teknopathetic

Interesting, I had never thought of this. And there is an example of this occurring in Starlight already with Kaladin and his speer skills "before" meeting Syl. If Kaladin get's to be good at the spear as a child because he will eventually have Syl, then it stands to reason there might be an effect on Mr.T before he takes up a shard.

Sja-Anat thinks to herself at one point and says that she wasn't fully conscious until the Everstom arrived. I think that makes Sja-Anat an unlikely candidate for the Stormfaker. At the same time though, how did she make Glys before the Everstorm if she was only semi-aware?

1. Presumably the Parshmen had been connected to something before Ba-Ado-Mishram or Odium, so I would try to find out what that entity was (assuming Ba-Ado-Mishram is not an ancient pre-Odium singer god-spren) 2. Then I would see about the Stormfather potentially connecting to them in some way. 3. Maybe introducing the Parshmen to the Listeners would eventually do something if the Parshmen were eventually considered a part of the clan in a Cognitive sense. Probably wouldn't work for all, but you might be able to slowly associate and re-intigrate more and more. 4. Ask the remaining Listeners what their stories say about how they managed to keep their identity or reforge their identity. There is probably some knowledge there. Eshoni's mother probably knows a song with the right information.

I wonder if the Reshi Isle creatures have gem hearts? Those must be .... unique. Perhaps a few of those have been found and cut into perfect gems by master artisans.

Some other possibioites could be that Chana slowly leaked out of the safe over time. If we take that Shallan says she sees a glowing light coming out of the box and we add was happened to Jezrian in his gem with him leaking out, it stands to reason the box simply delayed Chana from heading to Braize. And since no one has returned to Braize in 4500 years, Chana would have had no way of testing this new device before now, so would not know how well it would work. The second option is that someone opened the safe at some point after Shallan left for Karbrandth.

Another possibility for being released from the Oaths Team Rosier really really losing in book 5. It could be anything from the magic system being totally remade by cultivation and Odium all the way to Rosier being completely exploded and the entire idea of oaths goes away entirely.

I don't know, but I got the impression Taln was more insane because of torture than insane because of being a cognitive shadow. I am sure it is both, but Talk seems more ruined than insane. His rambling seems way more trauma-based than cognitive-shadow based. Gibbering in the corner seems a lot different than destroying statues. I wouldn't be surprised if Taln ends up being the most sane spiritually because his experience on Braize was so prolonged.

I know they already met, but I really want to see Shai and Hoid meet again. I feel like we were promised that post- Emperor's Soul, and I really hope we get it.

My headcannon 1. Sigzil gets a dawnshard before the end of Stormlight 5. This likely has something to do with Hoid. Sigzil is semi informed. 2. The dawnshard alters both Sigzil and his Spren's spirit web and this unlocks new powers. Sigzil is stoked. 3. Sigzil "experiments" and this causes some problems. The Dawnshard and spren interact strangely. The dawnshard "talks" more 4. Something happens that makes Sigzil and his spren realize oaths are not the most important thing. Perhaps Odium's plan. 5. Sigzil and his spren agree to do something that is fundamentally against the First Ideal. It is done for a good reason in Sigzil's mind. 6. Sigzil's spren dies willingly. Many humans and singers die as well. Sigzil's Dawnshard does something at this time that is new or unexpected. 7. Sigzil gets a new bond. The bond is not exactly the spren but something else. Perhaps the Dawnshard becomes semi conscious with a spren. 8. Hold explains to Sigzil how to run and why to run. Hold apologizes for not being honest or not training Sigzil enough on Dawnshards. 9. Sigzil runs and learns of his torment over time.

So can we assume Rlain has this ability now too? Maybe the Sja'Anat gang will become too hard to predict. And that likely works just as much on Odium as it would on Cultivation, no?

Killing the stormfather and having either Mishram or Sja-Anat filling that role would be amazing. Mishram makes sense because of connection, but Sja-Anat seems to care about helping and making new spren.

Still so confusing that Honour thought the Dawnshards were lost. What happened there? Seems like 1 and maybe 2 are still around.

On how Hoid got a spren. Hoid grumbles at one point that the Gods of Roshar are a annoyingly strict when it comes to making a bond. I got the impression that with Honour dead and the heralds imsane, there was a lot less oversight this time with Testament than there would have been any other time in history. Basically, anyone who would have said no is gone. And for the first time une millennia, spren are willing to bond.

There is also the weird bit where the Fused do not want to be the ones to knife-kill a Herald. The Fused almost seemed afraid to try and really wanted a human to do it (which I also felt was some kind of foreshadowing)

In Secret History, Nazth says that there are rights and rituals that can be used to create Cognitive Shadows, so these chains might be used to do that. Maybe the chains can prevent the "soul" from leaving the realm?

It may also be the case that not every child is equal. Who knows what Chana has to do to even make a child. Maybe Shallan got a little extra for some reason? Or maybe Chana figured things out more and Shallan being the youngest is just more connected to Chana in some way. There is the theory that Chana was trying to create a replacement for herself (that being what Shallan's parents were always arguing about concerning Shallan's future)

If Dalinar did get it, I think he got it when he heard Jansah reading from TWoK on the day of Gavial's funeral. Dalinar says that he could see the words as Jasnah read them out loud. I have always suspected something really important happened there. Personal theory us that Nohadon had the Dawnshard of Unity and managed to connect to Dalinar somehow. But either way, that scene with Jasnah reading and the words almost being visible to Dalinar makes me think of Ryan and the Mural.

I guess it looks like Liren just went there as a messenger once. Hmmmm. I could have sworn differently, but looks like I was wrong.

Yes it seems like she isn’t. But she may have met her husband there. And by the wording of the deal with odium, any children born into the city would be protected. If she met Liren during his med school and stayed to have the baby there (which makes medical sense) then Khaladan would be protected from Odium per the deal.

Just wanted to point out that the Chana Davar post predates the Taln Never Broke WOB. The theory actually started as a way of explaining what the Glowing Light in the safe might be, and then everything else pulled together around that key thread. It’s the safe, not Taln, that was the key detail there. The Taln quote certainly helped grant legitimacy because the Chana theory also posited that it was nearly impossibly for Taln to have broken in the first place The theory predicted that Taln could not have broken because what could even break an insensate lunatic after 1000s of years of torture? A ticklish spot? It just didn’t make sense that suddenly the Fused found a weakness after so long. Hope the glowing light from the safe gets explained in book 5! That was the key data point of the theory and I can’t wait to see what was really placed into that safe!

Now, I don't actually believe this, but I thought I would bring it up for discussion. I am still 100% with the Shallan theory, but I wanted to try exploring another possibility: Information About Lift Her mother died x years in the past. Lift says that her mother wasted away. Possibly about 3-5 Years ago. Lift says says she is 10 for the 3rd time in TWoK (so maybe 3 years of not changing?) Who know how long it took her to find the Nightwatcher after her Mother died and Lift left her city. LIft travelled to many places as an orphaned child "After her mother died, she’d been here. She’d been here dozens of times since, in cities all across the land. Places for forgotten children". Lift felt that her wish should be that she should never have to change or grow up Lift knew about and believed in the Nightwatcher. Maybe? Or accidentally found the Nightwatcher? Lift went to the Nightwatcher Cultivation took personal interest in Lift Lift expresses abilities not seen by anyone else Lift was specifically sent a spren to bond her (a spren did not decide to bond her based on compatibility) Nightblood takes a liking to Lift immediately. Information About Lift's Mom "When you were always busy, you didn’t have to think about stuff. Like how most people didn’t run off and leave when the whim struck them. Like how your mother had been so warm, and kindly, so ready to take care of everyone. It was incredible that anyone on Roshar should be as good to people as she’d been. She shouldn’t have had to die. Least, she should have had someone half as wonderful as she was to take care of her as she wasted away. Someone other than Lift, who was selfish, stupid. And lonely." Conjecture from Other Characters: Wyndle believes that Cultivation altered her to exist partially in in the Cognitive Realm. However, Wyndle is just assuming that this occurred because he knows of no other way for that to happen. He is unware that children of Returnedlike-entities may have special abilities innate to their identity. Coppermind: "the Ring viewed Lift's youth and her experience with the Old Magic as positive traits in a candidate.[3] Wyndle found that bonding with Lift was easier than expected[6] and speculated that the Old Magic had caused her to exist partially in the Cognitive Realm" This reminds me of Vivenna having a natural connection to the magic that makes Commanding easier. Maybe Lift has a similar aptitude. Questions Why would a little girl get it in her head that Not Ageing would be a reasonable wish? Did her mother not age? How does a little girl know about the Nightwatcher? How does A little girl get to or find the Nightwatcher? Why does Cultivation agree to give a little girl such a strange boon? Is Lift's Cognitive-Realm-Slippage even the boon? Are we just assuming that? Could Lift be somewhat like a Vivenna? Why are Cultivation spren so insistent on bonding her? Why does this little girl have a foot in the cognitive realm? Is Nightblood liking Lift so much supposed to remind us of Nightblood liking Vivenna so much? What is her boon and what is her curse? Possibilities Lift's affinity for the cognitive realm sure does remind me of Vivenna and other children of Cognitive entities. We assume that Cultivation "changed" Lift, but what if Lift's powers are because she is the daughter of a Returned-like entity?

Well, Lift's timeline works almost as well as Shallan's timeline. We know Lift's mother died x years in the past, so who is to say it wasn't Lift's Herald Mother who died and the Nightwatcher and/or Cultivation took pity on the girl. I mean, how does a little girl even get to the Nightwatcher? It could also explain why Lift is so weird - maybe the daughter of a herald just operates weirdly and Cultivation wanted to experiment with that

Oh yeah, Karbradth is basically New York or London from what I can tell, so anyone could be "from" Karbrandth. Hesina doesnt seem to have any mental health issues, which makes it less likely that Hesina is a herald. I think the Checkov's Gun with Khal is that her was born in Karbrandth and that fact will cause some issues to Odium later on. There could be other Herald kids though. Lift might be one perhaps. Cultivation sure did take a special interest in some random kid.

There is a theory that Hesina's family is from Karbrandth, or that at least Khaladin was born there, and therefor Khaladin would be protected under Taravangian's deal with Odium. It would be tragic if Odium wins and Khal survives yet again. It could be that a herald gave birth in Karbrandth though - that would still work. It is the hospital city after all: --- “Kharbranth,” [Taravangian] said. “Preserve only Kharbranth. You may destroy all other nations. Just leave my city. It is what I beg of you.” (…) “Kharbranth,” Odium said. “The city itself, and any humans who have been born into it, along with their spouses. This is whom I will spare.(…)” ---- My plan to defeat Odium is to marry every single person on the planet to the same Karbrathian person. DONE. Defeat that, Odium! Or, you start bringing woman to give birth there and then return them to their homes. If there are pact-bound people all over the planet, the planet becomes much harder to destroy. You could also start expanding the city to hilariously large boundaries. Point is, Odium left a massive opening for malicious compliance on this rule. It is too bad Dalinar will likely never know of this amazing weakness.

I guess that is the debate. Is it anger itself, or the anger one feels when they are being threatened and unable to use the law to protect yourself. Under the law, Sadaes has a year until the trial and a year to keep killing Adolin and his loved ones. That would be a justifiable rage. Shallan says "good for you" at what Adolin did, so I lean towards his action being moral to more than one radiant group. Shallan has also killed an abusive person, so their moral alignment matches well. Moral to Me: Shallan - Kills someone who is currently killing her family. Shallan has few if any other options but fatal violence. Kills to save Adolin - Kills someone who has killed his friends and promises to kill his family. Adolin has few if any other options but fatal violence. Kills to save. Grey Morals Jasnah - Kills someone who attemots to kill her and her ward. Has many options and is in no real danger. Does Jasnah have a duty to protect those who want to rape her? Shallan would likely be moral in killing them because Shallan is weaker than the men. Is an attempt on your life less immoral if you happen to be able to defend yourself? It is all super grey here. People are going to lean 1 of two ways. Jasnah sees the rapists as an enemy army against poor women, and in war killing your enemy would be seen as moral. If Dalinar went and stood in a place where he knew Listener Soldiers might attack him, would he be immoral for Dalinar to kill those who attacked him? Shallan sees the rapists as citizens, and therefor killing would be immoral. But that is more of a choice on how you view what has been happening to women, Its all - complicated. Even more so by class and ... and ...