Rushu42

Am I remembering wrong, or was there an Aiman in one of the interludes? What does that mean about travel to and from Aimia?

Are you sure that we won't see these "untold tales" told?

"'I only see one woman here,' Wit said. 'And it's the one who is standing up.'" That whole conversation with Wit is one of my favorite parts in OB. "The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one." (Dalinar, OB) "If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man." (Dalinar, OB) I had Oathbringer on hand, so that was the only one I could directly quote, but I also like some of the parts from Mistborn, like Marasi explaining why she wants to be a police officer- the dim places in a world of light. Also, Wayne is a constant stream of awesome quotes.

On the topic of chapters from Amaram's point of view, I think that that would be really interesting. However, I also really like the way Sanderson wrote the books that we have. It's quite possible that wedging hisperspective in there would just be distracting or even repetetive, what with Dalinar's struggle. However, I've read several statements by Sanderson that claim that he's okay with writing from the perspective of dead characters. This is referring to main characters in later books, but it could also extend to something from Amaram, if it becomes relevant again. And we have seen characters in the Cosmere come back from the dead. This isn't to say that I want Amaram back, or think that he's going to come back, but we shouldn't entirely rule out the possibility of hearing more from him in the future.

I think that one of Amaram's main character traits, along with the previously mentioned narcissim, is jealousy. Amaram stole Kaladin's Shardblade rather than asking for it because he was jealous of him. Amaram recognized in Kaladin the hero that he himself had always wanted to be. He set himself up as Commander of the Knights Radiant despite not having powers, because he wanted to be better than those that did. He seems to think that he has a right to power just because he's Amaram. Taking that into consideration, you can see why he would have made this decision. Yes, he has power, but he might not have seen it that way. He clearly models his reputation of the "honest general" off of Dalinar's, and seems to view the man as a sort of role model. But now Amaram's secret is out, and he's lost Dalinar's respect. He is also now in charge of the most disorderly, dishonest warcamp, which is actively at odds with Dalinar. He joined the Sons of Honor and tried to be a Knight Radiant himself, but not only did he fail, he failed where all his greatest adversaries succeeded (Kaladin, Jasnah, Dalinar, etc.). Now the Everstorm is wreaking destruction on the world, with massive armies springing up to oppose the humans, unearthly power at their command. I can see Amaram viewing himself as on the wrong side of this conflict. Odium offered him the power he couldn't get as a Radiant. He offered him greatness. To me, it's not a surprise that he accepted.

That's why I don't think that he'd do it intentionally. But Odium is incredibly crafty, and he could certainly manipulate Adolin's good nature. We've already seen that Adolin feels a little left behind by all the Radiant stuff, and that would only increase as more and more Radiants start coming forward, and the Heralds begin emerging. Adolin wouldn't deliberately hurt those he loves, but if he thinks that he's helping, he might. It would be an interesting direction for his character to take, and would later reinforce the themes of redemption in SA.

What would be interesting would be Adolin accidentally joining Odium, perhaps similar to Renarin bonding a corrupt spren. I don't have any evidence for this happening, but I think it would be an cool addition to his character arc. We already know that he has anger management issues- perhaps Odium would play off of that? Or maybe Odium would figure outa way to return some semblance of life to Maya, giving Adolin the impression that he's a Radiant. In addition, I think more with Moash. Whether he develops into a bigger villain, volluntarily, or whether he pulls a Kaladin and helps the Parshendi rise up against the Fused, I think he's begging for screen time. A lot of things went wrong in Oathbringer that need to be fixed, but I'm not forseeing full resolution to any character arcs until the 5th book, at soonest (sorry, Shallan). Mostly, I just want to see what new things Sanderson will come up with to throw us all off.

Questions, that he seeks truth, when answers run he runs, answers, when truth seeks he that questions. Interpret this how you will.

I wrote this ketek about the end of Oathbringer. I might have taken liberties with the word changes; I'm not sure what's allowed.

It's nice to meet you as well. I have to agree that the Stormlight Archives is the best series. The worldbuilding is impressively complex.

It might be, I suppose. That would explain why several Worldhoppers showed up there in one of the interludes. Of course, it might also just be sheltered from highstorms, like Shinovar or Thaylenah.

Welcome to the 17th Shard! Awesome username quote. Have you created any cool fanart recently?

That's one of the unpublished works, I believe (I haven't read it) so I don't know. I just want to know how you got ahold of it. Can you find it online?

Very true; nice point. I like how nice these dicussions are. Also, Gasper, I do think that Shallan isn't so much of a sidekick as Wayne. She has a LOT more character develpoment, and much more screen time. But I suppose that Kaladin does seem to get a little more attention than her. Still, 7 more books to go! It'll even out.

Maybe, but I think I've seen some character similarities before. I think it's possible that Brandon Sanderson just has a tendency to repeat certain character traits and tropes. Not that that detracts from his writing; it's just an interesting observation.

I always thought that creating fake hats would be the most noble use of Investiture.

Do you think that he could hold two forms of investiture at the same time? From different Shards and worlds? I mean, Hoid probably can, but he seems to be a special case. If Wayne did accheive this, it would be pretty cool, but in a way, he doesn't really need it. After all, a good disguise only requires the right hat and the right voice.

At first glance, Wayne and Shallan is probably not an obvious connection to make, but hear me out. Though the two aren't identical, there are a surprising number of similarities. [Warning: some spoilers ahead] 1. They both specialize in disguises, and get really into character when they do so. Shallan obviously has a problem with this, but we often see Wayne's narration as if he is the person he's pretending to be. He has no problem sliping out of these disguises, but it's still significant immersion. 2. They both killed someone when they were a child, which continually haunts them and makes them both unable to use their weapons. Shallan stabbed her mother, and this caused her to completely deny the existence of Pattern, her Shardblade, while Wayne killed an innocent man, which makes his hands start shaking whenever he picks up a gun. 3. They both often use witty and distracting comments to draw attention from more serious matters as well as their own emotions. Wayne is known for his random wit, and Shallan (at least in the beginning) has a sharp tongue as well. This is often as a way to lighten the mood or divert attention from what Shallan or Wayne is really feeling. (Shallan does this a lot more than Wayne). 4. They both really care about everyday people. We can see this in Wayne, and the way he instantly connects with and understands people during investigations, and with Shallan/Veil as she worries about handing out food to the poor and elevating the suffering of others. 5. They both feel stifled and controlled in calm comfortable environments, and prefer to be where there's danger and excitement. Wayne frequently convinces Wax that his life as a House Lord is boring, and that he (Wayne) woudl hate to be in such a situation. Shallan seems to be at her best when tracking down a killer or exploring the world, and dislikes staying behind or being protected. 6. They both use powerful investiture that makes them heal faster. Wayne's Gold Feruchemy and Shallan's Stormlight really only share that much, but it's worth mentioning. I thought that this was both cool and unexpected, myself, and I'm interested to find other similarities between these two and other Sanderson characters. He does, to an extent, reuse some tropes, but it often crops up unexpectedly. Anyone else notice something?

I saw a theory about Shardplate that explains a lot, and really should be true. The thing about this theory is that it could explain why Shardplate seems less active than Shardblades, while still clearly being alive in some way. For example, it's revealed in one of Dalinar's visions(the one with the Queen of Thaylenah) that pieces of Shardplate, specifically the helm, could be dismissed like a Shardblade. Dead Shardplate can't do this. Perhaps this points to the significance of full sentience in creating the semblance of a bond with the dead Radiant Spren. This would also explain why dead Shardplate still needs stormlight to power it, and in much greater quantities than a Shardblade. Regardless, this theory is a good one.

Shallan herself is an excellent illustration of a lie taken too far. At some point she stopped juist lying to ithers and moved to lying to herslef as well. It kind of reminds me of a line from the musical Dear Evan Hansen (my apologies to everyone who hasn't listened to it). This is when Evan, the title character is confessing all about the lies he's become tangled up in. The whole song, Words Fail, reminds me a lot of Shallan, but a few parts stood out. "And you want to believe it's trueSo you make it trueAnd you think maybe everybody wants itAnd needs it, a little bit too" "No, I'd rather pretend I'm something better than these broken partsPretend I'm something other than this mess that I am'Cause then I don't have to look at itAnd no one gets to look at itNo, no one can really see". I know that this isn't really a contribution to the theory, but I noticed this and thought that it was interesting. In context of Stormlight, however, I did wonder whether or not Pattern is actually good for Shallan. Even aside from the whole killing-her-mom thing, I don't think that he's a very good influence, emotionally. You can see Syl really helping Kaladin, pulling him out of depression (well, partially), giving him a new outlook on life, a friend he desperately needs, etc. But I think Pattern's love for lies has encouraged Shallan and led her down into her current state of mind. As a Lightweaver I think that part of it is finding the balance between truth and lies, which Shallan has, in no way achieved. Eventually even Pattern realizes that it's gone too far, but by then Shallan is so embroiled that she can't really break free. The way I see it is that the normal balance is the Spren teaching lies and the Radiant discovering ineer truths in the process. Shallan, however, is so inclined toward lies that it rather backfires. At least, that's how I saw it.

Does the comment about 10 different things imply that there's a different alloy for each order of Radiant Spren, or am I reading that wrong?

It's a very complex topic, especially since I don't know anything about psychology, but I doubt that the "real" Shallan is going to be completely different. I think that perhaps her real self is closest to what we saw when she didn't have to pretend about anything. That was very rare, but we do see it occassionally, like when Shallan was on the Wind's Pleasure for the first time. Obviously a lot has happened to her since then, so she will have changed, but I think that a lot of that part was authentic. Or maybe I'm just not wiling to give up Shallan as the witty, adventurous scholar with a knack for drawing and an eye for nature.

Yes, definitely; I don't think that the personas we've seen so far have included her whole personality; I just think that all of them are steeped heavily in truth. Besides, a part of Shallan's story is showing her becoming to be, legitimately, more like who she's pretending to be, which might be why she didn't revert back to what she was like before the moment her father died.

My opinion, and I think part of what will bring Shallan the most resolution in the end, is that they're ALL part of who she really is. Although these are personas that she takes on and off, I think that they're all to some extent the "real Shallan". Part of what makes Shallan such a complex and relatable character is the fact that she shows in a very literal sense the conflicting desires and faces of every person. I don't think that you can say that any of these faces are less real, because they all show who she is and who she wants to become.

Yes, definitely. I didn't mean to imply that maskShallan was static, just that her origins were from a young age, and were therefore reflective of her personality then. I do think that none of her personas are really static, since we see Veil in particular learning from her actions and becoming more than the con artist that she was at first. MaskShallan has just evolved more because she's been around for years rather than months.