BloomAgeOne

I actually wanted to say that today I had a look at what some people were talking about in relation to the High Republic releases, and I think that it sounds like it was much better than I was anticipating. I've seen several positive reviews from a variety of people, including fans of the Star Wars Legends timeline (which I particularly value, as I consider myself an EU fan rather than a Disney/Clone Wars-Era fan). Apparently with some minor head-canon errata, what has been released so far could even be included in the Legends timeline, which is something that nothing else released by Disney can really claim.

I think the main complaint I have so far (from looking at some stuff they've put out) is that they've released the list of Jedi Council members during the High Republic, and there are some conspicuous absences. The first is Yaddle, which I found particularly curious, since her former padawan Oppo Rancisis is on the council. The other two - T'un and Tyvokka - aren't technically Disney canon, but it would have been nice to see them become canon here, and for the authors to recognise us EU fans still watching on. I suppose that this is probably one of the errata that would have to be adopted from my pov. 

Although I probably won't read any of it until more of it comes out and I have more free time on my hands, I now think that at the very least I will try to read some of it in the near-ish future.

8 hours ago, Halyo_Alex said:

She does literally swear the Second Ideal of the Windrunners, protecting those who cannot protect themselves, in her head at some point.
"she could fight, could kill, if it meant protecting those who could not protect themselves"

That's so cool! When I first saw this thread, I thought that it made sense for Vin (and maybe Kelsier) to be Windrunners based on their desire to protect others. I do think though that all of the points about Kelsier as a character do have me convinced, though. He'd make a good Willshaper or Lightweaver (particularly opposite Hoid in terms of the latter).

7 hours ago, Ooklara said:

Looks like they are finally going to release some High Republic stuffs. 

Anyone going to get in on that? 

I don't think that I'll look into it in the foreseeable future, apart from maybe looking at some plot summaries of the entire sequence if it becomes relevant. Apart from just generally being busy with school et cetera, I feel like I'd rather continue reading existing Star Wars material that I find more enjoyable personally, or more fantasy novels. There's still a few fantasy series on my reading list that I plan to finish before trying out any Disney-Canon Star Wars again. 

4 hours ago, Urtan said:

I was thinking about just who is going to be Odium's champion for the duel and couldn't find anyone, who would be a match for Dalinar. Also, the person either will have to be strongly connected to Odium, or it will be someone Dalinar will be unable to kill.

I don't necessarily think that this is going to happen, but remember that the Skybreakers' allegiance is currently with Odium, so Nale would be a candidate, right?

43 minutes ago, Condensation said:

You can also look up State Math Competitions from previous years.

Nice! I haven't seen any of the State Math Competitions, probably since I don't live in the US myself. I have done a few problems from the USAMO, USAJMO, and various TSTSTs and TSTs though. Some of them get really hard. The US seems to have a limitless number of mathematics competitions going on.

In a similar vein to Putnam, I really enjoy doing Olympiad mathematics, mainly because I feel that it really demonstrates the inherent beauty of mathematics, and it just gets really challenging.

Here's the archive of all the IMO (International Mathematics Olympiad) papers and their respective shortlists: https://www.imo-official.org/problems.aspx

The IMO can definitely require some prior knowledge, but there are definitely some accessible problems in there (particularly from earlier years). There's also many other Olympiads at different difficulties, and they're fun to try out sometimes.  

13 hours ago, Starla said:

For Jasnah, I was surprised in these chapters that Kaladin casually thought of her by first name a couple of times. It's possible they have a strong dislike of each other, but it didn't come across in his thought process. Also, she is 14 years older not 17 (I recall her being 34 in WOK/WOR and he was 20). Regardless of age and rank, I don't see anything happening there primarily because Jasnah seems to be focused on other priorities in her life.

 

Years in Roshar are around 1.1 times the length of an Earth year, so the age gap is around 15.5 years, rather than 14 or 17.

Welcome to the Shard!

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

I don't think either of us are wrong, but I do wish more people would try to see it both ways. 

I couldn't agree with this more. Star Wars is different for every fan, and I find it difficult to look at the current divide in the fanbase.

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

Mark Hamill did say a lot of things about Luke and TLJ, but the one that stuck out to me was how he said he was wrong about his ideas for Luke.

Definitely a good point. It's great to see him speaking so openly about his ideas about the character, and how they have changed over time.

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

Don't forget that it also brought back the Sith, invalidating the entire Chosen One arc .

Too true.

1 hour ago, Use the Falchion said:

I find myself torn on Legends. On one hand, it has some of my personal favorite stories, and characters arcs are a lot better. Jacen Solo is just a true Sith version of Kylo with more noble qualities. Ania Solo is Rey without having to spend three entire movies answering questions about her backstory. Jao Assam is the Jedi we all hoped Finn would turn into. (And I still need to read Thrawn's original trilogy!) On the other hand...Chewie gets killed by a moon, Luke stops believing in the Force for while, the Yuuzhan Vong are still controversial, the timeline is so confusing to the point that multiple levels of canon needed to exist to justify it, and the Sith come back.*

Overall, I think Legends is benefitting from nostalgia hard, and all of the bad stuff is slipping through the cracks while the good stuff is passing the test of time. (I have a friend who tried to read through all of the Legends pilot books before branching into the New Canon stuff, and he eventually gave up on that project, stating that life was too short to read things that he didn't actually enjoy. ...and that's when he started reading the Mistborn trilogy...hehehe...)

Or maybe I'm just used to cosmic resets because I'm a superhero fan before all else. 

I can agree with most of this. I actually had to look up Jao Assam - I'm not the most familiar with Legacy material beyond the main plot since I've never read the comics. I've always brought up Kyle Katarn as my go-to 'what Finn could have been'. I kind of enjoyed the Yuuzhan Vong, although that may also be because I enjoyed the story (Ganner Rhysode's sacrifice being a highlight from what I can remember).

I fit into a bit of an interesting place. What I consider canon (I guess you could call it my head-canon) consists of G-canon (the movies) and C-canon (what most people know as Star Wars Legends (I always get frustrated when people bring up Skippy or Tag and Bink as an argument against Legends, when they were never canon in Legends anyway). I don't consider the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show because it contradicts with a lot of this material, and I'm really pedantic about continuity.

I can definitely see that my love for Star Wars Legends is most likely influenced by nostalgia - I grew up reading the Tales of the Jedi and Knights of the Old Republic comics - Ulic Qel-Droma is still one of my favourite fictional characters anywhere. I found that I was able to transition into reading the novels as I grew older and more accustomed with the lore.

I have to admit that I'm not used to resets (I've never really read any superhero comics), so that may also contribute to explaining why I have never let go of my beloved stories and characters. Anyway, it's great to talk with another genuine Star Wars fan who is happy to recognise  and understand other people's points of view. 

On 8/1/2020 at 4:32 AM, Negative_Null said:

Hey guys, for some reason this thread doesn't exist already, even though Davriel Cain exists. So, this is the MTG thread now. How many of us are there and what do you play?

Surprised not to see any replies here. I've been playing for a few years, and almost exclusively play Commander now. I have a few decks, including Atraxa, Muldrotha and The Ur-Dragon.

1 hour ago, Mojulesttron said:

As I saw a lot of different ideas being thrown around concerning Jasnah interviewing Ash, I thought we should open up a seperate thread for it. 

So here are my initial thoughts:

I think it's very cool that Jasnah actually spoke to Ash (and possibly Taln, depending on his mental state) to gain information about the previous Desolations and the enemy. There surely are some interesting bits of information to be uncovered. However, I think it is noteworthy that Kaladin does not know about the (presumed) Transportation-Fused. He infers the Fuseds surge based on his observations, not on anything he's been told by Jasnah or Ash. Furthermore, he speaks about Dalinar claiming that there are only nine types of Fused- not knowing - but wouldn't something like this be basic information for the Heralds to share? The easiest answer might simply be that Kaladin doesn't know about everything Ash has shared, but that seems unlikely (with him being a high-ranking Radiant and trusted ally to Dalinar). What might be the case is that, after Jezriens death, Ash is know zoning in and out of awareness, similar to Taln. 

 

I'm very interested to read your speculations on this topic and everything else concerning the Heralds!

I think that Ash may have simply forgotten some of the details about the fused and the desolations. It's been 4500 years after all, and Ash, like the other Heralds, hasn't had the best mental health throughout the years. Dalinar was probably told about the nine types of fused by the Stormfather.  

I'm a big fan of the time jump. I think that although it is evident that things have happened between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, it hasn't changed the landscape of the story to the point that we will need to transition a lot to catch up. I'm looking forward to seeing where all of the characters are at, particularly Ash and Taln!

Welcome! It's great to have you here!

3 hours ago, rainrunner said:

I'm not sure what's my favorite book, but Kaladin, Vin, and Dalinar are my favorite characters. 

 

Definitely with you here. Kaladin is probably my favourite sci-fi/fantasy character outside of Star Wars.

On 8/3/2020 at 10:15 AM, Use the Falchion said:

**Amusingly enough, I find that Luke's arc in TLJ is the exact same arc that Tony Stark has in Avengers Endgame. It's the second half of the Hero's Journey, and it's brilliant.

I have to agree with this, but although I enjoyed Tony Stark's arc in Endgame, I really didn't enjoy Luke's arc in TLJ. I guess that I don't believe that it fit his character, particularly after RotJ.

I really disliked the sequel trilogy in general. All of the movies had major points that really disappointed me, as a long-time dedicated Star Wars fan. In TFA, it was the interactions between Han and Leia, and the idea that Luke ran away in the first place. For me, TLJ destroyed not only Luke's character, but his memory. I like how Mark Hamill described Luke in TLJ as 'Jake Skywalker'. However, ROS not only failed to link all 9 movies together, but the introduction of force healing invalidates the entire fulcrum of Anakin's transition into Darth Vader.

I have come to terms with the existence of the sequel trilogy, but I honestly try not to think about it all too often. If you enjoy it, I'm happy for you. I'll stick with Legends myself - it's a continuity that in my opinion has much more care for the legacy of the characters, respects the fans, is created by people with a passion for Star Wars, and is extremely consistent. I'm still really sad that it hasn't been continued. There was so much more to explore.

2 hours ago, Lunamor said:

If I remember correctly, she said that she was open to the idea of there being of a higher power/god, but just didn't believe that the Almighty was a god to be worshiped. So I don't think that would be her viewpoint- I think that she isn't quite an Atheist, more questioning than anything. 

I pretty much agree with this. Jasnah simply didn't agree with people worshipping Honor, because she didn't see any reason to. As far as I recall, Honor didn't tell people to worship him or anything. I wonder what Jasnah would think of Adonalsium.

1 hour ago, RShara said:

Why are they God, just because they are super powerful beings? If we met aliens with technology that could bend time and space and had unlimited power sources, would you consider them Gods? Some people would, but I wouldn't. They would just be...extremely advanced and powerful beings.

 

 This is pretty interesting - it's basically how the Dark Lords of the Sith rose to power.

Hello, and welcome to the Shard!

1 hour ago, hoiditthroughthegrapevine said:

I've said this before, but I still think this might be true. The 4th ideal probably is something utilitarian in nature, but I hope Kaladin doesn't swear it. The fact that he can't accept losing someone and that he internalizes that pain is one of the things that makes him Kaladin. He's not going to swear an ideal he doesn't believe in just to get plate, and I for one am hoping he refuses the 4th ideal, just like he twice refused shards. The power of Kaladin's principles are stronger than the shardplate he could have already had by trading them in.

We've got lots of Windrunners who will be capable of swearing the 4th ideal, I say Kaladin is stronger without it, and I suspect with the hinted parallel of him freezing during spear practice when he first enlisted that he might opt for a path where he protects all lives, foreswearing killing as much as he can.

I wonder if Kaladin may be able to swear his own 4th ideal that takes him down a different path from previous Windrunners, particularly after Jezrien died in Oathbringer.

Hi, and welcome to the Shard! Do you have any favourite characters from Mr Sanderson's books?

While I generally consider The Clone Wars to be the best of Disney's Star Wars Era (along with the Mandalorian and Rogue One), I still miss the Legends Clone Wars Multimedia Project. To me, nothing will ever be able to match it in the Clone Wars time period, because it just flowed so well with the continuity, particularly in relation to the movies. I understand that this may be an unpopular opinion, but even after all these years I just can't see the Anakin portrayed in Filoni's Clone Wars and Anakin in the prequels as the same character.

I really enjoy all of the Cosmere's magic systems. I think that Brandon's intricate magic systems are a major draw to his stories.

However, if I had to pick a favourite, it would probably be surgebinding. As some people have already mentioned, I like how it is quite possibly Brandon's most intricate magic system yet, and how it is closely linked to character development. However, what I think really hooked me was the prologue of The Way of Kings. To this day it is my favourite prologue, and was one of the contributing factors to why tWoK is my favourite Sanderson novel.

Honourable mention must go to Allomancy, though. I would love to see it adapted to television or film.  

6 hours ago, Harbour said:

Also, if Shallan and Adolin will have a child, it would be girl 100%. I believe Oroden, Gavinor and Shallan's daughter would be the main trio of Books 6-10. First one was introduced for a reason, and not just to be an object to add to Kaladin motivation in the beginning of OB. Him and Gavinor would be friends and/or foes, with third character, female one, added into mix to form classic trio.

 

This is an interesting idea, but I always expected Books 6-10 to focus on the characters who will have flashbacks in those books (including Taln and Ash). I'm really looking forward to getting more viewpoints from the various heralds, with Oroden, Gavinor and Shallan and Adolin's future children been secondary characters in a similar way to how Kaladin, Dalinar and Shallan will be more secondary in Books 6 - 10.

6 hours ago, Pathfinder said:

First, regarding the theory of using awakening to revive Maya. Sorry to be a buzz kill but it has been asked and answered. I think unless there is a way to make the breaths have Connection, or considered "Maya investiture", it will not work. Hence my theory regarding Bondsmith Dalinar using connection to get through the interference. WoB below

 

Thanks for the clarification. I'm a bit disappointed that this can't happen, but understand why it really doesn't make sense in-universe.

12 hours ago, Rebecca said:

I’m the oldest and I have two younger siblings, a sister and a brother.

Nice. I'm also the oldest in my family.

12 hours ago, Rebecca said:

No, I haven’t, but I’ve heard of Pandemic, and it sounds really cool!

I definitely recommend it! It has a unique playing experience, as it's a co-op game.

12 hours ago, Rebecca said:

I’m not very big on Star Wars, no. I’ve watched the movies, and while I enjoy them, if you asked me any trivia or something about them, I probably wouldn’t be able to answer haha. I haven’t read the novels either, sorry. I bet you could find a topic over in Entertainment Discussion about Star Wars though, and there would be others over there who share your interest. 

 Thanks for the recommendation! I still have a lot to explore on this site. 

12 hours ago, Rebecca said:

Thanks for the questions! 

No problem. Thanks for the answers!

Mental health awareness month isn't actually something that I've heard a lot about before, where I come from. Although I haven't really had any struggles of my own, I do have some good friends who have, so I'm happy to support this.

Although I'm pretty new here, from what I've seen, the 17th Shard is a really supportive community (I felt accepted by everyone from my very first post), and would like everyone out there to know that we're all here to stand by you and offer you support when you need it. 

On 4/23/2020 at 11:14 AM, Rebecca said:

Read, for sure. But I like playing board games, watching anime, and goofing off with my friends/siblings too.

Nice! How many siblings do you have, and how many are older/younger than you?

On 4/23/2020 at 0:31 PM, Rebecca said:

Probably Catan. Apples to apples and Telestrations are both ones I like to play with bigger groups though.

I've recently enjoyed playing Splendor, Avalon and Pandemic (finally thought I'd try it out given the current situation and a few recommendations). Have you played any of them?

On another note, do you like Star Wars, and if so, have you read any Star Wars novels? (I'm a pretty big Star Wars Legends fan)

7 hours ago, Use the Falchion said:

Because relationships are fun and can bring an extra dimension to characters and conflict (Obi-Wan & Satine in The Clone Wars). 

Adolin awakens Maya: 70% - I think Adolin will awaken Maya...with Awakening. That's part of why I think Vasher and Azure need to meet and why they're so important in this series. Adolin needs to learn how to use Breath/Investiture to fully reconstitute Maya, and Breaths - or finding a way to convert Breaths into pure Investiture - is the perfect way to go about it.

I really like the Awakening idea! I would probably have expected more of the large Cosmere cross-overs such as people learning magic from other planets to happen in the second half of Stormlight and the future Mistborn Eras, but Adolin using it to awaken Maya sounds pretty cool.

Also, as a side, I always felt that Obi-Wan and Satine's relationship wasn't quite as good as Obi-Wan's Legends relationship with Siri Tachi, but that's a bit off topic...

1 hour ago, Goatbringer said:

I think Adolin would be a caring, attentive father. 

I agree with this as well! Particularly given his difficult childhood, Adolin seems like he would make a great father. I would probably prefer for Adolin and Shallan to not have children until the gap between books 5 and 6, because it would limit their involvement in the greater conflict a little bit, with Adolin wanting to spend time with his child/ren. This would be a bit easier, as the primary/focus characters are going to switch up a bit in the second set of 5 Stormlight books.