handleinthedark

The bands as always are a red herring. Their purpose is to seed a general unrest and fuel an arms race in the Basin. This is likely a Harmony/Discord seeded plot that will show up in Era 3. I imagine the background of the next book will be mostly smaller stakes solving the spy/serial killer thing previously discussed but then lead to a bigger threat posed by Autonomy returning taking us across the planet and maybe into the cognitive. The cold war/arms race forces the two sides to build up tech faster so that they can successfully fight Autonomy's next move. This will play out in the following two books maybe in a similar fashion to how the original trilogy was structured.

Also we know that self-perception is important. If you were deluded enough(or lock those memories away in copper?) it is possible that you might believe you couldn't do it, and therefore could not. Is the chance of this slim? Yeah but I could see it working along those lines.

I wonder if the electrification and separation is due to Ruin and preservation being such opposites. Basically a polarization of the two. I don't think anything here can be anti-investiture because, though we have some oddities to the way investiture can be pooled in gems, everything is in effect made from investiture so exposing anti-investiture to matter directly should annihilate at least the relevant shard's investiture(Brandon's likes to use his handwavy all things have some of all types of investiture). Things certainly can be corrupted where one shard's investiture replaces or reprograms another's, but that is distinct from anti-investiture. The other thing here is that burning atium would create a direct link between ruin and the individual who burns it. That is what Lerasium does, it creates alters the spirit-web to include more connection to preservation. Likewise true atium would connect someone more strongly to Ruin which outside of whatever magical powers it might grant would also likely be bad for preservation's plan as having a larger aspect of ruin would mean that person would be more inclined to ruinous behavior.

This definitely went through my head. However we also saw that the trellium spike pushed away from the other spikes when removed from the Cycle. These are invested with Ruin(I assume) so it is possible that trellium displaces other investiture, achieving autonomy. This might explain why trellium spiked individuals are separated from Harmony's senses.

Modern (earth) aluminum production is via electrolysis of purified alumina (Aluminum Oxide) in molten Cryolite. I would imagine they are actually using some form of electrolysis at this point but that is likely not effectively scaled or electricity hasn't become cheap enough for it to come down. It is also possible that they use some (waives hand in chemistry) electrolytic method that leaves it needing significant purification. Maybe they don't have access to sufficient quantities of cryolite too. If you can get the alumina pure enough then you get pure aluminum out. If your process doesn't get the precursor that pure you are likely dealing with significant impurities and costs to purify. Maybe good enough to prevent investiture leakage but perhaps requiring further refining for allomantic use. Edit to add: That the original method was chemical reduction with potassium. This would yield an impure aluminum(requiring refinement) as well as be costly since you have to produce the potassium first. This is why aluminum was orignially more costly than gold. If they are using chemical reduction still then the knowledge of electrochemistry would not enable the cost reduction until they have a cryolite-type breakthrough.

I wonder if the-with an official mission- is really the line to pay attention to here. It could be, as suggested above, pre-catecendre Kandra but I also wouldn't be surprised if Harmony gave the option for Kandra to leave Scadrial if they wished and some number of them did so without being on a mission but rather to just get away.

So in the Swag pack for the release there is a pack of stickers. Marasi, Wax, Wayne, Steris, and Marewill flower are all obvious but there is a mystery woman. Any ideas on who this is? Might be the woman Marasi sees in the cave, possibly an offworlder (Shai is my stretch guess here). I doubt it is Melaan since it is zoomed in and a distinct face(we get a lot of Melaan faces after all)

This is definitely it. We have hints of his success in these investments (using the Alluminum profits from the earlier recovery) in the last two books and Wayne's disinterest in the finances from those investments. Though he could also be using some of it to buy extra bendalloy he may ultimately plan to leave it as a trust fund for the family of the man he killed. I hope that isn't foreshadowing along with perhaps the aging associated with his bendalloy use.

I wonder if the real issue here is how a Kandra incorporates the spikes as compared to a Koloss. The Koloss have specific spiking requirements to give not only the added strength/fortituted from the spikes but also to warp their physical body. Kandra on the other hand seem to intrinsically take up the spikes to the precise location needed for sapience. Since they are basically just meatsacks you can't "spike" one in a particular spot but instead their anatomy reacts to place the spikes themselves. This may be part of the LR's design. It is also possible the level of investiture in the spikes is different. A more subtle amount of investiture load might give more mild blessings but also more mild effects on the soul of those spiked.

In theory you could do this similarly to spanreeds with the basic principle of a telephone. Instead of attaching to a pen you would attach them to a membrane so it would just be the physical movement of the gemstones. On the sender's end you would speak at a membrane that would vibrate according to the sounds you make and the gemstone in the center would transmit that information to the distant half on the exact same type of membrane. Volume could be controlled via fabrials that multiply or decrease the paired movement. This would be pretty simple basically two drums with gems tacked on in the middle. However the fine vibrations would perhaps be more susceptible to losses in fidelity/strength compared to the movement of a larger spanreed. You might need two pairs, as the mic and speaker functions might not be totally reversible, each end having one of each.

So I know castings are flying everywhere but looking at the landscape and the things Brandon has suggested changing I thought I might try casting with some constraints. 1) A stronger presence of women characters in the main cast(including Brandon's suggested changes such as Ham being a woman) 2) A diverse cast. This is a post-apocalyptic world consisting of groups of people who both have regional populations but also a lot of mixing between groups across the continent(both voluntary and not). The cast should not be entirely white nor should non-white characters be placed in key but non-leading roles. 3) This is an adaptation the goal is to get the Soul of the show on the screen. While casting should be internally consistent(amongst family lines, regions, etc) plots/beats will change and general physical traits, as described in the book, need not hold. Still working on this but wanted to see how others might think about a broader pool of actors than the same ones we've been throwing out for years. Key Cast-The Final Empire Vin- Amber Midthunder Kelsier- Mahershala Ali Sazed- Christoph Waltz Docks-Elliott page (Story remains the same, character could be trans but does not need to be) Ham- Gwendolyn Christie (Genderswapped but otherwise story is the same, has significant other and child) Breeze- Matt Berry or if younger(to bring closer in age to Allriane) Harvey Guillen Clubs- Benedict Wong (aged up a bit but an old soldier doesn't have to be that old) Spook-? Elend- Dev Patel Marsh- Christopher judge Straff-Oded Fehr Lord Ruler-Werner Herzog Other characters for Final Empire- Shan- Yeden-Make Yeden a woman Demoux- Camon- High Prelan- Reen- Hoid-

I think Knight is Aux and this is what happens when you break your oaths. Notice he doesn't have contact with them when Aux is left behind and must physically retrieve them. Maybe a Gem is required which we know is how they got the summoning of dead shardblades to work. Additionally I wonder if the Torment is not only received from Hoid but passed from him. I.e. those afflictions no longer affect Hoid. Additionally there is the point about the Dawnshard to get to Hoid via connection with Sigzil so I wonder what that is about. The other thing is that though this is in the far future Sig is still worried about dragging things back to Roshar. I don't think that plays into how book 5 ends(it seems Sig ends up off world because of the events there) but might point to how the whole arc concludes at book 10.

Yes this has to be somewhere around Era 2 where someone who is native or has spent a lot of time on scadrial while also having knowledge of Roshar. The fact that Hoid essentially says-As you would call it on scadrial points to this. Though it could be a more general thing and be a rosharan who is also familiar with scadrial. But since Era 2 is after the front five of stormlight and those tech innovations are just now happening I lean towards a scadrial centered character.

I think this is being told to a scadrian, or at least someone with clear knowledge of scadrial and who has lived there. Though they need not be located there at the time of the telling.

Painter's planet is covered in an inky black mass of investiture reminiscent of the shades on threnody and only the light(investiture related?) emitted from Yumi's planet passes through creating a sort of tunnel that they see as the "star". It is possible that one is a moon of the other. But there are clear roots here to a common ancestry on Roshar/Ashyn or at least with the Shin(common as in descended from or both peoples descended from the same earlier population).

The connection to the lichen is interesting, if Brandon was using real lichen as a basis, since they are essentially composite organisms composed of a fungus and microbes. So could the lichen be made of an Aether and something else? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

Given the story is of a Girl breaking the mold to go rescue a guy, and that Brandon's hints seem to point to it being someone we know, Shallan, Sarene, Siri/Vivi seem likely candidates for major characters but I am sure there are probably smaller characters to point to as well. Particularly that Tress sees herself as "Mundane" and has to break the social order of things to go rescue this person is probably the clues to point towards the audience.

So based on the discussion here, I shall provide my own likely incorrect thoughts Timeline -Shallan Bonds Testament 1165/6 given this is when Testament leaves the Inkspren to seek out a bond -Shallan Kills Testament-1167 Possibly at the same time as her Mother or shortly after She breaks her bond(or maybe does so in part? see WoB below) by rejecting one of the truths of her original Oaths, possibly due to the situation with her mother trying to kill her being too much of a strain she needs to retreat from that particular truth. If the “good times” before her mother dies are all still lies she constructed for safety this might be related to her original truths. Note that this could still have been amicable like the recreance. Perhaps she does this to protect herself and Testament agrees. This also could fit well with her DID situation currently and the deeper truths Veil keeps referring to she pulls the veil back over her even earlier trauma. -It is "dead" Testament that is shoved into the safe. This is why the Shardblade doesn’t poof away or turn back into a spren after the deed is done but Shallan’s historic Bond means that it is still Connected to her even though it has no gemstone attached. We don’t know what Connection still exists between the Radiants from the Recreance and their spren. It is possibly that there is still some. For instance I would think they would have an easier time restoring their oaths and resurrecting their spren. We might have seen this with Kaladin and Syl already. This remnant of the bond/Connection may be why she still has some interaction with Stormlight prior to Pattern arriving on the scene. -1173 The blade she summons to kill Tyn is Testament, perhaps there was some of that clear in hindsight foreshadowing in that Pattern was away getting the men when she summoned it along with the fact that as noted it does not glow and her eyes starting to glow is not mentioned. -1174 The blade in the chasm is Pattern. It glows, changes shape, and causes no echoes of pain or loss in Kaladin when he touches it. A point against this might be the lightwoven Shallan that distracts the chasmfiend. It is possible that this was Pattern but not necessary. (edit) another point against this after flipping through the chapters again is that she pointedly refers to the Blade, when cutting out the cubby for them to hide in, but not Patternblade which I think she does later though that might just be an evolution of Brandon's stylebook. -As for the lack of Testament deadeye it was found on the eastern side of Shadesmar in 1174 approximately a year or so after Tyn is killed. Perhaps the Deadeyes are only summoned to the general vicinity in the cognitive realm when the blade is summoned and otherwise are free to wander to some other point, especially if it has been some time since the Bond has been reactivated. So Testament having not been summoned in months/a year would be nowhere near Kholinar and thus does not appear in Shadesmar there but is instead journeying to Lasting Integrity. The deadeye Honor spren gathered in Lasting Integrity may then represent "lost shardblades". Also there is a WoB that the number of Oaths to Blade/Plate varies per order: Kythis Is there a specific number of the ideals that they have to do before they can get the Shardblade? Brandon Sanderson It depends on the Order. Words of Radiance Omaha signing (March 13, 2014) Also this one that deals with some of the points on breaking the bond. Obviously he hadn't decided on Testament yet but the implication is there: Kythis How did Pattern actually become a Shardblade even though he hadn't been fully pulled into the Physical Realm? Brandon Sanderson He had been pulled into the Physical Realm before when Shallan was younger, and she almost broke her bond. And in so doing . . . Kythis But he didn't go mad. Brandon Sanderson She didn't completely break the bond. She didn't reject him completely. But it was dangerous there for a while. Words of Radiance Omaha signing (March 13, 2014)