Sweetness

Szeth Lashes things to a point in the sky. It's slightly different from Lashing something to the sky itself. I agree that it's a directional thing.

Thinking about it, "flying" might just be Lashing oneself to a point that's only a few degrees above the ground. If it's done right, that could make one fall parallel to the ground. And then it's just a matter of orienting your body to "fall" headfirst.

I wonder how Alendi ended up with piercings that were spikes?

A lot of Earth cultures use piercings to signify different things. It makes sense that they could have on Scadrial too, especially with metal being so important.

Can I espouse that as a theory?

I distinctly remember another thread drawing the "Kelsier is Batman" conclusion.

Your reasoning seems a bit forced.

I approve anyway.

(Except this: DC < Marvel )

Proximity. Could explain the Alerter Fabrial. Maybe the spanreeds as well (being "the location of an object in relation to another object").

^Off topic, but apparently there's a bar in Canada called Zaphod Beeblebrox, where they serve Pan-Galactic Gargleblasters.

Okay, Spook is not getting nearly enough love in this thread. He spends two books being completely unimportant and then all the sudden he's just this force of pure awesome!

The scene where he rescues that little kid from the burning building is one of the best scenes in the trilogy, challenged only by Kelsier battling the Inquisitor in book one.

Survivor of the Flames FTW.

'Nuff said.

Anyway, in keeping with this, I personally feel pretty confident that Odium is intended to be Honor's polar counterpart, like the Ruin/Preservation pair.

You have to factor Cultivation into this equation, though. If Odium and Honor balance each other out, what does Cultivation's presence do?

Honestly, I saw very little honor with Shallan. Don't get me wrong, she's a good girl and all, but honor isn't a motivation for her, as it is for Dalinar and Kaladin. She's attracted to her studies; science, art. Culture, you might say. Jasnah is the same way.

If Odium is "the most terrible of all the sixteen," then it would make sense that Honor and Cultivation would throw their lots in together against him. I think the different kinds of Surgebinding come from different combinations of the two.

But aside from that, I do agree with the Intent thing. If the magic systems didn't have anything to do with Intents, then there would be no reason to have Intents in there at all.

Is Honor dead?

This begs the question; How does the spren know it's been recorded? Could this be evidence of the connectivity of the Cognitive Realm?

(Also, as an aside, if I ever use the word "connectivity" again, please shoot me.)

It could well be. I remember at a signing a few years ago (the WoK tour, actually) someone asked Brandon if he read sociology texts and he replied "I read everything."

The Epic Theory of The Epic God Metal? I don't think this thread is epic enough, guys.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who noticed the Quantum Theory of Spren.

However, there is a difference between measurement and observation. Measuring the spren forced them into a constant shape, whereas under observation (meaning the two ardents watching them) their shape was fluid.

Not all types of spren change their shape, such as lifespren, which look like dust particles. It would also appear that some spren, like flamespren, change their shape randomly, maybe not deliberately. But larger ones, like windspren and Shallan's creativityspren (I can't remember the proper name) can change form at will.

This suggests a sort of spren intelligence hierarchy.

So what would happen, say if one were to measure a higher form of spren, like a windspren?

Why couldn't the Parshendi have been acting on their own?

True, we don't yet know what the motivation for breaking the treaty and killing Gavilar was (bad grammar). But that's not to say they had no reason to.

^Have you ever been on morphine? You can still feel the pain, but you don't care about it anymore.

Now, take that without the accompanying loopyness, and apply to soldiers in battle. That could be very effective.

Maybe the Parshendi threw away his Oathstone so it would be more difficult for Taravangian to find him? Or Szeth's disappearance was deliberate. Kill the Alethi king, framing the Parshendi, then give the Highprinces and Elhokar time to mobilize and basically entrench themselves at the Shattered Plains. All the best fighters go there. That means the way will be clear for anybody who wants to sweep in and take Alethkar from the minor landlords and farmboys left behind.

I think that given that Hoid can do his magic anywhere, that other magic systems should be available everywhere as well. Only limited by genetics and other factors. So yes, I think allomancy should be available, if played straight, everywhere the person born of Preservation is located.

I think I missed it being stated flat out that Hoid has magic. Of course, very little has been stated in plain terms about Hoid, and obviously he can do something. But I don't recall ever seeing anything about Hoid's magic.

(I'm not sure if I'm being facetious or not here, so if I am, just ignore me.)

Sazed holding both means Odium only has to go after one target. And, this has probably been pointed out before, but it could be possible that Odium has more than one shard. I mean, we've identified what, half of them?

(Although, frankly, I still think holding multiple shards is dangerous to the host.)

I've read The Gathering Storms and Towers of Midnight. The Wheel of time books.

Those aren't really Brandon's books, he just wrote them.

There were atium mistings, so they could burn it. It's (to my understanding) a physical manifestation of Ruin, and that technically still exists in Harmony, so I would assume it would reform. It would just take a while. And I think I remember reading that Sazed moved the Pits, which would indicate that they are still active, but he doesn't want anybody to know about it.

The very first time I looked up the definition for odium, what I got was "a state/feeling of dishonor." I assumed Honor was his counterpoint.

With Straff, it was a display of power, and that's what freaked him. And I don't know if it would affect an army that way. You can only manipulate emotions, not thoughts. So you could make the soldiers angry, but not control who they're angry at. They might end up attacking you instead of each other.

I think it'd serve as a distraction, yes, but not very significantly. Anyone who would conceivably be in a fight with a mistborn would figure out what was going on pretty quickly.