Argent

I am waiting for Wax to make her a Steelpush medallion.

Given that we've seen both Ruin and Harmony literally cover the sky in the Cognitive Realm, it is not entirely unreasonable to claim that Shards and cognitive skies are related in some way. Which makes a very strong case for Sel being connected to the Expanse of the Broken Sky.

Yeah, I am feeling pretty good about the whole idea.

I like!

Wax's steel bubble was, I think, confirmed to be something that comes from him being an Allomantic steel savant. Wayne's ability to impersonate people was also confirmed to be mundane in nature, I think.

Think about how something like this could be structured then Ideally I would like a custom web site/page, but there is so much ash on my plate, there's no way I'll get to it.

The way I understand it, Shardpools are perpendicularities. The term actually makes me think of a somewhat famous way to represent the way black holes curve spacetime, where spacetime is simplified to a 2D sheet, and the extreme curvature is represented by a shift in the third. Shift that is perpendicular (more or less) to the 2D canvas. Which, considering that some believe the centers of black holes could puncture our universe and lead to others, could be a parallel to how perpendicularities are used to travel between Realms.

No, this is indeed new information. I was taking pretty extensive notes of the interesting bits in Secret History (for about half of the book, then I just forgot...), and have been meaning to go over them and open for discussion - and this is one of the ones I was more excited about.

I had forgotten that line in the end about spikes. Oh, Brandon, stop having so much fun on our expense...

In the absence of better information, I am assuming it's pretty much another Shard coming to play. Sazed says the haze is a representation, so we can't learn much from its description, but I could buy the idea that it's either a Shard trying to move to Scadrial (and I am very worried about why Harmony, a holder of two Shards, can't just slap their hand but has to defend), or another Shard trying to Invest themselves on Scadrial, and the haze is more of a representation of their Investiture than their body (though those are kind of the same thing anyway).

Funny, I came out of that book convinced the Sovereign was straight-up Kelsier. No body shenanigans. I admit it sounds a little more plausible that Kelsier possessed a (willing) body, probably anchored to it by the eye spike, than to imagine him actually reconstructing a body, but I can't think of anything that would contradict the latter idea.

Lithium's worse

Yeeeaaah... I didn't wonder much about it, but I noticed something felt off.

Perhaps, but he implied that he was limited to three. Could be because of his rank in the Set. Can anyone remember what powers Telsin has shown? Feruchemical gold, though it could be hers naturally - though I don't believe that, I think it would've come up if she were a Ferring. Allomantic steel, I think. What else?

Kelsier noticed some cords disappearing into the distance, connecting the building with... something. I figured the Ire are drawing Investiture from Sel's Cognitive Realm - which, if our theories are correct, should be chock full of it - and feeding at least a part of it to the stones' cognitive aspects, making sure they down snap back to their "bodies" maybe.

I think an equally interesting - and perhaps relevant - question is why bodies of water appear solid. "Dark, smoky stone" Kelsier calls it. Preservation explains that "It congeals here. It has to do with the way men think, and where they are likely to pass. Somewhat to do with that, at least." Which is not the most useful explanation, but I think it gives credibility to the hypothesis that the perception of the people shapes not only cognitive aspects of things, but the Cognitive Realm itself.

Eeehhh... I think this leaves a lot of wiggle room. His words in this novella - "You don’t have a body, and I don’t have the inclination to actually injure your soul" - suggest it's simply a matter of whether or not he wants to hurt Kelsier. His words to Shallan... I don't have a good rational argument, but they read like something he would say without putting too much meaning into them. Almost an inside joke for anyone who knows about his "upbringing."

Have we actually seen his detailed description elsewhere? Secret History doesn't give color to his hair or eyes, and I don't remember a key phrase or chapter to search for in... Words of Radiance? Was he there or in The Way of Kings? I don't think we've seen him in other books.

Well, should be able to store any Connection. Secret History explores what Connection is in a little more detail, but I could probably safely say that I think people can form a Connection with anything. Location seems kind of a default, maybe unless you move around a lot from day one.

There is always another secret.

You think so? Some accidents - which left her with no permanent damage - notwithstanding, she has risen higher in society, found a husband she can love and who can love her and is also a pretty solid bloke, has seen mysteries in the world unknown for at least since the Catacendre, and also managed to be the first person in the Basin to possibly make lasting positive contact with an entire new continent of people. Columbus and Magellan could've been her servant boys. The only people one might consider more fortunate than her are the people she hangs out with.

No, not everything. But Brandon treats these discoveries as ones arrived at through the scientific method (and, indeed, what we have seen from Khriss and Nazh suggests that they do exactly that). So while some parts could turn out to be entirely wrong, I expect most will just get better and more accurate over time, one small piece at a time.

I have to wonder if their death was an unintended consequence of Kelsier's request to them to wait for him. If they were religious fanatics I could possibly see them choosing to remain there forever. Not that this answer satisfies me, something is weird about the whole thing...

Yeah. The easiest references is a plaque there that reads "Atium: the lost metal." When Wax is climbing out of the Pits he also makes a reference to "the lost metal. Legendary atium." So, unless it's a wordplay on the phrase, I think the title is pretty clear.

I don't think we can judge that. Appearance of mindlessness in the physical realm doesn't necessarily suggest diminished cognitive aspect - most Rosharan spren show virtually no cognitive ability in the Physical Realm, but are noticeably better in the Cognitive (though not necessarily full-on intelligent). Even a stick has more cognition in Shadesmar than it does in the Physical Realm. So the Threnodian (was that the term the Ire used?) shades could be quite formidable in the Cognitive Realm. Indeed, I imagine they are, if they can affect the physical world in such profound ways.