Use the Falchion

I LOVE THIS YES PLEASE. It'd make Taln and Ash's relationship even more tragic, but if they find out that Taln had been replaced by Book 5, Ash can be a part of the team that goes to Braise to end things once and for all. I see where you're coming from here, and in a lot of cases I'd agree, but I trust Sanderson. Besides, tropes aren't inherently bad. It's the intent and skill of the author that makes or breaks a story. Mistborn 1, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the original Trilogy of Star Wars all tell the same story - a plucky band of heroes/rebellion rising up to fight the Evil Empire. But each feels different and special. Stormlight Archive is no different. Sanderson has the skill do the "Champion vs Champion" thing well, so if that's the angle he wants to go, I'll go with him. At the end of the day, Stormlight Archive is a love letter to fantasy - a reconstruction of the tropes within the genre if you will. So using tried and true tropes in a new/fresh/interesting way is to be expected to be a part of it. Personally I'm a fan of the theory that the first half will end with another shattering like how the Shattered Plains were...shattered. Other than that, I can't think of anything else really. Maybe it'll end with the (living) heralds picking up their blades and - going off @ILuvHats's theory - to find their missing friend Taln. Oh, and it's revealed that Gavilar didn't pass to the Beyond and will take up the Shard of Odium, facing off against his brother in the second half.

So Pokémon Sword and Shield have just been announced! Thoughts? Hopes? Expectations? I for one think the starters are all cute. But I have to go with water. It's my jam!

I guess I'm 50/50 here? Jasnah's return was a larger moment in the story than it was for us readers, since we knew about it in WoR, so he probably glossed over it for us to skip the dramatic irony. And as others have said, at this point, Jasnah knows too much and Brandon doesn't want to reveal all of it yet. A brief summary by Dalinar, Shallan's thoughts and feelings on the matter, and then back to the plot. Would I have liked to see the meeting from Navani's point of view? Absolutely, but I understand why it wasn't included.

I don't think there's a moment where it's stated/shown she's trained with a shardblade (although I wouldn't be surprised if she was, given her family's skill with it and Jasnah's overall secrecy). For the final battle in OB I thought it was more of Jasnah simply being more proficient with her powers than most Fused she was fighting and her predicting where they were going to be.

I was gonna say therapists, but you beat me to it! Other than that...maybe I'd give Bondsmith Dalinar a book on tactics and Navani a book on technology. And Rock I'd probably just give him Gordon Ramsay.

Jasnah would ask for some secret knowledge. If not that, then the Heralds. And if not that, then something to help with the Desolation. Dalinar would agree with this while Navani would roll her eyes and request Shallan's help picking out decorations for a homemade cake (Jasnah would never eat it otherwise). Rock would want "Happy Birthday" sung in his native language. He would never ask, but Bridge 4 would do their best anyways. Adolin would want fashionable clothes. Kaladin would give him a Bridge 4 uniform (and demand it back by the end of the day...but wouldn't be too upset if it turned up "missing" or with a couple of "design suggestions"). Shallan would give him fashionable clothes. Jasnah would give him some book to read with Shallan. Dalinar would give him a new Ryshadium. And Renarin would help make a meal that Evi used to make. Dalinar...probably wouldn't really advertise it (I mean, neither would Jasnah, but when you're a queen...). Jasnah would give Dalinar a book about the Radiants. Adolin, Renarin, Kaladin, and (secretly) Sebarial would do their best to make sure Urithiru was running smoothly, so Dalinar could relax for a day with Navani. Hoid would come in and sing a special song.

Larkins are the only non-Team Odium creature - barring Nightblood - to be able to ingest/absorb/take in Voidlight. Their rarity is noted and is linked to an incredibly mysterious and notable event. I don't think these are coincidences. This is the abridged version of the theory I have, but again, it's all tinfoil.

I mean, so did Shardblade until we learned where they came from. Anyways it's a tinfoil theory so I wouldn't put the chances of it being true very high

That's a really cool idea! I'd be interested in seeing it! Maybe he'd work well as a Lightweaver? Help the thief/false leader become the real leader? I could see it as a sort of Elhokar 2.0 kind of thing. Like Dalinar is trying to help Gawx become the ruler he officially is while Navani wants to protect him like she couldn't Elhokar, and both learn to accept that Gawx isn't Elhokar. Idk just spit-balling here. Or she could ride Chiri-Chiri once the Larkin gets big enough! Get her some shards and you've got a Rosharan Knight! (...I also have a side theory that Larkin are Dawnshards but that's neither here nor there)

Oh Shura!

I guess I'm referring more to Heroes. Guess I'm a bit of a curmudgeon! I think Kaze's great and Azama's hilarious too. Not a fan of Takumi, but I see why people like him.

I'm of a lot of minds on this. When I was watching the Direct, I was thinking about how similar this game might feel to Persona (TMS#FE was FE in Atlus, now it's time for Atlus in FE!), with the house system reminding me of Harry Potter (c'mon, when the red eagle as a house faction came up, don't tell me y'all didn't think GRYFFINDOR). And I LOVE all of those things, but I'm not sure how I feel about them in my Fire Emblem. I think it might be the pretty stationary setting of the school; PoR, RD, Awakening, and Fates all had home bases, but (with the exception of Fates), the barracks felt more...mobile due to the story. Having an actual home-base in the form of the academy feels...weird. Not bad, just different. The gameplay I can't speak for at the moment, but it looks really interesting. I'm super excited to see what they can do - it looks a lot like Shadow Dragon in the sense that every character can turn into a nearly every class, but each character has their own strengths and weaknesses. In terms of the Avatar, I don't know how to feel yet. Mark in FE7 was a good tutorial character; Robin in Awakening was a great character on his/her own; Corrin was burdened by trying to be too much at once (the Lord of the game, the Avatar, and the Manakete). Hopefully Byleth will stay in the vein of Mark or Robin. Not being an Aristocrat is a good start. In terms of other characters...I'm not sold yet. I want to say it's the colorful hair, but that honestly never bothered me before. I guess it's the hair combined with the animation style this time. I'm also worried about the cast of characters. Are we getting a full cast for each house? I personally don't want this because it can spread the characterization too thin. Awakening pushed the characterization to the limits and that paid off. Different supports talked about different things with characters, and it felt fresh and fun and increased the replay value.* With Fates...nearly every support felt like it rehashed the same gimmick to varying degrees of success. The supports then became dependent on the strength of the character rather than the support creating that strength. I don't think they'll be bad, but they might take some getting used to for me, and I want them to be memorable outside of this game. Story-wise, we'll see. I'm cautiously optimistic. I haven't watched a lot of analysis videos yet (I've only read Serenes Forest's breakdown. Gamexplain and Lucky Crit are next on my list) but one thing that was pointed out was the monster in the trailer seems to be connected to the Crests, and Byleth's sword does as well. So maybe the sword is the Crest Killer in a way? Part of the theme seems to be the corruption of the church or something like that - the church is CLEARLY evil, Byleth is a variation of the name Beleth - the king of Hell. The Crests are supposed to be holy, so maybe we're the historical bad guys or something? A different thought I had is that maybe Byleth's sword changes shapes/powers depending on the crest used with it. That's all speculation, but I think it'd be a cool thing to do. So in the end for the story, I honestly doubt it'll be groundbreaking - PoR and RD already covered the corruption of a church pretty thoroughly, and this wouldn't be the first time the church as an evil organization will have popped up in an anime-themed story (FIRE EMBLEM IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN INSPIRED BY ANIME), so they'll have to do something REALLY great to shock me here. But I'm also not that hard to impress either. Tell the story decently (and cover it with some great gameplay). Neither do I, so here's to hoping they learned! I just get a tad cynical because of how popular the characters in Fates are. I'm a little afraid IS will lean into that even more. And Fates is probably the game I've played the second-most! First is Awakening. Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic. I'll buy and play it regardless, but I reserve judgement! *My favorite example for Awakening is Sully. Sully at first glance just looks like your regular tomboy (or as TV Tropes might put it, your Hard Drinking Party Girl). And then you read her supports and see how she doesn't need to be a knight in the field. Her family name could have her knighted by itself, but she wants to earn it. Then you see her supports with Sumia about finding common similarities with Pegasi and horses - a small thing, but it shows that she can find common ground with people who are vastly different from her. Her supports with Miriel are all about her insecurities with her tomboy nature, and her supports with Chrom - and their S support is one of the best - highlight this in a different light (Miriel says Sully is fine as she is; Chrom says that to be a good wife/partner there's no requirement to be feminine).

Bittersweet and/or tragic can still be satisfying. I think of it like Avengers: Infinity War. The ending was a both tragic and satisfying, with the movie telling a complete story. The big thing is payoff. If Sanderson raises some questions/expectations and solves them with the necessary payoff, how tragic or happy the ending will still be satisfying.

I'd argue that this might be true for the first half of Stormlight. I could see Book 5 ending as a tragedy. But I think second half will have a bittersweet/resounding ending.

I could see Ialai turning to Odium ala Moash/Vyre...actually that's one unholy couple I shouldn't want to think about, but might work. Like, it's be full of hate...stuff, but it could work. It could be used as a foil for Jasnah and Kaladin if those two got together. And if Ialai turns, she'd have an ally in Mr. T, now that he's on Team Odium. So I wouldn't count her out just yet. Turning the convo back to Adolin real quickly, I have nothing to add. But every time I see this thread or another Adolin-focused threat pop up to the top, I think to myself "Begun, the Adolin Wars have."

Cool thanks!!

Oh what parts did he retcon? I didn't know that and now I'm curious.

Oathbringer chapters: The Subtle Art of Diplomacy A Small Bottle Unity

Lift meeting Renarin and Rock. Jasnah actually meeting Bridge 4 while Kaladn is forced to meet lighteyes(because he is one now muwahahaha). Sazed interacting with everyone - maybe helping train Bridge 4? Another meme-worthy quote. I just like people in stories meeting and the interactions between them, but big and small (like how we ALL cheered when Kaladin finally meet Dalinar or when Shallan made it to the Shattered Plains). Give me more of that and I'll be a happy dude.

Anthony Ryan's Empire of Ashes, with a desire to reread Star Wars Dark Disciple again. But I can really only focus on one book at a time.

Persona 5 and occasionally Fire Emblem Awakening, Fates, or Sacred Stones. I also need to get a new controller so I can finally beat Spider-Man...eventually. Kingdom Hearts 3 remains unopened for the time being.

Binged it Friday morning and it was AWESOME. Agreed! I'm thinking Book 3 will be called Sun.

Cool comparisons! Maybe as W&W developed, Brandon wrote Wayne as practice for what Shallan was going to need to go through/to help characterize her?

I don't think that, but I'd totally be game to see how that would happen! That would be a crazy arc!

Is this sexual tension? Only his looks? He is not even present in this scene. As a reminder, Adolin is near in this moment, she is talking to him, but starts comparing him to Kaladin and even misses what Adolin says next. That's what I was alluding to in comparing Kaladin to the storm. I'll address Adolin's reaction to this later on as it has more to do with one of his arcs in the book. Why not under Tyn's influence? Oathbringer's whole point was that despite someone else's influence, what you do is still on you. So yeah, Tyn might have influenced things, but it was still Shallan's choice to do said things. And by this, I mean bullying a darkeyes - who, do you think, she would have done if he was lighteyes? - out of his boots. He knows Shallan. Brandon explicitly said it. No, she does. Because she explicitly thought that. Adolin says that Shallan learning how to use her Shardblade is on the same taboo level as a darkeyes learning to use one. But Shallan doesn't say darkeyes like Adolin does. What does she think? Peasant. And in a way he's right, but the way Shallan handles her trauma isn't healthy, and he thinks it is. Adolin doesn't do wordplay, but he listens to Shallan's scholarship. He picked up on Shallan's worries about how the Greatshell hunts might be driving the species to extinction. His whole attack on the Listeners at the end of WoR was based on Shallan's studies. And let's not forget how he seems acutely aware of what excuses girls might make in order to She is sharing with him her deepest trouble, she is weak at the moment and maybe finally asks him for a support, and what does he do? "You are the smart one" and then he switches the dialogue to himself. To what bothers him. He doesn't care about what's troubling her, he thinks she will deal with her problems on her own. And when she asks him, which one he wants, he says "the real you". Very smart reply. Brilliant, innovative, he really did put a lot of effort into his thought process to formulate something like this. You forgot to add the end of their conversation. The point of Adolin confessing was first to get something off his chest; the second was to commiserate with Shallan. It wasn't to steal the spotlight away from her, but to say that he has an idea of what she's going through and that he's there to support her through whatever she needs. Adolin adapts, and you could call that change but Adolin doesn't, and neither do I. Also, calling Adolin wanting to break with Shallan "a moment" might be disvaluing Adolin and Shallan's whole shared arc. Adolin makes it very clear from the end of WoR - and chapter 13 specifically - that he isn't sure of his place in the betrothal. He's learning to deal with his own inadequacy in the world, and part of that manifests in his relationship with Shallan. Another part manifests when he sees how much better Shallan and Kaladin get along (at first glance and from his POV*) *my point isn't to argue that Shallan and Kaladin don't have a spark. My side is simply that they aren't good for each other and Adolin and Shallan are.