Rage_Fortress

I personally like this theory as it fits nicely with my idea that Autonomy is trying to hijack Survivorism on Scadrial. I wonder if there are examples of spontaneous freedoms in the religions of other planets as well. (I know survivorism's freedom attribute wasn't spontaneous).

I'm starting to agree with the general consensus that Kelsier has little to do helping Autonomy. That being said one can't trust departures from character though. I think one of the letters said that Ati was once very kind and generous. If Autonomy did have control of Kelsier his love for freedom might surpass that of his friends. I'm definitely leaning more towards the idea now that Trell/Autonomy is using Survivorism in order to convert people to Trellism. The Religions are basically the same only one of them is an actual god of freedom.

I did know about his being the Sovereign and the coin, I guess I just assumed one could work out more of what he was up to if one paid close attention. I didn't realize Sanderson just completely let it be known all that he was up to during the Wax and Wayne era.

I like this. I've always thought of Cultivation more as growth than transformation though. I know that's kind of nitpicky as growth is a form of transformation. The word Cultivation connotes time and hard work. Whereas transformation to me seems almost instantaneous. For example if I said the pumpkin transformed into a carriage, that makes it seem like it happened without any work going into it. I swear I'm not trying to be a pain in the neck. I just like this idea and want to help streamline it. If you disagree by all means don't change anything it is after all your theory. Edit. I didn't read the first half of your post. I sometimes get ahead of myself. I now realize that you totally meant growth when you said transformation. XD Maybe "Learns" for a possible shard we haven't met yet.

Ah so you are saying that Trell is latching onto a pre-existing independent train of thought/religion. I think you've got it down better than I have. My only real reason to push Kelsier into this is that Sanderson has stated before that you can kind of see what Kelsier is up to during this era if you look hard enough. To see a connection between Survivorism and Trell/Autonomy I thought I was onto something. Looks like I'll have to wait for Secret History II.

I have been re-reading Alloy of Law over my holiday break. When I came across a specific quote that made me pause and formulate an interesting theory about Trell. Due to spoilers the rest of this post will be in a spoiler box. Read at your own discretion. Particularly if you haven't read Secret History.

Specifically the 10th incarnation in appearance. But you're definitely right. The whole idea of the character matches The Doctor. An unassuming person in the crowd who has a grand purpose for being where he is. He doesn't always know why he's where he is, but he always shows up where he needs to be. He ages very slowly and travels through space. Also his true name is unknown.

I still think the second letter is Autonomy the letter writer asks to be left alone three different times in the same letter. That screams autonomy to me. Also the Invested Beards' explanation made perfect sense to me and added to my already personally justified prediction. Also, Also, Am I the only one who was super stoked to see Harmony writing back to Hoid? Harmony is one of my favorite characters in the Cosmere and a surprise cameo really made my day.

Autonomy no doubt about it. Doing whatever I want. No obligations. I could be anything twice over. Just for the sure joy of it.

They were my personal dark ages. I actually really hated the fantasy genre from about 2000 to about 2010. Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were the only good fantasy series' I had read up until I read Mistborn in 2006. I actively avoided the genre because I knew it was all the same. Ooh magic. Ooh dragons. Ooh world map. I thought the whole genre was pretty stupid. I read LOTR and HP because of the hype surrounding them. I read them and thought that they were exceptions to an otherwise terrible genre. Post Mistborn I grew up. I realized that the fantasy genre was simply a setting. The stories within that setting could be anything. Since Mistborn I have gone on to read the rest of the Cosmere novels and loved them. I read the first three Song of Ice and Fire books before I lost interest. Earlier this year I also read the first Wheel of Time book and I have no interest. I gave it a shot. I just couldn't care about the characters, except the ogier. It was too much like Lord of the Rings. Small village bumpkin forced on a journey. Check. Being pursued by monsters in black. Check. Cursed item makes a character grumpy. Check. Scary trot through dark evil dungeon. Check. I know this describes hundreds of fantasy novels. It's why I hated the genre so much when I was younger. I thought it was all the same. It was very taxing reading the same story over again with different characters. All of that out of the way...I have heard the series gets better and then sadly gets worse again before Sanderson takes over and saves it. I may eventually pick up the second one but I will have to be in the mood for putting up with what could possibly be another agonizingly dense book where nothing happens. Sorry for the rant I just really didn't enjoy myself while reading WoT. I actually haven't heard of Farseer. No judgements there.

I agree completely. Azure is a mysterious character. There are mysterious characters in lots of novels. One doesn't have to know anything about Vivenna for her character to be believable. The same goes for Wit and Nightblood. I think Sanderfans are a little spoiled on how much information he tells his fans. Not everything has to be answered in one book. If we didn't have the information he gives us we'd work it out eventually ourselves and be kicking ourselves for not figuring it out sooner. So maybe the issue is not that he's overdoing the cameos but more the fact that he spoils us by warning us of them ahead of time. I actually really liked the slow reveal of Azure being Vivenna. I was searching. From the very start of the book. I knew she was supposed to be in it somewhere, so every female character I was like "oh that could be her, I have to see if she shows up again." by the time Azure was introduced I jokingly thought "what if it's her" and then there were more and more subtle hints until finally I just knew. Other things like the Voidbringers=humans reveal took me completely by surprised. Also the thing about Nightblood is he's not the only weird sword on Roshar. There are living spren blades, dead spren blades, Honorblades, all of which act a little differently from each other. One more weird sword doesn't make me freak out about not knowing how or why it works the way it does. If I hadn't read Warbreaker first I would probably think that Nightblood was some kind of Odium bonded blade.

I thought it was the thrill.

Probably Nale has it already.

I hadn't considered that but you're definitely right. Roshar feels so alien. While Harry Potter just feels foreign. That's not really a bad thing either. It's great for a fantasy series geared towards youngsters to be rooted in the real world. It builds on what they already know. That's not saying that Stormlight should be held off until later years. I know plenty of kids with Imaginations that would give Sanderson a run for his money.

Agreed. I thought back then that Harry Potter was the pinnacle of great world building and story telling. It's still great. Actually the Fantastic Beasts movie really made me appreciate the world building all over again. Stormlight is infinitely better of a story.

Yup. Dark Ages pre-2006, in the time before Sanderson. When the best thing I had ever read was Harry Potter. Dark days indeed.

I'm coming to realize I'm an old man. I read Mistborn at around 26ish. And was didn't pick up Stormlight until about 28ish. Just read Oathbringer at 30. I did however read LOTR in 6-8th grade. So I think I would have been ready if the books had been available back then in the dark ages.

I forgot this scene too. LOL. Definitely my favorite Elend moment.

I can't believe I forgot about this scene. It's my favorite scene in Era II Mistborn. I'm adding it in as soon as I find a great quote.

My vote if it counts for anything is definitely Aztec/Incan or African style of empire.

In quote form. Mistborn Way of Kings Words of Radiance Oathbringer

This hasn't been the case with Mistborn. It's true that nothing has lived up to how awesome the ending of HoA is. It didn't ruin reading for me. I have faith that Stormlight will have just as amazing an ending. This did however occur with my love of anime. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was the last great anime I ever watched. Nothing else has even come close to how amazing that series was. I still have some favorites from when I was younger. Fullmetal Alchemist, Toradora!, Baccano! (I just realized I like anime with exclaimation points. LOL) But Gurren Lagann completely ruined anime for me.

Maybe Silverlight is Adonalsium's cognitive shadow. What if it's like Knowhere from Guardians of the Galaxy (MCU). All the little worldhoppers just bounce into the Cognitive realm and chill out in the body of a dead god. Not really a great idea. Just spit-balling like a high school kid.

I have never made the connection that you are implying here. I love it.