Wandering Investor

This raises the question of how the Oathgate spren compare to others. Where did they come from, how strong are they, etc? Also, does their mental outlook contribute to whether they can be corrupted, or is it pure strength alone?

Midius was Hoid's name in an unpublished work. During that story, he abandoned that name and started using Hoid. Interesting to see the name canonized. Jasnah likely received the sketches at the end of WoR.

There was a section between your two quotes in which Shallan and her two illusions keep changing visually, one-moment Shallan, then Viel, then Radiant. Radiant is just the one she stopped on.

@TNTman20 That makes sense. But there is a crucial difference here. Ruin and Preservation actually formed the entire planet from their power. Their investment was on a much larger scale. The Shards on Roshar are likely to be less invested, although they definitely are. It is possible being invested is what is keeping Odium in the system, but I suspect its more likely to be Honor's intervention. Oathbringer spoiler below.

I read strains as different versions of the same thing, aka to races of humans. But it isn't perfectly clear who Brandon is referring to in this quote.

I got called out I like this theory, it pulls a lot together. I forgot about one of the bondsmiths being in continual accompaniment of Urithuru. That almost makes me think that might be the spren's name, shared with the tower. I also agree with some of the comments I'm seeing about the Sibling being the spren of stone. It would fit theme-wise. Not confirmable, but a solid theory. The one part of the theory I disagree with is the Great spren being thought of as children. The highstorm(and I assume the Stormfather by extension) existed before the Shards arrived. So I think it is plausible all three Great Spren existed before the Shards. Its also possible that some or all were formed after, or even more likely altered by the Shards upon arrival.

It could be similar to Kalidin's use of the windspren to break the highstorm. The lesser spren of her order might have come to her aid without fully forming shardplate.

There is a potential issue with the Sibling being a resonant child. The highstorm existed before Honor and Cultivation got there (WoB), which likely means the Stormfather existed before as well, in some form or another. This doesn't necessarily mean the Sibling wasn't created later, but it does raise the possibility that the Sibling and Nightmother may have been around before the Shards arrival. Either way, the Sibling could still be what powers the tower, it is just a question of where it came from.

I took this to mean the Herdaziens and Horneaters. Those two ethnicities existed before the Ascension. Since the Parshendi rely so heavily on the highstorm, it almost certainly means humans were present on Roshar before the Shattering as well.

True, but it does say that Humans and Singers intermingled before the ascension. If that didn't occur on Roshar, then the Parshendi would have to be on the first world as well. It seems most likely this would have occurred on Roshar since the highstorm is so important to their forms and lifestyle.

There is a big problem with this theory, Humans were present on Roshar before Odium, Cultivation, and Honor ascended. WOB: "There was intermixing long ago. Horneaters and Herdazians are both a result. (Signs of this are the stone carapace on Herdazian fingernails and the Horneater extra jaw pieces--in the back of the mouth--for breaking shells.) Humans and parshmen don't have a common ancestor. And as a side note, both of these strains of humanoids predate the ascension of Honor, Cultivation, and Odium." This brings into conlifict Odium being human's first god, since Honor got to Roshar first and therefore the humans. Odium could have possibly brought a specific population to Roshar, maybe the Shin? It also raises questions about the supposed invasion of humans. The first planet would have to have been destroyed and humans migrated even before the shattering, or a later human population came from another destroyed world and joined/invaded the human population already on Roshar(possibly placed by Adonalisium?).

Odium and Cultivation could have worked together to kill Honor, and still be opposed to each other later. After learning the killing method, Cultivation could have turned right away. That said, I don't think Cultivation would have teamed up against Honor. Possible, but I think otherwise. Two reasons, the first being I think Cultivation and Honor were a love pair (WOB I think, I'd have to find it though). The second is that Cultivations intent aligns with Honor quite nicely where the Radiants are concerned. In order to speak the Words, the radiants have to grow into the right person. As shown by Lopen, saying the words isn't enough, they have to be the right person to uphold the oath.

I noticed the mention of Wisdom, and it occurred to me that that could be a potential Shard as well. No real proof for, but I think its a reasonable idea to consider.

I found this to be very interesting on the first readthrough. Once I found all the epigraphs listed together (https://coppermind.net/wiki/Oathbringer/Epigraphs), I noticed something that I hadn't before. There appear to be three distinct conversations happening. It appears to be someones, likely Shards, responding to letters sent by Hoid, asking for.... something, possibly for help in the Odium conflict. This is backed by the epigraphs from chapters 33, 42, and 53. 33: Dearest Cephandrius I received your communication, of course. 42: Cephandrius, bearer of the First Gem, You must know better than to approach us by relying upon presumption of past relationship. 53: Friend, Your letter is most intriguing, even revelatory. Notice the distinct addresses. The second letter also differs in the use of "we" instead of "I". I'm not sure about the first, but I have suspicions for who the second and third recipients are, Autonomy and Harmony. The second letter has the use of "we" instead of "I". If this were a shard, Autonomy would be a likely candidate. We know from WOBs that entire pantheons are made up of Autonomy. It would also follow the Shard's Intent if each god was granted some autonomy. The Letter also mentions "a new avatar of our being is beginning to manifest there", which would align with Autonomy, following the assumptions that Autonomy can create distinct and (semi?)autonomous personalities. The third recipient could be Harmony. This would explain the remarks about the original letter being "revelatory", the questioning of who Hoid actually is, and being unable to act due to conflicting powers.

The Stormfather says the third sibling is "slumbering". This, combined with the Radiant gems mentioning "The Sibling is changing" and "Good night, dear Urithiru. Good night, sweet Sibling." seem to indicate that the third Great Spren is the one powering the tower, not the Nightwatcher. But it weakened and then eventually went dormant. The Stormfather mentions that "you[humans?] have hurt them enough", so it raises questions about what weakened it.

I think it is important to note that the passions that Odium speaks of are all violent (mostly). He doesn't claim the passion of love for instance, an example being when Dalinar is holding his young son. Instead, he seems to claim the passion of contest, you against an enemy, you against something that you can (potentially) hate. It doesn't even have to be a living thing, trying to move a big boulder could be a contest between you and the boulder. Loving a wife isn't something Odium would claim, but a fight with said wife would be something he'd claim. Even the joy of the fight he claims is specifically about fighting someone, and then overcoming that someone. The sorrow of loss is the viewpoint of the overwhelmed person from the contest and something Odium claims too since its part of the contest. The only part I'm not sure about is the "It was the moment of most sensual touch and ecstasy." part. This doesn't really fit into the contest description I've used so far that seems relevant to the other things Odium claims.

Fortune is a concept present in the cosmere, Spirit Realm 'thing' I think, that affects your luck. It can be stored, making you unlucky, and then tapped again later to increase your luck.

It could be that the unmade were not human. They were "something" that was unmade and reforged into their current forms. But something about that passage made me think that the choice of humans was a diversion. It possible, but they could have been other things. Perhaps ancient spren, corrupted by Odium?

She can create things from her essence. The shadow spear man for one. She gives birth to the Midnight Essence, which is a threat noted in Dalinar's visions.

Regrowth likely wouldn't work. Cosmere healing is based on Identity, and it has been long enough that the books will likely see themselves as broken books. Identity can change over the course of months, so thousands of years almost certainly are enough to completely change the book's identity. Plus, regrowth has only been shown on people, which begs the question of whether it would work on books at all, whether recently destroyed or not.

The keys strike me as keys to the heart. If Lift is any example, then Edgedancers are very empathetic and are very good at understanding what makes a person tick.

I think they're smart enough that they're reached a point where you have to ask what smart is. They're likely able to understand speech but probably have no interest/ability in math (or maybe they do, who knows). It is not a question of are they smart, it is a question of what are they smart at.

We should probably keep in mind the Stormfather's viewpoint. If the Radiants purposefully broke the oaths, with the unfortunate side effect of killing the spren, the Stormfather would consider both the breaking and killing intentional. A less extreme view might be that the Radiants felt compelled to break the oaths for some unknown reason, not with the purpose of killing the spren. A reason they did so while the spren had physical form might have been a form of mercy to the human population. "Hey, we're leaving for.... reasons, but here are some super swords so you don't get rolled next desolation, k bye". The spren would have been dead either way, so might as well make them useful.

Growth in terms of healing, like most forms of healing throughout the cosmere, functions based on (self?)identity. Brightlord Broodingeyes sees his brands as part of himself, so they won't heal. But Lopen sees himself as properly having two arms, so his arm can grow back. This would likely make it difficult to apply to the books, as they've likely been destroyed for a long time. All they will think of themselves is broken books. It would be interesting if the healer could intercede on the books and provide the "correct state" for the growth to repair to. But even then, the healer wouldn't know what was in the books, which would probably prevent him from providing the Identity they wanted.

Only if they're well practiced enough to be considered a threat. It could definitely account for the shards part, but the powers part would require bonding the blade and using it. Not impossible, but the blade was given to a truthless, so I would not expect them to use it regularly.