Govir

A simple question that I don't want to read much of this thread for (since I've already accidentally been spoiled in this thread about Roshone's death [and I accidentally clicked on a spoiler in the main Tor chapter releases that also spoiled the same thing]). Are chapter 7/8 out in text for at all (e.g. a transcript of this video), or would I need to wait on the Tor releases of these chapters to *read* them? Thanks!

I don't think it was. I think Neragoul is a special case, since they normally inhabit people. So Dalinar enticed it to come close because of his Passion, then rejected it, and it siphoned into the gem. It's also been a long time since I've read the end of OB. Was the pillar of light after Neragoul (or was it just after Dalinar rejected Odium with "you cannot have my pain")?

Your Aes Sedai is showing. Now we know why they risk Dalinar on missions. Yes. "Interviews"... Wait. What? WHAT! (It's already too late, but I may stop reading these if the new novella is fully taking place before hand, and there will be potentially more spoilers for it [I guess it is an assumption this is a spoiler at least])

Do you mean Tarah? I don't think she's the MC of the book, it's just that the book has her flashbacks. Yes, the last three books have also had the Flashback character be the MC, but I don't think it's a set in (gem)stone. I was thinking of the ashspren we saw in Celebrant. A lot of people are thinking this Fused is using Transportation, but what if the Fused is somehow using the destructive aspect of the Dustbringers, temporarily becoming a spren that can fly, then "healing" itself via the Voidlight it's holding? This would explain why they can't carry anything that isn't "them". It wouldn't explain why they aren't using it offensively though. I like this idea. You could also have the gems in the same housing. I'm picturing an aluminum box that is divided in two, with an aluminum lid that slides to only cover one side at a time. The uncovered side are the ones that are actively being connected, and then the other side would have a reverse polarity. This design would be more efficient than two separate groups because moving one side would "reset" the other side with the same action.

She tried that. It didn’t work out for her.

Never really thought too much about it, but I'd agree with the results. Interesting note that the top two share Regrowth as a surge, so that must be fairly strong in the results.

My boy Bim was always destined to die.

While it sucks that you've spoiled a few things, just know that there are *many* more plot points you haven't been spoiled on. And there's a bunch of epic scenes you know nothing about. If you were interested enough in the series to pick it up, I don't think knowing a few things that happen will really put a damper on your enjoyment. Slight tangent about spoilers in general, i.e. my view on them. I have realized that knowing spoilers is the similar to having already read the book. That is to say, after I've read a book, I'm "spoiled" on rereads because I know what's going to happen. However, I highly enjoy rereads (especially Brandon's stuff) because I pick up on clues in the books earlier than you would think possible. So cheer up, and be prepared for many things you *don't* know.

Does Ash specifically do this with the eyes? I thought she just destroyed them in a more general manner, e.g. breaking statues and slashing paintings. Regardless, if Liss is a Herald, I don't think she's Ash. Didn't Jasnah and Szeth see Ash in Oathbringer on the battlefiled? Either one could have recognized Liss (with Jasnah being the more likely). To clarify, Jasnah and Szeth have both dealt with Liss (Jasnah as a hired assassin, Szeth has his one time master). If Liss were Ash, then either could have recognized her in Oathbringer.

Your wish has been granted! And then is immediately killed by Vyre.

I forgot which thread I was in and thought you *wanted* this. In all likelihood, I think Moash will have a change of heart at some point, but won't survive via some sort of suicide mission. Possibly in book 5.

They were both “male” to me, but being a male myself that is my default unless told otherwise. If I had actually met them, I would try very hard to use they, but I know I’d mess up a few times. Speaking from experience.

I don't want to fully disagree with you, because I do think it's possible that the Delvers evolved from AI (ancient AI, mind you. As Delvers existed even during Defending Elysium). But it is my opinion that when Spensa hears the stars, she's not hearing the Delvers. She's hearing all the other Cytonic activity. It is mentioned in this book that the spark Spensa and Jorgen felt between each other initially was actually the cytonics. I think this sensing is also what the Delvers are doing but dialed up to 11 (this one goes to 11!), which is why it's so annoying to them.

First, I think one thing that hasn't gotten enough traction is that I felt like Brandon reused a lot of scenarios he's already done. See my post here. I will re-iterate that I'm not sure this is a bad thing persay, but it is definitely something I noticed throughout. Second, I have thoughts from the podcast. So much so, I re-listened and made some notes. (I've moved this to number 1, even though it came up later. I think it's the most important) I believe it's important to remember that the Delvers aren't actually the big bad in this book. Winzik's faction is. They are attempting to use the Delvers to seize power and much of what we hear about the Delvers is Winzik's propaganda. It is unlikely that the Delvers would have entered our realm in this book without Brade actively calling them (which took some time). In that sense, I am OK with how "easily" it was turned away. I do think we are not done with the Delvers, but I think we're going to see more interaction with them while Spensa is in the Nowhere and not as much of them in our realm. You mentioned how M-Bot thinks faster when the portal to the Nowhere is opened. I believe this is because the Nowhere is "where" cytonic activity takes place. M-Bot (and other advanced AI) use cytonic circuits to get their processing speeds. Therefore, I think that M-Bot is expanding into the Nowhere. Theory A: The Delvers could be ancient AI that have copied their programming to the Nowhere. This story could be a take on how AIs do not understand humans, especially their individuality. I do not think there is any cytonic communication between the bridge and engineering on the Weights and Measures. Spensa thinks there is because she can hear the talk cytonicly, but we get a scene where they talk about the commands actually coming over a loudspeaker and that the slugs are *mimicking* the speech cytonicly. Speaking of mimicking, I like the idea of the slugs only mimicking screaming. I mainly like this idea because it makes me feel better about the treatment of the slugs. A caveat to this is like you said, it doesn't make sense that the screaming would be coming from inside the ship. A possible solution is that the screaming is a diversion, in that they scare the slugs, which scream and cytonicly jump away (i.e. making a lot of "noise" for the Delvers), and then a Superiority cytonic does the actual jumping of the ship. Spensa most definitely was the cytonic part of her hyper-jump in Skyward. I remember thinking it could have been Doomslug, but during re-reads I believe it's clear that Spensa is the one connecting to the circuits and doing the jump. I like the idea that Ben had that Detritus was basically an acclivity stone mining facility that was chosen to be the shell planet because of the access to Acclivity stone. This would answer why there is the writing we see around Nowhere portals is present on Detritus. This last one is just a random theory, which is not compatible with my Theory A from above. So, Theory B: The slugs are baby Delvers. There is talk in the book about the Delvers reflecting (i.e. mimicing) emotions, and we know that the slugs very much so mimic those around them. So, it's possible that the Delvers are hearing the "screaming" (which is how Spensa interprets it) that the slugs are doing as something else and that's why they leave them alone. This theory was brought up on the forums, and I think it's something that could be accurate. Lastly, Theory C: The Delvers are just the Delvers, and don't have an origin tied to any of the existing species we know of.

I have an idea for one, but I need to re-read the text (oh no...) to make sure it's accurate. Now that a topic has been made, maybe I'll actually get around to it. EDIT: I tried to make the one I wanted, but it didn't turn out well.

There are many quotes I love in Stormlight, but I think I like this one the most. It says so much about both Shallan and Kaladin. (For context, this is when Shallan and Kaladin are in the chasm after falling)

Interestingly, I didn't pick up on Morriumur being referred to as they until about half way through. And I *thought* I remembered them being referred to as "him" before that. My thought was that Spensa originally saw Morriumur as a "him", but after learning more understood they were a "they". I'll be keeping an eye out for it on a reread.

Sorry to hear about the WoB. I like this theory, specifically that the Delvers were created by someone and if that's true then they're most likely AI. A trope of AI is definitely them not understanding humans / human individuality, so I definitely see an extension of that evolving into the Delver point of view. We also have the missing Kitsen Shadowwalkers. It's possible they are tied to the Delvers in some way, although the scale of the Delvers seems much too large for the Kitsen to have made them (not that they couldn't, but why would they make such big structures).

They changed units when the jump didn’t work. I hope they aren’t killing the slugs, but the screaming makes me feel like they are

Overall, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure I enjoyed it as much as the first book, but many sequels have that issue. My main thought is that throughout reading I kept finding parallels back to other Sanderson's works. It is like he is examining the same type of ideas, but playing out different iterations of them. I have yet to decide if I find that a good thing or a bad thing. I will spoiler tag them. Stormlight Archive Warbreaker Mistborn Off the top of my head, that's what I can remember. I should have taken notes about reactions as I was going. I did comment on another thread about halfway through the book (around where we first heard the screams during jumping) thinking that the Superiority were definitely using captive cytonics, but I completely forgot at that time my theory I've had since Skyward that Doomslug was the hyperdrive for M-Bot! I did not think that there would be more on Detritus, as I assumed she came there with M-Bot, and his mushroom directive was in place to keep Doomslug alive.

I just got to the part with the screams during hyperjumps, and that my immediate theory as well. Captive Cytonics. I did not piece it together with the Kitsen Shadowwalkers, but I like that theory. I was thinking it would just be whoever's on hand. They keep people suppressed, so it's possible there's a forced labor thing. My main question would be: do the captives survive a jump? I'm guessing they don't.

@Calderis Ahh, you're right. I forgot about Suit's speech about it. Carry on.

To clarify, those numbers are only the amount of spikes each has. Kandra have 2 spikes, with the pair being called a Blessing. Koloss have 4 spikes. Afaik, any creature only requires two spikes to be controlled by Ruin/Harmony. This is seen with the Kandra in Era 1, and again with a particular Kandra in Era 2. Calderis reminded me of Suit's speech about this.

My understanding of this quote is that Szeth was made Truthless because he was saying that the Voidbringers and the Knights Radiant were returning. This quote is then him saying, "No, I was wrong. The Voidbringers and the Knights Radiants are no more. Only us normal people remain."

I haven't read it yet, but thanks for the heads up! A brief look at it seems to be maybe Apple overstepping themselves and an automated sample algorithm program displaying it before they should. I just don't think it would have all of the extra stuff at the beginning if this was an early release like we've seen in the past.