Fifth of Daybreak

Long delay, sorry for that, I was also half hoping that some more debate would start up seeing as how close it was in the polls. Spoilered for length, and I'll also add it to the main post. I will probably be doing this less frequently than before, but it's not going to disappear. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

Necroed Shallan thinks that Amaram killed her brother Helaran, but she's going to find out the truth. At the end of Words of Radiance Amaram confesses to killing the men to take the Shardblade, and Dalinar promises to have a trial for it. When that trial happens, Shallan will find out about Kaladin killing Helaran. Or will she find out before? And how will she react when that happens? Will her friendship with Kaladin be shattered by that? I personally think Shallan will find out from the Ghostbloods, but as to how she'll react, I'm completely unsure.

I love this. Nobody tear this apart please. Especially since the Stormfather is linked to Tanavast, who is the one who made the Heralds what they are. Do we have any idea what Ivory would be? He reacts to Jasnah in the prologue, which was most likely him sensing her surgebinding. Edit: I got so excited I forgot to upvote! Fixed that now.

He will be, but that won't stop him from plotting and securing alliances before then. Especially when there also will have to be a trial for Adolin.

What if the reason has to do with Gavilar? Gavilar assumes first that Thaidakar is the one who had him assassinated, and Amaram does the same for when Helaran attacks him. Jasnah could possibly have learned that the Ghostbloods wanted to kill Gavilar, which is what caused her to contract Liss and all the other assassins-in order to protect her family. She wouldn't even necessarily have to know about the Sons of Honor, if she learned that the Ghostbloods exist and they had a grudge on her father and his friends. I see Jasnah reacting...poorly...to that kind of situation, and sending her contacts on an assassination spree.

I think that the biggest consequences will come from Amaram. Amaram was bound to Sadeas, and was just publicly humiliated/denounced by the Kholinar family. As far as succession goes, Amaram seems fairly likely to step up and take over Sadeas' princedom, especially being a full shardbearer (IIRC, Sadeas did not have any other Shardbearers under himself in his princedom, other than Amaram, but I'm not entirely sure on that.) So how will Amaram react to this? I personally see Amaram using Sadeas' death to turn him into a martyr. He will rally all of Sadea's allies, and a there will be a civil war of sorts between the two sects for control of Urithiru. Dalinar will be hesitant to use his new Proto-Radiants against other Alethi humans, and the war will go badly for him. That's when Szeth shows up, after having dealt with whatever he's going to do in Shinovar, and Szeth will be the one to remedy things, earning him a pardon and acceptance in the new Radiants. I really like this because it mirrors the Skybreaker's epigraph in a small way. Especially if Kaladin shows up, and they ensue in a great debate over whether or not Adolin is guilty.

Welcome to the Forums! You are correct, Zahel is Vasher. The running theory right now is that the Shardpools are used to travel between worlds using the cognitive realm. I believe that the chronology right now has Warbreaker 200 years before the events of WoK. We also have some WoB (Words of Brandon) on the other two questions:

I had finally convinced my brother to get into Sanderson. We're both very similar from looks to sense of humor, mannerisms and even voice. For about a month of two, I'd periodically get text updates from him, and every time it would reference one of my favorite lines or events from those books. He texted me both of the favorites I've got listed in my signatures.

Doesn't seem like much of a nightmare if it's just a Jasnah meat suit. Jasnah's mind and personality are what make Jasnah Jasnah. Otherwise you could substitute in any random body.

Well, if we're moving in, we might as well decorate the place. Ah...feels like home again. I am a stick.

Hooray for the new Moderator Mooglerator!

Even regular lifeless retain a portion of their skill.

Lifeless already retain some degree of their skills and maybe even personality.

"Go Cusicesh. I choose you! Use Protect!"

I feel completely the opposite on the meta-textual reasons. Yes, they'd both have those innate skills, but the magic is what augments them to become as powerful as they are. I'd be more emotionally disappointed if their more defining attributes could all be linked to the bond-Kaladin's fighting, and Shallan's memory/drawing. Across the cosmere, it's a theme that the power doesn't give skill that's not there, but enhances it. That Kaladin can't fight without the spren bond, or Shallan's memory and drawing skill would be kaput-that doesn't sit right with me. However, those abilities, combined with a little extra umph from their spren bonds resulting in the leadership and spiritual help, that makes more sense to me than the opposite. I think that it's the fighting ability, and her memory/drawing skills that drew the spren bond to them, not the leadership/spiritual nourishment. Kaladin was attracting Syl when he was initially leading people, and Shallan attracted Pattern before she could possibly had developed the skill to inspire people spiritually. I think the biggest credit to my line of thinking is that had Shallan been able to inspire and change people before Pattern, would her family have still been so broken? Would her father continue to degrade with her around after the incident? But she kept her memory, even when the bond was so flimsy. We're disagreeing on the interpretation of that WoB. I don't see it as clearly pointing one way or the other, it seems clear to me that he left it ambiguous for a reason. What came first, the chicken or the Nahel bond? The way I'm interpreting this: "there is no definitive answer as to whether it's supernatural or not, some people say it is, some say it isn't, but the fact remains that many Lightweavers had powerful mnemonic abilities." I think if he had wanted it to be clear and deliberate that those abilities don't belong to the person, and instead belong to the bond, he wouldn't have left it ambiguous. Now it might no be as powerful without the spren bond, but I'd be more upset to learn that this powerful, core abilities have nothing to do with the person, and everything to do with the spren.

What an exquisite read this book was! Other than the obvious Callandor foreshadowing, this was a book that had me guessing the whole time, I had very few predictions, and the few I remember were wrongs. For instance: I thought Matt would deal with the Forsaken in Tear, after that snippet of him being so proud of beating Lews Therin at Stones, and all the buildup with Matt's luck. The real version was satisfying enough for me that I wasn't disappointed by this. Speaking of Matt, I think that's part of the reason I loved this book so much. Matt's point of view is everything I expected it to be. Matt is still the gruff jerk on the outside, but he can't hide the good person beneath him. I also am pleased to see signs that he's becoming the real ladies man. The lack of Rand in the book was really a breath of fresh air for me. There was just enough of him to keep me interested in what he was doing, but I thought it was more fascinating to just follow along behind him and watch the dominoes fall. Perrin was interesting, and much less frustrating. I felt like his story arch was very genuine, and believable, especially his interactions with Moiraine (although those were frustrating, when will these sheepherders learn to tell her things?) Thom.....oh Thom....one day you'll live up to my expectations, I know you will. Hang in there buddy. I thought that Egwene's comment about Nyneave being as good at manipulating as Moiraine was spot on. Nyneave is a perfect Aes Sedai, and the irony of her harboring her grudge against Moiraine for it is just delicious. Nyneave doesn't even realize how much of a hypocrite she is, gallivanting off and meddling in other peoples' lives under the pretense of cleaning up Moiraine's meddling in theirs. Verin...I still don't trust her. At this point I feel like her allegiance might be to Lanfear. Lan made a few more jokes. He's a bit less of a bump on a log than I thought when it comes to being personable. Where be Captain Domon?? Fortune prick me I no thought he'd be out of the story. Loial is definitely my favorite character, despite his constant complaining. Rand's channeling sword was wicked cool. Enough said. The one thing that did bug me was Matt's quartstaff skill appearing out of nowhere. Yes, it was justified a bit by saying his father was the best in town, but still, it felt like it was just a bit contrived. Egwene kind of scares me. She may say she doesn't like 'returning the favor,' but she's still done it twice. There's a seed of darkness in her I don't like. Nyneave may be just as abrasive, but her personality can account for it. Egwene used to be this sweet innocent girl. I know she's been through a lot, and I'm certainly not holding her reactions to those events against her, but I'm concerned for her in the future. As for future predictions...I'm stumped. This book was so unexpected I was-and am-content to sit back and enjoy the ride. Edit: I did correctly predict the People of the Dragon long before they ever got to Tear.

It's part of a larger theory. If you open up the spoiler tag in my signature there's a link to my thread about it.

Thought: being in the Everstorm when it's not combined with a Highstorm would cause a Sureginder to lose stormlight. That would certainly make the situation worse.

My personal thought is that Kaladin is special in his ability. He can direct the stormlight to heal that effectively because of his training as a surgeon. His cognitive definition of himself as a healer is what enhances his ability to recover. I know it's a shaky theory.

We may not see Nale use any specific surges, but he does Surgebind. In Lift's chapter he glows and she remarks on how unfair it is that he was awesome too. I'm personally of the opinion that it's Ishar who is Nale's lackey, not Kalak.

Whose to say you would even be able to allomantically affect an awakened metal corpse? If enough of the spiritual essence remains for awakening, it would most likely have the same effect on dampening allomancy. Not to mention the increased investiture for awakening it.

In The Emperor's Soul forging sinks into the intended recipient in much the same way. I think anytime she sinks her hand into something to soulcast, it's just a quirk of transformation magic in the Cosmere. As for the statues in Shadesmar, I think it has to do with her cognitive abilities in Shadesmar. The Hemalurgy and worldhopping theory is an interesting one, as we've just gotten WoB that we've met a few Rosharan worldhoppers already. I doubt more that Jasnah is well traveled in the Cosmere, as she has only been doing it for a few years. Welcome to the Forums!

Thanks for providing a few of the quotes. I guess I can stop being lazy and pull a few more out. I'm personally hoping that Brandon worded that question that Kurk posted to leave it open to interpretation, because I am more apt to agree with those that those abilities were not purely from the spren bond. Kaladin learns at an incredible rate. He is good at fighting without Syl. I interpreted the scene where he tries to fight in the rain as more the result of his internal struggle, not the lack of Syl. He made a choice that was vitriolic not just to Syl and the bond, but to Kaladin as well. Not to mention trying to do it on a leg that had been chomped on by a Chasmfiend. Here's the Epigraph I think Brandon is referencing in the earlier post: Is it the bond that makes the them great, or greatness that makes the bond? I am inclined to believe that they had those abilities already, savants in their field, and that potential is what attracts the spren. You've sold me on this. I got really excited when I read it. But it's not all natural abilites. Dalinar sees visions of the past, why I would completely overlook that I have no idea, but that makes much more sense than my original thought of the spiritual connections. But Renarin sees visions of the future. Shallan changes people, look at the battle at the caravans, and Shallan's interaction with the deserters, and compare it to this epigraph: Brandon says its not so simple as "this power and that power" so it can be a combination of enhance abilities naturally, combined with the added spiritual power.

I've been mulling this idea in my head for a while, I'm glad you started a thread on it. Here's my speculation for the orders that we know about: Windrunner: Leadership to the extreme. Hence the high number of Squires. Even when Kaladin isn't trying to inspire anyone, he does, like in the slave wagons when he's given up. The other slaves still look up to him for guidance. Lightweaver: Emotional Soulcasting. Shallan affects those around her, molding them into better people. In the Lahn interlude, Pei says something to the effect of "people no longer recast their souls into something greater," and there's the talk of spiritual sustenance in the WoR epigraphs. Skybreaker: I'm not sure if I'd simplify it to a 'human lie detector,' but along those lines. The epigraphs refer to the Skybreakers dividing the innocent from the guilty, and on the same in world WoR page, as listed by the epigraphs, it also said their abilities "for making suh ammounted to an almost diving skill." I'm assuming this is refering to dividing the innocent from the guilty. Truthwatcher: Visions of the future, as in world examples show. This makes a lot of sense to me because of adding Illumination with Progression. Illuminating the progression of time. Bondsmiths: This one comes from their epigraph about Melishi, and also from their name, and what we know of the Parshendi. I'm fairly sure that at one point, they refer to slave form as "those without spren." I'm assuming that the Bondsmiths have abilities unique to messing with spiritual bonds, and they were able to sever the bonds of the Parshendi, and might have to do with the recreance. Elsecallers: They have the ability to manifest physically in the cognitive realm, and enact change, giving them powerful abilities in Shadesmar, this is an elementary analysis, but unfortunately it's the best I can come up with using what little knowledge we have. As for the other orders, I can't begin to guess without more information.

Look up Brandon Sanderson on a Library index. Randomly point to a title on the screen. Read that book. Repeat.