Khyrindor

I think that it was meant to imply that Ash is a Dustbringer, but Brandon wrote it poorly.

I feel the same way. I'll have to look out for any mention of a spren around Hoid in Mistborn Era Two; maybe there's evidence.

I don't have a physical copy of the book at this point, but give this thread a read and see what you think:

It's difficult, but if anyone, Hoid will find ways around it. It's also possible he only needs the spren for a temporary goal.

Ash is Shalash, yes, but IIRC she's slated as the Dustbringer flashback character in the back five, and Dalinar and the Stormfather (however ambiguously) counted her as a separate order towards the end of Oathbringer. The Heralds are not tied to their patron orders, and a lot can happen in four and a half millennia. Nale even mentions that he is the only one of the Heralds to actually join their order.

He does know who Taln is, he's met him before. Plus the Stormfather doesn't even say they are new orders, and probably wouldn't know Ash is a proto Dustbringer. He only recognises them from long ago, when Ash would have been known as a Lightweaver.

He may have Lightweaving, but the Spren bond will also grant him Soulcasting, a Shardblade, possibly Shardplate, and the ability to use Stormlight.

According to Nale and the Nightwatcher, and judging by Dalinar hearing Evi forgive him, the screams of people you murdered are related to a broken soul and the Spiritual Realm. I think that those screams are a sort of lasting imprint in your Spiritual Connection to people you have killed, and when there's a lot, and your soul is cracked, you can hear them intensely. I'm not sure if I make sense, but I tried to explain that as cohesively as possible.

Are you planning on adding historic Knights Radiant as well? For example, Nohadon was probably and Edgedancer, and Words of Radiance gave us the names of quite a few Radiants of Old (notable ones being Bondsmiths). You may want to add Vathah (I think he bonded his own, but I already forget), Elhokar and Hoid to the Lightweavers list, and Heleran (deceased (maybe)) to the Skybreakers list. Was it also confirmed that Lyn got to the second Oath yet, or is she just a squire? It's also likely that Ash may be a proto Dustbringer, but that is unconfirmed. (The orphanage caretaker is known as The Stump).

I think Dalinar assuming Ash is a new order was a bit lacking, without further explanation. He's counting off orders and notices them, then basically assumes that Ash is either Chana or Kalak (which doesn't make sense), which he shouldn't had done without either further explanation from the Stormfather, or talking to Ash. I agree she must have switched orders for this all to make sense, unless Brandon made a huge mistake and forgot that Chana was the Herald for the Dustbringers. But yeah, something weird with the writing there.

I really like this theory. That makes a lot of sense, actually. It explains why Cultivation would trick them, and why Dalinar surprised Odium.

Shallan has also been surrounded by creationspren. I'm still not sure how much I like that theory, it could be just made of pure Investiture as well, would be a bit more...morally okay? There is definitely something going on with the spren, however. I'll admit that.

One of my favourite things about this book is that so many characters had time to get the spotlight and grow. Some of my favourites: Adolin. He had a great arc in the last half of the book. He was something solid that two Knights Radiant depended on. I also love that he is trying to revive Mayalaran. He also owned that he killed Sadeas, and is even proud he did. He's humble has an all around good heart. I'm very glad that he stood up for himself about kingship as well, knowing he best serves elsewhere. Elhokar. Brandon really turned my opinion of Elhokar in these books. In the first book, I didn't like him, and it got worse for most of WoR. But at the end, I was mainly indifferent. But in Oathbringer we see him starting to make more mature decisions with Dalinar, and see him wanting to be a hero. Even if that was a bit of a selfish goal, he still died one step from Radiancy, and the fact that I cared is evidence that he had improved. Jasnah. As others have said, she owns every scene she's in. After seeing her from Shallan's point of view almost exclusively, it was refreshing to be in her head. She's inquisitive, and human, but is good at controlling how others see her. Her secrets are the ones I most look forward to delving into. Some great scenes with her: wrecking Amaram, choosing to love Renarin, casually offing several Fused when most Radiants were struggling, and so many more. She didn't get that much screen time, but I loved what we got. Dalinar. Very painful to read his backstory, but very informative. I wonder what Evi would think of him now, trying to peacefully Unite Roshar, and owning his pain in the face of Odium. His Oaths brought shivers. Rock. Can I get some appreciation for this man? I swear he is the only thing holding Bridge Four together. His viewpoint chapter was beautiful and one of my all-time favourites. Taln. Not to steal your man @Steeldancer, but I agree that Taln is probably definitely the strongest person in our cast. He suffered 4,500 years for the world, and didn't blame the nine Heralds who betrayed him, but thanked them. Thanked them for giving Roshar 4,500 years of peace from the Desolations. He would have definitely supported their decision in the beginning. Edit: I would be amiss not to mention that Kaladin and Shallan had great arcs too, but as they've had the spotlight a while now, this is me appreciating some others. Kaladin probably remains my favourite in the series, and some of his chapters and growth are my favourites. I'm also glad that he let someone else be a hero; that will come a long way in his Oaths. Shallan was also one of the most interesting characters. I was very worried about her, and watching her work through her brokenness was amazing. Honorable mentions: Teft, Skar and Drehy, Szeth, Venli.

Didn't we get a hint last year that 'surviving' wasn't the (capital I) Intent of the Shard, but is a "wise" thing to do? A common theory I've seen is that the Survival Shard is related to wisdom or knowledge. I personally would like to see 'Enlightenment', but as others have said, we don't know anything yet.

In Canon: (Full spoilers for Cosmere) In spoiler box as it is off topic from the thread for the most part: There are also some things that come from Unpublished works that provide further evidence, but I don't think I'm allowed to comment on them out here. Again, I can let you know if you inbox me.

Trell is almost certainly related to (or an aspect of) Autonomy, at this point.

Well, I finished the book. I skipped reactions for part 4, cause I had to keep going. Man, was that a journey. Well, done, Mr. Sanderson. I'm going to reread all of SA soon so I can dig out secrets and determine which book is my favorite. I'm suspecting Oathbringer. I wasn't able to binge this book, and I didn't snag in a reread of Part One (cause I got Part Two a week early), so I can honestly say this book has been my journey for months, since the beginning. It was an amazing few months, digging through the pre-release chapters with all of you, and then having to avoid spoilers for the last two weeks. This amazes me above all: Brandon's ability to keep me guessing and keep me wrong. After all these years I thought I knew all his tricks. How naive I was. I let myself think multiple times that I knew what was going to happen. Firstly with Part three when I predicted Kaladin and Shallan were going to activate the Oathgate and bring in Jasnah and the other Radiants to save the day. We know how that ended. A beautifully painful scene that left me truly worried for our cast. I'm impressed with Brandon's ability to make me start to like Elhokar, though I'm quite upset that he was just one word away from being the hero he dreamed of being. The next bit that surprised me was in the climax. And it was the complete opposite. I was completely sure that Dalinar would painfully let himself be Odium's Champion and figured he thought that Kaladin would be able to defeat him in that. Luckily Brandon pulled the rug out from us, and finally have someone other than Kaladin save the day. This really was Dalinar's book. Having so many Radiant Orders standing United will be a highlight for me, I think. An amazing picture. Another thing I loved about the book is that each character is fleshed out in unique and interesting ways. Backstories, hopes and dreams, flaws, and strengths. Rock stuck out to me first: I swear he is the only thing that holds Bridge Four together. Then we see his family, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. His story culminates in killing Amaram to save Kaladin, sacrificing his own morals for that of his Bridgeleader's. A little theory I concocted is that he may grow to be another Bondsmith, though I'll have to see if this stands up in the reread. Teft was also amazing to me. It showed us many important things in world, and skills at Brandon's writing. Teft's self-hate and shame controlling him right till he swore the third Oath. His spren was so patient with him. And his chat with Kaladin towards the end: "We lift the bridge together, Teft." So many good quotes in this book. That's all for tonight. My hard copy should be here within a few days, so I'll write down more cohesive thoughts when I can leaf through to scenes I've doubtless forgotten.

The Epigraph at the beginning of the Prologue says "He shall bear the weight of the world on his arms". This is exactly what Sazed does in Hero of Ages when taking up Preservation and Ruin to Ascend to Harmony.

I was thinking more along the lines of Anthony Hopkins, but I would love to hear James Spader as Odium or maybe the Stormfather.

If it's a Shard we've seen, I doubt it's the one that wants to hide and survive. Edit: Sorry, I see what you're saying. I don't know if Brandon would count that as one we know or not.

Welcome to the Shard! I like your idea about a Shard of Pride, but unfortunately, we just got a WoB in one of the Signing Threads that says all three are Shards we know, so it is most likely Endowment, as she is the only Shard alone on a planet currently that we know.

Dragonsteel does not take place on the same world as White Sand. Dragonsteel was on Yolen, White Sand Taldain. Taldain features a desert island separated from Darkside by an ocean.

Brandon has talked about Kaladin's name and how he came up with it. Originally it was based off of Paladin, but changed to a K to match the Haraldic names (i.e. Kalak). IIRC this is after Warbreaker. More recently, Brandon has said that they canonized Kaladin's name as 'Born unto eternity,' which would have then made Kalad mean eternal. I find it likely that 'eternal' was based off of Kaladin's name meaning (in Brandon's head, not in world). Now, in Brandon's head this is where it came from, but it's still possible that there's a larger connection between the Kalad glyph and Kalad being a person on Nalthis, but as I said, the languages of the cosmere all came from somewhere, so it could be explained away as being related to the Dawnchant. Another thing to think about, Kalad from Warbreaker was much more recent than the Alethi language (and by extension, the Dawnchant). Kalad was at most 700 years before SA, whereas the Alethi language evolved since at least the Heirocracy.

I'm beginning to suspect that Nalthis and Roshar are more tied together than we know. There's also a Shash glyph in Warbreaker, or word at least, which is Alethi for 'dangerous'. There could be a connection related to the Dawnchant, but I doubt it has anything to do with Vasher specifically.

Storrrrrrms those are some good answers! You may want to put the one about Ambition in spoiler tags, just in case someone is sensitive. Also, do you think you might be able to inbox a curious Sharder about the Unpublished Work question?