Argel

So how does Sadeas's short POV in WoR factor into Brandon's structure? Is there a chance Brandon could include a short Adolin POV that he's not counting as part of the main structure? Like maybe we mainly we get Dalinar's POV with a quick cut to Adolin's, then back to Dalinar's?

It's also worth noting that epic fantasy is meant to be overwhelming because of the deep world building. Tolkien started it with the deep world building. Then Robert Jordan started the Wheel of Time, which added the "insane number of books" aspect, and tons of plot threads to the mix. Being a pioneer of sorts, Robert Jordan made soem mistakes, letting the story get away from him (plus pacing issues, most noticeable in CoT). After Robert Jordan passed away, Bransdon was chosen to wrap up the Wheel of Time. On the one hand, this significantly delayed the SA, but it was also a huge learning opportunity for Brandon and is a large reason why the books have a strict structure. The Interludes stand out to me the most on this front because they are a great way to solve the problem of too many characters, too many interwoven plat threads, etc. The epigraphs are another way to slip information in without derailing the story. They are also a good way to imply that more than one read-through is a good idea. As a side note, the opposite approach can be seen in Steven Erikson's Malazon Book of the Fallen, which drops the reader right into the middle of things with very little explanation, time jumps around hundreds of thousands of years, introduces a whole new cast part way through the series, and all kinds of other crazy things. We only have two books in SA, but based on those I would say it's one of the most accessible epic fantasy series due to the structuring. Malazan Book of the Fallen is probably the least accessible and should only be read after a healthy dose of other fantasy series out there. Anyway, welcome to the 17th Shard!

More so given that Brandon keeps RAFOing what Renarin's spren looks like.

I think I focus on the others more because the betrothal is in place, and I'm just used to the idea of the guy courting the girl. That, and I guess I think they could make it work, so the question becomes why it might not work out. Adolin's not a scholar, but he's not an idiot either. He's fairly quick to pick up on things. I think they could definitely complement each other. Loosely, I kind of think of them as a fighter+mage duo, which could be powerful combo. Wheel of Time Spoilers

I wish I had a chance to talk to him!! I pinged him and Brandon via twitter, with a brief theory (loosely, did the lantern imply Adolin went back a different route). I'm probably at my quota for answers now though. One nice thing about Twitter though is the short length, so there may be a better chance at a response, if you are willing to wait a couple weeks. I have to say, Team Brandon is really great at interacting with fans. I was mainly thinking of Renarin as a last resort since we are not sure who is at U. Or if he someone knows from being a KR. We don't know how his powers work, so maybe he finds out by accident. Maybe we will get a POV from Adolin later in the book, as reflects on it if he discusses various things with someone else such as Shallan after it has come to light. Or maybe there are so many other things going on that Adolin doesn't reveal he did it till later on. With the desolation, Sadeas's murder will be one of many things on Dalinar's plate -- if he even looks into it personally at all. Elohkar may appoint someone to look into it. Also, if that lore section is heavy on flashbacks, we could have a big gap in current events. Gah!! I forgot all about Kadash!! Another good option! Seems like we are favoring the ardents slightly (since Zahel is technically one). Maybe we will get a Zahel POV on it in an Interlude.

I sure fracking hope not! That makes things messy as hell at conventions, readings, etc.

Sorry, was skimming through and missed that. Something doesn't feel quite right about that though. Shallan thinks they come to the shattered plains to pupate. If there was a KR order that was heavy on the aquatic side that could interact with them while in water as well --- that would be more convincing to me.

The actual quote is: Unless you want to claim the comma is a typo and was supposed to be a semi-colon, English grammar dictates that we have to interpret the entire sentence (and going beyond that, the rest of the paragraph as well). Which means millennia have passed since Rayse was captured. I do need to correct my earlier post though -- it's possible Tanavast intentionally or unintentionally set things in motion that eventually lead to Rayse being trapped on Braize. So Tanavast could have died before Rayse was captured. I don't know if that helps or hurts figuring out the timeline. It can't hurt to ask Brandon on it. You've clearly put a lot of work into the timeline, so he may be willing to clarify a point or two. Also, I know he said he could not pin the timline down till Whitesand was released. It's out now, but I do not know if we have seen any timeline updates since then. So maybe you could get him to lock down when Whitesand at least starts.

Well, Pattern is always visible, just well camouflaged. Good point about Renarin. Maybe it's an Honor/Cultivation thing?

Especailly SA. He wants it to be able to stand on it's own. Mistborn may be the series with the most spillover (at least as it ties into the main story), but still mostly stand-alone, at least so far. Since Mistborn Era 3 will be a modern setting and Mistborn Era 4 will be Sci-Fi there is plenty of opportunities for him to slip more Cosmere stuff in and I would not be surprised if some bigger Cosmere events eventually play a part. For example, with FTL (Faster Than Light) travel, they will presumably go to other worlds, which opens up all kinds of possibilities.

Presumably if they thought their shards were at risk, they would withdraw. @sheep, great artwork as always! Really like the Ghostbloods!!

FWIW, Peter didn't seem to think Sadeas' lantern mattered that much. I think we are over-evaluating the scene, and likely the evidence, etc. I wonder if Adolin will just admit it to someone. Could be a hard secret for him to keep. If Kaladin was there, he might go to him. But since he's not, maybe Renarin or Shallan? Or maybe pull a Kaldadin and visit Vasher/Zahel. I think he's less likely to talk to his father at least not before talking to someone else. Navani is a wildcard here -- he could go to her, thinking she would be sympathetic (Sadeas trying to get Dalinar killed on the shattered plains likely left a very bad taste in her mouth). Edit: So some thoughts: Shallan: Not sure if they are close enough for him to confide in her. She's more independent (I.e. not tied to a highprince) and he may know how loyal she is to her family. Navani: He knows she can keep a secret, is in a realtoinship with his father, so if he's seeking advice on whether or how to bring it up with Dalinar should could be a good choice. And as mentioned, she will likely think the murder was for the best. Renarin: Always supports Adolin. Not much to go on beyond that, but that could be enough. Dalinar: Not likely to approve. Probably would not go well. May tell Dalinar if there's a need for him to know though. Elohkar: If he wants to be exiled..... Navani and Renarin: Sort of a family conference. More likely if Adolin wants to tell his father. Navani and Dalinar: Navani could reign Dalinar in, help make him see things from a different perspective. Also, this could occur after Adolin has conferred with others (e.g. Navani, Navani and Renarin). I think this would be a very smart move if he wants to tell his father. And then there's Navai, Renarin, and Dalinar (and just maybe Shallan), which I think is most likely if there is some kind of political pressure going on. That is, at a high level, something similar to the Dalinar's Visions situation. I'm leaning towards Shallan and/or one of the two-or-more scenarios.

All the fracking time. I wish Brandon would include pronunciations as a footnote. Robert Jordan started doing that and ince I noticed that I had to relearn several names. Sigh. I think Roshar is particularly bad -- pretty sure I am mis-pronouncing most of them.

Yeah, not justifiable, but people have quirks, things that push their buttons, etc. All of which are figured out while getting to know someone better. As I mentioned, Adolin has already picked up on it thanks to that event, so as far as Ia m concerned, they have already moved past it. It could come up again, they could also talk about her father, etc. If Adolin had not picked up on it or reacted to to it very badly I could see a case being made, but we see later on that Adolin has picked up on it, so it's not a big deal right now, and I have a hard time seeing how it could lead to a split because of that. These kinds of things happen in relationships all the time. If Adolin had not picked up on it, then I could see it as being relevant, but the whole she's a KR/hes not thing is likely going to be the biggest hurdle (with the murder possibly eclipsing it) Now that you mention what the audience saw, there were also other distractions, such as checkign to see what Dalinar, Elokhar, Sadeas, Amaram, the judge/referee of the match were doing. I could see where Shallan might be glancing around at other things as well. And definitely focusing on her betrothed and his brother, and we know how Shallan feels about family. We also had the advantage of the mutliple zoomed in cameras. No closeups for the audience. I'm leaning towards Shallan was a bit preoccupied. She may have even been considering doing something more drastic with illusions than just sending Pattern in -- we don't really get a lot of info for her as the duel progresses beyond her sending Pattern. Of course if she missed it at the time, she would have learned about it later because Dalinar and Adolin certainly did not miss it, and she would obviously know about Adolin's self-imposed imprisonment. But there's just a lot we do not see afterwards. As a side note: Adolin demonstrates a lot of loyalty to Kaladin here, which Shallan would appreciate. At the risk of derailign the thread, one way she could accept the murder is Adolin did it to protect his father/family, something Shallan can relate to. This may be too Wheel of Time-ish, but I could see an Aes Sedai + Warder type arrangement between Shallan and Adolin. Anyway, I think I'm slightly favoring the Shallan + Adolin ship. I think Jasnah would be too much for Kaladin to put up with, unless she lets her guard down and let's him see the real Jasnah. So, what about Kaladin and Eshonai? Renarain's also a wildcard for shipping....

Given the context, it's pretty clear it means after Rayse was captured on Braize, so the milennia are after said capture. Side note: Hoid and Frost are both from Yolen and Frost has not left Yolen, so they are probably using Yolish years. Which I do not think we have any info on, so assuming the same as Earth is probably accurate.

That's an easy one -- Honor and Preservation have invested in Roshar significantly more than Odium has (which is very little -- he's avoiding that as much as he can as per WoB [I'm not even sure if e.g. the Unmade count as investing in Roshar -- they could be world independant]). Investing in a world means less Investiture the shard can draw on, makes it significantly harder to leave that world, etc. If Odium was able to play Honor and Cultivation against each other then he probably could have taken them both out. More likely Cultivation is the one keeping Odium trapped on Braize. I also have a hard time believe that the harvesting of gemhearts on the shattered plains to the point of extinction (the direction they were headed in as per Shallan) would be something Cultivation would favor. On the other hand, the lesser crustaceans with gemhearts might qualify.

Yeah, but it's an arranged marriage to Adolin -- how is that not supposed to feel somewhat scripted?

I saw it and upvoted it! But why hang out on Braize instead of Roshar then? And what about being being forced to name a champion? Is that due to the Oathpact (implying Odium was a party to it) or something else (e.g. given the right conditions all shards can be forced to name a champion)?

Ah! That makes much more sense! I could definitely believe it if it came from the soldiers.

Eshonai and Adolin does seem like an easy fit. Good point about the Ghostbloods, though Kaladin is likely going to be a well-known KR, so ties to him may not hurt either. Hard to say without knowing the goals of the Ghostbloods. I really hope we learn more about them in SA3. I'm tempted to order something from the Brandon website just so I can ask for some new Ghostblood information....

She wasn't given a choice: So? It's more than understandable. That's just one of those relationship things that getting to know each better will take care of. I don't know why people keep focusing on this -- it's an easy one to deal with, and later on we see that Adolin has already picked up on it anyway. She may have also been more heavily focused on Adolin and/or Renarin (she did send Pattern to help him after all). And Kaladin was arrested right afterwards. It may have also happened off-screen. I mean, we know Kaladin would say it was nothing really.

Eh? So Jesus was lucky when he cured the lepers, was resurrected, and ascended into Heaven?? Aethists might say that, but followers of the religeon would be considerably more liekly to use terms like "favored" and "chosen". For example: Jesus, being Gods only chosen son, cured the lepers, was resurrected, and ascended into Heaven In religions, it's not luck -- it's divine intervention.

Based on what Brandon said, if having power from all 16, that could imply Hoid would temporarily be holding [the shard of] Adonalsium, and then become a sliver of Adonalsium? That's interesting. Even if not, I wonder if he could attain sliver status with a combination of what he has? Is he hoping to become a sliver of D&D? Or even pick the remnants of those up to form a new shard?

No, it's a teaser for SA3, and should be in spoiler tags because of that.

It was a bit unnatural -- she used her latent KR Lightweaver powers to enhance herself. Sebarial notices something afterwards: Much like with the deserters and that big battle on the way to the shattered plains. She has also been trying to practice what Jasnah taught her, plus Tyn was training her on the art of the con. Taken together, it's not a surprise that she managed to pull it off (if just barely). Also, she's from Jah Kaved, which borders Herdaz, and has more mixed blood because of it, hence her red hair. Palona is Herdazian and Little Herdaz (where Kaladin hid Elokhar near the end of WoR) is in Sebarial's warcamp. So I don't think it's a surprise they take a liking to her. Plus there's this: And it was a politically savvy move given she is betrothed to Adolin. Let's not kid ourselves -- highprinces have to deal with politics like it or not, so we shouldn't overlook this. Regarding Jasnah, the prevailing assumption was she was dead. Shallan was severely delayed making it to the Shattered Plains, so it wasn't shocking news -- it was somewhat expected. Plus, hormones... Pretty obvious where Adolin's mind was, but let's also be fair here -- she is his betrothed, whom he's meeting for the first time, and first impressions are positive. Also, talking about Jasnah's death at their first meeting.... @maxal Regarding who Dalinar favors the most. I would not say it that way. I would go more with who he thinks needs his help the most -- Elohkar, Renarin, then Adolin. He's harder on Adolin, that's true, but Adolin is the one able to stand on his own two feet the most. He can fight and Dalinar has been grooming him to lead (I'm thinking the military forces here, but he will take over as highprince eventually too).