junior

No, it didn't. She'd already used her powers once in the elevator shaft. While it made her momentarily harsher, it apparently didn't screw up the long-term attitude toward the team that she appears to have been developing. I don't think even she was entirely aware of what was going on emotionally during her time with the team. When she's not showing open hostility toward David, she's pretty friendly toward him - to the point where she even engages in friendly banter with him regarding his atrocious metaphors. Most likely, the onset of her powers at a young age stunted her emotional development. The constant use of them would have kept her from gaining proper emotional maturity and drawing close to other people. Given the mess that took place in Portland, the Reckoners cell is probably a replacement family for her (I don't think it's too big of a stretch to guess that she lost her biological family there). But at the same time, she also probably lacks the emotional experience to understand what's going on as she bonds with the cell.

If the information that she provided about being from Portland is correct, then Steelheart is almost certainly not her father. Annexation Day was roughly one year after the initial appearence of Epics, suggesting that Steelheart was in or around Chicago when he received his power. There's a slight possibility that he came from further away, but the idea that he came from Portland to Chicago in less than a year after receiving his powers would only make sense if there were some specific reason that he *had* to come to Chicago. There are plenty of other big cities much closer to Portland for him to take up residence in. And given Megan's age, she almost certainly would have been living with her parents when she received her powers - in Portland. As for her motivations... David surmises that Fortuity had fallen out of favor with Steelheart. As such, killing him as part of a Reckoners hit would be no big loss. And it would help "prove" her loyalty to the Reckoners. That would insulate her from suspicions that she was working for Steelheart. And it seems pretty clear that she really doesn't want to see Steelheart removed. She provides an excellent rationale for leaving him in place that's most likely accurate (i.e. he provides stability, unlike in Portland), and the times when she becomes short with David typically either involve a.) the recent use of her powers, or b.) discussion of David's plan to bring down Steelheart. The former is obviously because of the effect powers have on the owner's humanity. The latter is almost certainly because she's trying to discourage the others from going after Steelheart. As for her lack of communication? I don't think there's anything particularly surprising about it. The book takes place over the course of just a few days. She would need to find an excuse to leave her fellow Reckoners and then make contact with Steelheart in a way that doesn't tip anyone off to the fact that she's connected to him. The former is probably the most difficult part. She would need to have an excuse to wander away from the headquarters, and she can't do that too frequently. So it's not as if she can just casually drop by Steelheart's headquarters to give him a status update. As a result, Steelheart doesn't find out what's really going on until Megan reincarnates... at which point he sends his other chief henchman out after the Reckoners (it's mentioned in the book, iirc). And the Reckoners also abandon their current hideout for a new one. So she can't lead Steelheart's troops directly to Reckoners because she doesn't know where they've relocated to.

There's a resemblence, though. At eight years old a kid might be developed enough to resemble his eighteen-year old self (though he also might not). I don't think Megan actively reported David's presence during her time with the group, as Steelheart's documented extreme paranoia would practically guarantee that he'd make a beeline for the group and murder them all the moment he found out. However, it's also possible that Megan said something about it to Steelheart when she revived. On the other hand, it's also pretty clear that her memory is pretty screwed up after she reincarnates, and she has trouble remembering David. So it's also possible that she didn't even remember that David had provided clues about Steelheart's weakness. So imo flip a coin on whether Steelheart is bluffing or not. I think the end of Steelheart sets up a pretty obvious "David tries to redeem Megan" storyline for Fireheart. On the other hand, it's also crossed my mind that the attempted redemption story might be told from her perspective, which is part of what you're suggesting.

The problem is that some of his allies could turn on him if they found out. While we don't know anything about any cells other than Prof's cell, it's possible that people in one of the other cells might have a more sociopathic attitude toward Epics (understandably), and might be more than willing to string up even a friendly one. And even Prof's own cell doesn't all know. Tia knows, but it's clear that Cody doesn't. I suspect that Abraham doesn't know, either.

Thirteen years, specifically. Annexation Day occured ten years before the story. On Annexation Day, the loan officer at the bank tells David's father that epics have been around for two years. And somewhere in the book it mentions that Calamity appeared a year before the first epic did. So thirteen years, give or take. iirc, there's no explicit link provided between Calamity and the epics. But epics appeared roughly a year after Calamity did, so it's hard to avoid drawing conclusions. And because the epics were universally sociopathic, people likely associated Calamity with disaster.

I think we see her use invisibility once, and it's not really remarked upon. When David kills Nightwielder, Megan's mentioned to be trapped under some rubble nearby. Immediately after Nightwielder dies, David sees Megan standing nearby. After he sees her, the trapped Megan and all of the rubble vanish. We know that the trapped Megan was an illusion. But there's nothing to indicate where the real Megan was. And the simplest explanation is that she was standing invisibly nearby. It's possible that she was hiding inside the illusionary rubble, but that wouldn't have been a very good place to be if David had started shooting at the illusionary Megan (which the text seems to suggest he at least considered).

My guess is that "he" is Megan's original secret identity. As I mentioned above, she's young and extremely attractive. One of the first things that she probably learned when she gained her powers was how to create a false identity that made her not look like jail bait. It wouldn't be surprising if she had to negotiate from time to time before coming to Newcago. And it would have been helpful to have a negotiating identity that didn't instantly cause male Epics to unconsciously add "Bed her" to the list of things they wanted out of a negotiation with her - particularly given how brutal some of the Epics likely are.

In most cities, I think you would be correct. iirc, it's mentioned somewhere that Steelheart trades for food that's brought into Newcago from elsewhere. So there are functioning societies outside of Newcago. But Megan's brief mention of Portland seems to suggest that there's barely even any walls still standing in Portland. The place has apparently been all but leveled. According to Megan's way of thinking, Chicago lucked out because there was a single Epic who was far and away tougher than any other Epic. So while he occasionally gets challenged, he's always able to put the challengers down in fairly short order. Now instead of that, imagine a situation in which you have numerous Epics, all roughly at the same power level, and all unwilling to compromise with their opponents. Imagine the final fight scene in the recent movie "Man of Steel", but with a dozen different individuals, all involved in a massive free-for-all, possibly with supporting elements. And unlike the combatants in the movie, all of the Epics involved probably think that running away to come back and fight at another point in the future is a valid tactic. Even if Megan has powers at that point, she's probably going to be spending most of her time using them to hide. A pretty girl, alone and by herself. She's got to sleep at some point, and presumably her illusions don't work then. If she's lucky, they'll just try and kill her (which will cause her to reincarnate). If she's not lucky, then even being considered a minor might not protect her from rape attempts. Plus, if an Epic free-for-all starts in the area she's in, then she could get caught up in the collatoral damage. Her illusions won't protect her if someone knocks a wall over on her without realizing she's there. Worst of all, she could get trapped by something falling and be caught in a situation in which she can't work herself free, and can't kill herself (which would cause her to reincarnate somewhere else). Forgot about that. I did briefly consider the idea that reincarnating might roll her age back (we know it does something to her mind), but there's no evidence of that.

iirc, the name "truth spren" comes from what Jasnah calls them when she sees a picture of them.

On the other hand, once your plate is equipped, you don't need to worry about someone giving your hand a hard smack and disarming you for the next ten seconds.

So... Firefight... Given that she's going to be the focus of the next novel, I thought it might be worthwhile to cover the information that we have on her. - Megan is the name her parents gave her, though her final conversation with David seems to suggest that she doesn't really see herself as that person (i.e. the pre-powers Megan) anymore. - She's attractive. And that's not just David's adolescent male brain making that judgement. Fortuity immediately ditches his companions when he sees her. Further, it doesn't appear that she used her illusion powers to make herself more attractive. When she dies, no one makes any observations about her appearence changing. - She's about 20 years old. David says 20 at most when he first sees her, so probably in the 18-20 range (though David might be letting his male teenage hormones reduce her age slightly). - Her known powers include extremely sophisticated illusions, invisibility, and reincarnation upon death. The latter appears to involve light in some form, and also appears to induce some short-term memory loss (she has trouble remembering who David is when he meets her in the stadium). - At one point she claims that she's from Portland, Oregon, though there's no evidence to indicate whether she's telling the truth or not. Given all of the above (and assuming that the comment about Portland is accurate) - She was probably young when she received her powers. Epics have apparently been around for 12 years now (it's been 10 years since David saw Steelheart at the bank, and a conversation at the bank indicates that Epics started appearing 2 years before that). Based off of the guess that she's in the 18-20 year old range, that means that she was between 6-8 years old when Epics first started appearing. I don't know if there's any indication whether new Epics keep appearing, so it's possible that she received her powers later on. But either way, she's probably been with Steelheart for at least a few years (I don't remember if any mention is made of when she arrived in the city). And that means that she was probably mid-teens at latest when she received her powers. So lets say somewhere between 6-16 years old. Portland, Oregon, has apparently been completely razed due to fighting between the different Epics. David briefly acknowledges this to the reader when Megan brings it up. Assuming that she's being honest when she says that she's from Portland, she got shown at a very young age (when she was still in her formative years) exactly what happens when a bunch of Epics cut loose on each other. And being in a dangerous, unstable situation is probably the *last* thing that a young, very attractive, female wants to be exposed to - particularly when there are large numbers of extremely powerful individuals running around who have adopted the attitude that they can take anything they want. Yes, she has powers. And they're extremely powerful powers. But at the same time, the powers in question aren't directly offensive. She can do some pretty nasty things with them if she puts her mind to it (David mentions an illusionist who killed someone by making a house look like a curve in the road). But her powers are more subtle than directly offensive. She's got to sleep sometime and her illusions probably don't work if she's unconscious. She'll reincarnate if she dies, but that appears to cause some mental trauma. So being somewhere more stable than Portland would probably be a good idea. That might explain why she ends up in Newcago. Steelheart would probably immediately see her usefulness. And living in Newcago would mean that she could rely on Steelheart's "government" to protect her when she was vulnerable (i.e. sleeping). Plus, food and other resources are apparently widely available in Newcago, particularly if you're an Epic. So she'd be able to eat and otherwise provide for herself. This fits almost perfectly with the defense of Steelheart's regime that she provides mid-way through the book. She's talking from experience, and not just because overthrowing Steelheart would be bad for her own personal situation. Further thoughts?

We don't really know. It's possible that all of the powers can wilfully be turned on and off. It's possible that Fortuity could turn off his power. But why would he - particularly in a city as dangerous as Newcago? Would you turn a power like that off if you didn't perceive a bad side to having it always on?

There's no real point in spreading that information around. Most of the epics probably don't care. Prof presumably has a reason for his lifeline. Conflux probably feels guilty about killing his wife, and the use that he's been put to (i.e. spreading his power among lots of people) helps to keep him sane. And Megan might have an interest in keeping her humanity depending on how she feels about David. But how many other epics even care? One of the things about your own humanity is that while it's gone, you don't miss it. That goes double if the people calling you insane are all a bunch of weaklings who are obviously jealous of your superior power and might.

Cryptics do have an actual physical presence, however. Shallan apparently manages to touch one when she has her freak-out in her room after first noticing them (in the same scene in which she starts to count ten heart beats). She has to close her eyes to do it (which might be important in and of itself), but she does appear to touch one.

It's not just the chalk or the chalk line. The two leads have a mock chalk duel mid-way through the book so that he can teach her a new combat strategy. He draws lots of lines on the ground during the course of their mock duel, but her chalklings completely ignore the lines.

Perhaps. But my first read of your post had me wondering why you thought they might have been "chemically manipulated", if you catch my meaning.

*cough* "dragged" *cough* I ordinarily wouldn't comment on something like this, but using the word "drug" adds an entirely different meaning to your sentence that I'm pretty sure you didn't intend.

I think the biggest problem that I have with the idea of the Spren being abandoned is this - Honorspren are presumably discerning enough to pick honorable individuals. So we're expected to believe that 100 (or more) individuals bonded to honorspren decided to turn their backs on their bonded spren en masse? Abandoning their post (i.e. the Betrayal) is bad enough. But that's abandoning people that you don't really know. They're also being asked to abandon a spren that they've presumably grown close to. Can you imagine Kaladin, after having accepted Syl and the abilities that come from that acceptance, walking away and abandoning her? Yes, there are times when Kaladin does threaten to abandon Syl in the book. But those typically revolve around him either thinking Syl is withholding information, or being unsure about the changes she's instigating in him.

I'm not complaining, mind you. Merely pointing out the difference. WoT *did* have an ultimate big bad with a very nasty group of servants who could identifiably be pointed at and designated as "EVIL!!!!" almost right from the start (i.e. the trollocs). WotK, on the other hand, spends most of the story muddying things where the initial seeming "EVIL!!!!" (i.e. the Parshendi, Szeth) are concerned, but also introduces a few more potential targets (notably, the Ghostbloods) before the end of the book. Of course, given what happened in the first book as well as Sanderson's general writing tendencies, even the new potential "EVIL!!!!" possibilities may very well end up being muddied by the end of Words of Radiance.

But in WoT, you always knew who at least some of the Big Bad's servants were. In WotK, we don't even know that yet.

Which if true, begs the question - where are the spren linked to the currently known arms and armor? And do the spren have an opinion when the arms that they're bonded with end up somewhere other than the armor that they're currently bonded with? Though after thinking about it a bit more, I'm somewhat hesitant to follow this theory too far. The scene in question has the Radiants basicly abandoning their arms and armor in a field. That behavior seems a bit odd if the spren that they're bonded with is linked to the equipment.

From the sound of things, at Nebrask you don't typically need to worry about wild chalklings trying to *sneak* out. The tid-bits of history that we have (in particular the attack on the settlement) and what little we know about Nebrask make it sound as if wild chalklings in their natural state are rabidly aggressive toward humans. It's only when they're being controlled by their three-dimensional allies that they refrain from immediately swarming any human who comes too close.

I suspect that he'll be ignored. His dark eyes are easily explained. His "shardblade" is clearly some sort of fake as it doesn't act like a true and proper shardblade (i.e. it doesn't vanish when dropped). That's why his eyes are still dark. The fact that he's clearly wielding a weapon that appears to be as powerful as a shardblade will cause some consternation... but only because people will start to worry about which nation secretly developed the ability to create shardblade-equivalent weapons.

Hiding chalklings is easy enough. They're two-dimensional creatures, which makes it much easier to hide them from others. You could hide them on the bottom of your shoe. Or inside your clothes. In either case, the chalklings would be immediately at hand so that they could be used when needed. But they'd also be completely undetectable without a very close inspection of the person transporting them.

Kind of like people claiming that they had an ancestor tied to some famous historical event (i.e. on the Mayflower, fought in the American War of Independence, etc...). For a lot of people, it's true. For a lot of others... it's not. But with regards to the rogue "mistborn" in the next trilogy, is it possible that the rogue might turn out to be the product of the conspiracy in AoL? A product that as a result of all of repeated inbreeding turned out to be not all that mentally stable, and that managed to escape from the conspiracy?