Rasarr

He could be a Skybreaker, though...

Wow, that's quite some questions you've asked, Paladin Brewer. An upvote for you, you've come to the forum with some nice "hello" gift I'm having a mounting suspicion that aluminium is indeed what's used as Shardblade-protector, and frankly, I agree with emailanimal's opinion on Trell/Nu Ralik. The fact that there are forces trying to limit Harmony's knowledge is... interesting, in the "may you have interesting times" kind of way. Seems like more than one being is not happy about the new kid on the block. Also, may I pipe in with a question for signing, if you're looking for something to ask? Is Threnody in the same planetary system as Sel? If not, is it close?

SnopyDogy - excellent analysis! I'd upvote you several times if I could. I'd certainly agree with sentiment in this thread that while Roshar is feudal, it isn't medieval - it's pretty common to treat those two as synonymous, but as at least two people pointed it out already, they're not. The Shards are the biggest "lynchpin" holding the system back in place, as Jimmy pointed out, but note that people were already figuring out a way to counter Shardblades without getting ahold of them - remember Jah Keved's fabrial-shields (can't remember their formal name right now)? Unfortunately, this particular line of development might've been killed along with Jah Keved's integrity, but something tells me Taravangian may resurrect it, given how he sees Radians as a problem. What I'm getting at somewhat roundabout-ish-ly is that the areas in which Roshar is less advanced compared to our world are the ones which are impacted by Shardplate/blades. Feudal systems stays in place because you can't really argue with a guy who's pretty much a small tank. Warfare remains medieval, because things that would impact weaker protective armour are useless against Shardplate and hence not investigated as much as they should be (a modern sniper rifle would pretty certainly breach Shardplate, but it takes a lot of imagination to get to it from a primitive musket). Caste system is stuck in place because everyone can see Shardblade bleaches your eyes. By comparison, areas where Shardplates and Shardblades don't have much impact, such as spanreeds, military organization, science, medical knowledge and fabrial tech are flourishing and are much closer to our "tech level". Good catch, haven't thought of that (and you'd think a person living in old Prussian lands would catch this... ). I've always imagined Roshar in my mind as more of XIX-century America without trains and gunpowder.

Observer and natc, you both have a valid point. And now I'm worried that several characters will end the first or the second story arc volunteering as new "Heralds" to hold back Odium... I know it's unlikely for everything to return to status quo by the end, but nevertheless, a worrying possibility.

Remember that it's the galaxy with presence of Adonalsium (A.K.A. intelligent mind with worldmaking) and huge amounts of Investiture, which our universe - arguably - lacks, and both of which seem to increase the chances of intelligent life forming on planets, so I don't think it's that much of a stretch.

How do you propose they "defeat Odium once and for all"? Consider: it took someone with entire available Preservation to beat Ruin. Honor is shattered and Cultivation is implied to be very heavily invested in Roshar, while Odium is barely invested in Braize. Simply enough, there's no force in Greater Roshar matching Odium's power level. So what other options would they have? Invade Braize? For all we know, from Heralds' perspective Braize was Damnation that only they of all humans had access to, and they were tortured there, which implies that any invasion force would quickly find itself in similar predicament. What I'm curious about is why did they keep on going all together to Braize. Didn't they think at some point something along the lines of "hey, Taln is never the one to break, maybe this time the rest of us will stay while he holds the line"? Or the other way round, "X and Y break the most often, so let's leave them on Roshar this time and have them prepare the battlefield while the rest of us holds back Odium"?

Well, if you're so adamant about it... You become an exact copy of Rodrigue Ninga, complete with his memories and everyone around you convinced you are him. I wish to score 90% on all my end-of-school exams.

When you're commuting on the bus and something unusual starts to happen, and you think "what would [sanderson character] say to that?"

Granted, now everyone else will remember them for you. I wish I was a Mistborn.

I was going to say that maybe they know (WoR) , but now I'm thinking... Metal tools. Who in the worlds would spend 1000 Breaths on a talking hammer or saw? I mean, what would be the benefits? What command would you use, Destroy Evil as well? If you have the opportunity, weapons would probably be better for this command. To be honest, the fact that they specifically mention metal tools suggests something allomantic or feuruchemical going on. With speaking, perhaps they're looking for copperminds? Of course, then there's also the possibility that there's a Type IV-making command other than Destroy Evil, but I'm still not quite certain about making Type IV out of tools.

Granted. From this day on, you will bump your head on every doorway you go through, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Yes, even if you try to crawl. I want to visit New York.

I have just discovered this thread and this happened: So, for my humble contributions to it: That badass Dalinar flashback: Jasnah vs. the Stick

A valid point, although I suppose Awakening would too look quite abstract to people who only started to explore it. Basically I figured there were two Shards, Order and Chaos, that were shattered quite spectacularly a Long Long Time Ago, with daemons being Splinters of Chaos and Splinters of Honor manifesting when they possess Imperial Saints etc., with the Emperor being a holder of huge Order Splinter akin to Stormfather... Slaanesh would be a Splinter that would come about by Eldar unwittingly bringing together too many Chaos Splinters, which made them coalesce and "reforge" into a bigger Splinter. There'd be three magic systems, with warpcraft being Chaos magic, possession being Order magic and rituals being joint magic. Perpetuality would come from some people being born with too much Connection to their Physical aspects... ... sorry for the rant. I could really go on about it, I've put waaay too much thought into it. Yep, the Spiritual Realm was what had me stumped. Back on topic of the thread: You know you're a Sanderfan when you're listening to the radio and judging what moment the song currently going on would be the best soundtrack for.

Somewhat connected to the above, when you're able to classify the entire universe by Realmatic theory and figure out how Investiture and all that works with in it, only to be stumped on one minor detail. And then it bugs you and you're browsing Coppermind to no end trying to figure it out... and it takes hours for you to realize that it's not a Cosmere world, it doesn't have to fit in. A Thing That Actually Happened. Also, did you know that Warhammer 40K is surprisingly compatible with the Cosmere?

Sort of like becoming a spren, after a fashion? I could see that hapenning, with Investiture forming a new body for Kelsier (there's now a scene stuck in my head with the mists coalescing in the dead of the night to form Kelsier, complete with that smile of his...). As for how re-connecting may happen, perhaps his incessant meddling with Physical world could somehow naturally form some beginning of the Connection, which could then be strengthened by... I don't know. I'm not sure if we know enough about Connection in the Cosmere to be able to come up with something.

The more obvious it is, the more annoying it becomes for everyone around. Words are like tigers. Kudos to whoever gets the reference without Google.

Alas, I am ocean away from Seattle, so I'd gladly take up on your offer. For a question: "What - or who - was Threnody named after by the Cosmerans?" (I mean in-universe origin of a name. Hoping to get an answer like "a Shard") "Was there every a Shard or Threnody?" Oh, and one that's been bugging me for a while: "If a Radiant had his spren turn into a bow for him, would the bow need regular arrows, or do they come in package with the spren-bow?" Also, "What about spren-rifle? Would a Radiant need regular ammunition?"

Wibbly-wobbly, but appears to be going forward. Fantasy novels are like B movies.

Sometimes reaching the interesting part takes annoyingly long time. Computers are like Shardblades.

Accidentally or "accidentally"? It could be that Wax and Wayne series sets up the ground for Set's actions in 80s series, with the serial killer being controlled by some cabal. There's always another secret, after all.

Are we certain the recipient was on Yolen? Leafing through the Letters, I don't seem to see any mention of Yolen, do we have a WoB or something?

Kel and Hoid teaming up... Cosmere will shake at its foundations.

Regarding Kaladin and two Lightweavers WoB... Wouldn't the second one be Wit? The Ars Arcanum even explicitely refers to Yolanian art of illusion as Lightweaving, noting its similarities to Rosharan Lightweaving, so could it simply be that Kaladin's two Lightweavers are Shallan and Wit?

All I found is a professional e-sport player going by the nickname. So I guess... they both look innocent, but can completely wreck you if you dismiss them? A spren is like an origami.

IIRC, there is something about Preservation being more invested in Scadrial than Ruin, which would make Preservation part of Harmony "naturally" weaker than Ruin part, hence Sazed could store part of his Ruin in atium to keep balance. Not sure if that's canon, WoB'd wrong or sheer speculation, though.