Subvisual Haze

I could buy it. Sebarial is our Milo Minderbinder, the amoral power of pure capitalism personified.

I took this to imply that Hesina was originally from Kharbranth. It wouldn't be much of a stress to wonder if Hesina was an unacknowledged bastard of Taravangian.

Shallan swearing enough oaths to summon Pattern as a child is still a complete mystery. Perhaps Restares played a part in that. Or used her as bait, knowing that her bonding a spren guaranteed an intervention by the Skybreakers and hopefully contact with Nale.

I think the "old fool" is referring to Taravangian there.

Let's build on Maya, since she is the only real plot thread we have left with Adolin. One problem I had reading the Windrunner vs. Fused battle is that Stormlight healing is too powerful and as a result it limits the risk and consequence of battle. Sure you can still die if you run out stormlight, but any injury short of that can be healed by a radiant just holding stormlight in their body (Lopen's arm, Gaz' eye, Shallan's brain). War feels weirdly clinical as a result. Nobody is dealing with even the possibility of a permanent leg wound that limits their mobility or a missing hand or migraines etc. Even non-Radiants can be patched up if regrowth is given in a quick timeframe, or barring even that a future bonding of a spren (or being a squire under a radiant) unlocks stormlight with the potential to eliminate any bodily injuries. Adolin is the interesting possible exception here though. His unwillingness to give up Maya is directly stopping him from becoming a Radiant. What if Adolin suffers some sort of wound that makes him incapable of combat and too much time passes before he can be brought to a healer with regrowth surge. He would be placed in an interesting personal conflict, having to decide between accepting a spren bond to heal his injuries, or keeping his connection with Maya.

Knowing that Shallan has pale skin and red hair, and thus at higher risk of developing skin cancer, Mraize was offering her a timely reminder to check her skin for unusual new moles.

It does raise questions. Nightblood should be able to mentally communicate with Vasher from a distance, we saw him do that with Vivenna in Warbreaker. And reports of the sword being used at the Battle of Thaylenah should be common enough for Vasher to have heard them.

There is something very wrong with the Honorspren leadership if they are offering sanctuary to Restares, the charming person who convinced Amaram to murder Kaladin's old squad and steal the shardblade.

I clapped when I saw cosmere reference because I know what that is!

Oh no Kaladin's parents are stuck in that chull carriage "speeding" towards the edge of the Urithiru platform!

The changing hair colors, the dimming of perceived colors in the world when she becomes Veil, the retrograde amnesia occuring at a particular moment in her past... Shallan is a Returned!

I would assume the Ghostbloods' ultimate goal is immortality. Specifically immortality without location requirements, because that's just far too limiting.

The Sons of Honor. The Honorspren. Restares hiding out in the honorspren capital. They've always been working together haven't they? I found the pacing here good. Shallan's chapters can get bogged down in too much introspection if she's not pursuing an interesting lore puzzle of some kind. This chapter reminded me more of a WoR Shallan chapter than an Oathbringer Shallan chapter.

I get that worldhoppers mostly just exist as fun easter eggs for fans to find, but the functions they perform always seem so silly. Using your superhuman magical powers to travel across the galaxy to a completely alien civilization so that you can work a mid level service job.

I think the theme is going to be ecological. Enslaving massive numbers of spren to power an ever increasing number of fabrials is going to have unintended consequences on the functioning of life itself on Roshar.

Angela comes from Aggelos in Greek (the double gamma is pronounced like an -ng though). It just means messenger/courier. Same as Malach in Hebrew. Both have a secondary meaning to refer to divine messengers.

I think there might be an argument that Kaladin would be drawn to Jasnah by her personal strength and emotional fortitude. She did have some sort of breakdown as child which she recovered from.

But as a healthcare provider myself I'm intimately aware that placebo and nocebo are both incredibly powerful forces. Our pre-conceptions of what is and is not possible/likely plays a surprisingly important role in the actual outcomes of processes. If a patient goes into a treatment convinced that it will not work, odds are that it will indeed not work. The opposite is also true to an extent. This is particularly true in the complex areas of mental health. Thus, even if it isn't very likely that Kaladin (or myself) will never experience another depressive episode, by pursuing and believing the possibility that it is so, we slightly tweak the odds in our favor (or viewed from a different perspective, we avoid the negative modifier associated with believing that all is hopeless). Hope Springs Eternal etc.

I feel incredibly dirty for using corporate-speak, but why not think of it like stretch goals? The first priority (with all mental health diseases really) is simply being able to function. Shallan can certainly achieve this without achieving perfect integration. She would need to be better integrated than she currently is though. She would need to view her identities as part of herself and a tool that she needs to take accountability for. You can still set a stretch goal of fusion though. It doesn't mean you're a failure if you don't reach that, but it's still a goal to strive towards. Just like Kaladin can strive to self-care so well that he never sinks into a full depressive episode again, or Teft strives towards never falling off the wagon and using firemoss again for the rest of his life.

I thought this line by Adolin contrasting his and Kaladin's interactions with common people interesting I think this is setting up the idea that Kaladin is the natural successor to Dalinar as the leader of the coalition armies. They have the same aura of command that inspires respect from others.

I did find this thought by Navani regarding Lirin enlightening One system of personality grouping that I've found interesting lately is the Enneagram system. This system groups personalities into 9 types based primarily on the person's motivations and deepest fears. It's a useful system especially when analyzing fictional characters who will frequently be created by authors with particular driving motivations in mind. I mention this because I find both Kaladin and Lirin to be excellent examples of the Type One personality - the Reformer https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-1 Multiple characters have thought that Kaladin is always judging them with his sharp gaze and moralizing language about right and wrong. We know from his POVs though that him condemning others in his mind is actually quite rare. Frequently he is just ranting against the general suffering of the world, or often working through his own contradictory thoughts of what him being a good person actually entails. I think Lirin is much the same. What Kaladin perceives as Lirin's constant displeasure with him is really Lirin similarly ranting against the injustices of the world (war exists, it is hell).

Yeah, but I mean the CYA liability statement you quoted can be found with minor rephrasing in probably every clinical guideline that has ever existed. You have to put that sort of thing in to shield yourself from lawsuits as well as individual doctors who get very touchy if they perceive guidelines as restricting their autonomy. You can generally depend on clinical guidelines as an excellent starting point, realizing that individual patient cases will of course have special scenarios. I think the section that resonated most with me was the introduction to the treatment section I think this is the trap that Shallan is currently falling into. The more she imagines Veil a separate person outside of her control or responsibility, the more at risk she is of losing control and destroying aspects of her life and personal relationships. She doesn't necessarily need to fully integrate her alters, but she at the very least needs to avoid using them to escape personal responsibility. I'd be especially concerned about Veil's love of heavy drinking and flirting with people in the bar besides Adolin moving forward.

fyi The guidelines linked here are the leading current clinical guidelines for the management of DID.

Could it have to do with the Everstorm healing the Connections of singers all across Roshar? Maybe the healing process did more than just restore the severed connection, it somehow opened up increased capacity to bond Radiant spren.

I think he'll witness Kal have a mental shock the next time he loses a patient in surgery and finally grasp that his son is in a lot of emotional pain, not cut out to be a surgeon like he wants, and also that his perceived dissatisfaction regarding his son is not helping.