Catladyman

This theory about the loophole gives me SO MUCH anxiety because I just can't think of a good way out of it. My only hope of it not happening, is that the champion must be willing and Connected to Odium. I don't think a Rosharan human's innate Connection to Odium would be enough, hence the way Odium spent so much time grooming Dalinar (& now Moash?). The fact that an infant can't willingly become the Champion gives me hope. Gavinor, though, is definitely old and verbal enough to agree. Especially if the person asking is  a kindly old man. Or if T looks like Elhokar when he appears to Gav... 

I think the info we have on Ba-Ado-Mishram supports your theory. Especially the epigraph from Chapter 97:

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As one who has suffered for so many centuries ... as one whom it broke ... please find Mishram and release her. Not just for her own good. For the good of all Spren.

For I believe that in confining her, we have caused a greater wound to Roshar than any ever realized.

When I first read this, I saw it as confirmation that the Unmade were originally normal (probably Cusicesh-level?) spren, and before her Unmaking, BAM was just Mishram. Now I'm second-guessing that, and wondering if Kelek was just shortening her name in his journal..

But I definitely support this theory! Mishram could possibly be a spren of Connection? 

Do we consider the Oathgate spren to be sapient? And we’re they created specifically for that purpose, or did they begin as another type of spren?

WHIMSY THOUGH?!

The Themis Files, always on a reread of  Malazan, and I just finished Semiosis which was CRAZY good.  Also Every Heart a Doorway is one of like three novellas, I can’t remember the other titles or author, but definitely worth a try!

From Malazan

Whiskeyjack - Stoneward

Tavore - Bondsmith

Ganoes Paran - Windrunner

Anomander Rake - Skybreaker

Karsa - Dustbringer

Kruppe - Edgedancer 

Duiker - Truthwatcher

Quick Ben - Lightweaver

Korlat - Elsecaller

Icarium - Willshaper

@MonsterMetroid what words/phrases do you need searched?

Here's what I find most confusing about the timelines..

Heralds/Honorsblades/Oathpact are created to keep Odium's forces on Braize and stop Desolations

Spren mimic Honorblades and begin to form Nahel bonds

If the Nahel spren are mimicking the Heralds, what did that first Desolation look like that forced Honor to create the Oathpact? The Dawnsingers weren't "betrayed" by the spren until after the Oathpact was in place. 

Guess we'll just have to spend the next few years nitpicking WoB's trying to get a better understanding of this timeline..

I think there is definitely something to this theory, though. There are two bits of evidence that make me believe that Dalinar will become a Vessel for Honor:

OATHBRINGER SPOILERS

The first is:

Secondly,

Basically, while I don't think he is currently holding Honor, I think that Dalinar is on a path that could lead to his becoming a Vessel.

I’m on the east coast, and my nook preorder is NOT loading!!! Panicking, contemplating buying kindle ebook and reading on an app...

I really like this idea. Just like Re-Shephir seemed to be able to produce/splinter smaller voidspren (like the one Shallan found in the wall), I wonder if the yellow spren with the Parshendi is the product of the Unmade version of honorspren. Just like Re-Shephir reminded Shallan of a corrupted creationspren, the yellow Spren seems to be leading/protecting the Parshendi without the sort of compassion and empathy we see from true honorspren. 

I know its been discussed here and there, but I feel like at this point it needs it own thread.

What type of spren does a Dustbringer bond??

Here's what we know about it..

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“Well,” Shallan whispered, “she’s annoying.”

“Mmm…” Pattern said. “It will be worse when she starts destroying things.”

“Destroying?”

“Dustbringer,” Pattern said. “Her spren… mmm… they like to break what is around them. They want to know what is inside.”

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“Malata,” she said. “Though I am not his. I came to him for convenience, as Spark suggested we might look to Urithiru, now that it has been rediscovered.” She surveyed the large auditorium. Shallan could see no sign of her spren

Given the fact that we had not even heard of honorspren, liespren, cultivationspren, or highspren before they started Bonding again, I think that Spark will also be totally new. My guess is that Spark is a curiosityspren. They would be obsessed with knowing how things work and what they're made of, like Pattern with lies. 

I see the initial meeting going like this, pretty much every time:

Proto-Radiant: I wonder [insert literally any question]

Curiosityspren: Well, you can blow it up.

PR: Hmm...

So Nightblood has definitely given Szeth the ability to draw in stormlight, given the strange afterimage he leaves behind. The question is, assuming Szeth can Nahel bond Nightblood, what sorts of abilities would he gain? Because Nightblood is an artificial spren, who knows if he will grant neighboring surge. We don't even know that he will grant any surges, let alone known ones. I'm ready to see Szeth become a KR outside of the orders, given that his spren bond will be so unique.

@The One Who Connects this may not be totally true, though. It is possible for a KR to bond two spren, they would just have the added burden of maintaining two distinct sets of oaths. Since we don't know the mechanics of becoming a Voidbinder, it may still be possible for there to be an overlap.

We definitely have seen the Everstorm do some pretty scary stuff. I think it’s been described as deliberately targeting and destroying weak and vulnerable settlements. For this reason I have to believe the Everstorm is of Odium, not Cultivation. 

Finally a Dustbringer! I half wonder if this is Ash using a different name.. Would lead to interesting interactions between her and Shallan.

Why are the Kaladin chapter always so short??? I need to know more about the alleged Voidspren! Especially because she seems to have lost no intelligence moving into the Physical realm. Similar to how Wyndle kept his identity when Cultivation intervened and move him into the Physical herself.

I think either Szeth or Jasnah. Jasnah because it would be a great bait & switch & switch again for everyone to think she's dead, oh wait she's not dead, crap now she's dead for real. I also really love how mysterious she is, and while flashbacks are revealing, gaining them long after her death will only add to her mystique. Given the gap between halves of the series, I feel like it would be cool to hear back half characters casually reference the legend that she will become and how she changed the world, especially during her flashback book.

Szeth, almost like Jasnah, actually did die (I think?). He also leads a pretty risky lifestyle. He doesn't seem to fit in with the Skybreakers at all, and they, so far, are very unpleasant. Nale chose him as a Skybreakers because of how he stuck to his code, though he hates himself and no longer believes in that personal code. The fact that he seems to have bonded Nightblood makes this pretty unlikely, though.

So I say Jasnah's dead by 5!

Okay so right away I thought of chouta, so here's the description..

WoR Pt II Ch 18. Bruises

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It looked like a thick piece of flatbread wrapped around something goopy.

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undefinable meat slathered in some dark liquid all wrapped in overly thick bread

Also would love to see cocktail versions of the Alethi wines! (Sorry is my lush showing?)

@Rider of Storms isn't this because all of that happens completely in the CR, though? There location is important. It's probably still possible for a Shard to somehow gain knowledge of other worlds by visiting in the SR. That would explain Harmony's apparently vague knowledge of cosmere happenings despite being Invested on Scadrial.

I think that pre-Recreance, all Parshendi were bonded with a form spren, preventing them from forming a Nahel bond. If only there were suddenly a group of parshmen with a newly awakened ability to bond spread without an existing bond...

Of course, this idea puts holes in the Eshonai-as-Willshaper theory, which is a favorite of mine. Suppose for a second, though, that Eshonai managed to contact Dalinar (or another Bondsmith) and beg to be freed of any spren bond. This would make her slaveform. Then the Everstorm swings through, restoring her Identity and Connection without a bond. Maybe this enables her to become a Willshaper? 

@ScavellTane I don't necessarily think that the Divine Attributes are enough to rule out someone as potential KR. The Radiants we have seen so far have definitely had to work towards embodying the Attributes; they didn't start out that way.

Eshonai is already resolute. Once she decides on a course of action, she follows through. All she needs to do is progress to develop a Builder mentality as well.

On 10/5/2017 at 1:33 PM, Steeldancer said:

I'll take you up on a point here. 

Fortune, is WEIRD. I cannot put it into any sort of meaningful context in the spiritual realm. . 

While I'm definitely not realmatically-proficient enough to comment on your other points, here is how I see Fortune...

If everyone has several possible futures branching out from them, Fortune allows a person to someone draw themselves towards/away from points in time where important convergences occur. For example, a Stormlight character's reappearance probably had significant consequences for a large number of Rosharans, allowing a certain Worldhopper to note than something important was going to happen at that place at a certain point in time. 

Similarly, a Feruchemist tapping fortune would gain a sense of these convergences, allowing them to manipulate events to bring them closer to these collectively important moments. Filling a Fortune metal mind, on the other hand, leaves a Feruchemist blind to the natural instinct (Spiritual) that guides them towards these events.

I would love to see an Edgedancing Windrunner. Both sets of Oaths we've seen so far seem to focus on similar virtues, or at least complementary ones, and the power combo would be sick! Imagine Kaladin's Windrunning with no friction.

Well we do have confirmation that Odium has been Splintered to some degree..

(Arcanum Unbounded spoilers)

The issue, though, is the nature of these Splinters. I see two possible scenarios. One, Odium was damaged in a conflict with another Shard, resulting in Splinters. This is similar to the Splinters we have seen of Honor, Devotion, and Dominion. The second possibility is that Odium deliberately created these Splinters, similar to the Divine Breath of Endowment. If the latter possibility, we really have no way of gauging past damage done to Odium. If the former, though, then the Splinters, and their number, may indicate the degree of damage.

The specific wording of the above quote makes me think that there are a LOT of Splinters on Braize. This makes me think that Odium's power is seriously diminished. This might not be as much as an issue for him as we assume, however, because what we've seen of voidspren seem to further Odium's goals anyway.

@FollowYourMuse I always read that as being because stormwater has crem which contains more nutrients for plants

and Lift also has access to the surge of Progression, the plants don’t grow around her simply because she holds stormlight