Use the Falchion

I think the two most likely figures right now are Gavilar - assuming he's revealed to be alive - and El. However, both of these choices mostly rule out their chance at being Odium's Champion in my mind. I think Book 5 is likely going to go beyond the Final Ten Days leading up to the Contest of Champions.* The Interlude character appears in all of the parts of the book. Granted, nothing's to say that just because they're interlude characters that they'll only be in Interludes. In fact, we know that to be false. We could easily have the Interlude Character show up as Odium's Champion, and then spend the rest of the interludes dealing with the fallout of the Contest of Champions. But El and Gavilar aren't as built up as other Interlude Characters have been: Szeth was in the prologue; Eshonai made an appearance at the end of TWOK; Moash was a major influence all throughout WOR; and Taravangian had multiple viewpoints and whatnot by the time he was an Interlude Character. EDIT: OB's interlude character was Venli, not Moash. Still, Venli had been a known presence in WOR. El has been mentioned about twice (that we know of) and showed up once in a single chapter. That leaves a LOT of work to be done in the Interludes if he's going to become Odium's Champion. The same is true for Gavilar, but that Kholin has the benefit of being the center of the prologues, even if he's not the main point in certain ones. THAT BEING SAID, I could totally see Gavilar's Prologue having a Wham Ending, with him being alive after death and things going pretty much how he wanted, and then we see what he's up to all throughout the book in Interludes. To us it would look like he's working alongside the main plot, but in the final Interlude, it would be revealed that no, Gavilar was working on something else entirely, and the implications leave us speechless and eager for the second arc. Another wildcard choice would be Odium, but I feel that might be too similar to Taravangian's Interludes in ROW. And still another wildcard is Gavinor, if he does indeed become Odium's Champion. He would also provide an interesting perspective on everything going on in the tower. But honestly, despite me believing he'll be Odium's Champion, I'd hate for him to be the Interlude Character. Ultimately, I still think Gavilar and El are likely to be the Interlude Character, but whatever they're doing will be set up for the second half of Stormlight. The interludes simply aren't frequent enough in the book to make Gavilar and El work as Odium's Champion. But Brandon is a far better writer and planner than I am, so who knows what he he's cooking up. *This too is an assumption. Book 5 is as likely to be all about the leadup to the Contest of Champions as anything else. I just think that it would be incredibly difficult to pull off everything within ten days. But hey, maybe every part of the book is two days, and the Epilogue is the next day. Anything is possible.

No problem and welcome! I'm not sure Kadash would be a good fit either. It feels like a Catholic Bishop deciding to become a Satanist for a day because his best friend is Martin Luther and plans on starting the Protestant Church - it's an overreaction.

Definitely a fan of the theory! I'm not sure how much I believe it, but I'll add it to my list of fun theories to keep an eye out for in future rereads! (Also the way this uses a Death Rattle is a super cool one, and one that I hadn't thought of before. Awesome!)

Dragonsteel sadly isn't readily available (yet), which is one of the criteria mentioned.

Phenomenal list! Although Mitosis should probably be put with the Reckoners stuff (between Steelheart and Firefight), since it is a Reckoners novella. You may also want to include another category for collaborations and who co-wrote them, as we'll be seeing far more of those in the future. Or you can include them into the categories they belong to, if they're part of an existing work. So far we have: Skyward Sunreach (Co-authored with Janci Patterson) (Coming 2021) ReDawn (Co-authored with Janci Patterson) (Coming 2021) Evershore (Co-authored with Janci Patterson) (Coming 2021/2022) Alcatraz Bastille vs the Evil Librarians (Co-authored with Janci Patterson) (Coming 2022) Dark One Graphic Novel (Co-authored with Vault Comics) (Released) Forgotten (Audio-novella; Co-authored with Dan Wells) (Probably coming 2022) The Apocalypse Guard* Co-authored with Dan Wells (Unsure Release Date) The Original Co-authored with Mary Robinette Kowal (2020) Songs of the Dead Co-authored with Peter Ourillian (Unsure Release Date) Reckoners LUX (Audio-novel; Co-authored with Steven Michael Bohls) (Coming July 22, 2021)

I...don't think this will happen at all, or at least not soon. The Alethkar line is secure right now with Jasnah and Gavinor. Jasnah having a child would complicate things, as feelings about who should inherit may create a succession crisis. Adolin and Shallan should probably be more worried than Jasnah, since the line of succession would be: Jasnah, Gavinor (and any potential future children from Gavinor), Adolin and Shallan's children. In terms of keeping Wit around...I don't think that would be enough of a reason to keep him around, honestly. The guy has lived for thousands upon thousands of years. He's probably seen lovers come and go. Heck, he may have seen children come and go, so having one here isn't that big of a deal. Besides, Wit is more likely to want to bring Jasnah along with him on his adventures if she's willing than settle down on Roshar long-term. It may be more beneficial to keep Wit as a lover who is willing to take her on wild adventures around the Cosmere than it would be to try and force him to settle in one place with her.

Yeah, I don't think he's going to make it out either, but I don't think the aforementioned theory will be the way he goes out.

Love the theory! I'll definitely see if it holds weight on my next readthrough!

I think I agree with other posters in that Ishar using Connection and Adhesion is probably the correct answer, but I like your answer a lot more. It gives a terrible weight to what Ishar is doing, but it could also make sense with his warped view of the Desolations. In his mind, if Ishar could make this work, then maybe he could find a way to undo it, and use that way to kill the Fused. (Or make himself and the rest of the Heralds something that can get off Roshar) It reminds me of a scene in Fast Five. (I saw F9 on Saturday, so the franchise is on my mind.) At the beginning of the movie, our protagonists were involved with a heist that ended with a car that a corrupt politician wanted. Our heroes ended up taking the car apart to find out what made it special. When a third party antagonist (played by The Rock) was hunting our heroes - and after snuffing them out of their first hideout - he ended up having his team put the car back together in order to find out what the protagonists were after. Maybe the same can be said for Ishar in your case. He knows what the Fused do. He may even know how they do it. But he needs to replicate it with something that inherently doesn't work that way. Yet, if he can make it work, then he can figure out how to unmake the other thing.

Evershore Draft 1 at 8%!

Pretty much. I think it started as a homebrew DND campaign that ultimately expanded into what Malazan is today. https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Role-playing_Game_Origins_of_the_Malazan_Series That being said, I partially and respectfully disagree with the original premise on two levels. The first is personal, as I've witnessed some campaigns (some I've been apart of, and more I haven't) that could be absolutely fascinating reads or views. Oh, and Critical Role exists. The second is more related to the topic at hand. Although I'm only four books in (and have been for the past three years...), Malazan has given me some of the best experiences in Fantasy. The whole of Deadhouse Gates, the climax of Memories of Ice, and several scenes of House of Chains are some of the best I've read in the genre. But I definitely understand, respect, and acknowledge the original controversial opinion!

Another terrifying combination of friends - Lily from Modern Family and Diane from Black-ish. Two very driven (and possibly sociopathic) young women who feel isolated even within their own family (Asian and adopted by a gay couple & dark-skinned in a family of not-as-dark-skinned Black Americans respectively) who desire to achieve great things and have atypical means of achieving them. Both are incredibly worldly and very snarky as well. Zoey and Hayley would also probably relate, as would: Luke and Jack, Dre and Jay, possibly Phil and Jr. in a inter-generational friendship, Rainbow and Claire, and definitely Gloria and Ruby; Rhonda and Cam & Mitch wouldn't get along, but they'd come to respect each other. Sadly, Alex and Manny have no peers, but I could see Pops passing down some worldly wisdom to the bookish pair. (Zoey may get along decently with Manny though...hmm...*) Honestly, I'm actually surprised these two shows didn't cross over. They were on the same network, were both about families, and while using different styles of humor, could have easily blended them. Although I guess it makes sense - people like my dad who like parts of Black-ish but hate Modern Family would hate the crossover and the idea of them crossing over. But at the same time, I really like the idea of the shows mixing - Modern Family did have minorities, but its cast of Black reoccurring characters was tiny (something that many non-Minority sitcoms struggle with). Meanwhile, Black-ish doesn't have too many white characters that aren't foolish in an offensively ignorant way. Having characters who aren't that - with the exception of Phil, where the joke is that everyone around him understand why it's so offensive, while the context in his mind is different - would be interesting to see. Hayley dating Junior would also be an interesting twist. Sure, Junior is no Andy, but the complexities of an interracial relationship could be explored in more detail.** In Black-ish, it's a joke for the most part, although it does play into Rainbow's background and character. In Modern Family, it's openly accepted after the first few episodes. Showing how one gets to that point of open acceptance would be interesting to see. (And Phil seems to be on good terms with most of Hayley's long-term boyfriends, so this would be another case of that.) THAT BEING SAID, I like Junior's current girlfriend, and Andy should have been the final boyfriend for Hayley. But in an alternate world... The only difficult part I can think of would be logistics within the show. I think both shows take place in California, but I'm not 100% sure. Let's say it's two inter-connected but not incredibly linked episodes, like the first Flash and Arrow crossovers. Let's say this is about Season 8-10 of Modern Family, and around Season 6-7 of Black-ish. (So around 2018-2019 for both of them?) The first episode would be a Modern Family episode. Claire, as head of the closet company, decides to take the family out to dinner in a different part of California before working on a business deal in the area the next day. Meanwhile, Dre and his family decide to have a nice dinner out at a restaurant's new opening location. (The inside joke is that this is the restaurant that Jay had wanted to eat at one episode, but everyone's issues as couples kept interrupting. They eventually all were kicked out.) Sadly, the restaurant over-booked, and now there's only one reservation left. Phil, being Phil proposes that they share the table. Everyone else objects, finding it preposterous that they have to give up what is "their reservation and family dinner." So the hijinks ensue. Claire and Dre get competitive over the reservations, with Jay and Pops stepping up to help their children. Gloria and Lily are try to scheme their way in, but are countered by Ruby and Diane at every turn. Hayley tries to seduce Jr., and if Zoey is there (and single - I haven't seen Grown-ish), I could see her trying to pull the same thing on Manny. This weirdly results in the two older siblings being incredibly protective of their younger family members...and getting along well themselves. Joe and DeVante can just be friends in the corner. Meanwhile, Phil keeps saying accidentally racist things because he doesn't understand the context. Ultimately, the issue is solved when a different restaurant patron says something racist, and Phil and the rest of the Dunphy-Delgado-Pritchett clan stick up for the Johnson family. The two decide that Phil's idea was originally a good one, and we end on the two families eating a meal together. The post-credit scene would be Gloria and Ruby having a blast at a gun range. The next episode would be a Black-ish episode, and would feature the Dunphy-Delgado-Pritchett family staying at the Johnson's for a meal while Claire deals with Dre's workplace closet makeover and his crazy coworkers. Jay would probably be a part of this storyline as well, connecting to Dre in a way that neither expected and makes Claire super competitive.*** At the house, Phil would be feeling inferior to Rainbow as a worker, but he'd later help out Rainbow do something in terms of connecting with her kids. The end of this storyline would involve Dre and Phil talking about how amazing their wives are, and how much they need to do to support them while the wives share a glass of wine and talk about the day. The C-Plot would involve Diane and Lily getting up to some diabolical stuff - this crossover started with those two, so they better get more time together in the second episode! If we were to do a third episode, it would focus on the other children. Hayley and Jr would be going out on dates (Zoey and Manny as well, although I assume Zoey would be back on her spin-off show for now). Alex - and Manny, if he doesn't have the romance subplot with Zoey - would be upset that she doesn't have a cool counterpart. Pops would take her under his wing, and the two would get up to some fun stuff though. This turned out far longer than just a "hey these two characters would get along" post I was planning, but oh well! *And now I'm imagining Manny quoting Maya Angelou and Ida B. Wells to a not-as-knowledgeable Zoey, in support of an argument that has come up during the fake date, and ending with something like "It's your culture and history. It's your experience. I'm just trying my best to support it." But when Zoey asks Manny about his Colombian roots, he's at a loss. He wouldn't be able to name any Colombian philosophers or poets or writers. This would later inspire the two - assuming they become a pair, or at least incredibly close friends - to take a summer abroad to go to Colombia. (Jay, Joe, and Gloria would tag along, of course.) **This has turned into a mini-arc for Hayley. I could see Rainbow trying to discourage the relationship. Hayley sees this and thinks it's because she's white, something Hayley found out that Rainbow had issues with in the past. But then it turns out that Rainbow is afraid because she thinks Hayley would drag Junior down. Neither are working towards college degrees, and neither seem to have an idea of what they're doing in life. Hayley would retort with her Influencer and photography work, but Rainbow would remark that unless Hayley plans on studying and making that a career, those choices won't last throughout her life. After a little soul-searching and a few wise words, Hayley decides to pursue a real estate license, just like her old man. (Her influencer connections would undoubtedly pay off big-time in the real estate business.) Interestingly, all roads lead back to Andy in this case, as Hayley's work in real estate would put them in the same social sphere. ***Either that, or he'd bond with Jack over crafting stuff, and the that would lead to Jay giving Jack a recommendation for an internship at his old business.

Saw F9 last night. My immediate text to some friends was "F9 is the love child between a superhero movie where everyone's power is "CAR," and Justin Lin's Star Wars: Episode IX fan fiction. And I love that part of it." The movie is the most experimental, most intimate, and most expansive of all of the F&F movies. It's fun, self-referential to the extreme (to the point of noting what part of the story the characters are in, and how many insane life-or-death situations the characters have been in and haven't received a scratch from), and utterly ridiculous. Let logic fly out the window with this movie, because Vin and his co-stars are all superheroes at this point.

It was creepy and weird, and a little scary, but I didn't dread much. To me, dread usually comes from one of two places. The first is not truly understanding something and knowing you never will, but it's potential/power to hurt you is incredibly vast - think most Eldritch monsters. The second place is knowing or understanding something to a degree that scares you because either 1) you yourself are capable of that same thing (aka the "the monster I could become") OR 2) you know exactly what they are capable of, which means you need to take them seriously. To me, the best example is Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. When Thanos is on-screen, viewers feel dread for every heroic character he passes, because we know this can't end well. We fear his words because Thanos doesn't lie. I felt more dread when Odium picked Dalinar to be his Champion at the end of OB than I did with the Unmade, because I understood the implications of this action. There is a third type of dread, which is more applicable to video games. That's the dread of what happens when the Unwinnable Boss appears. One of the best examples to me is in the game Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. There is an enemy called the Black Knight, who is utterly unbeatable until the final chapter. Early in the game, there's a level that players think is completely normal, and then the Black Knight comes out of nowhere. Now you have to meet the mission objective while also running away from this unbeatable foe who WILL kill any of your party within range. It's terrifying. The titular monster from Alien is also uses a mix of this and the first type of dread - you can't beat it, you can't run from it, and you can't understand it. But it hunts you all the same. (Contrast this with the titular monster in Predator, where it doesn't feel as filled with dread. Suspense, yes, but not dread.) The Unmade don't really fit any of these categories. They feel like they're trying to be Eldritch monsters, but if we try hard enough, we can understand them. And one of the smaller themes in Oathbringer - as shown through the Unmade (and later explored to a degree in Starsight) - is that once something feared is understood, it is no longer to be feared. So it goes from a potential Type 1 (Eldritch) to a Type 2 (Understandable); but Sanderon's message is that turning things into Type 2s is how to defeat them...which means they aren't a Type 3.

Great to know! Thanks for asking!

Worldbuilders Chat from yesterday. It probably shouldn't belong here, but since I don't think anyone would put it anywhere else... https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1066634588

That's awesome to know! Thanks for the info!

Prequels aren't inherently bad, simply difficult to do well. When done correctly (or, in the case of the Star Wars PT, when properly expanded upon*), they're great. Flashback stories are also the same as prequels. (But they get more leeway due to them usually being immediately relevant, as opposed to traditional prequels.) Also, the Fantastic Beasts prequels, despite not being good movies IMO, do everything a prequel should: They focus on characters not directly related to the original cast, They expand both the worldbuilding and the scope of the conflict. They recontextualize certain aspects of the original series. They aren't tied into the plot of the original series in any major way. Granted, you don't have to follow the above to make a good prequel - indeed, many good prequels don't do the above. Likewise, following the above doesn't guarantee the prequels will be good at all - just look at the Hobbit movie trilogy. But I think these steps help.

Brandon really likes dropping surprises on us! Although I feel like I would have liked to have known about the release date beforehand.* The first chapter was really interesting, and it's nice to get back into the Reckoners world. That's a good question, and one I've seen pop up here and there. All of the interviews and times Brandon has talked about it, I felt like these novels/novellas would take place post-Calamity, but the synopsis doesn't make it seem that way. I guess we'll have to Read And Find Out!

I noticed the novella/novel thing too, but admittedly didn't think much of it. While I think the more likely scenario is that the novellas were combined into one novel, there's also the possibility that the novellas ran long, and became novels in their own right. So instead of calling them novellas, Sanderson & Bohls made the executive decision to retitle them as official novels. Of course, we won't know until we ask, or they tell, or the other two stories come out. Fortunately, there's likely to be a Q&A next week...

I watched the movie Rurouni Kenshin: The Final last night. A solid 8.5/10. I think it's the best of the RuroKen movies, even if it's not my favorite live action one overall. The Final has a lot of individual pieces that I like, but something about the first and third movies do it for me. I can't wait to see The Beginning though, as I have a feeling it might be my favorite.

Again, I don't disagree. But to me all of that isn't bad, just not up to par. And as much as I don't like this piece of the puzzle, it's only one piece. Once we see the whole picture, this awkward piece we don't like may fit better. And maybe if you're like me, maybe the book will smooth out some of its problems in a reread. (Closer to when the novellas and Cytonic come out, of course. No need to rush into a story we didn't like just to see if we'll like it again without reason.)

Broken enough that it caused more problems than it was currently worth. TAG had to mix its own ideas with the worldbuilding and magic system of the Reckoners too, and something in that original ending broke more than it reconciled. If he ever does fix the new version - which I believe he will - then it'd be fun to read that next to the old version, and see what wasn't working. As for Starsight, I'm not the hugest fan of that book either. Skyward is one of Brandon's best works to me, and to have it followed up by something that felt like I was reading Shallan's arc in WoR all over again mixed with the flight school of Skyward...didn't make for the best experience. I like both of these things, but together they didn't feel as interesting or original as Sanderson may have hoped. I'm sure I'll like it more on rereads though. But Sanderson's recent comments about him and the readers having different ideas and priorities really helped clarify things. (I think it was during the interview with The Dusty Wheel, but I'm not 100% sure.) To paraphrase, Brandon saw the Cytoverse as "the adventures of Spensa," with her doing cool things at cool times - the focus was always on her. Meanwhile, fans thought the focus was on Spensa and Skyward Flight up against these impossible odds and whatnot. This divide between what fans thought the series was and what the creator thought the series was is now a source of a divide.

Only in the fantasy genre, which, outside of Tolkien, Martin, and Rowling aka three of the biggest authors in the world (and maybe Riordan if you want to count him) is hardly household. Outside of the fantasy bubble, Sanderson is a medium-sized-but-missable-fish-in a-MASSIVE-pond. A great adaptation turns you from that medium-sized fish into a household name. Iron Man was a C-list hero before his movie came out, even in the comics. Now he's one of the single most popular superheroes in the world, up there with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man. The Witcher is famous because of the video games, not the books. But now, people can choose between the books, show, and Netflix show. And do you want to know when the books started selling to many non-Witcher fans? When the show came out. Even Jordan, who didn't have his book sales be overtaken until 2018 by Martin no less, is not a household name. But a well-done adaptation may get him there. Martin was a great fantasy author who did well in his genre, but once GoT picked up steam, his show became a cultural phenomenon. Sure, the prestige of the world and story have fallen, but people still know who he is, even if they don't "like" or "read" the genre. The same is true for Harry Potter and Tolkien. Many people who don't like Fantasy or SFF can still name the respective work and author, simply because it's a part of the cultural landscape. Sanderson simply isn't there, and while the Cosmere may be his addition to that landscape, I think there are easier ways to get to the door. No argument or disagreement here. I think there are two possibilities, with the information we have from last year's SotS and collaborative projects: 1) Brandon collaborates more on the YA ideas he has. Brandon and Dan clearly enjoy working together, as evidenced by Dan being the first person Brandon asked to help fix The Apocalypse Guard when it failed, and their current collaboration on Dark One: Forgotten.* Brandon clearly enjoys working with Janci, as he asked for her help with Alcatraz 6 and then asked her to write the Skyward novellas. Brandon probably enjoyed working with Steven Bohls, as he speaks highly of the Deathrise/Lux novellas...when he speaks about them at all. And Brandon and Mary Robinette clearly had fun on The Original. The same seems to be true with Peter Orullian and Songs of the Dead, but there's no timeline on that book. So you have Brandon working with people he enjoys, who are helping bring his ideas to life, while all he has to do is revise a draft every now and then? That sounds like a plus to me. It's a nice distraction that keeps the output consistent, gives lesser-known authors some visibility, and overall just seems like a blast for everyone.** Besides, it feels like a sign that Brandon is a big enough author to do this - Patterson, Riordan, and a third author I can't think of at the moment all do this as well. Fans will complain about how these "aren't Brandon's words/work/whatever" and don't need to be read because of it (or, if Isaac starts to write in the Cosmere, non-canon becaue it's not from Brandon's hands, despite Brandon probably collaborating and overseeing everything about it, and ultimately approving it), like I've seen some do with The Original and Dark One and whatnot. 2) Brandon turns his YA side-projects into YA side-projects that exist in the Cosmere. This is just as likely to me, as Brandon has talked about that YA kite-based magic system story he had planned, as well as a potential YA story set on First of the Sun I believe. So Sanderson is still writing YA in a way that's a break from his heavier and tomes, but it's all in the Cosmere, which means we as fans feel like there may be progress. The problem comes in two eerily familiar forms. The first is that fans who don't like YA may feel conflicted and/or betrayed, now that they feel "forced" to read YA for the Cosmere stuff. The second is that these books aren't actually relevant to the Cosmere story as a whole, which means they're doing the same thing as the non-Cosmere stories in the eyes of those who don't like them and are "distracting" Sanderson from his true goals. (I just responded to someone on Reddit who brought up these exact feelings.) *Also, just a fun WoB about future sequels to The Apocalypse Guard: (From March 25, 2020) **Not sure how pay works in these cases though. I'd like to imagine Brandon takes far less than what a usually collaboration costs, simply because he doesn't need it, but I'm not entirely sure what their contract would state.

I don't feel as if Gavilar would say "yes" with as much resignation or guilt as you think he would. As far as we know, Gavilar wanted to become immortal and eternally famous. If Dalinar was in his way, the above WoB doesn't make me feel like the former Alethi king would have any real regrets in disposing of him. Affection isn't going to stop someone like Gavilar from accomplishing their goals. And again, I still don't think Gavilar as Odium's Champion be as emotionally resonant as Gavinor could be.