Leuthie

It wasn't a boon and bane as it wasn't Nightwatcher who did it. Vargo misinterpreted the whole thing thinking the smart days were a boon and the "dumb" days were a bane. There was no bane. The emotional days were meant to help him deal with holding the Shard of Odium. Vargo was just too elitist to understand the boon of those days and spent that time crying in a corner. Is he still effected by Cultivation's change? The RAFO tells me there is some residual effect, but it probably isn't going to manifest the same way with Vargo holding a Shard. If there were no effect going forward, I don't think there would have been a RAFO to the question.

He told you his goals while walking to the meeting. Misdirection. My new pet theory: He sent Design away to be "corrupted" by Sja Anat, while he kept Odium's attention on himself.

Possibility, but I get the feeling that El will be a type of Fused we haven't seen. I lean toward Tension, making the metal more malleable for easier placement.

Magical healing returns your body to a Cognitively conceived/believed state. The body naturally encases, isolates and (when it can) expels "inclusions" (I'm thinking splinters and bullets, or intentionally mounted pieces of metal). Piercings require some form of anchorage to keep them in place; either going all the way through a section of flesh and being held on the other side, or being mounted in bone, etc. Placing metal shards (whether aluminum or steel or other) and keeping them in parts of your body where you need them isn't easy. It would take some special abilities beyond healing to do so. El is a scholar of human art forms, so I assume his abilities deal with art...possibly shaping things. Shaping things be required to get metal to hold and to hold in exact shapes to be useful as armor or shard repellant or whatever he's using the metal for. So most likely shaping things.

He was responding to my post where I speculated that there was more to breaking the Connections to the parsh and the dead spren than simply capturing BAM, hence why Melishi/a Bondsmith was required to do what they did (more than just capture BAM) and a Bondsmith might be required to undo it (to do more than just release BAM) Hopefully that was super clear.

It's possible that imprisoning BAM wasn't the only thing they did. Connections were broken, causing every singer Connected to BAM to so parshman. It's possible that simply catching BAM wasn't enough to do that...

Somewhere it's mentioned that Odium is god's divine hatred without the other Intents to give it context. This sounds terrifying. I've always thought that ANY of the Intents without the others to give context is just as terrifying. I believe that's the whole point.

I think Ishar will be killed in book 5. Redemptive act during a moment of lucidity (possibly because Kaladin reaches 5th Ideal, or BAM gets released) that results in him being taken by some anti-Stormlight weapon. No real evidence, that just seems like a worthy end and a pretty awesome climactic moment.

I don't think we can look at every little interaction as foreshadowing. This was character development, pure and simple. It showed that had Taravangian made different choices, he could have found himself on Dalinar's side. We are supposed to be seeing the possibilities had T not locked himself away on his "dumb" days and relied entirely on "smart" days to make all decisions. If I remember right, this quote was Taravangian reacting to Dalinar saying that even T's genius day could be wrong (which it often was, particularly since no one is smart enough to correctly interpret everything he wrote that day). "Dumb" T reacted with tears and saying he hopes so. Even if Dalinar does become a tool of Odium, I don't see this line as being foreshadowing of that. Now, if they both die while grappling, definitely.

Why wouldn't it? You aren't healing the aluminum, you're healing the body around the aluminum. Aluminum doesn't provide proximity protection. It blocks. But El is interested in art. I'm guessing the metal inclusions are "piercings". He's just 90s emo.

And very few Radiants reached the 5th Ideal And I think you underestimate the importance of a flying group of shields in a military organization.

All the things. https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?query=Hoid+dawnshard FYI, you don't hold a Dawnshard, you ARE a Dawnshard. Same language was used in the Dawnshard story in relation to Rysn. This probably precludes being able to "hold" multiple Dawnshards. The nature of Dawnshards as described so far also lead me to think you can't be multiple Dawnshards.

Good catch.

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The people of Scadrial were made by Ruin and Preservation. The people of Nalthis weren't made by Endowment, but the planet was probably made habitable by her. Roshar was made habitable by Adonalsium (there is WOB to confirm this, I believe, but ecological processes depend on Investiture, and those processes were in place before Honor and Cultivation arrived. Etc. A mix of nature and Shardic influence to all of them, I'm sure.

Tanavast, Stormfather, and Honor's remaining power that reside in the Storm all serve to pull Dalinar in. Initially, it was part of the Vision process. Since Tanavast created the Visions to find and nurture a strong Bondsmith, he probably placed some other pushes and pulls within the "Frankenstein's monster" that is Stormfather that compels Dalinar toward certain actions through the Bond. Just like Cultivation has set up Roshar to succeed against Odium (there are a couple threads around here that list the things going on that could only be put in place by Cultivation), I'm thinking Tanavast set up a weapon to defeat Odium before his death (hell, he may have sacrificed himself to create that weapon) and that weapon is most likely Dalinar and Stormfather. The interesting things we see Dalinar doing are that weapon asserting itself.

I've always interpreted the warmth (and intense heat in the case of Odium) as the Cognitive interpretation of the Physical being making contact with the Spiritual Realm. The warmth is the increased intensity of gathered Investiture. Calmer, more measured Shards (like Honor) feel warmer, while more chaotic Shards (like Odium) bring intense heat. In each case, Dalinar is making closer contact to Honor, being pulled ever so slightly into the Spiritual.

"I will empower others to protect themselves" seems like a very valid 5th Ideal that doesn't invalidate the previous ones. It also seems a little too easy and natural, making the 5th Ideal something that nearly every 4th Ideal Windrunner would reach.

Is it this:

The Ideal of Law is an Oath of consistency. It doesn't invalidate previous Oaths. Rather, in concert with previous Oaths, it solidifies the Skybreaker as an embodiment of a constant set of Ideals (actually, the consistency of these Laws are in dispute as it's possible that the 5th Ideal Skybreaker can change them over time. I believe this caveat is along the lines of the Constitution being a "living document" that can be changed by legal precedent and Amendment to meet current needs). Previous to this Oath, the Skybreaker was "practicing" with certain modes of Law. This Ideal makes permanent a specific set of Laws that the Skybreaker will follow and enforce forever (see caveat above). To do anything that isn't consistent with the chosen set of Laws is to break the 5th Oath. Nale might be crazy, but he is forced by Oath to follow that craziness consistently. His 5th Oath gave him no choice but to join Odium's side when he interpreted that Odium's side is the righteous side, for instance. Let's put this "solidification" Ideal onto a Windrunner: Life before death, etc. I will protect something ("...those who cannot protect themselves" were the words spoken by both Kaladin and Lopen, but Lopen was copying what Kaladin said the Oath was. It's possible others may choose a different set of people to protect) I will protect even those I was excluding when I spoke the second Oath. ("I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right." by Kaladin (Kaladin excluded those he hated from the 2nd Oath), "I will protect those I hate. Even...even if the one I hate most is... myself." by Teft (Teft excluded himself from protection in the 2nd Oath), "I've got to protect people, you know? Even from myself." by Lopen (Lopen excluded protecting those he hurt with his words). I will accept my failures (Kaladin was the only one we've seen, and he needed to accept those who he couldn't protect. Others may have some other failure or hangup caused by the 2nd and 3rd Oaths that will lead to a different target for this Ideal. Teft, for instance, may have needed to forgive himself for failing himself, Lopen may need to allow himself to joke around again, etc.) The 2nd Oath defines purpose. The 3rd extends that purpose beyond what was assumed when the 2nd was spoken. The 4th is a pressure relief valve, solving an inevitable issue that arises with the 2nd and 3rd Ideals. The journey is obviously one meant to create a constant, functional protector. What is missing to "solidify" that journey? Something simple but all encompassing. Something that anchors the previous 4 Ideals without invalidating them. I don't have a good answer, but there's some setup for someone else.

The Fused army is breaking down/broken down. Odium needs new blood (so to speak). And Dalinar can pretty easily be made into a Fused-like entity.

We should add that the definition of a splinter is simply an entity that is Invested by a specific Intent/Shard above a certain level. So BAM being a splinter doesn't mean she wasn't once a Bondsmith spren that was corrupted. If Raboniel were successful in unmaking the Sibling, the resulting Unmade would be a splinter.

Interesting thought, but way too anti-climactic and cliffhangery. Gavinor exists for a reason, and he was being groomed by voidspren prior to his rescue for a reason, so I have no doubt of the possibility that the reason he exists is to put a wrench in the Contest. Rayse is often being characterized as dumb, but so is Donald Trump. These aren't dumb people, just people with blindspots. Rayse accepted this Contest that locks him to Roshar whether he wins or loses because he already knew a way to turn it to his advantage (even though he's already done this Gambit business with Dalinar and lost, so maybe he is dumb). Taravangian has the same knowledge, and is definitely not considered dumb. Narratively, creating a stalemate isn't very satisfying. Conflicting Oaths might add the required tension (Dalinar's Oaths to Stormfather vs. Dalinar's oath to Odium) and create a damned if you do damned if you don't situation, followed by unintended consequences, from which even more clichés appear like cybugs after drinking a caramel lake (Wreck-It Ralph reference). But that doesn't seem like Sanderson, either. The Contest will be about Trust and Connection. Odium will hit Dalinar with a series of Trust issues, and Dalinar will utilize his Connection abilities to see through them. If you've finished Wheel of Time, think Rand vs. the Dark One. Sanderson wrote that (based on Robert Jordan's notes), so if that type of encounter isn't part of this series, I'll eat my shoe. Ultimately, Dalinar will win by losing, buying 15 years of pyrrhic victory, but creating a mess for everyone in the meantime. Dealing with this mess will make up the bulk of book 5.

It's confirmed that a Forger on Sel can make themselves into just about anything. That's altering Connection and Identity, however. If Identity as a Scadrian is required to be an Allomancer, Dalinar may not be able to pull it off. I'm willing to bet Identity is a requirement to take part in most Selish magic systems. I'm going to answer: No. A Bondsmith can create and alter Connections, but Identity is just as important regarding using magic systems. There's no evidence that a Bondsmith can alter Identity.