Inevitability

Wow, you are correct about Radiant being blonde. I won’t surrender my take on it just yet Let’s just pivot this theory kool-aid to Shallan’s mum, a herald, being of the Royal line from Nalthis and being able to change her hair color at will. Let’s drink deeper and theorize that her mum is actually the daughter of a certain Scholar present on Roshar and that Shallan has a grand father roaming around that she hasn’t bumped shoulders with yet Take another sip of the kool-aid, the Scholar’s daughter being a herald would provide one explanation why he returned to Roshar to aid in Gavilar’s research. He could be motivated to find a way to free his daughter And let’s be real - wouldn’t it be awesome to pair Shallan and the Scholar on a journey? Why haven’t we had this combo yet?

One thing I’ve been watching through different books is how Shadesmar is different in different systems. i don’t think all shadesmar everywhere is beads. I don’t have the time right now to find the quote but Melaan’s observations at the end of Lost Metal do not mention beads. I’m guessing it has to do with how investiture is perceived by the local system. Maybe the Scadrian cognitive realm has seas of particles (a la metal flakes/ particles) Makes me more intrigued for Emberdark. Is that ship flying through like a space ship? Is it sailing through like a boat? Is it a submarine type vehicle? hm. Also makes me wonder - is Shadesmar the name for ALL the cognitive realm or just the cul de sac of the cognitive realm in the Rosharan system…

I think you are on to something, although maybe Adolin isn’t the target. I think Radiant is the personification of her mother and I think at some point Shallan substantiates Radiant as a real person. When a Fused recognizes Radiant, this will lead to Shallan’s next reveal that her mother is a certain red headed Herald

I like the line of thinking but I think I’d actually take this in the opposite direction. Recognizing that is is not in a Cosmere thread, I’ll be vague in reference. In a Stormlight adjacent secret project, there is some language used to describe the relationship between a man and spren as Knight and Squire. If you know, you know… What if what we are seeing with Adolin and Maya is something in that direction? Maybe this is where they realize that this is possible

I really like this connection of Divided One and Broken One. I like it especially since I think you can take what we’ve learned from the interlude about Taravodium being either all logic or all passion. Humor me for a second - What if Honor’s last gasp effort to save humanity (UNITE THEM) wasn’t focused on a strategy meant to eliminate or neutralize his opponent, but rather to redeem. What if UNITE THEM wasn’t referring to the kingdoms of Alethkar but rather to the split nature of Odium. What if the answer to this all is to fix Odium and change the dominating aspect of the Shard, a la a similar function to what is being hinted at with another Shard who seems to not be so harmonious anymore. Idk what a reverse polarity Odium would become, maybe Empathy….

So those italicized words might not have been him saying an oath…. But it could be him approaching the oaths. We’ve seen multiple instances of Kaladin either being close to the words or just not being able to say them. I think an alternative thought process is to think about if Adolin even needs to say oaths to gain radiant powers from Maya. He’s already bonded to her. The nahel bind is symbiotic, each side gains something. We’ve seen Maya now showing signs of coming back towards sapience which makes me wonder that his current trajectory will automatically end up with him gaining the lowest level powers of Edgedancer. I know the problem point is just the idea of “what exactly are the old shardblades/deadeyes”… my short answer is that they are somewhat akin to an unkeyed metal mind and is able to be bonded to anyone

I think there’s two scenarios that are likely with Cusicesh. 1) We know that Brandon likes parallels in the cosmere so these theories about Cusicesh taking a little bit of investiture from people is interesting in light of sunlit man. Nomad has the jump mechanic that is based on an amount of investiture he has. To me that feels like it is skewed towards fortune whereas this Iriali mechanic feels more identity based. 2) if Cusicesh is not a passive entity, then he is either an active protector against a big enough threat OR the scion/vassal of a larger active protector, ie shard. My theory along these lines is that it’s our unknown 16th shard that Brandon is keeping close to his chest. Furthermore I think that there is a magic system in the Iriali that we just haven’t seen yet because this shard is laying low and trying to survive until “their people” arrive in the final destination where they will power up Kung Fu Panda 3 style except with glowing golden hair instead of glowing golden palms, meaning that their “magic” is based on collective identity instead of individual (again it would parallel Threnodites in that manner)