Letryx13

I'm hoping that WindRunners can learn to use Adhesion for languages. Sigzil would love it. Personally, I think Odium doesn't create fused with Adhesion is because he fears what they could do with it. I think they would have access to spiritual Adhesion, since physical Adhesion isn't that impressive on it's own. And since fused surgebinding is more internal, they could probably use Adhesion to connect themselves to various things, such as lands for language. But considering we still don't fully understand what BondSmiths are capable of, there's probably other things they could use it for. They might be able to forcibly connect with spren, and who knows what that might lead to.

I'm a big fan of Adolin, since he's pretty much the only main human/singer protagonist that hasn't said the oaths, and story wise I think it's important to have major characters that aren't empowered by the magic system of the story. I've said it before, but one of the few things I dislike about Harry Potter is that there aren't any major characters that are muggles, besides the Dursleys. But in Oathbringer, Dalinar became a tie for my favorite character with Kaladin. Well done redemption arcs are the best kind of story, and his is one of, if not the, best I've ever seen. HIs refusal of Odium and his third ideal sent chills down my spine when I first heard it in my audio book, and it still does. I place Dalinar's third ideal higher, and I did like Oathbringer even before that scene, but still, I agree. Best two scenes in the series so far hands down.

I agree people are taking the baby theory too literally. But I think the passage about killing the child is a reference to Taravangian's actions, and how he's willing to sacrifice innocent people for Karbranth's sake. Doing something terrible for what could be construed as noble, but ultimately isn't noble at all. I've heard this hypothetical of killing a child like that before, and it's usually in reference to people hiding for their lives. People fearing soldiers or something, and sacrificing a child that is crying or could cry and give away their position. I think it's presented in the books to demonstrate that there are situations with no right answers, only terrible decisions to make; to try and show how Tarravangian has justified his actions.

Fair point, but I bet a bus would have enough mass. Which is a double benefit since it means I could travel out of town without having to drive. And we know train cars have enough mass, so those wouldn't be bad either.

Allomancy-Cadmiuim, would make car trips so much less annoying. Feruchemy-Copper, near perfect recall is useful no matter what kind of life you live Compounding-Fortune, knowing the future is also always useful

The problem is that he threw away Kaladin and Bridge Four to try and get his revenge. Even when Moash was trying to personally kill Elhokar (not a great person, but trying to do better) Kaladin offered him a way out, but Moash wouldn't take it. Moash claimed that the king killed the only family he'd ever known, but he then threw away people who thought of and treated him as family. Including one who'd given him the very shards Moash was using to try to kill Elhokar. In Oathbringer, Moash is a parallel to Dalinar more than Kaladin. He represents what happens when people don't accept responsibility for their actions. As for killing Elhokar, what did he get for it? No satisfaction, no relief, nothing. That's probably due to Odium's influence, but he probably wouldn't have felt much differently without it. I think the point of that is to show that this is what revenge does to people. It twists them into something terrible, and even if they get their revenge, they have nothing afterward to show for it. I think Renarin defeated him by interfering with his connection to Odium, but this is definitely Moash at his worst. He's trying to seek validation of his giving up by convincing Kaladin to give up. In Moash's mind, if Kaladin gives up, then it's ok that he did too.

I'm glad you mentioned Jasnah. She's definitely someone that would try something like this, and I agree that it could easily backfire, but I doubt it would result in Odium losing control completely. But, yes, this is not an unlikely scenario.

That is another issue, which is why I think just exposing Taravangian's actions might not be enough by itself. Unless his actions were exaggerated, or revealed in a specific way, it might not cause much fuss. But as far as his daughter is concerned, while it's true that Taravangian kept his daughter away from his actions to insulate her from the blame, it's not hard to imagine people not buying that she had nothing to do with it, or that she was completely ignorant. She was both his daughter and heir, and for better or worse, people are often judged by who they're related to. True, Szeth is the only one who knows, which is why I think he needs to be the one to tip others off about it. And you're correct, he's not a witness many would believe, but his information could be a reason to try and find more convincing evidence. Dalinar knows that Taravangian sided with Odium to preserve Kharbranth. The exact details weren't mentioned in their discussion, but Dalinar knows the price Odium paid for Taravangians help. And I agree that Dalinar wouldn't attack Kharbranth, unless it somehow became important strategically; he wouldn't attack a city for what amounts to spite, but there are other organizations and people on Roshar that are not as noble. And lastly, the people that were disappearing weren't just homeless people, judging by the descriptions of the death rattles in the chapters. People with jobs and people with families were used as well. Plus, I don't think those people would be so willing to use the hospitals if it got out that's where a lot of people were taken from. Not if they feared being abducted and killed if they went there for treatment.

I'm glad you brought up Shallan. I've been wondering how she and Adolin could possibly make it back in time to do much to help with the contest or other battles, since it took them weeks to get to Lasting Integrity, and they were still there at the end of RoW. I'm not sure how the cities on each side relate to each other, but if Karbranth and Lasting Integrity are close to each other, then that could make sense, if they find a way to get back out of ShadesMar. And that could explain why they might be forced to do something about Karbranth. And the herald that was Taravangian's source of information could be another reason to send people to Karbranth. Especially if there is something important about that particular herald, such as they know something the others don't. I don't think Taravangian will start using Karbranth as a base, it seems a little too contradictory to what he wanted all along. And I admit, I'm not sure if just exposing what Taravangian did will be enough to start a revolt. But it's possible that what he did could be spun in such a way that it makes people panic, with people thinking that their former king (and possibly his daughter) were having people kidnapped and tortured to death. It's frighteningly close to the truth. That sort of fear could spur a rebellion, if it were introduced to the city.

Another one of my random ideas occurred to me recently. Everyone is focusing on how the contest of champions and the agreement relating to it is going to decide the future of Roshar. I agree that it is almost certainly going to be the deciding event in book 5, but there will obviously be a lot more going on than just that. So I've been wondering what else might happen that could cause conflict between the various groups on Roshar, and I think I found a good one. In order to find out as much as possible to be able to fulfill his plan to make a deal with Odium, Tarravangian abducted people from his hospitals and slowly killed them, with people he trusted standing by to record any death rattles that the dying might speak. As far as we know, the only people to know about this are the members of the Diagram and Szeth. Tarravangian revealed that he had sent Szeth to kill Dalinar, but as far as I know, the King of Karbranth never revealed that he was using people like this. So what would happen if this information were to be revealed to the people of Karbranth. As of right now, Karbranth is neutral in the conflict between the forces of Honor and Odium. Odium is supposedly bound by his promise, to Tarravangian ironically, not to touch Karbranth, and Dalinar is currently uninterested in attacking them due to their insignificance. But what would happen if the city were to go into a rebellion, upon learning that their former ruler, the father of their current queen, was abducting citizens and killing them for his own twisted reasons? If that somehow got out, I can only assume because of Szeth, and there was any kind of evidence to support it, it's not hard to imagine the city being spurred to revolt. Now of course, there are a couple of issues with this theory. First of all, since the two people who made the deal to protect Karbranth are now essentially the same person, is that deal even binding? I brought up that very point with someone who had a different idea (and arguably an even better one) about how to turn the Karbranth protection deal against Odium. I don't think we know enough to really answer that question, so we'll have to wait and see. The second issue is how exactly this would get out and why hasn't it before? Well, as I said, Szeth is the only one outside of the Diagram organization who knows about what they were doing to hear the death rattles, and as we learned with the anti voidlight sphere, he's not always the most forthcoming with information except when directly asked. And if a conversation regarding Tarravangian's other actions, such as him having Szeth kill monarchs across Roshar, were to occur, it's not unreasonable to assume that something regarding the death rattles were to pop up. The next problem is how would anyone get proof (if any is left), and the only way that I can think of is for someone to infiltrate Karbranth, which I think could make for a a good mission for some characters, maybe some of Shallan's agent LightWeavers, to go on. The biggest problem with this theory is that until someone figures out Tarravangian is Odium, there's not really a good reason to stir up trouble in Karbranth. If and when it gets out, having Karbranth on the verge of collapse, disrupting the very thing Tarravangian worked to hard to prevent, would be a fantastic way to expose his corruption and cause a huge distraction for the newest Shard. Not to mention it would be a great twist, doing to Tarravangian the exact same thing he did to Dalinar in OathBringer. But as it stands right now, the only person not under Odium's command that is likely to find out about Todium is Hoid. And while he might very well decide to cause such a rebellion as a way to help indirectly, he'd have to find out about Todium quickly enough and make it to Karbranth in time to expose things. I'm trying to think of other reasons good enough for the Radiants, or even another group like the GhostBloods or even the Listerners, to stir things up in Karbranth. So far, I haven't come up with anything.

Including the BondSmith Honor blade, there are four.

Aside from compounding Steel and Pewter, which are the Feruchemical powers that can compete with Radiants, a TwinBorn probably couldn't beat a 4th ideal Radiant unless they still had either one of those two metals for Feruchemy, or Iron. They might be able to increase their weight enough to crash through ShardPlate. None of the other Feruchemical powers would do much against ShardPlate. I don't think there's a single Allomantic power that could match ShardBlades and Plate, never mind Radiant healing or SurgeBinding. Pewter doesn't increase strength enough, Steel wouldn't fire metal hard enough to break through plate and if the metal was large, the Radiant could avoid it, emotional Allomancy doesn't penetrate plate, Chromium Leeching wouldn't get through on it's own, and speed bubbles wouldn't help much on their own. The only Allomantic power that seems like it could match plate is Atium, but that alone might not be enough. They might be able to know what their opponent is going to do next, but that might not matter if they can't react quickly enough. For a TwinBorn to stand a chance against full shard bearer (not to mention 4th ideal Radiants) I think they'd need to have some combination of Feruchmical Steel, Pewter, or Iron, along with Allomantic Pewter, Steel, Chromium, or Atium. I doubt any other TwinBorn could win.

Brandon's original comparison of Kaladin and Kelsier was before Kaladin earned his plate. Kaladin's fourth ideal puts him over Kelsier. Plate is just that huge an advantage. The only thing MistBorns have that can match is is Atium, which runs out very quickly. Unless Kelsier could take out Kaladin very quickly or sneak up on him when his plate isn't up, Kaladin wins hands down.

I suspect that's the reason (both Honor's and Sanderson's) for limiting them to only 4 at a time. But yeah, that's basically what I was thinking.

This is part of the reason why I think that BondSmiths could potentially defeat FullBorns. We don't know their upper limit, and the things we've seen them do so far are crazy enough. If Ishar could steal Dalinar's connection to the StormFather, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that a BondSmith could alter someone's spirit web to steal powers their born with, like MetalBorn.

I think that’s his point. The Radiants are so powerful that they never lost a desolation before, despite that drawback. Now we have a much more advanced civilization backing the Radiants, and the two sides are about even. If I had to put it to a specific reason, it’s that the Singers are so unified by their anger at humans that they’re almost entirely on Odium’s side. The humans are far less united. Combine that with the fact that the current generation of Radiants were largely untrained in their powers at the beginning of this Desolation, and it’s easier to understand their struggle. Numbers and experience matter in war. And you know, one side has a Shard directly backing them and the other doesn’t.

There's a reason why the Radiants never lost a Desolation before.

Elantrians seem like they use the most versatile of the Cosmere's magic systems. The only drawback is that you need to learn the Aons to make it work, so I'd go with that. Radiants (of the 5th ideal) seem like the most powerful magic users because they get armor, weapons, and powers. MistBorn and Feruchemists seem like a balance, having multiple strong abilities, but not endless different tricks. Awakening and breaths always seems like the weakest of the magic systems, at least in my opinion.

I listened to WarBreaker and OathBringer as audio books, and NighBlood's voice is very different between them, not even accounting for different readers. He sounds distinctly male in WarBreaker, most often a very positive upbeat almost child like voice. So I always saw him as a he.

I think a lot of the barracks in the war camps were made by soulcasting fabrials, that's why they all looked alike. Even if they were done in segments, a hallway doesn't seem unreasonable. It's hard to compare soulcasting fabrials with soulcasting radiants, but I suspect they could pull it off. I don't know, the Fuzed that grow their carapace into weapons and armor would be difficult to deal with. Even with Pewter. Steel would help with shooting coins, but one of them withstood a punch from Jasnah in plate without budging. Their carapace armor seems pretty strong.

I'm not sure we have enough data on this to really determine this one. Jasnah is the only SoulCasting Radiant we've seen in combat, and she's a different order. Some LightWeavers like Vatha seem to be very talented at it, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume they could fight using SoulCasting. Maybe SoulCast them while in ShadesMar? I'd be willing to bet they have the potential to defeat a MistBorn, but until we actually see a LightWeaver's (most likely Shallan's) full potential, I don't think we can really say for sure who'd win.

First, if the MistBorn catches them, they have to leech and continue leeching the radiant or the SkyBreaker can just draw in more storm light. Second. If they stop leeching, then they’re vulnerable to the SkyBreaker summoning their blade or using division against them. And if the Radiant manages to draw in more light, they’re not going to be able to finish them quickly with pewter. The only way for a MistBorn to end the fight is to either prevent them from using Stormlight and their blade completely, or do enough damage to run them out of light/take them out in one hit. Third. If they’re switching from using all metals to catch the SkyBreaker to just using Cadmium and Duralumin, then the SkyBreaker can use Division against the MistBorn at the same time. Which means, even it that scenario, it boils down to who grabs who first. The. MistBorn would have to time it perfectly, but the SkyBreaker could just constantly be attempting to use Division on whatever they touched. Big advantage to the SkyBreaker. While that seems effective, and it’s one of the few ways I could image a MistBorn catching a SkyBreaker without pewter, it would be extremely difficult to time that in the air. I could see it happening on the ground, but it would probably take someone with Wayne’s skill with speed bubbles to get it right. And it seems like it would be almost impossible to make it work in the air, with how quickly both MistBorn and Radiants can move through the air.

Which means they’d have to catch the SkyBreaker without pewter. It would be difficult for a MistBorn to keep up with a Radiant’s speed without it. That’s what I meant by achieve the leeching without pewter. Didn’t Marasi say in Alloy of Law that Cadmium and Bendalloy cancel each other out when burned together?

Yeah, but if he burns Duralumin, then he's out of metals that he's currently burning. A Radiant could breathe in more Stormlight, but the MistBorn would have to swallow more Chromium to continue Leeching. And they'd have to achieve the Leeching without using Pewter or other metals, or they'd be out of them too. I suppose they could burn Duralumin while using both Chromium and Pewter to try and Leech while inflicting damage all at once, but that seems like it would be tricky and a big gamble. They'd get one shot, and if they missed they'd pretty much be guaranteed to lose.

Ok, that actually explains a few things. I always assumed he just wore more gold back then. Regardless, we did see him completely ignore ordinary wounds, such as spears through the chest. There’s a difference between being able to heal a critical wound and ignore it completely. That kind of healing seems significantly more powerful than most Radiants. Renarrin could be an exception, but I remember someone else theorizing that his stronger healing is a form of compounding as well.