11thHerald

I think it could be related to the old gods, rather than the shards too. Maybe there was a 4th god who died way way back in addition to the Wind, Stones, and Night. If that's the case, I wonder if it might be the Current because of this quote in chapter 11: Although now that I'm looking at the quote again, it sounds like the Current is a still existing phenomenon, so maybe not.

I did get the impression from Tanavast's POVs that Kor wanted to get off of Roshar so while she might not have intended the formation of Retribution I do think she wanted the compact to not leave to be broken so she could get out

Arguably he also kept his word since he went off alone and it was Cultivation who broke the promise by showing up later

Is it set in stone that Harmony will become Discord or are there other forms the combination of Ruin and Preservation could take? It seems to me like there are ways to reconcile the two depending on how the holder conceives of the respective Intents. For example, I think Sacrifice could be a viable balance because it's destroying to preserve.

Considering that the Current is capitalized, it may be that it's another of the old gods along with the Wind, Night, and Stones.

Immensely satisfied that I called Chanarach being the one to break back in 2020. Other than that, I really liked Adolin, Shallan, and Rlain/Renarin's arcs. The ending was great, I'm really excited to see how things go from here.

Whimsy + Odium = Depravity Whimsy + Wisdom = Wonder Endowment + Mercy = Charity Ruin + Odium = Apocalypse Honor + Whimsy = Caprise Honor + Valor = Endeavor

On the subject of Shards and what cosmic forces they represent (Honor being bonds, Ruin is entropy, Preservation as stasis), I wonder what other Shards might represent. Cultivation I think is likely something along the lines of growth, or positive change. Basically the mirror of Ruin in many ways. I like to think of Whimsy kind of along the lines of creation, though that probably isn't what it represents. I feel like it could be seen as creation under a view of the universe where there was a God and nothing else and the God decided to create the universe. In this sense, Whimsy is kind of the articulation of things being created on essentially a whim. I think it's more likely that Whimsy has something to do with randomness or chance though. Endowment could also be considered along the lines of creation in many ways I think, as might Virtuosity, though Invention probably is the closest analogue. It's hard to figure this type of thing out since we know so little about so many of the Shards.

Perhaps Justness (which to me is distinct from justice)

I also don't think Moonlight is Shai from Emperor's Soul. It sounds to me like she's relatively unpracticed with the Essence Mark for herself, which doesn't really fit with the Shai of the short story. I think it's more likely that Moonlight is a student of Shai or that Shai founded a school/subsect of Essence Markers which Moonlight is part of.

Other than Mistborn itself, I wasn't a huge fan of Mistborn Era 1. Also Kaladin and Dalinar are my least favorite POV characters in Stormlight; Adolin and Shallan (especially WoK and WoR Shallan) are my favorite primary POV characters. Rsyn's interludes, especially in WoR, are probably my favorite parts of SA. Honestly, I think a large part of this is because I really like Brandon's world building so storylines like Rsyn's that explore the different parts of the worlds are really compelling for me.

I might be misremembering, but isn't there a WOB (or at least a lot of speculation) that the ardent Pai who was executed for speaking against the queen is Vedel? Because if so then that might also rule Vedel out, meaning it would have to be Chana who died.

Honestly I think this is what I was trying to say. I want the magic inspired by Whimsy to feel a lot more mystical/unknowable: more whimsical compared to the rest of the Shardic magic systems.

This thought was mostly sparked by me reading an old blog post from NK Jemisin about the popularization in fantasy of the idea that magic must have a system; that is, it must basically be a science (maybe one that isn't possible in our world, but one that has internal consistency and essentially follows the laws of physics/the universe as much as possible). Jemisin's post was mostly about how she doesn't like that this idea has become so central in fantasy recently at the expense of more mystical or "soft" magic that isn't as consistent and logical. Brandon Sanderson, as I think we all know, is a big user/creator of scientific magic systems. I know this is highly unlikely, but I think it would be really cool if whatever world the Shard of Whimsy settled on is the only one that doesn't follow this rule within the Cosmere; Whimsy's magic is mysterious and unexplainable. I feel like this would actually be kinda fitting. All the other Shards produce rigid, scientific magic systems, but Whimsy is well, whimsical, and as a result, its magic system is as well. Obviously, this probably won't happen, but I just wanted to share this thought to see what other people think.

Personally I kinda like Knight of Wasted Truth, especially because it will deal with Szeth and his past as a Truthless even though he was right. His truth was essentially wasted on the Shin, so I feel like it works pretty well