TheOneKEA

We now have confirmation that the Oathpact was intended to seal away both Odium and the Parshendi Voidbringers, and that the Heralds traveled in mind and spirit to and from Roshar at the start and end of a Desolation. We have confirmation that the Nightwatcher is a spren of Cultivation. We now know that Taln is in fact a Herald and that his Honorblade is missing in action. We now know that Nale has bonded a Highspren and is dual wielding Shardblades, which answers at least one question from a long while ago about whether or not the Heralds could even bond a spren.

I can picture the anticipation spren swirling around me in thick clouds, betraying my wait for iTunes to release the book for download...

This is a very good theory, and I think this is very plausible. But for story reasons I think we’ll be shown a method of reviving dead sprenblades using Rosharan magic only.

I’ve been contemplating what the Dysian Aimian said to the Soulcasting savant in that dark place in one of the interludes:

I suspect that Vasher and Hoid will interact with one another in this novel, and discuss something that happened during Warbreaker. My guess is that Szeth will experience Nightblood unleashed, and Hoid will reveal something about Nightblood’s nature that gives us a big clue about what he really is.

Here’s my SWAG: It’s a Magic The Gathering novella, written for the same reasons that Brandon wrote the Infinity Blade novellas.

Yes, I believe that's his purpose. But I think he will learn that he can't compel unity by force and can only do it via persuasion. His interactions with Kadash and the ardentia look like the beginnings of this ideal.

I think the fourth oath of the Windrunners is "I will lead only when others cannot." I think Kaladin will learn this lesson from both the freeparsh and from Elhokar in this book. I think Shallan's third truth will be something to do with an acknowledgement of her mother's fear and hatred of Surgebinding. I think she needs to embrace the reality of her mother's emotions and actions. I think Dalinar's third oath will be "I will unite only those who wish to be united." I think his character will experience growth in this book as he realizes that he can't unify everyone and can't compel them to be united unless they want to be. If the Bondsmith oaths are tailored to each superspren and Mr. T really is going to become one, it will be interesting to see if he gets stuck on this oath while Dalinar doesn't.

Do any fellow Sharders believe that Brandon would be a good guest on the Nerdist Podcast? Brandon has been interviewed for several other podcasts and hosts one himself, so he is familiar with the concept, and I've always felt that the Nerdist Podcast is less about the interview and more of a conversation about whatever the guest wants to talk about. I've really enjoyed listening to Brandon on the podcasts I've found so far, so I'm curious to know if anyone else has too and if they'd like to listen to Brandon on the Nerdist Podcast.

I would also like an interlude with Zahel/Vasher, especially if it includes clues about how he was separated from Nightblood.

Here's a goofy thought. is it plausible that The Poem of Ista was written by a Dysian Aimian, and that the snippet of the poem describes a cremling crawling up a human-sized staircase with one of the black spheres Gavila has in its grasp?

I believe there are also WoBs and WoPs which state that the Rosharan system has a certain degree of artifice to it, and that Roshar has been altered in some unspecified way by the Shards. Based on that data point I think there is room to wonder if the Listeners are truly native to Roshar or if they, or the planet, came from elsewhere.

In the Oathbringer prologue, Gavilar refers to the Listeners as once being "vibrant". We also know that the southwest corner of the map of Rosharan Shadesmar is supposed to be labeled the Expanse of Vibrance. Knowing Brandon, I think this is exceedingly significant, but on the face of it, the connection seems very tenuous based on the belief that this Expanse leads to the Nalthian Cognitive Realm. Is this just a genuine reuse of a verb that has meaning elsewhere or is Brandon foreshadowing the reveal of where and how the Listeners made it to Roshar?

I don't feel like being around to find out either... If this theory has any plausibility, I think it's entirely fair that the perpendicularity would only be there for a brief moment and that it would be very hard to use, since you'll be appearing in the Physical Realm surrounded by very angry Shades.

I was rereading the essay written by Khriss about Threnody and continued to stick on her statement about how the perpendicularities on that planet have a morbid origin. Having mulled it over a lot, I believe that a perpendicularity can begin to form when a bunch of Shades are all gathered in one place at one time and are all aroused by an action which breaks the rules of the Forest. With that in mind, I naturally went to an extreme scenario - how many Shades could be gathered if someone beought napalm to the Forest and began deploying it? What would actually be happening in the Cognitive Realm if someone was merrily burning everything in sight and attracting every Shade within shouting distance?

I couldn't help but notice the absence of an essay from Khriss on Nalthis and its magics in Arcanum Unbounded. The real-world reason for its absence is obvious, but what in-world reason could there be for Khriss to not include an essay on one of the core Shardworlds of the Cosmere?

I really, really like this theory a lot. I've been pondering the cause of the Recreance after reading some of the WoB on Reddit, and this neatly explains many of the thoughts I had on just what could cause the Radiants to behave in the manner that they did. In particular, it very neatly explains Pattern's insistence to Shallan that she will kill him someday.

Someone with access to the manuscript has edited the TV Tropes page for White Sand and included an entry for the "Well Done Son Guy" trope, and suggests that Kenton lost and gained his sand mastery because he was not acting autonomous. The trope entry suggests that Kenton's overwhelming desire to be a sand master to please his father was not an autonomous act, and thus didn't give him the same access to the magic; when his father died, he literally lost the reason he became a sand master, and thus lost the magic. The entry then claims that every time Kenton tries to wield the sands for their own sake, to act autonomously, he gains more power and access to sand mastery. If this person's theory is accurate this has HUGE implications for Kenton's adventures on Darkside.

I actually thought Hoid was either Nilto/Gevin...

This suggests that it is not the UV radiation from the sun that is responsible for investing the sand, but something else. It also makes me wonder what color invested sand versus expended sand will be when exposed to UV light.

The graphic novel was wayyyyyyy too short! The pacing also felt uneven early on, like the artist and adapting writer were struggling to figure out how to show instead of tell. The single biggest defect is that this is only the first issue of three. That means that this one has most of the exposition and setup and not as much in the way of action, and that is going to make many Cosmere fans feel disappointed.

WHAT WHAT WHAT WHATTTTTTTT HOWWWW did he not RAFO this??? Is the Investiture that trapped the Shades in the Cognitive Realm yet another mainfestation of region-locked magic? Did the Shades arise as a side effect of the Investiture raging through the Cognitive Realm in Sel? Are the Shades the leftover remnants of cognition of the former Elantrians prior to the chasm, or are they the leftover remnants of the Dakhor victims, or are they something else entirely? So many theories...

I think it's more plausible that harmonium can grant Feruchemy by Connecting yourself to it and attempting to store something in it. Since we know that god metals are mundane pieces of matter with Investiture attached, the Connection and subsequent attempt to store might transfer the Investiture into your spiritweb and turn the harmonium into an inert chunk of slag.

I suspect that if a pair of kandra swapped their spikes that they would be afflicted with the same problem that ReLuur was afflicted with, and would become very unstable cognitively. I will be very interested to see someone in the Cognitive Realm try to perceive a kandra, and see what they "look" like in that place. I suspect that mistwraiths and kandra may actually look exactly the same from a Cognitive perspective and that the spikes are the sole Connection between realms for those species. I am also very interested to see if a Feruchemical medallion can affect a mistwraith.

I think the part that I still find the most amusing is Kelsier's punching. I will probably laugh out loud if Kelsier punches another god in the Cognitive Realm in a future book.