Pagerunner

If I recall correctly, there's nothing magical about an Oathstone, so I don't think we'd get any paradoxical situation like "What would happen if Pinocchio said his nose would grow?" It all depends on how the Truthless will act and behave, if they'd view the destroyed Oathstone as a chance for freedom, or if they just go and get a new Oathstone and give it to their master. For the first, it doesn't look like a very common punishment, it seems like a response to a religious infraction of some sort. He's not a criminal, he's a heretic in exile. I'm sure we'll see more specifics in Szeth's flashback book (either Stormlight 4 or Stormlight 5), but until then, you are right that it is quite odd.

WoB Count: 699 Reddit: 86% Twitter: 0%, 0/93 months Blog: 29%, 42/144 pages Interviews: 0%, 0/475 April comes after February, right? No update for last month... sorry about that, but I was very busy with important work. Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild. I'm pretty much done with that for now, so I can get back to working on the database. Biggest news, I've worked through the old Reddit backlog. Unfortunately, there was another AMA, so I've got a new Reddit backlog. It won't be as long, and I'll be able to get it all fairly easily from Brandon's user page. But, I added the new backlog as a sixth major task for Reddit on my tracking, so I'm 5/6 of the way done with that. After that, I'll probably go through some of the recent signings that haven't been put in Theoryland; Brandon's European tour, and the Boston convention. I've been caught with my pants down a couple time for not being up to date or not being able to find some of that recent info, so I'd like to get them some place I can easily cross-reference them. Notable WoB from this most recent batch: Source

Crem falls with the highstorms; I thought that was made clear from the books. They collect the rainwater in cisterns, and let the crem settle out before drinking it. Except for the Weeping, where water falls without crem, which is why they can use to to clean the sand in the training grounds in the Kholin warcamp. There must be organic components to the crem - stormwater is better for their crops than freshwater, we learn in one of Kaladin's flashbacks. That's almost certainly due to the crem suspended in it. The flora and fauna of Roshar, being reminiscent of coral and crustaceans, has caused some of us to propose that the continent was raised from the ocean floor with an already thriving undersea ecosystem, and then populated with Parshendi and humans at a later date. That would mean the stone would be the same kind that you find on the bottom of the ocean floor; sedimentary, I believe, but it's been a long time since I've played the Magic School Bus game where you learn about rocks.

I figured someone else on the internet had probably articulated my thoughts already, and in a better manner (since I'm neither a Marvel geek nor a film buff). [1] [2] [3] It's not necessarily a bad thing to move away from the feel of the first two Thor movies and towards more of a Guardians feel. People like Guardians more than the last Thor movie. I, personally, found Guardians to be a Sci-Fi B Movie. EDIT: @Jondesu, here's the Space Gem's powers according to that same wiki: Doesn't look very much like the Tesseract, which powered Hydra tech. Or the Mind Gem: which in the MCU lets Vision fire energy beams. (Laserface.) The Infinity Stones are all powerful energy sources, not just the Power Stone. The Thor movies have, so far, dealt very explicitly with Infinity Stones. First movie had the Tesseract, second movie had the Aether. Unless they bring in Strange, Vision, or the Guardians in a big way, that leaves only one Stone left for this movie: Soul. (Granted, that's assuming they will follow that trend, which is not a given.) It's also somewhat an exercise in prediction: before the trailer (well before, in fact), the two big theories (Hammer or Heimdall) both predicted the death or destruction of someone or something important. (Either Heimdall would die, or Mjolnir would be broken.) Since the hammer does get broken, that's what lends it so much credence in my mind.

I'd leave off the first one, but yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Visuals, soundtrack, and tone are all very much unlike the previous Thor trailers. Asgard was very clean, very bright, and with lots of smooth lines. Guardians was predominately blocky, colorful, and dingier. Space fantasy, as opposed to Blade Runner. (Yes, I know that's an oversimplification. But, on the whole, Thor movies haven't looked like Guardians movies, until now.) The team dynamics also seem very evocative of Guardians, with the heroes being in conflict with one another. That doesn't quite fit with how the actors have described it, as a buddy-cop movie. I've heard The Dark World called the worst MCU movie on more than one occasion. It looks like they're trying to take cues from Guardians, which was a surprise success, to help this series finish out strong. I didn't like Guardians, personally, so I don't think it's a good move. But it's popular, so it's understandable. The locations of all the Infinity Stones weren't set in stone from the beginning. While writing the script for Dr. Strange, they decided to incorporate the Time Stone, since it fit thematically with the movie. Let's not get spoiled by Brandon, who wouldn't film Iron Man without knowing where all six Infinity Stones were already. If it was too dangerous to keep two Infinity Stones on the same planet, why do they allow two (Mind and Time) on Earth? I don't think it's an insurmountable plot point for it to have been in the hammer the whole time, especially since two other Infinity Stones have had powerful weapons built around them (Loki's scepter and Ronan's staff).

I think we attribute that to the quirks of in-person discussions. Like when people ask about Roshar, and Brandon responds talking about Scadrial. It's possible that Dawnshards are actually Honorblades, and we sneakily got it confirmed. It's also possible that this was a slip of the tongue, but Brandon knew what the question asker meant to say. I wouldn't read too much into it.

This is bad optics. How many people bought Arcanum Unbounded just for Edgedancer? If I were only a Stormlight fan, I'd be feeling tricked right about now for buying all this other junk just to keep up-to-date on Stormlight. Or if I were someone with an ebook only collection who already had all the novellas, but still bought the full AU ebook just because it was very clearly stated that Edgedancer would not be available on its own in the near future. This is not me, personally, complaining. I would have bought it anyways, since I want to have everything in print, and don't want the rest of the stuff in Shadows Beneath or Dangerous Women. And the essays are undoubtedly essential, too. But I recall hearing some complaints around the AU release.

Why do you think it was on a different world? There were Thunderclasts and Radiants in the WoK Prelude; I think it was most definitely somewhere on Roshar.

Helaran sought out the Skybreakers. We've seen the Skybreakers killing Radiants to keep the Desolation from returning. Helaran died trying to kill Amaram, a member of the Sons of Honor, who are trying to bring about a Desolation and produce new Radiants. Big-picture, it makes so much sense in the narrative of the story for Helaran to be a Skybreaker. There's a big hang-up in how does he use a dead sprenblade, when every other Radiant we've seen can't touch them. But he sought the Skybreakers, and his actions are consistent with the Skybreakers' larger plans. Maybe he was a Skybreaker squire?

I can appreciate the enthusiasm behind the idea, and it's a good sentiment - analyze the holes, to try and see what might be hiding inside them. However, theorizing off of RAFOs is a bad idea, for a couple of reasons. First, Brandon RAFOs to avoid giving information. Part of that is making sure that he doesn't only RAFO things that are significant or relevant. If you ever get a chance to earn a RAFO card, you'll see that there are a couple of reasons Brandon RAFOs questions, only one of which is because he doesn't want to give away the truth. Sometimes, he's RAFOd questions that he's answered in the past (not surprising, he answers a lot of questions). So, just because he's issued a RAFO, doesn't mean there's an important secret hiding behind it. Second, RAFOs aren't just about questions, they're about topics. Right now, anything on the topic of the Southerner Medallions is pretty much getting RAFOd. Questions that are going both in the right or wrong direction are getting RAFOd, just because of what they're about. Another big topic that I've seen get a lot of RAFOs is how magic systems will interact with one another. Those get quite detailed and complex, and many times are beyond where the books have developed our understanding. So, a lot of those will get RAFOd pretty much off the bat, not because Brandon is saving that for a specific reveal in a crossover book, but because he doesn't have time to fully explain every possible interaction. I think, if you pulled all the RAFOs together, you'd see some patterns, but it would be that the topics Brandon won't discuss are either complicated (Cognitive Shadow details) or relevant to future books (What the Oathpact is, how to make Southerner medallions). Third, RAFOs are not information coming from Brandon. They are information coming from us, the readers and fans. I'm gonna go back before Brandon, to the original author of the Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan. RAFO was his calling card, which Brandon inherited. One thing that bugged fans for years was the death of one character, Asmodean, because the readers didn't learn at the time who killed him. (I think it was Book 4 when he died, but I'm not sure.) It took, like, nine books to finally reveal; it was one of Brandon's books, after Jordan died, when we actually learned the answer. But for years and years, the fans had been super up in arms, asked a ton of questions, and got RAFOd all day long. In the end, when we found out whodunit, it was revealed as a throwaway line from another character. No big secret, no overarching plot implications. Just a small secret that the fans were obsessed over. It had a disproportionate amount of questions about it, but hey, as fans, we're allowed to focus on stuff like that. I'm bringing it up because the questions brought to Brandon are from fans, often built on theories. Getting a RAFO isn't a validation of a theory; it's Brandon declining to comment on a theory, which could be for any number of reasons. Because questions are often reflections of theories, you're not able to get any new information out of a RAFO, you're not going to be able to build a new theory off of that. Look to where the theories come from in the first place. My RAFO card came from, "Are the Cognitive Shadows on Braize the mythological Shades of the Knights Radiant?" We can't get new information from that; there's nowhere new to go with a theory that wasn't part of my original theory. But the theory itself came from the references in the Stormlight Archive, both the mythology and legends and the turns of phrase used by characters. That's where you'll find actual secrets, by looking in the books, not by looking at RAFOs. All that being said, I know where you're coming from, and there have been several surprising RAFOs (Who Taln actually is, whether or not Hoid has burned his lerasium bead), which have prompted many theories. Those are few and far between, so gathering all RAFOs wouldn't really help identify those. I'd say, read through Theoryland, looking for any RAFOs that seem surprising (and aren't out-of-date). That would probably be a better use of your time than aggregating all the RAFOs and looking for patterns, which will really only reveal that Brandon doesn't want to talk about future plot points.

I don't know Japanese, but Amazon.co.jp has some stuff that I think is Mistborn. https://www.amazon.co.jp/ミストボーン-霧の落とし子-1-灰色の帝国-ハヤカワ文庫FT-ブランドン-サンダースン/dp/4150204950/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491876351&sr=8-3&keywords=mistborn

I believe this is the WoB in question: It's not very clear, but it can be read that some trace metals may have an Allomantic effect. It's possible that the question-asker hadn't read MB Era 2, and wasn't aware of nicrosil or chromium.

Are we thinking that Mjolnir is destroyed so she can take the Infinity Stone inside of it? Also, looks very much like a Guardians knockoff, aesthetically. Not sure how I feel about that.

I'd expect there are only one per Aon, but I'd also say there are many more Aons than the 44 we've seen.

Yes.

Nice. Carry on, then.

Woah, woah, woah. Source? I've seen it as a theory, never any confirmation though.

Have you tried heating a knife the old-fashioned way and making repeated short cuts? It wouldn't be as quick or easy as an actual hot-wire-cutter, but it might still be able to give you a clean edge. Just make sure you have a way to insulate the handle so as not to burn yourself, and obviously sufficient ventilation. In a similar vein, a wood-burning tool might also be able to get the job done, as long as your styrofoam isn't too thick. I've only used a hot wire cutter once, and it was a while ago, but it wasn't really cutting the styrofoam, it was just straight-up melting it. What's the biggest expense towards building your own? I don't expect it would be the wood itself; you're just making a frame to hold a wire straight, scrap wood should work fine if you know anyone else at all who's doing any sort of woodworking. I'd expect it to be the heating element on the wire itself that will cause you problems; what's the price range you're looking at for those materials? If you find a cheap appliance with a thin heating element (like a toaster), you might be able to dissasemble it, straighten out the heating elements, and use that for the functional part of your cutter. It all depends on how haphazard you're allowed to be. (Disclaimer, I'm not much of a tinkerer, so I'm just throwing stuff out here. I can't vouch that disassembling and reassembling a toaster would be safe. If you start down this road, please do some more research on the subject.)

I'm wondering about the implications of the origin of Roshar's shape and its connection to something called the Julia Set: Now, I'm not entirely sure of the meaning of the Julia Set, and I'm having a hard time researching it because my mathematics vocabulary isn't up to the task. I understand that the input is a function, and the output is a set of points. I think it's roughly analogous to the set of points that are valid for a mathematical 'cosmic number' riddle, but that's not all that important. The specific map of Roshar can be developed from a particular instance of the Julia Set. There's an example on Wikipedia that corresponds exactly to the map of Roshar. If I understand it correctly, the function behind it uses an advanced form of complex numbers, that isn't just a + bi, but a + bi + cj + dk. Or, in other words, the set of points that is an output of the Julia set is in four-dimensional space. Roshar is obviously three-dimensional. The animation from Wikipedia contains three-dimensional 'slices' of the four-dimensional set of points. It's analogous to an MRI, which shows two-dimensional slices of a three-dimensional object, like a brain. Roshar's three-dimensional geography matches all points with a particular value in the fourth dimension, like taking all points where a = 0 and then using b, c, and d to define our three-dimensional coordinates. That's all the groundwork, my understanding of the situation. My questions are these: Do I have any errors in my math explanation above? Why the Julia Set to begin with? Did Brandon stumble across the animation on Wikipedia and decide it looked cool as a map? Or was he already looking at the Julia Set specifically for Roshar's map for some other reason? If the latter, what sort of thematic connection can be drawn from the nature of the Julia Set? What is the fourth dimension, that is being used to define a three-dimensional slice? Is it time, and the continent of Roshar has a definitive lifetime? Since the geography hasn't changed significantly since the time of the Silver Kingdoms (4500 years), that would mean it was a very slow change, and Adonalsium would have created the continent hundreds thousands of years ago, or even more. (Actually, has anyone done an in-depth comparison of the Silver Kingdoms map and the modern map? I've looked at a few things, like how Rishir changed into Herdaz, but I haven't checked to see if its the exact same slice of the Julia Set.) Alternatively, does this fourth dimension have to do with three Realms? (Although those appear a little too quantized to match a four-dimensional set.) Do we suspect Adonalsium has created any other slices of this Julia Set anywhere else? What do we think the significance of the function is that's used as an input? The function itself must utilize a point in four-dimensional space as both an input and output, correct? (Since the Julia Set involves iteration?) So, this is predicated that Brandon did not merely find that image and say "That image looks like it would make a neat map. Since Roshar is an artificial continent, I'll make it look like that." I recognize that it's possible there are no meaningful interpretations that can be made from the the similarities, that they may be merely superficial, especially since the original Julia Set slice was not created by Team Sanderson. But I figure I'd check if anyone who's more experienced in some of these advanced mathematics has put any thought into whether a deeper analysis could produce any insights. I recognize that most of these will not have definitive answers. This might have worked better in one of the theory forums. But since I don't actually assert or deduce anything, I figured I'd put it here.

Since we're using cesium as our springboard for comparison, let's look at cesium alloys. There are some with other alkali metals (none of which are Allomantic, regardless of that sodium nonsense), but an interesting thing happens when you try to alloy it with gold or platinum. The cesium will actually form an ion and transfer an electron to the gold or the platinum atoms, forming negative gold and platinum ions (auride and platinide). Granted, gold and platinum are among the least reactive metals (which is why gold was used so much as currency, so your coins don't rust on you), but I'd expect the other transition metals to more readily accept extra electrons from a strong electron donor, since they have space available in their d-orbitals. (Granted, I didn't get all that far into transition metal chemistry.) That, combined with how harmonium is actually a stronger electron donor than cesium (i.e. much more reactive), I would expect harmonium 'alloys' to actually be ionic compounds, which we've already discussed as problematic.

I think I know the WoB you're referring to. It doesn't address location; it says Rashek didn't create the lerasium beads, and Leras didn't create it for Rashek. Other sources indicate he didn't take all the lerasium he found, so what he left behind (that Hoid and Elend took) must have come from the Well originally.

No confirmation, as far as I'm aware. In fact, you can make a decent case that Harmony has two because of the Shadows of Self broadsheet. We see a Southerner exiting a northern Shardpool; how did he get to the Cognitive Realm to begin with? The simplest answer, they have a Shardpool in the south as well. We've also only seen god metals near Shardpools (lerasium at the Well, atium at the Pits above the dark lake), so it's reasonable to suggest the Southerners need a Shardpool to get their harmonium. I think when you parse Rock's description of the Horneater Peaks, you get multiple Shardpools underneath the lakes, as well, but I may be misremembering. Lastly, we know of three Perpendicularities on Roshar: one in the Purelake, one in the Horneater pools, and Honor's, which is mobile. Odium isn't on Roshar; he's on Braize. So, either one of the Shardpools is his (and it's just on a different planet than he is), or we have multiple Shardpool associated with Cultivation.

It's an interesting idea, but here's my concern. Graves wants Dalinar to be king. Every Shardbearer who supports Dalinar was with him in the middle of the Shattered Plains during Graves' assassination attempt. Except for Amaram, but Kaladin would have most likely recognized him. (Okay, fine, he would have for sure recognized him.) And Elhokar, who I'm pretty sure isn't Graves, either.

Yeah, this is a fun pastime, and I think we had a thread for it a while back. You might want to check through the forums to see what other ideas there are. It might be in this forum, it might be in the Creator's Corner subforum. I'm digging the wood push/pull, and the artistic ability feruchemy. That latter one, I might even borrow for my own fanon Metallic Arts, if you're okay with it. A couple big-picture questions: Are you fitting these into the quadrant system at all, maybe defining a fifth quadrant, or making new metals that would each fit in with the existing metals of a quadrant? It looks like you don't have too many alloys, and they're an essential par of the systemt; do you have any ideas for cobalt alloys, nickel alloys, etc.? And why did you decide to make platinum inert? I'm asking because the Metallic Arts are a very highly systematized magic, especially Allomancy with every metal having pushing/pulling, internal/external, and Physical/Mental/etc properties. One way I like to stretch myself creatively is to make an addition to the system (maybe positive/negative as an extra trait, or an entire fifth quadrant) and try to fill out the rest of the chart. So, for example, what would you have as the Internal pair to go along with lead/magnetite? Something similar to tin/pewter, I'd assume, but how would you make it different to go along with woodpushes and woodpulls?

Khriss's comments in the Threnody essay make me think Threnody doesn't have a Shardpool, since worldhopping is hard to do and 'morbid,' if I recall the word correctly.