#yes i did in theory know about the cosmere theory is just this is the first time I've run into it in an actual book

[rowenabean]

Controversial opinion incoming I'm not that much a fan of The Lost Metal I feel like we spent 6 books establishing how the world works (twice, but at least they were in continuity with each other) and now you're telling me that actuality it Doesn't

[cosmerelists]

Top 12 Sanderson RAFOs that Haunt Me

[SPOILERS! For Stormlight and Mistborn (both eras) especially]

"RAFO" = "Read and Find Out," AKA, a question that Sanderson says may be answered in a future book. Here, then, are Sanderson's "Read and Find Out" answers that most haunt me...insofar as I'm desperate to know how the answers will play out in the future!

(I'll link to @onlycosmere or the Coppermind for the sources!)

#12: Where is Design in Lost Metal?

Whenever Hoid appears in a book chronologically later than Stormlight 4, we all freak out if Design is somehow not there. There was (seemingly) no Design in Tress and no Design in Lost Metal. Someone asked about the Lost Metal and got RAFO'd (here). Sanderson's response of "oooh, excellent question" makes me especially curious. Like, does something happen to Design? Or is Design some sort of object that we don't realize is Design? So curious!

#11: Is Spook still alive?

Someone asked if Spook is still alive, and Sanderson RAFO'd it (here). I'll admit; I'm mostly curious about this because I'm curious about Kelsier and how he drew Spook into his terrible (?) schemes. And it's always interesting when those characters from early books come back. I wouldn't mind seeing Spook around again!

#10: Taravangian's Perfect Day

Someone asked if anything else of note happened on Taravangian's Perfect Day, and Sanderson said yes (!) and then RAFO'd the details (here). I can't even begin to guess what this might refer to, but it feels pretty important. I wonder what it means!

#9: Valor Will Be Mentioned in Stormlight 5

Well, name-dropped anyway (here). Valor is one of the few remaining shards we don't know much about, so I'm curious as to what we'll learn about her in Stormlight 5 and in what context she'll be name-dropped. I'm not as curious as I should be, I guess, because I frankly can't keep all of the shards straight. But it'll still be cool!

#8: Renarin's Detective Skills

Somebody asked if Renarin figured out on his own that Adolin killed Sadeas, and Sanderson gave it a "partial RAFO" (here). I really hope we find out more about this, maybe when Renarin is the flashback character. I want to know how he knew, and what he did with that knowledge. More Renarin overall, tbh!

#7: Hoid Dated a Dragon

Hoid dated a dragon once; it's canon (here). But which one? That we're still waiting to see! I'll admit; I'm curious.

#6 Were Glys and Tumi Dead-Eyes?

Someone asked if Glys & Tumi were dead-eyes before Sja-anat got to them (here). Sanderson RAFO'd it and said it was a good question (!!). That doesn't mean the theory is true, of course, but it means it COULD be true! And if dead-eyes can be restored by Sja-anat, then........is there hope for Maya???

#5: Missing Yellow From Pinter Ink

Someone asked Sanderson about the hion colors, and how blue and magenta are printer colors, and how yellow is missing. Sanderson indicated that this was exactly as he had planned and RAFO'd the missing yellow "ink" (here). Later, Sanderson explained a bit more that if there were a third Hion line, it would be yellow, and hinted that there was a reason it was missing (here). Sanderson has elsewhere indicated that "yin yang" type investiture is a Cosmere-wide phenomenon...which means...what? That there should be another magic outside of the dichotomy? That it's missing? Just from the hions or from all magic systems? Does this have something to do with aethers as the non-Adonalsium magic type?

I'm not smart enough with Cosmere science to know, but I AM very curious!

#4: If Kelsier and Moash Meet

When asked what would happen if Kelsier and Moash meet, Sanderson RAFO'd it (here). Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that they will meet, of course...but it means they COULD. And now I want it--I want it so much! #Let-Moash-join-the-Ghostbloods-as-Kelsier's-righthand-man-2024

#3: Ask Me About July 18

I think much of the fandom is aware of this RAFO, where Sanderson tweeted that we should all remind him to talk more about the important scene that he wrote for Stormlight 5 on July 18 (here). Like everyone, I am desperate to know what scene he is talking about. The Odium duel? Renarin and Rlain getting together?? Szeth and Kaladin petting a baby sheep while they talk about their feelings??? It could be anything!

#2: Rat skulls glow on Threnody?!

People who pay attention to my every comment on this blog may know that Threnody is my favorite Cosmere planet, and so I was definitely interested to see this RAFO, where Sanderson said that...rat skulls glow on Threnody for a reason?? (here) Not only did he say that they glow for a good reason, but he also "laugh[ed] gleefully" apparently. I am so curious...and so alarmed.

#1: Hoid Drinking Perfume Will Be Relevant

But the "RAFO" that most haunts me is from way back in 2016 (here), when someone asked why Hoid was drinking perfume in Bands of Mourning...and Sanderson RAFO'd it, saying that he planned to delve into it one day. D-Delve into WHAT exactly? How could it possibly be Cosmere-relevant that Hoid was drinking perfume? Is it about where he got it? Is there a perfume-drinking-based magic system??

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN

[onlycosmere]

Ironeyes: So, uh, we know that the charcoal creatures are afraid of coins.

Brandon Sanderson: Yes.

Ironeyes: So are the white chalk creatures, which I think are called Shadowblazes…

Brandon Sanderson: Yes.

Ironeyes: Are they also afraid of coins?

Brandon Sanderson Are they also afraid of coins? To a much lesser extent. I can give you guys some backstory on this.

What’s going on here is that the place these things come from linear structure and things like this are frightening to them, like they come from a non-linear location. Time does not move linearly where they come from. When they come into this world, structure and linear time progression, is bizarre to them.

And there are some who have embraced it, and been like, “This is cool and different!” and there are others that are still terrified of it, as a representation of what is so alien from the world they came from.

So that’s why we’ve got this whole clocks, and even structure, as a metaphor for something that is terrifying to them.

Rithmatist started in the Cosmere. The magic shares a lot of its roots, then, in Cosmere magic worldbuilding. I split if off because I wrote the whole first book with it being in the Cosmere. I split it off, saying “No, I don’t want Earth to be in the Cosmere.”

Even an alternate version of Earth. It just raises too many questions about the nature of Earth being involved in this. I want the Cosmere to be its own dwarf galaxy of which not even a dimension of Earth is involved.

And when I made that decision, I broke Rithmatist off. That’s the only one I had written that didn’t belong, but it still has, so, it means that the magic is going to feel very familiar to you, uh, it’s going to feel like the magic of the Cosmere. And Cosmere magic is based around, usually, human beings making a symbiotic bond with an entity made out of the magic.

This is, kind of, one of the origins of Cosmere magic, and Rithmatist has, therefore, its roots in that. I’ve done some things since I’ve split it off in the outlines to distinguish it, but it’s going to have the same roots. So you’ll notice some things like that, that are similar.

Questioner: Before you split The Rithmatist from the Cosmere, did the Shadowblazes come from the Cognitive realm?

Brandon Sanderson: Yeah. Yeah, the Shadowblazes were in the Cognitive realm, they’re--you know, well, they’re more Spiritual Realm. They were Spiritual Realm, sorry. They were Spiritual realm entities that got pulled into the Physical realm.

And the Spiritual realm has no time, it exists independent of time and location, all times and all places are one, and so, when something that’s from the Spiritual Realm got pulled into the Physical realm, it was like, “This is so weird!” And there are very few things in the Cosmere that exist only on the Spiritual Realm, which was a really fun thing I could do with this book, was show that. Cause most things exist on all three Realms. Um, so, yeah.

So, yeah, I mean if you’ve got, if you’re a Cosmere theologian--not theologian, magic, what do you call it? They call that, I have a word for it in-world. But anyway, if you’re a realmatic theorist, you can kind of pick out how the Spiritual Realm beings were related, originally, to the Realmatic theory.

[shardpencil]

Conspiracy theory time!!!

I know Odium's Champion theories are probably redundant at this point BUT i have one cooked up hot for you all. It's a long one.

Featuring Spoilers from all SA books and some minor spoilers from WaT previews..

Adolin will be TOdium's Champion!!!

Let's talk about it:

RAYSE VS TARAVANGIAN

I first want to draw attention to the differences between Rayse-Odium and Taravangian-Odium and their Champions. As the vessel of Odium has changed since Oathbringer, so must our perception of their chosen ones.

According to Hoid, Rayse was an awful person. He was cunning, ambitious, and often had selfish motives for wanting to obtain power and conquer the Cosmere. "Blackthorn" Dalinar made sense as Rayse's Champion, because as a young man, Dalinar's "passions" were selfishly motivated as well. Yes, he was helping his brother, but Dalinar did enjoy the wanton killing and longed for the feeling of the Thrill.

Taravangian carries himself differently as Odium. He has always been motivated by noble causes, such as saving his home city of Karbranth, knowing that he might have to do evil things to reach his end-goal. Even after he ascended, Taravangian holds on desperately to this notion that he alone has the power and willingness to reach the greater good in the end. I firmly believe that his pick for Champion must represent this very same philosophy.

BOOK EVIDENCE POINTING TO ADOLIN:

This first passage comes from WoR. Sadeas is talking about Adolin as he watches him duel:

We learn a few things from this

Sadeas thinks Adolin can be goaded into anger and is capable of making rash, impulsive decisions.

Adolin has less control of his "passion" than Dalinar. Plainly this means he has less self-control than his father. I also note the careful use of the word "passion", as it is used often in OB in association with Odium.

Now Sadeas is comparing Adolin to Dalinar--and not just Dalinar, but the Blackthorn.

What do you know? Sadeas proves himself correct by goading Adolin, threatening his family, and causing him to get angry and lash out. As Readers, we now know that Adolin is capable of extreme, impulsive actions--including murder--if the end goal is to protect his family.

I also think Adolin's wording here is very ominous "My father thinks I'm a better man than he is...he's wrong" Knowing what we now know about the kind of person Dalinar actually was in the past, the wording of this passage, in retrospect, reads eerily.

Then in Oathbringer,

He clearly has complex feelings around what he did. It's a little worrying that there was a part of him that actually enjoyed the physical sensation of killing Sadeas, but he at least has some shame about the act itself.

Interesting that he thinks of the sensation of stabbing right after thinking of his father, too.

Now we learnt hat Adolin doesn't feel sorry about what he did and says that he'd do "it again right now" (directly to Dalinar, no less). I think it's important to note here that he did it because "it needed to be done". He did it because specifically he thinks Dalinar never would, because he knows his line of thinking does not agree with his father's. In Adolin's mind, the destination was more important than the journey.

There was a part of him that was ashamed that he murdered someone, but that doesn't really matter--because he easily dismissed the whole act because it allowed him to achieve the optimal outcome.

Next, lets flash forward to RoW...

The passage above is from the last conversation between Dalinar and Adolin before Adolin leaves for Shadesmar.

This is where we start getting the hint that Dalinar sees something..off within his son. He says he's not disappointed in him, however, Dalinar's wording here implies that Adolin is not quite living up to his own expectations, morally (aka he's disappointed). This passage also reflects Adolin's words as he's killing Sadeas, when Dalinar says something along the lines of, "I want you to be...a better man than I was at your age." So many uses of the phrase "better man" are being thrown around specifically with Adolin and Dalinar.

This next passage I think is the most condemning. Here, Dalinar is placing Adolin and Taravangian in the same bucket, ideologically. Funny, since Taravangian literally becomes Odium later in the same book.

Shortly after this line Adolin does insist that he isn't like Taravangian and wants to carve his own path, however, his previous actions speak louder than his words and he certainly does not regret those actions.

I also think the highlighted line above foreshadows something darker in store for Adolin...in general. The consequences of this conversation did not come to pass in RoW, so we can only assume that it's going to go down in WaT.

Since the end of Oathbringer, anger has been building within Adolin, directed at his father.

Adolin recognizes that his own anger is volatile. He "doesn't trust it".

In the latest passages of WaT, Adolin reported that he assumed that his negative feelings would eventually wane, but he has instead become even more angry. I was a little surprised reading this, since it feels a little too intentional, too deliberate. Brandon is building up to something, but its not clear what that is.

What I'm thinking is that , this pain/anger will lead to an impulsive action on Adolin's part that he may regret making. He's already done it once before (though he had no regrets about that lol).

So Adolin has all this built up anger directed at Dalinar, and one of these days he's just going to snap, just like with Sadeas. I sincerely doubt Adolin would just straight up kill his father like he did with Sadeas, but I do think Adolin is capable of making some sort of stupid decision directly in opposition to Dalinar, in affirmation of his Consequentialist beliefs. Whatever this is, will likely be Adolin's downfall.

WHAT MAKES THE IDEAL CHAMPION FOR ODIUM

I fully think the optimal opponent to Dalinar has to have a few things:

Significance to Dalinar that forces him to NOT want to kill the champion and challenges his Idealism (this is the most important one IMO--this is the real "heart and soul" of the contest)

The capability to actually beat Dalinar in a fight

Significance to the audience (aka us, the Readers)

SO NOW ON TO THE CANDIDATES

A Fused

OC being a random Fused would make sense somewhat, however, this choice would be awful since they wouldn't have any meaning to Dalinar or us the audience. I think a Fused as champion would be such a letdown personally.

2. A Herald

Again, this might make some sense and would be a very formidable foe, but it just doesn't provide the emotional stakes for Dalinar or the Reader. A Herald as OC would likely not challenge Dalinar's existing ideology as strongly as some of the other candidates here.

3. Gavilar

This would be interesting. Brother vs brother would definitely satisfy condition #1, and potentially #2 and #3 depending on how invested he is. Overall, this pick just isn't giving enough of anything for me to support it. I just think we haven't gotten any evidence for this other than a faint ambition of Gavilar to become immortal and just being an absolutely shitty human being.

I think its theorized that hes somehow still alive, but IDK, there's just not enough evidence presently...and Gavilar just coming out swinging from the spiritual realm would be so bizarre. I love the stakes it creates between Dalinar and his brother though!

4. Moash

Yes, Moash has done some shit and works for Odium, but I think the only way he makes sense as Odium's Champion is if Kaladin somehow becomes Honor's Champion.

5. Gavinor

Probaby one of the more popular OC theories presently, because of that one quote from the WoK epigraphs.

“I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw. ”

This quote is often attributed to the Gavinor theory because it mentions killing a child. However, Gavinor is not "a suckling child"--he's older than that.

I think Gavinor as OC perfectly satisfies the conflict between Taravangian and Dalinar. Killing Gavinor would challenge Dalinar's personal worldview and force him to submit to Taravangian's. There's no way Dalinar will kill a kid, simply because killing an innocent child is wrong and there's no way around that within the confines of Dalinar's Idealism. Gavinor would also be easy to trick into making some agreement with Odium.

The only problem is, Gavinor is a CHILD. Dalinar could easily kill him if he wanted, and I'm not sure if T would take that chance, even if it means having Dalinar submit in ideology. I feel like each Champion must have at least some understanding of the philosophies they represent... Dalinar for Idealism, and OC for Consequentialism. Gavinor would not understand his role and the stakes involved and thus, I believe it would cheapen the whole experience.

As Readers, we are somewhat familiar with Ganivor, but whether he lives or dies to us is more of a question for Dalinar and the plot, leaving us to feel indifferent. We don't know who this kid is, and we haven't spent enough time with him to be truly emotionally invested in his fate.

6. Adolin

Adolin perfectly satisfies point #1. There is no way Dalinar is going to be comfortable with the prospect of killing his very own child. He may flat-out refuse to fight him, which would consequently void the contract and release Odium into the Cosmere.

(Probably inconsequential but, vaguely, I think the "suckling child" epigraph could fit Adolin. He isn't a child, but he is Dalinar's own child, and we even got a flashback chapter in OB where Adolin was literally a suckling child...anyway.)

Based on Adolin's recent developments , I believe he could champion Consequentialism (he's already teetered on the edge of it before in conversation with Dalinar). To reiterate, he is clearly the type of person to do anything, including murder, to protect those he loves. I could see Adolin and Dalinar's present argument turning into some big philosophical conflict that they'd have to work out on the top of Urithiru. The point here is that Adolin would actually be representing Taravangian's philosophy as his Champion, as well as challenging Dalinar simply for being what he is.

#2 Adolin is the best duelist in the world, and according to Brandon, one of the best swordsmen he has written (excluding Lan and immortals who have unfair experience). Unlike Dalinar, Adolin is a "regular person" and doesn't use any form of outright investiture. Dalinar on the other hand, does not wield a shardblade, and only has his Bondsmith powers. The match-up would be interesting to say the least: all magic vs all "physical". Opposing in fighting style as well as opposing in philosophy. I also think Dalinar would have a hard time winning if Adolin decided to go all-out for whatever reason.

Odium is going to want to make sure that if the plan to ensure Dalinar refuses to kill his champion falls through, that OC will not be easy to kill. This way, there is no possible way that Dalinar can actually win the contest. Adolin is the only opponent to Dalinar that can truly create this no-win scenario, making him the ideal pick over all of the others.

And #3... Adolin means EVERYTHING to us, he has been so many characters' rock, and he's been so important to us as the Readers. He's made us laugh and cheer and cry. Being in such a difficult position would hit so many emotional levels. This duel between champions is the one event these first five novels have been building to...I think that it has to pack one of the biggest punches Brandon has ever delivered.

OTHER THINGS THAT MAKE ME SUSPECT

Adolin isn't a Radiant. He's free real estate

He has death flags all over the place. Adolin is the type of character who means everything to everyone around him--his death or corruption would be the perfect plot device to ruin everyone's day and all their days to follow. Whether or not he becomes OC, i sincerely doubt he will make it through WaT alive.

I forget where exactly this is mentioned, but in the text Adolin says he was born "under the sign of nine". The number nine is associated with Odium and the Unmade.

Adolin seems to be associated with an Unmade, Ba-Ado-Mishram (BAM), in some way. Shallan, Renarin and Rlain will be looking for BAM during WaT, which makes sense because they can see into the Spiritual Realm, where BAM resides. However, Shallan reported seeing BAM in Adolin's shadow, which felt like a very intentional detail from Brandon. Odium's Champion has been known to have nine shadows...and there are nine Unmade. The Unmade seem to have a connection with OC as well, such as the Thrill and Dalinar. Adolin has slowly been "reviving" his deadeye Maya, and BAM had some involvement with the ancient Knights Radiant killing their spren and the deadeyes. There's definitely going to be some connection there. We also know that Odium's Champion can be seen from the Spiritual Realm, where Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain are looking for BAM and Adolin will have some involvement. Lots of suspicious pieces of evidence surround this plotline that I haven't quite pieced together, but they're there.

I would also like to point out that ADOLIN IS THE ONLY MAIN CHARACTER WHO IS A DUELIST. I personally see it criminal that he wouldn't be involved in this "contest" in some way.

SO HOW WOULD IT EVEN HAPPEN

He could get into an argument with Dalinar and volunteer to prove a point.

Similar to the first one: Adolin could volunteer...with the intent of killing himself or letting Dalinar kill him. I personally think this is the most interesting of all these scenarios

All of Adolin's built-up anger towards Dalinar could simply make him more malleable/easily tricked

Odium forces him into making a deal by threatening his loved ones.

Odium or BAM convinces Adolin that serving the side of Honor will bring the downfall of civilization and his loved ones. I'm kinda thinking in a similar way that the ancient Radiants and their spren abandoned their oaths and rejected Honor...but the full story has yet to be revealed here (which may happen in WaT)

I do not think Adolin will suddenly just "turn bad". If he does become OC, it will be because he is trying to be heroic, to do what he sees is the "right thing" and put the end-goal above the means to get there. Adolin has had disagreements with his father but he still loves him. And I definitely think Adolin is the type to be self-sacrificial, to put himself in harms way to let his father, brother, wife, friends, and the world live in peace.

Whatever ends up happening or not happening, there needs to be a lot of character work going on with Adolin to actually get to any of these points!

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Obviously the problem with this whole theory is that it seems like Adolin is being set up to revive his shardblade, Maya, and become an Edgedancer. Personally, I think there's no room for Adolin to both become and Edgedancer and become OC. It feels like he's gotta go one way or the other.

So I'll just throw out some reasons why Adolin can't/shouldn't become a Radiant:

Every member of his family is a radiant--it's too redundant within the narrative.

Lift is our Edgedancer POV character, we don't really need another one.

Adolin works really well as a non-radiant

Even if Adolin revives Maya, does it necessarily mean that Maya will bond him and make him an Edgedancer?

Adolin is pretty expendable at the moment. What point is there to have him revive Maya with an unusual type of bond...just to die immediately?

To say the least, Adolin isn't a "journey before destination" kind-of person. He likely couldn't speak one of the most basic Radiant oaths.

Right now, Adolin-Edgedancer seems like a waaay more obvious path, which is why I'll say I am skeptical that it will actually happen the way we all think, especially since Adolin has this darkness within him that he still needs to address.

But, Adolin's train of thought does have a LOT of similarities to an Edgedancer's. He remembers those who have been forgotten--especially his mother and Maya. But you know who else "remembers the forgotten"? Yep, it's TOdium:

Lets look at the WaT interludes. Here, Taravangian-Odium is literally remembering the the children who died in some forgotten country. He also refuses to forget his old self, Taravangian, and let the shard of Odium consume him.

Note the similarity between the above passage and then the one below:

Both Taravangian and Adolin say that they feel like they are the only ones willing and capable of making "hard decisions" in order to stop the danger. This is the "dark side" that an Edgedancer, or any Knight Radiant for that matter, could never have.

Let's also explore the possibility that if Adolin does revive Maya completely and finishes that arc, that she will actually side against the current Knights Radiant...

"We chose!" were Maya's infamous words during the trial at Lasting Integrity. This confirmed that the Radiants and their bonded spren at the Recreance both willingly chose to abandon their oaths. The full reasons why they abandoned their oaths are still somewhat unclear. The Stormfather once reflected that it was because the ancient Radiants and their spren thought that by forsaking their oaths they would be saving the world.

There's no reason to believe that a revived deadeye spren such as Maya would actually want to reinstate those oaths upon revival or support the current Radiants in their fight. Maybe they would even side with Odium? If Honor committed some serious enough offense to have the bonded spren collectively on-board for suicide, it's fair to guess that they still wouldn't have a good opinion of him to this day.

ADDENDUM

I wrote the majority of this post before WaT chapters 16-17-18, so I'd like to add some additional evidence stemming from recent developments.

Let's start with some further conflict build-up:

Adolin takes this upon himself to fix this. Guess who also took it upon himself to save Kharbranth, who--only chapters ago--accepts the burden of saving everyone and fixing things?

This particular paragraph feels...unusually vicious for Adolin? Also, notice how similar what Adolin describes Dalinar doing is to what he himself did. Hear how this sounds when we replace one word, and it sounds like it could be an angry Dalinar talking down to Adolin:

"You always barrel forward. Doing whatever you want. Consequences be storming damned. Like you did years ago, killing Sadeas. And you never bothered to tell me."

One point Dalinar was particularly angry with son about was the fact that Adolin did not tell him that he killed Sadeas.

Adolin is so, so much like his father..and the version of him described here that Brandon is drawing attention to is, worryingly, the Blackthorn--the previous champion of Odium. Father and son are both hypocrites, but how can we be certain that Adolin will become the better man in the end, like Dalinar?

Interestingly, Adolin does recognize that perhaps his anger has gone too far. With the sheer amount of negative remarks out of Adolin this chapter, this felt like a welcome way of reeling in all of that. Yes he's mad, but he's not about to do something stupid...at least not now.

What I think Brandon is doing here is placing Adolin on this edge, where, to us, the character could swing one way or another--either Adolin gives in to his passion, or he learns to forgive his father. Teetering upon this edge, all Adolin needs is a push in the wrong direction (as Sadeas literally stated in WoR), and he can be brought to taking an extreme action. Again, this action doesn't need to be physically violent, but it will almost certainly be directed against Dalinar

WHY THOUGH?

Journey vs Destination is the heart of the first five books of the Stormlight Archive, and everything up until now has been leading to the infamous Contest of Champions. This duel doesn't need to be fought in a traditional sense with swords and sorcery, but what is important is that Dalinar and Taravangian's ideologies clash.

We understand Dalinar's side. Dalinar has a whole book about accepting the journey, growing to be a better person, and living his ideals.

We also understand Adolin's side. We probably cheered when Adolin "took out the trash" and killed Sadeas for the sake of protecting his family.

The point is that an Adolin vs Dalinar match-up will not just put the characters in conflict within the story, but it will also make the Reader stop and think about what they personally believe. With the contest painted in this way, both sides have perfectly valid points.

TO SUMMARIZE

Adolin is a Consequentialist, like TOdium

Adolin resembles an Edgedancer, but so does TOdium, so it could really swing either way. Plus maybe a revived Maya would side against Honor?

Adolin is pissed at his father, the alleged "Champion of Honor"

Adolin has a history of making rash decisions out when his anger reaches a breaking point

Adolin would be an ideal pick to challenge Dalinar's personal philosophy, he can hold his own in battle, and we care deeply about him...creating the perfect tragedy!

IN CONCLUSION

Adolin will be Odium's Champion, you heard it here!

THE AFTERMATH

So what happens next? I've been thinking about this a bit. What can be done with Adolin's character in the back five books if he does survive but has to live with the consequences of his shitty choices?

Adolin's present conflict with his father seems to be rooted from Dalinar killing his mother, which Adolin says he can never forgive.

In the next five books, Adolin is placed in Dalinar's shoes. Maybe at this point he regrets his decision, has to repair the damage he caused, and learns to forgive himself in the same way his father did (also--finally--forgiving his father in the process).

I really hope Adolin lives and gets to have his drink with Kaladin in Shallan. Maybe in Stormlight 10, they do get that ending :)

[flameshadowconjuring]

I did not have high expectations (mechanically) for the Stormlight/Cosmere rpg, same as with any IP tie-in game, so I was pleasantly surprised when I read the beta rules. From what I have read, I would rather run or play in the Cosmere rpg than the three rpgs that I have played extensively (DnD 5e, FFG Star Wars, Pathfinder 2e). I am going to be comparing the Cosmere rpg to these three frames of reference of mine, and explain what I like about it. This is all theory for now, though I will run the Bridge 9 one-shot in a couple of weeks for my playgroup. And yes, I know that most of the Cosmere rpg ain't novel. Beyond borrowing from 2-3 of my three frames of reference, the initiative is basically the one from 'Shadow of the Demon Lord', etc.

I have mixed feelings about the plot die. I don't actually like narrative mechanics in the first place. That being said, no system I've played was devoid of mechanics I dislike, and the plot die is (almost) the least objectionable a core narrative mechanic could be for me, beyond nonexistence. The obvious point of comparison for me is obviously the Star Wars system. The plot die's opportunity and complication are basically analogous to SW's triumph/advantage and despair/threat. In addition to that, the lead designer of the Cosmere rpg, Andrew Fischer, also worked on the SW system.

I think that the plot die is better than the Star Wars dicepool mechanic in every possible way. First of all, the plot die is an opt-in kind of deal. Barring a few player abilities (the existence of which is my only criticism of the plot die), the GM decides whether it gets rolled or not, with the rules advising the GM to use it roughly 30% of the time, specifically in exciting moments. In Star Wars, every roll produces these narrative effects. Yes, technically, 1s and 20s also produce complications and opportunities in the Cosmere rpg, but the designers added them because people played like that was already the case because of how they are used to crits from other games. A tenth chance of one of these is much lower than almost 100% like in SW. Anyway, the point is that when we played the Star Wars system, having to come up with narrative stuff on every roll was a chore, rather than fun and exciting. Sometimes I would get a triumph on a roll for a routine check, and rather than that being exciting, it was more like 'uhh, what does this even mean?'. Sure, there are mechanical ways in Star Wars to spend advantages and threats and so on. What tended to happen in combat though was that unless you used advantages to crit someone or auto-fire, you just used it to give someone else a bonus die. And the most likely result from a bonus die beyond a blank was getting an advantage. The same principle happened out of combat, where we often took strain for threats and regained for advantages. A lot of abstract resources were pushed around, with a negligible net effect. Certainly not something worth that giant hassle. Also, sometimes you would get a triumph effect and three threats. That was always hard to interpret.

Secondly, the plot die is way simpler, which has a whole host of benefits. In SW, there are six different narrative dice with specialized symbols. You have to buy a lot of overpriced plastic to even play the game. The plot die of the Cosmere is a single d6. Sure, its nicer to use the custom one you can buy from Brotherwise, but the beta rules advise on how to use a normal d6 for the plot die. 1,2 are complications, with a bonus to your roll equal to twice what you rolled (+2 or +4), 3,4 are blanks, and 5,6 are opportunities. That is easy to remember, since higher numbers=better narrative result. While you could technically do the same with SW, the fact that there are six of them, including d12s, makes it completely impractical. Also, the dice in SW have either only all positive effects or only all negative effects. If you are gonna do this entire narrative crap, at least do interesting stuff with it, like higher chance of success but with negative narrative effect. Those make for better stories and better game design. And oh look, that is exactly what the plot die does. So, yeah. In case you couldn't tell, I hate the action resolution dicepool mechanic of SW.

I really like the progression system of the Cosmere rpg, with the exception of using milestone advancement (though its inclusion's suckery is mitigated by the goal/reward thing). It is actually conceptually very simple, but very flexible, meaning there is a lot of meaningful choice without overwhelming a new player. Every level, you get (in addition to a couple other things) one talent from one of your skill trees, called paths. I am currently a player in a Pf2e campaign, and leveling up is a chore rather than fun. Different levels give you different kinds of feats, so it is not very straight forward. It also takes a long time to read all the feats I qualify for, most of which don't even interest me. Also, it is very easy in Pathfinder to screw up if you don't plan out your characters progression in advance. When I started, I took the ranger's crossbow feat. Turns out that was a trap: no other feats actually help crossbows, and most of the good ranger feats require you to attack multiple times or in melee, neither of which a crossbow is made for. In a skill tree system like Cosmere, it is very easy to identify what talents I can take, and I can immediately see whether a talent is something I can build on by seeing how many talents are further down from it.

Star Wars also uses skill trees, but you basically get one big tree with a lot of filler talents you have to take to progress, but which you aren't actually interested in. The Cosmere rpg has a stronger focus on mixing and matching from different trees, with trees going less deep, having less filler. That looks more fun to me. This in-built multipathing is really cool. Multiclassing in DnD 5e was an afterthought, and is either very suboptimal or very broken, with barely anything in-between. I like how the Cosmere rpg is like 'hey, most characters fit multiple archetypes, lets reflect that in the game by not only supporting multiclassing from the ground up, but also actively encourage it'. Also the one talent per level thing makes leveling very manageable from a complexity standpoint.

Moving on to the magic, I really like that PCs don't start out magical. You earn your cool powers through play. Also, they said that they balanced the heroic (non-magical) and invested (magical) paths against each other, so that it is perfectly valid to only take talents from heroic paths and those who take invested path talents will often alternate between those and heroic ones. If true, that sounds awesome. And of course, the magic is Sanderson magic, so its really good. The best way to encourage creativity in players is to give them a smallish list of options, but have these options be very flexible. That is exactly how the Stormlight magic system works, with characters being closer to superheroes than DnD spellcasters. I think that is way more interesting. One of the frustrating things with DnD 5e is that the magic is never explained in a way that the GM can intuit how it works. Instead, they just spell out exactly what any given spell does, making them very rigid. Spellcasters have too many options, each of which is super rigid. Worst of both worlds. With the Cosmere, though I am not an arcanist superfan, I do understand the magic well enough that I am confident in adjudicating creative uses of powers (which the system explicitly supports!). Investiture, which is basically mp, is also just so much cleaner than spellslots, a vestigial leftover from vancian magic that the DnD designers were too cowardly to kill completely.

Finally, combat. I dislike armor class, so I am a big fan of armor just reducing damage, like the soak value in SW or DR in Gurps. The initiative system has me most excited to be honest. I think it will really speed up combat in multiple ways. For one, there is no die rolling and writing down initiative values and ordering them. Players basically just say when they want to do their turn. This also should make them more attentive, since they can't just wait for the GM to call their name. It also means that players can guarantee to go after each other, so that should encourage cooperation and teamwork. The distinction between fast two-action turns and slow three-action turns looks like it will force players to make a meaningful choice every turn. Overall, looks like a simple, clean and fast initiative system. The two-three actions remind me of Pf2e, though notably the reaction is much more relevant in the Cosmere rpg.

The graze rule, where a character on a miss can still spend 1 focus to deal their weapon's damage dice to their target, is very interesting. My initial instinct was to think that it is really OP. It would probably be a really OP rule if armor did not reduce damage, but given that it has gone through extensive playtesting, I assume that it is actually balanced. Assuming it is balanced, I think its pretty cool, since it means that you still managed to do something, even if you missed your one attack of the round. Makes it less frustrating.

So yeah, those were my main thoughts on the Cosmere rpg. It is not my most anticipated rpg, but I do intend to back and run it and am also really looking forward to the world guide as a fan of the books.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Having finished Mistborn (the first book) here are some of my thoughts:

Brandon’s really into complicated not-exactly-flying systems that basically function as flying (Steelpushing and Ironpulling; the Surge of Gravitation)

Brandon’s magic systems also have a lot of commonalities in their construction. All of them require some quality that gives a person power (genetic, for Mistings/Mistborn; Breath, in Warbreaker; Oaths and specifuc qualities of character, in The Stormlight Archive), plus a resource (metal, color, Stormlight), plus a specific skill they must learn and train with to express that power (allomancy, Commands, Surges). Though for whatever reason the system the Stormlight Archive feels the most organic and natural to me. “BioChroma” still puts my teeth on edge - it feels too constructed a term, not a word people in a culture would naturally develop.

Soothing and Raging unsettle me. I don’t trust Breeze; he gives me Denth vibes (i.e., a person who is friendly and very able to rationalize his actions to other people). His arguments for why emotion-altering is okay give me the same vibes as Denth’s about why people ‘unfairly’ disparage and mistrust mercenaries. We’ve seen Soothing and Raging in action and they’re a lot more actively coercive than he makes them sound.

On a related note: I think Kelsier used Soothing and Raging on Yeden and that explains the complete and very strong change in Yeden’s attitude towards Kelsier in the latter part of the book, and why someone who was so cautious in the early part would make such a reckless attack later on. I don’t think Kelsier intended that, but he’s got a considerable ego and the desire to make others like and admire him, and he did so without considering the effects. This is just a theory and we may never learn the truth of it, but if it’s the case then he should certainly feel very guilty over the destruction of the army. Even if it’s not the case, he should still feel guilty - he as good as told (and even showed) the skaa that they all had supernatural powers! The consequences of that should be obvious!

Cosmere convergence in later Sanderson books:

Kelsier: This is my emotional support surrogate daughter!

Hoid: This is my emotional support surrogate daughter!

Vin and Shallan: ...Hi

There’s an interesting parallelism between Vin and Shallan. Vin is a lower-class streetwise girl who goes undercover as a young noblewoman from a minor rural estate. Shallan is a young noblewoman (or gentry) from a minor rural estate who goes undercover as a streetwise lower-class woman. They both use their alter egos as ways to hide.

I’ve got a long list of fictional characters who I want to give a hug to, but now I have the inverse: characters who I want to give me a hug. Sazed is the absolute loveliest person and if I had to choose one character from the cast to become a deity it would definitely be him. (Yes, I’m aware of that plot development thanks to Stormlight-related lore.)

The Pits of Hathsin seemed...weirdly poorly guarded. If your empire’s entire economy is based on a single substance, and use of superpowers destroys that substance, and you know you have an enemy with those powers because he’s been going around bragging to everyone about about them, then you Lock. That. Place. Down. It’s like it wasn’t even difficult for Kelsier to get in!

This book completely surprised me with where the plot around the Lord Ruler ended up! I should have seen it coming - even the back cover said that the Hero of Ages failed - but I kep thinking that the Lord Ruler was the Hero from the epigraphs and had been corrupted. My theory, since I knew a bit about the Shards from Stormlight-related lore, was that he held both Ruin and Preservation and was trying to balance them by preserving the world (preventing its destruction, creating stability) in a ruined state (ash, brown plants, tyranny), because any attempt to make it a pleasant place would throw off that compromise and cause the world’s complete destruction. I was quite confident in this theory; it seemed poetically tragic that this empire of absolute evil was the closest a well-meaning man could come to doing good.

But instead, it was Rashek! Who is extremely yikes. He performed genocide and systematic population control and subjugation against his own people just to stop his secret from getting out! He kind of went down like a chump, though; his immortality was based solely on people abiding by existing assumptions (that you can’t use metalmagic on anything embedded in a person’s body).

If you used atium in a fabrial, would it let you see the future? But of course that’s dark magic on Roshar. I need to take another look at Navani’s notes on fabrials and metals.

[libralita]

Way of Kings Reread

This is my post Rhythm of War reread so if you don’t want spoilers for Rhythm of War then come back later. These are essentially just the notes I took during this read through so things like “Szeth is darkeyed” isn’t really stellar commentary but there are a few interesting things in here. Also this reread was like…very sporadic so I probably missed things.

“A man with a long grey and black beard slumped in the doorway, smiling foolishly—though whether from wine or a weak mind, Szeth could not tell.

‘Have you seen me?’ the man asked with slurred speech. He laughed then began to speak in gibberish, reaching for a wineskin.”—Page 23

 Oh god, it’s Jezrien. Nooooo.

I’m curious to see how Humans being voidbringers plays into Szeth’s punishment.

“Occasionally, light would flash without the thunder. The slaves would groan in terror at this, thinking about the Stormfather, the shades of the Lost Radiants, or the Voidbringers—all of which were said to haunt the most violent highstorms.”

Interesting that they’re called the “shades”, perhaps referring to cognitive shadows?

“Talenelat’Elin, bearer of all agonies.”

Wait…do people know about Taln?

“This room is called the Veil…That which comes before the Palanaeum itself. Both were here when the city was founded. Some think these chambers might have been cut by the Dawnsingers themselves.”

First of all, Veil, haha. Second, interesting bit of lore.

“Thaylens had their own systems of rank.”

I’d like to know what it is.

It’s very interesting that philosophy and history are feminine arts and yet the merchant is still trying to sell Shallan on a romance novel

I wonder if Yalb still has his drawing. It was probably ruined so that sucks.

“There, she used all her remaining sphere to fill of all nine colors and all three sizes.”

Hmmmmmmmm. Nine and three. Interesting

“Then he’d have someone to talk to in Damnation. They could reminisce about how terrible Bridge Four had been, and agree that eternal fires were much more pleasant.”

K…Kaladin please don’t joke about that.

“His ways were odd—though Lirin made certain that his son didn’t mix up the Heralds and the Lost Radiants, Kal had heard his father say that he thought the Voidbringers weren’t real. Ridiculous.”

RIP

“He reached the base of the slop, wind-driven rain pelting his face as if trying to shove him back toward the camp.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

“She looked exhausted. ‘These things are heavy!’ She lifted the leaf. ‘I brought it for you!’”

I love her so much I could cry.

Szeth is a dark eyed.

We need to get the void sphere back.

“It was fairly ordinary, a simple piece of rock with a few quartz crystals set into it and a rusty vein of iron on one side.”

Iron.

“‘Today,’ King Elhokar announced, riding beneath the bright open sky, ‘is an excellent day to slay a god. Wouldn’t you say’”

Owwwwwwwwww my heart

“One might say that gods, as a rule, should fear the Althei nobility. Most of us at least.”

Y’know…Sadeas has a point

Actually they should probably fear Taravangian.

Sadeas wears red plate. I always imagine him in green.

Shardplate is naturally slate gray. I wonder if it’s the same color as what your limbs go if they’re cut by a shardblade. Hmmmm.

“Adolin found himself wishing, passionately, that his father would do a little more these days to live up to that reputation.”

Adolin, sweet pie, NO

I miss Elhokar so much

Also the Thrill of Contest, that’s interesting.

“I felt like a youth again, chasing after your father on some ridiculous challenge.”

Dalinar, we all know that it was Gavilar chasing you

“There was someone watching me in the darkness that night.”

My poor baby…

“‘I defy you, creature!’ Elhokar screamed. ‘I claim your life! They will see their gods crushed, just as they will see their king dead at my feet! I defy you!’”

Elhokar…

“Adolin—stalwart as always—had dismounted beside the king. He tried to stop the claws, striking at them as they fell. Unfortunately, there were four claws and only one of Adolin.”

Hmmmm, Adolin v 4 is becoming a pattern.

“Dalinar should have been there to defend him. Only two things remained of his beloved brother, two things that Dalinar could protect in a hope to earn some form of redemption: Gavilar’s kingdom and Gavilar’s son.”

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

“Let me first assure you that the element is quite safe. I have found a good home for it. I protect its safety like I protect my own skin, you might say.”

It has been ten years and I still have no idea what this means.

“Kaladin punched Moash right in the gut, where he knew it would wind him. Moash gasped in shock, doubling over, and Kaladin stepped forward to grab him by the legs, slinging Moash over his shoulder.”

Ahhhhh I could read this paragraph over and over again.

“He worked himself ragged. In fact, he felt close to collapsing several times, but every time he did, he found a reserve of strength from somewhere.”

I wonder where.

“Rockbuds had opened nearby, their vines reaching out to lap up the beast’s blood.”

Gross.

Insult his son and the Blackthorn will peek through

“I had…things to be about.”

I don’t like the way Wit said that.

“You going to do Alethkar a favor and rid it of both of us?”

That is a very interesting line for Wit to say…Also concerning. Wit what are you up to?

It’s very interesting that without Sadeas and Gavilar, Dalinar has to learn how to be a politician. It’s clear that both men maneuver others while Dalinar is blunt force. Good character development, I really love it as a political scientist.

“Brother, follow the Codes tonight. There is something strange upon the winds.”

Hmmmmmmmmm, I think Gavilar was planning his death.

“We’d protect Gavilar’s son. No matter what the cost, no matter what other things came between us, we would protect Elhokar.”

…Would…Elhokar have died if Sadeas was still alive?

“The book was used by the Radiants as a kind of guidebook, a book of counsel on how to live their lives.”

That…something that I forgot. Dalinar maybe you should have some required reading in your Radiant generation.

It’s interesting that Shardplate and Rsyhadium have no problem with humans using them but shardblades do.

“Dalinar was shocked that he could remember the story word for word,”

Hmmmmmm

“Could he train himself out of freezing in battle like that?”

End me.

“You sure he’s not decayspren wearing a man’s skin?”

S…Syl…is that a problem we have to deal with?

“They break the land itself! They want it, but in their rage they will destroy it. Like the jealous man burns his rich things rather than let them be taken by his enemies! They come!”

The…humans?

“‘Hm,’ he said. ‘Yes. We’ll be getting right to that soon. It’ll be grand. Lots of prancing, sauntering, and er…’

‘Promenading?’ Yis the leatherworker offered.

‘Isn’t that a type of drink?’ Adolin asked.

‘Er, no, Brightlord. I’m fairly certain it’s another word for walking.’

‘Well, then,’ Adolin said. ‘We’ll do plenty of it too. Promenading. I always love a good promenading.’”

He and Shallan are truly made for each other.

“Highprince Aladar has begun to talk of taking a short vacation back to Althekar. I want to know if he’s serious.”

Oh?

It’s very interesting how Gavilar after death is portrayed as having grown weak and yet there’s so much reverence for him.

Three gods, huh?

It’s interesting that Dalinar can feel the thrill in these visions.

“It was a topaz entwined with a heliodor, both set into a fine metal framework, each stone as big as a man’s hand.”

Is that some kind of fabrial? Is she an edgedancer/truthwatcher? She seemed to have Stoneward shardplate. How confusing. I guess she could have borrowed Shardplate.

DABBID MY SON!

“‘Next time it could be you!’ he called. ‘What will you do if you’re the one that needs healing?’

‘I’ll die.’ Moash said, not even bothering to look back. ‘Out on the field, quickly, rather than back here over a week’s time.’”

Oh that would be so unfortunate.

REREADING THIS BOOK WITH THE TEFT SECTIONS OH OHHHHHHHHH BOY SUFFERING. LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE

“I was under the impression that you were going to aid the queen in protecting the king’s interests in Alethkar.”

That is interesting to think about. What would have happened in Navani had stayed in Alethkar? Did the Unmade compel Navani to go? Or would she have been under the influence of the Unmade?

“I have determined that the queen is sufficiently endowed with the requisite skills needed to hold Alethkar.”

Uhhhhhhhhhh

“‘Well, I suppose that’s all right,’ she said. ‘I kind of trust Sadeas.’”

Interesting. Also my son, my love, Elhokar...you are so dumb.

“‘You still argue he isn’t a bad king?’ Navani whispered. ‘My poor, distracted, oblivious boy.’”

HE COULD HAVE BEEN GREAT

Ishar is the herald of luck?

WAIT ROION! TURTLE MAN! My baby!

My god I sometimes forget that Dalinar has no fucking chill and no impulse control.

“The Almighty himself depended on the Alethi to train themselves in honorable battle so that when they died, they could join the Heralds’ army and win back the Tranquiline Halls.”

Is that…Honor’s influence or Odium’s? Or has Odium corrupted this idea? Because judging by Rhythm of War, Odium’s end goal was to raise an army from Roshar and then send them across the Cosmere.

“My sense of honor makes me easy to manipulate.”

Whaaaaaat? You Dalinar. Pffttttt Noooooo. Pfffftttttt.

“‘He is well, though you presence here is sorely missed. I’m certain he could use your counsel. He is relying heavily on Brightness Lalai to act as clerk.’

Perhaps that would make Jasnah return. There was little love lost between herself and Sadeas’s cousin, who was the king’s head scribe in he queen’s absence.”

First, there’s another Sadeas we must deal with besides Sadeas’s nephew that I’m sure will be around in arc 2. Second, interesting wonder where that drama stems from.

“They may be a little too stable. The world is changing outside, but the Shin seem determined to remain the same.”

Hmmmmmmmmmm

“Gavarah hadn’t reached her twentieth Weeping when she proposed the theory of the three realms.”

WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA. Lemme hear this theory, my dude.

“He reminds me of my uncle Dalinar. Earnest, sincere, concerned.” “We could do with more men like Taravangian,”

I…mmm….aw man…I…that’ll be a yikes for me.

“He found a half-finished bridge. It had eventually grown out of that one plank Kaladin had used.”

ASODFKJSLDFJSLDF JUST LIKE THE FOURTH BRIDGE

“Had something moved in the darkness?”

His spren?

“‘Roshone lets them know he finds them contemptible. And so they scramble to please him.

‘That makes no sense,’ Kal said.

‘It is the way of things,’ Lirin said, playing with one of the spheres on the table, rolling it beneath his fingers. ‘You’ll have to learn this, Kal. When men perceive the world as being right, we are content. But if we see a hole—a deficiency—we scramble to fill it.”

This feels like how Lirin is acting in Rhythm of War.

Y’know it really makes sense why Kabsal would be working for Thaidakar.

Is…Kabsal attempting to get Shallan to join the Ghostbloods? Rhythm of War makes me wonder how honest Kabsal was towards Shallan. Yeah, Jasnah thought Kabsal was just manipulating her but she didn’t say how she knew this.

“He smiled, then drew the bow across the edge of the metal plate, making it vibrate. The sand hopped and bounced, like tiny insects dropped onto something hot.

‘This,’ he said, ‘is called cymatics. The study of pattern that sounds make when interactive with a physical medium.’

As he drew the bow again, the plate made a sound, almost a pure note. It was actually enough to draw a single music spren, which spun for a moment in the air above him, then vanished. Kabsal finished, then gestured to the plate with a flourish.”

Well, Rhythm of War certainly made this more interesting.

“Bridgemen aren’t supposed to survive. There’s something about that. He wouldn’t be able to ask Lamaril. That man had gotten what he deserved, though. If Kaladin had the ability to choose, such would be the end of all lighteyes, the king included.

Your inner Moash is showing.

“I want you to go back into the barrack and tell the men to come out after the storm. Tell them to look up at me tied here. Tell them I’ll open my eyes and look back at them, and they’ll know that I survived.”

No wonder a religion might be forming around Kaladin.

“Teft lingered too, as if thinking to spend the storm with Kaladin. He eventually shook his head, muttering and joined the others. Kaladin thought he heard the man calling himself a coward.”—Page 517

Brandon Sanderson, leave me the fuck alone.

“‘Taking the Dawnsahrds, known to bind any creature voidish or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece, toward the grand temple above.’—From The Poem of Ista. I have found no modern explanation of what these ‘Dawnshards’ are. They seem ignored by scholars, though talk of them was obviously prevalent among those recording the early mythologies.”—Page 524

Wait…who’s he? And aw man this becomes more relevant in a few years.

“‘Then you’re not a murderer,’ Kaladin said.

‘Not for want of trying.’ Sigzil eyes grew distant. ‘I thought for certain I succeeded. It was not the wisest choice I made. My master…’

‘Is he the one you tried to kill?’

‘No.’”

We need some backstory.

Marabethia sounds similar to Twitter.

“It claimed that humming of all things, could make a Soulcasting more effective.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

“That isn’t the kind of thing the Dawnsingers did. They were healers, kindly spren by the Almighty to care for humans once were forced out of the Tranquiline Halls.”

Is…that right?

“‘We believe that the Voidbringers were real, Shallan. A scourge and plague.. A hundred times they came upon mankind. First casting us from the Tanquiline Halls, then trying to destroy us here on Roshar. They weren’t just spren that hid under rocks, then came out to steal someone’s laundry. They were creatures of terrible destructive power, forged in Damnation creature from hate.’

‘By whom?’ Shallan asked.

‘What?’

‘Who made them? I mean, the Almighty wasn’t likely to have ‘created something from hate.’ So what made them?’

‘Everything has its opposite, Shallan. The Almighty is a force of good. To balance his goodness, the cosmere needed the Voidbringers as his opposite.’”—Pages 634-635

Thaidakar’s reveal really makes Kabsal a more…suspicious character. Like how much does he actually know? How much does Thaidakar actually know? Also, I don’t know if Odium is the opposite of Honor. I guess we’d need all 16 shards names to compare.

“A city where people lived in gigantic, hollowed out stalactites hanging beneath a titanic sheltered ridge.”

EXCUSE ME WHAT

“‘I doubt many would disagree. But I mention these horrors for a purpose. You see, it has been my experience that no matter where you go, you will find some who abuse their power.’ He shrugged. ‘Eye color is not so odd a method, compared to many others I have seen. If you were to overthrow the lighteyes and place yourselves in power, Moash, I doubt that the world would be a very different place. The abuses would still happen. Simply to other people.’

Kaladin nodded slowly, but Moash shook his head. ‘No I’d change the world, Sigzil. And I mean to.’”

Hmmm, yeah that didn’t exactly work out.

“‘That makes you wiser, presumably?’

‘Damnation no,’ Teft said. ‘The only thing it proves is that I’ve more experience staying alive than you.’”

Brandon. Leave. Me. Alone.

“Cenn stopped wheezing. He convulsed once, eyes still open. ‘He watches!’ the boy hissed. ‘The black piper in the night. He holds us in his palm…playing a tune that no man can hear!’”—Page 671

Is…is that a reference to El?

“I’m sorry I drove you to suicide. Here’s some bread.”

How people on this website think Moash’s redemption arch is gonna go.

“‘…why Thaidakar would risk this?’ Amaram was saying, speaking in a soft voice. ‘But who else would it be? The Ghostbloos grow more bold.’”—Page 701

Jasnah was complaining last chapter how she hates being wrong but she was wrong about Shallan’s intentions and that Amaram is not as smart as he seems. Yeah, he’s wrong about who sent the shardbearer to kill him but if I was in the cosmere and someone tried to kill me, I would assume it was Thaidakar. On that note, holy fuck, I need to know what conversation prompted both Gavilar and Amaram to assume that someone trying to kill them had to be Thaidakar. I really hope that Gavilar’s pov is next for KOWT for his death so maybe we could get a conversation where they talk to Thaidakar through cube skype or maybe this avatar (whatever the hell that means.) God Rhythm of War makes this scene so much funnier.

“You’d have changed your mind. In a day or two, you’d have wanted the wealth and prestige—otehrs would have convinced you of it. You’d have demanded that I return them to you. It took hours to decide, but Restares is right—this is what must be done. For the good of Alethkar.”—Page 703

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—this is why we reread—aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Kaladin is going to have some words with Restares.

What happened to Baxil and Av?

?????????????????????????? Why do these two Ardents know about the Physical/Cognitive/Spiritual realm?

“Eight weeks? Forty days of winter at once? That war rare.”—Page 728

Did the weather used to be more consistent on Roshar?

Oh god Rhythm of War has made the Recreance so hard to read.

“If I abandon my principles, then I become something far worse than they. A hypocrite.”—Page 741

A hypocrite is a just a man changing or something. I forget the quote.

“Have you been paying much attention to the conflict between the Tukari and the Emuli?”—Page 753

“And the Tukari are led by that god-priest of theirs, Tezim.”—Page 754

Look at the foreshadowing.

“‘Just as Hatham wishes his partner in negotiations to know of his goodwill, I wish you to know of our goodwill toward you, Brightlord.’

Dalinar frowned. He’d never had much to do with the ardents—his devotary was simple and straightforward. Dalinar got his fill of politics with the court; he had little desire to find more religion. ‘Why? What should it matter if I have goodwill toward you?’

The ardent smiled. ‘We will speak with you again.’ He bowed low and withdrew.”—Pages 756-757

OKAY AT FIRST I THOUGHT THIS WAS FUNNY BECAUSE THE ARDENTS GET VERY MIFFED AT DALINAR IN OATHBRINGER BUT “we” HOLY SHIT THAT’S ONE OF BUG PEOPLE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I can imagine why this bug man wants his goodwill because they’re pretty sure he’ll destroy them.

“‘This thing will not happen,’ Rock said. ‘Is impossible to get sphere out of the chasms.’

‘We could swallow them,’ Moash said.

‘You would choke. Spheres are too big, eh?’

‘I’ll better I could do it,’ Moash said. His eyes glittering, reflecting the verdant Stormlight. ‘That’s more money than I’ve ever seen. It’s worth the risk.’”—Page 766

I swear to god, one of these days Moash is going to swallow a sphere.

“You call him the Stormfather, here in Alethkar.”

So people in Alethkar think that Jezerin and the Stormfather are the same person?

“Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.”

O…Oh man, I hope this isn’t foreshadowing for KOWT.

“We should have expected this, Dalinar thought. We started bringing two armies to a plateau, so they have done the same.”—Page 781

Interesting that Kaladin thought about this when fighting the Fused by Dalinar didn’t fighting the Listeners

“When other men failed, a field of crops got worms in them. When a surgeon failed someone died.”

Well…if your crops fail then you could very much cause a town to starve to death.

“Though there was one thing he clung to. An excuse, perhaps, like the dead emperor. It was the soul of the wretch. Apathy. The belief that nothing was his fault, the belief that he couldn’t change anything. If a man was cursed, or believe he didn’t have to care, then he didn’t need to hurt when he failed. Those failures couldn’t have been prevented. Someone or something else had ordained them.”

Those are some fucking foils right there.

“They watch me. Always. Waiting. I see their face in mirrors. Symbols, twisted, inhuman…”

Babbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbby

“I wish to sleep. I know now why you do what you do, and I hate you for it. I will not speak of the truths I see.”

The sibling?

“I’d surrendered my plans, but you’ve returned them to me. I’ll guard you with my life, Kaladin. I swear it to you, by the blood of my fathers.”—Page 881

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

LISTEN I KNOW ELHOKAR IS AN IDIOT BUT HE’S MY IDIOT

“The further you look, the more pieces that wind breaks into.”—Page 995

That’s interesting

“A champion could work well for you, but it is not certain. And…without the Dawnshards…”—Page 997

Well, we’ll see how Rysn plays into this.

[life-b4-death]

Thoughts on Rhythm of War:

(Will contain spoilers as these are my thoughts that I wish I could share with people as I'm reading)

Part 1

Navani's POV reminds me of my mom and I love her

Gavilar is a dick holy shit man

Imma need someone to draw that scene from the end of chapter one of it hasn't already been done. You know the one, where Lirin first sees Kaladin in Hearthstone. Yeaaahh

The DID thing with Shallan is gonna be really interesting to read but I'm liking it so far

Chapter 7 header: you can riot and soothe spren inside a gemstone with zinc and brass. Interesting....

Ialai's notebook has names of other planets in the Cosmere. I wonder where that is gonna go 🤔🤔

Pewter and Tin affect spren too, but tin "diminishes nearby attributes", which is interesting 🧐 Pewter increases abilities in allomancy, ergo tin SHOULD increase the senses, so its interesting that it makes them lesser for spren. Hmm...UNLESS it's pulling the feruchemical ability and is storing the attributes? So it has to drain them for a time? Maybe that has something to do with the fabrial that took away Kaladin's powers in chapter 7?? What the fuck is going on Brandon

Hesina and Syl's banter is super cute

Part 2:

I have a working theory that Adolin will become a Stoneward (because I don't remember there being any stonewards mentioned yet) but we shall see

Someone draw Pattern hugging Adolin and Shallan. That was cute lol

Therapist Kaladin is not something I expected to see, but its nice

"Ha ha. Yes, [humans] bite. And break your oaths and murder your spren. Ha ha." Pattern is hilarious

These chapter headings are mentioning the different shards (? I'm assuming) and they mentioned Threnody and Scadrial. Hmm... The mystery deepens 🧐🤔

I have a feeling that the second half of this series is going to be some type of massive crossover, which would be awesome

Also, sinking feeling that the Fused and the singers are going to attack Urithiru while Kaladin & Teft are pretty much the only ones there to protect it. Which is bad because that one Fused is set on fighting and killing only Kaladin 😬

Well, they mentioned a stoneward finally, so maybe that's not Adolin's calling. I still feel like he might become some type of radiant tho, but it would be cool if he just stayed himself

Yo, ashspren look cool as fuck

I really, really, really want Adolin to help Maya return fully

No, you know what? I am CONVINCED that Adolin will become a stoneward (that badass fight scene? Amazing. And stonewards are the most dependable of the orders...hello?!!! Adolin to a T)

AND the only reason he's not yet is because he has bonded with Maya, but she's a deadeye and can't help him advance yet! (I'M CALLING IT NOW! MAKE MY BOY A STONEWARD I'M FUCKIN HYPED)

A summary of my feelings on the invasion at the tower: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

And Mraize? Capturing Lift?!!! Wtf!!

Part 3:

Finally, a Jasnah POV 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Wit saying that Sadeas is related to a cow lmaoooo 😂🤣 (I'm trying really hard to not laugh out loud at work)

Wit roasting that asshole highprince and then Jasnah stabbing the highprince in the neck?! Amazing, it will live in my brain rent free with her roasting of Amaram

Kal trapping the Pursuer in that room? Very smart, so proud of my boy

Mraize trying to make a deal with Raboniel...das not good

And giving her Lift, that's super not good

But Venli finally deciding to make progress! That's really good!

Tell me why I'm nervous for the Sibling and the tower when I still have 500 pages left haha

Jasnah changing the air to oil and then lighting it on fire?!!! OooHhOoOOO!! Very cool

The Ghostbloods are not a Rosharan organization?? What the hell is that supposed to mean Wit?!

Oohh Venli making progress with her powers! That was really cool I'm excited for her

OK SO...Kaladin almost died. Brandon. That's my emotional support Windrunner, you cannot kill him 😢😭

But Dalinar knows know that the tower is under seige! So that's good. That's good, right? Oh god I'm so nervous

Oh no Raboniel knew about the Sibling the whole time :(

Part 4

OooOOOHH! WHAT!!! THE RHYTHM OF WAR!!! Mixing the different Lights?! That's so cool This is fun! Let's go, you funky little scientists!!!

yO WHAT THE FUCK /VENLI/ HIRED SZETH TO KILL GAVILAR!!!!!? BECAUSE /NALE/ TOLD HER TOO??!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I literally have to stop reading to fully process that holy shit man I'm fuckin floored

A Herald as the high judge, how nice

Wit and his Cryptic 😂

Yay, Venli finally helped rescue Lift! Things are finally looking up (maybe?)

Can I just say that I love Dabbid with all my heart? ❤❤❤❤

And woohoo! Teft is awake! Hooray for Lift and Dabbid! They did a heroism 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Voice of Lights, Navani Kholin!! 🙌🏼

I KNEW they were going to pull Maya as the final witness but OH MY GOD!!!! Adolin×Maya4ever

Oh no oh no oh no Raboniel is planning to use the Radiants as TESTING SUBJECTS???? This is so so so so bad

Part 5

Oh god I feel like Kaladin is going to die :(

Oooooohhhh nooooooo Teft's spren is going to die 😭

Oohh Teft 💔😭

Oh shit oh shit oh shit Kaladin is going to lose himself and become Odium's champion and Syl is going to die I don't like this story I'm scared

Except he CAN'T because Brandon said people wouldn't regret naming their kids after him so he has to swear the fourth ideal and kill Moash right? RIGHT? OH GOD SOMEONE TELL ME IM RIGHT

Also imma be fucking PISSED if Navani dies why are you putting me through this agony Brandon

AAAHHHHH!!!!! THE FOURTH IDEAL YES MUTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!

NAVANI!!!!!!!!!! A BONDSMITH!!!!!!! IM LIVING Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!

KALADIN GOT HIS PLATE!!! AND HIS BRANDS ARE GOOOONNNNNEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats a, uh, pretty heavy duel you've locked yourself into there Mr. Blackthorn

Truthwatcher Rlain! 😀😀😀

Fucking great, Cultivation PLANNED this??

Of course Wit has a seon 🙄 but how the hell did Mraize get one?

Is Thaidakar Lord of Scars....is that Kelsier???? Maybe...??

Do the Listeners?? Have a pet chasmfiend????

And Venli got her mom back!! Hooray!!!

And Eshonai got her freedom and explored the whole world 😭❤❤

Ah Shit, Wit. That did NOT go as you planned. That threw a wrench into everything that I expected to happen and I don't even know what Wit was doing 😬

[esseastri]

Megan Reads Oathbringer (part 11)

All right, now that it’s been 4 months and I’ve read all the other things, I realized that it’s, like, 5 days until this book has been out for a year and I should probably get the fuck on with it, so. Here we are.

Part 11 encompasses pages 828-934 (previous parts)

me in July: I’m almost done! I can finish this!

me, now: sweet christ I have a smaller novel’s-worth still to get through lord let me live

Aw, damn, I left off on Interludes, but I DON’T CARE ABOUT VENLI, WHERE MY BOYS AT

oh SNAP I WANT THAT, the ability to speak and understand all languages???? GRABBY HANDS

ah yes the “the alethi enslaved us so we should rise up and kill them by enslaving ourselves to this other, more horrible godlike being” narrative. my favorite.

sigh

why we gotta EXTERMINATE people?

I’m tired. of extermination plotlines.

Maybe. Venli and her lil light spren will stop? the extermination!? I’m here for that!

“There was an art to doing laundry” HONESTLY THO, HAVE YOU MET COLLEGE-AGE BOYS WHO NEVER LEARNED HOW MUCH SOAP TO USE? AMEN.

oh.

I forgot about Mraize. 

like, literally, 100% forgot about his existence. sorry alyx.

eyy, we found Shalash!

HE WAS LOOKING FOR HER?? IT WAS A TRAP??

admiralakbar.gif

...Mraize has a babsk? I didn’t think he was Thaylen????

“A resistance is not what we caught you mounting.” UGH. PICK THE HAMMER, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT.

Why do I feel like this is a “HE HAS CHOSEN THE BEAR. BRING FORTH THE BEAR” joke?

yeessssssss, VENLI!!! TAKIN RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!!! I CARE NOW. I WANT HER TO BE BETTER, I WANT HER TO WORK THROUGH. GIIIRRLL!!!!

HOW LONG WILL YOU VACILLATE?

YESSSSS

gr oss? Tha nk s? for the melting flesh images??

yelch

PART FOOUUUUUURRR

that’s. so many POVs. What is this, a GRRM book?

also none of the POVs are Bridge Four and. WHEN WILL MY BOYS COME BACK FROM THE WAR.

wait, I could have sworn the Alethi had been fighting the Parshendi for ten years?? but Dalinar is talking to Gavilar EIGHT years ago?

Did I miss smthn?

Did I conflate the Shattered Plains with the Trojan War? I’m confused.

Lisa has done Math for me and found out that it was only 6 years????????? Why did I think it was ten??? I COULD HAVE SWORN IT WAS TEN????

“his job was to loom” heheheh

so... Dalinar is the nuclear deterrent and the nuclear threat all in one?

Dalinar, leaning into the mic: “The truth is... I am Iron Man.”

#Evideservedbetter2kForever

OH NO A BABY

TINY FIFTEEN YEAR OLD ADOLIN IS MAKING MY HEART SING

“I had this specially tailored” I LOVE HIM

OHHHHH

HE’S TRYING SO HARD TO IMPRESS HIS DAD I’M CRYING

“When censured, Adolin only tried harder.” I! LOVE! THIS! TINY! SUNLIGHT! BOY!

I wanna write fic where Adolin Kholin meets Luke Skywalker and the world literally EXPLODES IN SUNLIGHT AND SOFTNESS.

“Who could deny him?” CERTAINLY NOT ME, I WOULD DIE FOR ADOLIN KHOLIN TOO GOOD TOO SOFT FOR THIS WORLD

me, squinting: “which Herald is Ahu?”

my running method is to just suspect everyone of being a Herald. At some point, I’ll have to be right.

WHICH! HERALD! IS! AHU!

HE’S TALKING ABOUT THE UNMADE LIKE HE KNOWS THEM PERSONALLY, TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY LET THEM IN. WHICH!!! HERALD!!! IS!!! AHU!!!!

LISTEN, I JUST WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE HERALDS. GIMME A BOOK ABOUT THE HERALDS, BRANDON!

GIMME THAT JUICY GOOD BACKSTORY, BRANDON!!!

me: why is there a map with the sea but Kholinar is on it???

two seconds later: OOOHHH DUH IT’S SHADESMAR

wack y fun!

ARE DREHY AND SKAR OKAY???? THEY DIDN’T COME WITH???

ARE THEY OKAY?

OH NO OH NOO I’M GONNA WORRY AOBUT THEM FOREVER

Adolin, say hi to your swwooooorrdddd

....the Oathgate has souls?

what?

Fearspren: gross.

I knew they were all bigger on the inside, as it were, but. #yikes?

“Kaladin’s not well.” “I have to be well.”

BRB SOBBING ABOUT KALADIN

I’M!

HE’S SO STRONG

I’M! HELP!

GIANT CLAW? UNMADE!!?? LET’S KILL IT. IDK IF WE CAN BUT CAN WE TRY??

“sword lady” HEH

ok well, at least we know Drehey is alive, since Shallain bumped into his soul, which is both TERRIFYING and REALLY COOL

YOU’RE NOT NOTHING, ADOLIN, YOU ARE EVERYTHING AND I LOVE YOU.

*long keening noises*

I FELL ON THE FLOOR

“Hey,” Adolin said. “It will be all right.” “I survived Bridge Four,” Kaladin growled. “I’m strong enough to survive this.” “I’m pretty sure you could survive anything. Storms, bridgeboy, the Almighty used some of the same stuff he put into Shardblades when he made you.” Kaladin shrugged. But as they walked onto the next platform, his expression grew distant again. He stood while the rest of them moved on. Almost like he was waiting for their bridge to dissolve and dump him into the sea. “I couldn’t make them see,” Kaladin whispered. “I couldn’t...couldn’t protect them. I’m supposed to protect people, aren’t I?”

GUESS WHICH PART BROKE MEGAN

GUESS WHICH PART DUMPED MY HEART ON THE FLOOR

ANYWAY, I’M CRYING

THISISFINE.PNG

“I’m frightened. I talk when I’m frightened.” I LOVE HIM.

ADOLIN’S HELOIGN HIM HE’S MAKIN HIM TALK TO DISTSRAT HIM AND MAKE HIM JEEP WALKING AND I”M

I LOV A SUNSHINE BOY

SO MUCH

...is Vivenna okay?

oh shiiit, Adolin is? king????

sort of? almost??

oh man, he’s gonna be SO GOOD AT IT!!!! LOOK AT HIM TAKING CHARGE AND TAKING CARE OF EVERYONE. HE’S SUCH A GOOD LEADER, HE’S GOING TO BE SOOOOOO GOOOOOOODDD AT THIS!!!!

that chapter was a Lot

OH NO A SZETH CHAPTER

I’ve only been asking for this for tHE WHOLE BOOK

but now I’m gonna be MORE SAD

.......idk how I feel about the soul-after-image thing. it’s interesting, but I’m still a lil weirded out by Szeth...you know...being alive?

huh. Vasher knows about the magic fish? So....does this validate Lisa’s theory about the fish and the birds from that other cosmere thing I can’t remember bc I haven’t read it?

holy shit, that’s a LOT of skybreakers.....

...who have been around the WHOLE TIME???? WTF

So...Szeth can hear the Spiritual Realm.....and is going to bond a spren, of the Cognitive Realm...and is in the Physical Realm... so does that make him the Avatar, Master of All Three Realms?

(while he may have a lot to learn, I believe that Szeth can save the world)

hm. they’re so...regimented. militaristic. ritualized. They’ve got tests and rules for getting in and it’s all very well-put-together. and it’s WEIRD compared to everyone else stumbling into their Ideals. Is this what is was like before the Recreance? or is this just the Skybreakers being Skybreakers?

why are there kaladin flashbacks in the dalinar book, why, brandon, why must you hurt me in this way

Brandon: *mentions Tien* Me, softly: “no”

HE REALIZED HE COULD KILL AND THAT’S WHAT TERRIFIED HIM

THISISFINE.PNG

I’M EMOTIONAL AND KALADIN IS SAD AND I’M UPSET

Also, Syl just. grabbing his arm and snuggling him is VERY GOOD, SHE IS VERY GOOD, AND SHE SHOULD BE WORSHIPED FOR BEING SO VERY WONDERFUL

“It cannot be holy. If it truly were, it would have burned me away long ago.” I’M SAD NOW, THANKS.

I have weird emotions about people losing their faiths, and Szeth’s character arc has been particularly. compelling to me.

“Here’s what you have to do: fight him and win!” has the same energy as that obnoxious Assassin’s Creed “tip” that’s like “the trick to staying alive to is get your enemy’s health bar to zero while keeping your above zero” and I’M SO PLEASED.

ooohh shit

he drew Nightblood

which I feel is NOT RECOMMENDED

# Y I K E S

Skybreakers take the “lawful” part of DnD alignments to a very unhealthy extreme

tbh they’re a lil fucked up, ngl

Skybreakers make me uncomfortable, is what I’m saying.

“he had never mastered the ‘sleep anywhere’ skill the grunts bragged about” NEERRRRDD

WHEN WILL ADOLIN REALIZE HE’S A REALLY GOOD LEADER??? SOMEONE TELL HIM, I WOULD BUT I’M TOO FAR AWAY.

oh that makes sense

I was confused for a hot second about how Vivenna knew Adolin’s kata, but she probably learned it from Vasher who...also...taught Adolin. Duh.

“I’m just a woman who has been constantly out of her league since adolescence.” Viveennnnaaaaaa, darling. You’ll be all right.

also that makes total sense--the Horneater Peaks? If they’ve got a portal, it makes sense they’re so much more in tune to the spren. Easier border crossings.

PEOPLE live in this realm? What the??

I don’t know Nazh, but the fact that he has an embarrassing tattoo due to Horneater lager bad decisions DELIGHTS ME

hm. idk why I’d sort of assumed that Dalinar went to visit the Nightwatcher before Gavilar died, but. maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it was a consequence of Gavliar’s death. 

“the other one” GET FUCKED WITH A CACTUS, PAST!DALINAR 

OOHH

SOFT BOY

Renarin is such a Good

also, Dalinar HUGGING is SO GOOD KEEP DOING THAT THAT WILL HELP

“Humans, you must stop your emotions. They are very inconvenient here.” I think, Pattern dear, that Shallan rather thinks emotions are inconvenient everywhere.

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

HERE WE ARE AGAIN

ANGER IS ALWAYS THE FIRST STAGE OF DEPRESSION

HELLO, KALADINMEGAN BRAIN, IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU WERE SO NEATLY SPELLED OUT BUT HERE WE ARE AGAIN

“You’re not angry at anyone, you’re just looking for something to latch onto. Something to feel.” To stave off the darkness of unfeeling and anger is easy. It’s irrational and warm and so easy. So it’s always the first one to go.

“It would continue until numbness seemed preferable.” GOD YUP. THERE IT IS.

It’s still really validating and really, really unsettling to see your brain problems spelled out so succinctly.

oh lord

“Men he loved, killing each other.”

I’M UPSET

(and the very tiny garbage part of my brain goes, ‘see he LOVES Moash’)

ADOLIN TAKING THE REARGUARD BECASUE SOMETIMES KALADIN NEEDS LOOKING AFTER I’M EMOTIONAL

Syl had a different Kaladin before Kaladin?? Wild.

and GOD but the symbology of the LIGHTHOUSE in Kaladin’s chapter. I’m. <3

EEEYYYY NAVANI!!!

she made them carry their own chairs, GOD THE MEANING BEHIND THAT, I LOVE HER

“Elhokar and Adolin are safe somewhere.” ABOUT THAT....

LOPEN, PLS

Bridge Four’s unwavering belief in Kaladin is SURE A THING. I love them SO MUCH.

also, god, MY BOYS, here they are, eating all the food and being ridiculous losers at a formal event I HAVE MISSED THEM SO

god, fuc you Ialai. ofc she didn’t carry her own chair, fukin JERK

good to know the assholery of the Sadeas name is being upheld, even after his death

god, every time Taravangian is mentioned, my gut just clenches, he makes me SO NERVOUS

GOD YES OH MY GOD, LIFT VS ROCK EATING CONTEST PLS GIMME MORE

I have forgotten that I love Sebarial. Petition for him to show up more often.

OH GOOD HE’S HAVING A BAD DAY. EXCELLENT. HE’S MUCH BETTER WHEN HE’S STUPID

...unless he’s super smart today and just pretending to be stupid.

fuck

IT’S SO HARD TO TELL WITH HIM ARGH

ANYONE ELSE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE DISCUSSION OF INVADING SHINOVAR WHEN SHINOVAR IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT DOESN’T HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE AT THIS COUNCIL???? JUST ME? OKAY.

also they keep talking about Shinovar as a redoubt and a haven, but....didn’t the Everstorm--going the wrong way--destroy Shinovar? Has anyone checked??

Navani is so clever and it’s brilliant.

“Taravangian was talking about having you tour Vedenar personally”....alone....so he can MURDER YOU. BAD IDEA. ABORT MISSION.

KALADIN HAD AN OLD LADY SLAVE FRIEND WHO DIED AND I’M SAD AGAIN DAMNIT

“He’s got battle fatigue. We have to watch him when he’s sitting around doing nothing, not when he’s got a specific mission.” MMMMMMHHHMMMMMMM

the future is forbidden, but not to Truthwatchers, sooooooo... is. this “Oracle”. a.......... Herald? PERCHANCE.

(He’s not, but I AM SUSPICION INCARNATE)

Weren’t they lying at the beginning and saying that Shallan was an Elsecaller? Because Odium thinks she’s an Elsecaller for some reason. And I wonder...who he’s spying through and where his attention is focused and who told him the lie?

KALADIN JUST WANTS TO SAVE HIS DAD IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK

aight, which world does canned food come from? How far ahead is the mistborn world whose name I can’t remember right now but it begins with an s SCADRIAL YEAH THAT ONE how far ahead is Scadrial in technological progression? Where does the Stormlight Archive fall on the mistborn timeline?

ADOOOLLIINNN. TALK! TO YOUR SPREN!!!

THEY DON’T KNOW??? THE BOYS DON’T KNOW? HOW THEIR MOTHER DIED?

HOW DO THEY NOT KNOW?

oh my god

that

god, that’s a huge lie to believe for so, so long. ohhh my goddd

someone has been writing down all the Unmades’ names, right? So I can look them up in the Coppermind later and be confused and try to work out which is which and what they do and how terrified I should be of them? cool thanks.

HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND

HE’S GONNA TELL US SECRETS!!!!! ARE THEY USEFUL!? WILL I LEARN THINGS ABOUT THE HERALDS!!!!??

I have one (1) priority in this establishment

...why does Syl have color

who is she

also LIGHTSPREN/REACHERS??? COOL AS FUCK OMG

“You don’t fly, you fall the wrong way.” Hehehehehehe <3

I HAVE MISSED KALADIN’S SELF-DEPRECATING JOKES THAT ARE FUNNY BUT ALSO VERY PAINFUL god, I love him. I love him so much. idk if y’all know this about me.

...ok, but the punny banter between Kaladin and Shallan is SO NICE Why do they have to be mean to each other so often why can’t they just be terrible sarcastic pun buddies?

“In that polished breastplate and striking figure, with her talk of chasing bounties and traveling worlds. She’s deeply mysterious.” CAREFUL, SHALLAN, YOUR BI IS SHOWING.

“The feeling was friendship, but neither of them had ever experienced it.” 

NOPE

NOOOOOOPPEE

WHO WANTS TO BET THIS SCENE IS SHIP FODDER DEAR LORD

Kaladin, darling, that shit is SO UNHEALTHY, DO NOT ENCOURAGE THIS

god

also like. darling. no. “I wish I didn’t have to care” DARLING ALL YOU DO IS CARE WHO WOULD YOU BE WITHOUT CARING

THIS IS GOOD FOR NEITHER OF YOU STOP

DO NOT ENCOURAGE THAT IN HER AND DO NOT WISH THAT FOR YOURSELF, jesus

lord, ok, well, I’ve read 100 pages, so on that disappointing character note, I’m going to go to bed.

[boldlybloggingbooks]

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson

So I’m still on my Cosmere bender, having started with The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) in October. Eight books – now nine, after finishing this one – later and… I’m still blown away. Sanderson’s skill, his worldbuilding, his character development…! There’s not enough praise I can heap on these books.

Summary:

Six years after the murder of King Gavilar, the Alethi kingdom is still at war with the mysterious Parshendi. With each highprince fighting on the Shattered Plains for his own glory and to earn Shardblades and Shardplate, the original purpose of the war – revenge for Gavilar – has slowly faded from their minds. For Brightlord Dalinar Kholin, however, the war isn’t his only challenge – strange storm-induced visions order him to reunite the highprinces and kingdom.

Slave Kaladin Stormblessed has just been sold to a new master, Brightlord Sadeas, who also fights on the Shattered Plains. Ordered to run as a bridgeman, the lowest of soldiers who are responsible for carrying chasm-spanning bridges into battle, the darkeyed Kaladin is lost. His faith in lighteyes has been shattered, he’s lost everyone he’s ever cared for, and he’s not expected to survive in his new role. But when mysterious things begin happening to Kaladin, he comes to learn that his part in the world is greater than he ever imagined.

Far across the sea in Jah Keved, Shallan Davar seeks out the scholar and heretic, Jasnah Kholin. Shallan’s father’s recent death has thrown their family into chaos as debts are being called in and a strange group begins making threats on the Davar family. Jasnah holds the key to the survival of Shallan’s family, but will Shallan be strong enough to do what she came to do?

* * *

Once again, the first book of the Stormlight Archive opens on a new world with new characters and a new system of magic. Roshar, a world of rock and stone, is probably the harshest of the cosmere worlds I’ve read (although Mistborn’s Lord Ruler era was pretty bad). The plants are rocklike, the animals are rocklike, and harsh highstorms can destroy anything in their path. Even rainwater has a sediment-like material (called crem) in it. As harsh as the world is, however, the peoples of Roshar have learned to survive.

The magic on Roshar is different as well. It’s not fueled by metals like in the Mistborn books. It’s not powered by breaths and color as it is in Warbreaker. It’s not even fueled by drawing Aons, such as in Elantris. No, magic in the Stormlight Archive is powered by… ta-da, Stormlight. A glowing power that is contained within gemstones which people trade as currency or use to light a darkened space. At this particular point in time in The Way of Kings, individuals who can harness Stormlight and use it are basically myth. Those who once held that power, the Knights Radiant, fell ages ago after abandoning mankind.

I think what I’m enjoying most about the magic of Stormlight Archive is that the magic truly has its limits. Very few people can use it. This means that not everyone is the same magical threat to each other; however, it makes those who can use it very dangerous to everyone else. And it truly is limited – you had to have Stormlight-infused spheres with you in order to Breathe in the Stormlight. Once those spheres are dun and the Stormlight has been spent, the user is out of power. Finally, since the ability to use these powers has, for the most part, been lost, no one is a true powerhouse using the abilities granted by Stormlight. Well, except for Szeth, but his full backstory hasn’t been told. Yet.

The Way of Kings is told through several POV’s. For the most part we hear from Shallan, Dalinar, and Kaladin. There are a few chapters from Szeth’s perspective, and those serve to explain the chaos he’s being ordered to sow throughout the lands. There are a few other perspectives we hear from, mostly between the parts in which the story is told. I enjoyed reading Kaladin’s sections the most. He had the greatest character development, in my opinion, but that’s also because we’re introduced to him when he’s practically at rock bottom – mentally, emotionally, and physically. The reasons behind his beaten-down state are completely valid, and he doesn’t just overcome his struggles in one event. Undoing as much harm as was done to him takes quite a bit of time. Dalinar’s POV was my second favorite. Brother to the murdered king and also known as The Blackthorn, Dalinar faces an entirely different kind of struggle. He’s the first to realize that the “war” is just being taken for a game among the other highprinces – even the current king, Elhokar, has been sucked into this game. With each vision that Dalinar sees in the highstorms, he becomes increasingly convinced that he must do something drastic to change the tides of war and unite the kingdom. But against and in preparation of what… he has yet to know. And finally, Shallan. The secluded daughter from the Davar family, Shallan has struck out on her own with the intent to steal Jasnah’s Soulcaster, a powerful object which can transform one substance into another. The Soulcaster is the only item that can help save her family, but Shallan’s worldly inexperience proves to be her first obstacle because in order to get close to Jasnah, Shallan must become her ward and assist with research. I can understand how Shallan’s lack of experience lends to her indecisiveness and frequent confusion (and it was gratifying to watch her grow as a scholar), but I just felt like there wasn’t enough to her as a character. Obviously, this is only book one in the series, so I’m hoping that Shallan develops further as the plot progresses.

There was something captivating and relatable about this new story in the cosmere, despite it being fantasy. Several times around reading, I found myself almost using “spren” in a sentence – and I did say “flamespren” aloud at one point to people who hadn’t read these books, and boy, did they look confused. Sanderson’s command of words is magnificent; despite introducing so many new terms and people and ideas, the words flow so smoothly that after a while, you hardly realize that you’re immersed in a new world while creationspren crowd about you.

Yes, I’m still dying to really learn about Hoid and what his purpose is in the cosmere, and I’ve been told that it will come in the next books. Well, it better come soon because his storytelling and world jumping is absolutely baffling to me.

There’s so much more I could get into, and I haven’t even started on my theories for what I hope will happen in the next books. But that would keep me from starting on the next book. “Journey before destination;” well, I’m greatly enjoying the journey that Brandon Sanderson’s books have taken me on, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

* * *

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.

Strength before weakness.

Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

[athalwen]

Hoid Time

@brightnessrandom and I have been spending many, many hours (you don’t want to know which hours) discussing the Cosmere, and we started calling these hours Hoid Time, a collection of rambles and theories and reactions to all the books and any information we can weasel out of the internet. It’s no longer limited to our friend (?) Hoid, but at this point it’s too late for us to start calling it Cosmere Time. It’s not as catchy. So, without further ado, we present... highlights from Hoid Time. 

(Also, that question mark I used up there is one of the most necessary question marks I have ever used in my life)

Episode 1: General Oathbringer Hysteria 

spoilers under the cut

-Jasnah. my girl, my friend. .....yikes. She went after Amaram’s life. We haven’t seen her react like this toward anyone else. Could we get some backstory, maybe? Please...????

-Szeth. Lift. Nightblood. Three beings who, by all known and normal laws of the Cosmere, should not exist. So very frightened, but so very supportive of what will hopefully become a solid friend team 

-Does he eat? Or is he... like some kind of spren?

SHALLAN. 

I wasn’t worried about this until you mentioned it and now it is basically my main concern. why 

-That first letter is mildly concerning because it starts with “dearest Cephandrius” which seems pretty familial and kind of okay but then it ends like “stay out of this or we will end you” with a paragraph break for emphasis and if that’s not sketchy I don’t know what is

-Everyone’s gathering in Urithiru to form the Kholinition 

-478% sure that the position of the King’s Wit was actually invented thousands of years ago by people looking for Hoid. “Just keep an eye on every new Wit. Sooner or later, he’ll turn up...” 

-“The two main emotions Sanderson provokes are woah and yikes”

-ATI WAS ONCE A KIND AND GENEROUS MAN. 

Compliment from Hoid? It’s one thing to say someone is nice or that they’re a good person but when you say they’re “kind and generous” that’s a new level of praise. (Also, my lovely co-host has managed to trick me into associating this phrase with touching my left arm. This better not be permanent...) 

-Quoth the Pattern “mmmmmmm” 

-Everything Wit does is important. So...... why did he glance at Veil’s hat??? When it was just sitting? Harmlessly? On the table?? 

(...we save the real questions for three in the morning)

-A portal to Roshar appears with no warning? Absolutely would jump in, even though neither of us speak Alethi and one of us is left-handed...

-Aim For The Sun. Wit and Shallan are talking, and at one point he’s just... not looking at her? Not even sitting with her as they’re having a kind of meaningful conversation? He’s looking out the window, okay, I’ll take it, but then it says he turns away from his inspection of the hearth and chimney. You don’t inspect the hearth and chimney unless you’re either very suspicious of something or nopeing right out of the vulnerability zone. 

-The Correct Yes. (Will discuss later). 

-“The thieves who killed that child have been seen to.” 

So this is pretty much one of the most terrifying things Wit could’ve said, but it was hidden under a layer of kindness. What actually happened there and how much were you involved and how afraid of your influence do I need to be at this moment

-Roshar Buzzfeed: Would You Date Your Spren? These Knights Say Yes

-We have no idea how a Roshar inch compares to an Earth inch and believe it or not this is Vital Information someone save us

-“Hoid is sketchy young Hoid is unpredictable be safe my friends”

-Can spren survive on other Shardworlds? Say, Scadrial? This merits discussion (my instinct is yes, but there might be finagling that needs to be done)

-So... are we going to talk about the fact that the Thaylen people follow the Passions? Which is how Odium described himself? Can we say  s k e t c h y ?? 

-Fake date Nale simply so you can introduce him as “my boyfriend, the Herald of Justice” 

-Everybody knows about Hoid. But nobody knows Hoid. 

More Hoid Time (hysteria, discussions, panic, jokes) to follow 

[ekispoilsthecosmere]

Finished Oathbringer! In this post I’ll go over some of the notes I took while reading. There will not only be full Oathbringer spoilers, but also spoilers for other Cosmere books. Let me know if you have any answers or theories!

Prologue: Gavilar says that humans trapped a “crucial” spren, making (most) parshendi/listeners/singers unable to enter forms. Is this an Unmade? If so, how did they change forms before Odium arrived on the planet? Did the Everstorm free that spren, or “fix” the singers on its own? I think the latter, because of something mentioned later (by Syl, I think). The listener who bought Szeth heard a voice speaking to the Rhythms - probably Odium or an agent of his.

Chapter 8: Renarin seemed to recognize the description Dalinar gave of Odium’s Champion, but even after the revelation at the end of the book, I’m not sure exactly what he knew... Was he just surprised Dalinar had seen the same thing? Was the fact that Dalinar had seen it some kind of proof to Renarin that Dalinar was the figure in question?

Chapter 13: NO MATING

Chapter 16: The Stormfather mentions the movement of time together with other “forces”, like pressure and gravitation. Is there a time Surge? Are there timespren? Would timespren appear around an Allomantic time bubble? Near a black hole (though this might be moot, since there would be no people near a black hole)? Do timepieces use timespren, or are they mechanical and driven by a different type of spren?

Chapter 32: JAAAASNAAAAAAH MORE LIKE YES-NAH

Interlude 2: The ardent says his patron has a strict deadline upon a certain translation. This is most certainly Taravangian, based on the events towards the end of the book.

Interlude 3: Based on Eshonai’s personality, I think the spren looking like a ball of white fire is a Willshaper spren.

Chapter 33: Cephandrius is one of Hoid’s names. At this point I thought the sender might have been Frost, but that doesn’t match upcoming epigraphs.

Chapter 37: The epigraph writer mentions a pact. From later stuff, I assume the pact was that the Shards would keep themselves separated from each other. Rock can hear rhythms, faintly. Since Horneaters have some singer heritage, they are probably the actual Rhythms. Rock also mentions a relative traveling “the third divide”. Is that a place in the peaks, or does it refer to Shadesmar?

Chapter 38: The Stormfather says that the Surge of Tension (I think?) could serve Dalinar differently from Stonewards, which confirms that Surges can indeed work differently for different Orders, as many people have theorized.

Chapter 40: The epigraph writer mentions someone named “Uli Da”. It sounds like a former Vessel for a Shard - probably Ambition’s, based on how the writer thinks she was obviously going to be a problem.

Chapter 42: Hoid is described as the “bearer of the First Gem”. Sounds important!

Chapter 43: At this point, I hadn’t yet realized who was writing the epigraphs, but whoever it is seems to have a presence on Roshar - possibly a spren of some sort.

Chapter 46: This is when I realized the epigraph writer was most likely Autonomy - we know from WoBs that Autonomy has several avatars, which fits the plural pronouns. I guess that means that their Intent is driving them towards splintering themselves in a weird way, to create autonomous beings that somehow still regard themselves as part of the Shard.

Chapter 51: Which waters? The Origin? Why would Autonomy have “tests” on Roshar? Was my earlier assumption wrong? Considering who I think the next letter writer is, I think I was right about it being Autonomy. So what are these tests?

Chapter 55: This is when I realized the new epigraph author is most likely Harmony, and that Hoid has been writing to all Shards he thinks might be willing to help stop Odium.

Chapter 57: Harmony requests that Hoid should visit in person - is that why he returned in Era 2, or had he already talked to Harmony before that? LIFT LIFT LIFT LIFT

Interlude 4: The sleepless says that “There are those who could pull secrets from your soul”. There have been theories for a good while that something is wrong with Roshar’s afterlife - all the talk about the Tranquiline Halls, the Heralds returning from death, etc... And now, in this book, the souls of the Fused staying around. I had a theory that Radiants had somehow “accidentally” attached themselves to the Oathpact by copying the Surges granted by the Honorblades (and that that’s why the Recreance happened). Much of that theory has been debunked with this book, but some of it could still hold - maybe people who are close to the Surges get stuck in Damnation when they die. The sleepless also says that “the cost would be the ends of worlds.” Worlds, plural. Not just Roshar. Are they hiding a way to free Odium, perhaps?

Chapter 64: The Stormfather pretty much confirms what most Cosmere nerds had already theorized - that the heart of a highstorm, where gems are infused, is Honor’s perpendicularity.

Chapter 65: The Stormfather mentions “Spiritual Adhesion”. Can other Surges do that too? Like, I dunno, Spiritual Abrasion? LIFT STOLE DALINAR’S LUNCH

Chapter 67: At this point, when it was revealed that Elhokar could draw, I became more excited about him becoming a Lightweaver, which had already been heavily hinted towards before. I had no idea... Shallan thinks Hoid might be Lightweaving... which he is. It’s just a completely different magic system with the same name.

Chapter 68: The epigraph mentions “the Sibling” - is that the spren of Urithiru? Is it a Bondsmith spren? Hoid says there’s at least one god worshiping him... He usually doesn’t lie about those things...

Chapter 70: At this point, seeing the description of Azure’s shardblade, I thought it was either an Honorblade, or that Azure was a Radiant - in either case, if she wanted to both use her shardblade and not reveal it wasn’t a normal deadblade, she would have to keep it summoned, or find a gem to affix to it (which might not even work for non-dead blades). Before we got to see the blade, I thought maybe she had been the one to steal Taln’s blade, but his is very unique, so Kaladin would have noticed that it looked odd.

Chapter 74: Elhokar recognizes Pattern - even more clues to him getting closer to being a Lightweaver.

Sja-anat illustration: I think the reason hungerspren haven’t been corrupted is because people in the palace aren’t hungry, so the spren don’t get close enough for the Unmade to corrupt them.

Chapter 77: In the stormshelter, Kaladin flicks away an “odd cremling” - this is most likely part of a sleepless. It had a “strange tan pattern” on the back - probably to imitate skin.

Chapter 78: The old Radiants tried to deny the enemy their Voidlight - which at that point did NOT come from the Everstorm. So was it an Unmade instead? Is that the one in Gavilar’s sphere?

Chapter 79: AZURE IS VIVENNA!! She uses color idioms! Her NAME is a color! I don’t think I would have been able to figure it out earlier than this, but I’m glad I did it here and not later when it becomes more obvious. I thought she would have a much smaller role in the book.

Chapter 82: Shallan thinks Azure is younger than she expected... Weeeell....

Chapter 83: Azure’s weapon is Nightblood-esque, but much less destructive - maybe with a better Command, or a refined process. I think I suspected it before this (don’t quite remember), because Azure did call her sword a “she” earlier. “Azure had removed her cloak and wrapped it half around her left arm” - Probably Awakening at work, but to what end, I don’t know. Just for strength? Protection?

Chapter 84: The epigraph mentions Feverstone Keep - this is the keep Dalinar sees in his vision of the Recreance. Aesudan says that Gavilar had found one of the “ancient spren” - more implications that the black sphere does indeed hold one of the Unmade. The Diagram predicted that “One is almost certainly a traitor to the others” - Sja-anat revealing herself to Shallan basically confirms that this was about the Unmade. There were theories that it was about the Orders of the Knights, for example.

Interlude 8: Mraize mentions “aether”. This must be the aether of “Aether of Night”, an unpublished, non-canon Cosmere book. Before this I don’t think we knew if the concept of aether would come back in other books, so that’s nice to have. In any case, it’s most likely NOT a substance native to Roshar.

Chapter 89: Thinking of these dead spren walking around in Shadesmar... Could you “kill” a dead spren, making it impossible to be summoned?

Chapter 90: Nightblood says he doesn’t think Szeth is evil - we didn’t know this before, since at their first encounter, Szeth didn’t react in any of the two ways we’ve seen people react to Nightblood before (wanting to possess and draw the blade for “evil” people, and nausea for “good” people).

Chapter 92: Szeth says he heard a voice in his head when he was young. Was that a Radiantspren? An Unmade? Something else? From his “I hope things go better this time” I feel like a Radiantspren is more likely.

Chapter 93: “it seemed to Adolin that her scars had faded” - Breaths don’t give healing, do they? I think this must be Vivenna learning to use some additional perks of having the Royal Locks. It could be something else though! She says she’s hunting a criminal, who we know to be Vasher. And Nightblood. What did they do? I mean, Vasher was a criminal long before he and Vivenna met. They must have done something especially bad, right?

Chapter 97: The guy in the lighthouse immediately assumes Kaladin has breaths if he’s Invested - which either tells us that Nalthian worldhoppers are very common here, or that having breaths is the easiest way to become Invested. He uses “Merciful Domi” - a Selish expression.

Chapter 98: Nightblood mentions that Vasher teaches swords to people now - it is interesting that Nightblood knows that. That means the parted after Vasher started doing it, or that they have some kind of extra connection.

Chapter 99: Is this the first time in this series that a main character actually goes to the toilet? (Shardplates don’t count as toilets.)

Chapter 100: Taravangian mentions a metal that, in legends, can block shardblades. This seems to be confirmation that aluminium can indeed block shardblades - we had conflicting WoBs on that before. However, aluminium is known on Roshar - it’s an extremely expensive metal that can only be soulcast, not found naturally. So I feel like they should have known about that property, not just spoken of it in legends. Also, Taravangian says it “falls from the sky”... What?

Chapter 101: The captain mentions that his daughter ran off chasing stupid dreams - this sounds like typical foreshadowing. I think she went off to find a Radiant.

Chapter 102: I thought maybe the painting Kaladin saw was the exact same as the one Lightsong saw in Warbreaker (since he did tell the priests to not burn it), but they are described a bit differently. Both have figures in the middle, but Kaladin’s was described as red and white, while Lightsong’s was red on red. However, Lightsong had perfect color recognition, so he could have interpreted the painting differently. The name of the painter is mentioned in this book, but not in Warbreaker.

Chapter 113: This world that Surgebinders had apparently destroyed before, was that Ashyn? Or maybe even Braize?

Chapter 114: Dalinar thinks Felt must have some Shin blood, because of his eyes. In fact, it is because he’s a worldhopper from Scadrial (he was a spy for House Venture in Mistborn). We already knew that before, but this does tell us that Scadrian eyes would look kind of Shin-like for a Rosharan. Probably only because they both lack epicanthal folds, but I guess it could be something more than that too. The Nightwatcher mentions a Blade that bleeds darkness - does she have Nightblood at this point?

Chapter 118: What’s that on your fabrial? It’s the GOM JABBAR!

Chapter 119: Did Dalinar pull the Perpendicularity from the heart of the highstorm? Or is this a separate thing? The oath that Teft swears - the Third Ideal? When did he swear the Second? It’s not quite the same as Kaladin’s, in any case.

Chapter 121: So, the Fused souls stay around on Roshar. Could that be the work of another Unmade? Apparently we don’t know what the ninth one is, right? The knife Moash uses seems to be a Nightblood-esque blade too - one that cuts on all three Realms. But it’s also different - it doesn’t seem to have a mind. It also has a sapphire at the pommel - did Jezrien’s sould get trapped, instead of destroyed? We know singer souls can be trapped in gemstones, after all - why not human ones? The “Midius” Ash mentions is Hoid.

Chapter 122: Odium says that Dalinar was not supposed to Ascend. So at this point, Dalinar is probably “attuned” to Honor, just like Vin was to Preservation after holding the power in the Well. The big difference being, Honor is splintered. Apparently Renarin is a big oddity - why? Just because his spren is corrupted? Or also because Sja-anat is defecting? Some other reason? Listen, we’ve been saying for YEARS that Jasnah is Queen. The world is just catching up.

Epilogue: A little disappointed that Hoid never uses the word “coin”, since he did so in the previous two epilogues. Those are some pretty obvious references to Awakening there - I’m a bit surprised at how obvious Brandon is making it. After first Awakening the doll, Hoid touches it again and says “Forget what I told you before. Instead, take care of her.” Is that a thing you can do? Change Commands for something already Awakened? Or is he just being theatrical? And lastly, he picks up the spren who was bonding with Elhokar. Does he want to bond it himself? Which would be his Truths? Can you worldhop with a spren?

Phew, that was quite a lot of stuff.

[cosmerelists]

Who is the In-Universe Audience for Tress?

[Spoilers for Tress of the Emerald Sea!!]

This list is dedicated to the person at the DragonCon Tress panel who asked this question of the panelists and did NOT receive a good answer (or really any answer at all), in my opinion. So for you, friend, I went ahead and reread Tress and tried to collect all of the evidence about the identity of the audience that Hoid is telling the story to. Has this already been done on Reddit or other forums? Undoubtedly yes but I just wanted to see what I could discover on my own. Here are my findings!

My theory: Hoid is telling the story to a group of apprentice storytellers on the planet First of Sun. Some Rosharans are also present...or maybe just Sigzil. Allow me to explain each part of my answer!

1. Hoid is telling the story (but to an audience who also knows him as Wit)

This we know because he literally identifies himself as Hoid the cabin boy...but he also makes a couple of Wit-related puns, including:

"And with it went my sense of humor, my sense of decorum, and my sense of self. The last one stung the most, since it appears my sense of self is tied directly to my wit. I mean, it's in the name."

"Everyone can use a little more Wit in their lives."

This suggests the audience knows him both as Hoid and as Wit. More on that later!

2. The setting: First of Sun

Wherever the story is being told, it's a place with oceans made of water that have sea creatures (these things must be specified in a Cosmere setting). Hoid often alludes to the audience's familiarity with ships, including:

"Now, I know that on your planet, steering a ship isn't that big a deal."

"I know that sailors fear storms on your planet. It's common among almost all seafaring cultures I've met."

"As I've mentioned, on your planet, you may be accustomed to the helm position on the ship being relatively unimportant."

"But you come from a world where things live in the water."

That it is specifically the First of Sun is suggested by two quotes in particular:

"I can understand why you would want tales of people like Linji, who tried to sail around the world with no Aviar."

"Yes, like the speaking minds inhabiting the ships you've seen landing on your planet."

Aviars are native to First of Sun, and we learn in Sixth of the Dusk that space ships have visited that world.

3. The audience is a group of people

This actually came as a huge shock to me, as it's only revealed near the end, as far as I know. Hoid suddenly says:

"A sailing ship is a strange thing to control--I'm sure some of you know."

Some of you! Some of you?! So the audience is not a single person, but a group of people.

4. But there are also people from Roshar present...or maybe just Sigzil

Now, this may be controversial. But it seems possible that the audience also includes off-worlders, from Roshar and maybe from Scadrial as well. Certain references certainly suggest a Rosharan frame of mind:

First, there is the fact that they know him as Wit, which is Hoid's Rosharan incarnation

Second, there is this line: "Well, now that is a gemstone that truly glitters, friend." Perhaps there are big glittery gemstones on First of Sun too, but that sure seems like a Rosharan idiom.

Third, there is this line: "I assume you have no idea what a Luhel bond is....Unlike the Nahel bond, which trades in consciousness and anchoring to realty, the Luhel bond trades in physical matter." The Nahel bond is how surgebinding works on Roshar, and Hoid assumes the audience knows what that is.

It's possible that only Sigzil is present, and that Hoid keeps making asides to him, which would be pretty cute, to be honest.

5. Maybe Scadrial is represented too??

As for Scadrial, well...there's just the fact that Hoid calls himself a Worldbringer:

"Worldbringers like myself spend decades combing through folk tales, legends, myths, histories, and drunken bar songs looking for the most unique stories."

"Worldbringer" is a Scadrian term; the Rosharan equivalent would be "Worldsinger." This might not mean anything about who's present--perhaps Hoid is spreading the notion of Worldbringers to other planets like First of Sun. But I wanted to raise it as an interesting possibility.

6. The audience is comprised of apprentice storytellers

It becomes clear at the end that the people Hoid is talking to want to learn to be paid for telling stories:

"With a few tips, he wasn't so boring after all. Secretly, I'll tell you that you aren't either. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to lower your value. Don't trust them. They know they can't afford you otherwise."

This suggests that his audience want to learn to not be boring and to be paid to tell stories--so apprentices then, perhaps. Hoid also indicates that this audience knows him, and are not just a random crowd he gathered for the occasion:

"It's called the transitive property of ineptitude, and it's the explanation for anything you've seen me do wrong ever."

Hoid refers to other planets casually, suggesting an audience that wants to learn about other cultures and places, another key aspect of being a Hoid-style storyteller:

"Compared, for example, to the depth of the Lilting Abyss on Threnody, the spore seas are practically ponds."

So! That's my theory: Hoid is using the Tress tale to train a group of would-be apprentice storytellers on First of Sun, and maybe Sigzil or other Rosharans are there too.

What do you think??

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Conservatism in Brandon Sanderson’s Writings; or, Reflections on Revolution in the Cosmere

I’ve only read The Stormlight Archive and Warbreaker, so this is based on an incomplete picture, but the combination of those two have given me an impression of Sanderson’s ideas on social structures, appropriate and inappropriate responses to institutional injustice, and revolution. These ideas strike me as being essentially conservative; I’m tempted to say Burkean (hence my alternate title), but I don’t know Burke’s writings well enough to be sure if that’s correct.

To be clear: this is not a ‘call-out’ post. I personally disagree with some of Sanderson’s themes, but I’m trying to understand, engage with, and debate them, not flatly condemn them.

My interpretations here are primarily based on two storylines: Warbreaker, and Kaladin and Moash’s arcs in Words of Radiance. Both of these two storylines, and their resolutions, seem grounded in the following political ideas:

1) Injustice and cruelty are the result of bad, or flawed, people; not of bad systems. And people can change. The solution to a system that seems unjust is to improve the people within it, not to tear it down.

2) Those who seek revolution are basically self-serving and vengeful, not interested in the good of others or that of society.

3) Radicals and those who seek revolution have a blinkered political perspective, flattening societies and people into stereotypes rather than acknowledging their complexity.

1. People, not systems

For the first point: both Alethkar and the world of Warbreaker have systems that are fundamentally founded on entrenched and institutionalized inequality. In Alethkar it is the division between lighteyes and darkeyes (and the different ranks thereof). In Warbreaker it is the position of Returned, who can only exist by daily taking life-force/spirit from others - typically from the poor. Nonetheless, the narrative justifies the maintenance of both systems, primarily on the basis that the ruling classes contain good people (e.g. Dalinar, Adolin; Siri, Susebron, Lightsong); one of the major themes in TWOK and WOR revolves around forcing Kaladin to recognize that some lighteyes are good, and others, like Elhokar, have the desire and capacity to improve.

The basic political conflict is, to me, expressed by two lines following Kaladin’s (second) defeat of a Shardbearer. The first is Dalinar’s, when he states what Kaladin should do about institutionalized discrimination against darkeyes: “You want to change that?...Be the kind of man that others admire, whether they be lighteyed or dark...That will change the world.” This fundamentally rubs me the wrong way - it’s the Booker T. Washington theory of how to address racial inequality, and history has proven time and time and time again that it doesn’t work. If Kaladin did that, people would say, “Wow, that Kaladin, what an unusually exceptional darkeyes!” and continue to treat the rest of darkeyes just the same.

The second line is Kaladin’s when he refuses the shardblade that would make him lighteyed: “I don’t want my life to change because I’ve become a lighteyes. I want the lives of people like me...like I am now...to change.” This, I completely agree with - but later events would suggest the narrative may not. (And the fact that Kaladin doesn’t used his increased status in later books to push for change on this front frustrates me.)

To give another example: when Sadeas treats bridgemen as cannon fodder and their lives as utterly disposable, the problem is treated as being that Sadeas is a bad person (and facing certai. tactical constraints) - not the fact that Sadeas and the other brightlords has the power to treat darkeyes’ lives as disposable in the first place. When Kaladin is imprisoned for challenging Amaram to a duel - in effect, imprisoned for being darkeyed, since a high-nahn lighteyes would not have been punished for issuing such a challenge - this is treated as Kaladin’s fault, not the fault of a system that treats him as having fundamentally less worth than Amaram.

There’s no focus in the books on getting rid of the unjust system - by any means, violent or non-violent, bottom-up or top-down - just on having the ruling class become better people, which is expected to alleviate some problems without fundamentally altering the social structure.

2. Revolutionaries are selfish

The most open expression of this idea is in TWOK, where Moash says outright that he’d like to keep the same system but flipped, with darkeyes on the top and lighteyes on the bottom. Vivenna’s endeavours towards revolution are also portrayed as driven by bigotry against Hallandran culture. And Kalladin’s desire to remove Elhokar is shown as driven by a desire for revenge, with any larger goals or motives being mere rationalization. Likewise, the main antagonist of Warbreaker is shown as having destructive, not constructive goals.

While this is ceratinly true of some revolutionary movements, in Sanderson’s works it is shown as invariably true, with no revolutionary characters being driven by genuine justice or the desire to improve people’s lives. This provides a stark contrast with the number of virtuous characters who are shown depicting or upholding the existing social systems.

3. Radicals see society in shallow and stereotypical terms

This is a big part of the characterization of both Vivenna and Kaladin. For Vivenna, the main example is that she initially sees her people - from a largely rural nation - as fundamentally virtuous, and is horrified by the ‘criminals’ they have to live among in the slum. When she’s made to see that those ‘criminals’ are in fact members of her people, she sees them as victims tragically corrupted by the terrible (urban) culture they’ve immigrated to. She generalizes; she doesn’t want to recognize the fact that some of her people prefer life in the city - despite marginalization and poverty - to life in their country of birth, and wouldn’t want to return. She spends most of the book being gradually forced to break down her stereotypes of her culture as good and Hallandran society as corrupt.

Kaladin, for his part, continually stereotypes lighteyes. In his youth, it’s a kind of internalized caste-ism - he’s constantly disappointed and mistreated by the lighteyes around him, and he keeps on thinking that the people doing it aren’t ‘real’ lighteyes, ‘real’ lighteyes are noble and honorable and he’ll get to fight for one someday. After being betrayed one too many times, he switches to thinking that all lighteyes, invariably, are corrupt, exploitative and evil; it takes a lot to get him to trust Dalinar, and for well after that he continues stereotyping every lighteyes he meets (Adolin, Renarin, Shallan) as spoiled and uncaring even after evidence to the contrary. Even in Oathbringer stereotypes are his default reaction to lighteyes he doesn’t know. He also tends to ignore the fact of major differences in variations in status and life with the two main castes, by nahn and dahn. It’s treated as one of his more persistent character flaws, and contrasted with the more open and merit-based attitudes of the main lighteyed characters.

I’m not really comfortable with this portrayal. Kaladin’s entire life, and everything he’s suffered, have been defined and determined by being lighteyes. He doesn’t have the luxury of being ‘eye-colour-blind’ . Does he make invalid assumptions? Yes, especially about Shallan. But Kaladin thinking of Adolin as a spoiled brat and Adolin calling Kaladin ‘bridgeboy’ are not the same kind of thing; calling someone from a discriminated-against group (who is an adult of about your age) ‘boy’ has implications that both the author and reader are aware of; it is, intentionally or not, an expression of power and superiority, and it is quite justified that it would guve Kaladin a negative impression of Adolin! More broadly, mistrusting lighteyes is basically a trauma-induced defense mechanism for Kaladin, and understandable given what he’s been through. Adolin’s thinking, early in Words of Radiance, that “he was all for treating men with respect and honor regardless of eye shade, but the Almighty had put some men in command and others beneath them; it was simply the natural order of things” is to my mind far more offensive than Kaladin’s personality hostility to lighteyes, but the only main character who the narrative treats/criticizes as being bigoted on the basis of eye color is Kaladin. Adolin’s treated by the narrative as a great person who Kaladin needs to be nicer to, and the aforementioned attitude is never addressed again; it’s not part of his character arc like Kaladin’s view of lighteyes is.

In short, Sanderson’s works are strongly grounded in the idea that the quality of a society is grounded in the personal goodness of its people (including the goodness of its ruling class) more than in the creation of just and equal social structures; and that attributting a society’s problems to structures that create and perpetuate injustice rather than to the choices of individuals is basically wrongheaded. I agree with him on the importance of individual goodness and choices; I disagree with his minimization of the need to dismantle unjust social structures.

[libralita]

Title: The Rithmatist

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Summary: More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings—merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery, one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.

Rating: ★★★★★

Review:

It’s a steampunk fantasy with a dash of Nickelodeon’s Chalk Zone and a smidge of Stormlight Archive AND IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! While it did take me awhile to get into and Melody Muns annoyed me a lot of time it was still pretty amazing. In my opinion it’s better than the Reckoners and probably on par with some of his cosmere work. I cannot recommend enough.

I’m actually really happy that Joel didn’t become a Rithmatist, maybe in the future he will but I kind of liked how he didn’t.

“‘Sure, I guess. What else would I do?’ ‘Oh,’ Michael said, ‘maybe prevent some assassinations, get rich, find out what’s really happening in Nebrask…’”—Page 21

This alternative history thing is really odd. There’s 60 Islands and they seem to be more like a stronger European Union. I’m really fascinated by the government system and I hope we eventually get into it. Is it an IGO or a confederation? This political science nerd needs to know.

So we meet Nalizar when he challenges Fitch and Fitch gets badly beaten which is really sad.

What’s this? A red head who likes to draw and annoys the (kinda) male main character? Gee I never heard of that before, Brandon!

I love York and Fitch, they’re so nice to Joel.

“‘Tell me honestly,’ Melody said, whispering to Joel, ‘are you following me?’ Joel started. ‘What?’ ‘Well, you did take the same math class that I did.’ ‘We get assigned our classes by the campus office!’ Joel said. ‘After that,’ she continued, speaking as if she hadn’t heard his protest, ‘you got a job at the campus office—the same place that I, unfortunately, have to do service.’ ‘I’ve had that job since the beginning of the term!’ ‘And finally,’ she said, ‘you followed me to Fitch’s office. Pretty suspicious.’ ‘I didn’t follow you. I was here before you!’ ‘Yes,’ Melody said, ‘a convenient excuse. Just don’t show up outside my window at night, or I shall have to scream and throw something at you.’”—Page 94

I found Melody more annoying than charming. She did get better as the book went on and at the end I liked her but damn she was annoying.

“‘Professor Fitch is sitting right there,’ Joel said, pointing. ‘He can probably hear everything you’re saying.’ ‘Sure can,’ Fitch said, scribbling at a notebook.”—Page 98

I do love Fitch, though.

“The clerk tapped his cane against the ground. ‘Parents,’ he said. ‘The bane of every school’s existence.’”—Page 145

I love Exton.

Melody, are you really that dumb? Joel’s father died when he was eight, the same age you go in to be tested in you’re a Rithmatist.

“‘Of course I have,’ Joel said. ‘Government was…uh, the class I failed last year.’ Fitch sighed. ‘Such potential wasted.’ ‘It wasn’t interesting,’ Joel protested. ‘I mean, I want to learn about Rithmatics, not politics. Let’s be honest, when am I ever going to need to know historical government theories?’”—Page 214

Government is super fucking important! As a political science major I’m so offended by this, Joel! Take an interest in government so I can figure out what kind of system the United Isles has!

“We can’t afford to fight each other. Not again. The last time nearly doomed us all.”—Harding, Page 216

They fought before? So some sort of civil war? Also what’s the point of being called the United Isles? Is it more like European Union type thing?

I love the name Eventire.

So Rithmatics is all about intent, interesting.

The scene where the scribbler goes after Joel is so terrifying, I was waiting for him to discover that he had Rithmatic powers but he didn’t.

They arrested Exton but I didn’t believe he did it, he was too loveable.

I kind of figured that Joel wouldn’t become a Rithmatist but…damn that’s so heartbreaking.

Harding is the scribbler goddammit. I’m so sad, I really liked him. OH GOD AND SEEING THAT GIRL GET EATTEN BY THE CHALKINGS THAT HORRIBLE.

“No, I think I was wrong about him,”—Page 338

Oh, really Joel?

FUCK YEAH FITCH! Coming to the rescue and being an absolute bad ass!

And the crazy chalkings were actually the captured people. That’s insane.

I’m so confused at what’s going on with Nalizar.

“Yes, Fitch thought, I’m sure he’ll turn out to be an all right fellow, if we just give him enough time…”—Page 365

Oh Fitch…

So, we end with Melody and Joel kicking everyone’s ass and I’m so confused about Nalizar but Brandon better freaking publish the next book next year. This book was absolutely amazing, I wish I had started it sooner. It’s probably better than the Reckoners and more on par with some of his cosmere works.