Waffles

I wonder if that holdout honorspren that Kaladin tried to push on Rlain will end up with Dabbid. Though it would be interesting if he wound up as a truthwatcher in some way.

that is a very keen reading of the WoB, that definitely supports a compromised spren and supports the idea that the deadeyed state may be what compromises them

Spren generally seem unwilling to change however it seems like the enlightening of mistspren were voluntary and recent (post recreance) Deadeyes are also recent and consequential It seems like one of the ways a deadeyes ( or liespren, as Jasnah referred to them) could be restored is by changing them from a paradox into something different Is the reason that Sja Anat can now enlighten intelligent spren because deadeyes are uniquely vulnerable or open to such changes?

The thing is this would be very good for the story. The only problem is its bad for the themes of the books with a seemingly redeemed character like Dal becoming once again a villain. Edit: Its unclear if Odium mixing with shards will create as neat of an effect as Harmony. If we look at Renarin the truthwatcher appears to become the secret maker hiding possibilities from odium. Hiding truths. So odiums power may invert Honor in some way - the war- bond smith severing connections to unite people by freeing them from their current ties and becoming something like "Liberation" (otherwise wouldnt a skybreaker still be bound to laws wherever they go, making Nale virtually useless for carrying out an invasion?)

Does anyone know where Harmony being created falls in the timeline of the recreance and the plan to establish the everstorm?

I think in a way Moash is already partly dead, isnt the ability to heal with stormlight related to identity? If Moash cant heal with investiture it means that he's had a powerful change in his self perception similar to Kaladin finally releasing his shash rune as part of himself. Narratively Moash plays a darth vader role: He killed a lovable old man in front of his young mentee and in doing so made Kal both weaker and then more powerful. If Moash continues to follow that path he might make some great self sacrifice later and die as a flawed character having done much evil and some good, which I feel like would be a viable path for him.

It may be possible Odium has unique power over Identity and that presents a unique weakness to breaths similar to the way spren are uniquely vulnerable to unmaking by odium

In the mistborn series when a certain god metal is burned it does two things: 1) weakens the shards influence temporarily 2) regenerates in specific place tied to the shard I think there may be additional rules in place in Roshar with it manifesting as spren as a "release valve" But assuming that it does not manifest as a spren, where does Jezrien's investiture regenerate to when he dies? Does it fuel the other heralds? Does it empower surgebinders? Is it sealed away?

Odium seems to be more about the anger of the gods unleashed. Anger at failures, weakness, opposition, etc. It seems while Honor had immense power over Connection, Odium has power over Identity - it can preserve identity, steal it, rewrite it, modify it and gain power from it ( or lose power in the case of Lezian) For Taravangian, Cultivation's curse and its mind shifting seems to have prepared him as a fantastic vessel for Odium. T is conceited, brutal, calculating, cunning, has a malleable Identity and is willing to sacrifice himself or anyone else to serve his vision. I do think Cultivation picked him because he has a blind spot she can exploit and I think it may have to do with her having some control over his Identity so it may be possible she can "unmake" him in some way Edit: As for what sunk Rayse, think Rayse's flaw is the same as Honor's - that he excluded certain options - he had internal limitations he placed on himself that T doesnt have. Its heavily implied that Rayse was unwilling to pursue certain strategies and frequently clashed with the shard's intent. Idk if this was necessarily the Passions since the desire to fulfill passion is largely the cause of anger - you cant have anger without passion or desire.

RoW has a tough spot between Oathbringer (a satisfying book with an appropriate high point etc) and a severely hyped central book and the last of the first pentology. For being a bridge between major plot point books its good for what it is- it sets up characters, it explores abilities, it foreshadows, it resolves plot points, etc. But it definitely left me lacking in a few plot lines Kaladin/Navani - overall not bad plotline. I cant argue with Navani as a bondsmith (Rlain is far too outcast/brooding, eshonai could have done it, as could have venli) or kaladins fourth oath but its a jarring rocking plot line that lacks proper buildup but takes a lot of detours to setup world building items. Adolin/Shallan Trial - Interesting setup. No complaints except the most interesting dialogue seems to happen off screen Venli/Eshonai - This is my major beef. the setup here seems a bit hamfisted and the Venli flashback scenes feel like they should have been revealed before eshonai died. These chapters seem out of place and dont really work, I think. I really wish these chapters had been released as a side novella and the space was dedicated to building other story elements or current venli character building.

do we know the nightwatcher isnt currently bonded?

These are interesting questions. I think you also need existing investiture and a vaccuum to create anti-light. But I think because if preservation's tone is similar to anti light playing either tone would effectively be anti-harmony and suppress the opposite power while strengthening ruin or preservation's aspect. Harmony might be unique in the cosmere on this. Since odium has to obey the promises made by his predecesor wouldnt that also mean that Harmony may ultimately destroy scadrial?

I believe Branderson had noted that Sazed was able to bring together the shards because of his own personal ability to align the shards and failing to do that might "eject" the less compatible shard(s) So I think what this means is that Tar-Odium will likely lose any part of the boons that conflict with the shard's intents, which to me I'm guessing that means losing smart detached T in favor of impulsive slow T.

As a side note to the main topic, Jasnah seems to have coined a particularly apt name which was probably never a coincidence: liespren. What a fitting name for a spren with a broken oath. I wonder if Jasnah had more insight into Shallan's situation than we realized.

I never guessed the stormstriders were actually Shallan's parents. That caught me off guard but it totally makes sense in hindsight.

If this is the case was it ishtar that sent a bunch of sprenless humans into the cognitive realm to attack spren (per Adolins and Maya's fight scene) and collect them for his experiments? That would neatly close a seemingly unrelated mystery.

In the deal with Dalinar there are a number of odd things going on with odium: 1) His skin could seemed to no longer contain his power. The gods eyes had gone completely golden as if they were chunks of metal in a statue's face why gold? why is he falling apart? why the comparison to a statue? 2) wit said he cant hurt you, not without breaking his word and inviting his own death. which happens later. 3) I am not going to break my word because if I did, it would create a hole in my soul which would let cultivation kill me. Which, arguably, is what happened 4) The use of the 10th hour of the 10th day - rosharin, non-odium numbers. This feels like Odium is under the influence of another, why not the 9th hour of the 9th day? It seems very much like Rayse broke an oath and was being influenced. What oath could he have broken?

that lends credence to it being an allomancer doesnt it?

Honor has 10s going on 10 heralds, 10 honorblades, 10 surges, etc. Odium has a 9s theme. 9 passions, 9 voidbringer sects, 9 unmade (odiums 10th day 10th hour thing gives me many questions) I'm unclear what cultivations number is but if I had to guess it would be 5, based on the 5 levels of oaths. Though I think it would be hinted at by horneater chapters in the books texts Warbreaker note: the 16 motif is stands out as the direct influence of the 16th shard whatever that shard is. If anyone knows the numbers for various other shards we could possibly rule them out if they arent 16 or a pair doesnt add/multiply up to 16.

I really like this theory. Ba-Ado-Mishram seems to be central to a number of mysteries in the books and its implied that Cultivation accepted Venli's oath. This would fit well with the idea that Mishram's imprisonment and Venli's oath to free those unjustly imprisoned are linked by Cultivations motives and she plans to free the spren. I think its implied though that Ba-Ado-Mishram has been a general for Odium since the desolations.

Some stuff is going on with these two. Venli wants to free everyone Mishram is in spren-prison Venli wanted new forms of power Mishram had brought many of them Theres a lot of threads here just waiting to be pulled. I suspect Venli and Shallan may team up/conflict in the near future since they seem to both be implicated with this spren. There's also another possible explanation for the femalen voice accepting Venli's oath: it may be that is not the normal oath and the stormfather rejected it but Cultivation accepted it because it serves her interests Intrepreted this way it suggests Mishram's imprisonment and the events surrounding is actually a dispute between Honor and Cultivation. Either way, Brandon is heavily invested in Venli's redemption arc with RoW. I expect there's a key plot point she plays in the next book. Final edit: it ocurred to me that the stormfather accepts oaths, could the femalen voice be Mishram, a powerful spren?

I think TOd is willing to sacrifice himself for his purpose and thats part of what what makes him more dangerous and capable than Odium. What if part of his plan is to unite Honor and Odium shards similar to Harmony?