Aminar

I feel like Joel and David don't really fit the criteria. They're dedicated scholars, highly intelligent, and a little socially awkward. They fit that characterization, which can be Istaken for autism, even in the real world, but has distinctive differences involved in development and their childhood. If they were autistic we would have seen some form of sensory issue to go with their other conditions.

Deus Ex Machina isn't necessarily a bad thing. Moreover having deific powers in your universe isn't Deus Ex Machina. Or rather it is, but in tis original intent, where in the Greek plays Deities as characters would step in and alter the situation. That]'s how its supposed to be done. The more modern definition seen as negative is when a writer seeminglyls the solution out of nowhere/their rear end. Situations where previously unintroduced characters or abilities appear without even a namedrop earlier. Brandon makes it very clear throughout his works that some things are mysteries, and then will use that mystery to end the series. Shard physics is a part of his world. He has to show it somewhere, he spent three books This post has been reported for attempting to skirt the rules untold pages of prophecy about the Scadralian interpretation of Shards(deities, TLR, Ruin/Preservation appearing in religions Sazed studies, etc) setting up for the introduction of Vin taking up Godlike powers. That isn't Deus Ex Machina. It's foreshadowed from start to finish.(Except by defintion one, but even then, it's forshadowed fantastically.)

Ignorance in its use and a flawed power source. It seems highly unlikely that post-recreance the way to make Plate and Blade would be lost and unreported, as records from that time still exist in relatively decent levels. If anything the Recreance is what destroyed much of moder knowledge of the previous desolation on Roshar. There would, minimum, be mentions of the fact smiths could still make it. Instead it feels like the knowledge was lost with the Radiants. It's clearly the implication if nothing else.

That isn't wrath then. It falls into the spirit of competition, something most people associate with the Thrill, at least given Sadeas's comments. It's a desire to win, to conquer, to be challenged. (For reference this isn't completely a Roshar specific thing. It's built atop natural inclinations that anyone with normal male Tesotsterone levels and a healthy dopamine addiction will get from life threatening situations, fights, and the like.) There is clearly something extra about the Thrill on Roshar, but the first time I read the book I assumed it was a cultural thing, because I've felt the Thrill. I understand it. Assuming Brandon based it on the feeling I'm thinking of, it wouldn't have much to do with Anger to begin with, as angry fighters tend to be stupid fighters(tough as hell, but stupid.)

Assuming of course, that she didn't subconciously maintain norms through her near omnipotence. There are few immediate consequences to what she does as a shard, but many long term ones, suggesting that intent matters in the immediate function of the action she takes(allowing her to manage said subconcious interventions.)

That feels very much like internal monologue. Kaladin's concious if you will. Of course, that's Occam's Razoring things, a principal I find sketchy in fictional works, but that's the impresion I got.

This feels off. We know that the last desolation was 4500 years ago or so. We know that almost no written works from that time period exist. The radiants existed then, the Heralds mentioned them in conversation. At the time of the desolation nohadon experienced he had not yet written The Way of Kings, so I'm inclined to believe that while the Radiant's used The Way of Kings, they predate it.

Remember that they have to stick to the coast, take frequent breaks for the highstorms, and stop in port after port, search for Jasnah, and conduct business. That gives them maybe 3 months of sailing time, and a long meandering route, not a straight line.

Like I said, not sure why. Probably because it felt like that was how Szeth got his blade, which he refers to as profane in comparison to most blades. And a lot can change in 4500 years. It makes a form of sense that the people were pushed all the way to Shinovar for the last battle asas well, and war does tend to destroy things. Plus the people who lived nearest the fighting are the most likely to loathe violence.

Turning down the Shardblade seems likely as a test.

All the Alethi Nobility are misguided. Most used Sadeas's bridges, which are a far worse offense than anything Amaram has done. Amaram gave in to the system, giving up his honor at some point. With the philosophies of his commander(Sadeas) can you blame him? I think we're going to see a wonderful character arc of apology, repentance, and eventual friendship here. Very similar to what Szeth will have to go through, but less severe. Remember, these books are about uniting before a common foe, not the constant backstabbing for power. Dalinar isn't Ned Stark. That's not the style we're going to see.

That's not Amaram, that's military pragmatism in the setting. The same tactic was used by most medieval battlefields not made up of purely trained forces. Give the peasantry/conscripts spears, throw them in front, and once the numbers go down some get in there and fight. Most people wouldn't even see the tactic as dishonorable at the time. It was just how war was done, and good writing onBrandon's part to show it.

That depends. how many times did she cut him? He was an angry abusive man. If he scared her enough she might have diced him up pretty bad even after killing him, which would have cut him up like slabs of meat and left blood everywhere. If nothing else, the Soulcaster was cut in multiple spots, suggesting more than one cut.

He did, but I think that might have had something to do with Navani and his apparently regular drinking from the time period, not a berserker thrill.

And Shards give a distinctly huge amount of social mobility. You're immediately the best warrior in a dudes army, giving you rank, prestige, and wealth. Meanwhile becoming a surgebinder is going to cause mistrust and confusion in most places, at least during the time period the book is in now. At the moment I'm pretty sure Amaram is much happier with his choice. Later in the series, we'll see. But I think Kaladin learning more about Amaram, and understanding that Light Eyes are just people too, would be much better for his character arc than going straight to revenge.

That depends on if you think Surgebinding is not nearly as useful as being a shardbearer. That and I don't think Syl would have gone for him anyways. Kal has been something beyond Amaram for some time now, in that he's never been nearly as restrained by politics, supplies, and the like as Amaram, so he had the freedom to walk his own path without endangering hundreds to thousands of lives. Kal got to show real honor. Amaram got to be trapped in bureaucracy by his position.(This is the advantage of being the little guy on the team.)

Among other people, haven't both honor and Jezrian been called Stormfather at some point?

I don't know about that. I mean, I know some people that really hate eachother, are in constant conflict, and still do and like the same things. I think that any Spren looking for a way to communicate is going to see whispering as an option, and it isn't like the whispering wind-spren were being cryptic or deceptive. (Moreover wind and whisper go hand in hand descriptively.)

I think the conflict with the Ghostbloods is a big part of what Amaram had for his betrayal. He's expressed awareness of them, something very few characters have done(Shallan's family, Jasnah, Amaram and Gavilar). Even Dalinar hasn't acknowledged their existence. If Amaram is heavily invested in dealing with them and they're willing to send Shardbearers against him he might every well need not only the plate and blade to survive, but the reputation of a man who killed a shardbearer without Plate and blade.(Speaking of which, I've seen a distinctive lack of Ghostblood theorizing on this forum... Personally I think the Surgebinder hunters are related, but I can't say for sure because they appear to follow the laws of the land better than the Ghostbloods have.) Moreover, his fight with them is seemingly important given their sinister choices, such as putting a savage, seemingly abusive and violent man like Shallan's father on the throne.

Well, Syl does grant a certain level of relation with Air-pressure. I think we could probably learn about what Spren are associated with what orders by looking at the surges. Or at least make sense of them. For instance, Cryptics are apparently associated with soulcasting and Illusion(/Visual arts). We can reasonably assume that Truthspren are related to illusions. We'd need to know more about Jasnah's Spren to work out more on Transformation. All in all it feels like there are Spren Heirarchies, with Nahel-Spren(Spren capable of bonding) at the top and more obviously defined spren(flame, glory, death, wind, etc) lower down.

She's the only one that left initially. That was some time ago now, approaching a year. Perhaps more followed or have seen what she's done. That said, I don't think an Honorspren would have been whispering to Dalinar. They seem to mature over the course of time, starting out disoriented and incapable of speech. As time goes on they learn through the bond and through conversations with their human(/possibly listener.) If an honorspren were whispering to Dalinar he'd have probably noticed it by now.

It would make sense if the first prologue took place in what is now Shinovar, something I've believed for quite a long time, and I don't know exactly why other than it's an impression I've had since my first readthrough.

I feel like those intents would be hard to balnce.Hate/Be hated. Destroy. Preserve. The only character we've seen do all of thoser was the Serial Killer from the beginning of Alloy. He loathed everything, killed people, and turned them into art. A shard with the motivation to stagnate the universe through destruction is a little superterrifying.

http://books.google.com/books?id=LN_a49HEpmwC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=You+used+to+be+vibrant+Syl+Kaladin&source=bl&ots=x8uTh1ilwt&sig=7D8BH5UXVF0xxv2fyCQ5lZeADpg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=41D0UuW_IYnlyQHdm4CoDg&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA The section I posted above suggests squad leader days, when "everyone looks up to him, even some lighteyes"(paraphrased) Syl starts showing herself in the carts, but was attracted by his honorable behavior.

Issue being that all Rosharian life has been fundamentally designed around Highstorms. That means that they've been around for a long long long time. I think Honor can only show visions from when he was alive, all of which take place in a time with Greatstorm adapted life. Now, we know they represent one of the shards, but they almost seem to be a combination of cultivation and Odium. They are powerful, destructive, and have shaped(cultivated) all life on the planet not in Shinovar.