DariusJenai

The mists merely Snap those members of the population that have the potential. So, if a group of people that had never been out in the mists all went out together, approximately 16% of them would Snap. But if the 84% that wouldn't have Snapped went out into the mists, then none would snap.

So, about 16% of the population had the genetic potential for Allomancy. That 16% is what Snapped in the mists. If somehow they were able to know in advance what 16% were going to Snap, then they could achieve a 100% success rate in the mists.

Your second scenario assumes that the mist always Snaps 16% of any group, rather than simply allowing for the 16% of the random population that had the genetic potential to have Snapped in the mists.

A far better question to be asked is:

If Atium isn't considered one of the 16 Basic Metals, but still has the potential for Mistings, then why wouldn't a perfect, divine system have snapped 18%? (16 Basic Metals, plus Atium and Malatium. We'll ignore Lerasium, since apparently anyone can use it).

I don't think that's a typo. I think that Allomancy has perhaps changed since the Final Empire.

Not necessarily. Remember, it's been done before, in the battle between Vin and the Lord Ruler.

The only difficulty is that Odium, as far as we can tell, has not picked up the powers of any other shards.  It makes the most sense, our of what we know, to say that he has splintered other powers, but never claimed them himself.

It's probably not possible for other reasons.  After all, we don't know why Sazed was capable of taking both Ruin and Preservation.

Keep in mind, Odium has possessed his Shard for a very long time, (at least 4,500 years) so his personal nature has probably been warped by the power of the Shard. 

Odium: intense hatred or dislike, esp. toward a person or thing regarded as contemptible, despicable, or repugnant.

That much intense hatred/contempt could have made Odium begin to see the other Shards, not as additional sources of power for himself, but as something so far beneath him that the only 'logical' choice is not to take them, but to shatter them.

Sazed, on the other hand, not only was still 'himself' when he absorbed both shards, he also had the knowledge from his prophecy that the Shards would be reunited, so he 'knew' that it was not only possible, but the best course of action.

Are we SURE Ruin and Preservation are separate Shards?  I seem to remember that Sazed said he wasn't sure why Ruin and Preservation were ever separated or even how they could have been after he absorbed them both.  What if they are the SAME shard, just had been split until Sazed put the power back together.  That could be why they couldn't create without working together.

I haven't read interviews etc. about this - so I apologize in advance if there's empirical evidence conflicting with my statement.

I'm thinking that Sazed's thoughts were more of a lingering realization of the nature of Adonalsium, and the shattering thereof.  They feel like they should be the same Shard because they are both part of something greater that was once split.

New fun quote of the day for you:

Of course, that doesn't explain all the different types of Spren, but then, maybe they're just different aspects of Honor? Granted some of them don't really fit with honor, but I can't remember anything that would directly contradict honor on a basic level....

I'm thinking it's slightly more complicated than all Spren being splinters of Honor.  We've seen in Mistborn where there was a group of Splinters that seemed to have aspects of more than one Shard (Ruin and Preservation had their own powers, and there was a third that seemed to be made up of aspects of both).

So, I'm thinking that Spren are probably Splinters of multiple Shards.  Honor and Cultivation seem to be the most likely suspects, but I'm not ruling out a Shard we haven't met yet.

On a less thread-hijacky topic, there's no reason that the voice in the storm can't be Honor/Almighty.  I'll grant that it seems to be interactive, but Honor's chats with Dalinar seemed to be interactive at first as well.

Oh, it's the blue ones.  I got one of those at Dragon*Con this year.

John Ringo's Maple Syrup War (AKA Troy Rising Series)

I think the Spren are going to wind up being the Splinters on Roshar.

Possible.  Sigzil makes some comments about the Alethi language.

Thanks for adding Jasnah and Amaram's eye colors.  I missed those when I was scanning through.

It's a rather interesting system.  From the way Kaladin makes it sound, it sounds almost like light-eyes (Szeth notices that Gavilar's eyes are "striking pale green", so it's not just the color blue) are the sole qualification.  He thinks at one point when he's realizing his parents are trying to set him up with the local lords daughter that his kids could outrank him.  "How would he feel, marrying someone like Laral? He

So, assuming we aren't lucky enough to win the WoK Sling contest, is there anywhere we can pick up one of our own?

Oh, I know an important piece to that puzzle, but it's still very much an open question.

If it's a Dragonsteel piece, and you don't mind sharing, can you PM it to me?  I've been wanting to read it, but....

As far as Hoid goes, I'm slowly gathering evidence for a Hoid theory, but I'm not quite ready to throw it all out there yet.  Let's just say that if I'm right, Hoid will wind up being WAY more important in the end.

My theories on the Parshmen/Parshendi:

1) The Parshendi are the Voidbringers of legend.  The Parshmen are proto/infant Voidbringers.  They have the potential to become Parshendi, but it requires something extra to make them so.  If this is the case, either both groups must be functionally immortal, or able to breed true among themselves.

2) Gavilar's Dark Sphere has the ability to 'wake up' Parshmen into Parshendi, and to 'upgrade' Parshendi to Thunderclasts.  He gave it to Szeth to keep it out of the hands of the Parshendi, trusting in the Shin sense of Honor.

3) Gavilar's murder was an attempt by the Parshendi to obtain the Sphere.  Szeth was not ordered to bring them the sphere in order to keep him from realizing how important it was, and there was another who was prepared to remove the sphere from Gavilar's remains.

I figured the Breath would stay with the individual it was given to.  Seems kind of strange that it wouldn't.  On the other hand, it must become a normal breath somehow, or there would be stories all over Hallandren about how one could reach the fifth heightening with a single Returned Breath.  I imagine there would be less 'starving' of the Returned in other cultures, and more 'give us your Breath'

When you say Paradise, what exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean a utopia (bunch of people all getting along), or do you mean heaven(after death, everyone's figured everything out)?

Well, either works, really.  I was thinking more along the lines of a Utopia though.

"As a squadleader those months in Amaram

The problem with Theory 3 is that Dilaf didn't become Dakhor until after what happened to Seala, in fact it was partially responsible.  So whether or not Elantrian magic and Dakhor magic negatively affects each other doesn't matter in this instance since there wasn't any Dakhor magic in the area.

He would almost have to have been Dakhor by then.  He was gradget of Dakhor monestary when Hrathen was just a boy, and this was "just before [Dilaf] left for Arelon"(CH 60).  Hrathen thinks to himself that "What was wrong with Hrathen that, in thirty years of serving Jaddeth

Nice! Good call.  I skimmed through the book 2 times looking for that reference, knowing it was there but not able to find it. Thanks DariusJenai!

It's the one advantage I have with eBooks.  It's fairly easy to search through them for references I need.  Sadly, I lose some of the amazing interior artwork, and it's much more difficult to give page numbers.

I don't think the letter was addressed to Sazed. Though, that brings up another question: why isn't Odium paying attention to Sazed?

To be fair, we don't know that he hasn't.  If Alloy of Law really is before Way of Kings in the timeline, there's a pretty big gap there where just about anything could happen.

Well, you have a point, but I also have a point in that there's no evidence saying he is paying attention to Sazed

Oh, I agree that Sazed is probably still around.  I can't imagine that Brandon would write a 3-book series about someone taking 2 of the Shards if he didn't come back around again. 

Hmmm, I just had an interesting thought.  What if the eventual resolution of the series is Sazed (or someone else) gathering all the Shards and Splinters and re-creating Adonalsium as a Paradise?

Theory #3 is probably the best bet, but it does say that one of the basic lines was missing.  Not sure what page it is (I only have my eBook version with me), but it's in Chapter 25.

I don't think the letter was addressed to Sazed. Though, that brings up another question: why isn't Odium paying attention to Sazed?

To be fair, we don't know that he hasn't.  If Alloy of Law really is before Way of Kings in the timeline, there's a pretty big gap there where just about anything could happen.

Good answer, Puck.

I'd been thinking it along the same lines as Raoden, as a sort of 'half-complete' transformation.  If you think of it as a separate problem on top of being an Elantrian, it fits together much better.

Hmm. If Seala was turned into the equivalent of a Reod-Elantrian due to a Aon, I wonder if you could do it the right way. Could you find the right Aon that would turn someone into an Elantrian?

I've long thought the answer was yes.  Although I'd be willing to bet it's probably not a new Aon they need, but the proper modifiers to aon Shao.

What's most interesting about Seala's case is that in every other case we see/hear about an Aon missing one of its basic lines, the Aon simply fades and fails to work.  Since this particular case behaves in a manner decidedly different, does that lend support to Dilaf's paranoia that the Elantrian did it intentionally?  Or is it Aon Shao (never confirmed, but presumably the base Aon for healing) that acts differently from the other Aons?

Q-Cosmere question. Does Frost make any incognito appearences in any other books other than Dragonsteel? If so Book/chapter?

A-He does not appear on screen in any published books, though he is referenced. He has a non-Interference policy.

Perhaps this is who Hoid writes the letter to (I haven't read Dragonsteel)?

Hah!  Good Ol' Frost!  (Dances with glee because he's read Dragonsteel and actually knows this character)

There's a different clue somewhere that will help you know whether or not you're right.

I don't suppose Frost happens to be a Dragon in Dragonsteel (I haven't read it, though not for lack of trying)?

That would give some additional reasoning to the letter calling him "you old reptile".

"I . . . uh . . . don't get invited to parties very often."

I love finding short stories in all dialog.  It's the ultimate in leaving almost everything to the imagination.

Her oldest brother, the only one that their father confided in.  He was also the only one to stand up to their father.  What about their father?  His death is mysterious.  How did he get a shardblade, only to be killed by Shallan?

Her father's is slightly mysterious, but not really mysterious in the same way as Asmodean's, which was the topic at hand when he mentioned it.

Her brother's, on the other hand, is simply thrown out as a tidbit that is never really explored again.