Use the Falchion

The fans of the first movie and the genre pushed it forward. Don't worry, I too didn't like the first movie. The sequel was so, so much worse... Anyways, the first movie made over $280 million world-wide on an $85 million budget. That warrants a sequel. Insurgent, despite receiving mixed-to-negative reviews for the most part, ultimately grossed a little over $290 million world-wide. That, for a YA movie and in 2015, was great money. And even if the budge was over $100 million, that's still double the budget earned back. That warrants a sequel. Allegiant grossed nearly $175 worldwide on a $110-140 budget. So...yeah, no sequel there. Allegiant was the camel that broke the YA and Post-apocalyptic dystopian future YA camel's back. Sure, the wave rode itself out with the Maze Runner trilogy, but those movies were good this was the last of the big-screen major releases. Because the the target audience who reads this is most likely not the most intelligent or worldly because their brains aren't fully developed, and are looking for a form of catharsis because they see their own microcosms filled with such fractions, as if the entire world of Divergent was a metaphor for high school clicks and the teenage girls who may feel victimized by this? the point of the series is about nonconformity, and those who are sorted by intelligence are able to use that aspect for further gain. It's silly at best, but I do sort of see the point in that. It's no different than saying that in the future of the Harry Potter world, those sorted into Ravenclaw can become villains because they're surrounded by potential high achievers and very ambitious people, with no genealogy or bloodline to besmirch their name, and potentially enough experience with the Muggle world to be open to Muggle ideas and ideology, which always takes the Wizarding world by surprise. Besides, many books insult their target audience all the time. The Hunger Games sort of does - we as fans revel in the violence and spectacle of Katniss' life, when the whole point is that the system itself is messed up for allowing this...and that our society isn't too far off from something like this happening. (If we ever left it, given how colosseums are now just stadiums and boxing/MMA/kickboxing rings. We may not watch people fight to the death, but sometimes it looks like that. And gladiators may not be fighting lions now, but bullfighting still exists in parts of the world.) It's whether or not the insult is poignant that matters IMO. It's a whole trope thing https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThisLoserIsYou It's not a unique premise, and it's what fans of Hunger Games were craving - a post apocalyptic society where people were sorted by traits/attributes/geographic location simply because "that's how things have been since XYZ world-changing event," and one girl breaks the system. I understand the appeal, it just wasn't well-done. But the point remains. Divergent is still in the YA consciousness, and the books still sell pretty well. Hunger Games still sells very well for YA, and is a solid recommendation. There are still new fans discovering Twilight. If you can make it in YA and have a solid foothold there - preferably with a really good adaptation - then you can gain a legion of followers that will carry your name into the cultural consciousness for a long, long time. Also, and probably more importantly to this direct topic, historically, YA books that are popular enough to gain an adaptation have had a shorter wait-time between the book series coming out and an adaptation coming out. The final Hunger Games book was coming out while the movies were still going IIRC, and the first Divergent movie came out the year after the final book did. Imagine how great that would be for Sanderson. Say something like Skyward gets adapted into a movie series: You've just finished the movies and you've read the books, but you're hungering for more by this author. In the case of other YA books, once you've read what got turned into movies, you've pretty much exhausted their bibliography. But for Sanderson, you discover 3-4 new YA series! But you finish those and want more, and then you discover that he's a fantasy writer too. You're hesitant, since you're not really into fantasy outside of certain authors (I'm thinking Maas, Bardugo, Black, and Claire), but you decide to give it a shot. You liked Mistborn, so why not try the sequel series? You discover that you actually like it a lot! And then you discover the Cosmere...and now you're a new fan and can't wait to tell all of your friends about the other books Sanderson has written. Rinse and repeat for an entire YA demographic, and...well, I think that's a powerful force for Sanderson to weaponize for his Cosmere books, if he still wants more control over an adaptation.

I'm not sure how a contest of art would lead to the mandatory death of the other contestant (unless they must use the other Champion's blood in the art...), but I like the idea! ...Dalinar would be so done for...

This is more of my issue with the fandom than Brandon or his works itself (and it's one that I've stated before), this fandom is too afraid of the YA genre as a whole. I think that's a silly thing to fear or to use as a reason to discount a book by an author whose other works one already likes. And guess what? If you want Sanderson to be a household name, that is where the odds are. Outside of Martin, what are the names of modern SFF authors who have had their works adapted into successful movies or franchises? JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth,* Leigh Bardugo, to name a few. What genre do they all work in? YA? Who is selling like hotcakes right now? Leigh Bardugo in YA. Sanderson has THREE YA properties that could work here - Mistborn** (which is sold as YA as well as SFF), Skyward, and the Reckoners. Besides, it's easier to recover from a bad non-Cosmere adaptation than it would be from a bad Cosmere one. YA is a giant growth market for Sanderson. To be afraid of it is to miss out on a great opportunity. *Roth is both a good and bad example. The first two Divergent movies did incredibly well. The third was poorly received, and I'm not even sure the fourth came out - they were going to replace the lead actress to continue the franchise, but I'm not sure that ever got off the ground. **If you want to sell or pitch Mistborn to new fans right now, the best place to do it is in conjunction with Leigh Bardugo's work. Comparing the plot to Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series and Bardugo's Six of Crows duology works. I've done so multiple times. Heck, at the bookstore near me, Mistborn sells better in the YA section than it does in the fantasy section!

That was a popular theory post-Oathbringer, IIRC. It'll probably be important, but as it stands, we can't say. Unless Dalinar finds this out last minute and has Kaladin arrive at Urithiru faster than we know is currently possible, our favorite bridgeboy isn't going to be the Champion; so Odium's word towards protecting those in/from Kharbranth doesn't really affect this situation. Then again, Brandon has pulled out crazier stuff from under our collective noses.

Mistborn 7 at 56% ReDawn Draft 3 at 33%!

I can definitely see that, and it may not be wrong, but we also don't know the entire story. Did the Narrative start on Earth but stick to Mirandus? Or is there something else going on, like the two worlds originally being one, or something like that? If Brandon has taught us anything, it's that very few things are as they originally appear and there's always another secret.

Dark Deity, an indie-developed and Kickstarted strategy JRPG heavily inspired by Fire Emblem. In many ways, this feels like a Fire Emblem game. But it also has its own mechanics, quirks, and particularities, so it's definitely its own beast. This game is both easy at times and annoyingly difficult. The spikes aren't always placed well, but they are noticeable, and can be overcome. I'll also say that this game is very much a kickstarted game. There are major QoL stuff missing, bugs, and overall parts that feel somewhat incomplete. But this game does shine as well. Its class system is robust, the story enjoyable, and the sprites awesome. The maps and objectives are varied and unique, something Intelligent Systems really needs to learn. The music ranges from great to grating IMO, but overall it's enjoyable. I do wish there was a place to grind in this game. Players are given upwards of 30 units, and most of them in rapid succession of each other, and all of them a level or two stronger than your strongest character at that moment. Not to mention that the level these new units join almost always has them as mandatory...and then the unit selection page is sorted by level, not by frequently used units (like in Fire Emblem), meaning you have to scroll to get the characters you want. So it's easy for a character who isn't used on a map or two simply because they don't have a weapon advantage to fall off in terms of levels. And some of these units are ones I find particularly interesting, or want to see the final classes of. But overall, I'm having a blast with the game, and I recommend it for any Fire Emblem fan.

Knights Radiant like Dalinar, Navani, Lift, and Kaladin would argue against her. Besides, Jasnah is brilliant but she's far from perfect. Trust me, the loop hole theories came out LONG after I had thought up this one. The fact that they work together to me simply means there's something to be seen there. Nothing, but isn't that why we theorize in the first place? We see what we think amounts to evidence in what's happening, take stock at what happens, and then theorize about will happen. I choose to believe my theory because at this moment, it makes the most logical, thematic, and meta sense. I can pick out pieces and see where it's leading to, because it paints a picture. Yours simply doesn't to me. Another problem I see with your interpretation is that it doesn't fit the syntax of the death rattle. If I'm interpreting you correctly, you are saying that Taravangian's choice is life, and that he did the honorable thing in the face of darkness. But if that was the case, wouldn't the syntax of the death rattle itself be "for the night will reign, so the choice of honor is life" instead of what it is? The death rattle reads like an "if, then" clause. "if the choice of honor is life, then night will reign." Your theory, from what I understand, goes with the reverse. Which reminds me of another point: Except for the fact that he lied, cheated, and was directly responsible for the massacre of unknown amounts of his own people (the hospitals were under Kharbranth) and others in order to do this. Very few Orders would call this honorable by any stretch of the meaning. Duty and honor are two separate things. Taravangian did his duty well, but it was achieved in a far from honorable fashion.

The Night of Sorrows. I have a similar theory - that by the end of Book 5, Odium would find a way to block or destroy Honor's Perpendicularity, so that no more Stormlight can reach Roshar. It would be like an extra long Weeping. And why do people weep? Because of sorrow. So what is the appropriate name for a long time of weeping? The Night of Sorrows. Although I disagree on this being a tool to make Dalinar lose. I think it'll be an outcome of the Contest of Champions.

I voted Patrick, since I think if we do see the book (which I think we may see, just not in the next 2-3 years or so), he'll be the one to finish it. But that's the optimist in me. The pessimist gave up on caring about Book 3 a while back.

I'm a fan of the Child Champion theories, but that's a discussion that can be saved for another thread. In terms of this death rattle, I have to completely disagree with you. I think this a reference to the Night of Sorrows, which will be an outcome of whatever happens in Book 5. (Which is related to my overarching theory of how the Contest of Champions will play out.) The entire quote is: To me, this reads as "because we make the right/honorable choice, we are going to lose this battle," instead of your interpretation. It then goes hand-in-hand with the "child champion" death rattle of Combined, the death rattles paint a picture of a terrible choice (kill a child and let everyone live), a Radiant's decision (do the honorable thing and let the child live), and the outcome (the night will reign). Combine that with the fact that Honor's warning of the True Desolation, the Everstorm, and the Night of Sorrows, I don't think we're out of the woods yet. The True Desolation and the Everstorm were two separate things, but we haven't seen the Night of Sorrows yet. That is also what this death rattle is warning us about.

I think he just meant that the "you're the evil overlord, Harry" type of story didn't work out as well as he wanted in the Cosmere, from both a magical and storytelling perspective. As awesome as the Cosmere is, it has limits on what it can do for the magic and for the world itself. Skyward ran into this problem as well, so Brandon took it out of the Cosmere and created the Cytoverse instead (Skyward, Starsight, Cytonic, Book 4, the future novellas, and Defending Elysium).* There are a few WoBs on this as well. From the Houston Skyward Signing: (I was there!!) From a December 2017 signing (so before Dark One snapped into place): There is a Dark One section of the Forum that could use some more love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A67G4ObX7CM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxQYLUUMCxI

Allrianne, I think.

I don't think we have enough to fully debunk this, but this theory has been floating around more or less since Oathbringer. So...welcome to the theory train!

Mistborn at 50%!!

Thanks! I hope it works for you!

Currently revising my Stormlight Archive playlist. As mentioned somewhere else, I imagine the books as anime in my head, so I give them intros and outros. Add that to certain characters having theme songs, and you've got a full playlist. Before RoW, I gave each book one opening and one ending song. Now I'm thinking each book needs at least two of each. To add to that, each book has a end-credits song recap that plays before the Wit Monologue - which have their own song. So yeah, it's a lot. But it's all great. Anyways, here it is. (Please note that the ranking of the OP/ED doesn't mean when it's placed - in fact, the first listed OP/ED would probably be the OP/ED for the second half of the season. They're listed first because I meshed the song and the story first.) TWOK OP 1 - "Re I Am" (English Version) - by Aimer (the Japanese version is my theme song for The Wheel of Time in my head) TWOK ED 1 - "Ref:rain" by Aimer TWOK OP 2 - ??? TWOK ED 2 - "Mirage" by Band-Maid TWOK Recap Song - ??? (Possibly "Throne" by Bring Me the Horizon, but I'd prefer a woman singing...so the cover of the song by Halocene?) Wit Monologue - "Party Monster" by The Weeknd WOR Trailer Song - "(as if it's) A Warning" - by Nothing's Carved In Stone (this may also be the Recap Song. Maybe) WOR OP 1 - "Words That Bind Us" by Nothing's Carved In Stone WOR ED 1 - "Assassin" by Nothing's Carved In Stone WOR OP 2 - ??? WOR ED 2 - ??? WOR Recap Song - ??? (Possibly "Gooey" by Glass Animals) Wit Monologue - "Starboy" by The Weeknd OB Trailer Song - "House Of Cards" by Coldrain OB OP 1 - "Insane Dream" by Aimer OB ED 1 - "Us" by Aimer OB OP 2 - ??? (Possibly "Wretches and Kings" by Linkin Park, as that's Young Dalinar's theme song in my head) OB ED 2 - "Weapon" by Against the Current (the instrumental version will be saved for particularly special episodes, including the "Act 3 finale," which would include [OATHBRINGER SPOILERS] (this is also the song that kicked off the whole revision) OB Recap Song - "Sins of the Father" by Donna Burke (it's also Dalinar's theme song) Wit Monologue - "Devil May Cry" by The Weeknd ROW Trailer Song - "The Search" by NF ROW OP 1 - "Lost In the Echo" by Linkin Park ROW ED 1 - "A Line In the Sand" by Linkin Park ROW OP 2 - "Can You Feel My Heart" by Bring Me the Horizon ROW ED 2 - "Lost" by NF ft. Hopsin (the words "Rhythm of" would appear and cycle through all the rhythms mentioned so far, before ending on Rhythm of the Lost, and then the word lost burns into "war," leaving us with the title Rhythm of War) ROW Recap Song - "Kings and Queens" by 30 Seconds to Mars Wit Monologue - "Heartless" by The Weeknd Book 5 Trailer Song - "Itch For the Cure" by Bring Me the Horizon (the accompanying song, "Kingslayer," is Szeth's theme song. It could actually function as an OP as well. I've even thought about it being the book's OP, but I'm going with the theme of "female singer for male flashback and male singer for female flashback," and "Kingslayer" doesn't fully fit that criteria. There's another character who fits the song of "Kingslayer" too, so depending on their arc in Book 5, I may still include it...) Book 5 OP 1 - "Different" by Band-Maid Book 5 ED 1 - "That Won't Save Us" by Against the Current (the emotion in the episodes/chapters will dictate which version of the song is used) Book 6 OP 1 - "Pupa" by Nothing's Carved In Stone (also Lift's theme song and the ED of Edgedancer) Book 8 OP 1 - "Gravity" by Nothing's Carved In Stone (also Ash's theme song)

Woot woot Deathrise/Lux news! And Evertide fits right in with the other two novella titles.

In the 2020 SotS, Brandon states that all three should get a sequel eventually, and when he's eyeing the time for a sequel.* Also Elantris is guaranteed sequels, as Brandon considers it one of the pillars of the Cosmere (Elantris, Mistborn, Stormlight, and Dragonsteel). So either you can choose between The Atzlanian going the way of Elantris sequels (which is more likely given all that Brandon's said about The Atzlanian, aka not that he doesn't want to write it, but simply he hasn't found the time to do it between everything else) or the Warbreaker sequel (which is still planned according to the 2020 SotS and every mention of it in the 2020 Q&As, but may slip into later in the future). Also, compare Sanderson's tone and definitiveness when talking about writing a sequel to those two books versus how he talks about when writing something not assured, like the Cyberpunk Mistborn trilogy, the Threnody novel, or the Sixth of the Dusk sequel. That's how you know it's not a book that he'll "write if he has time" in the long term. Sanderson always talks about The Atzlanian and Nightblood in a definitive nature with declarations. He thinks he'll write them. He wants to write them. He knows the arcs, plots, and stories, but he simply needs the time and to know when to slot these in. Those have been the largest problems. Compare that with the other three mentioned stories, where it's very much a "these would be cool, but I'm not sure I can get to it" vibe with the quotes. Overall, we may not be getting the sequels to Warbreaker and The Rithmatist soon - which is why Brandon was apologizing for - but we will get them. (Now, The Nebraskan/The Nebraskian, a potential third book for in the Rithmatist's story, is far less likely to happen, given that Brandon has had so much trouble with finding time to write and release the second book. Then again, if Brandon could pull another Shadows of Self/The Bands of Mourning, this would be the series to do it with.) *We as fans shouldn't be beholden to the timeline for the sequels, which is part of the problem IMO.

No problem! I'll try to keep things up to date with Dark One and some of the smaller projects.

I think it's the opposite. What I heard Brandon say when talking about definitive endings is that he regrets teasing a sequel that's now been promised, because now he's obligated to write it but the wait hurts the fans (and also haunts him). He's apologizing for the long wait as well as the sequel hook. Outside of just that, Brandon's pretty open on what books he plans on giving us versus what books he'll give us if he has time; The Atzlanian falls in the first category, but it's not a major priority, so it's hard to deal with. Also, if it's any consolation, in the State of the Sanderson 2020 post, the user Inkthinker on Reddit (I can't remember if that's Isaac's username or Ben McSweeney's username...I think it's the former) notes that Brandon may try to squeeze in The Atzlanian during his time to write Mistborn Era 3, if Brandon feels like he needs a break.

From roughly 4:30-7:30, Brandon and Dan talk about Dark One: Forgotten. It isn't too new of information, but it's being worked on. For those who don't know, DO:F is a(n audio) novella that is a prequel to the main story, and is framed like six episodes of a True Crimes podcast in-world, covering the capture of the serial killer from said story.

When you debate with yourself the perfect year for Mistborn movie to come out in, and then are sad that you have no one else to talk to about it...because, yeah, your friends are Fans, but they're not fanatical like you...

Post-RoW, and in the back five books, I could see Kaladin and Lift being a thing, but also not really, if that makes sense. There's a theory that Cultivation has been working to find new replacements for the Shards - Taravangian for Odium, Dalinar for Honor, and Lift for herself. But, I also think either Kaladin will become Honor, or Kaladin will become a Bondsmith. Or both.* Anyways, having Kaladin and Lift become Honor and Cultivation, and become a couple like the holders before them would be pretty cute. But I'm not sure that would be healthy for either of them. Yes, Kaladin is in a FAR healthier place than before, but I don't think his struggle with letting people go will ever fully go away, even if it's their choice. Meanwhile, Lift isn't someone who really likes being tied down, so I can't see her sticking around Kaladin for the long-run. Other than them: Szeth and Azure - Azure has been in shoes similar to Szeth's and I think he could learn what it means to be free but still hold an internal code from her. Everyone in Mistborn is already paired up for the most part, but maybe in Era 3 I could see that Terriswoman hacker/programmer hitting it off with one of Rock's kids. Or something like that. *A crackpot theory formed in my mind last night where the Stormfather more or less dies, and Syl has to take over his role, since she's the last of the "elder" Honorspren.