to see live coordinates as you hover over the map. Click to freeze coordinates and copy them to your clipboard. I used this tool to plot all the map points, and your help verifying locations would be greatly appreciated! Support the Project This is a free fan project that I build and maintain in my spare time. If you're enjoying this and want to see it grow, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi . Your support would help me: Buy a domain name and hosting to make it publicly accessible Keep the site running and ad-free forever Expand to other Cosmere series (Stormlight Archive, anyone?) Continue adding features and improvements No pressure at all — I'll keep building this either way! But every little bit helps turn this passion project into something even better for the community.

If you are trying to register and don't receive a validation email, it is possible your mail server is outright rejecting 17th Shard's emails. This has happened a few times, where people try to use the Contact Form, and I have had both my 17S email get rejected, as well as my regular Gmail. Essentially, if this is happening to you, your school administrators have heavily locked down your school email address. Please remember school / organization email addresses are monitored. They will restrict these to educational/organization purposes. In addition, when you eventually are not a student, you will often lose access to your school email address very quickly. (At the college I teach at, a student would lose their Gmail after a semester of not taking classes.) This means you will be locked out of many accounts if you use to register for many sites. For these and many other reasons, we do not recommend you use such emails for personal accounts. It is free and easy to register for a Gmail account, or Outlook account, or any number of other free services, like Proton. To the teens on 17th Shard: I cannot emphasize enough the importance of registering a personal email account that you will keep for years. If I could make a suggestion, I would also recommend you choose an email address that sounds professional, and that you will not be ashamed to give to potential employers or other official things. I say this as a person who needs to convert from my dorky "Chaos" email address to something more professional near the end of college, particularly when it's connected to tons of accounts (and in my case, Google Docs). I know that sounds far away, but it'll happen faster than you assume! If you would like to maintain anonymity online (which is a very wise idea), register a more professional-sounding email and use it for some purposes, and then have a pseudonym for things like 17th Shard/Reddit/Discord. Anyway, that's just a PSA for the day. Thanks for reading!

Ok ok. So. To recap. You, a person who hates all things sanderson because of a single book, joined the Brandon Sanderson Fansite for... what reason? To insult everyone and call them fools? To hate on a person with an opinion you know literally no one shares? Because you just really really want to tell everyone your opinion that their favorite series is trash? Please, enlighten me. I am so so curious to what the heck you are doing here. Also Credit to Use The Falchion for asking it before I did (and promply getting ignored, which is a whole other thing):

I will get my thoughts in order over time, but one of my favorite things about this story is the radically different context it puts Autonomy into. When we experienced that force in the Mistborn series, it manifested as this gross fascist power structure. But from the standpoint of First of the Sun, Autonomy means "This is our planet and these are our birds and you can't just take from us." And that's pretty cool. I can see this world becoming fabulously wealthy and influential, while also completely preserving the natural world and oceans, and it's very cool to imagine. They could build the majority of their trade infrastructure out of imported materials on the Shadesmar side, and make the Physical side into magical hyper-resorts for the richest people in the galaxy. Only instead of being colony stuff like in our world, it'll be the Eelakin cashing the checks.

Haven't finished it yet, but... apparently one of the leaders of the Arcanists at Silverlight is named Argent.

Once upon a time, on a non-canon planet in the Cosmere, a powerfully invested man chose to take over the world. Old OP: This thread has accomplished its goal, and continues to be a hilariously random story with no rails.

I have to question You consider yourself an ally And you listen to Albert Mohler regularly The same Albert Mohler who’s rap sheet includes but is not limited to 1: Decrying a memorial for a trans activist 2: Saying in regard to trans folks, “we cannot affirm someone in a delusion” 3: Opposing the repealing of the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” which banned openly queer Americans from the military 4: Opposing birth control for women 5: Proclaiming that married couples who choose not to have children are rebelling against God’s order 6: Being so thoroughly opposed to gay marriage that he signed the Manhattan Declaration, a document calling Christians to fight against queer and reproductive rights among other things. The Catholic Church had a significant hand in writing the Manhattan Declaration, and so emphatic was his opposition to queer/reproductive rights that he signed on despite believing the Catholic Church to be “a false church” and that accepting their doctrine would be to “compromise Biblical truth” 7: Proclaiming that Muslims are motivated by demonic power 8: Supporting America converting the people of Iraq to Christianity in the style of old colonial powers I know there’s a policy against politics I respect that I would argue that this isn’t politics Politics is discussing where to send foreign aid Politics is discussing to what degree regulations should be implemented on the private sector Politics is debating big vs small government This is not politics The ability of two consenting adults to marry and choose whether or not to have children is not politics Women’s access to reproductive care is not politics Freedom of religion, all religion, is not politics The ability of trans folks to exist is not politics These are basic human rights And an ally who listens to someone like Albert Mohler is Concerning

I’ve noticed this sometimes on threads with 3 replies.

That is not cold That is warm

Well, I must admit that this is not the greatest of Brandon’s secret novels. It was enjoyable, the story, setting and characters were fine, but that’s it. Just fine. Not as engaging as other secret projects. The loredump was the best part of the book so far as so many things were revealed - dragons, Silverlight, the Evil, lots of tech, new planets and so on. While the story of Starling and Dusk on their own stood well, I like them, but together they never really clicked for me. It seems disjointed. Sure, in the second half of the book they had a common enemy and interest in Drominad’s perpendicularity, but Starling was focused on her crew, while Dusk was focused on the cave and they barely worked together. It felt like those two were just separate stories stitched together in one book. I wish they’d interacted more and planned an escape together (Chrysalis could have let them talk to each other after all). The villain was bad. I’m very disappointed in Dajer. He was a caricature of a villain, stupid with Dusk, yet smart with Starling. A space fascist, but at the same time being investigated by his own military for incompetence, disobedience and breaking laws. I could not take him seriously at all. Brandon can do better villains. What even was the point of introducing Malwish secret police at the very end if they did nothing in the story? It was a waste, it would be better to use them to actually imprison Dajer and introduce a real and threatening villain in the last part. Dajer just didn’t work, he was a joke trying to pass a serious threat. I still like the book, it was a nice and relaxing read. Starling was a nice character, her relations with Frost, Hoid and Xisis were fun to read about, her crew was good, but not as developed as the crew of Crow's Song from Tress. Those interactions were lacking. I wish there were more of them as they were too much in the background, while Starling was busy with Dajer. Dusk was also enjoyable, seeing how the First of the Sun changed in those years was both heartbreaking and interesting. Patji didn’t deserve this fate, at least leave a nature reserve on the island, but that’s just a step towards progress Dusk’s people had to make to survive. It's impressive how much can be revealed and teased about the future of Cosmere without actually spoiling other books. There are still some things that can tell us a bit about what’s going to happen. Malwish are dominant on Scadrial and they hold a firm grip on the vast section of Cosmere and Shadesmar, they seem to win the cold war in Era 3 and have the power to rival Roshar, there is a lot of going on with Shard’s involvement in human affairs, it’s definitely a complicated politics, Harmony did something unique, Autonomy is still alive (as Patji is still fine, but I wonder what would happen to Avatars during a death of Shard’s Vessel and a merger), Invention created multiple planets, the Grand Apparatus was made before the Shattering and it’s ruled by Sleepless, who are quite aggressive and enslave others (that’s why Masaka run away), Threnody was destroyed by the Evil (which was hinted at in TSM), dragons on Yolen have a Dawnshard and the most shocking of them all - Hoid got married. What kind of a crazy person would marry Hoid? Although she decided to leave him and forgot about him, so not so crazy after all. And she’s a twin, do we know of any twins in Cosmere? There is a lot to unpack here, this book will be worth rereading, so that’s why I think the lore is the best part of the book. I love all scenes with the Evil, Such an interesting and awesome entity. A being made entirely out of anti-investiture, capable of destroying anything. Can it run out of it eventually or can it be replenished somehow. Was Ambition's investiture almost fully converted into anti-investiture during her death by Odium and that’s why nobody can Ascend to it per WoB? How much does it think, it’s stupidly invested and does want others to suffer so it seems to be somewhat sentient. Is Argent a traitor? Does he work for Malwish in secret? There was an arcanist who gave Dajer a tip about the map, so was that you Argent? It can’t be Huio!

I think I might be trans. I always thought I was a "different" kind of boy, one who acted more like a girl, and identified more with girls, but still male. I'd even checked my mind to check if I was trans, and the response was always "no" But today, when I woke up, I realized I thought of myself as a girl. When I asked my mind if I was trans, it paused, then said "I... think so" I was so shocked, I thought it came out of nowhere. Now though, I'm beginning to realize that some stuff might have been foreshadowing. I'm already beginning to think of my past self as a girl as well. Is it normal that these thoughts come all of a sudden? How long should I wait before I can be sure that these feelings are correct? (Also, thought I was straight before, but I guess if I am trans that makes me lesbian)

There is a new reading from a dropped secret project that was just read in London. Here's the link: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/554/#e17193. The story is set thousands of years before Rashek and Alendi, so long ago that they still use bronze for weapons and armors as well as phalanx and war chariots. It's such an ancient past that it explains the origins of the Deepness. There's a few interesting things I've noticed while reading it. The first one and the most important one is the complete lack of the white, Preservation's Mist. It's absent and even replaced with the black smoke called the Murk, which forms as night sets. It obscures clouds and stars, just like the Mists does. That sounds a lot like Ruin's Mist. From it the Midnight Dead emerge, forming out of the smoke, bones included. An individual Dead doesn't seem to linger for a long time as they fade as new ones appear. Those Deads are said to be the souls of angry dead people, buried for specific purpose, which would mean they might be some form of Cognitive Shadows. What's more, they whisper unrecognizable words, which might pose some kind of threat as people put wax in their ears. However, they seem to be somewhat mindless in their behaviour. It looks to me that Ruin's directly involved with the Dead and the Murk. The Ageless was mentioned a few times, a ruler of Iratrians, who are on an offensive war. He rules from Mount Dominant and rumors said he can control the Midnight Dead. The city of Caldweth is independent, but on map it belongs to Iratrian and it was said that the Ageless hasn't enforced his rule over them in decades, which might mean he was busy elsewhere, or he was/is absent. Once again, that sounds like Ruin to me. Silver is used to create swords to fight the Dead - which suggest that they really are CS akin to Shades. There is also a flower that repels them - maybe it's even the Marewill flower? And lastly the Gwit people, or Gway Fiatelle, failed in the past and they are forbidden from carrying a sword until they redeem themselves. They act as mercenaries and by tradition are given a sword by others. They usually have pale skin and brown hair and wear a silver sword pendant - they do not look like Terris. There is no sign of Preservation, Mists or any kind of Metallic Arts present in the story. From all of this I speculate that the story takes place either shortly before Ruin's imprisonment by Preservation or shortly after, because it looks like Preservation hasn't set up the Mistsnapping and the Mists yet. The Murk is most definitely Ruin's investiture, which I think was later splintered off by Preservation and trapped in the Atium cycle in the Pits of Hathsin (this idea aligns with WoB and WoB). The Ageless might be Ruin himself or his agent trying to conquer Scadrial for him to destroy it, or to free Ruin if he's already imprisoned - but only the "controlling the Dead" part makes me believe this. Then there is a question of what Gway Fiatelle did to condemn the entire nation? The only thing I can think of is that one of them was the first one ever to Ascend at the Well of Ascension (after Ruin's imprisonment) and caused this whole mess with the Midnight Dead somehow, however this doesn't really fit with the absence of the Mist and the presence of the Ruin's Mist. Honestly, it's a pity that Brandon has dropped the book and it probably won't be finished as the lore sounds really interesting and nothing like I've imagined. I'm super curious now how did the Deppness and the Mist appear for the first time, what's going on with the Dead and the Ageless and how Ruin and Preservation fit into all of this, but unfortunately we are unlikely to get the answers to those questions. What do you guys think of this reading and what are your theories about all of this?

How about some more WaT

Random cat picture to cheer everyone up.

It is literally illegal for people to be on this site under the age of 13 due to US Federal Law. We cannot collect any data on individuals under 13. Sorry, I need to delete accounts entirely for people under 13. Do not get us in legal trouble thank you!!! It is against the Terms of Service for individuals under 13 to be here due to that law and others. Sorry again. Also, just internet safety thing, teens: it is incredibly stupid to reveal your age like this! Yes, 17th Shard is a nice place to be, and I'm glad you feel comfortable here! But your profile and your posts are public to everyone on the entire internet. The entire world could see if they wanted to. And the internet archive exists which could potentially archive your posts forever! There are lots of sketchy people in the world! Do not publicly say your age or your location! This is very unwise! Do not be a target for extremely sketchy people! Your anonymity is the most powerful shield against this! There are many, many stories of how this could go terribly wrong! I certainly remember being a teen and I can realize this can fall on deaf ears here, but please trust me as a teacher, this is incredibly stupid to reveal personal information on the internet! Please be careful!!! I would strongly recommend anyone posting their ages to remove it at the very least. If you say where you're from, answer broadly, not specifically.

We learned few things as far as technologies used go: Scadrian ships use Pushes and Pulls, but only in prepared 'Steelfields' Is this Allomancy used by non-living object, like Malwish ships used Feruchemy? They are reliant on steelfields, otherwise use Aether-based engine. Suggests either Aether's are much more efficient, or their rocketry is a bit behind what we would expect Scadrians rely on Rosharan tech for levitation and anti-gravity Scadrians don't seem to utilize Hemalurgy on large scale None of the soldiers exhibited overt Invested powers, perhaps one instance of F-steel (but then didn't use those in combat) Cultural problem? Or general problem with harvesting powers? Aether drive seems to be rather common way of propulsion FTL already exists, but is very expansive, no further details Scadrians can modulate Investiture on the fly (unkeying or reversing it), though only through large specialized machines Scadrians can break Dragon magic (some at least) Traps for Shades exist, and there is general knowledge of how to kill them (anti-investiture or silver) Sufficiently strong Clouding (likely more than regular Misting can achieve) can disrupt Sleepless Sufficiently strong/sensitive Seeking can be used to Navigate in Emberdark Perpendicularities can be expanded (likely via infusion of unkeyed, or aligned, Investiture) Please, feel free to add or expand. Sidenote: I find it a bit funny that Brandon has fit in effectively Shadowrun-like dragon in Xisis

So to reiterate from what I said on Discord: Hoid is absolutely interfering with the Shards Hoid can't hurt or kill because of holding the Dawnshard Exist. You can see it affecting Sigzil the same way Adonalsium being reformed in any way is too similar to Wheel of Time for Brandon to want to do Ruin and Preservation, Honor and Odium, definitely These three are shown in the text to not be the case Ruin and Preservation directly clash multiple times Honor and Odium directly clash multiple times Odium got Devotion and Dominion to directly clash, then swooped in and killed them both Odium directly clashed with Ambition and Splintered her (Mercy was involved in this somehow). Ruin directly controlled the koloss, the Inquisitors and the kandra. Ruin *created* wars. Odium and Honor directly interfered in both Ashyn and Roshar until they agreed on the contract between the three of them. Sazed would like to have a word with you It's strongly implied that Hoid's true motive is to bring someone back from the Beyond, and that he was for the Shattering in order to change the rules enough to do so. You said on Discord that you used ChatGPT to help you write this, which explains a lot of the incorrect premises. ChatGPT is usually only correct something like 20-30% of the time. Don't use it

My reaction: “whelp. That’s a pretty pessimistic reaction to Chouta.”

Forum Game - Count as High as You Can Before a Moderator Posts! ALERT: If the number is less than 150 I will not add it any more Rules: Records: 1

Here's a collection of good-to-know items. Please suggest more if you think of something I have forgotten. Updated 25 Jan 2026 WHERE SHOULD I POST SPOILERS WHAT ARE ALL THOSE ACRONYMS FORUM ANATOMY AND BASICS POSTS REACTIONS (a.k.a. Reputation (Rep), Likes, Upvotes, etc.) REPORT TOOL HIDE TOOL MENTIONS QUOTE METHODS SUPPORT / DISCUSS AND OTHER TAGS EDITING POSTS SEARCHES COPPERMIND AND ARCANUM Both are available from the helpful blue bar at the top. The Coppermind is the Shard's Wiki where you can look things up for all of Brandon's Books (minimal Wheel of Time content as they have their own sources, like TarValon.net). The Arcanum is a collection of most (all known, new pending sometimes) WoBs, Q&As, etc. Basics of finding what you are looking for are detailed below. COPPERMIND ARCANUM Hope that helps, and please feel free to suggest how we can make this better. TRADITIONS OOKLA SEASON LOGO CHANGE

Slytherin buddies! Pictured: Siannain and Big Leo having a 'wizard duel' Big Leo and Little Leo comparing capes Azalea and her two blonde besties First years pestering Tom Donuts with questions

Wow, this thread is so old... Six years since it started and four since I discovered it . It makes me happy that people still post here! Anyways, for something gay disasters related, my girlfriend and I had our third anniversary the other day... We don't plan on ever getting married or anything but anniversaries are still fun! We(mostly she, I tried and failed to help) cooked dinner and we talked about memories and cried a bunch.. It was lovely . She's so pretty, guys, like oh my god...

As per title - Article Excerpt:

Unless this just quickly blows up and nothing comes from it, I do think it's pretty much inevitable that this is going to mean that Sanderson releases fewer books. There are only so many hours in a day and Sanderson is already something of a workaholic so I can't imagine that he could squeeze in writing screenplays and overseeing adaptations and still do all the work on books that he was doing before. It just doesn't seem possible. The question here is what ends up getting sacrificed. I think that we will still get the big important central Cosmere books. Mistborn eras 3 and 4 and the Stormlight back half both seem sure things. They may end up happening more slowly than they would have otherwise, but they will probably still happen. I think that Sanderson is just too committed to seeing his work through to a conclusion that he won't be willing to drop these. I also think we'll still get stand-alones and secret projects popping up here and there. These seem like they'd be the easiest (least hard?) books for him to find time for in the middle of other projects, and Sanderson is always going to keep on having cool ideas for stories that he's just itching to tell. What I really worry for are the books in the middle ground between these two. The ones that are said on the major shard worlds but aren't as integral to the main plot lines of the Cosmere. I'm thinking things like the potential cyberpunk Mistborn books, Nightblood, The Night Brigade, Horneater, maybe the Elantris sequels, and so on. To me, these feel like the corners that are most likely to end up getting cut. And honestly, I'm a little bit sad about this. I'm not really that much of a watcher of either films or television, and if I had to choose between any of those books or these screen adaptations, I would choose the books, easily. Brand new stories excite me more than retreading old ground, and I just prefer books as a medium to the screen. I may still end up watching and enjoying the adaptations, but they definitely don't excite me as much as new books would... ...but that's OK. Sanderson does not owe me anything. He should spend his time how he chooses to, not how I want him to. I mean, this is an incredibly obvious thing to say, but given some of the online discourse around certain other authors, it is apparently something that needs to be said. Regardless of how we all individually feel about this news, I mostly just hope that we can all be respectful of people with differing opinions and of Sanderson himself.

We know from Wind and Truth that Taln attempted to kill Cultivation, presumably using a weapon given to him by Kalak. We also know that he withstood torture on Braize for 4,500 years without ever breaking. This theory proposes that the weapon Taln used to attempt to kill Cultivation was a Dawnshard, which then imprinted on his soul, preventing him from breaking while on Braize. Among the possibilities for the weapon that Taln could have used to try to kill Cultivation, the Dawnshards rank pretty high. Other than Nightblood, which didn't exist yet, the Dawnshards are the only weapons that we know of that have been used to kill a God. Some kind of anti-Investiture weapon might work as well, but I think we can be reasonable certain that those wouldn't have been around at that time either. There really isn't a candidate that we know of for a weapon that could have been used to harm a God at that time other than a Dawnshard. Additionally, we know that Taln's soul is warped from his attempt to kill Cultivation. While that warping need not necessarily have been caused by the weapon (for instance, it could have been caused by Cultivation's response), we know that holding a Dawnshard warps the soul. We've seen that warping manifest in Sigzil's and Hoid's Torments, preventing them from directly harming others. I believe that Taln held a Dawnshard whose Torment made it so that he could not give in to his torture on Braize. There are several possibilities for a Dawnshard Command that would cause this torment. For instance, a Dawnshard with a Command similar to Honor's Intent might prevent him from breaking, as Taln swore an oath to protect Roshar at the founding of the Oathpact, and breaking might be seen as a violation of that oath. Or the Command may be related to protection itself, or to resolve. Either way, it seems plausible that of the two Dawnshards with unkown Commands, one might cause a torment that would have resulted in Taln being unable to break. This theory seems to me to best explain what we know about Taln. A Dawnshard fits with the attempt to kill Cultivation and his having a warped soul. In addition, the fact that Taln never broke despite 4,500 years of torture seems unrealistic to me as the result of human willpower alone. I also like this theory because it gives the Heralds' betrayal of Taln a lot more bite. While the Heralds made their choice to transfer most of the Oathpact to Taln without consulting him, the plan essentially requires Taln's consent as well, assuming he can choose whether or not to break. It's not much of a betrayal if Taln can make the effects of the betrayal moot by choosing to break. But if he has no choice, if the other Heralds abandoned him to be tortured on Braize alone, knowing that he could never give in to stop it...that would be quite the betrayal indeed. So, that's my theory. I'll note one potential counterargument, which is that Taln was given his weapon by Kalak, yet Kalak clearly does not suffer from a Torment that prevents him from breaking. I think there are two ways to explain this, the first being that Kalak led Taln to the Dawnshard without holding it himself, and the second that Kalak didn't hold the Dawnshard for long enough to be affected by the Torment. (I'm not sure how long one has to hold the Dawnshard to suffer a Torment.) I think this theory nicely explains what we know about Taln, and it puts a darker spin on his abandonment by the Heralds. Let me know what you all think!

I wonder if he is the only shard to change his intent.

I liked it, though it had some weaknesses the main antagonist veers off into comic book villain territory it obfuscates the question how Aviars reached Roshar Otherwise, a good yarn. I would have considered it almost impossible to write a book so deeply embedded in the Space Age while revealing so little about fture events. Structurally I was reminded of Tress in the Emerald Sea, especially in the choice of protagonists coupled with the quasi-naval setting.

In the time honored tradition of TWG's Stupid Titles thread (yes, TWG is back!) and the fact that our rep system is now overhauled, there are all sorts of dumb and exciting promotions that you can have! So, what is your current rank? Plus, I'm sure more than a few of you want to figure out which rank is what. Good luck with that My favorite--and totally coincidental, I swear--person's rank is Peter, at the rank of Rambleman. Okay, it wasn't entirely coincidental, but once I happened to assign Rambleman to that place and I noticed Peter there... well, I couldn't resist. I'm so sorry. Kind of.

Updated w/ Big Leo, Sox and Raese! 6th years at the top, 5ths in the middle, 1sts at the bottom. Edit:

NOTE: This is all theory and speculation and opinion. So, I realized that there is chouta on Scadrial, and I figure that those red-haired people who keep getting mentioned are Herdazians, and that means that there is a population of Rosharans living on Scadrial, and that means that there's no hope for the Scadrians, and that makes me sad. I don't really want to see the Scadrians become slaves again. I don't want to see species go extinct on Scadrial again. I don't want the children of Ashyn to claim, desecrate, and then leave a THIRD world. It's what's going to happen, though. We're going to get Navani Kholin XVIII telling a first-generation Kandra that she's "just as native" as any Kandra. We're going to see everything unique and interesting about Scadrial get commodified, made extinct, enslaved, exploited, trafficked, forgotten, or repurposed. Because that's what they did to Roshar. That's what Navani and Jasnah did to Roshar. That's what the good guys, the honorable faction, of the Rosharan system, do. None of what I describe is appreciably worse than what has already been done on Roshar, it's just that we never had a bunch of books to learn to care about the Listeners and the Spren in the way that we had for the Scadrians. Slavery is no stranger to Rosharan societies. Navani herself is innovating new ways to subordinate Spren to her whims and the material needs of humanity, and she's one we're supposed to be rooting for. The Lord Ruler oppressed the Skaa for so, so long. A millennia. It has only been about three or four centuries that the Skaa have been free since then, that the Terris have not been selectively trafficking and breeding themselves just to stay alive. And the Set, serving Bavadin, do the same thing with the ones they take. Because that is what happens when outside Shards take an interest in Scadrial. One can only hope that Scadrians are not interfertile with non-Scadrian humans, or else... eugh. No way is anybody going to let them have reproductive autonomy, not when Feruchemy and Allomancy are genetically passed and the need to oppose Retribution is so great. The Terris will probably go back to how they were in the times of the Lord Ruler, as will the Skaa. And, honestly? That's probably going to utterly break Kelsier and Harmony... especially Harmony, considering Tindwyl... That's probably how we get Discord and why they will love him for it. Because the Scadrians rejected Bavadin. They rejected Autonomy, and stayed true to Harmony. True to Ruin and Preservation. And you can't reject Autonomy in favor of Harmony without repercussions, without an exploration of what it means to choose Harmony. The Scadrians will, I predict, accept the Rosharans, as the Listeners and Spren did. And they will end up just as the Listeners and Spren have. Because they must. Because it is the right thing to do. Because the Rosharans in question are refugees, and that is worth everything. The worth of a world, of a society, of a people, is in how they treat such. To not accept the Rosharans would be to lose something irreplaceable and eternal. Something worth more than freedom, more than autonomy, more than life, more than the world. For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?

Let's look at aspects of the experiment. First, Wax didn't use just a Trellium sample but one with a Hemalurgic charge. His stated goal wasn't to make either Atium or Lerasium but to confirm if it was possible - with the further expressed reasoning of needing to know if the Set had the capability so he could take them down to protect. The electrical melter machine was set to pull only a few sixteenths of an inch and stop while running high current through it then he observed the two halves of the Ettmetal nugget taking on characteristics of Atium and Lerasium. He set up the test to be done remotely, with a half an hour setup to get his timer rigged hydraulic punch then a five minute delay on top of that while doing the experiment in an unobserved metal safe box in a concrete bunker with a thick metal door. Then there was the secondary explosion when he tried to scrape the Harmonium plastered to the back of the safe box - which is when his mask was torn free, and when Harmony thinks he inhaled a dose - which happened during Steris's viewpoint not Wax. Could be Intent. Could be Hemalurgy. I have a untestable crackpot RAFO hypothesis but I'm not sure if Wax is that stupid, despite his claims to the contrary that he was being stupid at the time. We know that the entire sample of the initial half a gram of Ettmetal was not consumed even with some of it converted to energy. Then he touched the stuff to scrape it into a bag. What if the still cooling Ettmetal had embedded fragments of Trellium which under normal circumstances would still be trying to repel the Harmonium and maintain the partial separation into Atium and Lerasium? And if Wax burned Steel to confirm he got all the fragments, charging the Ettmetal which would repel the internally embedded Trellium...? If splitting Ettmetal into Atium and Lerasium requires doing the high current stretch to polarize the metal, blowing up a bunker by introducing Trellium, then a Coinshot actively blowing themselves up by touching the stuff and burning Steel... it would stand to reason why no one else has tried this. Because it's so obviously a bad idea. Properties of the product of the explosion, if you can find it, would be just pure speculation on my part.

Consider Kaladin's path forward as a captain, Radiant, hero, healer, and Herald. Consider Vin's fate as a warrior, savior, and legend at peace with Elend Consider the Set's defeat thanks to heroes like Wax, Wayne, and Marasi. Sanderson is a hopeful man and a realistic one. He portrays horrors and triumphs. His world is not sunshine and rainbows but neither is it as desolate and grimdark as several people interpret. Scadrial will face hardship and may have evil factions and characters, but I believe in the end there will be a good ending. Bittersweet yes, but satisfying and hopeful. Sanderson has repeatedly shown his skill and intentions in his work, and I continue to trust him as an author.

Hello. Please be aware on 17th Shard there are people of many different age categories, and you have no right to demand how other people wish to write. We are welcoming to all here, as we welcome you as well.

Idk, Scadrial in Era 1 was EXTREMELY bleak. This is not outside of Brandon's style at all - but I think the key to Brandon's work is that the world may be bleak but we prevail anyways.

I've been telling people that it's research into how silver works in the cosmere, I think that's a worthy pursuit!

I really really loved this book, is a mixture of what i loved in Tress and what i loved in Sunlit Man. It make Dusk go from a character i didn't really care to be one of my favorites. And i freakin loved Dajer as the antagonist, is one of the best villains brandon written because he is really really smart but at the same time too confident in himself, he see Starling as a threat so he is always one step ahead of her and he see Dusk as an idiot caveman so he doesn't see what he is capable of doing. Hands down probably the best of the secret projects i really am hyped to see the Dynamic crew in the future

Wrote this for a friend of mine, may be the first one I end up recording. We'll see if I have time to record simple versions of some this week.