What's a Seawolf?

I believe Brandon has said there will be more Dustbringers in SA4, so I think the Mink is a prime candidate. I'd guess either Dustbringers or Stoneward. though I'm leaning towards the latter. After all, one, we know so little about them, and two, Stonewards are the 'impossible task I don't care I'm making a stand' order. Sounds a lot like what the Mink was doing in Herdaz.

Here's my line of logic: 1. Warbreaker, and thus Vasher and Nightblood, is a prologue to the SA. 2. If Warbreaker is a prologue, Awakening is going to have to be described at some point during the 10 book SA. 3. The back 5 books are the perfect point to introduce a new magic system that can compliment the existing systems. (Especially if book 5 ends with the destruction of Roshar and escape to Nalthis.) 4. Lift is also important. In a world of no highstorms, she will be possibly the only Radiant who can reliably use their Surgebinding. (I imagine some Radiants will have issue using Breaths to fuel Suregbinding.) Put all that together and what do you get? Vasher Awakens a cupcake with his Divine Breath, Lift eats said cupcake, and thus becomes a Returned Edgedancer Awakener wielder of Nightblood. If Odium is not dead by that point, the rest of the SA is about him fleeing in terror.

This! Preferably via a quick video of Brandon dressed as Santa, updating the rough draft progress bar to 100%.

As far as I know, the only cognitive things to show up in the physical realm are spren, which are bits of a Shards power. I think it stands to reason that something that would appear in the physical realm to a significant enough degree to show up on a space chart is likewise a Shard or part of a Shard. I'm pretty sure Endowment has strong foresight abilities, which to any Cosmere Big Bad would be a major problem to any master plans. So what if the anomaly is just a Shard, part of a Shard, or some Shard designed means of spying on Endowment and the Nalthis system. It could be just to gather information or a means of striking at an opportune time.

Excellent write up! I wish I could add something substantive, as this is the first long theory that didn't make my eyes glaze over at some point in the middle (which isn't meant to be a knock on long theories-I love them-it's just many Sharders are far more versed in WoB's and lore and faster than light physics than me,) but don't have much more to say besides great theory.

I don't think Kaladin saying the Fourth Ideal will be another save everyone moment without consequence, so I think him realizing he can't save everyone (if the 4th oath does revolve around that concept) will lead to a semi-major death. Probably one of the core bridge crew. Nale is in an interesting spot. Moash/Vyre is presumably going around soul sucking Heralds, and what do you know a Herald is essentially walking right up to Odium and asking how he can serve. Now, killing/soul sucking Nale may release the other Skybreakers from their oaths, so he may actually be fairly safe as far as Heralds go. Depends what Odium values more. If not soul sucked, Nale probably survives to book 5 and falls to Szeth. Ishar's another Herald who's proclaiming loud and clear, 'hey Odium I'm right here!' But Ishar seems like a major plot line, not a drop from the skies and remove in a back alley plot line. Plus being the Bondsmith Herald, he's probably a book 5er since that's going to be more Dalinar than book 4. If Mr. T really does know a Herald is in his library, I imagine he'll let Odium know, and that Herald, having no screen time, is probably going down via Moash/Vyre. (Sounds like an interlude to me.) Malata probably bites it, as do some of our non-major Radiants (some of whom will be introduced in book 4.) At least one core bridge crew Radiant is probably on the chopping block as well. I keep going back and forth about major, major character deaths, but I can't really see it. Even non flashback characters like Navani and Adolin would have greater narrative impact dying in book 5, which supposedly will have a lot more Dalinar than book 4.

My opinion of Jasnah as a character has changed fairly significantly across the three books. Post WoK - I basically didn't care about her at all, but that's because I found the Shallan chapters so boring compared to the rest of the book. It was hard for me to get excited about anything relating to that plot line. Post WoR - Shallan became great, but Jasnah was dead. Except not really, and I think it was obvious to most readers that she would be back. (Missing body etc.) So after WoR I essentially had no view of her at all. Her name would be brought up by another character after 'dying' and I essentially thought 'right, she's coming back.' But I still didn't have any attachment or feelings, good or bad. Post OB - And then she went Super Saiyan. But more so than any other scene, it was the almost killing Renarin scene that really made her a full fledged character in my mind. That decision and Ivory/Renarin's subsequent remarks really hammered home just who Jasnah is. Personally, my favorite part of her character is the devotion she has to her family, and I want to see more of her from that perspective. Scholar Jasnah, Super Saiyan Jasnah and Queen Jasnah are all nice, but 'Touch My Family and I Will Balefire You' Jasnah strikes a cord with me.

Excellent theory, and something I haven't heard anyone else come close to mentioning before. I don't really have anything to add right now, except that this does tie together a bunch of Stormlight mysteries in a way that seems feasible. (And now I really want to see a Shard baby.)

So Kalak wants out of Roshar, presumably because he thinks his leaving will get him out of the Oathpact. Nale is listening, but basically tells Galivar, 'nah you're gonna be dead soon.' Which could mean he was leading Gavilar on until he had confirmation of something and then arraigned the assassination, or that he somehow knew of the assassination attempt and just now determined he's not going to stop it. I'd guess the thing brought back and forth from Braize are the black spheres, which Kalak and Nale would have thought impossible because of the Oathpact. But now that they were moved from the place they were 'bound,' Kalak sees it as proof positive that he can get away.

Airsick Lowlander. (I have no idea, that's a good question.)

A reason for the Recreance beyond 'well thousands of years ago this thing happened so now we're gonna kill our spren.' To me, that remains the only weakness of the SA.

This is a little cheesy and perhaps cliched, but I LOVED the Bridge 4 chapters and character growth in OB, so... Kaladin is busy fighting some super tough Odium friend, and defeats the Odium friend but runs out of Stormlight and is relatively incapacitated. Syl tells him to speak the words (4th Ideal) but Kaladin still fights against it. Moash arrives and begins walking towards Kaladin, similar to Elokhar in OB. Syl begins freaking out as Kaladin can't move much and is struggling with the Oath. As Moash raises his spear Bridge 4 storms onto the scene and curb stomp him, Moash's superior Honorblade powers defeated by the numbers and comradery of Bridge 4, complete with some excellent choice quotes. Kaladin gets tears in his eyes and realizes that he cannot protect everyone always, and sometimes he has to let others take charge in order to lead. And thus swears the 4th Oath. (Plus I like the idea of his swearing the 4th Oath not being a 'save everyone' moment like the first two.)

Oh I really like this. To extrapolate, maybe this ties in to Honor's 'regulating' of surgebinders or whatever the term was. Maybe the Ashyn Surgebinders, not bound by any oaths, could obtain the ability to control massive amounts of whatever surges they could handle. This could cause destruction in two ways: One, the lust for power (not just Ascendency power, but dominion over men) and the resulting effects, and/or two, having so much surgebinding power that you permanently alter (for example) the planet's actual gravitational pull. So then the refugees come to Roshar, and eventually the KR's pop up. Honor sees it as potentially a good thing, but institutes the oaths to prevent an Ashyn situation. In this scenario the 'Dawnshards' would not so much be a Sixth Ideal, but rather an Ideal outside of Oaths, a way to 'Mini-Ascend' and make gravity whatever you want it to be for much of Roshar. I'm not sure why one Dawnshard would be different from the rest, unless it relates to Bondsmiths generally (seemingly) being a little different than the other orders. If this is true to some degree, Vyre having an Honorblade and unrestricted Windrunner powers could be very, very problematic...

Kaladin: 'Ok Lift, time for the rotten tomato." Lift: "There's a tomato? Where?" *Slides off in search of tomato* Kaladin: *facepalm*

Although we don't know much about the Ghostbloods motivations, they strike me as rather pragmatic. With all that's happened in the world since the assassination attempts, I can actually see Mraize (or the true leader of the Ghostbloods) going to now Queen and Radiant Jasnah and offering at least a temporary truce. It's very possible their goals align at the moment.

I agree, but for argument's sake, I think it could fit in perfectly based on the little Kaladin/Jasnah interaction we've had so far. Jasnah could be going about handing out orders and acting like a know it all, to which Kaladin would respond with the quote. I think princess would even work as well, as Kaladin calling Queen Jasnah 'princess' would be a way to give a slight. (Kind of the opposite of calling Dalinar 'sir' as his own method of respect, instead of 'brightlord.')

Cosmere spoilers I normally would think the story is just a story, but this is Hoid telling it...so I agree with you that it means more than first meets the eye. Great write up.

I'd never thought of it this way, but now that you mention it, that is odd. By all accounts, Jasnah is the master researcher and scholar we all know her to be, so what source of knowledge did Gavilar and and the Sons of Honor have that she did not know about? Unless it came from a Herald for some unknown purpose? Maybe Nale found out Gavilar was receiving visions from Honor and at first went 'woah, we can still talk to that dude?' This is a good point. Maybe Nale wasn't certain of Gavilar's intentions until right at that moment, and with Gavilar being King, Nale might not have been able to pin him down on breaking a law. Hence he lets Szeth do his thing. (In this scenario, it wouldn't matter if Nale was ultimately responsible for sending Szeth or not.)

This seems to imply Gavilar is seeking ways to transport something beyond the Rosharian system. (Braize not being as far as they'd like.) If Gavilar was seeing the same visions as Dalinar, I think it's feasible his interpretation was 'Well we're royally screwed, let's get everyone off Roshar and away from Odium.' What I can't figure out is if his interaction with Eshonai in OB supports that. He flat out says he's trying to return the Parsh gods and he needs a threat to unite everyone. Is it feasible his end goal, once united, was not to fight but flee? Maybe somehow trapping the Parsh gods on Roshar in the process?

“I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.” That death rattle always struck me as a possible 'champion' fight, and after OB, namely Kaladin vs. his little brother. For nearly three books part of Kaladin's arc has been protecting, how much is a life worth, who decides who is right and wrong etc. I can see his arc culminating in this decision. (Although I'm not sure if his baby brother would still qualify as a 'suckling child' at the time of a battle of champions.) If it is Kaladin vs. a baby however, I can see, as Kaladin is about to let the baby live, Moash swooping in and doing the horrid deed for him.

Per the comment section of the same reddit thread, Brandon said he is 90% certain Rhythm of War will be the title of book 4. He said he just has to make sure it works as an in-world book as well. (He also mentioned an oral book would work in a pinch, but he wanted to avoid that.) I'd toyed with the possibility of Venli being in something other than group 1, but with that reminder, and this being her 'book' and all, I'd say she's definitely in group 1. And if she's in group 1, I think that means Kaladin (almost) has to be in group 1 as well. He's the only main besides Dalinar who has any interaction with the Parsh besides battle. (Plus his breakdown in OB seeing his friends kill each other will certainly come into play as he tries to make the non-Odium Parsh ally with team Dalinar.)

Admittedly I never got the whole Eshonai thing to begin with, but to copy something I wrote elsewhere... I know a lot of people were excited for Eshonai flashbacks, but I was always so, SO concerned how that would play into the main story. (With her being dead and all.) I really, really hope Brandon goes with the idea of Venli flashbacks instead. The flashbacks in the first three books tied into the main narrative so perfectly, I just can't imagine how that could happen again with a dead character. Just to play devil's advocate, I see it as the opposite. Having a minor character die in book 2 and then get flashback chapters in book 4, as opposed to our budding radiant who's deeply connected to Odium's forces and helped bring about the Everstorm, seems like poor plotting, not the other way around. Venli's appearances go from 0, to mentioned in other POVs, to having her own POVs and interacts with both good and bad forces and becomes a radiant, to flashback character. Eshonai goes from mysterious unknown whose name we only get as a chapter title (I believe,) to interlude POVs then dies, to nothing in book 3. Adding flashback to the end of that chain seems far more out of place than giving Venli the flashbacks.

YES! I know a lot of people were excited for Eshonai flashbacks, but I was always so, SO concerned how that would play into the main story. (With her being dead and all.) I really, really hope Brandon goes with the idea of Venli flashbacks instead. The flashbacks in the first three books tied into the main narrative so perfectly, I just can't imagine how that could happen again with a dead character. Also, with Dalinar going Super Saiyan at the end of OB, I have a feeling he's in character group three, as any further major revelations with his maybe sorta who knows mini-ascension would certainly be saved for book 5. I have no clue for character groups one and two, because I can see Kaladin and Venli as being in either one.

Blushweaver. No reason...

The first page here: https://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/82699-is-there-a-point-to-sebarial/ has some discussion about Sebarial and Palona possibly being more than they seem.