KidWayne

Can someone help me understand what is going on with silver on Lumar and Threnody? Why is silver allomantically inert on Scadrial when it appears to extinguish investiture on other planets of the cosmere? Aluminum acts that way in Allomancy but on worlds where silver has an effect, aluminum is an insulator and a concealer. On these worlds, aluminum is inert with regard to investiture, but it doesn’t eradicate it (in the way that silver does). Another interesting fact I noted was that both Lumar and Threnody are not actively invested by a shard. Not sure that is relevant, but it could be. So, what is up with silver?

Energy is transmitted in waves. You can invert a wave and cancel it. To do this with matter, you need anti-matter. When matter and anti-matter meet, they annihilate one another and release energy. IRL energy and matter are fundamentally the same thing. In the Cosmere, (according to WoB) energy, matter, AND investiture are all the same thing. However, you couldn't invert a sound wave (or a light wave), direct it at a solid object, and expect it to annihilate matter. You would first need to convert the matter into energy before you could use the inversion trick (unless you can create anti-matter). https://wob.coppermind.net/events/360/#e10854

It seems to me that war + growth = destruction You would need Ambition to mix with war to get to empire/conquest.

I found this when looking up silver alloys. "Nickle-silver" is a misnomer that has zero elemental silver in it (it's tin + copper + zinc). However, I found this and thought it interesting... So basically, a silver + nickle alloy might be used in the very setting we see it in RoW - to solder/weld something together (in the book it was used to attach the diamond to the Raysium blade Navani & Raboniel were studying). Alternatively some Sterling Silver mixes could use nickle... Sterling silver is made up of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Sterling silver is mostly uninteresting, people like it because it is shiny and it's main uses reflect that (e.g. silverware & jewelry) I'm not sure if this tells us anything about the story, but I am always impressed with Brandon when he gets the science right!

Anyone think humans will leave Roshar in Book 5 and return in Book 6? I mean #5 is supposed to be set in Shinovar...

Yeah, but that's kind of like the IRL version of saying, "If Marines shoved their fists down the throat of a living kitten to wear like a glove, then they would gain magical powers that would allow them to block bullets." The point is that kitten murder is gruesome and sick, not the nonsense about blocking bullets with kittens... that isn't a thing; don't try that at home kids.

See I thought the foreshadowing and T's eagerness for the Emul offensive was foreshadowing for Odium's forces to attack Urithiru. Interesting that you saw it as a foreshadowing of Dalinar's death. I wonder which of us has the right read on this? Maybe both of us are right...

I really like this theory. It explains what makes Nightblood unique and a non-reproducible entity/experiment. However, this gets at something else that has been gnawing at me... The whole intent + command thing is straight out of Warbreaker & the magic system that allows breath to do various things. No other magic system we have seen is explicit about the intent + command system although it can be inferred or explained using structural qualities of the various systems... Roshar: spren provides intent, the command is supplied by the will of the surgebinder Scadrial: intent here is weird it seems related to the mechanics of the magic systems instead of the magic user; command comes from the magic user Taldain: intent is baked into sand mastery; command supplied by the will of the sand master Sel: lots of magic systems; intent seems to apply to magic system; we don't really know enough about most systems to explain the command portion, though the stamp seems to provide the command in forgery (the role intent plays in forgery is a mystery to me though) Nalthis: command is supplied by a spoken command, not merely by the unspoken will of the awakener; like on Scadrial, intent applies to magic system not the user or magical effect.

Is waiting on both Dawnshard AND the U.S. Presidential election results driving anyone else absolutely bat-poop insane?! I can't focus at work and I can barely sleep. It's like Christmas eve for an 8 year-old where Christmas eve lasts somewhere between 7 and 14 days. Longest two weeks of my life...

OK, so not to derail the entire conversation, but I find this line of thought very provocative in a thoughtful kind of way. I also can't help but make real world parallels. Since you seem to be more in-the-know (historically speaking) than your average college graduate, what hope does the real world have in addressing it's existential problems (e.g. climate change, wealth inequality, resource depletion) if vested interests are so politically powerful? Does history ever show the vested interests getting sidelined for the greater good without something as paradigm-shattering as a world war?

I'm curious to know whether anyone has any thoughts on why Ishar/Tezim is holding back? I know some have connected him to epigraphs that suggest a traitor, so do we think he is a fully committed ally of Odium or is he just a total loose cannon?

Yeah, I know... That's why I expressed my frustration with my inability to use Marasi's talent to speed up time around me and skip to the release of the whole book. Also, that would get me past all the U.S. election ads and other nonsense, which would be a nice bonus.