Confused

Almost there! I can’t wait to see how truly wrong my predictions are! Please accept everything I say as the purest speculation. I list these predictions in the approximate order I think these events will occur. That’s hard, given how condensed Brandon’s final chapters are. I conclude with my weekly limerick summary. Battle of the Gods: Wind vs. Honor's Cognitive Shadow I place this first because I think the Stormfather in his current incarnation is a problem. He holds Honor’s cognitive shadow, a huge concentration of Honor’s Investiture. I think that Investiture has become sapient and seeks to attach itself to the remainder of Honor’s Investiture. Honor’s shadow wants no human Vessel to hold Honor. I think Honor’s shadow subverts the Stormfather. The Stormfather says a self-conscious Shard will hate humans. Roshar’s old god Wind pushes Kaladin to join Szeth on his Shinovar quest. She claims the contest in the West is as important as the one in the East. I think Wind realizes she must defeat Honor’s shadow in order to reclaim the highstorm and Honor’s perpendicularity. Otherwise, Honor’s shadow and not an unencumbered Stormfather might control the highstorm and perpendicularity at the Contest of Champions. The Fleet story shows a race between Fleet and “the storm” that Fleet’s challenge precipitates. I think the accepted challenge binds two gods, Wind and Honor’s shadow. The loser will cease as a god. Kal as Fleet prevails, though his body dies. The storm acknowledges Kal’s sacrifice and victory. I believe Honor’s shadow controls the storm until it enters Shinovar. The WaT epigraphs say both Kal and Szeth are Wind’s champions. Only Kal races the storm. Szeth’s role apparently is to “scour” Shinovar, presumably of the Unmade that now occupies it. I speculate that Unmade’s presence may have helped keep the storm out of Shinovar – the Unmade is of Odium, the storm of Honor. Somehow Ishar is a part of all this, but his and the other herald’s WaT roles are beyond my foresight horizon. Contest of Champions I still think the Champions will be the Stormfather and Everstorm. WaT’s back cover portrays Dalinar at the center of two competing ideologies that “as storms, gather to crush the world between their separate dreams...” I believe this statement is literal, not just metaphoric. The two storms will rage around Dalinar until he Ascends and ends the battle as I describe below. Dalinar, Navani, and Gavinor Jointly Ascend to Honor AND Odium to Form “Unity” I previously favored the idea of Dalinar becoming Roshar’s Bondsmith, able to wield all 16 Investitures while on that planet. Then Gavinor got sucked into the Spiritual Realm with Dalinar and Navani, and I changed my mind. I think a three-person Vessel of two Shards works in this context – “Unity,” the Shard name Dalinar claims at the Battle of Thaylen Fields. Dalinar embodies Honor and Odium, passionate order. Navani’s learns from her work with Raboniel how to combine the Shards’ tones into a march of passionate order. Gavinor seeks what every child needs, love and structure – passion and order. I think Dalinar first Ascends to Honor. After he kills Taravangian, Navani shows him how to merge Odium into Honor. I envision Dalinar encircling his arms around Navani and Gavinor as the Shards merge and seek their joint Vessels. I think the Contest of Champions ends when Navani engineers the merger, just in the nick of time. Forum lawyers have already told us, a contract where the signatories are the same person leaves no one to enforce it. Unity will want to remain on Roshar. It is the Kholin home. Unity will continue to be constrained within the Rosharan system, making the other Shards happy. Dalinar Kills Taravangian I’ve previously written that Dalinar kills Taravangian when the opposite-direction Everstorm pounds into Kharbranth. The early WoK scene where Taravangian’s granddaughter is trapped by a fallen boulder may foreshadow this event. As the Kharbranth carnage distracts and weakens Taravangian, Dalinar strikes his blow. WaT I-4 shows Taravangian still cares: TOdium will never conquer the cosmere. Dalinar kills him first. El’s “Greater War” El is a wonderful character who must survive to the Second Five. He is thoughtful, disciplined, forward-looking, and above all, passionate in his desires. He correctly feels TOdium aligns more closely with those desires than ROdium did. El longs for his Greater War. In many ways, El is the Singer version of early Dalinar, a warlord waiting for his master to unleash him. Let’s assume for fun’s sake that the Family Kholin does Ascend as a triad Vessel. Will they sanction El’s War? Before Dalinar kills him, I believe Taravangian will persuade Dalinar that the cosmere needs saving. When Unity looks outward from Roshar, Dalinar might come to agree with him. It is Unity’s nature to “unite.” But Unity’s three-part Vessel will not agree with Taravangian’s One God strategy. I speculate Unity will offer “passionate order” to the cosmere. Maybe they’ll first try to establish a religion based on those principles. Unity worshippers will proselytize their religion to whomever is willing to listen. (Unitarianism?) And for those who don’t, they’ll unleash El to enforce their principles. Perhaps Elantris foreshadows the Second Five books: Hrathen comes to convert; Dilaf (El) comes to conquer. BAM’s Role I have no idea...though that’s never stopped me from theorizing before. BAM hates humans so much, I can’t see how her release helps them. I doubt she’d even help off-world humans like the Ghostbloods. The Honor-Odium merger might cause BAM to reclaim her sanity. Under my Unity theory, the merged Shard has three human Vessels. BAM is unlikely to accept them with El’s equanimity toward human Vessels. Without Odium’s approval, BAM was willing to launch the Last Desolation. She won‘t be intimidated by the new Vessels now. In the end, I think BAM serves one function, to restore Roshar. BAM’s imprisonment did something that affected both Radiantspren and the spren that caused Singer transformations. Perhaps she’s made from so much Investiture and been so long on Roshar, she established her own tones. The Radiants who imprisoned BAM would not have heard them or understood their significance. I think BAM’s release will restore Roshar to its full former magic. Conclusion and Limerick Ta-da! If even one of these predictions turns out correct, I will consider it a victory rivaling Fleet’s. Finally, today’s limerick summary of the two Interludes: The Rhythm-less Singer called El And TOdium get along well. TOd names El the “ruler,” Sends Dai-Gon, helps fuel her. Cult’s lessons to TOd slowly gel. P.S. - I'm gonna miss these weekly sessions with all you folks. Once the book is out, things (for me at least) change. I wish all of you the very best! C.

To those of you who live in America, Happy Thanksgiving! On this day of reflection and thanks, I thought I’d write about Brandon’s thoughts on conflict. I both agree and disagree with his conclusions. Brandon names a Shard “Odium” and has him cause war. Brandon’s take on the causes of conflict seems obvious: Hatred causes war. But that may be too simple a conclusion... Brandon designed a Shard that can think and feel but never at the same time. Odium exhibits Unthinking Passion or Unfeeling Intellect. Unthinking Passion enflames a person to rage, lust, and hatred. Unfeeling Intellect allows a person to efficiently murder millions and then have their evening tea. Nohadon (or whomever) addresses both Unthinking Passion and Unfeeling Intellect in the quoted epigraph. He says he “will never fear the mind of a man who does not think.” He analogizes the unthinking man’s mind to a useless weapon. In any conflict, a thinking man like Nohadon can easily defeat an unthinking man. Fair enough. But implicit in Nohadon’s statement is the fact of conflict – a conflict that the unthinking man probably caused. Like a rabid dog, the unthinking man is unpredictable. He acts on impulse rather than his rational best interests. His passions are easily aroused. You cannot reason with an unthinking man. Brandon’s belief that Unthinking Passion causes conflict holds true at the local level, particularly one-on-one conflicts. But he seems to cite Unthinking Passion – specifically hatred – as the cause of war. I disagree with the greatest vigor. I believe Unfeeling Intellect causes both local and large-scale conflicts including war. All institutions from local school boards to world-spanning organizations and alliances suffer stresses and divisions. These institutions exist to mediate power and influence among the competing interests. Internal stresses in any group are always present. But they don’t always lead to conflict. Conflict instead occurs mostly (IMO) when calculating, cynical people deliberately exploit these stresses to gain power. Such people hope the ensuing disorder results in a power realignment in their favor. If they can fracture their group, they will gain power from the chaos they create. I believe this happens at every level from local to geo-political. Unfeeling Intellect is far more dangerous than Unthinking Passion and causes far more conflicts. That’s my version of the “How” of conflict. If you’ll bear with me, I’ll give you my opinion on the “Why”: I think all humankind shares a common nature, just as each animal species does. That “human nature” consists of a finite set of traits. No individual possesses all these traits; hence, human behavioral diversity. These traits include ambition, greed, ruthlessness, aggression, jealousy, pettiness, pride, and all the underlying causes of conflict. But they also include the “better angels of our nature” and everything in between. “Culture,” in my opinion, is each society’s unique expression of this common “human nature.” I believe human behavior distributes traits along a bell curve, with the most extreme traits occupying the fringes. Most people are not ruthless narcissistic sociopaths. But it only takes one of sufficient skill and charisma to upset the existing order. Conflict inevitably ensues. Anyway, I wandered a bit off-topic there. Must be the turkey... Short answer: Unthinking Passion may cause small conflicts between individuals, but Unfeeling Intellect IMO is the true source of major conflict in the cosmere (think Gavilar and Taravangian) and IRL.

I wrote about this in a 2019 post, "New Theory on the Recreants." I said, I still believe this. BAM's imprisonment caused Singer slave form. The Radiants felt obligated to give up their own bonds in response. The Skybreakers disagreed. Since their primary divine attribute is "just," I think they concluded BAM's imprisonment was "just" and chose not to break their oaths. This is the only explanation that IMO addresses each of the concerns people raise: Why did they all break their oaths at once? Why did their spren go along? Why didn't the Skybreakers go along?

First my weekly limerick summary, then observations and comments in no particular order. Shallan and the Kholins are lost. The Knights’ path and Ishar’s have crossed. If Dal does not learn The way to return, The cosmere will pay the full cost. What Happens to Gavinor? In my last post, I speculate Dalinar and Navani might jointly Ascend to a combined Honor/Odium: Now that we know the exploded perpendicularity sucks Gavinor into it (with Dal, Navani, Shallan, Iyatil, and Mraize), I begin to think Gav may join his grandparents in their Ascension. If both do Ascend, I can’t imagine they’d leave Gav behind. A New Trinity! A joint Ascension ensures Odium will never leave Roshar. Why break up the family? Jasnah remains to run the political stuff. She will turn Alethkar into a representative government and maybe do the same for all Roshar. I think Lift will bond the Sibling to replace Navani. I still believe Lift ultimately Ascends to Cultivation. Wind replaces the Stormfather, whom Kal as Fleet defeats. Why Is Lift So Invested? Lift is highly Invested because she converts food into Investiture. The Investiture sustains her instead of food. Her blood circulates Investiture to her cells rather than nutrients. Investiture runs through Lift’s systems constantly. This ability probably means Lift holds more than a Radiantspren’s worth of innate Investiture – she bonds Wyndle but has this additional ability other Radiants don’t have. Purplish cremlings are hordelings? Doh! Contract Interpretation Dalinar didn’t “choose” to get stuck in the Spiritual Realm. Mraize’s anti-Light gambit “prevented his arrival.” Is there a Shardic Supreme Court who can decide this? What is the contract’s remedy when this happens? Note the provision says, “by another,” not “the other party.” Mraize qualifies as “another.” I’m sure Dalinar will show up at the last nanosecond to save the cosmere. “Fortune” favors the bold. But just in case... C’mon, you lawyers out there! What do you think? Ishar Brandon wants us to believe Ishar is worm-ridden with Odium. Ishar calls himself the “conflux of darkness and sorrow,” the chapter title. Maybe a red herring, maybe not. It just sounds so Everstorm-y and "Night of Sorrows"-like to me. I think Ishar is like Kelsier only (more) insane and megalomaniacal. Kelsier could not hold Preservation because he was too Connected to Ruin. Ishar wields Honor but his passions mark him as Odium’s too (IMO). * * * * * That’s it for now! C.

My takes... I agree with @JustQuestin2004 on this one. Lots more. But maybe another gameplayer anticipates the Sleepless’ passive role when making their moves. The Sleepless want Radiants solely as children of Honor and Cultivation. Sja-anat ensures some Radiants bond enlightened spren. Odium now is fully Invested in Roshar to the point that even Radiants can rely upon his power. Ironically, the Sleepless make the same mistake Honor does – they trust humans to be “honorable.” Odium knows human nature better. He relies on human passion to someday create bondable voidspren. Maybe he expected his Unmade Sja-anat to enlighten spren. So many questions, so few answers... 1. “The culmination of milennia [sic] of preparation, posturing, and prayer.” The Sleepless come from another planet. To whom do they pray? To what Shard are they Connected? Do they “prepare” over millennia because, unlike Frost, they fear Odium may leave the Rosharan system or is there another reason? Does their foresight derive from their Shard, their hive-mind, or something else? The WaT back cover shows the Sleepless now doubt their own foresight. 2. “Ideologies, as storms, gather to crush the world between their separate dreams...” I read this to mean different ideologies have different aspirations, different dreams. The ideological fight threatens to destroy the world. (When doesn’t it?) The “storm” metaphor IMO ties these ideologies to the Stormfather (Honor) and the Everstorm (Odium). They “gather to crush the world...” Shard “ideologies,” I think, are idea systems built on Intent. Honor’s ideology is voluntary bonding, choosing to be and act together without compulsion, attracted by a common temperament and code of conduct. “Honor.” Odium’s ideology, OTOH, is passion, enflaming or diminishing emotion and rationality, but never at the same time. Passion motivates people, gets them moving on the path their passion directs. Too much passion can blind and mislead. Too little fails to motivate. 3. “[O]ne man will stand at the center of it. A man who now remembers his past, but leads a people who have forgotten theirs.” The first sentence IMO says that Dalinar stands between Honor and Odium, the fight of ideologies. This interpretation might mean Dalinar will pick up both Shards. But to “stand at the center” is not the same as wielding those powers. The phrasing suggests Dalinar is the hurricane’s eye around which the fierce winds rage. This image might even be literal and not just metaphoric, when the Stormfather and Everstorm meet. Maybe before Ascension Dalinar merges (bonds) the Shards into one indissoluble Shard. Navani can teach and help him to use the rhythms of each Shard to combine them. Like others have posted, I think there’s a decent chance Dalinar Ascends to the merged Shard jointly with Navani. Dalinar now remembers his personal past as a brutal warlord whose passion causes him to murder his wife. A drunk, a dissolute, a tool his brother uses as a battering ram; blunt, bloody, and unquestioning. He evolves into a man worthy of redemption and a new life with Navani. Despite his all-to-human mistakes, he grows to be a thoughtful, honorable leader of his people. But humans including Dalinar “have forgotten” their brutal group past. No living human knows their kind destroyed their first planet. None remember the frightful journey to Roshar – Ishar as Moses leading his burning people through newly-opened obsidian walls and on to the Promised Land. None remember what precipitated the Desolations or where the blame truly lies. These discoveries will dwarf the impact of the Eila Stele’s revelation. What will humans do and how will Dalinar hold them together when they discover their truth? Again, one at a time: 1. “As Cultivation pulls her final string...” Why is Dalinar’s truth-quest Cultivation’s final string? She’s a far-seeing god. No back-ups to back-ups to back-ups? More to the point, her final string to do what? Just prevent Odium’s escape from Roshar? Or to re-create Roshar in a more suitable way (from Cultivation’s perspective)? Metaphorically, is the “final string” a bowstring Cultivation pulls with her last arrow? Or is the “final string” the puppeteer’s last manipulation of her puppet Dalinar? (Or maybe Brandon means this is the last time Cultivation plays the harp on Roshar?) 2. “[Cultivation] sends the Reimagined King to seek the truth...” Why do the Sleepless see Dalinar as a “Reimagined King”? Did they not imagine Dalinar’s role as King of Urithiru or his Ascension? Or do they refer to his personal reimagination as a true Bondsmith, no longer a man of war? 3. “The Reforged Spear becomes the hope of spren.” The fires of war reforge Kaladin into a healer. He becomes Wind’s champion, but why is he “the hope of spren?” Does this phrase refer to the Eila Stele’s “spren, wind, and stone? I think of Wind as Roshar’s original change agent. Wind spreads the seeds of life and erodes the landscape. Pre-Shattering highstorms feature the Listeners’ Rider of Storms, once a friend who betrayed the Singers. The Stormfather is a fiercer, angrier, more destructive version of the Rider. My best guess: The Stormfather’s destructiveness restricts Roshar’s growth. In the Fleet story, Fleet (Kaladin) defeats the Storm. Kaladin restores the variable Wind to its former place. Sometimes there will be a storm, sometimes a gentle breeze. More growth means more people of all species, including spren. Restoring Wind frees spren. Maybe... 4. “The Reformed Woman pries in corners of a god's mind.” Shallan integrates her personality to reform herself (though she’s not fully there). From today’s reading, it looks like Shallan, Mraize, and Iyatil go with Dalinar and Navani into the Spiritual Realm I think she helps the group interpret what they see in the SR. She’s good with patterns. IOW, she “pries in the corners of a god’s mind” – Adonalsium’s or some Shard’s, not BAM’s. 5. “The Reborn Assassin puts his knife to the throat of a once proud people.” Through Nale’s intervention, Szeth is literally reborn. He quests to destroy the Stone Shamans whom he believes have misled the Shin. When did Nightblood become just a “knife?” Aha! Honor begins to think! Honor’s Cognitive Shadow resides in the Stormfather. I believe that Investiture mass already is sapient as Honor’s (not Tanavast’s) “ghost.” We’ve seen the Stormfather try to dissuade Dalinar from seeking Ascension. He says a self-conscious Shard not held by mortal Vessel will hate humans. Dalinar will once again have to persuade the Stormfather as Honor’s CS to bond with him, but on a much larger scale. On to Chapter 33!

I love this topic! I might have posted a new thread myself had you, @KnightoftheCosmere, not done so. Here’s my take: I think Cultivation helps Odium kill Tanavast. It’s possible a stray Shard might have participated, but Brandon says only Honor, Cultivation, and Odium figure narratively in SLA. This is a big narrative event. She helps because Honor has become unyielding. Roshar has stopped growing. The Growth Shard has to "prune" the obstacle to growth. The Stormfather holds Honor’s Cognitive Shadow, not Tanavast’s. I think this means that the Stormfather holds a large amount of Honor’s Investiture that becomes sapient on its own. Some spren personifies highstorms before the Stormfather, maybe Wind or a less angry storm. IMO, Honor’s Cognitive Shadow transforms that spren into the Stormfather’s current incarnation. And while we’re at it, I don’t buy the Tanavast-Nohadon switcheroo. Cultivation and Odium would both know it. If you read the Nohadon epigraphs, they sound suspiciously like Ishar, who counsels abandonment of the Oathpact. Substitute “Oathpact” for “kingdom” and you’ll see what I mean. IMO, Ishar becomes Nohadon, not Tanavast. Dalinar thinks the Nohadon he meets is much different from the man who writes the in-world Way of Kings. Later, IMO, Ishar writes that book. Conveniently, Way of Kings contains the final four oaths of each Radiant order. Oh, and I agree with @alder24 that Honor's Splinters are either hidden in or perhaps scattered throughout the Spiritual Realm. Dal's task will be to find, collect, and bond it all.

This week's limerick summarizing the released chapters: Navani and Dal talk to Wit About searching the SR a bit. While Shallan and her crew Track the Ghostbloods back to The perp, so that Mraize then can blow it. To their fans, my apologies for not mentioning Rlain and Renarin. Only so much can fit into a limerick... Regards! C. P.S. - Does anyone know how to single-space lines? I prefer the limericks to be single-spaced. Thanks!

Thank you all for your kind comments. I appreciate that you appreciate my unusual post. I said the Vessels “kill their Creator because they want access to more magic.” @Oltux72 and @alder24 both point out not all the Vessels were motivated by greed: I did not intend my comment to address the Vessel’s motivations. I see now that the word “because” can be interpreted that way. Point taken. I simply meant that killing Adonalsium for whatever “diverse motives” resulted in the Vessels gaining “access to more magic.” They all wanted that power even if their motives were altruistic. It’s part of my general theory that entropy trends the cosmere towards magical democratization: One to sixteen to many to MANY. From magically Invested beings to magical technology. It’s established (I think?) that Adonalsium created the cosmere and entities like Stone and Wind. Ado specifically created Stone and Wind’s planet, Roshar, after he created the cosmere. There’s a suggestion in TLM the Aethers might predate Ado. They do predate the Shattering. I think if Aethers predate the cosmere they must have drifted a VERY long way. The cosmere is an isolated thermodynamic system. Maybe Aethers came with the Investiture cloud that became the cosmere? Then remained separate when that Investiture became Adonalsium? The God Beyond... Talk about postmodernism! I chose not to address “TGB” in the OP because Brandon leaves it up to us (and the in-world characters) to decide whether TGB exists and what its cosmere role, if any, might be. Non-systemic. I don’t think characters’ prayers and imprecations to TGB, therefore, are meaningful. Many earthly non-believers make such statements. “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Another example: The most meaningful of your TGB quotes IMO is in RoW Chap. 15: Dalinar “claims there’s another true God somewhere in a place beyond Shadesmar. [Bold added.]” Dalinar accepts “the Almighty” is dead. I first point out the obvious: Dalinar only claims a true God beyond Shadesmar, not beyond the cosmere. This passage may not even refer to TGB. Other possible interpretations that don’t implicate TGB: Tanavast, known as the Almighty, was the MIND that directed Honor’s power. That mind relates to Shadesmar. Tanavast is dead. Most of Honor’s power is in the Spiritual Realm – “another true God...beyond Shadesmar.” Dalinar heads there now to assume that power and become God. I believe this the best reading of this passage, that God exists in the Spiritual Realm. There are many “true Gods” beyond Shadesmar, namely each of the Shards. Adonalsium was the “true God” beyond Shadesmar, since he was everywhere. IIRC, Dalinar has yet to invoke him, though Shalash has. Maybe you’re right that Dalinar refers to TGB. Many people throughout the cosmere do invoke him one way or another. But I think Dalinar means something else. Here’s the WaT quote again: Knowledge of TGB is not the same as “something...guiding me all this time.” Guidance implies a subtle pressure nudging Dalinar down a particular path. We have zero evidence TGB maintains any influence in the cosmere. Note also that the RoW quote refers to a ‘’true God” other than the Almighty. The WaT quote specifically refers to Honor, which Dalinar now knows resides mostly in the Spiritual Realm. Thanks, @AquaRegia! I SO agree with this. In my 2019 post “A Comprehensive Magic Theory,” I say, I don’t know if this makes you feel any better, but I identify each of that post’s many sections as either “Theory” or “Speculation.” Our “theories” can’t rely on the scientific method and experimental replicability like scientific theories do. Text and WoB support is all we have to work with; and Brandon’s deliberately cagey. I’ve made this point many times: Brandon is a mystery writer masquerading as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy writer. He loves creating little problems for his fans to solve and laces his writing with clues that foreshadow future events. His WoBs often mislead as much as they illuminate. But some evidence is better than none, and we’re all proud of a “theory” that correctly predicts a future event or fact. (I’ve been very humble lately...) I refer specifically to the conversation between Cultivation and TOdium in a WaT chapter. TOdium wants to end cosmere suffering his way after he becomes the “one god.” Postmodernism opposes all-encompassing systems designed to solve large problems. Taravangian’s death doesn’t qualify as a large problem (except maybe to him and Dalinar), nor is individual self-sacrifice systemic. You are correct, therefore, that your quoted example is not postmodern. However, the inclusion of many different philosophic ideas like Dalinar and Taravangian discuss is postmodern. Thanks again, folks, for your responses. C.

“The great poet in writing himself writes his time.” - T.S. Eliot, “Shakespeare and the Stoicism of Seneca” In his four-part essay, “Postmodernism in Fantasy,” Brandon labels himself a postmodern writer. (Here, here, here, and here.) He describes Mistborn as his attempt to “consciously [take] aspects of the fantasy epic and twist them about.” His book pitch: “The hero failed; this is a thousand years later.” For The Stormlight Archives he tries a different tack. “I decided that I would not write The Way of Kings as a postmodern epic. (Not intentionally, at least.)” And yet, in deconstructing Brandon, I think that’s exactly what he does; he writes a postmodern epic that will endure on the bookshelf next to Tolkien’s modern classic. This post tries to show how the postmodern sensibility permeates SLA. Despite his personal aesthetic hopes, I believe Brandon falls subject to Eliot’s dictum in the epigraph: “The great poet in writing himself writes his time,” in this case the time of postmodernism. I placed this post on this Forum because I raise two WaT questions at the end. I also like writing for you guys. You’re a sharp, clever bunch with excellent ideas. Hopefully you won’t mind (too much) my intellectual self-indulgence. Deconstructing Brandon This is my 500th post. Maybe that’s not much by most people’s standards over my ten year tenure here, but I celebrate it. I decided to go off track and write about Brandon as writer rather than about what he’s written. In Brandon’s words, Unfortunately, that means I have to wade through the meaning of postmodernism and some other ideas. Please forgive my pedantry. I find cultural, artistic, and philosophical ideas fascinating. It’s one reason I enjoy Brandon. But maybe you don’t share my fascination. Bear with me anyway. Let’s start with the T.S. Eliot quote. Most people know Eliot from the musical Cats. He’s a significant early 20th century poet (The Wasteland, Four Quartets) and an even more significant literary critic. He wrote literary reviews for The Times of London for many years. (And for the curious few who know his early poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” J. Alfred Prufrock was the name of a lumberyard near Eliot’s childhood home in St. Louis.) In the epigraph’s cited 1927 essay, Eliot says that the poet’s task is primarily emotional, not intellectual. He compares Dante’s The Divine Comedy – which reflects Thomas Aquinas’s highly structured philosophy – with Shakespeare’s plays, which mirror the English Renaissance’s more muddled sensibilities. Eliot argues that Dante is not greater than Shakespeare simply because the ideas of early 14th century Italy might be “greater” than the ideas of early 17th century England: Eliot concludes in the epigraph’s quote: “The great poet, in writing himself, writes his time.” The artist is a prism who refracts current ideas to “express in perfect language” some permanent aspect of the human condition. The available ideas serve as fodder for the art. Art, in other words, is separate from the ideas and circumstances that spawn it. I’m fully aware of the irony of citing modern literary critic Eliot – the founder of the New Criticism – to deconstruct Brandon. We and Brandon live in the postmodern age. Whatever that means... The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy “defines” postmodernism with standard philosophic incomprehensibility: Strip away the highfalutin language and you get a “system” that doesn’t believe in systems. IMO, our postmodern age undermines belief in the efficacy of theory and “big picture” solutions. The Shard Cultivation, for example, reflects a modern sensibility, a confidence in systems that can solve large problems. Taravangian reflects more of a postmodern sensibility: “Let me do it. I know what’s best to get things done.” It’s not so much his personal self-confidence as his unwillingness to rely on proven solutions. This disbelief in large “-isms” shows up in the multiple philosophies and ideologies SLA presents. Brandon says he is a storyteller solving his characters’ emotional issues; the cosmere stuff is just background. Yet the cosmere’s built on multiple intertwined idea systems. Brandon expressly acknowledges Plato’s, Spinoza’s and Jung’s contributions to his “mashed up metaphysics” (as well as Asian spirituality – spren – and other influences). His reference to “mashed up” shows how non-systemic his ideas are. Plato, Spinoza, Descartes, Jung, and even Milton, for example, are all represented in the cosmere. Plato’s concept of an unseen “ideal” reality – Platonic “dualism” – underlies the whole structure of the cosmere. That is what the Cognitive and Spiritual Realms are – alternate unseen realities. Like the people who live in Plato’s allegorical “Cave,” most non-magical Physical Realm people can’t see beyond their own shadows and echoes to the “true,” the ideal. The Spiritual Realm is an example of Plato’s theory of forms. Spinoza equates God and “nature,” claiming they are the same fundamental substance governed by one set of rules. Spinoza says everything in the universe is one substance. There is no concept of matter (or energy). Everything is made from the same stuff, changeable in form and function. Brandon seems to adopt Spinoza’s view by creating the cosmere from Investiture that converts into everything else (and back again). Spinoza rejects Descartes’ depiction of the mind-body-spirit mix; Spinoza believes these are all one thing. Brandon’s postmodernism embraces both Spinoza’s “one substance” and Descartes’ version of Platonic dualism despite their apparent contradiction. Brandon says Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious inspires his idea of Listener non-verbal communication. Listeners’ bonded spren enable their common “chanting” and mass communication. Unlike Freud who breaks down the mind into id, ego, and superego, Jung conceptualizes the unconscious mind as consisting of two components: the personal and the collective. The personal unconscious reflects our individual experiences, while culture expresses the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is a place of “archetypes” – cultural memes often from myths and legends. Archetypes resemble Spiritual Realm ideals, and the collective unconscious resembles the Cognitive Realm’s subastrals. Deconstructing Brandon, I cannot avoid John Milton. This is the third or fourth time I suggest Brandon adopts phrases from Paradise Lost to describe Roshar’s desolations. It may have been inadvertent. You decide. Here’s Milton’s depiction of Hell: Surges, red lightning, “impetuous rage” (Adolin), a wild and dreary [shattered] plain that’s the seat of desolations and voids? All in one verse?! Postmodern deconstructionists cheer! SLA is a postmodern pastiche of literary and philosophic ideas. But Brandon’s scientific substructure makes SLA special. Many Sci-Fi/Fantasy writers combine science with magic. None to my knowledge do it like Brandon. Almost every aspect of the cosmere can be scientifically rationalized and seamlessly integrated into cosmere magic. Brandon “unites them” – science, philosophy, and art – to create “something new”: An interesting statement. Here’s what our friend T.S. Eliot says about the creation of something “really new.” What is “really new” about SLA that’s missing in Mistborn? I think it’s the comprehensiveness of Brandon’s vision, telling the story he wants to tell in a literary form no one’s ever used before. He still uses tropes and archetypes. Kaladin’s storyline resembles Rafael Sabatini’s Captain Blood – a physician turned slave turned pirate captain turned governor. People kill God – not 1,000 years before the story begins but 10,000 years. New gods arise to fight among themselves. Etc. Etc. But (IMO) Brandon presents his story in a deeply woven, tightly interlaced, highly structured form not seen before in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. Let’s start with the “comprehensiveness of vision” bit. Brandon conceives a self-contained universe from creation to a distant future yet to be written (or at least published). Along the way the people who become Vessels kill their Creator because they want access to more magic. The Vessels start killing each other. Mortals gain the ability to direct magic. Non-magical people learn to create magical tools. The cosmere undergoes a technological revolution based on magic. War among planets ensues as the technologically stronger planets compete for more access to Investiture. And somehow Brandon will resolve this magical mess in a deeply satisfying way. The History of the Cosmere from Big Bang to Bust in 37-plus major books. Easy. The man does have ambition... Structurally, SLA forms the spine of Brandon’s saga. Two five-book series separated by a five-plus year hiatus. I urge you to look at the Coppermind’s description of SLA’s structure – layer upon layer upon layer of very specific order. Here’s a sample: The tight tie between Brandon’s storytelling and the series’ structure IMO IS Brandon’s new form. The books are each a ketek and, I believe, each 5-book series is itself a ketek. Not (just) the book titles, but their content. I think Brandon’s early foreshadowing follows a predetermined path to later resolution. Numerology figures large in the cosmere mythos. Brandons links stories and events throughout the larger cosmere saga like quantum entanglements – unnoticeable until something happens and we see the Connections after the fact. These are his “easter eggs.” The grandness of his vision reminds me of Richard Wagner’s concept of “total art” – the full integration of music, drama, and staging exemplified by his Ring Trilogy. WaT promises to be Brandon’s best book yet, the high point of a journey with a half-way destination. I can’t wait to read the telling. Who’s Your Kandra? Since my “Mraize is a Sleepless” theory died a WoB death, I now suggest Mraize is a kandra. Iyatil says about Mraize: Clearly Iyatil should question Mraize’s loyalty. But I put her statement together with the disappearance of Mraize’s Aviar. These two events suggest a kandra first ate and became the Aviar, then ate and became Mraize. This Mraize IS a duplicate. And Harmony now knows an awful lot about Roshar. We’ll see... A Call “Beyond Honor” In WaT Chapter 25 (bold added), Dalinar says, This phrase underlies my evolving Rosharan “old gods” theory. I think Dalinar becomes the living planet Roshar’s Bondsmith like Kaladin becomes Wind’s Bondsmith and Rock and Venli become Stone’s Bondsmiths. IOW, Dalinar will be able to wield all 16 of Roshar’s Investitures without regard to Intent. Here’s my question: What else could the bolded phrase mean? I don’t think it refers to the “really, sincerely dead” Adonalsium, nor to the God Beyond. Cultivation and Odium are Roshar’s only other Shards, and they’re both taken. What is “beyond Honor” on Roshar if not the entity Roshar itself? I’m open to suggestions. Thanks again for your indulgence. All the best! C.

First, this week’s limerick summary: Shallan seems unhurt from the Light bolt, While Lift helps Gav back from his heart jolt. Rlain and Ren bond And look far beyond The shattered glass futures of Ren’s vault. Let’s talk Renarin as Odium. Most of the pictures in Renarin’s vision show the Everstorm trailing him while he sits on a throne wearing Singer clothing. People here dismiss the idea Renarin will hold Odium. They state two objections: The Intent doesn’t fit and Renarin’s bonded to Glys, an enlightened mistspren. Some also think Renarin is destined to rule Alethkar. On Intent: Odium is the Broken One, the Divided One. The Shard’s Vessel cannot think and feel simultaneously. The inability to communicate emotion describes autism. Renarin IMO is autistic. Odium seems a natural fit for Renarin. Now, when he thinks about a windows meaning, he’s uncertain. But when he touches a window, he feels its meaning, whether peace or malice. His relationship with Rlain will teach Renarin more about his feelings. The possibility Dalinar and Navani might Ascend together to jointly hold Honor might apply equally to Rlain and Renarin. Maybe they’ll Ascend together and share Odium. (I don’t think so, but who knows.) I’m not sure why the Glys bond should affect Renarin’s Ascension. This is different from the WoB that says a true spren cannot Ascend as the same Shard’s Vessel, since that would simply create a self-aware Shard. But that’s not this situation. Here, Renarin would be the Vessel. If he chooses, his mind could bond to anything, including an enlightened spren that’s partly Cultivation and Honor. I don’t see the problem. FWIW, I sometimes wonder if Brandon believes what he writes politically and morally or whether his business savvy directs him to write what his audience wants to read. Brandon is without question the greatest businessman I’m aware of who also writes books. He markets incessantly. He is diligent, writing 2,000 words a day. He possesses that rarest and most valuable asset – the ability to manage his time efficiently and productively. He organizes and manages a large staff. He expands his empire into movies. The man definitely gets it business-wise. So I wonder... The Old Gods continue to fascinate me. My predictions about them are based on Dalinar’s comment that something “beyond Honor” calls to him. I’m waiting for someone to suggest what that something might be. I tout Roshar itself. Now we discover Roshar has swells and currents that help Truthwatchers see the future! That supports my theory that Dalinar as Roshar’s Bondsmith will wield all 16 Investitures without regard to Intent. Whoever bonds with Roshar will see that future. That’s all for now! C.

It's confirmed! Renarin becomes Odium's Vessel! He sits on Odium's throne as representative of both Singers and humans. He will learn Roshar's Rhythms and see deep into the future's cathedral. In my Roshar's Magical History post, I predict Dalinar will become the living entity Roshar's Bondsmith. He will wield all 16 Investitures on Roshar without regard to Intent. Roshar's Rhythms will guide him. The Knights of Wind and Truth - Kaladin and Szeth - are Bondsmiths who serve Dalinar as they do now as Radiants. I predict in that post Dalinar will Ascend as Honor, kill Taravangian, then transfer Honor to Leshwi in exchange for her oath to protect Roshar. Until today, I did not know who would Ascend as Odium. I now think it's Renarin. He too will bind himself to Dalinar to protect Roshar. (And I still think Lift will Ascend as Cultivation; Koravellium will weary of godhood without Tanavast.) When future outworlders and their Shards come to steal Stormlight, Roshar will be ready. Other stuff: These chapters are about all kinds of relationships. The Lift-Gavinor interactions touch deeply. (Though what five-year-old has that vocabulary and perfect diction?!) The relationship between Tumi and Glys seems to mirror Rlain's and Renarin's. All four work together to piece out the future. That future is BAM. Yikes! Even Listeners have bad memories of the Queen of the Gods! Shallan looks like she recovers from the anti-Light attack without lingering effect. Surprising. Anti-Light seems less dangerous when evading the Investiture easily counteracts it. That's all for now! Approaching my 500th post! All the best. C.

I’m a lot Confused. What exactly are you saying? With that introduction to the Shallan problem, let’s talk. Some of you think the Ghostbloods play the Keystone Cops. Others think they trick Shallan. I think it depends on the narrative purpose of the Ghostblood scene. Is it to show the Ghostbloods have spren and Investitures they barely know how to use? Is it to show a Radiant can recover from anti-Light? Or will the anti-Light cause some important change in Shallan? I think it’s all three. I think the Ghostbloods are competent enough. They had one anti-Light bolt prepared and waiting for Shallan: “The Lightweaver is here!” Iyatil cries. It almost sounds like they expect Shallan to have snuck in, like they wanted to experiment on her. To compare the Ghostbloods with Kelsier and his crew is unfair: Kel had to combat the Lord Ruler, his god. The Ghostblood’s nemesis is “only” a 4th Oath Radiant, powerful yes, but not on the Lord Ruler’s level and not nearly as ruthless. A few of you suggest the anti-Light’s effects will linger. I agree. Shallan’s soul remains highly Invested even when not holding Stormlight. It’s hard to imagine the anti-Light won’t affect her in some way. Will she and her spren be forced to ask Sja-anat to enlighten Pattern and Testament? Where did that one anti-Light bolt come from? If the Ghostbloods themselves figured out how to make anti-Light, they’d have more than one bolt and ballista on stand-by. Maybe the metal tip limits their manufacture; but maybe someone VERY in-the-know is helping by making anti-Light for them. They wanted to test the bolt’s effectiveness on Shallan and received only one? Mraize is obviously more than he seems. He continues to groom Shallan. Like the pant leg tucked in his sock, Mraize shooting a normal bolt at Shallan warns her not to block Iyatil’s bolt with her spren. Maybe as that WoB shows, her spren could have blocked it without damage, but neither Mraize nor Shallan might have known that. Maybe he just wanted to test her Radiant reflexes and eye-hand coordination. She’s a Lightweaver, after all, not a trained fighter like Windrunners and Stonewards. “Obstacle” is the Chapter’s title. Mraize is clearly a goal-focused fellow, whatever those goals are. I don’t think he will allow Shallan to block him from his goals. But he doesn’t want to kill her unless and until he has to. Maybe Mraize wants to preserve Shallan as a worthy opponent until that time comes. She, however, freaks out whenever she sees him. She reverts to Veil and Radiant. I think Mraize exerts the same sense of authority over her that her father did. Maybe she ends up strangling Mraize while singing him a lullaby... Has anyone suggested this idea before? Great thought, Teknopathetic! Maybe enlightened spren are “reborn” and free of whatever oaths might have previously bound them. I think Ishar imposed his “order” on spren, not humans. Humans die and new Surgebinders would not be bound. Spren oaths are eternal. Renarin’s, Rlain’s, and Venli’s “reborn” spren choose to be Radiant. Other Nahel spren might choose to bond a non-Radiant and not be oath-bound again. And finally, my limerick summary of this week’s chapters: We now know the Shin fear a rock And anti-Light bolts cause a shock. But Shallan does not die (Only Brandon knows why). And Kal makes Szeth soup from a crock.

HIGHLIGHTS First Age – Pre-Shattering Bondsmiths manipulate Stone and Wind. Their magic relies on tones and rhythms, not Investiture or spren. It’s unclear if spren-less Singers have gemhearts. Second Age – Honor and Cultivation Invest Roshar. Spren proliferate. Singers change forms based on gemheart capture of spren. Singers personify and Nahel bond peakspren (Stone) and honorspren (Wind). Third Age – Humans and Odium arrive. Nahel spren betray Singers and bond only humans. Singers accept Odium. Desolations begin. Heralds enter Oathpact. Knights Radiant are born. Fourth Age – Odium kills Tanavast and Splinters Honor. Honor’s Cognitive Shadow merges into Stormfather. Sja-anat helps BAM launch False Desolation. Radiants imprison BAM and abandon Oaths. Fifth Age Predictions – Dalinar becomes Roshar’s Bondsmith and wields all 16 Investitures. Lift Ascends to hold Cultivation. Dalinar binds Lift and new Honor and Odium Vessels with mutual oaths, ensuring their loyalty to him. INTRODUCTION There’s a lot of history mystery about Roshar. We know Adonalsium creates the planet to be special. We know ancient gods once ruled there. We know the Shattering brings the Avasts, Tan and Koravellium, as Honor and Cultivation. And we know Rayse as Odium later joins them. Beyond that? In truth, not much. Dalinar will give us answers soon. Before then, here’s some rank speculation to sift through. (Hopefully not too rank...Just hold your nose.) From this point forward, assume everything I say is speculation except for text and WoBs. I will not preface each sentence with “I speculate...” Assume I speculate. (I don’t want you to be Confused about that. There’s already too many of me.) Cosmere 101 Adonalsium creates every planet with its own “inherent Investiture.” Pre-Shattering magic systems and those on Minor Shardworlds generally use lower levels of Investiture and involve magical “interactions with nature” like the Aviar. Post-Shattering, Major Shardworlds have higher levels of Investiture and support “people with magic” systems. In those magic systems, sapient beings direct the magic. Roshar follows this pre- and post-Shattering pattern. Adonalsium “Designs” Roshar I imagine the cosmere’s creation as a Big Bang in the moment of Adonalsium’s “awakening.” Adonalsium creates Roshar afterwards, about “12,000, 13,000 years” before the True Desolation. Frost’s Second Letter to Hoid says the Rosharan system bears “the touch and design of Adonalsium.” (WoR, Chapter 66 Epigraph.) Brandon confirms Roshar has a magnetic field but its surface consists of only one tectonic plate, with no tectonic activity: “It’s a weird planet, let's just say that. It's a pretty weird planet...a created planet.” The WoB RAFOs what Roshar’s interior is like. SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF ROSHAR’S FIVE MAGICAL AGES I think Roshar has four historical Magical Ages and predict a coming Fifth Age: Age One – From Creation to the Shattering This period spans about 2,000-3,000 years, from creation to about 10,000 years before the True Desolation. Singers are the dominant humanoid lifeform. Roshar’s gods are Stone, Wind, and Night. Singer Bondsmiths use Roshar’s tones to bind Surges directly, without Investiture. There are few if any spren in Age One other than Stone, Wind, and Night. There is little ambient Investiture. If Singers have gemhearts during Age One, the gemhearts may act as tuning forks, to help the Singers sing. Age Two – Honor and Cultivation Arrive This period spans about 3,000 years, from the Shattering until humans and Odium arrive, about 7,000 years before the True Desolation. The two Shards massively Invest Roshar. Honor’s perpendicularity sows Stormlight throughout the continent. The Singer “Rider of Storms” first appears. Singers personify fire, life, and rain as flamespren, lifespren, and rainspren. Bondsmiths become unnecessary, as Singers enter into Nahel bonds with spren that personify the old gods: honorspren (Wind) and peakspren (Stone). Night leaves. Cultivation creates the Nightwatcher. Singer gemhearts now hold spren that determine their changes of form. With Night gone, the Eila Stele mentions “Spren, Stone, and Wind.” “Spren” IMO refers to transformational gemheart spren. Honor and Cultivation add their tones and rhythms to Roshar’s native tones and rhythms. Age Three – Humans and Odium Arrive This period begins about 7,000 years before Roshar’s present and continues for about 4,500 to 5,000 years. With Odium’s help, humans burn Ashyn. Honor and Cultivation extort some promise from Odium to permit his entry to Roshar. Human refugees settle in Shinovar. Ishar brings a Dawnshard. Odium Invests Roshar enough to become resident there with his own tone and rhythms. Emotion spren first appear on Roshar. Humans begin to spread out from Shinovar. At some point, spren betray Singers by forming Nahel bonds exclusively with humans. The Rider of Storms becomes the Stormfather. Singers turn to Odium and become Fused. Desolations begin. Honor grants the Heralds Honorblades. The Heralds form the Oathpact. Their torture begins. Mortals personify the Honorblades into Radiantspren. Ishar imposes Order among Surgebinders and creates the Knights Radiant with the First Oath. Nohadon’s Way of Kings adds four additional Oaths for each Order. Desolations continue for about 2,500 years until Aharietiam, the “Last Desolation.” Age Four - Tanavast Dies and Honor Splinters My best guess is Odium kills Tanavast around 2,000 to 2,500 years before Roshar’s present. It takes Tanavast a while to die. Honor’s Cognitive Shadow merges into the Stormfather. The Stormfather becomes more cranky. Honor Splinters, and much of his power becomes spren. The Heralds, already crazy, start killing incipient Radiants because they believe without Honor’s guidance Radiants will cause another Desolation. About 2,000 years ago, Ba-Ado-Mishram Connects with Singers and launches the False Desolation. I think Sja-anat helps her by “enlightening” Singer spren. BAM’s capture and subsequent imprisonment in the Spiritual Realm cause Singers to become “Parshmen,” dull-witted slaves. Radiant dismay over what happens to Singers, among other things, causes Radiants to break their bonds with their own spren. Human society looks upon Radiants as “recreants.” Age Five? Predictions RAFO – Look at this post’s last section. In short, Dalinar become Roshar’s protector, the Bondsmith of Roshar. He wields the Investitures of all 16 Shards on that planet, without the limitations of Intent. I think after Taravangian’s repeated betrayals, Dalinar kills him. Dalinar binds Odium’s “divided” nature and arranges for Honor and Odium to be held by allied Vessels. I think Lift Ascends to Cultivation. Maybe... ANALYSIS Let’s take a closer look at each of Roshar’s Magical Ages: Pre-Shattering Roshar I speculate elsewhere that Adonalsium “designs” Roshar as a living planet with its own mind. I think of Roshar as Adonalsium’s Avatar, a massive amount of self-conscious Investiture at its core. I believe the living planet Roshar manifests to mortals as Stone, Wind, and Night. IMO, Stone represents birth, building the Rosharan continent from the ocean floor in the form of a Juliet fractal set. Wind represents change, as an erosion agent and spreader of life. Night represents death, the destructive power of Ruin, setting the stage for rebirth in a full “Transformation” cycle. I describe Stone, Wind, and Night in detail in this post. Humanoids, mostly Singers, come to live on Roshar. Since Adonalsium creates Roshar only a few millennia before the Shattering, it’s doubtful humanoids evolve on Roshar. Presumably Adonalsium creates them fully formed. Humanoids are more or less the same throughout the cosmere, since life follows certain “natural pathways.” The other possibility is humanoid migration from other worlds. Brandon implies people visited Roshar millennia ago. While I assume the multi-colored Singers are native to Roshar, we don’t really know that. Do their three colors represent Stone (red), Wind (white), and Night (black)? Stone tells Venli she descends from the Dawnsingers, but we don’t know when and how Dawnsingers appear on Roshar. They’re “Dawnsingers” only relative to humans. But they are attuned to Roshar early on, which suggests they’re part of the native environment. Even ranker speculation: Dawnsingers know the tones and rhythms of Roshar and can move Stone to build cities. My “Rosharan gods” post argues Singers can make magic on Roshar without using Investiture. The Sibling says Roshar’s early Bondsmiths bond directly with the Surges themselves. IMO, Bondsmiths “sing” Roshar’s songs to directly manipulate the Cohesion and Tension Surges (Stone) and the Adhesion and Gravitation Surges (Wind). I think the First Age has few spren, if any, other than Stone, Wind, and Night. Compared with the post-Shattering Ages, Roshar has less “free-floating” ambient investiture. This is true of all pre-Shattering planets; but three Shards subsequently Invest Roshar. Brandon says the Realms now compress there. I note the Sibling mentions Stone, Wind, and Night. The later-written Eila Stele mentions Spren, Stone, and Wind. (Obviously after Night leaves.) As a corollary to the First Age absence of widespread spren, Dawnsingers and Roshar’s fauna should not need gemhearts to hold spren. Gemhearts might exist then, since their vibrations could help Singers reproduce the right tones and rhythms, or they might evolve gemhearts later. The Age of Honor and Cultivation After murdering god, the Avasts move to Roshar. Maybe Cultivation likes the planet’s Transformation cycle. The two Shards remake Roshar with vast infusions of their Investitures. The effect on Roshar the entity is unknown. The effect on Roshar the planet is immense. Honor creates his perpendicularity, spreading his Investiture widely across the landscape. Stormlight becomes Roshar’s primary energy source. Everything on Roshar feeds on it. Easily personified “natural” spren proliferate: lifespren, rainspren, windspren, etc. Cultivation may prefer to nip and tuck her systems; but Honor seems to want to control and bind everything. Roshar learns to respond to the tones of Honor and Cultivation. The WaT chapters state the Stormfather pre-exists the human migration from Ashyn, though that may reference the Singers’ Rider of Storms. Singers personify the Rider of Storms when the highstorm circulates. I believe (without evidence) Cultivation forms the Nightwatcher later, independent of mortal perceptions. What happens to Stone, Wind, and Night when the Shards arrive? Singers begin this Age singing Roshar’s tones and rhythms. Eventually, I believe Singers personify Stone as peakspren and Wind as honorspren. Night just...leaves. Nobody likes her anyway. (I speculate in my Rosharan gods post that Night returns to Roshar as Nightblood.) Cultivation at some point uses the same essence as Night to help create the Nightwatcher. I think honorspren and peakspren – Wind and Stone – are the first two spren to Nahel bond Singers. In this Second Magical Age, Ashyn humans have not arrived on Roshar. The spren-bonded Singers replace Wind and Stone’s Bondsmiths. Through their bonded spren, Singers IMO manipulate the same Surges as Wind and Stone Bondsmiths. Leshwi knows an honorspren and might have been bonded to them. The Eila Stele refers to Spren, Stone, and Wind. With Night’s departure, what does “Spren” refer to? I speculate Second Age Singers begin to hold spren in gemhearts to change forms. Singer forms relate to specific spren. The collective spren responsible for form changes are the Eila Stele’s “Spren.” I presume that includes the Rider of Storms, the source of Stormlight. I think the Unmade are “Made” during Roshar’s Second Magical Age. I presume, without evidence, that the “Made” spren are of Honor and/or Cultivation. Odium is not present on Roshar. I don’t know what the Made personify in the Second Age. I’m not sure all the Made are spren. Hessi describes BAM as a Singer priestess who commands Singers during the Desolations. In sum, Surgebinding through at least some spren characterize Roshar’s Second Magical Age. Spren replace Bondsmiths as the medium for magic. Odium and Humans Arrive Not much to add to my summary description. All that stuff is well-documented and leaves little room for speculation. Sorry... Tanavast Dies and Honor Splinters We don't know how Odium kills Tanavast. I speculate Odium breaks the Connection between Tanavast's mind and the Investiture that keeps him alive. Odium seems particularly skilled at Shard-killing so I don't think he uses anti-Light. The other Shards could do that just as easily to him if they want. To stop a murderer who might seek them out, their oaths and scruples wouldn't stop them, particularly if multiple Shards join in the attempt. Anti-Light causes an explosion that should Splinter Odium's victims, but not all of them (e.g., Dominion and Devotion) are Splintered. Brandon seems to place great emphasis on Honor's Splintering. Is this what he means when he says, “Honor lives in the hearts of men”? What does that signal for the cosmere? Will Rosharan humans bind themselves to a common goal as they march off to cosmere war? Most other magic users seem more individualistic in their goals. We've yet to see a magical army other than Rosharans and the Selish Fjordell (the children of Dominion). A fight between these groups seems inevitable. The False Desolation is interesting. Who is BAM and what does she do? BAM seems to have some power over Connection, but how does she Connect Voidlight to Singers? I think Sja-anat helps. BAM makes Singers into Regals, not Fused. My guess is Singers until then are mostly in warform when they fight. Like Listeners in warform, Singers bond to Honor/Cultivation spren. I think Sja-anat “enlightens” the Singer spren with Odium’s Investiture. Singer spren accept Voidlight and undergo the form change to become Regals. The Recreance follows the False Desolation and BAM's subsequent imprisonment. I think turning Singers into slaves shames the Radiants. They voluntarily choose to break their Oaths and spren bond. I believe the name "Recreance" derives from what humans call the discredited Radiants - the "recreants." I speculate after the False Desolation Odium focuses on building up the Everstorm and manipulating Listeners into manifesting it. With Honor dead, Cultivation in hiding, the Radiants gone, and the Heralds mad, he can take his time. Predictions I base my predictions on Dalinar’s sense that something “beyond Honor” impels him down his path. I think Roshar, Adonalsium’s Avatar, calls to him to serve as Roshar's Bondsmith. Because Roshar is Adonalsium’s Avatar, I don’t think Shard Intents will restrict Dalinar from using all of Roshar’s Investitures. In addition to its many other meanings, the phrase “Unite them” might refer to Dalinar uniting the Investitures of Roshar. What, then, happens with Roshar's Shards? Dalinar might assume Honor and/or Odium. “Unite them” might mean uniting all the Shards again into one Vessel. But that seems to me to go backwards. The cosmere moves towards the fractionalization of power not its concentration. Adonalsium becomes Shards, Shards become Splinters. Entropy. If Adonalsium does foresee his death and Shattering, I don’t think he would want to replace himself with someone else to hold and direct all cosmere Investiture. But Dalinar is a controlling kind of guy. Even as his redemption story progresses, I don’t think he would relinquish power to any but loyal subordinates. My best guess: Dalinar places the Shards with Vessels he can trust (IOW, not Taravangian). He obtains their promise to follow him and binds the Vessels who agree. I speculate Dalinar picks Leshwi to hold Honor. To bind Roshar’s people to him, he needs support from all Roshar’s people. I think Lift succeeds Koravellium as Cultivation's Vessel. Lift is the only known person who expresses a pure Cultivation magic system. She Transforms matter (food) into Investiture. She's a natural to Ascend as Cultivation. If nothing else, Lift knows what it's like to be perpetually hungry... Odium is a problem, though. I think Dalinar as Bondsmith will have to bind the split between Odium’s emotional and logical sides before he allows anyone to hold that Shard. I suspect Dalinar will choose a human Vessel for Odium, but it won’t be Taravangian. It would be ironic if he picks Jasnah, the most unemotional of all Rosharan humans. Maybe that would be the right person to hold emotions in check? Any other candidates? Though he too is a Singer, El might be an Odium Vessel candidate. His old title, “He who Quiets,” might foreshadow Dalinar fixing Odium’s divided nature: Maybe El will “quiet” his own passions? He likes humans, if only for their passion and willingness to serve as cannon fodder in any invasion. If any of this speculation has merit (and it may not), the cosmere ends up with 16 Vessels holding Shards, all of which are bound and promised to Dalinar. Dalinar’s ability to wield all 16 Investitures will help him bind the Vessels into this new “Oathpact.” (A description that bears no relationship to the Heralds’ Oathpact except as foreshadowing.) Dal rules! CONCLUSION Another grotesquely long and convoluted post. I hope you read it. Maybe you’ll even like it! Regards! C.

You're a new best friend! Great show! About a guy who learns how to fake emotions because his own emotions are so stunted. A psychopath who's "good" and only kills other killers! Aside from the murders, I so identify...

Leshwi seems like the perfect choice to me. I do think Singers need their own Shard. Kaladin will be the Knight of Wind, his body dead, his soul shared with Syl. Dalinar is clearly the frontrunner for Ascension to Honor, and I still believe that will happen. (I sure don't think Mraize will grab that Shard.) But IMO Leshwi is the best Singer candidate to Ascend to Honor. She's repeatedly shown herself to be honorable and a strong leader. I believe Venli will be a Stone Bondsmith, not a Shard.

Good questions! But Night becoming Nightblood is just too juicy a possibility to ignore. I’ll try again to address your doubts, hopefully with more clarity. To review basics, every Shard’s magic system can grant any magical ability, but only in its own way, that is, in a way consistent with its Intent: “The 'role' of the Shard has to do with the WAY the magic is obtained, not what it can do.” “The means of getting powers…are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.” To me, “Destroy” is life-endowing Breath's antithesis. Breaths might find it hard to obey the Command. This dynamic resembles the directly opposing Shards, Ruin and Preservation. Ruin can perform Allomancy, which is Preservation's magic, but only by stealing Preservation through Hemalurgy: Here, “it wouldn’t be as natural or as easy” to use Breaths to fuel destruction even if possible. Instead, I think the Breaths endow Nightblood with the tool of destruction, the power of Ruin. IOW, in order to obey the Command Destroy, the Breaths add Ruin to Nightblood. The metal sword provides a Focus to summon Ruin. Ruin then overwrites – "corrupts" – the Breaths to implement the Command. We know this corruption happens. We know the sword only becomes black upon Awakening, a sign of Investiture corruption. We know Nightblood holds Ruin as well as Breaths. We know Nightblood’s creation was a highly unusual, almost impossible to replicate event. The question is, how does Ruin get into Nightblood? I first argued years ago that Ruin partly created Nightblood because of the Destroy Command and the sword's metal Focus. The only difference now is my speculation that Night is the source of Ruin. No one knew Wind was around all this time until Wind spoke to Kaladin. Hoid never mentioned the “ancient spren” until recently. Maybe Night wanted to avoid notice. Maybe she didn’t so much “leave” as hide or dwindle. The Shards replaced each of the old gods with the Stormfather, Nightwatcher, and Sibling. They might have known the old gods survived and not cared. Or maybe they didn’t know. Could Cultivation have found Night? Maybe. Did she care to? Maybe not. As Hoid tells Dalinar and Navani, “The Shards are not omniscient—it is relatively easy to hide things from them.” We don’t know when other Worldhoppers visited Roshar. According to Brandon’s timeline, cosmere stories chronologically earlier than SLA take place on Sel, Scadrial, Nalthis, and Threnody. Brandon hints at early Worldhoppers from Sel, but that way is now closed. Scadrial’s Worldhopping is more recent. If Felt is representative, Scadrian Worldhoppers prefer to blend in unnoticed – “Ghostbloods.” That leaves the Nalthians, Scholars interested in learning and making new things using Breaths. Maybe the Scholars worked where Night could see them. It makes sense to me a curious Night might have tired of a dull life on the lam and followed them. To sum up, I think it plausible that Night hid indefinitely from the other “gods” and Shards. I also think it plausible that Night followed the Five Scholars to Nalthis, though that “conclusion” is pure guesswork. I do think it’s very plausible the Breaths used Night’s Ruinous Investiture in order to execute Nightblood’s Awakening with the “Destroy evil” Command. Maybe a red herring, but again too juicy to ignore. C.

Both Adolin and Shallan die (after she gives birth) and Grandma Chana raises two future Bondsmiths! Grandpa Daddy-M helps...

If Dal holds Odium, should we call him 'Da-dium," pronounced "Daddy-M"? Who's YOUR daddy? Seems appropriate... (Adolin and Renarin think so.)

Random observations in order. (Is that oxymoronic?) Also, lots of wide-ranging speculation. I like that the Chapter 25 epigraph talks about the "sacred right of freedom of movement." That's what Odium, Heralds, Radiants [?], Fused, Ghostbloods, et al. on Roshar all seem to want. Mraize might still be teaching Shallan. Does he know she's there when he says, Does Mraize warn Shallan her risk should justify her reward? The chapter is named "Purposeful Danger." Is Shallan still Mraize's apprentice? This scene explicitly harkens back to Shallan's first meeting with Mraize and the Ghostbloods. It reminds me how (IMO) he writes SLA 1-5 as a ketek, with the early books foreshadowing the events of the later books. Another example I recently found. Fleet dies while running himself, exhausted, to his death. On Kaladin's first Bridge Four run, only his will keeps him going: "He just kept running. And running." (WoK Chapter 6, "Bridge Four," Kindle p. 103.) When Shallan first felt panic and then an "icy chill on the nape of her neck," Iyatil was watching her. Did Iyatil use Allomancy to augment Shallan's emotions? An early test that Shallan's outward stoicism passed? Did dapper, self-disciplined Mraize deliberately tuck his pant leg in his sock - knowing Shallan would notice, find it amusing, and be calmed? (IIRC, my unsupported belief has been disproved, but I can't put aside the idea that seamed-face Mraize is a Sleepless. Maybe he's the one sent to watch over the "liar" from WoK's back cover, who is Shallan. To me, he's always seemed protective of Shallan. Oh, well...) More foreshadowing: Mraize's discussion of the democratizing effect of modern warfare. With technological advances like the cross-bow, any farmer can kill a king. The hint here, I suspect, is that any mundane warrior armed with a fabrial can kill even an Invested being. Mraize cautions Chain and his audience (Shallan?) to open themselves to "the world that is" rather than to rely on past wisdom. If nothing else, Mraize has shown himself to be a Pragmatist in the William James philosophical sense. To elaborate on my earlier post in this thread, I think the Stormfather is the "very special contact," the "new recruit." He is privy to every thought Dalinar has in real time. As the holder of Tanavast's cognitive shadow and the largest known Honor Splinter, the Stormfather has a personal interest in Dalinar's failure. Dalinar's Ascension as Honor will destroy Tanavast except as a Dalinar memory, give Dalinar power over the Stormfather, and expose to Dalinar the truth of Tanavast and the Stormfather's actions. Maybe it's Sja-anat, but she's not "new." The SF will know exactly when and where Dalinar will open his perpendicularity. If Iyatil and Mraize can get to Shadesmar, they should be able to hitch a ride into the Spiritual Realm. Mraize is confident Dalinar will help lead them to BAM. After all, he has Shallan as his hostage... Dalinar: The hero expresses hope and resolve...for something beyond Honor? What the...?! Does he foresee Unity as the merger of multiple Shards? Honor and Odium are obvious choices, but I don't get the sense Dalinar intends to stop there. He will share Taravangian's goal of "uniting" the cosmere. I still think as Honor he will Bind the Divided One's incapacity to think and feel simultaneously. Dalinar as Honor might welcome a healed TOdium as an ally. But...there's that ketek thing again. We've seen this story before, where Dalinar's misappraisal of Sadeas almost got him and Adolin killed. IMO, Dal will heal Odium, but Taravangian must die. Dalinar won't lead Odium's armies as a Fused, he will lead them as Unity. Now, what has been "guiding me all this time...beyond Honor"? What is the "something" that points him in the Unity direction? Following is some free-styling speculation: What if Roshar the planet is the seed for "Adonalsium's" rebirth? Adonalsium (an anagram for "A mind, a soul") creator of the cosmere is dead and that person will not be resurrected. I mean someone who, like Adonalsium, can wield the power of all 16 Shards. "Unity." Hoid says Adonalsium left something of himself on Roshar. Brandon says its special among planets. I've previously theorized Roshar is a living planet. Its three ancient gods of Stone, Wind, and Night represent birth, growth, and death. I now add this thought: that those gods are all manifestations of the mind of Roshar. That mind can manipulate all of Roshar's Investitures, since it is Roshar. Maybe Dalinar will bond Roshar itself and also become the Vessel for Honor and Odium. Maybe he will learn the Intents of all the Shards and how to use their Investitures. Maybe his bond roots him on Roshar, yet he'll still be able to project power throughout the cosmere. Dalinar will defeat the other Vessels because of his knowledge of them. Maybe... FWIW, Navani has had good practice mothering the Sibling. Might she Ascend to Cultivation when Dalinar Ascends to Honor? Tanavast and Koravellium Avast in romantic rebirth? Ketek... The Chapter 26 Epigraph, following, reads like Jezrien might have said it. The King of Heralds abandons the Oathpact. This goes to the common speculation that Jezrien was Nohadon. Sja-anat's colloquy with Shallan includes some wonderful stuff: I suggested a few weeks ago Shallan might be pregnant. But some posters' twins suggestion seems too Dune-like. Would Brandon make that reference? If there are twins, we already know their names: Radiant and Veil! Sometime soon, I may post a Rosharan "Magical History Tour." Sja-anat's comments fascinate me. She seems to predate the Shattering and the Shards' arrival on Roshar. The Shards didn't make her. She also sounds like the source of all Roshar's spren. Is she the "spren" from the Eila Stele? She tells us Odium "will rip through anyone...," confirmation that Odium Unmade her. Honor hated spren? Does Sja-anat believe Honor might have better protected her and her children from Odium? She's mad at Cultivation for standing aside while the boys fought it out? Iyatil now knows Sja-anat can't be trusted. SJA misleads her about Shallan's presence. What might that mean? That's all (for now), folks! C.

Aggghh! Corgen just beat me! I also think the newly recruited spy is the Stormfather. He doesn't want Dalinar to Ascend to Honor. Maybe this is more grist for the "Tanavast is still alive" crowd. I just think Tanavast's CG rebels against the thought of losing their consciousness and Investiture - effectively dying for real. This reminds me of the LeBron James commercial where he sits in a barbershop and reports he has an incredible NFL offer he might consider. Within seconds, the news reports the LeBron's comments, verbatim. Like there is a spy in LeBron's head. Maybe the spy is inside Dalinar's head, the Stormfather. Maybe Mraize plans on killing Dalinar and taking Honor for himself? And Navani leaving the Tower and its protections? Idiotic. Will the Tower be able to produce Towerlight without her nearby? Narratively, it seems like another Tower invasion would be redundant and boring. But something is going to happen there.

I've long thought "Hessi" of Unmade study fame, is actually Hesina. If so, she'd know. I also side with @The Sovereign. They'd all know and use the word "cosmere." The comment reminds me of Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love. Whenever asked about the vagaries of show business, he answered, "I don't know how, but it will work out. It's a mystery..."

@LewsTherinTelescope and @listerfeend, I’m not sure what your objection is. I speculate, without evidence, that Night left Roshar with the Five Scholars. You speculate, equally without evidence, that she disappeared and maybe left Roshar millennia earlier. Night might have hidden during those millennia and still remained on Roshar. Night might have weakened even before the Recreance, just as Wind now seems weak. BAM's capture might have affected her. The Nightwatcher replaced many of Night’s personified functions including Night’s association with death. So Night lingers until the Scholars show up. She follows them. Isn’t that just as reasonable a speculation as yours? I know Nightblood is not the sword’s original name. I discuss this in the OP. I speculate Night constituted the mind and Ruinous Investiture that augmented Nightblood’s creation. Shashara's "Destroy Evil" Command might have pulled Night into the sword: First, the Command "Destroy" uses Ruin's Investiture. Second, I speculate Rosharans viewed Night/death as "evil" and Night personified their view. After the sword’s Awakening, Night might have retained enough Identity to remember her name, Night. Vasher renamed the (now black) sword Nightblood (I speculate) after seeing the gaseous Investiture leakage. Regards! C.

As always, thanks all for your comments! It’s nice to know someone does hear when a tree in the forest falls... @LewsTherinTelescope, those are wonderful WoBs referencing death and the Nightwatcher. They support my speculation. You are correct that the Sibling’s statement – “Mother replaced her with a being of some of the same essence... [bold added]” – doesn’t mean that essence comes from Night herself. If Night is made from Ruin, as I speculate, then Cultivation simply grows the Nightwatcher with some of Ruin’s essence in addition to Cultivation’s own. I think the Nightwatcher uses that Ruinous essence to destroy a bit of the boon-seeker’s Spiritweb. Cultivation’s essence grows back the missing piece as the boon/curse. Next are the questions about how Night might have snuck off Roshar: The amount of Investiture an entity controls and/or contains is neither defined nor limited by mass or volume. Those are Physical Realm concepts. Most Investiture lies in the Spiritual Realm, which lacks dimensions. I believe control is more a function of Intent and Command than the amount of Investiture used. Think Lifeless, each created with a single Breath. “Night,” of all of the ancient gods, should be able to hide herself easily. She can hide during her namesake night or in any shadow. Perhaps even inside a person. “Few loved her, or even spoke of her.” People probably don’t miss her and prefer not to think of her. Death continues on Roshar even in her absence. Some of her functions seem transferred to the Nightwatcher, as @LewsTherinTelescope shows. I think Night as a god would have little trouble slipping out of memory. @logicless.bt says, “Night was invested enough to be worshipped by the people...” Your question assumes “Invested” means the same thing for a spren made from Ruin as it does for one made from Odium, Cultivation, or Honor. Those Shards reside on Roshar. They can’t move from the planet without dis-Investing themselves. But Ruin is Invested on Scadrial. I believe assigned Investiture left by Adonalsium on Roshar shouldn’t be stuck there unless its Shard also resides there. Now the timing question: I think the timing fits nicely. Here’s the Sibling’s statement on timing (bold added): It sounds like “Night” left and Cultivation replaced her with the Nightwatcher while the Sibling slept. The Sibling slept from around the time of BAM’s capture and the Recreance. This works just fine with known timing. I think it’s also unclear when the Scholars did visit Roshar: Again, thanks to you all for your comments! C.

I’m taking a break from preview chapters to write about the differences between Adonalsium and the Shards. Here are my questions and my summary answers. Nothing major. Analysis below. Are there levels of cosmere “sapience”? Crossing the sapience threshold is all it takes to direct even massive amounts of Investiture. This is a qualitative not quantitative change. What does “infinity” mean to a Shard? “Infinity” refers to Adonalsium’s ability to use all of his Investiture. IMO, Adonalsium was the cosmere. Vessels instead Connect to their Shards in the Spiritual Realm. As a result, Shards don’t know where all their assigned Investiture is and can’t readily access that Investiture. Is a Shard’s control of its “assigned” Investiture equal to its control over its unused Investiture? Shards can only “tweak, influence, and do things” to assigned Investiture. They can accomplish almost anything with a direct infusion of their own Spiritual Realm Investiture. What does “Invested” mean? “Invested” means a Shard has infused enough of its own Investiture in a location as to become “resident” there and form a perpendicularity. What Is the Spiritual Realm Like? RAFO, at the end of this post. Pure speculation and too difficult to summarize... I ran an earlier version of this post past @alder24. He’s great at research and raising unexpected issues. I figured I’d best find out what I missed before I published! This post reflects his comments. I think the two following WoBs are the leading statements on these subjects. The second is well-known and quite long; I point in bold to the part I think most relevant. Are There Levels of Cosmere Sapience? Both WoBs say Shard Vessels are inferior to Adonalsium in part because their minds are more limited: Was Adonalsium simply “smarter and wiser” than each Vessel? Was he “more” sapient than the Vessels? Here are some relevant WoBs. A self-aware computer might be analytically faster than a human, but sapience refers to wisdom and judgment, not just logic. Nonetheless, an Awakened computer would have certain major advantages over humans that maybe Adonalsium himself possessed. The bolded statement implies to me there’s little difference between power directing itself and an independent sapient mind directing the power. The minds of Radiantspren and the massively Invested Nightblood both align along a human sapient scale. Human Vessels can direct a Shard’s power. Even long-lived cosmere creatures like dragons are not “born more wise than a human.” IOW, sapience appears to be a threshold to cross, a quality not quantity, and has nothing to do with levels of intelligence or age-acquired wisdom. I believe “in the beginning” the clump of Investiture that became the cosmere formed a self-directing mind called Adonalsium. Adonalsium is an anagram for “A mind, a soul.” If Sazed can control two directly opposing Shards, maybe human-level sapience can direct all 16 at once, which would balance any Shard opposition. Unlike the Vessels, Adonalsium just directs himself, like humans moving their arms and legs. It’s certainly possible Adonalsium possessed “super-sapience.” But I conclude even a really smart Adonalsium would still be measured on a human scale of sapience. If Adonalsium was “merely” sapient, regardless of his overall intelligence and processing speed, then his “infinite” power, versus the Shards’ lesser power, IMO does not inhere in the quality of their respective minds. They’re all sapient. What Does “Infinity” Mean to a Shard? I wrote a post several years ago on what “infinity” means to a Shard. The cited WoB is the second of the two quoted in full above: I think, IOW, that Adonalsium WAS the cosmere in all three Realms – omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient within its confines – “infinite.” OTOH, Vessel minds Connect to their Shards. Vessels don’t know where most of their assigned Investiture is or how to use it. IMO, that’s the main reason Shards have less access to their Investiture than Adonalsium. He was omnipresent within the cosmere. They are not. To be clear, I think “infinite” in the cosmere does not mean endless or limitless. Brandon places great emphasis on cosmere thermodynamics. Thermodynamics works only if the cosmere is a closed finite system – a cluster of stars or dwarf galaxy thermodynamically isolated from the greater “Beyond.” I think Brandon uses the word “infinite” in its alternative sense: incalculably vast but nonetheless with limits. Is a Shard’s Control of Its “Assigned” Investiture Equal to Its Control Over Its Unused Investiture? It appears not. Here’s part of the second WoB above, with bold added: I think the words “expanding and exploring your understanding” do not to refer to becoming super-sapient. Rayse didn’t seem super-smart, and Hoid didn’t think much of him even before Rayse became a Vessel. I think those words mean a Vessel’s sapient mind can learn more and more about the Spiritual Realm they inhabit and how it works. They can extend their mind more deeply into their “infinite” Investiture. Until they do, “accessing and using that infinity is beyond [their] reach” (IMO). Now let’s assume, like Autonomy, a Shard does discover some of its assigned Investiture, which exists in about 1/16 of the created cosmere: “Suddenly, you have a chance to tweak, influence, and do things that were always possible, but which you never could do because you knew, but didn't know, at the same time. [Bold added.]” “Tweak, influence, and do things”? That seems much less than what Shards can do when Investing on their own. (Next section.) I think the reason is that Adonalsium already Invested that Investiture. It’s in place, either as matter, energy, or Physical Realm Investiture. Without dis-Investing (“divesting”?) from that planet and converting the planet into raw Investiture, all a Shard can do is “tweak, influence, and do things” to the assigned Investiture. In Autonomy’s case, that often means granting sapience to its Avatars. What Does “Invested” Mean? In the second WoB, Brandon tells us: “We generally mean the term "Invested" to mean a Shard has taken permanent residence in a location, a kind of base of operations...” About Autonomy finding assigned Investiture, he says, “Were you "Invested" there? No, no more than you're Invested on Roshar, where parts of what were Adonalsium still exist that are associated with you (in the very fabric of matter and existence.)” From these statements I conclude that “Invested” refers to a Shard’s direct use of Investiture in an amount necessary to create a “permanent residence in a location.” Odium, for example, is now “Invested” in Roshar. IMO, that gives him and other Invested Shards greater control over their “residence” than assigned Investiture on their planet gives them. Shards Invested in a location Connect the three Realms through a perpendicularity. The perpendicularity forms a conduit through which the Shard’s Investiture flows to “create stuff.” I wrote about “Perpendicularities’ Role in the Cosmere.” That post quotes lots of relevant WoBs (as of April Fool’s Day, 2020!) What Is the Spiritual Realm Like? Two of Brandon’s statements from the second WoB: The Spiritual Realm lacks dimension. Distance, location, motion, space, and time are all irrelevant there. What is relevant? What will mortals see when they enter the Spiritual Realm? My best guess: The Spiritual Realm appears to sapient minds as bits of Connected Investiture floating in and nurtured by a surrounding ether of raw Investiture – endless inter-Connected Spiritwebs flickering in a roiling raw Investiture cloud. Planetary Spiritwebs might appear to sapient minds as densely complex, interwoven with the Spiritwebs of everything Connected to the planet – humans, animals, other sentient life. Spiritweb filaments flicker as Connections form, strengthen, weaken, and disappear. I suspect visiting mortals will perceive dimensions in the Spiritual Realm because of their Cognitive Realm minds. They’ll see each other as what they expect to see. They’ll hear each other’s voices. Though they “walk” through a Realm that mostly has no meaning for them, they will perceive normally the things that do have meaning, like motion, dimensions, and each other. I speculate a Vessel finds its assigned Investiture by exploring the inter-Connected Spiritwebs until those byways yield a sniff of its Shard, its “spin or magnetism” or “tone” or “frequency,” etc. The Vessel follows this trail back to the source, the assigned Investiture situated somewhere in another Realm. “Movement” of a Shard in a dimension-less Realm might mean the Shard changes its focus from one group of Spiritwebs to another. When a Shard Invests something, maybe it “drips” its raw Investiture onto the target Spiritweb; the weight of Investiture then punctures the Realms and creates a perpendicularity. IMO, “magic” mostly consists of making and changing Connections. I think Ruin and Preservation took raw Investiture and bits of cosmere dust, then Connected it all together into Scadrial. I believe Connections “program” raw Investiture into some person or object. Conclusion That’s my best guess about this “small” stuff. What do you all think? C.

“[N]ew things are made from old things...” (RoW, Kindle p. 781) This post refines my theory about Roshar’s three native gods. I’ve reassigned their roles as follows: Stone represents birth, building the continent from the ocean floor. Wind represents growth – Wind’s whimsical ability to spread life. Night represents death, the destructive power of Ruin. The cycle repeats. I think Night has returned to Roshar as Nightblood. More on that later... IMO, Bondsmiths of the living planet Roshar don't need Investiture for Surgebinding. Someone sufficiently attuned to Roshar can learn Roshar’s tones and rhythms. They can sing Roshar’s “Songs” to Surgebind. That’s how the Dawnsingers created the Dawncities. Kabsal the WoR Ghostblood assassin demonstrates how cymatic vibrations create replicas of the Dawncities. No Investiture needed. I think the Dawnsingers were Stone Bondsmiths. The Sibling says, “Back when Bondsmiths bonded not to spren, but to the ancient forces, left by gods.” I think this phrase means that a Wind Bondsmith, for example, can bind the Surges of Adhesion and Gravitation simply by singing Roshar's Songs. I think Venli will be a Stone Bondsmith who binds the Cohesion and Tension Surges by singing Roshar’s Songs. I think this is what Adonalsium set up, what makes Roshar special among planets – the ability to make powerful magic without Investiture. I believe each old god is made of some Shard’s assigned Investiture, that is, Investiture left by Adonalsium and assigned to a Shard at the Shattering. I speculate, for example, Adonalsium used his bonding power to create Wind. Post-Shattering, Wind would be assigned to Honor. Stone Stone is “one” but speaks with many voices. To me, this is Autonomy-like. IMO, Autonomy is the Shard of Fractals – that is, Autonomy’s “primal force” is fractals. Like Honor’s primal force of bonding, and Ruin’s primal force of destructive entropy, Autonomy grants access to its Investiture through fractals...I think. Fractals are progressively smaller-scaled versions of the same pattern, all of which make one whole. Avatars seem like smaller-scaled versions of Autonomy. Autonomy and its Avatars remain “one whole,” since (Brandon suggests) Autonomy controls their Avatars through an inter-Connected mind – many voices that are one. Brandon says there is a “gathering” of Autonomy’s Investiture on Roshar that the Shard has yet to find. Brandon configures the shape of the Rosharan continent as a Juliet fractal set – a mathematical equation. Check out these WoBs: Skyward Release Party (Nov. 6 2018); and Bonn Signing (May 15, 2019) I think, in-story, Stone built the continent based on the Julia fractal set. I agree with the folks who think Rock will be a Stone Knight/Bondsmith. Once a Stone Bondsmith learns to compose and orchestrate, I suspect they can shape huge quantities of Stone. Make and move mountains (and get rid of airsick lowlanders...), dig out lakes and valleys, and reconfigure Roshar’s landscape. Wind Wind’s Shard may be Honor. The forces Wind represents – Adhesion and Gravitation – are bonding agents. Wind erodes Stone and blows living seeds into Stone places where life takes hold and flourishes. Maybe Wind derives from some other Shard or combination, but I choose Honor. Kaladin is the Child of Tanavast and the embodiment of Honor’s protective urges. Perhaps Kal’s personality and character match Tanavast’s. Maybe Tanavast pre-Shattering was a Yolen military man who loved the wind as much as Kaladin does. Tanavast does wear a uniform. Maybe he favored one-on-one aerial combat like earth’s WW I ace pilots. (Was Tanavast a Red Baron before the Red Baron – Manfred von Richthofen – before Snoopy?) Wind and Honor do seem to have a strong association. Maybe Kaladin and Tanavast share a common code of “honor.” Who knows. Wind Bondsmith Kaladin should be able to use Roshar’s tones and rhythms to manipulate the wind. Because he can bind the Adhesion and Gravitation Surges without Investiture, he doesn’t need the Nahel bond and Syl. IMO, Kaladin must speak his 5th Oath before he can become a Wind Bondsmith. He and Syl must fully merge their souls and become Wind (just as Szeth and his highspren must become Truth). I believe that’s the meaning of Fleet’s “soul” rising to fly the winds forever. An additional thought about Kaladin/Fleet. Wit cautions Kaladin to listen to Roshar or die. Fleet races the highstorm into Shinovar but metaphorically crashes when he outruns the highstorm, which supplies him Stormlight. At that moment, I believe Kal is no longer a Radiant. Syladin continues to fly solely on the tones and rhythms of Roshar. They defeat the storm and reclaim Roshar for Wind. Night...and Szeth and Nightblood Now the fun stuff. “Night” and “Nightblood” is too juicy to ignore... I speculate Night leaves Roshar with the Five Scholars and returns to Roshar incorporated into Nightblood. Szeth currently bonds Nightblood’s destructive force. When Szeth swears his 5th Oath, he becomes the embodiment of Truth. Nightblood administers Szeth’s judgment – the Sword of Retribution reborn. [WoK describes a carved relief of “Nalan’Elin, emitting sunlight, the sword of retribution held over his head.” (Chapter 18, Kindle p. 286, bold added.)] Facts The Sibling tells us, “The Night left. Few loved her, or even spoke of her.” Night left Roshar after the Shattering. Cultivation kept a piece of Night’s essence. Nalthis’ Five Scholars were early Worldhoppers who visited Roshar. Shashara and Vasher created Nightblood based on the Shardblades they saw there. Shashara and Vasher thought they Invested Nightblood solely with Breaths. Brandon tells us Nightblood also holds Ruin’s Investiture. Nightblood’s creation was “really bizarre” and “very hard” to replicate. Nightblood gains Investiture over time and is one of the cosmere’s most heavily Invested objects. I presume Nightblood grows whenever he “destroys evil.” (I theorize Nightblood seeks thermodynamic equilibrium between his internal self and the external world. That dynamic IMO causes his destructive effects to accelerate rapidly.) Is Night made from Ruin? This is the first hurdle to my conjecture: Does Night represent death, entropy, destruction? There’s no direct evidence. I start with the assumption that every living system (like Roshar) includes birth, growth, death, and rebirth in new form (a “Transformation” cycle). Investiture converts to matter and energy and back to Investiture eternally. IMO, Transformation is Cultivation’s “primal force,” a system she monitors, prunes, and trims but doesn’t dominate. Cultivation doesn’t exist when Adonalsium creates Roshar. Adonalsium designs Roshar as a living planet (IMO). He installs his own system, one of Stone, Wind, and Night. If Stone is birth, and Wind is growth, then Night must be death in order to trigger the life cycle’s renewal. I suspect one reason “Few loved her, or even spoke of her” had to do with Night’s association with death and destruction. Death doesn’t necessarily mean Ruin. Cultivation’s Intent of Transformation also includes death and rebirth. But post-Shattering Roshar would be redundant and boring if Cultivation simply recapitulated what Adonalsium made. I don’t think Brandon would do that narratively. The three old gods each seem to be made from different Investitures. Cultivation might succeed to the old gods’ collective Transformation cycle. But I don’t believe Adonalsium would Invest Night as “death” with only Cultivation, since that Investiture encompasses so much more than that. Besides, it would “ruin” my theory... So let’s just assume Adonalsium made Night with the power that became Ruin! How Did Night Become Part of Nightblood? My speculation also depends on Night’s ability to hide. Maybe she’s always been incorporeal and unseeable. If she does represent death, Night would be the metaphoric shadow that passes unnoticed. Assumption No. 2: Night can make herself invisible, or hide in shadows, or hide in a person’s “dark” mind. Night leaves Roshar. (“Death Takes a Holiday,” “Meet Joe Black”?). I speculate Night flees to avoid Cultivation Transforming her. She follows the Scholars to Nalthis. She’s curious, maybe about the Scholars, certainly about life off-Roshar. She might want a new home rather than submit to Cultivation. Night’s curiosity, and Ruinous Investiture, draws her to Nightblood’s creation. Shashara’s Command “Destroy Evil” might pull Night’s nearby Ruinous Investiture into Nightblood’s creation. Nightblood is more “conscious” than Vasher thought the sword should be. And it has a name before “Nightblood.” Maybe the sword first calls itself...“Night”? Does Vasher add “blood” when he sees black smoke leak from “Night” like “blood” layering its edges...? Once incorporated into Nightblood, Night loses her sense of her history and identity. In the Warbreaker Annotations, Brandon says, IOW, if Night becomes part of Nightblood, she likely loses her memory and identity during Nightblood’s Awakening. She seems to retain her sapience and, briefly, her name, but everything else wipes clean. Vasher brings Nightblood to Roshar, where it ends up with the Nightwatcher. In describing Nightblood to Dalinar, the Nightwatcher makes no reference to “Night” or “Nightblood,” only “A Blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated.” (OB, Kindle p. 1078.) And now Szeth holds the Sword of Retribution, the instrument of his Truthful justice. Conclusion The Night stuff is reasonable speculation at best. I do think Wind and Stone Bondsmiths can bind their Surges without investiture. Unlike Radiants and Fused, I believe Bondsmiths simply sing Roshar’s Songs to Surgebind.