Haradion Drogon

That's the UK cover. I should know. I live in the UK. However, since the earliest books didn't get a hardback release in the UK, I have started importing Hardbacks from the US.

I wonder if that is Odium's plan for neutralising Harmony. Have him act against himself... This is Great. I love it.

Interesting. A Ruin Splinter, seems likely - equivalent to the Storm Father for Honour - could well be the solution. Particularly if it were called Rust. Particularly, unless my memories is cheating, in, Aether of the Night, Decay, which Ruin was based on had something similar.

I am a little behind, so I must have missed this WoB. What "Missing" piece of Ruin?

I humbly Submit that "Trell" is a Shard we haven't yet seen, but is actively allied to both Odium and Autonomy.

Oddly, I loved the Character of MeLaan the most. I am pretty sure that WoB says that she isn't just a Kandra, but is TenSoon's adopted daughter? That relationship of fascinating. I was rooting for her way way back in Era 1 when she offered to gather the Younger generations to try and help him. There was so much in that one interaction that spoke volumes of their relationship, and I wanted to see it explored again. She's awesome. I hope she is the "Kandra Researcher" in question.

So. here is where I admit it. A couple of months ago, I ordered a Signed copy of SoS. I haven't read it yet - because, owing to an unfortunate mix up, It arrived at my home address. (Being a Student, I couldn't retrieve it in term time, and I didn't want to risk my signed book being dumped outside in the wet (middle of winter). So. Today. I finally got arround to reading my signing. And this is what I said (In additional to the usual *Thanks a lot, you write great stuff* stuff, I asked this: His response: So. There is that. ​Confirmation that there is at LEAST one other Cosmere "Power" working with Odium, apart from Bavadin. I am suspecting, Another, unknown, Shard, or possibly, a counter-organisation to the 17th Shard, or on top of that, an Anti-Hoid, another immensely powerful world hopper. In either case, I specified "Actively Allied", so that rules out minions and unknowing fools who do his will unwittingly. I considered this interesting.

I enjoyed the episode. But although I loved the subtext (Okay. Not subtle enough to be Subtext. Supertext perhapes) of ZYSIS. It worked brilliantly. But I felt that the Rebel Zygons had a point. I mean, think about it. The Doctor basically says, that in the face of persecution, rather than fight back, you should conform and hide your identity. The Paranoia the UNIT soldiers were feeling was entirely metaphorical of the paranoia that is felt by every Zygon. We saw what became of an innocent Zygon Child after all. For an example of why this is a terrible message, lets forget that the Zygons were being used as a metaphor for ISIS, and pretend that they are a metaphor for the LGBT movement. Yeah. I know. Not so great a message is it? Same Paranoia. Same "Minority under threat" Same murderous beatings in Southern USA. Yet the message of "Conform or face extinction" is not a pretty one. That said, I absolutely adored the episode. It was great to see Osgood back.

I am curious you found yourself so against the Zygons in the first episode - since it was revealed right at the end, that the attacks were reprisals for the murder of a Zygon child. In the end, I loved the episode.

Well. That episode was FANTASTIC.

I read this as Arc-if-ists three times before reading it as "Arc-i-fists" and got the joke. Great ideas guy. Great ideas.

Well... It brings me to an interesting question. A lot of the magic works on how the user perceive the magic. For example, Kaladin's ability to heal. So... What happens to Cadium and Bendalloy, once ideas such as Quantum Theory and Space-Time start to get bandied around? Once people recognise that Time and Space can be thought of as the same thing, the usage of Cadium to create Length Contraction as opposed to Time DiIlation could be interesting. Stick in a blast of Duralumin? That might be the secret to FTL. Normal understanding of magic. Different understanding of the Universe.

... I can't believe I didn't notice this.

Okay. Firstly, I just want to apologise, because I haven't actually answered your question. Instead, it made me question something: Such as how we differentiate "Epic" Thoughts, from normal, human "Evil" Thoughts. We assume that Epics are "Afflicted" with something, something which impairs their abilities to do good in the world. I wanted to explore that thought. Because I think its interesting. It concerns the nature, of how we define criminal and moral responsibility. So be warned, I am something of a ramble here, so please feel free to ignore it. So. To begin again. You've actually reminded me of something I really liked about the Reckoner's series. And that is the question: "What do we do with people who have evil impulses, but still desire normality and morality?" Can Epics be considered to be truly evil? How much is "Their Fault". They didn't chose the Epicness which corrupts them. They just are. But it raises an interesting point. Consider the following: To lack the filters that normally bind a person from committing unspeakable acts. To have the knowledge of morality, and yet not experience it - or even worse, to experience both the impulses to do terrible things, while retaining the disgust for such behaviour? What is the ethical response there? Do we treat them as people who are sick? But if we do that, does it diminish ones responsibility? I ask a question, on the nature of Conscience. Why do we not commit what is considered by our conscience to be wrong? Why does that conscience sometimes prevail and sometimes not? When we act contrary to our conscience we experience guilt, proving that knowing, or even believing something is wrong, is not enough to prevent that action. While I am no psychologist, and couldn't tell you for certain, I am willing to guess that, just as there are arsonists, murderers or rapists who commit crimes, there must, logically, be people who experience whatever disorder, corruption or trait, and yet, are able to overcome their instinct to do wrong. And I don't know if that's a comforting thought - that there might be dozens of "potential" Rapists, who actively resist such notions every day of their lives - as an Epic does. Such an individual is clearly in desperate need of help (but that is a seperate issue). In a sense, we tend to be lenient on the Epics themselves, pointing out that it is Calamity that twists them into monsters, not their own and active choice. That is fascinating for me. When Conflux went nuts, he wasn't truly at fault, because he didn't *chose* to commit evil. He was twisted into it by Calamity. Corrupted by the Epic Powers. Yet, how then do we portion blame? Most people would never dream of committing a hedious crime like rape or murder. And so - rightly - we judge them when they do and implement our laws. Except, they have already - by even *considering* committing a crime, established themselves to be fundementally different to the rest of society. So, can we judge them by the same standards? Consider the question: An Epic commits mass murder. And, due to some trait that differentiates from him from humanity, we mitigate his fault. And yet, if a Human in RL commits the same crime, we are much more critical. Why do you suppose this is? Is a person who has even been capable of such a crime, not substantially different from the rest of humanity? The Madness, the affliction, that gives humans the capability to do great wrong, in effect, decreases the culpability of the wrong. Why is this important? Well, we see in Firefight, that some Epics can and DO resist the evilness. So does that mean that all of the others Epics who did not ARE Somehow culpable? For not trying hard enough to achieve what Megan and Prof Achieved? WHY only those two? Clearly there is a component of self restraint there. Conclusion: Perhapes the answer isn't some great secret. Perhapes the answer is as simple as being strong enough to do the right thing. Having the thoughts, the desires to commit atrocities, is not in itself a thing restricted to Epics. Humans can have it to. And we hold Humans to standards of living, despite their thoughts. So, why not hold Epics to it? I wonder, if the weakness, is a giant Psychological thing, rendered all the more potent by Calamities power, who, upon giving them powers, floods them with emotion, anger, hatred, all aimed at finding that breaking point. This is what allows the epics their truley murderous thoughts. Their inability to resist it, is purely self inflicted. Consider: Calamity selected psychopaths, humans with the primal, bestial urges, wanton selfishness and moral apathy, and cruelty to become epics. As more and more Epics turned to cruelty and evil, people began to draw the dots, and connect them. Once Epics were suspected of losing their moral compass, it became self fulfilling. The Humans who were already psychopaths went on dangerous killing sprees. Then, when future epics become more and more used to the idea of Calamity eroding their will and conscience, that they begin to adapt to it. They become morally desensitised to the whole thing. A Key point for me, is that, apart from the rending, most epics aren't Evil, so much as they are completely amoral. They want things. And they don't have them. So they'll kill you for your things. They become, simple minded. Like children, with unformed moral codes. When a person has something else to hold on to, they trust in someone else to dictate their Moral Codes for them. They surrender to their inability to discern right from wrong, and trust in David, or Prof's Kids, to do it for them. Anyway, that went on longer than expected. Umm... Sorry for the essay. Those are more halfbaked thoughts, than a true answer. Sorry.

Well. That was good.

No Love for Midnight or Listen?

Mormonism is nearly non-existent here in the UK - so I missed quite a few of the parallels the first time reading. Its definitely unusually - even by Christian Standards. And I say that as a Christian. It certainly took me by surprise. He doesn't feel like a Mormon - although reading Sazed, it was clear he wasn't dismissive of religion, I came to the conclusion he was an agnostic. Seeing a potential truth in every religion, but ascribing to none. I was very surprised to see he was a Mormon when I looked it up. Maybe it was more obvious for someone who was more familiar with Mormonistic beliefs? About All I know of them at the time, was that they believed in a rather America-centric view of Jesus and Christianity in general. Lets see. Elantris was the capital of one Religion. But it had a shrine to others... I believe Rome had a temple to unknown gods in its great Temple, where people would pray to Gods other than the Roman deities. This didn't last after Constantine, for obvious reasons. I guess you could make the argument that the Steel Ministry has some common with the Catholic Church? Which underwent a period of intense corruption and abuse of power, especially around the Borgia Era, before undergoing something of a reformation. Not as much as I would have liked, but still. A lot of Halladran, and Warbreaker reminds me of the Aztec empire. Square Pyramids, bright colours, jungles. Substituting sacrificing Breath to the gods, for sacrificing ones life and you have a good one there. I am given to understand that the Second Wax and Wayne book will feature religious terrorism and sectarian violence.

I am still of the Opinion that Stormlight is, to Honour, Odium and Cultivation, what the Mists are to Preservation.

Well, I am fairly sure they look into the remains of a Cathedral at one point.

When I think of an AU, I like to imagine a defining difference, with plenty of ripples. For example, in War Breaker, what if Vivenna unleashed Nightblood? What if Siri fell in love with Lightsong, rather than the God-King? In Elantris, what if Hathran was sent to Teod, rather than Arelon? What if, In Mistborn, Marsh remained the leader of the Rebbelion? What is Kelsier was killed in the Pits, and it was Mare who dedicated her life to destroying the Final Empire? What if (And this is one I really like) MeLaan lead the other later Generations in Civil War to free TenSoon? The Kandra Civil War - with some being directly influenced by Ruin? rather than have the primary battle be focused around the control of Koloss, it is the Situation in the Homeland that everything hinges on, with some Kandra coming to members of Kelsiers Crew for aid? I don't know. I guess I really like the idea of MeLaan's character. Sort of TenSoon's adopted daughter, but at the same time with a hero worship rooted crush on him. It seems kind of... I don't know... sweet.

Ever wonder if we have too much time on our hands?

I think you mean "Enhancement" rather than "Enchantment"... I also suggest: Type E) Psionic. Telepathy, Mind Control, Mind reading, and certain forms of precognition? Also, where would the ability to teleport fit? If seems very different to all other forms of moving.

I like Musicals. I think "Hell to Your Doorstep" fits Kelsier very well, from Count of Monte Cristo. Might have brought it up before but "No one mourns the wicked" reminds me of Lord Ruler... From Wicked. Also, "Look Down" from Les Mis. Fits Bridge Four.

I believe 10 is unique to Roshar - and the Unmade are confirmed not to follow this pattern, which seems to have its roots in honour. However, preservation's link to 16 has been confirmed to be a clue to the whole Cosmere, rather than to Preservation.

Cause and Effect: Observe how War leads to advances in technology, which eventually finds its way into Civilian use for purposes completely unrelated to its previous components. For example, how the ICBM systems developed for the Cold War, lead to US success in the Space Race (mention how this was developed from stolen Nazi technology and from hiring German Scientists in exchange for immunity from war crimes trials. Yes. The Space race Victory was partially built upon Nazi technology. Also, comment on medicine, Spy Satellite networks (And how most ended up powering GPS and mobile phones). Title: War: The Mother of Invention.