What's a Seawolf?

As far as I know nothing has been has been mentioned regarding his family. Now that you mention it, it certainly is odd. I'm a fan of the theory that he or Palona is the leader of the Ghostbloods or one of the secret societies on Roshar, so I suppose the lack of a family can play into that somehow.

I first started reading WoT when Book 10 (Crossroads of Twilight) was already published. So because I could burn through one book and immediately go to the next, I never experienced the 'slog' like some others did. On subsequent rereads I began to notice what people meant by the slog, and agree to some extent. It's not as bad as some people make it out to be, but it is certainly there. 4 and 5 have been and still are my two favorites of the series, so as long as you are somewhat enjoying 1-3, fight through to get to 4 and 5. On rereads I felt the slog really started on book 6, but 6 also has some killer moments. Books 7-11...I feel really could be combined into 1.5 or 2 books and nothing of value would be lost. The first Sanderson book, Book 12, is also one of my favorites (easily top 3,) if you need some additional incentive.

Every single member of Bridge 4. If the remaining Stormlight books need to be 4,000 pages each, so be it.. I'd also like to see more of Shallan's brothers.

I would definitely recommend the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. The first book is The Black Prism.

I'm still a firm believer: Cosmere spoilers

I expect book 4 to be like book 3, where just about every question/theory we had was answered and a whole host of new ones presented. (Things like the Recreance and Odium's champion were largely speculated to be book 5/climax things, and Brandon threw everything in OB instead.) With that in mind: Shallan: Everything Ghostbloods. I think the Ghostbloods will do something truly horrid this book, but also something truly great. Shallan will be at the middle of all it, and readers will be vastly conflicted regarding the Ghostbloods. Almost all Ghostblood secrets will be revealed. Kaladin, Venli, Moash: I'm lumping these together because I feel like their story lines are going to intersect. At the end of OB, Moash (Vyre, whatever,) seems to be picking up his own parsh following, including one of Kaladin's former parsh friends. Even though Moash is seemingly going to become Team Odium's Herald Slayer, I think Moash is going to continue his 'yeah Team Dalinar sucks but so does Team Odium' talking points to any parsh who will listen. This will result in a mini-arc for him somewhat resembling Kaladin and Bridge 4 in WoK. At the same time Venli is going to begin the process of breaking some parsh away from Odium, but will have to compete with the Fused and Team Moash for their minds and time. Kaladin's mainly here because of the Moash/friend parsh connection, and this continues his arc from OB where he couldn't act because his friends were killing each other. This will tie in to helping Venli. As a Windrunner and very anti-Moash, Kaladin will probably also be at the forefront of the 'save the Heralds from Moash' bandwagon. Dalinar and Navani: I think the viewpoint will primarily be Navani, as Brandon has said less Dalinar in book 4. A lot will be Navani reflecting on the 'new' Dalinar. Politics and inventions, mostly. This will be the one area where there will be unanswered questions, as the extent of Dalinar's powers and the whole 'Unity' thing will be for book 5. Adolin: He will continue being awesome, have a mostly happy marriage, and continue to try and figure out how to fit in in a world full of 'superheroes.' He'll figure something out by the end. I hate to say this, but I think there will be a major death in book 4, and Adolin is one of the heavy favorites to be that death. (As much as I do not want to see that.) Renarin and Jasnah: Will remain background(ish) characters who will play important roles but we won't see inside their head. Lift: Will continue being one of the best characters ever. Will be adopted by Rock. Kaladin will groan. Szeth: No idea. If Dalinar is less of a focus this book, and Szeth is adamant about guarding him, Szeth might not have much to do. But with Dalinar's new powers, he may convince Szeth his need for bodyguards is significantly less. So let's say Dalinar sends Szeth off with Kaladin. Because Kaladin, Syl, Szeth and Nightblood sounds like a fantastic road trip group.

My opinion on Kel seems to be different from what's been mentioned here, but I think without a doubt Stoneward or Windrunner.

As great of an idea as this would be, I think Odium implied such technical shenanigans wouldn't fly. In OB he says he cares more about the meaning behind the words rather than the words themselves, or something to that affect. Where Honor (at the end at least) became obsessed with the exact lettering of the oaths, Odium implies the exact words are less important to him. So if Dalinar and company appointed a champion from Kharbranth, Odium (I think) would just say 'That's nice, but we all know what I meant with that promise. Your champion is no longer covered by it.'

Beyond Dalinar being a great character, what's most intriguing to me about his future is Brandon saying Dalinar is his favorite character. Now, that could mean nothing, just that Dalinar is a character Brandon has had in his mind forever and loves finally being able to portray him as intended. But in a cast of so many (both SA and Cosmere,) I can't help but assume being Brandon's favorite means Dalinar has very, very big things ahead of him. That doesn't mean he necessarily survives, but does some great thing that has long and far reaching SA and Cosmere significance. I can envision something akin to creating a new Shard with the combined power of two or three shards on Roshar, but then having to pass it on to another. MAJOR MISTBORN SPOILERS Regardless, Dalinar being Brandon's favorite and a Bondsmith in a world heavily based on bonds, says to me that whatever he does it's going to have effects beyond SA.

Grab a Dustbringer, spike the bond into an Edgedancer. Grab a Dahkor Monk and spike them in the right way to turn them into a Koloss. EdgeDustBringer divisions Dahkor Koloss. You know, somewhere in the Cosmere there is definitely a mad scientist doing exactly this. And I really hope Brandon writes about it someday. Even if it's more of a for fun, semi-non canon sort of way. (Plus the interplay between the Edgedancer Spren and stolen Dustbringer Spren would be comedy gold. For as long as the poor Radiant can keep it together.) EDIT: To answer the question, I assume as long the EdgeDustBringer was strong enough, he could division away the other Frankenstein.

The only part of SA that I don't love is the Shallan sections of WoK. Not only are they really slow, I don't think they contribute much to the overall story. Besides the character introductions, that entire plot was just an exposition heavy way of saying parshman=voidbringers. Disappointing is too strong a word, but if you made me pick a part of the SA that I tend to skim or skip in rereads, it's that. Truthfully, if there was one thing I could change about the SA it would have nothing to do with the series itself. I just wish Brandon had never revealed who the ten flashback characters would be. I think we're missing out on a lot of fun speculation since we know who the ten 'main' characters are. (Just think of the Adolin vs Lift Edgedancer book debates. Adolin vs. Ash vs. random seemingly minor character here for Dustbringer book etc.)

I was initially against the title because it didn't fit with the 'nobility' (probably a poor word choice, but it's early) and uniqueness of the past titles. But the more I think about it the more I like it. After the events of OB and a year in-world jump, it makes sense for the conflict to have become a full scale back and forth war. As much as I'm still a little hesitant on Eshonai flashback chapters and focusing on the Listeners in general, I think it will be fascinating to see Venli try and practice her surgebinding while under the watchful eye of Odium and the Fused. Every radiant so far seems to focus on one surge well before the other, and I'm curious to see which it is for Venli. Seeing the specifics of teleporting and more of Shadesmar would be really cool, but I'm leaning towards wanting to see Cohesion just to see what the heck it really is and can do. (Plus I imagine Venli teleporting to and from Shadesmar will be a big obvious easier to detect 'hey wait should she be doing that?' moment for Odium and the Fused.) I can see Venli's arc being ostensibly one of uniting the non-Odium Listeners, but really about peace with Dalinar. If RoW really involves the conflict getting constantly bloody with constant casualties and battles, the Jasnah way of 'kill 'em all one of us is becoming extinct' may gain more and more popularity. Plus hatred of the enemy in general. (Rhythm of War and all that.) And Venli, formally of the 'to hell with everything, humans are dumb, gimme new forms damnation the consequences,' will realize the errors of her past and be the one to forge a real unifying coalition between Roshar's various races. (Her being the one to ultimately fight against the Rhythm of War.)

I'm not even a fan of the NFL anymore, but the Super Bowl got me thinking. What's the best Cosmere Superbowl team you could put together? 11 on offense, 11 on defense, 1 head coach. No subs, no bench. Just 22 for offense, defense and special teams. Additional rules: Your team has a limited amount of Investiture that they SHARE. It's not per person, it's per team. That Investiture can be converted to fuel any Cosmere magic system as needed. No obtaining additional investiture or unlimited power usage hacks. If your Investiture user normally requires time before using their power, that time must be observed. For example, a Steel compounder could take part of the team's Investiture and run like crazy, but normally a Steel Compounder would have to spend a significant amount of time moving half speed for some amount of time moving 2x speed. That half speed time must be observed, and remember, the Steel Compounder cannot be on the bench, because there are no substitutions or bench players. Only time the game clock is actually ticking counts towards this time. No Shards. No Hoid. No killing or intentionally maiming to reduce the numbers on the opposing side. Who you building a team around?

How the orders handle waking up and getting to work: Windrunner: Work? No time to work when there are people to protect. Skybreaker: Would fly but there's probably some dumb law against that, so they waste their time stopping fully at every stop sign. Dustbringer: Always early. There is no traffic because they destroyed it. Edgedancer: Slides through traffic while flipping and doing acrobatics to make everyone stuck in traffic remember there is fun in the world. Truthwatcher: Already hit the lotto, no need to work. Lightweaver: Creates a replica office in their bedroom complete with replica work cloths and teleconferences in for everything. Elsecaller: Teleports, duh. Willshaper: Teleports, but not to work because that's not fun or an adventure. Probably end up in some forsaken part of the Outback or something. Stoneward: If busy, never leaves work and does not have to worry about getting there. If not busy, dreams about it being busy. Bondsmith: Convinces work to come to him.

This one. If I get another: To Lift, "This is bacon. You're welcome."

Someone had to say Words that we must all expect Yes, I am a Stick.

It would be interesting if Cultivation ultimately decided she had to cultivate herself. Odium devoting tons of resources to crushing her, only to realize shattering her may set off events that lead to his own demise. Team Dalinar begging her to take a more direct role in the fight.

I was going to say something else, but I really like this one. Granted, at this point and time Kel is probably over the whole TLR thing. He'd do it if he had to, of course. Because my Cosmere dream is still Cosmere Avenegers, regardless of who is permanently gone, gimme Vin.

Whoever decided there would only be 9 pancakes in Tashikk. Slightly more serious, Zombie Sadeas, just so he can die again.

I hope this is the right forum, and it's okay to link to other sites. If not, I apologize. Over on the Stormlight Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/absjnj/stormlight_book_four_update_1/) Brandon posted his first update for book 4. I won't quote the whole thing, but he mentions spending the first two months starting yesterday creating an outline, then possibly posting a spoiler free version of it like he did with OB. He also mentions that a part of Kaladin's WoR arc was originally outlined to be in OB, which I cannot picture at all with how perfect Kal's WoR story was. Another interesting tidbit at the end, 'I'll leave you with a random tidbit to theorize about. I'm pretty sure that at my signing last week in Idaho Falls, I was unintentionally misleading about some of the things I said about Dalinar's powers (regarding infusing of spheres.) I was trying to talk around spoilers for book four...' I couldn't find anything on the events and signings page, anyone know what he's talking about?

Yes, I believe so. But I also think the common in-world belief of 'fighting in the afterlife to reclaim the Tranquille Halls' will come into play at some point, even if it's not the afterlife.

There are A LOT of things Brandon can do with the ending of book 5, including the above mentioned 'nothing major' option. I'm still a kind of sort of believer in the Tranquille Halls idea, where something is wrong with Roshar's afterlife, or the Tranquille Halls are an actual place etc. For the longest time I was partial to the idea that Kaladin would die defeating Odium's champion, only to wake up in Braize, leading to the revelation that the real reason for the Recreance was anyone with a nahel bond is bound to Braize just like the Heralds. I don't much believe that anymore. If I had to guess, I think there's mutual destruction between Dalinar's forces and Odium's, to such a degree that Roshar is either destroyed, or forced to be abandoned. (And as mentioned above, would make Lift's abilities even more handy - and her book is book 6.)

I keep telling people, what's an in-world book we have a title to that seemingly serves no purpose? 'An Accountability of Virtue.'

Thinking about predictions pre-Oathbringer, myself and many others thought Brandon would take the mysteries post WoR and spin them out over the course of the first arc of the SA. Well, he dumped everything in the extraordinary third book and created a bunch of new mysteries for us to theorize about and look forward to. I think the same thing is going to happen with book 4. Almost everything we have questions/theories about will be answered, and in doing so Brandon will leave us with a heap of currently not thought of questions and mysteries for book 5. So in book 4 I think we'll get: -What's happening at the Horneater Peaks -Ba Ado Mishram and most if not all of the remaining Unmade -What happened to the good Parshendi -The history of the Parshendi and what happened via the Radiant strike team in the past that trapped BAM -Adolin and Maya (please don't die Adolin) -Aimia -Shallan's continuing mental breakdown and final resolution (whatever that may be) -All things Ghostbloods -Resolutions to Nale and Ishar, or at least their anti-Dalinar armies And that's just off the top of my head. It wouldn't surprise me if Adolin and Shallan had a baby in the 1 year gap either. I think Dalinar killing Evi will be something taken care of in the 1 year gap. (He will undoubtedly mention it in the in-world book Oathbringer, plus to his sons beforehand.) Adolin and Renarin will reflect on it at some point in book 4, but it's not going to be a 'omg will Adolin and Renarin hate Dalinar now' plot point. If all that sounds like too much, just remember, we would have said the same thing about everything that happened in OB pre-release as well. But Brandon fit it all in.

This is my biggest and only concern/pet peeve with SA so far, so this may turn into a mini-rant. Because the Recreance still makes no sense. Every single Knight Radiant deliberately goes out and kills their spren. Their constant companion, the one who knows all their secrets, the one who-as the Stormfather explained-holds a closer and more intimate bond than many a spouse. The KRs killed this-relationships like Kaladin and Syl-because of something that happened multiple MILLENNIA ago? How in damnation does that make sense? The last desolation happened over 4,000 years ago. The first desolation (when humans came to Roshar) was well, well, before that. Why in creation did the Knights Radiant give a flying cremling of a damnation about that? Because they not only gave it a thought, but they gave up their powers and killed their dearest companion spren. The the Stormfather does imply there is more. “It is more than that. My memory of all this is … strange. First, I was not fully awake; I was but the spren of a storm. Then I was like a child. Changed and shaped during the frantic last days of a dying god. But I do remember. It was not only the truth of humankind’s origin that caused the Recreance. It was the distinct, powerful fear that they would destroy this world, as men like them had destroyed the one before. The Radiants abandoned their vows for that reason, as will you.” But why would even the fear of destroying Roshar cause the KRs to mass murder their spren? Can't you just stop surgebinding? We haven't seen any (to my knowledge) overly addicting effects of Surgebinding, where Surgebinders HAVE to use their powers like an addiction. Can't you-with the massive amount of minds and powers, including an entirely different realm-come up with a different plan? Even the mass enslavement of the parsh doesn't seem like it would be enough, even coupled with the other possibilities. I can see it causing significant infighting amongst the KRs, but not mass spren murder and abandonment of duties. The only thing I can think of that makes some sense has to do with bonds. Specifically, we know Honor was going crazy towards the end. Maybe somewhere along the line the KRs gave an oath to fight the voidbringers. But because Honor went crazy and cared only (according to Odium) about the words of the oath and not the meaning behind it, suddenly the KRs were 'Honor bound' to kill humans instead of Odium's forces (mostly parsh.) I know there are many issues with that train of thought but it's really the only thing I can come up with. It still doesn't really explain Dalinar's vision of Feverstone Keep. The KRs lined up, stared the humans there down, and broke their bonds/abandoned their shards. The way that scene is presented, I always thought it was the KRs way of saying 'screw you guys, you're on your own.' If my brief theory above is correct at all, I can't see how that scene makes sense. Anyway, rant over. I really, really hope there is a LOT more to the Recreance then we've been told.