the_archduke

I assumed he was a Sleepless. Then nothing came of him and he died. Maybe the offscreen death was a fakeout.

Probably the Lifebrother, who may be associated with the sun (I swear Szeth said the sun was the eye of the Lifebrother or something similar) https://coppermind.net/wiki/Lifebrother

That's the thing though, Jasnah couldn't turn down the debate. It was being offered to Fen simultaneously. If Jasnah had refused to participate, TOdium still shows up and still makes the offer to Fen. If Jasnah can't even show up to support her position, why wouldn't Fen side with the great deal Odium was offering? But more personally, Jasnah was being offered the fight she was certain she could win. Her pride in her intellect was her undoing. It would be like if Odium showed up to Adolin and offered to rest the fate of Azimir on a duel. Of course he would take that contest. Jasnah was confident in her philosophy and beliefs. Jasnah has repeatedly stated that just having phenomenal cosmic power doesn't make a god worthy of worship. If she backed down from a debate... I was trying to think what it would be like, but I don't need to. Jasnah wasn't ever going to back down fro mthat challenge. And she needed to be taken down a peg or six so she has room for a character arc in the back 5. I saw so many people before Book 5 predicting how Jasnah would turn Roshar into a European style democracy with human rights and rainbows and unicorn farts. That may still happen. In book 10. This was half way through the story. The heroes don't win in the middle of the story.

We know of a grand total of 4 of these. Renarin and Rlain (and their spren) wanting peace =/= the Enlightened spren wanting peace. Mraize and Iyatil's spren seemed fine with the plan to capture Ba Ado Mishram rather than free her, so I don't think you can generalize like this. Maybe Enlightened Mistspren may want peace, but who knows of Enlightened Crytpics, Inkspren, etc.

Rereading Oathbringer. In Ch 120, when Dalinar confronts the Thrill, he has a philosophical aside. "Though some spren could make decisions, others were like animals—primal, driven by a single overpowering directive. Live. Burn. Laugh. Or, in this case, fight." Primal overpowering directives... what does that sound like? Live = exist Burn = change Laugh = ?(feel) Fight = ?(fight is good) And the 4 x 4 pairings Exist - Preservation, Autonomy, Mercy?, Virtuosity? Change - Cultivation, Ruin, Invention, Endowment? Feel - Odium, Devotion, Honor, Whimsy Fight - Dominion, Ambition, Valor, Reason?

Yeah, maybe Exist is the wrong one. Or maybe not. The 16 killed Adonalsium, and they used Exist in part to do it. Either they got around the Torment somehow, or not being able to hurt mortals is different from not being able to kill Gods. Taln does not seem to have any restrictions on his ability to hurt others. So maybe he held Change, and the Laceryn recovered it after he died as a Herald.

No one seems to be talking about the casual mention that Taln was given a weapon to kill Cultivation. Other than Nightblood, do we know of anything that can kill a Shard other than a Dawnshard? Technically, I don't think we've been told that a Dawnshard can kill a Shard, but it is a reasonable inference since they were used to kill Adonalsium. Crack theory time. Taln held Exist before Hoid, and that is the weapon referred to that he was going to use to kill Cultivation. He subsequently gives the Dawnshard to Hoid, or Hoid takes it the first time he died as a Herald. His Torment then allowed him to handle 4.5k years of torture.

In Oathbringer, right before he was excommunicated, Dalinar talks to Taravangian about the half shards. Taravangian mentions that there was a mythical metal that could block shardblades, and it fell from the sky. Why would aluminum be falling from the sky? I think this suggests the 4th moon was artificial with some significant fraction of the construction of aluminum. Possibly deorbited when Honor and Odium clashed over Stormseat? "That's no moon... It's a space station. It's too big to be a space station. I have a bad feeling about this." Also found this Word of Peter https://wob.coppermind.net/events/305-miscellaneous-2014/#e8096 If the other 3 moons' orbits are artificial, the 4th was probably too.

Bumping this because I was right. Their children are going to have such weird hair. Also, I hope she's carrying twins.

Didn't Renarin see Urithiru in one of his visions where they were growing food on the Oathgate platforms?

Taravangian is certain he outplayed her. An immortal dragon whose portfolio is specifically long term growth. I would not be shocked if everything is going according to get plan.

Storm Moash Adolin in Azimir was awesome. The Unoathed are a fascinating way to complete Adolins arc. Venli and the Listeners was super boring. Wanted to skip most of the time. So no unmade in Shinovar. Does that mean we never saw Chemoarish? Jasnah getting out utilitarianed by Taravangian was nice. Jasnah needing to rethink her philosophy was overdue.

El says that his kind are worn out and can't rule much longer. He destroys the remnants of Jezrien and sees it as a mercy. Then he asks for and gets the promise that he will get to rule human lands. Is he planning on losing so he can die? Suicidal but doesn't want to do the deed himself so is going to suicide by Odium? As for Taravangian letting each side rule in turn. What if each side held a shard separately? Smart Taravangian with Odium and compassionate Taravangian with Honor?

Much more likely that she fails in the attempt, is deposed, and goes worldhopping. Jasnah is a visionary that approximately no one agrees with. How is she going to change the entire world in the middle of a Desolation? Except we are in book 5 of 10. None of that is going to happen. The good guys can't win half way through the story.

What this means is that Brandon has been trolling us for years. The deathrattles sort of matched things we saw in Book 1, so we assumed that we knew what they meant. Book 5 is showing us that we were wrong. "3 ruled, now the broken one reigns" We thought that meant Odium. It actually means Taravangian "Two men in the pit" was tortured into refer to Kaladin and Shallan in the chasms. It will be blindingly obvious later that it was not referring to that. “So the night will reign, for the choice of honor is life . . .” We are seeing in book 5 things this could mean, I have no idea what people were guessing before, but it was based on too little evidence. We need to go back and revisit all of the deathrattles to see what Brandon hid right in front of us.

Strongly disagree. Lopen didn't report anything to anyone. How will Adolin even know anything went wrong on Shallan's mission? Dalinar and Navani are likewise apparently fine. Adolin is in Azimir and busy. As far as he knows, his dad is preparing for the contest and his wife is incommunicado on her secret mission.

"The burdens of nine become mine" death rattle was referring to Ishar not Taln. Gavinor in the SR?!? Is he going to get weirdly aged by time shenanigans? And Ishar just talked like the Stormfaker! Is that theory given new life?

What happens to the contest if Dalinar doesn't show up in 8 days? I assume a forfeit and TOdium wins? Did Mraize let Shallan think he was going to spy on Dalinar when it was really an assassination, or was the collapsing the perpendicularity cutting his losses when the first plan went awry?

My name is Gavinor Kholin. You killed my father. Prepare... to die. Gavinor better be the one who gets to kill Vyre in books 6-10

Lift crushing on Sigzil? Zahel gone from the tower? Shallan with extra getting to Shadesmar abilities? Why did she see 3 figures? Where are their spren? Lift staring at Drehy? Puberty hitting her hard. Wow Gav is a messed up kid. Sad.

If Mraize/Iyatil/Lieke are Elsecallers that could be terrifying. Scadrians with access to soulcasting! If you can soulcast metals, it makes allomancers with nigh-infinite ammo.

Testament is only mostly dead if she can form a shield. And apparently Mraize and/or Iyatil can Elsecall. Really short chapters today

Plus we already have Orodin and Gavinor starting the next generation. Shallan and Adolin's having kids is a natural expansion of that. And their hair is going to be awesome, as Shallan pointed out all the way back in Words of Radiance.

Rosharan UN?!? For a purely Alethi matter? No other country would even want that as it would encourage Alethi interference in their internal matters. And please appoint Jasnah as judge. She'd find him guilty of being correct when small minded people were quibbling and give him a medal.

Accountable to who? And what is a just punishment? Ialai is dead. Is there someone else agitating for "justice"? Skybreakers maybe, but they are almost all on the other side of the war. Alethkar is not 21st century earth. Adolin did what had to be done. If Mayalaran has a problem with it, I'm sure we'll find out.