Leyrann

Sell. The Stick will not require Shallan to do so, as it has other means of acquiring it's goals. Venli and Kaladin will end up together.

Just make it a three-way relationship then.

Buy. And he'll do so before Kaladin.

I'm gonna go with what I mentioned above. He's been fiddling with what, at the deepest level, is the Progression Surge, and that meant that the body he took automatically started resembling how he considered himself to be.

I think Division is more related to "increasing entropy", for lack of a more elegant way of putting it. You burn things that don't normally burn at the temperature there is, you make molecules fall apart while they normally wouldn't, etc (increasing the amount of molecules is always a good way to increase entropy...). Illumination, on the other hand, is described, according to the Coppermind (which got it from an official source but I don't remember where) as "the Surge of Light, Sound and various Waveforms". I don't know how that stuff was called that Kabsal had that could make the patterns of several large cities, but that's been proposed before in regards to the Shattered Plains, and it's a theory I like a lot. If nothing else, I doubt Division would make them symmetrical.

Alright. I'm going to blatantly attack actually more support and interpret this theory with my own view on the Cosmere. To start off, the ties to the Physical Realm. I have theorized that these ties are created by the Progression Surge, forming what we consider to be "life". What Kelsier and the Fused may very well have done and be doing, is to create new ties, directly or indirectly (to be fair I doubt they straight up use the Progression Surge; we haven't seen any unmodified use of the Surges yet, though it's implied it was possible on Ashyn). Perhaps they basically hijack the existing Progression ties, replacing the Cognitive and Spiritual parts of the person with their own Cognitive and Spiritual self. Doing this would also mean that the Physical self no longer corresponds properly to the Cognitive and Spiritual self - after all, you also have a Cognitive and Spiritual view on who you are. However, you're already messing with Progression, and we know that the healing done by the Progression Surge in the Stormlight Archive works through altering the Physical self to correspond to your Cognitive or Spiritual self (it's got to do with both). It's not much of a stretch to assume, in that case, that the physical body would then change to fit the new Cognitive and Spiritual self. As for the Fused and the gemhearts, I suppose those gemhearts might be a requirement, but I don't think we know for certain; maybe they can use the gemheart to attract a spren (probably even in the same Everstorm?) that grants them access to a Surge/two Surges (I don't think we have confirmation yet on whether they can use one or two each...). From my (admittedly very contested and not confirmed) view of the Cosmere, a gemheart should not be needed. I also think Thunderclasts are something totally different, a kind of spren that specifically has the ability to become a Thunderclast.

It is implied in A Memory of Light (this might be an addition by Brandon, but it might also not be, as much of the finale was written by RJ) that the Dark One can never win, as he cannot understand that there will always be people who will continue to fight, no matter how bad it looks, while he only wins once everyone submits to him. I also do think that, if the battle on the Field of Merrilor had been lost, Demandred would still not have let the Dark One destroy the world. He cared about the world, and he wouldn't just let go of that.

That's not how Fortune works! Fortune is looking into the Spiritual Realm to understand what is likely to happen in the future. Anyways, as for Mat's luck, I think it's just something that's in there because Mat likes gambling and it adds comical value. It also adheres to Brandon's First Law (which was actually established after almost all of WoT...), in that we may not understand it properly, but it does not really get used to solve plot points either, except to make money, but hey, no one is going to mind that there is no accounting in a fantasy book.

Definitely storming. It just comes naturally.

Buy, not all the orders were combat based, after all. "Unity" is actually a fourth Shard that is carefully manipulating the events on Roshar to make sure that, in the end, Dalinar ascends the three Rosharan Shards AND Unity, making a start in getting the Shards back together in a whole.

I think the Shattered Plains got to do with the Illumination Surge though. I want to see Brandon Sanderson writing space fights. Space battles that don't break five laws of physics per minute are certain to be absolutely awesome.

Do we actually know for certain that "Trell" is a known Shard?

Sell, I'm pretty sure they're all dead. Kaladin will become the next highprince of the Sadeas princedom, with Amaram dead and Ialai having fled Urithiru.

*does some necromancy* I kind of feel obligated to join here... The question isn't whether I should join, but which order I fit best... Theoryrunners: I tend to be skeptical of other's theories, though I will typically defend my own to the death, even if I do not fully believe them myself, so I doubt I would fit here. Theorybreakers: I indeed judge theories and point out inconsistencies, but I prefer creating theories myself, so I also doubt I would fit here. Theorybringers: Controversial theories? Like making a theory that the Shardic Intents are derived from the Surges? Theorydancers: I might not be bad at remembering WoBs, but I don't come close to, say, the Arcanists, so I doubt I'd fit here. Theorywatchers: Nope, sometimes I just go completely on a limb for a theory, though I do then look for discussion to judge it's reliability. Another road to the same goal, so not a fit for me. Theoryweavers: I like to take on the big stuff, so this isn't my order. Theorycallers: I'm not really one to mix and match theories; I prefer just writing fully new theories instead. Theoryshapers: Facts and elements known, and then extrapolating. A very good fit. I do a lot of extrapolating, but I always make certain to have the base grounded in facts or, if facts on the subject are absent, reasonable assumptions. Theorywards: I don't abandon theories, as I mentioned under Theoryrunners. Or, if I do, I replace them with something superior. Theorysmiths: Eh, I might do that on occasion, but certainly not often. So I guess it's most likely theorybringers or theoryshapers, maybe theorywards. I think the best fit might just be theoryshapers, though with a focus on the extrapolating. Facts before guessing. Checking before assuming. Reason before conclusion. Also, I just realized I am very big on the third part of the First Ideal. I occasionally spend days or even weeks sitting on a theory in Word, working it out in the greatest detail, as well as attempting to not retrofit my extrapolations to fit what we know is true (I was actually very big on this in my Shard theory in particular).

Hmm... Well, I am not going to order leatherbounds, I don't have the money for that. I'll do some researching, see what I can find out.

I just realized... When you're ordering books, you get to ask a question for every one of them? (and from what I'm getting it's now limited to those who are aware of it despite the option being removed from the store?) I don't have my own books yet (meaning I got quite a few that could potentially be signed), but I could easily think of a number of questions... (also, if that's indeed possible, is there any chance I could ask an Arcanist whether things are answered previously in case I can't find anything but think it's a question that's relatively likely to have been asked before?)

I just want it to be Cosmere related because I want to see more Shards. I want to see my theory on them either vindicated or rebuked.

You're right. Higher spren is used as well and might even be used in canon (I honestly haven't read the books enough for that if it's mentioned just once or twice). Higher spren vs highspren can be confusing though, so I prefer Radiant spren.

Out of curiosity, does Nightblood break the law of conservation of Investiture, or does he emit Investiture passively or something, like a Black Hole also emits stuff?

Just a minor thing to be aware of, highspren is the name for Skybreaker spren. There's no canon term for what you're referring to, but they're typically called Radiant spren.

I think a comparision with apes would be better, to be honest. It's not like a horse grows into a Ryshadium. Nitpicking, I know, but I still wanted to mention it.

Maybe they have gemhearts because of their mixed heritage, and he's bonded to some kind of spren that grants him more physical strength?

I will be honest, I was disappointed at the average length of theories when I first walked in there, so I've since been working on fixing that.

I will admit I copied the focuses straight from the Coppermind, but I thought the spren being the focus fit well. As The One Who Connects said, however, that's not the focus of this theory. As for the metals, they aren't visibly different, nor do they have different properties. Realmatically, however, I think they are actually different, or maybe it is something that is caused by being around Scadrial, with location playing a role in what creates the focus. That's just throwing out random ideas though. In its core, everything is Investiture, just like in its core, everything in our universe is energy. That doesn't mean we can just randomly vaporize atoms to get energy from them, however, and just like that, it is only possible to use the Investiture that comes from the Spiritual Realm - though high-tech things might change that, in which case we'll probably see it in MB4 and maybe Dragonsteel. I'm not sure if they're actually in-world only, but we do need some way to transfer the Investiture out of the Spiritual Realm. It's not necessarily the only thing the focus does though - I could indeed very much see it play a role in limiting what can be done with the magic. In fact I believe that very thing is what made Surgebinding as humans did it on Ashyn different from how they do it on Roshar. On Ashyn, they direcly accessed the Surges somehow - maybe through some Cosmere thing that was known on Yolen, remained known among the people of Ashyn, but got lost after the Shattering and Ashyn's destruction respectively, to be rediscovered in the second half of the Stormlight Archive or Mistborn Era 4 - and when they got to Roshar, Honor created the more limited form of the Surges, where they have to be accessed through spren - or maybe something related to Stormlight, as RShara mentioned regarding fabrials - which limited how much people could do with the Surges. (Actually, the "Cosmere thing that was known on Yolen" might just be the knowledge of how to access Investiture through the Progression from yourself, rather than needing an external focus, thereby giving you what is basically a limitless form of the Surges as we see them on Roshar) I would argue that Scadrial, though it has three magic systems, has those systems all based on the same template of the sixteen metals, explaining why the focus would be the same. Roshar, on the other hand, has the gemstones that act as focus, created by Adonalsium, and the spren that act as focus, created by Honor and Cultivation. Yeah, I think Roshar is just really complex. Then either that's the first step to what I mentioned above of discovering how to use your own Progression, or it's a specific focus for some of the magic on Sel. Definitely. I don't think anything apart from a hard WoB is going to convince me Stormlight isn't Investiture, as in actual Investiture, but in the Physical Realm. I don't think it's the focus though. Thinking about it, maybe spren, bonds and color are all not the focus, but the highstorm is the focus, which transports Investiture to the Physical Realm. After that, something (a spren bond, a fabrial, etc) is required to use the Investiture, but it no longer needs a focus because it's already been carried to the Physical Realm. That's an important reason for me to theorize about it. For our knowledge of it, we're not going to get any more without theorizing - and potentially being very wrong - and for the name, well, best to just not get too attached to it and try to find out what it really is independent of what we call it. Just like Intent or Fortune.

Above quote (taken from Coppermind) of course states a well-known thing, but I cannot remember any real discussion regarding what a focus actually is, hence why I'm making this thread (and because I think I'll need it for Part III of my Fundamental Surges theory). As we know, Investiture comes from the Spiritual Realm (I'd cite a source but it's such common knowledge all I can find is questions that implicitly assume it). When it is used, however, it typically affects the Physical or Cognitive Realm; in fact, the Spiritual Realm itself is barely mentioned or referenced in the books so far. So it has to travel from the Spiritual Realm to the Cognitive or Physical Realm somehow, and this is done through the focus. As a short recap, the different focuses are metals for Scadrial, commands for Nalthis, spren for Roshar and shapes for Sel. Of course, that is all common knowledge, but I have not seen any detailed theories on what is actually different for these things on their respective planets, compared to elsewhere. And I think the vital difference is that, though everything does exist in all three Realms, the parts of things are not always connected through these Realms. Where a person has a Cognitive Self that lets their Physical Self think, and a Spiritual Self that is the perfect version of their Physical Self, something like a rock (not on Scadrial) has a Physical Self - the rock - a Cognitive Self - the degree of consciousness it is given by humans, like a bead in Shadesmar ("I am a rock") - and a Spiritual Self - rock as it should be. As I argued in my theory on the Surges, I believe that this connection that a living person has - a connection that is broken when they die - is the fundamental force that, when Surgebinders use it, is called Progression or (Re)growth. I think that a Focus is similar to this connection, and also uses Progression to form a bond between the Spiritual, Cognitive and Physical Realm. This connection is then what allows someone to draw Investiture through the Focus to power whatever magic they are using. So, do Scadrian metals (and other focuses) live? Technically, yes they do. However, if there is little relationship to the Transformation or even Illumination Surge, then "life" will mostly be a technical description, much like a virus, where they mostly just happen to be included in the definition of life by accident. And why can people then not be used to draw Investiture through? This is mostly due to differences in the connection that Progression makes. I think that just Progression does not allow one to draw Investiture, and rather a degree of Transportation is needed to add to the link; this Transportation is not present in people, but is specifically added to certain things in order to allow for them to function as a Focus. *waits for RShara and Calderis to rip the whole theory apart* (other people are also welcome though )