Mercy

With the understanding that Dragonsteel Prime is pre-shattering, I was contemplating who could be viable candidates for being involved in the shattering, or as one of the 16 original vessels. The one I feel matches best, so far, would be Kalord Strafen as a possible match for Rayse. He's shown that he is "loathsome, crafty and dangerous" (description of Rayse by Hoid, WoK Epigraphs), and has a history of not getting on with Hoid at all. Additionally, the old Kalord Strafen is described as having a "birth name long forgotten", which could be Rayse (even assuming that the character name wasn't subsequently changed by Brandon). When Rayse appears in Oathbringer, he presents himself with "a golden crown in his powdery hair", which seems fitting for one who was once a king. Alternatively, Bat'Chor as Rayse, based on knowing that Rayse and Hoid were once friends. The route Bat'Chor seems to be heading down would suggest a possible ending to that friendship. Other less developed theories: Tzern as Tanavast, who Hoid thinks is "a fine enough fellow" who "bought me drinks once" (WoR Epilogue). Courteth as Edgli. Seems to have the right amount of selfish disinterest hidden behind a veneer of actually caring. Also doesn't care much for Hoid (Oathbringer Epigraphs). Yoharn as Ati. Very lacking in evidence, but one could assume that Yoharn likely has red hair like his father, which is a known trait of Ati. Known, as a mortal, for being kind and generous Ryalla as Valor. Some of the little we know is that Valor is female and fond of Hoid.

"Journey before destination, you bastard" Navani's best line

Taravangian betrayed Rayse, not Odium. In a way, you could say he's working more closely with Odium than ever before. Indeed, the Odium seemed pleased that Taravangian was his new vessel.

Odium's Champion is permitted to Urithiru without harm. However, the contract does not permit him doing harm to others, with the exception of Dalinar's Champion. Could Odium's Champion not just walk through Urithiru on his way to the contest, killing everyone he passes, and the coalition can't do anything to stop him, for risk of causing harm, and thus voiding the contract?

I'm thinking her original spren might have something to do with her difficulties soulcasting? She has somehow (mentally or otherwise) linked her soulcasting abilities to her original spren, and thus cannot do it properly with Pattern?

Kal's brother is only a baby at the moment, but we've got this convenient gap between books 5 and 6 which give him an ideal chance to age to the point where he can be a character with significant involvement in the back five. Dare I say it, but Odium's Champion? Kal mentions his mother's age, and how unusual it is for her to have had a child - combine that with the familiar eyes... well Oroden's eyes could be nicely similar to Kaladin's - making them look familiar to Dalinar.

I'm hoping for some serious "Sleepless in Seattle" puns now that we have a name for them.

It may be a crazy idea, but we've seen some pretty big spren. What if each of the gas giants is a spren bonded to each of the heralds? It would make sense for the heralds, stronger than the knights radiant, to have larger or more powerful spren. We've seen flamespren, so a 'gasspren' wouldn't be completely out of the question.

Is it just me that sees a similarity between the vine-like growth of Lift's spren Wyndle and the vines of the Verdant Aether? There are little bits of crystal that grow out of Wyndle, and he decays to dust when his trails disappear - I seem to remember a similar property for Verdant?

Is there a typo in the 4th paragraph? Is it not meant to be "axehounds" not "axehinds"? Or am I missing something?

Confirmation that Khriss is the writer of the Ars Arcanum in each book - at last! Second, confirmation that both Ati and Leras were human originally. Also, a mention of fain-life on Yolen (from the Liar of Partinel sample chapters) - which shows that at least some of Liar is canon.

We can't take everything that Khriss says in her essays as truth - assuming that she IS the writer of the Ars Arcanum (and come on, that's pretty certain by now) then we have WoB that Ars Arcanum aren't always accurate, they are simply written to reflect the best understanding at present. By extension I would say that that is also true of Khriss' essays - they could easily be wrong!

Do you have a link to this source?

Is Sliverlight necessarily a place? Could we not instead assume that Silverlight is an organisation? The sentence instead reading "... the few expeditions sent from The Ire have not returned" would make equal sense. EDIT: Silverlight IS a place, there is WoB to confirm this. It seems to me entirely plausible that an organisation or group could continue to send expeditions over a long period. If there is something on First of the Sun that they greatly want (which is implied many times in Sixth of the Dusk), then they would be eager to make it to the planet. Having established through several expeditions that travel through the perpendicularity is not possible, it would make sense for them to try again once a different means of travel had been invented - i.e. space travel. Also, the essay states that "the area around the perpendicularity is extremely dangerous", but it does not state if this is danger in the Physical Realm, or the Cognitive Realm. Sure Patji is dangerous in the Physical Realm, but is there even greater danger in the Cognitive Realm for Worldhoppers?

We've got a star chart and a symbol here. From the star chart, it would appear that the symbol is specifically for First of the Sun. With regards to Silverlight, perhaps it could be another name for the Ones Above we see in Sixth of the Dusk? Were there earlier expeditions than the one we see in the book? Source: http://www.tor.com/2016/11/07/arcanum-unbounded-the-drominad-system-excerpt/

I love the UK covers way more than the other covers for all of the Cosmere books - but I'm a fan of consistency, so that's definitely a contribution. But it's meant that I've missed out on the symbol from AU, so there is a downside to the UK covers.

Our cover of Arcanum Unbounded is very different here in the UK, and doesn't feature that symbol. I see it now, looking at the US cover.

I've noticed a new Cosmere symbol appearing in several places lately, but I can't seem to find where it has come from. Does anyone know the origin of this symbol, and if possible a source / official proof? More interestingly - what do we all think it means?

A thought: "system" doesn't necessarily mean a 'planetary system' - it could refer to a 'magic system'. Which means that the contents page doesn't tell us which planets are located in the same planetary system.

There could be a second contents page that hasn't yet been previewed?

Tor released the contents page for Arcanum Unbounded today. Whilst knowing what is in the book itself is great, there's a great little reveal in there with the chapter heading before Sixth of the Dusk. Apparently Sixth of the Dusk is set in the "Drominad" system... We have a new name! Perhaps Drominad (though judging by the format of the other names, these are the inhabitants, not the planet name) is the Cosmere aware name for the planet (Dromi? Drom? Dromin?) whereas First of the Sun is the 'on-planet' name? Source: http://www.tor.com/2016/10/31/find-out-whats-inside-brandon-sandersons-new-cosmere-book-arcanum-unbounded/

I didn't say that it was the ONLY other system. I just felt it was the most notable. The Divine Breath is more of a resurrection than killing another to gain their abilities. Taking the breath from another and making them into a drab is the 'stealing' part of the magic system. Neither one involves killing another for their abilities.

On the point about reForging a broken sword: I would think an easier application of Forging weapons would be more along the lines of stamping an innocent metal goblet / candle stick / frying pan, and changing its history such that the blacksmith decided to make a sword / dagger instead. It would be a fantastic way for an assassin to conceal a weapon. Who would think twice about the servant carrying in metal tray with food, and a small but concealed Soulstamp? For that matter, could this same approach not be used to conceal any number of items? A sheet of parchment and a Soulstamp which changes the words that were written on that parchment, as a way of sending secret messages?

We don't know for certain that there are no modifiers. If I remember correctly, some of the modifiers that Raoden discusses in one scene are simple dots and lines. Has it been confirmed that every path and building in Elantris hasn't been placed in the location it is in as a modifier? (There might be WoB on that, I don't know.) It could even be as simple as the placement of the steps on the outside of the wall as a modifier, or something like that. Or perhaps the river flowing under Elantris has an effect as a modifier? Also, has it been considered that the Dakhor magic system may work in a way that is more comparable with Hemalurgy? A [???]-based, rather than spike-based way of stealing other abilities? After all, Hemalurgy is the other magic system we've that requires death of one individual to grant abilities to another? I feel that there may be more to that similarity than it first seems.

I think that we're looking in the wrong place with the Fleet story. In my mind there are two places that the ending could be held. Theory 1 The desolations come in cycles. I can see the ending scene being the similar tos the Prelude, with the Heralds again abandoning the Oathpact - though perhaps for a different reason (because it isn't needed any more). This way, the ending would have been shadowed from the start, and the series would tell the story of the Heralds' redemption after their initial abandonment. Theory 2 Kaladin takes up the shard of Honor. "Honor is dead, but I'll see what I can do." This makes me think of him, somewhat reluctantly, taking up the shard, and trying to do the best job he can with it. It would be a very small foreshadowing, but damnation if that quote isn't awesome.