Toaster Retribution

Nope. Movies (or other kinds of entertainment) is not empirically objective science. Put five different people on analyzing a scene, and you will get five different analyses. Put five different people on measuring the height of a table, and you will get the same result. What makes people angry is the implication that someones opinion on a piece of entertainment is worth more than theirs simply because they are "better" at analyzing. Writing will always be subjective, since something can work for one person, and not work for someone else. That doesn't have to do with analyzing: it has to do with who we are, what we relate to, and what we are looking for in entertainment. I said there were things that I thought was handled poorly. I never said that those opinions were objective. What I meant with "bound to fail" is that it will make people mad, and derail discussions. Not that I dont find it interesting. I find this discussion quite interesting, in fact.

I seem to recall interviews with Jon Favreau when he said that it will be more overarching plot this season.

I really hope the coming episodes of season 2 develop the plot around the Child and establishes a main cast, rather than "hey, lets have these random adventures on different places for one episode". Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the season premiere, but it wound up feeling a lot like filler. Sure, the Fett armor and Bobas cameo will surely be very important down the line, and hopefullt Cobb Vanth will as well (I really enjoyed him, and Timothy Olyphant was great). But the sand people and the Krayt Dragon really just felt like a one-off thing. Also, those Tuskens who had to draw out the Krayt dragon from its cave defenitely has one of the worst jobs in Star Wars. Poor guys.

Very fair point. However, the whole "which/how many Heralds are in Kharbranth" - discussion is a little fuzzy. But it is entirely possible that you are right.

This is (in my humble opinion) a pretty great way of viewing entertainment. I have discovered that I am much more likely to enjoy something, even if it has huge faults, if I try to look at it from the perspective of "what about this is well-written? What is fun, what did I enjoy?" Which is why I have enjoyed and liked heavily critiziced pieces of media like the Hobbit-movies, the final seasons of Game of Thrones, and the Star Wars sequels. They are what we have, and they do have entertaining/good things (the action in The Hobbit, Theons arc and every Beric-scene in GoT, Kylo and the visuals in Star Wars, among else). Not judging people who view things differently though. I dont think this is entirely true. Writing can work very well for one person and not at all for someone else. I, for example, am of the opinion that Blade Runner (the first one), is, at least partially, badly written. The majority of the sci/fi-fandom disagrees with that, as far as I know. I think writing Deckard as an unsymphatetic douche who has to be saved from every replicant he runs into, while hyping him up to be a great Blade Runner is pretty bad. Several people I know, who love that movie, has no problems with it at all. If I were to go out and say "Blade Runner is objectively written badly" and argue using my own take on the movie, people would get mad, since that writing worked for them. What I think happens (and what I think is a general problem in the Star Wars debate) is that the term "objectively bad writing" gets thrown around a lot, to describe, what is, ultimately, a subjective experience. People in general do not like to be wrong, and they defenitely do not like when someone claims that they are wrong. It easily gets interpreted to mean "I know better than you do" (and I am not saying taht you or anyone think that, but simply pointing out how it can be interpreted on internet forums). Personally, in regards to Star Wars, I'd say that some things are really well-written (Kylo as a villain motivated by a search self-value and someone who loves him, showcasing the grey morality of war, making some really Stormlight-y points about failure and how it can make us better), and some things are really not that well-written (the Holdo plotline could have been handled much better and Palpatines return, to mention two things, even though the latter has become a pretty good meme). In my eyes, these things are good and bad writing, respectively, just like (I presume) all of it is bad writing in your eyes. That is fine, and that is why discussing media is interesting in the first place. But involving objectivity is something that I personally think bound to fail in discussions regarding entertainment. I don't think this adds much to the discussion. Either you politely discuss, or you dont engage him at all.

I was wondering about this. To me, it looks like she is levitating. I admittedly dont know much about the scientifics of friction (not on Roshar, and not IRL either), but could levitation reasonably be part of the Dustbringer power-set?

It would seem like they have the same form at all times. This WoB implies it, at least (spoilered for lenght):

First off, long time no see! Good to connect with you again! Second, that was what I referred to. Brandon has said there is only one Herald with Mr T, so if the old ardent is Pali, Pali has to be Dova.

I think that it feels harsh to draw that assumption just based of Chana being Ishars daughter. Especially considering that Stormlight has people like Lift, Shallan, Eshonai, Venli, Even Navani or Jasnah, who are related to powerful men by marriage or blood are in the story on their own merits. If any character this far has been in the narrative just based on parentage, it is Elhokar. I totally respect that you want Chana to be free of familiar ties with another Herald though.

On Pailiah: why would she be old? Is it because of the theory that she is Taravangians ardent? Because right now, it seems to be 50/50 on wether or not she is Battar or Pali, since Mr T claimed she was Battar at the end of Oathbringer. Also, I think that it was hinted that Chana is kind of young. Her chapter heading portrait looks like a pretty young woman IMO (I wish they kept her helmet from that in this new illustration). Finally, it makes sense for all the Heralds to be conventionally attractive in these pictures, given that these are supposed to be in-world portraits. Generally, people who are admired, or even worshipped, are portrayed favorably by the culture admiring them, which would include looking good.

TFA is fun, but unoriginal (apart from Kylo) and doesn't really hold up for multiple viewings super-well. TLJ is, while not flawless, still great. Rian does know the point of writing, and did what he could to move Star Wars in a direction that isn't: hey, lets just rehash the OT! He wrote it with the intention of opening new doors for the franchise, attempted to send Rey, Kylo and Poe in genuinely interesting directions, and tried to make Star Wars a bit more grey through DJ (he should have stopped Benicio from stuttering though). RoS is a mess writing-wise, but a fun spectacle. I agree that JJ Abrams is much better at making a movie (RoS is incredible from a visual standpoint) than he is at writing it. They wasted Finn, Hux, Zorii, Jannah, and a lot of others. Rogue One is amazing though, and Solo is fun. And Mandalorian is amazing.

Brandon does non-spoiler Q&A streams like every other week or so, while he is signing stuff. He had one yesterday, in which they had a reveal of the four new Herald portraits: Chana, Nale, Pailiah and Kalak.

Nope, she wasn't. So I'm sorry for all the Battar fans (if there are any). They said she was in production though, although slated for Book 5, so they might hold on showing her until then.

Chana and Nale got a thread for their pictures, so in all fairness, Kalak and Pailiah should as well. The art on these two is absolutely amazing, I think. Also, Kalaks Blade looks incredibly cool.

Crackpot theory: Chana is Ishars daughter. This is entirely speculative, based on very little evidence, but it is a fun thought nonetheless. I base this mostly on ethnicity. All the other Heralds we know the appearance of (which is all of them except Battar) seem to be looking either Makabaki or Alethi. Ishar and Chana are the only ones who look Shin-like, which is my (very weak) basis for the suggestion that they are related. Another point of interest is that Chana looks rather young, while Ishar certainly is old enough to have a daughter. Thats it. What does everybody think?

Yep, they were revealed in the stream. I think Nale and Chana got more attention since Nale is the most established characters, and everyone is hyped for Dustbringers. My personal thought on these is that they are super-cool. These were the two I was hoping we would get, and I honestly thought Nale would wait until Book 5 since we already had Taln revealed and Kalak was bound to happen since this is his orders book. But Taln got pushed back instead, so yay! I always imagined Nale with hair though, but that is literally my one complaint. Also, is that a dragon in the background on Nales portrait?

Where are they? It feels like the Singers would have discussed the fact that Nale is on their team. It also feels like the KRs would have worried about the Skybreakers attacking the Fourth Bridge? So what up with them?

The theory does hold water. My biggest issue would be why a kandra would bother leading a Herdazian war against Odium, which was doomed from the start. Furthermore, my personal preference would be if the Mink was just the Mink. He is way too fun to be a kandra, in my opinion.

I´m thrilled that you spotted my little joke...

I feel like Words of Radiance set him up to be a chouta salesman.

Yay, Szeth is back! He seems to be really good at being a prisoner. Also, am I the only one who gets wierd vibes from the Mink wandering around learning about the security and everything? Could he be a spy for Odium (or the Ghostbloods, or someone else?) Furthermore, tossing Nergaul into the ocean is dumber than the time the Sons of Honor decided to revitalize religion by ending the world. Odium is just gonna call Dai-Gonarthis, aka the Black Fisher, and Nergaul will be free again.

Agreed. The kind of reaction he has gotten shows that. However, he is decidedly unlikeable, but that doesn´t make him a bad caharcter. In fact, I think he is similar to Jasnah in the regard. Both are (in my opinion) unlikeable, but also very well-written.

Ehhhh.... probably, with school or something. I’ll say yes. Never have I ever attempted to cheat at a test in school.

The only Pratchett book I have read is Guards, Guards (I know, I know, I should read the others, and I will). I was excited for this though, and I think Richard Dormer is great casting for Vimes. I love his portrayal of Beric Dondarrion in GoT. So it is a complete mystery to me why they chose to have Dormer do Jack Sparrow instead of Sam Vimes. Sure, Dormer is a surprisingly good Jack Sparrow, but that is not how I remember Vimes. I think it looks like it could be fun, as long as you manage to forget what it is supposed to be based on.

Thanks. Read the Formless-thread directly after posting that comment, so I’m up to speed now :-)