Jondesu

Nah, not untouched, just that the way the Nightwatcher works (boons and curses, almost playing tricks on people) is due to the personality of her vessel, even though obviously still with influence from the Shard. I think we're getting to see a bit of what she'd have been like before taking the Shard (but with the power to actually do more than just tricks). jW

Even more potent than simply giving powers to people who wouldn't have access to them normal, @zeppomarks, is the potential to combine features of multiple different magic systems. There's some truly terrifying prospects there. jW

I don't know what you mean by fragmented, sorry. There's definitely a spectrum of how much the personality is changed, even if it turns out to only change over time. There isn't really a happy medium to be reached between personality and Intent, anyways, because those things are too complex for that. I definitely see indications that the Vessels of the Shards retain some of their personality in some cases and not much in others, though admittedly we're short in examples still. jW

I'm not certain, and he was certainly changed by it, but Ati was in a very different situation. According to what we know, he was "a kind and generous man", not like Ruin. That drastic a difference has been theorized to cause a much more significant warping of the holder. By contrast, Hoid seems to believe that Rayse is still in control of himself, probably because his personality already fit Odium's Intent. He may not be a reliable source on that, but I think the concept seems sound. In fact, while Leras couldn't act against Preservation's mandate, it seems his personality may have been more intact, but of course that was a very different situation too. jW

I think the idea that they have to have their own magic systems plus a combo one is flawed, though. According to Brandon, there's really only one magic system on Sel, just with different means of accessing/using it for the different regions. While I'm sure things changed with the shattering of Devotion and Dominion, I can't imagine that fundamental concept changed that much, since we have no indication that Surgebinding on Roshar really changed at all after Honor's shattering, and while having the Dor in the Cognitive has a big effect, I think that D&D's Intents meshed so well that they didn't spawn individual magic systems, but just one combined one. I think mostly the same thing happened on Roshar: Surgebinding isn't of Honor alone, but both Honor and Cultivation. It's just that Honor's Intent is more obvious there (but the Nahel bond must be cultivated for a Radiant to grow). I simply don't think Cultivation has her own separate magic system, since I wouldn't classify the Old Magic the Nightwatcher does as a magic system (and neither does Brandon from what I remember). jW

Did Honor and Cultivation Invest in Roshar equally (to the same degree, or the same amount of Investiture, however that would be described)? jW

Heh, I guess I did misunderstand, but I still disagree on that point of not investing enough. I don't think it's a matter of investing less, just that the way she invested resulted in a mixing of her magic with Honor's, along with then influencing the crem and the growth of the various lifeforms on Roshar. I think she invested just as much as Honor did. That'd be a great question to pose to Brandon sometime, though. jW

Okay, so we have a WoB that the Nightwatcher is connected to Cultivation similarly to how the Stormfather is connected to Honor. There's another WoB I've seen that's even more explicit, but I can't find it. Basically, he says that the Nightwatcher is to Cultivation what the Stormfather is to Honor. But the Stormfather isn't really Honor's spren, even though he thinks of himself that way. He's Tanavast's Cognitive Shadow (or we might even call him Tanavast's Spren, at least Rosharans likely would, considering that's even how they'd refer to Adolnasium according to Brandon). While Cultivation's Vessel is still alive (and I don't think we know her name, though we know it's a she), so she doesn't have a Cognitive Shadow, I think that she's able to appear in a physical form (perhaps intentionally spren-like, perhaps forced into that due to the way magic works on Roshar), and that we see not Cultivation's Intent playing out directly in the Nightwatcher, but the personality of Cultivation's Vessel. I.E., if Cultivation's holder is named Jane, then the Stormfather is to Tanavast what the Nightwatcher is to Jane. The Nightwatcher isn't carrying out Cultivation's Intent directly, though certainly colored by it, but rather is a glimpse into the personality of the original Vessel, who has not been completely subsumed, just like Tanavast wasn't and Odium probably hasn't been. Just a theory, but I also asked this in a simpler way on Reddit and I'm hoping Brandon himself might weigh in (probably not since it's a bit more complex than he likes to answer there, but I had to try): Question on Reddit about the Nightwatcher and Cultivation jW

My opinion is that it's likely not, and that instead the name Trell has been co-opted by someone or something else. If it's a Shard, then certainly it could be the same, but it just doesn't feel right. jW

I think this is a nearly impossible conclusion, but I also don't think Cultivation's Investment in the planet resulted in a new magic system (we can see her influence on Surgebinding, after all, and Cultivation is a compatible enough Intent with Honor that it wouldn't have necessitated a new magic system, unlike with Ruin/Preservation). Instead, I think Cultivation is the reason for crem and it's nearly magical properties. That's what's responsible (possibly along with Stormlight, though we're not completely sure how that works) for the amazing growth on otherwise almost pure rock, and that just screams Cultivation to me. The Nightwatcher doesn't sound like Cultivation, but since we have WoB saying she's similarly related like the Stormfather and Tanavast, I'm actually guessing that the Nightwatcher is Cultivation's Vessel playing tricks on people. Perhaps she was already like that before taking the Shard, and her personality wasn't so different as to warp that part out of her. jW

Went to the library today and ended up picking out Earth Unaware, the first of a prequel trilogy to Ender's Game. I didn't even know it existed, nor that he'd written as many as he did. I though there were 8-10 books in the Ender universe, but there appears to be quite a few more, this trilogy included. It's great so far, which is no surprise considering how much I loved the others I read (I think I'd read the first 6-7 in the series). jW

Okay, new crazy theory to add: it's been speculated that Axies might end up as a Radiant, though certainly nothing confirmed, and his hobby (obsession) is documenting types of spren. I imagine that obsession would immediately expand to including trying to document the relationships of Radiant Spren with their Radiants, and understanding that bond. He's also already fascinated with Cusicesh due to those factors (though he/she/it is stable enough that while he made sure to see Cusicesh while he was there, he doesn't seem to have plans to stick around at this time). However, Axies might become another Bondsmith, bonding Cusicesh itself, and restoring Cusicesh's mind to the point he can finally reveal to us what caused it's current condition. jW

Yeah, The Lost Metal. I won't be surprised if we see at least one of those two, maybe both. I don't know that I'm as confident we'll see Kelsier in the later eras, but it's not impossible. I would love to see a man with criss-crossing scars on his arms pop up on Roshar, though. jW

Precisely. I didn't think I could pull off the face, though. jW

Little different method and result, let's see how it turns out.

You gave it away to me, @Vertigo. It's gotta Shallan trying to soulcast the Stick, right? jW

I need to read the Mars Trilogy, I'll put it in my list. Have you read the John Carter of Mars series? Starting with A Princess of Mars, IIRC. Very different, but it's really intriguing. I'm a fan of unusual perspectives, and a first person narrative told in third-person (it's John Carter's story that he wrote down himself, but organized into a book and narrated by his nephew, I think is how it worked), is definitely not common. Made for a really fun read despite a bit of archaic language. jW

What I garner from that is that the shattering of Honor wasn't a single event, but probably a process. The Recreance could even have been a side-effect of the process of shattering him, rather than the other way around. jW

Oh, that actually has tons of potential. Go read it as soon as you can, btw, but spoilered for your sake and others:

Don't forget, Breeze is and always was an expert at hiding his feelings, while seemingly freely talking about himself. I see the reversion back to his original self as an intentional front, hiding deep scars, just like it was before. No doubt Allriane was helping too, but I don't think he was himself again; I think we never saw him being himself. jW

That's very well thought out and explained! I definitely agree in principle, though I'd have to think through the details a bit more to grasp them fully. I think it ties well into my theory on Cusicesh, even if I'm wrong about Cusicesh actually being Cultivation's spren in some way. You might have seen it already, but here's a link in case: jW

Interesting to see the number of Bondsmith spren confirmed. That ties into a previous theory I had that the faces on Cusicesh are the faces of the Knights Radiant, either from all time or just from the Recreance, and that Cusicesh was broken because it was bonded to a Bondsmith who somehow tried to hold onto the spren bonds of the other Radiants, but failed and instead they somehow imprinted on Cusicesh. Edit: I agree that Cusicesh isn't Cultivation's cognitive shadow, like the Stormfather at least thinks he is. Instead, I think such a major force on Roshar as Cultivation generated a spren representing her, but not actually her. jW

Okay, so I just got the Stormlight Archives Pocket Companion (instructions here thanks to @Eccentric Hero), and came across this interesting quote: While Cusicesh is certainly mysterious, I'd never considered it being a spren of something (someone?) else. We know Honor was splintered, and have assumed Cultivation is working behind the scenes, but she seems to not be doing anything specific we can determine. What if Cultivation has been injured/damaged by Odium, but he was prevented by the Oathpact or something else from splintering her? We've seen a damaged Shard before, but it was self-inflicted. A Shard damaged like that by another Shard might have significant issues, and Cusicesh might be showing the effects of that. I'm having trouble connecting Cusicesh to Cultivation by behavior or looks, but the connection is hard to ignore. jW

Awesome, just signed up. jW

Finished the Royal Assassin series by Robin Hobb...feeling empty now, without more of it to read. So amazing, really wonderful writing, and awesome plot twists I didn't see coming at all. Starting the Dragonriders of Pern, since I saw it mentioned here a few times. Definitely good so far, though it started with too many unfamiliar words in the first chapter. jW