#stormlight 5 speculation

[duckngk]

thinking about how alethi doorframes and stuff are made for taller people since theyre just a taller race generally.. but shinovar is a different story i need kaladin to be hitting his head on EVERYTHING in stormlight 5

[turttastic]

This is so real, I'm literally so worried about this like I can just FEEL that Adolin is gonna die. Dalinar too. Because no other deaths are going to have the same AOE on the majority of the POV characters. Think about it. Adolin dies? Renarin, Shallan, Kaladin and Dalinar (if he somehow lives) are going to be fucking BROKEN. Dalinar dies? Kaladin, Adolin (if he somehow lives), Szeth, Renarin and Navani are going the be a mess. Technically speaking, Kaladin's death would probably cause more mourning per capita BUT the deepest mourners other than Adolin and Shallan would mostly be Bridge Four folks, few of whom are regular POV characters and I think Sanderson wants to maximize POV character suffering above all else.

dalinar stans, adolin stans, let's not discourse with each other about which one of the two of them was right in their father-son beef. let us instead join forces in premeditated mourning because our faves are almost certainly dying next book

[wyndlerunner]

Tossing in my WaT bingo card before the book comes out tomorrow

Descriptions of bingo spaces below, starting at the top of each column:

B Column: 1) Thaidakar jump scare 2) Fabrial of mass destruction 3) Moash redemption 4) Nightwatcher interference 5) Kaladin’s fifth ideal

I Column: 1) Normal anomalies seems weird to rosharan 2) Odium wins the duel 3) Szeth beefs with someone in Shinovar 4) Maya and Adolin bonding moment 5) Never-before-seen radiant order

N Colimn: 1) Dalinar commits a war crime 2) sassy Nazh note 3) Free Space: Hoid Story time 4) Secret Project investiture 5) Hoid gets dumped

G Column: 1) MeLaan appearance 2) Kaladin is oblivious to woman flirting with him 3) Ba-Ado-Mishram released 4) Shallan murder reveal 5) Ghostbloods meddling in the plot

O Column: 1) Radiant Spren killed 2) Gavinor vengeance arc foreshadowing 3) Renarlain is Canon 4) most of WaT happens after the duel 5) Skybreaker Sigzil

[taravangians-storming-balls]

Current theory is that "Knights of Wind and Truth" is the book Kaladin and Szeth write while bored out of their minds on the Shinovar trip. That title has all the vibes of a group project with horrible compromises

[why-is-it-always-autumn]

Wind and Truth Theory: Szeth's unnammed Highspren is Auxiliary

Some evidence:

They have never appeared on page in the Stormlight Archive (Nightblood takes on the usual spren/shardblade role) but we know they exist because Szeth is a full Skybreaker and not a squire

Szeth's highspren chose to bond with the weird outsider whose goals don't align with the rest of the Skybreakers

Szeth (and his spren by extension) is allied with the Windrunners

Auxiliary is a highspren who bonded with the former leader of the Windrunners

Szeth gets into some weird situations

Szeth's spren is so conspicuously absent it feels like it has to be on purpose at this point

No proof that he isn't

[valerieofavonlea]

Alright who's ready to overanalyze how povs are broken up from a Stormlight 5 update from over a year ago? Spoilers for the entire series, including preview chapters for KoWT

So our POV blocks are as such: Szeth and Kaladin, Dalinar and Shallan with Renarin and Navani, and then Navani, Adolin, and Venli with their own things going on.

Let's dive in. Szeth and Kaladin is easy: Shinovar field trip.

Shallan and Dalinar aren't as intertwined, but seem to go together. Dalinar will be prepping for the contest of champions, and it seems Shallan is going after Ba Ado Mishram to find her before the Ghostbloods do. Navani I would expect to be helping Dalinar. Renarin is also in here so I wonder if he (+bridge 4) might be going with Shallan. That'd be an interesting group.

Jasnah is off on her own again. Not terribly surprising. Wit seems to be heading out to find an old friend (Cultivation?) for help, and I want Jasnah to go with him. Imagine how much we could learn about the greater cosmere

Venli is with the singers and will have her own plot again. I'd also expect her to meet up with the rest of the main cast towards the end for any big climax

And then, hey Adolin, whatcha doing by yourself over there? I think it's quite interesting that he's been separated from the main plots. Most of the theorizing for the last few years puts him with Shallan for the BAM plot, but that doesn't actually seem to be the case here. If you've ever been privy to any of less hinged Stormlight theorizing then you know he's my #1 pick for Odium's Champion, and imo separating him from the rest of the cast is a good step towards that end. In any case I think this is the first time he hasn't been playing support to Kaladin/Shallan/Dalinar's plots. Make of that what you will. I can see Dalinar sending him off on his own little mission

Anyway here's my two cents. Feel free to add

[comiclysmic]

⚠️ Art inspired by KOWT / Stormlight 5 teaser chapters

Young Szeth and Impending Nightblood

✒️ Made in ClipStudio Paint

[cloudkohv]

I feel like there’s a missed opportunity for szeth to have a fanclub. I can easily picture randos around the world being like “omg! The assassin-hero’s at it again! He’s so cool! He killed the king of the invading land!!” (except i don’t remember if he was supposed to yoink every single world leader. Probably. idk)

I predict on his road trip with kaladin that they’re going to stop somewhere where everyone’s like omg! The shin hero! Dude! Ur so cool!! And they’re both confused.

[drifting-knightjar]

What if Odium learns of Navani and Raboniel's discovery, and picks up the Splinters of Honor to become the Shard of War 😬

Or maybe that was part of his plan all along, and that's why he wanted Dalinar--famous warmonger--to be his champion.

Maybe Odium knows that he can't conquer the cosmere on the power of passion alone. Maybe he knows he needs the discipline and justifications of Honor to do it.

Maybe Dalinar conquering the Thrill in Oathbringer will be foreshadowing for a similar arc for Kaladin in Wind and Truth, in which Kal defeats War Itself.

[epicmilly]

I see there's a little confusion on whether the person on the wat cover is Adolin or dalinar? i'm prettyyyy sure there was some wob or something official that said it was dalinar but i can't be sure. personally I think that it's dalinar and the golden sunrise/sunset is making his gray hair glow gold.

and also, I think Adolin was on the rhythm of war cover! I looked into this a couple days ago because there was some silver haired guy on the back, and that's michael whelan's interpretation of him

my boy ado <3

and then there's dalinar. his hair looks grayish if you ignore the way the sun lights him up! another thing that makes me think dalinar is the fact that he has a book (presumably twok... or maybe even oathbringer or wind and truth lol) and brought it to what could be thought of as the end of the world, reminding me of that scene in oathbringer where dalinar is like "where's your weapon" to lift and she notes that he has a book and responds like "oh, i can't read." (paraphrased)

anyways is that too much yapping lol

also TYSM FOR ALL THE NOTES YALL ARE AWESOME <3

(messages was also at one but i already read it lol)

[thestormlightnetwork]

RHYTHM OF WAR SPOILERS!!

Who Will Be Odium's Champion?

short answer: Adolin.

Long Answer: Adolin because of what happened in twok prime.

So, in case some of you have forgotten, in the end of Rhythm of War Dalinar and Odium make a deal to have a contest of champions, with what i think are very bad conditions. Since then, people are constantly speculating who will be Odium's champion, and I think the answer is hiding in plain sight.

Adolin will be Odium's champion, and I

Edit: I don't have so much good cause to think it will happen other than "he killed him in twok prime so he'll kill him again"

[wyndlerunner]

The notoriously imperialist Alethi being the sole controllers/source of Stormlight in a Roshar suddenly devoid of high storms would also be terrifying if Dalinar kept his bond

i've been thinking many thoughts in preparation for KOWT and I am decently sure the Stormfather is either dying or that bitchass Ishar is forcibly bringing him to the Physical Realm, causing the loss of highstorms for Roshar, with the Night of Sorrows and the loss of Lights.

Knowing that Stormlight has been a core part of Roshar, plants and animals using the highstorms to sustain themselves even, the loss of Stormlight will do far more then devastate the Radiants, it might fuck over the entire planet. With The Lost Metal's Ghostbloods mentioning that even the Rosharan system isn't safe anymore, Odium's victory or a complete destabilization of the planet seems to be imminent.

[wyndlerunner]

The door swung open, revealing MeLaan wearing stylish blue trousers and a buttoned shirt. She’d been going for an androgynous look these days, with very short blonde hair and almost no hint of breasts. For her friends, she often maintained relatively similar features. This face, for example, looked like her — just thinner, less overtly feminine.

As usual she had picked a tall, limber body — this one was at least six foot four.

Storing this description away to look for her in Kowt future stormlight books

[cosmerelists]

Ranking Various Cosmere Fantasy Swears

If there's one thing Brandon Sanderson likes, it's avoiding any real swear words in favor of Fantasy Swears. I am genuinely a huge fan of this technique. So here how I'd rank some of the ones I can remember! (And thanks to 17th Shard [here and here] and to Reddit for compiling some lists!).

#14: Colors (Warbreaker)

This one feels a little bit...lazy, I guess? Like yes, Warbreaker's magic is color-dependent, so colors are a big part of the world-building, so I guess it makes sense that people use it as a swear. But it feels like if, in fantasy USA, people swore by "eagles" all the time: "Eagles! I dropped my hamburger!"

#13: Moons (Tress of the Emerald Sea)

I mean same problem as with "colors"! Yes, the moons are a big aspect of the worldbuilding, but it just feels like a semi-boring swear. Although maybe that's just the swear that Tress tends to use.

#12: Shadows/Shades (Shadows for Silence/Sunlit Man)

Okay, maybe this one is a bit boring, but anything Threndy-related gets extra credit from me. So therefore I think this is one of the least boring of the "basically boring descriptors of world building elements" swears.

#11: By the Lord Ruler (Mistborn)

I mean...eh. This one is world specific, but it's basically like swearing by god only in this case the god is the Lord Ruler, right? It makes sense 'n' all but isn't as interesting as some of the later ones.

#10: By the Survivor's Scars (Mistborn)

This one is better because it's more specific--Kelsier's scars are rich with meaning, and swearing by them does feel like it carries cultural weight.

#9: By Harmony's Armbands (Mistborn)

Putting them all in a line like this...I just like how they get ever more specific. Now we're swearing by Harmony's feruchemical armlets? Okay!

#8: God Beyond (Shadows for Silence)

I mean, Threnody is, like, haunted by a god's corpse, so I think any of their god-related swears are more interesting as a result.

#7: Nights / Nights afire (Emperor's Soul)

I like this one because I just don't know what it refers to and it seems kinda creepy. What are nights on fire for??

#6: Rust and Ruin (Mistborn)

Frankly, the alliteration gets this one extra points. And "Rust and Ruin!" just feels like a good thing to shout when you've stubbed your toe.

#5: Storms/storming/Stormfather (Stormlight Archive)

I know this one SHOULD lose points for being exactly the sort of boring descriptive swear I maligned above...but I enjoy this one simply because it's such a clear linguistic stand-in for "fuck" and that leads to such amusing translations as "Kaladin Fuckblessed" or the "Fuckfather" and that just never stops being funny to me.

#4: Herald body parts (Stormlight Archive)

I didn't notice until looking at various compiled lists of Cosmere Fantasy Swears, but Rosharans really like to swear by specific Herald body parts, huh? From here: Kelek's breadth, Kelek's tongue, Ash's eyes, Ishar's soul, Nalan's hand, Pali's mind, Talat's hand...I'm a fan of this. It's interesting and feels culturally relevant.

#3: Glories Within (Stormlight Archive)

This one is just Szeth so far, but people speculate it's probably a Shin curse. That makes it interesting to me since we don't know a whole lot about the Shin. What inner glory are they using to swear?

#2: Starving (Stormlight Archive)

This one is pretty similar to "Storming," I suppose, in being a pretty clear linguistic stand-in for "fucking." But I just like that the food-obsessed Lift has her own personal swear relating to starvation.

#1: Lowly/Highly (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

I'm a big fan of the lowly/highly thing from Yumi & the Nightmare Painter, where words can be linguistically marked as meant in either a high way (complimentary) or a low way (insultingly). It's fun worldbuilding and leads to some comic beats in the novel. Plus, this post tickled me greatly: https://www.tumblr.com/cabinetcreature/722030379790401536?source=share. It's so true!

[blindradiant]

14 chapters and almost 38k words in, I’ve officially reached the end of the RP material that became this fic. I finished the story myself, and will continue posting it until I reach the end. This has definitely been quite a journey so far, and that’s only gonna continue from here! 

If y’all are curious about how the Shinovar roadtrip will go, @cosmereplay and I got 35k words into an RP speculating about it. I’m posting that RP on AO3, keeping most of what cosmereplay and I originally wrote. It’s a fun time