Chrono

I love Shallan. I loved her in Way of Kings and I love her in Words of Radiance even more. Her backstory mixed with her way of coping was incredible and I loved her humor (it never fell flat for me, so maybe I just have a strange sense of humor). As for her being an expert suddenly, I never saw that. Yes, she has to improve and fast, but really she's just imitating Jasnah at that point. She's been living with the woman for a few months, and Shallan is a fairly good actress. She can impersonate people, and Jasnah is the one she chose to impersonate. It also helps that I'm an artist, so I connected with her that way.

I see what you mean. However, the Third Oath's addendum is a very important part of it. Kaladin protects Elhokar at the end of the book because Elhokar is his king and deserves his protection. He was, after all, being led by Roshone with the whole silver smith fiasco. If Kaladin was limited to protecting only, his oaths would be useless, because he wouldn't be able to kill in order to protect. Syl doesn't die when Kaladin fights Szeth because Szeth doesn't warrant/deserve/need his protection. He's the enemy. It's that addendum that can be the most powerful part of the oath. Really, who Kaladin hates and who he thinks is right to protect is his prerogative. There is room for flexibility there. I agree with Arondell's idea. It seems to me that Knights Radiant were carefully instructed and trained before progressing in their oaths. One of the main challenges the Knights Radiant are going to have is learning all over again how this whole thing works. Presumably the amount of oaths required to give you a Shardblade was common knowledge among the Orders. Now, people have no idea when, where or why things happen, and the myths surrounding the Knights Radiant certainly don't help. It's going to be very rough.

You know, Szeth is kind of a mixed bag for me. At first I thought his character was cool. Then in Words of Radiance, I was kind of... I dunno, I guess I just figured he was lame because of all of his whining about his past. Then at the climax of Words of Radiance, I felt very sorry for him since he was very obviously insane and angry about what had happened. Overall, I'm excited at the new chance he gets in Skybreaker. Unlike others here, I wasn't really bothered with how Brandon brought him back (though I agree with others that the character revival count was just too dang high in this book). I'm just waiting to see if he's still just as insane as before or if he actually has a grip on reality, so to speak.

I feel like with Kaladin's situation, the reason Syl died was not because he subscribed to a faulty idea of honor and chose to broke that. Syl represents his choice to protect and lead people. She formed the bond with him because of his instincts to protect and lead, not because she just randomly showed up and ordered Kaladin to lead and protect. Kaladin killed Syl because he was going against his own personal moral code: he was doing something that his instincts thought was wrong, even though he didn't consciously realize it at the time. It's similar to getting into a heated argument with a friend and saying something terribly rude to them without thinking. You know it is wrong as an abstract concept. However, you still do it anyway because you're caught up in emotion. I feel this is how Kaladin broke the bond. He did something he knew was wrong -- choosing to assassinate the king -- because he was caught up in emotion. You may argue that Kaladin is being forced to be good. However, I see it more as him betraying himself, sinking to a lower position in order to get petty vengeance for himself. Syl is a physical representation of his ideals to protect and lead. When he stops protecting and leading, she dies. Honor didn't kill her. Kaladin killed her himself, out of a very selfish and hateful need to get revenge. I think you're taking Kaladin's responsibility of killing Syl away from him and giving it to Honor. Yes, the effects were devastating and he lost his Radiant powers, but that was his fault. He regains Syl and the powers when he is once again true to himself and stops degenerating.

I felt like the climax was perfect. It's very fast paced, which is how it should be. I didn't feel like the ending dragged, which is a hefty feat in the fantasy genre (Return of the King had ending fatigue big time). As for the whole hugging thing, we have to remember that physical intimacy and contact is not a big thing in Alethi culture. Shallan and Adolin are engaged for crying out loud, and they don't even kiss in public. It's implied heavily that PDA is looked down upon and that sort of behavior is both unseemly and inappropriate. Hugging another man in public may be seen as embarrassing and forbidden. Dalinar also seems a very closed-off type emotionally, and Kaladin even more so. I don't see them ever hugging each other, even if they become best buds. If you want evidence that they're tight, look at the scene where Kaladin comes back from the chasm. Dalinar hears the news, and he runs the entire way. Kaladin stands up and salutes him when he's exhausted. That's dedication. As for Renarin, are you kidding? The kid is a social outcast, he struggles with mild autism, and he also has some clear self-esteem issues stemming from his epilepsy. Sure, he wasn't branded a slave or forced to kill his parents, but that sort of inner conflict and pain is totally enough to attract a spren. Renarin's life is very sad if you take the time to get the hints. He's struggling so hard to be a traditional Alethi male, but it's nearly impossible for him to do it. He's called a failure to his face by Sadeas. His father and brother love him and understand him, but no one else seems to, and he has no visible friends. Renarin is leading a very lonely life trying to be someone he's not so that people will stop referring to himself as the shame of the Kholin family. If that doesn't attract a spren, I have no clue what does.

This. I wanted her to die in The Dark World, mainly because I was so sick and tired of her being a brat and whining about stuff and generally not doing anything besides holding the Aether and being a plot device. Holy crap, Thor, you could have done so much better. The scene that especially made me mad was when

I love her hair, very nice special effect on that. If you made her about fifty percent more translucent, then I think it would be better. I always imagined her face a little more delicate and playful, but I think you've captured the wiser Syl -- the one who explains the nature of the Windrunners to Kaladin and sounds a little bit different from regular Syl. Beautiful either way.

I kind of got fed up with Katniss in the Hunger Games Trilogy, but the character I loathed the most was Gale. The guy basically whined all the time about how Katniss only liked him when he was in pain, how she never noticed him, how they were in love, etc. I basically wanted him to die, except Suzanne Collins killed off everyone else I didn't want to die and left him alive. And you know, the whole explosion at the end of Mockingjay thing. Compared to Gale, Peeta was a saint (though he did have his share of annoyingness too). Eragon: Everyone who wasn't Roran. Especially Eragon. After the end of Eldest, I wanted to shoot him, because he was being such a brat about his true parentage. I get it, you're basically the son of the baddest baddie in existence besides the main villain. That's upsetting. Now stop whining about it at every freaking opportunity. Also, special mention goes to Arya, who somehow manages to be both childish and condescending at the same time. Really, I just don't like the characters in that series except for Roran. Roran was awesome. As for the Cosmere, I would have to say the one person that deserves my hatred the most is Lin Davar. I just cannot stand child abusers in any form, and while I felt pity for him when his motives were revealed, I just couldn't stop hating him. As for the others, I kind of found Sarene a little shallow at first, but then she warmed up to me. I also thought the character of Zu in the Emperor's Soul was kind of flat, but since it was a novella, I could see where it was coming from.

Guessing Lightsong, because he's really bad with a sword and he's a god, so technically he's royalty? Too much of a stretch I'm guessing.

I'm pretty sure it mentions that Sadeas had no children, just Ialai. He could have some heirs in his army, but I doubt it. As for the power struggle thing, I think you're totally right. We now have a massive power vacuum open for anyone who's crazy enough to try and take it. Some people will undoubtedly be clamoring for justice (Dalinar, Ialai, supporters of Sadeas, supporters of Adolin), but I think that will be secondary to most lighteyes. Who cares how it happened, we just got a new availability for Highprince! Anyone who think's they're a somebody will be trying everything they can to sneak into the position. It will be absolute chaos. Even if Sadeas has a clearly defined successor, people will be clamoring to get into his good graces, become sycophants, try and earn themselves positions of power, etc. I think there will be a trial, but with all the craziness going around, it won't get much emphasis.

Loved Parlin, mainly for his epic green hat of awesomeness that is totally a Legend of Zelda reference.

This all looks very good. I applaud this! Have an upvote. As an aside, for some reason, I thought that you were trying to go out with the Recreance. You know, as in the other meaning of date. I don't even know why I came to that conclusion, I just did. And now that I think about it, it makes so little sense that I have to post it. Forgive me.

If I was told that my best friend killed my brother, even if it was in self defense, I would still be very angry at her. Especially if she held back that information when I made it perfectly clear that I loved my brother. Shallan still sees Helaran through the hero-worship goggles, so to speak: to her, he's still a good man and he should have lived. To have Shallan say that "Oh, it's okay, he was trying to kill you, so I forgive you," would be a huge letdown to me, and completely unrealistic. She hated Amaram with a passion after he'd told her that he'd killed her brother (indirectly, mind you). It would not be fair of Shallan to blame Kaladin for killing Helaran, but when are we ever fair to someone else when we are affected by grief, anger, or fear? Shallan clearly has a soft spot for her brother, and his passing hurt her deeply -- she had to flee the scene immediately, lest someone see her crying. The fact that someone that she has just grown close to (how close she is can be debated) is now revealed to have killed her brother instead of someone that she barely knew is awful. Worse, they knew about it and decided not to tell her. It's the ultimate betrayal. Yes, we must cut Kaladin some slack. He barely had any chance to talk to Shallan after the Chasm thing, and they were both pre-occupied with other matters (Everstorm, Urithiru, Kaladin's parents, Shallan confronting her past, etc.). I don't blame Kaladin for how he handled the situation. But Shallan will. Shallan has a tendency to hold grudges, especially with Amaram. It's going to hurt her, a lot. There really isn't a way of getting around that.

For Adolin's murder of Sadeas, we have the fact that Urithiru is freaking enormous. People may be too preoccupied with searching out the entire thing until Adolin goes back and hides the body better. However, since Sadeas is a rather important dude, the chances of that happening are nil. So, we have a body with one eye missing, no Shardblade, and tons of blood splattered around. Sounds to me like an opportunist knifing some guy in the alleyway for a Shardblade. Of course, there is the fact that Adolin left the murder weapon at the scene of the crime. Yeah, he's screwed. (Note: We have no idea how advanced forensics is on Roshar, but the evidence towards Adolin is so mounting that I'd convict him on the spot.) Shallan's reaction to Kaladin killing Helaran: I honestly don't know. A part of me thinks that her reaction will be small. Her initial shock over the fact that her esteemed elder brother is dead has passed. She still thinks that Amaram is a bastard, but the anger has cooled. I think that she will be angry, mainly because Kaladin didn't tell her and hid the truth from her (although the amount of screentime between the two after the chasm scene was maybe two hours. At most). So, she'll probably get mad, but then accept what has happened. Szeth is a massive problem. For one, he's gone rogue at the end of WoR. He has Nightblood. And he has a hefty grudge against his homeland. Who's to say he won't extend that grudge to Kaladin/Dalinar for being the person who prevented his last order/survived everything he threw at him? I don't think he'll ever join the KR until he's had a massive redemption process with them.

I'm guessing Kar, the head inquisitor at the end of The Final Empire. He was very big, if I remember correctly.

To the issue of who exactly is to blame here: everyone involved. Yes, you heard right. Everyone. (Well, except Kaladin and Tien, of course, but you get the idea). The Dalinar of seven years before was not the Dalinar we all know today. He did some pretty bad things. One of them was this whole Roshone fiasco. I think today's Dalinar would not let that sort of thing happen, but that was the Dalinar of the past. Also, people make mistakes. I'm not saying he's not guilty -- he most definitely is -- but we have to keep these two Dalinars separate. Roshone's part in this problem is well known. He's basically made Hearthstone from an average village into a place of fear. From the way Lirin describes it, people are afraid to do much of anything. They're afraid of Roshone, they're afraid of Lirin, and they're afraid of the future. You can call that bullying or harassment or whatever you like, but the bottom line is that the state of living in Hearthstone has rapidly decreased. Roshone has made it this way. He's also the one who conscripted Tien in the first place. I hold the most guilt on him, simply because he's technically the reason why all of this happened (I know Dalinar and Gavilar and Elhokar sent him to Hearthstone, but Roshone has caused a lot of trouble on his own with deeds unrelated to the silversmith affair). Amaram doesn't intervene when Tien is called, even though he is obviously unfit for combat and simply a tool for Roshone's pleasure (he obviously heard Roshone's gloating after the whole deal was over, and he could have tried to override the law forcibly -- what was Roshone going to do? Bite him?) However, I feel like there wasn't much Amaram could do -- he had no authority in a legal sense, and it would have been awkward to intervene. What makes Tien different from the other recruits, except that he's basically a form of revenge? You can't really punish revenge when it is done legally. The second most guilty I believe is Lirin. I believe Lirin genuinely loves his children. However, he's made some poor choices, and those choices have led directly to Tien's predicament. It could be argued that if Lirin had not stolen the spheres and trusted that Brightlord Wistiow would give them to him, this entire situation never would have happened. However, he instead broke the law, justified Roshone coming after him, and refused to consider the safety of his family when he accepted the consequences. Lirin and his family still had the right of travel, and he easily could have left. However, sentimental value and his battle with Roshone held him there. Those are both incredibly selfish reasons for staying. No matter how much you are loved in one town, if your family is actively being persecuted and your citylord is trying to find a way to get you in prison or worse, you should leave. Lirin doesn't, and I blame him for that. I sympathize with him, and I think he is a great character, but there is no doubt that he's made some very serious mistakes. Those mistakes led to consequences he never intended and never anticipated. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that this problem is a very messy affair with guilt and blame on all sides. No one is the true culprit here; everyone had a part to play. In a way this is very similar to real life. Rarely do we encounter situations where one clear party is to blame. Basically, a bunch of mistakes and malice led to this whole fiasco happening. It's tragic, but it's true.

I would love having Sazed as my father. He's just such a kind and gentle man, and I feel we would have fun being scholarly together. Worst dad, without a doubt Lin Davar. He's emotionally and physically abusive. All of his children are scarred in some way. Balat hurts animals. Wikim suffers from depression. Jushu drinks and gambles to try and distract himself. Shallan represses any and all memories of hurt and blacks out whenever the past is mentioned. Just the entire story of the Davar family is incredibly sad and made me cry. Second Prize for crappiest dad ever goes to Straff Venture. Zane definitely got the raw end of the deal, but Elend was also emotionally abused by being told that he was an idiot, useless, incapable of being an heir, etc. I feel that if they could meet each other without one being forced to kill the other, they would be able to help each other. But Ruin kind of ruined that.

Care to give us some examples? I always thought Lirin was rather straightforward, similar to Kaladin. The only agenda I could find in him was with the spheres and Roshone.

The reference to Community just sells it. I want that Pillow Suit now.

Dang! That is some fantastic cosplay. Have an upvote! Also, props to her for that embroidery. That's some tough stuff.

Holy crap that chasm. So good! I love the crazy amounts of plants there. I think you've done a most excellent job with the amount of plants- Brandon has said that even though Roshar is a harsh world, it is by no means barren. The sheer beauty of it is awe-inspiring. ANOTHER!

I'd say for me, either a Lightweaver, a Truthwatcher, or a Dustbringer. But mostly a Lightweaver, since I'm pretty blunt and honest all the time, and I like to draw and write.

Well, according to the response to Hoid's letter in Words of Radiance, the dragon (someone help me back this up! I'm no good with sources!) says something to the effect of "Honor's death was tragic, but Odium is captured." Specifically: And this: So, the conclusion I get is that Odium Splintering Honor did something to him that means he can't leave the Greater Roshar system. What that was, your guess is mine.

I will be a responsible poster. I will actually get up off my butt and do something productive. I will refrain from yelling at drivers that annoy me. (specifically the ones who don't use a turn signal or tailgate) I will do my homework on the day that it is given instead of the day that it's due. I will refrain from being annoying and an insufferable genius. Oh, and whoever posted that they would break the oath about going to bed, I'm in that camp. I've been staying up til midnight for the past three days. It's not healthy.