askthepaperclip

Nor did they necessarily make that equipment before the plains were shattered. EDITS: ugh, stupid phone

Hmm... good points everyone. Name_here, I did neglect to consider the timeline of the shattered plains in that way, specifically the prior existence and subsequent destruction of Natanatan. Although I believe Brandon demurred when asked if the destruction of Natanatan was linked to the formation of the shattered plains, which leaves it still possible that it was destroyed during one of the desolations, similar to the Kingdoms of Sur, Tarma, and Eiliz (mentioned in the Nohadon vision). As for the city on/in the plains, don't we have confirmation that there were people on Roshar before the shattering of Adonalsium? Or is it just that there were people on SOME planets before the shattering? If it is the former, than there is no reason the city built on/in the plains was built before the shattering. As far as the shattering happening on Yolen: 1) Hmph...don't talk about unpublished books, right? Ppbbttth 2) More seriously, I don't see why the original shard holders couldn't have traveled from Yolen to Roshar pre-shattering. Or even post shattering...maybe the shattering happened on Roshar and they were all like "oh This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules, we better go take up those shards before the unbridled power tears apart the Cosmere, yo!" I still think think Roshar is significant in some major way. There is too much weird stuff going on, and it just has the feel of a "prime" world to me. The other worlds feel like side stories now. It get the feeling that Roshar is the primary story line of the Cosmere: "This whole mess started here, and it is going to finish here" sort of thing. Maybe that's just me, and I'm sure you all have myriad WoB quotes that will directly contradict that

Is this the first theory that is in Ketek form? You tell me! :-) EDIT: Arrrgh, I realized this isn't a ketek....it only has 3 or 4 distinct thoughts, not the requisite 5. I'll see if I can tweak it. Credit to TheQuestion for scooping me on this by two weeks and being the first one I have seen to suggest this. Apologies if this is an old idea and I missed it...let me know and I will edit to give credit! The theory, as suggested by the little ketek above, is that the event that formed the shattered plains was none other than the shattering of Adonalsium itself. I like this theory for a few reasons: 1) We have recent WoB that Adonalsium and all the Shards were present on Roshar at some time. (I believe...it could be argued semantically that one or the other was, based on the quote. For the purposes of this theory, I am assuming both) Unless Adonalsium visited Roshar, then left and was shattered, then all the Shards paid a return visit to Roshar (seems unlikely), it is very likely that the Shattering happened on Roshar, and the Shattered Plains is the most likely location for ground zero. 2) We also have recent WoB that there are spren present on Roshar that are remnants of Adonalsium. Unless Adonalsium was walking around leaking power like the man made of money from the Geico commercials, my guess is that these spren are little "shardlets" left over from the Shattering (like the dust created when cleaving a block of marble). 3) The Dawnshards: able to bind any creature voidish or mortal. What would have power over both Honor/Cultivation and Odium? Adonalsium, that's what. I suspect the Dawnshards are also objects of pure Adonalsium, created during the Shattering. Now for some more Cosmere-wide points: 4) Cosmere awareness: The people of Roshar are the most Cosmere aware of any we have seen, and have been for a very long time. This suggests strong Shardic influence, early and often. 5) Shardic density: Three Shards are invested on Roshar, more than any other we have seen. There are also three Shardworlds in the local system. This density suggests to me that Roshar is both strategically important (maybe they are fighting over that little bit of extra Adonalsium power) and the starting point from which the Shards dispersed throughout the Cosmere. 6) Literary importance: This one is a little thin, but why would Brandon devote ten books to a world unless it was extra special in some way? (I don't remember what the projected length of Dragonsteel is supposed to be, but I recall it also being a big epic) Sorry for the lack of links/quotes, but I am writing this on the bus on my phone and am afraid to navigate away lest I lose my progress! Thoughts?

Ahh curses, scooped by two weeks! I was about to post a theory that the shattered plains was the site of the shattering of adonalsium! I like this theory a lot, especially based on recent WoB. I'm going to post the theory anyway, but will give credit to thequestion (and anyone else who shows me they thought of it first (-

Yeah, Makabaki are described as dark skinned...which would make sense given her nickname for him. To quote Chappelle Show Rick James, "DARKNESS IS SPREADING!"

Ah crap you are right...I was thinking she and jasnah were the left middle two. Hmm... well I still like the rest of what I said! :-D

Regardless of the capitalization, I think it is clear from Wyndle's quote that cryptics are distinct from honorspren. Just how distinct is up for debate, but it seems clear that cryptics are not a subset of honorspren. My guess is honorspren are all from Honor, Wyndle is a cultivationspren (all from Cultivation), and cryptics (maybe among other bonding spren) are a mix of the two. I say Wyndle is a cultivation spren because it appears he is pointing out the "others" who came to see his work; it wouldn't be very impressive if only other cultivation spren were interested. My guess is that the top three orders get honor spren, the bottom three get cultivation, and the middle four get blends/cryptics. This also could work with Brandon previously calling cryptics truthspren. The ones we saw were sort of truth spren, much like syl is sort of a wind spren. We originally called them both by their basic form because we didn't yet know the name of their higher type. It is likely that Wyndle also has a base type, in addition to being a cultivation spren. Reading back over this, I am pretty convinced that cryptics is the third and final (mixed) super category. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense that he would call out a larger group and one smaller specific group. Why cryptics specifically, you know? From the structure of his boast, it sounds like he is trying to say "everyone". Also FWIW, I could totally see a type of discrimination/racism between the spren, maybe looking down upon the "mongrel" mixed spren.

Just entered my unique code for being the first Asia entry in the Facebook contest! Being in China on business last week might have made me late to the game for the Shardhunt, but at least it allowed me to be just waking up as Brandon announced the contest! :-D Very happy to be able to help us get to 250 codes!

I thought it was interesting that Lift mentions she "Captured" Wyndel with words. I think she might even have said "I said the words" or something like that. And then later, she repeated something in her mind that sounded an awful lot like a First Ideal. My thought is that the First Ideal of the Edgedancers are the words she used to "capture" Wyndel, which would make her more correct than I think he believes. Also interesting that Nalan/Darkness said, "You are an Edgedancer," not "you have the powers of an Edgedancer." I think this supports the idea that she has already said the words. I'm not sure about her boon, but I'm pretty sure Lift would consider Wyndel her curse

To be clear, I did NOT contact Brandon to complain about 17th shard or its policies. That was not my intention or the content of my letter. I wrote to TS to express my personal reservations about the hunt as a whole. I'm very sorry if my earlier post implied otherwise. Hugs all around? :-)

As Miss Bennet said, Yes! A thousand times, Yes!!! Also, from the Spoiler warning: That was the thing that made Baby Jesus cry, IMHO

That sounds awesome! I would offer to help set it up if needed, but am leaving for China on business tomorrow and will be MIA for a week. Hopefully I don't miss it! :-/ Also, I'm not a fan of "open letters" which is why I didn't post what I wrote to TS. That said, if anyone is curious, let me know and I will send it to you via PM.

FYI, I sent an email to Team Sanderson expressing my thoughts on the Steelhunt. Here are a few excerpts from Issac's response: and (emphasis added) I don't want to be a troll or come off as critical of the staff here; I know they are just doing their best to uphold the wishes of Team Sanderson. However, it seems to me that this suggests the site policy of forbidding people from requesting codes should maybe be relaxed.

Man, I'm sorry but the Steelhunt is just not fun. In The Great Hunt, there were puzzles and stuff you could do, and I felt like it brought the community together. We we all working together toward a common goal (decrypting a sample chapter). In the Steelhunt, there is nothing to DO. You either have a code or you don't, which just feels very exclusionary and clique-y, and very un-Brandon-like. I really don't see the point. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. I know Team Sanderson had good intentions and thought this would be a fun thing for the fans, but in my opinion it has failed. Please let me know if I am just unaware of some awesome fun thing that is happening somewhere, and I will retract my statement.

Ah, good call. Also, based on the forces still unaccounted for, I'm guessing the 2nd surge for Order 7 is electricity/electromagnetism. Transformation wouldn't really account for Jasnah's lightning trick. (sorry if this is super obvious, but I didn't see it on the table in the OP)

I think we might be getting tripped up by some terminology. I think you have categories of names that we are getting mixed up: Orders, powers, and surges. For example: Order = Windrunners, Powers= Lashings, Surges = Gravity and Pressure. Similarly, "Soulcasting" is the power, but "transformation" is the surge that enables it. Based on the way Brandon described it, ("Shallan has transformation and Lightweaving") I'm not sure that "Lightweaver" is an Order or a Surge, I think it is the Power, fueled by one or more Surges. Lightweaving as a surge doesn't follow the pattern of the other surges at all. And "having Lightweaving" would be a weird thing to say if it were the name of the Order. This is how Szeth can use Lashings without being a Windrunner, and Hoid can use Lightweaving without being a [whatever Order uses Lightweaving].

It was a theory, but it looks like Brandon just confirmed it at a signing. (Beaverton? )

Skybreakers are confirmed #2! (WARNING: UNRELATED STEELHUNT SPOILERS) http://lunarubato.tumblr.com/post/63708891840/alright-so-ellie-lisa-brittany-and-i-went-to (Credit to WeiryWinter for the link)

Awesome info! Glad we can finally put the "which order will shallan be" argument to rest... BTW, can you post a link to your surgebinding chart? The one they posted is so small I can hardly ready some of it.

I suspect that the gem is indeed trapping an "evil spren", that the evil spren are the voidbringers, and that the releasing (or trapping) of one or more of the evil spren from the stone marks the start (or end) of a desolation. Callin it now!

I think we are assuming far too much about the location relations between the physical and cognitive realms. My understanding is that Shadesmar is the cognitive realm for all worlds, not just Roshar. For example, I seem to recall Brandon hinting that an area of the map of Shadesmar (lower left corner?) corresponded to "a world we know" other than Roshar, ie Sel, or Nalthis, or whatever. This would make sense as a necessity for using Shadesmar for worldhopping. Given that, unless Roshar has some extra significance in the Cosmere that we are unaware of, it is very strange that the map of Shadesmar happens to correspond perfectly to a map of physical realm-Roshar. How would someone from Sel be able to navigate Shadesmar if it is shaped like a world they have never visited? Given that we are talking about the cognitive realm, my theory is that the "shape" of Shadesmar is dependant on the mindset of the visitor: if their concept of "the world" is Roshar, then Shadesmar to them will reflect that. Could this be how world hopping works? Change your mindset to think of "the world" as Sel, and Shadesmar changes to reflect that; then you merely exit Shadesmar where you wish, and BAM, you are in Sel! Sorry, getting distracted...I don't know if this is a new theory or not, but I like and will start a new thread for its discussion. My point for Urithiru is, I'm guessing Shadesmar is far more maleable than the "Urithiru is in Shadesmar" folks are counting on. I doubt you can trust the "map" of Shadesmar to reliably relate to the physical realm in any way, given that the shape of Shadesmar probably reflects the perspective and biases of the mapmaker.

I can't imagine that Brandon included a 10K word WoR excerpt for one of the codes, and intended it for only one person to read, who may not have even read TWoK. As the rules say, (emphasis added) "If you find a code, as I say above, you can share it with others—but please don’t post it online in an open way. You can direct message it to people, text it to people, or post it on private forums. But if you broadcast it on Twitter/Facebook, etc. we’ll have to disable it." Based on that, I would think if you post here "Hey, I found a code!" it is your right to share (or not) via PM upon request.

+1! That quote had been bothering me...why would Odium agree to that? He would if he thought he could win, and get what he wanted from it. Very interesting idea.

To the OP, DUH. (I think that is the hallmark of a good theory...it seems so obvious once it is spelled out. Well done!)

Wow, I THOUGHT Kaladin's symbol looked familiar! Good catch!!