Oathbringer - Questions upon first reread - Prologue to Chapter 18 (33 Questions)

[This_Is_Samer]

Hi guys,
I am "rereading" OB on Graphic Audio after physically finishing it just to make sure I understand all the intricacies of the plot before DS and RoW. I am having some questions which I am sure you guys on this board will be able to help me with, being the subject matter experts

I want to try to finish the reread before November 17 in order to evade any potential spoilers while I post my questions. I know the number of questions is somewhat large but I am giving it a go. Any answers are appreciated.

I am planning to make a similar answers request post every 20 chapters or so in order not to have too many questions in the same post.

So for the chapters from the Prologue to Ch 18:

1- How was Odium previously captured in a gemstone and how was he released? Was this part of the plot alluded to / explained or not yet?

2- Do we know why did the listeners escape their gods? Or will it probably be addressed in RoW?

3- We know now that the 9 shadows of Odium's champion are the 9 unmade. When Amaram was overtaken by one of the unmade he was given access to all surges. So what do you think Odium's champion will have access to with all 9 unmade at his disposal?

4- What is the difference between the surges given by the Nahel bond between higher spren and humans and the "voidsurges" provided by the bond between voidspren and parshmen?

5- Knowing that the humans are the actual voidbringers, does that mean that Kalami's story about the voidbringers and Dalinar's visions where he fights black shapes are false? In his visions, Dalinar thinks he is fighting voidbringers, while in reality the humans were the transgressors. So are his visions wrong?

6- Who was the parshmen's god before the arrival of the humans to Roshar? Did Honor, Cultivation and Odium exist on Roshar before the humans's arrival?

7- In chapter 2, Dalinar tells Renarin that Renarin and Shallan will have to lead the radiants. Do we know what he meant by this?

8- In chapter 4, Navani is writing her memoirs. Do we know if these memoirs will be the name of a future SA book or whether we will see them in future chapter epigraphs?

9- Why doesn't the everstorm charge spheres with voidlight?

10- Is there a significance to the moment Dalinar was able to hear Evi's name for the first time? Why at that moment precisely?

11- Why did Navani say that the Azish were "almost" Vorin? And why do they put the Heralds above the Almighty?

12- When talking to Dalinar before their marriage, Navani proclaims that she is more religious than most other women but then tells him she doesn't mind if a "confused dishwasher" marries them. Does that contradict her proclamation?

13- During the ceremony between Dalinar and Navani, why did the Stormfather tell Navani that she broke oaths before?

14- Why doesn't the vorin church accept the notion of spren having religious authority, for example to marry people?

15- Why did Kadash willingly accept to be a slave as an ardent?

16- When Kaladin visits his parents, Syl tells him she remembers them. When he presses her for more info, she says "there was a voice pure with a song like tapped crystal". What does she mean?

17- Why did the Stormfather summon a highstorm against the first everstorm? Was he instructed to do so?

18- When Shallan and Dalinar feed off each other to create the map, it shows the first synergy between two radiant orders. Do we know of any effects of similar interactions between different orders?

19- In the preface of his book, why does Dalinar say that the heresy thoughts were with him since he was a child?

20- What was the issue with Renarin staring weirdly at the murdered body in Urithiru? Does it have anything to do with his corrupted spren?

21- When Kaladin asks the ardent in one of the villages about what they saw during the everstorm, she tells him that they saw red dots in the night, but that those were not the eyes of the parshendi. What were they?

22- Are knights radiant the only ones who can hear dead blades screaming?

23- When Dalinar asks the Stormfather what happened during the Recreance, why did the Stormfather refuse to answer and told him that there are things better left unsaid?

24- Did anything come out of the alleged negotiations between the Azish and the voidbringers? or between Iri and the voidbringers?

25- Before the discovery of the oathgate at Narak, did the people know that the monuments in their respective cities were actually oathgates but they didn't know how to activate them?

26- Isn't Thaylenah one of the Vorin kingdoms? How come they follow the "passions"?

27- In his first meeting with Queen Fen, Dalinar tells her that he expects Knights Radiant to start appearing all over Roshar. How come we don't see anyone new other than Malata?

28- What is the difference between Khen and her people from one side and the parshendi that fought in the battle of Narak? Why the difference in carapace color and the difference in powers granted by the Everstorm?

29- Pattern tells Shallan that if he dies, "they" will send her another spren. Who does he mean by "they"?

30- Are the honor blades and the Stormfather both a part of Honor?

31- What is the surge that Dalinar uses to bind Kadash to the ground during their fight? It is the same one that Szeth and Kaladin use. Can Bondsmiths, Windrunners and wielders of honor blades use a common surge?

32- In the card game that Kaladin explains to his parshman captor, he tells him "if the king is captured, the game is lost", do you think there is foreshadowing in that about Elhokar? Dalinar? Jasnah maybe?

33- Do we know how were the copycat murders done?

Edited October 27, 2020 by This_Is_Samer

[kaellok he/him]

Quote

Hi guys,
I am "rereading" OB on Graphic Audio after physically finishing it just to make sure I understand all the intricacies of the plot before DS and RoW. I am having some questions which I am sure you guys on this board will be able to help me with, being the subject matter experts

I want to try to finish the reread before November 17 in order to evade any potential spoilers while I post my questions. I know the number of questions is somewhat large but I am giving it a go. Any answers are appreciated.

I am planning to make a similar answers request post every 20 chapters or so in order not to have too many questions in the same post.

So for the chapters from the Prologue to Ch 18:

Your questions:

Spoiler

4 hours ago, This_Is_Samer said:

So for the chapters from the Prologue to Ch 18:

1- How was Odium previously captured in a gemstone and how was he released? Was this part of the plot alluded to / explained or not yet?

2- Do we know why did the listeners escape their gods? Or will it probably be addressed in RoW?

3- We know now that the 9 shadows of Odium's champion are the 9 unmade. When Amaram was overtaken by one of the unmade he was given access to all surges. So what do you think Odium's champion will have access to with all 9 unmade at his disposal?

4- What is the difference between the surges given by the Nahel bond between higher spren and humans and the "voidsurges" provided by the bond between voidspren and parshmen?

5- Knowing that the humans are the actual voidbringers, does that mean that Kalami's story about the voidbringers and Dalinar's visions where he fights black shapes are false? In his visions, Dalinar thinks he is fighting voidbringers, while in reality the humans were the transgressors. So are his visions wrong?

6- Who was the parshmen's god before the arrival of the humans to Roshar? Did Honor, Cultivation and Odium exist on Roshar before the humans's arrival?

7- In chapter 2, Dalinar tells Renarin that Renarin and Shallan will have to lead the radiants. Do we know what he meant by this?

8- In chapter 4, Navani is writing her memoirs. Do we know if these memoirs will be the name of a future SA book or whether we will see them in future chapter epigraphs?

9- Why doesn't the everstorm charge spheres with voidlight?

10- Is there a significance to the moment Dalinar was able to hear Evi's name for the first time? Why at that moment precisely?

11- Why did Navani say that the Azish were "almost" Vorin? And why do they put the Heralds above the Almighty?

12- When talking to Dalinar before their marriage, Navani proclaims that she is more religious than most other women but then tells him she doesn't mind if a "confused dishwasher" marries them. Does that contradict her proclamation?

13- During the ceremony between Dalinar and Navani, why did the Stormfather tell Navani that she broke oaths before?

14- Why doesn't the vorin church accept the notion of spren having religious authority, for example to marry people?

15- Why did Kadash willingly accept to be a slave as an ardent?

16- When Kaladin visits his parents, Syl tells him she remembers them. When he presses her for more info, she says "there was a voice pure with a song like tapped crystal". What does she mean?

17- Why did the Stormfather summon a highstorm against the first everstorm? Was he instructed to do so?

18- When Shallan and Dalinar feed off each other to create the map, it shows the first synergy between two radiant orders. Do we know of any effects of similar interactions between different orders?

19- In the preface of his book, why does Dalinar say that the heresy thoughts were with him since he was a child?

20- What was the issue with Renarin staring weirdly at the murdered body in Urithiru? Does it have anything to do with his corrupted spren?

21- When Kaladin asks the ardent in one of the villages about what they saw during the everstorm, she tells him that they saw red dots in the night, but that those were not the eyes of the parshendi. What were they?

22- Are knights radiant the only ones who can hear dead blades screaming?

23- When Dalinar asks the Stormfather what happened during the Recreance, why did the Stormfather refuse to answer and told him that there are things better left unsaid?

24- Did anything come out of the alleged negotiations between the Azish and the voidbringers? or between Iri and the voidbringers?

25- Before the discovery of the oathgate at Narak, did the people know that the monuments in their respective cities were actually oathgates but they didn't know how to activate them?

26- Isn't Thaylenah one of the Vorin kingdoms? How come they follow the "passions"?

27- In his first meeting with Queen Fen, Dalinar tells her that he expects Knights Radiant to start appearing all over Roshar. How come we don't see anyone new other than Malata?

28- What is the difference between Khen and her people from one side and the parshendi that fought in the battle of Narak? Why the difference in carapace color and the difference in powers granted by the Everstorm?

29- Pattern tells Shallan that if he dies, "they" will send her another spren. Who does he mean by "they"?

30- Are the honor blades and the Stormfather both a part of Honor?

31- What is the surge that Dalinar uses to bind Kadash to the ground during their fight? It is the same one that Szeth and Kaladin use. Can Bondsmiths, Windrunners and wielders of honor blades use a common surge?

32- In the card game that Kaladin explains to his parshman captor, he tells him "if the king is captured, the game is lost", do you think there is foreshadowing in that about Elhokar? Dalinar? Jasnah maybe?

33- Do we know how were the copycat murders done?

And answers to all your questions!  Hidden behind spoilers because this got super-long.  There are some spoilers for Oathbringer here, but I tried to heavily limit them for now since you're re-reading it.  Also, I am too, and so I've forgotten some of what I remember.

Spoiler

1. Odium was not captured in a gemstone, nor was he released.  We know that he has been trapped in the Roshar system by something that Honor did.  At least some of the Unmade, which are ancient and terrible spren born of the power of Odium, were imprisoned in perfect gemstones.

2. The reason the Listeners fled their gods is because they liked being individuals, instead of bodies to be inhabited by their ancestors (who, as a result of the possession, destroyed their minds.) (I'm in the middle of a reread of Oathbringer right now, so I might be mis-remembering this a little bit, or putting my own assumption here.)

3. I don't think that we know the 9 shadows are the 9 Unmade, but it's a really good assumption.  There has been at least one novel that Sanderson has written where there is a contest of Shardic Champions, and basically it's the power of Inifinity vs. the power of Infinity.  That was at least somewhat unique to that situation, though, so it will likely play out differently this time.

4. I don't think the differences between Stormlight and Voidlight has been explored in detail in-book yet, nor has the difference between the Surges.  Look to Renarin and Venli on-screen.

5. The visions as a whole aren't wrong just because one line from one person in one vision gives the generally accepted truth by the vast majority of all humans to have ever lived on Roshar, even if that supposed truth is a lie, and even if the person saying that knows it's a lie (and there's strong reason to believe that if Kalami was modeled after a real person that Kalami would have believed what they said to be the truth).

6. The Singers (parshmen) pre-date Honor, Cultivation, Odium, and humans.  Honor and Cultivation pre-date Odium and humans.  Odium and humans traveled to Roshar at approximately the same time, but Sanderson has been cagey about whether they traveled together, at exactly the same time, etc.  (Source: answers to questions the Sanders has given over the years.  Nothing at all in-text.)

7. Dalinar is busy trying to lead all the nations of the world.  Kaladin is busy scouting Kholinar, and also seeing to his family's safety.  That leaves exactly two known Radiants.  If you're someone who has a hard time giving up an ounce of power once taken, do you give that to someone you know, or some rando who might, possibly, at some point, show up?  Also sometimes giving people responsibility causes them to rise to the occasion to become worthy of it.  (I love Shallan and Renarin, but boy howdy do they not do this in Oathbringer lol).

8. Speculation abounds!  But doubtful.  After 3 novels, we have not seen any evidence that epigraphs from an in-world book will be seen outside of the our-world book sharing its name.

9. Voidlight is different, and operates under different rules, than Stormlight.  Why does plugging a D-cell battery into your wall outlet not charge it?  They're both electricity, right?

10. There is very strong significance to the general timing of Dalinar being able to hear Evi's name again, and recovering his lost memories.  We don't know that it just happened at that particular second, because how often do people go around mentioning his dead wife's name when he's nearby?  (Not very.)  But recovering those memories, gradually, is part of Cultivation's plan, who has always been much better at Foresight than Honor was.

11. Vorin is a religion that places the Almighty, god, above the Heralds.  Those are two distinct aspects to the religion.  The Azish worship the Heralds, but not the Almighty.  So, while they are heretical and blasphemous, there's actually a lot of similarity there.  Think the difference between Protestants and Catholics.  As for why the Azish believe the way they do, probably because it makes sense for the religions of the world to have a fractured history of what happened and get different aspects of it right and wrong.  If everyone believes the same thing, then everyone is the same amount of right and wrong; having people have different things right and wrong is more interesting than everyone being the same.

12. Navani has very strong faith, and faith in what she believes.  That does not mean that she also has very strong adherence to the mortal strictures that have come into place over time.  There is no contradiction.

13. If you're asking which specific oaths Navani broke before, I can't think of any off-hand.  There's probably allusions to them to be found in-text somewhere that I have missed, or it may be something that we'll encounter later, or it could be that the oaths weren't anything that we as readers would consider important or worth mentioning but that the very literal embodiment of keeping promises does.

14. Vorinism is about the worship of the Almighty.  They believe that all authority comes from the Almighty.  They do not recognize any relationship between spren and the Almighty, at all. Honestly, there would probably be less friction with the ardents if Elhokar had married them, because the ardents do say that Elhokar holds the throne due to the will of the Almighty.  Think about it this way--how would the Pope react if Prince William said that he was going to be married, as a Catholic, by the Ghost of the Tower of London?  And oh, by the way, the Ghost of the Tower of London is actually the ghost of Jesus Christ, so it's all legit and legal and perfectly fine?

15. Time and again it's said that ardents are slaves, but they're not like other classes of slaves that we see in-world (like Kaladin was, or like the parshmen were) nor are they like most slaves that we have seen in our world.  They more closely resemble the idealized 'educated and respected indentured slave' that appeared in Roman days, although tend to be highly exaggerated in modern times.  People can leave the ardentia, and while Kabsal isn't necessarily to be trusted, Shallan did not doubt his word when he said that he cannot be forbidden to leave.  So joining the ardents allows you to be a scholar, gives you shelter, food, and the like, and you can leave when you want; in turn, you also have to deal with some religious rules, and do what the Brightlords tell you when they tell you (which, honestly, you'd have to do anyway).  The type of slavery that they mostly seem to experience is one of not being free to go where they will as they will, and so the cost may have seemed very small for the benefits that he gained.  Especially if Kadash also was seeking forgiveness from the Almighty for the terrible actions he was responsible for.

16. I could be wrong, but I'm 100% sure that Syl is referring to Tien.  I'm also 100% sure that Tien could have grown into a Radiant, although likely something along the lines of a Truthwatcher or Lightweaver instead of a Windrunner like Kal.

17. The Stormfather summoned a Highstorm against the Everstorm because he's...cranky...at humans.

18. I can't think of other explicit synergies between powers off hand besides the map you reference.

19. Dalinar probably says that because it's true.

20. Renarin has seen the future before.  He hasn't reacted well when what he saw was coming true around him and threatened him directly, but this might be an occasion where he is directly faced with a vision of the future that wasn't about his impending death for a change.

21. The red lights floating in the Everstorm are corrupted spren floating around.  Syl sees them from time to time in WoR as well.

22. Anyone who has Bonded a spren should hear a deadBlade screaming when they touch it.  Pretty sure other spren can hear it as well, at least the sentient ones.  Others who have a similar connection between the Cognitive and Physical Realms would probably hear it, too, but other than Radiants those are fairly rare on Roshar.

23. The Stormfather answers as unhelpfully as he does because he is...cranky...at humans.  Or because Sanderson made him that...cranky...because otherwise critical plot points would be given away way too early or Dalinar would act out of character by not answering.

24. I can't recall of anything specifically happening in the negotiations between the supposed Voidbringers and Azir or Iri or nations in that part of the world.  I'm sure we'll see more of that pretty immediately in RoW, though.

25. Oathgates have been fairytales for centuries.  Anyone who knew died long ago, and anyone who believes now is someone who is desperately looking for answers and believes that the fairytales may contain truth they are seeking for.  (See: Jasnah.)

26. Thaylenah is one of the Silver Epoch Cities.  And they probably follow the Passions because it seems a lot less restrictive and prohibitive than the Vorin religion is, and they seem to be very much a nation of people that prize independence.  Vorinism would be a hard-sell that hasn't managed to adapt enough yet for large-scale converts.

27. Roshar is a big place with a lot of people.  We see dozens, maybe hundreds of named people on screen.  There were likely thousands, but not tens of thousands, of Radiants at the height of their power.  We also saw quite a few examples in WoR and Edgedancer of other Radiants and proto-Radiants, so we know that they are starting to appear even if their appearance doesn't play a giant role in Oathbringer.

28. The Parshendi that fought at Narak at the summoning of the Everstorm had largely assumed the form of Stormform, which requires them to have bonded (this is probably the wrong word, but I'm sticking to it) a specific type of spren during a Highstorm.  Khen and their people have not done this, as their minds remain entirely their own.  They are not in warform, or else Kaladin would have noticed that right away.  So it could be workerform or nimbleform, or possibly an unknown form instead.

29. Pattern is a Cryptic spren.  If he dies, other Cryptics will nominate one of their number to continue his work.  They have one of the great societies built in Shadesmar.

30. Honorblades were crafted directly from Honor's power, by Honor's Will.  The Stormfather may or may not predate Honor (Highstorms definitely do).  However, Honor also 'prepared' the Stormfather to take up some portion of His power after being Splintered, and so a large part of the Stormfather's power now is of Honor, even if it wasn't always the case.  There is probably more of Honor in the Stormfather now than in any one Honorblade, but there might be more of Honor in the 10 Blades combined than there is in the Stormfather.

31. The Honorblade that Szeth was using, that Dalinar now has, grants all the powers of a Windrunner to whoever wields it.  There are 9 other Honorblades.  Each Honorblade grants access to two of the Surges, and presumably mimics the same pairing as the Orders of the Radiants.  iirc, the 'stick Lopen to the wall' Surge is Adhesion, which is shared by Windrunners and Bondsmiths.  Windrunners and Skybreakers share a different Surge, which allows both of them to fly (although with the combination of the two, Windrunners have superior mobility in the sky).

32. Saying 'if the king is captured the game is lost' is foreshadowing for sure.  In every story to have ever been told, or that will ever be told.  Even in a story in which there are no kings, and nobody has ever heard of kings, and nobody knows what a king might be--it's still foreshadowing because the reader knows.  It may be a very deliberate red herring to make us think that we know where the story is headed, but it was absolutely placed there for that specific reason.

33. The copycat murders are directly and conclusively, 100% cause and effect addressed at the end of Part 1.

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by kaellok

[Honorless he/him]

11 hours ago, This_Is_Samer said:

Hi guys,
I am "rereading" OB on Graphic Audio after physically finishing it just to make sure I understand all the intricacies of the plot before DS and RoW. I am having some questions which I am sure you guys on this board will be able to help me with, being the subject matter experts

I want to try to finish the reread before November 17 in order to evade any potential spoilers while I post my questions. I know the number of questions is somewhat large but I am giving it a go. Any answers are appreciated.

I am planning to make a similar answers request post every 20 chapters or so in order not to have too many questions in the same post.

So for the chapters from the Prologue to Ch 18:

1- How was Odium previously captured in a gemstone and how was he released? Was this part of the plot alluded to / explained or not yet?

Odium was never captured in a gemstone, some of his Unmade were. You cannot capture an entire Shard of Adonalsium into a gemstone. Odium was bound to Braize or the Greater Rosharan System by Honor and Cultivation.

2- Do we know why did the listeners escape their gods? Or will it probably be addressed in RoW?

It was answered in Words of Radiance somewhat, and more in Oathbringer Venli's interludes. The Listeners considered what the Fused did no better than enslavement.

3- We know now that the 9 shadows of Odium's champion are the 9 unmade. When Amaram was overtaken by one of the unmade he was given access to all surges. So what do you think Odium's champion will have access to with all 9 unmade at his disposal?

We don't know that. We just see the same number and speculate. 

4- What is the difference between the surges given by the Nahel bond between higher spren and humans and the "voidsurges" provided by the bond between voidspren and parshmen?

We haven't seen voidspren bonds yet. The Parsh people have Gemhearts, in which they capture spren to assume different Forms (like Warform, Workform etc), that kind of natural bonding is different from the Nahel Bond.

Later on, we saw some of them let (voidspren or Fused) into their gemhearts which granted them Forms of Power (or killed them and had their bodies possessed by the Fused).

We've seen the Fused use the Surges in Thaylen City though, you'll see the differences between how Radiants use the Surges and how the Fused use the Surges in Rhythm of War.

5- Knowing that the humans are the actual voidbringers, does that mean that Kalami's story about the voidbringers and Dalinar's visions where he fights black shapes are false? In his visions, Dalinar thinks he is fighting voidbringers, while in reality the humans were the transgressors. So are his visions wrong?

No, the original Voidbringers were humans but something happened in the ancient past that caused humans, Singers, Honor, Cultivation and Odium to switch sides. Humans went to Honor and the Singers went to Odium.

We only saw one vision in which Dalinar wasn't fighting an Unmade or spren but remember that in previous Desolations as well some humans fought for the Singers and some Singers fought on the side of the humans.

6- Who was the parshmen's god before the arrival of the humans to Roshar? Did Honor, Cultivation and Odium exist on Roshar before the humans's arrival?

The Parshmen's gods before the Desolations are unknown, not much of their history is known to their people. The Desolations often destroy recorded knowledge with their widespread destruction. Honor and Cultivation existed on Roshar before the humans' arrival but Odium came with the humans, hence they were called the Voidbringers.

7- In chapter 2, Dalinar tells Renarin that Renarin and Shallan will have to lead the radiants. Do we know what he meant by this?

Just that spren were starting to Bond humans again and the four were the first to be Bonded, so they'd have to organize their Order of Radiants. Dalinar and Kaladin would be used to it, Shallan and Renarin wouldn't. 

8- In chapter 4, Navani is writing her memoirs. Do we know if these memoirs will be the name of a future SA book or whether we will see them in future chapter epigraphs?

We don't know.

9- Why doesn't the everstorm charge spheres with voidlight?

We haven't seen the Everstorm charge spheres with Voidlight so far but it could be that the method to capture some Voidlight from it is different than capturing Stormlight in spheres from the Highstorm.

10- Is there a significance to the moment Dalinar was able to hear Evi's name for the first time? Why at that moment precisely?

His memories were starting to return, no further significance, nothing regarding that particular moment, it was just time to remember.

11- Why did Navani say that the Azish were "almost" Vorin? And why do they put the Heralds above the Almighty?

Because in western Roshar, the Azish religion was the closest to the Vorin religion of eastern Roshar.

12- When talking to Dalinar before their marriage, Navani proclaims that she is more religious than most other women but then tells him she doesn't mind if a "confused dishwasher" marries them. Does that contradict her proclamation?

Some might consider that a contradiction, yes. Navani is orthodox in her beliefs but still willing to keep an open mind beyond Vorin restrictions. She believes in her religion, not so much the religious laws, I suppose.

13- During the ceremony between Dalinar and Navani, why did the Stormfather tell Navani that she broke oaths before?

Because that's what all humans do, we make and break promises. Spren cannot do break their word.

14- Why doesn't the vorin church accept the notion of spren having religious authority, for example to marry people?

Because the only sapient spren were the Knights Radiant spren and they haven't been seen since the Recreance. They revered the Stormfather but they associate him with or consider him to be a form of the Almighty or the Heralds Jezrien or Kalak. The Nightwatcher is considered a pagan god.

15- Why did Kadash willingly accept to be a slave as an ardent?

All Ardents are technically slaves. This was done after a period of time known as the Hierocracy when the Vorin church had political and military power and tried to rule Roshar.

16- When Kaladin visits his parents, Syl tells him she remembers them. When he presses her for more info, she says "there was a voice pure with a song like tapped crystal". What does she mean?

We don't know actually. Since the Nahel Bond exists in the Spiritual Realm where time and distance are iffy, Syl was kind of with Kaladin way back before he even joined the military. People theorize that she's referring to his brother, Tien here.

17- Why did the Stormfather summon a highstorm against the first everstorm? Was he instructed to do so?

No, he was not. It's mentioned in Words of Radiance that he did that in an attempt to cleanse the area, to put them out of sight, out of mind.

18- When Shallan and Dalinar feed off each other to create the map, it shows the first synergy between two radiant orders. Do we know of any effects of similar interactions between different orders?

Not so far

19- In the preface of his book, why does Dalinar say that the heresy thoughts were with him since he was a child?

Youth, not childhood. He meant that all his past experiences (though only in retrospect, from Cultivation's pruning) have led him to this point where he wanted to write Oathbringer.

20- What was the issue with Renarin staring weirdly at the murdered body in Urithiru? Does it have anything to do with his corrupted spren?

It might be something to do with his powers that allowed him to sense something. He can see more than what's in front of him right now.

21- When Kaladin asks the ardent in one of the villages about what they saw during the everstorm, she tells him that they saw red dots in the night, but that those were not the eyes of the parshendi. What were they?

Probably Voidspren and the Fused souls.

22- Are knights radiant the only ones who can hear dead blades screaming?

Yup, though maybe there are other ways to listen to the dead blades for those more knowledgeable about the wider Cosmere.

23- When Dalinar asks the Stormfather what happened during the Recreance, why did the Stormfather refuse to answer and told him that there are things better left unsaid?

Because the Stormfather thought that the truth would break them and possibly cause them to abandon their Radiant Oaths again like the Recreance.

24- Did anything come out of the alleged negotiations between the Azish and the voidbringers? or between Iri and the voidbringers?

Let's stop using the term Voidbringers, it's an unclear mythological term in-world.

The Azish Parsh filed complaints against the government. Later on most of them made their way to south central Roshar, guided by voidspren (like every other Parsh on Roshar) and from there to Thaylen City.

As for Iri, they joined Odium.

25- Before the discovery of the oathgate at Narak, did the people know that the monuments in their respective cities were actually oathgates but they didn't know how to activate them?

No, they did not. Much knowledge was lost after the abandonment of Urithiru, the Recreance, the Hierocracy 

26- Isn't Thaylenah one of the Vorin kingdoms? How come they follow the "passions"?

They are nominally one of the Vorin kingdoms, they syncretized Vorinism with the native Passions. Like real life syncretism between Hinduism and Buddhism, etc.

27- In his first meeting with Queen Fen, Dalinar tells her that he expects Knights Radiant to start appearing all over Roshar. How come we don't see anyone new other than Malata?

They were the first to get to Urithiru. We'll see more in Rhythm of War.

28- What is the difference between Khen and her people from one side and the parshendi that fought in the battle of Narak? Why the difference in carapace color and the difference in powers granted by the Everstorm?

The Listeners (the Parshendi group in Narak) are a separate ethnic group almost that separated from the other Singers during the False Desolation and have learned to access a few different Forms. Carapace patterns vary between people, regions... Khen and her people were Parshmen slaves before who were granted Connection and Identity so the haze from their minds were lifted. The Listeners, on the other hand, allowed Voidspren into their Gemhearts, assuming a Form of Power called the Stormform to call the Everstorm.

29- Pattern tells Shallan that if he dies, "they" will send her another spren. Who does he mean by "they"?

The Cryptics, which is the type of spren he is.

30- Are the honor blades and the Stormfather both a part of Honor?

Yes. The former are Splinters of him, the latter merged with his Cognitive Shadow, as per the Stormfather himself.

31- What is the surge that Dalinar uses to bind Kadash to the ground during their fight? It is the same one that Szeth and Kaladin use. Can Bondsmiths, Windrunners and wielders of honor blades use a common surge?

I don't remember the duel itself, I skipped it during rereads. The Surge your describing is Adhesion.

There are ten Honorblades like there are ten Orders of Knights Radiant, with ten total Surges, one overlapping Surge with the next Order. Adhesion is shared by Bondsmiths and Windrunners as well as the Honorblades of the Heralds Ishar and Jezrien.

32- In the card game that Kaladin explains to his parshman captor, he tells him "if the king is captured, the game is lost", do you think there is foreshadowing in that about Elhokar? Dalinar? Jasnah maybe?

Maybe

33- Do we know how were the copycat murders done?

Re-Shephir's Midnight Essence took somewhat human forms to copy the murders that they witnessed.

Some of your questions might be answered by the Coppermind, which is like a Wikipedia of Brandon Sanderson's works, do look into that! 

Edited October 28, 2020 by Honorless

[This_Is_Samer]

9 hours ago, Honorless said:

Some of your questions might be answered by the Coppermind, which is like a Wikipedia of Brandon Sanderson's works, do look into that! 

Thank you for the detailed answers!

[This_Is_Samer]

10 hours ago, kaellok said:

Your questions:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

And answers to all your questions!  Hidden behind spoilers because this got super-long.  There are some spoilers for Oathbringer here, but I tried to heavily limit them for now since you're re-reading it.  Also, I am too, and so I've forgotten some of what I remember.

  Hide contents

1. Odium was not captured in a gemstone, nor was he released.  We know that he has been trapped in the Roshar system by something that Honor did.  At least some of the Unmade, which are ancient and terrible spren born of the power of Odium, were imprisoned in perfect gemstones.

2. The reason the Listeners fled their gods is because they liked being individuals, instead of bodies to be inhabited by their ancestors (who, as a result of the possession, destroyed their minds.) (I'm in the middle of a reread of Oathbringer right now, so I might be mis-remembering this a little bit, or putting my own assumption here.)

3. I don't think that we know the 9 shadows are the 9 Unmade, but it's a really good assumption.  There has been at least one novel that Sanderson has written where there is a contest of Shardic Champions, and basically it's the power of Inifinity vs. the power of Infinity.  That was at least somewhat unique to that situation, though, so it will likely play out differently this time.

4. I don't think the differences between Stormlight and Voidlight has been explored in detail in-book yet, nor has the difference between the Surges.  Look to Renarin and Venli on-screen.

5. The visions as a whole aren't wrong just because one line from one person in one vision gives the generally accepted truth by the vast majority of all humans to have ever lived on Roshar, even if that supposed truth is a lie, and even if the person saying that knows it's a lie (and there's strong reason to believe that if Kalami was modeled after a real person that Kalami would have believed what they said to be the truth).

6. The Singers (parshmen) pre-date Honor, Cultivation, Odium, and humans.  Honor and Cultivation pre-date Odium and humans.  Odium and humans traveled to Roshar at approximately the same time, but Sanderson has been cagey about whether they traveled together, at exactly the same time, etc.  (Source: answers to questions the Sanders has given over the years.  Nothing at all in-text.)

7. Dalinar is busy trying to lead all the nations of the world.  Kaladin is busy scouting Kholinar, and also seeing to his family's safety.  That leaves exactly two known Radiants.  If you're someone who has a hard time giving up an ounce of power once taken, do you give that to someone you know, or some rando who might, possibly, at some point, show up?  Also sometimes giving people responsibility causes them to rise to the occasion to become worthy of it.  (I love Shallan and Renarin, but boy howdy do they not do this in Oathbringer lol).

8. Speculation abounds!  But doubtful.  After 3 novels, we have not seen any evidence that epigraphs from an in-world book will be seen outside of the our-world book sharing its name.

9. Voidlight is different, and operates under different rules, than Stormlight.  Why does plugging a D-cell battery into your wall outlet not charge it?  They're both electricity, right?

10. There is very strong significance to the general timing of Dalinar being able to hear Evi's name again, and recovering his lost memories.  We don't know that it just happened at that particular second, because how often do people go around mentioning his dead wife's name when he's nearby?  (Not very.)  But recovering those memories, gradually, is part of Cultivation's plan, who has always been much better at Foresight than Honor was.

11. Vorin is a religion that places the Almighty, god, above the Heralds.  Those are two distinct aspects to the religion.  The Azish worship the Heralds, but not the Almighty.  So, while they are heretical and blasphemous, there's actually a lot of similarity there.  Think the difference between Protestants and Catholics.  As for why the Azish believe the way they do, probably because it makes sense for the religions of the world to have a fractured history of what happened and get different aspects of it right and wrong.  If everyone believes the same thing, then everyone is the same amount of right and wrong; having people have different things right and wrong is more interesting than everyone being the same.

12. Navani has very strong faith, and faith in what she believes.  That does not mean that she also has very strong adherence to the mortal strictures that have come into place over time.  There is no contradiction.

13. If you're asking which specific oaths Navani broke before, I can't think of any off-hand.  There's probably allusions to them to be found in-text somewhere that I have missed, or it may be something that we'll encounter later, or it could be that the oaths weren't anything that we as readers would consider important or worth mentioning but that the very literal embodiment of keeping promises does.

14. Vorinism is about the worship of the Almighty.  They believe that all authority comes from the Almighty.  They do not recognize any relationship between spren and the Almighty, at all. Honestly, there would probably be less friction with the ardents if Elhokar had married them, because the ardents do say that Elhokar holds the throne due to the will of the Almighty.  Think about it this way--how would the Pope react if Prince William said that he was going to be married, as a Catholic, by the Ghost of the Tower of London?  And oh, by the way, the Ghost of the Tower of London is actually the ghost of Jesus Christ, so it's all legit and legal and perfectly fine?

15. Time and again it's said that ardents are slaves, but they're not like other classes of slaves that we see in-world (like Kaladin was, or like the parshmen were) nor are they like most slaves that we have seen in our world.  They more closely resemble the idealized 'educated and respected indentured slave' that appeared in Roman days, although tend to be highly exaggerated in modern times.  People can leave the ardentia, and while Kabsal isn't necessarily to be trusted, Shallan did not doubt his word when he said that he cannot be forbidden to leave.  So joining the ardents allows you to be a scholar, gives you shelter, food, and the like, and you can leave when you want; in turn, you also have to deal with some religious rules, and do what the Brightlords tell you when they tell you (which, honestly, you'd have to do anyway).  The type of slavery that they mostly seem to experience is one of not being free to go where they will as they will, and so the cost may have seemed very small for the benefits that he gained.  Especially if Kadash also was seeking forgiveness from the Almighty for the terrible actions he was responsible for.

16. I could be wrong, but I'm 100% sure that Syl is referring to Tien.  I'm also 100% sure that Tien could have grown into a Radiant, although likely something along the lines of a Truthwatcher or Lightweaver instead of a Windrunner like Kal.

17. The Stormfather summoned a Highstorm against the Everstorm because he's...cranky...at humans.

18. I can't think of other explicit synergies between powers off hand besides the map you reference.

19. Dalinar probably says that because it's true.

20. Renarin has seen the future before.  He hasn't reacted well when what he saw was coming true around him and threatened him directly, but this might be an occasion where he is directly faced with a vision of the future that wasn't about his impending death for a change.

21. The red lights floating in the Everstorm are corrupted spren floating around.  Syl sees them from time to time in WoR as well.

22. Anyone who has Bonded a spren should hear a deadBlade screaming when they touch it.  Pretty sure other spren can hear it as well, at least the sentient ones.  Others who have a similar connection between the Cognitive and Physical Realms would probably hear it, too, but other than Radiants those are fairly rare on Roshar.

23. The Stormfather answers as unhelpfully as he does because he is...cranky...at humans.  Or because Sanderson made him that...cranky...because otherwise critical plot points would be given away way too early or Dalinar would act out of character by not answering.

24. I can't recall of anything specifically happening in the negotiations between the supposed Voidbringers and Azir or Iri or nations in that part of the world.  I'm sure we'll see more of that pretty immediately in RoW, though.

25. Oathgates have been fairytales for centuries.  Anyone who knew died long ago, and anyone who believes now is someone who is desperately looking for answers and believes that the fairytales may contain truth they are seeking for.  (See: Jasnah.)

26. Thaylenah is one of the Silver Epoch Cities.  And they probably follow the Passions because it seems a lot less restrictive and prohibitive than the Vorin religion is, and they seem to be very much a nation of people that prize independence.  Vorinism would be a hard-sell that hasn't managed to adapt enough yet for large-scale converts.

27. Roshar is a big place with a lot of people.  We see dozens, maybe hundreds of named people on screen.  There were likely thousands, but not tens of thousands, of Radiants at the height of their power.  We also saw quite a few examples in WoR and Edgedancer of other Radiants and proto-Radiants, so we know that they are starting to appear even if their appearance doesn't play a giant role in Oathbringer.

28. The Parshendi that fought at Narak at the summoning of the Everstorm had largely assumed the form of Stormform, which requires them to have bonded (this is probably the wrong word, but I'm sticking to it) a specific type of spren during a Highstorm.  Khen and their people have not done this, as their minds remain entirely their own.  They are not in warform, or else Kaladin would have noticed that right away.  So it could be workerform or nimbleform, or possibly an unknown form instead.

29. Pattern is a Cryptic spren.  If he dies, other Cryptics will nominate one of their number to continue his work.  They have one of the great societies built in Shadesmar.

30. Honorblades were crafted directly from Honor's power, by Honor's Will.  The Stormfather may or may not predate Honor (Highstorms definitely do).  However, Honor also 'prepared' the Stormfather to take up some portion of His power after being Splintered, and so a large part of the Stormfather's power now is of Honor, even if it wasn't always the case.  There is probably more of Honor in the Stormfather now than in any one Honorblade, but there might be more of Honor in the 10 Blades combined than there is in the Stormfather.

31. The Honorblade that Szeth was using, that Dalinar now has, grants all the powers of a Windrunner to whoever wields it.  There are 9 other Honorblades.  Each Honorblade grants access to two of the Surges, and presumably mimics the same pairing as the Orders of the Radiants.  iirc, the 'stick Lopen to the wall' Surge is Adhesion, which is shared by Windrunners and Bondsmiths.  Windrunners and Skybreakers share a different Surge, which allows both of them to fly (although with the combination of the two, Windrunners have superior mobility in the sky).

32. Saying 'if the king is captured the game is lost' is foreshadowing for sure.  In every story to have ever been told, or that will ever be told.  Even in a story in which there are no kings, and nobody has ever heard of kings, and nobody knows what a king might be--it's still foreshadowing because the reader knows.  It may be a very deliberate red herring to make us think that we know where the story is headed, but it was absolutely placed there for that specific reason.

33. The copycat murders are directly and conclusively, 100% cause and effect addressed at the end of Part 1.

 

LOLLLLL so funny!! thank you for the detailed info and the sense of humor