Atlas333

But I feel like whimsy would be the kite planet (who else would it be?) and I agree I think that the kite planet and the ocean in the sky are two separate planets.

The above quote comes from Mraize when he is telling Shallan about the worlds he wants to see. I'm curious, could he be referring to Lumar (Tress's planet)? Technically the ocean falls from the sky (or more accurately the moons). It fits but not completely. I just struggle to imagine how else an ocean in the sky would work.

I always interpreted it as a necessary thing. During times of war, truth seekers aren't quite as important as healers. I would assume many are working as scholars which we also see rarely.

The ending of Oathbringer had all kinds of juicy tidbits for us to theorize about. The two biggest in my opinion was Dalinar proclaiming "I am Unity" (and Ascending briefly) and Odium's response "we killed you!" Now with the context of WaT I want to revisit these topics and see if we can get some answers here because frankly, I don't think we're any closer to figuring out what these statements are about. I was in the camp that Unity would be the name Dalinar would use after picking up Honor. As far as I'm aware that isn't what happened. So what's the point of this statement? The three options I see are: that statement was Dalinar swearing an oath similar to the 5th ideal of the skybreakers (I think this is unlikely but worth mentioning), Unity was how Dalinar viewed the shard at the time of his brief ascension (likely) and finally Unity could be a different name to Adonalsium and Dalinar somehow tapped into the original god's power. Next up, Odium's phrase "We killed you!" doesn't really make sense if we assume he's talking about Honor because he uses "we" instead of "I." We now know that Odium killed Honor singlehandedly unless we count Cultivation refusing to help or Ba-Ado-Mishram being the victim of betrayal as being an accomplice to the killing which doesn't seem likely to me. This leads me to the conclusion that Unity has to be referring to Adonalsium in some way. That would explain why Odium uses "we" to refer to the other shards that shattered Adonalsium originally. How Dalinar accomplished this I have no idea.

You make a good point although it seems spren are the best method of communication within Urithiru. I feel like it’s more likely Jasnah will figure out else calling but Brandon might be saving that for an on screen event.

Sorry, I meant they’ll need to covert tower light if they want to take it out of the tower

I think technically, Shallan wasn't fully in the cognitive in WoK, it was just her mind and that's what Jasnah pulled out. I could be misremembering and even then it is kind of weird that Jasnah is a fourth-level radiant but still doesn't really know how to use one of her surges (besides a getaway that comes with its own problems).

Wasn't the original plan to make Dalinar into a Fused? I don't see why that would change... but what brand would he be?

Of all the changes Roshar is going through this one is the most interesting to me - how will the magic systems of Roshar change? This is too big a topic to feel confident predicting which is why I'm interested to hear other people's thoughts. Enlightened Surgebinding - This will become the main magic system of Roshar. Many spren will be affected by the change to the tone of Roshar and will seek out enlightening. This not only allows them to access their powers with war light but also grants them access to one "enlightened" surge and one normal. Will these new surgebinders have oaths? Probably, in my opinion, but maybe the oaths will be different? (This might be better labeled as voidbinding. I honestly have no clue) Surgebinding - Radiants will continue to recruit and progress through oaths. They will be reliant on artifabrians to convert war light and tower light into stormlight. This will likely make traditional radiants less common as their powers are harder to access. I imagine that we won't see many new radiants of this kind as people begin to prefer enlightened spren. Fused - I imagine some fused will either be released or seek out antilight. Retribution will begin creating new fused. We don't know much about the process for creating fused so it's possible that new brands could be created but I doubt it (maybe we could see an adhesion fused now?). Forms of power - While closely related to Fused, I consider forms of power their own magic system. I'm sure there are plenty forms we haven't seen especially as parshendi focused on regal forms during the war. In a time of peace, they may begin experimenting with new spren granting new forms of power. Additionally, Ba-Ado-Mishram may offer forms to singers but I imagine they'd be the same forms we always see. Old Magic - Cultivation's departure means that boons and curses most likely won't be granted anymore (she could have left the Nightwatcher on Roshar but why would she?) Fabrials - I imagine fabrials can still be powered via war light but I could be wrong. Maybe they'll learn how to make surge fabrials or they will continue experimenting with Navani's "organic fabrials." Unoathed - Adolin has shown that plate and blade can be bonded without oaths. These warriors will likely be unique to Azir. Heralds - Magically speaking I don't imagine much to change about the Herald's powers. Unmade - I'm not sure if the unmade are protected under the original oathpact, but I imagine that the power of honor sees the unmade as allies now and won't allow any to be destroyed and as spren are protected I don't predict any new unmade will be created (unless we count the Blackthorn). I wonder if they'll find the Thrill by the end of the time jump. The biggest question (and the one I feel least confident answering), is how will these magic systems interact? I would love to hear other's thoughts.

The question is in the title. Obviously, Shallan being trapped in Shadesmar should be a huge deal; combined with our knowledge about a time skip the easy assumption to make is that Shallan will spend that time skip trapped in the cognitive realm. However, I'm feeling less sure that's the case because getting back to the physical realm isn't impossible. All she has to do is go to Retribution's shardpool. While it's only recently been discovered/created I don't think it will stay a secret for long. Once back in the physical realm she just has to travel to Azir. While Retribution's forces could be looking for her she's a lightweaver and is good at remaining undetected. Even without her powers, she should be able to get there unless the fused/singers are specifically looking for her (something I imagine they're too occupied to do). I could see it taking a year, maybe two but not the whole time jump (unless she chooses to stay in the cognitive realm for some other purpose). What do y'all think?

At the dragonsteel panel covering the upcoming cosmere rpg the panel briefly talked about where they would go after the scadrial expansion. The short answer is they don't know. It's a little dependent on Brandon's schedule but it sounds like it's also dependent on what the fans want next. They did an informal poll where they listed a possible expansion (Sel, worldhopper, and Nalthis) and used applause to measure which the audience was most interested in seeing. Nalthis won but applause is a little imprecise for me. So, I'm curious if you had your pick which expansion would you pick next?

While it was predicted that people would get pulled into the collapsing perpendicularity I still find it surprising that this happened to Gavinor, especially now that Lift was excluded from this group that gets to have a road trip through the spiritual realm. This makes me think that Gavinor is a very important character not just in this book but potentially the entire series. Here's what I mean. From a narrative standpoint, all the characters have a goal in the spiritual realm. Dalinar and Navani are looking for Honor while Shallan and the Ghostbloods are looking for Ba-Ado-Mishram. But what about Gavinor? Obviously, he didn't intend to be here but regardless his presence has a purpose, but what is it? A popular theory is the child-champion theory based on the death rattle. And while this could be the destination I'm more interested in the journey that Gavinor is about to go through. If he is going to be the champion then how will going to the spiritual realm turn him into the champion? Additionally, I've always thought that Gavinor is too old to be considered a "suckling child" but spiritual realm shenanigans could explain this. Maybe make him appear younger whenever this scene takes place? On the other hand, the child champion theory could be wrong. If so, that makes this even more of a mystery. How will Gavinor play into a journey to reform a shard? How will he help Navani and Dalinar? Will he pick it up himself (unlikely, but hey, why else is he here)? Or maybe he'll be trappedin the spiritual realm and his arc will be paused until stormlight 6? I would love to hear other thoughts and theories about why Brandon chose to have Gavinor join the journey in the spiritual realm.

Makes sense considering their msision. But that means that they've either bonded light spren or ink spren. It could be either but my money is on Ink Spren. We've seen ink spren already accept enlightenment and as far as I'm aware light spren prefer parshendi.

I agree. If this were ever to happen in the cosmere this is probably the best chance it has of working. In addition to what was said above the shard is also the shard of honor. Isn't there a quote somewhere in one of the books about how honor can't exist in isolation; it's about how people treat each other and is therefore one of the shards most connected to bonds.

We got some more trophies in the latest chapters and I figured they were worth discussing in their own thread. Some of these are ones we already know (pink salt = roseite aether, sand=sand from Taldain). Others are less obvious silvery horn = seems likely to be dragonsteel in my opinion violet stone egg = I bet this is something entirely new leaf that radiates heat = this has to be a sun heart right? The description seems to imply it but Canticle doesn't have a perpendicularity so how did they get access to it? Would love to hear other's thoughts

I didn't even consider the RPG but you've got a point. I do remember that Lightweaver's have the ability to form their plate around a willing character. Granted all we got was a preview so the full release could reveal that this character is immobilized but that feels unlikely. Additionally, the RPG isn't going to be a perfect 1:1 implementation of the books (for example, skybreakers don't have to wait until their 3rd ideal to get division) so this could be one area the RPG also isn't accurate. However, to me, I think the easiest solution is that Shallan is being weird (yet again). I would chalk her rigid armor to her general lack of knowledge of how plate functions (kind of similar to how Auxilary in TSM can only form into objects Nomad understands) which means as she gets more experience her armor will likely lose this quirk.

Not sure if this has been discussed before but I was poking around the coppermind and was reading up on Tears of Edgli and how they're better for awakening. This isn't surprising as color is important to the magic system but some further digging revealed that it's more than the flowers being sources of strong color. (bolded for emphasis) The idea of invested dye immediately made me think of the Lost Metal and Moonlight's universal stamps. She says you need to use "invested ink" to make them work. Now she may be referring to purified Dor but I got the impression that these are two different substances with Dor being much more powerful. I think it's clear the conclusion I'm reaching, the invested ink Moonlight uses is made from the tears of Edgli. To me this is the option that makes the most sense with what we currently know. Maybe the Elantris sequel will prove me wrong and it's actually a substance made on Sel but I feel fairly confident in this theory.

Yes, but I don't remember anything too crazy besides Shallan's creative application of her plate. Did I miss anything else?

Through the preview chapters, we've now gotten a look at our third set of living plate. That's still barely enough to make generalizations about living plate but it is interesting to consider how each of them is different. Kaladin's - I feel this is the one we know the most about. It functions as a normal shardplate but has the additional ability to form around other people if Kaladin tells them to. The obvious question is if this is a feature of all living plate or just Windrunners. Given their focus on protecting people it would make sense they have this additional protection ability. Shallan's - Shallan only recently got her armor but we've already seen a few key differences between her's and Kaladin's. The most obvious is that it can't form around other people the way Kaladin's can; while it has the ability the target is unable to move which makes it good for restraining people. But why can't the armor move? Is it because it's "unpracticed" as Shallan suggests or is it just a quirk of lightweaver plate? Or is this true of all the other orders? Additionally, Shallan's plate has the ability to manifest as any beads she wants in the cognitive realm. This makes sense as creationspren often take the form of objects in the physical realm but it seems like a strange ability to me as lightweavers don't have the surge of transportation. I would almost expect this ability from elsecaller plate. Jasnah's - The first set of living plate we were introduced to but to me, it's among the most frustrating. For the most part, it behaves exactly as you would expect dead plate. Granted Jasnah is pretending to be a normal shardbearer and this was living plate's first appearance so this shouldn't be too surprising. The only thing of note is that Jasnah's plate has flint and steel "affixed" to her gauntlets to allow her to set things alight. This could be an aspect of her plate (the ability to change its substance) but it could just as likely be affixed through mundane means. Honorable mention is the plate we see in The Sunlit Man but I don't remember it doing anything worth mentioning. If I missed anything in my observations please let me know. Really, this just leads me to a set of questions that I feel aren't new despite having new information. - can all living shard plate form around people? If so what determines if the target can move or not? Or is it unique for each order? Or is it dependent on the radiant? Perhaps dependent on their combat experience (in other words the knight's familiarity with armor). - do all shardplate have an additional "function" (forming around others, manifesting beads, etc.) or are they fairly uniform across orders?

That is super interesting about Kaladin's name but unfortunately, Brandon has talked about problems with giving characters names with meanings Of course, there are exceptions to every rule so maybe Brandon made an exception for Kaladin. Then again, assuming his name is foreshadowing makes more sense than Lirin and Hesina naming their son "born unto eternity" (or maybe they just wanted him to be strong and enduring?)

Era 2 is absolutely brimming with potential; however, I feel like two missed opportunities were exploring Era 2 Koloss and other twinborn combination. So I decided to rectify it. The story focuses on original characters and plot and I hope you like it! I would love to hear what people think! https://archiveofourown.org/works/64345486/chapters/165181537

Savants are another area that I haven't developed as well as I would like too. I definitely think this is going in the right direction but I was thinking that a shifter savant would actually be permanently stuck in their beast form (whether this is permanent because of their spiritweb permanently changing or whether they just don't want to take off the mask to end the transformation I haven't decided). But side effects to their human form such as a more bestial appearance is a good suggestions too.

My money is on Szeth, it's his book after all and I could see him getting a lot of development prepping him to ascend (similar to The Hero of Ages). But my second guess is that Honor isn't picked up but is merged with Odium and held by Taravangian.

Not sure what the process is for this. But I did the Cinder King history, just fyi.

Are we not counting spren as possible candidates for character deaths? If we are then Pattern is a goner. He's been saying for like 3 books now that Shallan is going to kill him. This will be flipped where it will be a sacrificial death instead of an accidental one like he expected but I feel like Pattern talks about dying too often to not be foreshadowing. Additionally, this would force her to work with Testament and explore that bond in more detail. The stormfather is another strong candidate because of all the death rattles that refer to rain and the loss of light.