joesleepsalot

I'm Joe; sorry if I've annoyed anyone by posting on OLD threads lol, I have a job that keeps me suuuper busy and I don't get the chance to dig around on here the way I'd prefer.... so my "go-to" google searches on a cosmere topic usually point me to a thread from 2014 or older. On another note, I have to say holy cow! Some of the dots people connect from the cosmere books are astounding. I wonder how many times Brandon Sanderson has had to pause and ponder future cosmere schemes because fans have potentially guessed something in advance?? We will never know!

Seriously, good point... perhaps the twist-to-the-twist is that the Heralds' abandonment of their oaths actually works in the long run because they didn't reappear like "taln" in as bad of shape as he's in?? They're getting worse but maybe (assuming they all rejoin the cause) they'll put their mental capacities and intact memories to better use than they could have otherwise.

I reread the taln chapter just now.... I'm pretty convinced it's actually him, but his mind is trapped in torment still. (I think it was mentioned above) I'd equate it to someone in a coma. Perhaps he will snap out of it if the other 9 heralds come apologize for leaving him hangin lol. Any predictions on how that concersation is gonna go? He'll probably try to kill them all

I'm going to have to agree with the original post, there's definitely something going on in shinovar that's evil....although an argument for Cultivation clearly has merit as well. Nalan and Szeth, with night blood, are going to exact vengeance on the shin council. Nightblood will only harm evil people. With that said, why in the world would Nalan go along with this? From the words of radiance prologue, we know that he was in-the-know about Szeth's possession of an honorblade from the beginning. We also know from Arcanum Unbounded the "why" behind Nalan's actions. And we know that Lift made him snap out of his "twisted herald" stupor. I've been scouring all these forums and speculative theories for like 3 years now, I don't think we will be able to really start gaining momentum until the third book comes out in November this year. HOPEFULLY we get answers on the shin issues... but yeah I think the original post has some merit for sure.

Dalinar's first vision in Words of Radiance takes place at a time he couldn't identify.... he expressed a sense of unsurety towards Navani when explaining his vision. He and the knight were chasing an evil spren at the pure lake and it woke up a thunderclast. He specifically states that it could have been between desolations. This idea, as explained above, clearly seems to back up the general vibe of the arguments made above---- the more surgebinding is used, the more likely a desolation will happen. In light of Arcanum Unbounded where Nale explains this to his two minions plus Szeth, I think it's now perfectly clear. Nale can't be completely wrong, corrupted or not he's still a herald and would know what he's doing and why.

Weeeeellll since "Arcanum Unbounded" came out and we now know that Nale snapped out of his twisted-herald trance, he's probably gonna make the other 8 snap out of it.... like time-now. Seems like he's 100% back to normal. That being the case, Adolin will guaranteed be recruited to the dustrbringers. Sure it was murder, but justified. How many murders and betrayals did the "victim of the crime" commit? Perhaps Adolin's actions were not equivalent to murdering Hitler, but certainly Goebbels... lol. Would anyone really complain if that had happened? The sociopath deserved to die within like 5 paragraphs of screen time anyways. We've seen way too much character development and attention on adolin for him to not be a radiant.... there's just no way. It's like in Troy when that crusty advisor to Agamemnon (Nestor) says that "this will be the greatest war the world has ever seen. It will need the greatest warrior".... in this case Achilles. As for Spren choosing him, let's not forget that no spren chose Szeth. He has his abilities because he held Jezrien's honor blade and that's it. If Szeth's murdering *** can become a radiant of justice, then I'm sure Adolin will fit in anywhere, especially a pragmatic order of Knights Radiant where the end justifies the means.

Thirdly, hoid rhymes with void... devoid of all deific power? B. Sanderson doesn't really give characters accidental names

Also, it's peculiar that Tanavast, aka honor, bought him a drink. If he was adonalsium, perhaps buying him a drink was the natural thing to do---- like giving a defeated enemy a glass of water.....??? Who knows what Brandon S. is cooking up. But he better name a second author, dude has way too much to write in this lifetime lol

Thor, i didnt read your post until after I googled Hoid being adonalsium....I independently came to the same conclusion; I agree with you mainly based off his reference to himself as a rock. We all know hood is peculiar, he would need more assistance than his stacked magical abilities from different shardworlds to know where and when to be at a location, plus who to expect there. His chance meetings with specific people in specific places hints to him knowing the future and the thoughts of individuals. Similar to ruin and preservation. In my two cents, a leftover "17th shard" in hoid would make sense. We just don't know the character attribute----but we specifically know he's extremely hard to kill. PERHAPS hoid could be holding the mystery 16th shard (survivability, I think) but I'm fairly certain we know he's not one of the 16.

Interestingly, Sanderson confirms that Taln is the guy at the end of WoK many times (http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kwt='taln'). Although the same link has quotes of Brandon playing games about his identity, he seems pretty blunt about it in other quotes. My vote is that it's simply taln

I know they essences are different, but the sphere Gavilar give Szeth (dark) is similar in nature to the Aeon Hood has at the very end of Elantris. Quotes: Gavilar's Sphere: "....though it was completely dark, it seemed to glow somehow. With a light that was black" Hoid's Aeon: "he turned to regard his companion: a hovering dark sphere, about the size of a melon. It somehow sucked in the ligh and didn't have distinct edges Hood could make out--- it just kind of blended out into the air, warping everything around it like a stone dropped into a sheet of silk stretched tight" could be totally unrelated, just an idea

In light of my theory being debunked...lol...these other theories are super interesting. Radiant I like your idea, if it's not spot-on I'm sure it's close to the truth as far as concept. Perhaps Hoid could be an agent of the Almighty or something, similar to an angel. Or he has light to shed on the fall of humanity from the tranquiline halls

Interesting counterpoints, I was not privy to half of that lol. If he's not a shardholder but basically a superhero, then (presuming my theory is correct about the introductions in part 4's chapters) I wonder who penned them and if the author is an equivalent type of person with Hoid and what their relevance is? Perhaps it will tie in with all the theories about the REAL Almighty and the bigger/badder villain over Odium. In either case, Hoid has a reason to fear Odium discovering him personally and will watch Roshar burn to meet his goals at the end if he has to.

I apologize if this has been said before, I'm very busy with my job and only have SO much time to scroll through lists and make sure I'm genuinely being novel. I'm not revealing any spoilers at this point, just pointing things out. I'm typing this on my phone so I apologize for typos. Bottom line up front: In my humble opinion Wit is undeniably one of the sixteen men who holds a Shard of Adonalsium. I realize we don't know all sixteen of their names, I believe he's one that's thus-far unrevealed. If I had to guess at potential names I'd say Humor, Sarcasm, Chaos, or Mischief....something of that sort. Here's my how I came to my conclusion: 1.) Wit is obviously more than an average man; one of his names is Hoid, and he's able to "world hop" in Sanderson's universe called Cosmere...nothing new there. He tells Kaladin in WoK that he has other names as well. 2.) Wit knows more than any ordinary human would. He knew when and where the Herald would show up in WoK as well as Jasnah in WoR. He knows all about Kaladin, he's basically in-the-know regarding anything. Nothing gets by Wit. 3.) He's an allomancer at a minimum, or a full-on mistborn more likely. 4.) Rock's description of the god Lunu'anaki in WoR chapter titled "Patriots" sounds to me a lot like Wit, minus the hair color. The god has a physical description matching Wit as well as a matching attitude; also, the "pool" this god lives in sounds real similar to the well of ascension, or other places where "shardholders" (not shardbearers), aka each of the sixteen people who collected a shard of adonalsium after he shattered, have a focal point of power in the world they inhibit. I'm not a fan fiction expert but I've read that before recently, probably on this site lol. 5.) this god Rock sees is forbidden to do violence. He's the god of TRAVEL and MISCHIEF. If you read Rock's whole story to Kaladin and Sigzil. Oh by the way, Sigzil becomes very uneasy and nervous when Rock starts on this story. We all know Sigzil used to work for Wit. This confirms that a mysterious god of mischief and travel who lives near a mystical pool is in fact Wit. Lol. I realize this point has been posted about before. Also, Dalinar says Wit has never used his sword; happens when we first meet Wit in WoK 6.) In WoR, every section of the book (Part 1: Chapters A thru B etc) has it's own set of themed italicized words at the start of every chapter. If you read the intro italics for every chapter in Part 4, specifically chapters 59-75, they sound a LOT like one of the 16 writing another of the 16 in regards to interaction with the human world. Check out the italics at the head of chapter 60, "Veil Walks". If that's not written to Wit then I don't know what is. It seems flagrantly obvious to me. 7.) Next we have Wit's very revealing conversation with Dalinar in WoR, chapter 67, "Spit and Bile". In short, Wit admits that if Odium finds him, he will splinter him into pieces...sounds a lot like what happened to Tanavast, the dude who held Honor's shard. He also tells Dalinar that he's not a herald but simply a man...just like a shardholder. 8.) Wit's met Tanavast. Tanavast bought him drinks once; epilogue of WoR. Hmmm...how is that possible? 9.) in chapter 55 of WoR, Wit spills some beans. He continues to demonstrate knowledge about stuff he shouldn't know. He talks about the people of Natan who used to farm the Shattered Plains as if he knew them. Of special note, he gets hugged by Shallan then threatened about staying away from her by Adolin. His response is that she is FAR too you, and that there is only one woman his age "around these parts and her and I never got along". Interesting. There were three shardholders assigned to Roshar I think, only one was a woman... The Nightmother. Sounds like she fits the bill, and to me, in light of stacking evidence, leads me to conclude that Wit is a shardholder