Cheese Ninja

Earth's Air density: 1.225 kg/m³ The sun doesn't start getting denser than our atmosphere until you go well beneath the visible layers. It seems he'd have to go pretty far beneath what we think of the 'surface' of the sun in order to actually get expansion from it, instead of stuff being sucked into the gateway.

Yeah, I still can't believe Bela was killed by something as minor as some nameless Trollocs. I hadn't expected her to die at all. I wanted to see her do more besides shuttle the Horn of Valere back and forth a few thousand feet and impress Faile and Olver with her amazing speed and endurance. She didn't even reappear when the Horn was blown. That reminds me of another thing, does anyone think Jain Farstrider was a Hero of the Horn before this lifetime, or was Jain Charin his very first incarnation? It seems like it must have been his first, but does anyone besides the authors and assistants know for sure? Also, I wouldn't have suggested the building-sized gateway that Androl used with Dragonmount to be used with the Sun, just a small gateway created distantly, facing away from him. And I hope at some point Rand teaches the whole "Songs of Growing" thing to the Tinkers, because there's not a whole lot of point to him being the only one knowing them. Besides impressing random farmers, kings, queens, and Empresses of entire continents.

I finished the book Wednesday night. It was good, but a few things bother me. My first reaction to the Androl/Pevara scenes was "were these two really supposed to be that important?" followed closely by "I don't care, their PoV scenes are a lot of fun." Favorite couple of the book, followed by Matt and Tuon. I've heard the criticism from others that no one ever seems to die in the WoT books. This book seemed determined to change that fact, almost to the point where it got excessive, unless the whole point was to show that people die in battles on a fairly regular basis. Only Gawyn's and Egwene's deaths got much attention, the other dozen or so major characters? Just mentioned in passing, usually without them accomplishing anything. Besides battering at Rand's mental state until he accepted that he had to let them be heroes/martyrs. Also, was it really necessary for Rand to let everyone but his girlfriends assume that he was dead? Sure the dude deserves a break, but couldn't he show some sympathy for his friends and his dad who were mourning him? Scenes I liked: Egwene vs Taim. Logain achieving his glory. Androl kicking major chull, but if he had made a gateway to the Sun he probably could have his gateway of lava look like kiddy stuff. The cannons being shot through gateways. (I was wondering myself why they didn't start this tactic earlier, I had figured that it just wasn't an efficient enough use of the Power.) Any scene with Tuon and Min. Talmanes in the prologue. Demandred kept being forced into duels when all he wanted to do was fight Lews Therin. 1st Gawyn: I have come to kill you. 2nd Galad: I have come to kill you on the behalf of my half brother you just killed and my other half brother that I just learned about that you want to kill. 3rd Logain: I'm going to kill you, oh rust, I'm out of here. 4th Lan: I have come to kill you. No talking, I'm just going to kill you, oh, I'll make a mental reference to the whole Sheathing the Sword thing from the 2nd book, now you die. And then Lan gets back up, because he's just too much of a badass to die there. I felt like Perrin wasted a lot time in the World of Dreams, but he ended up getting some important stuff done, and still kicked some chull in the process. Padan Fain was in some ways a bit of a let down, but Mat finally killing him was nicely done. Thom, sitting around, composing a ballad, and killing and stacking up the Black Ajah who were underestimating him. The battles felt very battlelike, but the movements of the troops could be difficult to visualize. Moghedian, captured once again. Also, I'm still a bit fuzzy on how we're supposed to think of the Dark One. It is somehow both pure unadulterated cosmic evil, and the tiny bit of evil in everyone that makes them human? Or is it the struggle against that evil that makes them human, so it's not necessarily in them, but still a required existence? Also, I saw on another forum the possibility that Nakomi was a Hero of the Horn, which would explain her interaction with Aviendha (it was in the World of Dreams) and her presence when Rand pulled himself and Moridin from the cave of the Bore. Doesn't explain what she was actually doing at the end there.

That works too, might even be better than Hoid as a Super Sliver. dyring mentioned that in the other thread too.

As for point 3: There's a bit in the spoilers of the chapter 44 annotations. Following the birth of an infant Returned from a Returned parent, it doesn't actually seem to require anything on the part of the parent. Note the last paragraphs: It could be read either way, but it looks like Brandon is saying that even if Susebron and Siri have a child, they'd still get to retire to an tropical island. And if I remember correctly, the stories about the other God King's deaths sounded a bit fake, so I think they pretty much always retire out of public view like that, and the priests make up some story about how they sacrificed their lives.On the other hand, from the first few paragraphs of the spoiler, it seems like something is required prior to the infant Returned being born from a Returned parent, possibly even before fertilization or conception. It is known to the priests, but not most Returned, Vasher and the other sages probably know how. We're also told we would find out in the sequel. Which kinda ties into my theory of Yesteel's Returned baby mill to gather Divine Breaths to Awaken swords like Nightblood. (It's cheaper than using thousands of normal breaths each time, you just need to raise them to be old enough that you can convince to give their Divine Breath away. Much more evil though.) Which is actually kind of an argument against #1, if you can force the births of Returned babies, there's no real limit to the amount of Returned in existence. I think that once you find a way to exploit a Cosmere magic system, there's very little the Shard can do to stop you outright. It's the opposite of how they can freely give their power to others. (Vin fueling Elend's Allomancy in HoA.)

That might be a part of it, but I think that after 4500 years, pictures of you would not be accurate anyway. I think Shalash's main reason is, like Droz said, because she's a bit crazy at this point. Some other people theorized that she regains power from it, but I don't like that theory. There's no evidence of a mechanism that would make that work. Baxil doesn't have any idea who she is, but I'm not sure about the other helper. I doubt people even suspect that the Heralds are still around. Droz: I don't think they are all leaders, but I think that option is open to some of them. Hundreds of lifetimes of experience can be pretty helpful when it comes to getting what you want. Being a little bit crazy isn't really enough to keep people out of positions of leadership, after all. And, if the beggar from the prologue is a Herald (which is an idea that I am fond of), he at least has more control over his life than the main characters of the SA, who all have responsibilities and outside influences forcing their actions and goals. A beggar isn't going to be caught with nowhere to escape in the middle of a battlefield, or poisoned by an assassin, and neither would a shadowly leader of a secret organization find himself in those situations. (Thaidakar) I do think at least a few of them are a bit crazy at this point, plus they probably feel guilty about abandoning Taln and the Oathpact. Also, since no one else posted it, a rebuttal to my Thaidakar=Ishar comment. Ishar was used in those chapter headings because the chapters feature Kabsal, an ardent, and Ishar's attributes are pious and guiding. It makes sense to use 'pious' when there is a religious character. And Ishar is used in chapter 23 without any apparent Ghostbloods, unless you think Teft was one. Not much in the way of piousness or guiding in that chapter either. Also, Ishar wasn't used in the flashback chapter that Kaladin killed the Shardbearer (47) or the chapter where we learned that Shardbearer was a Ghostblood. (51) And here's my counterpoint to my rebuttal of my Thaidakar=Ishar: Kabsal either wasn't truly an ardent, or at least that wasn't where his main loyalties laid. Also, Ishar wasn't used in any of the other chapters that prominently featured ardents. Ishar wasn't used in 47 and 51 because there were more relevant Herald pictures to use. I'm not sure about chapter 23, maybe it's because Rock is a bit pious in regards to Syl, or that Kaladin was trying to guide Bridge 4, but in that case, I don't know why Jezrien wouldn't be used for "leading". But chapter 48 "Strawberry" had double Ishar, and that was all about a Ghostblood assassination attempt on Jasnah. Chapter 74 "Ghostblood" was only 1 or 2 pages long, and had Ishar/Palah, Palah makes sense because it involves the researching of the Voidbringers (learning), so why Ishar? Because Ishar is associated with the Ghostbloods, and this is also the chapter that reveals Kabsal's and Shallan's father membership in the Ghostbloods. And so, I stand by my original supposition, this time with a bit more evidence, Thaidakar is Ishar.

Hmm, if Hoid ever held all of Adonalsium's power before the Shattering, wouldn't he be a Super Sliver, with access to all of the magic systems, assuming the other necessary components are met? Basically, Breaths and color for Awakening, Metals for Feruchemy and Allomancy, Stormlight and a Nahel bond for Surgebinding, knowledge of Aons and location for Sel-based magics. That would explain how he could use Feruchemy prior to acquiring the bead of Lerasium. And it lets him keep the Lerasium and Atium in storage (his secret home base) for when he will need them.

Cool, a friend of mine pointed out the Dayton signing to me on facebook, but I had to work. I was briefly considering going to the Lexington one tonight, but it's too long of a drive. I miss when we had more bookstores around Cincinnati... I got to see Brandon and Harriet when they did the Joseph-Beth signing back when ToM came out, and Jordan back when Path of Daggers came out, at the Borders that used to be across the street from Tri-County Mall.

Tien was an innocent with an aptitude for craftmanship and liked rocks. I don't see why some people on here thinks that makes him a Stone Shaman or a Surgebinding candidate. I don't think Lirin was a Herald. He gave no impressions of hidden knowledge or a voluminous hidden past. I think he was just a simple weary surgeon who had seen a lot of people lost to violence or foolishness. I'm pretty sure that the Hidden Heralds have far greater control over their lives than most of the characters in the series so far.

I think Restares is an identity Taravangian uses to avoid placing suspicion on himself. All we know from the Amaram exchange is that Amaram follows his advice and that Restares opposes the Ghostbloods. What about Thaidakar, (presumed leader of the Ghostbloods) do you think he might be one of the Heralds? Brandon's readings of book two that are online has made me change my mind about whether there is a Herald actively imbedded with the Parshendi. I now think that's unlikely. But I still like the idea of Heraldic influence on the Parshendi. I still think that there's a Herald gathering up Shardblades and Plate. I think the Herald's own magical nature trumps the eye color changed caused by wielding a Shardblade, so I think that they keep their original eye color either way. And I don't like Jezrien = Niter based on his beard. I think a good place to look would be at the Heralds used for each chapter: http://coppermind.net/wiki/The_Way_of_Kings/Headings If neither one of the attributes and if their Order of Knights Radiant doesn't make an appearance, it may be that the Herald theirself shows up in that chapter. (Example: Baxil's interlude has double Shalash.) It does make the categories pretty broad though, so I have no interest in poring over the text looking for needles in haystacks. If a chapter goes on long enough, it will end up featuring every attribute to various degrees. Plus, there's always the possibility that the Herald makes an appearance in addition to their main attributes and Knights Radiants. But I'm going to go ahead and make a guess anyway. Since Ghostblood heavy chapters have Ishar, Thaidakar is Ishar.

It's a little bit more vague than that. I think it works in the same way as Wax's superstrong Push where he destroys the building that Steris had been held in at the end of Alloy of Law. He used up all the weight that was in his Ironminds to make the downward Push that much more effective. It's also a fun scene because it's where Steris falls for him.By tapping Connection from a Duraluminmind, I think there's a lot more "weight" behind a Soothing or Rioting. Especially if you're the object of people's attention at that moment, which would make sense if you're the God/Leader of an Empire appearing before a crowd. Whether it would work when people aren't aware of your presence, say, if you're just sitting around inside a building reading a book, I'm not so sure, and I can't remember the contexts under which Rashek uses his mass Soothing/Riotings.

Yeah, that's why I said "normally". The ability to use other's metalminds would have been more useful back when full Feruchemists were around, but now that Ferrings are the norm, it's (possibly) useless. It's actually kind of odd how few of the metals were in use in the thousands of years that full Feruchemists were around, since a lot of metals are a great deal more useful in combination with each other. And there was always some small incidence of Mistings too, wasn't there? Is it ever addressed whether there were Mistings among the Terris? Or why the Terris in particular developed into Feruchemists? There were no full Mistborn until Rashek and his selected few, so no one besides Rashek could exploit those particular mechanics, but I have to wonder if there was ever a full Feruchemist + Misting in the ancient past of Scadrial. Those questions aside, I hope the future trilogies shed some light on the more mysterious temporal abilities of Aluminum and Nicrosil Ferrings. On the main topic of the thread, I think the most convenient combos are those allow for Compounding and overlap. That a Tin/Tin can both enhance any of his senses and Fill any of the other sense attributes to reduce sensory overload is incredibly helpful. Come to think of it, there was a character like that in the Syfy TV show Alphas, which was a fairly mediocre show, but does get the point across of what a lesser version of Tin/Tin could do at a crime scene. And Pewter/Pewter is nearly as good. At this point, I'm pretty sure that Rashek's mass Soothings and Riotings were possible by him tapping compounded Duraluminminds for spiritual connection at the same time as him using full Mistborn strength for the Rioting/Soothing. (I can't remember for sure if he knew about Duralumin, but I'm not sure if Aluminumminds are usable for this after reading The Emperor's Soul. Plus, it fits with the Feruchemical description of Duralumin)

No, it's Identity in the Spiritual Realm. The Emperor's Soul has a magic system that directly affects Spiritual aspects. (Forging) If the Spiritual aspect is altered, it can cause changes in the Physical and Cognitive aspects as well. No idea what happens if it is Filled or Tapped though. There could be some neat interactions with Forging if the two magic systems ever met. I'm not sure if a being's Spiritual aspect is entirely equivalent to their soul, but it's probably pretty close. Were there theories on here that if a Feruchemist stored all their Identity, they could use other people's metalminds? I think that would still require the ability to tap that particular attribute, so it would normally be useless.

Shalash was there, she must have destroyed the statue of herself among the other Herald statues, and the wreckage must have been removed. That would be why Szeth didn't see the statue there. We can't be entirely sure how much the Heralds actually know about the current characters and situations, but I they probably have at least a decent idea of what brings about a Desolation. I also wouldn't put it past another Herald to be hiding out somewhere. But not Niter as Jezrien, because a theory that hinges entirely on a fairly nondescript beard is too weak. I had been hoping for the Parshendi to be directly led by a Herald, and even though this reading seems to kill that idea, I still think it's possible that a Herald is influencing them from out of sight. Although that's probably true for the Alethi as well. Also: good points with the black sphere

Well, that reading upsets almost all theories I had about the Parshendi. No secret stashes of Shardblades/Plates, no Herald commanding them, Gavilar killed because they were trying to stop him, not because it would unite the Alethi. Also, we got confirmation that they are in fact using the gemhearts for food production. I hadn't been sure with the first reading if this was happening before or after the events of Way of Kings, but now it's clearly after. Stormform sounds interesting, and tougher... I'll guess that it lets them power up using Stormlight, like Kaladin or Szeth, but without the use of any Surges. There had been chasmfiends around before Gavilar came, they took him with them on a hunting trip for a chasmfiend once. So what exactly was Gavilar doing that would have made things worse? Is it possible that they didn't pupate until after Gavilar did what it was he did? Whatever it was, the Parshendi either didn't tell or explain their opposition well, or he dismissed it. When Szeth told him that it was the Parshendi who sent him, Gavilar said "that makes no sense." It could be that the Parshendi wanted to keep the effects of his possible actions a secret from everyone. Perhaps the revival of their 'old gods' would transform them to an evil Void form, beyond their control, in preparation to be the opposing forces in a Desolation?

I wouldn't be surprised if the values of emeralds change in the near future, but he was consistent throughout WoK about currency exchanges any time that they showed up. A gemheart would mostly likely be kept as whole as possible after being cut for facets, since larger gems hold more Stormlight and are less likely to crack from usage. The shavings from shaping it into a gem are probably larger than the gems in most broams as well. I think the main reason for their not being an appendix on currency is the same as the reason there wasn't an appendix on the calender, or the reduced gravity of Roshar. It's just not appendix material. It also gives us a small tidbit to speculate on that he can confirm or deny without affecting the overall story. What we do see in the appendices are the Ars Arcanum, which explain details of Cosmere magic systems.

I'd seen TES mentioned in some other Cosmere Theories threads, and considered it fair game. How long should we wait until we start mentioning it here? Or would it be alright as long as we are using spoiler tags for plot-relevant details? TES had some interesting insights into magic in the Cosmere and raised a few questions about Cosmere afterlife for me. Nevermind, I just found the poll on the bottom of the TES board about spoilers. Chaos wrote that November 1st is when TES becomes fair game in Cosmere Theories. Wait, what?

I think it's also arguable that Diamond spheres generate white light, which could be considered to be a light of no color/all colors. 9(varied) + diamond(white) = That's actually what I'm going with until we're explicitly told that there is a gemstone not used as currency.

I think the need to be redone on a daily basis is just a necessary requirement of Soulstamping any living being. Her own stamps would have required that as well. (Even the Escapist one, it required her to Soulstamp herself on a daily basis.) I don't think there's any "original soul" left to reassert itself. If there was, it should have been uncovered merely by fixing the body. Which may have been an initial possibility, but maybe Ashravan's soul made a conscious decision to pass on to the Afterlife? The Cosmere probably has some sort of soul/brain connection like some old real world philosophers believed in. Although I do wonder whether it's alright for the Soulstamp to lapse on the Emperor, or if he would reset to zero. (The First Stamping after the accident.) She said that she inserted the ability for growth into the Soulstamp, but she didn't go into details on how it worked. I feel like this might make a good question for Brandon, because it's impossible for us to be sure what has happened simply from information given in the book. I want to believe that the Forged Soul gets an afterlife as well.

So, is anybody else uncertain what happened to the Emperor's soul from the Emperor's Soul? I'm assuming that the Spiritual aspect is what goes on to the afterlife, unless it's some odd mix of the Spiritual and Cognitive aspects. I assume Brandon's got some established rules for the afterlife, but we haven't gotten them in great detail yet. It can't be as ridiculous as the piecemeal ideas that people make up about an afterlife in this world. (I don't believe in that sort of crazy stuff.) Did the Emperor go on to the afterlife after the assassination, since it made him brain dead? Or was he still bound to his body as long as it was still alive? (The Physical Aspect) If he did go on to the afterlife, then what about the soul stamped personality (The Forged Soul)? Will it go on to the afterlife as well? There were a few lines in the book that made me think that the repeated application of the soul stamp might generate a being that counted enough to earn an afterlife. If any of you have read "Thief of Time" by Terry Pratchett, there's a character who doesn't have a soul to start with, but at the end when they die they have gained one.

You're making it slightly more difficult than it needs to be: 5850/5256=1.1130, that's for a minute and a half less per hour. To be precise, I didn't make up the 1.1, I only made up that 1.1 was the exact measure, which is about 57m50s per hour. They're pretty close either way. Since the "minute or two less per hour came from Peter, that should be fine.

Crap, maybe I did make up the 1.1 conversion then... I just really liked the simplicity of it: 1.1*24*365*60/500/20=57.816 Earth Minutes to a Roshar Hour Still, Peter did say 20 hours a day, and that the hours were a minute or two shorter than ours. And Brandon and Peter both said the years were a bit longer than ours, so I'm not making up that bit. The 500 day calender is established.... Death Quote Epigraphs Dated Here's a thread on here where FireArcadia figured out the names for each day in the Vorin calender: Calender thread. He even made a google spreadsheet: Calender Dates The archeologist (Harakeke) who translated the Navani's notebook pages also did a google spreadsheet for the chronology: Roshar History

They've only got 20 hours in a Roshar day and Roshar hours are about two and a half minutes shorter than Earth hours. The math works out surprisingly well. The 1.1 Earth to Roshar year conversion was given by Peter and Brandon, we didn't just make it up. (Edit: I'm wrong here.) I'm pretty sure that Roshar (the planet) is in the same solar system as the planet from The Silence Divine, so at least some of the planetary rules we know should apply. I do think the majority of the seasons are the result of a magical influence and highstorms. Edit: The Silence Divine, not White Sand

I think it ties in with the prophecy on the back cover of Way of Kings. At this point the epigraph doesn't work for all of them yet, but I think it will eventually. I prefer Szeth or Kaladin, then Shallan, and Dalinar least of all.

I enjoyed it. I was surprised by how much it delved into Realmatics, explaining Soulstamping led to the most description we've gotten of the Spiritual Realm so far. I'm not entirely sure about what has happened to the titular Emperor's soul. I don't believe in real world versions of things like souls and an afterlife, but the Cosmere versions of such things seem to be getting more defined as more books are written. So, did the Emperor go on to the afterlife after the assassination attempt, or is he trapped by his still-living body? I'd guess the former... So what happens, when 40-50 years down the line, after having his body stamped daily with the Soul Forgery, the body itself expires. Perhaps nothing? Then again, given Shai's thoughts about an imprint being left after the multitude of stampings, maybe a new Soul will have been created. Which means that in the afterlife, there will be two remarkably similar people. I also keep wanting to compare and contrast Soulstamping with Soulcasting. To sum it up, Stamping has both more limitations and greater potential. The Stamping is much more easily reversible. Reversing Soulcasting appears to be impossible. Stamping requires great knowledge of subject, and can be described as "convincing the Spiritual aspect of a subject to temporarily behave differently." Casting requires very little to no knowledge of the subject, and can be described as "bribing the Cognitive aspect of a subject to permanently become different." So what happen if Soulcast a stone into a loaf of bread, and then try to Soulstamp that bread? Could you easily change it into a different type of rock? Or would it be as impossible as Forging an ordinary baked loaf of bread into stone? It seems to me that even if you change the Cognitive aspect, the Spiritual aspect should remain, at least in part. Did Hoid cause the Emperor's attempted assassination in addition to Shai's imprisonment? Or was he merely making use of it? I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt and thinking of him as a neutral or helpful character, but maybe he actually has a "for the greater good" mentality. When I read this I wondered if these were Brandon's own thoughts on writing books. From earlier in the same chapter, this scene reminds me of Vivenna's conversations about Breaths and Drabs with Denth and Vasher in Warbreaker. Basically, the initiate makes some comment, which is dismissed by the adept. In the annotations and Q&As, Brandon reveals Vivenna was more right than she was being given credit for. I'm pretty sure it's the same here. It also ties in with Shai's later thoughts about what sort of Spiritual impression might be left after continuous stamping on the Emperor.