Argel

SA archive takes place either shortly before Era2 or there may be some overlap with SA5. Someone should ask Brandon if he's descended from native Rosharans. We already know there's a descendant of SoScads.

Or maybe Yolen? That one is a question of timing based on what Brandon said. If we take the past tense at face value, then it implies Sixth has already had it by the time we are reading SoD and there is nothing to indicate he is a world hopper at that point in time.

That WoB suggests it is theoretically possible to substitute breaths for metal. I'm trying to focus on if that is possible then for what makes Allomancy Allomancy?

From a book personalization: And further down in that thread (page 2) terminon tells us that: If they are in the same solar system then that would suggest Roshar, which doesn't seem to fit. FTL makes more sense. There's also this from Theoryland: And he RAFOd if we have seen the world for the Expanse of Broken Sky. Not sure if these tell us anything (other than it's probably not in the same system as Nalthis). Oddly enough, I am not sure if anyone has asked if the one from above have FTL. Source thread for the book personalizations:

Yeah, SoD is the FTL exception. Man, I really hate that Arcanun Unbound has the abbreviation as Alternate Universe. Maybe we should use UA (Unbound Arcana) instead? AU is too common already. I have just been writing it out.

Yeah, I mean, is there even a court system per se? More like at that level go to the local feudal lord, who will either do what he wants for political advantage or just for kicks -- and we know that would not go well for Shallan's family from previous flashbacks. Or if neutral (laughable as that is), they would be like, "oh, he killed his wife, in cold blood" and with witnesses (don't forget Eylita was there, so it would not just be family members, and the guards would probably testify to seeing Malise dead) then would they really care? For all we know her father gave up all/most of his rights when he murdered his wife, given how big Jah Kaved is on the Vorin religeon.

Also, IIRC, they be CR starcharts, not PR. Probably because the planets are closer that way. Or maybe they haven't nailed down all the PR distances yet.

You're right, but it was right afterwards. But what else were they supposed to do? Would he calm down after everything that happened? And the guards were brutes working for her father and the entire family would be wiped out if it was reported by political opportunists, etc. They really didn't have much choice. I'm not even sure how Nale would view it.

EDIT: Gah!! She does strangle him a few pages later!! I hang my head in shame!! @maxal Shallan did not strangle her father!! Here's the relevant section. Her father goes from about to kill Eylita to falling down dead. Shallan moves to his already dead body. And murder is beyond a reasonable doubt. Not hard to come up with reasonable doubt for this one. A DA talking this to trial would be an idiot. Poison could have an antidote. A knife through the heart, brain, etc. doesn't. And if she had used the shardblade, that would be instantaneous. And hit him on the head?! Shallan's not exactly tall. And if you had read that section again, you would know that her father knocks her down hard when she tries to intervene to save Balat from being beaten with a poker. In an intense, dangerous situation like that you go for the best option to protect yourself and others, not the one that may save the murder's life but if you cannot execute it correctly (like Balat with the sword) might cost everyone you are trying to protect. And the law doesn't require you to attempt to non-lethally disarm a murderer in action first. She did what needed to be done given the situation. You know, a vile man with a terrible temper that had just 1st degree murdered their step-mother/his wife. Edit: Good thing she didn't then!

Shallan finds Malse's recently dead body while her father is confronting Balat and Eylita. She deduces that her father sent for Elytita and then killed Malise as punishment (i.e. 1st degree murder). Shallan poisons the wine while her father defeats Balat in a "duel". There's no reason for her to believe anyone there is strong enough to take on her father directly (not counting the shardblade she refuses to think about), so a fast acting poison seems like the only option. I think a lot of people get hung up on this because of the poison. But that's really the only option. It's not like the police are nearby -- go for them in time to find out he killed everyone else after you left, assuming you are allowed out. Don't forget he brought on new guards. I'm not sure what Nale thinks of the Ghostbloods, or how they are considered by others. And applying our laws to a medieval/ level society is a stretch at times. What we might call vigilante justice might be just fine for them. Something to consider for the Shattered Plains is the heavy military aspect, including that Dalinar and Kal are both in the military. So e.g. Kal probably disobeyed some orders -- problem for Nale is he cannot intercede because he's outside the chain of command. Even if he found something predating Kal joining the military, he would have to bring it up, unlike with Ym. Also, later on Taln ends up there. And Vasher/Zahel is there (might realize Nale has Nightblood). There's something to be said for avoiding Wit as well... Anyway, there may be too much going on there for him there.

Let's not forget Amaram lied about what happened. IIRC, the four survivors helped the shardbearer and Kaladin ran away -- i.e. a deserter. There was nothing legal about Kaldin being made a slave that I can see. On the other hand, how would Nale know about that? I am realyl hard pressed to come up with something Kal did that would give Nale an opportunity. Shallan and family kept the death of their father a secret, so how would Nale even know about it? Not sure if it would be legal or not in Jah Keved, but on the other hand, a family head killing off his family doesn't sound legal either. And I would assume that killing women and children is, well, not a masculine art. Let's not forget that men are taught how to fight and women are not. It doesn't sound very Vorin to me, either. For all we know, Shallan could have had more legal standing than here. And the Ghostblods could be a legal wildcard, and something Nale might be fine with. I'm inclined too say Jasnah committed first degree murder. But it's a gray area, since the thugs did spring their "ambush", making it self-defense. And visiting royalty vs. thugs -- good luck with that one. Anyway, it sounds like a tactic Nale might employ. The biggest fallout was Shallan stealing the fake soulcaster that night.

Not sure about the confirmation, but here's the passage (emphasis not added):

@Rasarr Gah!! You're right!! I could swear there is a WoB that Scadrial is alone, but I'm starting to think it may just be in my headcanon. Hopefully Arcanum Unbound will clear it up.

The "did it earlier and then hid it" theory could work even if he was in control. Different implications potentially, though if he wanted his father to understand there was a timetable.... Didn't Dalinar have visions every highstorm? And those were always predictable. So, not hard to do ahead of time, and the margin for error does not have to be perfect. I really like the "legality" theory for Nalan. He would also need to have something to look into. For example, if he did a quick investigation of Shallan, well, they were keeping her father's death a secret and her father claimed responsibility for her mother's death. So, nothing to really see there. We also do not know how he learns about these proto-radiants. Shallan was in a pretty remote area and did not venture out often. So, would there be enough to interest him? Jasnah was always careful, so likely just skirting the law enough to be hard to reach. If Mraize is to be believed (cough cough) though, Jasnah may have sent an assasin against the Ghostbloods first. Nalan may not know about that, or may consider that legal (Jasnah is royalty and the Ghostbloods may be seen as a criminal organization). Also, don't forget Jasnah has been using a fake soulcaster as a cover for her abilities. So he may not have any reason to suspect her. Which I guess brings us back to how iw he finding the proto-radiants? Rumors about Kaladin may have reached him, but the others? Jasnah -- using a soulcaster, Shallan likely unaware of until she started hanging out with Jasnah, and then there's even less for Renarin and Dalinar. So if he's relying on rumors, research, etc. then not as much to go on.

That's interesting. So does that mean theoretically someone could use breaths to in-effect perform Allomancy without the metals? And if so, what is "Allomancy"? The effect?

Threnody is not in the same planetary system as Scadrial. Though there was confusion over that question and Theoryland has not been updated. Additionally, we know Allomancers can use metals from other worlds, which suggests that the silver from Sacdrial and Threnody are both for lack of a better term, Cosmere Silver, so there's no reason for Ruin to know it came off-world. Furthermore, since so much traces back to Adonalsium and Brandon even openly uses that to dodge questions, it's possible that's what Ruin means. Side note: I think a lot of people misunderstand "ruin" -- I think of it more as this definition for "entropy": Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society. Which explains why Ati can be a nice, kind man and eventually turn into what we see in Mistborn. Anyway, I'm leaning towards "entropy", but "not knowing where it came from" works well too. I think the rest are reading more into that scene than is there. The Scadrial-Threnody connection is that quote from the Ire about not detecting any shadows from Threnody or soemtihng like that, which suggests that Scadrial and Threnody are near each other. Possibly Sel as well, but I do not recall if they hint at how close Sel is (e.g. maybe Threnody is in-bettween Sel and Scadrial, such that they had to pass nearby it).

Presumably all the shards know about aluminum, so one of the them could pass that knowledge on to the heralds. It's possible some of the heralds could be worldhoppers beyond Greater Roshar and others native to Roshar. I expect most to be from Greater Roshar though because Brandon has been trying to keep each series self-contained enough that regualr fans, casual readers, etc. can read through them. On the other hand, SA may be where he breaks that rule, or breaks it more than he has in other series (not counting SH). Arcanum Unbound could be a game changer on that front too -- with a CR "starmap", info on each world/system, etc. it does open up possibilities.

Hmm, good point about them knowing. Well, there's the other reason -- denial/not wanting to know, and then latching onto the first good-enough explanation. Especially one that doesn't drag anyone else into the equation. If Renarin is further along than we think that would be a good reason not to have any POVs for him. And Gly's appearance could change as Truthwatchers advance, or it could just be that as we saw with Kaladin, Syl can do more as Kal advances, and if we saw Glys, it would tip us off as to how advanced Renarin is. So, let's say he is much further along. Thoughts on his actions in that light? For example, was there more to joining Bridgefour? An obvious one is making sure he was with the expedition to the center of the Shattered Plains. Hard to imagine Dalinar not telling him to stay behind with Elohkar. But he's part of Bridgefour now, so "out of his hands" so to speak. Did he know more about the outcome of the duel? That if he had not stepped in Adolin would have lost? The tone of the dual was already starting to shift (they were going to try and cripple Adolin), but it shifted even further when Renarin steps in, making e.g. Kaladin's intervention even more important, and Shallan sends Pattern to help, which we are led to believe leads to that opponent freaking out and leaving the arena. I'm not sure I buy into the "Renarin we see is (mostly) an act", but I also have a hard time seeing Renarin being further along than he is and actually being the "useless" Renarin we think we see. I hope there is more to it though -- gives me hope for his SA book. Have an upvote for pushing me to take a new look at Renarin.

Now that I think about it, Szeth would not himself as evil. He would see the murders he committed as Truthless as evil acts perpetuated by the religious leaders of the Shin who declared him Truthless. Which is one more reason why he is headed there.

Other planets can have native Spren? I don't recall a WoB on that. Am I missing something here? Why couldn't e.g. his spren be the one in control? As far what not confirm Dalinar is doing the countdown, they had his knife as "proof" and believe it was tied to the visions. And the visions were the bigger concern. Once they had some kind of grip on that, it's plausible they would not look into the countdown further. We suspect Renarin was doing the countdown based on evidence they did not have. Why would they not think it's Dalinar?? They have no reason to suspect anyone else.

She gives him the grunt work. Maybe he owes her a debt. Or likes to complain about the work.

Szeth's book will be SA4 or SA5 now. So there's a lot left to the story. He also may see the old Szeth as evil.

Yeah, but on the other hand, why the RAFO on Bavadin? Maybe Hoid and Frost don't know, though that seems hard to believe. Edit: Off on a tangent, does Hoid's "luck" power ever warn him where not to be?

I think Brandon has RAFO'd if all of the heralds are from Roshar, so I don't think we can assume all of them are human. Likely, but apparently we have seen a dragon in humanoid form, so....

Nazh yes, but I don't think so for Khriss.