FirstSelector

She also swears by Adonalsium, which is suspicious. I would guess that the Heralds took up the Oathpact very soon after the Shattering, and maybe even knew about Yolen. I won't go so far as to suggest that Yolen was the planet that was "destroyed by Surgebinding," but it is certainly suggestive.

That seems pretty reasonable, Argent. It matches how Pattern was reduced to simple words and humming with Shallan in the early days after their renewed bond. Alternatively, the listener-spren Nahel bond might be piggybacking on built-in stuff for listeners, so perhaps they are Connected differently.

I agree, full stop. I was in the process of collecting my own thoughts and doing a literature search, only to discover that not only did you use the same quotes, you gave the Dustbringer spren the same name I did. I also agree with Windrunner's point that the only sentient spren are involved with Radiants.

No problem, your commentary was essential and I always like to cite people correctly You bring up a really good point. The highstorms certainly existed, but they were originally of Adonalsium, not Honor. However, I find it quite plausible that Honor created the Stormfather as a large spren to live in the highstorms and recharge spheres.

This is why I specifically asked at the signing; I thought it was so obvious due to the fact that we had to have a big piece of Cultivation nearby. In the original thread, some people guessed that the Sibling is like stone and root of the Shin religion. This is reasonable, but I don't have good arguments one way or another. I'd be really interested to hear if you figure something out.

I like this quite a lot. Another thought - at least as we have seen it, the Perpendicularity on First of the Sun is hugely dangerous. Assuming that it is still the case when Hoid writes the letter, I could easily see him nevertheless using it - just as he used Preservation's while Ruin was trapped. The problem is that the magic systems don't seem to quite fit together. While they both involve Connections between some living thing (parasite or microorganisms), I would prefer a more concrete explanation.

This is clever and is totally something Hoid would do.

I asked Brandon in the SF signing, and he confirmed that Uli Da is Ambition. The quote is almost "It's obvious, right?", but as I said in the event thread my phone (and recording) is AWOL. I agree with Autonomy/Harmony for letters two and three, but I find it unlikely to be the survival shard for letter one. It seems counter-intuitive for a Shard in hiding to have something that Hoid travels to and from the world repeatedly to get, be it useful Investiture or information. However, I could imagine Hoid having to refuel on Breath to maintain his Heightening (either through misuse or imparting it to others), justifying the first sentence.

I like this idea a lot! I will want to hear Sja-anat's reasoning for abandoning Odium first, but she has already established some trust by not killing Kaladin et al or sending Odium's forces to them. That and Renarin seems to be doing alright, which suggests that her desire to find a "home" (i.e. Knights) for her spren is genuine. This is a great point - for the longest time, I thought that the quote referred to a Herald.

This is a fork of a hastily-posted and incorrect previous theory that had some very interesting replies. I wanted to write up everything in a new thread with references; special thanks to CaptainRyan, Wandering Investor, lookingglass, Subvisual Haze, and ROSHtaFARian2.0. THEORY: The third Bondsmith is bonded to a large and powerful spren that powers the Urithiru fabrial network. For simplicity, we will refer to this spren as "the Sibling." Three Siblings and Three Bondsmiths In OB Ch 64, Dalinar talks to the Stormfather about the other Bondsmiths: Later, in OB Ch 111, they discuss the three siblings again: It has long been suspected that there are three Bondsmiths because there are three Shards on Roshar. We have long assumed that the Nightwatcher was the second spren, which the Stormfather seems to be confirming in this quote. Following this logic, the conclusion would be that Odium also has a "giant" spren and that the third Bondsmith has the job of wrangling them. I assumed this in my original post, and assumed that the Sibling referenced by the Radiants (see below) was clearly not a voidspren and thus must be the Nightwatcher. However, thanks to the clever people in that thread, I think this must be false. As an aside, in the WoR Ch 44 epigraph we learn that one Bondsmith "was in continual accompaniment of Urithiru." Honor and Cultivation When thinking about Honor and Cultivation, it's important to remember that their Vessels were lovers, so it seems reasonable that they would have children. It would be totally reasonable for the children of Shards to be spren, I think. Based on the Stormfather's language, I think now that the Sibling is a combination of Honor and Cultivation. In retrospect, this makes much more sense than having the Bondsmith be Connected to a big, nasty voidspren. There is no reason to believe it is impossible, but I don't think that Odium would allow a particularly powerful Spren to lend its aid to the enemy. In fact, as the Bondsmiths are the most powerful individuals in Honor's magic system, I find it unnatural that they would be Connected to Odium. The Radiant's thoughts on the Sibling We know much about the Sibling from the gemstones left by the Radiants. They are generically supportive of the entity, which suggests that it is not of Odium or the Unmade. We can also draw some conclusions: I think it safe to assume that the Sibling was a large spren, and either withdrew from men or was forced away (Ch 68 and 70 epigraphs, respectively). Note that zircon is the stone for the Elsecallers, experts on spren and Shadesmar. The Sibling leaving was at least correlated in time with the abandonment of Urithiru and possibly of the Knights themselves (Ch 87 epigraph): The Urithiru fabrial I'm presenting this theory a bit backwards - the original impetus came from my earlier thread and the many good replies therein. Nevertheless, I think much of the logic still hangs together. Urithiru is an interesting place for many reasons. Even in the book, Shallan, Renarin, and Navani have already realized the tower is huge fabrial (Ch 44, 44, and 109): However, they can't simply turn it back on by re-infusing the pillar (Ch 44): This seems to imply that the spren that powered the fabrial is no longer present. It's important to note that the pillar would hold an almost unimaginable amount of Investiture. In fact, if we wanted to store a spren with power on order of the Stormfather, I think we would need something like that pillar. Lastly, the tower provides magical defenses against the Unmade (Ch 73): Cultivation's influence on the tower My original idea had the Nightwatcher pegged as the inhabitant because of the following quotes (Ch 69 and 107): The first seems to imply that growing things in Urithiru was relatively easy up until something went wrong, and the second seems to imply that the issues persist. Urithiru is supposed to be the Knight's stronghold on Roshar, and having a good food source is part of outlasting a siege. As Urithiru was almost certainly created by Honor and probably Cultivation for humans, it would be not very logical to fail to provide a source of food for the tower. But given the climate, plants would ordinarily struggle to grow. A major Splinter of Cultivation living nearby would probably be more than enough to compensate, allowing for plant life. It is entirely possible that the plants growing are just another part of the fabrial network, but this does not change the conclusion if we believe the captured spren would still need to be significantly related to Cultivation. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER If we take the Stormfather's words literally and keep in mind Honor and Cultivation's romantic relationship, it seems entirely reasonable that the third Sibling is mix of their two powers. This Sibling is mentioned multiple times in reference to Urithiru, which has been established as an enormous fabrial. Putting these together, we can reason that this third Sibling powers the Urithiru fabrial and encourages plant growth. The third Bondsmith bonds this Sibling, which prompts them to stay in Urithiru. When this Sibling leaves Urithiru (either willingly or not), the tower's defenses fail and the Unmade can move in. How and why this occurs, how it is related to the Recreance, and the current status of the Sibling (apart from hurt and asleep) are all up for debate. The importance of Urithiru suggests that someone will need to find the Sibling and convince them to come back. Final thoughts My sincere thanks to everyone in the prior thread who contributed to these ideas. I welcome all commentary, and look forward to learning more. As a postscript, in my mind I imagine the Sibling as a huge warrior in Shadesmar, fighting off the influence of the Unmade.

I think that this is a very interesting theory, but I think that the destruction of the palace is for another (possibly additional) reason. I think it was instead to retrieve the Cryptic that Elhokar summoned and that Hoid saved. For what purpose they wanted it, I don't know.

So, while I still think that there are some really important parts of this theory that are correct, it's not the Nightwatcher. The most compelling part about the theory, in my mind, is specifically that plants wilted when the Radiants were leaving. This is a pretty obvious clue that Cultivation must be involved somehow, and I only know of one significant Splinter of that Shard. I very much like the idea above that the third Bondsmith is connected not to the Unmade, but to this third Sibling that is a combination of Honor and Cultivation. It certainly makes sense - they would only be Siblings if they were all born of the same parents.

So, if we are lucky, we will also have the audio from my recording too. However, there was a mixup and my phone vanished halfway through the signing. It was an honest mistake and I'll have it back soon, but the recording may not have survived the ordeal. However, I have some notes of my own and several inscriptions (with photos), so I'll post that. EDIT: removed a question/answer from an unpublished book, put pictures and text in spoilers (for ease of use and Oathbringer spoilers)

So this will be rather quick, because I am on my phone (traveling for a signing). I will attach sources when I have my computer. I propose that the original purpose of the Nightwatcher is to power the gigantic fabrial that is Urithiru. She defended the city, allowed the farms to function, and everything else. Her Bondsmith was continuously in attendance for her. Hints about fabrial: Navani already suspects that the tower is a fabrial. The gemstone pillar and the gemstone seams are the heart and veins of the system, as she points out. There are also references to defense systems in the epihraphs, the lifts, and other machinery that would presumably be powered by stormlight. The big pillar is a big giveaway - it would hold almost an almost unthinkable quantity of Investiture. Perfect for holding a huge Splinter of a Shard - especially the Shard whose magic is fabrials. It is pretty obvious that the city was created as a whole piece by Honor and Cultivation. In addition to a Jasnah WoK epigraph suggesting this, the city is laid out with extreme care. The fabrial was simply set in the walls with the plumbing, guideposts, and ultilities. Failure of the farms: Cultivation would almost certainly want to set things up so that humanity could thrive in the mountains. Since it would be hard to grow things naturally, she sent a big Splinter of her power. When the Nightwatcher ultimately left, the farms no longer could sustain any growth, as they are planning on stone, far up the mountains. Other thoughts: There are Radiant gem memory epigraphs that allude to this. The biggest clue is the one that says "Goodnight Sibling," using the same word that the Stormfather uses to describe the Nightwatcher. This could also be why the Shin hold Urithiru in such regard - the biggest Splinter of their god resided there. It may also provide clues on their views about fabrials. Doesn't it seem weird that a big Splinter just sits in a valley near Urithiru and grant wishes? Especially when the Shard is fully aware and unshackled? I doubt that was Cultivation's original goal. Conclusion: The Nightwatcher is Urithiru's spren. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that this is true. She powered the whole system and her presence enabled the farms. The exact circumstances of her leaving are up for debate. Was it when Cultivation "gave up on humanity" after Honor's death? Is this the secret that Taravangian fears the Alethi will discover? Can only the right Bondsmith fix it? We'll see.

Making people into mistborn is only a side effect of burning lerasium, as Brandon said in the annotations. As we have pointed out, Preservation certainly has the ability to turn people into mistborn, as demonstrated by both the Lord Ruler and Sazed. Also, we should not be so hasty as to assume that Preservation's intent (under any of its holders) would stay their hands. There is a good argument to be made that making someone a mistborn/misting would drastically improve their chances of, say, surviving the events of the Final Empire. As such, it would be in line with the Shard's intent to allow them to Preserve their own life.

We know that this is not only possible, but that Sazed has already done so. Spook was a Tineye prior to the events of HoA, and was made full mistborn by Sazed (at Kelsier's request). However, I think it is pretty clear that Preservation could easily make people mistborn (or any misting) because the Shards almost certainly have the power to adjust people's spiritwebs. The Lord Ruler did this (and more) while holding only a piece of the Shard. As for your reasoning, I think that we have no reason to suspect that atium alloys do what you suggest. By your logic, an atium/cadmium alloy would speed up time in the bubble, which is nonsensical. I think it more likely that the atium alloys have their own grouping that parallels the base metals, all of which have temporal flavor. It is worth noting that a much more sound line of reasoning would suggest that, like all known alloys of lerasium, the atium/lerasium alloy would create an atium misting. This is by no means a concrete argument, given that lerasium is still surrounded in mystery.

Interestingly, I was going to ask about the "stark red and violet cremling Kaladin notices in prison," but was beaten to the punch. I find it quite funny that several people all came to the same conclusion.

I asked Brandon about the mist spirits in the alternate ending to WoA, and he confirmed that they are Shards. I asked him to write the name of one of them in my book; he hesitated until I pointed out that it wasn't canon anymore. So, now we know Endowment was there*. The asterisk is from Brandon, and I assume it means both non-canon and that there is more unspecified weirdness to this scene.

It does, because we know Hoid came through a Perpendicularity (and that Horneaters that don't come out of the pool went through the other way), which is also in the audio for this event. Since it wasn't moving, I think we can safely assume it isn't Honor's, and I think it reasonable to assume it's not Odium's.

Correct, this is from the Chicago signing. I'll make a post with the image, but this is a subject I have been long interested in and frankly couldn't resist. Edit: done, though my phone was misbehaving. Sorry to do things out of order.

Sure, and Hoid tells Frost in the first Letter that Devotion and Dominion are Splintered as well. But so was Honor, and clearly he met a different fate than the Dor. The point is that just knowing that Ambition was Splintered actually doesn't give us the whole story. Also, my last post references more stuff from the Chicago after-hours QA, which will hopefully be up soon.

Actually, Ambition fought back! He was #1 on Odium's hit list, but managed to avoid getting the axe for quite some time. The Shard's final fate isn't known, so we'll have to see if their fight resulted in Ambition's power spread all over the place or if Odium managed to lock it away too.

This will be somewhere in the Chicago WoB bonanza whenever it shows up, but the Dor was formed by Odium specifically to prevent someone from picking up Devotion and Dominion. After Odium killed Aona and Skai, he stuffed their power together in the Cognitive Realm so that it wouldn't gain sentience nor would it seek out a new Vessel(s). The resulting friction between the two Shards is what gives rise to the huge Investiture pressure and presumably is the source of the severe danger of the Selish part of Shadesmar.

Correct - this is why Rithmatist is not in the Cosmere either. Brandon had originally planned it to be, but he didn't want Earth to have to fit into the Cosmere grand scheme, where Adonalsium created the first humans on Yolen.

I have been particularly interested in the alternate ending to Well of Ascension for quite some time. In the explanation for why he changed it, Brandon explicitly mentions that there are hints of Shards. In the original ending (which I should stress is non-canon), the Well is in the mountains and Sazed is attacked by Marsh at the Conventical of Seran, before he can read the plate. The key scene happens just before Marsh kills Sazed with his own Coppermind: I have long thought that this was the aforementioned hint. Now, previously I had asked Brandon if we had seen these other mist spirits, with the implication that they were Shards. He was a bit non-committal the first time. This time I was more direct. He confirmed that those spirits were three other Shards, and I asked him to put the name of one of them into my book. He hesitated until I pointed out that it wasn't canon anymore. So, in this alternate ending, Endowment was there* to stop Marsh from killing Sazed. The asterisk is from Brandon, which I take to mean both that it is not canon and that there is some weirdness. This raises all sorts of interesting questions. Did those three Shards arrive because they had particularly good foresight? Who else was there? Did they actually travel all the way across the galaxy, or did they somehow project themselves? How often do the Shards actually intercede in cosmere-scale events on other planets? In retrospect, it makes sense that Endowment has very good foresight. She specifically sends Returned back with a purpose, even if they don't see why until it is right upon them. I also would suspect that Cultivation was there, which makes me wonder if Odium killed Honor when she left (in this alternate universe).