Blightsong

And the Honorblades aren't even lost to humanity. It doesn't make sense that Honor would think that they couldn't be used.

Kaladin was surely depressed before Tien's death. He mentions that he was often in a dark mood that only Tien could get him out of as a youth. When it comes to the chouta, if you re-read that passage I think you will find that he has an inherent dislike of soulcast food as it reminds him of his slavery.

What exactly the Dawnshards are has been quite the mystery since the Way of Kings was released. I think I figured out an easy answer to what they actually are. Dawnshards are simply the canon in-world term for live Sprenblades. Below I have sources, annotated by myself. From Jasnah's notes: “Taking the Dawnshard, known to bind any creature voidish [we know that Radiant Spren are descended from Spren that bonded with Listeners, and this seems to be refrencing the very earliest of Radiants] or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece [metaphorical mumbo jumbo meaning Oathgates (very, very minor Oathbringer spoilers ], toward the grand temple above [Urithiru].” Makes sense, seeing as how a live spren blade is needed to work an Oathgate —From the Poem of Ista. I have found no modern explanation of what these "Dawnshards" are. They seem ignored by scholars [because they didnt exist during the era of solitude], though talk of them was obviously prevalent among those recording the early mythologies [because Dawnshards were the overwhelming majority of Shardweapons out there during that time]. From Dalinar's final vision. The figure was silent for a moment. Then he spoke in a clear, crisp voice. “Life before death. Strength before weakness. Journey before destination. Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore.” He turned to Dalinar, meeting his eyes. “The Knights Radiant must stand again [stresses the need for Radiants].” .... “Men must face them together,” the figure said, stepping up to Dalinar, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You cannot squabble as in times past. He’s realized that you, given time, will become your own enemies. That he doesn’t need to fight you. Not if he can make you forget, make you turn against one another. Your legends say that you won. But the truth is that we lost. And we are losing.” … “I wish I could do more,” repeated the figure in gold. “You might be able to get him to choose a champion. He is bound by some rules. All of us are. A champion could work well for you, but it is not certain. And … without the Dawnshards [stresses that these Dawnshards are essential]. Let me know what you guys think!

Kaladin's depression is confirmed to be clinical. As someone who has gone through clinical depression, Sanderson's depiction is spot on.

Just stopping by to mention that the Prologue on Tor's site is not the final version. According to Peter (on reddit) it does not include the proofreading pass corrections.

We found him in a hospital as a John Doe. He's fine, thank god.

Friend went missing in a bad part of town a day and a half ago. The cops have video evidence of other people using his credit card at various stores. I'm not having the best week :/

Ghost hug back, friend. I've had friends go through sexual assault and it is tremendously sad to see the aftermath.

Today I got called a n***** and an abomination (I'm mixed race) by a white supremicist. I haven't really had to deal with these people before in real life but recent events seem to have gotten them out of hiding. Feels pretty bad to be seen as nothing more than an animal.

It seems very likely that I'll be able to make this event. Im exited to meet some of you nerds irl

As someone who has road-tripped to see Brandon I can say with surety that its worth it. I got a little lucky in the amount of time I got to spend talking with him but even if id spoken with him just at the signing line it would have been worth it, hes super cool. The talks and readings he usually gives are also usually interesting. If he isnt around Minneapolis for Oathbringer's tour I'll definitely be heading to Chicago or wherever is closest.

They seemed to be talking about Shades.

There was lots of speculation on what that is when the graphic novel first came out. I feel like I remember someone asking about it but im not sure.

Me: "Can you give us a piece of dialogue from Honor to Cultivation" Brandon: "How long does security take around here? Get this maniac off of me!" Is Security a new shard? Let me know what you guys think. /s

Brandon does tend to cut question asking short if he suspects they are from obsessive sharders...

Why would the Listener's still retain their forms in that case? Also, the bond that the Listeners use is different from the Nahel bond, so I dont see how affecting the Nahel bond would affect the Voidbringers even if thats something the Bondsmiths are able to do.

Hey, @Extesian and @Calderis, while there is a voice channel on the discord all of the discussion takes place on the text channels. Its really awesome over there and easy to join, check it out.

@Calderis The discussion with Yata continued over on the Discord and everyone came to the conclusion that "self-splintering" concept was a product of people mis-remembering several different WoB. Thought id let you know (join that discord btw, if you havent already).

I think you are misremembering the below WoB. INTERVIEW: Dec 6th, 2016 Herald Washington Library Center-AU Tour (Paraphrased) QUESTION So we know that you can’t just have someone--if someone were to do something similar to Hoid, he can’t just pop and go ‘oh look, I can now do Allomancy or now do Surgebinding’. What about Breath? Could somebody give Breath--could they still get the benefits-- BRANDON SANDERSON Oh, good question. Yes you can, actually. Breath, once it is given to you, it is being keyed to you--your Identity. So that transfer makes it yours to use however you want. QUESTION So you could Awaken? BRANDON SANDERSON You could Awaken. If you were to somehow make it there, you would be able to Awaken. It’s the easiest of magics to get the magic from, and then to manipulate. Because it has keyed into it Identity. QUESTION [garbled] BRANDON SANDERSON Yes, you can take Breath onto another world. In fact, you’ve seen characters do this. QUESTION [garbled] BRANDON SANDERSON Yes, it would work the same way. The only magic that is location-dependent-- the ones who aren’t interested in this, just hum to yourself, okay? You don’t need to know any of this stuff to enjoy the books, okay? I’ve [written] them so that each series can be read independently, and enjoyed. There is behind the scenes stuff, and if you want to dig, it goes pretty deep. So on Sel, we have AonDor. AonDor is based on the fact that the Dor, which is an amalgamation of Dominion and Devotion, has been pressed together and stuffed into the Cognitive Realm by Odium who didn’t want it to gain sentience, as Investiture will do if it is left alone. It will either seek someone to be its Vessel or it will gain sentience. He pressed it in there; he pressed it together, which creates the violent reaction, because those two Intents are opposed. And that is the foundation of the magic. Because it’s stuck in the Cognitive Realm rather than the Spiritual Realm (the Spiritual Realm is location-independent; Cognitive Realm is location-dependent), it makes the magic on Sel only work in close proximity to what is keyed through there to the location they’re keyed to. This has to do with Identity and Connection--mostly Connection. So that means you can’t do AonDor on another planet, but you can do other magics works anywhere, because they’re drawing the magics specifically through either the place, or they’re end-neutral, like Breath is, and don’t need any extra power. TAGS breath, aondor, devotion, dominion, Dor, odium, cognitive realm, identity, connection,

Do we have WoB that self splintering even is an outcome?

While i agree that the secret probably relates to Odium's prison, it isn't too far an intuitive leap to think that whatever the secret is would simply help Odium win this desolation, presumably allowing him to escape. It doesn't have to be directly related to his prison.

The only thing i can think of is that people are mis-remembering this WoB.

For anyone wondering why this was posted here - there are Dalinar flashback chapters from Oathbringer that can be found exclusively in this collection.

Not "long enough for legends to develop", the quote is "just long enough for legend to develop". This heavily implies it was recent, especially when given to the reader in such an off hand remark. That passage meaning anything else would only serve to confuse casual readers.

Don't worry about it, i've done the same before