Shaggai

I think Eshonai just wanted to protect her sister, as opposed to actually thinking her sister was more important.

I expect that the spiking seals up the area around the spike, thus preventing any sort of blood-borne infection. Some sort of sealing would probably be required for the "not having people die when a gigantic spike is shoved through their face" bit of Hemalurgy.

Szeth at the end of Words of Radiance. Nothing more is needed.

All of the names appear to be somewhat altered, so I wouldn't worry about the -arthis. The Sja-, though, seems more like an indication that we have the wrong name.

HoA spoilers:

Just ask "Would someone raised only on sign language be able to Awaken?" If the answer is yes, then we know there's no speaking needed. If the answer is no, there's a chance that Brandon will say whether or not a spoken command is required. If it's RAFOd, more information can be found out if you don't use an either/or format.

Possible, certainly, but Allomancy and Feruchemy are rare on their own, Twinborn are even rarer, and the chances of being either Mistborn or full Feruchemist are so low that nobody's heard of them for three hundred years. A Fullborn would be so unlikely as to be effectively impossible to happen.

So, basically, I shouldn't have posted this? You're probably right, but I guess it's too late now. Anyway, I don't mind being made fun of, as long as it doesn't get downvoted too much.

Well, where else would I put it?

When the worst part of your day so far is getting downvoted on a joke theory.

That just proves the "multiverse" part of my theory.

Note: This theory makes a lot of random assertions about various parts of the Cosmere. Feel free to take or leave any of them. The setting The magic systems in the Alcatraz books, Silimatics, Oculators, and the Smedry Talents, all seem a lot like manifestations of Shardic Investiture. It can be part of objects that people can use (like fabrials), it can be an inherent thing that requires an outside object to channel (like Allomancy), and it can be an inherent thing simply in a person (like Breath). It can be used by anyone by killing someone who uses it, with the power of the transfer dependent on the power of the original host (like Hemalurgy). All in all, it looks a Damnation of a lot like it should be Cosmere. However, Brandon has said that it isn't. There are a few explanations for this. The first is that the similarities exist because Brandon likes using magic with rules, and Alcatraz is set in its own universe. The second is that Brandon is trolling us, and we're misinterpreting what "Cosmere" means in this case. The first one is boring and will not be covered here. The real question here is how we define Cosmere. It's generally defined as the shared universe between Brandon's books. But what if we define it as the dwarf galaxy containing the Shardworlds?1 Then new possibilities unfold. A planet outside that galaxy, but in the same universe, wouldn't be considered Cosmere. And yet it could still have access to some Investiture, or something similar. As such, the magic in Alcatraz wouldn't need further explanation. The similarities to Earth... well, that leads us into the next piece. Where the magic comes from, and why the Librarians and Free Kingdoms exist If Alcatraz's magic system comes from something similar to Investiture, there must be a source. It's probably not a Shard, since the Shardworlds are all in the same galaxy. And yet it seems to have an Intent. All the Talents appear to be different manifestations of Breaking. What could have an Intent, yet not be a Shard? Adonalsium didn't have an Intent. Or did it? Perhaps Adonalsium had the Intent of Unification. That would explain why it chose to create humanoids on so many Shardworlds. Being similar to each other would make it easier for them to have a unified goal. And therefore, the source of the magic on Alcatraz is Anti-Adonalsium. It's also the force that resulted in the Shattering, since its Intent is Breaking. Not Ruin, because it wants things to be left, but Breaking. The reduction of things down to their essential components. The exact opposite of Adonalsium, which created things to be more than the sum of their parts. The reason that the Librarians and the Free Kingdoms exist is because the Breaker, the Anti-Adonalsium, has also Shattered. It formed two parts: Order and Chaos. The Librarians serve Order. The Free Kingdoms serve Chaos. They are both parts of the Breaker because the essential nature of the Breaker is reduction into simpler parts. Order's part in the Breaker is akin to the Auditors in Discworld - it wishes to reduce reality to the simplest possible, because that makes it so much more orderly. Chaos is, of course, in the actual breaking. Why Alcatraz's world is like Earth There's no real reason for Alcatraz's world to be so similar to Earth. In fact, it should be far more different than it is. There's only one possible explanation: The multiverse. The Breaker broke the laws of physics and made it possible for contact to occur between different Everett branches. In doing so, it dragged out an alternate Earth into the Cosmereverse. (It's possible that the Breaking of the laws of physics is what allowed for Investiture. However, this would mean that the Breaker was the original and Adonalsium was only its shadow. Even for Brandon that seems like a bit much.) The two opposing BreakerShards at that point gained influence over said Earth, resulting in the current political situation. In other words, the reason Alcatraz's world is like Earth is because it is Earth, just from another universe. Implications of this theory Alcatraz will be saved from the altar by Hoid, because who else could manage that? There will probably be contact with characters from Cosmeres in other universes. The shipping implications alone are astounding - we can now ship characters with themselves from other universes. Furthermore, technology will advance vastly by using technology from other universes. We now know the source of the Shattering, along with the probable antagonist for the Cosmere. I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. In short: Alcatraz's world is the source of the Shattering, and proves that the Many Worlds interpretation holds true in the Cosmere (except when broken by magic). Also, I'm an idiot. 1This is how it's defined in the FAQ. So what say you?

Empathy is the result of being able to predict the mental processes of others. Taravangian loses out on the ability to do this as he grows smarter, because his brain gets rewired to provide computing power that can be used for anything. That overwrites the "predicting people" circuits. But once he reaches Diagram-level, he has enough flexible computing power that can predict people anyway.

Once upon a time, just over 4500 years ago, there was a young Windrunner whose name has been lost to history. He was born in Alethela, and left home to fight in the Desolation. He was kind and honorable, if a bit forgetful. As our story begins, there had just recently been a major battle in a remote forest, causing immense devastation to the surrounding area. A small town was nearby, but was far enough away that only a few buildings had been destroyed. The Radiant was tired and thirsty, so he went into the town's tavern. Unfortunately, some Voidbringers had gotten in during the course of the battle and killed almost everyone. The Radiant turned to leave, deciding to go find some other town. As he was walking out the door, he heard a faint voice saying, "Wait..." The Windrunner realized that the bartender was still alive. He turned around and went to the bartender's side. Weakly, the bartender spoke to him of a weapon of ancient and terrible power. To get it, the Radiant must journey to Shin Kak Nish, where he could come into contact with the members of a secret organization. The bartender told the Radiant some of the passwords of the organization. With them, he could gain access to the weapon and destroy the Voidbringers. Only a Windrunner could use it, or else the organization would have long since ruled the world. "But remember this," the bartender said. "If you wish to activate it, you must say 'Katanatak. Denalaned. Do not activate.' If you say 'Activate', it will turn on you and you will die." The Radiant traveled for days, stopping only to sleep and eat. Eventually, he got to Shin Kak Nish. He asked around, dropping some of the passwords into his conversation, and eventually found the organization. He told them the passwords, and that he was a Windrunner. They showed him to their headquarters, and to the chamber in which the weapon was kept. On a table in the room was a small metal sphere. "This is it?" he said. The leader said, "Yes, that is the weapon. Now activate it, and the Voidbringers may be cleansed once and for all." The Windrunner put it to his mouth, and said, "Katanatak. Denalaned. Activate." Then, in a flash, he realized that he had forgotten the words of the bartender. Saying "Activate" would cause it to turn on him and destroy him. The metal of the sphere began to glow faintly. He dropped the sphere in terror. He looked for a way out, but knew that wherever he ran, he would die. The glow grew brighter, and brighter, until he could not look at it. And in one almighty flash, the weapon destroyed both itself and him. Only a crater remained where once the building had stood. The Windrunner's forgetfulness had been his doom. It was a... Fatal Memory Error.

The main reason that Coinshots, Tineyes, and Thugs are common is because they're useful in the sort of situations we see in the books. Since exactly 16% of all those exposed to the mist Snapped, and 1/16th of those were Seers, I expect that the proportions are all equal. I do think that whether or not one has Allomancy and which metal one has are determined upon Snapping. Otherwise, the numbers of mistSnapped wouldn't be so exact.

1. Only if it was a fully-bonded Nahel spren. If it was a lesser spren attached to a suit of armor, it wouldn't scream because it wouldn't have had part of its consciousness ripped out. 2. They just broke their sacred oaths and murdered their spren. It's also implied that this was because of some massive, devastating revelation. I think that would explain it. 3. Shardplate works perfectly well for digging trenches. He's talking about Shardblades there. That's why there are no "Shards for the regular men". Shardblades default to swords upon death. And even if he was talking about Plate, why would none of the specialized Plate still exist? It would be different for the different Orders, according to your theory, so it would have a different default.

Exactly. Let others evangelize, squabble, and war. Stick has no need for that. Stick is stability. Stick is eternal. Stick is a stick. Why would a stick wish to fight? It does not need followers. It is a stick, and is content.

Empathy is the result of specialized neural structures designed to model and predict the actions of others. Taravangian's intelligence overwrites those, giving him more brainpower but less empathy. Once he reaches Diagram-level, though, he's got enough brainpower that he doesn't need specialized structures for predicting humans.

I expect that Plate is a spren, bonded to a suit of armor. That explains the use of Stormlight for power/healing, the benefits to the wearer, the adaptation, the complexity, the ability to block Shardblades, and the fact that it cracks when struck. It's still a Physical object, but there's a spren enhancing it. The gemstones serve two purposes: first, to hold Stormlight, and second, to form a minor bond with the wearer that allows it to adapt (somewhat like the bond with dead Blades, but not as strong).

Shardfire. No need for napalm or whatever. Just have the hot gases that compose the fire. It burns through anything and severs souls. Sharduranium. Spren can get up to about the mass of a person when they manifest as a weapon, so you could pretty easily create a Shardnuke. Heralds preserve us.

That would just get your feet wet. Quicksand is a thin layer of sand floating on top of water. It looks solid, which is why it's so dangerous. It doesn't actually suck you down or anything. He'd have to Soulcast it much deeper to have an effect. Up to your chest, maybe. Then you wouldn't die, but you'd have something of a difficult time escaping.

She ingested some of the mists back when she was a child, which adds a lot. And the spike he left in Penrod may not have had much to begin with. If the lower bound is something like 1/10 of the original strength, her spike would be more powerful than Penrod's. Combined with the mists, that could be enough.

Oh Almighty. Shardnapalm. The idea that it might be possible for bonded spren to become nonsolid is extremely scary on its own (you could, for example, give someone nothing but Shardwater to drink for several days. Eventually, a significant percentage of the water in their blood would be spren. If you resummon the spren, or get killed, the person you fed the water to dies immediately), but if you can have Shardchemicals that have the properties of whatever they're mimicking, well... the applications are absolutely terrifying. Shardchlorine. ShardTNT. ShardCF3. Rosharan wars would turn into hell.

Objects are either entirely in or entirely out of a bubble. It's a Cognitive thing.

You have to start small, though. Otherwise they're full of preconceived moral notions and don't make good assistants for Hemalurgic experiments. (Unless you can spike out their sense of morality, of course. But then adults are better because they're stronger and don't need your help to use the hammer.)