Child of Hodor

TL;DR Mr. T is not a back 5 villain. He got subbed in for Rayse because Rayse got introduced earlier than originally planned and lost too much. Much like how Amaram was to die in WoR, but Brandon switched it to Torol Sadeas dying and Amaram subbed in as leader of house Sadeas for OB then died when Torol was originally going to die. I am convinced Taravangian will be killed by the end of book 5. His big feuds are with Dalinar and Szeth, neither of whom will be a huge part of the back 5. Originally it was going to be Rayse through book 5, but when Brandon decided to switch Dalinar's book to 3 instead of 5, Rayse got introduced earlier, started taking losses earlier and needed to be replaced. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/460/#e14622 This reminds me of another villain substitution Brandon did in SA. Originally Amaram was going to die at the end of WoR and Torol Sadeas would die in OB. He switched it to Torol Sadeas dying in WoR and subbed Amaram in to do the things Torol Sadeas was originally going to do. Amaram even became the leader of house Sadeas, similar to Taravangian he assumed the same title and power as the person he was subbing in for. You can easily imagine Torol Sadeas doing most all the things Amaram did in OB except maybe fight Kaladin. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/132/#e1876 These cases seem very similar, Torol Sadeas had failed to kill Dalinar two books in a row and was proven wrong about the voidbringer threat. He was no longer as important or threatening a villain. Amaram hadn't been as thoroughly defeated so he stayed and took over as leader of house Sadeas. Rayse lost two books in a row and it made sense to replace him with a new vessel as a greater threat.

Sounds right to me. The city of Elantris was built a looong time ago by unkown people. Others discovered the city fully built and completely empty and they became the modern day Elantrians. It has this whole history we know nothing about.. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Elantris_(city)#Discovery Cosmere & Stormlight Spoilers:

I have my own system. Aaayyyyy D'oh Lin

Yeah, crazy mad dash by all armies to claim as much territory as possible in the 10 days because they get to keep whatever they hold as of the contest of champions no matter who wins the contest. I do think the child champion gambit will happen because it gets back to Dalinar telling Mr. T that knowingly taking even one innocent life is too many for him in Oathbinger. For the back 5 I am expecting a new vessel for Odium. I wonder if Odium will merge with another Shard like Cultivation or Honor or both (split into pieces and merged) That would shake things up quite a bit for the back 5. Odium would be incorporated into the magic systems on Roshar more directly and make Voidbinding an actual thing that matters. Or like Ishar could Ascend making the Heralds more important in the back half.

One is a spear the other is a surfboard he can lash and ride around on (I know it would likely resist lashing, but let me dream). On the Sharcast they talked about how Shallan is good at lightweaving and really bad at soulcasting. This suggests she is getting lightweaving from Pattern and soulcasting from the deadeye. This fits with her soulcasting in Way of Kings after talking to a voice that she later said didn't sound like Pattern.

Ah you're right! It is from Jasnah's notes. A poem from long ago, so it is still a warped retelling of a historical event that Jasnah thinks has some merit, despite her disdain for poetic forms of historical accounts.

https://www.17thshard.com/news/shardcast/shardcast-shallans-past-r737/ 1.1 Steps Forward 1Step Back After the Shallan's Past Shardcast I've been thinking about Brandon's comment regarding how Shallan is progressing and the things she's able to do before she should be able to in WoK and WoR (Soulcasting, and seemingly summoning Pattern in the Chasm). https://wob.coppermind.net/events/452/#e14526 The only thing that makes sense to me is if she progressed to at least the third level as a child, broke her oaths, but Testament is still around and connected to her a bit which allows Shallan to temporarily get back to those same levels to do things she used to. To put it another way her bond is spiking back up to where it used to be but only briefly, it's doing this: Because she broke her Oaths she went back to near zero for a long time, but she's progressing again and once in a while her Bond will spike up to where it used to be and she can say summon what seems to be Pattern in the chasm before she's said enough Truths on the page unless we really contort to find Truths. She already reached those levels, her spiritweb was altered, Testament still exists and is bonded to her in some way, the bond is more deflated than broken. Think of how Dalinar sees the Oathpact as 9 thin golden lines and one robust line for Taln who did not break his Oath. Or think of it as a "groove" that a Cryptics investiture can still fill. I think both Testament and Pattern are filling up that deflated original bond / "groove" that makes it easier for her to spike back, I think Pattern is mostly filling it now, but Testament is also filling it a bit. I don't have much to go on beyond my gut, but to me it is the simplest answer that fits with what we've seen.

It could be related to how most people can't see Radiant spren unless the spren chooses to reveal themselves. Most people can't see Syl unless she allows them to, but her radiant Kaladin always sees her (and Rock but that's different).

Adhesion: I agree Odium can grant Adhesion normally, I think all shards could grant them all 10 if they invested in Roshar. Unless part of the deal with Honor that keeps Odium trapped also blocks him from granting that Surge. I don't know why that would be a part of it though. This gets back to the magic number on Braize being 9 while the rest of the Roshar system has 10. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/33/#e2745 Odium Investiture: I think all Shards have limited control of their investiture once it is out of the Spiritual realm. The more they invest in a particular place and time the less they have to use elsewhere at that time. In the long run it is infinite because it recycles back to the Spiritual realm, but the same piece of investiture can't be in two places at once in the Physical. The piece of investiture keeping Leshwi immortal can't also, at the same time, be used to make a new Thunderclast or whatever. He might not be able to reclaim a Fused, he tells Dalinar he can't keep the Fused on Braize anymore due to a part of the Everstorm being on Roshar when discussing the contest of champions. Bondsmith: Yeah, Tanavast could have done some of the things Syl rattled off. Oathpact: The Oathpact is an agreement between Honor and the Heralds, but I think it piggybacks on what Honor and Cultivation did to seal Odium on Braize. Why not trap them on a gas giant or a moon away from Odium? Why put them in direct communication with their god? I think the Barrier Storm around Braize was created when Odium was trapped on Braize (Honor is big into storms) and then Honor and the Heralds made a deal to lock the Fused on Braize in that same storm created as part of the trapping Odium by Honor & Cultivation. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/160/#e2898 Ishar Binding The Radiant Spren: What if Ishar had a Dawnshard? This is one of those Death Rattles that is warped because the dying person didn't fully understand what they were seeing, but I think this is actually someone ascending to the top of Urithiru to use a Dawnshard. "10 steps crafted for Heralds" Urithiru form the outside is stepped because it gets narrower as it goes up. Crafted for Heralds, it's the KR headquarters and they idolized the Heralds, naming a Herald as a Patron of each order. "Grand Temple Above" they worshipped Honor who rode the High Storms. The "grand temple" is the sky. We've seen the largest piece of Honor's remnants, the Stormfather, officiate a wedding on the roof of Urithiru. Weddings are often conducted in places of worship like a temple.

I think it would have come up when the Sibling was considering bonding Rlain. The Sibling states they hated Melishi (RoW Ch. 42), and humans in general, if Melishi was a Parsh, as they were called in Melishi's era, the Sibling might have mentioned it. Instead the Sibling reacts to the suggestion like "hmm a non-human, maybe." The Sibling also asks for Rlain to be sent to them to help them. (RoW Ch. 100).

Yeah, Mistborn could be live action. Stormlight is the one I worry about given how important spren are to the story and the world. If they look like garbage or their presence is reduced due to budgetary constraints it would be a huge detriment.

My prediction for the nature of "the Demon" Lifeforce had inside him is he is a twin of Lifeforce who was absorbed in the womb. Sometimes when this happens the surviving person will have two sets of DNA in them: their own and the twin's. There have been cases where the twin DNA is in the blood specifically, which fits with how the Demon / Deathwish is described and how it was transferred to Paige. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)#Humans The Epic powers are DNA based as shown with the all the motivators requiring DNA of the Epic. The absorbed twin's DNA got the powers which created a sapient entity within that wasn't exactly Lifeforce, thus the separate entity inhabiting the blood. Sentient blood, that's a new one to me!

Shallan's past is so much more complicated than the other major POV characters, even beyond the fact she buried her memories of it to such an extreme. It seems like Brandon decided she would have multiple personas and went "Let's give her multiple of everything!" Shallan has 4 brothers. Dalinar, Kaladin, Venli all had 1 sibling each. 2 radiant spren of the same order. The controversial love triangle which is a traditional trope, but she's the only main character to be the center of one in the present day (Navani had one with Gavilar & Dalinar in their youth). Shallan had fraught relationships with and killed both her parents. We don't even know Dalinar's parents' names. We only meet Venli's mother. Kaladin has 1 parent he doesn't get along with, did not kill. Shallan's family had not one but TWO secret societies involved with them when she was growing up. There is implied to be an Unmade influencing her family in some way when she was growing up. Maybe more than one based on how everything else is her life comes in multiples.

This is a great question by @Argent. We got this WoB about whether each magic system will reflect the Command - intent relationship between Dawnshards - Adonalsium. He basically says each will, but barely. Which to me is another way of saying they aren't really inherent to each magic system other than that every intentional act magical or not has someone intend to do a thing and then a specific way they go about doing it. I don't think this relationship would be an inherent part of all magic. Adonalsium existed before the Dawnshards, he created them somehow to help him do the coolest stuff he wanted to do. (DS ch. 19) From that we know Adonalsium could create (do magic) without the Dawnshards because he made them somehow. Then the Dawnshards broke off / wandered off from Adonalsium before the Shattering. They were not a part of the investiture that became the 16 Shards. They were used to create the 16 Shards in that they were used to kill Adonalsium and influenced what Shards he split into, but the Dawnshards are inherently useless without the Investiture of the 16, should all magic systems that spawn from Investiture of the 16 have a Dawnshard - Adonalsium relationship? On Nalthis there is a very direct mimicry of the relationship, but that doesn't have to be the case. The Dawnshards and the Shards are separate, the Dawnshards can't do anything on their own. The Shards can do all kinds of things on their own. If the Shards had a Dawnshard they could do what they already do on a whole other level. The Dawnshards are amplifiers of the already existing magic, they aren't a necessary components of that magic.

Asking Brandon not to do side projects is like asking the High Storms not to blow. Even if we got them faster they might not be as good because he'd be burnt out and I think the time working on other projects allows him to experiment and improve aspects of his writing. I think his time spent writing the Wheel of Time, the challenge of writing someone else's established characters and working with Harriet as an editor really helped him as a writer. Not that he wasn't good before, but I think that experience was valuable for him as an artist. I wouldn't want him to finish anyone else's books again, but if he wants to do other stuff that's cool. The OP isn't wrong. I doubt he'll finish the Cosmere saga. With both his Cosmere and non-Comsere works he tends to expand on what he originally thought he'd write. Brandon "I accidently wrote an entire book" Sanderson. MB Era 2 wasn't even going to exist then it was 1 book, then 3, now 4. Skyward is not only a book, but 4 books and here's a ton of novellas. Reckoners is done, maybe a novella, actually I wrote so many novellas it's a full novel. I've limited my expectations to SA 5 and W&W 4 and that feels good. I can't be mad about it, he's the most open and honest major author I know of as far as what he's working on and the progress he's making on it, why he does the things he does.

I agree this will be Szeth watching Shinovar get wrecked and the sea flooding in. I think it will be from Division being used at large scale to wreak the mountains and perhaps the land which will allow the sea to flood in. I don't think there will be another storm that covers everything though. I think we've seen what this one refers to already. The storm that never stops is referring to the Everstorm as in forever, never stopping. Like a mistranslation from a dying person not fully understanding what they are witnessing. I think this reaction of "he has won" is very similar to the Stormfather's reaction after the Everstorm comes at the end of WoR. This most likely refers to the Unmade taking over the palace in Kholinar during OB. There is a dome of gloom that covers the palace.

Yeah, if he covered over the scars on his mouth and wore a uniform they wouldn't connect him by sight at all. It honestly might be an oversight, but there is a plausible reason they wouldn't recognize him.

I think the modern worship of soil and farming is a warped version of the Ashynites original edict to stay in Shinovar and not to go past the mountains. They were given Shinovar and that was where they were meant to stay per Stormfather in OB. Shinovar has earthlike dirt / soil etc. while the rest of Roshar's surface is more rocky due to erosion from Highstorms. Some of the early Humans invaded the rest of Roshar triggering the Desolations which were disastrous. This exact sequence of events has been forgotten, but the values remain: 1) Soil is great, don't go on the stones!! (Stemming from original Stay in Shinovar command and the bad things that happened when the early humans went on the stones) 2) The worst thing you can do is fight. (Stemming from what caused the desolations) 3) The worst punishment, Truthless, is giving someone a weapon and commanding them to leave Shinovar and kill. (A micro version of what humans did to trigger Desolations)

Yeah it's a big theme for his character. HE has to be the one to do it. He tells Szeth "I am the monster who will save this world" at the end of WoK. On the one hand he sees it as a great sacrifice on his part to do these terrible things for the benefit of others on the other he really wants to show the world they were wrong about him being a dummy. He has a lifelong insecurity complex from the doctor telling his mother he might have "diminished capacity". He still occasionally rereads that doctors note from 80(?) years ago to motivate him. He asks for "capacity" specifically on his trip to the Valley. He clearly cares about others or he wouldn't have tried to save the world. He did a great job of keeping all his machinations a secret for many years which meant he couldn't claim credit, kudos to him. But the idea of HIM saving the world and being vindicated for a lifetime of perceived slights is a motivating factor. Like you said he ultimately gives into it.

Thank you for this Shardcast. I was ignorant of a lot of the interpretations of the subtext highlighted in this episode, I appreciated it. I had no real reaction to Jasnah being Ace. Other than "as long as Brandon thinks it fits the character" and "Wait, Wit? Really?!". Their relationship didn't ring true to me. I get her being interested in him in general because he's an ancient entity who has been to many planets and knows a ton of stuff, but as a romantic relationship the idea of anyone romancing Wit felt off even before I got to their chapter. I always viewed Jasnah's great discomfort with marriage as stemming from *gestures at her parents' marriage*. Jasnah respected her parents, but she had to know they were miserable together. Her mother could have pursued her scholarship more fully earlier in her life if she hadn't become queen through marriage and been burdened with helping run a country that's constantly at war. Jasnah doesn't want to end up like her mother, she wants to pursue her career and she can't do that if she is stuck ruling her spouse's kingdom. As was said on the podcast my read on those scenes is not meant to be mutually exclusive to anyone else's.

Brandon has said he's not the right person to finish that series. Their prose are too different. Plus, he's got so many series of his own he needs to work on. WoB hidden for length: I voted Patrick, but only because he's still in his 40's and theoretically has a lot of time to finish the book ... if he really wants to, which he may not and that's OK too. Maybe not OK for his publisher if they paid him a big advance and they never get a book out of it, but I'm OK with it never coming out. I've reached Acceptance.

Yeah, that's basically my take on their structure. Iyatil is an upper echelon member of the Ghostbloods, she's training Mraize to take charge of the Roshar branch office of the company. Mraize calls her his "babsk" which is what Rysn calls her mentor. Mraize runs the meetings and the day to day, if he needs correcting or instruction Iyatil does it privately so as not to undermine Mraize in front of everyone. Iyatil will eventually move on to wherever she is needed next leaving Mraize in charge.

Shameless plug time! I don't know what his ultimate goal is: make himself human, convert all the fused into mortals again, make new heralds etc. I do think Ishar knows what he is attempting has been done before, but not by him.

Yeah, it's like when Nintendo puts characters from a lesser known game into a Smash game. Hoping people will be like "what are they from?" and check it out. "INTRODUCING: Kehvin from Fire Emblem 5!!!"

Kelsier in Fortnite, might leave tonight? Mistborn themed Crypto limited time offer: Coinshot up 1000%