Chlehrma

Big RedTo find out who put cracked gemstones in his plate you have to question who handles the recharging. I can not remember if it is the storm wardens or the ardentia. Considering that one of the ardents was cozying up to Dalinar, I suspect--without evidence--that someone wants him on the throne in place of Elhokar. The only nahel bond type spren Elhokar can see if the cryptic stalking him. He did not see Syl when Kaladin was in the conference room.

Two words...Vashta Nerada. Buy the E book, it's safer--then buy the hard cover later...if you feel courageous.

Szeth can not wear plate because it interferes with his surgebinding. We do not know if it is because his abilities come from his Honorblade, but I suspect that to be the case since the radiants in Dalinar's vision had both plate and blade while surgebinding. Regardless, at this point I think it is safe to say that elhokar does not have an Honorblade. Both blades we have seen this far were not works of art, but were instead very plain in design.

I am going to not be reading WoR since it won't be out...Hopefully Tor will post a preview of early chapters to IBooks that will not have omissions.

Now we need to figure out where we have seen a Dawnshard since WoB states that one is in WoK.

It is more than having a secret that draws Cryptics. It is true lies. Shallan calls herself a murderer in reference to her fathers death, but I suspect she killed him to save nan balaat which means she is something else...true lie. And we know her spren was with her before she even left home even if she did not. So the lie that attracted the cryptic Elhokar's mirror was probably the incident with the belt buckle. I.e. Someone sabotaged the strap and someone is trying to kill me. It was a lie that the buckle was a murder attempt, but true that someone is trying to kill him. The problem is figuring out what true lies predate that since he felt like he was being watched prior to that event. It could not be something as small as calling himself king when Dalinar/Sadeas were acting in that capacity. Makes me wonder what could have been a severe enough deception to attract a cryptic.

It would have been really funny if Shallan's blade were any Honorblade this entire time. Alas, she has a bonded spren...I do wonder if we will see other non-heralds with Honorblades. It would be really funny if Andolin or elhokars blades were Honorblades and they just did not know it because the blades do not function correctly with shardplate.

Soldiers in our military can refuse an illegal order. If he tries to convince others that the order is illegal and they similarly refuse an order, then he can also be charged with mutiny and sedition. If a review board finds that the order is legal, then courtmartialed proceedings are initiated. The penalty for refusing an order is usually a DD. The penalty for mutiny is death--though I have not heard of this one having happened in my lifetime. Context is everything. Gaz's accountability Is not limited by the fact that he was following orders. His accountability is limited by the fact that refusal to follow those orders meant his death in the bridge crews. His culpability is limited specifically because he must follow orders on pain of death. In other words, he is coerced into barbarity. The vast majority of Nazis at Nuremberg were using the "I was just following orders excuse" they were not saying "If I did not follow orders I would be killed." -begin tangent- The specific excuse they were using was normal for the times and had been for over a hundred years. The allies altered the laws in 1945 then applied the retroactively to crimes that had already taken place. -end tangent- Additionally, Keeping in mind that Gaz is in the military, He can desert, but he can not quit it like a job unless he reaches the end of his tour--think Vietnam draft. Additionally, there appear to be very few roles in the armies of the High Princes. The menial labor is done by bridgement, that leaves scouting (they probably want people with depth perception), quartermasters (a cushy job for light eyes), and spearman (which he can no longer be due to his impairment). That leaves him ordering bridge crews or carrying a bridge. As for victim hood. People often suffer the consequences for a course of action they themselves chose. In that regard, Gaz is not a victim. He is still, however, a person stuck between two impossible choices. Order others to their deaths or die with them. So he chooses the option that is the least worst for himself. He is not Kaladin or Dalinar.

Human-red Parshendi-orange Aimian?-purple Chasmfiend--definitely purple

1. Dalinar? It is speculated the spren bond makes one immune to the thrill and Dalinar seems to be becoming immune. Is a nahel bond only an oath away? 2. Szeth? Will he surrender his twisted honor and become his own man? Will the discovery of voidbringers set him free? 3. Renarin? He seemed to have the same reaction to handling a shard blade that Kaladin had. Is he already bonded unknowingly? Is his blood weakness due to the bond? 4. Amaram? Granted he has no spren bond, but if anyone deserved to be a stormlight crash test dummy, then We can all agree that he deserves a solid thumping. 5. Taln? He is the only herald we know of who still possesses his blade--though WoB says that one more does as well. 6. Darkness? Inadvertent sparring when he comes for Kaladin would certainly be interesting. 7. Random overlooked, unnamed herald that was in the book. 8. Hoid? Knowing Hoid he will probably figure out how to bond enough spren to have the full load--or collect all the Honorblades for his collection. Feruchemy, allomancy, investiture, forging, aondor, and who knows what else...he could certainly school Kaladin and help him become a better Windrunner. 9. Rock? He can see spren and can fight while pretending he can not. Maybe there is a spren bond on the horizon for our beefy horn eater...or at least a me snail shell chowder. 10. Eshonai? She likes humans and wants to be one of them. Maybe there is another form she can find that will make her a surgebinder. The one thing we can be certain of at the moment is that Lift,Ym, Jasnah, Shallan, and Andolin will not be his practice partner. Andolin is ruled out specifically because he still feels the Thrill, so there is no spren bond in the near future. My hope is Szeth or Taln. The problem is that Szeth will be killed on sight since he murdered Galivar and Taln is a few hundred miles away in Kholinar.

Maybe they can control the storm father spren and guide the storm.

It is possible that the heralds can surgebind without their blade and the blade just works like a hemalugic all spike by doubling their strength. Also, we can now be fairly certain that Szeth's blade is Jezrein's.

Sounds like Damnation. Just because they blame the night mother does not mean it is her creation. It was of Honor and could have conceivably have been a result of the efforts of both he and cultivation, t I think it unlikely. I think the shattering of he Oathpact is what killed Tanavast since he had invested it with his power in order to keep odium contained--at least that is my best guess from all the material currently available.

1. New bridge men always run at the front and a bright lord required that something special be done. That was the lack of sandals and vest. 2. Lamaril wanted Kaladin killed and Gaz could arrange it or join a bridge crew. Gaz took the opportunity that arose and ironically, the consequences resulted in Lamaril's death. Additionally, Gaz hated himself for his role, but did not see a way out. 3. Kaladin offered to take responsibility because he saw the consequences of his actions and knew that if he did not make they offer they would have killed him on the spot. That had nothing to do with Gaz. 4. Gaz stuck them with worse jbs because Kaladin tricked him and he could not,figure out how. Gaz is petty in that regard. 5. I think when we find out what the blackmail is about it will not be a horrific thing. Remember, something a light eyes would deem worthy of blackmail is probably not the same as what a dark eyes would deem worthy. He probably stole spheres from the baskets during highstorms, or killed a low ranked light eyes, or something small like maybe he was never actually a soldier. Maybe he was a bridgeman who as wounded and passed himself off as a soldier by looting a body on the plateaus. Who knows. 6. If by human sacrifice you mean his job, then everyone who was not in a bridge crew pretty much did the same since they reaped a benefit from the seizure. Gem hearts. 7. He was ordered to get rid of Kaladin, giving him more bridgemen would work against that. He did relent and give him one when pushed. And what more humane and responsible way is there to send men to their deaths? Keep in mind much of what he did was due to order from on high, the penalty for,disobeying would have him carrying a bridge. When I said Gaz is not a bad person, I did not claim he was a good one. Brandon likes his characters to have depth. He strives to avoid making them into flat characatures. The Lord ruler was not entirely evil, blue fingers had good reasons for what he did, hrathen was much the same. Pick any series and you will find that the majority of characters that Brandon spends time on have multiple levels to their personalities and are not wholly evil or wholly good but somewhere in between.

Galivar is dead. If you read the chapter from WoR where Dalinar is acting as an observer, then you will notice the info on bonded shard blades. The person it is bound to can summon it away from the person it has been lent to for use. When Galivar died his shard blade coalesced and dropped to the ground. I.e. He was the bond holder and died. There are, however, curiousities. What happened to his plate and blade? I seem to recall Dalinar giving elhokar a set he won on the plains or ,was that just an extra set?

Since Jasnah did not go back to the feast, her assumption that her father had done so is flawed. She made an assumption without supporting evidence...like actually seeing him at the feast. He walked back into the feast hall, but may have just passed through. Additionally, there is no knowing exactly how long Jasnah was actually in Shadesmar.

Gaz is not a bad guy, he was just in a tough spot. Reread the sections on Gaz and he is noticeably uncomfortable with a lot of what was required of him, but did not want to get demoted to bridgeman. And Moash is innocent. After Lamaril's death, Gaz probably recovered his spheres and made a run for it.

You all forgot the High Prince of Janitorial Services. I formally nominate Sadeas for the role...

Perhaps Gaz has been lifting spheres from other people's baskets during highstorms.

Jasnah already traveled. In the prologue to WoR she fell fully into Shadesmar and had to travel back to the hall to get out.

I really don't care if Kaladin kills amaram or not. Really I just want to see the "oh my god I am going to die " look on Amarams face when he sees Kaladin standing with a spear in his hands and anger in his eyes. Plus I want to see what happens when everyone finds out that Kaladin has made a habit of taking down shard bearers--the unnamed Veden and Eshonai.

The lift interlude seems to support your belief that the heralds retain their powers. She sees darkness glow. The heralds may not go back to damnation to respawn now that the oathpact is shattered. Perhaps they just lay around in agony for awhile as their body heals.

I think odium a plan for Harmony will in bavadin or some other evil sharder as backup--or perhaps as canon fodder to wear Harmony down

“He had dark brown skin and brown eyes, his thick black hair pulled back into a long, braided tail.” “How…” the man said. He didn’t have even a hint of an accent. Kaladin had expected him to be Azish because of the dark skin. “How will I get back if I can’t walk on the leg?” Did Kaladin save the life of a herald in chapter 53? Or just an Azish man who was raised in Alethkar?

The damage from Small arms fire depends on the cartridge. Also the energy released at the muzzle is not necessarily the same at impact. I will take a desert eagle up against a shard bearer any day...just give me a round in the chamber and a little warning.