Isaiah Zayth

What do you mean when you claim they can "see" the present? A specific definition of present would describe it as the time one actively experiences in a given instant, meaning it would only be experienced once, and that the vast majority of time in life would be either future or past. Are you referring to a potential ability such as experiencing another's instantaneous point of view while forgoing your own? Like a "mind-hop" or mind-reader type of power? While seeing the future is considered "of Odium", I see no problem with a Truthwatcher being able to accurately remember the past. I would assume this ability would come in handy when attempting to accurately record a historical narrative or hear a witness in court. If the ability is specific and can be used on demand, Truthwatchers could use their "past-sight" to catch people in lies or half-truths. The very name of the order seems to lend support to this theory.

First of all, your first paragraph makes a lot of sense and I agree wholeheartedly! However, I would like to object to the use of the word "permanently" in the second paragraph. If Preservation permanently damaged any portion of himself, he would have had to destroy energy to do so; I think there is a WOB that states energy cannot be created or destroyed in the Cosmere. I think it's more like Leras reassigned a large portion of Perservation's cognitive substance to act as Ruin's jailer, knowing that he (Leras) would never be able to regain that portion, but gambling that whoever held Preservation after his death would regain the lost cognitive portion. Thus, when Vin eventually holds Preservation, though she is inexperienced and stunned by her quickly expanding mind, she has access to the entirety of Preservation's power and her strike against Ati succeeds. If part of Preservation was missing, I doubt her final attack would have turned out as it did. Last point: If permanent damage had been done, would not Harmony be made up of more Ruin than Preservation? It is my understanding that Sazed holds both shards equally, each conflicting, complementing, and intertwining with the other in perfect balance.

I am TOTALLY on board with the idea of Kenny the Kandra. Like... 1000% in favor of this actually happening. The idea that the Sovereign isn't someone influenced or linked to Kelsier is very hard for me to believe. There is too much specific foreshadowing and hint-dropping by Brandon to make it anyone else. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that aspects of other people aren't present in this re-born Kelsier. I strongly believe that both the Kandra and an outside magic system are involved in this re-birth, though I'm nearly 100% certain that Hemalurgy is the foundation that bridges the gap. I guess it could be possible the body Kelsier ends up using is Spooks... but I think that seems a little too... simple. And, as others have pointed out, the timelines don't match up. The ending of Secret History makes it clear that Spook is definitely involved in Kelsier's return to the Physical Realm, and we know that Harmony knows there is a way for Kelsier to do it, but won't tell him (or, at least, wouldn't at that time). We also know that Spook wrote a rather detailed book on AT LEAST the use of Hemalurgy and that this decision was not appreciated by Harmony. I think it makes a lot of sense that what he wrote down was heavily influenced by his success in helping Kelsier return to the Physical Realm. Spook and Kelsier realized the importance/danger that Hemalurgy presented to the Cosmere and authored a book preserving its use so that Harmony and the Kandra didn't have a monopoly on it. Back on the topic of the Sovereign's identity and how he seems different from the Keliser we know in TFE. We have to remember that Kel did Ascend for a short time (even if it was only with a fraction of Preservation's power) and that we know this event changes people. He also received a massive slap in the face (quite literally, thanks to Hoid) by the knowledge that the Cosmere exists. On top of all that, his conversation with Vin just before she goes Beyond reveals something about himself that he never truly accepted: he is very selfish. I think his whole reasoning behind returning to the physical world starts to change after that conversation. Before, it was all about him either being bored, missing his metals, or some other selfish reason. Now, I think his reasons are based more on helping the cosmere survive whatever is coming. Yes, he wants to discover secrets. Yes, he eventually regains some level of power. Yes, he sets himself up as a king and allows himself to be called the "Sovereign." These are all Kelsier things to do (and definitely NOT Marsh things), but I think that one word he speaks at the end of BoM underpins it all: Survive. He is all about surviving and helping others do the same; before he did it for himself, but now it seems plausible that he would do it because, deep down, he wants to be like Vin: selfless.

My take on the direction of Era 2: First, the books were initially unplanned. From my understanding, Brandon wrote AoL as a side project, originally intending it to stand alone as a single novel - of course, that didn't happen. Instead, we now get this follow up trilogy. I am convinced this is because Brandon knew he had some great characters to work with and found a really interesting way to use these characters to reveal important aspects of the Cosmere to us. This idea is supported by the fact that important Cosmere characters are showing up at key moments. I've been away from the forums for a while, but I would assume everyone thinks Marsh is the inquisitor that gives the book to Marasi at the end of AoL? Harmony is clearly very concerned about Trell and has been open and honest with the Kandra about the threat he/she/it posses: that is to say, they have no idea what it is attempting to accomplish. The Kandra are back - though they were never really gone - and making themselves known to important characters. Hoid makes an appearance in SoS, driving Wax's carriage. I'm sure there are other cameos that I am missing, but the fact that Wax and Marasi are both learning so much about Harmony and how shards work, I have a very strong feeling some big Cosmere reveals are coming in these books. As to a narrative direction, I think that Wax may pull a "Dark Knight" imitation in this next book. He is depressed, sad, and very confused/mad with Harmony, and he really isn't what Elendel needs right now (at least in my eyes). I think he will still be a big part of the book, but I think he heads out to the roughs again (perhaps bringing Steris with him), leaving Aradel and Marasi to take care of the city. I think Wax leaves due to a clue about the origins of the Set and it leads him out of the city (perhaps something about the Lost Metal being linked to the Bands of Mourning?) Also, what are the Bands of Mourning? They were specifically mentioned in SoS. Anyone know? Anyway, Wayne is very much a wildcard here... I don't know if he leaves with Wax or stays in the city to continue meeting with the girl. If he does the latter, I think he makes some sort of progress with her. Not sure what that would lead to, but could be another event that Harmony is directly influencing. We will see. I think the Set nearly overwhelm Aradel and Marasi while Wax is away. I also think they fight back with the help of Hoid or another worldhopper and/or Marsh. I REALLY want to see Marsh show up and just dismantle people. Heck, lets have him fight Wax. Not kill him, but just kick his butt, reminding him that Harmony's plan is far more important than Wax's personal comfort. If there is any character that would known the worth and pain of self-sacrifice for the greater good, I can think of none better than Marsh. I mean, maybe Kelsier, but... I'd rather see Marsh. Eventually, Wax realizes the world doesn't revolve around him (because let's face it, he totally thinks this right now), and makes a decision that his uncle never saw coming. This actions leads to the revelation that the Set is working for Trell. (which I think a lot of people already suspect). This gives Marsh/Hoid/other worldhopper and Harmony enough information to slow Trell's attempts to utilize the Lost Metal to gain control of Harmony himself. This realization is the huge Cosmere bomb that gets dropped on our heads sometime during the last book. We suddenly figure out that shards themselves can be controlled through Hemalurgy. In some ways, I think this is hinted at in the appendix of SoS. The writer of that breakdown of the magic systems of Scadrial is extremely interested in hemalurgy, and i think there is a very good reason for that. At the end of the first MB trilogy, we had a character gain control of two shards. We really haven't had such a huge Cosmere altering event since then. I have a feeling we're about to get another. Hopefully all that makes sense. It sounds rather interesting to me... What do you all think?

It appears that most people believe Nightblood cannot feed directly on "raw" stormlight that exists in Roshar. Instead, it seems that he can only use it once his bearer has drawn upon it. With that in mind, has it been postulated that Nightblood may, in fact, consume stormlight from people instead of gems? Or am I barking at the wrong chull? In other words, the Nahel bond allows people to consume stormlight, but Nightblood takes that one step further. So what normally would be: Stormlight --> Spren bond --> Human would now have an extra step of: Stormlight --> Spren bond --> Human --> Nightblood In other words, he is a fabrial that feeds off of invested persons instead of gemhearts. If that is true, and Szeth can figure out a way to retain his own stormlight and regain his surgebinding... wow. If Szeth can indeed do this with Nightblood then I think he goes straight after the Stone Shamans. Also: if Nightblood is as powerful as this, no wonder Nalan wanted Szeth on his side.