QuantumAce

So basically a light line from the Cytoverse. Shard weapons not being an automatic one hit kill in literally every situation does not disqualify them from being a premiere weapons system. As far as limitations go, introducing one brand of Fused that makes them more difficult to kill with a shard weapon is fairly minor. As far as Thunderclasts, it is highly probably there are limitations to using cognitive shadows to animate stone. Even if it was as simple as just pumping in more investiture, Rayse was not willing to commit more to Roshar because it would limit his freedom.

I'm going to say emotional trauma that includes murdering your demi-god mother and triggering the end of the world is close enough to count.

A small group agreeing on an action, for different reasons, in no way implies that action was a good idea, much less a popular one. What if they were a diverse group, because deciding god needed to die was an extremely rare belief? What if Ado's problems were so subtle that only a handful of powerful and well connected individuals understood them? What if it was a heist, with one of the dragons coming up with the idea to assemble a diverse crew of specialists to steal the power of a god? Even if wanting to kill or depose god was a popular idea, I have to assume actually planning and carrying out the act would have still required some degree of secrecy. As you mentioned, the undertaking seems quite risky. It is quite possible the majority of the population agreed the shattering was a good idea, but I think it is a huge stretch to assume that even the most powerful 16 individuals were able to openly plan and carry out the act.

Why? The Sibling has been reluctantly cooperative at best. As a reader I would give the Sibling a little more credit, but I think it would be crazy for someone in Navani's position to automatically trust the Sibling. In WoR prologue the Alethi did immediately question the Listener leaders who surrendered after the assassination. The Listener leadership confirmed they intentionally murdered the Alethi king in cold blood immediately after signing a treaty, but refused to explain why. I believe the Alethi also sent messengers once they reached the Shattered Plains, but the Listeners refused to negotiate or even respond. I can't remember which book, but I think it was a throwaway line that was easy to miss. With so much Kaladin POV, it can be hard to see that it is pretty much only Windrunners who actually feel this way.

He stated he had trouble picking up every detail due to the length and density of the series, which is something I also struggle with. Sometimes those details are minor, but occasionally they have a fundamental impact on the story. With this series I usually have to re-read each book at least once. Unfortunately I do not have the ability to sit and read for long stretches without interruption, so that process can take quite a while. By browsing this forum after my first read through, I have been able to fill in some of those gaps more efficiently. My point was that having people volunteer to point out details you missed is beneficial to your understanding of the series, but I should not have addressed how he should feel about that. I embrace the sharing and discussion of differing perspectives. I should have been more specific, but my intent was to address only the details used to build those perspectives. When someone says "you are wrong" that can be frustrating. I get that. However, sometimes the "and heres why" contains key details. My point was to pay attention to those details, because they may fundamentally change your perspective. Not "correct" your perspective, or align it with the standard windrunner perspective, but provide additional information that changes how you view and interpret things. Your perspective may still be different than everyone elses, and thats great. If my perspective is based on faulty or incomplete information, than I would say yes it is inferior. I don't like that Kaladin is a self righteous stick in the mud who can be verrrryyyyy slow to embrace new ideas or understand other peoples perspectives. Yes I know he tries to accept people and their differences, and sometimes he eventually develops an understanding and appreciation, but my specific gripe is how slow that process can be. One example is how dismissive he is of chouta. I believe immediately calling it gross or disgusting before trying it is a character flaw. Hypothetically, if there was a scene I missed from WoK where escaped slave Kaladin steals a wrap filled with fried stuff and gravy that he eagerly eats then becomes violently ill which leads to his recapture and eventual sale into the bridge crews*, I would have to reconsider. It is a small point overall that probably probably wouldn't mean much to most people, but it would to me personally. I'm not really interested in discussing why his reaction to a specific food matters to me, or in trying to convince anyone it should matter to them. What does matter is I missed a specific detail that explains why he might have a negative reaction to it, regardless whether anyone else even thinks that would be a valid reason. *This is not a real scene. At least I don't think is. I am open to correction on existence of this or a similar event, but not my views of choutas and how I judge people based on choutas.

So you should be pretty grateful for the forum members who take the time to explain what you missed, with citations from the text, right? Or not, apparently. If you tried to understand why people are saying "You're wrong, Aliroz, and here's why", you might see things in a way that is not as cut and dried as your original interpretation. It definitely took a re-read and some forum browsing for me to pick up on specific details that reframed how I understood certain characters.

Wouldnt an iron pull function as a tether? A coinshot would be at risk of pushing themself into open space, but a lurcher can always pull themself toward any source of metal. I've always though space was the safest environment for a lurcher. Pre space age, a lurcher on a skateboard would be pretty cool. Being able to mimic spidermans web slinging abilities isn't half bad either. There are plenty of indoor or close quarter situations that would allow a lurcher to show off as much as any coinshot. It is definitely one of the riskiest powers in the Cosmere. I'm sure one of the seedier broadsheets has already put together a series of the most grisly iron pulling accidents.

Thank you. While an interesting rabbit trail, I don't think a fighter jet aligns with the original intent of the thread. That is a great place to start. Helps steer things in more of a practical direction. For most settings we have enough examples of invested individuals vs relatively well trained locals to extrapolate an arena/duel style competition. Are you saying that if an honorblade could defeat 10 "standard hazekillers" (trained Rosharan soldiers that have seen shards and radiants in battle), then a team of 1 honorblade and 10 standard hazekillers would have an equal score to 20 standard hazekillers?

Did you miss the scene in Oathbringer where Kaladin cared about the singers and their cause enough that he froze and couldn't force himself to keep fighting against the people invading his capitol and killing his friends? Kaladin makes several comments that indicate a growing empathy and respect for the singers, but that sure seems like a pretty definite demonstration of his change of heart.

The contest did not go as planned, but that doesn't mean it was pointless or just "tossed out a window". The 10 day format still served the same function: the characters were working toward a major shift in power at the end of 10 days as a result of the contest. There was in fact, a major shift in power at the end of 10 days as a result of the contest. There was no action packed fight scene, but the result of the contest was actually more dramatic than expected. Removing all previous restrictions and limitations didn't lower the stakes, it increased them exponentially.

I wonder if the dawnshards could be used to overcome the conflicting intent of individual shards...

Slow down buddy. Understanding this would require a reader to adjust assumptions as they are presented with new information, complete entire books before coming to conclusions, and even evaluate events while considering both the specific situation and the broader context of a multi volume series. In the context of this thread, I'm not sure that is a reasonable expectation.

Yeah its a bit of a rough patch, but Roshar hasn't even experienced a full blown apocalypses that destroyed the entire surface of the planet. They should be fine.

I don't think most of that is accurate, which is why I never said a cognitive shadow cannot pick up or temporarily hold a shard under any conditions. I could have worded it better, but "I know someone who has been an established cognitive shadow for several hundred years and temporarily held an opposing shard and is currently held together with duct tape and hemalurgic spikes should not be able to pick up a shard and wield its power as effectively as someone with an undamaged and unmodified physical body...", but that felt clunky. Was Taravangian a cognitive shadow at the moment he killed Rayse? I thought Odium pulled him into the spiritual realm before Taravangian actually died, but I do not remember anything definite either way. Kelsier had trouble holding the power pf Preservation, but I wasn't sure whether it was the cognitive shadow thing, or his connection to Ruin. I wonder if being a sliver of Preservation would now interfere with his ability to hold Ruin.

What if they just haven't tried the right worm? I mean, it would be negligent to not cultivate and infect a series of "volunteers" with a variety of parasites. I would still rather see a Ryshadium Edgedancer.

It still feels like "the twins" should be referring to Hoid's children, but I think you may be correct.

Yeah, I've been wondering if the books will ever revisit Kelsier's connection to Ruin. What if Discord results in Saz completely losing control of Ruin, with Kelsier just hanging out nearby? A cognitive shadow shouldn't be able to pick up a shard, but even a Kelsier shaped hole in the ground would make a perfect vessel for Ruin.

If you are going to have a military patrolling half the lanes in shadesmar, might as well use them to pick up any useful bits of outside technology.

Which would dump all of the Windrunners stormlight into a single lashing, preventing them from adding multiple lashings. That might increase the duration of the lashing, but not the acceleration.

But Taln is already presented as flawed. Not breaking cost him his sanity. If he had been even partially coherent the Kholin forces would have been more prepared for the current return, which would have saved thousands of lives and given them a better chance at protecting key territories. Taln not breaking may have been a net positive, but it still came at a pretty high cost.

Yes, her actual ability level falls short of Veils ideal, but still seems higher than can be explained by just a separate persona. Lightweaving can fill some gaps, but I wouldnt be surprised if there were other less direct magical forces involved. There is definitely room to work another layer in if it benefits the story. When you include soul casting, Lightweaving could lead to some pretty crazy possibilities.

This indicates a Kandra is using a non-consumable spike to establish a link to the power of Preservation, similar to the one an allomancer normally achieves by burning metal. It is established Kandra spikes would not provide the same effect in a human, so this is presumably a characteristic of being a hemalurgic construct. It sounds like you are suggesting trying to find a mechanical way to replicate that. I was skeptical at first, but that actually might be theoretically possible. What about using it fuel something mechanical, like an allomantic grenade?

This is good point. The entire process is more complex than just hiding amounts of a certain god metal. I don't think Harmony would be able to recreate this process now that both shards are being held by the same vessel. Even if he did, it would be damaging to Harmony overall, which would make it harder for him to hold two shards with opposing intents in check. Roshar spoilers

Harmony and his agents still defeated Autonomy and her agents. You can't give Autonomy the moral victory just because Brandon thought it was more entertaining to make it close.

Disclaimer: It has been a while since I read that scene, so this is my memory of my interpretation. Its worth as much as you want to pay for it. I read it as "I'm not needed anymore, so I don't have to exist as a separate identity". More of "I get to retire" than "I need to cease to exist". Veil realized she had done everything she could for Shallan, and saw the opportunity to step back on her own terms. For Veil, that was more important than the allure of "one more job". Veil needs to walk away on her own terms as much as Shallan needs to learn to confront certain issues on her own. I think Shallan's reluctance is a reaction based on her personality and conditioning, more than a reflection of what she truly wants. Its natural for her to be sad about losing a friend and mentor, just like its natural for Kaladin to react to any perceived obstacle by stabbing it and brooding self righteously. Give Shallan a minute to process her way. I read this as playing up the drama a bit. 1) Probably so. 2) Questioning it is a strong indicator your interpretation is more accurate than most.