The One Who Connects

By that logic, Eshonai and Szeth shouldn't have significant page time until books 4 and 5 respectively, but they do. Granted, the time gap between the front and back five might throw a wrench in things, but if Lift were say.. book 6, then an interlude story before said book would make sense, having us learn more about them beforehand so Brandon can use that spare page-count in book 6 to explain what happened/changed during those 15 years

You wouldn't need to use massive bursts all the time like Miles does. It would actually be more like Atium Compounding, in that it would be a steady draw that gradually increases over time. After a while(couple weeks/months depending), you'd start to experience those bad side effects. Sleep helps people commit short-term memory to long-term memory, it helps with the psychological balance, helps the body heal, etc.. However, using hwiles example of a Roughs "lawman" could actually prevent these side effects, as they don't have F-Gold to heal up after a firefight. Time spent on bedrest/in hospital is time that could be spent actually sleeping, which would reset the internal timebomb that is psychosis/memory issues from sleep deprivaton. If our detective has to pull several all-nighters, he can compound and do so. But a smart detective also knows the value of taking a moment to reorient and not going straight into another job. In short, the downsides of endlessly tapping Wakefulness will likely include, but is not limited to: Decreased Rate of Healing (body heals faster when sleeping) Increased Intensity of Minor Aches and Pains (body repairs itself while sleeping) Short-Term Memory Loss Psychological Instability Due to the health issues, it is recommended that a Bronze Compounder take some time off to rest and recharge by actually sleeping. Doing so is doubly recommended as sleep will also help combat the onset of psychosis and other mental issues.

I don't think this works, because I don't feel like anyone other than the Shamanate and Taravangian(who cheated) knew about the Honorblades being with the Shin. The Nuclear Deterrent means nothing if the enemy doesn't know about it. Are they actually being treated like dirt? Rysn mistook them for servants, but not slaves, so I'm hesitant. As humble as the Shin are, I don't see it as unreasonable that they would treat their "servants" well, which would go a long way towards preventing a rebellion. And since we know Szeth's Oathstone didn't have magical properties, I doubt the average warrior's Oathstone would be magical either. If they aren't bound by magic, they are either bound forcibly or bound voluntarily. If they were bound forcibly, then your logic makes a lot of sense. If they are bound voluntarily, our entire understanding goes out the window.

It's my bad for highlighting the wrong sentence, but the WoB actually says that stealing that bit of Ruin's power from him was "kind-of" like Splintering. The hiding was likely how Preservation used that stolen power, maybe in the same vein as why Odium won't pick up other Shards. Preservation wouldn't want to be tinged by Ruin, now would he?

I merely meant it in the sense that his view on what he does/achieves was different than Renarin's view. Starting from a low point(his sickness) changes the perspective on success and failure. Starting from the high point(heir to highprincedom, a skilled duelist, etc..) shifted Adolin's perspective, even if his reasons(honor) remained pure. While what happened wasn't a game in any sense, that shifted perspective changes how you handle any loss. He wins duels all the time, and has the confidence to back it up. You are right that if he lost a duel, he'd have enjoyed getting a run for his money rather than beat himself up about losing. But even with all that confidence, he failed when it counts. I agree with this sentiment. Something is gonna have to happen to him to rectify the situation, and I've no idea what Brandon has in mind. And that worries me

Indeed there does. And I cannot say for sure what it could be, but I have a few guesses. The most apparent thing is the sheer mass of mountain range separating Shinovar from the rest of Roshar. A mountain range able to break the rage of a Highstorm would be a strong deterrent. However, I imagine that Rysn and Vstim were able to make the trek without too much trouble, as I do not believe there was any mention of it in Rysn's perspective. Either way, I wouldn't want to be caught in the high mountains during a Highstorm, and the reinforcements/supply convoy don't have the luxury of waiting. The next biggest thing is that while the Shin may despise warriors, they have an abundance of them bound via Oathstones. A loyal "army" of Shin has several big advantages over whatever force can be brought to bear against them. The Shin will be well rested, while the invaders will not. The Shin have more space to maneuver than a force trickling out of the mountain pass. The invading force can't come in all at once on account of said mountain passes. Training is good, but it wont beat everything. The Shin have horses, and as the Mongol Horde has demonstrated in the past, cavalry can be a big deal. How much skill the Shin actually have is up for debate, but is should be considered by the invaders. The people who raise and sell all the horses in the world should be skilled riders, and only a fool overlooks that possibility.

While I agree that it is unlikely, a peaceful society can stay that way for a long while. But they have to be able to stay that way. A simple question: Why hasn't Shinovar been invaded? The relative safety of "we won't be invaded" can contribute to keeping society peaceful.

I'd have to actually look at the scene itself, but depending on context, the well-known/obscure argument might go out the window. If he gave a good number of examples, he may have included an obscure one by accident even if he didn't mean to. If he's really into the conversation, a slip of the tongue about something he subconsciously expects the others to know(for some reason) can happen. He might not expect any of them to know too much about the subject in question, meaning half the names would be obscure to them. Shubreth may be such a perfect example of his point that the obscurity is irrelevant Gavilar may not care what they think(either b/c heat of the moment, knowledge is power, his secret society aims taking precedence, etc..) There are so many variables to be considered. Here's the specific paragraph, for those who are interested:

I don't know how much evidence there is to back this up, but this seems kinda like a silver/bronze situation. Get bronze, you're just happy to medal. Get silver, you're crushed about not getting gold. Adolin thinks that he should have been able to defend his father, and the fact that he couldn't is eating away at him because he's letting it affect him. Renarin seems like he has a more realistic opinion of what his limits are due to his sickness, so while he's also devastated that he couldn't protect Dalinar, he seems more capable of understanding that he "couldn't have stopped Szeth," while Adolin thinks that he "should have stopped Szeth, but wasn't able to." As subtle of a distinction as that is, it makes all the difference when it comes to maintaining your composure and concentration.

I swear there was a WoB about that as well, possibly about planets having a spiritweb, but all I can find so far are these two.

This is definitely a question that needs an answer, but until then, we can speculate on what that would mean for the story. Unless it was pre-Recreance, I think overtly using Honorblades is highly unlikely, because legend of that would absolutely get out, and that's a big no-no. Using them for assassinations and stuff like Szeth does, maybe. Out in the open, no. Regardless of time period, this Shubreth chap could have been the first to use the Honorblades, which could be why the Shamanate are so keen on recovering them. A rogue Surgebinder could wreak all kinds of havoc. Actually, if he were the first, maybe he was the one to learn of the power they grant, leading the Shamanate to training with them instead of merely guarding them... So many possibilities.

Under the assumption that the blade "spawns in" and then you have to grab it so it doesn't fall, rather than it just appearing in your hand, then I think you could. If that assumption is right, then you already summon it a small distance away from your hand. I doubt you could ever get more than a foot away, and that would likely take years/decades of practice to master. With possible exception to Radiants(because reasons), I think the biggest issue with this line of logic is the "why," rather than the "how" or "if." Why would a Shardbearer want to do this? The blade would just fall to the ground and despawn if they don't catch it, so there is a notable lack of incentives for performing this trick.

Something I remember from last time we discussed Elhokar was that you would be fine with him getting into an order as a fringe candidate(unlike our model Windrunner Kaladin) and then having the bond wither because he could not fully improve. An example that while you can make the first cut, not everybody can make the final cut, so to speak. Depending on whether she survives and the state of Roshar during the 15yr gap, I could see Navani being decked out with some clever Fabrial-Tech items in the last few books, which should be what she adds to the story as the head Artifabrian. I've also recanted my Radiant predictions for Sebarial, mostly because I remembered Highprince of Commerce exists and would be a better fit for him. First I've heard of this. Do you mean another kinda side-story like Edgedancer was?

I was probably tired enough to think it made sense when I typed it. In essence, I saw a bit of a sliding scale quality to it. - The more loopholes you have to worm out of, the more likely to be wrong. - The less twisting required to use these loopholes, the more likely to be right(less wrong would be more apt, see below) Having to go through loopholes makes the theory unlikely, but if you can go through them with minimal twisting, the theory has a better chance of being "less wrong," as opposed to flat-out wrong. I only considered them main characters in name only, as they were both minor viewpoints in books 1 and 2. When Szeth is the flashback character in book 5(probably), then he'll actually be a "main character."

You'll fit right in. Admitting we have a problem is the first step towards making it a lifestyle. You did this.

You'll fit right in.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was. Life under a ruthless conqueror can easily make people want peace. Possession of the Honorblades for all those millennia doesn't mean that they used them during all of that time. That could be a recent change, perhaps to quell another conqueror like Shubreth. We don't know anywhere near enough about Stone Shamanism yet for me to comment, which is annoying. The Ancient of Stones was from Taravangian actually, not the Shin. Twas in the Diagram. That would be an interesting turn of events, but I don't think they would chance something like that happening again. Szeth has proven more than capable of capsizing governments, and the only thing really stopping him from doing that to the Shin was because Taravangian didn't tell him to. Even if they were incompetent, that seems like too big of a risk for the Shamanate to take. However, if Shubreth took over some other nation... I think Szeth would've mentioned if Truthless had a rule against attacking Shinovar, so maybe, maybe not. "Out There" Idea: Shubreth was actually a rogue Shin, or a Truthless controlled by one of the Shamanate(as an experiment/for expanding influence?).

Remember that Spren Bonds aren't permanent arrangements, so that Voidbringer status can change. As for Listener-Radiants, the WoBs only say that they didn't in the past, and that most in-world people would say that they can't. It's more than enough leeway for us. I'm not sure if there is anything to back up this theory, but I certainly like the idea. Also, welcome to the Shard!

Alright, OP is updated and reformatted. I also made a few assumptions on how the Shards would end up in control, so I'm curious what you think. Autonomy is still a flurry of Question Marks of course, but that's to be expected. A synonym for autonomy is self-rule, which could explain some things. At the moment, all that's left is this, which has been stumping me on how to really explain it like the others.

So there have been several issues that have been brought up in recent conversations that ended with "that's another thing to ask Brandon," so I'm cataloguing the ones that I remember here for future use. Regarding Preservation "kind of" splintering Ruin, can you go into more detail about this? How/Why it is "kind of," How such a destructive act wasn't blocked by Preservation's Intent, etc.. Would you still consider Sazed as "human"(or Terris) in his current ascended state? If say.. Tanavast had stepped down and let someone else ascend to Honor, would Tanavast still be the person he was before ascension or would he have become the walking definition of "Honor"? Just to ask it again, what set of powers do Gold Spikes steal? To clear up a few other issues we've had: How many Hemalurgic Spikes (during the time-period of the books) would Marsh need to match Elend's (Lerasium) strength in A-Steel? Was there ever a time where a Single Misting could take over a Koloss, or was it always a team of Soothers/Mistborn+Duralumin? Would you need more Allomantic Strength to take over a Koloss with stronger spikes than you would for a Koloss with weaker(decayed/reused) spikes? If you spiked out a power from both Vin and Elend, would the spike from Elend be harder to push on? Clarification: A spike from a stronger Allomancer should grant stronger Allomancy, so does that mean that it contains more stolen Investiture? Did we actually see/hear a reference to Chana in WoK? We've found the mention/appearance of all 9 of the other Heralds, but not her.

Vessel becomes generous enough to willingly give control to the Shard. I like most of these. Mind if I edit in the OP to include some of your ideas?

We all lose track of what subforum we're in from time to time. Especially when we've got crossover discussions(magics/characters). Don't sweat it, and just try to keep them in the tags next time.

I could've sworn I read those. Must've been the second Inquisitor art he did, the one with the red lighting.

Well, it was back in 2014, so mayhaps we weren't aware of that fact. I honestly don't remember when we got that info. We can always ask Peter again, since he's been posting on the forums a bit in the past few days. As for the Gold issue, I said it before and I'll say it again: Especially if one of those gold spikes was Pre-TLR's death as his MAG page says

I also saw her as a person, but the only distinguishing features that ever crossed my mind were a form that was vaguely female(semi-androgynous form), a light voice, and the color purple(don't ask, I don't remember)