kiapet

I think the main takeaway from these chapters is that Pattern/Adolin is the new ship

Surgebinder. Mistborn are people born with powers, Surgebinders earn them. They have a purpose greater than themselves- I've always sought that, in my life.

Something I like about the SA, and probably Sanderson books in general, is that no one is the villain of their own story. They all believe they are justified in doing what they do, even if what they do is cause death and suffering on a widespread scale. I do believe there is good and evil in this world, and I suppose on Roshar, and that every person is a mix of both. If you define an evil person as a person who mostly does evil, I'd say there are a lot of evil people in the SA, no matter how good their intentions may be. If you define an evil person as someone who does evil for evil's sake, as you seem to be defining it, there has never been a person who fit that definition, so the question is pointless.

I don't think it's OK just because of race. The prologue showed that Eshonai and the other Parshendi view the Parshmen as brothers and sisters who have lost their songs, feeling a strong connection to them. And I don't think the Listeners were all that privileged- the Alethi treated them as sub-humans by denying them fair battle practices and instead seeking to exterminate them. Honestly, I think it would be best if members of the changed Parshmen lead themselves, but the escaped Parshendi hold cultural knowledge that could help them find an identity apart from centuries of slavery.

"White Savior" doesn't have to mean only white people. It references a person from a socially advantageous position becoming the leader/savior of a group of socially disadvantaged people, suggesting whether deliberately or accidentally that the oppressed group needs someone from the "superior" group to save them. In this case, Kaladin, a high-ranking Alethi, would be saving/leading a group of historically enslaved people when there are characters belonging to that same racial group who would be well-suited to it. This is muddled by the fact that Kaladin faces heavy discrimination himself, but it has already been heavily established that even a darkeyes is considered superior to a Parshman.

I actually really love how Hoid is done in SA. He fills one of my favorite archetypes, which is that of the Trickster god/mentor. He has mysterious, unexplained powers and knowledge, and that's part of the allure of his character. The thing that makes Wit a unique case is that there actually is an explanation for who and what he is and everything he knows, but not one we're likely to get in-series. Hoid will never need to be explained in SA, and that actually contributes to his impact on the story, but those readers who are never happy without an explanation for pretty much everything will get it in other media if they seek it out. Hoid is basically a microcosm of the Cosmere cosmology in that way, and it's wonderful.

Imaginary numbers are for taking the square root of negative numbers. As far as I know you still can't divide by zero.

The descriptions of the Parshmen sounded a lot like Workform to me- stocky, hair strands, and it was one of the first forms the Parshendi discovered so it's probably simple. I'm glad Kaladin has met them- he's in a unique position to understand them and possibly gain their trust. I've always been pro-Adolin and Shallan more than others, but based on these chapters they really work. If they can talk and be honest with each other, they'd actually find they have more in common than they think.

I like the crossovers for the most part. In my case, they drove me to read/reread several other series which was really enjoyable, and I have relatives who don't know about any of the crossover stuff and still really loved the books. Imo that's easter eggs done well. That being said, I am not at all happy about Nightblood. I've been trying to hold my judgement until I see how he's used in Oathbringer, but at this point I just don't see how a sword that behaves differently than a Shardblade or Honorblade (not a spren, no shapeshifting, the black smoke thing) yet can't be explained in the SA without explaining a different world's magic system won't completely blow up the self-contained plot.

You are filled with determination, yet are unable to recall anything you wanted that determination for. I wish my college was closer to home.

I think saying societal concepts automatically don't apply to the Parshendi because they're aliens is pretty illogical. They clearly have a societal conception of gender, and it is clearly still based on reproduction as the ability and will to reproduce is something that distinguishes male from malen or female from femalen. My point is this: the definition of malen/femalen as genders that do not reproduce is societal for the Parshendi. If malen and femalen Listeners are technically capable of reproducing on some level, that does not invalidate their genders because in the Parshendi's eyes they are still not meant to- for gender the ideas of what is supposed to be true often outweigh what physically is true. This is further supported by the fact that malen and femalen Listeners are still emotionally asexual, something they hold as a marker of gender, though us humans generally don't. Also, I find it fairly evident that Syl was not talking about reproduction when she mentioned gender, because she was talking specifically about spren gender (sprender), and spren, as far as we know, don't reproduce like humans or listeners. She explicitly described spren gender as a result of personification, meaning it comes from mental ideas, or societal conceptions, of what gender is rather than physical sexual characteristics.

Gender is actually socially constructed and has much less to do with physical sex than what most people assume. (Sorry, sociology student here.) So whether malen or femalen Listeners are physically capable of reproduction doesn't affect whether they are malen or femalen, because the Parshendi as a people still conceive of them as different enough to be a different gender. This is especially important regarding spren as their genders are based purely on perception.

No one had made this yet, so I figured I would! Who do you think it is?

I'm pretty sure it's common in Asian cultures, which are a heavy influence on the Alethi. See: the resemblance between the havah and quipao/cheongsam.

Interestingly, according to your analysis the 'climax' in both of these cases actually takes place later in the book than the 'resolution'.

I think it's also notable that the author of Oathbringer begins with, "I know that many women who read this will see it only as further proof that I am the godless heretic everyone claims" (emphasis mine). This suggests to me the book is being written for a scholarly audience, rather than a general one as someone like Dalinar would be addressing. While men can't read they can be read to, while women are the predominant audience for the more scholarly account someone like Jasnah would produce. As for Kaladin, I do think he would pull rank if it was for the right reasons, such as ensuring he has the authority to do what he can to protect the town. And I think that wouldn't be, in his mind, showing himself as a fourth dahn lighteyes but as a Radiant. How the town would react to that is a whole other issue, of course.

Yes, I was referring to the fact that parts of WoR had chapter headings from Navani's journal.

Navani was revealed as the author of the Words of Radiance book pretty early on, though, with no efforts to hide or fake out with it. There are so many clues already pointing to Jasnah (heretic, shadesmar, thought to be dead) that having it be someone else would be kind of having a twist for the sake of a twist.

Granted. You are now fundamentally incapable of committing any action that causes sapient creatures harm. I wish that I could magically pull objects from books.

I've actually seen a lot of fanartists draw pure Alethi characters (like Kaladin, Dalinar, Jasnah, ect.) with tan skin and epicanthic folds, and others will actively point out whitewashing where they see it. Granted, that may be partially due to the sites on which I see fanart, but this actually seems like a pretty decent fandom at minimalizing the automatic assumption of whiteness.

I read WoR before Warbreaker, actually reading the latter because of the Vasher/Nightblood connection, so I can't give initial things that would clue me in. However, when rereading WoR, I was struck by this passage: That description just screams immortal. Granted there are immortal people on Roshar too, but combined with the other worldhopper indications/the presence of Nightblood it's a pretty strong clue.

Supporting characters can still be interlude protagonists; in fact, every character this thread has brought up has been supporting or less. I'm not saying the book will be about her, but Lift got a novella all to her own and she's supposed to be a second half protagonist as well. The cover merely indicates that Jasnah will take an active, if minor, role in Oathbringer, which I would frankly expect from her.

Lashings don't work on someone wearing Shardplate; I imagine other surges would face similar limitations

I think Jasnah has a decent chance at being the interlude protagonist considering she's on the cover of the book. I know the cover artist just picks a climactic scene, but her being heavily involved in such a scene despite not being a regular viewpoint character still suggests something. Plus the epilogue of WoR was setting her up to be a force in this book.

Just for fun: If you could have any two characters in all of the Cosmere meet/hang out with each other, who would you choose? Personally, I'd like to see Wayne and Lift. Both are hilariously flippant yet good-hearted thieves with slightly sideways ways of thinking, super awesome powers, dark pasts and emotional depth they are very good at hiding. They'd hit it off pretty quickly and no one's hats or food would ever be safe again.