The One Who Connects

I'm going to out myself here (to the few who understand it) and say that what I did was explore everything. I went to the furthest back page of theories in each subforum and worked from there back to the present. If something looked interesting, I checked it out, and if not, I kept going. You'll find all manner of little facts and things which'll make you think a bit differently about stuff later. All else fails, just make a thread with your ideas and post it, kinda like you did here.

I think it happened long after the Recreance. Aimia was a nation during the Era of Solitude. From the Coppermind: "The current calendar in the Era of Solitude did not begin at the end of Aharietiam, but a date approximately three thousand years afterward." Aharietiam was 4500 yrs ago, so that puts the start date of the Era of Solitude at roughly 1500 yrs ago. Best estimates from what few things Brandon has given us, the Recreance is about 22-2500 yrs ago. So Aimia had to still exist in the post-Recreance era.

I'd have to reread the descriptions of the chimeras, but is it possible that a human attribute was stolen? Something akin to the changes that created the Koloss, but with only one spike rather than four. Quadrupedal would imply a starting host that is not human. Their facial features somewhat resemble canines, and we know animals like Wolfhounds existed on Scadrial in the past. I don't know about the inverted knee/elbow joints, but I'm reaching here as is.

I cannot directly dismiss parts of this theory, but I am also of the opinion that he is bound by his honor/personal code more than anything magical. Quoth Eshonai, Parshmen are "slaveform, the form with no spren, no soul, and no song. (...) It wasn't really a form at all, however, but the lack of any form." which is in essence, the absence of a bond, like you mentioned. As for the Listener race itself, they were made by Adonalsium. Honor even refers to them the "Old Ones" These 2 facts more or less invalidate this theory when taken together. Parshendi is only the Alethi (and perhaps the human) term for the Listeners, not a new race. Which means that both the Parshendi and the Parshmen predate the Shards themselves. Ishar cannot have pulled some binding magic, as they still have the ability to bond Spren and become Parshendi, and they can bond Voidspren of their own free will. Lastly, I imagine they use sexual reproduction, as most forms are asexual, but Mateform and Slaveform are notable exceptions.[4][5] Biggest issue with this idea is that Taravangian holds the secret that can replicate the Recreance. As a non-powered individual, that seems like a point against some magical kill switch. Additionally, you shouldn't discount the combat prowess of Heralds so easily. It is quite likely that they took on the first Desolation single-handedly, since Spren hadn't yet seen them in action to try and replicate their ability. I am very sure that the quote is talking about the Recreance, and not the Heralds. For one, that chapter is all about the Recreance. For another, the use of the words "the orders." Nalan's behavior is irrational, but keep in mind that the Heralds have cracked. Rational might not be their strong point anymore. I like the idea that the real Taln is playing them for fools, but Taln is in-fact bound to the Oathpact(Brandon has confirmed this several times.) His ability to play tricks is quite limited all things considered. john203 and that WoB deal with the biggest portion of this theory. About Method One, don't forget that Kar could see the iron moving in the blood of the Obligators. I don't think Duralumin is necessary if you've reached Inquisitor level of Savanthood and practice. Now that I mention it, does the blood actually move in a Kandra body? I seem to remember open veins and split muscle without spilling blood somewhere... For Method 2, it'd probably work, bit beyond taking forever, some people are naturally bald, which could ruin the plan.

I said something along similar lines in a thread about Radiant roles in the past Desolations. Even if they were told not to speak too much of visions they saw, you would think at least one would try to help out the Strategist in the command tent

I specifically grabbed it and WoK a minute ago to fact check the Yolish comment, so no worries.

Final Sub-Heading of WoR Ars Arcanum. The one about Lightweaving does in fact mention "the yolish variant"

This may just be me, but the fact that Jasnah trusts the accuracy of something critical of the Radiants in a post Heirocracy world as valid information definitely means something. As Spool said, "firing" sounds deliberate. But on the other hand, I feel that if it were critical of the Radiants, it would be less likely to be changed during the Heirocracy, since they would want to deal with all positive texts first yes? Thirdly, Oathgate taxes had to be an established thing for the "altered fact" idea to hold any merit. After all, the best lies are believable ones. Accounting records seem less likely to be tampered with, and those would be likely to show tariffs, especially if Kings visited Urithiru via Oathgate

In the WoB I linked, which Oversleep quoted, Brandon goes broader than just Roshar Secondly, per this WoB, the best lead on the "unmade theory" is shot down. For reference: Yelig-nar, called Blightwind, was one that could speak like a man, though often his voice was accompanied by the wails of those he consumed. — Traxil, line 33 - Jasnah's notebook[1] Other Unmade candidates of Moelach (Death Rattles) and Nergaoul (The Thrill) are out as well, since they are operating in Alethkar/Shattered Plains, while Szeth still has the screams on the other side of Roshar while carrying out Taravangian's hit list.

It has been assumed (not directly confirmed iirc) that all of the compounding powers have limits that you can't cross. Steel Compounding is limited by air resistance for example. I figured that double pewter couldn't go further than the Koloss go, for the same reason that they cannot keep going. Outside of organ capacity and bone structure, you have to consider the expansion of skin that the Koloss go through when they increase in size. Gold compounding would keep you alive, but I agree with Itchy, it might try to revert you to normal. All that having been said, you wouldn't try to discover the limit unless you had to. You would store 90 and some odd percent of that compounded strength to use for later.

I'm pretty sure spoilers are allowed in the QA section, and Mistborn Era 1 is old enough that we use it in general conversation without too much worry. Big chunk of useful info here. If nobody used the power, Ruin would have had a little more influence, but he wouldn't have just broken out immediately. Note that Brandon later said that he would've escaped soon enough anyway, so delaying a little bit would've been fine, but not too long. From same source: So to properly answer questions: 1. If nobody used the Well once it refilled, Ruin would gain more influence in the world, but not necessarily be freed. 2. Why you can't use the power midway through the 1024.. I think that has something to do with the concept of the Well being "full" but I don't think anyone has asked that before, so I don't have a for sure answer 3. From the text above, Preservation made the Well usable so that people could come along and be a force of protection against Ruin. It may not have been the only reason, but it was a large part of it. 4. Atium, like Lerasium, represents the power of the Shards in physical form, but also separated from them. Once it got used, that power would return to him, but like the Well, it would take centuries to come back. (bit of assumption) I believe that the presence of Ruin's shardpool creates Atium around it. Perhaps because the pool itself is already "full." Meaning that may be where the few Lerasium Beads came from, some measure of time where the Well was already full before a Hero arrived. (bit of speculation) Once in physical form, that power is unavailable to them. If Preservation's power went into more beads of Lerasium, that would mean less power in Ruin's prison, thus allowing him more influence. Disclaimer: I'm practically pulling this out of a hat, so don't take this last paragraph as solid fact.

I'm glad that you don't put much stock in this theory, because Brandon has straight up told us no. I agree with you, Odium's forces existed before the Radiants became a thing. That doesn't mean that it's completely off the hook, but odds seem against it. I always took "...the devils on the front line" to be a reference to Aimians, but who knows.

Some Spren existed before the Shards got there, courtesy of ambient Investiture from Adonalsium went he created the place.

They can, with a lack of pigment melanin from Albinism disease, or a genetic mutation. It's exceedingly rare, but it is technically possible. On a second note, for any geneticists on the Shard, say that there were naturally occurring genes for purple eye color, rather than only from mutations. If such a gene existed, it should follow the rules of eye color genetics as well yes? That could allow Brandon to not break the rules of genetics, but still have purple eyed individuals.

Found the WoB.

The people in Taravangian's hospital might not be technically dying, per se. I thought they were being drained of blood, rather than properly bleeding out. Semantics, sorry.. Either way, given that Moelach is a splinter of Odium I think a measure of possession could be on the table. When people break from the influence of Nergaoul (The Thrill), they seem a bit dazed/out of it, so there may be precedent. This possession could explain the lucidity, assuming they lack the will to be unclear. As "basically already dead" bridgmen as Belzedar puts it, mental fortitude is likely at a low point no matter what. As for not thinking much of Proving Day, I only found the WoB that it's an "equivalent of Bar Mitzvah in Vorin Mythos" this morning. So no worries there.

I cannot definitively say for certain, but I think I remember reading somewhere that he wasn't someone too special, or at the very least, not a Herald. That said, "bearer of all agonies" could easily be important. It's tough to say without knowing when that phrase came about, and whether or not it's part of Vorin teachings. If that phrase is from the Desolation times, it could be about one of two things. Taln's habit of taking impossible tasks and often dying in the process. Countless legends could have spawned about someone who endured innumerable odds time and again, especially if he took the brunt of battle after battle during the Desolation that lasted 11 years. Proving Day. It has been posited that Proving Day was when/how Honor chose the people to be his Heralds. (wild speculation) I'm imagining something akin to Hercules' Labors, and since Honor is basically "God," all manner of things could have been asked of them to prove themselves worthy. I don't know about you, but Taln is described as the type of person who would actually move a mountain if need be. His stubbornness was quite literally the stuff of legends. If the Phrase is part of Vorin teachings, then it lends a bit more credence to something along the lines of what I've said above. If it isn't part of Vorin teachings, then our nameless bridgeman appears to know something he shouldn't be able to know.

I think that death was technically brought up in the question by virtue of talking about the Returned. But that's more semantics than anything else. I feel like this kind of supports my idea if you work backwards through it, or at least doesn't disprove it. If a person who has their soul stapled to a body via Hemalurgy is a Cognitive Shadow, and Heralds are a form of Cognitive Shadows, it's at least possible that the Heralds have their souls stapled to their bodies via a process similar to Hemalurgy. I think what may be happening with Hemalurgy is that it's not the spike specifically that's important, just the fact that it's Invested, and that it manages to pierce the soul of the person. I'm pretty sure that line is more of a direct reference to a certain troublemaker than a general statement, but I largely agree with your ideas based off of it. This feels like a pattern though, with different magic systems being able to do the same things: Aon Shao and Soulcasting | Gold Feruchemy, Stormlight, Breath and Aon Ien can all heal | Aon Tia and Elsecalling | etc... Soul Stapling, for lack of a better name, can be done via a Hemalurgic Spike, a Divine Breath, an Honorblade (presumably) and some process on Threnody(Shades)

There's a fairly big issue with that thing, at least if this aspect of Vorinism is accurate. Proving Day. Quoth the Coppermind, Proving Day is believed to be how the Heralds were chosen. Shallan's statement of " Your demands are about as reasonable as the ones made of the Ten Heralds on Proving Day!" implies that they were asked to do difficult, maybe impossible tasks. It's not a guarantee that they didn't die in some way, but it makes it less likely. Elantrians are not cognitive shadows, as they don't die when initiated. Credit to Khyrindor for asking the question. I have no argument about the rest of that sentence. Last thing, we cannot yet prove if this is the same for the Heralds, or if normal people are an "imperfect host" (implying that they were made specifically for the Heralds, which makes a lot of sense)

Regarding the Shin, "historically, they kept all of them."(Honorblades) Which has been used to to imply that the Circle of Blades after Aharietiam was at the location of modern day Shinovar. Aharietiam is the Vorin name for the Last Desolation, not any specific part of it, making geography largely irrelevant. So the Shattered Plains and the Oathpact breaking could very easily be on opposite sides of the continent.

I haven't seen a specific reference, but that doesn't mean much. They've called dirt "earth" so calling crem "stone" wouldn't surprise me. Brandon has definitely referred to it as stone though. Do you literally mean underneath? Either way, I haven't found anything like that so far, but I'm by no means good at searching for WoB's

This WoB doesn't technically say that, if it's the one you are thinking of. Only his Spren are welcome, but that does not mean that they are the sole population. After all, we know the Heralds visit from time to time

This one? It does not say either way about overwriting prior status. But there is a direct counter example to your idea which implies that you can keep prior abilities after using Lerasium: Hoid He used Lerasium, but still has other powers within his spiritweb that it did not get rid of.

Oh no? [6] is a dead link leading to TWG. [5] however, takes us to Final Empire Chapter 33. The epigraph of which is as follows: Edit; as for Drominad having a non-shard pool, I decided to change my tune to it becomes a "pool" once it passes a certain threshold of Investiture lying around. But yes, the logic of perpendicularities doesn't really work within set rules.. sigh

This is why I wasn't sure if it was a Shardic rule rather than an underlying one. It may have to do with how much Investiture there is that it has to "pool up" for the Shards, but not for your average worldhopper. I'll admit to having forgotten about Honor being the odd one out so far, point challenger All I know is that Ruin, Preservation, Devotion and probably Dominion have a liquid pool. Brandon has been unhelpful when asked about Endowment's Shardpool. And the recent thing with Honor. But it does make me wonder what is different about Honor's mobile perpendicularity, especially since there is a proper Pool in the Horneater peaks, which Hoid used at some point. (Which I'm now assuming belongs to Cultivation, but that's another story...) That's 4 physical Pools, 1 unknown, a RAFO, and a mobile Perpendicularity that isn't a pool.