Obnoxiousspren

For me, I don't cast my vote based on who I would hate in real life, because obviously those would be any of the bad guys. However, every good story needs some awesome villains and I think the villains in Stormlight are diverse and terrifying. I love Taravangian's inner conflict and twisted morals, Moash's tragic betrayal, Sadeas' cunning schemes, and Amaram's twisted sense of justification. It makes for a great story. Shallan is fascinating to me because of how accurately her psychological trauma is portrayed (I'm a psychology major). Sure she isn't the most fun to read about, and I could maybe do with a little less of her, but I like having her in the story. Alright, after thinking about it awhile, the Stormfather is probably my least favorite at the moment. Granted, he might be more of a force than a person, but still. I just hate it when some body withholds very important information because they are stubborn. I feel like the Stormfather knows a ton of information that he won't reveal THAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW. Edit: As for Szeth, I actually really like him. He is a very tragic character that got caught up in a blind obedience that has always persisted in humans. Now he is trying to find redemption by doing what he can. Also, him and Nightblood are freakin terrifying, which I love.

Oh yeah yeah! Sorry, I read that wrong (I'm tired). So are you saying that maybe the Sibling was withdrawing because he didn't have a human to bond with?

I think Melishi was the name of the Bondsmith, not the spren. That's the common theory I've heard anyways. Of course, it could be that the Sibling's name is Melishi since we don't really know who Melishi is.

Ok, one more because I'm particularly proud of it.

Here is a quick dump of memes I came up with in the last half hour on the fly. Spoilers to be safe I guess.....

My theory in a nutshell: The Sibling is a dead spren. One of the deadeyes. I think that the Bondsmith who the other Sibling was bonded to abandoned their oaths and it killed, or at least damaged, the Sibling. *Obviously everything that follows includes spoilers* So that's the basic idea, here is my reasoning. First, we know that there were only three Bondsmiths at a time because there were only three Bondsmith Spren. We have the Stormfather, the Nightwatcher (probably/maybe? It's the common theory) and then the Sibling. We know from the epigraph of chapter 67 that there was only one Bondsmith during the generation when the Recreance took place. We also know that the only order that did not abandon their oaths was the Order of the Skybreakers. So that means the Bondsmith would have to either be dead or would have abandoned their oath. As for more evidence, the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher are functional, but when Dalinar asks the Stormfather about the Sibling he refuses to talk about him saying humans have hurt him enough. He also says they are "slumbering" and "they are not with us". I had more evidence I believe, but I'll have to come back and add it later (this post has taken place over the course of several hours due to interruptions). Problems with my theory that are immediately evident. The epigraphs seem to imply that the Sibling has withdrawn from Urithiru and isn't present at the time of the Recreance. If they were bonded I don't know why they wouldn't be present. It is possible that the Sibling had only partially withdrawn or gone quiet while still being bonded to the Bondsmith.

I agree with what has been said and will just add this: All three realms where pretty united at this point and Dalinar had just Ascended. Which means he had access to the Spiritual Realm of PURE TRUTH. He was very aware at the moment, and it seems like those around him also had a sort of increased awareness. So at least for Dalinar, he probably just knew that Szeth wasn't about to turn on them. He could see the bound and knew he was a Knight Radiant. Plus, when you compare it with witnessing all his previous murders, sitting in front of a evil shard, seeing some Heralds floating around, and freaking ASCENDING, it wouldn't be too crazy to just accept that someone who wanted to kill you is suddenly on your side.

First of all, you've got spoilers for just about everything in this theory, not just Warbreaker hahahaha (sorry, couldn't help it) I don't know how well we really understand cognitive shadows in the Cosmere, because depending where you are at they tend to go by different rules. Returned are cognitive shadows that come back to their original/idea bodies (they are the original bodies right?) and have no memory of their previous life. They also have to be continually sustained by breath (investiture) to survive. When we look at Kelsier (speaking of spoilers), we can assume that he holds on to his memory and, based on the end of Secret History, needs a new body. We have no clue if he needs investiture to sustain him. As far as we can tell on Threnody, the cognitive shadows are crazy with little-to-no memories of their previous life that follow certain 'rules' that determine some of their behavior. They also don't appear to need investiture to survive, and they can be hurt by silver. On Roshar, the Fused and the Heralds are cognitive shadows that return REPEATEDLY, unlike the Returned. In fact, while the Returned only return once (as far as we know), the cognitive shadows on Roshar return over and over again. They also retain their memories, but the Fused at least loose some sanity after each return. While my summary may not be completely accurate, the point of it is that cognitive shadows don't seem to play by the same rules everywhere in the Cosmere. It probably has more to do with how they are created/made/sustained/returned (I don't know how to define what happens to them). So I think it is difficult to try to figure out the mechanisms of one type of cognitive shadow by looking at how others function just because of how different they already seem to be. About the knife, it seems like it definitely killed Jezrien. I'm assuming that just based on Ash's reaction and his own reaction to the event (they called it a death). I was reminded more of Nightblood during the scene more than those perfect gemstones. I feel like it is another powerful weapon that kills in all three realms which is why it was able to REALLY kill Jezrien. Anyways, those are my thoughts.

Hoid likes her, and he doesn't like that many people, so that's good enough for me! OK BESIDES THAT, I REALLY DO HAVE SOME GOOD THOUGHTS TO SHARE. I am EXTREMELY impressed with how Shallan is written for several reasons, even though I might get along with her as an actual person (but she is fictional soooooo.....) Anyways, I study psychology and Brandon showed amazing knowledge as to the workings of mental illness, especially when it comes to Shallan. We can see pretty clearly in Oathbringer that she is developing a sort of multiple-personality-disorder when she starts to shift between Veil, Radiant and Shallan at different times. Brandon does an excellent job writing her with this disorder because: 95% of those diagnosed with multiple-personality-disorder experienced some sort of severe abuse/trauma as a child (Shallan definitely falls into that category) The personalities are aware of each other and can even interact with each other The personalities are formed specifically as a way to cope with situations. When Shallan feels like she isn't good enough or able to cope with a scenario, she forms a personality that can cope with it. This is in line with many current theories regarding multiple-personality-disorder. Sometimes a personality will take over without prompting Shallan experiences confusion when it comes to which personality she should pick So, overall, I really like reading about Shallan because of how well she is written. Sure, she may not be the most likable person (even though she does make awesome puns) but she is a young 18 year old who has gone through a lot and has to cope with a lot. I'd be surprised if she wasn't super messed up. All in all, great character.

Alright, I'm thinking we just found our first kandra in Oathbringer in Chapter 25: Just saying, that sounds a heck of a lot like a kandra to me. That, or a form of Aimian we haven't seen yet. But I feel like that description sounds much more like a kandra. Thoughts?

Gotcha. I have forgotten this detail, but you are correct. I stand corrected and my theory is officially dead haha.

Fair point, and one that I have considered as a possibility. But I still think something fishy is going on.

Spoilers for Oathbringer, obviously. So something seems to be wrong with these flashbacks, and I don't think they are writing mistakes. They seem to obvious to not be intentional. Here is the major one I see, maybe you guys have seen others. Navani is talking to Dalinar about his dead wife and says this about their marriage: “I wouldn’t say that. You married Shshshsh for her Shardplate, but many marriages are for political reasons. That doesn’t mean you were wrong. If you’ll recall, we all encouraged you to do it.” Cool, makes sense, except when you read the latest chapters (10-12). Here we hear from Dalinar that he got his Shardplate by: "kicking a man off a cliff." The other problem is, by this point in the flashback, Dalinar isn't married to his former wife (Shshshsh or whatever). In other words, he shouldn't have his Shardplate in the flashback, and how he got it in the flashback is not consistent with how Navani says he got it. So, my theory at this point (or guess) is that these flashbacks aren't entirely accurate, but somehow changed. I would guess they are probably changed by the Nightwatcher's curse/boon, but do you think there is anything else involved? What would the purpose of these inaccurate flashbacks be? Let me know your thoughts! Edit: I goofed and forgot that the Plate Adolin uses came through Dalinar's marriage to Shshshsh. So I retract my theory for now. If there is something wrong with the flashbacks, my reasons do nothing to prove it.

Right, I don't worry a ton about him since he's been confirmed. I'm looking for people that haven't already been spotted, and might have small enough roles right now to be missed. We already knew about Felt.

Hey came up for a bit in topic I created a while back. The topic wasn't about Mrall but he got brought up. Here is the link so you can take a look at what people thought:

Gotta be honest, I haven't thought about this possibility.... This would be a good question to add to the FAQ Fridays. Like @Samaldin said, some Shards do have Splinters that have a large portion of the Shard's power, but in those cases there is still a central Vessel that is in control. Could there be shared control over a Shard's power? My guess would be no, because I feel like that would get complicated with control and whether or not the two people could cooperate enough to steer the Shard. Although, maybe the Shardic Intent would eventually overrule both/all the Vessels and they would work in unison that way.... I don't know, this is a great question! Take an upvote. *On a side note, I'm pretty sure this FAQ Friday question came from one of my Facebook posts and I'm geeking out that it got answered

I dig it. I feel like pieces are coming together.

@jofwu I already commented on your thought in this quote a couple posts back

Alterodent With Stormlight, the better the gem is cut, the less Stormlight it leaks, and the longer it holds its charge. If a gem was perfectly cut, on a molecular scale, would it leak Stormlight at all? Brandon Sanderson In a theoretical flawless gem, then no it would not. Alterodent Would it actually give off light? Brandon Sanderson Ooh... Theoretically no it would not, but it's not what you're thinking... Alterodent No no no, that’s not what I’m thinking, I figured that’s something totally different. Brandon Sanderson Well, actually, it probably would still give off light, because it's drawing out of the Spiritual Realm. So I’d say it still lights, but it doesn't leak. The leaking is not where the illumination is coming from. The illumination is coming from a direct... It's basically a lightbulb screwed into the Spiritual Realm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the quote I was talking about.

Right, I don't think Gavilar knows about Odium (at least not completely). So I don't believe that Gavilar is making a reference to Odium, but I think Brandon might be giving us a hint. Because spren and the Unmade are just little pieces of Odium and other Shards, so if you can hold one of them in a gemstone why couldn't it work on a larger scale in theory? And yeah, there is a limit to the amount of investiture that can be held in a gemstone, but Shards are not infinite in investiture (I think). So that's why it would probably take a 'very special' and probably very large gemstone to make it work. Well yeah, that's why I think it would have been made by Honor and/or Cultivation. Cause, magic

This little quote from Eshonai's flashback caught my attention: My immediate thought was, is this how Honor trapped Odium? We know that for some reason Odium is trapped in the Roshar system and can't escape, but we don't really know how. Could it be that Honor somehow managed to create a sort of gemstone that is able to hold an entire Shard? Now, first of all, I don't think Odium is trapped in a tiny little gemstone somewhere on Roshar. After all, it would have to be a "very special gemstone". So my question becomes, how special would this gemstone have to be? A couple possibilities that are not super thought out but popped into my mind first: The 'gemstone' is Braize (my instincts tell me this is most likely). The 'gemstone' is the planet Roshar itself (which could be why Odium is so determined to destroy it). The 'gemstone' is somehow the entire system (I really don't know how that would work but the planets in Ars Arcaneum looked interesting to me). The 'gemstone' would have to be perfect (spherical?) so that it would be impossible for there to be leaks. There's a WOB on stormlight-leaking gemstones somewhere.... Let me know what you think! Is this what happened? What could the gemstone be? How does this play into the series as a whole?

That's what stuck out to me as well. It seems like the Soulcaster Savants are slowly being pulled into the cognitive realm. Taking it a step further though, the Soulcasters seem to be slowly soulcasting themselves. From spending so much time in partially in the cognitive realm convincing objects to be something else their bodies seem to become increasingly convinced that they are the material they are changing things into. They mannerisms even begin to match the perceived qualities of the object. The Stone Soulcasters become emotionless, stoic and rocky. The Smoke Soulcasters take on a more independent nature so they can become 'free' like smoke. What interests me is whether or not this happens with Radiant Soulcasters and why it would or would not.

I actually don't see atium as a very likely possibility. For one thing, because it is extremely hard to use, especially if you aren't from Scadrial. Another reason would be that atium is the most valuable commodity in Scadrial so I find it hard to imagine them gaining something in return that they consider worth it. The final reason is just the wording Hoid used. When he talked about disrupting Cosmere trade, he didn't make reference to the destroyed atium, but to the now unavailable shardpool. I feel that if atium was central to the disruption he would have referenced that.

So in Secret History Hoid tells Kelsier that by destroying the Pits of Hathsin he "Upended an entire mercantile ecosystem..." We also get this from a WOB: QUESTION In Secret History, Hoid says something to Kelsier about him destroying the Pits and destroying an entire mercantile system. Is he talking about literal inter-Realmic trade? BRANDON SANDERSON Yes. Interplanetary trade, yes. With all this in mind, what do you guys think Scadrial has that is so valuable to other planets in the Cosmere? Furthermore, what do you think other planets have that is worth trading around? One thing that I have considered is that Scardrial would trade with other planets for aluminum. Because it cannot be pushed or pulled it is extremely valuable on Scadrial but maybe not on other planets. Of course, we know aluminum has some funky things that it can do with investiture, so it might be extremely valuable on other planets as well. Anywho, let me know what you guys think this "mercantile ecosystem" might consist of!

We actually know of at least two magic systems to share an ability: Yolish Lightweaving and Rosharan Lightweaving. Just thought I'd mention that