Use the Falchion

Other theories that I forgot the first time around: The book will end with some big reveal about Shinovar. My current guess is that they either have all of the missing Shardblades or possibly even the Dawnshards. But they have something and it's going to freak everyone out. Hoid's story will be a lie. There's a lot of speculation that Hoid's story will be instrumental in one of the key scenes in this book, if not THE key scene. My theory is that he's going to convince someone to do something incredibly brave or sacrificial and it'll be seen as heroic...and during the epilogue, we'll see that Hoid manipulated the even for his own gain, making is afraid OF Hoid instead of afraid FOR him.

I care more about the kids than the adults as well, but Endeavor's arc is still brilliant. It feels a lot like MASSIVE, MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW FOR NON-MANGA READERS I wasn't the largest fan of Pop at the beginning either for a couple of reasons, but she's grown on me since then. And seeing cameos from other heroes pre-character development makes the manga worth it (Midnight is HILARIOUS, Aizawa is as good as he always is, and the OG Ingenium is a cool dude). Also echoing what @aneonfoxtribute said about this series and Season 5. Granted, I'm almost positive the show will find a way to address this, but it's still good to be prepared if they don't.

Alas, I can't remember anything other than me not knowing the song, and then realizing it was No Reason.

I almost think a television show may work better, since the meta-narration may be too much for one sitting. If it was stretched out over a couple of episodes, or one long season in which there are breaks, I think it would be okay. It's like the Deadpool problem. Deadpool is great in small bursts, but any longer and the charm wears off. But honestly, I'd take any medium.

To each their own! Two to three arcs per season, but they're all connected. The filler level throughout the show is very low overall, and things that are filler are usually still entertaining. I wouldn't worry about getting an entire season or two worth of filler ala Naruto or Bleach. In terms of how long the show will go - hopefully until the manga officially finishes.

Are you talking about the manga or the anime? Because depending on which, those are two very different conversations. I'm a manga fan first and foremost, but I went through the first three seasons with my dad. He usually doesn't care for anime or animated shows (with the rare exceptions being Avatar: The Last Airbender and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (and a little bit of Rebels)), but he liked MHA! I've been meaning to go through Season 4 with him since the dub dropped on Hulu last month, but we have a lot of shows to watch and less time to do so since grad school started back up. In terms of the show, I love to hate on Bakugo, but being completely honest, his and Endeavor's character development are top tier. Like, Jaimie Lannister level development.

Dune has been delayed.

Sum 41, Rise Against, Linkin Park, and Relient K reigned supreme over my 5th-8th grade music tastes. Linkin Park was and has continued to be my favorite, but certain Sum 41 songs still rock. I actually had a dream earlier where the song "No Reason" was playing. It was SUPER weird.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/spider-man-3-jolt-jamie-foxx-returning-as-electro-exclusive

The good news is that Alcatraz is finished and is slated for an early 2021 release! Maybe he'll have time to write Rithmatist 2 in-between or after Skyward 4 and Wax & Wayne 4, since those are smaller books...? I can almost see it...Brandon starts Wax & Wayne 4 on Jan 1, finishes up The Apocalypse Guard as a slight break, writes Skyward 4, and then ends the year with The Rithmatist 2/The Atzlanian...now when I type that out, I'm not sure he'd have time to do all of that in the drafts needed, but who knows...

Excluded: Ascended versions of characters, Nightblood, TLR, Shards, and characters who we don't know enough about their powers to make a judgement call (aka Hoid) With powers: Kelsier, Szeth, Jasnah, Wax, and possibly Vasher or Vin. Without powers: Prime Dalinar, Kaladin, and probably still Wax and/or Vasher. The Heralds are tricky, since they have eons of experience that others don't have. At their prime, I'd say they'd be able to take out most non-Ascended/TLR characters. As it stands now, maybe Nale, Taln, or Ash with powers could do so. But I'm honestly not sure.

Brandon: "OH MAN THIS THIRD PERCENT CHANGES EVERYTHING! THEY AIN'T READY FOR THIS!" As a more serious take, my (unnecessary) speculation is that Brandon nailed down the tone of the prologue/first few chapters, and is now comfortable moving forward, and that's what the percentage signifies.

It was Radiant. As quoted from Chapter 120 - The Spear That Would Not Break.

It is and it isn't. Yes, the game is turn-based, but that doesn't make it feel restrictive IMO, since you have the option to move all of your characters every turn. But it WILL take some getting used to if you've never played the series before. When you say round-based, I think of other JRPG's like the old-school Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games, or maybe even Paper Mario and Persona 5. Fire Emblem isn't like those, since it's not the speed of the character that determines who attacks first. It's who has the initiative - for example, if I attack an enemy on the player phase, I will ALWAYS go first.* (This doesn't mean I will always attack twice, only that I will attack first. The enemy may be able to attack twice if my character is slower. But if you can kill an enemy in one hit, it's won't be a concern.) Likewise, if the enemy attacks me during their turn, they will ALWAYS go first.* Positioning tanky allies to aggro certain characters is part of the package, but there are other strategies to be used as well. (And with Three Houses, we can see who will draw the enemy attention, how much damage they'd likely do, and the accuracy and speed, all before the enemy's turn! It's a lifesaver.) I think most of them are pretty well developed, although if you go to Reddit you'll find every opinion possible. The best thing you can do is judge for yourself. For the best IMO, you have Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard obviously. You have Marianne and Dorothea's character arcs, which are great. Ferdinand and Lorenz may just surprise you. Felix goes beyond the "I'm an edgy swordsman" trope; and his buddy Sylvain isn't the most unique flirt, but he's has more depth than the average one (his supports with Dedue, Annette, Bernadetta, Hilda, and Mercedes are really good). And we can't leave out Team Dad Seteth! Byleth, being an avatar for the character, is a pretty blank slate. Don't take it personally or put too much stock into it. Weirdly enough, in this game I'd say the focus is mostly on the characters. But you make of it what you want. There's a LOT of time spent in the home base called the Monastery, and for those who don't like to micromanage, it'll be a nightmare. But the game also allows you to do training missions and whatnot on the weekends, and in many cases encourages it. It's all about balance. The battles are fun, but many of the maps and objectives aren't as creative as they could be. I think the balance is done well, but it's far from perfect. I'd say it's about 60% character and 40% battle. Mind you, the battles that we do get are REALLY fun gameplay wise, and a major step up from previous games. But the focus is on getting to know your students and connecting with them. Overall, I think if you can find a demo of the game, it's worth checking out. Or if you have a 3DS and are wondering about the series as a whole, it may be cheaper to check out one of the 3DS games. If you like the combat style there, then Three Houses is waiting for you! *There are two exceptions I can think of. If someone has the skills Desperation or Vantage equipped. and they meet the health requirements, they will always go first. But don't worry about that just yet.

I disagree because to Wax it wasn't the first time working through this exact issue. He had already killed Lessie once, so the shock wasn't losing her, it was that God lied to him. That's what his main rebellion was against. And remember that he didn't even agree to go anywhere near this mission until his sister came into the picture. Heck, Brandon wrote in a Reddit post (about lifting Thor's hammer of all things!) that Wax resents being Harmony's agent, even still. So I would say that Wax's issues aren't fully resolved. I totally get this, and honestly felt much of the same originally. It felt weird at first, but then we get glimpses of what MeLaan can be like when she snaps at Marasi in SoS, and it's fine. Looking back, it actually fits in very well with Sanderson's characterization. Brandon likes taking characters and making them outliers within their own culture to explore that culture. Elend is a decent human being for a noble; Sazed is a rebellious Terrisperson (as is Wax); Kaladin is a surgeon who's great at soldiering. Lift is an inelegant and vulgar Knight of the "most graceful" order, and Rock is a man built for war and leadership, but loves nothing more than peace and to serve others (both with food and with wisdom). Likewise, MeLaan, being a Kandra, is expected both in-universe and by fans to be someone other than she is. And she surprises us all by being who she is - down to earth, amicable, and in many ways more human than Wax. But there's this eeriness to her that pervades everything. And frankly, I love the comedic nature of these books at times. It gives the world a certain vibrancy that the first trilogy (along with many of the Early Sanderson works) was really lacking. Wax may not feel as real as Vin, but Marasi and Steris certainly do. Wayne isn't as contemplative as Sazed is, but the moment Wayne picked up the gun was just as impactful to me as Sazed putting his bracers back on. Because it meant that both of them were willing to push past a fear or loss in order to try to regain something. As much as I sympathize with this opinion (and I really do...Iron Man 3, TROS, and so many other movies and books) it really grinds my gears when people say that "XYZ is bad because it didn't meet expectations I put upon it myself). Your reasons outside of the expectations are very valid, true, and shared by a vast amount of people; but to blame something for not being dark and brooding when it never promised it would be is another issue entirely and should be treated as such. This isn't unique to you or this series however, and it's something even I have to work on. So please don't take this part personally.

Someone mentioned an Assassin + Seal Strength + Break Shot + Poison Strike (from the Dark Mage class) build for Ignatz, and now I really want to try it. Fortunately, my next playthrough will be Golden Deer (I'll either romance Shamir or Marianne...most likely, I'll create a copy of the save file so I can do both), so it'll be easy to try out.

It's definitely not my ship, but I honestly wouldn't mind it. I could see Kaladin dying, becoming a Cognitive Shadow, and somehow being with Syl that way.

Oh! Predictions! I love predictions! Get ready for some real crackpot/tinfoil stuff. I haven't read any of the preview chapters, but I've seen a few thread titles. THAT BEING SAID, I'm keeping my theories to the stuff I've said even before I saw the thread titles. So if there's overlap, it's because of my awesome theorizing skills I just happened to potentially get something right. But since I've never had a single prediction about Sanderson's works be right (outside of maybe one Starsight prediction), I'm not too worried. Shallan bonds Sja-Anat in an effort to tie down the Unmade, and gains some awesome new powers out of it. She can then use these powers to possibly "Enlighten" Maya and bring her back to full life. (Either that or Adolin finds a way to gain Breaths - or turn Stormlight into Breaths or another form of Investiture - and somehow uses that to help bring Maya to life. The point is that Maya wont' come back to life easily.) Unfortunately, this bond goes back to Odium who then chooses her unborn child to be his Champion. I do think that the cover has Adolin with Nightblood or another Type 4 blade like Nightblood. Adolin has trained under Zahel and encountered Azure. Next on his list should be Nightblood at some point. And I can see Szeth not wanting to give the blade up, but Dalinar commanding the Shin to do so. It may benefit all parties involved: If Team Odium knows about Nightblood, they may try to take it. So it's better to have the blade disappear out of enemy hands. It also gives Adolin a way to defend himself against the Fused in Shadesmar. Lastly, Nightblood may be interfering with Szeth's bond with his own Spren. If that's the case, lending out Nightblood for a time may help out Szeth. Kaladin and Jasnah will spend some quality time together. Rlain will have a big part in this book when it comes to finding out where the rest of his people are. Navani will invent some sort of Fabrial-Gun (not my idea, but I found it horrifying enough to be real). Dalinar will give Rock Oathbringer at some point or another. My bet is closer to the end of the story. Whatever Adolin does to revive Maya, Rock will do with Oathbringer during his own novella in-between books 4 & 5. The scene with the Shameful Ribbon will not be a happy one.

1. Rysn 2. Lift 3. Kaladin (probably)

Because Wax tried giving up once before, at the beginning of The Alloy of Law, but he couldn't do it. So this time he isn't "giving up" per se, but he's not going to play by Harmony's rules. And he's clearly still having problems. He can't shoot like he used to, he avoids everything that Harmony gives, and it ultimately culminates in him yelling at God. I mean, you really can't get more pronounced anger than having the opportunity to yell at your deity and taking it. At the end of the book, Wax still has issues - his sister is alive and out there when he'd rather her just dead, he still has problems with Harmony and himself, and he still hasn't solved any of the main questions surrounding The Set. Because after the party scene the book was mostly action, and Steris is pretty much useless with action. But she DID help Alik and his people escape and prevented a global war. So while her contributions may not have been as...overt, she was FAR from useless in the back half. YMMV here. I never saw Wayne as someone who was 70% sincere. Or rather, I never saw Wax as someone who was 70% serious. Wax is always sincere, and this book didn't really change that, but he's still a silly goofball at heart and he's always been that way. Yes, Wayne's best moments were when he's serious, but he's rarely that way, and the rarity of those moments add to the specialness of them. Wayne isn't covering up some "major internal trauma" because he really only has two traumas and deals with them in pretty mature ways. In a lot of ways, We've already seen Wayne's growth too. His books were AoL and SoS (which he shared with Marasi). To me, Wayne was always silly. His entrance is literally him barging into Wax's house, "trading" his stuff, and then acting like his uncle. But silly doesn't mean there isn't anything there. Yes, treating a bar like a church is silly, but look at how he uses it to defuse tension. Yes, his drinking of a dead woman's scotch is irreverent, but then he also uses it to analyze her personality. Neither of those things means that he can't have a belching contest with a Kandra and earn her respect either. Over the course of the series, you see that as much as Wax understands Wayne, Wayne doesn't always understand Wax. Do I wish we'd see a more mature Wayne? Absolutely! But Wayne's moments in this book were really good: he manipulates a ferryman who'd cheat him out of money to get a ride for free, surprises Ranette and finally gets over her, hooks up with MeLaan (in which they explore the dynamics of a pretty gender-fluid relationship on both sides), saves Marasi's life in a firefight, acts like IRONEYES (which was both awesome and hilarious), solves the mystery of the Bands of Mourning separate from Marasi and Wax, and ultimately pushes down his own trauma to use a gun. Those are BIG things for Wayne. The only real silly thing is that he was making out during the train heist. But that's one bad moment out of a whole book of amazing ones. I guess you mean the stakes of life, in which I understand. But the stakes for Scadrial and the implications for the Cosmere where higher than nearly any book previously. In this book, we discover: Southern Scadrians do exist, and they have technology far beyond what Northern Scadrians have (flight, radio, advanced metallic art tech/fabrials, and BOMBS), we discover that Kelsier actually lived (which was hinted at as far back as Hero of Ages), we discover that The Set have Kandra on their side, and lastly we discover that The Bands of Mourning exist. These are Big Things. As someone who unabashedly loves Endgame and absolutely hates TROS, I'm offended by this statement! I do understand where you're coming from, but Endgame was absolutely not like your paraphrased explanation - not in terms of motivation (character vs story) or in terms of danger factor. In-world, Endgame was very much motivated about what was lost. In-world, TROS was motivated about stopping a threat that somehow came back. By the end of Endgame: Compared to The Bands of Mourning, there are two different motivations for the journey. The first is Wax trying to find his sister. The second is Marasi trying to find the Bands of Mourning. They intersect and ultimately combine, but those are two wholly different ideals. Lastly, TROS was about "getting the Sith Dagger to find get a Wayfinder to find Exogul" while BoM was really just "find Telsin and The Bands before my Uncle gets them." The adventure is a winding road because The Set keeps trying to distract Wax and the crew (and because they're split up to do their separate quests). TROS has Rey and the crew find allies who help out randomly because the plot needs to move forward. Endgame and BoM do not have this. (Rather, Endgame has this in the first act while TROS has this in every act. BoM has this with Alik a tad, but ultimately it's more of an "enemy of my enemy" situation.) I guess this is the ultimate crux of the issue. You want a grand, epic plot and assumed it'd build up to that. This series doesn't have that. You're not the first to express these feelings, so don't feel isolated by them despite the reactions you get on here and on Reddit. But at the same time, why can't Mistborn be a smaller-stakes series at times? Going bigger and bigger only leads to problems with serial escalation. Look at Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and dozens of other shows and book series. And we're going to get larger stakes with Era 4, so enjoy the journey. Sometimes keeping the themes and story quick and tight is a nice contrast. Lastly, just because the story is small doesn't mean that the implications are small. As mentioned above, the Southern Scadrial's technology level is frightening and frankly above nearly everything we've seen in the Cosmere up to this point. The Bands of Mourning can turn a nobody into a monster, with the only question being how long you want that power to last.

This year I've been watching a good bit of reaction videos for ALTA first-timers. It's always fun to see people's change from "I'm afraid it's overrated" to "this clearly isn't rated highly enough." Below are some of my favorites. Most of these people have also reviewed Korra too, but since I haven't watched those videos I'm not linking them. Merphy's reviews aren't really reactions, but they still fit with the "first time experience" perspective, and as such she's included.

I could easily see Brandon doing that as a nice shoutout to WoT, but I'm betting it was a shoutout and nothing more. Besides, even by Oathbringer we know that Ishar is definitely up to No Good.