KSub

Hmm, that's a good point. So the original discussion I linked questioned how Testament ended up with the expedition in Shadesmar. I guess she must have been in Lasting Integrity.

That's a good point. But doesn't Endowment say as much in the letters. And doesn't Harmony say the same thing about her? That is what I'm going off. Although if Cultivation requested 'something' from Endowment she might be willing to do 'something then not get involved any further.

I really like where this discussion went. Full disclosure I'm in the Harmony is one thing camp. This would likely mean, as Kingsdaughter suggested, that the agreements the vessels made at the shattering wouldn't hold for Harmony. To clear up one point: From the coppermind So we see that Harmonium is elemental, like oxygen, hydrogen or potassium. Mixing atium and lerasium does not produce harmonium, just as combining the three elements mentioned does not produce Nickel. It's spiritual aspect is in opposition to itself which makes ettmetal highly reactive. Using our example, combining potassium metal with water produces a violent reaction but the result is still potassium. Nuclear fission breaks atoms up into two separate atoms. This is the most analogous example I can think of as to what Brandon was saying. To use our previous example potassium can decay to calcium or argon, completely different elements that can not be achieved through physical means.

Straff venture

That would be interesting. But we know that Endowment is not interested in interfering in the conflict.

You might be right about shards being able to make black holes but that seems beyond a surgebinder.

1In Oathbringer we learned that Shardblades have a cognitive form similar to a ghost. A nearly mindless faded version of the original spren with scratched out eyes. I was reading this thread It got me thinking, what happens to a spren when a shard bearer summons and dismisses their blade? When summoned, it seems that the spren are pulled from wherever they happen to be in the cognitive realm to the location of the shardbearer. But when they are dismissed they transfer to the cognitive realm in the place corresponding to the physical location. From the maps below we see that shadesmar is a mirror of Roshar except land and sea are reversed. So every time a shardblade is dismissed the spren is dropped into the sea in Shadesmar. No wonder there are so many spren in the sea. And it's no surprise that the Honorspren are so mad at humans since the use of shardblades is an ongoing desecration. The placement of their cities along coasts and on narrow peninsulas makes sense too. It gives them a chance to recover deadeyes.

Probably because "I killed ___" isn't an oath. I recommend we use ideals. No more confusion. I still wonder if Shallan could speak one ideal for both spren. No one else seemed to bite on that idea though.

Is there any reason to believe that shallan can't speak a truth to both spren? I can't recall what happened when Syl was fading away after Kaladin broke his oaths. Did he swear another ideal or just recommit to his already sworn ideals to bring Syl back? If he didn't swear another ideal then Shallan would just need to accept her responsibilities as a Radiant to revive Testament.

It will be interesting to see what happens if the bonds are weakening as we think. Some of the things you suggest can't be correct @Valigus . Shards don't have the power to do things like time travel and create black holes so surgebinders couldn't possibly do them as their power comes from shards. @mathiau Why do you think Devotion and Odium would be required to bind the surges? I think all of the shards have power to influence the magic on their respective worlds. We saw preservation and harmony do this on Scadrial. That being said I think if any shard is responsible for the power that limits surges within the cosmere it is Honor.

Maybe Cultivation required Vasher to turn it over before he was allowed to come to Roshar. Did you pack your own bags? Do you have any sentient weapons or fluids in excess of three ounces? Do you have anything to declare? Welcome to Roshar.

To avoid confusion I'll withdraw my WTCC and save it until I win

Nice theory. After I realized just how reprehensible the Nalthian magic system is I never questioned why Zahel was on Roshar. And Nightblood is clearly a burden he didn't want. I'm curious if Zahel has given any indications that he had other plans.

Nazrilof

I'm doing it 1. This character is a leader

I'm probably just going to restate what people have said. The spiritual realm and spirit web are real things. The Beyond and souls are debated. Some characters think they are a thing and some of those characters think they are the same as the spiritual realm. The truth is left ambiguous. We do know that you can interact with the spiritual realm and spirit webs. So depending on your interpretation of a soul in the Cosmere, it's possible. I think most would argue that is not the case though. But to store that part of your spirit that is like a soul you would need aluminum and duralumin metalminds to store your identity and connection. On a side note, I've always felt that the spiritual realm is between the physical and cognitive acting as a sort of conversion between the two.

It's amazing how little we know about any of the world's we've seen in the cosmere. And while I don't think we will see every shard world we must get to see some others. I would say Scadrial is the world we know the best and we've really only seen half of the civilizations.

He is fairly similar to Syl but hateful.... apologies to the original artist

I think it's something along these lines. He is red so there's a good chance he is a corrupted honor spren. Or possibly a piece of the Everstorm that Odium splintered long ago and has since gained sentience.

This may not be the best comparison but look at the oldest people you know. My grandmother says things like 'jeepers' and 'chum around with'. Language does change but for the most part we get stuck in speech patterns. It's more likely that this is how they spoke on Ashyn. Plus Ulim is a spren and not prone to change. And I wouldn't say that being intelligible is a requirement on the internet iykwim.

Alright I'm convinced. Doesn't Gavilar just mean the cognitive realm when he says the realm of the gods? How did he get anti voidlight? How did he do any of this actually? But the anti light specifically seems beyond Gavilar. I wonder if there's a group of ardents somewhere that he was working with. And from everything we saw in RoW anti-light seemed like a revelation to everyone involved. This largely invalidates Navani's accomplishment as she was just reproducing it for Raboniel. I wonder if this will be a plot point in the next book. Gavilar belittling Navani's achievements.

I'm still trying to get the full picture. From @Child of Hodors thread we get the idea that Honor placed some of his power into the cognitive realm on Braize to create the Everstorm to block the Fused from returning. This makes it sound like the Dor on Sel. So Braize in the physical realm doesn't support life and the Fused don't have bodies. But do the Heralds go to the physical realm? It would be torture just to exist there, no air to breathe, permanent frostbite, but your body is healing enough that you won't die. Odium doesn't need to do anything or place agents on Braize to deal with the Heralds. Eventually they will give in to the agony of existing like this. Or, the Heralds, like the Fused, get pulled to the cognitive realm on Braize. Their spirits battle endlessly as lightning crashes overhead, until one of them returns to Roshar and the war continues in the physical realm.

I didn't realize that innovation stopped in 2012. I guess that was what the Mayans were predicting. I like the implications of this. Navani is clearing up the myths, unifying principles and bringing the artifabrian community together. The difference is there is already a lot of technology out there. Spanreeds, glowbulbs, heating fabrials. If Navani isn't disrupted too much by the war we could find Rosharan technology equivalent to the 1890s by the end of SA. That puts them just 100ish years off of modern technology.

Agreed and I wouldn't say anything that happens in that moment could qualify.

WoR, RoW. Same thing lol. No, you are correct. However it is Taln in the asylum that shallan and iyatil go to see. Thanks for the reference. It doesn't sound as though she does anything. He does seem to have a brief glimmer of lucidity, although he still seems a little off. It feels to me like he might be having a non-magical moment of clarity.