Weltall

Scadrian metals are not Invested (aside from the godmetals of course), they're the Focus for the power system but there's nothing special about them compared to the same metals anywhere else in the cosmere. Brandon has said that you can use metal from anywhere in the Metallic Arts.

She didn't read the fine print on the warning label. "Consumption of Yelig-nar's gemstone may cause spontaneous crystal growths, the replacement of your entire internal organ system, delusions of grandeur, voidbinding powers and maybe the consumption of your soul. Consult your ardent to decide if Yelig-nar is right for you before ingesting."

If you haven't read Earthsea, do it, dooooo ittttttt. Until recently I'd definitely have recommended the Powder Mage series by Brin McClellan as a must-read but I'm slightly less enthusiastic after finishing the original trilogy. The setting is really cool (think fantasy French Revolution), the interplay of different magic systems with the technology level of the setting is interesting and the various storylines going on pretty much guarantee you'll find at least one plot thread/character that will draw you in. I just wasn't as sold on some of the writing in the final book. But I'd probably put it on the 'give it a look anyways and see if it looks interesting to you' list. Seconding this one. They're a bit 'softer' in their magic systems than Brandon's usual faire but they still have various rules they abide by and the protagonists have a very similar tendency to pull out creative applications of known powers that will have viewers nodding and wondering 'Hey, why didn't I think of that?!'. And they're very fun to read. Probably the best recommendation I can think to give though? I got into them because Brandon recommended Jim Butcher at a signing. He was asked what he was currently reading and mentioned Jim's latest book (The Aeronaut's Windlass, which is steampunk to Dresden's urban fantasy and Alera's... everything) which I read and enjoyed and then took the plunge with his other works. I figure anything Brandon thinks interesting has to be worth a look. xD

I'm fairly certain that shardblade wounds count as physical trauma even if they primarily cut living things Spiritually. There's stilll obvious physical damage from when a shardblade 'severs' a limb. Or burns out your eyes if it hits your spine. And I'm positive that what follows that, separating your soul from your body (ie death) totally counts as the kind of physical trauma that Hoid is prohibited from inflicting.

How did I miss this the first time around? Oh well. In Soviet Roshar, Thrill feels you! In Soviet Roshar, Highstorms hide from you! In Soviet Roshar, Gloomspren attract Kaladin! In Soviet Roshar, Grass thinks you are stupid! In Soviet Roshar, there is no Stick!

Another point to bring up, which is the same one that comes up whenever a new material is proposed for Nightblood's base metal, is that per Vasher's own account and the annotations, we have confirmation that other swords like Nightblood could have been made during the Manywar or at the time of Warbreaker. That makes it vanishingly unlikely that Nightblood was made of some improbable material. For the danger of mass-produced Nightbloods to be real, the raw materials must be relatively easy to obtain on Nalthis, without needing to worldhop. That means that 'Nightblood used to be a Rosharan sprenblade', 'Nightblood was forged from a hemalurgic spike' and 'Nightblood is made from [Insert Preferred Godmetal Here]' are all virtually impossible, for examples. Vasher says the sword started out as steel and we really have no reason to doubt him.

The first example is an Oathbringer spoiler but it's worth discussing. For the second one you mentioned, I don't recall Hoid having anything to do with the sea off the top of my head, except for the story he tells Kaladin about the Wandersail. Which was more an avenue to get Kaladin to think about the story and could have been done just as well in a context with nothing to do with the sea (one book later he could have told the story about Szeth instead of a maybe-fictional king and it would have had the same take-away message), but it's possible I'm forgetting a more specific reference. That said, I don't doubt that some ocean symbolism is intentional. It's a natural metaphor for any vast space and it's right there in the name Cosmere.

Well, Hoid can control his ability to the extent that he can consciously supress it, but beyond that it seems to be an automatic thing. And yeah, 'Yolen stuff' is probably the best we're going to have to work with for a long while. Probably not, given that Brandon has said that the system Hoid uses to heal is really really old, before any of the various systems of magic we've seen him obtaining existed. So he probably doesn't need to obtain any new sources of Investiture to keep it going. He's survived who knows how many thousand years without access to Breath (which we know is a fairly recent thing for him, per WoR) or allomancy (he only obtained lerasium within ~300 years of his appearances in Stormlight Archive) by way of example. Oh, and on the lifespan thing, Brandon has said that while Hoid does use some sort of time dilation so that he hasn't actually experienced all the time he's 'lived', Hoid has still actually experienced far more time than any normal human should be able to. Corroborating OB detail

That seems to be pretty much what they are; smartphones with some fancy additional features which run on a specialized network. Knighthawk offhandedly mentions in Calamity that they're Epic-derived technology which can explain many things about them. He also mentions they're one of the few examples that he was able to mass-produce as they don't need motivators to function, except for a couple that he keeps at his facility.

This would probably be so much easier to discuss if Apocalypse Guard was on the way rather than on hiatus because the very premise includes a multiverse and we could get an idea how the mechanics work and whether worlds other than Earth could be included. Lacking that, I'm going to assume for purposes of argument that it is possible because Skyward involves Earth (albeit indirectly) and even though it's not set in the Reckoners multiverse, it's a setting with Earth in it so we can imagine other possible universes that are in the multiverse where humans travel to other worlds. That said, a few other possible worlds (plus the Cosmere, because) and my thoughts: Cosmere - Speaking 'realistically' I'd probably have to give this an 11 just because it would violate Brandon's 'no Earth in the Cosmere' principle if a connection could be established from the other direction. But since that doesn't allow for fun discussion, I'll ignore it and pretend it's possible anyways. Elantris I'd still say is either impossible or the next best thing to it, because its Cognitive region is insanely dangerous and I imagine that would cause hell for Megan's powers, just like it does in-universe for anyone trying to travel there. Roshar would similarly feel like a harder world for her powers to reach, since it's so different from Earth in size, in gravity, in ecology... Nalthis doesn't have a lot going either way but since it's such a pleasant-sounding world (or at least, Hallandren is) I'll say it's on the lower end of the scale, at least within the general Cosmere umbrella. And because it would open the possibility of David getting an Awakened rifle that can make fun of him. Scadrial's the closest planet to Earth per Word of Brandon so I imagine it would be the easiest for Megan to reach in relative terms. Well, that or Yolen but the presence of fainlife would probably make that one a tougher prospect, not to mention that it's hard for Khriss to find and she's already part of that universe. DC Comics Earth - This one's gotta be a 3 or 4. Come on, Steelheart vs Superman, you know you want to see it. And the reaction of Abraham to seeing the Faithful's symbol would be a sight to behold. Carna - The setting of the Codex Alera books. I'd give this one a 9 or so. It's not Earth, hence less probable and it's also got lots of non-human sapient life that would presumably make it harder for Megan's powers. However, it is a planet explicitly connected to Earth (across multiple points in history) meaning that in some universe where Earth exists, so does Carna. Now imagine the insanity Tavi could get up to if he got the chance to make friends with some post-Calamity Epics... and I'm sure Megan and Kitai would get along famously. And on that note... Dresden Files Earth - Despite actually being a version of Earth, I'd have to say this one's in the 10 range where Megan would need some sort of assistance for her powers to find it. Mainly because with all the supernatural goings-on, there would likely be a lot of interference with her powers. And if Megan's powers get her classified in-universe as an Outsider, she'd need help from the other end to actually establish a connection. Wheel of Time - This one's probably an 8 or 9. It's explicitly set on Earth and it's already got a self-contained multiverse so having Megan find it doesn't seem completely impossible, but the degree of changes the planet experiences across the different Ages would probably make it trickier and the cyclical (yet not completely rigid) nature of history would probably make finding any particular repetition of the Wheel nigh impossible. So she might try to nab Mat to get advice on a crazy-enough-to-work plan to deal with Obliteration but she'd accidentially wind up with a random antimatter-furnace sweeper named B'ert from the three billion and seventh iteration of the Sixth Age.

According to Brandon, Sazed is capable of having children. Whether he has a penis or not is sort of moot since, so long as he holds Harmony, he doesn't really have a body in the Physical Realm. And shouldn't need it to have children anyways, as a Shard. But whether he needs one or not and whether he cares about it or not, I suspect that giving his Physical self a penis is within the capabilities of a god capable of creating a planet ex nihilo. @Belzedar So when kids in Silverlight meet at the playground and compare original homeworlds, does this mean that when the kids of Scadrian origin tell the others 'Our god has a bigger dick than your god' they mean it both literally and metaphorically? xD

I think that your mouth in the Physical Realm would lose more in that exchange than the maybe-cake's Cognitive identity. But I volunteer myself to test this out, as long as someone is willing and able to observe from the Cognitive side as I eat the new cake. The things I'll do for scholarship. xD One thing (among many) that's cool about Brandon's writing is how he draws inspiration from his own beliefs and from other things that have interesed him. And once you start noticing these things, it encourages you to look up the sources for yourself. For a personal example, I got interested in Korean history and culture after reading The Emperor's Soul where he mentioned that a lot of his inspiration for Soulstamps (and for that matter, lots of ideas for Sel generally) came from his time in the country as a missionary.

Welcome to the Shard! Brandon has been asked this question and to an extent the answer is 'it depends'. We know that all sixteen Shards started out equally powerful. When the Shards Invest in a world (and it can start to happen as a pure function of time, whether they want it to happen or not) that means that the power they have available for their use reduced. Prior to getting stuck in the Rosharan System, Odium avoided heavily Investing worlds so he retained more of his power. As a result, he was stronger than Shards that did heavily Invest on a one-to-one basis. Other Shards are similarly at different power levels relative to one another, based on how much power is currently tied down to a world or worlds. A Shard can leave a world they've Invested on but their power won't simply go with them. They can choose to reclaim it (which takes time) or they can abandon it, which is implied to be traumatic and results in the Shard being proportionally weakened. On Harmony and Odium specifically, Brandon has described Harmony as being 'vastly more powerful' but Sazed has only had three hundred years of holding a Shard and has conflicting Intents that make it hard for him to act at times. By contrast Odium has thousands and thousands of years of experience, vastly more underlying knowledge even before his Ascension and has the mindset and Intent geared towards killing Shards. So, while Harmony presents a serious threat to Odium, a confrontation between the two would not be decided on raw power alone. Brandon used the example of a hypothetical Vin vs Elend fight when explaining how this works. Elend is technically stronger due to being a lerasium Mistborn but Vin is much more experienced at fighting (and has fewer qualms about fighting dirty) so she'd win. But Odium is rightly scared of Sazed/Harmony because of the power imbalance, even if the latter has handicaps in terms of actually using all of that power.

Technically, a Shard is not inhabiting a planet. Brandon hasn't actually confirmed whether it and the shard that 'just wants to hide and survive' are one and the same. But he has confirmed that the Shard's desire to survive is only tangentially related to its Intent and it's mostly just being aware of what's going on (with Odium) and not wanting any part of it.

Adding to the implausibility of the Nightwatcher's boons and curses being some sort of storehouse from past visits is Lift. How precisely does 'the ability to convert food directly into Investiture' come about under your idea? There's also the question of what happened to the first person to visit the Nightwatcher: If she doesn't have anything 'stored up' from previous transactions then how is she supposed to give a boon? You're trying to explain what happened with Dalinar but you're making this more complex than it needs to be. The Nightwatcher is a spren and consequently doesn't understand certain aspects of the human condition. Dalinar wants something she doesn't understand and so doesn't know where to even begin in the boon-granting department, so Cultivation steps in because she used to be human and does understand.This is in fact pretty much what she explains to Dalinar and there's no reason to assume she's misleading him there. That stepping in directly gave her a brilliant opportunity to engage in some Shardic Chessmastery with Odium was a nice side benefit.

Welcome to the Shard! You might find this topic interesting.

Hoid's healing is from a magic system that 'predates any of the others' per Brandon, which I'm guessing is the WoB you're thinking of.

Yeah, as mentioned it's because Honorblades don't grant all the benefits of a Nahel bond. The blades can't transform like a living spren, they're less efficient in stormlight use, they don't grant the same degree of stormlight healing... but it has nothing to do with the nature of the individual Radiant. Shallan or Jasnah could have done the same thing as Kaladin and with Progression, Lift or Renarin could theoretically heal even faster.

I suppose it's possible but it seems like it would be an unnecessary complication, based on what we know right now. 'Azure' doesn't do anything that Vivenna couldn't do or learn to do as of the last time we see her. Here's an interesting bit from the Warbreaker annotations: Which seems to cover her disappearing scar and possibly her not looking that much older than her age in Warbreaker. There is the performance of the Wall Guard and one member (I forget who) claiming that with her they fought like the spren were behind them, but that could have to do with Awakening tricks we don't currently know much about (Vasher being able to alter memory, for instance). She's also got a slightly extended lifespan assuming she has the exact same Breath store she ended Warbreaker with (Second Heightening and we know the First was enough to extend life by around a decade) and her brother-in-law could probably loan her more if she needed them for some reason. Or she could learn whatever trick Demoux, Baon, Khriss and Nazh use. So if there's enough time passing between stories that require her to dramatically extend her lifespan, she's got ways to do it without needing to be a Returned. And since she does have her full memories, we'd need some evidence for why she's the exception to the rule before I'd start to warm up to it. I do like the idea that Vasher was Returned as part of a long-range plan by Endowment involving what's going on in Stormlight Archive but I'm not as sure on Vivenna. That said, I don't know what else you might have said on Discord so... hit me with your best shot.

I know of the books but haven't read them. Yet at least. Time to add them to the 'to do' list. xD

I counted Nightblood as well. Sentient swords with a fixation on destroying some evil are people too! Does she? I didn't remember that and went back to check the Interlude where she appears and the only thing I saw was that Mem thinks that she has mixed eastern and western blood but doesn't mention her eyes specifically. 'Western' can mean a number of groups besides the Shin, particularly the Makabaki peoples like the Azish. Is there a more specific reference to her appearance that I've overlooked?

Uhh, yeah they were: Ash explicitly recognizes that these pictures came from Hoid and that they're exact drawings, not the representations common in Vorin iconography which is what the Oilsworn would have used. I think you're getting your wires crossed with the scene when Ash first shows up, when she destroys a painting by the Oilsworn. I'm sure Her Highness Jasnah would be thrilled to see Hoid show up accompanied by a hundred chasmfiends marching in unison singing an ode to his magnificence, asking for his old job back. xD And while I think that if anyone could be considered 'Hoid's ward' in the series so far it would definitely be Shallan, the thought of Jasnah and Khriss meeting is definitely one of those encounters that would so redefine awesomeness that 1) Lift would have to find a new word to describe her power and 2) Brandon would have to invent a whole new word for it because 'awesomeness' just wouldn't be awesome enough.

Coincidences happen. The most obvious one is that Ati on Scadrial and Aon Ati on Sel have absolutely nothing to do with one another. According to Brandon, they aren't even pronounced alike. Similar parallels could be drawn between Roshar and Nalthis, if you look at Vo(rin), how shash is a letter/glyph in both worlds and of course there are three prominent worldhoppers from the latter planet on the former, one of whom has something of a history with Roshar. Brandon's already confirmed that the shash thing is a coincidence. But that doesn't mean that the Heralds are from Nalthis any more than a couple of shared syllables means they're from Sel. Riino is a very interesting cameo but at this point there are worldhoppers from literally every other major shardworld and one of the minor ones running around Roshar so we shouldn't read too much into it. Also, Kaladin initially thinks that Riino is Shin, which means that people from Sel (or at least the Aonic peoples) look distinctly different from the majority of Rosharans. Nobody looking at the Heralds has made a similar observation (but Dalinar did make that observation upon seeing Rayse) ergo the Heralds do not look especially Aonic.

Uh, I'm not seeing it. He shot down the idea that Urithiru is a spaceship but he doesn't explicitly shoot down the idea of other things being spaceships. And Brandon seems to have mastered the art of the Aes Sedai Truth, where he'll give a completely honest answer using exact words, except he'll be deliberately misleading in doing so. Big spoiler for a non-Cosmere franchise So unless I'm missing something in that WoB, you'll forgive me I hope for not taking it as a complete shooting down of the theory. Unless it's explicit (and preferably inscribed in metal) there's always going to be wiggle room.

Well, if you really want to split hairs doesn't actually say you couldn't move something really big through space, just that Urithiru isn't one of the floating cities from Ashyn specifically. So the theory lives, for now.