KandraAllomancer

OK, one thing still bothers me after finishing listening to this today - how did Christina know Zoran's (the Ember Wizard's) name? She explicitly refers to him as Zoran (clearly, Zoran Tanasin) at one point, despite both of them stating at different times that he didn't share his name with her. Was it Mirandus magic or did I miss something obvious?

On 19.11.2022 at 9:28 AM, Returned said:

• Kelsier didn't make the Bands alone

I would assume one would need a Mistborn or a full Feruchemist, as well as some spikes, to create the Bands. Given that Hemalurgy no longer allows Compounding, the person and/or spikes would need to be pre-Catacendre - which leaves Spook as the most viable option

The only reasonable option I see is that it was Autonomy's decision - people of Scadrial showed that they can counter her plots, and attacking them anyway would be acting against her Intent

A lot of these have probably been known from Words of Brandon first, but here's the list of sources in the actual book texts:

2 hours ago, Munazir said:

The sixteen people who shattered Adonalsium picked up these Shards and became the first vessels. Shards are named after a specific action or ideal, called an intent. When a person holds a Shard, that person is imbued with its power, but also becomes the Shard, being warped by its intent.

Mistborn: Secret History, mostly. Being warped by the Intent was already covered by Hero of Ages

2 hours ago, Munazir said:

With a consciousness to direct them, many of the Shards began to Invest their magic and influence in certain planets or peoples.

Hero of Ages epigraphs, Ars Arcana, the essays in Arcanum Unbounded

Yeah, I think Shai is the best guess here. Brandon has mentioned that the Lost Metal will be the "most cross-over that we’ve seen" (link to the interview). And then there's this exchange with @LewsTherinTelescope on Reddit about a non-Scadrian spoiler character from Arcanum Unbounded appearing in the story (link)

Yet another Brandon interview - this time for Cosmere.es: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T93aSqqnhsY

OK, we have the official concept art. It looks very much like a Dustbringer. Odium's new champion?

4 hours ago, DougTheRug said:

I’m not sure if this is place for it but how do you feel about Dan Wells coming on board at Dragonsteel? I’m not sure how J feel but am glad he can compliment Brandon skills wise. 

My first thought was that he seems like a pretty good choice to co-author The Night Brigade. Beyond that, we'll see, but I'm generally rather excited

I'm wondering if that trend of co-authoring selected Cosmere books (first with Isaac, and now with Dan) will be even further expanded in the future. Brandon definitely has some big franchise ambitions, and he did mention in the last State of Sanderson that we'll need to have some talk about the future of Cosmere after SA 5. Could that be it?

It seems that Brandon has a TikTok account now: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorbrandonsanderson

I don't think it was advertised anywhere, I just found out through Reddit. The first three clips don't contain any new information, really, but the newest one has some interesting details about spanreed mechanics and relativity (which I'm not sure were canonized before). 

Also, Grimdark Magazine had an interview with Brandon yesterday - here's the video and text version

Edit: For those of you who don't watch (or listen to) Intentionally Blank: Dan Wells has joined the Dragonsteel team as VP of Narrative, with the goal of eventually co-writing Cosmere books with Brandon. You can see the news here, starting around minute 42:00

There's always another piece of news: Brandon has responded to Daniel Greene's question about Cosmere books being released after his retirement. You can find it here, at 3:50

Based on the appearance, I would say it might be a Fused of same brand as El. Probably not El though, as the carapace seems intact

23 minutes ago, Yuliya said:

Do you think if Wax spikes himself both with Trellium and Harmony's earing, the two Shards will be able to talk to each other while "in his head"? Or will he just be a sort of an ambassador between the two?

No idea, but the former would be awesome

1 hour ago, paperstones said:

Does this confirm Autonomy? The Cycle mentioned Avatars.

I wouldn't say confirm, but the case for Autonomy is pretty strong, particularly given that Trellium (Stormlight Archive spoiler):

Also, does Harmony want Wax to spike himself with Trellium (so he can talk to Trell, I guess)? I can't think of another option for the "proper metal"

6 minutes ago, Frustration said:

He didn't have his blade until recently.

 

Interestingly, in chapter 111 of RoW, Dalinar seems to recognize Ishar's blade, wondering if he's seen it already.

That being said, I agree that it is the Stormfather that is talking to Gavilar. If Ishar wanted to replace Taln, he probably could have used Gavilar for that even without his consent. I expect some shenanigans with Ishar's blade to be a vital part of book 5 plot, though.

On an unrelated note, chapter 15 of WoK has this fragment of (in-world) Way of Kings that seems relevant to Gavilar's and Taln's situation:

Quote

I once saw a spindly man carrying a stone larger than his head upon his back. He stumbled beneath the weight, shirtless under the sun, wearing only a loincloth. He tottered down a busy thoroughfare. People made way for him. Not because they sympathized with him, but because they feared the momentum of his steps. You dare not impede one such as this.

The monarch is like this man, stumbling along, the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders. Many give way before him, but so few are willing to step in and help carry the stone. They do not wish to attach themselves to the work, lest they condemn themselves to a life full of extra burdens.

I left my carriage that day and took up the stone, lifting it for the man. I believe my guards were embarrassed. One can ignore a poor shirtless wretch doing such labor, but none ignore a king sharing the load. Perhaps we should switch places more often. If a king is seen to assume the burden of the poorest of men, perhaps there will be those who will help him with his own load, so invisible, yet so daunting.

1 minute ago, Serack said:

I don’t think the 2 have to be mutually exclusive.  The everstorm probably was enough, but Chararch might have greased the skids

The way I see it, both Odium and Thaidakar & Gavilar have been working on this - Chana's death threw a wrench into the works, starting it earlier than expected

Good to know, I was just starting a new topic

Not what I've expected, really. Gavilar seems to be dead, with no plans made of surviving as a Cognitive Shadow. 

This chapter humanizes him (and Sadeas) to some extent - his final reaction to the Stormfather's lies is still extremely satisfying, though.

Apparently Gavilar has been working with Thaidakar on starting a Desolation - assuming the math done by @CROSSENuUP here is correct, it seems that Shallan managed to do it before them.

The original goal of the visions seems to have been tricking someone into taking Taln's place. I still wonder - what words (or attitude, or actions) did the Stornfather expect from Gavilar? The First Ideal? What was the thing about Gavilar's demand being close about, then?

We get Taravangian's origin story, kind of. I'm not sure if the new Death Rattle is a general warning against the Desolation, or something that will actually happen in the books.

Gavilar's last words make much more sense now.

7 hours ago, TranslucentPhilosopher said:

Was Virtuosity one of the original 16 Shards? (Because so much of the magic system reminds me of a combination of something from Roshar + ?? and we know this story takes place in the future, I've been wondering if Virtuosity is rather a combination of some sort)

On top of that: is Virtuosity the Shard that just wanted to survive? Also, is Virtuosity the Shard that would have been used for the Rithmatist if it was in the Cosmere?

13 minutes ago, Dreamwa1ker said:

Finally, the Fibonacci sequence kept on coming up - first with the soap, and later Hoid even lampshades something about you might have another name for this series of numbers. That and the Golden ratio show up in nature patterns a lot and are aesthetically pleasing so it fits with Virtuosity and the theming here. Maybe we'll get some nice fractals too.

Come to think of it, Virtuosity is probably the part of Adonalsium responsible for designing the continent of Roshar

Duality seems to be a major motif for both planets and magic systems:

• hion lines have two colors (teal & fuchsia), combining them can be used to generate heat and possibly power other things
• primal spirits are bicolor (blue & orange) and many fabrials made of them seem to be paired
• Painter's world is mostly uninhabitable because of the darkness/shroud, while for Yumi's world similar situation is caused by light/heat

Also, there seem to be many parallels between the magic systems and the Order of Lightweavers on Roshar:

• both magic systems we see on the planets are pretty much based on art, which is a Lightweaver thing
• convincing a primal spirit to become a fabrial and transforming a nightmare bear some resemblance to Soulcasting
• primal spirits are attracted to the act of creation, much as creationspren are. The shroud acts very similar to Re-Shephir
• the Essence associated with Lightweavers is blood: the shroud is compared to it ('I watched it rain the blood of a dying god'), hion lines are explicitly compared to blood vessels ('they were the arteries and veins of Kilahito') and the reddish light of sun on Yumi's world makes everything look 'like the result of a bloody massacre'

8 minutes ago, teknopathetic said:

I wonder if he wrote The Silence Divine (or a new version) during Covid. Brandon has mentioned the series at least twice during live signings and has admitted he has recieved many request for that series now, so I am a little suspicious he followed through. Writing that book mifght also take some pressure off of the 5th Stormlight to explain any of the Herald or Odium stuff (and set us up for the back five) 

Yeah, I was wondering if Book #4 might be just that

12 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

will we be able to order the books separately in 2024? does anyone know that?

In addition to what @Windrunner2319 wrote, here's some info from the Kickstarter description:

While regular hardcover and paperback editions with a traditional publisher are possible sometime in the future, after this campaign is fulfilled the premium version of this book might not be available again.

7 minutes ago, #1 Taln Fan said:

Is this something that will sell out? Do I need to snag it now? Can someone send a link to the Kickstarter? YouTube is blocked on my ipad

Nothing is limited, no need to worry.

Here's the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragonsteel/surprise-four-secret-novels-by-brandon-sanderson/description

1 hour ago, mathiau said:

While that's fair, there are other just as simple explanations that exists (or simpler depending of who you ask). The "three hybrid magic systems" hypothesis for example

Except (and yeah, my whole theory kind of depends on that), I haven't seen any convincing (at least for me) theory predicting why there are two H+C magic systems and how Khriss knows that there is one and only one additional set of esoteric powers.

Three hybrid magic systems would require the third magic (fabrials) to be C+O, which contradicts Brandon's words that Odium's influence on Roshar in mostly Voidbinding:

1 hour ago, mathiau said:

Also I still don't see why you insist on Stoneshaping being pure Cultivation

My arguments would be:

A. Cultivation's pure Tone heard by Venli

B. Stone is somehow special on Roshar: it has memory, it's sacred in Shin tradition, the Eila Stele considers it a Singer god. This might point to it being Invested, and Storms are already Invested by Honor, which leaves Cultivation as the most likely candidate

C. Thunderclasts are clearly separate from the Fused, despite both being corrupted Singers. The latter use powers more associated with Honor, so again - Cultivation seems like a good candidate for the former

6 minutes ago, Frustration said:

Eshonai hears Honor's Tone upon adopting Warform for the first time in 2,000 years. Others heard Cultivations tone when assuming workform for the first time.

Good to know, I didn't remember that

25 minutes ago, mathiau said:

Honestly it's surprising it's not an issue that comes up more often than that

25 minutes ago, mathiau said:

Why isn't there four magic system then? There have been four different lights on Roshar for a very long time

As I've said in the initial post, I think that for some reason full magic systems are only possible with Honor's involvement. That's why we only get Old Magic and Stoneshaping for Lifelight. I don't know why that is the case, my approach was kind of inspired by how particle physics discoveries have been historically made: you list all the elements (in this case powers) and search for the simplest set of rules to explain their behavior. That makes it biased towards excluding new, unseen powers, obviously

33 minutes ago, mathiau said:

Are you sure they didn't Enlighten one of the Sprens so that it works using both lights, like they did in Kholinar?

According to this Coppermind article (https://coppermind.net/wiki/Suppression_fabrial) they are resistant, but I would have to check in the book

34 minutes ago, mathiau said:

The Nightwatcher, definitely. It should be possible to corrupt the Cusicesh but we don't know whether they are big enough that they'd be considered an Unmade (from my understanding, only corrupted Godsprens count as Unmade, it's possible Cusi is just a very big (true?)spren like the oathgate sprens)

The Stormfather could be to big to be corrupted; especially if the theory that Honour was neatly cut in two, one being the SF and the other being the Half-Shard of Unity.

I pretty much agree, but I wonder about the implications for Voidbinding. Would the NW get other powers from the Sibling? Probably yes. If that is the case, which powers, if any, are Voidbindings? These issues are part of the reasons why I would consider separating Unamde powers, even futuresight, from ten Voidbindings an elegant solution

38 minutes ago, mathiau said:

The structure probably comes from the stellar system being created ten-centric by big A

Possibly, but I still like my analogy to Allomacy and atium better

39 minutes ago, mathiau said:

My hypothesis is that all of the Voids have some temporal effects: visions of other possible current selves for Illumination, visions of other possible future selves for Progression, visions of possible future for the Progression-Illumination hybrid. Frustration's hypothesis that all the temporal stuff is in Illumination.

I would go with more general, Spiritual effects, but I mostly agree

9 minutes ago, ShadowX81 said:

On the discord, one of the employees dropped in to say that no one was hurt or sick, but at this was all they would say on the matter. 

Thanks for the info, that's good to hear

10 minutes ago, ShadowX81 said:

Honestly my guess is that Brandon might have realized that his plans for the cosmere might be a bit too ambitious, so some of the things that have been in the backburner for a few years are either being cancelled or co-authored. 

My thoughts exactly