Savanorn

I don't think you're following the reasoning here Max, it's not that Szeth isn't good. It's that he's not a master/expert/swordsman. If your opinion proves to be unpopular it's likely because you're not using very good logic. For example. Those 'numerous Shardbearers' he beat he did so due to factors that simply do not relate to his swordsmanship. If you acknowledge, as you do, that Szeth wins these fights because of his Surgebinding then you can't use them as support for his swordsmanship. Basically, Szeth makes up for his lack of skill (any way you cut it, I don't think he's as good as Adolin or Gavilar) with his intelligence, inventiveness and active use of surgebinding. Now, Szeth having access to the surges and Kaladin having access to the surges (and some degree of added talent) are not the same thing and they throw their actions and achievements into different lights. The biggest one is that Szeth makes a lot of use of his active surgebinding, whereas Kaladin is much more passive. Kaladin without an ideal is was still good enough to kill highranking lighteyes and a shardbearer sheerly from his passive skill. Kaladin fights, for a lot of WoK and WoR, basically as a normal soldier. A really strong, really fast one but he doesn't use lashing liberally. Think about Szeth bouncing off walls and throwing rocks at multiples of gravitational force, and then think about Kaladin fighting Helaran or at the Arena. You have an interesting take. However, I fail to see how sitting on the top of his house and "feeling" the wind gives him advantage in using the surge od Gravitation... Maybe in the long run, but he barely practiced at all.... This I get. Kal is not the smartest fighter we have met... most of his fights, he wins because he is surgebinding I don't think you do, get it I mean. It's not that Kal isn't smart, it's that Szeth is.

Well, that's actually a really good point (if she wasn't glowing until the thunderclast appeared) Mistborn, but I would guess the simplest answer is that she and and her crew probably just had spheres in their pocket/about their persons. If not, it's really interesting.

Actually, I think WoB is that the difference in strength is not really pronounced. Surgebinding is more dependent on how much energy (Stormlight) you put in, rather than how strongly you can bind.

Exactly, further, if a Bondsmith can truly alter the nature of the Nahel Bond/Oathpact/whatever but couldn't really explain what they did,. that passage may be the best people get.

Indeed, and we know that Midnight Essence is unpleasant stuff.

To be fair, I agree with you, but this was just after Kaladin was released from prison wherein he had just decided that Elhokar had to die.

Wait, hypothetically couldn't his Radiant-ness have healed it?

I'd say killing a helpless old man, perhaps one who is weeping at the suffering he has caused, is about as distasteful as murdering a child. Still, it was a suggestion rather than anything I particularly believe in and it wouldn't fit with the suckling part. Well, thing is, that does work. Night reigning does seem like a loss, but defeat isn't necessarily the last word. Especially if SLA is like two series joined together, perhaps with a timeskip. I could easily see book 5 ending with someone, perhaps Kaladin, finding out that Odium has invested in a child and reaching it, recalling all the "Journey Before Destination...I will Protect..." oaths he's sworn and coming to the conclusion that it's better to face Odium in open combat and risk losing rather than take guaranteed best option. It'd work for extra angst later on as well. But I digress, it'll probably be a surprise as you say. Side note; I thought Hero of Ages did end on a pretty darn low note.

Being learned/giving, that would make sense. Or something like "I will see where others are blind" given the future sight and relatively common theme of "I will positive instead of negative."

Could it perhaps refer to Taravangian on one of his very stupid days? Say, if the KR finds out that he is behind all the instability. He's very likely on a childlike, if not entirely imbecilic level of intelligence, and given that if he has another very smart day (or even if they just let him go) he is a dangerous foe, the KR may choose to spare him only to have his machinations bring them down.

Uh, no. Jedi like, maybe, but 'just Jedi' ...yeah no. The idea of magical protector knights is hardly just a Starwars thing, I'd be mildy surprised if Starwars even did it first. Past that, the powers and role of magical protector knights are a pretty common fantasy element. Plus, you know, the organisation, structure, mechanics and overall feel of the Radiants are less Jedi and more Knightly Orders (or maybe WoT Ajahs) to me.

Well, the Diagram are using Death Rattles to try and augment the Diagram and keep it on track.

It was a video game reference, apparently I'm a little out of my depth.

I don't think it's clear. I think a case can be made, but I not picking it up is entirely forgivable. Prior to this comment, I assumed he was a worldhopper from another world, perhaps one we hadn't seen. Especially because a distinct lack of mention of eyebrows. But in general, Shallan associates him with Hoid rather than the numerous Thaylens she knows. But, I suppose that's a good thing.

My money is on Returned Awakened Golem made of sprenblades. Yeah.

I had no memory of this, of course, it would make sense. So, first of all, I'm not arguing that in the real world two vastly differences species ought to be able to interbreed, so if you think I'm going to argue molecular biology, genetics or biochemistry in application to the real world, we can both walk away from this right now. Secondly, I don't want to sound harsh, if this is where you draw your line, that's fine, I just happen to disagree. tl;dr, it's a book, allowances can be made given the outright divine origin of life. So, colour of blood and bone are not sufficient basis. Further, for all you or I know, listeners have the same number of chromosomes and blood-related genes are entirely, or functionally, recessive to human genes. Or, indeed, whatever makes Parshendi so resilient might just give horneaters strong teeth. It's certainly not something you'd think would occur by random chance, but...well...it isn't. I'd also like to throw out that we don't know if listeners are just humans plus bits, or if they're actually entirely different. Like, maybe listeners have entirely normal blood plus a few yellowish enzymes, or to give a more interesting explanation, bonus 'spren cells' that facilitate bonding and retaining the essence of a spren. These smell like mold, it'd make sense, greatshells also have moldy-smelling (albeit different coloured) blood and hold spren in their bodies. Even putting aside a physiological basis for spiritual factors for a second though, I could imagine the listeners were just humans that had been altered to better suit Roshar whilst keeping the core structure. The Listeners are different, but they're also surprisingly human considering Roshar's other native life. It's also telling that their default -Parshman- form is pretty much human (that is, without funky bones or chitin.) From what we've seen, the listeners think like humans and, I may be getting this wrong, but wasn't Kaladin able to target their arteries whilst fighting them based on his knowledge of human physiology? We also know that female listeners have breasts, and males have beards. I get your argument, especially because things like blood plasma and bone construction are incredibly basic and structural things to change, but considering so much of the cosmere is literally the work of god even before the Shards come into it, I don't think it's unreasonable. Adonalsium perhaps wished for the capacity for them (human and listener) to interbreed, there doesn't necessarily have to be any post-shattering tinkering. For all we know, listeners have magic genetics that accommodate not only a changing, say, Spiritual bond with a spren, but can change in response to physical fertilisation of an egg. Haha, they're both a sort of bonding, and that's what listeners do, right? End of the day, why do you need Shards to intervene when you already have a god that (presumably) made human, listener, Aimian and (presumably) more. They're already designed rather than evolved. I'm actually surprised this ended up being a longer and more interesting thought, either way, thanks.

Merrigold?

Why? I think we're on the same page now. That's really my point, the Listeners maybe be different but they're not necessarily that different. I'm not actually sure about Parshmen breeding, I assume they must, but maybe that's a result of being in slaveform (which is no form) like, I'd assume there'd be some control measure so a population of Parshmen that couldn't read highstorms wouldn't just die out.

It makes sense to me, especially because we've been told that is what unborn Cryptics essentially are -patterns in nature- It might also explain why they hold to no Ideals and oppose the very heavily constructed morality of the Honourspren. Nature is chaotic and not necessarily fair or moral.

I think that is a bit far. I mean, Humans and Parshendi mare both creations of Adonalsium; you'd figure some degree of compatibility could have been engineered. Further, it is possible the physiological changes that occur to Parshendi happen because of a Spiritual binding process that then changes their physical form. Kaladin, it should be noted, observed a form made for war. I got the impression from Eshonai's chapters that a warrior form, or a workform for that matter, don't feel sexual desire and have much more limited 'equipment.' Basically, given that the 'thing' of the Listeners is a wide range of forms with purposes, I'd not be surprised if their mateform (or even another specialised form) could mate with anything. We actually don't know much at all about Listener physiology. Does their blood have it's colour and smell from a functional aspect, or do they still have a standard iron base? I'm pretty sure they have a similar cardiovascular system if nothing else, but even then, do we know how many chromosomes they have? As I said, Shardic Intervention is possible, but it need not be the only approach. Before WoB, I wouldn't have thought they could interbreed at all with people. I invite disagreement, of course.

I don't know, I think multiple surges would be cool....but I'd want to see the individual ones used thoroughly first. Like, Stormlight also compounds in a way that Allomancy never did, and Investiture if far more freely available than Awakening. I'd like to see what, like, a fifteen times Slick Awesomeness is like, or what Cohesion even does. But I think WoB have hinted that bonding multiple spren, or bonding Spren and Honourblade are both possible. I'd expect it to happen eventually.

Well, I don't really see the law as a good thing. Or, at least, not always. I see the Skybreakers as less Judge Dredd and more Javert.

I actually think a human and a Mateform would work fine, the way I see it, a Mateform Parshendi is classically (in the Alethi style) attractive. They also have hair, I don't believe they have any armour and they're quite hedonistic. There's also the militia boy method of reproduction. I mean, Parshendi and humans have fought a lot, I don't know if the Parshendi always had cities and population centres...but I'd think so. There's also the possibility of Shardic intervention. I'd actually be curious if the Parshendi of current Roshar are pureblooded or not.

Thanks...but at the very least, I don't think eye colour works the same way on Roshar.

I don't know if the Skybreakers were ever do-gooders, really, I mean, they're like Military Police... who-watches-the-watchmen right? They're the Just and the Confident. They're the ones with Division and Gravitation. Indeed, with powers like those, and those attributes, it makes sense that they have to be bound so tightly by the law to the extent of it being their guiding light, I'd worry if they had the freedom of the Lightweavers.