IndigoAjah

This is a fair criticism. Surely we will see more mourning next book?

Or he feared putting of his eggs in one basket - if he lost his 3 experienced loyal Radiants all at once, it would be a huge blow, ditto losing his Commander of the Guard/a major leader (esp one with a growing Radiant squad), his heir, the King AND his best scholar and next in line to the throne after Adolin, Renarin and a child they were aiming to save. And if they were attacked at base, having Jasnah as a Radiant to fight at home would be key

I've read Mistborn but they have a specific hack! Seems deeply unlikely that the Nalthians have the same hack

He's got a specific link to Connection though! He also combined all 3 Realms, how is Vasher for example doing that?

Fuel to the fire: Questioner With the Heralds we know that there's only one left... one Herald that's still bound to the Oathpact-- Brandon Sanderson OK, only one Herald was about, was abandoned-- You'll find out the mechanics of that in the next book. Questioner So are we going to see more of Taln... Brandon Sanderson You will see more of-- the Oathpact is not completely broken, the others are still bound to the Oathpact. Questioner Even though they kind of sort of said they were abandoning it? Brandon Sanderson Yes, so there's still connection there, so you'll find out more about all of this and how it works.

As for why does one have internal and the other external locus? Well, a variety of things from genetics, upbringing (not good or bad in general but the way of thinking about oneself and the world), culture etc all play a part

Possibly internal vs external locus of control. Kal very much internal locus- he thinks he can do anything and has a hero complex but also blames himself for things gone wrong. Moash, from what I've seen, tends to externalise. Good things happen to him because of Kal, and bad things because of others. Nothing is ever achieved, in his mind, by him, and nothing is ever his fault (or rarely). Neither of these sorts of people is intrinsically better- both tend to have advantages and cons in real life (and it's an interesting real life psychological topic), but it's easy to see here how one could lead Kaladin to grow, be a Radiant but be totally harsh to himself all the time, and the other lead Moash to vengence and rejecting personal responsibility.

There are a few threads on that dagger. But in essence, it seems to permanently kill the Herald (I suspect utilising a Spike and then a Gem to store the essence long term) which would allow Odium to permanently break the Oathpact if he kills them all. Or doesn't count as them dying cause the Herald essence stays on Roshar trapped in the Gem so again, Odium can control the Oathpact if he gets every Herald

"In the past, Honor was able to guard against this, the Stormfather told him. He convinced the Radiants they were righteous, even if this land hadn’t originally been theirs. Who cares what your ancestors did, when the enemy is trying to kill you right now? But in the days leading to the Recreance, Honor was dying. When that generation of knights learned the truth, Honor did not support them. He raved, speaking of the Dawnshards, ancient weapons used to destroy the Tranquiline Halls. Honor . . . promised that Surgebinders would do the same to Roshar." Chapter 113

So, we have seen at least a few Worldhoppers in Stormlight Archive now, and as my comments elsewhere demonstrate, I don't think they distract at all. However they do ask a few questions, ones with logical possible answers and I suspect will be answered, but still. How are they speaking Alethi? Have they learnt the tongue, and how? Or can some of them manipulate Connection? Have instant translation devices? For Azure and Zahel the obvious explanation to me is that (though it doesn't matter when there aren't as many languages on Nalthis, that we have seen at least), a Heightening gives the ability to speak and understand any language

“You tried to break me as a slave. But you failed. They rescued me.” Maybe it’s time for someone to save you, Syl had said in Shadesmar. But someone already had. Amaram raised the Shardblade high. “Bridge Four,” and before that: "why do you still hurt?!" And anything Nightblood said

Inspired mostly by numbers, this little theoreta of mine here, but: We know one Dawnshard is different from the others... There has also been a discussion on the number of Voidbinding aspects- Odium's number is 9, and there are 9 shadows to his Champion (which is interesting and I will think of as 9x+y) and there are (?related to shadows) 9 Unmade. However we know from Brandon and Khriss that there are 10 Voidbinding forms. Which I suspect fit as 9x+y. i suspect the Dawnshards, as Odium was the humans' original god they brought with them and which we know destroyed their old world (or Honor says they did), are linked intrinsically with Voidbinding. Maybe with the Unmade? Maybe like the Honorblades but for Odium. But one type of Binding and one of the Dawnshards is different from the others. This could be interpreted several ways- one isn't Voidbknding related, meaning maybe their is a Surge that Voidbinders can't access or only 9 forms? Or one surge/form is so fundamentally different? the other thing we do know is that a story in world says that either one or all (the wording is ambiguous) of the Dawnshards can bind anything Voidish or Mortal. This could be all of them, as binding is the essence of Voidbinding. Or could be the special ability of the 10th, and it means binding as in controlling or suppressing. But who knows?

I'm not sure they were sure that the Oath would hold with only 1 Herald, that there might be another way of it starting. ANd they are insane

I'm not sure anyone available would have done an iota better

Also, he did win that fight, fair and square once, then fought off the Fused, then won without even fighting because he had loyal friends where Amaram had none and could never have any. He won by himself first, then won morally the second time, then won by his impact on others the third, defeating Amaram utterly. I don't see how you can see it as a loss at any level

But I'd argue there is a whol arc there and the key to it is Kal not driving the entire plot and getting to another Ideal and saving everyone again. In the end he is saved, by the people he has saved. By the man he rescued and taught about protection last book, and by the group he has created the very virtues of the KR in. If Kal hadn't helped them they couldn't have helped him, if he hadn't trained them but more importantly saved them from themselves. And instilled loyalty in them. And that to me is more beautiful and rewarding to read than Kal taking steps towards Studom

Then they'll get a nice surprise (probably. Or we will get a nasty one). Why is misleading bad?

In a world in which there is still so much to reveal, with new reveals every part of every book, in which every main character knows relatively little of the background, we have characters from the past and nations we know literally nothing about yet, and people doing things for the first time ever in every book, the only way at this stage a character or thing can stand out as genuinely alien is if you know that they have an alien source

I personally think Gavilar was way off the path at the end. Still get super villain vibes from him in every flashback since WOR inclusive

Eshonai. nobody's death has crushed me yet though. But based on MB, we will see one

Or some serious city expansion work

If you were slow to spot it, why does it matter? As for Nightblood, he's going to be the Chekhov's gun to actually give the heroes a chance to win. Warbreaker is merely his optional backstory

I think you highlight here how much he HAS progressed. I'll explain why when I'm at my computer later. But the most important thing for Kal to do is to get better at celebrating despite his Depression (which he did), try to work out a solution for the Windrunner ideals vs his surgeon ideals (which he attempts more than ever and makes headway), and realise that it is ok for him to fail, sometimes it can't be helped and it's not his fault and others (like Dalinar) can share the responsibility to save. And that is the Ideal he is currently teetering on. i think he progressed a lot, people just seem to expect book characters to have a clear, forward and never relapsing journey. Which is absolutely not how life works,and his refusal to depict that is where Brandon shines, above many lauded "literary classic"'writers

If Nightblood formed a Bond, surely it would be a unique one with unique powers? He's not exactly a Highspren - the law is not his driver, but his Command to DESTROY!!! EVIL!!! Though maybe that's close enough? All I know for sure is that once the Radiants discover the scope of what Nightblood can do, they have their most deadly weapon against the forces of Odium, and maybe something threatening enough to Odium (I don't think it can kill him, but surely it can do a lot of harm, and Odium appears to have a fair bit of fear in him, hidden away) that they can bargain into another Oathpact or whatever. Or just use Szeth plus Nightblood as the Champion of Honor

Or Jasnah writes another masterclass work of art logical essay...