hoser

Very interesting! I love the idea about Division diminishment and augmentation. Upvote! There are some details that do not seem essential to the theory that are new to me. I would love to know whether they are just theories or whether they are supported in the text or by some WoB. I extracted the relevant sections below. Where is there support for the idea that Shardblades and Shardplate don't need gems to function properly? I personally believe that the gems are essential. We know that the metal is heavily invested via WoB, but I think the gems interact w/the invested metal. For example, I don't believe that one can summon and unsummon a Shardblade that has no gem attached. I will bet that when we find an Oathgate, it will have integrated gems.

In the US, dueling was a way of resolving disputes through the 18th century. Maybe anyone of sufficient status could publicly challenge Amaram and insult him to the point where he or his champion would have to respond or be considered a coward. I wonder whether they could put a Shardblade in Kaladin's hands for 10 minutes, recognize him for meritorious service at the Tower and let him at it. Or maybe Adolin could challenge and insult Amaram for him. I don't think they would do it unless it fit their overall strategy, but it might be possible.

It makes sense that way. It seemed to me there was a measure of abuse to it that surprised even Adolin. He seemed to take unnecessary chances in a way that I haven't seen him do on the battlefield as described below.

Is there a bead in Shadesmar for "the air around Kaladin"? I still don't get soulcasting air. Is there one bead for all the air? It seems like it would take a lot of stormlight to change that. Maybe? It still seems OP. They soulcast air into barracks, though, don't they? Do they use: a mold, the imagination of the person Soulcasting, some ideal barracks Form?

Mostly investiture interferes with other investiture, so Jasnah is not going to be able to soulcast an infused person easily. If Kaladin keeps his low-level burn on, he should be fairly safe. I don't know about non-infused Shardplate wearers, though.

I think the duel excerpt shows us Adolin's evolution and challenge. It is theorized that a form of the Thrill is of Odium. I imagine the fight for Adolin's soul going on in the duel. He is being tempted by Odium's influence, but is starting to see another way. In tWoK Dalinar moves from feeling an unholy Thrill to fighting while regretting the necessity. Is Adolin going through the same evolution? Dalinar at the Tower: Adolin in the duel: What do people think? Is Adolin's behavior in the duel influenced by Odium? Is he being tempted? Is the sudden fading of the Thrill due to another, more Honorable influence? What does he mean when he says that "he'd never before felt like this"?

I agree there should be justice and it would be honorable. At this point it would be vengeance for Kaladin, I think, and moving past his need for vengeance is where he needs to go to advance as a Radiant. I could argue the second point. Being forgotten could be seen as the opposite of love, even more than being hated.

I love this! Seriously, given that the second ideal for Kaladin involved protecting (primary windrunner attribute), I think the third will involve leadership (secondary windrunner attribute). Since Kaladin's spiritual challenge in this book is to put leadership ahead of vengeance (toward Amaram and Sadeas), the ideal could help him move past vengeance by referring to the leadership or the overall goal as his sole aim.

Great question! I've been discounting that as an irrelevant in-world theory. Syl was attracted by the gratitude (emotion) of the young soldiers in Kaladin's platoon and provides access to physical (spiritual) forces. Pattern was presumably attracted to Shallan's creative genius (cognitive) and/or her tortured psyche. Pattern provides access to cognitive things. I don't see how either of the spren fit the theory. Syl is both emotional and physical/spiritual and Pattern is neither.

It seems like there will be (at least) two major battles in this book: Szeth and the Parshendi storminess. I imagine Kaladin will have to reveal himself publicly in whichever one comes first. The writing on the wall seems to suggest that Szeth will come first. I think it will take Adolin and Kaladin working together to deal w/Szeth. I'd like to see that be where they start to bond and I would think we would get both POV, though maybe not concurrently.

I love the idea of Sadeas' POV on the Kaladin reveal! I think he would be even more delighted with his deal, since he probably would have had to free a Radiant slave for very little. This way he got a Shardblade out of the deal. It's not like Kaladin was ever going to feel loyal to Sadeas. What is likely to have Sadeas gnashing his teeth is that he is now a "mere" Shardbearer when others are Surgebinders. It would be even more galling to find out what it takes to become a Surgebinder and realize he has no chance. It seems he was once loyal to Gavilar. Is he beyond redemption at this point?

There are more thoughts on this here and here.

I agree w/Dark_Sun77 that Honor would likely have been involved, mainly because it seems like his modus operandi. I believe the theory that Honor's plan wasn't to have the Heralds tortured between Desolations, but that Odium outmaneuvered him. Cultivation could well have been a party to the oathpact. For it to be a pact, there would have to be more than one party, so I think multiple Shards were involved. With the power level involved, I believe the Oathpact must have involved Shards. I don't think Shards can enforce agreements upon each other, so I think the agreement must be based on the Shards investing (binding) parts of themselves.

But what do they mean? What have we got? prologue: Shallash Ch 1: Palah - Shallan - ? Ch 2:Taln - mostly Kaladin, some Teft, Moash - ? Ch 3: Shallash - Shallan and Pattern - fits for Lightweaver Ch 4: Ishi - most Dalinar, some Navani and a little Kaladin - Does this suggest that Dalinar is order 10? Ch 5: Chach - Mostly Kaladin, some Moash, Dalinar and Elhokar - Chach is for Moash? Ch 6: Shallash - Shallan - lightweaver Ch 8: Jezrien - Dalinar learning leadership - for leadership? Ch 9: Nalan - Kaladin, a little Rock - ? Ch 10: Vedev - Shallan flashback - caring in the midst of horror? Ch 12: Jezrien - Kaladin practicing surgebinding Ch 14: Kalak - Adolin dueling brutally, a little Renarin - Adolin future order 8, Renarin? or for duel (per Morsk below) or Ironstance (per Darnam below) I-1: Shallash - Eshonai and the Parshendi - for Parshendi creativity? I-9: Vedev, Nalan - Lift, Darkness - Lift as Edgedancer works for Vedev, support for Darkness=Nalan?

I don't think you want to practice with a live Shardblade and Kaladin in less than Shardplate. Two possibilities: Kaladin vs someone w/Shardplate and a practice sword (with the extra strength from Shardplate, you could probably cut somebody in half w/a practice blade) Kaladin in Shardplate against someone w/full Shards I so want to see what happens when Kaladin surgebinds in Shardplate.

Gaz has discretion about how to execute his commands: he uses it badly. While refusing an order would actually be heroic in this situation, he can choose not to act as sergeant and opt to be a grunt (or whatever they call it) without being guilty of mutiny or sedition. He might be discharged, make less money or have to work harder. There are a ton of jobs in any military that do not involve combat and there are many things a one-eyed person can do in real life. In WW2, the US Tooth to Nail Ratio was 40%. In a medieval army, it would be much higher, but there would still be many jobs available. He chooses to do an evil job to avoid paying the consequences of whatever crime he has committed and make as much money as possible. By doing bad things he put himself in a position where he does bad things routinely. Where he has discretion, he generally makes things worse. While not wholly evil, he is clearly a bad man. He knows it and hates himself for it. Elantris spoilers:

The Honorblade description does not refer to Jezrien's, Kalak's or Taln's, only the seven for the Heralds that are already gone.

Re: Shen as spy: Possible? Parshmen are recognizable and valuable. People would know the ownership and history. Parshendi spies would be assumed to belong to someone else and ignored, but no-one would claim to own them and sell them to Sadeas. If a slaver captured them wandering around randomly and figured that the real owner would not find them, he might sell them, so I suppose Shen might be a spy that way. The spies seem to have to return to report. I wonder if we'll start hearing about Parshmen appearing and disappearing. Re: Kaladin not sticking to his own lashing-trap: It could also be the investitures interfering, as he is infused. This is not disagreement with the intention or ownership theories, but an additional possibility. I imagine Kaladin couldn't sticky an infused Lift and she couldn't slick him (maybe unless they both wanted it to happen?).

If I summon a storm, does it appear near me or does it start at the Origin and come to me a while later?

Current Dystopian Calendar? CDC Seriously, though, people change calendars in response to a triumph: Julian, Christian. The possible triggers we know about: Aharietam: "triumph" over the voidbringers. Heralds. 4500 years previous. not ~1170 years previous. Recreance: Radiants betray mankind. Not likely because too long ago, not a triumph. Probably the same reasoning applies to the fall of the Silver kingdoms and the abandonment of Urithiru Rise of the Hierocracy: possible, but they might have wanted to trace back to Aharietam to bolster legitimacy Sunmaker's Reign: seems possible, do we know any dates around this? Something we know nothing about: most likely Shattering of the Shattered Plains: not a triumph, timing is wrong if coincides with the fall of Natanatan Scouring of Aimia: Not enough of a triumph Fall of Natanatan: Several centuries before: not a triumph, timing is wrong. Without knowing the trigger for the calendar change, it seems difficult to guess the name. If the rise of the Sunmaker is about the right time, then that is about the only thing we can guess: Sunmaker Era?

We get some Gaz point of view. It is natural to empathize w/him. He is not totally devoid of humanity. He knows what he is doing is wrong and he hates himself for it. He does it anyway. It is surprisingly close to Szeth's situation, in some ways. We don't know what Gaz was being blackmailed for. Apparently Teft misbehaved somehow to get busted from soldier (maybe noncom) to bridgeman. In any military that I know of, resigning from a leadership position (noncommissioned officer) is not grounds for punishment beyond being less likely to be promoted again. I don't understand how Lamaril could threaten Gaz with the bridge crews unless it involved some malfeasance like whatever he was being blackmailed for. Gaz apparently believes that Lamaril had grounds for blackmailing him. I believe that it was a bad thing and he was responsible for it. Now he is in a bad position, but that does not alleviate his responsibility for his actions. Does following orders exculpate one? I don't think so. That way lies justifying any behavior. My father nearly died in a concentration camp in WW2. Many of the people who caused that situation were following orders. When Gaz follows orders that he knows are wrong, he is responsible. If not for the blackmail situation, I believe he would not "need" the extra money and he could resign his promotion and serve some other way or find another job. He chooses to take a job where he knowingly does bad things routinely for money, comfort and to avoid consequences he has earned. Between the lines of his orders he has discretion about how he does his job. A good man could try to soften and make more bearable the plight of the bridgemen, acting with compassion where possible. I don't see that in Gaz. He seems to be on the bad side here too, bullying when he can get away with it. Re 3. Whether Kaladin offered to take responsibility is irrelevant to Gaz's moral dilemma. As noncommissioned officer, he encouraged Kaladin to do the side-carry (for bad reasons). Not manning up when it didn't work out is wrong. Furthermore, he understood the bigger situation in a way that Kaladin didn't, so his responsibility is greater. Re 4. We basically agree that Gaz acted badly. Re 6. I see a moral difference between a soldier serving in another unit and a leader implementing an evil policy. Everybody up the chain of command from Gaz to Sadeas is doing bad by commission. People outside the chain of command may benefit indirectly, but are, at worst, committing errors of omission. It is not clear what a normal soldier in a normal unit is supposed to do. Gaz does many bad things and few good things. I would say that he falls on the bad side of a line of moral neutrality. If to be a bad person, one has to be wholly evil, then few of Brandon's characters are bad. That is irrelevant. For me, Gaz is clearly worse than not good. Turning him into a victim by imagining a relatively blameless way he could have gotten into his situation is not justified by what we see in tWoK. Once he is in that situation he still has choices, and he does not choose to improve things or get out of the situation.

Hmm. Interesting. He tried to send Kaladin to his death in return for talking to him. He encouraged Kaladin to use the side-carry when he thought it would get some of the crew killed. He let Kaladin take the blame for doing the side-carry when it backfired even though he suggested and approved it. He stuck the team with worse jobs when they showed some esprit de corps. He did something to become vulnerable to blackmail. He took direct part in a human sacrifice scheme. He denied Bridge 4 reinforcements he help them fail. I beg to disagree. Others were also culpable, but he could have refused the job or done it in a much more humane, responsible way.

Yes! A god gem would be Elithanilite.

For me, a big mystery is why the Parshendi used Szeth. One pattern would have Darkness knowing and approving of the Parshendi and Szeth's activities. Darkness could account for the Parshendi using Szeth and thinking he might be effective. The Parshendi seemed unsurprised at Szeth's abilities in Jasnah's version of the Prologue. I can't imagine they were in the habit of buying slaves and Jasnah found him notable during the feast. They had to have an information source to want to buy him and use him. It is logical that Gavilar's action that was so frightening to the Parshendi would have been intended to bring back the Radiants and we know Darkness is opposed to that. In this pattern, Darkness has information from the Shin and apparently doesn't consider whatever Szeth is doing to be a problem the way Nahel Surgebinding seems to be. This would explain Darkness' presence. He might also be serving as backup in case Szeth fails to kill the king. It would be interesting, given his obsession with the law, as conspiring to assassinate the king is clearly illegal. The only other source for the Parshendi to find out how deadly Szeth can be that I am aware of is Mr. T. Darkness could also be working with Mr. T. Either could source the information about Szeth to the other.

If you borrow the King's Shards in a duel for Shards, you would not be able to pay off if you lost (as I don't think you can give away the King's Shards you are just borrowing) if you didn't have other Shards. If you do have other Shards, why would you pay to use the King's? Nobody would duel with the chance of losing Shards unless they could also win them, as I see it. Presumably Sadeas was willing to duel Rock's nuatoma because he didn't think he could lose.