LuckyJim

Rather than being related to "Nahel" specifically, I think "el" as a prefix or suffix can be a sign of a name related to divinity. In addition to "Nahel" which means to bond to divinity, there's the Almighty's tenth name (the one so holy only ardents are allowed to speak it) Elithanathile. There's also Elin, the title the heralds had at the end of their Vorin names.

I would be significantly less defensive of Moash if there were more characters who were openly critical of the caste system.

I think Rhythm of War easily had the best epigraphs for how they tied into the various elements of the story. You've got Navani's lecture setting up the scientific focus of the book and getting us to start looking at how the fundamental elements of Cosmere magic are linked. There's Harmony's letter, which focuses on the nature of the relationship between shard and vessel, and hypes up Odium's new vessel before we even see Taravangian ascend. The Rhythm of War, which gives some insight on the potential relationship between humans and singers, as we see Navani and Raboniel begin to develop warlight. Kalak's journal entries, giving us insight to his character as he's introduced in the story, while also informing us that if Shallan goes along with Mraize she will actually kill him. And most of all, El's musings, providing a chilling sense of "wrongness" even as we see Kaladin overcome his trauma. Reading "And so I am not at all dissatisfied with recent events" even as the occupation is falling away is terrifying, and seeing that El is excited to serve Taravangian really shows how dangerous he's going to be.

I don't think they would, and much of this comes from their ideas of rulership which I think provides the difference in their ideals. Sazed is a god who is still kind of coming to terms with what level of control he should have over his subjects lives, while also struggling to use his powers to help in the first place. This reflects the contradictory nature of the shards he holds, he wants to protect and care for his people (preservation) while also recognizing the need for struggle in their development (ruin). One of the biggest mistakes (in his mind) that he feels he made was coddling his people too much, which limited their ability to grow. Dalinar, on the other hand, is a tyrant. A benevolent tyrant, but a tyrant nonetheless. Dalinar desires control, and for the people under his authority to match his ideals, even believing that the Stormfather himself should obey his will. He is a general first, and believes that a king should be a strong singular ruler, and he clashes with Jasnah who desires to change the way Alethkar is run to give more power to the people. His desire for unity is noble in a time when Roshar must join together to fight a common enemy, and we see Elend show a similar desire in Mistborn when fighting Ruin, but only as a temporary solution. If he were to ascend to godhood, there's a decent possibility he would want to bring all of Roshar under his rule, under the belief that this was the best way to protect them (we even see Cord express fear of something similar happening to her home, which is why she wanted her shards in the first place).

From what I understand, the black smoke he leaks is the Investiture he's consumed that has become corrupted. So eventually Nightblood will corrupt and expel enough Investiture that he'll be hungry and ready to use again, though it might take a while. Brandon Sanderson Anyway, Nightblood is named for the smoke he leaks, and he originally had a different name when he was created. Vasher himself dubbed the sword Nightblood after he had used it to kill the woman he loved. The blackness that leaks out is actually corrupted and consumed Breaths, the ones that Nightblood leeches off anyone who draws him. Warbreaker Annotations (April 25, 2011) So basically, if you ever wanted to know how a sword would go to the bathroom... now you know.

I could see that happening, Nightblood says something like "this guy isn't evil, he's just empty". Although I feel like it's also possible that he says "this guy is so evil, even I'm kinda freaked out" because at this point why not?

I don't think that fits with the Windrunner ideals. This sort of line of thinking, that certain people need to be eliminated for the greater good, would probably work for certain orders like the Elsecallers or Willshapers, but not the Windrunners. It sounds very similar to the justification Moash was using for his assassination of Elhokar, which was framed as something that went against Kaladin's general morality.

This seems like a good way of thinking about it, it's like the various labels the asexual community use. It seems safe to assume that singers experience romantic attraction, there was a couple that considered themselves married even when they weren't in mateform among Venli's listeners. As for the second part, singers in mateform have breasts, so it's likely that they give birth like mammals.

If I had to guess, the sexuality of singers can be as varied as human sexuality, just in different ways due to mateform. The most obvious example is that while they don't have sexual urges out of mateform, there seems to be some variance in compatibility with the form in general. Some singers are happy to take the form, while others are a little more hesitant, and prefer to spend as little time in the form as possible. Venli seems particularly uncomfortable with the form, for example, and her reaction to everyone's expectation that "it would happen one day" really resonated with my personal experiences with asexuality. I think in RoW or in some WoB it was mentioned that forms don't necessarily change a singer's personality, they just exaggerate or minimize certain personality traits. This could suggest that singers regularly experience some kind of sexual attraction, but in a more suppressed way when not in mateform, so it isn't as distracting as humans who are always in mateform. More importantly though, sexual attraction and romantic attraction are different things, and it seems that while sexual attraction is suppressed outside of mateform, romantic attraction is not. There isn't a lot of evidence for this, but it could explain on reason singers chose particular partners to enter mateform with. Additionally, a pair of Venli's new listeners considered themselves married, after having learned the custom from their human masters.

I mean, you could argue that they never actually changed their mind.

Personally, as someone who is interested in seeing Moash move beyond the villain role, it's not so much that I feel bad for what happened in his past, but I kind of agree with some of his gripes. I think Killmonger is actually a good example, because with him, it's not his traumatic past that made him sympathetic, but how that motivated his actions moving forward. He was a bad guy that needed to be stopped, but he wasn't wrong about the fact that the people of Wakanda were wrong to not use the resources they had to help people outside of Wakanda. At the end of the movie, T'Challa decides that Killmonger was right, and that Wakanda can't keep acting in isolation when so much injustice happens outside of their country and they have the power to help. This is what makes him an interesting villain. As for Moash, he's not trying to make anything right, but he does have valid reasons for wanting revenge in the first place. The system of giving lighteyed people power at the expense of darkeyes is stormed up. It doesn't matter that not all of them abuse that power because the fact that their society works that way empowers people to abuse it by design. I think the scene where he criticizes Navani for doing nothing while people like he and Kaladin suffer is particularly interesting, as it sort of gets at that idea. As of now, Jasnah's really the only lighteyed character to even suggest that a system that gives certain people greater privileges at the expense of others is inherently unjust. That being said, I don't think that's Moash's purpose in the story. I don't think Sanderson is interested in that sort of criticism towards the lighteyed characters, particularly since we're meant to see Elhokar as blameless in the Roshone affair. Moash is just a one dimensional villain who didn't like his lot in life and wants to take it out on everyone else. I think it's kind of a shame, because he could have had a more nuanced role in the story. That's basically reason I'd like a Moash "redemption", because I'd like him to just be a more interesting character.

Is there anything stopping Taravangian from fighting as his own champion, similar to how Dalinar is planning to fight on his own behalf? I know Rayse was really into getting a champion, but would Taravangian do the same?

Option C is obvious. Ash dies, someone else becomes the main Dustbringer and focus of the book, while the flashbacks are Ash. Brandon keeps saying it's possible for flashback characters to die.

What was forcing Ivory to make the bond? The Inkspren were very staunchly in the anti-bond camp, but Ivory chose to anyway, he's as much of a rebel if not more than Syl in this regard. Jasnah didn't know what was happening when they first started bonding, so it must have been Ivory who initiated it.

I think it could work, it might even make sense for his character arc, as long as Moash can recognize that serving Odium hurts him personally, and not just because he's hurting his friends. I'm probably projecting a lot, but just allow me to humor the idea for a bit. Consider Moash's character arc as your basic want vs. need structure, what Moash wants is obvious enough, revenge. Revenge on Elhokar who killed his grandparents through his incompetence, revenge on lighteyes for their cruelty towards darkeyes, and revenge on humanity for allowing it to happen. What he needs (and this is where I start completely projecting my own interpretation all over everything) is freedom, freedom from his oppressors and freedom from his hatred. Moash has spent his life under the thumb of tyrannical lighteyes, but when he tried to fight against them he let himself be controlled by the diagram and later Odium. He's always been controlled by someone else, and because he gives in to his hatred and doesn't try to improve he can't ever be free. It's ironic, in his interlude he believes that Moash was chained but Vyre is free, when as Vyre he's in tighter bondage than he ever was as Moash. This is why I was so on board with the idea of Moash joining the listeners, because their own ideal of freedom fits perfectly with this aspect of Moash's character not to mention he's at his best when he's acting in support of the regular singers. Do I think it will happen? Eh, probably not. I think I'm wrong, and Moash isn't meant to be that complex, but at the same time I don't know what he's meant to do at this point. If he was just supposed to be a foil to Kaladin I don't understand why he didn't just die at the end of RoW, Hell, he probably could have died earlier.

Valor sounds pretty cool, if I could create a fantasy world of my design, I think that's the sort of core principle I'd like to build it around. As far as shards we've actually seen, Cultivation is probably the coolest. I've always admired the long con type of characters, who are patient to the extreme when executing their plans. That being said, I don't think either would fit me very well. Preservation is probably the shard I'd match best.

It could, but I think "some differences" implies smaller differences than completely abandoning oaths altogether. Granted, that is entirely my own assumption.

Moash's relationship with Odium is moving forward is going to depend on a lot of factors. Whether or not Taravangian decides to keep him in the dark on his ascension, how useful of a tool he assesses Moash to be, whether Moash is willing to follow a human leader at this point, whether or not he can find an other option, or whether or not he can even be considered to have free will at this point.

Renarin does swear oaths, but they're different from the traditional Truthwatcher oaths. Questioner Because of Glys' corrupted nature as a spren of Sja-anat, does that mean that Renarin's swearing different Ideals than the mainstream Truthwatcher ideals? Brandon Sanderson Um... I'll RAFO that for now. But there will definitely be some differences. Skyward Seattle signing (Nov. 10, 2018)

I thought the inkspren were more concerned with the reason so many spren chose to break their bonds in the first place. The humans didn't betray the spren, true, but that doesn't mean they should immediately start forming bonds again, this could just as easily put them in a situation where another Recreance becomes necessary, and this time they know what happens when the bond is broken.

I kinda hope this isn't the case. I think it would be interesting to see Adolin have to start from zero, just like any other Radiant. I think the fact that he's in one of the most privileged positions on the planet, but has the potential to join the order most focused on helping commoners could be really interesting. Yes, he's better than most of the nobility when it comes to this, actually standing up for prostitutes and slaves when they're mistreated, but he's not particularly concerned with the struggles of the lower classes when they're not right in front of him. This isn't meant to be an attack on Adolin, I just think it would be interesting to see him struggle with the ideals a little bit instead of speedrunning through them. He might have to go without Maya as a blade for a bit, but he's proven that he's more than capable of handling himself without a shardbladde.

Probably not all of them, but it seems the majority of them do. When Taravangian wrote the Diagram, it was determined as an order they'd be likely to ally themselves with the cause. In Dawnshard, when Lopen finds out that Ral-na is a Dustbringer, he advises him to speak to Dalinar, because they're wary of the influence Taravangian has over the Dustbringer Order. In Rhythm of War, relations with the Dustbringers are tense as we see in the meeting with the other leaders and Radiants of the coalition. It's part of why the Dustbringers aren't even considered for the trip to Lasting Integrity. He knows that, but he doesn't necessarily want the same things that Rayse wants. He could potentially try to work out a better arrangement with Sja-Anat, rather than work against her. Granted, we don't exactly know what Taravangian's plans are at this point, so it could go either way. As for the Iri, my main concern is that he may enlist them as an army to carry out his will across the Cosmere, rather than just on Roshar. The Iri will eventually make a mass pilgrimage off of Roshar, and Brandon has stated that they will have an influence in the space age of the Cosmere.

After watching the livestream, one of the things that stuck out to me most was one of Brandon's comments on how Odium's position will change now that the power is in a new vessel. "Odium will have interesting, different relationships with a lot of different, interesting people in the next book." Obviously, we knew this was going to happen, but I thought it would be interesting to really start to dig into which people will be effected by the switch in vessels, and how their relationship and roles will change. The Fused The Fused are probably the biggest group that's going to experience the change. They get their powers directly from Odium, and as his greatest resources, they'll be the first ones Taravangian can use for his plans. I think Taravangian is going to clean house a bit, getting rid of any Fused that are no longer useful, similar to what El did with Leizan, since many have been alive for far too long, and "there's nothing sadder than a tool that has outlived it's purpose". The ones that remain would be like El, who are probably ones that would find the change in management revitalizing, and willing to serve this new Odium to rule the humans and end this war in a way that doesn't involve total destruction. The Dustbringers The Dustbringers in general have been built up as loyal to the Diagram, and their loyalty to the coalition has been tenuous at best. I think it would be a waste for that to just been thrown away now that the Diagram has disbanded, since nothing really came of it yet. The Dustbringers are still Radiants, and we don't know what their position within the coalition and new order of Knights Radiant is, but it's likely that they will have some sort of alligiance to the new Odium. That being said, I expect there to be some Dustbringers who don't ally with Odium, including Ral-na. Moash/Vyre Vyre is a pretty major case in this shift, and was the subject of the question asked in the livestream in the first place. His Connection to Odium is unique, and if he's Connected to the shard and not the vessel, it will likely be maintained. I don't think Taravangian will want to get rid of him, even without his eyesight he's a useful tool, and it's possible only humans can use the honorblade. How this affects Moash's character arc, we can only speculate. Probably the biggest change however, is how Moash responds to the new vessel, considering their goals are no longer in alignment. Moash wants vengeance on humans and their total extermination, Taravangian wants to "save everyone". He'll probably keep Moash in the dark long enough for Moash to remain a useful tool, but I wonder how Moash would react when it becomes clear that Odium now wants to rule the humans, not destroy them (if he survives that long, anyway). Another possibility, is that Taravangian's new influence on the Odium shard leaks over to Moash, providing him a direction for his passions aside from just mass extermination. The Unmade It's hard to say much here, since we don't know a lot about the different unmade. I think he'll have a much better relationship with Sja-Anat than Rayse did, however. The Iri This is the one I'm the most interested in, and the more I think about it the worse it gets. We know that the Iri have already allied themselves with Odium's forces, and will likely continue to be in service to Taravangian. We know that Taravangian wants to extend his influence past Roshar. We also know that the Iri are a population of humans that originate from beyond Roshar and Ashyn, and will eventually migrate to a new world. Altogether, this could have some scary implications, not just for the future of Stormlight, but the Cosmere as a whole.

I think a lot of people can "accept" words. Just to add to this topic, Szeth's second ideal was accepted by his Skybreaker master, Ki. Since Skybreakers don't bond spren until they reach the third ideal, it's probably other Skybreakers that accept their first and second ideals. (Speaking of which, did Nale accept his third ideal, or did no one say "these words are accepted"?) Also, wasn't it Pattern/Testament the one to say "the words are accepted" when Shallan spoke her truths? This might make sense for Lightweavers, since their truths are much more personal, and can't really be confirmed by an outside party.

I don't think he's a Radiant yet, but he would probably make a great Willshaper. Mostly its just personal preference. I think it's a lot more impressive if he's escaping and disappearing through his own skill, instead of using the same powers that everyone else uses. In this case, ironically, magic makes things less "magical".