Asrael

I think I'm with you... I think it will be more voluntary than involuntary. But they are going to become semi-mindless rage monsters of evil at some point.

Truthfully, I'm kind of expecting this to be a set up for things to go south. So the parshmen are not Voidbringers... yet. I'm wondering if the next time the everstorm passes, or for other reasons in the near future they will be turned Voidbringer somewhat against their will. I just see Kaladin gaining sympathy for them and watching them willingly/unwillingly become monsters to destroy humanity, and it would make the fact that he has to fight them more emotionally impactful. As further evidence towards my suspicion, consider Eshonai's circumstances along with the Parshendi that followed her. The Parshendi were just as "human" as any other characters until they fell for the trap of bonding with Voidspren, at which point they really were monsters of a sort (Eshonai at the least, I presume the change had similar effects on other Parshendi)

This is why I'm really interested in Rayse as a character. In the greater story arc I really don't think Rayse/Odium will prove as slimy and despicable as Hoid suggests. We know Hoid used to be friends with Rayse and now holds a grudge against him. Whether Odiums original hatred is actually morally defensible in the end, I do think we will see that it is at least understandable. I expect Rayse will prove to be a very interesting character, and I further hope/suspect we will find him to be somewhat more in control of his shards intent somehow, perhaps because he already had a great deal of hatred before he took up its raw, divine form

As a married man, the fact that Adolin and Shallan have engaged in extended conversation about taking craps and periods is the strongest indicator their relationship is genuine. I'm just waiting for one of them to fart out loud and I'll know It's true love

...but I feel like not many here do. I see lots of hype for Warbreaker which (though phenomenal) is not my favorite. So am I the only one? I love the Cosmere and I know this book isn't very Cosmere heavy, but its still just good. Hrathen is one of my favorite Sanderson characters and Raoden's optimism is genuinely inspiring to me and I love how tightly tied just about every scene is to the end of the book. This was my first Sanderson novel and it opened my eyes to how incredible climaxes could be. Tell me I'm not alone!

Unfortunately, I believe the plea to prevent this very thing from happening is straight from Brandon

You all deserve to hear the Morgan Freeman voice I hear when you make up these quotes: True Facts about the Octopus

I believe its the memory ability Shallan has. I can check sources on that.... These Lightweavers, by no coincidence, included many who pursued the arts; namely: writers, artists, musicians, painters, sculptors. Considering the order's general temperament, the tales of their strange and varied mnemonic abilities may have been embellished. ” —Words of Radiance, chapter 21

Heavens to Betsy that was amazing.... The wrinkles have wrinkles... BS is the man

This is from the meme page but feels so appropriate here on a Monday night.

And I have to apologize for this one... Well that was more than I expected! I really only had the first 2 in mind when I started!

My problem with this is if Rlain is the spy, how is he "broken"? How by cruelty? Why seek completion? If the traitor is moash, how was he broken by ambition and how is he seeking freedom? I feel like these attempts only map to the title, not to the whole person. And frankly... I just don't think Moash and Rlain or even Taravangian are that important. Eshonai at least has been on a cover before and we know she's getting a flashback book, shallan has been on BOTH of the previous books and it would be quite conspicuous if she weren't on this one. Additionally, th usage of broken here kind of suggests Radiants, which its entirely possible Eshonai could be become and the other four already are

^^^Not to mention they don't have that awkward "I killed your favorite brother" issue between them like another certain pairing...

The most interesting thing to me here is that there were secrets which brought about the end of the Knight's Radiant. Secrets I'm guessing were a little bigger than just "the Heralds lied about the Last Desolation". Granted, as pointed out we already had some inkling of that, but this cover suggests that we're going to get some answers!! Also I'm pretty convinced that the 5 individuals referenced are Kaladin, Shallan, Szeth, Eshonai, and Dalinar. We know they are our main flashback characters, past back covers have only referenced important POV characters, and we know that all of them have been of interest to the Aimians before. The only one I'm shaky on is "The Traitor" but, prior analysis on this thread satisfies me that her sisters ambition is what landed her in such a crappy spot. Additionally worth considering is that even if these titles (Traitor, Spy) don't make as much sense to us now, they most likely indicate the roles these characters will play in the book, not necessarily in previous books. Keep in mind that Eshonai was The Explorer on a previous cover and we knew very little about her before that point. Dalinar has never been a King in previous books, and Shallan may not have ever been a Spy per se, but her relation to the Ghostbloods could easily go there. Eshonai might not seem much like a Traitor in past books, but this could be a good sign of what shell be up to this book.

Not to be crass... But given that spren come from the cognitive realm, and the cognitive realm is composed of the things people think about, and given the overwhelming popularity of sex in the real world...... I'm just saying, Spren shouldn't have much to be curious about, there's probably whole Shadesmar continents devoted to the subject o_0

I am also eager to see these depictions...... but I hardly think the description of Syl's blade form is descriptive enough.... it described a symbol on the side of the blade but very little about the actual shape of the blade itself. I can basically just imagine the hilt now! Glysblade was a bit better, I like the interpretation someone offered that it's somewhat Katana-like

So are there any examples of prior people being healed having similar experiences? Or is that just an anomaly arising from Adolin/Renarin's state of mind at the time?

So heres my question: have we seen any evidence, or do we have any reason to believe that Surges might work slightly differently between Orders? Or do we attribute possible differences only to the different Resonances coming from combining Surges differently? Let me cite an example: Shallan uses Lightweaving to create illusions externally: she makes something and everyone around her will see it. So is that all there is to Lightweaving as a surge? In one of our chapters this week, Renarin expends stormlight to heal Adolin, but Adolin also sees a vision of his better self. Is that Lightweaving? Do Truthwatchers Lightweave in a more internal, mental sort of way? (Or could Shallan do that too?) Did Renarin give Adolin an internal "illusion" of the way he sees him? Or is this a different power resulting from Truthwatcher Resonance akin to the (speculated) ability of Truthwatchers to have visions themselves? Did Renarin give Adolin the briefest moment of Truthwatching by seeing his "true" self? Maybe this is a bit broad or unclear. Thoughts?

I don't really see how becoming a Highprince will put Adolin above consequence for killing Sadeas. I know Sadeas got away with setting Dalinar up, but I don't think I'm too off base to say that was a really different case. Leaving someone else to die at the hands of your enemies is slimy but it's not stabbing them through the head yourself, which I don't believe would be tolerated by the Alethi outside of a duel.

I fully believe we will be seeing the "death" of this child in the future: So clearly something happened at the Rift that was SO horrible that this soldier couldn't handle it. You don't build up that kind of drama to just answer it two chapters later. I suspect that we will be seeing more from Rathalas.

Boy howdy... Kaladin the sex symbol... That chapter had me imagining posters of Kaladin modelling fancy suits and watches with perfect stubble on those posters at bus stops gave me a hearty chuckle.

At this point in my week I basically melt into a puddle of anticipation and become utterly useless...

When people around you are sick of hearing about Brandon Sanderson so you scour the internet for people to discuss with!

WoR

You sir.... really confused me... I was like "I didn't post on that board!!"