teknopathetic

My theory is that the safe blocked the blade from returning with Chana to Braize. When Shallan opened the safe, the last bit of connection holding Chana to Roshar left. Shall quickly bonded the blade and now Shallan is now the person the blade is bonded too. Seeing as Shallan is the child of the herald, it may be easier for Shallan to form a more meaningful bond with the blade. I am not sure if Chana can override this if she were to return, but likely so. But for the meantime, the blade was left on Roshar and did not return with Chana because the safe prevented the blade from returning. In terms of how heralds return to Braize and Roshar, we have no idea. We have no idea if the honourblade being locked in a safe might delay the return. All we know is that the blade and the herald seem to go together and appear together. If one is prevented from returning, what happens to the other one? Is there a consequence to the two being seperated upon returns? I would assume the heralds would have done some research into not returning to Braize though were unable to 100% test their theories. In fact, seeing as Kalek seems to know heralds can't be contained by gems before Jezrian dies, it seems research has been conducted into this topic. What Lyn did seems like a contingency plan concocted by Chana. Did it work? Was it to prevent Chana from Returning? Was it ot prevent the blade going to Braize? Did they know it would work? We wont know until SA5.

The current timeline is that Szeth was likely busy assassinating Gavilar around the time Shallan kills her mother. So Szeth would have no way of knowing that Chana had died and recalled her honourblade since Seth was out of contact with the stone shamans. And we know Szeth wouldn’t get any sort of tip off from the Stone Shamans magically seeing as he had no idea Ishar has reclaimed his Honourblade either. In fact, maybe the safe was preventing the stone shamans from recalling the blade (as they seem magically able to do) But either way, we know a herald died on the night of Gavilar's death. A honourblade should have vanished from the stone shamans.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/535-c2e2-2024/#e16576 Here is the relevant part:

Beach Volleyball flashback montage episode followed by a return to the present with an intense final battle.

As a very mild spoiler, we learn in SA5 Previews that Shallan: We are led to believe that this was Testament. However, does that make sense? 1. After the self defense killing, Younger Shallan remembers her father placing Shallan's Mother's Soul in a safe. 2. After the soul/blade/? is placed in the safe, Younger Shallan goes to the garden to break her oaths to Testament AFTER the soul/blade/? is placed in the safe. Why would Shallan go to the garden if she also knew that Testament was locked in a safe? So is it either that Testament went back into the safe after being semi-deadeyed? Or is that a different blade in the safe to begin with? 3. Lyn Davar owns a shardblade safe? Is this ... normal? Why would Lyn have this to begin with? And why would he be so quick to shove a blade in there during the crisis? Why would he assume his daughter just wouldn't resummon the blade? And why would he never consider getting the blade later? 4. In the SA5 previews, we learn that Shallan Davar went to open her father's safe before heading off to find Jasnah. Shallan did this still believing that the safe contained her mother's soul. Up until Shallan meets Pattern in WoR, Shallan is 100% sure the safe contains her mother's soul. She has years of memories regarding the light emanating from the safe, and also believes her father sees the light as well. It is only in WoR when Pattern, while pretending to actually have been Testament in this retelling, convinces Shallan that Shallan is misremembering the blade event. But Pattern wasn't actually there. he has no idea what went down. Pattern is assuming Shallan is wrong, but Pattern doesn't actually know this. ---- Theory: The blade was Chana's Honourblade: We learn in a wob that Honourblades are self aware: My theory is that Lyn rushed to place Chana's Honorblade in the safe. We know that Honourblades return to Braize upon a herald's death, so perhaps Chana came to believe that keeping the honorblade on Roshar would delay her return in some way or provide some benefit? Under this theory, Lyn had been drilled on what to do if Chana were to ever die, and he rushed to secure the blade in the safe before attending to anything else. Years later, in a moment of desperation before heading out to find Jasnah, Shallan went to open the safe and retrieve her mother's soul. Shallan grabbed the honorblade and took it with her. Shallan on some level knew what her mother was, and was not 100% aware that she could summon Testament. Opening the safe allowed Chana to finally go 100% to Braize. Shallan bonded the blade before it could return to Braize. As well, Chana breaks around the time Shallan goes to meet Jasnah. This explains why Taln returns right around the time Shallan finds Jasnah. Then, Shallan starts to slowly reforge her bond with Testament while creating a new bond with Pattern. Slowly, the self aware Honourblade begins to manifest as Radiant. Radiant is a combination of the Honorblade's spirit and the connection bonds to Chana. Shardblade events like the chasm, or Tyn, may have been either Testament or the Honorblade being summoned. But I suspect one of these events must have been the Honorblade in order to have opened Shallan up to Radiant forming. Other heralds believe that Shallan has weird extra powers because of a two spren resonance, but part of it is actually holding an honourblade. Because Ishar went nuts around the same time, news of Chana's blade going missing was not well known. Szeth for example didn't know that Ishar had gone and reclaimed his own blade.

Old Theory Confirmed: Taln Didn't break (I suspected it was Chana). People thought I was nuts, but I was vindicated! I knew it couldnt have just been the Everstorm. --- Current Theory Kind Confirmed: Shallan's mother is Chana. Guessed this years ago before Taln didn't break was revealed. Pretty sure the glowing safe is important too. --- Current Theory: Ba-Ado-Mishram is the original 10th herald that Taln replaced. Current Theory: Shallan has her mother's Shardblade [edit: honorblade]. Potentially, Radiant is the blade in some sense. I think that was the "soul" that Lyn put in the safe. The blade was Chana's honorblade. For some reason, the Davars didnt want the blade going back to Braize. Perhaps the safe holding the blade stopped Chana from returning 100% until the safe was opened. We do have a newish wob that honorblades are self aware, so this tracks. Current Theory: Named the Stormfaker; think the Stormfaker is Ishar or Ba-Ado-Mishram. Both make sense to me.

In the year that Shallan kills her mother, Szeth is assassinating Gavilar. So there should be no way for Szeth to know if any more blades have vanished. And though not confimed, it is verly likely Chana died the exact same night as Gavilar, making it even more impossible for Szeth to have learned that a Shardblade had been recalled by Chana. And adding to this, Szeth didn't know that a certain Ishar had gone back to reclaim a blade either. So with the relative disarray of the Shin homeland and Szeth not knowing his father had been killed before a blade was stolen, here isnt much reason to think Szeth would know anything here regarding Chana's blade. As for the blade changing a person's eyes, in Oathbringer Kal confirms at one point that eye colour reverts if a blade hasn't been used in a while. Seeing as Shallan has probably barely ever used, or maybe never used the actual powers of the honourblade, Shallan's eyes should not have changed in colour. Add to this the weirdness of Shallan possibly having two other bonds while potentially having Vivenna-like cognitive shadow child boons on account of being half-congitive shadow in parentage, who the hell knows haha. But even without that, I dont think Shallan has used the blade enough to have her eye colour change.

Had the same thought too! If Shallan actually had 3 blades, that would be truly amazing! The whole "which blade does Kaladin use in the chasm" would have a very novel new solution since honourblades dont scream and Syl wouldn't be there to detect something was different. I was also wondering if Shallan opening the safe let the last bit of Chana's soul get to Braize. One weird part of this timeline is why did it take so long for Chana to be caught/break/whatever after Shallan killed Chana. But if Chana's return was delayed until the Shallan-Ward plot began, then the timeline is much tighter and makes more sense.

I am a fan of the UTol theory as well. i just like the idea that the Iriali are the missing yellow colour from Virtuosity and they are out experiencing the world like an artist might do. It wasn't suicide on virtuosity part; it was a gap year. Also, it would be epic to see Virtuosity come back together in the final arc of the Cosmere

Who has a safe that is large enough for a shardblade? Isnt that odd? I wonder if the sword Shallan took is actually Chana's shardblade. Maybe she had that panic safe built to keep her sword around after her death for some reason.

Agreed. BAM may have liked her autonomy. Seeing as some of the other unmade are actively opposing Odium, BAM might be on that side of the fence as well. Edit: I wasnt sure if i should put pre-release chapters in spoilers but I thought that sounded safer.

Possible New Suspect for StormFaker? Stormlight 5 Shallan Preview Chapters

Now this podcast has me thinking Ba Ado Mishram is the StormFaker doing her spiritual mumbojumbo from afar!

Six Limbs: The legends all say that Xeth made his creations have an extra set of limbs, so I believe they must have 6. Though I agree the extra limbs dont seem to be used well in the combat descriptions. "Xeth the Black saw his brother’s creations and scoffed. He saw no point in them. Xeth, however, always found joy in spiting Oreon. So, in order to mock his elder brother, he too created a race of beings, but his creations were flawed. They were of pure white skin and had an extra set of limbs" or "Xeth the Black heard of this and was jealous. He too wanted the fol- lowing of man, for he was a loathsome and vile beast who had the love of no creature, despite his beauty and power. However, he knew he had not the strength of the great creator Oreon, so he went to the one known as the Mother of the World, Slonis, and begged her help, lying to her, saying he wanted to present Oreon with a gift. Together the two gods created a race, but their power was not equal to that of Oreon, and this race of man was flawed. Its skin was white and did not tan, and it had the wrong number of arms, four instead of two" Brandon doesnt seem to describe Sho Del limbs though: "The strange man frowned, dropping his bow to the ground. Except, he wasn’t a man. Jerick’s eyes opened wide as he realized the servant’s face had changed along with his bearing. It looked something like that of a human—two eyes, a firm nose, and delicate features. Except the servant’s face was a pale white, the color of bone, and his eyes were pure black. A Sho Del. Fain" or "The Sho Del assassin stood quietly beside the tent, just a few feet away from Jerick. The creature had lowered the hood of its cloak, revealing a white, almost human-like head that stared at Rodis with solemn black eyes. Long ivory wisps covered its scalp, blowing freely in the wind. The creature’s face was expressionless as it dropped the bow, drew a thin-bladed sword, then rushed toward the king." or "jerick shook his head, pulling himself into the present. The Sho Del wore a tight-fitting pair of green leggings and shirt, its bone-white arms sticking out of short sleeves. It held a gleaming bronze sword in its hand, and it was running toward the king" So it is really under described. I am not sure how shoulders would even function if there were two sets. Maybe the extra arms are only semi functional? ----- Dragons and Fain: Brandon has said elsewhere that dragons are fain. I took them to be fain as well since they have dragonsteel and 6 limbs. Questioner Further, how relevant to this is [it] that if you count four legs plus two wings, dragons have six limbs? Brandon Sanderson Yep, that is the exact correlation that I would like you to draw! Dragons are fain, if you're wondering. If that's what the question is, yes, dragons are fain. ---- The Charm Totally possible that the charm has bone. However, it is described as being wood, so that is all we have to go with. Seeing that Jerrick may have gotten some powers from "the source of power" in his home town, which is likely that weird Fainish tree, there is room here that fain trees might do something. But you are correct I think and this could also just be an unreliable narrator not knowing there was fain stuff in the wood.

Since the Sho Del lore may be more canon than other elements, I thought it could be interesting to compile everything we learned here: Sho Del Biology The Sho Del are primarily white in colouration They have 6 limbs: four arms and two legs They have black eyes (among the few described) They have hair-like parts described as grassy strands They refer to their "hair" as a mane and can curl/move according to emotion Their blood is white and milky Their bones/hearts are a mixture of dragonsteel axi, calcium, and carbon Their bones/hearts are known as Tamu Keks to humans Tamu Keks are described as releasing some energy like Spiritual Energy not unlike metallic radiation (by Frost so probably true) There appear to be at least two genders: Female (a daughter) and Male ( a father) Females can are fertile for many years (described as possibly being bedridden for 20 years having kids but is a possible hyperbole as it was said by a woman who fears entering adulthood) Adulthood must be induced via the use of dragonsteel (unclear if pure or as a mixture) This dragonsteel substance is referred to as Ana Ku Mae (likely pure dragonsteel) Adulthood is not possible if a Sho Del waits too long. This dreaded status is known as a Sha La Men Ves and is becoming more common as Sho Del struggle to collect an ample supply of Ana Ku Mae Fainlife Flora and Fauna There are Animals in the Sho Del continent of U Poni Sho Del Sho Del warriors have animal mounts (real? illusions?) "These beasts Jerick had never seen before were jumping through the air, traveling the vast distance between the Sho Del and human plateaus. They were large and reptilian, with four small legs in the front and two enormous ones at the back, legs powerful enough to jump even the fifty-foot chasm. Each beast bore a Sho Del on its back" The Lord of the War rides one at one point, making me think these beasts do exist in small numbers at least "the monster reined its beast in and paused, looking at his fleeing opponents. His face seemed to pause on Jerick, staring at him, though no eyes were visible beneath the dark helm" Sho Del animals might sometimes enter normal areas A lizard is seen in Jerick's town possibly came with the Sho Del assassin as the Assassin was "very angry" when the town killed the lizard "A creature of darkness—or so the priests said. It had a thin, flat head with black eyes, and, unlike any normal lizard, its mouth was lined with teeth. It hissed loudly at its captors as it unrolled, its long tail raising as if to strike. Its most distinguishing feature, however, was its legs. An extra set of limbs sprouted from its belly, making it look almost like some overlarge insect rather than a lizard." Sho Del Forest Description as seen from quite some distance: "Jerick was accustomed to pines, which tended to grow relatively far apart from one another. U Poni Sho Del’s forest was more like a wall of foliage; one mass of solid shrubbery as opposed to a line of tree. And, of course, the plants were all bone white. Fain animals he had seen before, but it had never really occurred to him that the plants would be Fain as well." Fain Wood might provide some magical abilities according to the prologue: The dying soldier bought a wooden charm from a Horwatcher; it let him hear the conversation between dragons and the Lord of the War (who is either a human or a god but is not Sho Del) "He gasped in pain for a few moments, then reached up with his left hand, wrapping his fingers around the small wooden charm at his neck. His good luck charm, purchased for an incredible sum from a traveling Horwatcher wizard The Lord of the War still stood beside the Dragonsteel well. The lead dragon stared down at the Lord, its dark eyes unreadable. Somehow, Adsen felt like he could feel the creature’s emotions. He was seeing something he shouldn’t; something that was not of men. Something between the Lord of the War and this dragon Suddenly, Adsen’s charm began to vibrate. He blinked in surprise. He had paid good money for the charm, but he hadn’t really expected it to do anything. Had the Horwatcher actually been telling the truth We are leaving. The words exploded in Adsen’s mind, ramming their way in through the pain and surprise. Somehow he knew that the lead dragon, the old one, had spoken. The words seemed to come through Adsen’s charm, entering directly into his mind Adsen could feel surprise, and anger, from the Lord of the War. Leaving? the Lord of the War said, his voice projected through Adsen’s charm." *Possibly* Jerick had a fainlife tree near his property and his castmark is made of it. Jerick stood before the massive tree. He had never been able to determine just what kind of tree it was—it had leaves rather than needles, but its bark was flaky and layered like that of a waxpole pine. It seemed to grow out more than up, its thick branches extending almost horizontally, like enormous vines. All of the branches were long and twisted, and they didn’t seem like they should be able to grow out as far as they did without breaking. Yet, each branch was powerful; Jerick had climbed in them many times, and they barely gave way beneath his weight. It was like they were made of metal rather than wood" ... The tips of the upper branches were dark and brittle, the bark charred. Lightning had struck here many times, but, for some reason, the tree had never started on fire. The top of the tree did not come to a point, like the pines or firs he had climbed. Instead, the ancient tree ended in a fat round knob, branches spreading out from it like the palm of a man’s hand Oddities The colour of this tree is never mentioned (the black colour is actually just a lightning strike). The cast mark is stained so we never learn the colour that way The tree is described as maybe having metal in it for support (fain sho del and dragons have metal in them) Resists fire Grows out to the side more than up (like the tree walls seen at a far distance in U Poni Sho Del) Jerick didn't know Fain trees were a thing until the end of the book and he never sees them up close There is a "source of power" in Jerick's village, and Jerrick;s power is somehow connected to it. Perhaps this tree is a magical tree separate entirely from Fainlife or perhaps this tree is somehow connected to fainlife. Connection to Dragons: Dragons are Fain and also have dragonsteel in/on their bodies Worshiped dragons are called the Dra Sho U Fel by the Sho Del (unclear if all dragons are called this) Some humans can commune with dragons using Tamu Keks (not easy; not simple; more in one spot makes it easier) Sho Del started worshipping dragons on their own "We leave them because of their need, the dragon replied. We never asked for their worship, but we have done the best with it that we could. Now they have chosen to listen to you instead of us. Gods are not gods when they are ignored" Named Sho Del Du Len: Is a female child who has not taken Ana Ku Mae to enter adulthood Is a Kame Ken Den Tu (magic adept person) Is the daughter of the council leader Is unsure of becoming an adult Fa Len Ko Mar Is the council elder and likely leader of the Shattered Plains forces Called Fa Len by his daughter Is male Is a Kame Ken Den Tu (magic adept) Sho Del Magic Cognitive Illusions Can project these into the minds of others The enemy mind fills in the details of the illusions meaning the same projection can vary from person to person Illusions can deal real harm, block real swords, and kill. Projecting "nothing" where something is doesn't work well Illusions require constant concentration and disappear if not projected. Effects like succumbing later to post illusion-injury may require other mental projections for a time Minds can be trained to resist many of these illusions but its not perfect. Sho Del are able to broadcast their thoughts precisely or widely "Though I have trouble believing any Sho Del would be careless enough to broadcast so widely that a bystander could hear" - Topaz Sho Del might use items/tamu keks to cast sonic spells (potentially an illusion? Feels different maybe) "The Sho Del calmly lowered its bow, then reached into his cloak to re- move something thin and white. He closed his eyes and his mouth began to move slightly, his thumb rubbing the object. A spear, thrown by one of the approaching guards, slammed into the ground beside the creature. The Sho Del did not move. Jerick felt what happened next, and he thought he could see it too. A wiggling bubble exploded suddenly from the stranger, a translucent thing that wavered and vibrated. It moved impossibly quick, expanding like a ripple in water, and it hit Jerick before he could even jump back. Only then did he realize what the bubble was. Sound. He was seeing sound. It crashed like thunder, thunder that had struck incredibly close. It slammed into Jerick’s ears, making him gasp in pain. The guards dropped their weapons and put their hands to their ears, groaning in agony. The sound, however, had not been intended just for human ears. Its suddenness startled the massive horde of cattle, causing them to call and run madly. ----- Thats what I caught! I would be happy to hear what other lore bits people picked up

Perhaps the safe prevented that from occurring?

Thanks for doing that! I wonder if Radiant is the honourblade in some way. Radiant seems different than her other personas, and i can see the honourblade causing something strange with that. Also, Shallan having an honourblade might explain her stronger abilities and resonances mentioned in this chapter: Questioner If a Radiant uses an Honorblade or binds a second spren, could they get new abilities/resonances by having access to Surges that aren't usually combined? Brandon Sanderson Yes, they could. Indeed.

This also might help explain some of the confusion over heartbeats. It has been super unclear if Shallan could summon her semi-deadeye blade with zero heartbeats. However, if Shallan was actually thinking about her mother's honourblade instead of a semi-deadblade, that might make more sense? I could also see Chana telling Lin Davar to put her honourblade in the safe if she were ever to die (stopping it from being stolen or summoned by stone shamans)

If Shallan took the sword in the safe....does Shallan ALSO have an Honourblade?

I find it interesting that Shallan opened up the safe to get her blade. Does ... does that make sense? Shallan went to the garden to go meet Testament AFTER her father put Testament/mother's soul in the safe. So in terms of timeline assuming a blade was in the safe (and not a herald-soul) 1. Shallan kills her mother with the blade. 2. Lin Davar quickly puts the blade in the safe. 3. Shallan goes to the garden to meet with Testament 4. Testament manifests in the garden 5. Shallan unbonds Testament after a conversation. 6. Testament returns to the safe somehow? Does that make a lot of sense? Did Testament agree to go to the safe after being unbonded and then became a deadeye slowly after? Or does a deadeye blade return to the last place it was located in the physical realm? Can Testament be a blade in the safe and also go meet Shallan in the garden? Or was there even really a blade in the safe at all? Did Shallan actually see a blade in the safe or did she find nothing and remember that she had the blade the whole time - but then forgot that? I am so suspicious of all of this. I still think Shallan's mother's soul was actually in that safe like Shallan says originally in WoR. If the soul were to be in there, then maybe Shallan released her mother's soul when Shallan opened the safe, and that is why Taln returns a few months later (enough time for Chana to break and cause all this)

I would love a secret history about the guy they through into the shardpool in Elantris that eventually ends up in Rosharan Shadesmaar Lighthouse

I wonder if Nazh died intentionally and was given the sacred ritual that creates a Cognitive Shadow. Nazh says in SH: Becoming a Cognitive Shadow like Kelsier is "an important rite ... with requirements and traditions." Since Nazh died in formal wear, maybe it he was dressed for this ceremony?

I agree that we will likely see whatever world/location houses The Grand Apparatus. However, what I am hoping for is to see a Sho-Del world like UTol or some other Sho Del power base. With Dragonsteel Prime coming out, getting some modern Sho Del might match up nicely. It also would make this new secret Project 5 connect to some of the previous Secret Projects as well.

The timeline is less revealing than you’d think though. Before Kelak was done fighting, the other heralds had disbanded and abandoned their oaths. It’s possible that Ishar left the group early, and without any way to tell if anyone else had died, someone non-Ishar was asked to wait and see what became of Kelak. On another vein, it’s possible Ishar’s connection to the strained oathpact has changed over the past 4500 years. As the person who created it, maybe certain steps have been taken to maintain in, or perhaps resisting the return to Braize had caused other issues for Ishar as well.

Assuming that Ishar is not the Stormfaker (which he may not be; we just had him as a good guess) Could Ishar be the the newest target of the Stormfaker's manipulations? We see the Stormfaker abandon Gavilar during the SP5 project, and then fairly nearly in time Ishar is saying that Ishar is now a God King and needs to refound the Knights Radiant. Something must have prompted Ishar to suddently go God king; i always assume this was because he had learned about Chana's death, but maybe the Stormfake/father started manipulating Ishar instead once Gavilar fell through and once the Oathpact was in danger of breaking (re:chana) Could the Stormfaker be with Ishar now and causing him to do research on Spren and all the other things we see? And could Ishar be absolutely enraged by seeing Dalinar bonded to the Stormfather because Ishar was told that he had been working with the Stormfather this whole time? If there is no Stomfaker, then would this mean that the Stormfather was talking to both Ishar and Dalinar at basically the same time?