Isilel

Not quite: WaT, chapter 104 But yes, it seems that highspren have a bit more Cultivation in them than honorspren. By contrast: which poses the question about how and why the respective Radiant Order was able to use stormlight at all.

This would have been wholly out of character, though. Yes, there were misleading hints like "born under the sign of the nine", which people seemed to forget was not just Odium's number, but also Talenel's. Or the Odium's champion having eyes that looked familiar to Dalinar in a vision - because they were supposed to be his own. But I never understood why killing Sadeas was treated as something that needed to have apocalyptic consequences. I am with Sebarial and Palona on this. And no, I don't doubt for a second that if Sadeas had survived into OB, he would have jumped at a chance to side with Odium and likely with worse results than what happened with Amaram. IMHO, the books already have a bit too much comic book morality and it was nice that this incident was treated as the grey, but necessary action that it was. I was certain that Jasnah would fail, for character-building purposes, and that at least one of Adolin or Sigzil would succeed. I fully expected Adolin to die even if he won though, much as I like his character. I guess that he didn't for the sake of suitable culmination for Mayalaran's plot-line, leading to the UnOathed. And honestly, I feel that punches were pulled far too much in WaT, which I otherwise enjoyed. And Sanderson really needs to ease up on the heroes going against ridiculous odds, with everyone we had even a little reason to care about miraculously surviving. Aren't you forgetting that while Adolin was a flirt, he didn't have sex with these women back in WoK? And the idea that only reverence towards oaths could prevent an otherwise loving spouse from cheating during a lengthy separation is quite a take. Speaking of YA sensibilities in Sanderson's writing, Adolin's disastrous courting plot-line in WoK was very much that. He was the most desirable bachelor in Alethkar, young ambitious noblewomen and their families weren't believably going to drop their pursuit of him for a bit of inattentiveness, occasional boorisheness, or wandering eyes. Regarding firemoss, we shall see, but according to Teft's PoVs, usually people don't get addicted to it from a single dose and many can even use it occasionally ditto. But with phantom pains and what not, maybe? Though, frankly, I'd very much prefer if the second arc dove into the new main characters, instead. Wasn't Adolin intially treating Kaladin with rudeness and suspicion exactly the kind of imperfection that you appear to clamor for? As to Helaran, yea, it looks like one of a number of possible revelations that should have had an emotional pay-off, but were just dropped in a somewhat contrived manner instead. What Gavilar was up to is another example of this. It really made no sense that Amaram kept what he knew about it back instead of throwing it in Dalinar and Jasnah's faces after WoR, but alas... Well, maybe Helaran's death will be a source of drama between Kaladin and Chana instead?

Couldn't agree more. I also expected Shallan finally confessing the truth of their mother's death to them to be an important step both in her and their development, but alas... I am currently re-reading WoK and it feels to me like Sanderson doesn't develop and maintain background characters and allow them to be occasionally useful as much as I'd like. Which ultimately leads to the protagonists being too inwardly focussed, because there are so few other defined personalities that they can meaningfully interact with.

How was it not showing, though? As to navigating SR, Our Heroes had advantages over Hoid being Bondsmiths or having Enlightened spren. Though I am unsure why those last are so adept there, granted. And it is unclear whether Shallan's group would have been able to leave without BAM's help. We saw what happened to Melishi, whose bond to the Sibling was weak - SR is plenty dangerous. Democracy and elective government concepts appeared in Classical Antiquity iRL. They are hardly modern inventions. Slavery was abolished in France in the 14th century per royal decree of Louis X, but as we know it came back in various forms later. Some forms of elective government already exist on Roshar or have existed in the past - I don't see why Jasnah couldn't plausibly attempt to establish one. Frankly, I have been expecting a proper religious upheaval since WoR and I am rather disappointed that we didn't get one. Ditto that everyone seemingly so easily and calmly accepted the fall of Alethkar and loss of their families and property there. It feels like only Kholins and Kaladin cared, when most Alethi should have been utterly frantic about it. But again, this started in WoR... What makes you think that it is achieved? And that what you mention won't follow? Though, admittedly, Radiants would be more difficult to get rid of and are more directly and obviously valuable to their society than comparable figures iRL. Particularly Jasnah herself, once she learns proper Elsecalling and becomes their only door to the outer world. Also, even iRL, sometimes drastical changes in society happen very quickly. Compare and contrast Europe in 1914 to the one in 1920, for example.

According to Notum in OB that has only been true when the final Ideal was sworn. Before that, the spren could dissolve the bond from their side. He explains it to Kaladin on the ship. Regarding lobotomy, didn't Mayalaran say in RoW that it was unexpected - i.e. that it wasn't something that had happened when Radiants broke their Oaths pre-Recreance? One doesn't need to resort to WoBs in order to see that the situation was depicted as more nuanced to begin with, even prior to WaT.

I have to say that it is hard for me to see how Kaladin's and Navani's plotlines could have happened there. Would Kal have been protecting Cusicesh instead of the Sibling from the Unmaking and the whole thing would have culminated in the exodus of Iriali, which now just happened independently? How would Navani have fit into it? Would both of them have been part of an embassy? But Iri had already joined Odium's side in OB... Or were the 2 of them supposed to have completely different plots than in RoW, with him still hitting the 4th Ideal somehow? I am really curious and hope that Sanderson would share his initial ideas about it at some point. I am sure that Rall Elorim is going to feature prominently in Lift's earlier flashbacks, but my understanding is that Iri is going to be a wholly singer country now, with almost all humans gone. Judging by Sigzil's description of the Iriali caravan, foreigners who lived there joined them in their flight. Though I can't help but wonder how all these people and their chulls(!) are going to be supplied with sufficient water and food during the weeks or months that it would take them to arrive. And if they are going to Scadrial, which seems the most likely destination, how are they going to deal with less oxygen, 30% more gravity, unfamiliar infectious diseases... RIP chulls, of course, but I don't see non-Iriali doing particularly well either. Iriali, I suspect, have some special investiture that allows them to quickly adapt to new conditions.

Era 2 series, start of AoL excepted, happens between Hoid's vaporization and Shallan's talk with Kelsier. Time dilation is not constant - it was extreme closest to the Odium/Honor merge - according to Ulaam "hours for them, months for us", and is gradually diminishing. Shallan spent a couple of months wandering Shadesmar prior to her arrival at the site of former Cultivation's Perpendicularity. During their talk Kel mentioned a recent crisis on Scadrial, which can only be Autonomy's incursion. And his close circle still doesn't know about Iyatil's death at the end of TLM, according to Twinsoul's PoV.

I really hope that the government they create isn't going to be a true democracy, that wouldn't make sense with largely illiterate and ignorant population. Athenian "democracy" wasn't really such if seen objectively either. However, it never made any sense to me that Urithiru should be an autocratic kingdom and from the glimpses of in-book WoR and bits of visions, it hadn't been in the past. It looked to me like it had some kind of elective government, in which only Radiants had a voice. This would need to be remedied to involve normals too, in some way, maybe with using the traditional "right of travel", i.e. the right to chose whom to follow as a logical foundation. There were historically a number of states with a somewhat elective government, which would provide a better model, IMHO. And it would be more plausible if Jasnah as a historian took some Rosharan historical examples as a basis as well. IIRC, a couple have been mentioned in the series - Tova, etc. And, of course, Urithiru effectively being a city state now actually makes it more likely for such endeavour to succeed, if RL precedents are any guide. I do wonder if it is really a good time for such experiments, though. But since fundamental changes are inevitable anyway maybe?

Since when is Mraize an expert in this area? How would he know if the Nightwatcher's Bondsmith used to provide Lifelight in the past? As has already been mentioned, Lift is weird in that she can't use stormlight at all. Further, from Tanavast's PoV on the making of Radiant spren, one variety of them, presumably the Cultivationspren, were created by her alone. Retribution also sort of confirmed it, when he specifically mentioned that he couldn't absorb spren purely of Cultivation and would need to hunt them down. So the question is more how the Edgedancers have been able to use stormlight until now, than whether Radiants could use Lifelight, IMHO. I really don't see Venli's relevance here - Timbre is uncorrupted, so of course she needed a voidspren in her gemheart to be able to use voidlight. But all Radiant spren, except for the late Stormfather, have some Cultivation in them, even the honorspren. So, why wouldn't their Radiants be able to use Lifelight? They have Connection to it.

In Tanavast's PoV we learned that all Radiant spren, except for the Stormfather had some Cultivation in them. Even honorspren. All Radiants should be able to use Lifelight, though we don't really know how volatile it is at this time. I assume that in the past the Nightwatcher used to supply Radiants with it and until she is found and bonded Lift is going to jump in for her. And/or until the scholars in Urithiru learn to split Towerlight, where she could also be instrumental in a supporting role and by convincing Vasher to get involved. Lift should be in her mid-twenties in the second arc and nicely weighed down by guilt over Gavinor and possibly Dalinar's "defeat" and death too. But even if she were older, there could be lots of directions her story could go, apart from parenthood. Like, whatever Cultivation has planned for her, for example. There would be a lot of stuff for an Edgedancer to do in the sunless, perpetually rainy post-Retribution world as well.

She can fill gems for others to use outside Urithiru. In RoW, after Mraize had given Lift to Raboniel, Navani received a gem filled with Lifelight for her experiments. @bmcclure7: Nah, I am pretty sure that Shallan will have the theme of motherhood covered. And Vasher's training has got to lead in some significant direction, it would be a waste otherwise.

Maybe she did something, but we just don't know it yet? And as one of the larger pieces of Honor around, her very Intent, if strong enough, may have had an effect. I don't think that Shallan dying first would have changed anything, but Chana getting trapped in a gem or anihilated by anti-stormlight might lead to her tie to the Oathpact latching onto Shallan instead of remaining vacant, like with Jezrien, IMHO. Yea, the kids should have something extra, apart from the mental illness, but the boys don't seem to. I was very disappointed when they were quickly whisked away in RoW and we didn't get any meaningful interaction between them and Shallan or additional insight into their characters. Of course, Chana's identity may have been the reason to postpone her confession to them, but then, there were a number of reveals in the SA that I feel should have happened on-screen and significantly affected the characters, but largely petered out instead. The latest one being the Kholins learning about Gavilar's pursuits at the end of his life. I have been waiting for it since Amaram's enticing hints in late WoR, but alas... His wife was already dead by the time he became involved with the Ghostbloods. And if they were just keeping tabs on the family in case Chana contacted them upon her return, they would have accepted Balat in Lin's place. But they didn't. I don't see how they could have been involved in killing Chana, since we now finally saw what actually happened. But as to the steps they took, in Vasher's and Lift's Interludes Axindweth had both Mraize's Aviar and the one he had captured together with Lift after killing Gereh. Clearly, she was a trusted associate of the Ghostbloods at the very least. She had also brought Ulim to Roshar and should have provided more voidspren during the Treaty signing. IMHO, those were the "things in motion" that Kelsier alluded to. And it weren't just Chana's boys, who got much worse after her death, which should have removed Odium's influence from the family, but also Lin. There had to be more than just her blighting them. @Treamayne: But if they were interested in an Unmade settled in the area, why reject Balat?

Yes, I was rather flabbergasted when T anihilated Kharbranth and wasn't hurt as a result. Also, by him saying that the deal with Odium was about giving the city to him, when him being the legal king of it already got around Honor's restrictions and put it in his power. So, when it was finally revealed that the people had been spared, it made perfect sense to me. However, demolishing of the city proper was still a breach of a very clear divine contract and should have had some reprecussions, IMHO. And, currently re-reading WoK, I can't help but mourn the loss to Rosharan civilization caused by the destruction of Palaneum...

My understanding is that the highstorm was permanently circling the planet and Honor's Perpendicularity moved with it. There was always a highstorm _somewhere_. I took the "transfer point" for a place where Physical and Cognitive were particularly close for some reason. IMHO, if Jasnah meant Honor's Perpendicularity, she would have called it such. And yes, I read her deleted scene and IIRC it mentions something along those lines. As for stormlight, I assumed that she managed to acquire some, along with the other gear she had when she re-appeared. As an Elsecaller accomplished at Transformation, I assume that she is great at high quality manifesting in Shadesmar and that she traded these services for stuff that she needed to survive and get back.

WaT explained some of their oddities, but not others. If the baleful influence on the Davars was all due to Chana, why did they become much worse after her death? Shouldn't they have gotten better? And what did the Ghostbloods see in Lin, by all accounts a thoroughly mediocre rural noble, who was fully into his downward spiral when he was recruited? They didn't care about Chana's kids and laughed at Balat in WoK when he proposed himself as a replacement for his late father in their schemes. I still don't quite understand why Shallan's full brothers got nothing except for their mental problems from their Herald mother. I have always thought that finally admitting what really happened to their mother to them would be one of the eventual steps on Shallan's journey, but now I also fear that they could be used both against her and against Chana since Hoid sent them somewhere outside Urithiru for their safety. Though as regards Shallan herself and Chana's delusion of her daughter taking her place as a Herald, I have to wonder if there might not be something there. There is a Connection, with Shallan being an only daughter and a demi-god's Intent. Shallan also exhibits strange powers, while Chana has allegedly become "weak". There is additionally the fact that Ash is planned to be a flashback character for the Dustbringer book. Can it be that Chana was partially successful and that if she is fully destroyed, that her tie to the Oathpact will transfer to Shallan? With Shallan and Shallash subsequently trading places? It seems that Shallan must not look much like her mother, besides the coloring - which is common among Vedens and was shared by Helaran. None of the people who saw Hoid's portrait of Chana seem to have noticed a particular likeness. Neither did Kalak. Chana must also have a sufficiently large frame to be mistaken for a Horneater by Renarin. It is now clear that Nale became interested in Helaran because he was already keeping the tabs on their family. And that Helaran was so normal because he wasn't Chana's child, but apparently a legitimised bastard. Whom she must have accepted whole-heartedly, because he seemed deeply devoted to her memory back in WoR. OTOH, his gifts of art supplies and pep-talks to Shallan seem somewhat sinister in hindsight, since they could be easily construed as testing whether her Radiance was truly gone.

I thought that she used her Surge of Transportation in a spot where crossing between the realms was easier for some reason? Shouldn't Honor's Perpendicularity have been in the middle of a highstorm? I have always wondered why worldhoppers didn't use it to cross to the Physical farther west, where highstorms were weak enough not to be life-threatening

Yes? 1. His treating Mayalaran almost like a person even before he knew that she was one, regularly talking to and confiding in her. Which, granted, could have happened sometime during the last 2K years with someone else too. 2. His learning that she actually was a person. From what we have been shown, even people shortly after the Recreance didn't seem to understand that shardblades had been intelligent spren. 3. His meeting and interacting with her in Shadesmar, which would have been pretty unique for deadblade shardbearers. 4. Them both being present for Dalinar's Unity moment. A one of a kind occurrence. So, there were plenty of rare and unique circumstances that combined around this development to explain why it never happened before. At the same time, there are some unexplained things about Kaladin - like why none of his pre-Bridge 4 owners chose to execute him for escaping, when they did it to everyone else involved. His nascent bond with Syl couldn't have helped him there. And I am content to accept that it was just fate.

We might learn more about him in the second arc. I am re-reading WoK right now and it seems that the Sunmaker also overthrew the Hierocracy 5 centuries prior to the SA. Which very likely had something to do with the Heralds. So, we could hear something on the subject from them.

Cultivation's power wanted to leave Roshar as badly as Odium's did. So, was her finally being in position to run really a setback? Don't all the epigraphs about the wisdom of walking away equally apply to her? She left behind enough of her power to affect things. Her spren, the Sibling, Lift, Taln and very likely an Avatar in the Nightwatcher. Wasn't there a WoB that the Nightwatcher is to Cultivation what the Stormfather was to Honor? And didn't we learn in WaT that SF has always been his Avatar?

@Treamayne: No, I mean unkeyed, not unsealed. Unsealed metalminds are medallions and BoM and one doesn't need to be a Metalborn to use them. I imagine that burning them also wouldn't work, since the medallions have their own Identity. Unkeyed metalminds are produced by Identity-less storing and should be useable by relevant Mistings (via burning), as well as by relevant Ferrings through tapping them normally. I.e. a Gold Misting would have been able to heal by burning Kelesina's unkeyed gold health storage. We don't know how exactly Nicrosil Feruchemy normally works, but yes, if for example it is possible to store some Steel Allomancy in an unkeyed metalmind, then burning said storage should enable a Nicroburst to also burn steel for the duration of the burn of the Nicrosilmind. Now, Nicrosil is a quick-burning metal, so if it's feruchemical storages burn at the same speed, one would have to replenish metals after every push. This would still offer a Nicroburst a lot of flexibility, sharply limited by availability of unkeyed metalminds to burn. A Soulbearer Ferring would then work like you described.

@Treamayne: I don't think that I am mixing things up. My understanding is that Mistings can burn unkeyed feruchemical metalminds of their metal and get access to a stored attribute for the duration of the burn. Since it is possible to store all Metalborn powers in Nicrosil, it stands to reason that Nicroburst could theoretically get short -term limited access to any of them, as long as they have the right unkeyed metalminds to burn. The Soulbearer Ferrings should be able to access any powers stored in unkeyed Nicrosil metalminds as well, except that they wouldn't need to destroy the metalminds in the process and could better control and modulate the rate of usage.

I disagree. Depending on how storing power in Nicrosil actually works, a Nicroburst could potentially use any of the powers by burning respective unkeyed metalminds as well as requisite metals. It would be a bit more limited than what a Soulbearer could do with the same, because it would be just for the length of the burn, but that might be a good thing in the terms of limits. Also, IIRC the protagonist, or one of them, since a Connector Ferring was also mentioned as one, was supposed to be a Terris Misting, which may add an interesting wrinkle to their characterization - probably somewhat of a fish out of water growing up and so on.

Why would you assume that? Lift and presumably the Nightwatcher are still around. And at one point scientists in Urithiru are sure to learn how to split Towerlight. She already can. In RoW Raboniel provided Navani with a sphere filled with Lifelight after Mraize had gifted Lift to her.

It felt jarring to me from utilitarian PoV too, because ROdium's deal with T was that he'd _spare_ the city of Kharbranth and it's people. I have re-read the relevant passage and there is nothing about _giving_ it to Taravangian. I accept that TOdium still had authority there as a legal king and thus could smite it, but he was breaking Odium's very clear promise by doing so. So, I was waiting for TOdium to get hurt in a backlash from this action, and when nothing happened, I thought that it was a big plot-hole.Which Spiritual realm shenanigans somewhat alleviated, though he still destroyed the city without consequences. Does the copy in SR somehow count towards sparing it?

I think that the investiture mentioned in the WoB you provided applies to the ambient investiture on Roshar, i.e. stormlight and crem, rather than the people themselves. Except for spren in singer gemhearts, I guess. In fact, I expect epidemics to become a problem in the post-Retribution world. They should also have a nuclear winter and massive die-off of wild flora and fauna due to perpetual clouds and lack of stormlight and crem, while the overabundance of water ought to damage the growth of even cultivated plants being treated with Warlight. But I don't expect Sanderson to go that apocalyptic. I also wonder how all the creatures who depended on highstorms to mature and bond spren are going to fare without them.