Zas678

What you are asking is one that has been talked about quite a bit recently. What is a breath? I think this is best defined by starting out with something we already know. Divine Breath. The Voice (Endowment) offers Lightsong the chance to Return. This means that Endowment has the power to make Lightsong come back. The Divine Breath is what keeps Lightsong alive. So, Endowment gives the Divine Breath, which is a Splinter, or a piece of the power of Endowment. Now, there are two theories about Breaths: that they are given to each person by Endowment (like Preservation gaves people conciousness), or that they are part of each person. The first says pretty much what it says (which you seem to believe). Endowment gives each person a teeny bit of his power (or counsiousness) and that is their Breath, which they can give away like he did. The second (which I like more) says that every person naturally has a Breath. Vin has one, Elend has one, Kaladin has one. After all, it doesn't seem like the regular people have any extra capacity for color or sound or lifesense. What makes the people of Nalthis unique is that they can give it away. This is either because of simply being around Endowment (because he came recently), or because it was in their spiritual DNA when Endowment made them, and they only became aware of it recently (when Endowment Awakened Vo). So that is pretty much my explanation.

See, I side with Elwynn on this one. I think that Breaths, rather than being a part of Endowment, are a result of Endowment's interaction with the planet. A side effect, you might say.I believe that Endowment (probably) created them, but that the Breaths come from the people themselves. After all, it seems like the normal everyday people have no extra capacity in regards to color or music or other Breath blessings. No, I think the reason why the Principle allows for Breaths is that it allows the people to Endow themselves on others. Does that make sense? So Endowment isn't giving them the Breaths. He's given them the ability to give their own Breaths. And that ability could be something extra that he gave. But I bet it just happens because of how each person is spiritually close to Endowment. You know how in MB, Lerasium doesn't really make Mistborn? Instead it brings people closer to Preservation, and that association gives them the ability to become Mistborn. The snappings merely take that bit of inherent Preservation and "fan it" to make mistings. I believe that every person in Nalthis (WB world) has that basic connection to Endowment, and that that basic connection is enough to be able to Endow your own Breath upon others. I do, however, believe that Endowment is giving something of herself when she gives Divine Breaths to make returned. (Why female? It feels right. And Austere is female)

One quick thing- one reason we believe there were humans before Adonalsium is because- the shards used to be people. They have physical characteristics that are distinct, and Hoid remembers Ati being a nice person before he was a shard. Also, they all had to have something to base their own humans off of.

I don't think so. Brandon has spoken many times about how he wants a book that's about the reintroduction of magic, about it's birth rather than it's death (like in LOTR, or WoT).

So, in other words, why did the Parshmen either turn into Parshendi, or why were the Parshendi not turned into Parshmen?

So then why is Odium back? Why have the Last Desolation?

Now that's an interesting theory. The idea of using the Dawnshards (or maybe using up the Dawnshards?) to bind the Parshendi so they turn into Parshmen... That's a good idea. I'm not sure if its true or not, but its a good idea.

I know! Because the strength of Highstorms seem to have some correlation with the amount of War in the area (In the west, where storms are weaker, there are less wars, the Purelake has weaker storms and less fighting, etc), and yet Stormlight seems to power things of Honor (Honorspren). Perhaps there is something else from Highstorms that leads to influence of Odium. Crem perhaps?

In fact, it seems so permanent, that TLR found it easier to change the landscape to build Luthadel on top of the WoA, rather than just moving the WoA.

Not dead. Just MIA, from lack of reports. Glad to have you back!

Ah, what you are thinking of is the quote where they wanted to build Urithiru in the West so it could be closest to Honor It is indeed a chapter heading. pg 519 WoK

How does that prove that Cultivation is blunting Odium's power?

Wait, I didn't know that! Is that from a Q&A or from the text?

His site (and the TWG forum, by extension) is the Official Brandon Sanderson website. Ours, 17thshard.com, is the Official Fansite of Brandon Sanderson. And yeah, it was because 17thshard.com asked nicely. Is that about right Chaos?

Sorry! It's just habit by now! Which reminds me... Barnes & Nobles Q&A:

And that's the thing. The reason many are kind of cautious about Cultivation theorizing is that we know two things about her: 1. She can see into the future better than Honor. 2. She is on decent terms with Honor. 3. She's on Roshar. Brandon forgot that he even mentioned her: Besides that, all we have is this: (WoK 995)As for this: I think that this compact is actually part of being a Shard. Like in HoA, how Ruin chose Marsh as his "spearpoint", and Vin chose Elend to fight for her. I think that this is a universal rule of Shardom. (WoK 997)

I feel like I was mistaken. Although uniting the planets may be the purpose of some (Hoid?), I think here the Almighty is telling Dalinar to have people use the Shards in the ways of the Kinght Radiants of old. (Remember that scene where they all left and the Shards left their glow?) This could be Dawnshards, but, as the Stormfather says, "without the Dawnshards", which seems to imply they are either broken, or unavailable, or lost. So I think it is return the Shards to their former glory, much like the people of Roshar themselves. The reason for my former opinion was that it said Shards, which I interpreted as Shard of Adonalsium. But this is not the only way it is used. Several times in the text it is used to reference both Shardplates and Shardblades. (Hardback 281, 333, 346, 354, 355, 410, 526, 527, etc.) Oh, and I still think that Honor is still being held like Kelsier held Preservation (by Jez?). Who else would be the Stormfather? And there is the whole "original holder of Honor" quote.

From HoA Q&A

he was so

I think that's a little bit of a copout. I think maybe, as a last resort... But maybe Hoid would prevent it (because Hoid knows Odium wouldn't fall for it). Also, here is the requested quote: EDIT- diregard the first bit. I didn't see there was a second page. It was about Nightblood.

Rats! My secret plan has been revealed!

The theory that the Shattered Plain/ the Chasm (Elantris) is the result of Odium crashing into the planet doesn't make sense to me. I mean, what would he be moving? Shards seem to have very little connection to the Physical Realm. I mean, it's pretty much just their pool. And I can't see the pool crashing from planet to planet.

Just a quick point- Lerasium isn't a Splinter (I'm pretty sure). Brandon says that we find Splinters in every book but that one. And it's possible that Seons are Splinters that happened to be made before the splintering of Aona's shard. It just seems too coincidental, that Aona would splinter and that there are suspected Splinters on the planet.

"Yum!" said Hoid

Nope. It's Silence Divine