AquaRegia

Hopefully @Kingsdaughter613 will be available to write Secret History 2, just in case Brandon never gets around to it! I know I don't get to choose how things work out (have worked out) for our favorite crew leader. But I can't help but feel that with Allomancy, Feruchemy, Hemalurgy, Realmatic technology, Cosmere awareness, allies, minions, spies, and hundreds of years... if there was a way, he'd have been able to find it.

OK, this seems like as good a place as any to try to get some Kelsier questions cleared up. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR MISTBORN ERA 1 AND 2, SECRET HISTORY, WARBREAKER, AND PROBABLY EVERYTHING ELSE. We are supposed to believe that Kelsier is "stuck" on Scadrial and wants to be able to worldhop. But WHY IS HE STILL STUCK? As seen in BoM, he's got a physical body as of Catacendre + a few years. He's been a cognitive shadow with a physical body for 300+ years by the time we get to "current" Roshar. He knows Allomancy, Feruchemy, and Hemalurgy; he's got access to a culture in Southern Scadrial who can make unkeyed metalminds for anything, including Connection and Investiture; and he's got agents all over the Cosmere. And we know that both cognitive shadows and highly invested objects can travel to Roshar from offworld, otherwise, how did Vasher and Nightblood get there? I don't get it. Seems to me if Kelsier hasn't been able to figure out how he can leave Scadrial in 300 years, he isn't trying.

I can see either Wit or Mraize as a possible influence on Sigzil. @PleatherDuster, nice catch on the Worldsinger angle, I had completely forgotten about that. I recall that Sigzil was VERY concerned about measuring up to his master's hopes and expectations... but now that he's around all the time, at the SAME STORMING MEETING as Sigzil, they don't even speak to or acknowledge each other? Wit's old student is now a Knight Radiant, and Sig's old master is hooking up with Jasnah... but they don't recognize each other somehow? That seems VERY weird. In any case, I get the vibe that Wit has his reasons for wanting Shallan to become more Cosmere-aware, while at the same time seeming somewhat protective of her, and he clearly has an idea of what the Ghostbloods are up to, as evidenced by his scheme with Pattern. He could easily have a motive for the Shadesmar trip. As for Mraize, @Kingsdaughter613 I agree his motives are quite clear, but I'm confident that a guy as resourceful and devious as he is could find any number of ways to trick, prod, or manipulate someone into making a suggestion at a meeting without actually recruiting and tattooing them. Do you disagree?

Methinks we need a new topic for what Kelsier can and cannot do, and how we know. I'm just finishing a reread of BoM and OH BOY do some things make more sense now... yet there are still so many questions.

ermagerd, yer jerned the Sherd! Cool handle, btw.

@Bzhydack thanks, yeah, I definitely didn't have that all straight - I'm just finishing a reread of BoM now.

Thanks. I found the conversation (ch. 13). In the space of half a page, he says 1) "Investiture is bound to it's home planet"; 2) "Radiants and spren Connected to Roshar are bound by the same laws"; and 3) "I have unlocked the secret to the Connection problem." One could interpret these statements as "Radiants are trapped on Roshar NOW... but once I carry out my plan, they won't be any longer." MB Era 2 spoilers inside

Forgive my ignorance, but how exactly do we know that Radiants can't leave Roshar?

Last we saw of Kelsier, he was physically DEAD. As a Cognitive Shadow he has no ability to burn any metals. What reason do you have to think this has changed as of RoW? Also, regarding the great ambivalence many of us feel about Kelsier, Brandon feels it too: "Kelsier's got this dark edge to him where he could go villain very easily, depending on what’s going on with him. *pause* That’s kind of how I view Kelsier’s defining attribute, if channeled correctly he’s a great force for good, but he’s like right on the line." https://wob.coppermind.net/events/74-shadows-of-self-san-jose-signing/#e4312

YES! I knew there was at least one other character I was forgetting and it's definitely Ulim! Thanks for adding him in. Seems unlikely that the Braize connection is a coincidence.

Moved here because I accidentally spoilered up the Stormlight Forum - sorry! Has anyone else noticed that the Heralds we've seen - Ash and Kelek in particular - talk more like modern-day English speakers than any other characters on Roshar? Ishar speaks very formally, but he's playing the role of a god-king. Nale also has a very severe way of speaking, which fits his severe personality. Ash and Kelek, however, read like contemporary Earth humans. Twice in ch. 17, Ash uses the word "yeah" - the only time, I think, anyone has done so in four novels. Kelek, in ch. 82: "Boy, you're doomed. You realize that, right? Tanavast is dead. Like, completely dead." The only time in four novels anyone uses "like" as the well-known idiomatic filler word it has recently become. He's also the only one to use "hell" and "for heaven's sake". This has to be intentional on Sanderson's part, so I'm wondering WHY? What does it mean that he seems to want these ancient Ashynites to sound the most modern to our ears? Thoughts? I'm also very interested to hear from folks who read other language translations of the novels. Did these differences come through in your experience?

Another clue that Allomancy works differently in Era2: when Marasi accidentally jolts the moving coach with a stationary speed bubble, she says "I should have known better. I haven't done that since I was kid." This implies she both knew of and used her Allomancy as a child.

Just finished Khriss' cameo in BoM (the dance scene with Wax); shortly after, an ad shows up in The New Ascendancy (New Seran) broadsheet: My first thought was that they were looking for Awakened objects like Nightblood... but I guess it might make more sense if they are searching for unkeyed metalminds. But do they "talk to you?" Are they looking for the metal objects, or for the PEOPLE who are hearing metal talk? I'm puzzled. Thoughts?

Agreed. Rereading MB Era 2 now, and nowhere is 'snapping" mentioned. The implication is that Allomancers either know instinctively, or have discovered safe and gentle means by which to find out. Note this advertisement in the New Seran New Ascendancy broadsheet: "Potential Allomancers Needed to Test New Metal Alloys - latest scientific breakthrough has created an ENTIRELY SAFE method of discovering new Allomantic abilities." The metals only need to be inside your body; Brandon has confirmed that there is no digestion involved. Cadmium or other toxic metals could be encased in wax, and pass harmlessly through the subject if not burned. Roger this. Bendalloy can't possibly occur naturally (at least, not on Earth) - it's a weird mixture of mostly bismuth and lead, with tin and cadmium added. It's also quite toxic, even through skin contact. I wouldn't swallow any unless my life literally depended on it. I find it very reasonable that Spook would have known (either through Harmony or Kelsier) about all 16 metals, even the ones that hadn't been "discovered" yet.

I was both surprised and very pleased by Raboniel's character arc. I was expecting someone like Darth Vader or Cruella DeVil, but what we got instead was a very thoughtful, nuanced, realistic-feeling antagonist. I hesitate to use the words "evil" or "villain"to describe her, even though I completely agree with @Kyn's assessment of why she's terrifying. I loved how she was so clearly NOT driven by anger or hatred. She treated Navani (and all the humans) as people, not objects. People she had no qualms about killing, sure, but still people, some of whom were worthy of respect. Her sole motivation was to end the cycle of Desolations and free sentient beings (whichever ones happened to survive) from the despair of neverending conflict. I find her goals and her cleverness admirable, if not so much her methods. I'm sad we won't be seeing her anymore.

Ever since I learned that Roshar is a young planet, wholly created by Adonalsium, nothing about its geology surprises me. Everything we know about how metallurgy normally progresses on a "natural" planet is right out the window; it's possible that there is not one single atom of gold on the whole planet (except what worldhoppers have brought in).

I remember Azure saying Hoid told HER (and delivered a wagonload of aluminum plates himself)... but 1) this was VERY recent, during the siege of Kholinar, 2) she was clearly keeping it a secret, and 3) she's not even Rosharan. That one interaction can't explain Rosharans in general knowing about the existence of a metal they can't make and have, except in the rarest of cases, never seen. Certainly we can infer that worldhoppers have been importing the occasional item from offworld for a while now. But seeing a necklace made of an odd-looking silver-colored metal is a long way from knowing what it is and what else it can be used for.

I won't go so far as to say I agree, but each of your points make sense. Nicrosil = nickel, chromium, silicon (just to make sure nobody mistakenly thinks there is silver in it). I imagine any of the important metallic elements and alloys - beyond the original Allomantic 8 - must be imported from other worlds; I doubt Roshar has the chemistry, metallurgy or geology to make them. So I would say "they had to wait for Nicrosil to be revealed." How much gold and silver have we seen on Roshar?

Just finished reading Hoid's cameo in BoM (ch. 11), and I can definitively report NO evidence of Design being present. I think it's reasonable to assume the "blind beggar" act is within his capability without Lightweaving being required. He's on screen for less than one whole page, and has five lines (and a cackle). Absence of evidence, however, is not evidence of absence.

One word that can serve, perhaps, is "neurodivergent". And I agree - Brandon has made it a point to show multiple neurodivergent characters. While they are not DEFINED by what makes them different, it is an integral part of who they are... and just like a neurotypical character, they are capable of great and heroic things.

I'm a chemist, so I want answers that match my understanding of solid state geochemistry. But at this point, I'm willing to accept that we've reached (or passed) the limits of Brandon's scientific expertise, and simply agree that it's a fantasy series, not requiring rigorous "real-world" scientific realism.

I'm in no way arguing against your ideas - I agree BAM's importance is clear, and it can't be a coincidence that the Tones have become such a big theme. But RoW is NOT the first time sound has been mentioned as having some deep underlying significance on Roshar. In Kharbranth, the (fake) ardent Kabsal introduces Shallan to cymatics (WoK CH. 33 "Cymatics"): The result is symmetrical patterns in the sand which mirror the geography / physical layout of some of the ten Oathgate Cities. And cymatics is the same method which Navani later uses to produce Anti-Voidlight... and Raboniel, Anti-Stormlight. Coincidence? Not storming likely.

That's weird. Gemstones "store Investiture"... and they also "ARE Investiture"? What does the term "dun gemstone" mean, then? "It's a piece of solid Investiture - with no Investiture in it?" *scratches head*

I just finished a reread of AoL and SoS - definitely no. Hoid gets exactly one mention - and zero lines - in each. I know he DOES have a scene in BoM, which I am just now starting. I will report back shortly.

I also agree - Era 2 before Secret History. And not JUST because that's the order I had to read them in! I think it's important for the reader to take in how modern Scadrians view the Survivor, and how Brandon describes the religion of Survivorism... BEFORE finding out Kelsier is still "around".