thejopen27

Renarin's Spren is also desribed as dancing light. I think Renarin is embodying one part of Truthwatchers while Ym and Stump were embodying the other Learned v. Giving. They both have access to Progression. Also Ym and Stump both acted passively, like Renarin while Edgedancers seem more active. We don't actually know that much about Renarin's personality. I am sticking with Ym and Stump as Truthwatchers. I'd put money on it. And in the end, the Cultivationspren didn't pick Ym, they picked Lift because she was blessed by Cultivation.

It is possible that Nalan isn't the Herald who went back for his blade and instead had bonded a Highspren in order not to risk a desolation through using an honorblade.

A couple things; I think that not all Radiant orders would have strictly defined ranks like the Skybreakers. It doesn't surprise me that law and order Radiants have internal Law and Order. While I think the Lightweavers would be unlikely to have any formal structure at all. I think the orders that Broke their oaths did so altruistically. I think the Windrunners, Bondsmiths, Dustbringers,Edgedancers, etc. would be unlikely to all break their oaths at the same time unless it was a conscious choice in order to help humanity or bc Ishar told them to to prevent a desolation or something else. I think the other orders sacrificed themselves and broke their own bonds to stop some greater evil. We've now seen three people who have started becoming Truthwatchers. I think Stump has the same Spren as Ym and Renarin. Of the three Renarin doesn't seem to fit with the other two. Both Ym and the Stump are very altruistic and spent their time seeing those no one else saw and healing the poor and the forgotten embodying the Giving part of the Truthwatchers, while Renarin seems to fit in more with the Learned part. I think Gavilar and Dalinar were both on the way to being bondsmiths as well as one of the people killed by the silent gatherers. I am not surprised that Spren who embody similar attributes would be attracted to the same people. Dalinar could have easily been a Windrunner and if Kaladin had had a better experience with authority figures he could have been a Skybreaker. The Cultivation Spren almost chose Ym, but he must have been just a bit more of a Truthwatcher. Of all the Spren, the Truthwatcher spren (Wisdomspren? Lightspren? Enlightenmentspren?) we have seen trying to bond the most. Infact it's the only Spren that we have seen with more that one bond at a time other than the Highspren, but I think something fishy is going on there,but that may not mean anything. We have yet to see Dustbringers, Willshapers, or Stonewards. (I think Rsyn will be either a Willshaper or a Stoneward though.) I guessed that the Edgedancer Spren would be Cultivationspren, as Edgedancers (or maybe the Truthwatchers, but the Edgedancers were more associated with Plants) seemed the most like Cultivation, just like the Windrunners (and their Honorspren) and the Bondsmiths seem the most like Honor. I think Szeth might be on a path of redemption but he may not be on his way to being a Skybreaker, but instead another order, maybe the Dustbringers? All the Heralds are broken or breaking down mentally and it seems to have recently gotten worse, and I think Ishar may have flat out betrayed the others. Jezrien is a drunk beggar, Shallash goes around destroying art, Nalan is murdering children for minor offenses, one of them (I think Ishar) is probably the God-king of Tukar, is the Ardent helping Taravangian one of the Heralds associated with knowledge or healing? Taln (because he never broke his oath) may be the only one who isn't breaking down, he's just mad for a different reason entirely. Dysian Aimians are creepy. I think Siah Aimians are more beings that exist partially in the cognitive, while Dysian Aimians are Hive organisms. Both from Aimia, both weird, both practically immortal, not related to each other directly. Different things that have similar results. Like an orca and a shark. Lift is broken like all the other Radiants. Is it possible that Nalan didn't retrieve his blade but has actually bonded a Highspren to prevent another desolation by having his honorblade and it was another Herald who retrieved his or her blade (again, maybe Ishar)? Nalan implied that what caused the desolations was something creating a link between Roshar and Braise that allowed the Voidspren to cross. Did Chriss actually go to Braise which seems to be inhabited entirely by Voidspren? Seems horrible. I think Szeth has a light aura like the Awakeners of Nalthis. I think this is obviously related to Nightblood. I see why Brandon changed how Szeth dies in WoR so that it wasn't a shard weapon that killed him.

I'm firmly in the camp that Ym and Renarin are both on their way to being Truthwatchers and if pressed I will explain my rationale. In Ym's interlude his spren, that is hiding in a cupboard, appears to be very shy. I vote for the box holding his spren which may not be able to hide itself and if it's shy it would need somewhere to hide. The light spren (my name as one isn't given and that describes its form) that Ym had needed to hide in a cupboard and couldn't disappear. As the light spren is similar to a Cryptic both in form and they share the gifted power of lightweaving it may explain why it can't disappear like Syl and Ivory.

Every day this week is a Palindrome. What a great way to celebrate the Stormlight Archive.

It's a solid theory. If Dalinar were crippled he might go to any length to heal. If he was using stormlight there most likely would not be skars.

I think Kal could see them when Axies could not because Axies was resolved to being in prison and new he'd be released soon so he took the time to think while Kal felt penned up and was worried he'd never get out.

To me, at this point in the story Szeth is neither Just or Confident. Szeth kills anyone who gets in his way and blindly follows order. He has his own internal code and law but he ignores all outside laws and has no regard for whether someone is innocent or not. Szeth is not only unconfident but he is doubting everything he knows at the moment. Now I'm not saying that the attributes don't matter, I'm saying that Szeth is not currently fulfilling them. As he is now Szeth is not a true Skybreaker and will not draw a Highspren until he starts to heal from his breaking or not at all. Adolin, if he is a Radiant at all, I see as a Stoneward or a Releaser.

I read that particular stanza as the Parshendi were saying that it wasn't them that caused the shattering and instead was either the humans or something else. I know there are no plate tectonics on Roshar that's why the shattering on Roshar would require a massive amount of energy to shake such a large area of solid flowing rock. On Sel the earth cracked along a massive line indicative of a fault line. There is no natural phenomena which would result in a sudden massive rift in the ground like the rift on Sel. As to the timeline of when Elantris takes place relative to the Stormlight Archive and we also don't know if Odium has been trapped since Ahairietiem or if Honor didn't trap him until later. Maybe Honor only died at the time of the Recreance (another event we don't know when it happened). Look I'm probably wrong but on both Sel and Roshar something out of the norm caused massive geological disasters and on both planets Odium splintered another Shard.

So my theory as to how the shattered plains shattered comes from reading Elantris and thinking about similarities between shardworlds and magic systems. We know that at least three shards have been splintered by Odium. Dominion and Devotion on Sel and Honor on Roshar. On both planets that Odium killed a Shardholder there was a devastating earthquake that broke the land. Sel presumably works like a regular planet and therefore has plate tectonics and fault lines so when one of the Shards was splintered it caused the land to break down a fault line leading to the rift in the middle of the southern continent. Roshar has land that is built up over time by crem deposits and worn down over time by the storms and therefore a massive energy burst might radiate out in a cymatic pattern like the shattered plains. It was not Ahairaitiem (I've no idea how to spell it with the Coppermind down) that shattered the land around Stormseat (btw if the storms come from Honor wouldn't Honor's home be at Stormseat) but the splintering of Honor. There were many desolations and there are no other places on Roshar with Cymatic lines nearly as obvious as the Shattered plains although many of the cities have cymatic patterns in their geography. On Sel the massive chasm that opened suddenly that shook an entire continent may have been caused by the splintering of Devotion or Dominion. It is a possible solution and I don't think we have enough information to know for sure but it is a possible explanation that elastically fits the evidence. As for why this didn't happen at the death of Ruin or preservation I have an idea. It's possible that it only happens when a shard is splintered and not when a shardholder dies, although the Scadrial was shaking badly already at the point of Vin's and Ruin's death and when Preservation died he was very weak and had given most of his power away.

Well, Elantrians can basically Elsecall. The power to instantly transport is highly similar to Jasnah's transporting abilities. Elsecallers are the masters of Shadesmar because they can both Elsecall and soulcast and both powers involve accessing Shadesmar and traveling into the cognitive realm. This implies that an Elantrian can also use their transportation to travel to the cognitive realm. Brandon has said multiple times that people from Sel would have a hard time world hopping. I can think of two reasons for this: Elantrians magic is so heavily based on the land and by traveling away from their home planet they couldn't escape the cognitive realm in the new location because they wouldn't know the shape of the land in the new location and couldn't make the proper glyph or maybe it has something to do with both shards on Sel being dead and Shattered but I don't know why that would effect it. Anyone who understands me and wants to back me up would be appreciated.

Yeah I'm pretty sure the two orders that were so honorable they immediately gave up their blades and plates after the recreance rather than fight in whatever war the other orders were fighting were the Windrunners and the Stonewards. Okay so part of that is my theory but the Stonewards were definitely one of the two that gave up their blades and plate right away and I think it had to do with those being the two most Honorable orders.

The Way of Kings chapter 65 epigraph "That chanting, that singing, those rasping voices." Kaktach 1173, 16 seconds pre death. Subject was a middle-aged potter. Reported seeing strange dreams during high-storms for the last two years. This is one of the death rattles from the way of kings. I read it as a man receiving the dreams from the stormfather. I don't think reading the Way of Kings effects whether or not you are prime material for being a Bondsmith. If you have the ability to bring men together and lead people you are a candidate for Bondsmithness. Yes it is the stormfather who sends the visions but the visions come from Honor.

My theory about why none of the other gates work is because they have had buildings constructed on top and it would require way too much stormlight to move the buildings. Jasnah couldn't get the other portals to work because the construction on the dais in Kholinar was blocking the portal. Edit: Bramblethorn basically had the same idea as me but he/she said it better and beat me by moments

From what Szeth thought during his interlude I thought they knew something about how the Thunderclasts could rise from stone. He said something about how the stone around Urithiru was the only place in the east where the stone was untainted or something. Someone could find the quote.

I don't think Nalan being at the party forbids her from being a surgebinder. Jasnah was there and discovered her bond that night and Nalan didn't do anything about it. I think Nalan hadn't cracked yet and hadn't yet set out on his dark mission. On the other hand I don't think Liss is a Herald or a surgebinder. I think she is what she appears to be, a very skilled assassin who happens to be in possession of a shardblade.

I thought Vedeledev was the female ardent in charge of the silent gatherers. No real evidence but it just seems to fit.

Well if the Listeners are related to voidbringers/binders and the desolations than their reemergence seems a logical place for curious or worried Heralds to be.

What other theories do you have Moogle? I bet we disagree on them. Do you think Taln is a fake? This is the second or third time I've disagreed with you on a topic, it makes it more fun. Syl disapproved of what Kaladin was doing the whole book but she didn't start to diminish until Kaladin got out of prison and he promised Moash he'd help kill Elhokar (which also went against the first ideal and assassination is inherently dishonorable as the target doesn't see it coming which is possibly in violation of protecting those who can't protect themselves). Syl is Honorspren, she is drawn to Honor. When Kaladin makes an oath to Moash to kill Elhokar he promised to do something directly in conflict with at least the first ideal, possible the second, and definitely the third ideal. To Syl oaths are sacred and making an oath is probably similar to the action itself. Therefor Kaladin wasn't in trouble thinking about whether or not to kill Elhokar or Amaram although Syl didn't like it and tried to convince him not to, he doesn't get in trouble until he makes a decision and commits to killing Elhokar.

Who is Khriss? Where do we know the name from?

Taln is Taln. The person who appears as Taln is the Herald Talenel'Elin. He has superhuman reflexes, he knows things that would be very hard for a non-Herald to know, and he has been mentally broken which fits a Herald who has shouldered the burdens of all ten. As for speaking perfect Alethi this could be explained by a Heraldic ability to be universally understood or to speak all langauges (this would be a necessity in their jobs as heralds in order to communicate with a whole continent thousands of years apart when the languages could change over time. As for the mystery of the changing Blade. He was clutching his blade when he first appears in Khilinar like a desperate man holding the only thing that belongs to him. Taln was seen by several guards holding a blade. Now we have WoB saying that Hoid did not switch the blades but that does not mean that Hoid didn't just give him a decoy blade so he wouldn't rouse suspicion by being a darkeyed insane man with a bonded shardblade. Szeth proved an Honorblade canbe bonded, summoned, and banished, so Taln is passed out and his blade is on the ground, maybe Szeth gets him to wake up and banish his blade and gives him the new blade, his Honorblade disappears and he is found with the new blade and Wit/Hoid is probably gone. Hoid would want the Herald to be killed by a greedy person or the queen for his blade and wouldn't want smarter people to figure out he was the Herald. Easier to explain darkeyed man with an unbounded blade than one bonded with a blade with dark eyes.

Well no matter where Taln is he would have it or be able to summon his blade. When a Herald dies there blade disappears and it presumably reforms with them when they return from wherever they go after death. I'm 99 percent sure that the person who the book presents as Taln is Taln as he knows things that a non-Herald shouldn't know and has superhuman reflexes and he has clearly been mentally broken. I think his ability to speak perfect Alethi somehow results from a supernatural power to be understood or speak all languages. Szeth demonstrated that it is possible to bond with an Honorblade and summon it and banish it. In the epilogue of book one I think Taln was only carrying his blade because he had gone mad was clinging to the only thing that was wit him when he reappeared. Hoid didn't swap the Shardblades, as said by Brandon, but as Taln was seen holding a blade when he arrived Hoid thought Taln would be left alone if he was holding a unbounded blade that could be taken from him. If Taln was a darkeyed man with a bonded honorblade he would immediately be under suspicion and smart people would guess his nature as a Herald and greedy people would try to assassinate him for his shardblade..

For one Moogle, Kaladin hadn't sworn the first ideal yet at the point he was about to commit suicide, and two, Syl definitely wasn't happy with Kaladin jumping and tried to convince him no to jump. He considered killing Amaram a lot but never did, therefore he didn't break any vows. Also, in tWoK when Kaladin is in his dark place and about to jump, Syl tells him he has to go and that she may not be able to return and that his indifference and apathy has something to do with it. At this point Kaladin was not following the first ideal and is not putting the journey before destination or life before death and Syl was weakening because of it. And to Pechvarry, is it possible that Nightblood can suck stormlight directly from jewels? I don't know just a possibility. If Nalan was killing surgebinders to stop a desolation he would not employ surgebindrs. If his men displayed surgebinding he would have killed them. It seems to me that Nalan has gathered a group of regular human knights to kill surgebinders and forestall the desolation (I'm 99 percent sure Nalan is wrong and desolations bring surgebindrs and not the other way around).

His boon cannot be anything related to his wife because he tells Navani (of course he could be lying) in tWoK that he knows exactly what his boon and his curse are. If his boon were related to his wife he wouldn't remember what it was would he? I don't know, that's how I interpreted it. Also on the nature of the Nightwatcher, we don't know enough about how she works. I don't think she has to give both a boon and a curse. She gives you what she thinks you deserve or what you've earned, or maybe if she is cultivation she gives you what will help advance her strategy. Remember she is Cultivation, she could be slowly moving pieces cultivating some master plan. Lift doesn't really seem to have a curse. Her ability to interact directly with Spren is clearly a boon, although not a very traditional one and her ability to transform food directly into stormlight could maybe be a curse if she can't ever be full because she keeps turning her food into stormlight, but is highly useful to a Surgebinder, especially an Edgedancer who could theoretically grow her own seeds. It appears that the Nightmother had a plan for Lift and gave her two tools for her future.

The statue was gone not replaced and that implies that she had been there in the past, the staff and noticed the broken statue and had taken it to be either replaced or repaired. That implies that some time has paced and she was not there that night. A treaty signing with the listeners, who are somehow related to voidbringers/binders and the desolations, would be the type of event that would draw the attention of the Heralds though. Green Hoody, a lot of people are convinced that the drunk at the beggars feast was Jesrien but I'm not convinced.