StrikerEZ

I chose OB, but I almost chose WoR. My reasoning behind this is that, while there were definitely some parts of the book I didn't like (e.g. Shallan's multiple personalities, not enough conflict with Sadeas's murder, felt rushed in some parts), I felt like there were definitely far more amazing parts of the book and there were definitely a lot more impactful moments (of course, the scene where Tien dies will still be the most impactful for me because that's the first time in a very long time I've ever cried while reading a book). Plus, this revealed so much about the world and it was just awesome to read, not to mention all of the Realmatic parts which I'm a huge fan of. Also, I loved the arcs with Adolin/Maya and Venli/Timbre. Both are absolutely beautiful (though I could've used more of both). Overall, there were definitely some things that needed to be fixed in my opinion, but overall it was much better than either WoK or WoR. EDIT: @ICanDream Can you please add [OB] to the front of the topic? And this thread is not gonna have a flame war, that is not what this forum is about.

Someone could, but unpublished books are not too be discussed in the main boards, sorry.

Hmm...as much as I like this idea, from the little of Resonances that we've seen, they seem mostly unrelated to the two abilities that make them up. The Lightweaver Resonance of mnemonic devices doesn't really seem related to their two surges, though I guess that not all Resonances have to be like that.

I just want to say that Kal's use of Adhesion (aka The Surge of Pressure and Vaccum) with the windspren was actually very physical. All he was doing was changin the air pressure around himself so that the storm's winds couldn't affect him.

This scene was never meant to be added into the book, it was just a scene Brandon wrote out for fun.

I'd much rather see this Ideal in the actual book rather than just be told he finally came to terms with it outside of the book. @Subvisual Haze If the book ended at Kholinar...I would've been storming pissed.

@sonwarrior01 Well, the surge of Adhesion is called "The Surge of Pressure and Vaccum" according to the Ars Arcanum. What we saw Kal doing with the windspren wasn't not controlling the wind, but rather altering the air pressure around his group so that's the wind from the storm wouldn't affect them. I'm not sure on the exact science of how this works, but that's the gist of it. I can't think of many ways this could be useful on the battlefield, but you could probably cause wind instead of simply blocking it.

@bo.montier I wasn't trying to make it seem like Dalinar is gonna die or ascend before the back 5. It's my opinion that if Dalinar survives or doesn't ascend before the back 5, he probably won't finish his Oaths before then, if that makes sense.

Yeah, I know how frustrating it is waiting for the oaths (*coughKal'sFourthIdealcough*), but if we learn them all now, what else is left for us narratively in the back 5?

Hmm...while I can see your point about Kal's arc, I do want to make a point: this book so is not about Kal. The series has never been about Kal alone. This book was about Dalinar's story, which just couldn't have been finished if the book had ended at Kholinar. And i disagree that Parts 4 and 5 don't progress Kal's arc. I think they follow his arc of the first 3 Parts perfectly. In those three, he's set up to fail, and in the next two parts he spends time coming to the realization that he can fail, and that's okay. Just like in Dalinar's arc, he learns that you just have to keep going. Kal isn't all the way there, but that's the point. It's gonna take a lot for him to accept that his failures do not make him a failure. This was the perfect set up for this conflict in the next book(s).

Hate to break it to ya, but I highly doubt that Dalinar will finish his progression anytime soon. If he's gonna die in book 5 (or maybe ascended to Honor), then I could understand him finishing his oaths in book 5. If he's not gonna die, then I bet he'll finish them in the back 5 at some point. Either way, that's a long ways off.

@Million Storms Hey, welcome to the Shard! Have a spiked delicious cookie and a free upvote! DISCLAIMER: Side effects include, but are not limited to, hearing voices, gaining supernatural powers, having the sudden urge to kill everyone, and completely losing control over your mind and body. The Dark Alley™ claims no liability for any damage done to/by the eater of this cookie. I'm glad to welcome you to the Shard, I hope you enjoy your stay! (Also, as a note, please refrain posting more than once in a row. There's an edit button for a reason. And you can tag someone in a post by using @ and their username, like this: @Million Storms)

Voting for Kynedath.

This is insanely good. Like, I basically agree with everything here. As for Resonances, a good analogy I've taken to heart is music-related: Let's say Allomancy is the note A and Feruchemy is the note F. When you have just A, it sounds like an A. And same for F. But when you play both F and A together, you get a major third (or a minor sixth if is inverted), a completely new sound created from the two notes. I believe Resonances are basically the Investiture version of this: when you get two powers, you can hear them separately, but you also hear whatever interval (i.e. major third) the two notes make on top of it. I might some day use this to explain why Harmony is having so much struggle with his intents, but this isn't the right place. (Also, you should tag me later to come upvote this)

Hmmm...I've avoided commenting in this thread for awhile now, and I was never really sure why. Just reading this thread made me feel....off. And that's the point I'm going to make here. Yes, I understand that several (aka most) people seem to find something wrong with Shallan or the way she was handled in this book. My initial reaction as I was reading was mostly the same. But as I've thought about it while reading this thread, I've come to the conclusion that what happened to Shallan in OB, while very strange and uncomfortable to read, was necessary. Like someone else mentioned in this thread (sorry for forgetting who), Shallan has gone through a lot in very, very little time. She is someone who has no idea what or who she really is, and add on top of that the fact that she killed both of her parents, had a pretty terrible childhood, and very obviously has some kind of mental disorder (however slight it is). Even in WoK and WoR, she always gave slightly different facades when she was around different people, and I can totally relate to this. It took me awhile to realize why Shallan was always so unsettling for me to read: it's because I relate far too well with who she is as a person. Like Shallan, I give off different versions of myself depending on who I am with or where I am. It's natural for most people, even if they don't quite realize it most of the time. The problem Shallan is facing though is that she has an added disorder in top of that, coupled with the ability to literally change who she is. (Supported by this WoB. It doesn't outright state it as fact, but it can be assumed that Shallan is actually slightly altering her Identity when she shifts personalities) In her situation, with how messed up, broken, and traumatized she is, I completely understand why she has taken on these multiple personas. It makes perfect sense. I would certainly do the same if I were in her position. What makes her arc so uncomfortable to read is how important it is. The story of OB would be very, very different if Shallan's personalities were not there. Would it be better or worse? I would say worse, but there would definitely be those who would say better. The thing is, I believe that this is Brandon's style of writing taking a very obvious effect here. I won't go into to much specifics, but there were parts in Well of Ascension and Shadows of Self where I absolutely hated what the characters were put through. Same can be said for WoR, with Kaladin's struggle with hating lighteyes and trying to uphold his oaths. The point I'm trying to make here is that I believe what Brandon is doing with Shallan in OB is what he does with all of his main characters. After their first book, he puts them through really intense, uncomfortable struggles so that they can come out stronger and better from it. And I feel like he did that perfectly in this book. Shallan went through a horrible struggle in this book, and by the end of it she was better (some would argue she was worse than she started, but I'd disagree. She has multiple personalities now, yes, but she has accepted her Truths more, I'd argue). In the next book, she will likely have more struggles to face, just like Kaladin had after he came over his struggles in WoR. This ended up being more rambling than I meant it to, but I felt like I needed to add a dissenting voice to one which was largely negative.

When a spren is ready to bond a Radiant, they transition (almost) completely into the Physical Realm, and lose a lot of their memories in the process. I think it's safe to assume that Elhokar wasn't far enough into his bond with the Cryptic so that it'd start getting its memories back, but also wasn't far enough where the bond would actually hurt the spren. So, now this (mostly) mindless spren is stuck in the Physical Realm with no way to return to the Cognitive Realm because it can't even remember how. Also, I doubt there's anything else ancient in the Kholinar palace, there were already three Unmade there, Kholinar has had its fame by now. There's no more need to go there anymore (except to reclaim the Oathgate at some point). Plus, the Singers were destroying the palace only in the area where the spren was. So, I doubt they were trying to find something hidden in the palace by only searching in one spot.

I realized it was her the moment she said "white on black" right before the fight with the Fused where Kal holds on to one in the air and stabs it with his Sylknife. I started suspecting things were funky when they talked about how she carried her Shardblade around, but I couldn't quite figure out why until that idiom.

StrikerEZ: Voting for StrikerEZ.

They were a part of the Oathpact since the very beginning. At some point before the Oathpact, I think it can be assumed that tons of Singers were somehow transformed into the Fused, and then the Heralds and Honor made the Oathpact to bind them on Braize. The reason they're coming back now is because they were on Braize before and either couldn't come back or Odium held them back (we aren't quite sure which). @RShara Yeah, I kind of argued myself out of the whole "KR Cognitive Shadow" idea, I just kept it up because it was fun to figure out why I didn't like it.

Ugh, I've been trying to find a WoB that says that Mistborn are only Invested while they're using the powers. If I find it soon, I'll edit it in here. EDIT: Hah, I found it! That was easy! (Thank you Arcanum!) https://wob.coppermind.net/events/93-odysseycon-2016/#e2675 I feel like this part of the WoB you quoted earlier carries more weight than the later part, plus Brandon never really specified when they're more Invested. I dunno, I just find it unlikely that, if Mistborn were as Invested as KR, they wouldn't last very long in the CR.

Yeah, I'm not really a huge supporter of the KR/Cognitive Shadow theory, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was true. Also, the reasons that both Elend and Kelsier couldn't resist for very long were because the Investiture from the Lerasium didn't Invest Elend, it just altered his spiritweb to make him a Mistborn (which doesn't make you Invested, you can just use Investiture), and the atium Kelsier consumed isn't Invested, it's just the physical form of Ruin's Investiture (if atium was Invested, you wouldn't be able to store in it because of the Investiture already there). Also, in regards to the KR not popping up in Shadesmar, did you notice how no one popped into Shadesmar, even though several of the little flames that represent people blinked out of existence when Kaladin and them were on the Oathgate plateform right after they transitioned into Shadesmar. I think it's highly likely something I should horribly wrong with the Rosharan afterlife, which would fit with the Tranquiline Halls.

Yeah, but there's a footnote to that WoB (Word of Brandon) where Brandon has been going back and forth over whether or not Shardblades would cut aluminum. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/115-general-twitter-2017/#e1442 (Also, piece of advice, try not to double post in the future, just go back and edit your first post)

Hmm...I didn't really see it that way, but I wouldn't be too surprised if she didn't become a Radiant, considering spren tend to gather where there are already Radiants anyway. But that felt like it was just part of her character, and I don't really know how that would fit any of the orders. Plus, I think it's nice that she isn't a Radiant, not every character that gets a PoV needs to be a Radiant. It gives us an interesting perspective to see the world from (relatively) normal people.

Eh, I don't think you can really infer that from one vision. If there were epigraphs about it or it was mentioned in ancient records, then yeah I think it'd be a plausible theory, but there's not much to support it.