KandraAllomancer

I agree. What really interest me here, though, is how far Hoid's future sight can go now. He used Fortune before, but now he's a Mistborn (WoB), and possibly has access to Feruchemy (he tried to figure it out and definitely has access to unkeyed metalminds). Can he compound Fortune now? Is his more active attitude on Roshar (and, to a lesser extent, during Mistborn Era 2) somehow connected to this?

With Cultivation it's probably less about some unconnected boon and curse, and more about boon and some kind of crippling limitation. Dalinar got memory "pruning", but his memories would finally come back. Taravangian has great intelligence ad compassion, but no at the same time. Lift is very weird here, that's why I'm thinking of some underlying mechanism similar to the other two Fair point. Maybe she can access both? That could explain why there are so many weird things about her I really wouldn't expect any agent of Cultivation to glow green, even if they used Cultivationlight. She seems to stealthy for that. She strikes me as a Shard who would give a person another ability just to hide the first one

Hopefully Per this WoB, it seems that they technically can (but don't) leave the Highstorm: Stormfather probably cannot do that. Then again, maybe it's something Tanavast specifically changed According to the WoB below, all Investiture got assigned to different Shard upon the Shattering, so Tanavast probably didn't have much choice in that matter. He just got the Highstorms:

Yeah, I know how it sounds. Maybe I'm looking too much into it and see patterns where there are none, but Metallica songs really seem to describe certain dark moments in Stormlight Archive quite well. Not just well, but to the point where you could take some phrases and they would make quite poetic Death Rattles that actually foreshadow things. I don't know that much about Brandon's taste in music, but I was able to find a couple of his tweets about Metallica and Death (Without Pizza) will feature metal music, so maybe there is a hidden connection here. Anyway, here we go (spoiler tags just for brevity): Sad but true Odium's theme song. Works particularly well for his talks with Dalinar, with some phrases being very similar to Odium quotes Memory remains My favorite one. It has Shalash written all over it – her particular brand of insanity (“Fortune fame mirror vain gone insane”), being an immortal who doesn't always register the passing o time (“denies the grave”, “lips that time forgets”), unusually good hearing (“Just listen, they play my song”) and being called divinity by the Stormfather (“goddess”). The best part, though? Ash → Ashe (Aon of Light) → Lightweavers, the Order whose patron she is Dust → Dustbringers, the Order many people believe she'll join One It actually works on two levels: it describes Taln, the one Herald left in Damnation, finally breaking if you reverse some phrases (“can't remember anything” → “can remember everything”, “silence” → “screams”) you get the description of Dalinar regaining his memories of Rathalas at Thaylen Field. It's One as in alone at first, then One as in Unity The God That Failed Pretty much describes the Recreance Unforgiven More tentative than the previous ones, but all three songs seem relate to dramatic events in Kaladin's life Unforgiven, the death of Tien: Unforgiven II, his relationship with Tarah: Unforgiven III, temporarily killing Syl because of his hatred towards lighteyes: Enter Sandman Not on a lyrics level, but thematically it works really well for Shallan – she kills her father while singing a Veden lullaby

I tried to find this information, but you're right - there is no explicit, 100% confirmation that the Stormfather existed before Honor. I still think he predates the Shattering though. Spren are the personification of cognitive ideas, and the idea of Highstorm must have been one of the first the ancient Singers had. Plus, if the Stormfather didn't provide Stormlight then, it must have come from some kind of Perpendicularity, which are hard to come by without a Shard

I think they were some kind of large spren that were unmade into Odium's equivalent of godspren. I don't see any other spren that could bond with Voidbinding's equivalent of Bondsmiths. Possibly, the nine-shadowed Champion would count as Odium's Bondsmith I still absolutely agree. To clarify my position - I think that during some periods of increased activity (we know of False Desolation and True Desolation), Sja-anat specifically targets and corrupts some number of Truthwatcher spren. Why these particular spren, I have no idea As for the quotes, "I worry about my fellow Truthwatchers." comes from other drawer (8-21) than the rest you mentioned (30-20). I see this as two independent accounts of something wrong happening to the Truthwatchers

I think the Unmade would count as Odium's godspren - and they seem to have been corrupted ("made, then unmade") I assume you're referring to the quote below: That still doesn't explain the other one: The whole situation doesn't seem to concern just one or even a few persons, but Truthwatchers in general. Not that all their spren must have been corrupted, but probably enough for some people to notice

The larkins cover all of the background, while the red gem cover two specific "Orders" only. And they are the only ones lacking a connection to Surges (Voidbindings?) I don't disagree. Not all godspren are spren corrupted by Odium and not all Truthwatcher spren were corrupted by Sja-anat. The Voidbinding chart seems to highlight precisely these two types of spren though

The Voidbinding chart shows the red gem (color of corrupted Investiture) covering Bondsmiths and Truthwatchers. The only sapient spren corrupted by Odium we see are the Unmade and Glys. Future sight, Odium's signature move, seems to be a corrupted version of one of Truthwatcher Surges. I find it hard to believe it's a coincidence, there is something weird/special about the Truthwatcher spren I really like this idea I just looked at the Voidbinding chart here and there seem to be lines connecting "orders" and Surges. The only ones missing are the ones for Bondsmith and Truthwatcher equivalents

I don't think that will happen - I mostly see Adolin as a person who figures out at least parts of Cultivation's magic (probably with Shallan's and Azure's help) in his quest to revive Maya. Navani would take it over then, I assume. Also, Adolin's wife and brother are scholars who learn to fight - I don't see why the reverse can't happen for him This is exactly why I think Lift has access to Cultivationlight. If this is Stormlight instead, I don't know how it could put somebody partially in the Cognitive Realm. As for the other option, we've seen multiple people transported to Cognitive Realm and no one seemed to gain Investiture from food so far

Actually, easy spren revival would probably cause more problems than the current situation, because most people would refuse to give up their priceless Sharblades. Imagine ashspren reaction to that... Absolutely, but we cannot forget about self-perception here. When Adolin kills Sadeas, he says that Dalinar is wrong to believe that Adolin is a better person than him. Plus, he's a duelist, used to dealing with his enemies in open combat, not by silent assassination. I would assume that Adolin considers his deed to be dishonorable, but necessary - and in my opinion it's a big hurdle in forming/maintaining a Nahel bond. I don't think we know that much about deadeyes to assume that. Maya is not fully 'dead', she can communicate with Adolin in a limited way. Large part of her is stuck and locked in a broken form in Physical Realm though, and this might be the source of the problem. This kind of reminds me of a certain Elantrian we meet in Oathbringer... I'm very curious what would happen if someone tried to dissolve Maya-blade in Cultivation's Perpendicularity In your example, the Initiation is kind of replaced by (Mistbon spoiler) I would assume there should be something similar linked to Cultivation's Intent before one could use Cultivationlight The problem with this is that it would probably mean that (A) accessing Investiture by food and (B) existing partially in Cognitive Realm are two separate boons (the curse seems to be the inability to inhale Stormlight). That's very unusual, even by Old Magic standards

Let's start with some basic facts and my assumptions about the third magic system on Roshar: Fabrials are part of the third magic system (WoB) There is more to Cultivation's magic than Old Magic (WoB) and the green mist surrounding Cultivation and Nightwatcher seems to be Cultivationlight (WoB) Given that there are 30 magic systems on Roshar, I assume Cultivation's magic is also part of the third magic system Lift's boon seems to be the ability to use Cultivation's magic (WoB). There are also off-screen users of the same magic – I think the most reasonable candidate are the Sleepless, which are kind of Cultivation's agents (WoB) For Lift, food is the focus allowing her access to external Investiture (like metal on Scadrial, WoB). The exact type of accessed Investiture is a RAFO (WoB), but I assume this is Cultivationlight. If so, it can power Surgebinding (just like Stormlight can power fabrials) Given their short descriptions in Poem of Ista and their connection to Aimia (WoB), the Dawnshards seem vital for Surge fabrial creation I think the relation between Dawnshards and Surge fabrials is somehow similar to Honorblades and Shardblades/Shardplates (Surgebinding fabrial-like items) I assume that the analogy between Surge fabrials and Sharblades goes even further – the spren in these fabrials (unlike in modern fabrials) don't seem to be bound in the gemstones, but form the metal (godmetal) parts of the fabrial (Soulcaster chains, Oathgate keyhole). Or example, breaking the gemstones doesn't destroy the Soulcaster, but breaking the chains does. Gemstones are there to power and control the device (the latter also provides some analogy with bonding a dead Shardblade) What potential effects might Cultivation's magic provide? Here is the list of possible candidates I came up with – as you might suspect, they're generally very spren/fabrial–oriented: Wyndle believes that Lift exists partially in Cognitive Realm and this is supported by the fact that her shadow behaves abnormally with respect to the sun (WoB). It allows her to interact with spren in untypical ways (e.g. touch them). This is possibly the effect of Cultivationlight in her body If the magic system is inspired by the Dawnshards, imprisoning spren might be a part of it (an effect similar to what Timbre does to the Voidspren in Venli's gemheart). Lift even says this to Wyndle: It seems like a friendly teasing, but this might be foreshadowing hidden in plain sight Fixing broken Surge fabrials. Just like Stormlight is used for Shardplate regeneration, Cultivationlight might potentially be used to regrow fabrials (e.g. a broken Soulcaster) Continuing with the regrowth theme, I think Cultivationlight might be the key to reviving deadeyes Changing fabrial settings. Oathgates are currently tied to Urithiru route only, but it seems possible that they once provided transport between each other. Some Soulcasters provide many modes, but most are locked in one (safety measure?). I think Cultivation's magic might be the solution here, allowing its users to change fabrial's behavior I have absolutely no idea how Cultivation's magic can be obtained by humans (except by Nightwatcher's boon), but I believe there are multiple reasons why Adolin would be the perfect candidate for the first guy to achieve it: Killing Sadeas. At first it seems like an unnecessary plot with little to no payoff. But it proves that Adolin has the right mindset – he is ready to make a hard decision that would benefit all in the future (something that Cultivation would probably called “pruning” instead of murder). Such actions directly violate the First Ideal, but I don't think Cultivation's magic would have this type of restrictions. It would allow her agents to operate outside the bounds of Honor's oaths. Just look at Arclo killing two Skybreakers that followed him – it's not technically necessary (he admits it's barely self-defense), but, given their mission to eliminate Radiants, it saves lives in the long run Accepting necessary evil is something Shallan struggles with and Adolin could really help her with this. Kaladin could use some help as well It could potentially help him revive Maya Dalinar is a Surgebinder and Renarin is a quasi-Voidbinder – it would fit if Adolin had access to the third magic system (beyond fabrials, obviously). Also Dalinar can repair items with Tension/Adhesion and Renarin can heal people – it would be really interesting if Adolin could revive spren and fix fabrials Dalinar has access to huge amounts of Stormlight and Navani has the necessary knowledge, but Adolin might provide the catalyst to reboot Urithiru and wake the Sibling up

It's really a combination of several WoBs. Here's what I was able to find: Highstorms predate the Shattering: Some spren predate the Shattering (also Mistborn spoilers): Stormfather provides the Stormlight from the Spiritual Realm:

Trell's Faceless Immortal informs Mr Suit that he'll be allowed to serve in another Realm before his death. I would assume Trell has the ability to turn people into Cognitive Shadows It may simply require additional skill or knowledge. This WoB might be helpful here (Stormlight Archive spoilers): I agree - I think the original Shard provides the Investiture for the acquired magic system I don't think Shards can sense every use of their Investiture. Harmony is special here, because (A) Scadrial and its inhabitants were created directly by Preservation and Ruin and (B) Hemalurgy specifically allows users to talk to him. Godmetals of other Shards probably interfere with this. Also, heavy spiritweb modification generally seem to provide this kind of effect, for example (Stormlight Archive spoilers)

Realmatically, yes. But the Fused are, functionally speaking, very close to spren. Given enough time, they may become virtually indistinguishable (or at least I assume so) Cultivation would suffer from the same problem - she probably has even more spren. And she likely Invested in Roshar to a higher degree than Odium did on Braize

Interesting idea Based on his conversation with Turash at the Thaylen Field, Odium can revoke his gift at any time and get the Investiture back. Also, we don't know if creating spren out of humans is more costly than creating spren directly out of Shard's Investiture

If you switch the magic systems, you can actually end up with a society very similar to the Final Empire. Just look at the Altered Carbon and the cortical stacks technology there (what I think Presevation's Hemalurgy could look like). Nobles can live forever using skaa bodies, creating a dystopia that Ruin and his rebels want to overthrow

Unless Yelig-nar actually can consume souls...

Yeah, I completely forgot about them. Although, given the relatively small size of original population and the number of children Spook had, at some point virtually all of Northern Scadrians will be his descendants

This is more of an observation than a theory, but I didn't see anything similar on the forum and decided to post it. The whole post can be considered one big Shannara Original Trilogy spoiler. First Mistborn trilogy is a deconstruction of many common epic fantasy tropes (Evil Overlord, Chosen One, Prophecy etc.). It is often described in Tolkienesque terms (like in this WoB). Yes, there are some specific similarities (lerasium given to aristocracy being the equivalent of rings given to nine humans who became the Nazgul) and even an homage to Tolkien (Slowswift), but in the end Mistborn is much better described as a deconstruction of Shannara series (an inspiration acknowledged by Brandon in this WoB). Seriously, the similarities between these two are staggering: Both are set in post-apocalyptic settings Most non-human races were once human and were changed by the same power that destroyed the old world (Well of Ascension, radiation) The key to defeating the initial Big Bad (Lord Ruler, Warlock Lord) is the realization that someone was dead all along (Alendi, Warlock Lord himself) There is a Greater Scope Villain (Ruin, Ildatch) capable of mind control behind the initial Big Bad (Lord Ruler, Warlock Lord) The Big Good's (Preservation, Ellcrys) plan was for the female protagonist (Vin, Amberle) to sacrifice herself to save the world The mentor figure (Kelsier, Allanon) dies, but remains as a shadow/shade using the power of the magical pool (Well of Ascension, Hadeshorn) Said pool is connected to the Big Good (Preservation, Bremen) who can read minds, see the future and eventually passes away Elven magic is limited to Jerle Shannara's lineage (the Ohmsfords). The same finally happens to Allomancy and Spook The shapeshifting spy (TenSoon, the Changeling) uses dog's body Generation skips between Shannara books and time skips between Mistborn Eras Steel Inquisitors' equivalent are the the Skull Bearers and the Mord Wraiths. Initially, they're treated as an even bigger, unstoppable threat – just like the Reaper Koloss' equivalents are the Furies/Jachyra

@Yolenlightweaver Excellent theory! It would also explain why the Voidspren we've seen all seem rather intelligent or mad (e,g, screamers) rather than truly mindless, like lesser spren

Personally I think both the Sibling and the Unmade are originally from Ashyn - maybe not siblings, but definitely extended family 9 is connected to Odium/Braize. We know that the Unmade have (with some fuzziness) corresponding Knight Radiant Orders (except for Bondsmiths), but that doesn't mean there are no Voidbinding Bondsmiths - the Unmade themselves can count as Odium's godspren I was wondering about the cause of Sibling's state and this is the best explanation I've seen so far

I don't think Rayse's death and Odium's splintering will be the end of it. I posted my theory here. @Lunu’anaki It also explains the gap between Arc 1 and Arc 2 @Yolenlightweaver MOASH FOR ODIUM!

We know from this WoB that crucial information about the plot of future books is hidden somewhere (probably in plain sight) in the first two books. Hoid's stories (Wandersail, The Girl Who Looked Up, his Adonalsium talk with Dalinar) are likely part of it, but what about the rest? I think that, unlike in Mistborn, in this case the clues are not only in in-universe events or documents, but in references to real life mythology (this WoB), namely Canaanite one (which provides most of the names for the Unmade). But which Canaanite mythology? Each Phoenician city-state had a slightly different version, with different chief god. The oldest and best understood though, is the mythology of Ugarit (some potential connection to Urithiru maybe?). The Wikipedia articles on Ugaritic versions of Baal Hadad and Anat turned out to be a goldmine of clues. Here is what I found: Baal Hadad, the god of storms and the chief god, also called the Rider on the Clouds, seems to be a clear basis for the Stormfather and Tanavast. His main enemy is Mot, the god of death who wants to feed upon other gods and break Hadad to pieces (Odium). He wins their confrontation, but Hadad finally comes back to life (it's not sure what happens here, due to gaps in the text) Baal Hadad is associated with west wind. In the Bible, when the Israelites escape Egypt and cross over the Red Sea, it's accompanied by strong east wind. They're freed from their slavery by the wind blowing in the other direction to reclaim the their land. Yeah, the Exodus foreshadows the Everstorm and the Eila Stele revelation! Baal Hadad and Anat also win a battle with Yam (sea god) and Lotan (sea dragon). The two may be one and the same, and many people (due to linguistic errors and Lovecraft's influence) falsely believe Dagon to be the sea god (he was a god of fertility and agriculture). The whole confusion about Dai-gonarthis in Hessi's Mythica seems to be Brandon's nod to this situation Mot is finally splintered by Anat, who avenges Baal Hadad's apparent death (she “splits him with a sword, winnows him with a sieve, burns him with fire, grinds him with millstones and scatters the remnants to the birds”). He comes back to life seven years later I believe the last point provides a clue about Odium's fate. Rayse will be killed and Odium splintered with Sja-anat's help at the end of Arc 1. This will probably put an end to the Everstorm and the Fused, even though some runaway Unmade and Voidspren will remain on Roshar. This will not be the end of Odium though – the Shard will somehow reform itself and search for a new Vessel (my bet is on Moash), probably with the help of one of the Unmade or some new splinter created exactly for this purpose. It'll take time, which explains the time gap between Arc 1 and Arc 2. This provides a new twist on what can happen to a Shard (besides splintering or merging, which we have already seen) – and if anyone can achieve this, it's Odium. He's relatively good at seeing the future, has a deep knowledge of how splintering works and his splinters can act very independently, even pulling off an entire False Desolation. The following part is even more speculative, but I would be glad to see it happen Part of Odium's return will be the birth of children with some connection to Odium, possibly certain Voidbinding abilities (some spiritweb modification? Similar to what the Nightwatcher or Sja-anat can do). This works well because: A. It's a great easter egg – it borrows from Baldur's Gate plot and the name of the god there was Bhaal B. It sets up an interesting conflict for Arc 2 I think these children may be referenced in this Death Rattle: The conflict is possibly foreshadowed in Arc 1. Dalinar, even at his lowest, can't kill an innocent child even it can cause problems later. Jasnah, despite her logic and pragmatism, is unable to kill Renarin, clearly affected by Odium. Other Radiants (like Malata), however, won't have any problem with this. This could be the source of a schism between the KR and lead to a new Recreance (breaking part of the most basic Oath – journey before destination). To avoid this, the protagonists will have to find a better way to contain Odium and stop it from regaining it's strength. That's way figuring out the Oathpact will be the major topic in Arc 2 (this WoB).

Based on the WoB below, figuring out the Oathpact will be a major topic in Arc 2, so forming a new one at the end of book 5 seems unlikely: Personally, I think Odium will be splintered by the end of Arc 1 and Arc 2 will be focused on searching for a more permanent solution to containing (now much more numerous) Voidspren on Braize