hoser

As to the modernity of disobeying evil masters, I would argue that it is not modern at all. While I don't know Roman or Greek literature very well, there are many examples that predate the Holocaust. Here are just a few: Exodus 23:2 You shall not follow a multitude to do evil. Early quakers believed in a majority of one, meaning that one has a responsibility to stand for what is right, even alone. This would have been in the late 17th century. In the US, the Boston Tea Party was a notable protest in the 18th century. Given that he knew that what he was doing was harming people and, in his own thoughts, he was doing it out of a selfish desire to avoid his soul being annihilated, I can't see his heart as being in the right place.

What do you mean by redemption? There are so many aspects: Clearing himself of guilt Forgiving himself Playing a positive role on Roshar Becoming a Radiant Dalinar's forgiveness Kaladin's acceptance Clearing himself of guilt - I'm with Patrick Star on this one. He's been a fool, pure and simple. He knew the shamans were wrong and allowed himself to be used by the Parshendi, Taravangium and apparently, Odium, in destructive ways. He knew better, but killed many innocents unnecessarily. He's been the gollum of this story, but with the constant awareness that what he was doing was wrong, which makes it even worse, IMO. Forgiving himself - purely subjective, depends on his evolution from here on out. Playing a positive role on Roshar - If he is pivotal in restraining Odium and creating a more positive balance, then absolutely. While his actions have been horrible on a personal level, it is unclear what the net effect is. Becoming a Radiant - As far as I can tell, the spren and his actions would decide this. If Nale accepts him, then some highspren might also. Kaladin and Shallan became Radiants without Dalinar's approval, Kaladin despite the Stormfather's opposition, so I don't think Dalinar has to approve. Dalinar's forgiveness and Kaladin's acceptance - seem unlikely at this point, but entirely subjective. The question for me is whether he needs to escape another evil master. Nale has not interfered with his assassinations, nor the advent of the everstorm, while killing surgebinders. Is Nale serving Odium at this point?

I thought you were asking for possibilities. I think this may be possible. I do not suggest that it makes sense. Not-Taln starts w/2 Shardblades. He has the spike-blade when he arrives at the capital. He wills it to remain when he drops it as he passes out. Later on, he turns it to mist. Even later on he summons the cleaver-blade, unbonds it and drops it for Dalinar's agent to pick up. Or Hoid could have given him the cleaver-blade that he dropped later, possibly expecting that Dalinar's agent would get it to Dalinar. If one is bound to a blade and lends it, you can summon it back. Do we know that this still works if the person it is lent to keeps it long enough to bond it again? Since we know that they couldn't be bound without the added gems, then changing gems (as done w/Renarin's) would definitely break the bond. Death of the bondholder presumably breaks the bond. Thinking about the two blades gets confusing. You want to review the possibilities for what happened to the spikeblade, I think. Not-Taln could still have it. If it is not an Honorblade and Hoid didn't give him the cleaverblade (so Hoid could take the spikeblade without swapping), then Hoid could have it.

Without suggesting that it is likely, it seems possible the Not-Taln still has it. If it were "bound" to him, he might be able to summon it, but he has seen no reason to. I know there may be WOB that Honorblades can't be bound, but I wonder whether they have a permanent bond w/the Heralds and Not-Taln got that bond w/Taln's memories. If, as you suggest, it is not an Honorblade, he could definitely be bound to it.

I have two memories that seem relevant, but no searchable book. I would love to have these confirmed or disconfirmed. Chasmfiends hunt in the east of the shattered plains, possibly in groups, before coming west to pupate. The crysalis is closest among greatshells to an aquatic species, suggesting that part of their lifecycle might be aquatic. (This one I feel pretty sure about, as I remember it from Shallan and Adoliin's highstorm-approach watching date.)

I know nothing, but I think that shipping has it's own conventions that don't match much of the rest of the site. Where other theories are challenged for how well they fit all of the text, shipping seems more creative. There seems to be an ethos of acceptance. It seems to be okay to argue strongly for one's POV, but dismissing the POV of others seems to be frowned on, if that makes any sense. At the risk of speaking for others whose POV I don't really know, I treat shipping threads as ways to enhance the experience of the fantasy world using the texts as a base, but not trying to stick to the facts or statistics. Apologies to all that I have offended with my crude misunderstandings.

As for the possibility of listeners becoming Radiants, I find the quote from the listener song of spren at the beginning of ch. 33 very intriguing. I interpret this to mean that there is a possibility of them becoming Surgebinders at least. "Promised" (italics mine) is an interesting word choice. Is it a prophecy or did someone with power like, say, Cultivation, maybe tell them it could happen? Edit: question mark ends question

Exactly. So larkin turning into chasmfiends is probably not why people value larkin.

I need to understand. Are you saying that people know that larkin become chasmfiends? Because people know about larkin. People think larkin are extinct. People know that chasmfiends are pupating on the plains. I don't get how they would not put 1 and 1 together and realize that larkin are not extinct. So I don't think people know that larkins become chasmfiends. So I don't think the mature chasmfiend is the reason people value larkin. Now I guess you can construct scenarios where people remember various things about larkin and selectively forget others, but that seems far-fetched to support a theory that lacks textual support. Yes, investiture does change affect eye color. Humans and chasmfiends have eyes that can reflect gem colors. We have not seen metallic colored eyes. Metallic eyes are different, suggesting to me that larkin are doing something different with investiture, making it even less likely that they become chasmfiends. For example, what if they have tiny invested metalhearts instead of gemhearts that match their eye color?

What I am saying is that we don't know whether it was stun poison or not. Your previous post stated it as fact, which I disagree with. As for the likelihood, I have no idea how you evaluate the probability. I agree that it makes sense, as, if they wanted to kill him, why wait until he's with Taln. IIRC, Mraize did not say that the Ghostbloods were not going to hurt or kill Amaram. He forbade Shallan killing him. We have no idea who his life belongs to, but, unless the Ghostbloods are working with or for someone else, it makes sense that it would be a Ghostblood who claims Amaram's life.

I agree with most of this. Upvote Are we sure that it was a stun poison? We know that they used a nonlethal poison before, but it seems like they could also have lethal poisons. I am also unclear about whether they wanted to stop Amaram from getting "Taln," kill Amaram or capture Amaram. If they wanted to capture or kill Amaram, why wait until he is with "Taln." If they attacked before he was with "Taln", he couldn't have been saved by "Taln."

We don't know how he got that execution warrant. It could be through bribery, intimidation or forgery. Execution for theft is quite surprising and Nale resorts to intimidation to take Lift. Exactly as Nale was not persecuting Lift and Ym out of a desire to uphold the law, but rather to keep them from surgebinding. Surgebinding is not a crime. He is called a constable because of the uniform or the rope tied around his arm. Certainly nobody recognizes him. There are a million ways to get hold of a uniform. While he may be a real Azish constable, he may not. Given the worldwide scope of his activities, it seems unlikely that he could really hold a position in any local police force as he could not spend much time in any particular local organization. I know of no textual support for the idea that is a member of the Iri police. Ym does not recognize his uniform, which indicates that he is not dressed as an Iriali policeman.

I don't know. I think it depends on how you define spren. The argument I see is: Spren are investure. Some spren are also magical objects. Nightblood is a magical object. So Nightblood is a spren. But not all magical objects are spren. Some objects, like the spanreeds, are a combination of object and spren. It seems to me that Nightblood falls in this category. Nightblood's investiture may be a spren, but there is a real physical object involved, so Nightblood is not just a spren.

An interesting argument. The more I think about Skybreakers, the confuseder I get. Sadeas definitely broke Alethi law by setting Ialai's assassins on Dalinar. Compare Nale's treatment of Ym to Adolin's treatment of Sadeas. Ym's crime: accomplice (possibly unwitting) to murder. Sadeas's crime: Ordering an attempted murder of a highprince, plotting a coup that includes the death of the king (treason). Adolin's infraction: Unlawful murder Nale's action: Unlawful murder (does anyone think that Iri law would condone what Nale did?) Exculpation: Dalinar couldn't prove it without going to war But wait. Could Nale prove Ym's guilt? I don't get the Skybreakers.

So what is the problem with what Adolin did? No trial? Trials are to protect the innocent. Sadeas is guilty of murder (the assassination attempt on Dalinar) and is planning a coup where he will murder Elhokar (treason). We have his point of view and it is clear that he is under Odium's influence. Yeah, he could get in trouble for it and he may have an opportunity for moral growth because his motives may not have belched rainbows, but the lack of a trial seems like the least of the issues. Sadeas is even guiltier than Adolin knows.

Rysn's larkin does fly, actually. It also stays with her because the Reshi "Island" commanded it. from I-3 The form seems to be stable and consistently small. The idea of commanding an animal to stay with someone that it has never met before and having it obey is very interesting. It bespeaks a social hierarchy and purpose that I can't even imagine. An intelligent animal that would bond with you and protect you from surgebinders or other invested creatures (including voidbringers) seems like something that kings would pay enormous sums for. Larvae tend to be about the business of becoming adults as quickly as is healthy for the organism. I don't see that kings would pay much for an animal that would absorb stormlight for a short time, then disappear. The size, temperament, known history, geography, apparent lifestyle and social valuation point to the larkin being a stable adult form. While explanations can be created, for me they create more problems in understanding the world than they solve. The gentle beast that cooperates with an individual person seems different than the also intelligent beast that treats them as prey. The clincher for me is the eyes. The silver eyes vs the colored eyes of the chasmfiend suggest a very different animal.

The quote button under the downvote button at the bottom of each post doesn't work?

Baseless speculation, go. Reya is the name of the person who became the Nightwatcher.

I like the idea of solving the question of what larval Chasmfiends are with something we know. It seems very creative. My main objection is geographical. Chasmfiends, but no larkin, are found in one location. Half a continent away, larkin, but no chasmfiends are found. Larkin were thought to have died out in Aimia, which is even further away. My second objection is that indications seem to be that the larkin is an adult form. The Reshi "Islands" seem to keep the larkin indefinitely and secretly. Larkin are dying of natural causes, but the one we see is small, as is the one that Darkness has and Elhokar's paperweight.

Good question. Without any understanding of the mechanisms, it is clear to me that the Heralds are heavily invested. The fifth heightening is also investiture. I'm guessing that the spren did not copy that aspect of the Heralds and Radiants are mortal. If there were a Radiant lashing that gave immortality, then the Radiants could achieve it.

I love it. I can definitely see it. Upvotes! I've been reading the surgebinding chart as the top 5 orders (with male Heralds) being more associated with Honor and the bottom 5 orders (with female Heralds) more associated with Cultivation. Since the Nightwatcher seems tightly linked to Cultivation, I've thought that the Nightwatcher would not be a bondsmith spren. However, this alternative formulation explains the three bondsmiths wonderfully.

But why doesn't he just call them chasmfiends rather than describing them? If they were glowing chasmfiends, why wouldn't he say "glowing chasmfiends?"

Kaladin, even as a child and long before Syl came along, has unreasonable skill with a staff and is exceptionally honorable. Adolin was a superbly talented duelist, has been exceptionally honorable and bonded a Rhyshadium. Is it possible that the investiture of Roshar has ways of rewarding honorable behavior even before a spren comes along (in addition to Rhyshadium)?

I guess it's possible. Kaladin has just killed a chasmfiend and been chased by (presumably the same) one before. He knows what they look like. They are described from his POV. I assume that he would recognize a chasmfiend and name it, but we know where assumptions lead. The description to me indicates more legs, but that could easily be reading too much into it.

I think, based on the name and various references, that the unmade are no longer corporeal, except possibly when they are possessing another being. Although there seems to be a single point (really a plane parallel to the stormwall, but for anywhere in the path of the storm there will be a point where the plane passes through it) where gems get charged, Kaladin can draw investiture from anywhere within the storm while fighting Szeth. Assuming these creatures are glowing due to investiture, they could be drawing investiture from the storm as Kaladin does. Even in front of the stormwall (ch 86): "The proximity of the storm kept his stormlight stoked, never letting it grow dim." If these beasts have an infusion capability like Kaladin's, they would be able to draw investiture from a position near the front of the storm. Not sayin', just suggesting another possibility. For me, the most noteworthy thing about them is that Kaladin doesn't see them in the highstorm when he is in the warcamp, Eshonai doesn't see them when she transforms near Narak and there are no strange tracks in the warcamps. This suggests that they avoid listeners and humans alike. How and why they do this are mysteries that any theory might need to explain.