Quiver

Honestly, I think Gavilar was playing a game of his own; I'd like to think Gavilar was ultimately a good man (though his association with Amaram and Taravangian point otherwise). I think he had his own agenda that none of his successors were aware of. Taravangian and Amaram both seem certain Gavilar was on their side, but when he was dying, he told Dalinars to "Find the most important words a man can say". That, to me, sounds like he had his own goal. After all, he was dying; would it have been much more of a stretch to say something like 'Trust Amaram' if their goals were wholly aligned? Of course, I also thought Amaram would be a hero, so my track record sucks.

I am the voice of discontent! Honestly, it might be because I had it highly recommended, but I didn't think it was that great. There was really cool parts across the two books- particularly the Guiles- and I appreciated the more Renaissance flavour the series had. I found it a little difficult to track the differences between the magic systems, but that's a personal failing. And most of those positives carried onto Blinding Knife. So why don't I love this book? At times, I felt like the prose was immature, and most of that came from Kip. It seemed every other thought he had was either something to do with sex or bodily actions, and it bothered me. I also thought there was a certain amount of...convenience involved with the ending. That said, I'm going to read the third one when it's released. I'd say check it put, but I can't say to put it to the top of your reading list because, personally speaking, it just wasn't my cup of tea. (Probably didn't help that it was what I read between Warbreaker and Way of Kings.)

" the cremling said.

I have such mixed feelings about the Shannara books... because Voyage of the Jerle Shannara was one of the first fantasy books I ever read, and at the time I thought it was incredible. I picked up the first trilogy a few years ago and...huh. Sword of Shannara was pretty awful; it felt like Brooks was trying to condense all three Lord of the Rings into a single novel a fraction of the size- what a surprise that it was rather predictable and (in my opinion) didn't work. The Elfstones and Wishsong were significant improvements, particularly since Brooks started doing his own 'thing', but the foundation for the world was too weak for me to get invested in it. There was a second quadrilogy, I think, and I know I read at least the first two books of that; but aside from thinking "Wow, Walker is so much more interesting than Allanon", I can't remember a thing about them. Which may be damning in itself.

Not exactly much point in voting, given the overwhelming cry for Swimms gills, so I'm going to abstain. It's not much different from what I've been doing this whole game, except this time I'm actively choosing not to take part, rather than being too busy to take part. ...It's a valid difference.

Random point, and one of (in my opinion) the flaws of the MCU in general; what is SHIELD? The acronym has had plenty of meanings over the years, but I believe the MCU uses Strategic Homeland. So... is SHIELD an exclusively American organisation? Honestly... that's rather bothered me. I loved in the comics when it got expanded to an international force, working for the UN. At least that way it feels more appropriate when they get invovled internationally, because... Yeah. This might alienate some of this board, but I agree; I enjoy films which examine that idea of...well, Team AMERICA! (Storm Yeah!) Is it a fair? Probably not; after all, most big Hollywood blockbusters are made in America, for American audiences. The Marvel films come from franchises primarily based in New York But then, I wouldn't say it was fair for everyone in the world to be waiting for America to fight back in Independence Day, either. Never thought of it as Shardplate before. I actually didn't think there was much of a need for the metal arm here; if they were going to stick with the Winter Soldiers design, they really should have built up to it in the first film. It made the flashback of him losing it feel spliced in, and, honestly, if Bucky had been running missions with the Howling Commando's after having an arm amputated? That would have been badass. And, something else I just realised about his design... he falls into that old cliché, where the villain conceals his face for the entire movie until we know his identity. He was wearing his Bane-mask in all his appearances until we found out who he was, and then never again. Strange. Has Agents picked up? I watched the first half of the season and while there was good stuff in it (MELINDA MAY IS AWESOME), I also found it sort of...average. And then it took a hiatus. I've been recording all the episodes to watch in one long burn.

Don't have my copy of Mistborn, but when talking about Vins allomantic strength, I thought there was a scene between Kelsier and Sazed after the Kelsier-Vin coin pushing match. I may be misremembering, but I could have sworn there was an exchange where Kelsier comments that Vins steel pushes were very powerful considering how small she was, Sazed responding that everyone has different allomantic strength, and Kelsier off-handedly dismissing that as an explanation.

Theory is perhaps the wrong word, but we don't have a 'nonsense Quiver musings' forum (YET) so this will have to so. So, we know from Dalinars visions that the Shards are bound by some sort of rules. He suggests that Dalinars try and force Odium into appointing a champion as the best course of action. Recently, I've been wondering about whether or not we've already seen an instance of another Shard appointing a champion. As the title of the thread may imply, I'm suggesting it's Vin. Vin, unless I'm seriously misremembering WoB/Mistborn, was perfectly placed to act opposing Ruin. Kelsier commented that her allomancy was stronger than his, by a seemingly unnatural gap. She was able to burn from the mists, which I believe was a fairly unique ability. And it all topped itself off with her taking Preservation and opposing Ruin directly.

Oh. Harmony. This chapter needs a warning tag, Feather. I'll edit this post when I get to the end. Or maybe that should be if I get to the end. I never knew pain until the pun war. Ouch. Scene One Puns aside... Nice scene. Rachael showing up with the duffle bag is curious. Yeah, she produced cooking supplies from it, but my first impression was that she was going to be staying with Katie for a while. And I must unexpectedly leave, so I'll pick this up later, once the wounds have healed. EDIT That was a... larger gap than I intended. Still, finally getting back to my Scroungers commentary, which I'll pick up from Scene Two, for freshness. Scene Two Okay, so... there is a ncie bit of irony in Seiko being the one to point out the dangers of inter-office romances, though I really appreciate the fcat that Zhu didn't throw that fact back in his face. Though, I have to admit... I agree with Psycho on this. Katie's actions were fairly... unreliable. Her attitude during that whole hijacking mission was so intense that it's good to see her be called out on it. So far, most of the blame for things done in moments of passion have been laid at Sylvie's feet, so it's good to see some of the blame get spread around. I'm also interested in Zhu's reaction, because... again, I can't help but contrast it to Sylvie or Miranda. Zhu has been very level-headed with everyone regarding the mistakes they've made -she's a good leader in that regard- but I do wonder how much (if any) favouritism she might show for Katie. Of course, that's the kind of accusation that you can't really fight; she tries to by pointing out Katie's financial skills and the contributions she brings to the team beyond being scary-as-all-hell when you threaten her girlfriend, but Seiko is right in that those other skills wouldn't have been useful if they'd died, and Zhu bringing them up (in this context) almost seems like rationalising things. TLDR; drama! Uncertain character motivations! I love it! I'm guessing that this scene is also setting the tone for the rest of it, with the characters 'de-briefing' one-on-one with Zhu and each other, similarly to the previous epilogues. Maybe I should read the rest of the session before commenting, but given the interaction with Katie (my initial reaction to the duffle bag was that she was sleeping over), and this meeting with Seiko, things are becoming more... personal. It's odd maybe (I blame the fact we see them cooking the food this time), but it does have a more intimate sense to it than the earlier briefings, or even the party, had. Almost more of a familial tone. Scene Three And from a family setting to a college dorm room. Okay, maybe it's sexist of me, but I have to admit, when I read Katie dropping onto her bed and having a conversation with fiVe about their girlfriends, my mind went to the cliché. But, there is some other stuff besides that which I can point out though! The first being... I think this scene really seals the deal (as far as I'm concerned) on fiVe being Katie's best friend in the group. Yes, I realise we only see a fraction of the Scroungers interactions and it's entirely possible she hangs out with Miranda outside the sessions, and there is previously established backstory with Sylvie... but in the course of the game, I'm actually not sure how many of the Scroungers she's really interacted with personally. The one I remember clearly is her conversation with Eleanor, way back in Act One, but since then... Well, it's why I was so glad to see her snap when Zhu's life was in danger. She's been the responsible one, in charge of leading everyone on the team, and I don't think she's gotten particularly close to any of the members. fiVe is the exception, given their shared connection of having their 'creators' wanting to 'fix' them, and because of Katie's protection of her... but this scene makes me wonder whether or not she's managed to basically isolate herself from her entire time. It's kind of significant, particularly given Seiko's concerns raised in the last scene, and it kind of gives his concerns about Katie more weight. I don't doubt that she is well-intentioned, and his concerns are those of something on the ground looking up at the boss... but it makes it a lot easier to understand where he's coming from, in my opinion. Scene. Four I think this scene helps reinforce the pint I made about the Scroungers, in some way, becoming more like a family. This is pretty much the first time they've been in a situation with Zhu which has no social constrictions- even at their party there was sort of an unspoken etiquette and rules laid down regarding when they would be leaving. This is much more informal than that, and the image of a group gathering around the dinner table is a pretty powerful image of family. And Katie, being late, makes me think of her as the patriarchal figure. It's my own baggage, I'm sure, but Zhu's preparation of the meal, promising a gift to the members, and even her conspiratorial glances with Katie make me think of her more as the 'mother' figure. I know Charon is a reference to something, but O can't for the life of me think what it is. Is that the name of the man who pilots the boat across the river Styxx? I appreciated the recap here. This seems like the Act which has had the most balls in the air, and I'll admit to getting a little confused at the relationships between them at times; having the exact state of affairs spelled out was a great help. And...yes Sylvie. Using a gift of gratitude to ask to fix fiVe without her permission would be a bad thing. Scene Five fiVes guilt over what happened strikes with me in a personal way. I can really emphasise with her concerns over being broken, and her guilt about panicking and glitch ing; something she can't control, but which she still feels responsible for. I ought to say more, but... as I said, in some ways, I took this scene rather personally, so I'd rather leave it for a bit. Scene Six Another scene I think I should say more about than I'm going to. It doesn't seem to have much significance to. The meta plot, but I think this (and the previous scene) help establish the Scroungers as having Ives beyond what we see in the transcripts. Them making plans to meet up for dinner/strip poker, or Seiko having other assassination jobs, is a nice reminder that they do have things going on beyond what we see and helps flesh them out. And 'our' place indeed. Hehehe. Scene Seven Okay, so the first half, with Sylvie asking for Zhu's 'blessing'? Made me giggle. I might have to use the "I'm brain damaged" line next time I word something poorly. Besides that, I'll admit to being a little surprised at how the favour has worked out. I thought it would have been saved to get something 'big', but then, this is a very-character driven game, so I suppose it makes more sense for the favour to be used on something relationship related. The line about Mike needing to move on is... well, as Sylvie says, ominous. Almost makes me wodner if Serman was onto something when he mentioned Mike's boyfriend before. And I feel compelled to over-analyse Zhu's comment about Sylvie's jacket, but damnation it, I can't think of any extreme connection for it either. I FEEL LIKE GAVIN IS TAUNTING ME. Scene Eight Huh. Mike and Zhu? That's interesting. Kind of makes me wonder if Sherman's reference to his 'boyfriend' was intended as a derogatory insult, subtle foreshadowing, or just a throwawy line I'm looking too much into. Again, there isn't too much I can say here, because this scene sort of.... hits me in a personal way in regards to Mike. Besides him though... I feel like there's something going on here about identity again. Of course, anytime Sylvie mentions about who she is that becomes a laoded topic, since she has fiVe and Vee running around as externalisations of her as well, and there's stuff to analyse about how much she relies on them, the idea of Vee being a recursive program feeding back into Sylvie as an affirmation of 'This is who I am, and that's okay'... but I think I've mentioend all that stuff a few times by now : P Scene Nine After the trouble with Miranda's suits earlier in the Act, having her brign them up again now is a nice way to tie off that thread. I admit, I've been a little... confused about Mira's situation soemtimes- namely with regards to whether she is parapalegic, or if she was actually missing limbs which were replaced by the suits. Her mentioning this neurotech has cleared that up a little bit. And... okay, Zhu has a point that other people on the team have messed up, for equally emotional reasons. Not really much to add, on a critical side, to that, but... I like hearing my thoughts be echoed by the characters. Unlike Katie, Miranda has been so much more of a... social part of the team, and engaged with them, that it's easier to overlook the times she does it. Because the team haven't talked to Katie, she's a bit more isolated from them, so it's easier for them to call her out on it- the same way they found it easy to turn on Sylvie way back when. I'm curious to see how Katie's dynamic with ehr team is going to change going forward. Scene Ten I suppose if I want to get meta and nitpickey I could say that I sort of wish Avery was a player character, because it would seem like a sweeter scene coming as a conversation between Gavin and someone else, rather than Gavin alone... but that's metagaming nitpickery. But like I say, the scene itself? It's sweet. Or... well, maybe sweet isn't the right word? But it's nice to see someone get to meet their hero, and the fact that in this case, said hero is also responsible for helping said fan with their identity issues is nice. It also offers a pretty interesting look into Zhu's role in the world. I know that there were hints as to how important she was earlier, with the dirft pilots basically being minor celebrities, but the impact that she's had on Doyle (and, presumably, others), both in embracing who they are and encouraging change, goes a long way to building her stature. And (perverse as it may sound), I'm kind of glad to see the idea of prejudices being addressed. Like with Katie's conflicts with her parents over her sexuality, the fact that Doyle and Zhu have had to struggle with how society has responded to them makes them stronger and more interesting characters. Oh, and I learned a new pronoun. That was nice. Which is strange to say, because Mx itself sounds and looks like a nice word too lol. Scene Eleven Okay... first of all, I agree with Miranda's viewpoint, particularly with regards Sylvie backing off if fiVe isn't ready. That beign said, she has really lousy timing. She couldn't leave the conversation until Sylvie wasn't suffering a brain injury? Okay, it would have disrupted the narrative flow of this scene as an epilogue and left an untidy loose end, but still! That aside, though, this scene, again, pushes up the situation witht eh Sylvies, and I appreciate that, as usual. Honestly, the most interesting thing about this section to me is Mike, albeit it for reasons I can't quite explain. Given what we now know about his past and wanto-to-be relationship with Zhu, I find his reaction to Sylvie trying to 'fix' fiVe very interesting. The fact that it's him saying she's wrong is what seems to push Sylvie towards realising 'Hey, maybe reprogramming a living being is a bad thing' also shows how dependant she is on him; after all, while Miranda's understanding of the situation comes from her memories and Mira's time with fiVe; Mike is a totally impartial figure. Scene Twelve STORM IT. I wrote up an analysis of this and lost it... well, short version is that I like it. I liked the reverse of Vee trying to cheer Mike up to him cheering her up, I liked the slow development of Vee's epiphany, with her moving from saying I/she to uses plurals, and I was really itnerested by her adopting fiVe's mannerisms with the glitchy static for a swear word and wanting to be touched. Scene Thirteen Hey, look! An actual criticism! I don't know how I feel about this scene, to be honest. On the one hand... Sylvie and Miranda coming to the same realisation as Mike and Vee is a good parrallel, and if it hadn't happened, it probably would have resulted in some chapters of relative wheel-spinning. At the same time... I dunno. Having Sylvie and Mike rconcile so quickly after their first fight... Hm. Obviously there's still a lot of development for them to do, especialy since Sylvie's first reaction to Vees independance was to deny it, but... it feels a little too close to the magical make-up she mentioned wanting. Or maybe that's what people call a 'mature relationship'. I wouldn't know; either way... that part sort of struck me as a little strange. That said... that ending. I think, afetr seeing Vee be 'the nice one' for msot of the game, her snapping right now seems more powerful. The cruelity in her voice and the fact she wants to spend the first few hours as a real person in agonising pain again makes me think that she is, conciously or otherwise, trying to imitate fiVe's experience. I doubt it will end well for any of them. On a light hearted note... the comment about the SylVees leather 'casings' made me giggle. Scene Fourteen was well-written, and that's all I'm going to say. Though, does Vees reference to being strung up and facing the winds mean Sylvie's a Kaladin fangirl? : P Scene Fifteen Um... question. What's Get Smart, and is there a specific reason why Miranda would be worried after calling Katie Maxwell? From the title, I assumed it was a simple case of her calling Katie dumb, but it kind of sounds... more serious than that. Besides that though, this is basically a conversation I've wanted to see ever since Katie went Rambo, so I don't have much to say on it, other than that I was satisfied, and I want to see what happens now. And I feel gratified in being somewhat close with Katie's irresponsible behaviour. Scene Sixteen So... again, the fact that we see Rachel Zhu, Jaeger Pilot, Marshall of the Shatterdome, doing something as banal as washing dishes kind of re-enforces (in my mind) the idea of the Scroungers as a familial unit, as well as her role as the maternal figure to the group. And, while this scene has a lot of stuff with fiVe and Vee... I'm kind of most interested in Rachel. There are a few lines where Vee glitches, or describes her pain, which I've been comparing to fiVe, but Zhu's implicit comparision of her situation and Vees (describing it as a 'transition')kind of makes me approach it in a different way... and her line about this being her community service has me intrigued. It might just be as simple as fiVe assumes, with her having accidently killed someone... but with the choice of the word martyr and all the information we've recieved about Zhu, and the prejudice she faced transitioning, I wonder if that has something to do with it. Scene Seventeen And... shopping and home life pregnancies. Again, fairly ordinary every-day subjects for a crack team of semi-covert operatives to be engaging in... a family on the other hand... Scene Eighteen MIRANDA CALLED YOU AN EXTENDED FAMILY. MY HEADCANON IS RIGHT. I WIN. Oh, uh... besides that... damnation. I agree with Miranda; you guys were so close to getting out of there on a positive note that having it melt down at the last minute, especially after an otherwise "good" evening kind of made me sad. And Sylvie's dream was rather... frightening? Not the right word for it; but even before Miranda said it was her memories, I had a feeling it was Significant, simply by virtue of it being a dream. As much as I do agree with Seiko- Sylvie can be a little self-pitying sometimes- that girls head must be getting crowded by now. And the thing about Zhu crying and going to prison makes me more curious about her past. Scene Ninetten Huh. You know, I think I remember you mentioning an inhaler waaaay back during Act One, but I think this is the first time that we've seen the effect it has on Seiko. And what an effect; the way he was struggling, and the things he was coming out with are so at odds with how he normally acts that it was more than just a little surprising. And the daughter of the first man he killed? I'm sure that won't ever come up again. Besides that though... I like de Banns. No offence -since I'm enjoying the story- but I like having a level-headed, non-romantically entangled character, and I'm curious to see what happens with her from now on. Besides that though this was a good (and long) epilogue to the Act, so... yeah.

Uh... sorry. This may be a dumb question, but what's CrossGen? I'm rather intrigued by the idea of these connective worlds- one of the books that I read when getting into fantasy was the Dark Tower after all- but other than sequel or sidequel series like Shanarra or Moorcocks Champion stories, I've never really seen a connected universe with a cohesive story the same way Brandon's done it.

Ditto. It vanishes once I leave or renter the topic. It's also not appearing on every reply, and in fact has gotten really infrequent.

Warbreaker is my favourite cosmere book. Which isn't to say it's Brandon's best book. Because it isn't. For a stand alone novel, it leaves plot threads unanswered- how can Vasher live without the divine breath? How do the Royal Lockes fit in?- and like Grey Pilgrim says, the off-screen ending bothers me a little. I still love it though. Siri and Susebron remain, I think, the best romance Brandon's written. People might dislike her, but I find Vivennas situation and character arc fascinating- and one which reminds me of Kelsier in a way, using a noble cause to rationalise her racism (xenophobia? Not sure what the best word for it is). I just love the tone. In an age whenever all fantasy seems to be epic, it was a nice surprise to pick up a relatively light book. Warbreaker, to me, was both more lighthearted than Mistborn, with it's talking swords and awakened objects, and darker, as in the case of Denth and Pahn Kahl. It also came out at a time when I was reading sword and sorcery novels, which is how I classify Warbreaker.

I haven't posted (yet), but that's because of the fantastic misfortune in this game starting right when I began trying to write. I'm reading through the rules and the posts thoug, so I'll try to get a 'real' post up soon.

This epigraph, more than any of the others, interests me. It hints at the influence of the Shards of Adonalsium on Roshar in the past and in the present, which still being vague enough to make it's true meaning indecipherable. Unlike most (but not all) of the other epigraphs, it doesn't seem to be delivered in the first person -though if it is, it raises more questions about how aware of the cosmere the forces of Roshar are. The biggest question it raises, of course, is "who is the Broken One". I realise the obvious answer (given the reference to the three and the sixteen) is that it's Odium. Of course, I dislike obvious answers, so I thought it might not be a bad idea to make a list of the potential suspects, and what that might mean moving forward. Odium- As I said, the obvious choice. He is one of the Sixteen Shards, and has succeeded in killing Honor. If Wyndle's words are taken at face value, and Honor's death caused Cultivation to effectively give up on humans, that would leave Odium as the only "reigning" Shard by default. There's also something to be said for how fragmented certain lands, like Alethkar, are; the Thrill inspires a battle frenzy and a hatred that could be compared to Odium's influence. And, frankly, as a epithet, 'The Broken One' is a pretty awesome name for a villain. On the other hand, it's also sort of obvious that Odium would be the main villain. There's also some pretty big questions raised by it; in what way is he broken that separates him from Honor, Cultivation or any of the other Shards? They are all Broken, in the sense that Adonalsium was shattered, and while Rayse may be villainous, we also know he's purposeful. He doesn't seem to fit the idea of someone who is broken in a metaphorical sense. There's also the issue of his reigning over Roshar; Odium's main base is Braize, and while he may have power and influence on Roshar,. he certainly doesn't rule it. Isn't part of his motivation, specifcally, to destroy Roshar and recover what he's invested in it? That said, it might be intended to stand as an example of a poor king, using his land and subjects to his own end. Cultivation- According to Wyndle has withdrawn and given up on humanity. It might seem that leaves her unlikely to 'reign', but quitting on something would seem to be the direct opposite of her Intent. If 'broken' is meant in a metaphorical way, it might be a reference to her turning her back so decisively on her Intent. Even if she doesn't actually actively rule in any capacity, the fact that she is the only Shard left on Roshar would make her the ruler by default. Furthermore, if she (or a Cultivationspren) is the Nightwatcher, it might emphasise that point even more; she deals out gifts and pubishments, like a king rewarded or punishing subjects. Honor- is dead. Which would make him pretty unlikely. But that does leave the Stormfather- by his own admission, the Stormfather is a 'part' of Honor thats been 'broken' off from Tanavast. Unlike the other two Shard powers, the Stormfather is more than a little active on Roshar. His Highstorms have actively shaped the life and culture of virtually every nation on Roshar. His storms appear to travel the world (a trek arguably comparable to Nohadon, to connect to the 'king' theme I keep harping on about). Spen- like the Stormfather, they are broken pieces of creation, and a virtually omni-present part of Rosharan life. They have a strong foothold in Roshar, they are capable of changing Parshendi forms, granting Surgebinding abilities, and Syl and Wyndle both express desires to make their bonded companions 'better', by living up to their ideals as Radiants. Jezrien- A semantic point mostly; he's the first character in the series to be explicitly described as broken, and that came from the thoughts of someone who had known him for a very long time. There are lots of theories on this forum about how Jezrien could have been 'broken' over time, or twisted in some other way. Knights Radiant- the crackpot theory, but hear me out. The term broken is used in reference to surgebinders; they are broken, cracking the soul, allowing the magic of creation to fill it. While the epigraph seems to suggest that the Broken One is a member of the sixteen, who is to say that that's the case? During Dalinar's visions, Nohadon laments that not all spren are as discerning as Honorspren, and we've seen Stormform as an example of that. What if the epigraph of the Broken One (like the one about protecting the one who killed my promises) is a prophecy of the future? That rather than any of the Shards, the ruler of Roshar is a surgebinder, or an unscrupulous Knight Radiant? Eshonai describes the voice inside as both being herself, and being something distinct and different- something that could be argued as having her identity broken. Adolin's murder of Sadeas looks like something that will have repurcussions down the line, and I suspect that it's going to be traumatic enough to attract a spren. If so, he's the son of the Highprince of War, and Sadeas suggested he would make a good ruler; maybe book five will end with Adolin ascening to the Throne of Alethkar? Or...Szeth. Who is just all kinds of broken. Any other suggestions for the Broken One?

I'm not sure if it was WoB or just close reading of the book, but yeah, we know what became of the Kandra. The 'Faceless' servants of Harmony, the ones who act as his agents on Scadrial? That's the Kandra. One of them gave Wax his earring, and I believe we know that another one replaced someone during the book.

Any idea on who is writing the White Sand graphic novel? Will they be adapting the version Brandon's written, working off of a revised outline, or doing their own thing in that world, Dark Tower-style. Naturally, this is assuming Brandon wouldn't write it himself- but I'm not sure how his style would translate to a comic book. I've thought his magic systems would work better visually than they do in writing- it can be a little difficult to 'track' two aerial objects in prose- but writing for comics is as distinct as writing a play would be. Not saying that he couldn't do it, and it would be an interesting experiment if the cosmere range expanded to original audio dramas for instance... but I'd be remiss if I didn't raise concerns. Anyway, back to Hoid You Like It, A Midfest Nights Dream, and The Highstorm I think...

Neat! Hope you don't mind me making a new post to cover this add-on, rather than just editing my previous one. Firstly... random question. How did this scene work? I assume Gavin was the one playing Zhu; was ze also the one playing Sherman? If that's the case, I'm kind of curious how that scene was played out. Did the two of you do this separately with Vee? Or was it done at the end of the session with Gavin, basically, talking to zeself? (And... this is where my failure of non-binary gender propnouns fails me, so... if I messed up, please let me know so I can fix it.) Secondly, it might be the fact the session ended with such a 'wrap-up' line, or that it was like that for long-enough that I got used to it, but I have to admit, I kind of consider this scene to be more like an epilogue than a "last part", particularly given what I said above, about it featuring almost exclusively NPCs. On the positive side... Zhu is a badass. This isn't exactly 'new' information, but it still needs to be said. Her interrogation of Sherman (however it was handled by Gavin) feels very natural, and not as if the plot was being forced along. I also liked Sherman. It was another bot of a twist, given how he came across before this session, but it does make him seem a lot more complicated. Honestly, it makes me kind of disappointed; I was sort of hoping that we would see him again, after this. It's always possible he could reappear later, while hunting Yegerov, but still. He seems to me to be the most complex of the NOCs so far, and I'd be interested in seeing more of him.

I'm going to throw out a curve ball here, as a candidate for the champion of Honor: Elhokar. "But Quiver!" you say. "Elhokar is an idiot! He whines, he's a drunk, he's basically a puppet dancing on a set of strings." Exactly. I can't draw on sources from what we've seen so far, since even after he decided he was going to do better and win over the kingdom, and Kaladin, he was treated like an infant by Lopen's mother. It might be a little... awkward, once the story is over, to go back and see the Champion of Honor being babied that way. That's exactly why it should happen. First- for me, all of the characters at the moment seem too obvious as potential Champion candidates. Kaladin is bonded to an Honorspren, Dalinar was judged honorable enough to recieve the Stormfather's visions, Adolin's talents as a duelist might fit well with the Champion angle... it all fits together very neatly, and the only question is which of them it would be. It being someone who wasn't even in the running, like Elhokar, would be all the more surprising. Secondly-It would really make the plot in WoR more ironic in retrospect, if the man targeted (for perfectly understandable reasons) ended up being the man to save the world. Thirdly- Elhokar has decided he wants to win the people over, to the point he wants to learn from Kaladin how to be a hero. We have to wait for Stones Unhallowed to see if that resolution holds up when he isn't halfway down a bottle, but it indicates a direction his character arc could take. In fact, it kind of parrallels the journey Dalinar took between the Prologue and the modern day. Dalinar's life changed when he was too drunk at a feast, leading him to dedicate his life to becoming a more honorable person. Who is to say Elhokar won't do the same? Fourthly- Elhokar isn't sheltered or incompetent. He's only had one moment to strut his stuff, that's true, but remember what it was. He ripped a gemheart out of a Chasmfiend and was surrounded with gloryspren. He impressed the nobles who accompanied them there. Gloryspren (if I recall correctly) are exceedingly rare, so I think any instance they appear can be considered important. Fifth- The Stormlight Archive contains questions about kingsmanship. The Way of Kings details Nohadon's beliefs on how a king should act. Dalinar's story arc invovles him being reluctant to divest power to anyone other than himself. The leader of the Heralds was a king. It just strikes me as being rather appropriate that the Champion of Honor would be a king as well- a king who has learned what his title means, and how he has to act to protect the people.

Welcome to the forum, and I love the user name. Makes me think of a range of cullinary cosmere delights. As for the theory... well, I'd suggest posting that in the Cosmere theories section, to get more of a response to it. My only response to it, right now, is that I think that any Shard would dramatically alter another's intent.

Just how strong is your cognitive awareness of your existence, on the scale of 'I am a Stick' to 'I am a Stick?'

Hey, welcome to the forum, mister... japanese wolf chicken? Well... you're profile picture is certainly unique, I'll give you that on lol. But yes, welcome. The Elimination Games are a lot of fun (even if I'm not very good at them), so I hope to see you there. I'm really not the person to be talking about it, but if you're a gamer, I'd really recommend checking out the Mistborn Adventure Game stuff that Claincy posts.

I have to admit, I still have a Sliver of hope that a decent pun will survive our Chulling.

Once I rode at the vanguard of the Everstorm itself, sweeping death and change across a continent. Now I can tap and store attributes? Correction: attribute Whoever stole from me my destiny has made a...less powerful enemy. Threats don't work when they are just empty words.

River Song Says- Spoilers! Besides that though, take Edgedancer and EMTrevor's advice and read Warbreaker. It's my favourite Brandon Book.

Words of Radiance spoilers!