Energy Surge

Back in chapter nine: I don't think there's been any explanation on what changed yet. I feel like people discussed this back in that thread, but the theory I had was Dalinar has the credentials to lift the prohibition Honor placed on the Oatgate spren. At the end of Oathbringer, Odium expected Dalinar to be capable of releasing him from what presumably holds him in Roshar, and that is likely from Honor. Also Dalinar can summon Honor's perpindicularity at will now. Given that, I imagine Oathgate spren would follow his orders to allow travel back in Shadesmar.

They mentioned in an earlier RoW chapter they found shards in Aimia. And I believe they said that's where Cord's shards came from. Dawnshard novella will most likely answer this question more fully.

Have we had a gemstone drained of color by Awakening? Are there any WoBs about using the color of a gemstone to Awaken? Just because there's another non-pigment way to produce color doesn't change the fact that all the Awakening we've seen on screen was draining pigment from things. I never said the pigment loss was a source of life threatening danger. I was merely pointing out another example of pigmentation loss around the use of Awakening. When non-sentient Awakened objects are created color is drained, when Lifeless are Awakened their color drains, and when Nightblood is drawn color is also drained. And interestingly enough, the flesh of Lifeless and Nightblood wielders are similar examples of losses of pigment. That's why I said, "dead flesh zombie color" to compare it to the affect Awakening has on Lifeless. I believe that wielding Nightblood is an active form of Awakening. He is constantly trying to expend Investiture to destroy evil when he strikes things. He draws the Investiture to fuel this destruction from the user, but since this is Awakening, color is being drained in addition to the Investiture consumption. Obviously the Investiture draining component is what puts Vasher, Szeth and Lift at risk when wielding him. I'm actually wondering if they're permanently gray-streaked. Vasher is never described as having streaks of gray on his arms, despite clearly suffering the same effect after wielding Nightblood. His Divine Breath may allow him to repair this damage if it is permanent. But I feel that in the amount of time that it takes natural skin cell replacement to occur, Szeth and Lift's bodies will replace the flesh that has lost it's pigment. However, if my theory is incorrect and the pigment loss is more permanent, they can probably use the healing powers of their Investiture. I know the metals don't fuel Allomancy. I know that energy comes from Preservation. Unfortunately the definition of fuel is somewhat loose, and I'll use it when I mean to describe a reactant of a process. I was merely comparing something that is used up in the course of Allomancy to something that is used up in the course of Awakening. Even if they aren't the primary source of energy in either reaction, the fact that they're both required and subsequently consumed in the reaction makes one want to call them a fuel. I think a lot of the magic systems get their kick start from the spiritual realm. Especially the genetically based ones that require you to be born with a connection to allow access to that jump starting process. Feruchemists have an inherited connection to Preservation and Ruin that allows them to access that Spirtual Realm power and begin the tapping or storing process. After it starts, the flow is completely between the Feruchemist and her metal mind. Likewise, I think a connection to Preservation allows for Scadrians to access Preservation and begin the metal flaring process. However, Awakening works for anyone as soon as they have Breaths. Even if they aren't native to Nalthis. Awakening is Endowment's magic system, where do these foreigners get connection to Endowment's Investiture that allows them to perform an Awakenning command? The only commonality is the Breaths. Those Breaths are of Endowment. The Breaths themselves are the pathway to her power. Please don't put words in my mouth.

I think Awakening has more to do with molecules of pigment and dye than photons of light. I think the fact that black is the best and you leave behind a gray lends more to the idea of the subtractive color of dyes being the primary source of Awakening rather than the additive color of light. When you mix dyes together they get closer and closer to black as the different dyes absorb more and more of the visible spectrum of light. So black is stronger because there is more dye to fuel Awakening. When Nightblood is finally sheathed or thrown down by the wielder the black tendrils that spread up the user's arm leave behind gray marks on the user. The pigment in their skin has been consumed and their skin is now a dead flesh zombie color. When the color in garments are used to Awaken they become a gray color because the dyes that gave them their striking colors have been consumed in the Awakening process. The Tears of Edgli flowers that are prized on Nalthis for their use in making striking dyes are thought to be named after Endowment's vessel and be sort of like the shard's God Metal or being somehow affected by a nearby shardpool. I think there's a WoB that pretty much confirms light has nothing to do with Awakening. Someone asked if you could Awaken without light. He said it is possible. And a different WoB asked more about light: Someone asked if you shined red light onto a wall, could it be used to Awaken. But Brandon said the color would have been drained from the light bulb, not the wall. That's where the actual color on the wall comes from, the frosted glass that filters the other colors out from the light bulb's light. And that is what would lose color. Somehow dyes act as a visible fuel in Awakening. Since it works anywhere, the dyes presumably don't need any special investiture to function. Similarly to how metals don't need special investiture to fuel Allomancy or allow Feruchemy to utilize them.

Siri didn't become Queen of Idris. She became Queen of Hallandren.