Immortal Platypus

I know that girlfriend is GF, but I didn't see the last f and was very confused

you could probably get some mods like Ene to change it for you.

... shouldn't that be AGMF then?

hate to break it to you, but you're wrong

Do you have the WOB?

howdy HA! TAKE THAT VYZ!

My point is that either side will hold their planet, but not take the other. So if I talk about benefits for Roshar, it's probably in the event of Scadrial attacking Roshar. I think that's more likely anyway. Also, can Radiants not heal from aluminum weapons? Is that confirmed? I thought that gold Mistings could, so assumed Radiants can too. They do have light/anti-light which can be used for very large bombs. not nukes, but potentially of similar destructive capacity. and Scadrial has Harmonium and some Trellium, which accomplish similar effects.

we don't need to produce more Radiants or Fused. They can heal, and thus, not die. Also, Focused Ones could probably act as low range AA guns. And the US is significantly larger, and has significantly more resources (to my understanding) than the Basin. The Everstorm would also make flying planes on Roshar quite tricky. With Autonomy's (or at least, her Avatar's) direct intervention they got that far. The last little while would likely take longer than the first part, especially because presumably no one there actually knows how it works. kill? Maybe, depending on how fast they heal. Destroy? nope, they'd be back. they're not bound on Braize.

A note appeared on his desk. Let's not do it later today, my Author is going to be quite busy.

A single lashing could take out a plane. Because of the way they fly, a single Lashing, changing gravity (or a half Lashing removing it) would take them out of the contest. If any get caught, they're in trouble. And some will get caught. Their planes would get whittled down until there aren't enough for their purposes. Reverse Lashings would also affect them, making it quite dangerous to fly if there are Windrunners in the area. The Set's rocket didn't work. And that was with an Avatar of Autonomy's help. Looks like @alder24 and @therunner did the math and agreed that bullets wouldn't be very effective. neither would Scadrial. War is messy, and I don't think either would win.

"They're just Blades filled with immense power, letting even normal characters rival Narrators. Don't worry about them too much. You'll know one if you see it."

I don't think we know much about the mechanics of fights. It's probably just a cosmic slugfest, kinda like what we see in HoA. Actually, he wasn't ready to annihilate Karbranth. If he was, he wouldn't have scooped up all the people and put the in SR, hiding them so other Shards couldn't find them. I believe that it's stated, from Taravangian, near the beginning, that his goal is to protect the people of Karbranth, and secondarily, Roshar. That's his whole motive for destroying other Shards: they're the only things that can really compete with him for control of all things. I wasn't stating that it would happen like that, but I do think that several Shards would be willing to fight him. Harmony seems very opposed to him, so if he fights him, being able to act (as Discord), that's pretty much even odds right there. Add in Valor (another one that I think would be willing to fight him) and/or Autonomy (probably picks whoever she thinks will win in order to backstab them afterward) and/or Reason, Invention, or any other Shard, and you've got a losing fight for him. We actually don't know if it was a 2v1 for or against Odium, or even if it was a 1v1v1. All we know is that Mercy was involved in the fight, not who they fought. We actually already know, per WOB, that a wise Shard (which I would say applies to Retribution) would probably avoid conflict with another Shard because it's risky. If Retribution attack other Shards, Valor arriving (which I think they would) would make it a 2v2 in power, and anyone else would probably tip the scale. Discord (assuming Harmony has changed into Discord) would probably intervene, as we already see Sazed is quite opposed to Odium, and would probably be opposed to Retribution. With Discord + any other Shard, they could probably beat Retribution. Retribution isn't likely to win a direct encounter with less than four Shards. Your premise is flawed. Three Shards, they almost certainly win. 2v2 is probably a draw, or what happened in HoA. Also, he does care about collateral damage, if it's to Roshar or to the people of Karbranth. I would say he is pretty worried about getting killed by a coalition of Shards, because all of them want to live, and he is the greatest threat. He has shown himself willing to kill other Shards (others might not even know that it's not Rayse anymore), Cultivation was clearly terrified of him (so the other Shards would probably feel a somewhat similar emotion), and so he is obviously the greatest threat. He holds ~2x power compared to other Shards (besides Harmony, but he can't act and isn't a threat), so the political problem likely results in him getting killed. That's why he hid.

More text writes itself under the letter that was presumably from Subversion. Thaidakar's mansion is also a pretty well established place. Perhaps the arena where Platypus fought Subversion, the arena where he fought Feanor, and the Great Plain.

A letter appears in his hands soon after he sends his letter. It reads, "That's a lot of information and my Author doesn't have enough time right now. If you don't have the information you need in a little while, I'll get back to you."

It's time for another Dawnshard and Shard chart! Now that we know all 16 Shards, and another of the Dawnshards, I put together a table (with some help from my brother). There is a key to what most things mean, and reasoning for why I put everything where I did. Without further ado... voila!

Mass destruction. In Tanavast POV we see the Silver Kingdoms destroyed in a simple touch of Honor's power to Odium's. We also see that multiple planets were destroyed in the Odium/Mercy/Ambition brawl. That only involved three Shards. A fight between Retribution and any other Shard would involve at least that much power, more depending on how many Shards join in. The big going theory for why the Odium/Devotion/Dominion fight didn't end the same way is because Rayse manipulated them into fighting each other, then 3rd partied and killed them both. Hurt in some way for them, but Splintered for his power and dead for him. Remember the Sunmaker's gambit? Retribution vs Valor + Cultivation + Invention + Mercy + etc. isn't favored for Retribution. The bigger force is the 9ish Shards that would be working against him, not him. He holds 2 Shards, which means he would be favored in a 1v1 (except maybe Harmony), but against 3 other Shards, they're favored. Even if Autonomy worked with him, that's only 3. Excluding Harmony because he can't really act, it's a 3 vs 8 if all of the others fight against them. not great odds for the 3. Worse if Harmony becomes Discord (like is theorized) and is able to act with either or both of his Shards. then it would be 3 v 10. That would be a very difficult fight to win.

What was he like? Why did the 16 go with the plot to kill him? Some wanted power but some were genuinely good people to whom it seemed like the only option left. I hypothesize that he was a "micromanaging" God albeit with good intentions. This led to a level of intrusion into the mortal affairs that people found unacceptable - they wanted free choice. The on the nose explanation of what happened is that the 16 who shattered Adonalsium outsmarted and killed him. This seems suspect to me given his own omniescence and power. The alternative I propose is that Ado reflected on the reasons of the people wanting to kill him and found some of them valid. He questioned his role up to that point in the affairs of Cosmere and allowed himself to be shattered. Where's Ado Adonalsium stepped down from ruling the Cosmere by letting himself be shattered. But he didn't "die" in the process,The assassination was an impetus for him to self-reflect on his role in the Cosmere. He went from being a micromanaging God (like Old Testament God) to a "wise witness" God (like New Testament / Christian God). My guess is also that he is not powerless after Shattering but being the all-powerful Cosmic Creator and source of everything, by being Shattered, he simply willingly invested the Vessels with his power through Shards (like Honor invested the Heralds) and could reclaim that power at any moment should he choose to (well that was my guess, I don't think anything in the text supports that strongly. Thanks @wormotif for pointing out why it's unlikely. On the other hand Nohadon = Ado seems to have a lot of evidence in the text). But he wants to let his people rule themselves now (like Nohadon did for a time) and listen instead. This parallels the human king Nohadon's personal journey and reflections on ruling and his reflections in Way of Kings are applicable to the human king as well as the cosmic deity. Nohadon in Wind and Truth visions is Adonalsium Note: Nohadon = No-h-Adon = No-Lord (No = negation as in English, Adon = Lord in Hebrew). In Wind and Truth Dalinar encounters Nohadon in his visions of the Spiritual Realm. This entity pulls him out of his final encounter with the god Todium without the god noticing anything. That’s a pretty big sign that he’s at least a Shard level power. It could be Dalinar’s mind itself but Nohadon doesn’t seem to be a figment of Dalinar’s imagination. He serves him buttered bread which Dalinar has never eaten before so has no way of imagining it. Dalinar seems to come to the same conclusion: So if he’s a different Shard+ level power then which one? Possible Shard candidates are Reason and Valor about whose location we know little. But Nohadon's advice (to the degree that he explicitly even offers any) is very balanced and rings with wisdom. While we’ve seen that a Vessel can overpower a Shard’s intent I’d expect at least some of that itent to shine through in an extended conversation and I didn’t notice any Reason or Valor impulses here. Additionally, if we look at the actual life of the king Nohadon and his book The Way of Kings - the argument that he would be one of these Vessels grows very weak. He doesn’t write like a person guided by an extreme of a single Intent but rather with a wise balance. There is only one other being with this power level that we know of - he is some part of Adonalsium himself. We’ve seen in the book that there are parts of him that remain - the Wind, Stone and Night on Roshar. So it’s not unthinkable this could be another "part" of him - potentially the primary part. And note that we do not know how powerful that could be. Is king Nohadon the same being as vision Nohadon? If so, that would make him Adonalsium incarnate. Did (some part of) Ado decide to incarnate in Roshar to learn more about mortal lives? Did he make himself forget his godly nature for a time or was he aware of it? Or was the king Nohadon simply a human king who reached similar conclusions to ruling that Ado did. I am inclined towards them being the same entity. Some text evidence for king No-h-Adon = Adonalsium On first reading these words they refer to Nohadon's journey by foot when he deserted his kingship for a time. But they seem even more relevant to a God recognizing the day to walk away and abandoning his throne and gifting his people with his absence so that they grow to solve their own problems. Who better for Tanavast (a god) to study than the actual God? Dalinar shares a meal (bread with butter) with Nohadon in his final vision before Dalinar abdicates the power of Honor. Nohadon also doesn't say who he is even though Dalinar explicitly asks him (see next quotation). He lets Dalinar pass with two lies. Nohadon asks Dalinar to consider what "Nohadon" would do in Dalinar's situation (being in possesion of divine powers but unsure of how to apply them for the good of everyone). Later, Dalinar seems to follow Nohadon's unspoken advice and abdicates his divine powers. Just like I suggest Adonalsium did (and the king Nohadon did for a time). In a subsequent paragraph, Dalinar (and the reader) questions the king's identity - implying he might not be who he "obviously" seems to be. After that Dalinar notes he doesn't feel like a god but a man talking to another man. In what situation would Dalinar (a god) feel this way? Maybe when talking to another god / God. When Taravangian tries to claim Dalinar's soul before it passes into the Beyond, he is denied. The being that Dalinar interacts with seems to be the most likely candidate by whom he is claimed (thanks @adouloumis for pointing this out). Finally, let's consider this Tanavast's stream-of-consiousness when he begins to question the actions he's taken as a deity: Tanavast asks the Wind (a part of Adonalsium) what he should do. It tells him to listen. He stops micromanaging (leading, organizing, pushing) and for the first time in his divine existence it all start to make sense. He is needed as a witness. They might be better off without him. Could Adonalsium have come to a similar conclusion? Note that while compared with Tanavast, the Wind still considers Adonalsium to have been a caring God but it's possible to have an overbearing and still well-intentioned caring God. I also want to shine a light on this part of the above quote: At first glance it is just another in the enumeration of random individuals Tanavast witnesses (the woman milking hogs, the child, the scholar, the wanderer) but it has a double meaning - Tanavast is also a wanderer on a god's journey and unwittingly walks the same path of listening that No-h-Adon has taken up after the Shattering. Thanks for reading, looking forward to your thoughts. I do believe that Ado let himself be Shattered. I think something like that is mentioned in the Tanavast POV, maybe during/right after a conflict w/Odium? Something about how if he (Ado) had fought back, there would be massive destruction throughout the cosmere. We see something similar happen as the results of the Odium/Mercy/Ambition conflict, where several planets were destroyed. It's an interesting theory, and I like it better than the Nohadon is Valor theory I've seen a couple times.

is it? are you sure?

That's what I was thinking too, but I was thinking that there is the possibility of it being because of Investiture. Are the "belts" part of their carapace, or an outfit? I didn't think density mattered to a Shardblade, and the only reason I can think of that if blocks them is that it's both Invested and very dense; the Investment accounts for the ability to block Blades, while the density accounts for the capability to block other weapons. I know that eventually cheese could break a Shardblade (what a great WOB), but I got the impression that that didn't have to do with density blocking the Blade, but rather, pressure being exerted on its sides. I didn't get that from the text. What I got is that for some reason, Tension made it so their skin was harder to penetrate than normal. I'm pretty sure we see normal spears not work against it, and that doesn't make a ton of sense if it's just because of Investment. I feel like spears can penetrate leather armor.

indeed. but we don't know if she's a crab, or if you are

... that's not a time for asterisks. as professor Oak says: There's a time and place for everything, but not now.

I forgot about that. With those, both planets could potentially create big bombs (Scadrial using Ettmetal with or w/o trellium and Roshar with light and anti-light). This could potentially lead to MAD in this planetary warfare. Or it could lead to first and second strike doctrine, which would encourage the use of the WMDs. I would bet MAD as both planets could survive the WMDs and fire back with their own. I didn't even guess! but it is an important thing to consider, as it would alter the war if Focused Ones are less impervious to bullets than Shardblades. I doubt it, because we see spears penetrate less than a Blade (I think), so bullets wouldn't be more effective than a Blade.

the question is, does this mean glass is a crab or that she turned storms into one?

it sure is goin

To be fair, he speared them with a Shardblade, which would be a little different than normal bullets. Although, thinking about it, skewering with a Blade might be harder because Investiture resists Investiture? I'm not sure how that works. So bullets would probably either be more effective or less effective (depending on how this whole Investiture resists Investiture thing works). If they're less effective, discounting Leechers (which is a big thing to ignore), the Focused Ones could heal the damage off. If they're more effective, the Sigzil+Spear combo still had a lot more mass than a bullet. All of this assumes a fight on Scadrial. Personally, I'm of the opinion that neither side could realistically hold the other side's planet, especially if we consider non-unified planets. I think this favors Roshar more than Scadrial, leading to a stalemate. I think this would happen either way, but I think it would be at least a little closer this way. The Unoathed + Radiants is probably about equal to (or even less than) the capability of medallions, more commonplace chromium grenades, and the other benefits Scadrial gains. Presumably they can because they can use Towerlight, and Warlight holds Stormlight inside it. If Retribution wanted, he could probably separate his halves into Stormlight and Voidlight if he really needed to anyway.