GudThymes

Drat. I just want Tanavast to be alive so that we have a literal reason for Kaladins "Son of Tanavast" title/nickname. Thanks for the info on Tanavast In terms of languages Shallan doesn't know that would be a lot right? She only knows what, like 4 or 5 Rosharan ones? I agree though, I think any name that is a number less than 18 has to be related to Ado somehow.... on that note, could it be Ado themself?

Anyone have thoughts or theories for who this random Shin man in Lasting Integrity is? Mine is Tanavast as a Cognitive Shadow.

From what Raboniel was trying to do to the sibling I think the causality here is reversed. BAM must have been a grand spren and was then unmade (corrupted?) by odium. Given the effect BAMs imprisonment had on the singers and spren -- my theory is that she may have been a spren that pre-dated the human arrival and was the embodiment of bonds on Roshar (other than the Nahel bond).

That, or maybe there's a catalyst in Aimia that allows them to bond. Like how chasmfiends go to the shattered plains to pupate.

Full book spoilers: The theory is that the dawnshard in Rysn is what caused the destruction of Ashyn. It did not originate on Roshar and was brought there by the Heralds and was put into the mural for protection.

It's out for kickstarter backers. Check your email.

I'm going to jump in here too. @Bliev was not telling the OP of that comment how to think. I agree with Bliev, describing the ship between Kaladin and Leshwi in a malen body as "disgusting" can be very hurtful to people. It's ok for people to have that opinion, I don't agree with it, but everyone is entitled to their opinions. But please, keep that opinion to yourself. With regards to the original post. I think their relationship will evolve by proxy. From the Venli chapter it's fair to say that Leshwi doesn't expect to see Kaladin again (assuming she thinks he's dead). My theory is that we will see the one sided development of their relationship (through Kal) as the Windrunners continue to fight with the Heavenly One's, and Leshwi and her crew will either start being more ruthless or the opposite, will be more and more respectful and less deadly drawing out a stalemate of morality between the two crews.

Thank you for posting this. I hadn't seen anyone making this claim and I never even thought of it as a possibility. But I agree with you even without using other inworld examples of similar contradictions. Situations like this often appear in the real world. Oftentimes those who are being oppressed by a system (I don't think this is a stretch in the Navani scenario) will have to use the system as a means to effect change. It's unreasonable to argue that that invalidates their argument if they don't have an alternative. While I'm not arguing for ends justify the means, I think there appropriate sacrifices we can make on the path of justice.

Your boss sounds like they need to allow you more of a work life balance. I'm sorry its so demanding mate.

Hmmm, I didn't realize. I am far from an expert in steelmaking, and was under the impression that while there are other ways of creating steel using coal was the primary way to do so effectively (and in mass quantities). I know that you could use charcoal too, but what about on a planet like Roshar? I don't know enough about charcoal creation to know whether you even could create charcoal from the plant species there. Although since the plants are carbon based they should be able to create some kind of biofuel substitute for steelmaking, right? I definitely hear the argument that Ati and Leras could've just popped in some coal reserves when creating Scadrial, but what about the rest of the Cosmere? Is Yolen even old enough for naturally occurring coal to have been generated? There are some excerpts throughout the Cosmere that indicate that coal exists in some places, but how did it get there and if it was placed by an entity, how did they know to place it?

Thanks for Sharing this WoB. It's definitely informative. I see your point about Sazed creating Biofuels etc during the Catacendre. I think that could be the only explanation for Coal existing on Scadrial. A short rundown on coal formation on Earth: At some point in time millions of years ago to have a specific polymer called lignin that supports the cell wall of plants allowing for the creation of wood and bark. For a period of ~60 million years other life on Earth did not evolve to catch up with this change and there was no organism to break down lignin and use it as a food source. Thus, trees that fell were layered on top of each other and slowly buried underground. Then over a long time period pressure and temperatures rise that slowly creates coal.\ I'm assuming that at least on Scadrial they are using an alternative source for steelmaking than coal (or else one of the shards would have had to place it there intentionally).

I watched a random youtube video the other day discussing the creation of coal on Earth. Essentially, there was a very specific set of criteria that existed around 360 - 300 million years ago that allowed for the creation of all of the coal that exists. I was pondering this when I thought of the ramification it would have on steel production. How is steel created in the Cosmere? I've done some research and see that there are theoretically ways to create steel without the use of coal/charcoal, however, we don't have a mass way of creating steel on Earth that doesn't use our standard process (pig iron and coke fuel). Now, it's feasible that Steel is created in the cosmere using coal (and coal is referenced), but where did it come from? Is this an oversight from Brandon? Have I gone down a rabbit hole for no reason? What are your thoughts?

Hmmm. Good to know. I would assume it's soulcast then, given what I said above about creation of coal. Honestly I'm not sure how coal exists anywhere in the cosmere given that it takes literally millions of years to form. But that's a digression.

I've seen elsewhere on the shard that that epigraph was a typo and was supposed to be pewter and tin (I think). I don't think that Roshar has steel. One of the core components to steel is carbon. On Earth we use coal or charcoal to create this and I don't think that there has been enough time on Roshar for an abundance of a carbon source to form. All coal on Earth was created over a very specific time period and required very specific conditions that I don't think have existed on Roshar.

So do dolphins! Makes more sense imo. Why be fully unconscious when you can be half unconscious?

I understand what you're saying, and all of these points are ways that we know that she didn't die. But that's not how everyone thinks or reads. Shallan at that point in the story and for most of Words is a seemingly reliable narrator (we lose this trust over time), so when Shallan sees that Jasnah is dead, most people understand that as truth implicitly. I remember the bit about the knife hitting the wood from my first read, and I though "wow! They really made sure she was dead, stabbed her so hard that the knife pinned her to the wood". Which given that description can be taken truthfully. As for our knowledge of the Transportation surge and Radiants in general. We didn't really know the ins and outs of their powers at the time of Jasnah's death. While in hindsight it seems like Jasnah could easily have survived her knife in her heart (she did), on the initial read you didn't know that she was specifically capable of surviving. Then we have literally hundreds of pages of every character believing she is dead with very little foreshadowing of her survival. Most people when reading that take it as confirmation and aren't rethinking the original scene and picking it apart. Good on you for recognizing that she didn't actually die, but I think Brandon did a damnation good job in making it a surprise (which after reading his thoughts it sounds like he intended).

I'm confused, how would that be possible? Spren are pure cognitive entities that are comprised of Investiture. The sleepless are a sapient species in the cosmere, a hivemind or collective entity. I don't follow you here. I do think it is the sleepless though, I felt like the person on the other end of the Spanreed was speaking for more than just themselves and the powers of Soulcasters and whatever else Navani is toying with are aligned with the Sleepless' goals.

I'm going to take a contrarian viewpoint here. I think Lopen's 3rd ideal is going to be much easier for him to say than Kal or Teft. From those two it's clear that the focus is on protecting those you hate From what we've seen of Lopen, he doesn't seem to hate anyone or anything. Maybe his 3rd Ideal will simply be "I will protect those I hate, even though I don't hate anything". We know that some ideals are more challenging than others, and are more challenging for some than others. Maybe Lopen is just better suited for the 3rd Ideal than Teft or Kaladin are?

It's a very tasty Middle Eastern/Greek type of dough. I think Lift would want to try it.

I don't believe that Szeth thought what he was doing was "right" per se. However, his perceived responsibility to follow the owner of his oathstone superseded any and all other morals. Less culpable isn't exactly how I would say that, but it works. Doing what you think is right is what everyone does. A moral code is what guides you to believe what is right and what is wrong. For Kaladin we see he grew up being taught that what is right is to save the lives of others (surgeons oaths, Lirin, etc). Now Kaladin has his Oaths that guide his moral code. Dalinar did not act with morals for a very long time, he was guided to fight in whatever direction he was pointed by Gavilar. It wasn't until the last 6-7 years in world that he built his morality around the Alethi Codes. Moash doesn't have any external basis for determining what is right or a code like Kal or Dalinar. While Moash is acting in ways that could be aligned with certain morals, I think it is undeniable to say that Moash's goal is vengeance. To me, this makes Moash's actions immoral. For me, intent is important in assessing the morality of an action, and Moash's only intent ever is vengeance.

For sure, I just wanted to share my opinion as well. I completely understand that not everyone wants to read this or doesn't find it interesting/compelling. For me, I think Shallan could've been written as a character without DID, but given the first 3 books and how Brandon took her character into different "personas" (because I don't think Shallan is an accurate portrayal of DID) I'm glad that now he's trying to do right by his previous decisions and represent DID more accurately. It's not for everyone though. I think Brandon is going to lean more heavily into DID in this next book and make it a core for her progression. My theory is that Shallan has already "progressed" to the 5th truth but she's just "forgotten" them by creating amnesic walls between her selves. As an aside, I'm not judging you on your opinions or anything here. I just don't think mine are the same as yours.

I saw someone else replied on this too but I wanted to add my thoughts. Honestly, I think Szeths "reason" was more morally sound than Moash's. We can look a Nale's activites for the last 20 years (or more) as another comparison if we wanted. You say that Szeth has less of a reason for murdering innocents. While in hindsight this is definitely true, this wasn't the case when Szeth was following orders. Szeth's religion led him to become Truthless, while we don't know exactly how this happened we have some good understanding of what this meant. He was to become a soldier and a slave, with no ability to decide anything for himself. He was honorbound to follow the commands given to him by his master. The only exceptions were that he could not give up his Oathblade and could not take his own life or set something in motion that would (although he could allow himself to be put in lifethreatening situations he had to preserve his life). While many Western philosophies would say that it is moral to disregard the order of a commanding officer if the action would be immoral (executing civilians i.e.) that is not the case in other societies. I believe that this is why we don't question Szeth as much. We understand that while his actions were wrong and immoral he was following using a different moral philosophy to guide his actions. The Szeth in book 3 and now book 4 is free from that moral philosophy and understands that his actions were unjust, hence his crusade against the Shin. Moash doesn't have this. Moash as a character does not have a moral guideline for why he is doing what he does. His decision making all comes from his narcissism and vengeance not from a moral code. It's my viewpoint that Szeth does not need redemption for what he has done. (I also think Moash is irredeemable at this point)

Multiply Personality Disorder is an old term for what is now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder. This change comes from how we know think about the disorder itself. Not sure exactly what you meant by this but in my opinion more representation of mental health issues in media is a good thing if it is done well.

Sure, but it's a simpler explanation and thus more agreeable (I won't say more likely because it's fiction and it is all equally likely) unless we are given evidence to the contrary. I follow your logic fine, but for me you're really tweaking the information we've been given to fit you're conjecture. The unmade (including BAM) are Splinters of Odium, they are part of his investiture. It's possible that BAM could be the third sibling, but why would the fact that it is bound to a Radiant make it more likely to help their cause? Why would Odium allow this?

I would say that the processes between Returned and Fused are likely similar, compared to the other Cognitive Shadows we've seen. However, I believe that Returned are coming back in their original body (but then have subconscious control over appearance) whereas the Fused are sprenlike entities existing primarily in the CR and then inhabit the gemheart of a live Parsh and kick out the original soul of the body. It's my opinion that we say the Fused are a unique cognitive shadow entity until told otherwise.