KiManiak

@DarknessThanks so much for all of the WoBs. This is impressive. Something I'd like to follow up on though: Do Elhokar and Jasnah have 2 biological sisters we have yet to meet? I don't recall a reference to them anywhere in WoK. The only time Jasnah mentions having "sisters" is in WoK Chapter 45 where she says: It appears that Jasnah is referring to other veristatilians as her sisters, just like Brandon did. I couldn't find any other reference to Jasnah having sisters anywhere in WoK. Where did you see mention of Jasnah and Elhokar having additional biological siblings? Or is this from a WoB that I've missed somewhere?

I wanted a few days to digest this and maybe see if someone else caught what (I think) I caught. A quick review of the forum doesn't seem to show that anyone else did, so maybe I'm just way out there. But I'll put this idea out here anyway: Actually, I think the wiggling around happened specifically with the number of epic-level spren, Shards, Bondsmiths and his reference of Cusicesh. Brandon never answers the actual question; as a matter of fact Brandon actually creates the connection between Bondsmith and Shards, substituting that for the original question about the “epic-level” spren. And then later suggesting that any Investiture that is alive would be called a spren on Roshar. Looks like classic misdirection to me. My (slightly) loony theory: Cusicesh the Protector is only a lower level of spren than the Nightwatcher and Stormfather as a result of the Recreance. Maybe a Bondsmith was bound to Cusicesh and broke the bond in such a way that left it in its current state. First remember, what the Stormfather says when he was initially reluctant to bond with Dalinar: Cusicesh’s apparent lack of mental faculties could be considered “death” by it's fellow epic level spren. It could also lead to Cusicesh being considered as on a “lower level” than Nightwatcher and Stormfather. (Cusicesh is normally "epic level," but the breaking of the bond left it without all of its cognitive abilities) In effect, it experienced death similar to the way the other bonding spren "died," but instead of manifesting as a dead shardblade it manifests as a four legged, face-shifting creature out of Kasitor Bay. Second, it would fit as an elemental theme. Stormfather is located/represents the air/wind. Nightwatcher can be found in the Valley (the mountains in between Emul and Greater Hexi) and represents the land/earth. Cusciesh the Protector is currently located in Kasitor Bay in Iri and represents the ocean/water. Third, the other epic level spren all seem to be able to affect humans mentally. Nightwatcher’s boons seem to have some mental impact (Dalinar and Shshshsh, Av’s father seeing things upside down, etc); Stormfather can send visions; Cusicesh leaves a feeling of being “drained” by all who witness it. Finally (and this may be my weakest point) the relationship of Stormfather/Nightwatcher/Cusicesh to Honor and Cultivation could be thematically similar to the relationship of Allomancy/Hemalurgy/Feruchemy to Preservation and Ruin. Not in terms of magic systems, but moreso that the Shards each have 1 spren that represents them (Honor= Stormfather, Cultivation= Nightwatcher) and 1 spren that is a combination of the two (Honor/Cultivation= Cusicesh). (I have an even loonier theory that maybe the series of faces that Cusicesh shifts through at exactly 7:46am has to do with (former or potential) Nahel Bond recipients, but there is absolutely no basis for that other than a "that would be cool" feeling) Anyway, I think the item that Brandon was able to wiggle out of was the number of epic level spren being equal to the number of Bondsmiths.

Ah, you meant the Tor.com WoR Spoiler Review. Thanks for the citation. Looks like the poster got this info from the WoR Lexington signing, and it was not listed on the 17th Shard Lexington signing page or the Theoryland one. Good to know and your citation of the origin of the information is quite helpful.

Where on the Tor.com reread exactly? The reference that I see in the 10/8/15 reread (post #141, I believe) has grouped this quote in with the recent quotes from the 10/12/15 Oak Brook Signing, but the transcript that Argent and others are working on does not have any mention of Lopen being a squire or not (although I admit I have not checked the audio). You state that you "stumbled on an old one" here. Can you please provide your older source? I don't remember this from an old Tor.com WoB that clarified that, but I admit I could have forgotten it. Since this is a topic being discussed on multiple forums it would help to be as clear as possible on this. Thanks.

I don't remember this WoB at all. Where did you stumble on it from? I didn't find it in Theoryland. Could you please provide your source?

So I read your post, then refreshed the page and had already upvoted you for it to cancel the downvote when I saw the Edited last paragraph. To get back to the topic of the OP, my response is: I could argue it either way. Pro Squire arguments: Dalinar's Purelake vision showed a Knight Radiant, as well as (what we believe to be) that Radiant's squires glowing and aiding the Radiant in their work After killing Szeth, Kaladin returns and is told that some of his bridgemen (who were, of course, helping our proto Radiant in his work of defending Dalinar and the Kholin family) Teft comparing the bridgemen glowing to what he had heard from Dalinar's visions Word of Peter that some of Kal's squad had exhibited squire-like tendencies (those are my words, not his) by healing quicker than normal in Way of Kings; Lopen is one of Kaladin's most loyal bridgemen, and Kal trusts Lopen with King Elhokar's life; Lopen is seen glowing near the end of Words of Radiance no visible proof of a spren Pro Surgebinder (which I will interpret to mean proto-Radiant, since for all we know Squires could surgebind) argument: Lopen inhales Stormlight (which we've only seen our proto-Radiants do); Lopen is able to drastically heal a damaged part of his body incredibly fast (which we've only seen our proto-Radiants do); Some of Kaladin's bridgemen that survived Szeth's attack were still described as having lost limbs (Chapter 86) or bore wounds (Chapter 87) from the fighting. And they were in close proximity to Kaladin. Lopen is able to access Stormlight and fully heal his limb from leagues away. It's clear that the circumstances regarding Lopen's superhuman abilities and Kal's other bridgemen's superhuman abilities are somewhat different, from what we've seen to date. I would just caution jumping to the conclusion that Lopen is a Squire without more evidence.. Edit: I changed Lopen's healing from "almost instantly" to "incredibly fast." We only see a nub grow back onscreen before all of his Stormlight ran out, but speculation is that once he got access to more spheres and Stormlight, the rest of the arm grew back just as fast.

I was able to attend the “San Francisco” signing (which was actually in El Cerrito in the East Bay, but I get billing it as San Francisco for region identification) today. Brandon was great: he gave a talk about creativity for about 10 mins; did a Q&A session for about 30-45 mins or so; and finished up with a reading of something new for about 15 mins. I was able to ask a question during the Q&A (and received a RAFO card for my troubles) and then ask him 3 more when he signed my books for me. (All the answers are paraphrased as I didn’t tape anything. However, there was a tape recorder on the table so hopefully another Sharder will post) Q: This may be RAFO bait, but let’s see. Did the Knights Radiant in Dalinar’s Feverstone Keep vision divest their discard their Shards to a specific person/being/entity? (Brandon interrupted here before I could finish, but I’ll include the rest anyway). If so, have we seen them onscreen as of the end of WoR? B: That’s a definite RAFO. (And that’s how I earned my first official RAFO card). Q: Do some Surges have a stronger cognitive aspect (or cognitive influence, if aspect is too general) than others? Like Illumination, maybe? B: (Really paraphrased; I tried to keep the wording in my head but got distracted right after I talked to him). There are those who would argue that it is indeed the case. It would be a matter of some debate. Q: This one’s kind of out there, but..: Any significant connection between Herdazians having stone fingernails and the essence associated with Kalak (Foil, #8) having a body focus of the Nails? B: No, no there is not. Good question, though. (Appreciated Brandon softening the “no” with that) Q: When Kaladin killed the Shardbearer (Helaran) in WoK, Amaram remarked that Amaram knew the Shardbearer was dead because the Shardblade didn’t disapper and because the Shardplate began to fall off of him. Is there some type of “lesser” bond between Shardplate and its wearer? B: Yes, yes there is. So not the most eye-opening answers in the world, but it does give us (or at least, me) a little bit more insight into some topics.

I'm not sure if you jumbled up what you meant to say at the end, but it's not quite correct. Dominion, Devotion and Honor have been splintered. Ruin and Preservation are held by Sazed and are not Splintered; Cultivation's Shardholder is also still alive and (as far as I know) has not been Splintered.

Thanks Weiry. All information is appreciated, even if it doesn't always support my theories. :-) Upvote to you!

kaellok – I’m with you on the “being annoyed by the other's post” part. I prefer these discussions about theories to be informative/enlightening, and hopefully fun. Definitely not tedious or annoying. Let’s see if we can steer this thread more towards the positive, cool? First: I did read the exchange between you and Moogle, and meant to allude to your comments at the conclusion of my last post, but I totally left it out. Instead I just responded to clarifying my speculation/theories without mentioning that you had adjusted your stance about part of your opinion. My apologies for neglecting to mention that. Second: It seems our comments have volleyed back and forth with the phrases: “You seem to be making an argument that contains a few misconceptions,” to “I think you may be misinterpreting what I am suggesting,” to finally “You seem to be fundamentally misunderstanding my arguments at a very, very basic level.” I think we can both stipulate that neither of us appears to be getting the other (at least, so far). I would suggest that continuing down this path could come across as somewhat belittling from one to the other. So again, stipulated: We don’t think the other is getting our main point(s). Third: As to why you think I’m wrong. Let me just say, that if you had led with this first quote and associated point in your post@7, I think the flow of our discussions could have changed dramatically, and maybe we wouldn’t have gotten bogged down in the “diminishing amounts of Investiture” vs “splintering aspects of Intent” path. But cool; we’re here now. You bring up an interesting point about self-awareness being attained by the Splinter. The WoB does state that certain Splinters are intentionally left by Adonalsium (and by extension, one would assume, Shards of Adonalsium) which also results in their attaining sentience. I think this WoB doesn’t necessarily hurt either of our points, though. I don’t see why your theory has to be a direct counter to other theories on this post; I think they can align as long as neither theory requires exclusivity. My theory/speculation never refuted that Splinters weren’t self-aware, nor that they aren’t related to a specific aspect of a Shard. We both agree that Splinters would contain aspects that are related to their “parent” Shard. So I think it’s fair to say that where we differ is that you interpret Brandon’s use of the word “power” very narrowly, while others (myself included) are taking a broader application of the term, right? Another quote from Brandon re Splinters that could broaden things out a bit: Again, Brandon states that Splinters and Silver have to deal with a Shard’s power, but he clarifies that that is not a complete explanation, just “something to think about.” There is more to a Splinter than just deriving from a Shard’s power. Maybe that something more has to do with aspects of that Shard’s Intent? How about this for clarification: I see the possibility that Splinters can come from aspected components of a Shard’s Power, linked to an aspect of that Shard’s Intent (the oft stated example of “Duty” as an aspect of Honor). If that is the case, then is it possible for a Shard to separate enough of its aspect-linked-power for that particular aspect to diminish? And if so, is it possible that that particular aspect could be separated from the Shard completely? As I’ve said, I don’t believe your information and theory negate or refute that possibility, but you do bring up a solid point about the origin of Splinters.

Wall of Text warning (what can I say; I'm wordy sometimes...) kalleok- Have we seen any example of viewing a Shard’s state of mind/being pre and post Splintering? Not an echo or memory of that Shard (like Dalinar’s visions), but an actual view of the Shard’s mindset itself? I grant this is all speculation; I’m confused as to the automatic rejection out of hand just because the speculation doesn’t agree with your opinion. Having no WoB on a particular subject is not (in my opinion) in-and-of-itself sufficient counter for questioning assumptions, speculating or theorizing. WoB definitely helps to clarify or canonize topics or theories that haven’t been set as "fact;" WoB isn’t required in order to form those theories (although it does help). (For example: There was no WoB that spren turned into Shardblades, until it was spelled out in WoR. That didn’t make the theory that spren = Shardblades untrue pre-WoR’s release; it just made it a theory with questionable (and highly debatable) textual evidence to back it up.) Asking for WoB to prove that this theory is true is unfair and not a valid requirement. Your opinion/theory (and yes, it is a theory as the specific mechanics of Splinters and Splintering have not been spelled out as far as I am aware) is that Splinters do not lessen a Shards Intent, and that’s great. But there is no WoB (that I am aware of, please correct me if you have WoB that clearly and directly proves me wrong) that explicitly validates your theory; it’s just speculation based upon what’s been released (via the books/WoB/whatever) so far. (I strongly recommend you reread theories that folks were stating as forgone conclusions/facts before WoR that WoR- or post Words of Radiance WoB- refutes or rejects matter-of-factly. If you’re a Wheel of Time fan, you’ll have experienced this in even more detail: Wheel of Time spoiler: ) Basically, we think we know what we know until the author shows us that we really didn’t know what we thought we knew. I’d recommend caution before summarily shutting down theories just because it’s different than what we initially thought. The speculation I’m presenting is based on information we do (or at least, have strong reason to believe we do) know: Adonalsium “broke” into 16 pieces that were not miniature versions of itself; but instead were each made up of the components (“Intents”) that, when combined, formed into the entity Adonalsium. Each Shard-component has a lesser degree of Adonalsium’s power (although I think this is still an assumption), but is not a smaller version of Adonalsium; it’s an aspect/component of Adonalsium. Which should lead us to logical questions: If Adonalsium can be broken into core (and separate) components, can each Shard be broken down similarly? Is this Splintering, or an aspect of Splintering? What about when the Shard Splinters itself, can it Splinter off aspects of itself? If so, is it possible for a Shard to completely (either immediately or in a slow, eventual fashion) Splinter off a certain aspect of itself? I challenge any automatic dismissal of speculation (whether it be for this topic or any other) without any concrete information/rationale other than “there is no WoB” and “in our very limited exposure to this universe (of which we know very few of the rules) we haven’t seen things specifically happen in that way, yet.” Personally, I’m not sold on it (actually, I’ve been kicking around in my head a way to present at least 2 ways to view Splinters and Splintering that I might post if I work it out a little more.), but I think it’s worthy of discussion until it can be refuted based on solid information, textual evidence or Word of Brandon. Suggestion: Maybe this weekend at SLC Comic Con we can just get someone to ask Brandon : a. Can Splinters be aspects/components of a Shard’s overall Intent? (Example: A Splinter of “Duty” or “Integrity” from Honor or a Splinter of “Winnow” or “Nurture” from Cultivation) b. Can Shards choose to have certain aspects of their Intent be Splintered off? c. Could this lead to a Shard Splintering off an aspect of that Intent completely? If he easily shuts that line of thought down, then we have a definitive answer.

Weiry – That theory does indeed somewhat involved, but brings up some good points. I like the Shardic Lens Theory better than anything else that I’ve read that has attempted to explain Adonalsium and its Shattering, and subsequent Shards. I look forward to you updating it. Feel free to take as much time as you need to fully delve into it, if you’d like. As to the WoB with Harmony, I mean moreso if Harmony “breaks.” We can call that Splintering or Shattering, whatever the reader/commenter feels more comfortable with. I’m basically suggesting whether it is most likely that the “breaking” of Harmony would result in the creation of 2 Shards with differing Intents. (2 quick asides (put in spoiler box due to the fact they're off topic)): My point is more about the fact that when Harmony “breaks,” it is likely (based on what little we know, anyway) that however many pieces it breaks into will have differing Intents or foci, plausibly along the spectrum of aspects between Preservation and Ruin (as we have not seen Splinters/Shards display Intents that are not derivatives of its original “parent.” Kaellok – I have no problems with you splitting my 2 points into 3 if it makes it easier for you to understand/respond to. I agree that it is not guaranteed that Harmony would split back into Ruin & Preservation. I would argue that it would seem more likely than the other possibilities. Even in the WoB that you quoted, Brandon states that it’s plausible that Adonalsium could have broken into other Shards; which makes the chances stronger than “a possible chance,” but weaker than “a probable chance.” And that is an entity that Cosmere-aware-individuals describe as having the multiple aspects of God (I believe the dragon’s phrasing in the WoR response-to-Hoid-letter is “God’s own divine hatred,” which by extension could mean the other Shards have God’s sense of honor, cultivation, preservation, ruin, devotion, dominion, endowment, etc). Harmony only has the aspects of Preservation and Ruin; no evidence (that I am aware of, which admittedly leaves open a lot) exists that Harmony has broadened his Intents beyond those two. As you say, Harmony is not exactly analogous to Adonalsium, but using your example, any breaking should result in Shards/Splinters/whatever with Intents somewhere along the spectrum between Preservation and Ruin. Finally, your point about Honor being measured. I think you may be misinterpreting what I am suggesting. I’m (somewhat) following the OP’s theory that an Intent is made up of multiple components, and that breaking off parts of the Intent may decrease or remove those particular elements. Honor is an Ideal made up of many components/aspects (arguably: duty, integrity, respect, nobility, morality, etc). I don’t believe Honor is analogous to your Ocean Shard with an Intent of wet; Shards Intents have been those of complexities, not simplistic terms. (I don’t consider the concept of “wet” complex as I don’t believe it can be broken down into components/aspects; liquid water is, by definition, wet. However, to expand on your example, would the frozen and gaseous forms of your Ocean Shard have lost their Intent –ice isn’t wet, after all-, only to regain it when circumstances for wetness were Ideal again? That doesn’t appear to be comparable to what we’ve seen of Shards so far.) So, if certain parts of Honor are being Splintered off into spren with a particular focus, than it could be argued that those components of Honor are lessened/decreased with each splinter. If Protection/Leadership continue to be Splintered off, shouldn’t that diminish the amount of that aspect that Honor initially had? Aren’t we informed by Brandon that the more a Shard invests, the weaker (or, put another way, the “lesser”) they become? So isn’t it logical to project that certain aspects become lesser than other, depending upon the type of investiture? And if that’s the case, shouldn’t that also apply to Splintering; the more of an aspect that is Splintered off, the less of that aspect the Shard will have? And... I've been working on/off on this thing over the last day or so, so I see that Black Yeti also addressed some of this.

A slight tangent (somewhat rambling, so bear with me) from the original post that (I hope) I ultimately bring back to the original point: I’m not necessarily disagreeing with the perception that Preservation and Ruin have not been mixed together to form Harmony. Brandon has made it pretty clear that Sazed holding Preservation and Ruin is analogous to a king that is king over 2 countries; so one person “holding”/”controlling” 2 separate entities. Where I’m drawing a little confusion in reconciling this is when it comes to how we perceive the Shard(s) now: as Harmony. Brandon has stated that if Sazed were to die, the Shards have been so intermingled to where Sazed would drop Harmony, not Ruin and Preservation. 1) Given that, where is the distinction drawn between “Just-Harmony” (as a 2-Shard-in-1 SuperShard held by itself) vs. “Ruin+Preservation=Harmony” (as 2 independent Shards held concurrently/simultaneously)? Put another way, where is the distinction drawn between “intermingle” (which would likely allow for the distinction of 2 separate Shards) and “mixed” -or “fused,” “combined,” etc- (which could be viewed as a merging of the 2)? Are we banking on them not being mixed due to Brandon’s qualification that to split them back apart would take “effort?” That maybe to “mix” means an irrevocable merge while to “intermingle” means something more temporary or reversible? 2) If so, and we accept “intermingle” as the appropriate term for Harmony (and it is literally WoB based on the above quote so I'm cool with accepting that), then we assume that Harmony would most likely “splinter” as Preservation and Ruin, correct? (Would Harmony always be separated back into 2 Shards that have the Intent of “Preservation” and “Ruin” would be an excellent question to ask, if it hasn’t been done so already, btw). So after its (assumed eventual) Splintering, Harmony is no longer Harmony but is 2 separate Intents that combined were “harmonious” but separated are quite different. Touching (somewhat) upon the OP’s original question, if a regular Shard were to splinter into component parts, shouldn’t the original Shard lose some of its Intent or at least have its Intent changed due to the loss of said component part? So if a Shard were to Splinter itself (or become Splintered), shouldn’t it no longer have those aspects of the Splinter incorporated in its overall intent? To go back to Moogle’s posted theory above, if honorspren are Splinters of Honor that represent Protection/Leadership, then pre-Odium-induced-Honor-Splintering, shouldn’t Honor’s Intent that includes Protection/Leadership have been weakened, if not had that aspect of his Intent be almost fully Splintered off, due to the honorspren that were already present? Shouldn't the same have happened with all the other "Radiantspren" that are splinters of Honor? In Moogle’s theory (to be clear, I’m not trying to pick on or attack Moogle, just dissecting this theory to better understand the rationale; so hopefully Moogle won’t take offense) did Honor start off significantly more “Honor-able” and then lose aspects of his Intent each time he created splinters of himself? A lot of this still seems really unclear to me, and I’m worried that we’re missing a lot of what Brandon is (and is not) saying in relation to Shards, splinters, Harmony, etc. (Or maybe it’s just me; this thread is fortunate to have the responses of 3 staff that are nigh-expert-level when it comes to the cosmere (yes, I'm slightly buttering you guys up); I’d appreciate whatever you can spell out to me to make this clearer.) tl;dr – 1) What exactly makes Harmony “intermingled” and not “mixed” and what is the distinction; and 2) Does Splintering impact the overall Intent of the Shard, why or why not?

With the qualification that there is so much information out there (and so many sources) that it's often hard for me to keep track of it all, I don't recall there being any confirmation that Raoden was on Roshar. Is this WoB? Can you cite it? Thanks!

I also like that painspren are called Grinders. And that they may not be so benign in Shadesmar. I wonder if you have to be fully in Shadesmar for them to be a threat, though (which may be why Shallan didn't notice them and wasn't affected by them). I like Moogle's speculation about "Honor's Perpendicularity." I also find the "perpendicularity" portion of that name rather interesting; Honor is intersecting Shadesmar at that particular point?

Tor.com has a new excerpt from Brandon about Jasnah. Details the events that happened to her post-stabbing in WoR Chapter 7. Check it out: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/08/stormlight-archive-scene-after-words-of-radiance#comments ETA: I should probably add that it discusses Jasnah being stabbed, her experience in Shadesmar, Ivory, representation of spren on the other side, etc. Check it out if you're interested! (Obviously, post-WoR spoilers, so beware!) ETA II: And I see that my couple days absence from 17th Shard led to me missing this posting of the excerpt from Sabrina Stormshard on 8/4. Sabrina Stormshard (and Weiry Writer's transcription) did an excellent job of introducing this info. The Tor.com exceprt doeshave little more of the excerpt (Jasnah soulcasts something!) and some minor administrative info if you want it, so I strongly recommend you check it out.

So I am going to assume in our little experiment that we are controlling for the number of members and squires in the respective Orders (as it seems most of the respondents have done) and any alliances between the Orders. Also that we are not assuming any major usage limitations on the not-yet-shown surges (Division, Cohesion, Tension), while including the little we do know of the usage limitations of Soulcasting (takes a lot of stormlight to affect big things and/or Soulcast from a distance) and Teleportation (not sure of the precision or time involved). Given all that, I have to pick Skybreaker. The Gravitation surge alone is pretty powerful and can provide the Surgebinder maneuverability and speed that can not be matched by any other Surge (plus, you can fly!). But couple that with the Surge of destruction and decay? This allows for all types of "Death-From-Above" type possibilities and the only Order that can reach you has a secondary Surge that basically just sticks one object to another; not all that threatening when you can fly away from whatever they are trying to stick you to. Gotta go with Skybreaker.

I took almost a week off from the site while reading WoR and have been trying to catch up on most of the posts (which has been a lot of work; wow are we prolific on this site), so I'm still unsure whether this was the first time that the quoted answers have been posted here, but if so, this is pretty good info! Confirmation that Baxil's mistress was the lady from Shallan's vision in WoR?! This answers any speculation that it might have been Jasnah or symbolize her. Also, confirmation that at one time Shallan had said one more ideal than Kaladin had; and that Dalinar had stated only the one oath to the Stormfather (and that they had indeed been "bonded" for awhile)? Very nice! Upvote to you, tganchero!

I think WoR grants us enough information to reasonably assume certain things: 1. The "Final Order" you are looking for is Willshaper (mentioned in the epigraph of Chapters 49 and 53. 2. Willshapers and Lightweaver's share an "affinity" to the "great ones" in Shadesmar that Elsecallers were the "prime liasons" for (Epigraph of Chapter 53). This strongly implies that they are therefore Order #8 (or "A" in your diagram). 3. Dalinar is a Bondsmith. It is highly likely that Bondsmiths are Order 10 (or "B") 4. Renarin is a Truthwatcher. By process of elimination, it is highly likely that is Order 5 (or "C") 5. The Ars Arcanum in the back lists the Surges in Order. Surge #9 is Cohesion. We already knew that Surge #10 was Tension (although Brandon initially labeled it "Surface Tension like Surge) from a report of a signing Brandon did in Seattle last November I think.

I also think Kaladin did a Basic Lashing, in front of Bridge 4 (or at least Lopen). I'm really curious to the setting. Was it during one of the training sessions, or was it in a more... awkward situation? The possibilities...

Looks like Brandon and Tor will have some promotional giveaways of a Szeth cutout for his WoR Tour! Only 1000 of the giveaways, but apparently each one will have a code that can be entered into on some special website that will have special bonus contents and giveaways! Tor.com has a post with more details Good luck to all those who attend the Tour!

I think Szeth is way too easy for this one, personally. (We've all seen how Tor.com likes to troll us and Carl from Tor.com especially has had all kinds of fun showing his amusement at the different guesses.) I like Taravangian as a guess. I also could see Amaram as a possibility. I just don't think it's the obvious choice.

The term comes up in WoK a few times, usually in a deprecating manner: "We must have seemed of the ten fools, charging away like that." (Unity, Chapter 12). In a Kaladin flashback, Kal actually names one: "He felt like one of the ten fools- specifically Cabine, who acted like a child though he was adult." (Sides, Chapter 37) If you're going along with the Tor WoK reread, they just reread Chapter 58, which has it come up 2 times. Quick e-search shows the term come up a total of 6 times: (Chapters 12, 28, 37, twice in 58, and 69).

Interesting theory. It explains a decent amount in regards to the Herald’s actions, the Recreance and Darkness’s judgment. One big problem for this theory (as I see it, anyway) is what “God” told Dalinar in his vision in Chapter 75 (In the Top Room). If diminishing the Heralds and eliminating the Knights Radiant were the wiser course of action, why doesn’t “God” (assuming he is indeed Honor) feel sound more optimistic, or at least more pragmatic? Why does He think that Rosharians are losing? Why does He wish the Knights Radiant to stand again? If Darkness’s plan is indeed the elimination of Surgebinders (with the hope that this will therefore minimize the impact of any Desolation), then why would “God” (again, assuming he is Honor) recommend that the exact opposite action be taken to prevent Rosharians from losing? Something doesn’t fit, in my opinion.

I could see this being an effect of one the Surges related to Stonewards (it would make perfect sense). If this were from one of Dalinar's visions, that would almost fit perfectly. Here's another possibility: What if this is one of the perversions of the Ten Essences that is conducted by Voidbinding? Maybe we're seeing the effects of another Void-related essence, like we saw Midnight Essence in WoK? Maybe this is Stone Essence or something?