Dryone_2

For a long fight against a thunderclast? IIRC that letting go is time limited and the bearer can extend that limit with training. Using a blade in a fight for life and death would be very foolhardy.

I think Maya might already be alive: 1) when Adolin interrupts the summoning because he's hit by stones, "Maya brushes against his mind" 2) Adolin lends Maya to Hrdalm for fighting the thunderclast. AFAIK that's only possible with dead blades when the owner intentionally breaks the bond. Adolin doesn't do that:

Adolin becoming edgedancer would also help with all those incapacitating wounds he's prone to attract. Once he has regrowth his little brother doesn't have to follow him around all the time in order to heal him.

Milk them for information, what else? Also protect them, since apparently Odium now plans to end the heralds as a way to break free from the oathpact. He has some god metal for the knife and uses an unbonded human to do the deed. I guess he is prohibited to use his own to end a herald. Or maybe if he did they would just return to damnation.

I really like Windrunner's theory. I think all captured Unmade were transferred to Kholinar when Urithiru was abandoned. Then one Alethi king (Sunmaker?) decided to free the Thrill to give him an edge. The empty ruby ended in Thaylenar. All other perfect gems were embedded in Kholinar's palace walls. The Unmade were released with the Everstorm, together with the parshmen. Getting hold of the perfect gems is still prio#1 for Odium's and the Fused because they are a danger for the Unmade. The location of Elokhar's spren was a coincidence in my opinion. I'm unsure about the black spheres. Possibilities: - they contain lesser sprens like Ulim - they are conjoined with perfect gems and act as a key for those perfect gems - ...?

Yes, Eshonai summons her blade in one of the interludes, when she takes control over Narak.

Made it up months ago but got the detail about the missing shard plate right? I don't think so. Eshonai lives!

But that's horribly inaccurate! Lift got her shardfork in book 2.5 not book 3, and it wasn't Dalinar who told Shallan out if the blue that Kaladin killed her brother, but Adolin.

About the mimikri: That might refer to Brandon's tendency to marry young females from the country off to crown princes. I really hope he got over that by now, the recent developments in MB2 give me hope. So Shaladin should be ruled out as too clichéd. The rest of your argument depends on the backcover text actually referring to Odium's champion. "One of them will destroy us" might mean something else.

Oh, I forget, I also think that all heralds (except Taln) have some pet project: - Nale kills surgebinders - the Sleepless watches surgebinders - Axis and Chana research sprens - Ashi is into experimental cooking (that's why he needs a brave and obedient companion) - Shalash is being honest and destroys her herald pictures - Ialai is into politics - Vstm travels all over Roshan and teaches traders No idea what Kalak is up to. Do we have a WoB if Aimians have a fixed gender?

Tnx. I looked specifically at all chapters with the double eye icon, and that gives some interesting possibilities : * all Rhsn/Vstm chapters have that icon, so my bet is on Vstm * Nan Balat has it, and that chapter only mentions the Davar kids and various cremlings. My guess: a Sleepless Aimian * a chapter where Sadeas and Ialai watch Adolin duel. Maybe Sadeas doesn't have kids because his wife is a herald? *Axis the collector. I already said why I don't believe that the beggar is a herald * the ardent scientists who I take for Chana and Ishi. The quip "you do it, you are the brave one" convinced me of Chana's identity. Her companion is named Ashi (?), otherwise I don't see a direct hint to his identity * Shalash as Basil's mistress Plus Kalak/Jezrien in the prelude and Taln in the epilog makes 10 heralds.

Funny, I also found Ishi and Chana in my recent WoK reread, but somewhere else: They are the two ardents on the Reshi islands. He is experimenting with food, she is experimenting with sprens. At one point he tells her: "You have to taste it first, you are the brave one!" - Brave being the first divine attribute of Chana. I doubt that the beggar in Axis' interlude is a herald. He's missing some teeth which doesn't fit well with the herald's immortality and non-aging. Could it be that an Amian, e.g. Axis, is an herald?