Pete

Elsecaller.

I knew I liked Jasnah for a reason!

Seriously, this has been bugging me for a while. 

At different points in the story Parshendi are referred to as both Singers and Listeners. This seems to me like either 2 different focuses in their forms, or else a split in their species. Has anyone ever thought of it like this? Or are there any WoB on the matter?

A couple chapters later, when Rock receives his razor, he also says "My friends, you cannot know what you have done! Someday, I will take you to the Peaks and show you the hospitality of kings!"

While this is and the prior quote are clearly building his back story, they seem too specifically focused on a king of the Peaks to not be hints of foreshadowing. 

Rock now has the shards that he admitted would make any Horneater a king and unite the Peaks. There seems to be trouble at Cultivation's perpendicularity, and I strongly expect to see some action between these two things in books 4 and 5. 

Am I the only one who just cannot imagine a relationship between Kaladin and Jasnah?? 

Maaaaybe I could see Kaladin having an interest in Jasnah, but not the other way. Every time I've read her on page, she comes across as someone who is not interested in pursuing her sexuality in a physical sense. She surely uses her looks to manipulate others. I've always thought she would be gay or asexual, but more than anything I don't feel like I need to see a love story for her.

She is an excellent character without a partner.

Don't understand why we HAVE to have a relationship for every major character...

On 25/04/2020 at 3:14 AM, Wyndle88 said:

We know that Oathgates of Shinovar doesn't come up on a map. It could mean the Shin places and even capital of the country are kept out of the records intentionally.

Or it could be that they don't have a standing fixed Oathgate. We know Oathgate Sprens are contained in gemstones. So the Shin may be using the gemstones to construct the Oathgate at convenience . Maybe they are a nomadic people.

We know that before Szeth was declared Truthless they asked the "Spirit of Stones". That could be the Oathgate spren. Who confirmed Radiants are not back in Urithiru as their sibling "Sibling" ( Spren of Stone) is still sleeping. 

If the Shin stones are asked even now, they might still say Knight Radiants are not back as the Sibling is still slumbering. This could be the reason they refuse to join the Coalition of Dalinar.

So physically going there might be the key. The Shin seeing a Radiant. Which Szeth can deliver for Dalinar.

This is more proof of Sibling being 'siblings among gemstones of Oathgates and Urithiru'.

 

Personally I think this is overthought. Hasn't Brandon said that the thing with the Sibling is less complicated than is being theorised? 

Couldn't it be as simple as:

- The sibling is slumbering in Shinovar for some reason or another, thus their reverence of stone. The shin know a good deal about this deity, and know more or less why it is slumbering (radiants broke their oaths and hurt or drained it in some way).

- When they asked the "Spirit of Stones" before declaring Szeth truthless, they were looking for a reply from a spirit that wouldn't respond because it is slumbering/dormant/hibernating.

Didn't Rysn's interlude in WoK have a story about people worshiping a king who had actually died and they didn't admit/realise it?? Would be an interesting hint without being too literal.

- Then: "Let's consult the oracle/god to see if this guy is a Radiant or Truthless." "Ah, the oracle/god still slumbers. He's the god of the Radiant's tower, so if they were back he would have woken up." "Sorry Szeth son son Vallero, here's your oath stone." 

Also, it seems clear that the Shin are not nomadic, as they have their land (which was cultivated just for them to live on) closed off to most of the world. 

26 minutes ago, jamesbondsmith said:

Sounds like a lesser version of Lift, with her ability to climb on Wyndle. I just reread the part where Adolin uses his shardblade as a platform to jump up a cliffside, and it'd be a cool bit of foreshadowing if Maya ends up being able to partially manifest physically and she can basically give him a double jump in fights. 

Although I think one theory for Lift is that she partially exists in the cognitive realm, so it might be a bit redundant to have two Edgedancers who straddle the realms. Unless there's a 'theft and mischief' archetype with Lift and a martial 'crash and bash' type with Adolin.

 

Agree it would be a redundant thing to see, unless we are seeing fundamental changes in progress in the Roshar system. If that is the case it might make sense that more and more Radiants are manifesting differently. We seem to be seeing something new or different in Lift, Renarin, Dalinar, and maybe Venli at this point, so I wouldn't put it past Brandon to be foreshadowing something far bigger than we are expecting.

30 minutes ago, SwordNimiForPresident said:

I think that's already how it works. The Radiant says the oath, but the Spren decides whether or not to accept it.

Well technically yes. What I'm saying is that instead of Adolin getting power from Maya's decision to bond, Maya gets her power from Adolin's decision to bond. In this case Adolin would probably be pulled more toward the Cognitive realm and Maya would be more Physical realm. Neither of them would have full traditional Radiant power, but both are better off from it. (And it would be a weird, interesting change to the dynamic of Roshar's system)

26 minutes ago, Hentient said:

Honestly, I want Maya to be revived, but not bond with Adolin, they become friends, and shes his spren, but because she was "Dead" she lost her ability to make someone a radiant. I think that would be cool

How about if Maya gets revived, but her spirit is damaged keeping her from being able to give powers, so she bonds HIM to accomplish the Nahel bond? Now that would be a twist

As others have said, there are too many radiants on screen AND from the Kholin family at the moment. It is far more intriguing to see a non super powered hero cope with that particular circumstance, especially considering how incredible of a swordsman he already is. 

I would love to see him revive Maya (with help) but only be granted something like regeneration or the ability to hold stormlight to get the enhancement of speed, etc. OR it would be great for him to have to sacrifice something, perhaps asking the Nightwatcher to help him revive Maya!

All that said, it does seem that he is headed toward another previously unseen radiant version at some point. Essentially reviving Maya and gaining the bond/radiancy and providing a new and highly advantageous way to get more radiants in the fight. My hope is that this type of thing doesn't happen until the last half of book 5, when he swoops in to save the day with his unmatchable swordsmanship enhanced by new Nahel bonded super powers (to help Kaladin kill Moash preferably).

On 04/04/2020 at 2:48 PM, old aggie said:

So the Urithuru mural (not the in-world painting of Ishar) does depict a shardpool or some kind of perpendicularity - huh; I'm usually wrong about everything, but this time I got it right.

It reminds me of the bottom of this illustration from Oathbringer - like the crescent at the left is actually a circle, and that's what's in the Urithuru mural:

I wonder if that painting of Ishar isn't based on an age-old misinterpretation of the mural in Urithuru - like, when they left there, people remembered the murals and made their own copies, and through the centuries the real meanings of the images were lost and other meanings got applied.

Always another secret in the Cosmere!

Don't think I've seen this painting before. So much stuff in it! This to me is clearly a portal or perpendicularity, and seems to depict the human exodus to Roshar. But there are some elements that have me intrigued. There is what looks like a highstorm and green plants growing, which could represent the Stormfather and the Nightwatcher. If that is the case, what do the lion(?) and dragon represent? I don't recall anything so far that would be represented by those creatures, or even be known to an in world artist to get "creative" with. 

We know there are dragons in the Cosmere, but not clear on who might be one, or if they are present right now on Roshar. Lion though? 

Is there an opposing race to the dragons that we don't know about??

Has this painting been discussed in another thread before? So curious!

Dalinar is the deepest and most real character to me. I mean I LOVE Kaladin and Szeth and they were my top in the first 2 books. To be honest Kaladin and Dalinar both gave me chills during their different "level up" scenes, and I can't wait for more of those incredible scenes to come. 

Jasnah also I think has the potential to be a real front runner if she gets more screen time. She is badass and deserves her shot at the top!

On 13/02/2020 at 3:43 AM, Booknerd said:

Killer of Worlds, Knight of the Way, Keeper of Wisdom, Something along these lines probably the last two. Keeper of wisdom is my favorite, it references Szeth knowing about the Voidbringers beforehand. 

Keeper(s) of Wisdom was one of my favourites too. As the POV book for Szeth, and the title needing to be an in-world book, this makes a lot of sense to me since the Shin seem to be holding significant knowledge about the past.

 Knight of the Wind or Killer of Worlds make sense, again in reference to the Shin and Szeth. The latter being an account of the the destruction of the Shin home world. 

OR we could go full DiCaprio and call it King of the World

On 16/03/2020 at 9:44 AM, hgleclair said:

Not to derail but I agree that it’s ashyn and my head cannon has always been that Reya’s Tear is actually a play on Odium. If Odium came with the humans to Roshar maybe he had something to do with the destruction of Ashyn. And Reya’s is relatively close to Rayse. But that could or be a connection that I completely made up.

Interestingly, "Reya's" is an anagram of "Rayse"