Olmund

Thanks for the info. True, but the way he dismissed the idea does sound like he views them as completely separate creatures (tied mainly by their connection to the cognitive realm). If I had to throw out a wild guess, I'd say the Siah Aimians may have been humans who used the change dawnshard to transform themselves into spren-like cognitive beings in order to achieve immortality, similar to the Returned on Nalthis. This might have been part of what prompted the scouring -- other Aimians (particularly the sleepless) did not like the fact that the Siah Aimians were drawing too much attention to the dawnshard, and thus orchestrated the destruction/sealing of Aimia.

Yes, that is the strongest objection to the theory, which is why I addressed it in my last two posts. What we need to determine is whether aging is involuntary to a certain extent (i.e., does investiture gravitate toward a "mature" form). We have examples of this with the God Kings of Hallendren (returned as babies, yet growing to adulthood). We also have some mildly corroborative evidence elsewhere (e.g., Tien's "ghost" seen in RoW has become an adult, and I do not believe we have seen "true spren" taking the form of children -- perhaps implying that all spiritual forms are mature -- at least when they reach a certain degree of investiture/intelligence).

I agree that stabbing oneself is unnecessary and counterproductive (since you'd need enough force to penetrate both yourself and the intended victim). In any case, it would be an imprecise assassination method -- not guaranteed to kill if the reed misses vital organs. Ideally, you'd have someone "on the inside" who could fill the inkwell with poisonous ink first -- though if you could manage that, there are countless more efficient methods of assassination.

Autocorrect, how we love thee. It took me a bit to realize you were talking about Syl, though I think I've seen that same autocorrect before (which is why the name rang a bell, and I initially thought it must be some incredibly minor character I had forgotten about). In any case, yes, there are quite a few of us who think that Syl becoming human could be part of what Ishar's experiments in Rhythm of War were foreshadowing. We know Honorspren already live the longest post-conversion, and Syl's character arcs have involved her becoming more "human," so it's possible that eventually her cognitive identity will become similar enough to human biology that she will actually be able to fully survive the transformation (unlike those Honorspren who only survived for minutes). I imagine some Syladin shippers are banking on this. There has also been some theorizing about the Siah Aimians (the blue ones, like Axies the Collector). Someone noted that their strong tie to the cognitive realm (hence their reverse shadow and ability to manipulate their appearance) as well as their blue color may hint at having Honorspren heritage. I personally think that to be unlikely (assuming Honorspren do not predate the arrival of Tanavast/Honor on Roshar), but it's interesting to think about.

Yeah, that's the point -- the title of this thread is "Roshar's Lost Nuclear Device," referring to Taln's shardblade. The TC was going for a tongue-in-cheek line at the end.

My response to this theory will be a bit messy, because the nahel (radiant) bond is very different from the typical singer/spren bond (trapping the spren within their gemheart), which may be different from the ancient singer/spren bond (which gave them surges before the radiants existed), and the Unmade "bonds" seem unique to each unmade and pretty different from all three of the former bonds. However, we do have some reasons to believe a nahel-like bond with some (or all) of the unmade is possible, for the following reasons: - Nahel bonds with other voidspren are possible (as we see with Renarin and Glys). However, it's entirely possible that since Sja-Anat's "enlightening" process is different from the "unmaking" process, her "enlightened" spren retain ties to Honor/Cultivation which allow a nahel bond. - Re-Shephir attempted to bond with Shallan, and Shallan's bond with Pattern got in the way of that. That said, it is unlikely that Re-Shephir's attempted bond with Shallan would have been a nahel bond (or symbiotic bond) -- it could well have simply consumed Shallan the way Yelig-Nar consumes his host after granting them all the surges. Still, it does lend some credence to the idea that any bonds with a spren can become nahel-like (given that a nahel bond can interfere with them). - Ba-Ado-Mishram seems to have specific ties to the power of connection and/or identity (since she was able to grant forms of power to the singers and connect herself and/or identify herself with something that influenced all Nahel bonds). Given her powerset, intelligence and level of investiture (which seems greater than other unmade), she would be the prime candidate for producing a Bondsmith through a nahel bonded unmade. I'm out of time, so I'll leave my thoughts there for now.

I think some of these things are inherently terrifying, others require a scenario to make them truly "scary." For instance, Hoid is incredibly powerful but not necessarily scary -- if you passed him on the street the odds of anything truly bad happening would be low (though higher than average, given his propensity to follow danger). On the other hand, establishing a scenario like "Hoid has decided you must be disposed of for the good of humanity," would indeed be terrifying -- while he cannot directly inflict harm, he is quite effective when orchestrating the demise of others. Scenarios could also help in establishing a "scariness" index. Something like "you see Ishar brandishing his Honorblade in your kitchen" would be far scarier than "you find Ishar's Honorblade lying in a ditch." Similarly, "you have to share a tent with a Koloss for a night" would be scarier than "you see a Koloss eating a deer in the distance." In any case, here are some of the inherently scary Cosmere things I think you've missed (though I don't think you'll be able to add them all): Steel Inquisitors (under Ruin's control) -- Lawful Evil halfborn (approaching fullborn) with a Chaotic Evil master that can take control at any moment Sleepless (especially if you're headed to Aimia pre-Rysn) The Unmade (some are scarier than others, so you could list them separately) Elantrians (especially in their city, at the height of their power) Dakhor Monks (not as scary as Elantrians, but decidedly more sinister) Dragons (probably scary, though we know very little about them in canon)

As I said, you're making this judgment with the benefit of hindsight. By the time he met Vin, he had killed countless people -- including allomancers and feruchemists back when their bloodlines were still strong. Despite being a Mistborn, Vin was practically an insect to him -- and without her metals she was an insect without pincers or venom. The next time you have a fly buzzing around your head and fail to immediately swat it you will be guilty of a similar offense. You wouldn't be stupid if the fly suddenly transformed into the Hulk and crushed you with its fists, because no one could reasonably expect you to anticipate that development.

Far be it from me to defend TLR, but Rashek was caught by surprise -- and he had to deal with Deus ex Mists-infused Vin. I wouldn't call him stupid -- he was ruthless, arrogant, world-weary, and his judgment was clouded by Ruin gnawing at him for a millenium. Yes, in hindsight he could have easily killed Vin had he not been so certain of his own invincibility -- but Vin killed him using methods that were completely without precedent, so I wouldn't say that's evidence of him being stupid. Unless your definition of "stupid" includes anyone who commits a trivial oversight, like failing to wash your hands before eating once in your entire life -- in which case we are all incredibly stupid, and the point is moot.

This is an excellent summary. I think Wax being the referent of Sazed's "sword" epigraph is fairly well known and accepted in these forums, but you've done a great job bringing together various points of evidence in favor of that interpretation. It's worth mentioning that Wax may choose to reject this role, as he has quite a bit of baggage (that even Sazed didn't foresee) and Sazed seems fairly keen on maintaining freedom of choice (despite being a vessel for shards other than Autonomy -- as an aside, I think it would be an interesting irony if as the Cosmere continues to unfold it is revealed that most or all of Autonomy's avatars are tyrants -- they prioritize exercising their own will rather than ensuring autonomy for others).

It certainly could be spiritual, but it could just as easily be tied to the cognitive (i.e., heightenings show the colors an object perceives as its own). Either way, we know something is stripped away to fuel Nalthian magic -- whether it's cognitive, spiritual, or both (probably both, imo).

Yeah, I think the "he" combined with the WoB (it "has not happened yet") doesn't sound quite like what you propose, since Dalinar has already had his (first?) "I am Unity" moment. That doesn't mean that Dalinar, Navani and Kaladin won't play a role in the fulfillment of this death rattle -- I think the tower almost certainly refers to the sibling (and Navani by proxy), and the spear probably refers to Kal/Syl. The crown could refer to any number of things/people, though Dalinar is a prime candidate. The "fallen title" could well be Honor (or Honour if you prefer), and the three items could be the largest remaining splinters/slivers of Honor. Alternatively, there are many actual titles in the SA -- perhaps the Stormfather is killed and Dalinar's "Bondsmith" title is what is lost, or perhaps Gavilar is attempting to reclaim his "fallen title" by taking back everything Dalinar took from him (since Gavilar was the Stormfather's tentative bond, perhaps he considers being the Radiant King of Urithiru to be his birthright).

Unless the "powerful entity" is Endowment, a lot of the suggestions here sound like surefire ways to enrage her (which would be bad, since she's one of the only shards who can smite people on Nalthis with impunity). I'd say the regular old breath trade is the way to go, though given the fact that you're a "normal person" that is a difficult task indeed. Assuming you're fully Cosmere-aware and can start wherever you'd like (which isn't really "normal," but others are assuming that you'd have all sorts of knowledge about hemalurgic bind points and such so...yeah), you would probably want to choose a location that would allow you to ingratiate yourself with a world-hopping organization (Silverlight, 17th Shard, or Ghostbloods). The Ghostbloods' questionable ethics would probably make it easiest to gain the materials necessary to buy breaths on Nalthis (if they can be taken off-world, Southern Scadrian medallions would probably do the trick, and Ghostbloods have a solid connection there), though you'd first need to join their ranks -- which, for a "normal person" would most likely end in failure (if the recruiter is someone like Kelsier) or death (if the recruiter is someone like Mraize) in 99.99% of cases. 17th shard doesn't have a ton of breaths at their disposal (WoB confirms they slow their aging via another method, iirc), so perhaps Silverlight would be your best bet -- they likely have a fair number of breaths for research purposes, and could be willing to send you on a mission to retrieve more. Assuming you're fully Cosmere-aware, you'd probably have an easier time gaining entry to Silverlight than most "normal" people -- in fact, if you did have knowledge on hemalurgic bind points and such (as some people are assuming), they'd probably be thrilled to have you.

This makes me wonder what Lifelight would do to a lifeless on Nalthis given that they're the true zombies of the Cosmere (or at least as close to being zombies as cognitive shadows are to being ghosts). Probably nothing too unique -- I imagine that enough investiture of any type could turn a lifeless into something more life-like and possibly independent. On a different note, I'm not in a position to ask Brandon anything (at least anytime soon), so I was wondering if anyone might be willing and able to ask some probing questions regarding this theory. Something like: 1. We see many instances of augmented age among embodied cognitive shadows. If Lift were a cognitive shadow attached to her body, would she have retained her youth indefinitely (given that's how she viewed herself), or is growing to a "mature" form inevitable (as we see with the god kings of Hallendren)? -If Brandon says that she would have (or could have) retained her youth indefinitely as a cognitive shadow, that might indicate that he doesn't consider her to be a cognitive shadow. 2. Can a cognitive shadow like Kelsier or Vasher touch spren in the physical realm in the same way that Lift can? -I have a feeling the answer will be "no," since we don't see the fused trying to snatch radiant spren -- but if the answer is "yes," (or that there would be some kind of interaction thanks to their connection to the cognitive realm, though not to the same degree as we see with Lift), then that could be evidence in favor of this theory.

The "infinite sea" sounds a lot like Shadesmar in my opinion, and I think the Fused are the prime candidates for the "destroyers" mentioned there. The "come from the origin" thing is a little messy (since the Everstorm has the reverse direction), but the Listeners were in the Shattered plains when they called over the Everstorm -- and that's about as far East as you can get. That said, while I think that specific prophecy is already fulfilled, I wouldn't be surprised if the Night of Sorrows plays out as you've outlined. I was convinced the Stormfather would die during Oathbringer when Dalinar was in his downward spiral, and now we've got even more methods/whereby whereby it could happen (Mad Ishar as an unchained bondsmith willing to steal the Nahel bond from Dalinar, Dalinar himself trying to reshape the Stormfather through the power of his will, and anti-stormlight as you've mentioned -- though I doubt they'd be able to manufacture enough anti-stormlight to destroy him completely).

I think most people here wouldn't consider that too overpowered when compared with Lerasium (which allows literally anyone to become an insanely powerful Mistborn), but there's a big issue with how many people keep misquoting this WoB: Brandon has never said "all people" should be able to use Atium. Only "all allomancers." The relevant WoP shows that maybe Peter understands it to mean "all people," though the fact that he doesn't correct the questioner's presuppositions could just be an oversight. So, a twinborn could potentially become immortal with enough pure Atium, but not just any ferring (or even full feruchemist), let alone any random House Lord/ Robber Barron who can afford to buy it. In any case, I think Brandon's making a mistake by trying to retcon this. Allomancy was created by Leras, so it makes sense that it would have a stronger connection with him (and his godmetal) than Atium. Atium also seems to have a shorter gestation time relative to other godmetals (especially Lerasium), so it makes sense if its effects are mildly less powerful (in the periodic table of godmetals, Lerasium would be something hyper-dense like uranium, whereas Atium could be closer to gold or iron). The big issue with this retcon, however, comes down to worldbuilding. Mistborn become a lot less uniquely threatening in Scadrial if literally any single Pewterarm thug with Atium could stand toe to toe with them (admittedly with a disadvantage, since they can't burn tin/iron/steel/brass/zinc). It also doesn't actually solve the disparity between Lerasium (which anyone can burn) and Atium (which only allomancers can burn). A lot of the mystery in Hero of Ages gets erased without the sign of sixteen, and Leras loses all relevance (which is a bit awkward after his intervention at the Well of Ascension). It just seems like he isn't particularly proud of his old work in Mistborn, so he's going to George Lucas it into something "better."

My interpretation is similar. Basically, in that moment, Rayse recognizes Dalinar as someone he killed -- either Tanavast or Adonalsium (the latter lines up better with "we killed you," rather than "I killed you," but the former makes more sense given Dalinar's direct connection to Honor). Probably there were spiritual shenanigans via connection, so Rayse literally felt, heard, and/or saw that former deity in Dalinar. I don't think we need to assume there were additional shardholders between Adonalsium and the 16 that killed him (aside from dawnshard holders, of course).

While it's possible that Jasnah wants Hoid's child (though not likely, in my opinion), I think there's a much simpler transactional reason outlined in Jasnah's PoV: Wit has vast depths of knowledge at his disposal -- some of which no other living creature has access to, and some of which only "gods" (i.e., shardholders) have access to. Jasnah is extremely passionate about knowledge, and it is Hoid's knowledge she is attracted to. In her estimation, her lack of a sex drive is not a dealbreaker when it comes to having a sexual relationship with Hoid, because she does get something from him that she is truly passionate about. It's similar to a classic transactional relationship, like a pre-modern woman choosing to marry someone she doesn't love because he can provide her with food, shelter, and children -- except that Jasnah may actually be attracted to Hoid himself because of his knowledge. As for Hoid -- despite his age, Hoid may not actually have experience dealing with (or coming to understand) asexual people. Jasnah notes that he engages in flirtatious physical contact, thinking that it will engender romantic feelings in her -- which for the vast majority of people would have proven true. It's a believable blindspot to have, because if he's caressed hundreds (or thousands) of people during his immortality, and the most frequent responses have been either attraction or revulsion, it would be easy for him to misinterpret Jasnah's lack of revulsion as attraction. It is human to paint with a broad brush and project our feelings on others.

Must I dust off Sazed's quote? This was deliberate foreshadowing of Taravangian's ascendency. Perhaps Koravellium Avast was a subtle tactician before ascending, as she has managed to accomplish quite a bit as Cultivation (though iirc she has admitted that some of her biggest interventions were gambles -- Dalinar and Taravangian were not guaranteed to turn out the way they did, and in Oathbringer Cultivation seemed fairly convinced that Dalinar would end up as Rayse's champion despite her pruning). However, it is unlikely that she had Taravangian's extensive experience with manipulation -- both personal (micro) and political (macro) -- prior to holding a shard. And her 10,000+ years of future sight also mean 10,000+ years being the vessel of a shard -- so she lacks the same level of flexibility and unpredictability that a new shard holder may have. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain that Cultivation is woefully unprepared to deal with Taravodium. She had every motivation to find a way to kill Rayse, but I don't think she was spending nearly as much time or energy on what would come after.

I'm with Worldsinger on this one. The way she interacts with Taravodium after he takes up the power doesn't give me the impression that she really understood the consequences of her actions. The odds of Taravangian becoming Odium were so slim that Rayse didn't see it coming at all, so I believe that the timeline she foresaw where Taravangian killed Rayse was pretty hazy. This is going out on a limb, but Taravangian is extremely crafty and has experience as a transcendent intelligence, which may make him somewhat resistant to futuresight as a shard -- someone looking at his future may see the possible pathways branch so rapidly that it's like he's flaring atium with too many possible futures for even another shard to process (in a timely manner, at least). If I had to bet who is going to "hornswoggle" who, my money would be on T!Odium totally outplaying Cultivation -- not the other way around.

Yeah, the god-kings of Hallendren were the main reason I didn't dismiss the idea out of hand, since we know that cognitive shadows do age until they reach "maturity." Otherwise, the fact that she is aging and menstruating would seem to contradict the idea that she is a cognitive shadow, because her physical body is definitely not conforming to how she views herself. I think the god-kings show that aging to a certain extent is involuntary, even for cognitive shadows (probably tying in with the ideal spiritual realm self). As for Cultivation not actually granting her wish, Wyndle seems overly fixated on the wording of Lift's wish, whereas I'm fairly certain Cultivation would have understood the intent behind Lift's wish (intent is really big for shards, after all). So I could definitely see her granting it in a way that Lift wouldn't understand, while still adhering to the original intent.

This may have been discussed already, but I was thinking that some of Lift's anomalies could be explained if she was a cognitive shadow stapled to her body somewhat akin to a Returned (but without the divine breath). Specifically, it could explain: 1. Her strong connection to the cognitive realm (since she's a CS), though we haven't seen another CS with her exact properties. 2. How Cultivation granted her wish "to stay the same" since a CS can be considered a fossilized version of the living entity (per Vasher, at least). Her powerset also explains some things that would otherwise pose issues if she were a CS -- e.g., the constant need for investiture (she can produce it fairly easily, so she's not in danger of running out unless she starves to death -- which would also kill her anyhow). This theory could generate some narrative interest for her flashback chapters in the back half (if she dies as a child and is saved by Cultivation, for example). That's the theory in a nutshell. If anyone is aware of any outright deconfirmations via WoB or would like to offer comments/critiques/refutations, be my guest.

Has Brandon (or anyone, really) thought about what allomantic ability would be associated with Tanavastium? Not to be contradictory -- as a godmetal, I'm sure it does something powerful -- but it's also not necessarily as broken as Lerasium (or even Atium, for that matter). In any case, I feel like Lerasium gestation on Scadrial seems to indicate that it could take a massive amount of gaseous investiture to produce the metallic form -- like even the amount of stormlight contained in a massive gemstone (such as those in Lasting Integrity) probably wouldn't make more than a microscopic amount of it. Given the rate that Shallan was able to deplete it, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire Honorspren stores could be transformed into a bead smaller than a pinhead. So depending on the relative densities and assuming they would need to contain the Stormlight before transforming it, it might not be a very overpowered process at all -- it could take decades or centuries of accumulation to produce a bead of Tanavastium big enough that an allomancer could get decent use out of it. Maybe in the far-flung Rosharan future if the planet were transformed into an industrial hellscape, they could achieve rapid Tanavastium production -- but by that point other worlds would probably have achieved similarly insane feats of magitech.

My guess would be that gemheart development begins in the larval stage and that the gemheart is formed through biological processes which extract the necessary minerals from dirt and force them into a crystalline structure. It's possible that they need to find and ingest a seed gemstone to begin the process, but either way I don't think you could take a distant relative (like an axehound) without a gemheart, add a gemheart seed, then see it reap benefits unless there happens to be a type of spren that is naturally attracted to the creature -- the process of growing the gemheart is something that was probably acquired over a long time via natural selection.

I could see a Cultivation spren being attracted to Vasher, since he often finds himself looking out for people despite his hermit-like tendencies. He'd probably shoo it away and refuse to swear any oaths -- because he's Vasher.