Master Silver

That makes me think. The original title was going to be Stones unhallowed. So, perhaps there is way more going on with the old gods then we think. Did the Oath Gate guardians ever say who created them? Side note, I saw a book on audible called The Winds of Truth. I would be annoyed about that were I Brandon.

If the contest is a series of different events, Odium could theoretically stretch it out for a very, very long time. Have the contest span years... 20 years.

Well, I like it. I think your theory makes sense, especially evidence #1 and #4. Furthermore, we see that their is a continual revaluation of the power that makes one a god. In Way of Kings, it was a full shard bearer that was untouchable. In Words of Radiance, it was Szeth with the Honor blade or to be surpassed by a 3rd idea knight radiant. In Oath Bringer, the Bondsmith makes his appearance, but Dalinar has to contend with Odium (a Shard). We do get to see just how powerful a Bondsmith with one of the three major spren is, but Dalinar is eclipsed by a Herald, Ishar. But my main point is this, if the Stormfather is so strong (I imagine the Sibling and the Night Watcher are similar), then how much stronger would an Ancient spren of Adonasium be? I am going to say 16 times as strong or at the very least 10 times as strong since ten is the Roshar systems number.

I know a lot of us were thinking it, but thanks for writing it. I think there have been a lot of things alluding to Dalinar's potential fall. With regard to Renarin, I think this chapter answers that question. Renarin has seen something in the future that causes him to refuse being the heir. Kaladin becoming king is the best way to get in married to the ever-pragmatic Jasenah, the man deserves a family. I also think that there must be some misdirection occurring on Brandon's part. Everything is too neat. Kal ending up as the champion, winning, and then ascending seems too predictable. Also, the role reversal between him and Dalinar also seems predictable. There is another series where this happens briefly... How many people have to share the power of a Shard for it to not end up binding them?

If Dalinar falls or if him and Todium form an alliance, it would be kinda cool to see the Thrill touch by Honor as Dalinar's new Steed. In some ways, the best thing for the Cosmere is for Todium to pick up part of Honor's Shard. Maybe split it three ways to give a few of the boys immortality but also temper the Shard of Odium.

With regards to this topic, it seems to me like there are sveral spen like beings of the wind. We have this spren of the winds, now revealed. Sorta like the spren of Adonasium. We have the Stormfather. And we have Tanavast's cognitive shadow which has merged sorta with the Stormfather. Dalinar is currently bonded to the Stormfather. Kaladin is currently bonded to Syl. So, if Dalinar falls, does Kaladin bond both the wind and the Stormfather? Can he pass his bond with Syl to his little brother? Hoid might be able to guess at some futures. Kaladin has a pattern of surviving when others die. It seems like Hoid is expecting everyone in the Tower to die. He warns Kaladin to stay away and that he cannot help Dalinar with this fight. And this leads me to guess at the fifth ideal. It is derived from what Hoid said is a virtue. "I will continue to protect others (the world), even when those I love are gone. I am Protection."

Do you think tower light is a magical anti-depressant?

I still think that Taravangian should just go to Dalinar and say look man, I already won. I killed. I saved the world and I did it without you. Now we have a chance to save the Cosmere together. Todium could probably get Cultivation to go with him to meet Dalinar. On the other hand, it says a willing champion. And I know it has been mentioned before, but this is maybe a slightly different angel. What if Odium convinces a child (likely human) that the best way to save the world and Alethkar is for them to be his champion and lose. And if he wins, he gets to be king of Alethkar. Put in that way, Gavinor might accept being the champion in honor of his father.

So, since the recreance, we know that one herald at least has gone over to Odium. Nale is fighting on the side of the fused. So, he needs to be replaced. But I thought there was also a theory that there was a hidden traitor among the heralds.

I really dislike the idea of Hesina (Kaladin's mom) having had an affair with Tanavast. I think if it was possible for Lerin to somehow be Tanavast, but he somehow separated from his cognitive shadow. A cognitive shadow is essential a copy of the mind and spirit web. So that could be an option maybe, if Tanavast laid down the power so he seemed to die and also devested himself of his memories to live a normal human life. There is also the chance that when Honor was shattered a small part of it latched onto Kaladin.

I've got it. Kaladin picks up the title Hoid dropped. Namely, Jasenah's boy friend. He then becomes King of Urathiru and Jasenah who is very pragmatic marries him. And Kaladin as a wedding present kills whoever killed her uncle. For some reason, it seems like when people ascend, they become less interesting in my mind. Perhaps it is because the power binds them.

I have a theory on why Tanavast has been mostly absent. The honor of men was mostly dead, thus Honor was mostly dead. Tanavast may have bound himself in some way to the honor of men, ensuring that at least most of them would not be able to become Voidbringers. But as men continued to get worse it was like when Radiants break their oaths. But since Kaladin, Adolin, and Leshwa were awesome, we see a huge jump in honor lvls on Roshar allowing the cognitive shadow Tanavast to manifest again. It also helps that Rayes is dead. Sidenote, how long do you think a Radiant could last in the cognitive realm before fading? If it is 10 days.... Kal could use a good sergeant.

So if Taravangian wins, and let's say picks up Honor, does that mean that Dalinar is his avatar that is then bonded to both the Stormfather and the Everstorm. That would be some serious levels of power. The goal being, wield just under the threshold of power so you are not bound by it. Odium tells Dalinar, the power will bind you eventually.

In terms of the words, both Dalinar and Navani are initially told no, and they have to really want the bond and not take no for an answer. Also, I just realized that if a Herald died that night and the Oath pact was broken, would Odium have been able to get to Gavilar before he went into the beyond? Odium would have incentive to be in the area, hunting Tanavast's cognitive shadow. So maybe he put Gavilar's soul in his back pocket... if that is possible. The body would be well preserved because it was soul cast.

So for me, the Stormfather information was the most interesting part of the new prologue. The Stormfather is not acting very much like he did during the rest of the book. Perhaps that is because this was more Honor's cognitive shadow before he gave fully merged with the Stormfather. So we have a spren that is mostly behaving like Tanavast. The heralds breaking the oath pact might possible hurt Honor a little bit every time, there is a chance that this last breaking of the oath pact further injured what was left of him so he had to merge completely with the Stormfather and give up the control he had. This spren says things like I need a champion, whereas the Stormfather says, things like tanavast made me do such and such. Finally, if part of this spren or cognative shadow broke off and caused Syl to wake up and handpicked Kaladin, it would make sense why the Stormfather calls Kaladin Son of Tanavast.

So just giving this topic a bump. I am unsure whether or not the original prologue was updated or a new one was posted, but it seems like new information has come out. I was particularly intrigued by the Stormfather taking on a bodily form. But truthfully, I think the cognitive shadow of Tanavast was further diminished after the death of one of the heralds. Notice how he says, he is looking for a champion. The way he interacts with Gavilar and Dalinar is completely different. The true question is what changed?

Others have mentioned this, so perhaps these exact words have been said. But we see the general pattern of the oaths be more and more restrictive until (at least with the Skybreakers) you become the Law, having fully embodied your oaths. This then shows a complete amount of trust in the Knight freeing them from the many restrictions they once had due to earlier oaths, and if you don't like the word freeing, let's say it makes them more flexible. Kaladin has from the very beginning struggled with protecting himself but also deciding how large the group he should protect should be. So even though it might be reasonable to assume the next oath will be, "I am worth protecting", I think when you look at how he sometimes protects Parshendi, a better oath would be, "We are worth protecting." This way Kaladin gets to decide who the "we" is. The us vs them mentality allows him to continue to fight. A broader version of this oath might be, "We are worth protecting and I will lead us." Last thing, I think swearing the fifth ideal, makes the Knights sorta spren like. Spren must remain true to their nature and cannot break oaths. In order to get spren to do that you have to unmake them. I think this is how the Heralds sorta operate. When they re-swear their oaths they become the embodiment of their orders. The large amounts of investiture helps to counter act all the trauma, but it only patches things... meaning it is less effective every time.

Of the main characters, Adolin being the only non Radiant is the easiest to kill. If a spren must die, better be Pattern. After all, Testament was there first. Shallan heals Testament, is really awesome duel wielding for a time and then Pattern saves Testament from an anti-stomrlight dagger.

This may seem dumb, but Kaladin has mentioned many times that what Wind Runners do isn't actually flight. Of course, more than one of the above mentioned ideas could occur. What if true flight is what the fifth idea allows. Syl can fly. Wind spren can fly. Wind Runners only sort of fly and require stormlight. But being able to truly fly (at the speed of wind), so no doubling or tripling speed without using stormlight, would still be OP in many cases.

90 days is roughly how long basic training takes. A lot of the first couple of weeks is like bridge runs, last week or so is fluff, so getting a platoon to come together in that time, especially when it is life and death is within reason.

Sounds like this going to go the way the end of Cell Saga went in DBZ, So who is Goku and who is Gohan. That is the question.

One thing that this made me think of is that there is no way that Chanarach doesn't die on purpose. The way we have seen other heralds fight perhaps she jumps on the blade, feels bad about traumatizing her daughter so tries to reassure her that she is still alive through the Zeon...traumatizing her further.

So I wonder, is the honor blade or the wielder the one that is less efficient. So Nale when he uses his honor blade uses more stormlight than when using his spren blade. But would a non-radiant use even more stormlight than Nale while using Nale's honor blade? Remember how Kaladin got better with stormlight the more oaths he said. I wonder if it is the same for the Heralds. Did the Heralds breaking their bond weaken Honor so that Odium could kill him. Or did that start the long death? The Recreance could have served as the final nail in the coffin. Possible oaths for the Heralds. Oaths: 1. Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. 2. I will serve as a Herald of the Almighty, I will protect the people of Roshar. Another way to say this will less room for interpretation. 2. I will serve as a Herald of Honor, I will protect mankind. 3. I pledge my body and soul to cage Odium, and I will never break. I believe that there are fewer oaths as a herald. Breaking the last of the oaths causes a desolation releasing the fused. Breaking the other oaths causes the Herlads to turn into the ten fools, kind of like how Syl turned stupid when Kaladin was breaking his oaths. Just like the spren bond makes people unnaturally (or perhaps super naturally) good and stuff, swearing the oaths while bonded to an honor blade should amplify the ideas that that herald was associated with. So Jezrien became the embodiment of leadership for mankind. The heralds are human souls bonded to a splinter of Honor, forming a new type of spren so to speak. Breaking their oaths hurt Honor and stupefied them. It also made their blades lest fantastic. Lots of similarities between what Shallon did with Testament and what the Heralds did.

So Minor spoilers from the prologue for Stormlight Five. My theory is that we have not yet really seen why the Heralds are spoken of with such awe by the Fused/Singers and the legends of mankind. The reason for this is that the honor blades which are splinters of Honor behave sort of like Radiant Spren bonds. Yes they give the basic lashings of their respective order, but this is the least they are supposed to do. It is sort of like how dead blades and plate are still fantastic weapons. Why aren't the Honor blades more fantastic? Broken oaths. Re-swear those oaths and I bet they do so much more. The major thing or most obvious thing would be the honor blades acting as a source of stormlight for their bearers. A direct connection to Honor by which they can be filled with Stormlight. Another interesting effect would be how we see the Radiants leak less stormlight as they progress to higher ideals. I imagine this is true of the heralds too. If they re-swear their oaths I bet their stormlight efficiency sky rockets.

I sort of view this as what happened in the original Mist Born series. You had savants ( I think that was the name) it broke things. Like how the Steel Inquisitors were able to do stuff regular mistborn couldn't. I imagine double bonds similarly break stuff. Nale is the other example of this, although we haven't seen it.