Solant

I'd love to see Dalinar involved in this process. I've wondered what "Bondsmith" really means, and if he actually can create a bond to restore her. Alternately it would be awesome to see Renarin work some weird regrowth magic on a deadeye.

My suspicion based the little info we have is that each one corresponds to either a surge or type of KR, maybe a focus for them, and are extremely powerful. I think the shattered plains are a result of one being used, and that all of the Silver Kingdom capitals that have oathgates (the same ones that kabsal demonstrates to be symmetric with cymatics) are the Dawncities created with another dawnshard. It's all speculation though, i don't have much to back it up. I think we will see that that level of symmetry is probably evidence of one being used.

As someone who can strongly relate, a person who is both an introvert and prone to bouts of MDD needs a caring extrovert BFF like Adolin to coax them out of their shell when they should not be alone. I'm 100 percent here for the Kaladin/ Adolin/ Veil bromance.

I agree with @Pathfinder here. The wob stating that Dalinar will have a strong presence in book 5 implies heavily that he will live to be there... At least that was my impression. As far as Kaladin goes, i think that despite the presence of Edgedancers we are going to see him at least attempt to return to doctorin' with dad. In addition to this, since he will be present more in Urithiru for the foreseeable future, we are going to see him reconnect with Tarah unexpectedly since we saw her lurking around town in the background in OB. You read it here first

Something dawned on me with this chapter. We've obviously made the connection between Scadrian magic and fabrial tech. What's interesting to me is that fabrials are just machines using metallic arts properties with trapped spren to emulate singer forms. Gem heart with a trapped spren, using a metal cage as a catalyst empowering the function of the body (the fabrial itself). Just something to consider. Do we know if steel even has been discovered on Roshar? I can't recall ever seeing it mentioned.

I'm no student of psychology, so i can't speak to the realism of his portrayal here. I know he does his research, and he wouldn't include it if it wasn't important to her arc. With the SA being an epic fantasy series, I chose to just trust Brandon to find a middle ground somewhere between DID getting the representation it deserves, and a story for Shallan that ultimately serves the greater narrative. Instead, I'd like to share my pet theory. With Shallan being the unreliable narrator that she is, i can't be sure if my count is right, but to me it feels like we are getting a new alter for every radiant level she achieves, or perhaps just for every truth offered up. Now we know that Veil was modeled after Tyn, and suspect that Radiant was crafted with Jasnah in mind. Potential RoW preview chapter spoilers 1,2,3, shoot it down!

Something that just occurred to me, and forgive me if it's been brought up before, but have we discussed the possibility that what Brandon is going for with Shallan is that none of the three are the real Shallan? What if what we are seeing is the Ego, Super Ego, and Id given separate distinct voices within the same person represented by her alters? It would explain the drastic changes in her personality as the story progresses (they were all to various degrees represented by Shallan herself prior to Veil and Radiant showing up), leaving the Shallan we see at this point in the story as basically a third alter herself. I can totally see her final truth as recognizing this fact and reconciling the three as one solid, confident, competent, and complete personality. I haven't studied psychology in 25 years, so i apologize if that sounds ignorant

Best TED talk ever.

+1 for unintentional Shallan pun

Or Brightness Durden I don't want to break the rules of Light Club by talking about it, however

Something just occurred to me. What if Pattern was with Adolin as a literary device preventing him from warning or preventing her from killing Ialai? What if that decision was made by Shallan (or a fourth personality) intentionally? I'm starting to feel very concerned, especially with that dizzy, foggy spell and general confusion between all three personalities immediately afterward...

What if Mraize is actually another of Shallan's personalities, and he's using the Oathgates to set up dark eyed boxing clubs in basements in cities across Roshar? ... I'll let myself out.

Right up there with Mraize's Slippers. I agree with @SanderFan69. Ishnah showed up under suspicious circumstances.. She is probably a GB insert from the very beginning, probably set up for Shallan to "discover" her and actually reduce suspicion by seeming to be clumsy about it. Wouldn't it be interesting if she was actually Iyatil?

I think it's less about Gaz being a monster than it is that he, Amaram, and Roshone were the immediate examples we were given of how dysfunctional the Alethi hierarchy is from the darkeye perspective, and it's implied that the war camps are full of these types of people to varying degrees. We don't like him specifically because he is the one we see mistreating our bridge crew, but he's no better or worse than any of the other people in charge in the Sadeas camp. Cowardly, a bit of a bully, and desperate to produce results for their own betters so as to avoid their own punishments. It reminds me of the middle managers in a couple terrible jobs I've had over the years. In a way, what we are seeing now are these same people instead from the light eye perspective.

I want to see his redemption. I feel like Gaz is an exercise in what happens when a character is presented as a minor antagonist, and later after removing them from the context that presented them that way initially, and is given a second chance by a protagonist without that character knowing their full history, and then allowing us to see what he does with that chance. It's super interesting to me.

I thought the same thing too, but someone shut me down with a wob where he said bondsmiths never carried shard blades. I always thought Oathbringer would be a telling name, hiding in plain sight

Thanks, mystery solved

Part of me suspects that the windrunners may not use armor once they have access to it because of the way it interferes with lashes. Does anybody remember if the windrunner in Dalinar's vision wore armor?

Between Jasnah taking the throne and Dalinar being excommunicated for lack of a better word, i can see any heralds present with the coalition being declared imposters and all the info they share proclaimed blasphemy by the church if it interferes with their message.

I like it. It had a distinct "What I Did During My Summer Vacation" feel to it, or like when a Tv show breaks between seasons, and those same 4 months pass in the show and you can't wait to find out what your favorite characters have been up to. It's very exciting!

Have an up vote for this. Lirin is already getting on my nerves.

It could also be affected by the fact that people in the physical realm regard plate as being a single shard, and not many smaller individual independent pieces, and that would in turn manifest as such in the Cognitive ie. People regard a suit as a single unit, therefore it wants to remain that way, and requires storm light to do it. Almost like it is slowly Soulcasting/ Regrowing itself

Relax, it was just a fun thought. I guess instead of saying possess, i should have said "possess his body". I don't have a better word for it.

I don't have anything to cite for this, but my understanding for the fused becoming so twisted is due to repeated process of dying and returning to inhabit new bodies. The process is probably very traumatic to the soul. Something else just occurred to me. (Again, no evidence, just speculation) Imagine if every time a fused died, it became a new cognitive shadow. Singer A dies, comes back and possess singer B. Now A+B dies, and becomes the cognitive shadow of A+B. Possesses C, now it's A+B+C. Repeat that process 50 more times. It wouldn't even be the original singer any longer, that CS perished long ago, but every time it happens, the copy is imprinting itself onto a new victim... It would be like making copies of copies endlessly, with each one being slightly more corrupted. I don't know if I'm making sense, but think telephone game, except with souls instead of words. It wouldn't come from the magic system, but from that imprinting process.

Mraize's slippers, I love it!