DreamEternal

He... is bald. That isn't a misconception.

Ym's spren actualy looks like a small group of growing plants made of golden light, if I remember correctly.

Few things say "this place is important" as elegantly as natural formations in ordered ways that shouldn't appear in nature. About the perfect pitch, I think it, just like the enhaced colorsense and the investiture("life")sense are extencions of the same ability to perceive wavelenghts better, like a reverse lightweaving, as investiture often manifests as pulses and frequencies. Have you ever read Skaa's L-String theory? It posits that all magics are offshots of the Lightweaving of investiture itself, and many other fascinating hypothesis.

There is also the possibility that Lift perceived her spren differently because she has greater cognitive presence than normal humans, in the same way listeners see regular spren differently and from further away.

Well, I am not sure if the oathpact bond is there or not, but the surgebindind bond surely isn't, since he had dark eyes and lugged the blade around instead of keeping it as mist. I just happen to believe that the former bond requires the latter.

The "special bond" I spoke of is the bond to the oathpact. It is not related to surgebinding efficiency. Unless you ascribe to the theory that Honorblades are so inneficient because they were made to syphon Odium's investiture between desolations in order to weaken him and diminish his power when he eventualy attacked when the heralds broke under torture.

That is only true if there are too kinds of bonds a honorblade can have, the "bring you to Hell" bond and the "give you surgebinfing and bright eyes" bond. I believe that if Taln is or was a Herald, the bond was forcibly broken. Of course, this raises the question of how the oathpact is not fully broken. I do have a hypothesis that by taking the heralds as patrons the Knights Radiant formed a bond with the oathpact and must go throught a period in Braize after dying before they go to wherever people in the cosmere go after death, and broke their oaths after finding out.

I for one liked Balat's POV in Way of Kings. I like seeing characters who are seem as creepy but are good (if unhinged) people. But I do feel sorry for that crab.

@Oudeis: at least we can agree that from what we have seen so far, the most likely ending for Szeth is a dark, if necessary, one. It was enlightening to have such an in depth discussion about whom I think is the most controversial character Brandon wrote so far.

By redemption, I don't mean making up for the damage he did. I mean changing and learning do he will never do it again. And while he doens't care about life anymore, I hope he starts caring, because as Kaladin demonstrated in WoK, its is better to care. But, as I wrote on my edit, now the best I expect of him is a painless death and less colateral damage in his new character arc.

I am not downplaying anything, it is just, as you said, a divergence of opinions: what is worst, killing a man who won't do any harm anymore for something he did at the past, or letting people suffer from seeing him unpunished? Of course, I am against Szeth becoming a leading menber of the New Radiants, and I would not oppose he getting imprisioned or forced to live in isolation even after a redemption. And yes, in his current state it would be saner to stop him at all costs, I only wonder if it would truly be necessary to punish him if he does get redeemed, as long as he is not made into a hero, something he surely isn't, or his dark deeds are forgotten. Actualy, the happiest ending I can reasonably expect is that Szeth realizes the evil of his actions, helps save Roshar in some significant way, and fakes his death to expend his life in isolation. Of course, it seems more likely he will be a villain until his bitter, tragic death.

Except he never really decided anything in the original ending. He did a feint that could be easily parried by someone as skilled as Szeth, who decided to not parry it and let himself die, something that happened to fast for Kaladin to stop or change his motion.

Ignoring somethings you said about Szeth I disagree with (e.g. punishing him as a compensation for the families of the people he killed, since I don't really care for justice for its own sake, only to stop future damage), I must remind you that Lift wasn't glowing. She metabolized the little calories she had into a very small amount of stormlight and breathed it into Gawx from very close. There weren't many opportunities to see she was the one healing him.

Granted. Sadeas returns from the dead as a High Epic. I want Rithmatist to leave the cosmere.

It is mostly because Brandon felt killing Szeth was a regression in Kaladin's character development, even when he only intended the blow to be a feint and Szeth refused to parry it. Yet in the new ending, Kaladin didn't kill Szeth with Syl, but let him fall hundreds of feet with no stormlight, wich made it fell forced when he refused to aknowledge that Szeth was certainly dead and he killed him.

Nothing but Nin's possible disaproval.Remember, Szeth lives and dies for a meaning, a universal order. When that order was represented by the Shamans, he followed it untill it broke him, and when he discovered it was false it was the last straw: killing because of lies. It didn't truly matter that he always knew those deaths acomplished nothing, or that he was danming himself. No, what made he think he couldn't stop, besides the threat of spiritual annhilation, was the belief that if he abandoned his religion the universe would lose all meaning and nothing would make sense anymore. Now that he lost everything, now that he realized nothing ever made sense, there is only one path left. One path that he believes will save him from the madness of the cruel world that forced him to kill hundreds for empty lies. The path offered him by a god who raised him from the dead, promising power, wisdow, and at last, vengeance. Szeth will not betray Nin, not now. If another path ever opens and he is not to blinded by fanaticism to see, if Nin betrays him like his former masters, then he could bring down Taravangian and all others who used him. I dread this possibility. @Moogle: I doubt Szeth even cares anymore about that. He wanted to die, but when Nin told him of revenge against the Shamanate he didn't seem to be the least opposed. Worse, he seemed ansious to prove them he was right and they were wrong. If Szeth ever gets redeemed, it will be a long, tortuous road and he may not live to reach its end. SA1 Szeth was a pitiable fool who didn't deserve to be used like that. SA2 Szeth was a psychotic killer who needed to be put out of his misery. SA3 Szeth? Harmony knows what he could do.

Actualy, Taravangian ordered Szeth to not kill him after revealing his oathstone and explaining he ordered Szeth to kill those people to ensure estability. He said he probably didn't need to say that, so it is still unceirtain whatever he could do it or not. But if he could that would be a stupid loophole, so I stand on my opinion that a truthless must follow what his master wants, not look for loopholes.

You must understand a Truthless is not a some sort of comic genie that twists your wishes unless you word them carefully. He did what his master wanted him to do, not simply what he was told to do. But what is more important, if he killed Taravangian there and then he wouldn't have learnt. He needed to know why he did what he did. A truthless does not question his orders. A truthless only obeys. This was something that tortured Szeth almost as much as the killing itself. Szeth wanted meaning and purpose, he can't live in a world that makes no sense. That is why he refused to abandon his belief in Stone Shamanism, that is why he devoted himself to Nin so quickly. Because otherwise, if he was left in a world without order, he would lose himself even more, until there was nothing left.

Funny thing you call him the most major player, since he does not seem to command any nation or to be menber of any powerful secret society or to hold world changing knowledge or the potential to discover it. He is just a heroic guy with a spear, powers and a load of personal issues. And about difficulty choices, Kaladin had it hard, but in the end what were the consequences for making the wrong choice and changing his mind on the last possible time? Dalinar almost abdicated because of his visions and now has to choose between letting an inexperienced and imature king rule or being a tyrant. Shallan had her cover burst by the ghostbloods. Adolin has murdered Sadeas in the dark an will have to deal with the consequences. Szeth is... Szeth. All in all, Kaladin isn't really that important at the moment, at least when it comes to our Radiants+Szeth+Adolin.

Honestly, I could probably starve myself if I thought I was doing something to important/interesting to let food get in the way. More often than not eating just a shore to me.

When Tock says he saw a white haired god coming out of the Horneater pools, Sigzil seems to have realized it was Hoid, so this at least lets us know that he knows Hoid has white hair and that he isn't a regular human.

The fate of the entire world was at stake. If there was a chance he walked out during a storm and was hit by ten lightnings one after the other he had to plan for it. Plus, feruchemy works based on multipliers, so the longer he lived the more power he would need to stay young, until one day compounding wasn't enough and he died.

Yes, it wouldn't work with just lowered weight, since the wind would blow you like a pipe, but with feruchemical strenght and speed or allomantic pewter it could work at 50% weight.

True. It always bugged me that Sazed never sought any combat training from Ham despite being member of a hunted secret society that has to guard his life and knowledge with everything he has. In the hands of a skilled martial artist feruchemy can allow amazing superhuman feats worthy of wuxia movies, like jumping dozens of feet high by tapping weight, dancing throught a rain of arrows or many other things that would reduce an inquisitor's options to trying to hit you with a lucky coin.

I would add that the bond apparently acts as a skill multiplier, allowing one to reach mastery needing much less time than otherwise, as long as there is some natural talent to work with. If the bond simply granted the skill, then we could expect that if a baker bonded a honorspren he would become a great warrior, or that Elhokar would discover amazing drawing skills if he bonded a cryptic, wich is ridiculous. It is shown in the Dalinar vision where he fights the midnight essence along with the radiants that they see those talented in useful skills like combat as potential recruits or at least squires. This could be because the greater the original ability, the more it benefits from the bond. Stormlight doens't give skill, but it does perfect it.