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happyman

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Everything posted by happyman

  1. happyman
    You know, I hadn't even twigged to the fact that Szeth came back from the dead before getting Nightblood. Seems thematically appropriate given his previous wielders. [wild speculation]Maybe it's even closer than that. Nalan claims that he had used Regrowth to restore Szeth, but what if he actually used a distinct power derived from Endowment to make Szeth into a Returned? Adapted to Roshar, perhaps? The only difficult part of this would be Szeth having kept his memories, but I think we can assume that even if it was derived from Endowment, it was modified.[/wild speculation]
  2. happyman
    Oh, the consequences of going to war with Sadeas are far worse than that. While it would certainly cost him (and Sadeas) good men, it would also absolutely undermine the stability of the kingdom. If Dalinar's goal is to unite the Alethi into a single nation with a single goal, attacking Sadeas outright would be a great way to undo all of the work in one go. Even killing Sadeas quietly would cause fractures. As far as I can tell, Dalinar had no good choices. He tried to go with the least bad ones. That wouldn't be a violation of his oaths.
  3. happyman
    Since I have never learned how to drive stick, I imagine I am missing a chance for plenty of good jokes here.
  4. happyman
    More than a little of this can be attributed to the fact that Dalinar is his Uncle and everybody knows it. Combine this with Sadeas' support and you have a king who's being propped up. Without Dalinar's help, he probably would have ended up in exactly the mess you describe.
  5. happyman
    I think this sums it up pretty well. Although I think the Kholin's are better than most of the choices that have been put forward, that is easily their biggest weakness. Ironically, Elhokar might be the furthest along that road already. The rest of them are too competent at something.
  6. happyman
    While it's not going to have been "Earth all along," it will probably be "A Fantasy world very much like Earth all along, at least for some of the planets." After all, we've gotten pretty normal Earth animals along with all the alien stuff. Which doesn't really bug me. It's a pretty standard trope in High Fantasy, whether connected to Earth or not.
  7. happyman
    I have to say that Adolin's actions did bug me, but I tend to be rather Lawful Good, and there was nothing Lawful about what Adolin did. I'm not so sure about the good/evil of the whole thing. I think it does make the character rather darker, although I actually take some heart with his reactions after it happened. It wasn't a strictly good way to respond to having just murdered somebody, but he definitely shows signs of going through shock and feeling guilt. Had he been feeling normal, I feel that he would have found a better way to hide what happened. It will have consequences for him down the road, though. In fact, I would say that his reaction to what he did will determine where he goes more than the action itself. Will he tell his father? Renarin? Anybody? How will he deal with the inevitable repercussions? That's where we will really see what he is made of.
  8. happyman
    Some of you managed to fail your "Sense Sarcasm" roll. In other news, I fully endorse the original theory and believe it with my whole heart. How could you not accept the obvious truth of such a statement is beyond me. Like the sun, it's truth shines through the so-called drama, realism, and epic magic, not to mention basic logic, and bathes us all in its inevitability. Also, Mraize is totally winning. No scavenger hunt can be considered complete until you have evidence, and where's Hoid's? Nowhere, that's where.
  9. happyman
    I find the notion of a God Beyond intriguing given how much it has begun to show up in Brandon's works. Especially because it appears to have come from different planets and in different forms. The idea strikes me as a much more platonic God than the Shards usually are. The idea that He can possibly interfere directly, a la Dalinar's last dream/vision/whatever, is also interesting. If such a God exists in the Cosmere, I suspect that in the books He will play much the same role Eru did in Tolkein's mythology, acting primarily through proxies in deep and subtle ways rather than overwhelming creation with his will. Dalinar's dream would play a similar role to some of what happened in LotR. I especially found Ym's interpretation of God fascinating (that's what it was, whether he accepted that term or not), even while having no idea whether it was just a different religion or had tapped into something more primal.
  10. happyman
    I don't think The Lopen was the first of the Bridgemen to absorb or use Stormlight. I think he was just the first to do it deliberately as part of a quest to be able to do it, and the reason I think he did that was because he was the only one trying. Before that POV from The Lopen, we already had Teft telling Kaladin some of the other bridgemen had glowed in the storm.
  11. happyman
    My theory with respect to Cultivation is twofold: Firstly, she has gone into a serious bout of godly depression after Honor died. I imagine that like everything else, the shard's power magnifies and directs that as well. We even have a bit of confirmation from Windle on that. She doesn't care any more. Secondly, I believe that the Nightwatcher is to Cultivation as the Stormfather is to Honor, except Cultivation isn't dead. So you can't identify the Nightwatcher with Cultivation, but she is an aspect of Cultivation. A subtle difference, but almost certainly relevant to Brandon and his readership.
  12. happyman
    No. No you don't. Seriously. Just no. Get the book ASAP, but do not read the spoilers.
  13. happyman
    Whoops. Lost track of which forum I was in.
  14. happyman
    Since it's actually mentioned at one point that the Herald's straight-up gave Roshar medical technology at least once, being advanced in that field doesn't seem as out of place as it should be.
  15. happyman
    Yeah, this is the kind of cultural "meme" thing that is pretty unambiguous in its reference, especially with a larger fraction of people getting married later in life.
  16. happyman
    Being ineffective does not make somebody a villain. I hope he becomes a whole lot more effective, yes, either by realizing where his true strengths lie or by becoming more effective at what he is doing. Whichever actually does more good. But I do not fault him for trying. Which is what you seem to be doing. This is rather the whole point of Kaladin's arc from Words of Radiance, but in respect to Elkohar rather than Renarin. Still. it applies here as well. He still has a character arc and learning to do, no doubt. Some of that will hopefully be learning that he really can play to his strengths and that people were wrong to dismiss what he was already good at. But an important point is one I learned from Writing Excuses: "Readers care more about whether your characters are trying than whether they are succeeding."
  17. happyman
    Given that Lift can substitute calories for Stormlight (or possibly convert food energy into raw investiture), I wouldn't bet against anything being possible in the Cosmere.
  18. happyman
    I would agree with this to an extent. Social anxiety makes taking initiative much, much more difficult. Having a pre-arranged order to fit in simplifies the decisions enormously and allows the person in question to focus on the details rather than getting overwhelmed by the bigger picture problems they can't focus on. So I guess that the way you are describing Renarin is quite accurate. I don't think he wants to keep it that way, though. His joining Bridge 4 is a good sign that he is trying to change it, and trying to do so despite much bigger hurdles than the other actors. Edit: For the sake of clarity, I would like to add that while I am probably not autistic to any unusual degree (I naturally have empathy and can read body language, intonation and the like instinctively), I have other issues with anxiety which have tended to make me very introspective and made it hard to take initiative. I guess I empathize very strongly with Renarin in his struggles. Once they were pointed out to me, I was like, o man, I have so totally been there. Well done, man. Well done.
  19. happyman
    Since the thread never really viewed itself as dead, despite the lack of postings, I would say that it's not real necromancy, just extremely late healing.
  20. happyman
  21. happyman
    Does this mean that Tien was only Kaladin's father from "a certain point of view"?
  22. happyman
    A lot of people have mentioned awesome moments or great moments or funny moments, but the one that took the cake for me was a line from (of course) The Lopen: "You should rub yourself with curry and go prancing through the camp singing Horneater lullabies." Probably because it helped break the tension, but still.
  23. happyman
    I don't think there is any mention of what happens when Bridge 4 starts holding Stormlight beyond The Lopen growing his arm back. On the other hand, I don't think that they would lose their tattoos. They understand and embrace them in ways that Kaladin doesn't.
  24. happyman
    I would judge that we don't know that Windrunnders can enter Shadesmar in the same way, say, Jasnah or Shallan can. Because all of the Surgebinders interact with Spren, to some extent, they are all dependent on Shadesmar for their powers. We learn from Kaladin's viewpoint that even the less Shadesmar-intensive orders can see consciously there to use their powers. But if I had to guess, it would be that Kaladin barely dipped a toe into Shadesmar in order to understand the cognitive nature of gravity and use it consciously, whereas Shallan and Jasnah enter much more fully in order to negotiate with the natural order.
  25. happyman
    They certainly do seem to have a talent in that area, don't they? Wouldn't be at all surprised if this is right.
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