anthonydraco

This might not be new, but I think it's worth mentioning. Anyone has noticed that Sanderson has placed MacDonald's Triad in his one of his characters again? For those who don't know what the triad is, it's a set of traits that point out people with homicidal tendency, possibly even serial killers. It's a part of a well-known criminal psychology. Here are the properties that made up the triad: 1. Obsession with fire setting (pyromania) 2. Animal cruelty 3. Persistent bed-wetting (enuresis) Nan-Balat definitely has two of these. In a chapter of Words of Radiance, it says that Shallan's father got mad because Balat almost set a building on fire. In The Way of Kings, it is shown very prominently through his POV that Nan-Balat likes to torture animal. I recognized these traits as soon as I saw them because I've studied some psychology. If you've read Warbreaker, you know which one, and it shows that the character isn't what he seems to be after all. I really think that this is foreshadowing something bad about Nan-Balat. I don't know what, but it can't be good.

I've been wanting to post this for a long while, but I've finally got around it. I think I've figured out whose voice it was that said the thing on the back cover of The Way of Kings. The owner of the voice has the properties of the following: 1. Very, VERY old, as he/she seems to remember the time "Before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiants turned against us. While there was still magic in Roshar and honor in the hearts of men." 2. Can watch four POV characters at once. Or her kind/race can. ("Four of whom we watch.") 3. Has lived through the (seeming) victory and seen the world fall. ("So we've won the world, yet lost it.") 4. Has quite a gentle disposition, very poetic, and very reminiscent. More than likely, a female. The tone of the back cover message sounds very much like that. ("One of them may redeem us. One of them will destroy us.") From the info I've gathered from Book 2, I think the owner of that voice is a female spren. Probably one very old, and not Syl. As Syl has been with Kaladin since he was still fighting in the army and is unable to watch all main POV chars at once. She's attached to only Kaladin. And Syl has forgotten much, definitely enough not to remember the things said on the back cover. It's definitely not the storm father, as he seems too angry, too... hmm, bitter to say such things. Has anyone figured out the identity of this voice's owner? I haven't been here for over a year. Forgive me if this is not new or that I'm wrong. I'm looking for any confirmation or flaws in my theory.

OK, it's our Brandon, obviously, but using whose voice, whose POV? So far I haven't figured it out. The Parshendi?

#1: I think this Desolation we're about to see is different because of the breaking of the Oathpact. There's no martyr Heralds to bear Mankind's suffering in the Damnation anymore. Not even Talenel. In the prologue, their words indicated that it was an oath taken willingly. A burden. If it's a burden to bear such torment, no one in the right mind would take it unless they get something in return. I would think that they bore the torment so Mankind would stand a chance against each Desolation. Maybe they got the Honorblades, the Dawnshards, or whatever it was that they needed to survive. But they definitely got something in return. The 'men ride the storms no longer' is definitely that something in return. Because before the Oathpact is broken, men could still ride the storms. Now... with even Talenel released from the Damnation... that chance is gone. They don't have that something anymore, so now it's the Everstorm, the True Desolation, and the battle for Mankind's existence. #2: I don't think the Desolation came before Odium came here. Remember that the Shards of Adolnasium could bestow life on planets. The Desolation is a war. No life, no war. Odium and Honor came with their respective Shards of Adolnasium, and with them, life.

I think Dalinar had self-control enough not to inflict a curse on his son or take a deal like that. Even though he had been combative, youthful, and loved power, he had changed enough. When Navani broke his heart, he had enough self-control not to destroy Gavilar, and decided to severe the ties to Navani completely by trying not to interact with her at all. I don't think he would do anything bad to Renarin. And I personally think that he traded his wife's memory to make Renarin survived infancy or illness that would otherwise kill him since his childhood.

I used it as an evidence saying that the Shards existed in during the prologue. I thought that the Radiants came after the prologue. And evidently, I was mistaken. Now that you mentioned it. Hmm, you're right. If there are a large number of voidbringers, there must be abundant supply of the Blades and Plates. BUT... that must mean the materials required for the Plates/Blades can be gathered from any or most voidbringers. They could be only from specific types, like a queen. The voidbringers/parshendi seem to have a hive mind, and seem to live like eusocial animals, like bees. What an interesting idea. I actually like it. Although it's a little too extreme to think that oaths can manifest as armor. I would believe that 5 Oaths give power. Kaladin and Dalinar did gain it in the last chapters. But power is still quite metaphysical. But to get armour from it? That leans toward the very, very extreme physical side to me. How could an oath manifest solid? You got me. I thought I was thorough already about the timeline. I wasn't thorough enough. You're right. 'They have the Radiants' is a dead giveaway. But this only proves that you're right about the timeline, about the Radiants existing before the prologue. But it doesn't prove that the available materials for Shards and Plates can't be from voidbringers. So far, the evidence at the founding of the Radiants are very limited, and the evidence of the Plates and Blades at/before that time is limited too. The Shards could come before or after. But even after, maybe it was because the Radiants were the first who came up with the ideas of using the materials. Or the Radiants and the Shards could come at the same time, but they're two seperated incidents entirely. We can both still be right. Nice find. But the second quote is more like a description. 'Like metal ripping' doesn't always mean it's metal. I think the first quote is more conclusive that it's somewhat metallic. The defense for my theory is that there's still the extent of transformation on the parshmen part, and tempering process on human part, both we have yet to see.

Magic isn't in Roshar anymore. 'While magic still existed in Roshar and honor in the hearts of men.'

Hmm, but then, they can be both. Magic could be the very thing that can make the Parshendi's armor Shards.

Yes, at first, I thought they were metalic too. But after the second read, I don't think so anymore. There's no direct statement at all in the book saying what material they were. Also notice the words that accompany them. Shard, shattered, cracks [raced long the helm like a spiderweb.] These words are for materials that could 'break,' and 'shatter.' Metals tear, twist, bend, and break, hardly crack or shatter. But the words seem to indicate the materials that are fragile and crystaline in nature. They could also 'regrow' the Plates using Stormlight. That's another biological property. Dalinar thought about that when he lost the a piece of the plate. Also, have you ever look closely at a crab's shell? There's no blood vessels in them. And I would like to remind you a bit on biology. Humans have blood vessels in their skin, but they are only capilaries. Major vessels are deeper inside. Things are the same for crustaceans. Major vessels are deeper, protected. Chitinous shells have no major apparent vessels. Crabs molt. Which means their shells are expendable. No major visible vessels should be in them except capillaries. And crustaceans have open blood curcuit. Which means no capillaries. You won't see any vessels. And nerves can't always be seen. Your entire body can be innervated even though major nerves aren't apparent. Nerve endings are everywhere in your body, but can't be seen in/on your skin. The armor is obviously external, like skin. No apparent sign of nerves in it doesn't mean they don't exist. Not that I insist that the plates have nerves. It just can't be proven either way. But allowing bearers to feel outside the Plate requires nerve transmission to an extent, or at least, impulse transmission. Also, regarding the mutation into the chasmfiend. Kindly read that scene again. The scene when Jasnah wrote Dalinar, and Shallan drew that pic for them. Adolin observed that it wasn't a chasmfiend. Similar, but not exactly right. And, 'have not seen the mutation' doesn't mean 'will not.' WE haven't. But someone did. There are observations collected by Jasnah. I've just quoted it in my previous post. They can change. People have seen them. And there's a hidden trigger, which I believe is the Desolation or something in it. I haven't thought about your first point. But you're right. That's entirely possible. But my point is, we don't know the extent of their transformation, how much different from their current state, how much thicker their shells could be. Newly molted crabs are even entirely edible, while the fully grown ones aren't. Same base materials could produce very different end results given time and different process. The end results could be very different, very durable. Also keep in mind that even IF the parshmen's armor can't mutate that far into Shardplates/Blades, the process of making the Shards must require tempering at some point. The magic could strengthen a soft biological materials into something greater. You caught something I've missed. Thank you. Well, I haven't really thought about the screams of those they consumed, and we haven't seen it yet, IIRC. I've missed the part they say they can take over bodies/consume too. But we have seen (or rather read about) their music already. They sang while they fought. I can point you out to many scenes in which they did. The scene when Kaladin used their bones as bait certainly mentioned their music. Marked with ash and fire, we have seen that too. They are dark, marbled with red. Their very description in the first chapter. These are the things I've missed. Good point. We can only wait and find out. This, I can disprove. Kindly read the prologue again. After Kalak returned to their meeting point and talk to Jezrien, he looked at their blades and thought 'they were even more powerful than Shardblades,' which means the Blades existed by then. He looked at his followers too, and there are description and hints of Plates. The latter might be wrong, but the Blades already existed before the RadiantsP.S. Sorry for the wall of text. I just have good reasons to support my theory. Well, maybe not good, but I think I check things through before proposing my theory.

I think your point can still be partially explained by the same explanation as above. So far we see the voidbringers as parshmen and the Parshendi, and we see the differences. There must be a trigger to their transformations. (Which I think are the songs and their collective mind and their psychic properties.) The reason why they don't all own Shardplates and Blades could be the same reason why parshmen are not Parshendi, and why the Parshendi are not colossal crustacean yet: They're still waiting for appropriate triggers before they develop. Like fox fur turning white in winter. In the voidbringers' case, it's the Desolation, which is coming in the next book. Also, animals that live in hive tends to have ranks within themselves, like queen, drone, soldier. The raw materials for Plates and Blades might come from specialized type of voidbringers. As for thickness, we don't know yet the extent of their transformations. What you said make sense, but I think you assume that when their carapaces are thicker, the voidbringers that grow them must be bigger as well. But we don't know that. If they could grow thicker and heavier carapaces, they could probably grow stronger supporting structures inside as well, while still retaining their approximate size. Crustacean is again a good example. A newly molted crab have thin chitin, even edible, as opposed to a crab with fully developed carapace. They're roughly the same size, and one is only slightly bigger than the other. All in all, I think the voidbringer that grow all-covering armour can still remain humanoid. Besides, a set of armour must be bigger than men, or they wouldn't be wearable. And when they process the materials, it's very likely that they temper the materials and tailor them as well?

I think I can explain both. Maybe I was wrong about the reason why they don't move their dead. They're protective, but maybe not because of fear of stealing. The reason maybe religious, which it seems so. Or maybe something inhibit them from using the carcass. The result is the same, though. And it explains why no more Shards and Plates are made. And regarding the difference between the raw material and the Plate/Blades, I think it maybe because we haven't seen the TRUE raw materials yet. And as the book evinced, , albeit not yet in their fully active forms. This means that there are a lot of transformation between here and there. The thickness and the hardness of the raw materials could be one of these. If they could change from humanoid into colossal crustacean, why not the thickness and hardness of their carapaaces too? Also, you pointed out the difference between the their Shardbearer and the Alethi. Can you elaborate why it contradicts my theory? I want to know what I'm missing.

Well, I wrote him about this crazy theory. I'm not sure if his reply is a form rejection or not, but he suggested me to post it here. I don't know if it's my confirmation bias or not, but I think that maybe he didn't want to outright deny/lie that my theory was wrong. This is what he said: Has anyone wrote him and get the same rejection? Please confirm if any of you did. If someone did, then my theory is more than likely wrong. As I assume he can't be bothered to read my long theories among tons of mails. But here goes nothing: WARNING! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE WAY OF KINGS. MEGA SPOILERS BELOW! The Parshendi and Parshmen are Shardblades and Plates. Age: Szeth mentioned in ‘To Kill’ that there were rumors saying that the Alethi came close to creating Shardblades and Plates. However, we discovered later in the books that the Half-Shards had been developed in Jah Keved. This means that the Half-Shards weren’t the ones mentioned in these rumors. They were something else the Alethi were working on, and the rumor came around the time Gavilar was still allied with the Parshendi. Nevani mentioned that although they could reproduce fabrials, they didn’t come close to recreating Shadeblades and Plates, as they were far, far older and use different theories. Many of Dalinar’s visions mentioned Shardblades and Plates along with copper and bronze and other rudimentary weapons, of time before steel. This means that the Blades and Plates came before steel. If the Blades and Plates were so hard to create, it didn’t make sense that humans would be able to create them before they could create steel. This led me to believe that making it was relatively easier than smelting iron. In real life, human in ancient times used bones, stones, and wood before they knew how to use metal. This led me to believe that the Blades and Plates must be one of these. More specifically, they’re Voidbringer’s chitin, or whatever exo/endoskeleton their carcasses could provide. Since the Voidbringers came cyclically, ancient humans were sure to have access to carcasses of the Voidbringers they had slain. Nerve transmission: Shardplates allowed the bearers to feel whatever they touch as if they were the bearers’ own skins. This resembles transmitting nerve impulses. It also confirms that the Blades and the Plates are biological. Human-shaped, and made for human: The Parshendi have already showed that they could grow carapaces. Voidbringers were depicted as something as big as a house. Assuming that Jasnah Kholin was right in her conclusion that the parshmen were Voidbringers – that something that look human could transform into something so large – the Voidbringers must have an intermediate form between humanoid and colossal crustacean. In this intermediate form, if the Parshendi were to grow carapaces that cover all of their bodies out of themselves, you get full sets of armor. Crustaceans’ exoskeleton always fit the crustacean perfectly, and almost always seamless. So do Shardplates. They fit perfectly, and they have no seams. Parshmen were possessive or their dead. They were enraged or very upset when their dead were moved. The reason behind this could be because their carapaces and bones were valuable. If they're always upset and can't work as slaves when you touch their dead, mankind could decide to leave their deads alone as long as the parshemen served them. Through time, this silent agreement could transform into something that simply be, and eventually, people forgot the true reason behind it. 4,500 years seems like a sufficient time. This agreement not to disturb their dead and harvest their carcasses also explains why there were no more Plates and Plates made. There were also hints when a member of the bridgecrew made armor of these carapaces. He said they were almost as hard as metal but might lighter. Response to Stormlight: The Parshendi used Stormlight. There are many confirmations throughout the story. The fact that they woven gems into their hair and beard. Szeth also mentioned in ‘To Kill’ a myth saying that the Voidbringers could hold Stormlight within themselves perfectly. The Parshendi have superhuman abilities. It could be because their different physiology, or because they could use Stormlight, or both. But I think that they more than likely could, otherwise, they have no reason to weave gemstones into their beard and hair. In the present time of the story, Plates and Blades didn’t glow, but they had, while they’d still belonged to the Radiants. More specifically, while the Radiants had been in them or wielding them. This led me to believe the Radiants could hold Stormlight, and the Blades and Plates responded to it by performing better. That makes the Parshendi and the Plates similar. (This also confirms that a Plate and a Blade were destined for Kaladin as well.) Fire: “Born from darkness, they bear its taint still, marked upon their skin as fire marked their souls.” A quote rediscovered by Jasnah Kholin. This obviously mentioned the fact that the parshmen were dark, and marbled with red. The quote mentioned fire and their soul. This links the parshmen to fire of the Damnation. When Shardblades kill, the victims’ eyes burned. This links Shardblades to fire as well. And if the Voidbringers were so fearsome, it only made sense that they weren’t just size. A Shardblade could as well be one of their appendage or natural weapons. This is rather far-fetched, but I think the fire is expressed as an effect of Shardblades for a reason. Evil: After Dalinar talked to Kaladin near the end, after Dalinar left, Syl mentioned the Blades are evil, and Dalinar is better off giving it up. She responded strongly when Kaladin asked her about Odium. I have a feeling that since the Voidbringers came from Damnation which was associated with Odium, and that the Blades came from Voidbringers, this could be the reason why she said so.