Moist_von_Lipwig

Adolin. because a) Live triangles are annoying and overdone b ) Adolin and Shallan are a good match c) Sylphrena is the only girl Kaladin needs

Although I doubt the Alethi have considered building metal structures, The bridges could be soulcast into metal, which would surely remove the weight issue that Brandon mentioned. Though as Kurk pointed out, stone bridges are hardly difficult to build on Earth, with higher gravity, and where we don't have to ability to transform a prefabricated wooden structure into solid rock/metal. Cost could be an issue, but probably not. The Alethi are willing to soulcast enough buildings in the warcamps to create a veritable city, but some bridges are too expensive? I don't buy it. More likely explanations are that the Alethi never considered the idea, or they were unwilling to take their soulcasters out onto the plains where the Parshendi could possibly try and take them.

I doubt that light-weaving was involved in this incident, it's unlikely that Shallan had light-weaving abilities that many years ago. But your point about the use of the word monster is very interesting. Perhaps this relates to the fact that there are multiple bodies that have apparently been killed by different means. The NPAM could have been a weapon (shardblade?) used by one of the dead individuals to kill Shallan's mother, an object like that might seem monstrous to a child. Shallan may have then killed the assassin/killer after seeing her mother killed, but the fact that child Shallan killed a person could lead her to view herself as a monster. Edit: Alternative theory, the NPAM was already in the strongbox. Whatever it is it could have been put in there by Shallan's father before this incident. When she asked what was in there, Shallan's father could have told her a monster was inside. Then someone comes along looking to steal it, but things go awry and he ends up killing Shallan's mother and getting killed himself.

My last post wasn't that clear. I think it's very unlikely Adolin is just going to happen to be in his shardplate when Szeth shows up. What I was getting at though, is that there seems to be a general assumption around here that Szeth is just going to saunter in and go at it one-on-one with Kaladin while everyone else sits back and watches the fireworks. There's a lot of capable warriors who have a high chance of being in the vicinity when Szeth strikes. Unless he actively plans to get Dalinar alone there's a whole heap of people who might make things difficult for Szeth: - Kaladin - Bridge 4 - Dalinar himself (doesn't have shards, but worth mentioning) - Adolin (even without his plate he's still am amazing swordsman) - Renarin (doubt he himself will be much use but he does have shards, maybe he could lend his blade to Dalinar?) - Amaram (he's around now, he's a shardbearer, he's buds with dalinar) - Elhokar (Full shardbearer, almost always wearing his plate, probably not the most capable warrior though) Now it's entirely possible that none of these will be around at the time of the attack. But given Szeth's track record, i find it unlikely that he'll go in quiet. So there's a chance a few of them could be around, which is going to make this one of Szeth's harder fights at the very least.

As for Szeth v Kaladin, there's also the question of backup to take into account. At the very least we can assume that other bridge 4 members will be there. Now they may not be surge-binders (yet?), but they are still capable warriors trained by Kaladin, who crucially have some prior knowledge of Wind-runner abilities. This should allow them to make Szeth's life a lot harder if they are fighting alongside Kaladin. Then there's also the question of others, particularly Adolin. Dalinar himself mentioned that Adolin was a 'genius with the blade'. Adolin with plate and blade could prove to be an opponent on par with Gavilar or better. And Gavilar almost had Szeth beat. If we have Adolin + kaladin + bridgemen guards I don't think Szeth will be winning this one.

I understand what your asking, and I'm fairly certain we haven't had any confirmation on whether the ideals need to be spoken in a given order. This was my earlier question regarding Lift. We know lift has spoken at least 1 ideal, and that that ideal wasn't the 1st Ideal (Life Before Death, Strength Before Weakness, Journey Before Destination). We have no indication on if she has spoken the 1st ideal before the events of her interlude. We also don't know if the ideal she did speak is the 1st Edgedancer ideal, it could have been ideal number 5 for all we know. Edit: Now that I think about it, it would make more practical sense that ideals would be spoken in the order you 'understand' them. Kaladin could have spoken the 1st ideal first because teft told him what it was, so he had time to think on it's meaning. He then spoke the 2nd ideal in a situation where he had a choice to fight for others, causing him to 'understand' it at that point.

As far as questions are concerned there's a massive thread devoted to it here: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/383-the-ultimate-list-of-questions-for-brandon/

But we've seen indication that Surgebinders returning may be bad somehow. If they knew Jasnah was a surgebinder they might want to off her because of that. But I agree it's a little shakey and the opposite may also be true. Also, to clarify, I was suggesting that Mr T having prominent leaders killed could be part of a plan to weaken nations and seize control of their governments, and Shallan's father's plans could coincide with that, possibly. But again, it is just wild speculation on my part.

Greetings! Welcome to the forums! You're reasoning seems sound. As Moogle says, Kabsal failed, why would they just stop there? I also find it a strong possibility that Mr T. is in fact leading the Ghostbloods, if so that would strengthen the case that they're behind whatever happens on the ship. Mr. T leading them would fit. Think about it. he's having his minion assassinate leaders all over Roshar. Shallan's father was likely making a play for the throne, and he was working with the Ghostbloods. Part of a larger plan? Place agents/puppets in position to seize power, remove the previous leader and have your man take over. Viola, you now run the country.

Touched upon this in another thread. But I agree with you that he wont get his third ideal until the end of his Amaram story arc. It's probably going to be towards the end of the book, at a point where Kaladin is faced with a choice. As in tWoK where he was faced with "turn and run or fight for others?" when he saved Dalinar's army. I agree with Moogle (edit: and don_karma_II) that it will probably be Leadership related. Personally I like the sound of "I will lead others to act with honour."

I chose Shallan, but Dalinar is a close second. It's seems Shallan runs into some trouble in the first few chapters, perfect time to speak an ideal and get a power-up. Plus she's been given Words of Radiance by Jasnah, which must surely have some info on the Ideals of the Lightweavers. And besides, like you said, it is her book after all. Dalinar I think is due to come into his powers himself, but again, probably during a moment of crisis, like whatever Navani's journal was referring to. Plus, he's read the Way of Kings multiple times, whose teachings the Radiant's based their Ideals on after all. I see Kaladin getting Ideal three in this book, put probably more towards the end. I think he'll have to go through his Amaram story arc before he can reconcile and advance to the next ideal. Again I see it being at a moment when Kaladin faces a personal choice, choosing 'correctly' unlocks ideal 3. Renarin I could see becoming friends with Kaladin, maybe he'll ask Kaladin to train him in his newly acquired shards? Not sure when he'll get an ideal though, if he is a radiant at all. Adolin? still a ways to go. Unlikely in this book. at the end earliest. Elhokar, probably not in this book. Same again for bridge four. thought maybe some will start to attract spren. Jasnah? She's done a lot of research on this. She may of spoken 2 ideals already. That seems unlikely but you never know. if she hasn't, we'll see an ideal i would think. Lift, going with no more on this one. An interesting question though, is at what point did Lift speak ideal #1? Wild cards? In the Interludes maybe.

So here are my thoughts on these chapters: 10 - This chapter raised a lot of questions - Who was the other body? - Did Shallan kill him? Did she kill any of them, or did she do something else? - That Lullaby is certainly interesting, surely it must reference something. Similar to Jasnah using children's stories in here research in WoK. - The Safe. What's in the Safe!? Fellow redditors should understand my pain with this one. Please don't be that OP Brandon. 12 - More Bridge 4 Shenanigans. Awesome - The interactions between these lot just gets better and better, a shame to think that some of bridge 4 probably wont make it through the series. - Sigzil and Jasnah are almost made for each other given their personalities. - Lopen and rock are amazing, right Gancho? - A lack of Syl in this chapter - That fight scene was great. Kaladin's abilities feel different from Szeth's somehow, maybe it's just how he's using them. - That ending, that damnation ending. why must they torture us? 14 - Let's see Dalinar's plan get put into action. - The dynamic between the brothers is brilliant, though Adolin seems more childish so far in WoR. - Adolin feeling the thrill? very ominous. Though he had an interesting reaction to it. - Adolin kicking This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules and telling the judge how it is. - Renarin has a shardblade now, I don't like this. Though neither does Renarin apparently, so that's a good sign. I-1 - Seen this before, but we get some interesting new details this time. - Szeth has an honourblade, and the listners (they have a new name it seems) apparently know a bit about them. Did they posses one at some point perhaps? - Parshendi spies, though I don't think Shen is one of them, at least I kind of hope he isn't. - Who are their gods? Why does surgebinding risk their return? Is that why Gavilar risked the return of their gods? was he going to refound the Radiants? - Stormform sounds both awesome and terrifying. I have this vision of them bringing a highstorm against the Alethi and Kaladin raising his hand and stopping the storm. I think I rambled too much there. Lady Feather, you're reactions were brilliant. You remind me of how I imagine Syl sounding.

That scene raised so many questions, and offered very few answers. Tor and Brandon certainly got the hooks in us with this set of excerpts. None of the glowing objects we've seen in tWoK seem to fit for this scene. Lets look at the possibilities: A Shard-blade / Honour-blade - A sword that has just been used to kill someone could look like a monster in a child's eyes so that fits. We know that blades can glow, so that fits. But we haven't seen any modern day blades glow, why would this one be different? Even if it is an Honour-blade, it's essentially been confirmed now that Szeth has an Honour-blade, and there's been no mention of his glowing. The only blades we've seen that glowed were still in the hands of their original owners, so could this be a blade belonging to the herald that took their blade back, and thus why it still glows? -As for the other possibilities, there's been some speculation that it could be a larkin, but that doesn't seem to fit. It could also be a gem or a fabrial, but how would those be monsters? Or it could be something we haven't seen yet in the books. As for the lullaby, there has been speculation that it could refer to the shattered plains (note : chasms deep), or reference the way to Urithiru. Either way it is an odd lullaby, but may that's just the way its done on Roshar.

IT'S UP! Let the speculation commence. Dead on 17:00, Tor sure keep good time.

You sir, are clearly a voidbinder. All my up-votes to you. so we get 3 chapters and an Interlude this time, though I'm assuming the interlude is one that's already been released as part of the Steelhunt or in a reading.

I'm looking forward to the drunk-beggar-herald's PoV, should have some very interesting revelations. Like what colour of wine was in the flask he was reaching for? and answers to important question like, did they see him? Though on a serious note I'm guessing we'll see Elhokar's PoV as the next one. After that we'll see another character, I think Sadaes or Amaram seem most likely at the moment, since Dalinar was drunk most of the night like you so cunningly deduced. And my money is on us seing Gavilar's point of view for the final one. What could be more revealing that what was seen by the man himself that night. Edit: Good point, I forgot Eshonai was there, in that case I would say: Elhokar, Eshonai, Gavilar. are most likely.

@Natans This is what I was wondering. Do people on Roshar age differently compared to people on earth? for example, someone who is 50 on Roshar might have the body of a 40 year old on Earth. If people on Roshar do age slower than the Earth equivalent, it would be interesting to see what environmental factors affect this.

This is very interesting, all the characters are older by a few years than what I expected. Going on a slight tangent, have we had any word of the life expectancy on Roshar? I'd be interested to know if the characters are actually as old as they seem by Rosharan standards as opposed to ours.

The wording in that quote is interesting. How could Szeth's punishment, assuming his punishment is to be truthless, be related to the Voidbringers? But if his 'honour' demands that they do exist, clearly Szeth knows something about them. As for the Shin not needing warriors, I kind of envisage it as the rest of the nations training warriors to fight the Voidbringers, while the shin concentrate on providing resources for the armies and a place for them to fight from. I see what you mean with regards to Urithiru. From what we've heard about it, it seems its not in any 'normal' location. Shadesmar seems to be a popular theory as the location at the moment. But I'm not so sure that the case either. I don't think we have enough to go on for this, besides that it was west of Alethela, which isn't very specific. An interesting point about the stormlight. Has there been any confirmation on whether there is any stormlight in Shinovar? I know the storms are almost completely blocked by the mountains, but I think they still had some effect on Shinovar. Though if there is no stormlight, it might explain the lack of spren. Perhaps they need stormlight to survive? I forgot about that in Mistborn, I see the similarities. I suppose it's possible he'll do a similar idea in a different way. Good catch though.

Indeed. You see, this is what Brandon has done to us, with all the foreshadowing and referencing he does. The 17thShard is the sort of place where a theory stating "This rock was a different shade of brown to the other rocks. It clearly has great significance." probably wouldn't be that out of place.

In the Words of Radiance chapters released there is already evidence of him changing, or becoming different. It's very possible that he will learn to change form at some point. Or maybe he will become something slightly different from the other Parshendi due to being around a future Knight Radiant. If evil spren are what cause the Parshendi to change into the voibdringers, I wonder if the opposite is also possible. Radiantform? Honourform perhaps?

Hello Sandersonians! while perusing some of the topics on here an idea came to me, so I'm going to share with you all. I apologize if this has been covered before. My theory is thus. I am starting to believe that Shinovar is a kind of safe-haven, a fortress if you will, for when the final Dessolation/Everstorm comes. A place to safeguard the races of Roshar and to allow them to endure the coming trials. Here is some of my thinking behind this. Shinovar is protected from the Highstorms : Shinovar is at the far west of the continent of Roshar, and is surrounded by a large mountain range that breaks the fury of the Highstorms. This provides Shinovar with natural barriers, that would help protect against both Invading armies, and a calamity such as the Everstorm. Shinovar is particularly fertile, and the Shin place emphasis on food production: With the culture of Shinovar placing so much emphasis on farming and food production. And with a environment tailored to producing vast amounts of food. Shinovar would likely have large stocks of food, a resource which can quickly become scarce during times of large scale war, an is invaluable for mounting an effective resistance. This would allow Shinovar to house large numbers of refugees and large armies. The Shin seem to retain more ancient knowledge than other cultures: Szeth's existence would suggest that the Shin stone shamans have a knowledge of surgebinding that has been largely lost in other cultures. Knowledge that would no doubt prove useful when fighting the Voidbringers. Shinovar has a curious absence of Spren: I am unsure if this point would support of discount this theory. This absence of spren could be an advantage, we know there are some 'evil' spren, and it could be argued that the voidbrigers themselves are spren. Though this would also mean the absence of good spren like Syl. Shinovar may be 'the place nearest to Honour': In the tWok there is a quote stating that 'Urithiru was placed to the west of Alethela, in the place nearest to Honour'. While there are many places west of Alethela, Shinovar is a strong possibility. If Honour is indeed in the west of the continent, it would make sense to make your stand against the voidbringers here, where Honour's power would be strongest. *Small spoiler from Words of Radiance* So that is some of my thinking behind my theory. Shinovar is vastly different from the rest of Roshar, and I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to find out it was intended as bastion to fight the dessolations from. Thought I am still unsure on how much I like the validity of this theory, I think it has some merit. Thank you for reading such a long post. Thoughts everyone?

Yeah, we know too little at the moment to judge him. But from what we have seen he attempts to act honourably a majority of the time, and would seem to be working towards the greater good. Alas, sometimes it is those with the best of intentions that cause the most harm. We shall have to wait and see.

I'm interested to know just how widespread Parshmen really are. We know they are everywhere in Alethi culture, but I wonder if there are any nations where they are not used. Shinovar in particular comes to mind, it's so different from the other cultures of Roshar, I wouldn't be surprised to find out they don't use Parshmen.

I'm still undecided on whether this means Cryptics are unable to make themselves invisible. Here is the quote from the new chapters There is no mention of him being unable to. It may simply be that he is unwilling to, or that for some reason he is unable to at this point in time. Perhaps when he has spent longer with Shallan and regains his faculties he will decide to turn invisible. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see on this one.