Raven Wilder

Though there's also plenty of stuff that has those roles reversed - a.k.a. the typical alien invasion story.

Is there some way that a Hemalurgic spike could steal Hoid's immortality? Not that Vin knows Hemalurgy, but at least knows it exists, and with enough time and enough willingness to repeatedly stab someone over and over ...

We don't know what all the Elsecaller Ideals are. Since Jasnah agreed to the debate and to let Fen decide, going back on that and trying to seize Thaylen City by force could be an oath shattering situation.

I think the proxy war thing is the message the story's more focused on. Singers and humans should be able to make peace, especially since they've literally forgotten what they were even fighting about, but the beings in power have too much to gain from continued warfare to let them.

I think Jasnah wanted to be the last monarch of Alethkar, but also wanted to remain monarch of Alethkar for a long while yet. Being replaced by an elected representative was a years/decades in the future goal.

Cultivation might be drawn to Scadrial simply because, with the world having been restored from an apocalypse four hundred years ago, and with most human development clustered in two small areas, the majority of the planet could be seen as an undeveloped blank canvas. As for conflict with Harmony ... well, Mistborn Era 3 is gonna need to be about something.

Regardless of what system of government Urithiru uses, they're almost inevitably going to have trouble with the Radiant orders having their own priorities and internal ways of doing things that will clash with the broader law of the tower. Even putting the Radiants in charge doesn't solve that, since the orders can disagree with each other mightily. That this hasn't been a big deal so far is largely due to the number of Radiants being small, and most of them being Windrunners who are personally loyal to Kaladin, who was personally loyal to Dalinar.

I'm thinking Taravangian will have to make Warlight so readily available that Radiants will have no trouble getting hold of some. Remember, everywhere but Azir and the Reshi islands is under a perpetual Everstorm cloud blocking out sunlight - the only way to grow crops and keep the population fed is with massive amounts of Warlight. And with Taravangian often focusing on cosmic matters (or on chilling in Spiritual Kharbranth), they can't afford to have their people run out of Warlight because their god's attention was elsewhere, so the distribution of Warlight will probably need to be a mostly autopilot process.

I think what Brandon's said before is that the Shards' power is infinite in the sense that it never runs out - but having an infinite supply of gas is not the same thing as having an infinitely powerful engine.

It's interesting to imagine what the POV of a former parshman would be like. They've only been fully sapient for a little over a year, and their ability to function in a normal manner is largely due to some mystical filling-in-the-cracks-in-the-soul stuff. Brandon's written POVs of ordinary people whose minds take on bizarre dimensions thanks to magic, but this would be basically the reverse of that.

Something that's probably relevant here is that, up until Retribution threw a wrench in things, Roshar was a world undergoing rapid globalization. We're not told when spanreeds were invented, but they appear to be a fairly recent thing. The introduction of instantaneous long-range communication is a pretty big game changer on its own. Compound that with the Oathgates allowing fast travel across the continent and the Desolation pushing countries into an unprecedented global alliance, and you've got people all over having far more exposure to other cultures and other ways of life than they ever had before. That's a situation that seems prime for social change. Like, in Way of Kings, Dalinar didn't dare promote Kaladin higher than captain, and used a separate chain of command to ensure that, despite Kaladin's elevation, there wouldn't be any lighteyes getting ordered around by a darkeyed soldier. Flashforward to Wind and Truth, and you have Alethi lighteyes fighting under the command of the Azish, who are an almost entirely darkeyed people, and it's barely even an issue.

I took the "another has claimed him" thing as simply Dalinar going into the afterlife, same as anyone else who dies, with the "another" being an indication that Dalinar's "God Beyond" faith was accurate.

Well, Dalinar was originally planning just a sort, exploratory jaunt, to get used to the Spiritual Realm, until Mraize wrecked things. Presumably, if things had gone according to plan, once returning from that first trip, Dalinar and Navani would then have worked through the logistics of keeping things running with one or both Bondsmiths absent.

I think it's important to remember that, when Jasnah took the throne, Alethkar was already a nation in exile. Continuing their traditional form of governance wasn't really possible anymore - they were a feudal society, where the lords and highprinces derived power from the lands they control, but those lands are all now under enemy occupation. With that backbone of their governmental structure removed, something has to take its place.

... what'd happen? The air there is being constantly infused with Towerlight, so Radiants there never run out on Investiture, and we even see that a Lashed object will stay Lashed long after it should've fallen back to earth. So what happens if you draw the freaky black magic sword that constantly consumes any Investiture presented to it? Would Urithiru be the one place where you could use Nightblood in complete safety, as its hunger would be constantly satisfied by the tower? Or would it be that Urithiru's Towerlight was never meant to handle an Investiture-guzzler like Nightblood, and drawing the sword there would risk draining the whole tower?

My take on Adolin's oaths vs. promises thing is that an oath is you swearing to do something to an abstract principle, while a promise is you swearing to do something to another person - a person capable of understanding context and human limitations, and forgiving you if (despite your best efforts) you weren't able to keep it. That fits with how we're shown that Adolin is all about building relationships with people, connecting to them on a personal level, and isn't so much invested in grand ideals.

I'd note, Jasnah specifically says they're pushing all these democratic and egalitarian reforms through now because, with the state of emergency that is a Desolation, no one's willing to rebel too strongly against those changes, not so long as there's the bigger threat of the Voidbringers to think about. Whether these reforms are able to stick will depend, in large part, on how long the Desolation ends up lasting.

Have we ever seen a singer wearing non-Shardplate armor ontop of carapace?

Retribution's plan is to turn Roshar into an army that can be used to conquer the cosmere. But it's an army where the average foot soldier still fights with sword and spear and has no faster means of transportation than a horse or a ship with sails. Seems like introducing guns and automobiles and other technological advancements would be an important step in making them war ready. That neither Odium or Honor did this during previous Desolations, I chalked up to being one of the limits the two Shards agreed to. But now that such agreements are null and void, is there anything stopping Retribution from dropping a whole bunch of tech knowledge on their subjects?

I don't know that aluminum bullets would actually be any more effective at damaging Shardplate than a regular bullet - in fact they'd probably be less effective, given aluminum is a relatively soft metal. From what we've seen, it's impossible to send Investiture into or through a piece of aluminum, but simply being in contact with aluminum does nothing to disrupt an Invested person or object. Carrying an aluminum sheathe around in no way hinders Szeth's Surgebinding abilities, and while Shardblades don't cut aluminum, they also don't get dismissed from the Physical Realm or have their edges dulled at all from the impact, either. So if an aluminum bullet collides with Shardplate, I'd expect the Plate to be just as durable as it always is.

I'm honestly not sure if the Dawnshard stuff will end up actually mattering to the Stormlight Archive, or if it and Rysn are just there to set up stuff for other cosmere books.

Though I wonder if there are any Shards who regularly commute between two more worlds (not counting Odium getting trapped on kicked back to Braize over and over). Would make the whole Major/Minor distinction rather murky.

My guess would be that Lift's story will involve going on a journey to Rall Elorim. Birthplace and where Lift's mom can most likely be found for lots of juicy character drama, has that cryptic "City of Shadows" moniker applied to it, and would provide an opportunity to explore what's happened to Iri now that so many of the Iriali have beat feet.

Ati may have been kind and gentle, but that's not the same thing as being strong willed. It could be, while Rayse and Tanavast were still struggling with their Intents ten thousand years later, Ati just didn't have the mental fortitude to keep that up and surrendered to doing what the Shard wanted.

The debate happens because both Jasnah and Taravangian are driven by pride. While Taravangian could seize Thaylen City by force, they're willing to give up a fair amount just to hear an enemy admit "You were right." And while Jasnah could simply have ignored Odium's request for a debate (as Fen wanted to), it's in Jasnah's nature to view such a challenge as something you must rise to - even admits to themself during the debate that it's exhilarating to pit their skills against a god.