Cheese Ninja

Fixed. Other things: Also, it was probably discussed here, but somehow I never saw the theory that TLR was compounding Identity to do his mass Soothings/Riotings. Until I saw the question in the Q&A. It makes a lot of sense. I wonder if it's possible for a Shard to change their own body that his been "blended in". Could Sazed make himself non-Eunuch. Between all of Peter's and Brandon's past hints and earlier revisions, I'm not at all surprised about Hoid picking something up from the WoA. My question about souvenirs was based on it. And my personal assumption that Hoid has probably collected things from other worlds as well. Glad to know about Hoid's base now. Hemalurgy spikes often have negative mental effects on the people receiving them as well. So I don't think propagating knowledge through spikes with Copper feruchemical attributes would be very wise. Plus, it would require stealing the same bit of Spirit web multiple times, which we haven't seen any evidence for. And you couldn't use the same 2 spikes for everyone, because people wouldn't be able to use the Feruchemy/Allomancy without having the spikes. Which is where you suggest that they wouldn't need to, because if they could Compound the memories once, they'd keep them forever without the need of copperminds. Still, I think that even with Compounding, the memories will still fade at a normal, or even advanced rate due to the Compounding itself. So no one would be able to get perfect recall of all known information simply by being Spiked, Compounding, and then passing those Spikes on. Reusing the Spikes also might make the very act of Copper Feruchemy less effective, due to Hemalurgic Decay.

I think it's less that Ati and Leras could have been used for some purpose, and more that simply studying them would have furthered Szeth's or anyone else's understanding of the Cosmere races and physical DNA and Spiritwebs/sDNA a great deal. After all, they were probably Yolen natives and they had held their Shards for thousands of years. Everyone else native to Scadrial was influenced by their actions in the far past, which includes Sazed. EDIT: Accidentally wrote Szeth there, 5 letter S names with z in them.

I'm not too sure about that site's value as a source of information. They're working off the same information we are, after all. I was happy to see that someone else had the theory about the guy Kaladin killed being Shallan's brother. I wonder if he came up with it independently. He made it in March 2011, so before I put the whole theory up on here, but after I'd posted about that topic on timewastersguide, when that forum still worked. 1st I mentioned it expanded Also, it looks like there is some speculation that Shardblades with jewels in the pommel might be a different type of Shardblade, which I don't like personally, but is not an idea I've actually seen on here before. So I'll give them some credit for that.

Think maybe they all started out as Darkeyes? Besides the Knights Radiants whose eye color changed due to Stormlight usage. Assuming the in book characters are correct about Shardblades changing eye color. (We haven't seen proof of this yet, Szeth's eyes change, but they also change back to normal when he puts away his Shardblade, which seems different from most other Shardblades in the series.) Also, I think Spiritual DNA is completely independent from real DNA. It leaves its mark on the individual and their descendants, but it's not something visible by examining a genome. That may or may not have been part of the argument that Odium's Shard was making. In the real world there are 16 or so genes responsible for human eye color. Wiki - Eye Color Not sure how much of that applies here, but we are dealing with a magical aspect on top of that. Also, the blue color in human eyes is not a pigment, but rather a relative lack of pigment and light scattering in the same manner that gives the oceans and skies their blue appearance. Read the wiki article for more info. As far as DNA coding errors go, there's a few different types involving base pairs, but I got the impression that the space between genes isn't necessarily fixed. There's a lot of non-coding DNA on genomes. Again, not my area of expertise. some of mycoltbug's questions in the Q&A: RAFO Depends on the type of Shardblade. (You have seen three different kinds in TWoK.) For most, no. For some, most certainly. Yes. On the main topic of Odium's Shard's argument: If it's possible for non-native beings to use Shardblades, and if most Shardblades don't have ramifications for using them in a non-intended manner, then it's unlikely that Lighteyes are any better suited to Shardblades than Darkeyes. There's some wriggle room in Brandon's replies. I think it's most likely that modern day Lighteyes are the descendants of those Darkeyes who claimed the abandoned Shardblades after the Recreance. With their power, they became the leaders, and when Sunmaker destroyed the Hierocracy he made sure everyone learned it simply learned it as "The Lighteyes were selected by the Almight to lead." Which brings up the questions: What happened to the descendants of the Knights Radiant? Shouldn't their children have had light colored eyes as well?

Brandon's Q&A, response to whether Amaram knows. Amaram knows the answer to this thread. Kurkistan followed up with a "Was it Shallan's brother?" but as expected, that got RAFOed. Pay attention to Amaram's reaction when he meets Shallan in the next book. (Not a guaranteed event, but likely since it's Shallan's book and they'll both be coming to the Shattered Plains.) He may even warn Jasnah that he suspects members of House Davar to be Ghostbloods and likely assassins. If Amaram isn't preoccupied with other things on his mind with Kaladin about...

Turns out: "Yes" I didn't ask the follow up about whether Yesteel had a Returned baby mill for producing Divine Breaths or whether they could be transferred without being used, because I'm pretty sure that would have been: "Interesting theory, RAFO."

I asked if Amaram ever found out who it was. (Along with 6 other short questions... I went a bit overboard.) Brandon hasn't written anything about being done with the Q&A, so as long as he decides to finish answering them, there's hope. There's still 4 more people with questions before mine. Kurkistan followed up with a "Was it Shallan's brother?", but I think that's a guaranteed RAFO. I don't think the Ghostbloods are necessarily evil, and I'm sure they don't see themselves that way. Almost everyone in the series is using a "for the greater good" mentality. Taravangian liked a lot of the people he had Szeth kill, he just thinks that more effective leadership for the troubling times ahead can be achieved by killing off current leaders. (I think Taravangian is Restares, by the way.) Thaidakar and the Ghostbloods might even have the same exact goal, but consider themselves the better choice for leadership. The other question is where the loyalties of all the Houses are? Amaram is considered to be loyal to Sadeas, but he used Restares as his guiding moral judgement when deciding what to do about Kaladin and the Shards. Gavilar considers Sadeas and Restares separately from each other and Thaidakar as Szeth's masters when he's dying, so it's unlikely that they are closely allied, if they are allied at all.

I think the same: 1. Honorblades (extra powerful, disappear upon death of wielder) 2. Normal Shardblades (6 foot single edges, materializes upon death of wielder) 3. Szeth's Shardblade (shorter, double edged, possibly even the source of his Windrunner abilities) If typical Shardblades really do change the eye color of the wielder permanently to a lighter one, maybe they alter spiritual DNA? The other part of Brandon's reply indicated that some of the types of Shardblade had repercussions for incorrect usage, which is interesting. Also RAFOs on the what happens if a Shardblade tries to cut Awakened materials... When will we be reading about that I wonder?

This is actually a pretty neat theory. It seems like it might also tie into who the Lighteyes are descended from and why they ended up as the leaders. Dalinar's vision of the Recreance indicates that eye color didn't seem to matter back then.

I should have been more specific. That first battle takes place well before the events we see where Kaladin is a slave. It's several months after that we see him being transported to the Shattered Plains. Judging from the number of visions Dalinar has (the number of highstorms), the rest of the book takes place over just one or two months.

Thank you for answering some of our questions. For the modern day Mistborn trilogy, have you decided on whether the Nicrosil Misting main character will be male or female yet? I haven't seen you mention it anywhere. Did Amaram ever find out who the Shardbearer that Kaladin killed was? Nightwatcher's curses all appear to be neurological in effect, are the boons limited in any particular manner? Is it hypothetically possible to Awaken an object using a Divine Breath? If a character bears multiple Shardblades, can they summon them all in the same 10 heartbeat span, or does each Shardblade require a separate summoning? Dying doesn't count. Does Hoid have a safety-deposit box somewhere, or does he carry all his souvenirs with him? Do you ever plan to continue "I Hate Dragons"? I have a theory that Skip does not have a separate knack to make him smell delicious to dragons, but rather that he is high in levels of human magical potential, which the dragons need in their diet.

I don't remember anything about the length of years ever being RAFO. (Read and Find Out) It's been known almost since publishing that years are 500 days, Each day has 20 hours, each hour is slightly shorter than an Earth hour. The overall year is something like 1.1 Earth years. If you look around the forum there is an explanation of how to read the dates in these epigraphs. It's [month(out of 10) - week(out of 10)- day(out of 5)]. So a thousand days would cover exactly two years. The thing I'm not sure about is exactly what dates the events in Way of Kings take place on. (not counting flashbacks) Seems to be a couple of months out of 1173. It should all be in the Dates thread that I linked to earlier:

I assume that some of the secret societies on Roshar have a few of the hundreds of missing/hidden Shardblades/Plate: Ghostbloods among them. In Dalinar's vision of the Recreance there were hundreds from just two Orders of Knights Radiant. I think currently only around 80 Blades are known to the modern day individuals, I can't find the exact quote.

As for point 2: Tanavast/Honor existed as his own being at the same time as the Heralds. I don't think he died until some time after the Recreance. I think the Heralds have been around since the first Desolations. Tanavast probably Splintered himself to Invest into the Nahel-bond spren, Honorblades, and the Heralds, that certainly seems likely. As for normal Shardblades and Shardplate, Syl's dislike of Dalinar's Blade is used by a lot of people to argue that the Blades either aren't entirely of Honor, or have somehow been corrupted. It's not clear if Odium splintered Honor's shard the rest of the way after killing Tanavast, but it also seems likely.

Hoid's Real Name thread. It could be that the person Midius was was changed by some event in the Liar of Partinel. And that he took up the name Hoid after said event. (the Shattering?) Or maybe Peter means that the Liar of Partinel sample chapters are so much of a rough draft that we can't really count on them for an accurate characterization/naming of Midius. If Hoid held Adonalsium's power for any length of time, that might also explain his immortality. That might make him some sort of super-Sliver. Or he may have gotten the immortality and his abilities from other facets of Brandon's magic systems. I wonder if we'll actually see the extent of his abilities in the Stormlight Archive, or if we will have to wait for an even more Cosmere-centric book.

I feel like at least a few of them allude to events that will be happening in later books. The bridge leap one is pretty clear. The only point of debate for that is whether the Parshendi could be included in his 'friends'. The one about Shalash is also pretty clear, except the bit about "daughter of kings and winds". Instead of forcing the rest that describe events to approximately fit events in Way of Kings, I think we just haven't seen what they are referring to yet.

I mentioned this in the Dates thread, but the one about Kaladin's bridge leap is the only one out of chronological order. [7-2-2] The next chapter's quote is on [7-2-1]. Also, the first death quote "It is but a thousand days, and the Everstorm comes." takes place on [6-5-1] of 1171. This one and all the ones after it take place more than a thousand days after. So either the 1000 days is not exact, or the Everstorm is more of a metaphor than Tanavast's vision to Dalinar made it seem. Seems like it could be any Radiant to me, it's just the reverse of the 1st Ideal. Last time epigraphs were discussed. I have a slightly convoluted theory about this. The only pits we have at this point is the dueling pits, so I'm going to assume that in this instance, "pit" means chasm. If anyone falls into the chasms on the Shattered Plains, they're assumed dead, but if Kaladin works on his Windrunners abilities a bit, he should be able to keep himself and another guy alive if they fall in. And if they come out with a "heart" (gemheart) I think they'd get a lot of glory.

You can find the Liar of Partinel sample chapters online. In it, Midius's master Hoid dies, and Midius travels to a nearby town. The eventual shape of the book will certainly be different when it's actually revisited/completed, but that portion and Lightweaving will almost certainly remain. Hoid's "should have loved" comment is a measure of respect for the man who taught and helped him when he was Midius. The people on here who have read Dragonsteel (takes place something like a thousand years after Liar of Partinel) seem to think that the recipient of the Letter is one of the dragons. Since I can't remember if I've seen it mentioned elsewhere, do Liar of Partinel and Dragonsteel take place on the same planet? Edit: Yes, they do, on Yolen.

It's not stated explicitly, but the only times the word "shear" is used in Way of Kings is when describing about Shardblades cutting things, and also when Shallan was thinking about how the Soulcaster was broken. It's possible that it was destroyed by conventional forces, but I really think that if "sheared" is used then it is evidence of a Shardblade's involvement.

Is anyone else curious about whether every instance of Soulcasting will require a trip to Shadesmar by Shallan? Shallan observes Jasnah Soulcasting in an absentminded manner which would argue against Jasnah making the trip to Shadesmar for something like a paperweight or running out of ink. There must be a way to make shortcuts when it comes to Surgebinding Soulcasting. Also, since Ardents know of Shadesmar, do they sometimes make the trip themselves when using the Soulcaster fabrials? Also, I see this topic has once again become about her father's death. It'll be nice when the next book comes out and our lack of information doesn't hobble us quite so much. I think we've exhausted almost all the possible scenarios at this point, from self-defense, to defending her brother, to an accident, to a third party's involvement. We have the contrasting evidence of a Shardblade-sheared Soulcaster found in an interior coat pocket and a Memory of a bloody corpse. The solutions we've come up with are bloody post-death Shardblade wounds (when it is capable of slicing flesh), the Shardblade cutting the Soulcaster after her father's death by a non-magical weapon, or a third party involved in the conflict. And we know that her brother got pretty badly injured, and now has a limp. His PoV didn't mention the Shardblade at all, so either he's avoiding the topic himself or he just doesn't know about it. He doesn't seem to blame Shallan for their father's death, but whether through ignorance or justification we don't know.

I made this same point a little while after Alloy of Law came out. Basically, if someone was Compounding Investiture, if at some point the majority amount of Shardage was in their control, would the Shard automatically transfer over to them? (Example: 25% of a Shard is Invested in various things and people, the Shard holds 37% of itself, the Compounder holds 38% of Shard Investiture. Since at that point the Compounder has more Investiture than the Shard, the Shard's ownership switches over to them.) I think the most common reply I got was along the lines of "that would be too easy". My own argument against it is that it would probably require consuming and compounding prohibitive amounts of Nicrosil metalminds (possibly tons) and just to fill up an even larger Nicrosil metalmind that would then have to be Tapped to hold the requisite amount of Shard. And even then, I'm not sure that would work, but it is an interesting question. The control system for a Shard might be a separate discrete part of the Shard from holding the majority of the Shard's Investiture. But I think that if you have access to other Cosmere magic systems you might be able to cheat the system in even greater ways than just Compounding. Basically, it ties back into the theory that Hoid is reconstructing Adonalsium by gathering Splinters of various Shards.

Perhaps it was at first, but there are mechanisms in place that Sazed could Invest into. The Mists, spontaneously generating Atium/Lerasium, Investing in various things that people wouldn't even notice, either in pure forms or into living things or objects. He might not even need to be holding perfectly equal amounts of each Shard, as long as they're somewhat close to each other. After all, if he's Harmony, he's naturally disposed to balancing the two Shards, so I don't think he's going to tilt too much one way or the other.

Source for Cultivation is Splintered? Or that spren are Splinters of Cultivation? Also, perhaps the reason Vin was able to move the planet as Preservation was because the planet was already part of Preservation and Ruin? It might be that random planets or planets belonging to other Shards aren't so easy to affect. And there's the whole thing with it being difficult to act in a manner cross-purposes to the Intent of the Shard. Vin didn't completely attune to Preservation, which probably made changing the planet's orbit easier than if she had attuned. Still, the Intent shouldn't be a problem except in a case where the Shard is acting against it. If Ruin had wanted to move the planet into the Sun, would it have been easier for him? Also, they may be considered gods, and extremely broad in the scope of their powers, but they're still just fragments of the whole. What we perceive in the books as inactivity on their parts might not be inactivity at all. We have no PoV from them besides the bits at the end of HoA. We're told that Preservation and Ruin struggled against each other for quite some time. Alternate view: If you ever play a videogame in God Mode, you might find that too much hands on involvement gets boring, sometimes it really is better just to watch and see what happens.

Lightflame isn't saying that Adonalsium is reconstructed in Alloy of Law. He's simply saying that the reason we didn't see Hoid in AoL was because there were no Slivers/Splinters for him to collect there. Which is incorrect because Hoid does show up very briefly at the wedding. And we really aren't sure what would happen to the magic systems if Adonalsium is reconstructed. It may steal back all the Invested Sharditude, it may not. If magic can be used outside of the world it originates on, it's possible that magic systems will function even if the Shard moves away.

Seems like the Nightmother was combined with the Stone Warden's religion in the WoK Prime, or something like that. That's odd. He still knows his Oathstone (Bondstone) on sight, and there's no indication here that it has magical properties either. I agree with the other statements in this thread about Brandon being a much better writer now.