Kobold King

Having trouble sleeping? Your sleep Patterns may be improperly Attuned. Have you tried... wait, I've said this before. Storm it, all the good puns have been dun already...

All's well that ends well (seriously, someone needs to turn that into a ketek. Now.)

All right, you've called my Bluth. I'll quit Lopen around and add some quality to my puns. I've sort of been Dragon myself along, trying to get better. Every Letter I type seems to get a little more awful... but still, in Honor of your Reply, I will Push myself steel harder to entertain all of you.

Thanks. I wasn't aware of the reference to a Skybreaker rebellion--are you referring to the following epigraph? I hadn't linked this or any other passage to a rebellion, but I see how this at least could be interpreted as such. If so, it's quite a cool find. I guess what I'm really trying to find out is how flexible the Skybreaker oath is. Can you have a Skybreaker whose one law is the Golden Rule, and exacts retribution towards those who fail to follow it?

At some point, we need to bring all the Breaths together to Awaken Nalthis. That's right, Awaken the entirety of Nalthis. We will give the planet a Command worthy of such a masterpiece, a Command capable of bringing the world through the troubled times ahead. "Kill everything."

During the Nuremberg Trials, Nazi officials attempted to justify the actions they had performed during the Third Reich's reign by arguing that they were "just following orders"--claiming, essentially, that the law of their country absolved them of any moral responsibility for their actions. The Allied court did not recognize these objections, and declared that there is such thing as a "higher law" that all earthly governments must conform to. For more information about the concept of higher law, Wikipedia has an article on the subject. The subjective nature of law is a matter that could be discussed at length for days on end. Which is more important--following the laws of nations or the laws of ethics? Fortunately for those of us with limited time, this is not the question I seek to investigate in this thread. Rather, I'd like to explore what is perceived as a major point of distinction between two Orders of the Knights Radiant, the Windrunners and the Skybreakers. Syl, a spren associated with the Windrunners, differentiates herself from highspren by stating her belief that "laws don't matter. What's right is what matters." It seems that the majority of 17th Sharders have taken her viewpoint on the matter, citing the actions of the Skybreaker Herald Nale as an argument against Skybreaker ideology. I would argue that Nale is not a fitting representative of what the Skybreakers truly believe in. In Words of Radiance, Nale is observed tracking and killing Surgebinders whom he's found guilty of crimes. He deems this necessary, and tells off one of his minions when the man claims to be above the law. As any who have read Lift's interlude can attest to, Nale believes killing Surgebinders to be necessary for saving the world from horrible Desolations. But even believing that what he does is for the greater good, he still refuses to break the law by killing Lift after she is pardoned. Many readers, myself included, find Nale to be a difficult figure to relate to. He believes what he does is morally right, and yet he will cease his activities once the law opposes him? At best this is a highly extremist form of legalism. At worst, this is insanity. With this said, I believe that Nale, despite being the Order's patron Herald, is a poor representative of the Skybreakers and their specific belief system. If this is the case, then we must examine the only other representative currently available to us--Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar. Nale's example leads us to believe that to the Skybreakers, the precise letter of the law is the most important consideration in any ethical conflict. Nale makes no secret of his belief that one should always obey the laws of a nation if one is within its borders. But when we observe Szeth, we find an entirely different principle at work--Szeth follows only the law that he recognizes. It is obvious that many of Szeth's activities, in particular his actions as the Assassin in White, are not legal within the borders of the countries he acts in. Alethi and Jah Keved law certainly prohibit the murder of kings and highprinces, but Szeth nonetheless executes his orders with extreme prejudice. Szeth is quite probably Roshar's Most Wanted, yet he is wholly devoted to the laws of his people, the Shin. Clearly the Skybreaker oath, "I will hold the law above all else", does not refer to all laws. Instead, it appears that the Second Ideal of the Skybreakers may refer to a specific set of laws--those laws that the individual Skybreaker chooses to uphold. So if this is the case, allow me to return to my original point. The Allied officials at Nuremberg believed in a higher set of laws than the laws of nations. They professed the belief in an ethical law that superceded all other statutes. Could a man who harbors these beliefs become a Skybreaker? Could a man, while swearing to hold the law above all else, break laws that he finds unjust, professing to follow a higher set of laws? Could a Skybreaker topple governments he finds reprehensible, freeing prisoners he believes were convicted wrongly? The core question, the question that must shape our judgement of the Skybreakers: do the Skybreakers swear to uphold all laws, or only those that are Just? I find this to be an interesting, perhaps even important, consideration. If Skybreakers are permitted to follow any set of laws they choose, then one could see the apparent contradiction of anarchist Skybreakers--Skybreakers who refuse to follow laws set down by men, considering ethical laws to reign supreme in all matters. At that point, who could tell the difference between a Windrunner and a Skybreaker? I suspect that the Third and Fourth Ideals will be key towards identifying the Skybreaker's philosophical stance, one way or another. If the Third Ideal is "I will follow even laws I find unjust, so long as they are lawful", for instance, then the idea of anarchist Skybreakers is entirely thrown out the window. But until we are given more definitive information, I would love to see some discussion on how Skybreakers and their spren interpret the law.

If previous books are anything to go by, then Stones Unhallowed will be emblazoned with a picture of Shallan and Jasnah, and Dalinar's book will have a big starvin' painting of Lift on the cover.

Yes, this thread is a great Blessing. And to whoever downvoted me-- sorry if I sounded like a Nin-compoop. I'll Rlain it in a little more next time.

Now I'm thinking of all the things we should get a Mistborn to burn... A piece of fragmented Shardplate. A piece of metal imbued with Breaths. A piece of metal that's been given a Soulstamp. An unfortunate spren tricked into becoming a small piece of metal...

I've been Calling for a return for quite some time, but I haven't had many Listeners.

Oh, makes sense. I didn't notice that it was called "True Glory". That does make it seem pretty clear. Please, Mr. Sanderson, don't kill off Dalinar. Don't kill Dalinar don't kill Dalinar don't kill Dalinar

Yes, Warbreaker was written as an introduction to their characters. I'll try to find a WoB for you (though I'm about to eat lunch so someone might beat me to it).EDIT: Because I am a gentleman, I found the WoB before I go to get lunch. Yes, I am a wonderful person. According to Google, Warbreaker was released in 2009. So Vasher in Stormlight predates Warbreaker.

Possibly, though I've personally never encountered the idea of Merlin being a "reluctant servant". Remember, he engineered the circumstances that led to Arthur's kingship, right? I do think there's a pretty cool inverse "Sword in the Stone" motif in the Prelude, when the Heralds stab their Honorblades into the rock. Instead of pulling out a sword to become king, like Arthur did, the Heralds give up their status by planting their swords into stone.

I have thought--nay, hoped--that we will eventually see Awakening for certain in these books. After all, Vasher and Nightblood were planned as Stormlight characters long before Warbreaker. It stands to reason that Nalthis and Endowment are similarly involved in the Stormlight Archive's plot and background. I wonder if Szeth will eventually learn how to Awaken objects, making this a minor foreshadowing. Perhaps Szeth will learn how to do it from a certain expert he has on hand.

I may or may not have screamed this out loud while reading about the Battle of the Tower...

When you then try to pass the time by reading his young adult novels--which completely suck you in and cause you to demand sequels. When you get mad at Brandon Sanderson for having a life and not spending 24 hours/day writing books.

That Death Rattle has been fulfilled? Has that interpretation been confirmed by WoB?

You raise some pretty valid points. Ryshadium don't seem to be anything special from what we've seen so far. What I expect is that we're only seeing a shadow of what Ryshadium are capable of--if one is actually being ridden by a Radiant, then they might have more flexibility (like how Shardblades are much cooler when wielded by a specific Radiant). Perhaps in Stones Unhallowed we'll see Dalinar being pleasantly surprised by Gallant's capabilities.

I think Nightblood would almost certainly recognize Steelheart as evil, and would cause him to kill himself. Really, Vasher or Szeth could have solved Steelheart's plotline in a fraction of the time David did...

I believe Returned would be immune to zombie bites as long as they think they should be immune. A lot of what Returned do has to do with their Cognitive perception of themselves. As for getting a Breath per week? Easy... desperate people on the roads, willing to do anything for food and protection? I'm sure plenty of them could be persuaded to give up their breaths. [maniacal laugh] Of course, one wonders if the zombie apocalypse couldn't be caused by Returned. Similar concepts, right? Maybe zombies are what happens if Endowment merges with Ruin.

Here's a Death Rattle from WoK: I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but one hypothesis I've been toying with is that two major characters will sacrifice themselves at the end of the first five books, becoming "two dead men". They will do this in order to strike a major blow at an enemy ("heart in their hands"). Although they will be dead, it will end on a hopeful note, preparing us for the next five books ("I know that I have seen true glory.") As I said, there is nothing to support this notion of mine. I simply like the sound of it. And I think it would be incredible, while saddening, if Kaladin and Szeth died fighting back-to-back in a climatic strike against Odium.

Well, to answer the question of whether a fearful man could kill Steelheart with a Shardblade, we must turn to Words of Radiance. Spoilers ahoy...

1. Szeth, as you said, would not fear Steelheart. Szeth would welcome death, and would go into the fight hoping that the Epic would be strong enough to kill him. 2. Although Szeth would like for Steelheart to kill him, he's too dedicated to sabotage the mission. He would most likely ambush Steelheart during one of his "parades", likely leaving his target with burned-out eyes long before Steelheart could respond. 3. If Steelheart did see him coming, then he would probably attempt to kill Szeth with his energy bolts. Of all Steelheart's powers, these would be the most dangerous to Szeth. It is unlikely that any kind of Lashing would affect raw energy. Nonetheless, this strategy would almost certainly fail to kill Szeth, as Szeth is extraordinarily quick on his feet and skilled with Lashing himself unpredictably. 4. In close combat, Steelheart would not be capable of holding his own. From the little we've seen, Steelheart relies primarily on his own brute strength, and probably couldn't match Szeth's training in kammar. With these points considered, it is doubtful that Steelheart could effectively combat our Truthless. Firefight, however, could be a threat to Szeth, and we really have no way of knowing whether a Shardblade could harm Nightwielder. I've given my arguments. Before I go, however, I will briefly take up the mantle of "that guy" in order to point out that many people have not read WoR yet, and might be watching. Would you mind editing the post above to include spoiler tags concerning Szeth's Blade, for the sake of the young adults and the late readers?

When you idly flip to the back of a fantasy novel, searching in vain for the Ars Arcanum.

The Words, Arcanist! You must speak the Words! Other than that... Stormfather. Good job, and may the Almighty be with you.