Green Hoodie Mistborn

I missed the downvotes as well, but I up voted you last night when I saw @Toaster Retribution mention downvotes. That's crazy for a post like your OP. I'd never seen that reddit post/response from Brandon on the Era1 and gender diversity, so thank you for sharing it @Poroner. Like @Calderis, I can understand the worry of forced inclusion, but in my view point it's an unnecessary worry. I think that Brandon likes to reflect reality, and in reality there are a myriad of perspectives, view points, orientations, etc and he's going to give them to us. Things like the Bechdel test are designed to remind people that the world consists of more than just men. The same is true of every other race/gender/*ism(*ist), they are out there in the world and should be reflected in fiction. I'm not sure if you're "militant feminist" comment in quotes above was supposed to be sarcastic or not? I'm going to assume it is since quotes were used but please let me know if you still feel that those characters are portrayed that way, because I just don't see that coming across the page to me when I read the scenes you reference.

Now I had to go look it up! Here is the scene in question: You're right on the one hand that there are no other mentions of changing it or having the lady's uniform updated before this... but at the same time it's not really "out of nowhere" to me. She's wearing a dress/skirt as part of her uniform because that is "womanly fashion"... but then she has to mount a horse without a side saddle. Distinctly difficult thing to do without showing a bunch of leg to people, which in the Era 2 (and 1 probably) would be frowned upon for someone of her "standing" in society. So much so that her boss who hired her for her talents (and connection to Wax) is so distracted by her that he is more worried about her modesty than focusing on what they were just going to ride away after. As I read it, Marasi is only making a comment about practicality, not feminist progressiveness. He continues to be distracted by her riding astride in a dress so she re-focuses them on task of riding to the emergency.

I like how different they feel personally. Roshar is very divided from a gender perspective with the Feminine/Masculine arts, and the women wield significant power being primarily the only literate ones. We also have a skewed perspective on Roshar since our view points are 90% high society Alethkar. Mistborn is very different and closer to a Western Earth analogue. We also (to me) seemingly have a broader selection from a socio-economic view on the world. In Mistborn, yes you have the Ascendant Warrior, but that doesn't mean you have gender equality. The West has Joan of Arc, it doesn't mean that women have had gender equality in western counties since the middle ages. Does it tend to be more equal in Western countries than elsewhere? Yes, and Joan of Arc may well have played a part in that development... or not (I really don't know on this one just speculating). I like that we see Marasi talking about female constable uniforms. I don't think it's out of no where as she thinks or mentioned it a few times prior to that, but it's an outburst and then she realizes its the inappropriate time and changes the subject. I like that we get to see the beginnings and burgeoning of more gender equality idea(l)s among our main characters. Renette wears "mens clothing" and is some strange socially outcast person (in world). That's how she wants it anyway (seemingly) but even if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to be a lady in the Era 2 society and wear what she does. MeLaan's PoV is supposed to be coming from an immortal shapeshifter for whom gender is a choice, not a physical characteristic (please don't hop on that comment to talk about real world sex vs. gender, please please). And she has seen how she's been treated when a man, but also as a woman. I think she has more place to speak to the true state of Era 2 society vis-à-vis gender equality than any of the other main characters. To me, her statements are a truer mirror to North Scadrian society, gender equality, and/or lack thereof, than any of other main character's. On your main point. I have no idea if Brandon is a Social Justice Warrior, though I don't know if that's a bad thing if he were. I think each book is going to be different from that perspective since each one is on a different planet with different historical/societal developments. In Mistborn we get to trace societies development from post TLR to a modern society which is neat. Some of that will include things like gender equality development across society.

Fascinating... I'm going to start my WoK re-read soon too...

Hmm, interesting perspective. I'd assumed that WoB * was related to the breaking of the Oathpact. So for instance, I fully expect Taln (if it really is Taln) when he re-summons his Honorblade and gets back to sanity to have access to his full powered Honorblade abilities, etc. I anticipate this happening in a very dramatic/dire moment in the coming battles with the voidbringers in the new Desolation. it might couple with someone taking up Honor again somehow, but I really hope that doesn't become a repetitive thing in the Cosmere (people picking up dropped Shards that is). I can see your perspective on the stuff, but as far as I know, the blades were bonded to the Heralds individually, not to Honor. In my mind, this means that Taln's blade is fully powered since he never broke the Oathpact, and the other Heralds have a chance to redeem their Blades/Oaths still since Brandon has said that the Oathpact isn't as broken as the other Heralds think.

I think a Herald using an Honorblade would still have that Direct Access as the Cognitive Shadow. Much like a Returned has a Fifth Heightening Breath, or a Lerasium Mistborn is much more powerful than a standard era 1 mistborn. I think the Herald themselves are the key which unlocks the direct access of the Honorblades, so I'm not 100% sure that Brandon's statement needed corrected as it shows in the WoB. The power of Honor is still out there and present in Roshar as much as it would have been when Honor was still alive after all. It's not like the Heralds tapped into the Stormfather or the Highstorm to get their direct connection, it just was. Therefore I think they are that connection. They are also stronger/faster/immortal like the Returned of Warbreaker (see Denth's speed and Vasher's endurance, etc. not the "modern" gods).

The basements not on Roshar? It's a new theory to me… Please expound upon that.

For now... but that may change as we get further into the 2 arcs of the SA. Kaladin may end up as the leader of the re-founded Knights Radiant by the end of the first arc as Dalinar does some huge sacrifice or something to stop the big bad end of arc 1.

Dragonsteel has a long wait list, and I have heard of people on the right Interlibrary loan systems being able to check it out through ILL as well, but I've had no luck myself with that.

We do know that it's possible to bond more than one spren though it is very hard... maybe he'll get an Edgedancer spren for all the healing and remembering of those forgotten that he does to go with Syl.

That is how I've always understood it as well. There may be something to the you can't use mixed pairs without issues. So one of your own and one of another's must have issues. Unsure if you just had two of someone else's what that would do.

The three characters (Gavilar/Dalinar/unnamed death rattle victim) who have had the highstorm visions were all older adults, so age/experience might have something on the Bindsmitg side. I bet it is order to order though.

The article doesn't say that Kaladin is more honorable than Dalinar. It actually says that Dalinar is "not more honorable": That just means that he's not more honorable than Kaladin, but it also doesn't mean they were trying to say he's less honorable either.

They don't have to be, but I feel like these are all valid answers. If you can afford aluminum bones... why wouldn't you have them?? They are lighter and stronger than most non-metal materials, they are allomantically inert, so no worries about pushing/pulling or blue lines, they could be used as cash in a pinch, or even a weapon if she pulls out a femur, they are very hard to break... the list probably keeps going...

You also presume that they only recruit those who "have something to offer". it could be the let people join who discover them. Maybe Galladon found other 17th Sharders on Sel, or maybe he was the explorer sent to investigate the Cognitive realm after a long time had passed on Sel and though he struggled through the chaos of the Dor, he couldn't find a way back. Stranded, maybe he came across Silverlight and the 17th Shard? I agree with Calderis too that he does have something to offer the group, and would be worth recruiting... I just don't know how they or Hoid got through the danger of the Dor to transit the perpendicularity.

I always assumed that the house Galladon occupied was his father's house. Maybe that is just weird head canon of mine

No, I tried to ILL it once, but I don't think my local libraries are part of the ILL group that has BYU as I was told it's unavailable a couple times

You could try to get into the BYU library and read Dragonsteel

I thought that was Soulstone from Sel?

I thought he was more protected even than full form since he already has a bond and would have to want to Change like Eshonai

I'm hoping that the leather-bound edition coloring is consistent by planet of the main story/characers. So all Sel stories would be that blue from the Elantris, all Scadrial would be the maroon from tFE...even the Era 4 since they are primarily Scadrians traveling the stars. Mixed editions like AU could be some neutral color like a white (unless Whitesand is eventually done leatherbound). That seems nice and organized and then they don't have to worry too much about coloration per book... eventually we'll have 35/6 of these if they continue through all 10th anniversary's! (I hope they do!). I'd love to see a Hemalurgy chart somewhere in one of the Scadrial editions, though I think WoA may be too soon. Probably HoA or even Era 2

I wish I could up vote this more than once. I love the reading of the text here and your attention to detail. I wonder if there are anymore side instances like this that have repeated "subconscious" references to other orders/essences/stones that could be found on a deep re-read? It might give us some insight into future developments!

I've assumed the same as @CaptainRyan on this one. You also can't reclaim the breath you give a lifeless, it is sticky. I assumed that would prevent draining by Nightblood somehow.

I agree that his schedule seems wide open for a secret surprise for the next few years, and I'm sure he'll slip us something in there because he has proven incorrigible over the last few years! But at the same time... I don't want to get to the point where I expect him to produce like has has in the past and complain if we "only" get 2 books a year (what I say to myself often when I start to feel this way: "are you kidding me 2 books a year?? that is like 4000% more productive still than other authors out there!") We are lucky that he has spoiled us so much in the past! I'd rather learn to be content with 2 really high quality publications a year than 5 that might suffer from attentions being spread too thin for him and his staff.