Child of Hodor

He might not want to stick out while cosplaying as various law enforcement officers either. He's got all the proper paperwork, but most constables don't have plate and people might start asking questions. We've never seen him in a battle where his life is really threatened he's stalked and attempted to kill an old man, an old woman and a 13-year-old girl. He'll summon his honorblade for the kill itself, but the honorblade isn't as ostentatious as plate or the spren blade.

Thank you! It would suck if they couldn't use half their powers in armor. I guess it's just a style choice for Nale plus the other reasons people have said.

Other than Nale saying he is of the 5th oath, no. In OB when the Skybreaker is giving Szeth a rundown of the ideals she says it's been centuries since anyone has spoken the 5th which people think is Nale, but there is no independent confirmation. Wearing shardplate presents a lashing issue even if it is a radiant's own active/live plate and not dead plate. In Dalinar's vision where he meets up with the Queen of Thaylena he starts out flying and the other KR says the plate had to be dismissed in order for lashing to work. Investiture resists investiture and all that. That would be another reason Nale wouldn't want the plate on. Plus, Heralds don't seem to think they need to wear conventional armor from what little we've seen. The writer reason is Brandon is saving radiant plate reveals for later books.

Great theory! I don't disagree, but I would point out that this Listener song seems to refer to how the "radiant" spren began bonding humans and Honor/Cultivation sided with humans. When Eshonai transforms in WoR I-5 she sees the Stormfather and thinks of how he "betrayed" the Listeners, supporting humans instead. "spren, stone and wind" refers to Cultivation and Honor spren. Wind = Honor is clear Cultivation = Stone because what plant life there is grows out of stone on Roshar (at least where the Listeners live). These radiant spren began bonding the souls of the humans, which gave humans surgebinding and the spren greater cognition. Spren entering Listener gemhearts (held in a place most dear) didn't get the same cognitive benefit and were confined to a gemheart. This point really isn't essential to your theory. Your theory answers why, in the final WoK vision, Tanavast seems to think the Dawnshards won't be available to help against Odium. Odium hijacked them.

That would be a good swerve and a way to really stick it to Rayse. "Yeah you killed me, but now the vessel with 2 shards has 3 and is better able to act". Dalinar is so clearly on a path to become a Vessel that I suspect he won't be, because it's too obvious. I agree those three Shards fit together as parts of the life cycle of matter. Cultivation combining with other Shards gets weird results. Like what is Odium + Cultivation? A shard focused on growing hatred, but Odium already kind of does that with the Thrill and such. He sort of riots their bloodlust which creates more deaths and tragedies which creates more resentment, grudges and hatred. Now the Thrill is red which means investiture of one shard being hijacked or co-opted by another, so maybe the Thrill was of Cultivation and Odium is hijacking it which is why it grows hatred. If Cultivation combined with Odium we'd get Poison Ivy from Batman. Odium, but more people would be killed by plants . Same idea with Cultivation + Honor. It's just Honor, but growing Honor (which is already happening on Roshar). We have an example with the Knights Radiant. Making Oaths, but there is a progression to it. As more ideals are said and honored the Radiant grows in power. People are incentivized to increase their honorable conduct, rewarded for growing their honor. Cultivation + Honor + Odium: Would be like C + H above, but with Odium being the stick to Cultivation's carrot. Rosharans are rewarded growing their honor, but if they break their oaths they earn god's undying hatred. Honor + Odium = Justice. In the Rosharan Justice system there are two equally important intents: Honor which sets the code of conduct and Odium which goes old testament on you if you break it. *Law and Order Chung Chung Sound*

The Everstorm was ready to be summoned soon after Taln got back because Ulim was the first to escape and he taught Venli how to summon the Everstorm. We don't know for sure Ulim escaped from Braize, but that seems likely. He sees this as a point of pride, a significant accomplishment not something where Taln gave in 3,000 years ago and all the Fused and voidspren sat around waiting until Odium told them it was time to leave and then only Ulim came back and Ulim had to do all the work of manipulating the Listeners by himself. We also know that there is a delay in the coming back, at least for the Fused. Towards the end of OB Leshwi tells Moash that not all the fused have come back across and Taln had been back for months at that point. If Taln broke thousands of years ago why weren't more Fused ready to go when Odium gave the word? They could have used a few more Fused at Thaylen City. If some Fused still haven't made their way back to Roshar in OB then it's not an all at once, at the same speed, return for everyone. It's possible there was naturally a bit of a delay between Ulim getting back and Taln getting back during which time Ulim was working on the Listeners. Something like: 1) Taln let's Ulim past. Taln leaves after but not immediately. 2) Ulim gets to Roshar and teaches Venli how to bring the Everstorm. 3) Taln arrives end of WoK I'll say it is convenient that the Listeners were on the verge of annihilation which made them more desperate, therefore more likely to turn to the old forms of power. Odium was working on Gavilar (he had those black spheres), but there would only need to be a delay of years and not thousands of years between Taln letting Ulim past and Taln showing up. Various spren in the cognitive realm knew a Desolation was coming that's why Wyndle was sent across and Syl defied the Stormfather to go to Kaladin. Syl was already beginning to bond Kaladin in WoK chapter 1 Stormblessed which is 1 year before the current events of the Way of Kings start. Syl knew a Desolation was coming and decided to come across over a year before WoK present day. The spren may have known this because Ulim showed up on Roshar and they knew if one got free more would follow eventually.

That's not how it Desolations start. They start by Heralds allowing voidbringers to leave. "HOWEVER, IF ANY OF THE TEN AGREED TO BEND HIS OATH AND LET THE VOIDBRINGERS PAST, IT OPENED A FLOOD. THEY COULD ALL RETURN." - OB Chapter 38 Once one is allowed to leave they can all leave. If Odium can hold a Herald on Braize after he has given in and is no longer holding the fused back why not let the fused go back and continue to hold Taln? Why let him go at all if Odium can hold them back after they've agreed to let a fused past? He did break, who said he didn't break? There is nothing in the text that says timeframe doesn't matter. The other Heralds didn't refuse to go back after the first round of torture it took an accumulation of additional times being tortured for them to want to quit. Nothing in the text says enduring thousands of years of torture by himself without anyone to lessen the pain wouldn't have a worse impact on his mental health than when he endured hundreds of years with people to share the pain with. You reject the idea because you don't want the character to be Jesus or near perfect. That's fine and you may be proven right it's just not the only possibility and you dismiss the evidence that's in the text. It is in the text that he never broke in the first ~thousand years of torture and that he martyred himself repeatedly by sacrificing himself in battle to beat impossible odds. He's already a martyr figure with greater ability to endure pain than 9 other incredibly powerful beings. I agree with most everything you are saying, Odium wanted the long break and probably manipulated events so that only Taln died, so that the others would be tempted to abandon him and hope one was enough to hold the fused back. It's Brandon so there is probably a secret about what went on after that on Braize. But it's entirely possible Odium wanted Taln to be the only one to die because he knew Taln had never broken and would hold out the longest and give him the long break he was looking for. But then Taln held out longer than Odium thought anyone could.

Because he endured additional torture for thousands of years by himself with no one to share the pain with. The Stormfather says the first gap between desolations lasted hundreds of years and then the gaps became shorte and they were together on Braize to share the pain. They never endured multiple thousands of years of torture and they never did it alone before. I don't see how him being an incapacitated wreck is proof he didn't break from torture when we are told that torture likely went on waaay longer than the other times and that they normally could share the pain when they were together and this time they weren't.

He probably would want to keep up appearances on Braize and play the hide n seek, torture game like normal. Otherwise there is a chance Taln might realize something is wrong and break to go back sooner and warn people.

In the final vision of Way of Kings Tanavast tells Dalinar that Odium has figured out the constant threat of desolations is making humanity unite together and become stronger and that he should let humans turn on each other instead. “Men must face them together ... You cannot squabble as in times past. He’s realized that you, given time, will become your own enemies. That he doesn’t need to fight you. Not if he can make you forget, make you turn against one another." WoK Chapter 75 Odium's plan was to back off and let humanity forget about the larger threat and then come roaring back. I don't think he meant for it to take 4,500 years though. Long enough to kill Honor and the Radiants to disband, the extra ~2,000 after seems more than he wanted to take. When Dalinar visits Thaylen City in OB he sees that art of Taln at a temple had been hit by many lightning strikes from the Everstorm. Odium seems really pissed at Taln for holding out for so long .

She was the construction project that expands a two lane road into a four lane highway, the architect that designed the addition to your house. She was the special edition re-release of your favorite movie, the 20th anniversary remaster of a hit album, the DVD extras menu, the new game + play through of a video game. She was the executive who decided that some M&Ms would now have peanuts inside!

Perfect Endowment performance, Grace! As far as Endowment shaping Edgli's mind, The divine attribute she represents is Blessing. She is the cosmic gift giver! In her letter, she expresses disdain for Hoid refusing the divine power that was offered him (when he had a chance to be one of the vessels). She hates it when someone turns down divine powers offered them. Her whole thing seems to be giving the Cosmere a little extra oomph. Colors are more vibrant, Nightblood is more powerful than he should be (I know not confirmed it was her doing). The magic system on Nalthis, Awakening, allows humans to do what she does on a micro-scale: giving abilities to things that did not have them before. With Awakening the Breath must be freely given it cannot be stolen (it can be coerced). Also, note the receiver doesn't have the option of refusing the gift of breath once the words are said, much to Denth's dismay. They can re-gift, but they can't be rude and refuse the gift sent to them. Gifting, enhancing, blessing is Endowment's deal. She is about enhancing already existing things, not so much about creating new things. She takes what exists and makes it the same, but more so. "You had a chance to be more and refused it" How rude!!! On Nalthis, everyday is Christmas (or other gift-giving holiday).

Dalinar knew of the Everstorm from his visions in WoK. You must unite them, the strange, booming words had told him. You must prepare. Build of your people a fortress of strength and peace, a wall to resist the winds. Cease squabbling and unite. The Everstorm comes.”— Dalinar's memory from one of the visions[6]

Bards are the "Jack of all trades, master of none". Hoid is the "Jack of all investiture, Shard of none"

Haha Dalinar gets all college dorm room philosopher "Hey man, in a way we're all, like, one being ... I choose all living things on Roshar as my champion ... man." Tanavast's cognitive shadow is like John Lennon's ghost in the '90s SNL sketch. "What if you're dead and I'm alive?"

This. I wonder if Radiant Spren like Syl can "have kids" by using some of themselves to create lesser Spren. The lesser spren form the plate, but they still connected to the main Raidant Spren in such a way that when the bond with the main spren was broken it killed both plate and blade.

Stormfather is a strange case. It's unclear if the cognitive shadow of Tanavast is even separable from the spren portion at this point or if they've merged together completely as one being. It's weird (but necessary for plot reasons) that Stormfather doesn't have Tanavast's memories. It's like Tanavast's cognitive shadow is asleep in there and wakes up occasionally to say "Unite Them" in Dalinar's head . Maybe by virtue of Stormfather as a being of the cognitive realm there wasn't much space for Tanavast's mind, or it was badly damaged in the crossover a la what happens to Spren when they come over. Except the shadow can't recover from it.

It does get a bit silly to worry about fantasy ethnicity, but I think the production could be accused of "white-washing". Ghost in the Shell got a lot bad press for casting Scarlett Johanson, whose character is essentially a robot. I know this in-world painting of a Herald isn't *exactly* what Jezrien looked like, but either way it's not just WoB.

I've long thought this would be the ideal format for an adaptation. Roshar is such a wonderful alien world it would be difficult (expensive) to bring to a screen. The spren are so critical to the feel of the story as well, even the little things like angerspren and gloryspren popping up when someone has an emotional moment. If it was live action their choices would be to spend a ton of money to do it right, spend less and have it look mediocre or cut a lot of the spren out. Another thing I worry about with live action is the casting. American film does not have the best track record of casting people of color and only the Shin look like what we call Caucasian. If Brandon has input I'm sure he'd want the casting to appropriate, but he may not have that kind of control. I think these stories are already in their ideal format as novels. That said, if there is an adaptation I'd love to see it as an animated series.

Not officially, but we know from the Stormfather that Honor was dying before the Recreance and his ravings to the Radiants influenced them. The last vision that's based on a historical event is of the Recreance. This suggests he didn't live too long after the Recreance which was as you say was ~2,000 years ago. I don't think Kelsier was born by the time Honor died.

It is weird that the Stormfather remembers Nohadon specifically when he doesn't remember much well pre-Honor's death. Makes me think they were bonded.

I like this idea. Hoid is hinting at his own past. A parallel I found in thinking about how people lived in darkness in Hoid's story was the Singers. They are made more dangerous by having their souls restored, but now they can truly live again and understand the world, unlike how they were before where they were in slave form. They couldn't take god's light into their hearts, because they couldn't connect to spren and let them into their gemhearts. Now they've been healed. I don't think this is the important secret truth Brandon implies that Hoid is hinting at, Hoid's role in the Shattering fits, but it is a connection I noticed.

In The Traveler quote above Frost indicates that Hoid is trying to restore something he lost. Hoid says it's not JUST about the dead. It seems like Hoid's quest is about bringing back a loved one. A person, one would think. However, the epigraph letters I reference above indicate that Hoid was really closely linked to a special gemstone that is now "dead" in the words of Frost. Could this be what Hoid is trying to restore? As the "First Gem" it sounds really special, it may have even been a sentient, sapient object. Not a person, but an entity that was important to Hoid for more than just the power it gave him. I got this idea while listening to the Shardcast that discussed the WoB about the weapon used against Adonalsium being the same thing that gave Hoid immortality and that it was "expended".

Could the thing that gave Hoid immortality be the gem whose name he was using as his own in Dragonsteel? Sidenote: could the gem be what he is trying to bring to life again that Frost refers to in The Traveler? My first reaction when I read that WoB about the weapon not existing in it's current form and being what made Hoid immortal was that the question was too broad. "Magic" guys. They used magic to kill Adonalsium and Hoid is immortal because of magic and magic is different than it was pre-shattering, in other words not in it's original form. But, Brandon said it was expended, which is more specific and made me think of the gem.

I admit the name connection is convincing. Kelsier is a cognitive shadow which is the Cosmere version of a ghost and he got his connection to the physical realm back via Hemalurgy which requires the spike to touch blood when it is initially inserted. I really don't want this to be true. I want at least the Stormlight front 5 to be free of Kelsier. It's not that I hate the character I just don't need him secretly involved everything. Stormlight doesn't need anymore meddling world hopping main characters from other stories. We've got that covered Hoid, Vivenna, Vasher and Nightblood Plus all the secondary characters that joined the 17th Shard ... and a Kandra running around somewhere. I think Mraize is being groomed to be the leader of the Roshar subgroup of the Ghostbloods. Iyatil is like a higher up visiting from Corporate headquarters training up the manager of the Roshar branch of the Ghostbloods. They seem like some kind of interplanetary trade syndicate, their symbol is the three realms merging or a perpendicularity which is used for worldhopping. The way Mraize calls Iyatil his babsk like he's an apprentice merchant also makes me think that. That's just the impression I get, they don't seem like the Skybreakers, Sons of Honor or Diagram who have specific goals related to preparing for, triggering or preventing desolations. It seems like they want more power by collecting and using investiture from throughout the Cosmere. Not sure what they wanted Ash to tell them. Maybe the location of the Honorblades?