psc92

This is true in the present day because the Orders are starting over from scratch, I find it difficult to believe that it would have been true in the time before the Recreance. The whole point of having Squires is that because there are more people than available spren, prospective Radiants can swear the first 2 Ideals and train with their powers without the need for a Spren when there are none available, which was probably all the time. Once a new Spren became available, certainly it would bond with a squire that has been ready for the 3rd Ideal and was just waiting for a Spren. Bonding with a squire that isn't ready to say the 3rd Ideal would be a waste of time. This is a good point, I left out the other Orders and we don't know how many squires all of the Orders would have had. But the overall point remains the same. At any given point in time there would be some number of squires in an Order (no matter how big or small), and once a Spren wants to bond with one, they would choose one that is ready to swear the 3rd Ideal. As of right now this might be considered a Skybreaker only thing, but it's also simply the most sensible and efficient way of running an Order given that you have a limited number of Spren to work with. I suspect strongly that this will be the way that most if not all of the orders will run things, once they have more time to get established. You also brought up another good point about not all Orders having squires. I wonder if Brandon is referring to Bondsmiths here, as we know that they can have squires, but they aren't "real" squires. If some of the other Orders (Truthwatchers and Elsecallers for example) don't get squires, then it's possible that some of them at the time of the Recreance were only at the 2nd Ideal. But overall, I think that the number of 2nd Ideal Radiants at the time of the Recreance was very small.

Do we know that this is true? It seems to be almost certain that they all were at least of the Third Ideal. Under normal circumstances the progression for a Radiant goes: 1st Ideal to become a squire, 2nd Ideal, then 3rd Ideal if they're ready for it and a spren is available to bond. We know that the Skybreakers operate this way in the current day and the Windrunners have begun operating this way out of necessity because there have been so few Honorspren willing to bond. It's easy to lose sight of this because in the present day all of the Orders are starting over from scratch, but in the time leading up to and before the Recreance I think it's unlikely that many people, if anyone at all of the 1st or 2nd ideal had a spren. Especially since humans outnumber spren and the squires were probably waiting on a Radiant to be killed so that their spren would become availabel to bond.

Hoid does not have it, and he was not the one who switched it out. Brandon has 100% confirmed this, however he has let slip that Hoid may have had it at one point. Whoever does have it is probably someone that Hoid is ok with having it though.

A while ago I typed up a post on this topic, but i deleted it before posting it becuase it became too long, meandering and I didn't like the way it turned out, but I'll post a shorter and hopefully better version of it here. Brief introduction to my thought process here, when making predictions about future events I try to put myself in the writer's shoes and make these predicitons based on these: 1. What makes the most sense for the narrative? 2. What would be the most narratively satisfying? ("Good guys win" and "Good guys lose" can both be narratively satisfying as long as they are executed well) I created this theory when thinking about the biggest plot points that would need to be resolved in Stormlight 5, one of which is arguably the biggest chekhov's guns remaining in the series: where is Taln's Honorblade? In the same way that Kaladin's 4th Ideal had to be resolved in RoW, Taln's Honorblade needs to be resolved in Stormlight 5. The most narratively satisfying way to resolve this mystery, would be to have Taln, reunited with his Honorblade (and hopefully with his sanity), be Dalinar's champion. A couple other points: we know that one of the main plots in Stormlight 5 will be Kaladin and Szeth traveling to Shinovar to try and figure out how to restore the Heralds' sanity. And also in RoW, the Stormfather told Dalinar (the person who will be picking his champion) rather emphatically that Taln was the best fighter among the heralds. This is a story, not real life, Brandon put that line in there for a reason. I have no idea who Odium's champion will be, but I'm pretty sure we are going to have a "good guys lose ending" which means that Dalinar's champion will lose. If Taln is the Champion, he absolutely could lose since Odium's side will have access to anti-stormlight weapons. And if he does lose I think it sets up his character arc nicely for the back 5 since he will be one of the main flashback characters. Even if Taln is not the champion I 100% believe that his Honorblade will show up in Stormlight 5 and that Taln will have something important to do.

This was never promised. What Brandon said was this: He confirmed in the Newsletter that he is talking about the sequence from chapter 105-110 which includes Kaladin swearing the 4th Ideal and Navani bonding the Sibling. I don't have anything to comment on the other things you mentioned, but this one simply isn't valid.

I really like this chapter. The "child seeking the approval of their parents" trope is one that hits home not just for me, but I think for a lot of people. When done well it can be excellent for the story and the conflict between Kaladin and Lirin. I don't think that Kaladin wants to be a surgeon deep down, but I do think that he wants reconciliation with Lirin, and Lirin understandably doesn't want to lose another son. If I try the reverse engineer the storytelling here, I think we will have Kaladin and Lirin come to a reconciliation, and since we know that the Fused are planning to attack Urithiru, I think that the odds of Lirin surviving the attack have fallen with this chapter. Side prediction: I haven't seen people talk about this, but I'm sure they have since it seems pretty obvious. Szeth will kill Lezian the Pursuer with Nightblood. I don't know that it will happen in this book, but I think it will happen eventually. Nightblood is in Stormlight for a reason and Lezian is a huge problem that can be solved by only Nightblood.

I love that some people in-world are thinking that Jasnah and Hoid are a thing, when in reality they are probably spending their alone time having discussions about important realmatic things where 98% of the conversation is him annoying the hell out of her and the other 2% is actual useful information. Just enough for her to keep him around.

No, just correct.

Oh man, the word "essentially" is pulling massive amounts of weight in this sentence. I'm pretty sure that this means that the Sibling is not a deadeye. Using the word "essentially" here is intentional and most likely just means that while the Sibling is dormant and can't be bonded with, they are not technically a deadeye, just essentially one. If the Sibling was a deadeye, there would be no need to use the qualifier "essentially". This tracks with what the Stormfather told Dalinar, that the Sibling is "slumbering", not dead. In addition to the fact that the Stormfather heavily implied that they could reawaken the Sibling, but he didn't want them to because he feared it would just lead to the humans causing more harm to the Sibling.

Sorry to kill this theory, but Tanavast is dead.

That's fair. I will concede that Brandon is sorta playing with fire here and he needs to be careful, though I'm sure that he has spent more time thinking about how to balance this than any of us have haha. I would prefer that the Cosmere novels stay mostly separate. Which is why I'm not a fan of the 'Kelsier is running the Ghostbloods' theory, the 'Autonomy will play an important role in Stormlight' theories, and any theory that involves too much heavy Cosmere stuff.

Brandon has maintained that he doesn't want specific knowledge about the Cosmere to be necessary to understand any of his novels (Mistborn Era 4 notwithstanding), but that having Cosmere knowledge would enhance your experience. Mraize acknowledging that the Cosmere exists and hinting about things beyond Roshar doesn't cross this line. If there is any worldhopping going on in Stormlight I'm sure it will be the Roshar system only (Ashyn and Braize). Integrating the Cosmere fully into one of these novels is specifically what Brandon has said he will not do, regardless of what you think this conversation between Mraize and Shallan was indicating. I would however be very worried if things like Allomancy, Feruchemy, or any other non Rosharan magic system started to play an important role in the story, or if (lol) Shallan does turn out to be a Kandra, because that would be crossing this line.

No, it doesn't. Nothing begs this question. You're making an assumption based on a counterintuitive conclusion that you've already settled on.

This is what I said would not happen: Are you referring to her ability to understand languages or to peek into Shadesmar? If it's the former that's just the passive ability Envoyform gives her. If it's the latter, she's using voidlight to do it as we've already established.

The screamers are detecting Radiants using Surgebinding, there is no reason to believe that the fuel source, stormlight or voidlight is a factor. I 100% believe that she can Surgebind using voidlight. We know that cosmere magics can be powered through multiple magical fuel sources. Since stormlight and voidlight are from the same planet system and are so similar, it stands to reason that Venli can use voidlight to surgebind. Not to mention that the Fused are already doing it anyway, and the screamers don't care when they do. The screamers are certainly able to tell the difference between Radiants and Fused using these powers. Her regal ability, Envoyform has given her the ability to understand languages and communicate very well with the other singers. Makes sense given the name Envoyform. I find it very hard to believe that Envoyform is giving her the ability to peek into Shadesmar. If that were the case, she wouldn't be trying so hard to hide this ability from the screamers and the Fused.

There is no reason why Transportation wouldn't do the same. She draws in Voidlight right before doing it.

Occam's Razor: All Radiants have some relation to Shadesmar, but the ability to willingly peek into Shadesmar is an application of Transportation. Also: The Secretspren or 'Screamers' as they were called back in Kholinar during Oathbringer are detecting Radiants using their surges, though they are not capable of detecting all surges it seems. They could detect Kaladin's Lashings and Venli's attempt at using Cohesion, but not Shallan's Lightweaving or Venli's use of Transportation. It seems they can only detect the surges that are interfacing with and changing physical objects like Gravitation and Cohesion. Venli is using Transportation here and the Secretspren can't detect it.

One of the main focuses of Kaladin's arc, and arguably the main focus since the beginning of Oathbringer has been his inability to let go and not take things personally when he can't save someone. As we all know since it's been discussed to death, this is very likely the crux of the 4th ideal which when Kaladin swears it will be a major step in his character arc and also give us the answer to the mystery of living Shardplate (although the mystery has probably been solved, we're just waiting on confirmation). As an author Brandon knows that you can only play these conflicts and mysteries out for so long without a resolution/payoff before people start to lose interest. So from a meta/writing perspective Brandon has to strike while the iron is hot and have Kaladin swear the 4th ideal during this book, which I am close to 100% certainty will happen. I don't think we will see any other Windrunner get to the 4th ideal first. There has been a clear pattern in these books where our main viewpoint characters discover these secrets with us reading their viewpoint so that we discover it with them, rather than having them get discovered by a non POV character, which would be pretty lame.

I just can't imagine that whoever is writing to Navani is the Sibing. Seems like a silly/contrived way to being them into the story. I think it's a lot more likely that it's one of the Sleepless, a Willshaper, or just anything else for that matter. Also I'm predicting that whoever is writing to Navani is a man, because Navani is assuming that it's a woman (understandably). Brandon has done this before, where a character assumes that another character that they've only heard about is a man/woman and it turns out the be the opposite. Since the Women's script is being written nearly illegibly it's probably someone who is unfamiliar with it or new at it, like a man perhaps.

I get what you mean, but I think what is happening here is that because all Cosmere magics operate on the same principles, the allomantic metals for Rioting and Soothing can have similar effects when used in a different magic system. I know I'm being a bit pedantic, but I think calling this "Allomancy" is inaccurate.

The 4th oath of the Skybreakers is about completing a specific mission with a finite goal, which is fundamentally different than all of the other oaths we have seen. "I will protect those who cannot protect themselves" isn't a mission, it doesn't have an ending. They are words to live by. Based on this fundamental difference, it naturally follows that the mission needs to be completed for the 4th oath to be considered completed as well. And as @Karger has already laid out, all available evidence points to this being the case.

So do we think that the Sons of Honor are actually a bunch of chumps? Or is this misdirection from Brandon? Either way I'm withholding judgement until we finally meet Restares. I don't think they're as 'in the know' or necessarily as competent as the Ghostbloods, but I think they have to be a bit more of a threat than these chapter's have lead us to believe.

Since I'm a sucker for using established powers in new and creative ways I was delighted to see Kaladin use that spear as a projectile. I am now expecting them to invent Gravitation powered ballistic spear cannons that can launch volleys of spears for long range combat. (Just don't stand behind the target in case they miss)

As I understand it, the killing blow happened as a sudden event, but it took a long time for Honor to die afterward. Sort of like someone getting shot and then taking several minutes to bleed out. I agree that he didn't necessarily need Cultivation's help in killing Honor. The question I am asking is: If Odium is stronger than Honor, then why did he kill Honor exactly when he did? Why not sooner? Why not later? What was the significance of doing it at that exact time? How does "We killed you" fit in, if at all? Luckily, based on this WOB we will eventually know the exact time of Honor's death, and hopefully more.

The death of Honor is one of the most significant mysteries that doesn't get talked about enough. Like, something happened to allow Odium to kill him. He didn't just fall asleep or step on a lego one day. How does a Shard who existed in the same system as Odium for Millennia suddenly get killed, seemingly at random? To me it just doesn't make sense. Maybe Cultivation advised Honor to allow himself to be killed by Odium because she saw that it would allow them to win in the long run, and thus it would be the 'honorable' thing to do? But this doesn't explain the "We killed you" line because in this scenario Odium doesn't know that Cultivation is involved. Either way I think the "We killed you" line is referring to Honor and it implies that multiple parties were involved, the question is: Who else? Maybe Cultivation helped Odium kill Honor, but if I was Odium in that scenario I would be highly, highly suspicious.