Ba-Ado-Fisherman

“No, only one line of it is completely broken. The rest are there, but weak, impotent.” Dalinar pointed to one line, bright and powerful. “Except one. Still vibrant.” I had a theory a while ago that Taln was betrayed by one of the Heralds and killed after the last Desolation. Someone knew that one Herald in Braize would be enough to hold the Oathpact together, and all of the Heralds knew that Taln was never the one that broke. He bore the torture for 4000 years, alone. I have another theory that Taln did, in fact, NOT break before returning to Roshar at the end of WoK, but was sent back against his will, but that's another topic. I think the broken line has to do with that betrayal. Who it is, I don't know. But by this theory, it couldn't be Kalak, considering that we see his perspective in the prelude where he doesn't even know Taln is dead at the start. It could be a Herald we haven't seen yet, it could be Ishar, as he clearly knew the most about how the Oathpact operated, but I just don't know.

Not at all. There are 10 surges. 3 of those surges are Connected to each of the Shards that are invested in the Rosharan system. Adhesion for Honor, Progression for Cultivation, and (maybe) Division for Odium.

I've always thought that Brandon meant for Surgebinding to be the most powerful form of magic in the Cosmere, specifically for fighting. The Knights Radiant were literally created for war. They train for war, have experience above most if not all Allomancers in fighting powerful enemies, and some of their powers are borderline OP. Dalinar is only at the 3rd Ideal, and I'd argue that he's the most powerful non-Shard in the entire Cosmere, except for maybe the Heralds.

Naln catching a great arrow from Cord, Taln catching a dart without looking at it, Taln recognizing that Dalinar is "waiting" for him after opening the Perp. I think there is enough evidence to support a theory that Heralds are close enough to the Spiritual Realm to have some amount of Foresight.

What if Taravangian is killed in book 5, and Cultivation takes up Odium to become a new Shard and the new baddie? I doubt it, but it would be pretty cool. Wonder what that Shard would be called if that did happen...

I agree with the theory that's it's Taravangian. It makes complete sense for the timeline, but Brandon obviously couldn't make that reveal before RoW released. Wax and Wayne 4 might have TOdium in it, although that could spoil the outcome of Stormlight 5. Personally, I have very little faith in the idea that TOdium will be defeated in SA 5, so it wouldn't spoil anything for me.

Just read the book before coming on to any forums. Slip ups happen, and most times it's completely accidental. You're taking a risk by reading anything on forums dedicated to Cosmere books if you haven't read everything.

T explains while talking to Cultivation that while they can see the future, they can't predict the "hearts of men" or something like that. She is clearly very good at predicting the future, but she could never know what T would do once taking up the Shard. She is going to attempt to "mentor" Taravangian to turn him into a respectable god, but I think Odium itself is too powerful for any man to control its desire to destroy. I wouldn't be surprised if she has several different plans depending on what T does next though. It would be weird for her to be killed off after we've gotten so little of her over the past 4 books.

Rhythm of War is by no means the best Stormlight book, in my opinion. 1. the pacing is poor if you ask me. Leaving Shadesmar out of part 3 entirely really hurt that arc. I actually really enjoyed the arc in part 2, even if it dragged a little bit. The relationship between Shallan and her personas, as well as their relationships with Adolin are really well done. But leaving them at the end of part two, and not coming back for so long left the arc feeling rushed by the end. The resolution didn’t feel truly realized. I would have been happy to see an even longer book if that meant getting a more fleshed out Shadesmar arc. 2. Not enough Dalinar I get it. Oathbringer was all about Dalinar, and it makes sense to have him take a step back for a book. It really does say a lot though, just how incredible the short amount of time we had with Dalinar was however. I’m sure we’ll see a ton of him in book 5. strangely, RoW felt too long and too short at the same time. I’ve seen many others say the same thing. There were aspects of the story that NEEDED to be explored, such as Navani and the Sibling, as well as Venli/Singer stuff. I had very few issues with either of those Arcs. And I understand that writing a series this massive, with books that reach 450,000 words, are impossible to pace correctly. It says a lot about how highly I think of Brandon as a writer, that I expect more from him than he should be reasonably expected to deliver. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to get another Stormlight book that is as tight and well-paced as WoR. that being said, the emotional pay-offs and character moments in this book brought me to tears several times. 1. Kaladins fourth Ideal was a beautiful moment that felt truly deserved. He suffered for an entire book, and the breakthrough moments with Wit and Tien were very well written. Brandon continues to explore things like depression and mental illness with expertise. 2. I’m not sure why, but I was brought to full on tears when Venli used her powers for the first time. It was wonderful to experience the deep connection that singers have to Roshar. They are part of this world in a way that not even Shards can comprehend. Overall, I was very moved with Venli’s arc throughout the entire book. 3. That last chapter... oh my. Eshonai got a true send off in this one. I have a profound new respect for the Stormfather after reading this. I have many more thought, (TARAVANGIAN WHAT), but overall I was very satisfied with the book. As a penultimate entry in a 5 book arc, I was prepared for this type of read. story-7/10 characters-9/10 pacing-5/10 world-building-10/10 ending-8/10 (Rayse really didn’t sit well with me after agreeing to those rust terms of contest with Dalinar) overall-7.8/10. When compared to most books, I’d say add 1.5 to make it a solid 9.4/10. 1. Words of Radiance- 9.8/10 2. Oathbringer- 8.8/10 3. The Way of Kings-8.4/1010 4. Rhythm of War-7.8/10

I do believe that Taln did not break. I think that’s a huge part of his characterization going forward: his undying loyalty to Honor and his oaths. Even after 4500 years of torture, Taln would not give in if it meant dooming mankind again. I suspect this will all be explained when we get the Taln flashback chapters, but my guess is that he was sent back in some other way. Perhaps the oathpact was broken at the end of WoK, allowing him to return without giving in to torture?

I’ve been seeing many different ideas of what the other 3 Dawnshards are. Here’s my take. I think the Change Dawnshard is the one that is different from the others. First, Adonalsium created everything; The physical realm, using one of the Dawnshards. Then, he gave everything a cognitive aspect, creating the Cognitive Realm with another Dawnshard. Next he gave everything a spiritual, aka creating the Spiritual Real with the 3rd Dawnshard. Doesn’t have to necessarily be in this order. Might make more sense to give spirit to things first. 1. Let there be light type of command (physical) 2. Think (cognitive) 3. Feel? (Spirit) 4. Change (allow things to interact between realms and grow, evolve, die etc)

I think Cultivation is done for. Rayse said that she was hiding from him, but she presented herself to Taravangian right after he took up Odium. I’m convinced that Taravangian will continue to hunt Shards, and he could easily blindside Cultivation and take her out right now.

So, if Adolin and Maya eventually figure out a way to restore her completely, will Adolin gain the abilities of an Edgedancer? If so, does that mean that Adolin will not have to abide by any oaths in order to Surgebind? Could the deadeyes lead to a situation where anyone can essentially gain their own Honorblade? In Words of Radiance, Syl warns Kaladin regarding Szeth's Honorblade. “With this sword, someone can do what you can, but without the . . . checks a spren requires.” She touched it, then shivered visibly, her form blurring for a second. “This sword gave the assassin power to use Lashings, but it also fed upon his Stormlight. A person who uses this will need far, far more Light than you will. Dangerous levels of it.” I always was perplexed by that last bit... "Dangerous levels of it". Have we ever had an instance of someone having too much Stormlight, to a point where it became dangerous? ALSO, notice how Syl says "Light", not Stormlight. After RoW, this could mean something. Maybe, before the Recreance, humans and spren were so close that some started to form Connections that weren't Nahel Bonds. Maybe the Radiants and their spren KNEW that if they abandoned their oaths, all of the other spren would never forgive the humans. Maybe the Recreance was a staged event specifically meant to make humans look dishonorable and untrustworthy going forward, and so the Radiant's spren made a sacrifice without telling the rest what was really happening. Now, after such a long time, Adolin inadvertently restarted the process, and Maya has forgotten what happened. There's probably a bunch of holes in this theory, but I wanted to get it down before I forgot about it.

NB usually doesn’t remember what happened after he destroys stuff. Renarin knows what happened. I’m sure of it.

I was under the impression that Honorblades were created directly from Honor itself. NB can kill a vessel, but the power of a Shard is infinite. I wouldn’t be surprised if Honorblades could just as easily kill a vessel with a well placed strike.

Ok, I like this. Was hoping that we'd get to see BAM in RoW, looks like we'll have to wait a few more years. I'm guessing she's more important than we were lead to believe.

Maybe Cultivation used her excellent foresight to see that she would inevitably be killed in the near future, leading to her finding Lift to be a replacement? I'm still not sure though if whatever TOdium does with this new power will be what she expected to happen. It seemed like she was confident in her ability to teach Taravangian how to manage the power honorably, but it certainly seems like he has his own plans already. I was kind of bummed that Rayse was killed, because a part of me wanted to see Dalinar loose to Odium, and then travel to Cosmere as his lieutenant, destroying everything in his path. But yeah, I could definitely see Dalinar reforming Honor. It fits his abilities as a Bondsmith and his personality.

I don't like this theory, but could his true last name give away a relation to any particular god, perhaps Tanavast? I know there are some who think he is a literal child of Tanavast, but Idk about that. Could be why we haven't been shown his true name though.

Seeing Dalinar and Ishar opening Perps and performing acts of god so casually was definitely awesome. The part that made me most excited about this entire scene was actually the reference to Taln though. In this fight, we see Ishar fight with his blade expertly, godlike with it, yet the Stormfather claims he is the weakest fighter out of all the Heralds. When Dalinar asks who the best was, Stormfather immediately replies Taln without even hesitating. I simply cannot wait to see Taln in action.

What I find quite interesting is that Taravangian actually wielded NB with ease. Is that normal? I haven't read Warbreaker, but I know plenty about the magic and about NB. Does this mean that NB didn't see T as evil?

I've been calling him very, very scary.

Who is this mysterious Fused, and why do I feel like they will play an enormous role in the coming books?

I think we have to start by asking what exactly BAM did. Apparently she Connected herself to the singers, many many of them, to give them forms of power. In doing this, could BAM have inadvertently made herself some sort of god? Did her imprisonment have such a terrible effect on Roshar because of her new deep connection to the world itself?

Kaladin is almost certainly different from everyone else, including Radiants. I think it's pretty obvious to assume this from all of the above evidence, and more, especially considering he was the first main character introduced in Stormlight, Brandon's magnum opus. Nearly every single prediction I made for RoW was completely wrong, except for Kaladin swearing the 4th Ideal, which everyone saw coming, so I don't trust myself to see what's coming anymore. I could get behind the idea that Kaladin is somehow directly related to Tanavast. The problem with that theory is that in order for Kaladin to be related to him, there would certainly have to be others. This seems like a weak theory to me. I'm very curious to know what happened with the red/yellow eyes thing. " “His eyes were glowing like a Radiant’s, his face a mask of pain and anguish, but the eyes … she swore the light had a yellowish-red cast to it. Like … like …” I'm starting to think that during that brief moment of rage and pain, Kaladin had given himself to Odium, similar to Moash. Honestly, I have no idea what is going on with Kaladin.