Vessel of Theory

No, I haven't read all of them. I've read all of SA so far(even RoW preview), Mistborn 1 and 2(not Eleventh Metal or Secret History, though I've read Secret History summary), Elantris, Warbreaker, and the Steelheart series(which isn't Cosmere, but whatever). I don't really want to read White Sand, but that's because I generally dislike graphic novels... If y'all think it's good, though, I'll definitely check it out.

I definitely want to hear the theory, that's like my thing. So then what are the effects of Glys being "corrupted" by Sja-Anat? Are they malicious at all? We know that Sja-Anat is talking about leaving Odium, but is that even possible for a shard of Odium? If spren are just Investiture, and Shards are able to Invest things, could Odium start to just convert spaient spren en masse?

I'm scared Um Probably Ruin. It could be really fun to witness Ruin doing stuff like changing words. Also, I don't know much(anything) about Autonomy

That's... that's a very good, very hard question I would have to say that my favorite character is Szeth(I'm sorry) because our thinking aligns(somewhat, not worrisome at all, just talking about prioritizing the "right thing" over all else). I'm really, really, really excited for that fifth book in SA to come out so we can see Szeth(do things, I guess). I'm also very excited for what strange theories I can make about the Shin... I've got this great Odium's Champion theory.

Greetings from the realm of isolation, fellow cosmere fans! Hope we're all staying busy poring over every inch of Sanderson's beautiful works to keep our minds off of the crushing, terrible, mournful loneliness...(runs away to go cry in a corner) I'm most interested(and think I'm most educated/well-versed) in discussions about the Stormlight Archive, specif. Odium and the Unmade and the Heralds and Odium's Champion. Also, I absolutely love theories, from any of the shardworlds.

Yeah, spren are basically highly concentrated Investiture. Thanks So what's the deal with Glys? Let's say he was a keenspren, made from Cultivation and Honor. Truthwatchers aren't supposed to have futuresight, and Renarin's can interfere with Odium's. Glys was corrupted to Odium by Sja-Anat. Truthwatchers have the Surges of Progression and Illumination. Renarin has been seen healing people, but not creating illusions. Is it possible that the "Voidish" Surge of Illumination is futuresight? I guess what I'm trying to point at is that Glys has Connection to Odium... This relates to earlier posts because its an example of Radiant spren being bonded to a Radiant who's against Odium and Odium, somehow. Any thoughts?

That's all great... But we need to Awaken Wayne's hat. We're going to make it super "lucky" and do random stuff that'll confuse the heck out of him. Another idea: we give Wayne a defensive Nightblood hat that talks to him and people around him. The command, I think, would be similar to, "become as a shield for Wayne's head".

All spren? Sorry, but I can't agree with that. What about the voidspren that the Parshendi bond to gain stormform? That makes sense, I guess. But I think Odium has his own spren as well.

I think that we've definitely got two Unmade correspondences confirmed. IMO, OB spoilers can help answer our conundrum. The Thrill inhibits responsibility(Dustbringers) and makes people incredibly destructive and brave(Dustbringers). Yelig-Nar being the Willshaper Unmade makes sense to me.

Are the keenspren of Honor or Cultivation? On a side note, would the spren be willing to have a kind of civil war between them, with Honor's spren and Odium's spren as the two main factions?

@Djerf, I think you have a good point(or two). Odium is not willing to let any more shards of Honor remain, which means most of the spren are going to have to go. However, we've seen that Sja-Anat, a splinter of Odium, is able to "corrupt" sapient spren. If a splinter can do it, is it so hard to believe that the whole cannot? It's been quite a while since I read OB, so I don't remember too much about Glys and what's "wrong" with him. Does anyone know what the Truthwatcher spren are? I'm pretty sure the wiki doesn't answer that question, so I'm more just hoping I guess. Odium can't let any more splinters of Honor exist, and I'll bet this is in no small part because of the Stormfather helping Dalinar, however redundantly. It's possible, I think(but I'm not sure) that the Radiant spren have gained so much Identity as, well, Radiant spren, that at least a portion of them are stuck there(like the Stick is just a stick, stormlight or no). I'm not sure if at the end of OB we're told whether the spren are reluctant to join the Radiants again or not. @Frustration You've definitely got a point there. Syl is still gaining sentience/sapience, even after being bonded for so long. Was this affected by Kaladin breaking his oath, then reswearing it? Syl has every reason to hate Odium - she is of Honor, literally an honorspren, and Odium freaking killed Honor. Not all the spren are going to be convinced that the Radiants are the way to go, especially if they think it's a lost cause, but there will be some who are so against Odium that they'll do almost anything to stop him.

I'm reading them as they come out. For me, most of the pull of the series is the intrigue, and Sanderson writes very good theory material. Some of the later chapters are definitely... interesting, to say the least. I'm a binge reader, so it's actually very nice for my reading to be rationed out.

I think that Squires operate differently than that. We've heard that almost every order is able to make/take Squires, but I'm pretty sure that the Skybreakers' oaths are a bit different than other Orders'. Their first is the generic, their second is an oath to "seek and administer justice", and the third is to follow someone(or something) utterly. A distinction is made between Squires and Skybreakers of the third oath. On the wiki, it says "Also called the Ideal of Justice, this is a specific oath to seek and administer justice. Once a master chooses to accept someone as a Squire, they may swear this Ideal. This Ideal gives the Squire the ability to breathe in Stormlight and use the Surge of Gravitation". This is saying that to swear the Second Ideal, a Skybreaker must become a Squire. The Third Ideal is later and different from this. So in summation, I really don't think that Szeth is Dalinar's squire. He's definitely a Squire, or was for a time, but he is sworn to Dalinar(Third Oath) without being his squire(Second Oath).

Do we know what Nale's Ideal of Crusade is? If not(help here?) wouldn't it probably be something like "I will keep the True Desolation from coming by removing potential Radiants, so long as Ishar agrees"? Nale failed... But he's still able to take squires. He's got a bunch. Can someone explain this?

I see your point that Taln might be too lost to mentally move out from his Intent. I don't agree that it's Ishar, despite the evidence. I agree that Ishar is bad, but he has become insane. I think that while Ishar may have orchestrated the False Desolation and the breaking of the Oathpact, he is not going to become Odium's Champion. I don't see enough drive for him to want it. I guess this takes me back to my point that of all the characters we've seen so far, Taln, the Bearer of Agonies, betrayed by literally everything and everyone he thought he could depend on, has the most pain to give to Odium. Honor, who made the Oathpact with Taln and the other Heralds, was killed by Odium. I think Ishar will play a significant role in Taln(or whoever Odium's Champion will be) forming Connection with Odium, but I doubt he has what Odium wants. Additionally(and sorry if this is rambling, I just use too many words), Taln is the Herald of War. I think that Ishar in his madness is going to do some Taravangian-like act of villainy and mess around with the Oathpact and Connection.

I have the game, definitely enjoy it. I think that it gives away some spoilers, but only if someone pays close attention. For example, a lot of the challenge cards portray recognizable/consistently drawn characters. If someone was able to recognize Kaladin, Jasnah, or Shallan from their actions in early WoK, and then saw the Radiant Destiny cards(where Shallan is pictured for the Lightweaver, Jasnah for the Elsecaller, Kaladin for the Windrunner, etc.), they'd get that spoiler at least. All in all, it's a very different gaming concept that what I've seen, and the novelty and artwork definitely account for a fair portion of the enjoyability. @Krox, just make sure you give all the different Adversary Quests a try. They can really mix things up. Also, I 10/10 recommend getting another person to play, it's way more fun with 4 people(but it can take a very long time).

Isn't the difference between spren like Glys and spren like Ulim that Glys is Connected to, or of, Cultivation(pretty sure it's Cultivation, but idk for sure), while Ulim is Connected to, or of, Odium?

I could see Dalinar dying, or being somehow removed from Roshar's Physical plane. I'm betting Kaladin's dad is going to die. I think Szeth might do a Hrathen-style death, in the second arc, to save/help Dalinar or the Radiants somehow. If he doesn't die, could he become a Marsh-style character, due to his Connection to Dalinar and his being Radiant? Side question, does Stormlight make you functionally immortal? Not sure, but if it repairs the body, couldn't you theoretically live forever if you had enough of it? I can see Adolin dying, or Renarin, or Shallan, but only one of them. I doubt Navani would die, she's just too important for the future of Roshar.

Since it seems we're just musing on whether or not Roshar's going to have a massive fabrial revolution... What's Shinovar doing? Isn't Shinovar the one place where the Highstorms don't destroy but still give Investiture? If the Shinovar have a more Earth-like(or maybe Ashyn-like) climate and ecosystem, wouldn't they be discovering things at a rate we understand better, or consider more balanced? Does anyone know what the Stone Shamans do? Would they, or the Honorblades, have any effect on the Shinovar industrial revolution? If/when the Shin get their revolution, will their technology prominently feature fabrials like we expect the rest of Roshar's to?

Thanks. So then do we know what the nine shadows are? Anyone see holes with my theory, or have a stronger one? Have we seen glowing red eyes anywhere else?

I know this is kind of(totally) out there, and I've never heard the theory I'm about to propose anywhere else. I honestly think that Odium's Champion is going to be Taln, the Herald. I've seen theories and reasons for Adolin, Dalinar, Shallan, Kaladin, and Taravangian, but never Taln. Just to make sure I've got the right memory of Dalinar's vision, which I'm pretty sure is all we have to work with, I'll paraphrase. Odium's Champion looks familiar to Dalinar, wears Shardplate, has spooky red eyes, and is surrounded by a brilliant light and nine shadows. Please, if I'm wrong, correct me. Here's why I think Taln: 1) Familiarity: He and Dalinar both have the surge of Tension. Also, Taln has "been where needed" and Dalinar follows a semi-similar path, "uniting them", when and where they need to be united. I'm reasonably certain that Dalinar has either met Taln or some of the other Heralds, or that he will at least by the time Odium announces his champion. Adolin could make sense, but I feel like Sanderson would want genetics to be the tie we expect. 2) The Light: Taln is a Herald. I'm not a Cosmere professor, but didn't the Heralds have special access to Honor, giving them amazing amounts of Investiture? If someone became Odium's Champion, I think it would make sense for them to be almost like the Odium Herald. We don't know much about this light(I think), so this might be wrong. 3) Nine shadows: Ten Heralds. Nine broke the pact. Nine shadows, not because of the Unmade(not sure if it's been confirmed to be the Unmade), but because of the other nine Heralds, by this time all now either broken or destroyed(RIP Jezrien), and a reminder of what Taln was. Nine shadows of the men and women who broke the Oathpact. If the nine shadows are not the Heralds, I'd guess they are the Nine Fused(RoW), who Odium's champion would, in my opinion, have some kind of power over them as well as a similarity. If the nine shadows are the Unmade, I'd bet that it's because Taln either becomes a Stoneward Unmade(if there isn't one, or if the current one is trapped/destroyed). If anyone has info on what Orders each of the Unmade correspond to, that'd be great. My final piece of evidence is Odium's requirement of Dalinar. "Give me your pain; It's not your fault, but mine". Taln is called "The Bearer of Agonies". He spent 4,500 years being tortured knowing that he had been betrayed and was being used. Taln has a lot of pain, and I could see him finally hanging the coat after however many thousands of years, dying and being tortured, then being betrayed.