Dreamwa1ker

I would be bothered by this theory just because of timeline. Starling is like developmentally the equivalent of 17 years old in dragon culture, it would creep me out if he has married her, maybe had kids already at this stage. And he's a mentor figure to her - feels like grooming. But, didn't get any vibes like that between them anyway. More like a cool big brother figure

I found this quote really tantalizing: Ch 42 Shards plural supporting them. Does Harmony count as more than one Shard? Or that Autonomy is also backing them? OR Does it mean Harmony splits again? Note that the name Harmony is carefully not mentioned in the convo about the Pathian earring: It is worded really carefully so as to not actually say the Shard name that the Pathians worship in this time. I did a search on the text of the full book and there is not a single mention of the word Harmony despite several other Shard names being mentioned throughout. Seems deliberate as a way to not reveal something. So it could be that the thing he is only living Shard to have done, is to have changed the intent, or split it or something?

He is asking her to tell these guys

Oooh I like this. Cusicesh description from Axies Interlude in WoK Emberdark chapter 25: And from Cakoban vision in chapter 52 All have a bunch of weird spindly arms, seems suspicious.

Maybe it's Valor, they had kids, things ended badly or something happened that made her want to divorce him and give herself the Eternal Sunshine treatment. Maybe it was really messy, she got mad, and (stormlight)

Mercy + Ruin = Thanos, haha. Or maybe Mercy + Reason is, a eugenics like situation where Reason divorced from ethics takes you quickly to a very bad place. But more seriously Mercy + Ruin sounds like it would be Nihilism, or Annihilation you could say. Terrifying indeed.

I think of her like this god-as-a gardener idea. We know from some of the various Shard POVs that we've gotten that Shardic futuresight seems to be a view of likely possibilities or paths. Cultivation is then pruning and nurturing towards various options for long term goals. But I think she'd be cultivating a couple options at once, like leaving a few main stems on your tomato plant vs going all in on one. I think the place this really comes through is her convo with Odium in WaT interlude: I also think the moment in Kharbranth showing she has placed assassins, as well as just the fact of her having Dalinar already ready for her to nudge toward the Honor shard rather than just Taravangian Odium plan, shows she keeps contingency plans or grows multiple options for herself. Not necessarily cool/ calculating/ computational, but almost compulsively growing multiple options for herself at all times.

Yes this is exactly what I think. She seems like someone that would have plans within plans. What happened was probably not plan A but plan B or C. That's an interesting idea. I also had the thought that Retribution could change/ develop over time into Justice - or maybe after adding another shard to it or with a different vessel. I also totally admit the end of book 5 could just be a big loss for Cultivation, but I do think she still has some bigger plan for later with Lift and maybe Nightblood - she has touched both of them and that combination of infinite Lifelight to fuel Nightblood seems like a Chekov's gun for later.

I've been mulling this since the end of the book. Maybe I'm just too invested (haha) in Cultivation as a shard, but I think Cultivation did not just get totally caught off guard/complete loss here. I think that Taravangian combining the Shards of both Honor and Odium was her plan. I realize she fled the system right after he did it (which was the smart thing to do to protect herself) but I don't think this was wholly unplanned or that she has totally failed in her goals. Evidence: Firstly, we know Cultivation's methods are to gently nudge and prune and to play the long game. Her conversations with Taravangian early in WaT explicitly state this - she talks about gradual gentle adjustments rather than direct intervention. We also see her do this kind of method with Dalinar with his boon and curse, basically nurtured growth in him over time. So we can assume her overall plan is probably also following this pattern. Additionally we know she is one of the Shards with relatively good future-sight. I mention all this to support the fact that the end of WaT is probably not endgame of her plans. She still has a piece on the board in Lift as well, for which we do not yet know the purpose, so I don't think Cultivation is done with Roshar. Further we have some statements from Cultivation about her intervention with Taravangian. In RoW, Cultivation has this conversation about her motives after he ascends to Odium: Bolding mine. Some clever foreshadowing by Brandon - with Honor indeed. Cultivation's boon and curse with Taravangian make more sense also if she was prepping him for holding the dual-shard. The cold and rigid intelligence and the overwhelming emotion, fit as a precursor of holding the rigid and coldly rules-obsessed Honor together with the passionate Odium. She was prepping him for Retribution all along. Finally, I personally think this would be better story-wise - hearing Cultivation is supposed to have good future-sight but then seeing one of the only things she sets up be so so wrong (without showing many instances of her being right) kind of falls flat. Having you think she was super wrong but then it turns out it was part of a bigger plan, is more fun in my opinion. So any thoughts? Do you think Retribution could have been part of Cultivation's plans, or do you think WaT was just a total loss for her?

Oh my gosh can you imagine Zahel does it and we get a scene of a bridge 4 member seeing statue Teft and Phendorana fight again to save the day? Epic

I'm assuming that Lift will still be able to produce Lifelight anyway. Now, whether she can learn to infuse spheres - unsure. If she can she is just going to be on a constant food binge infusing spheres. But I like the idea of her becoming a mysterious folk hero, that if you leave out an offering of food she shows up and performs miraculous healings.

This is an interesting question. We know from the earlier books, that normally to bond a shardblade you have to have a gemstone on the pommel and keep the blade summoned for 5 days. I was assuming Stormlight is somehow involved with the gemstone and the bonding process, though it is unclear if you have to somehow keep that gemstone charged. But in any case, I'm assuming this is why people could not bond dead shardblades anymore - no Stormlight. But now that BAM is freed and deadeyes may start to recover - will already bonded dead blades begin to recover somewhat like Maya already had - be able to summon faster, etc? I don't think stormlight is necessary to summon a dead blade, just to bond it. But that is maybe an assumption on my part. I could see already bonded blades either join up with their owners more as an unoathed bond, if they like the person. But perhaps could now rebel/leave if they didn't like the person or way they were being used.

I assumed Reason was the one that wants to hide and survive. Valor I could see having hidden herself not for survival but some other reason. The Why of that is most interesting to speculate on. She notably seems to have hidden only from those on Roshar - communicating with Harmony and Endowment but not with Tanavast or Hoid who at the moment are on Roshar - could be a clue to her motives. It would also explain why Endowment tells Hoid that Valor doesn't want to talk to her - if there is concern of Odium or other Rosharan forces being able to see/and or interfere with her plans. Could Valor be guarding something dangerous or important as this could fit with her intent? Maybe something Adonalsium left or something with the 4th moon? Could she have been waiting around to sneak attack/assassinate Odium if/when he tries to leave the planet?

I was looking for a thread like this. I don't have a full chart yet, but for the other 2 dawnshards I had been kicking around: Create and Destroy. This makes all 4 almost like phases of life or existence: Create -> Exist -> Change -> Destroy. I also thought however that we have Exist and Change which feel quite physical, should the others be more cognitive. I could really see one being like the spark of awareness/sentience like Feel or Think. Especially with several shards seeming more in this vein of emotions or mental things (Odium, Devotion, Mercy, Ambition, and then Reason, Invention)

I also think it's got to have been a Dawnshard. I don't think Exist fits. Maybe Change. But I was thinking maybe one of the other two. Now that we know 2 Dawnshards and all 16 shard Intents, can we figure out the others? If we have Exist and Change, could the others be Create and Destroy? Destroy would make a good weapon (the torment from that has gotta be terrible though)