Ketek

I can agree with this, yeah. But I don't think they can officially absolve him of it - it'd be essentially admitting that the Vengeance Pact was all for nothing, and given the unrest in Alethi society right now, it'd be downright political suicide. The king (and the Radiants) need to appear unbiased and just if they're to unite everyone. Letting Szeth go would seem hypocritical to many.

I'm not giving him an auto-pass; I'm just stating that there are things we don't know of yet, and given that it's better to just wait and see. No need to be snarky. Also, your comparison to Mr. T/Odium/The Unmade is somewhat inaccurate - I agree with Shaggai's likening of Szeth to a child soldier (oddly apt since Szeth resembles a child). The aforementioned three seemed to have had a choice in walking away or becoming what they are (Hoid said Rayse was what he had chose to become, Mr. T sought out the Nightwatcher, I can't quite say the same for the Unmade however). And btw, if anyone remembers, Nalan mentions that Szeth kept his word - think it's a typical Sanderson big-but-subtle hint as to how Szeth ended up Truthless...

True. But Dalinar faced his targets in open combat, in 'clean' and 'honest' warfare, you could say. To the Alethi, it would be more honorable. As for Szeth? He's arguably caused more upheaval - not only did he cause the Vengeance Pact to happen, he also was a direct cause as to why Jah Keved fell. He may have killed less with his own hands, but his actions have likely led to more deaths than Dalinar's actions did (granted, we don't know much about the Blackthorn's past as well).

Exactly. Remember, cultural influences can be very pervasive; like I said, it's easy to condemn Szeth, but we don't have the context for it. The man is totally stormed up - if anything, I'd say the stone shamans are far worse, knowing that they've subjugated a man, given him Surgebinding powers and (arguably) a blade that once belonged to their gods, or holy figures, and then let him loose to do as others wish of him. Again, this is far too simplistic a judgment. We don't know if he 'meekly' submitted; for all we know the stone shamans may have coerced him with Surgebinding or some other magical ability yet to be revealed. Right now, all we know is that he was made Truthless for declaring that the Voidbringers had returned. Until the third SA book comes out, there's really no way of telling whether Szeth is deserving of redemption.

That's assuming his enemies were all innocent, which I highly doubt considering that the highprinces were generally [insert Cosmere curse] That's a very simplistic view; we simply don't enough about Shin culture to claim that Szeth is beyond redemption. It's all too easy to stand on the other side of the fence and condemn others, but we need the proper context before doing so. We don't know whether his life was threatened, whether his loved ones were used against him or not, and we don't know how much Shin culture perpetuates a paradigm of unquestioning obedience and loyalty. When we know all this, we can judge whether Szeth is genuinely a horrible person, or whether he isn't. Right now, it's all up in the air.

Yeah, if you're a fan of Lacuna Coil and Nightwish I think you'll like Within Temptation. I suggest starting off with The Silent Force, The Heart of Everything or The Unforgiving. Mother Earth is somewhat different from how Within Temptation's style is nowadays, and Hydra is catered more towards a mainstream audience, although it's still pretty good. I haven't listened to Nightwish myself - I really should, but the fact that they changed singers is a put-off. Then again, I wasn't interested in Epica and now look who's in my profile picture... I used to listen to more mainstream artists, but nowadays that's pretty rare. I do enjoy Rixton's Me and My Broken Heart, though. Oh, and I noticed Traceria mentioning Mumford & Sons. I've only listened to one of their songs (Little Lion Man) however, and that's because I first listened to this cover by Within Temptation - they did like, 15 covers of mainstream songs sometime back, and this was one: I've listened to the original too, but I find the cover more towards my liking. Then again, I'd pretty much listen to anything Sharon den Adel sings

Nananananananananana SZETH! Because he's the (anti) hero Roshar deserves, but not the one it needs right now. The Steel Inquisitors, the koloss, Shallan, Adolin, Amaram, Vasher...

PC Master Race is best race

Album-wise, I find Within Temptation's The Unforgiving to have a great concept - it tells a story from front to end, with awesome symphonic metal! Favorites on that album are Shot in the Dark, Murder and A Demon's Fate.

Well, I've actually been absent for a long while (here's hoping someone remembers the sentient, talking symmetrical poem), but since I'm here for a bit, I might as well. I'll be absent from the forum every once in a while - not so much due to having stuff to do in my life as it is a lack of interest in the forum - it's a lovely forum to be sure, but sometimes talking about theories when pretty much everything has been covered gets a tad tedious, and I know that there are forums for discussing other stuff, but it never seems to click, and I find that it's a lot more fun when a major novel is released, because there's so much to be a conspiracy theorist about discuss - so in all likelihood, I'll be most active when a new one is churned out. Otherwise, it's the odd login, comment and upvote for Swimmingly that's pretty much it. Sorry about mentioning that though :/

I more or less agree with maxal - I see Kaladin as being the public face of the Knights Radiant, along with Dalinar, but true leadership will go to the latter. Kaladin's too emotional to lead. As for Szeth and redemption, logic dictates that he's beyond it - I genuinely cannot see how Szeth might go from villain to hero in the eyes others, but Sanderson has a fondness for characters that seem beyond redemption but end up obtaining it anyway. Hrathen, Aladar, Roion and to a lesser extent, Marsh and Vasher are examples of such. My prediction is that he'll end up being a rogue Surgebinder who follows the Skybreakers' ideals, but is not officially affiliated to the Knights Radiant, or that the Skybreakers will break off from the main body of Radiants and go their own way.

Just finished the core game of Alan Wake for a second time; before that I was going through all three Dead Space games again, as well as Dishonored's story DLC. Started on Metro: Last Light today because of the Playfire bonuses.

Atium?

\m/ indeed. Also, the album cover is rad and I may need to buy myself a tee.

The Quantum Enigma by Epica. It's a brilliant album. If pressed for a specific song there, this would be the one I'd recommend.

"I ain't dead!"

So... um, having listened to Epica a lot recently, I can totally endorse it. The Quantum Enigma is a beast.

Stonewards?

It wouldn't serve me to tell you if I did, do I? right now, you probably feel a great sense of curiosity. Just let that all wash away. Yes. Wash away... Ah, but scrub it down and beneath all of it is iron! So I suppose it could still work.

I thought you'd already known that!

I love Calvin & Hobbes so so much I can't begin to express it in words. It was a big part of my childhood. And I will never grow tired of it. Bill Watterson is a genius. It's a shame he's so reclusive, a man like that should speak more. YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY SPIKE FROM ME! *Yanks out rusty nail and stabs Shivertongue with it*

Same goes for me. The only problem is that she'd probably be tearing me apart with that wit of hers. And I have a soft spot for illusionists. Also, hello Hailey. Try not to get spiked too soon. I got it on my third day. I can now Sooth people, but the spike itches like hell. And I can't pull it out!

Well, we have a precedent for how Shards predisposed to 'evil' Intents see things - Ruin. Ruin genuinely believed that nothing was beautiful or perfect until the day it was destroyed. To it, destruction was the most beautiful thing in this world - it literally could not see things in another way, because of its intent. Now, we know that Rayse (according to Hoid) was a bad person before he took up Odium. We can safely assume, I think, that he held grudges. Perhaps now that he is the very personification of hatred, he sees vengeance as being the only thing to live for, the one thing that gives his life any purpose.

Would totally not be surprised if your wife bore a resemblance now

When you see a classmate crying and wish that just right then, you were a Mistborn/Rioter/Soother so you could make them a wee bit happier.