Fifth of Daybreak

If only there were a way to get them 1-1 R.I.P Dalinar

Elend 4 Dalinar 2

Elend 6 Dalinar 7

Elend 8 Dalinar 6

I healed and hurt Elend, and hurt Dalinar for only 1

I fixed it. I actually had to change my vote after that.

Elend 6 Dalinar 11 Edit: Your logic convinced me

Being obsessed with one book doesn't make you bookish, Elend memorizes multiple philosophies across several authors, and is able to apply them logistically in a real world setting well enough to create an entirely new system of government! Plus, Elend's books are banned. Dalinar's is merely frowned on.

Thanks for the correction on the birds! While writing this I got to wondering how there were archers if the only birds were in Shinovar. Both of the appearances are in WoR. I'm not sure why that means it couldn't work. Sure, Shinovar existed, but that doesn't mean it can't evolve as he publishes more books. If they were mentioned in WoK I would agree with you (and be really sad that you so effectively and single handedly destroyed my theory,) but it could very easily have been a last minute addition to WoR, especially considering that the instances they are mentioned are only ten paragraphs long combined.

Nuh-uh! It doesn't count until you carry books around in your pocket.

Pfffft, he can't even read!

Elend 16 Dalinar 10 That's exactly why I like Elend! Outcast, bookish idealists for the win! We're too cool to be cool.

Elend 16 Dalinar 13 Why must you hurt everyone I love Kobold?

Susebron 0 Elend 15 Dalinar 16 Taravangian 20 Gawx 20 Kill Count-Three

Yes, that was my thought when I first read it. But why go with the obvious when you can have so much fun theorizing! Really though, how do we know that Aviar isn't to a parrot what Rhyshadium are to horses? I imagined a parrot type bird when I was reading through Sixth of Dusk.

Thanks for the clarification. I had seen people referencing that WoB, but I don't think I had ever actually seen the direct quotes.

Warning-Sixth of Dusk spoilers to follow. So I had a crazy thought last night. You guys remember that 'chicken' from Chapter 45-Middlefest? By the way, that was the last warning. I will not be using spoiler tags from here on out, so if you haven't read Sixth of Dusk and you don't want any spoilers, now is the time to flee while you still can! The first reasoning for this is simply because Roshar doesn't have the environment to support this type of creature. There aren't many flying creatures on Roshar. There are the skyeels, which depend on a spren bond to fly, instead of wings, 'chickens' for eating from Shinovar, Larkins, and apparently this type of 'chicken.' The Larkin and Skyeel are both found outside of Shinovar, and seem to be adapted to the environment enough to live. Ok, we don't know enough about the Larkin for that to be a certainty, but its description matches every other beast on Roshar. The creatures out of Shinovar are incongruent with the rest of the planet though. There have been several theories about horses coming from another world, and I find it likely, which was part of the impetus to this theory. Even Shallan's reaction to it shows how odd it is: Here, Shallan comments on the beak being the only type of shell, because here's an ecosystem that almost dictates that a shell is required. The most common type of plant is even called a rockbud. The next oddity that we can notice is Shallan does not even recognize what a feather is. I understand it is a flashback, but three years doesn't seem too long of a time, especially considering her proclivity towards the natural sciences. Next in the description, bright green feathers. There's another instance of one of these creatures in WoR in Chapter 55 The Rules of the Game (note it's from Kaladin's perspective this time.) Again, here Kaladin notes just exactly how strange the creature is. But we also get an idea of the color of the feathers, more than just green. Green, red, and blue. There aren't many colorful creatures on Roshar. Iirc the purelake fish are, but not many others. Now compare to Sixth of Dusk: Bright green, the exact same description Brandon used for the Middlefest chapter, and he even italicized it. Red, noted on the second creature in the menagerie. Very strange and out of place for Roshar. The size is not very far off from Aviar as well, Shallan, quoted above, states that it is "about as tall as two fists atop one another." From Sixth of Dusk: That definitely seems like it is within the standard deviation for the growth range, especially considering how being caged, and in a hostile environment not suited for it, could stunt its growth. So the descriptions match up. Next, there's the thing's name: Obviously it is a Shin name from the few precedents we have: Shauka-daughter-Hasweth, and Szeth-Son-Naturo, but there are two things that strike me about it's name. The first is the lack of hyphens, and my hypothesis for that is tied to the second observation. Jek son of none. Son of none? How is that possible? I see two possibilities for this: The creature was caught in the wild and traded, so they did not know the parent's name. This seems a little unlikely to me. By calling him 'sonofnone,' that implies to me that there are no parents. So that leads to the second possibility. Jeksonofnone is a worldhopper. He wasn't born on Roshar, and so he doesn't have parents on Roshar, therefore, he is the "son of none." Finally, there's the intelligence of the bird. The Aviar, and even Sak, seem to be incredibly intelligent and responsive to events and dialouge throughout the story. Shallan remarks on the personality is has, and it is able to at the very least repeat sound. I'm not entirely convinced that it was just a repeat, or if it was actually responding to the request to say its name. That's most of the hard evidence that I have, and I have a sub theory based off the assumption that Jeksonofnone is, in fact, and Aviar. As Jasnah points out in the prologue, some superstitions are rooted in fact. So why would Shallan instinctively have the superstition that a talking animal would bring the eyes of the Unmade, unless it was a prevalent and widely accepted superstition. If that's the case, then there is the possibility that it, also, is rooted in fact. So why isn't Shin cursed? Aviar! If enough of the gifted Aviar were able to reside in Shin, and still manifest talents, either through stormlight, or maybe a parasite around a Shardpool there, then their mind protection aura might also work as well on the Unmade. This could be part of the reason that Shin is as much of a paradise as it appears to be. A part of Roshar that in not influenced by the thrill, or any other of the Unmade's mysterious powers. I would point out that the Worldhopper Icon is in the title, but Hoid is in both chapters. Whether or not that is significant to the birds is not an assumption that I'm willing to make, but it is a possibility. The birds are mentioned only twice, and both during a time when Hoid is lurking close by. Again, I'm not stating that it is significant, only that it could be significant. But that's my theory! I really hope this is true too, because that is just an awesome Easter Egg, one that's planted well before anyone could possibly hope to find it. If I get another chance to ask Brandon a question, I'll probably waste it on this instead of learning something important

SA3 Spoilers:

Are we even sure that Hoid is immortal? I had thought he had been around so long because he found a way to skip all the boring parts of history and jump straight to novel worthy plot lines.

Susebron 5 Elend 14 Dalinar 15 Taravangian 20 Gawx 20

Nooooooo! VIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Susebron 9 Elend 14 Dalinar 15 Taravangian 20 Gawx 20

Hope you guys don't mind. I'm on mobile so I can't do the whole spiel. Vin to 13 Kill Wyrn Susebron 10 Eventeo 8 Raoden 12 Elend 13 TLR 8 King Mr. T 13 Dalinar 10 Dedelin 6 Eshonai 6 Gawx 13 Call me the finisher

It's gotta be the illuminator woman that's inventing matches then.

It's an awakened soldier on the same caliber as Kalad's Phantoms. I'm not sure if you'd consider them lifeless or not. We're taking a skilled warrior's corpse (we still need to figure out what skills he/she/they had before dying) soulcasting it, and then awakening it.

Vin 14 God-King 8 Wyrn 4 Eventeo 10 Raoden 10 Elend 13 TLR 10 Elhokar 0 (You're not paranoid if everyone actually is out to get you.) Taravangian 11 Dalinar 10 Dedelin 10 Emperor Ashraven 10 Eshonai 10 Gawx 11