AquaRegia

STORM it... now I want to go back and read every instance in every novel where someone swears a new Ideal and see if there's a Herald around, and, conversely, every scene with a Herald and correlate Radiants swearing Ideals. I don't have TIME for this! I have WORK to do LOL Nicely done, @Necessary Eagle !

No theory, just a few thoughts: 1) Highspren are the sentient spren of the Skybreaker order, and, of the ten, they are the ones we know the least about. We know almost nothing about their personalities, their motivations, their ideals - other than unwavering adherence to law. 2) The Recreance was, essentially, breaking the law. The Knights Radiant made Oaths, and chose (with the agreement of their spren, sure) to break those Oaths. It may be that the Skybreakers simply could not abide that; from their point of view, it was EVERYONE ELSE who were "traitors".

I feel bad that I have not responded to this amazing set of questions yet... and I STILL can't LOL. It's just too big a project, and we may need to learn more before we truly understand how awesome a given Interlude or set of Epilogues is. It will take me at least a week or two to go over all the material and make intelligent arguments for my choices. So kudos for a great topic, but I'm just not ready to dive in yet. One small clarification: I think we can be confident that this Interlude was, in fact, the first appearance of The Mink. Are we agreed?

I wish I knew more of the humans you do. Instead of seeming "human" and "real" to me, Adolin comes off as impossibly, SUPERHUMANLY caring and supportive, to the point where he's almost become a parody. At best, I can view him as an ideal... but I don't know a single real human who matches it. Don't get me wrong, I love the writing and I'm glad there are legitimately good characters in the series. But I hope we don't all start expecting our real-life loved ones to live up to the Adolin standard, because that's just not reasonable.

Say what, now? How do you figure that? The deal in question was (if I recall correctly, pending looking it up again - I don't have OB handy) "I use my Veden army to betray and attack Dalinar when you say, and in return you preserve the people of Kharbranth." Looks to me like Taravangian absolutely held up his end of the deal; he did EXACTLY what Odium told him to.

Another topic in where this question has been discussed at length: Short answer, the Testamentblade acts like any other "normal" (dead) Shardblade: is nowhere in the Physical realm until the wielder summons it.

From a narrative point of view (and I seem to be doing that a lot lately - mighty presumptuous of me to try to get into Brando Sando's head LOL) I think it's unlikely that Lirin becomes a Radiant. I feel like Kaladin has resolved his "father issues" to the point that Lirin is no longer needed as even a minor character... and we've got too many better characters to follow anyway. Besides, EVERYBODY can't end up as a Radiant. In the unlikely event it DOES happen, it will be mostly offscreen, as with so many other recent Radiants. From a Realmatic Theory point of view, though, it's certainly a possibility. We know that spren are more attracted to members of the same family (coughKholinscough), and to people who spend time together (Bridge Four). The only orders which have access to Regrowth are Edgedancers and Truthwatchers, so if his destiny is as a magical healer, it would have be one of those two... and from what we know about his personality, I don't see those ideals as a good fit. We also know there can only be THREE Bondsmiths, and two of those spots are taken, so, unlikely. There are WoBs, I believe, to the effect of "Bondsmith squires swore Oaths, KNOWING they would get no benefit from them." Skybreaker seems to fit best with his strong principles and rigid personality... but I don't see it happening.

Do we have any hard evidence of the actual amount of time Shallan was without a living spren bond? Is it possible that Pattern showed up the day after the bond to Testament was broken? I know SHALLAN feels like it was a long time between bonds... but she's clearly not a reliable witness. The first time someone SEES a spren does not necessarily coincide with the first ARRIVAL of the spren, as evidenced by Syl knowing about things Kaladin did weeks (months?) before he first sees her. We know the Cryptics, as a group, are watching Shallan closely; we know they decided as a group that she needed a spren bond; and we know they are willing to risk their lives to make it happen. I think we have to consider the possibility that Pattern was sent immediately (or very soon) after Testament became a deadeye.

So it is possible that the singers used axehounds, chulls, whitespines, even chasmfiends (as seen at the end of RoW) in their armies... that's pretty cool.

It's a very good question. I don't have any good answers, but it did remind me of something I noticed recently when rereading the very first scene of WoK: Kelek sees piles of bodies, some human, some not... and blood - red, orange, purple. OK, red = human, orange = singer. WHOSE PURPLE BLOOD WAS THAT? Apparently there was a 3rd species involved in the fighting immediately before the breaking of the Oathpact? One that, for Kelek, was unworthy of mention, yet has not been seen on Roshar since? Could that explain why humans could never finish off the singers?

My 2006 paperback says "Mistborn" in the cover. "Mistborn" on the spine. "Mistborn" on the top of every odd-numbered page. The only places the words "The Final Empire" appear is the copyright info and the title page, and who looks at that? At the very least, it's certainly a bit misleading. Kind of like how that film that was originally titled "Star Wars" eventually became "A New Hope". Oh, @tilionvevfet, welcome!

Well, I just joined (post-RoW) because my wife is getting tired me talking about nothing but the Cosmere and I needed another outlet. Does this mean people actually talk with their mouths instead of typing? Ugh, no thank you.

My wife will vouch for me deserving a place in this group.

Interesting ideas, I disagree with two specific parts: From a strictly "narrative" perspective, Brandon has spent 4 novels building a full backstory for Taravangian. I find it EXTREMELY unlikely that all that will go down the drain in book 5. Much more likely, to me, is that TOdium spends book 5 learning and growing, and heads into the back 5 as THE BIG BAD. Sja-Anat couldn't enlighten Radiant spren during the past 4000+ years simply because there weren't any around in the Physical realm. Once they started reappearing (only in the past 20 years, and in very small numbers), she began looking. There are WoBs noting that she is only interested in sentient spren who are WILLING to be changed, and that, so far, Truthwatcher spren have been the only willing ones.

@GroundPetrel this makes a ton of sense, thanks. Certainly depression and isolation feed each other in a vicious cycle for LOTS of folks. Q: Can one have SAD on a planet with no real seasons? LOL AMEN. Truer words were never spoken!

It's an interesting question. At this point, it would appear that he made a deal with himself... but if the "rules" of such deals are solid enough to bind Shards (or, at least, the consequences are real enough, even for Shards, to compel adherence), then I'd say he's still bound by the deal. Odium did say that breaking his word would allow Cultivation to kill him, and T later noted explicitly that he is still bound by the contract made with Dalinar. A related question: why would Taravangian WANT to abrogate the agreement? He's still himself, with the same personal motivations. I don't see any reason why he would want Kharbranth (i.e., his own family) to come to harm. I get that he's going to have some serious internal conflicts as the Intent of the Shard starts working on the personality of the Vessel (protect vs destroy, hatred vs compassion, action vs planning)... but in the specific case of Kharbranth, it seems like both interests align.

@Eri it's interesting you see Kaladin as an extrovert. My sweetie and I were discussing him and she sees him as an introvert who has learned how to "play a role", in this case, the military leader. I find I agree. I'm definitely more introverted, yet I was a successful high school teacher for many years; I was able to play the "role" of the high-energy people person in order to get my job done, even though it wasn't really who I was... and of course I was exhausted at the end of every day and needed serious alone time to recharge. I think the wedding party scene in RoW is illustrative: Adolin, the true extrovert, knows EVERYONE and enjoys learning everything about them. Kaladin, the introvert, knows all about the people under his command... but is unaware of who's getting married, or even that it was a wedding party. P.S.: I was today years old when I learned that "extravert" and "extrovert" are both acceptable spellings!

The answer to that question seems obvious to me: Cryptics are also called Liespren. They are drawn to lies. We've heard Pattern admiring - even worshipping - lies, dozens of times. And Shallan? Shallan has THE. BEST. LIES. Oh no!!! A beautiful hypothesis killed by an ugly fact? I think not. I think we HAVE to accept that Shallan is indeed still bonded to Testament as a deadeye Shardblade: At first, I was unsatisfied by the "Testament was elsewhere" explanation; Maya was ALWAYS with Adolin, every time he went to Shadesmar. But Ico, the Reacher captain in OB, does make that comment about deadeyes walking off the deck, wading through the ocean of spheres, trying to find the human that carries their corpse. And we were told that the Honorspren had been collecting and "caring" for deadeyes in Lasting Integrity, which is where Testament showed up. So I guess it's a possibility I can accept. I don't think there can be any question at this point that Shallan used Testament to kill both her mother and Tyn, and that she is now bonded to both Pattern (alive) and Testament (as a deadeye).

Thank you so much, EVERYONE, for all your fantastic responses! I laughed at many (especially the punches), and understand all of them. I you all! What I heard from @Eri was "Kaladin seems to have all the same problems I do... but he ends up as a rich, powerful, famous, popular superhero, and I'm still a piece of crem. What does that say about me?" I think that's an understandable feeling. But it's also possible to say "here's a person like me who made it... so maybe I can too." Sometimes attitude is everything.

Posting an opinion from another topic that seems relevant here: I have years of personal experience: someone in my life deals with both repression of childhood trauma and Dissociative Identity (I don't even like the term "disorder" here, it's an amazingly effective coping mechanism). Please try to be thoughtful and respectful. What you are saying can be taken as "it's uncomfortable for me to have to read about this VERY REAL thing that some people go through". It's fine to say "I'm uncomfortable," as long as you realize that doesn't give you the right to criticize or judge other people's experiences. I find it extremely inclusive and empowering to see "heroes" in fiction who are not only not perfect in every way, but struggle with REAL problems that have not been represented before in fantasy.

This feels right to me as well; it's about INTENT. I will not be surprised when, at some point in the future of the series, the TENTH LIGHT (no coincidence there) somehow provides the final solution to Roshar's conflicts: 1. Stormlight 2. Anti-stormlight 3. Lifelight 4. Anti-lifelight 5. Voidlight 6. Anti-voidlight 7. Siblinglight (S+L) 8. Warlight (S+V) 9. Somethinglight (L+V) 10. The TENTH LIGHT (S+L+V)

A. Welcome to the 17th Shard - glad you are here. B. I don't have any guesses as to whether this will happen... but it is a super cool idea. Conversely, if it DOES go down like this, I'm going to pissed off that you spoiled it for us LOL It is canon (somewhere, don't ask me where) that the Heralds did borrow each other's Honorblades sometimes. I don't recall if having two at once was specifically addressed.

I very much doubt TOdium will die in the next novel. What I see is BS giving a fully-fleshed-out backstory and motivation for what will be the Biggest Bad in the Cosmere for many books to come. Odium is now one of only two Shards (the other being Harmony) for which we have any direct knowledge of their Vessel as a human pre-Ascension. He's spent significant parts of 4 novels showing us Taravangian as a person... I just don't see that narrative work being thrown away so easily. Odium will not defeat Cultivation, nor will he be defeated by her... at least, not in book 5. They will work to find ways to deceive and manipulate each other, yes, but neither wants a direct confrontation. I see books 1-5 setting up TOdium as a fully-formed and terrifying adversary for books 6-10. I'm really wondering what ongoing effects we will see of Cultivation having touched Taravangian; does she still have a Connection to Odium's Vessel, and if so, what are some ways that might play out? I'd guess the boon/curse thing is no longer directly relevant, but she did have a hand in rewriting his spirit web... I believe that fact will become very important at some point.

No further factual information to add, just my feeling that no power in the Cosmere can prevent Sword-Nimi from waking up hungry soon enough.

I love this, thank you Lunu! This will be my very comforting headcanon (unless something better comes along). I can buy this. I've also seen speculation that Lift's communication abilities may stem from her Edgedancer oaths - "I will listen to those who have not been heard."