recneps

Proof: He keeps hitting on Bavadin to try and make Edgli? jealous. Theory: Elend founded the Stormwardens.

NOBODY expects the Steel Inquisition! Our chief weapon is iron...iron and steel...steel and iron.... Our two weapons are steel and iron...and atium.... Our *three* weapons are steel, iron, and atium...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Lord Ruler.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as steel, iron.... I'll come in again.

Rayse wasn't influenced much by the Intent. Odium is said to be a good fit for him, and was the one he wanted originally.. It's also why he hasn't absorbed any other Shards, instead always splintering them.

#1 could work, without them being restrained by other shards. There is another God.

Awakening honestly is more versatile than it's been given credit for. A simple method is via Lifeless: You become a literal necromancer. Additionally, there's the potential of Awakened machines.. Give a metal turbine the command to "Spin," and you have an infinite, fuelless generator.

Proof: She spends much of her time trying to gather proof to convince others the Voidbringers are a group which, notably, does not include her. Theory: Kelsier is Roshone.

I think there's still a question here: Why does Szeth think of himself as son-son-Vallano, and not son-Neturo? In Words of Radiance, when talking to Taravangian, he tells him not to call him son-Neturo, as he - being Truthless - is not worthy of that.. In the ends of WoR, he was absolved of his Truthlessness, when he confirmed Kaladin as Radiant. Why would he still feel unworthy to be called son-Neturo?

My main issue with Crystalline Stormlight as Plate: How does it auto-fit? How can something with no form of intelligence - just plain Investiture-Matter in a crystalline structure - shrink/expand to better fit a person, as it has been described to do?

I was going to say this reminds me of the Spacer's Guild, but OJ said that first, so instead.. It reminds me of Schlock Mercenary's hive-aliens, combined with the Fsherl'Ganni. This could create lots of Plot around groups acting without a Sleepless Guide to remain hidden.

I've a few major ones: Physics errors. This isn't the kind of thing I normally notice and complain about in Fantasy, except the one thing Brandon Sanderson does best is action scenes, and he has a solid reputation for well thought-out systems. There are many times throughout Mistborn where the physics are just, plain and simply, wrong. I find that it can ruin an entire scene for me. 'Mary Sues.' Kaladin and Vin both are essentially perfect. Their only problems and deficiencies are mental. They are very capable warriors - far beyond anyone else, with little explanation as to why. They're very attractive physically. Vin succeeds at literally everything she tries, including her 'scholarship' and research, to the point where it's mentioned what beautiful handwriting she has. Essentially, despite the fact that they're fun to read, I have a hard time appreciating them as characters. They're perfect, except for what amounts to generic pubescent mental/emotional struggles. Kelsier's Treatment. Kelsier was the character which hooked me on Brandon Sanderson. I read Mistborn because his chapter at the start set him up as a very interesting character. His death was unexpected, but a good move. What I disliked, however, is the constant forced comparisons throughout the other two books between what's happening and Kelsier, and explaining how Kelsier really wasn't so great after all. They got very tiresome; it felt like I was being punished for liking Kelsier. Shallan's intellectualism. It felt very forced, and quite annoyed me. Sigzil felt like a much better standard for an intellectual Archive character, despite being a more minor character. She felt like a humorous caricature.

I'm interested in playing in the next round, even though I was out of town most of this one.

Cultivation and Odium shouldn't be discounted for story-telling reasons: We know Trell has a connection to Odium, and while Brandon has historically stated intent of keeping worlds separate.. He has also historically RAFOd just about anything and everything relating to Trell being Odium or Autonomy. Meaning, we don't have concrete evidence ruling out Cultivation and Honour - only our trust that Sanderson will do the expected. I do agree that it would be odd for him to end the walls so soon.. Except he also has a record of putting near-arbitrary plot twists in the ends of just about every arc. One thing which I think should be considered is this: Wax and Wayne originally was just a minor tale between Mistborn Sagas 1 and 2. It could be that we never definitively find out who Trell is during it, as it's not one of the 'major' Cosmere stories.

Ruin and Preservation had to fight over Scadrial -- It was the center of their conflict. Preservation had made sentient life there, because that was part of his original goal. Ruin had to have something to destroy, and so he helped make it. Ruin had to continue to fight over Scadrial because Preservation hid his power there. Except attacking Scadrial makes no sense to curb Harmony's power. Harmony won't be reduced by it. If anything, it's a foolish move. Harmony has lots at stake on Scadrial, and he is quite content to stay here. Why would Autonomy disturb that?

@Quantus Those are still reasons to attack Scadrial. How does attacking Scadrial harm Harmony? @Wandering Investor Aye.. There is motive for attacking Harmony. The actions make sense for building an empire, yet I don't see why building an empire would be part of an Autonomous agenda. What we've seen so far is him preserving autonomy via isolation in the lands he's laid claim to, not any actual empirebuilding. I do admit there's issue with it being Odium - except the same issue exists in terms of motive for Autonomy. It could be possible that it's Cultivation, as all the actions of Trell are leading to Change. If it were Autonomy, I surely think that she would prevent the South Scadrian First Contact - after all, that is the type of thing she does within her "empire." If she's seeking to expand that 'empire,' why would she not also continue the isolationism here? @Calderis The issue is that we don't have evidence that Autonomy is Trell. We know that the metal used for Bleeder is from a Shard we know - but it is also red which we know means corruption. We know the metal is associated with the Shard that calls itself Trell. We know the metal is not from Endowment. This leaves the metal as being Bavadinium, Raysium, or Cultivation's Godmetal. This means potential Shards-called-Trell are: Odium, Autonomy, Cultivation, and the permutations: OdiumxHonour, CultivationxAutonomy, et cetera. We have supposition to incriminate Autonomy.

FTL won't be required with this. Asteroid mining from within their own system would be enough to fix any supply issues and break the economy.. I'm partial to the idea of there being no perpendicularity on Scadrial anymore. If Trell succeeds in their conquest, that may just happen.

Once again.. None of this answers my base question. Why? Why attack Scadrial? @Wandering Investor That's motivation for attacking Sazed - not motivation for attacking Scadrial. The connection between Odium and Trell could be explained like that. Or if Odium were part of a Meldshard that is Trell.. Such as OdiumxHonour bringing retribution for Sazed 'violating some of the rules the original shards set out.' Or if Odium were Trell. Or if Trell were the Other Cosmere power Odium is allied with. I've read the quote about Autonomy helping against D&D. It was very tenuous - the answer was literally 'you could say she helped splinter D&D in any way.' I've addressed my faults with this above, but that's still motivation for attacking Harmony. I admit that exists, except motivation for attacking Harmony is still not motivation for attacking Scadrial. Harmony isn't being harmed by this. The only way Harmony would be is if the Shard attacked Harmony, or used their pawns on Scadrial to entice Harmony to attack another Shard -- such as baiting Harmony into attacking Autonomy. against Ambition wasn't described as one of Sanderson's favorite characters that I remember. Bavadin - Autonomy's Vessel - was. Ambition is long since dead. @Calyx Refer to the quote Calderis brought in: "Preservation, as a Shard, is about preserving life, people, and the like. Not about self. No more than Ruin is about destroying self, or Cultivation is about growing herself." Caring about her own autonomy at the cost of others' is like Ruin being suicidal, but otherwise a really benevolent guy, or if Preservation was a revolutionary with a very strong survival instinct. Additionally, there's the issue of her admiring Odium's initiative. Odium - passion and hatred - is the greatest threat to any Shard, including to Autonomy. Why would Autonomy feel threatened by Scadrial and so act to destroy it - and by doing so reduce Autonomy - yet admire Odium? I would argue that to condemn Autonomy, we would have to know a motive. We shouldn't simply say "Autonomy is the one we don't understand, so Autonomy is the one attacking." We have a motive for attacking Harmony. Yet how is attacking Scadrial in this manner fighting Harmony? How does this benefit Autonomy, while being Autonomous action? Additionally, how come Autonomy is relying on her pawns to attack? The actions don't make sense for a Shard which is simply Autonomy. If it were a merge of Shards - or a Shard such as Odium with a known motive - it could make sense.. The actions could also make sense if there were a feasible plan, presented by the theory, where attacking Scadrial will lead to harming Harmony at no cost to Autonomy.

Both of those make sense for the same reason.. I'd guess Susebron's Mother, as she raised a Returned and was knowledgeable about them, but Siri still is sensible.

Once again, replies in Bold.

Replies Bolded inside the quoteblock to better address individual points.

I've never gotten that engaged on the trell/autonomy discussion before, so there may be an easy answer to this.. Why? Why? Why would Autonomy attack Scadrial? Autonomy attacking Harmony could* make sense, but attacking Scadrial and wreaking havoc there isn't threatening/withholding/checking Harmony. Harmony can still spread while Autonomy attacks Scadrial - the only thing he accomplishes by attacking Scadrial is senselessly infringing upon the rights and autonomy of a whole bunch of innocent people. Sure, he could be weakening Harmony's grasp on the people. Except he does this through reckless(and ineffective) means, where he violates his own Intent. He could be violating his Intent in the same way that Ruin did - build one thing to knock two more down. However, in modern times, we have a decently well-fleshed body of philosophy centred on Autonomous ethics - one in which performative contradictions of that type are central to unethical politics. Additionally, Harmony is a lighthanded God anyways. Nowhere is this more evident than in his religion - Pathism. It has a very few simple tenets and no real organized structure. He wouldn't be building one thing to knock two more down - he'd be building two things of his own to knock down one thing of his enemy. Almost the same as if Ruin created the Parshendi and Spren as sophont life of his own to kill all of Scadrial's Preservation-Humans so he would own the world. Additionally, one of the Trellkandra told Wax's uncle Trell decided that the world had become too dangerous, and decided to destroy it instead of ruling it. Neither rule of the world nor destruction of it sound fitting, and neither of them particularly harm the spread of Harmony.. It doesn't seem fitting for Autonomous Intent to attack Scadrial - either Trell is not Autonomy, or something has altered the Intent controlling the Shard. It could be a fresh Vessel. Alternatively, it could be from a new Merging of Shards. The godmetal is associated with a Shard we know - just like Atium used by Marsh to stay alive is associated with a Shard we knew before the Catacendre, despite the fact that Ruin as a Shard has been Ruined and absorbed into Harmony.. The metal from an unmerged Shard - perhaps Autonomy - could be used by the Melded because it has desired functions. *doesn't really make much sense to me, and wouldn't be fitting with the quality of work Sanderson tries to make. Autonomy attacking Harmony to counteract the spread of Harmonization and thus reduction in independence despite sounding mildly sensible is itself a violation of autonomy - as he is initiating the act of aggression - and thus is a performative contradiction of the type absolutely central to unethical conduct/politics as per libertarian - perhaps the best philosophical standard for Autonomous - ethics, not to mention how a performative contradiction of this nature should be utterly impossible for long-entrenched Shards, as we see in the case of Ati who was once a kind man who took the Shard of Ruin to reduce its destructive impact. Sure, 'you could say' Autonomy 'helped in any way' against Dominion and Devotion.. Two Shards with very active intents contrary to Autonomy, actually acting on those Intents, as opposed to Harmony who is content to allow his people to live freely.. Additionally, D&D are both directly reducing of Autonomy by their very nature - Harmony could be construed as this, except Harmony is powers working together, which is inherently voluntary, and thus requires autonomous parts to exist, whereas Ds happen regardless of the will of the subjects. And the 'Yes' to Autonomy helping Odium against D&D was very tenuous and faint. It could mean Autonomy sewed discord and independent thoughts among the peoples of Sel, making Odium's assault easier. It could be Odium compelled Autonomy by threatening to attack them - something much more likely to work against an independently oriented Shard than against, say, devotion. It could be that he was in a position to save D&D, but didn't, because that is not an autonomous interest. It could be that Autonomy Splintered the Shards after Odium killed the Vessels, preventing anyone else from taking the Shards against Autonomy. It could be that he caused them to merge together into the Dor. It could be any number of things besides 'Autonomy collaborated with Odium to destroy D&D.' This was also many thousands of years ago. Autonomous intent could've not set in entirely by this point. And even if Autonomy was fully Autonomy at that point, and he did intentionally, fully of his own volition, join in the assault against Odium.. That's a demonstration of Autonomy taking part in a Harmonic action, and thus proves that Harmony and Autonomy are compatible. Autonomy attacking Harmony would only make sense if Autonomy got a new Vessel who understood the purpose of Autonomy and tried Its best to fulfill it, but was still too new to be morphed by the Shard -- or if it were some author who cared less about his work and didn't take the time to think things through fully, or really at all, which is not what I've come to expect from Sanderson. Of course, it would be possible for the Shard's Intent to be something aside from Autonomy - in which case just about everything we know about them can be overruled.

Kelsier is what Kaladin tried to become in Words of Radiance - ruthless and hard, bringing death to those who deserve it in the name of those who don't. Syl pushed him away from that, filling a role as his moral compass. Kelsier could also fill that role. A moral compass doesn't necessarily have to push in a positive direction. Kelsier would provide the stability and confidence Kaladin needed, allowing him to move past the crisis, yet push him in a different direction. Kaladin didn't take the path to Kelsierdom - but he would've, if he'd known Kelsier.

I think Kaladin and Kelsier would honestly be a better match, in terms of personality. Kelsier honestly exemplifies the unsullied Lighteyes that Kaladin thought of Amaram as, and I can easily see Kaladin thinking of Kelsier much the same as Spook did.

I'll join in. Was out of town when this last game started.

The underlying concept is not at all unique. It's Chiastic Structure, and is fairly common.. Here's another load of Legendarium poetry. Feanor's son / resilient / creates music / Maglor! / Musical Creator's / resilient son: / Feanor! A dual one about Maglor, the bard-child of Feanor, and then about Feanor - most glorious of all the Children of Iluvatar. Bitter Betrayal / Unnumbered Tears / Fire / Death! / Fire Tears / Unnumbered Betrayal / Bitter! Nirnaeth Arnoediad. Hope Destroyed / Lord / Darkness, The Challenge! / Fingolfin / Challenged / The Dark Lord / Destroyed Hope The Duel of Fingolfin and Melkor after the Dagor Bragollach. Warrior's Son / Accursed Master / Fate / Turambar! / Fate Mastered / Accursed Son / Warrior. Turin Turambar child of Hurin, Greatest of all Human warriors. Doomed by Morgoth, the Black Enemy of the World. Master of Fate by Fate was Mastered.

What language do you do most of your work in?