Tarion

My first impressions. Not really of the content of the book, but it's significance. Spoiler free, but I don't want to be rubbing people's noses in it. The tl;dr is I'm excited for everyone else to read it

There's something about this in the annotations for one of the books (Well of Ascension, I think), when talking about Inquisitors. Basically, anyone who could burn Iron or Steel would be able to learn to see metals in everything. It's just a case of sensitivity and experience (which, looking back, seems to imply Savantism). I don't think it's too much of a stretch from seeing the lines to just requiring a particularly strong push (as granted by his weight and innate Allomantic strength) at that point.

Books 2 and 3 are a bit mixed. I found them really enjoyable on the first time through, but I've not been able to enjoy them nearly as much on the re-read. However, what I found really interesting was following along with Sanderson's annotations for each chapter on his website. Just avoid the hidden spoilers if it's your first time through. However, it's entirely worth powering through, because Alloy of Law is amazing. And if you're worried about an enemy nastier than the Lord Ruler, I'd definitely keep going. As for everything to do with Feruchemy, I think it's all covered by the end of book 3 (and if not, then by Alloy of Law). The reason that removing his embedded armbands was lethal was because he was having to draw them constantly to keep himself young. The moment it stopped, he began reverting to his real age (a thousand years old) which understandably, was less than healthy. As for the other methods of killing him, they'd work if they lasted long enough. But Gold compounders (People with access to both Gold abilities) can heal at a phenomenal rate. And the Lord Ruler had a moment or two to get the armbands back on before it became problematic. Flaying him, burning him, whatever, he'd be fine as long as the armbands stayed touching him. In fact, he'd be healing quicker than you were hurting him. Of course, a hot enough fire might melt his armbands. And, to the best of my knowledge, the books never cover what exactly would happen when his metalminds were melted.

I think it's important to remember that when Compounding, what you're essentially doing is using Feruchemy to create a new Allomantic metal, and then burning that. All the rules of Allomancy still apply, rather than the Feruchemical ones. Much as you can burn Pewter while you're sleeping, because your body knows it needs it, I suspect the same will be true for any Allomantic metals you're dependent on. Especially if you become a Savant, as the Lord Ruler would have (A compounded Atium savant. Probably among others). Remember that Spook's Tin burned throughout the night, even when he slept.

Have we seen anything to indicate that Syl came to Roshar recently? She's quite clear that before bonding with Kaladin, she was virtually mindless, with little understanding of complex concepts like time. She could have been flitting around for most of the last 4000 years, before finally establishing a bond and redeveloping her personality

This is probably especially suspicious just after a storm when this chapter takes place IIRC.

I suspect the social conditions that led to the Hierocracy (Mysticism, power of the priests, etc.) probably followed on the back of the Recreance, but built up over a long time. Because the loss of Knights Radiant leads to something pretty significant - The world lost a lot of it's Soulcasters working towards the common good. Without the Knights Radiant, who was providing food? Who was making housing? In WoK, Dalinar wonders where the Shards for the everyday man are. The answer is that in the time of the KR, the working man didn't need shards, because you don't need advanced strength and durability to work on physical projects when someone can just Soulcast whatever you're trying to dig. Think back to Starfalls, the flashback with Midnight's Essence. Taffa couldn't imagine people being able to dig through stone. The world with the Knights Radiant didn't need that sort of know how. Once they're gone, someone with the ability to Soulcast could easily rise to power. Especially with the mysticism that Vorinism associates with the Soulcasting.

From the book: Shardplate, the customary complement to a Shardblade. The newcomer carried a sword as well, an enormous Shardblade six feet long with a design along the blade like burning flames, a weapon of silvery metal that gleamed and almost seemed to glow. A weapon designed to slay dark gods, a larger counterpart to the one Szeth carried. Those are Gavilar's shards. Elhokar's are very different. Now, the idea that Dalinar has it has potential. But if that were the case, you'd think he'd already have given it to Renarin. Or, given it up for the war effort - He's already done this once with Shards he's won. And actually, there's another Shardbearer whose Shardblade comes close to the description, both in size and design. I have no idea how he got the Blade, but it's in a perfect position for causing problems in Words of Radiance. Because Amaram's Blade fits the description Amaram puts the attack down to the Ghostbloods, which could tie back to Shallan's dead older brother. But how they got hold of the King's Shards is something I couldn't even guess about.

When I first thought about this question, it seemed fairly obvious that they should be able to Soulcast bridges from air - We know air can be soulcast to buildings, after all (Chapter 17 - "It would be interesting to see one of those barracks get made—they were Soulcast directly from air into stone"). However, Soulcasting only seems to work on simple shapes, and, despite how simple they seem, arched bridges aren't actually that simple. Sure, it would work on a simple, straight slab of rock, but that's not exactly safe. An arched bridge needs to be a specific size to actually cross the various sized chasms. From what we've seen of the Soulcast buildings, I've been picturing it like 3d modelling printing - You need a specific pattern, but from that you can make the same thing repeatedly. Each bridge would need it's own pattern, which is perhaps far more work than just following the sets of patterns. And that's a lot of work for something that a Shardbearer can destroy effortlessly. I also doubt the security of a stone bridge to the highstorms. There's a passage in Chapter 16 that really sticks out. Sure, the buildings in the camp are safe(ish), but they're built into a crater. The bridges are going to be taking the full force of the highstorm as it's channeled down the various chasms. Not only will that lead to high levels of erosion, but there's also the chance of things being blown into them. It might, oddly, be more efficient to use the temporary bridges which can be replaced effortlessly, than the "high tech" Soulcast bridges that need secrecy and privacy to be reconstructed each time. Can you imagine if the Parshendi were to destroy a series of stone bridges? You'd need to bring out the Ardents to the plateau, set up some sort of "tent" around the chasm, or wait for nightfall, and soulcast a new bridge. For each plateau. And because of the secrecy surrounding Soulcasting, it's a great opportunity for the Parshendi to try to claim some new gems. I don't know whether the Soulcasters traditionally run around "fully loaded", or just take the relevant gem for the job (In this case, Topaz). But if they're carrying Emeralds (Or Heliodors, I guess) it'd be a great opportunity for the Parshendi to restock their diminishing food supplies.

I suspect that originally, the plate was powered by the Stormlight held by the wearer. The current plate uses gems as an alternate, inferior power source. Look at how much Stormlight Kaladin, a newbie KR, is able to hold, and for how long. If he gets better at holding it with experience, I think it's likely that he's going to be able to hold far more than the gems used to support a set of Shardplate. This has some interesting implications for the Plate too. You can regenerate Shardplate by feeding more 'Light into it. Would that mean that a Radiant holding enough Stormlight would have his Plate regrow around him? I'd also suspect that it would just be all-around stronger, enhancing strength more, and taking more of a pounding to actually break, as a function of having more power, but that's mostly just a guess.

I'm only part way through my re-read at the moment, but there's a few things that are really standing out to me. Firstly, the Thrill isn't always bad. Dalinar identifies the Thrill of contest when racing Elhokar. It makes me wonder if this was the original Thrill instilled by one of the other Shards (And I can see arguments for both), that Odium somehow altered or added to, leading to the nastier, Thrill for killing. Because the Thrill for competing with other people not only feels benign, but pretty beneficial. It also really fits into the religious beliefs of Vorinism. Secondly, the evidence for Szeth's blade being Jezrien's Honorblade seems much stronger than I'd ever noticed, especially in light of the pre-release chapters. Particularly the fact that it changes his eyes to Sapphire, Jezrien's colour, instead of just lightening his own green and explains his Windrunning.

There are still Koloss/Kandra running around and Marsh is there. It's only been 300 years. They'd only need someone who was read up on Hemalurgy before the end of the world, and wrote it down after. Spook and Breeze being the most likely. And actually, there's a fair amount on Hemalurgy in the epigraphs of The Hero of Ages. Those epigraphs were given to Spook at the end of the book, so I'd imagine they're part of the Words of Founding. That's enough to get them started, so long as they're willing to get messy.

I actually really like that idea. It's a bit of a big sacrifice, leaving herself out of time and alone, but if there were a big enough reason, I could see her doing it. Which reminds me of my other theory that just doesn't have enough evidence to support - The Set aren't trying to breed a Mistborn. They're trying to breed Mistings, so they can Hemalurgically composite a Mistborn, Inquisitor style. It's got some serious advantages, because it's just easier to do than breeding a Mistborn - Mistborn are rare, Mistings are easier. And, if you start with a Feruchemical Gold base (Or better yet, a Gold compounder) you've got plenty of attempts to get the spikes right. Plus, you don't even need all 16 metals in "Mistborn" Inquisitor. It's also far, far darker.

I'd forgotten that he'd tried. I think I'd just sorted him into the "murderer" pile and left it there. Definitely want to see where that leads - With his ties to Hoid, I'm sure it's not just fluff. It's going to lead somewhere.

First off, I hope this is in the right place. I'm mostly looking to talk about theories from all of the Cosmere, not just theories on the Cosmere. If there's somewhere else I should be posting this, let me know. Now, I'm sure everyone has them. Those theories that come to you from nowhere, seem amazing, but just don't work out. Let's talk about them. For me, it happened last night. I was walking home, and as I usually do on long walks, I was thinking about what I'm reading at the moment. From there, I got thinking about Words of Radiance, and the theory that Hoid is carrying a Nightblood-style Type IV sword, and what that would be like on Roshar. And then it came to me. What if Nightblood attacked Cognitively, much as Shardblades attack Spiritually. It makes sense that it was Nightblood's Cognitive self that was enhanced, since he was given a consciousness, and it fits - Whenever he destroys something (while unsheathed) he destroys the entire thing. And that's pretty much the definition of the Cognitive aspect - How the "thing" is perceived (and perceives itself) as a whole. This also has some fascinating implications for Roshar, because we'd essentially have a sword that could kill Spren, and even the wider Cosmere (I got thinking about the possibility of a Type IV spaceship, being able to use the Cognitive realm to travel). So I get home, I pull up my copy of Warbreaker, and what do you know. It looks like it works. He destroys whole Lifeless. He destroys whole walls. Then he's used to cut through the ceiling and... Oh, wait. He destroys a precise 10 foot circle. That doesn't make any sense, Cognitively speaking. Why would 10 foot of floor, in a circular pattern, just randomly in the room, be perceived as a single object. Oh well. So much for that theory. So, 17thShard, I ask you - What's your best theory that's foiled just because it doesn't quite match the text?

Dalinar's making a fundamentally political move - Cementing his power as the Highprince of War isn't for personal power, it's to further the war effort. It's a fundamentally arrogant move, true, seeing himself as the best leader for the position, but the need for arrogance in leadership isn't exactly a new theme for Sanderson. It pops up in The Well of Ascension too. And, I think it's worth noting, that nothing we've seen of the codes says you can't perform a coup, or be a benevolent dictator. You can even be a tyrant if want, if you can manage to be a tyrant without breaking the Codes of Honor and Leadership. They're not a moral system, really. They're very simple, and leave a lot of room for doing "bad stuff", so long as you don't do it on the battlefield, and do it in the name of furthering the war. In that light, I think what he's doing is justified in the Codes. As for the definition of needless, I think it's actually key. I can understand if you disagree, but I think it's significant that it's the only code with equivocation. All of the others are black and white. Always do X. Never do Y. To my mind, the fact that this one code allows some wiggle room can only mean that you can duel if the circumstances are right. And I think they are.

I strongly disagree. In my mind, securing the chain of command and unifying the army is probably the biggest example I can think of for a "needful" duel. My reading is that you shouldn't be dueling for personal reasons. If they were dueling for fun, or over insignificant points of honour, then I'd be with you. But the point of that code is that you shouldn't let duels weaken your army. This is doing the opposite.

I think this has to be somewhat true, and apply to more than just Shardblades. Stormlight has got to provide some sort of defence against the various tools of the Knights Radiant, or it's going to be really hard for Sanderson to build suspense. This is especially true for Soulcasting. "Oh look, an assassin"Zzap"Oh look, a paperweight". And this makes sense within the framework of the Cosmere, since Investiture protects against other Invested effects.

Whether you see Amaram as greedy comes down, in my opinion, to whether you believe he's sincere when he says that "It will serve Alethkar best if I bear the Shards". Personally, I simply don't believe it. It feels like a rationalisation so that he can do what he wants - Take the Shards. As I said, the PoV chapters we get from actual Shardbearers show how little carries over between mundane plate and Shardplate. If anything, I think that his training would hold him back, compared to someone without any - He's going to have to relearn a lot, and unlearn all of his reflexes. Also, could you provide a reference for Amaram fighting the Voidbringers? And I find it hard to believe that Gavilar, while dying, would refer to Taravangian as anything other than "Taravangian", as that's what everyone else calls him. It makes believing him to be Restares fairly difficult. And, honestly, would feel like a really cheap misdirect from Sanderson.

I'm not quick to dismiss someone's religious beliefs in the Cosmere. They've been proven right before. There may well be a very good reason that Szeth behaves as he does. Especially since Stone Shamanism seems to be relatively on the ball. Or, as you say, he could simply be insane. At which point, it's very hard to hold it against him (especially as insanity has, in the Cosmere, been shown to open you up to influence from what are essentially Gods). Insanity would, under most modern legal systems, make him literally no longer responsible for his actions.

I quite like that idea. It makes me wonder what exactly is triggering the Desolations. My theory is that Odium has been bound to only "attack" when the world reaches a certain level of power. Honor might not be able to stop the Desolations, but he was able to impose a condition where they could only take place under "Honorable" circumstances (Hence the possibility of a champion). At one point, this was done through the Oathpact - The Heralds were released by Odium to rally the defences. But when the Spren stepped in, they gave power directly to humanity allowing them to fight back, but also allowing Odium more freedom as to when to Desolate.

I'm not sure I agree. For Szeth, we just don't have enough information. It's very hard to make a judgement without knowing more. But for Taravangian, I think the argument is relatively easy to make. Yes, both are choosing the lesser of two evils, in their own mind, but the difference between the two greater evils is vast. Taravangian genuinely thinks that he has some way insight into the Desolations and how to stop it, or how to best prepare the world for it. And remember, when he came up with this plan, he was most likely at his best - a genius. He's doing terrible things yes, but if Dalinar's flashbacks are to be believed, he stands to save as much as 90% of the population. Of the world. By contrast, Amaram kills a group of loyal soldiers so that next time he gets into a meaningless fight with a neighbour, he can be marginally more efficient at killing them. It's just so... insignificant, which is what makes it so much worse. It's very hard to see the gain as worth the cost. Especially when the "gain" is only really time - A year or two's training in Shards would probably bring the new bearer up to Amaram's skill. From the PoV chapters with actual Shardbearers, I don't see the skills being that transferable.

By Words of Radiance, we should have enough Proto-Radiants that "the next ideal" probably won't be too big of a deal. There'll be someone "levelling up" fairly regularly, assuming that they're all on their own journeys. As such, hitting them at the predictable moments might not be too bad. Then again, I still can't quite put into words the swell of emotion that hits me when Kal says his near the end of WoK. I definitely hope that Sanderson can keep it like that.

I'm getting the ebook, because I genuinely don't think I can hold onto the hardback long enough to read the whole thing in one sitting. I'll be picking up a hardback later, when Sanderson comes to the UK. I want a signed copy. Although, if he takes enough time, I might be able to get a paperback to be signed.

Good point. In chapter 3 of tWoK, Shallan notices skyeels hunting for "rats or fish". Also, crabs - there's likely a fair amount of crossover outside of mammals.