Aon Tia

Exactly! I can not wait. Anyways chapter wise discussions are fun! And I guess we started reading the book in August so ..... it will last months!

It is absolutely critical to read before reading OB. It furthers the story arc of atleast 2 main characters and a few other minor things. I am also not a fan of the idea of releasing chapters every week, to be honest. I am reading them as they are being released because I can not not read them so getting spoilers is not really a concern but I don’t really like that by the time I will lay my hands on the full book, I will have already read part 1 !! 1/5 of the book will have been gone ! Even before I started the book. My book will be that much shorter!

Welcome to the shard! Don’t worry about your English. Many people like us here with English as a second language. I have seen Greene’s videos too but after I had already read SA and mistborn. It is fun to see other people’s take on your favourite books. Looking forward to RoW and discussing it on the forums with everyone. Tor.com has been releasing chapters of the book every Tuesday, are you going to read them before book release?

I think Kaladin can be that voice. I believe that his arc has always gone in this direction. He has forever been plagued by this dilemma: can you protect people by killing others or not ? No doubt it is Lirin’s influence on him but I believe that kaladin has already begun to question futility of war, and that is the reason behind his lethargy, I think.

That is something we already know so this would not be so surprising. we have always wondered that what lies of a child could attract a cryptic!! They have to be truths related to those times only. But what went on in that family that was so terrible. Knowing Sanderson, it is probably something much worse or this truth will be revealed in a way that will be a really horrible memory for Shallan.

Welcome to the shard!!

I like this idea a lot. But withy a slight addition. Dalinar was connected to all three Honor, cultivation and odium at the time. And so is Renarin, he comes from the cultivation’s side of the KRs spectrum, honor is obviously involved and odium-y corruption on his spren. So could it be that all three shards when combine, the white warm light is the result? Could we have a Tri-shard on our hand? And about Shallan.... what more truths? There are worse memories in her past than killing both her parents!!? This girl is really scaring me !!

Wow nice. Agreed with you on the least favourite characters! Zane oh Zane! Why? Why was he there! Two brothers yet so different. One my favourite and the other was so the opposite

@Scout_Fox some good questions these are. Let us see what answers we get. @ElectrumSavant welcome to the shard. I like it when someone comes prepared. Can not wait to see the same effort when you put it in your replies on the various forums. I noticed you have not answered any least favourite questions. So some of the most common ones are least favourite character, least favourite magic world ( you would not want to go to if you could) and most disliked character in cosmere.

Welcome to the shard!! You are learning so quickly, nice! But mostly enjoy. Hope you stay here for more than the aether.

Very close but more than the journey I love the scene where Dalinar learns that stormblessed has walked out of the chasms and dalinar tells him your men all of them were dead set that you are alive. What is it about you that they know that I don’t. Are you what I have been looking for?

I share your feelings towards these two. Welcome to the shard! Look forward to seeing you around. What is your favourite scene, apart from the epic ending of OB of course

I don’t really see that scene as her advocating genocide but merely pointing out a fact. “ It is also a way to deal with the problem” is what she was saying there. I believe that she was thinking only from logic standpoint, as she is encouraged to do so by her spren, we have seen. But the incident with Renarin at the end of OB also suggests that she is not as heartless as she is sometimes portrayed. She is capable of thinking a lot of thinks but that does not mean she is capable of going through with all of those ideas. One more incident comes to mind, when she had decided to hire an assassin to get rid of Aesudan but at the end had decided to not go through with it. And told her to spy. Although in this case, we wish that she had gone through with it. coming back to the topic at hand @Brgst13 my understanding of the chronology of the events was same too. And that is what gave me the confidence to believe that BAM was successfully imprisoned which caused the singers to be lobotomised and that proved to be the final nail in the coffin of ancient radiants radianthood. (Windrunners and stonewards) They had finally messed up big time as honor was raving that they would. ( lightweavers, Truthwatchers and others would be affected by this thinking too) They also believed that they had got rid of the singer problem once and for all and so probably believed that such powers are better kept out of the hands of humanity ( would greatly appeal to elsecallers) and then Recreance occurred.

I agree @Calderis I do not think that Shallan before her mother died had a fairy tale life at all. I think it is the biggest lie of all. That family was messed up from the beginning. I also don’t think that there exists a true Shallan or a core personality buried deep down. Disassociation started so early in her life that I don’t think she got time enough to develop a core personality. I think that is the main reason for her DID, her various alter egos are all she has. There is no core shallan to reintegrate back to. She has asked herself this question before, who is the real shallan? What does she really want? I don’t know I don’t know has been the answer.

So true

Yes I did get where you were getting at but I don’t think self awareness is possible for Shallan at all without the help of her alter egos. I do not think that veil and radiant were part of shallan in wok. More like the potential to create veil and radiant was there. But she had suppressed those parts of her, radiant- who played with surges and had a blade, veil- the survivalist or the murderer. Shallan in wok was another alter ego- the scholar, the problem solver of her family. I don’t think she is the True Shallan. True shallan could have been, had none of the bad things happened to her. Had she been born in a normal family. True shallan does not exist. She never got a chance to be.

I think this is an over simplification of her character and an inaccurate one at that based on one line. I am tired of such demonization of Jasnah. Besides I am quite sure that the recordings also show that not everyone was as on board with the idea of abandoning urithiru as others. Is there any evidence that Urithiru was her prison? You do not put all your eggs in one basket. I always thought that the abandonment of urithiru and BAM imprisonment were two simultaneous events, not a cause- effect thing. I think they made the plan to capture BAM hoping to strip the singers off voidlight. They succeeded in capturing her but they pulled out a lot more from the singers not just connection but identity too. Turned them into zombie type state. It was as good as genocide in fact much worse in my opinion. Windrunners and stonewards felt guilty immediately and abandoned their shards. For others, it was this plus honor’s ravings about destroying the world and the fact that they were the invaders and may be also the thought that they have got rid of desolations true or false forever probably caused them to eventually give up their shards too.

She hid her pain in Wok true but as of now, she has acknowledged her pain. Saying it out loud has fractured her sure but she has faced it and through her alter egos learnt to deal with it. This time around, facing her past and pain and guilt, She did not enter a catatonic state. Instead she is able to function, be a radiant and help actively in the fight against odium. I see that as progress and therefore feel confident that she will not succumb to odium. Are there more truths to face, sure. Is there more pain to face, still more memories she has suppressed, it seems likely. Could there be an even greater downward spiral? Possible. But so far, she has found a workable solution and I think giving upto odium is not something that will happen. But if it happens, I would be ok with it too. What could be worse than the truth of killing both your parents though? I wonder. Here I agree with you. I do not at all agree with @Ailvara that Wok shallan is the ideal desirable state for shallan. Wok shallan, maskShallan is not all mentally stable. She has suppressed her memories to an extent that she suppresses her full potential also. She is radiant who cannot use her powers. She has a blade she can not summon. She has As good as killed her spren. I would hardly call her functional. MaskShallan surely is an alter ego, the scholar, that has been created to deal with the needs of her family and nothing more. Therefore saying that wok shallan is the ideal she needs to achieve is same as saying that she needs to get rid of veil and radiant and she was fine as she was in wok. But I disagree. Shallan Is disassociated true but I still see it as progress for her.

Agreed

I don’t think that the fact of Renarin’s situation would be widely known. I think it could be something that only kholins know. And Gavinor is already there as the heir apparent after Jasnah. And who even knows if these radiants have a normal lifespan or a longer than usual one because of all the stormlight healing and regeneration. Although I think it is unlikely that they would have a child already. Shallan should definitely focus on her mental stability. but it would be a surprise for sure. When does shallan ever do what she is supposed to?

Adolin in the back cover is holding a blade. What blade is it? It is definitely not his shardblade because they would not manifest as a blade at all in the CR. So it appears that he took another non shardic blade with him this time to CR. But is that an ordinary blade or something special? Why is it bleeding rainbow shade thing? A very Nalthian thing to do. Could it be azure’s blade? Is it nightblood? Imagine the most powerful blade in the hands of the best duelist on Roshar! Any ideas? Also, kind of related to the topic, as it is about adolin’s blade, where do you think is Maya? She is not shown in the cover, is she there? Did they manage to leave her behind? After all having a deadeye follow Adolin around when he goes as an emissary to the honorspren city is not very smart! But how?

Personally I do not think that it is very likely that Shallan will turn out to be odium’s champion. Because the whole deal with odium as we have seen is to take away their pain and suffering and make them his. But I do not see Shallan falling for this because she has found her own way of dealing with the pain. She has fractured her self into multiple personalities in order to be able to function despite all the pain and suffering. This goes quite opposite from how dalinar was totally non functioning in those years. Shallan was too for many years but then she found a way to come out of it on her own and I think it was possible for her by creating an alter ego maskshallan who basically is a devout Vorin girl who is witty scholar and solves problems. And as she stepped out into the real world her challenges grew, she created more alter egos to deal with such challenges as well. However sustainable a model “the three” are or not, but I do not see her giving up to odium as an option she will choose.

I agree with you here. If she has found the balance and is able to make it more stable by the end of this book or next then I say yeyy for her. But I really want an Adolin point of view here about what he thinks of the whole situation. Mostly because I expect him to be very supportive of her and I see it as an opportunity to show understanding and acceptance of mental health issues by others especially by their near and dear ones

Raise your hands if you thought of Gavilar here Agreed I think the Shallan that lashes out at Tyn when cornered may be seen as an alter ego of hers only. With Jasnah, the maskShallan, did not even think of her Shardblade. Later she begins to think of it but burrows it deep. Also I am not sure where I stand on this issue but in the row released ch 7 : Really makes me doubt that Shallan is on a path towards recovery. This made me doubt her claims that thr three have achieved stability or atleast that the balance is extremely fragile.

Definitely agreed But it could be cool to have the Distant platforms In the background I loved your take on Jasnah, Renarin and Eshonai.