KSub

There is definitely something unusual about Kaladin. He has displayed abilities that no one else has and Brandon has confirmed that some are special to him. (Some, like his plate abilities are not unique, he is just the first of the radiants to do it.) I don't think that Cultivation is responsible for them, or at least not directly. When she grants gifts to someone it is in person and Kaladin has not met Cultivation. So do we know anything about Kaladin that could account for this? He is bonded to Syl, who is the first Honorspren created by the Stormfather. Also, she has been with him since he was a child, much like Shallan. That's all I can think of.

We know that humans destroyed Ashyn with surgebinding, then came to Roshar. They brought Odium with them and when they arrived Honor and Cultivation were the gods of the Singers. Honor and Cultivation created the bonds that allow for the Singers forms as well as Greatshells and Rhyshadium. After humans came to Roshar Honor created the oaths linking Surgebinding to the bonds. This gave humans access to the power of two shards. At some point Odium turned the Singers and granted them access to surgebinding. This is why radiants have 2 surges and fused have 1.

Thanks! I don't remember seeing that. Was it a chapter header? My interpretation: the sun is adonalsium with the sixteen points representing the shards. The four points of the star are the dawnshards pulling adonalsium out of the circle (spirit realm, cognitive realm, yolen, something?) And the four arcs are the 4 groups of shards. From dawnshard, pg163: the exploding sun—which was divided into mostly symmetrical pieces. Four of them, each in turn broken into four smaller sections.

I'm having a hard time recalling the symbol you're referring to. Is there an image you could attach for reference?

I think the Heralds affliction is magical in nature. Removing their memories might help a little, especially in Talns case, as you mention. It seems to me Vasher is removing some investiture when he takes the girls memory. To remove enough to forget thousands of years of torture from a cognitive shadow could destroy them, and if you were to replace it then it would probably change who they are. There is a WOB I recall, where Brandon says that if the Returned held enough Breaths from similar minded people it would change their personality. So, for example, if they were patrons of soldiers, scientists or the homeless they would become more warlike, curious, or desperate.

I like Adolin. I like that his morals are clear and his actions reflect that. I don't like that he is constantly willing to sacrifice himself for just about anything. I think there might be a darkness in him that doesn't have to bring into question his goodness but can be a character flaw he needs to overcome. And the way he just keeps winning suggests that he will continue doing it until he experiences some kind of personal tragedy.

I agree. I don't think Lirin is okay with this but he chooses to jam his head under the cream instead of realizing that Kaladin is trying to save everyone and is likely to die either way. I can sympathize with someone in that situation but the point I was trying to make is Kaladins motives are altruistic. ... and I don't like Lirin.

I agree with Halyo_Alex' take on anti investiture. It's not the product of some sort of cosmere devil. It's just a magic-physics equivalent of anti matter. Adonalsium, whatever it may be is the sum of humanity and the shards represent different aspects of it. Within that context there can't be an anti adonalsium. Having said that, a sufficient amount of free investiture given enough time can become sentient. It makes sense that this would hold true for anti investiture as well. But, in the end it doesn't follow the narrative theme, so I don't think this is something that we will see.

No one ever thinks they are the villain but I think the readers almost always agree on who the good guys and the bad guys are in Brandon's books. Rashek might be trying to protect Scadrial from Ruin but he is not an antihero. On the other hand Lirin thinks any violence is wrong and would let the unmade take Kaladin than see him hurt someone. I don't know anyone who agrees with Lirin. One of Kaladins biggest flaws is that he wants to save everyone. I think the difference is in the characters motivations. Rashek is saving Scadrial for personal reasons and if you removed those from the equation he could watch everything else burn. Its a little scary because that reminds me of something Hoid says...

That's funny. I pictured Kelsier being an antagonist given recent events. Of course, it's possible that the actions of Mraize do not represent management.

Great quotes Weltall. I knew he did the mission in Korea but I didn't realize how big his appreciation for that stuff was. Makes sense after all the parallels in the worldbuilding that I mentioned.

No. That chull dung can burn in damnation! Seriously though, I want some people to not be redeemed. Szeths redemption was hard to accept even though he was tricked into it and is so broken because of it and I'm not sure how I feel about the possibility of a taravangian redemption.

I'm not an English major and never had much interest in dissecting what the writer is trying to say. I think writers are just trying to tell a story and often the deeper meanings we find have slipped in from their subconscious while writing. Brandon has stated that he blends different cultures to create his worlds. So it's entirely plausible that Brandon's writing has Christian morals in it because he is Christian. What I find to be much more obvious is the references to xianxia, or Chinese fantasy. Don't get me wrong your sister is probably right but let me give a few examples. •Three realms •qi - the energy that exists in everything •cultivation - the use of qi to gain powers and immortality •cultivators- a magic user •Gods and the ability to become Gods •animals that are much smarter than normal animals, have magic powers, can grow stronger over time and have a core inside them that contains their essence which is prized by people. •animals or innate objects that become spiritually aware after absorbing a lot of energy •external Metallic, oops martial arts and internal martial arts •internal energy that gives a person supernatural strength, speed, endurance and healing •internal demons -negative emotions or mental barriers that hinder a person's training and can even attack them (kaladin and shallan) • ranks - different steps of cultivation, higher ranks granting more power •spirit stones- crystals containing spiritual energy, used as currency that can also be used for cultivation and used to power magical items •jade slip- a piece of jade that cultivators can use to store information inside it that can be transferred directly to someones mind

That's interesting. We have more votes for 'other' than we do for all the other options combined right now. So it seems like people think there won't be a real enemy or we have met them but it's not one of the 3 options. So if you think it's someone else I would love to hear some thoughts as to who you think it will be.

Good points Leuthie! This was the quote from Syl that I was thinking of: "This sword gave the assassin power to use lashings, but it also fed upon his Stormlight. A person who uses this will need far, far more Light than you will. Dangerous levels of it."

I'm not sure if there will be some big bad in Era 4 or not. Honestly, I put that in the subject to get views. But the actual question is 'who will be the adversary..?' I could be wrong but I think it would be anti climactic for the end of the cosmere to be the part of Phantom Menace where they are arguing over trade negotiations and space territory. There has to be a protagonist and an antagonist. I have a lot of faith in Brandon's writing but if it is just Scadrial and Roshar jostling for investiture resources it doesn't sound good to me. I guess we will find out in 20 years or so.

I'm not sure what you have a problem with. Your quote says the heightenings come from breaths. I said that holding investiture in breaths is fine but stormlight is supposedly dangerous. I was trying to imply that holding enough stormlight to reach a heightening is somehow problematic which would make it difficult to reach the higher levels. A dawnshard is something wholly different. Obviously it's a lot of investiture but I wouldn't call it stormlight.

You are my everything. I get what your saying, but I don't know that you could have made a worse metaphor and still got your point across.

As others have mentioned Endowment didn't really design her magic system. I think the fact that it is so easily accessible is just due to the fact that she is the Endowment shard. Her intent is to endow power. One interesting thing is that holding a lot of stormlight is suggested to be dangerous but holding a lot of breaths is perfectly fine and maintainable.

I feel like Tanavast was referred to as a man but that could have just meant male. It does sound like a dragons name. But my gut says he was human.

I interpreted the atium shadows differently. When you burn atium you can predict what someone is going to do. If they are burning atium they are predicting what you are predicting. So you have to predict what they are predicting you are predicting, hence all the shadows. On the other hand Fewer shardholders would mean fewer significant variables to consider so it would make it easier to predict.

I think people are a little too focused on shards being exactly their name. From the WOB, Harmony would think Whimsy wouldn't be helpful, but not because they are happy-go-lucky as much as unpredictable. "Alright Whimsy, my centuries of planning have come to this. Now is our moment to strike and end this war forever." "Actually, Harmony, I'm not really feeling it tonight. I think I'm just going to stay home and try to make the perfect grilled cheese." And as for Mercy, it is mercy to save a man who is lying on the battlefield bleeding out. It's also mercy to end his suffering. Do not mistake Mercy for weakness.

I think Sja Anat and Cultivation collaborated to weaken Odium. From Renarin we know that Odium can't see corrupted Truthwatchers. Or is Renarin unique in that? In either case mistspren are allowing themselves to be corrupted and they don't seem hateful the way that Ulim is, so any influence from Odium seems to be minor. Similarly, as one of the unmade Sja Anat has been corrupted but it is unclear whether her motives are with Cultivation or merely against Rayse. If it were the latter it could complicate matters given that I don't think Cultivation would want to be influenced by Odiums intent. Could she have the foresight and will to combine all three shards though? Honor would likely balance Odium enough to leave Cultivations intent mostly unchanged.

I really hope it isn't Whimsy. So anticlimactic. Knowing Brandon it will be the one we least suspect but also someone who has been right under our nose the entire time....

I'm wondering what everyone thinks Vashers Purpose will be. I thought it might have been to bring Nightblood to Roshar but it looks like there was a WOB saying he hadn't fulfilled his purpose yet. It would be interesting to see Vasher get ahold of For anyone who has read WOK prime, can you confirm or deny if Vasher did something significant enough to qualify?