Galavantes

There are theories out there that propose the Heralds have become perverted versions of themselves. So what Natan is doing now is NOT what the skybreakers originally were. Also as Numb said the current group don't actually surgebind, with the possible exception of Darkness himself, who is likely using his old honor blade to do so.

Parshendi I think are native Rosharians, maybe the only ones

Then, where are the aimians from?

Agreed. I'm betting the parshendi are one of if not the only native humanoid race.

I'm not going to say that Adolin's cold blooded murder of Sadeas was right. But it sure as hell made me happy, and to be honest given what Sadeas did to them it's more realistic than their previous decision to just pretend like he didn't blatantly cause the deaths of hundreds of their soldiers and friends.

The only thing that disappoints me about it is that Sadeas was a formidable opponent. He added intrigue. 

Also we know that Braize is the world referred to as Damnation. It's in WoR but I 1) haven't seen it mentioned in this forum from the threads I've read and 2) didn't want to remake another thread as I had already made one in the Cosmere board.

How do we know this?

We don't actually know for sure that you have to be "level 3" to get a shardblade. Shallan had hers when she was very young after all. We should hold out on that particular assumption for now.

I think some of these are from worlds we haven't seen yet. Ie: The sand could be from "White Sand". And I do believe that the flower is one of those flowers they grow in Warbreaker that provides the really potent dyes.

Edit: Ninjad by Edgedancer

 

Hello everyone, I have read the forum for a long time now, but this is my first time posting.

 

I know that a number of people have suggested that the powder that Hoid pours into his drink was bronze in order to sense Shallan. I tend to agree with this theory, but have been considering the possibility that it was actually copper. Since it has been said that a coppercloud could block one from sensing magic non-native to Scaladrial I was thinking that perhaps Hoid was burning copper in order to prevent being sensed by anyone.  Later in the book Hoid tells Dalinar that he has to be careful not to be found by Odium:  "I cannot risk too much, because if he finds me, then I become nothing--a soul shredded and broken into pieces that cannot be reassembled. What I do here is more dangerous than you could ever know." I am not sure if a coppercloud would be enough to prevent being sensed by something as powerful as  Shardholder, but I thought that this may be a possibility.

 

Alternatively, we also know that Hoid is being pursued by members of the Seventeenth Shard whom he easily manages to elude. I was thinking that it is possible that at least one of the members trying to track him has abilities similar to that of  seeker in which case burning copper would be useful. 

 

While I still agree with others that the powder was most likely bronze I thought that this was a reasonable alternative worth consideration.

 

I'm also of a mind that a coppercloud isn't going to hide you from a shard. It doesn't even do such a good job against a strong allomancer.

He probably WAS using bronze, but I do like the alternate idea that he was using it to hide from a 17th shard allomancer. 

Upvote for a nice plausible theory with your very first post!

I like Outis' theory.

Also is it possible that Cultivation's name is Rysha?

I would actually contend that Nightblood is a great deal like a Shardblade.  Rather than a Cognitive entity in the Physical Realm, he's a Physical entity with a strong Cognitive aspect.  He drains investiture with use, like an Honorblade.

I almost wish I could read this book without any cosmere knowledge just so I can see how these things really are coming across. Maybe I'll experiment on a friend who's never read Brandon before and force them to read SA first. Would that be mean? 0

See I disagree with the prevailing mentality pretty heavily. Wit/Hoid was treated EXACTLY the same as "Darkness" who was treated exactly the same as Vasher. Who was treated exactly the same as the God of mischief and laughter, who was treated exactly the same as some broad defacing artwork of the heralds. Wit poisoning himself was treated exactly the same as Renarin fidgeting with his box. Elkohar seeing shadows and people coming after him is treated exactly the same as nightblood, which was treated exactly the same way as Galivars dark gem which was treated exactly the same as The Lopen absorbing Stormlight.

If you can't tell the difference between an Easter Egg and foreshadowing, then there is no difference to you. If there is no difference, then there is no foreshadowing. If there is a whole book with no foreshadowing I'm going to get bored and not read it.

Tl:Dr if there is this many completely unexplained "Easter Eggs" that I can't follow the Stormlight archives without reading the rest of his stuff, I'm not going to read Stormlight aar

I'd upvote this, except that function seems to be broken. The forums are having a rough time with all the WoR traffic. Who wants to start the "Upgrade 17th Shard Server" donation fund?

I don't think stormlight is in short supply. I think it was just in short supply right at the end of WoR because we were near the end of the weeping

I'd do it. All I do at work all day is documentation anyway. Alas I'm not one of the inner circle.

To OP:

I've actually wondered what it would be like for someone to read the Archive without knowledge of the rest of the books. In looking back at it I think most of the references really are easter eggs. EXCEPT the nightblood reveal. That's a pretty big plot point. I tried to imagine reading that scene without any cosmere knowledge, and all I could come up with is someone would think: "Oh cool, a voidblade!" Or something similar.

Except they're totally wrong. So I AM curious how Brandon is going to explain that sword to readers within the context of the Stormlight archive. Are those readers who aren't in the know going to just be left confused as to the origins and abilities of this new powerful sword? I don't know. I'm really curious how he's going to handle that.

We do know that Nightblood was always planned to be in this series, so I'm trusting in that for the moment.

I don't think this has been mentioned before...but I also think Kaladin can use the pressure surge to feel where attacks are coming from. This is alluded to pretty strongly in the duel scene where he's able to dodge attacks without even looking. I think he can feel the pressure when a blade is passing through the air. So this is also a pretty big advantage.

I'd be interested to know if they are born "not 100% human", or if it relates to bathing in the pools/being able to see spren

Or on the other side of the coin, perhaps they can survive those waters because they are not 100% human.

I tend to agree that the tower is high enough to avoid the HIghstorms. That's why the windows facing east are unbroken and the crem is fairly light even after thousands of years. I'm betting the top of the highstorms just barely scrape the bottom of the tower, close enough to infuse gems, but far enough to avoid damage.

Edit: Also the lack of stormlight is only a problem during the weeping. In fact with the oathgates you can really infuse all your gems twice. Once on the shattered plains, then teleport them all west, and let the storm hit them a second time.

I honestly doubt we'll ever see Hoid throw down. We pretty much have WoB that Hoid would stomp anyone. So the only beings he would even NEED to go toe to toe with is an actual Shard, which is way out of his weight class.

Hoid doesn't fight because he's so powerful that he doesn't need to.

Edit: Particularly if you subscribe to my theory that Hoid is able to utilize EVERY magic system in the cosmere. That's so many powers that a lot of them actually start to become redundant.

BOOM!

Sorry Kurk that was mainly a joke referring to another thread where I mentioned that you are always linking content

Also in my defense, you DID read this thread.

Awesome thanks. Edited. Also in response to Argent:

Still Spoiling warbreaker:

Warbreaker spoilers here:

Warbreaker Spoilers:

Vasher clearly had breathes during his interlude. He was able to sense Kaladin before he even got to his door. What heightening is that? I don't recall how life-sense grows with breathes. Would he have needed enough breathes to bend colors around him in order to feel Kal outside his door?

Except then he wouldn't have had perfect pitch while speaking with Kaladin.