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I've been meaning to post a topic about Aesudan for a while, but I haven't been able to really come up with anything aside from a VERY wild piece of speculation/theorizing, that being: Is Queen Aesudan the daughter of Restares? There have been two major points that have led me in this direction: 1) The fact that Aesudan is clearly of high standing in Alethi/lighteyed society, and that she thinks VERY highly of herself and "proper" behavior (ref. her reaction to drunken Dalinar in WoR's prologue). 2) Jasnah and the ardent Pai both consider her a threat, in their own ways. For Jasnah, she found and recruited a notorious assassin to be a spy and sleeper on this woman. For Pai, she considers the queen of Alethkar unsuitable for her position, self-indulgent, and more (which apparently has to do with Odium's influence, which probably means one of the Unmade working on her over time*). And yet, she was the one that was allowed to marry Elhokar. I say "allowed" because I get the feeling that convincing Gavilar (and especially Navani) was at best an uphill climb... if it wasn't an arranged marriage. Her standing in society (to say nothing of the dowry) was the prime factor, but it doesn't strike me as unheard of for a marriage to serve as an agreement between two parties for something completely different. If anything, a "proper Vorin marriage" would only legitimize the Sons of Honor more in the eyes of the Alethi, indirectly. * Any takers on it being the same one that was corrupting Lin Davar?

I'm thinking it's because it has ALL of the Orders' glyphs on it, which is being implied to be ... distinctive. Off the top of my head, we haven't seen any other Shardblades with that characteristic.

I've been wondering about this, but I had virtually no ideas as to its significance. My only serious thought on the subject had to be discarded due to the "Bondsmiths never had Shards" statement.

If Jasnah is on the front cover, will we see Dalinar on the interior art as we did with Kaladin/Shallan for Words of Radiance?

Personally, I've interpreted this as Moelach being the actual speaker, as it seems strange that the individual physically giving these words would say "truths I see", as if knowing what was being witnessed. Thus, it didn't make sense to me that it was a Death Rattle.

Right? He's a real pissbag! #SeraFriendIsBestFriend #dragonage On the serious, I don't think we've even gotten HALF of what Gavilar did to initiate "kickoff" of this Desolation, so to speak, but this reading certainly hinted.

Taravangian, and then Gavilar himself would be my guesses for 4th and 5th respectively. Gavilar just feels "obvious" to me as one, but more importantly, his would reveal the events that led up to why the Parshendi made their move... assuming we don't get that by then.

When I read this, I had the weirdest thing pop into my head: - "Here's some power, you're on your own buhbai." More seriously, Autonomy making Odium autonomous? Hmm...

@VirtuousTraveller There's also this scene, which I completely misread my first time through. I think it's pretty clear this is what is meant by "the eyes of the Unmade": As far as Shallan goes, I think it ties into the folklore that Jasnah researched (as part of her Voidbringer study) and dismissed as 'just folklore'. Why she went digging into the Unmade and summarily dismissed them is one of my major questions, and implicitly reinforces the overall inactivity of the Unmade outside a Desolation period. That said, I'm pretty sure Jasnah discovered how wrong she was about the Unmade during her Cognitive adventure.

I think Sadeas being found dead will be discovered early enough, but the fallout is too difficult to predict. I wouldn't be surprised if Shallan is the one who uncovers the truth, though.

Or backfire, if a Skybreaker Initiate+ happens to be among the people at Urithiru. This sort of event would NOT go undiscovered for long, I suspect, particularly given the location.

Basically, what Shlee said, but I'm going to state it in a different way: - Nahel spren have been fairly clear that they likely would not be as sentient or thought-capable as they are if humans were extinct. Thus, they have an ulterior, self-preserving motive in helping sapient life on Roshar survive, because they themselves will be little more than mindless forces otherwise. (I also think that the Cognitive Realm is in just as much danger as the Physical during a Desolation.)

Skybreakers strike me more as the ones who'd attract logicspren, as they've been clearly shown to require a heavy focus on the left brain for their modus operandi. They learn to act in rational ways, rather than follow their emotions (as compared to instincts). Elsecallers are going to be an Order that attracts something else for their minor spren, I think.

Stick's chapter icon would be a Gordian Knot.

Skybreakers probably have better options (Division) for destroying a building, but I'd say it's probable to use Gravitation on the entire thing with a LOT of Stormlight. It'd probably require a highstorm passing through to guarantee being able to do so, though. If the Shattered Plains were "manmade"/destroyed through magic, it stands to reason that one building is possible.

Personally, I'd vote for 'O', because we're gonna say that a few times reading it, I suspect.

Honestly, I don't think that it being in the plan or not for being an on screen occurrence really debunks a specific Death Rattle's fulfillment. A number of them are likely to happen off screen, particularly the introspective ones. I simply think this one, while it may have been originally planned as an off screen revelation, was concrete enough of an event in Brandon's head where we got cryptic details of how it goes down via Death Rattle. Then it was decided to happen on screen (via Edgedancer), and then we get a lot more details. And here we are.

There is the fact that the Lord Ruler didn't have access to a number of metals, such as bendalloy. Pulsers, Sliders and Leechers were all unknown in the World of Ash. I think Compounding atium was still a necessity for him, even if he knew about what other metals did from using the Well.

The timeline is what troubles me, because if the Thrill was present BEFORE this expedtion*, then there's something else going on too. I still contest that this particular sign is when Taln actually broke, though, even if "Taln" showed up at Kholinar several years after these Unmade-sourced abilities began occurring. (* DISCLAIMER - I have not been able to read the released flashbacks of Dalinar, so all the info. on them I have is second hand, particularly when they occurred.)

Given the ending parts of Edgedancer, I think we can shut the book on the following Death Rattle: I think this applies to Nale, when Lift breaks through the hold on him. He 'awakens' to who he is/was, turns ("spins") to see the parshmen responding to the Everstorm, falls to his knees, and begins to cry. Brandon's Postscript also states he wanted this to be a significant event and not have happen offscreen, so it feels like a notable event that would be a Death Rattle.

RE: Wayne's savantism. There IS a possible ability he gains at the intersection of gold-Feruchemy and bendalloy-Allomancy: - Reducing or halting the aging process.

This isn't going to be super organized of a response, so bear with me. >.> - The Heralds vs. the Unmade feels like a chicken-or-the-egg kind of question. I'd give a great deal for someone to get an answer about this from Brandon, but I'm currently putting money down on the Unmade being born as a result of and/or part of the Oathpact. - The idea of some spren (likely the Voidspren) mimicking the Unmade would make a lot of things make sense. Until we start getting more info about the ancient world(s) in the time before Surgebinders, and Voidbinding in general, it's hard to say whether this is truly the case or not, or if the Voidspren bonds with Listeners is a result of the Unmade effectively enslaving them. - Regarding the Unmade's presence, I thought for a long time that they either went dormant and/or departed from Roshar outside of Desolations, but if Dalinar felt the Thrill in his younger years, that makes it clear that at least Nergaoul did not leave Roshar after Aharietiam. Whether the others did or not is debatable, but I'm now inclined to say they do not. Edgedancer implies a few things I'm not going to specify on this forum.

Well. That little tidbit about Braize corroborates something I've been working on. I really need to get those two threads done one of these days, but something says I should wait for AU to arrive. (Not having a local bookstore anymore SUCKS, by the way.)

What are your theories as to how the yet-to-be-discovered greater power of the oaths can potentially allow Voidbringers to return if Honor is not here to regulate this? I think we can answer this question, though it's a bit of a leap of logic. First, though let's start with reviewing the following major points of what we know: 1) A Nahel bond is, at the core, a spren's imitation of a given Honorblade. Ten Heralds were given ten Honorblades, bestowing upon each of them two Surges, and then "spren figured out what He'd done, and we imitated it," according to Sylphrena, and we have no reason to doubt her statement whatsoever. 2) Radiants gain increased power and abilities by speaking certain Words. These Words are based on the spren and/or the Order/Surges that a given 'Initiate of Roshar' is bonding. We have more than enough examples of this. 3) Each Order has only five Ideals. Or do they? The one thing that's been bothering me about the quote from Nale in the OP is the fact that Honor 'regulated' this so-called greater power. Why would Honor need to do that? I think this is the major point, and I think that this necessity, combined with what we know about those engaged in a Nahel bond, allows us to deduce what the issue really is. Which leads me to the following theory: Nahel bond candidates can potentially grow into Heralds. My assertion for this is largely based on the fact that spren-Shardblades are an attempt to duplicate the effects of the Honorblades. This would imply that, over time, a Radiant could have a Shardblade that becomes increasingly closer to an Honorblade. The five Ideals are, in my opinion, the above-mentioned 'regulation', which is to say that the fifth set of Words was the limit for a given Radiant; he or she had reached the supposed limit of his or her powers. But Honor isn't around to keep a cork in the bottle anymore, and we don't know exactly how the Stormfather arbitrates this progression system when Words are spoken. Additionally, nine of the ten Heralds threw in the towel, therefore creating nine potential "job openings" for someone who - I presume - says the right thing. Words - more precisely, the sincerity of the idea they convey - are what seems to be the requirement to gain power under Honor's system. To me, this same methodology was what the Heralds did (swearing oaths to the Oathpact) when they were formed. Thus, it's possible that someone could take up this particular mantle by swearing the right oath. Whether an Honorblade itself is necessary is the real question. That said, it's a very unlikely possibility (someone learning what Words to say to become a Herald), thus why Nale finds it a small chance, yet there still remains a chance that it could happen. Either way, I think the bolded point is the major danger that Nale is implying. If someone inadvertently stumbles into becoming a pseudo-Herald, then that alone would be theoretically sufficient to trigger a Desolation. Heralds bound to the Oathpact trigger Desolations by not leaving Roshar in time, that's straight from Brandon. Lastly, there's another point to consider: a Death Rattle. Why only ten, when reforming the Radiants should mean significantly more Shardblades should be present opposing the wall? I claim this is because Heralds are as needed as Radiants to win this fight, and to do that, a person must be able to become one. The best candidates would, therefore, be Radiants who at least understand their particular "path of Honor", to say nothing of experience with their powers. Honor isn't able to anoint a Herald, now, so logically this would suggest that one can arrive at that point if shown the way. So yeah, I think there's a little conjecture supporting the idea.

What I took away from it about some of the Unmade not being Sapient, is that it's more a force that "does things" than has a plan for how to go about doing it. If you've seen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about, as far as the analogy goes. For example, an Unmade such as Nergaoul could simply be one that wanders around inciting anarchy and death (via The Thrill). It's also entirely possible that there are gradations to the Unmade. Those with names ARE the sapient ones, while there are substantially more Unmade that are the non-sapient ones that do things such as animate thunderclasts, "possession" (animals that speak), and so on.