Child of Hodor

I really hope the only Gavilar we see in book 5 is his POV in the prologue and spiritual realm him a la Tien in book 4. If Dalinar and or Navani Connect to Gavilar and they have a talk that'd be cool. I don't see Gavilar as a character that needs to come back. Kelsier was a co-main character of a book who died near the end of it. We at least new him. We don't know Gavilar that well, I feel like the prologues will give us most all the we need on who he was and what he was up to. I don't want a Stormlight Secret History with a guy we barely knew hanging out as a ghost off-page for 7 years and then shows up at the end of book 5 as a surprise. There's 900 named characters in this series, one of them can stay dead. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Category:Rosharans

Thanks for the shoutout! To give credit where it's due @Feather mentioned the possibility of Invention being on a spaceship or flotilla of spaceships first in this Shardcast: That's a great thought, Silverlight makes a good name for a spaceship and would be a Brandon-esque "didn't expect that, but it does fit". Plugging my meme

It's totally Mars in my mind. The only thing is the Fused don't have bodies of their own. Their original bodies died and they were free floating spirits in Cognitive Realm when Odium made them a deal, serve me and I'll give you persistent life. They need to bodysnatch from a living Singer on Roshar to get a body and there is no one alive on Braize except the cognitive shadows. The Heralds were still in their bodies when they were "killed" and became cognitive shadows. That's why they keep regrowing the same body instead of having to steal one. I don't think the Fused can do much more than scout Heralds zipping around as ribbons of light like the Pursuer does. The Thunderclasts, however, there is plenty of rock to inhabit. Then again I could be totally wrong and since Odium is on Braize he could just make bodies for the Fused to inhabit on Braize. But if he did that why do they need to bodysnatch on Roshar if they already had bodies on Braize? Maybe the Barrier Storm has something to do with why they have to slip through without a body. That could work. I'm for the more "Unite Them" Singers and Humans live together. Although, if Braize is made more Earth-like I'd rather live on the non-highstorm planet if I was a human (which I totally am ) My prediction for Book 5 is Shinovar gets trashed, removing the only human-friendly ecology. Based on the following Death Rattle. We've seen something similar with Dalinar watching Kholinar get obliterated in the last vision of WoK. But that is of the possible future that Tanavast feared would happen. "It's what I fear will happen. It's what he wants." - WoK CH. 75

Spren would be involved by inhabiting the Singer gemhearts. But, to your point, they aren't doing it through the Nahel bond We don't even know when Honor became aware of the Nahel bond, because he too was surprised by the Knights Radiant. "I was surprised when these orders arrived. I did not teach my Heralds this." RoW Ch. 4 They are manipulating surges, but are they doing the binding part? Not if that means doing it through a Nahel bond. There are other questions. "Honor bound the surges" Does the "binding" in surgebinding refer to what Honor did to the Surges or to the Nahel bond? Does any magical manipulation of the surges on Roshar post-"Honor bound the surges" count as surgebinding? Are the Heralds Surgebinding? Yes. The Heralds relationship with Honor / Honorblades was mimicked by Spren resulting in surgebinders and the radiants. The Heralds aren't doing it through a spren, nor are they using their own Cognitive Shadow investiture to do it like The Fused. They can't do it without the Honorblades. Which era of Singers created these cities? Non-radiant spren and Singers pre-date the Shattering. There is a time pre-Shattering and presumably a little bit post-Shattering where the Singers could have been manipulating surges before Honor showed up and forbid it. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Roshar#Pre-Desolation_Roshar https://wob.coppermind.net/events/31/#e1723

Harmony can't find Invention again after initial contact, implying they are not on a planet. Perhaps on a spaceship flotilla or one giant spaceship. A society with no planet would necessitate a lot of invention and creative use of resources, satisfying the Shard intent. Everyday living under Invention's influence is like this:

I'm fairly sure it is Taldain, the White Sand planet. There is "Dayside" were the sun constantly shines and a "Darkside" where the Sun never shines. The sky is broken. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Taldain On Ashyn, the floor is lava, quite literally. The ground is broken there, not the sky. The sky is the only place where it is somewhat safe.

The only thing is 10 seems to have been made the important number for Roshar by Adonalsium since he made the system and the 10 gas giants. Why would the Fused get 9, including progression if it’s Cultivation’s truest surge? The Honorblades were made by Honor alone from Honor’s “soul” yet they grant all 10 surges. Some of the other 8 surges align with other Shards not in residence in the system yet the surge is still usable. Division causes things to burn, crumble to dust or decay. This seems like Ruin’s truest Surge, but it can be accessed through H&C&O. https://coppermind.net/wiki/Honorblade https://wob.coppermind.net/events/33/#e2745 https://wob.coppermind.net/events/324/#e9283

Here’s a dumb thought about voidbinding. Brandon said it had been explored some in the past but not fully. Could that be a thing Ishar was doing on Ashyn. Odium is the one who tempted Ishar into experimenting with the surges. He didn’t have a spren or an honorblade. I know there is disease based magic in the not quite canon ashyn story, but there is room for voidbinding. SOMEONE had to be doing it per that WoB. If it’s not the Fused, the Unmade, the Singers, the Radiants, the Heralds after they became Heralds, who is left, the Sleepless? Seems like no one was doing it ... on Roshar.

I think it's mostly this. The Heralds didn't have plate when they fought all those desolations. They are used to fighting without it. Before RoW we mostly see him going through cities executing surgebinders. He wouldn't want to use plate then because he'd stand out too much. But there is no need to be incognito in an actual battle. He prefers not to use it.

I can see that, I didn't think of it in those exact terms, but I felt similarly. It kind of killed the suspense for me that we were told there were 4 nodes. When Kaladin was going for #3 near the well I was like "man this fight sequence is going on forever, I know this won't resolve here since there is another one." As a reader I know Kaladin isn't going to die mid-book anyways, but those sort of things fall by the wayside when I'm caught up in the moment reading the text for the first time. But the in-universe fact that there's another node after this one made the long third node sequence drag for me.

"It's the thrill of the fight" - Eye of the Tiger, Survivor. Good quotes and that seems on point with the idea that the Shard embodies emotions surrounding struggle and conflict. It is the Void that sucks in other emotions, seemingly as fuel for hatred. Ashertman is pleasure/joy run amuck. Feasting, partying and implied sexual acts were happening at that revel in OB. The RoW quotes in Grytorm's post above when Taravangian picks up the Shard indicate that it is more than hatred. Cultivation "tempted" the power by making Taravangian cry all day more often than not for the last year. The Taravangian the power called "perfect" was a weepy sad sack, not a rage-monster. So it does like other emotions. You're right that it's Odium and not Passion, it's mainly about the hatred. Rayse's insistence on thinking of it / himself as Passion, living in denial of the Odium's main purpose, is part of why he could not control the Power very well and it developed a mind of it's own.

Unpopular #1 This. Too many storylines that fragment even further. In the lead up to RoW Brandon talked about how the characters would be split into 3 groups and that is true. But within the two groups that don't get as much focus, Shallan/Adolin and Dalinar/Jasnah, it fragments even more. Shallan and Adolin drop out for the last half of Part 2 and all of Part 3. When they reappear Adolin is focusing on his trial and Shallan isn't there in some of his chapters because she's off doing her own thing without Adolin. Also all those other Radiants are just gone, heck they don't even participate in the fight with Ishar's goons in Part 2. They were just there to showcase some radiant spren, but contributed nothing to the journey. Dalinar and Jasnah have the one chapter where she baits and stabs the highprince. Then there are two Jasnah chapters with no Dalinar or Renarin and some Dalinar chapters with no Jasnah or Renarin. Heck even the flashbacks are fragmented between a dead character and one still around. Unpopular #2 I don't like WIt romancing anyone. He's like 9,000 years old and should have better things to do. He acts the fool, but he's very mission focused in his appearances he only goes places he thinks something important is happening. He tells Dalinar he is willing to, reluctantly, watch Roshar burn in order to get what he wants. Yet, he wants to romance Jasnah. We all want to romance Jasnah, but he's barely even human anymore and he has such an advantage over her in knowledge and he's gonna leave to go to wherever the next book is set. Maybe she'll join him, but it all seems unfair to any mortal he dates.

Spren are odd. They aren't mentally ill. Although Brandon did say Syl's ADD-ish personality was inspired by one of his children who has it. It's more magical in nature though. They are pure investiture that developed a mind, beings from another realm of existence. Human psychology doesn't map on to them that well. I would agree with the OP that this series seems more packed with major characters with chronic, severe mental illness. Kaladin's arc so far is bookended by aborted suicide attempts. Shallan has DID, Renarin has a form of autism, Dalinar was a Thrill and wine addict, Szeth has ... issues. Out of universe Brandon has an interest in showing people who struggle with emotional and mental health. In universe I think it's because Knight's Radiants souls must be "broken" to allow for a Nahel bond. The Herald's madness is it's own post really. But thousands of years of alternating between constant war and torture broke them. Their original souls were suffused/replaced with Honor's investiture and they broke their big oath. They've lived way longer than anyone was meant to and they've lived with the guilt of abandoning Taln. Fused lived way longer than someone should and they have to bodysnatch instead of regenerating a new version of their original body like the Heralds do. That's probably harder on the soul.

Great show! A few thoughts: Cognitive Shadow Insanity What Vasher was talking about with intent changing them over time is different from what's up with the Heralds. Vasher is of Endowment, gift giving etc. and since coming to Roshar he gave up Nightblood by "mistake" (probably he went to the Valley to swap Light for Breath and they made him leave the sword as the Bane) and then became an Ardent. They are effectively slaves who legally own no property. So he gave away everything he owned. As Ardent he is a teacher of sword He is much more giving now than he probably was at the start. Vasher warns Kaladin not to trust the Fused because they are of Odium and the intent influences them more and more over time. We see that isn't all consuming, because Leshwi was able to preserve some of her integrity and sense of right and wrong. She doesn't let revenge or hatred rule her. Herald Madness The Heralds madness is 1) They are cognitive shadows who endured thousands of years of constant war and torture. They are all afraid of ever having to endure it again and have been living with that fear for 4,500 years. 2) They are of Honor and they broke their big Oath. 3) 4,500 years of living with the guilt of having abandoned their friend to torture and lying to the world about it. I think a big part of it is they hate themselves now and these thoughts directly influenced them in a more profound way than they would a human due to their Cognitive Shadow nature. They've inverted from what they once were.

More OB meme but Sja-Anat is all:

I think Brandon made a good comparison when talking about why the Coalition was still working with Taravangian. He compared it to the U.S. and U.K. working with Stalin in WW2. Yeah, he's a problem, to put it mildly, but he's on our side and we can't afford to be picky. Many people in the coalition probably feel similarly about Dalinar. Some like Queen Fen seem to have recognized he is different from how he was and have grown to trust him a bit.

Kaladin's Outstanding Weekend Killing on a Wednesday Knight of Weeping King of the World Kaladin Overdoes Windrunning Knight of Woe; King of Woe Kalak's Overwrought Whining

Yeah, I was on the "Shades are ghosts and they go crazy when they see blood" train of thought. I thought the Ghostbloods had a lot of Ambition because their home planet was cascaded with that shards investiture. Even after I found out Kelsier was running it I just thought "well he is a huge jerk so of course his organization is full of jerks."

The Topaz was a Dawnshard at one point. Hoid had the Topaz which was Dawnshard and then Hoid became a Dawnshard himself. At some point he stopped being a Dawnshard, but it had lasting effects on him like his immortality, not being able to eat meat or physically harm others. If the rest of the Dawnshards work like the CHANGE Dawnshard, then whatever is currently holding the Dawnshard IS the Dawnshard. If Hoid was a Dawnshard he must have wittingly or unwittingly (heh), transferred the Dawnshard from the gem into himself rendering the gem dead. As to where the Dawnshard went after Hoid ... Perhaps Frost has it or had it. This letter from Wit to Frost states that Frost gained a form of immortality he did not have before. Maybe Wit passed it on to his buddy or Frost had a different one. Or Frost had one, he doesn't anymore, but as with Wit, Frost was fundamentally altered by the Dawnshard to be essentially immortal.

Yeah it's one of those "impossible" colors. It's an afterimage, basically. Stare at yellow and then look at black to get the effect. Which is interesting since Odium often has gold and white robes and raysium (his metal) is white-gold, like the knife Vyre uses to kill Jezrian. As to the meaning of it, I think Brandon just thinks it's cool. It's "impossible" otherworldly, dark and foreboding. A good color for a villain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_color https://youtu.be/xJLncut79vE

Good call on the shell metaphor. I have always taken Child of Tanavast to mean Kaladin reminds the Stormfather of Tanavast the Vessel in terms of their personality. It could also be hinting at Kaladin ascending, but I don't think Stormfather thinks of it that way. Stormfather is very pessimistic and thinks humans are unworthy much like The Sibling. He only bonds people because Tanavast ordered him to pre-death. I don't think he seems any humans as worthy of ascending, but the label could be foreshadowing something without Stormfather being aware of future events. I REALLY don't want it to be a hereditary thing where Kaladin is a descendent of Tanavast. Tanavast has been dead for at least 2,000. If he had human kids while alive then like 1/5th of Roshar would be distantly related to him by now and Stormfather only referring to Kaladin as that loses any meaning.

Rhythm of War is my least favorite of the SA books (still really enjoyed it), but I voted for it all three times here. Prologue - This has the most emotional punch to me and seeing Gavilar with the Heralds was great. Szeth's is probably #2 because of the cool cryptic ending talk with Gavilar and Szeth showing off his powers. "Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king." is a GREAT opening line. Wit Epilogue - Anything with Design must be #1 . Plus we see him interact with a god and someone finally gets the better of Wit, which is refreshing and scary. Cover - RoW or WoK, but they are all close to me. I guess I just like the alien landscape of Shadesmar a lot. I love how the WoK cover uses orange and blue though. Let's gaze at it.

LOL at Brandon's inner monologue being deeply cynical and mean, yet honoring what he tells them. "What if Lift combines her surgebinding powers to get out of this jam. Oh wait I told that ****er Argent that Radiants can't do that. Drat!" As he laid out in the recent Shardcast he gives himself options of how things are gonna go and he reserves the right to change something if he thinks of a better idea as he's writing. Another thing pointed out on the Shardcast is sometimes he's just wrong because he doesn't have his notes in front of him. Even on the Shardcast he got the timeline of when MB Era 2 and SA front 5 take place in relation to each other mixed up. Those two series don't intersect much in the published books so it's just a background fact. He has his own internal wikipedia to keep track of this stuff. To quote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:

With Brandon's appearance on Shardcast he tried to explain in general terms what the difference is between Intent and Command. Eric asked about both Dawnshard and Warbreaker because Vasher talks of them differently. I wanted to put the Dawnshard text and his explanation side by side. I feel like Intent is more the will of the god, it's the want or desire behind the Command. The Command is a more the specific action word. Command is like an expression of the will. CHANGE Most people took the mural having 4 groups of 4 to mean the Dawnshards are essentially the 4 categories of the shards and that may be the case. It is harder to square them being 4 broad categories that 4 Intents fit into with these Commands being inherently more narrow than any one Intent. That said Brandon is explaining this off the cuff and he's giving Warbreaker examples rather than talking Dawnshard vs Shard specifically although you'd think they'd be similar.

This was great!