Blaze1616

If this doesn't have a happy ending I'm going to cry. Side note: Fanfic mode activated. Mollie the pug begins the novel desperately wanting to befriend one of the adorable bunnies. Time and time again she tries, but to no avail. Her human pack-mates understand her dilemma, but can do nothing to help. Mollie continues, however, not allowing herself to be daunted by the untrusting nature of the bunnies and their hopping culture. Finally she comes upon the idea of sharing her favorite toy, possibly even gifting it to one of the bunnies, as a sign of good faith. Eagerly waiting for the humans to use their magical front paws to open the invisible gate, Mollie knows that this just has to work. By this point we're halfway through the novel. Mollie's toy perplexes the bunnies, and one of them is brave enough, non-conformist enough to give Mollie a chance. I name this bunny Chauncy. Why? Becuase bunnies should be named Chauncy. Mollie and Chauncy hit it off, bounding around the yard day after day. Before long, Mollie and Chauncy are the best of friends, spending all day together, and only parting because, at the end of the day, Chauncy is a bunny, and Mollie is a pug. The other bunnies are skeptical, though, believing that Chauncy is merely being led on by Mollie. Despite Chauncy's friends' beliefs, eventually the relationship hits the point that Mollie, being the loving pug that she no doubt is, gives Chauncy her favorite toy, telling him that they will be best friends until the end of their days. We then reach the climax of the story, somewhere near the three-quarters mark. Tragedy strikes. Mollie rushes outside one fateful day, yet Chauncy is nowhere to be found. She searches and searches, but cannot find the bunny. That is until she notices a bunny foot beneath a tree (If you didn't have trees, you do now). Rushing over, Mollie finds Chauncy badly wounded, a snake's poisonous bite oozing blood onto Chauncy's fur. Mollie goes to comfort Chauncy, but Chauncy tells her to run as the snake will soon return. Mollie makes the decision to stay and fight, facing her fears of death for Chauncy. The snake returns, and the battle is fierce. Mollie exits victorious, however, with the snake slain. She returns to Chauncy as the bunny takes his final breaths, saying goodbye to his canine friend. Mollie falls into a mild depression, mourning the loss of her best friend. She spends days lounging by the invisible portal, staring into the blue sky, remembering the cute little bunny. When she does go outside, she wanders the yard aimlessly, fond memories bringing pain. Finally, after about a week, Mollie finds herself lying in the grass trying to recall the scent of Chauncy, but is saddened when she can't. Out of the corner of her eyes, though, she notices a ball of fur watching her. Heart skipping a beat, Mollie jumps to her paws, disbelieving it could be Chauncy. Low and behold, it isn't Chauncy, but one of the other bunnies. As it twitches its nose at her, more bunnies emerge from behind it, their number growing to 20. They begin to approach Mollie, who is still with confusion. The bunnies had always been scared of her, what had changed? They begin to part, allowing a bunny from the back of their group to come forward. As it reaches Mollie, the bunny reveals that it has Mollie's favorite toy. It tells Mollie that Chauncy cherished that toy, and cherished his friendship with her. They saw what Mollie did for Chauncy, in his final moments, choosing to fight rather than to leave the bunny to be eaten. They tell her that she has proven to them that they shouldn't be skeptical of friendship, the strongest bond of all. In the end, Mollie may have lost her dearest friend, but managed to gain 20 new ones. The end.

I think there's a lot more to Renarin's background than you're giving him credit for. If Dalinar's flashbacks told us everything about Renarin's life, he wouldn't really be Renarin, but would actually just be "Dalinar's Second Son." Given this is Brandon, I'm 100% confident Renarin is a fully fleshed out character, as many of his Interluders no doubt are. In addition, Dalinar's flashbacks could all be prior to having children, when he earned the name Blackthorn, when he visited the Nightwatcher, or any other time in his life, and Renarin could never get mentioned. Moreover, Renarin's flashbacks could detail his (WoB admitted) odd relationship with his spren, Glys. Renarin's flashbacks could finally reveal to us details about Shshsh. Making the assumption that Renarin's flashbacks would reveal nothing more than what we'd learn from Dalinar's flashbacks is not giving Renarin enough credit as a character. Renarin's depth has already been, in my mind, sufficiently detailed and hinted at; Renarin's anti-socialness and his box, the screaming in his head, the trauma that seeing parts of the future has clearly had on him, the desire to be like his father and brother (and his inability to be so), the pressure from not wholely conforming to Vorin standards, and the list goes on. And I'm not even a Renarin fanboy *stares at other specific forum members* My point is, there is almost no reason for you to be skeptical. Renarin is a very detailed character, and definitely has had experiences in his past that would be worth flashbacks, I'm sure of it. Plus, as Weiry pointed out, there's also the 15 year gap that the flashbacks could cover.

I think Vasher should definitely know of Hoid as Hoid, and should know he's a worldhopper too. Hoid has enough Breath to reach Perfect Pitch, or the Second Heightening at the least. Vasher, a Nalthian who picks up on even the faintest of color auras due to Breath, would have definitely noticed. In addition, if Vasher ever had the First Heightening (very, very likely) or "awoke" his Divine Breath while Wit was around he'd see Hoid's Breath count due to Aura Recognition. Honestly, given they are both at the Plains with direct contact with the Kholins I'd be shocked if they hadn't run into each other. As for whether their relationship goes back to Nalthis, we don't know (dang it Brandon, publish Nightblood already!), though it wouldn't surprise me. I'm less certain of whether Hoid taught Vasher to hop, though. It doesn't seem like something Hoid would do.

Really? Except for Hermione in the later movies, Luna, and some of the minor characters, I actually pictured all the characters almost exactly like their movie counterparts, and I was reading them as they released. It was a rather pleasant surprise, and I'm sure it will never happen again, unfortunately...

This discussion has occured in other threads a while ago (potentially near the end of last year). The consensus, if I recall correctly, was that Taravangian was telling the truth and lieing at the same time. We know one of the blades is missing, but it being one that allows Regrowth is likely a lie, or at least he has no idea which one was taken and is passing off a guess as truth. He did know, if I recall the books correctly, that the individual Szeth fought was a Surgebinder, though, and chose to keep that knowledge from Szeth to ensure the Shin continued to follow orders.

I like all these questions except for number 9. Why do people picture the aura like Stormlight? I'll never understand it. Is it a side effect from reading the Stormlight Archive first? I read Warbreaker first, and I thought the book made it perfectly clear that the "aura" was simply colors of objects around the individual behaving oddly by being brighter/more vibrant. It was established right in the prologue: Bolded emphasis mine, naturally. I don't think the book ever gave sufficient reasoning to believe it is a sheen or mist coming off the individual. Besides, the book describes Breath to look like the stuff on the cover: If the aura really was Breath leaking through their bodies, I think Nalthians would have made the connection. I also think it would make it hard to see someone who had reached a relatively high Heightening, given they'd be surrounded by a cloud of colorful mist. As a final point, if the Breath were literally leaking like Stormlight does, why would having attained higher Heightenings matter in terms of noticing the aura, as Vasher comments on twice in the quotes I provided?

That is until Steelheart turns everything to steel. I don't see how he could possibly lose at that point, because then they'd have almost identical passive capabilities (flight, super-health [until TLR figures out how to beat Steelheart]). I actually don't see Steelheart having much of a chance.

Given Brandon has said the ending of book 10 is hidden in there, I'd say you're right

Thank Moogle, humans' perception of spren is a good point that I hadn't thought of. Cognitive Shadows are so perplexing... Is it possible that Eshonai makes no mention because the Listeners' records/memory don't go back to a time before Honor being on Roshar?

I agree that the Stormfather is a cloud of mystery, but my comparison between him and the Nightwatcher still stands: source I will admit though that the WoB only says they are similar, not exact matches. It sounds like you believe he was fundamentally different when he was the Rider of the Storms. Could you share your reasons for this? Whether I missed something stated in the novels/WoB or you've inferred it from evidence, I'd like to know as I don't recall anything hinting at such. I see your point, but it still strikes me as highly unlikely. For one, the safehand and futuresight issues are religion based. Same as the aversion to suicide in the real world, for example. As for the Parshendi's role in the desolations, it could be due to Vorinism, or it could be because humans and Parshendi didn't mingle between past desolations. It also doesn't help that humans' knowledge base is wiped pretty much clean with each desolation. The spren conflict doesn't have that type of history, and I think it a rather large stretch to say all spren left alive after the betrayal would think that way. It's just too much of a stretch for me, personally.

Being at stage 4 would mean she spoke the first oath, and three truths.

For the entirety of the spren population to believe so? I feel you're stretching real hard for that to be considered valid. If it was just the Stormfather, I would be inclined to agree. But Syl claims to be the only honorspren to have bonded a human. Pattern regards that the Cryptics, as a committee or some such thing, decided they would allow him to bond. It is heavily implied that all spren believe they were betrayed. I understand, and appreciate, playing Devil's Advocate, but that is some weak tea It's the default form upon death when the Nahel Bond reaches the point in which the spren can become a blade. So, if Kaladin were to pull similar antics to what he did in WoR now, Syl would be stuck in blade form forever/until revived. There was WoB, as you say, but I'm not sure where (I think it was recent). Well the Stormfather was likely around while Honor was still kicking (Nightwatcher is to Cultivation as Stormfather is to Honor, and Cultivation is still kickin, so yeah). Since Radiants couldn't exist until after Honor's Splintering (birth of spren), it stands to reason that the Stormfather was there.

This is sketchy to me. If the spren died willingly, why to the current spren claim humans betrayed them? Why does the Stormfather, someone who has been around since before the betrayal, have such distrust of humans? That distrust and the common belief of betrayal tells me the spren didn't willingly partake. I'm still not sure how all the Radiants could make such a plan without any of their spren knowing, but it seems clear to me that they did.

Here's a thread where I brought this up: link. Read the next few posts (as well as the thread Moogle links to). Edit: The thread Moogle links to doesn't bring up the eye-color issue until around page 4, it would seem. Just a heads up.

All right, I found the topic discussing the blending of Worldhopping. Turns out it was a small conversation in a larger topic, and it wasn't asked by Oudeis (though he did partake in the conversation). You can find the conversation starting here. I apologize for partaking in this derailment. For my thoughts on fabrials of other investitures, see my earlier posts about Elantris's teleportation discs.

You are correct. In addition to knowing some planets had pre-Shattering life, we know others didn't attain life until after. For Scadrial we know humans specifically did not exist until Leras and Ati strolled on over and set up shop. I'm not sure about other Scadrian life forms (flora and fauna and whatnot). As for distinctions? I'm not sure? Hoid is pre-Shattering, but he also has access to Yolen-Lightweaving, so we never really know if we're seeing "real" Hoid or not. I think many of us Sharders have presumed that the Shards that created human life made humans in the Yolish-human image, which is why worldhopping does not cause the locals to scream "ALIENS!", because the humans look similar enough to not throw up flags. This was discussed rather recently in a topic started by Oudeis, I think. I'll try to find it and link it.

I've spent the last hour searching and still haven't found the WoB I mentioned. This is the closest I've gotten. I'm giving up for now, but I know I've read it somewhere that any average hopper dying on Nalthis would not Return due to not being Nalthian. Also, the point of the RAFO answer is for you to not "interpret" them. A RAFO is Jordan's/Brandon's way of saying "I'm not answering that." It's not meant to be a sly or cryptic way of confirming or denying.

I do not believe that the Spark of Life is from the Shards. We know that life existed prior to the Shattering on non-Yolen planets via WoB. We also know that the power of the Shards is specifically the power of creation, not necessarily only life. A good question to ask Brandon would be "You've referenced the Spark of Life as Investiture when discussing Nightblood. Does Hoid have this Spark of Life?"

There is WoB for my statement, but I cannot seem to find it (which has been an issue in the past with this specific WoB). I'm trying to find it, but I can't make any promises. Also, being "really hard" could mean one would have to somehow alter their Identity to say they were from Nalthis before it would work. Just something to keep in mind. Brandon saying "really hard" does not mean my statement is false.

Two small things. First, I'm pretty sure that Hemalurgy steals. It "rips off" a piece of your spirit web. That would imply it is no longer where it originally was (i.e. in you). Second, Breath is not the Spark of Life. Breath is other innate investiture that non-Nalthians have packaged together with their Spark of Life. Nalthians have it separate though, and that is why a Drab can continue living after giving up their Breath.

Ah, my apologies for misunderstanding. It is interesting, and makes me wonder if grinding into a powder makes the metal too fine, such that it would burn away too quickly. This also makes me wonder if, when burning, all sources of the metal are being burned simultaneously, or if each flake is burned individually until it is gone, and the process moves to the next flake. My gut says it's the former, because that seems to make more intuitive sense. If that is the case, then a powder might be too fine because it would all disappear immediately rather than slowly burning away. I would say we can't really ascertain much on this until the mechanics of burning are known.

Yes, I do think it still holds. Given it's a convention supplied by Brandon, not by the fandom, I have no reason to doubt it. Moreover, the sentience would still "hold" the Shard in the manner you speak of, so Brandon's answer likely wouldn't change. I highly doubt this because Brandon has been very insistent that there are only 16 Shards. Whenever asked, he tends to clarify by saying that the Seventeenth Shard is an organization, and not an actual Shard. I know I've read his responses saying such on more than one occaision, but there is only response on Theoryland that mildly hints to this.

Bah! The wonderful thing about this site is that no one treats others like "long term vets." Just people who have been members on the site longer. You could easily be more knowledgable than me (I'm still relatively new, not even a full year), or Moogle, or Kurkistan, or Chaos, or whomever. No need to feel bad, or apologize, or make notes like that. Just be respectful and willing to accept that your theories might be wrong. It definitely is an interesting statement. But the fact that it's a small statement in the AA makes me think it could definitely be wrong. Though I understand your point that anyone not "in the know" would refer to the AA as an appendix, people who aren't "in the know" probably won't fine comb the statements written there like you have. Moreover, in a year, they won't remember such a small thing in the grand scheme of things. Ad for the rare few who do remember, they'll come to places like here to find out what happened, and will become "in the know." So unless Brandon makes it a big deal by devoting more than one sentence or two out of thousands from the book, I wouldn't say it is any less likely to be false than Sazed's or Szeth's false beliefs.

The thing you have to remember is that the Ars Arcanum isn't a glossary. It's an in world "journal" of sorts. When we read the AA, we read a notebook that is kept by a Realmatic scientist. As such, there is likely speculation, both true and false, that is involved. We're not reading notes that Brandon thinks we should know. We're reading notes that a scientist feels are important. Things that the character that is the author feels are important. In the way that Szeth was wrong about one of his assertions, or that Sazed was wrong with one of his, the AAA could be wrong too. That being said, I agree with your final statement, I think the question of why the AAA thinks there should be a fourth system is far more important than what the fourth system is.

What will probably happen is when Michael and Kate (hopefully) return for SA3, they'll throw in the lines from SA2 and make an update then. That's assuming they're worried about updating the audiobook at all.