Argel

Or it was done to maintain his cover. There's a difference between overlooking it (in the general sense) and doing what needs to be done.

Hand drawn is the way to go, maybe with some 3D blended in. Absolutely not like the FF movies, or any of the other 3D ones out there. This is epic fantasy -- we need a medium that can do that justice, and being bludgeoned over the head with obvious 3D doesn't cut it. If it was up to me, I would prefer something similar to the Twelve Kingdoms or Moribito.

There are so many wildcards around Renarin. Is he really a Truthwatcher? Why does Brandon RAFO what Glys looks like? If there Trutchwatchers are the order that did not betray their oaths, then has he been in contact with other Truthwatchers or their herald? Assuming he is a Truthwatcher, hopefully he will start asking questions of his fellow KRs instead of remaining silent about e.g. the screams from the shardbade. Regarding Adolin, we know Brandon has suggested things will play out in ways we do not expect, and I think exiled, ostracized by Dalinar, etc. are all things we expect. I guess one question worth asking is what would an Edgedancer think of what he did? Maybe reviving that shardblade just got even harder? Or easier?

What if Odium needs at least some humans to survive the next desolation (e.g. in order to gain his freedom)? Or maybe he's obligated to send warnings? Dang, we still know so little!!

@maxal I love your posts about Adolin and often find them insightful. But dang, do you like to hate on Renarin. Without any PoV we have no idea what he is actually thinking, what he is wishing for, laments, regrets, etc. You may be spot on, but there may be other reasons, motivations, etc. It would be better to cage your comments in pharses like "Renarin appears to.. " and "Based on what we see in the novels, I believe Renarin is thinking about...." , etc. Also, Renarin joined Bridge Four and began shardplate training and ee haven't seen him give up on those yet. Edit: Agree with all your Adolin points. I just find it frustrating and believe it undermines your Adolin arguments/points when you start claiming things about Renarin as fact that have little to no basis for it beyond your interpretation.

I would need to see an actual quote on that. He may have said that he personally believes there is an afterlife in the Cosmere but not make it canon. That way e.g. someone that is spiritual-but-not-religious can interpret it in a way that said person is comfortable with. He's not validating or in-validating anything if he leaves it up to the reader's interpretation. We don't know: Discussed more in (note that it is the Elantris/TES forum so be mindful of spoilers in that thread):

We have a WoB that Jasnah is inexperienced (emphasis added):

I can't find it, but there is a post WoR WoB that says Shallan has progressed the furthest, which puts here at 4/5 given that we know Kaladin is at 3/5. But maybe combat orders get shardplate at 4 and support orders get it at 5? Or Lightweavers don't use shardplate. Remember when Shallan asks Adolin embarrassing details about wearing shardplate? Karma.....

Have an upvote for putting to rest so much misinformation!

My understanding is that Brandon tries to avoid bringing real-world religion into his Sci-Fi/Fantasy books. So the Great Beyond is likely a one-way trip because he will likely not want to go into any details about it. It's basically a buffer zone to keep real-world religion out of his books. Like questions about an afterlife. Thanks to the CR and the SR, he can still tackle death, etc. but avoid getting into whether there is an actual afterlife or not by relegating that to the Great Beyond.

The betrayal could be that the sapient spren decided to bond with humans instead of Listeners. Speculation is that each SA book will be about a different KR order, so the fact that Eshonai is getting her own flashback book (either SA4 or SA5) is seen as giving credibility to Eshonai becoming a KR.

Agreed. She doesn't know a desolation is coming in a few years, so when she starts researching her father's assassination, it's more out of curiosity, so she just goes into scholarly research mode. If she had known about the coming desolation, I think e.g. she would have spent a lot more time in Shadesmar. Basically, rapid, desperate research vs. the orderly pace (e.g baths, etc.) pace we see her taking. Meanwhile, we see Kaladin and Shallan struggle to survive. And later on for Shallan, we see her take on Jasnah's work, and by the time she gets to the Shattered Plains, there is a sense of urgency thanks to Dalinar's visions and other factors. If Jasnah had made it to the shattered plains, she would have picked up on the urgency and likely progressed faster -- he research was really at a point where the urgency was creeping in. Even without other hints like Dalinar's visions, I think we were seeing a transition from "book study" research to field research about the parshmen, where Urithiru is, etc. that would have resulted in her picking up the pace.

Interesting idea. Though is it enough to think it or does it actually have to be said?

Well, when you are a vessel and give it up, you become a sliver. My point was that something does happen to the physical body when the ascension occurs, so I do not think we can assume there is zero change in the PR.

I thought her body vaporized when she was taking on Preservation's power? And later on Sazed as Harmony tells her he healed their (Elend and her) bodies. If your body vaporizes while ascending, then I do not see how that cannot be considered a PR change, even if the body can be recreated later on.

It's come up several time. Check the main Alcatraz forum.

Other possibilities: the Skaze could have been mocking him. Or maybe it suggests a problem with the translator magic.

That covers some of the Truths Shallan spoke, and e.g. at the end of WoR, she accomplished a lot, so not a big surprise she has progressed the furthest by the end of WoR. Likely if Jasnah had made it to the Shattered Plains she would have progressed more than Shallan. Interesting tradeoff -- Shallan would know more about soulcasting but being forced to survive on her own gave her more confidence and allowed her to learn other things.

Except in my theory some of the order would have broken their oaths to hide the fact that some did not.

Considering Brandon wants SA to stand on it's own, I would guess if the Heralds are not native to Roshar that either means their history will not play a major role in the story or that they are from somewhere else in the Roshar system like Braize. We know two Heralds are supposed to have flashback books, so that suggests major plot points will remain in the Greater Roshar system. The other possibility is stuff outside of the Greater Roshar System will not be identified as such (sort of hand-waved over). Mild spoilers for future works for Dragon Steel and Mistborn Era4: Short version is look for major Cosmere stuff in non-Stormlight Archive books.

He knows the Shin well enough to fluently speak their language, and farming is one of the highest ranking roles in Shin society (warriors being the lowest). There's no way he knows that much about the Shin without picking up some of that knowledge. It could still be a hint, but I do not understand why everyone thinks Taravangian is a simplton. That's the act he puts on for the rest of Roshar, but we know from the books and know he has a scholarly streak. It's not an accident his kingdom has the best medical system, the best library, etc.

I thought we had a WoB that that kind of bonding has not occurred in the past (though was possible)?

I think you are overlooking all the people without access to magic. They have incentives to compensate with technology. Which we see on Scadrial, more so in the southern hemisphere, but even in the north (e.g. trains). Merchants and trade can alos drive the technology. And of course in the north, the outer cities want to be independent of Luthadel. As long as the ones with magic do not oppress the ones without, technology can still advance. Also, on Scadrial, the ability to have these "power batteries" is opening up all sorts of possibilities. Roshar is too stuck in the feudal era, plus the devastations seem to set back civilization. Plus the fabrials are a mega crutch. Sel almsot has it too easy, beyond being stuck their locally, so they have fewer incentives. Scadrial is clearly headed towards combining magic and technology, and being a freer, more enterprising/mercantile system, has incentives to make use of it. We don't really see anyone that thinks these new inventions are terrible, abnormal, etc. beyond maybe griping about it. It doesn't hurt that Harmony is a spiritual guide/teacher. Edit: Also, we know TLR held society back, so now that he's gone, there may be a desire to catch-up, so to speak. Suddenly inventors that had to hide from TLR can now operate out in the open. That's a huge change, and it's hard for me to imagine Sazed wanting to suppress that.

Yeah, no matter what, it's being passed through an imperfect medium. It's like taking a digital audio/video signal, converting it to analog, and then converting it back -- there will be differences, more noticeable the closer you look/listen. I thought the reason Vin died was because holding that much power was too much for her body?

I would guess both parties would have to agree to a date change. As an interesting side note, I wonder if Adolin or Sadeas could formally duel anyone else until that duel is held.