Wyndrunner

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The hardest thing to deal with in leadership, especially in life or death situations, is sussing out where your best success lies.  You cant win every fight.

A war leader has to actually send people to die.  The D-day invasion was suicide for every single troop that stormed that beach.  Only the lucky lived.  A leader made the decision to send those people to their deaths for the greater cause.

I would actually argue against this. This quality, although ascribed to leaders, is not the same principle of leadership that we see exhibited in the Windrunners. This quality you bring up is what we would give to a general, a military commander, someone whose job it is to manage and win the war.

Kaladin is not one of these leaders. In its most basic form, a leader is someone who takes care of their followers. If we were to look to our earliest ancestors we would see that the leaders often end up being the strongest individuals in the group. Why? Because when a predator comes and threatens your people they are the ones who rush out first to deal with the threat. Kaladin is a leader because he has made himself into a great warrior and he uses his skills to act as a shield for his men. To make sure that he bears the brunt of all attacks against his people because he is strong enough to overcome them.

This is just the base form of leadership and it works very well when you deal with a small, isolated group (like Bridge Four). But as soon as your scope of the world increases things start to get messier. Kaladin's Second Ideal now begs him to protect not only the Bridgemen but Dalinar, a lighteyed man. His Third Ideal begs him to protect a man whom he hates. Then with the events of Oathbringer, Kaladin almost gets destroyed because his scope has grown faster than his understanding of the ideals. He is currently unable to protect men and women from both sides of the conflict, something that almost drives him over the edge.

How Kaladin decides to overcome this predicament, to learn how to be a true leader and to speak the final two Ideals is something I am very interested to see.

I don't remember when exactly this happens but I seem to remember the Stormfather saying that the land of Shinovar was given to the humans when they arrived. Perhaps humans came seeking Asylum from Odium and they got into skirmishes with the Dawnsingers but then Honor and Cultivation stepped in to create Shinovar. Then perhaps with Odium's arrival enough humans decided to attack the Dawnsingers and were so named Voidbringers. I think their attack on the Dawnsingers caused the creation of the first spren of Odium, the spren who occupy the Fused, the souls of vengeful ones long since killed. These vengeful spirits would then have been twisted and used to occupy the Dawnsingers, due to their susceptibility in that they have a gemheart that can could be occupied by an Odiumspren.

With a weakness in the Dawnsingers' anatomy and their spiritwebs broken down by war and the desire for Vengeance, I believe Honor and Cultivation likely had to turn to the ancient kings of men: the Heralds, and thus begin the Oathpact. This Betrayal of the Shards would then have finally pushed the Dawnsingers too far and would have turned them into the new Voidbringers. Although humans would have still been used by Odium, I think Odium would have seen the Dawnsingers as a much more useful vessel for his power.

There's likely some important factors that Brandon just hasn't decided to give to us yet to complete the picture but this makes the most sense to me.

I will forgive myself for those I could not protect...

Perhaps?

Disclaimer: I don't know if anyone has already mentioned this so I apologize in advance if someone has beaten me to it.

So I was very interested while reading Oathbringer when we actually learned that the names of characters has meanings.

So then I was going through the artwork for Oathbringer and found this:

On this print, Nazh has written out how the phonemes for glyphs work (which is awesome) and also the glyphs for the First Ideal of the Knights Radiant (which is even more awesome!). But I noticed that when he writes Everstorm it gets split into two words: "eternal" "storm" or "kalad" "zeras" = kalazeras (this is epic because now we know how to say Everstorm in Alethi!)

But looking at it now I can see that "kalad", the glyph for "eternal", must be the basis for Kaladin's name and then added with the suffix -in it becomes something like "born unto eternity".

I find this fascinating and I was wondering if there were any linguists among us who might be able to figure out the meanings of other names for the Alethi. Or maybe if we can figure out how naming works for the darkeyes? 

Thoughts anyone?

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It's possible that the visions are true but Stormfather has still been corrupted.

Or that the Stormfather is true and the visions have been corrupted. Wasn't there a vision Dalinar had where he saw something that the Stormfather did not see? This could be due to the influence of the Unmade or some other voidish beings.

Could it have something to do with the damage the Radiants did by breaking their oaths? Like maybe Urithiru has a really bad presence in the Cognitive Realm which is attracting dangerous types of spren (like the Unmade). 

This would make sense because so far what we know is that both murders were crimes of passion; it was something about the emotion of the killings that caused them to be targeted by the copycat. What I can't figure out is why copy the murder? Is it some mindless spren interacting with the Physical Realm who is attracted to crimes of passion? Or is it, more likely, that there is something deliberately trying to recreate the murders? Which again leads to the question of why commit the murders. What is there to gain? Is it to try and reveal the original killer (like with Ned) or is there something more serious going on. I wouldn't be surprised if it were some kind of spren that thinks it is hiding the murders by framing the other murderers but it doesn't quite understand how strange it is to have a murder repeated exactly.

 

 

Highstorms originate from the Origin, which is in the East. They travel east to west, whereas the Everstorm comes from the west. Looking at the map of Roshar in the books gives the Leeward and Stormward directions that verify this.

*Facepalm*

Well that's embarrassing. 

Forgive me for over-nerding, but the East Wind is classically a force of destruction and something not to be desired.

I feel like that fits in with Roshar as well. Seeing as : 

Though the East Wind could easily mean that Syl is a spren that doesn't just go with the flow.

We have a WoB somewhere that says the force of gravity on Roshar is about .7 g, which allows for greatshells to reach such massive sizes.

One little piece of text in favor of Adolin being a Releaser:

 

“The firebrand [Adolin] I can understand,” Sadeas said. “You were once impetuous just like him.”

The Way of Kings, The Decoy, 491

I know it might be a little obvious that Sadeas calls him a "firebrand" (and I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything) but it could be a nice bit of foreshadowing.

 

 

Because in both instances I seriously doubt that Kaladin is actively thinking about pretty ways to depict Windrunners symbols, so there is something else deciding which image to produce.

I thought I remembered hearing someone say that it has to do with Cymatics so the level of his Stormlight Efficiency causes a change in frequency that allows this.

But honestly, I don't know

 

 

I am contractually obliged to note that "Taln" did not have lighteyes, so it seems quite possible (and likely, even, to me) that the Blade he held wasn't even an Honorblade.

Yeah but Taln's order, The Stonewards have Brown as their color so Taln's eyes probably are the basis for their color scheme.

I was reading an article a friend had sent me on Facebook about the artistic importance of the Star Wars Prequels. You can read it above if you like but it will take you a storming long time so I'll condense it here: The article proposes that Star Wars has what is called a Chiastic Pattern or a Ring Composition, meaning that it is somewhat palindromic. In a rhyme scheme it would look something like ABCC'B'A'. 

Now I'm sure many of you will probably see how this fits with the Stormlight Archive. For those of you who don't, here's what stood out to me: 1) Both Star Wars and the Stormlight Archive are broken into two halves and there is a time gap between the first and second series and 2) The nature of the titles for each Part in the books of the Stormlight Archive are palindromic poems (Above Silence, Illuminating Storms, Dying Storms, Illuminate, The Silence Above). 

This has led me to the conclusion that the end of the 5th book in the Stormlight Archive could be very, very depressing. Not that some beloved (or unbeloved, as it may be) character will turn evil but there could be the chance that the world will "perish" and it'll be up to the next generation of characters to fix it. 

Star Wars is focused on balance in life and about opposition of light and dark. In the essay linked above, the author compares the arc of the story to the symbol Yin Yang, stating that the first half reflects the dark side and the other half the light. This appeals to me because a lot in the Stormlight Archive is about "Journey before Destination" and that makes me think of a circle, like the ring composition.

Of course, I have no real evidence in the Stormlight Archive to support this theory (especially with only two books out) but hopefully someone out there can help me out and if you want to read this article above perhaps you all might think of something that has slipped my mind.

Happy hunting!

http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/62196917.jpg 

This begs the question, what is the Spiritual Realm? And how is it that you can store things there like a Shardblade or a person's soul?

I just have a question about this:

 

 

So if the windrunners have enhanced combat abilities more and stronger squires

Is this true for all Windrunners is or is it something unique to Kaladin himself? I've been thinking about this a little bit and I think that there may be slight differences between each spren. I mean, not all Honorspren are named Sylphrena, so there must be some sort of individualization amongst them. Perhaps the distinct personalities and identities of each spren (and the innate Investiture of the Radiant itself) can affect what is transferred through the Nahel bond. 

Or I'm wrong and each spren that belongs to a distinct group grants the same set of powers as any other spren of that category.

 

 

wait... I have never heard of Winds of Winter or Doors of Stone.  Are those recently announced or something?

Winds of Winter is the highly anticipated 6th book of the Song of Ice and Fire Series by G.R.R.M. Doors of Stone is the third book in Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles.

I actually think Elantris would work well as a show. Except that it would only be one season long so that would be a bit of a problem. A miniseries, maybe?

While we're here though, can Lift increase her friction or can she only lessen it? I figure Releasers probably can because they can somehow create fire but what about Edgedancers.

I also think it's really interesting how Hoid reacts the second time he sees her.

 

Wit cut off as Shallan lunged at him. Kaladin dropped to the ground, reaching for his side knife, then hesitated as Shallan grabbed Wit in an embrace, her head against his chest, her eyes squeezed shut.

Kaladin took his hand off his knife, raising an eyebrow at Wit, who looked completely flabbergasted. He stood with his arms at his sides, as if he didn't know what to do with them.

WoR Chapter 55 pg. 641

 

 

I was rereading Hero of Ages, and it made me realize something: A lot of Brandon's magics are based on movement. Steelpushing, Ironpulling, Lashing. How do you design something like that that's so variable and complex, but so natural to its users?

I've actually thought about this a lot. For something like Allomancy's Steelpushing and Ironpulling you would have to go with a Force Unleashed style, that is, you would look at an object and it would be highlighted and then you click a button (kind of like force grip) and you can push it or pull it from there. Like some guys are coming at you and you rip the doors from behind them and then jump out of the way so the doors hit them and not you. For something like Pewter or Tin I imagine you would have to toggle it on and off. I guess what you could do is have a set metal where clicking a button (let's say RB for the Xbox) would flare it but i don't know. 

Lashing is a little more difficult. Or at least it's more difficult if you want to remain exactly true to how it works but I think for the sake of a video game you can tweak it a little bit. For instance I don't think you should have to worry about half lashings or subtle lashings, that's all just too confusing. The easiest would probably be a Reverse Lashing because you would just stand by an object and when enemies are about to fire arrows you would get a prompt to hit a button which would put you in a stationary position while investing the object of choice. A Full Lashing is also difficult but I think might click Y or something and if you're not moving it would lash the floor to set a trap and if you're moving it forward it would lash whatever is within reach. A basic lashing is where it gets tricky. How do you get from floor to ceiling naturally? I think the best way to do that would be to activate the jump button and then click it again in midflight, once you've clicked it you would move your analog stick or whatever in whichever direction you want to go and you would fall that way. Alternatively, if you just want a quick dash towards or away from something then there would be another button for that. If you were outside then double clicking the jump button would just put you into a sort of levitating/flying mode where you can move about freely.

I'm not sure how this would all go or how even to begin with other surges but to me right now these magic systems seem best fit for an action game like The Force Unleashed. Though I could see a Dragon Age type game where you could just get by with clicking buttons that do all the fancy moves for you that require more precision than is possible for a normal person to do.

If you are set on this then you might be able to drum up support for people to mod Skyrim. I don't know how to mods or anything but you could start by adding shardblades and surges and whatnot and if it works you could work on a larger expansion.

 

 

the question is still why?

Alright, we know that it is something that applied to all the Radiants, something that bound them all together. Likely, the first Ideal "Life before Death, Strength before Weakness, Journey before Destination".

I figure that the Knights must have realized something, whatever this secret that Mr. T mentions, that foreshadowed their destination. Perhaps, the Radiants realized that the Desolations themselves could lead to only one possible conclusion: extinction. It's possible that the Knights believed that they would have a better chance of saving the human race if their oaths were broken and thereby put an end to the Desolations. 

I mean honestly, think of any video game that operates on a level-based system, think Galaga or something like that. If you play long enough you will eventually lose. The Knights, after possibly realizing that the Heralds have abandoned them, could have decided that facing endless waves of Voidbringers would be fruitless and that they would all die sooner or later. So the only way to stop it was to quit the game.

This is why it is so important for Dalinar to choose a champion, they cycle can still be broken (according to Tanavast) while still following the oath, Journey before Destination. (Though also, I'm not completely certain why they need the Knights again. Yes they are extremely powerful but why do they have to, or is it just a good suggestion by Tanavast? A bad suggestion? Couldn't they have just done it Taravangian's way or is there some special thing about people with Investiture that allows one to break the cycle?)

Okay, here's one that's been bothering me for a while. Is it SHADES-mar or is it SHAD-is-mar?

 

 

Though altering writing is very mystical, the books went out of their way to point out that unless an individual has some kind of spike/metal in them, Ruin cannot control the individual. Perhaps that is simply me misunderstanding the novels.

Also, on this note, one must remember that all objects and creatures on Scadrial were originally made with a perfect balance of Ruin and Preservation in them (except for humans of course, which have more Preservation than Ruin). With Preservation essentially out of the picture, however, I imagine that Ruin might be able to slightly influence anyone or anything on the planet due to their innate Investiture, though it would be much more effective if they were spiked as there is more Investiture (and therefore more power for Ruin to influence) in a spiked individual than in their normal, unspiked, form.