Singer

My major complaint was just how rushed and smashed together things feel in several episodes. Not enough time to sit in our feelings and make connections with characters.

On the plus side, the cast is great, the practical effects, sets, and costumes are beautiful. If they can tighten up the writing and smooth out the editing next season could be great, but I am a bit nervous.

I'm in a similar place as I was with The Witcher season one. I like it, I'll watch more of it, but it hasn't blown me away. 

I think the first 4 episodes were the best. In 5 and 6 the focus shifted away from the main plot so much, that while it wasn't bad per se, it probably wasn't time spent where it needed to be. 

I'd be interested to see some deleted scenes, maybe a director's cut, just to see what the episodes would have looked like with less strict requirements on time.

It's nice to find a little corner of the internet where people are generally being civil, even when they disagree.

No joke, I say anything positive about this show anywhere and I get dogpiled by people who are dropping homophobic/sexist/racist gunk.

I am enjoying the show, very much excited to see what the finale looks like. 

It isn't without it's flaws, some changes I wouldn't have made, and I could have done with an additional hour of characters interacting and Loial telling stories and a few more songs from Thom...

Anyway, I'm generally positive on the show with some critiques. I get that people have their reasons for not liking it. Certainly many have expressed as much here, but I was starting to feel like the whole fandom had become as bad as Star Wars! Thanks for restoring my faith somewhat.

Not exactly a meme but...my kid put on this costume and said "I'm a chicken!"

Yes, my son. Yes you are.

Spoilers if you haven't finished the book, but I'm assuming if you're on the spoiler thread you either have or you don't care...

On 12/9/2020 at 0:34 PM, Kingsdaughter613 said:

She has Peter Pan syndrome and body dysmorphia. Two completely different conditions. She’s not trans; she has expressed no problems with her gender, just her biological age.

And I HATED puberty. 

I think these issues fit the bill for Lift. I am another who was none too excited. It was pretty hard to be in front of a mirror hours a day in ballet class once I had clearly developed a, shall we say, much more mature figure than all the other dancers. I had to wear several layers of sports bras and it was still uncomfortable and embarrassing.

By the time I was 16 I just quit and my self esteem improved greatly.

My hopes for Kaladin are now just that he survives book 5 so he can spend all the time in the gap between 5 and 6 becoming Roshar's first psychologist. I would love to see a mature mental health expert in the back 5, who maybe finds a lady love though I am way less invested in that as I am in him becoming the world expert on mental health.

I have been trying to figure out why those Tukari dudes attacked Notum in Shadesmar, that wasn't ever explicitly explained.

I am theorizing that they were abducting spren for Ishar's nightmare evil scientist experiments. 

I would love to hear any theories y'all have. What is Ishar doing and why? What the crem is going on in Tukar??

Just now, Bearer of all agonies said:

I liked him before RoW, and I was going to post this thread before hand, but then I waited for RoW. Dang, I wish I posted it sooner because then I could say I called it. I mean, I did, but not publicly. Yeah, I can’t wait to meet his spren. 

Then you seriously deserve a pat on the back! Having theories about what Dabbid would be up to was not even on my radar.

I did not foresee, before reading this book, how much I would come to love Dabbid. I like that he was able to recover somewhat from his shock, but that wasn't just a cure-all. He has his own distinct set of challenges, and I do hope he bonds a spren eventually, he wants to so badly.

Shallan does mention in RoW early on that she has been researching and reaching out to other people with alters and found that her experience didn't quite match theirs. I think this is Brandon's way of saying that she isn't going to perfectly represent real world DID because magic and plot and authorly reasons. It is really interesting to read all of the opinions and thoughts on this thread though! Thanks for sharing them!

1 hour ago, CaptainRyan said:

Perhaps Hoid planned this encounter to go the way it did, or perhaps not. Personally, I hope Hoid was outwitted (pun intended) because no character should be unbeatable. Plus, seeing Hoid be outsmarted is an excellent way to set up Tod's credentials as the Real Deal (TM). I worry that Brandon is being clever, and that Hoid planned this as a way to throw off Tod. I guess we can wait 3 years to find out haha.

I am really hoping to see a moment in book five where Hoid/Jasnah/someone realizes that Hoid's memories have been altered and infiltrated in some way. I would much rather that than Wit secretly outwitting TOd when he didn't even know about the TOd switch in the first place.

I thought the spren orgy was a little distasteful, but I really enjoyed when Bridge 4 presented their new team cheer and sang "We're all in this Together" from High School Musical. I guess I'm just into wholesome entertainment!

12 minutes ago, Blacksmithki said:

Technically this thread does fit, but the title makes you think it's just correct predictions.

'mention things they got right and wrong' in the first line

You're totally right. I guess I was thinking about the things that I had no expectations for. I had zero theories or thoughts about Dabbid, least of all that he was going to be a total hero and that I'd love him so much by the end.

If anyone had theories about Dabbid, you get an extra pat on the back from me!

And, let's face it, Taravangian? That was half "curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!"  And half "What? Wait, WHAT?? OH MOTHER RUSTING STORM BALLS!! WE ARE IN SUCH DEEP CREM."

Not in school, but I did just let my kids watch A LOT of Disney+ in the last couple of days...

I also loved Design/Wit interactions. 

I think my favorite is that upon entering shadesmar, Pattern just interrupts a tender moment between Shallan and Adolin to give them a hug and proclaim how much he likes having arms. The image in my head is great. Pattern is my favorite 3rd wheel of all. 

I think a lot of folks, including me, figured that Navani would bond the Sibling, I think many people also suspected after the preview chapters that Leshwi wasn't going to stick with team Odium.

TBH, I may have to start a thread of "I didn't see THAT coming!" Because RoW sure brought A LOT to the table that I didn't see coming!

I think Lirin's pacifism is really well written. I was raised by a medical professional who treated war veterans, so I found his views on war to be extremely relatable.

But... he has some personal growth that needs doing. I feel like he actually regressed from what we saw in WoK. Losing Tien broke him just as much as it did Kaladin, but in a different way and he is only now coming to terms with it.

I very much disagree with Lirin and think he is failing to understand Kaladin, failing to even try at times, which seems pretty realistic to me. Parents are like that. And even when parents are trying to understand, they fail. A lot. I'm certainly guilty of it! I think for me this isn't so much a case of I hate or love this character, I think this character is effective. But if y'all can't stand him, I get it. And if reading his viewpoint makes you want to skip pages, I think we all have characters who we hate to spend time in their heads.

3 hours ago, krmdzinklmfl said:

Two reactions to this book:

I want to see more of Raboniel.

The new cough that everyone's been getting has been cooked up by Cultivation, and has permanently done something to the humans on Roshar. (unless it's a shoehorned reference to COVID, in very poor taste)

It's referenced in earlier books, so no, it isn't a covid reference. Worldhoppers just brought the common cold to Roshar. You see the first reference to this in, like, WoR I think.

I assumed the "dawn" prefix was applied later by Rosharans to things in the distant past that they no longer had a clear understanding of. They just pre-dated human arrival on the planet, so they were there at the dawn of their establishing culture on Roshar. A mundane reason, but that is pretty much how language happens. 

I am trying to time finishing Oathbringer so I don't have any wait at all between finishing one and starting the next. Might be a little tricky since I don't know what day it'll come out, but having something to do in the lead up to release times is helping me stave off my impatience!

If this is something Brandon is doing unintentionally, then for sure it is something he should and can work on as an author.

And if it is bothering you and other readers it is totally a legitimate criticism.

I suspect that sometimes, though probably not always, it is meant to be normal human regression. Especially with Vin and Kaladin, no one is permanently better from depression or a lifetime of abuse after only one break through moment or event. Regression is part of progression, if that makes sense.

That having been said, I'm sure that isn't what is happening for all of these. I'll be watching for it on future read-throughs and see where I think it is intentional regression and where it looks like accidentally dropped character growth!

1 hour ago, Karger said:

This is obviously the most important take away from the chapter.  It will probably become one of the most hotly debated topics until we get a strait answer but.  Are Jasnah and Hoid a thing?

LET THE JASNOID/HOIDSNAH SHIPPING WARS COMMENCE!

I spy with my little eye a capital "I" Intent!!

Always fun to watch Kaladin be confused by Zahel. Also, Rlain is the best!

I am really looking forward to seeing Venli's character growth. Timbre is like her little conscience, trying to keep her focused on more noble, radiant-esque attributes. 

Also, Kaladin. How many times he gonna have to kill that guy?? I know Kaladin can kick butt with or without storm light, but the pursuer is relentless. 

1 hour ago, Michael Portz said:

*headscratch* ... well ... I mean ... Adolin was THERE quite some of the time of the Blackthorn and had to live through it. He must have KNOWN at least some of the dark aspects of his dearly loved and venerated father.

Yeah, certainly he was aware of the Blackthorn's, shall we say aggressive tendencies? But that is kind of the Alethi ideal in some ways so I assume many aspects of that Adolin will find less problematic than we do. But Evi? I think Adolin has some feels about his mother's death. Though maybe he is also feeling sympathetic because he saw what a wreck Dalinar was after Evi died. There are lots of ways to respond to that kind of revelation, total rage makes sense. But so does shared mourning. I'm just curious about where Adolin is at regarding this. Renarin too.