BlackYeti

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

As stated above, this is actually a very popular theory, here's just a few examples if you want to see what people are saying about it:

44 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

No, I don't think that follows at all. We're dealing with magical items here, and while Brandon's magic has strict rules, the physical size of objects doesn't have to correlate to their "Investiture density" to coin a term. They may easily just be changing their density and shape, or any number of perfectly legitimate explanations. Until we know for sure, none of those ideas should be treated as fact, especially not when shooting down another person's theory.

So, let me see if I understand you correctly: are you saying that two equivalently sized beads of atium could be composed of two different quantities of Investiture?

Because I don't see how that would work, it's always been stated in the books that atium burns away fast, not that the burn rate is variable. Moreover, as it functions as a focus within the Metallic Arts, it must, therefore, have a consistent molecular structure (some kind of metallic lattice presumably), which would preclude the possibility of the density changing.

Now since each Radiant spren type is composed of a specific combination of Honour and Cultivation's Investiture, it makes sense that the Shardblade for each spren type is its own god metal, and, therefore, that god metal would have a consistent “Investiture density” regardless of what size it was summoned at.

And on the possibility of it changing shape: when Moash first picks up a Shardblade he comments on its weight, yet when Lift uses her Shardfork, it's apparently light enough for a teenage girl to wield without noticing it. Regardless of how it's shaped, a six-foot long sword is going to have more mass to it than a small fork, which is reflected in the weight.

I'll admit that there's a small amount of wiggle room, but all the evidence seems to point to this being how it works right now, which is a far cry from your claim that there's no reason to believe it. Unless, of course, I'm misunderstanding what you meant by "Investiture density", and there's something obvious that I'm not seeing (which I wouldn't put past myself ).

1 hour ago, Jondesu said:

That's...completely speculative and not backed up by anything I've seen. Please don't state it as fact. I'm strongly of the opinion that that simply isn't true at all, and we've never once had a WoB that there's any truth to that, nor a reason to believe that a larger blade has more Investiture manifesting than a smaller one.

But it surely has to be correct. 

If you have two objects that are comprised of the same "stuff" as each other, and one of those objects is larger than the other by mass, then it necessarily follows that one of those objects has more "stuff" in it than in the other. In the case of Shardblades, the "stuff" they are comprised of is solid physical Investiture, i.e. a god metal. Therefore the larger the Shardblade, the more Investiture must be manifested in order to form the blade.

29 minutes ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Was that from the bonus anniversary section? 

Yes.

So this post may be a little pedantic, but your early modern English grammar is a little wrong. Specifically, the word "shalt": as I understand it this can only be used if it is immediately followed by the word "not", i.e. if you are forbidding something. Otherwise the word "shall" should be used instead. So, "Thou shalt not kill" is correct, but "Thou shall not kill" is wrong. And similarly, "Thou shalt value novelty above all else" is wrong. It should be "Thou shall value novelty above all else".

Now, more on topic: if I remember the epilogue to The Way of Kings correctly, Hoid eventually settled not on novelty as the thing that people value the most, but instead on timeliness. He was using the discussion to point out that (the-man-who-may-or-may-not-be-but-almost-certainly-is) Taln had arrived late.

Also if I might suggest, an Eleventh Commandment could be added from Elantris: "Thou shall find beauty in the fact that there are secrets which remain unknown".

For a long time now, I've been very confused about the correct placement of the Chasm line in the Aons. The main reason for this is due to my attempt to ratify this WoB with the text (and the map) from the 10th Anniversary edition of Elantris.

Quote

DARNAM

Would you please draw Aon Aon with the chasm line, so we know where the calamity the chasm lines are?

BRANDON SANDERSON

I always imagined it right there. Um, and so if you finished it... but the strictures of the first book, I didn't quite know what I was doing yet, and I was trying to match a map that didn't quite match what I had in my head. I could do it so much better now. But, the problem is, it is kinda down here at the bottom of this, but where I described it....if you don't mind me putting in this... I described it right there in the book, and it needs to be up more.

After spending some time going over the relevant scene, and actually tracing Aon Rao over the map, I've come to the conclusion that the WoB has to be wrong.

The text states:

Quote

He stumbled toward a spot between Elantris and the ruins of Toa, the city on its southern side, feeling as much as seeing his way.
...
Raoden was still ahead of them, running in an unsteady gait pointed roughly toward the southern gate. 
“I don’t know,” Galladon said. Ahead, Raoden grabbed a long stick from the ground, then he started to run, dragging the length of wood behind him.
...
Raoden gritted his teeth, and finished his line in the dirt. Galladon’s large bulk crashed to the earth. Karata’s head knocked against the stone of the road leading from Elantris’s southern gate.

This clearly shows that the line is being drawn in a north-westerly direction, ending at the road leading southwards, just south of the southern gate. This is completely different from the WoB which appears to show it running north-easterly to the corner of Elantris' city wall. It does, however, match that which is depicted on the map.

Since I've been unable to find a correct depiction of the chasm line anywhere on the internet, I've taken the liberty of creating my own for both the base Aon Aon, and Aon Rao:

Note: in creating these I used @WeiryWriter's depiction of Aon Aon from the Coppermind since I found the dimensions were pretty much perfect. I didn't use his Aon Rao though since I found that the dimensions were a little off.

1 hour ago, mr42 said:

Could you spike nonhumans (Hordelings)?

I don't think he's ever been asked about hordelings specifically, but we do know that it is possible to spike non-humans.

Quote

OUTIS

Given that Investiture is Investiture, would there be potential Investiture of like, kandra to Parshendi using Hemalurgic spikes?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Hemalurgic spikes can be used on any planet.

OUTIS

Would it be potential for Parshendi to develop a form using the spikes?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Wow, that would be a really weird hack of the magic system that would be theoretically possible. But that's a really weird one. I had never even considered that one. Parshendi adopting other Investiture could happen, the spikes is not one I've considered.

source

And there's a brand new WoB as well:

Quote

Q: Can spren be pierced by hemalurgic spikes? Will it give some effect?

A: Yes. A spren can be pierced by invested metal…

Q: Could it be spiked?

A: Could a spike be used to give abilities to spren? It’s not going to work really well.

Q: Could you steal from a spren?

A: Yes you could steal the investiture of a spren. Any investiture can be used in a spike if you know what you’re doing. It’s actually not that hard to use one on a spren.

Q: Because I thought you said hemalurgy needs moving blood.

A: It needs, uh, yeah…there are places where spren have more physical form, more tangible form.

Q: The Cognitive Realm?

A: Yeah if you go to the Cognitive Realm on Roshar the spren act differently.

Q: So you could spike in the cognitive realm?

A: Yeah I’ll leave a RAFO with you on that. That’s your fifth one. So there are ways to get any investiture into hemalurgy if you know what you’re doing. But yeah this is not something that would be a common use for hemalurgy. Let’s just say that.

Q: We do not concern ourselves with common uses.

A: Yeah I know you don’t. But yeah hemalurgy, when you’re spiking into somebody you…you’ll see when we get around to it.

source

So, in short, I'd be amazed if you couldn't.

Edit: because I didn't see @Argent's response before posting. I don't think we know whether any of the Vessels were a dragon or not, however, we do know that not all were human.

Quote

QUESTION

Was Bavadin nonhuman?

BRANDON SANDERSON

RAFO. There is at least one Shard who wasn't human, but I'm not ready to reveal who was or wasn't just yet.

source

And as there are only three intelligent species on Yolen, it does seem like a good bet.

52 minutes ago, Ironeyes said:

MASSIVE info dump!

http://www.tor.com/2017/03/20/answering-the-questions-posed-by-that-oathbringer-cover/

I'd take all of that with a massive pinch heap of salt if I were you. It appears to be made up of speculation on the part of the author who doesn't seem to know any more about what's going on than we do.

For instance, they state that the Thunderclasts are Parshendi that have covered themselves in rock as armour. Yet Dalinar's vision of the Thunderclast in Words of Radiance showed them to be creatures made of rock that are animated by a type of spren.

And it speculates that it may not be possible to Soulcast anything with "material connected to a living soul", despite the fact that we see Jasnah do just that to the thugs in the Way of Kings.

Basically, I don't think that we can draw any new conclusions from it. 

48 minutes ago, Shal said:

whoops sorry, I was just guessing from what you have written here and must have got confused  as you can probably see, still new to the forum and the community @.@ everyone is so nice though!

Don't worry about it. I was just very keen to not inadvertently take credit for @Kanrei's work; that would have been seriously not cool. Everyone makes mistakes, though, so I wasn't so I wasn't trying to blame you.

When Brandon comes to Britain there's a good chance that I'll be reporting on it then, but Poland is sadly too far away for me to make the journey.

Also, I hadn't noticed your post count earlier, so let me belatedly say: welcome to the forums. 

35 minutes ago, ArborealEtymologist said:

-    Shin are OK with using/touching metal as long as it’s soulcast, so might they feel the same about stone?

I don't think the Shin revere metal the same way they do with stone. Rather it seems to me that they instead have a problem with mining metal since that destroys the stone which they do revere.

From the Way of Kings' Rysn interlude:

Quote

Vstim waved and some of the guards brought over a heavy crate. They set it down and pried off the top, revealing its peculiar contents. Pieces of scrap metal, mostly shaped like bits of shell, though some were formed like pieces of wood. It looked to Rysn like garbage that had—for some inexplicable reason—been Soulcast into metal.

“Ah,” Thresh said, squatting down to inspect the box. “Wonderful!”

“Not a bit of it was mined,” Vstim said. “No rocks were broken or smelted to get this metal, Thresh. It was Soulcast from shells, bark, or branches. I have a document sealed by five separate Thaylen notaries attesting to it.”

35 minutes ago, ArborealEtymologist said:

-    There must be no crem build-up.  Or at the very least there is no crem build-up on the upper part of the tower.

I'm pretty sure that there is crem build-up. It's why Dalinar had problems getting onto the roof of Urithiru.

From Chapter 89 of Words of Radiance:

Quote

The trapdoor refused to open, despite being unlocked. He’d oiled the parts. Why wasn’t it moving?

Crem, of course, he thought. He summoned his Shardblade and made a series of quick cuts around the trapdoor. Then, with an effort, he was able to force it to open. The ancient trapdoor swung upward and let him out onto the very top of the tower city.

17 minutes ago, Shal said:

also, on a completely unrelated note, my friend asked a question I don't think neither @Oversleep or @BlackYeti had written down as she was surprised when you asked me to repeat what Brandon had answered me (my question was the one about AonDor near the Shardpool). I get why, cause it was just for fun but still, I thought I'd share it.

I think you've got me confused with someone else: I wasn't at the event! 

You're right that I hadn't got it written down, but only insofar as I hadn't gotten any of the questions written down. So I was rather surprised to see myself mentioned there. (Unless of course, I have a doppelgänger. )

Anyway, good job with the question; as @Oversleep said, it's very much appreciated. 

I seem to recall having a discussion with @Pathfinder a few years ago regarding this very issue. Here we go:

I still maintain my position from that time: the forces would cancel each other out, leaving the Radiant weightless, unless they could lash different parts of the body in opposite directions. I find it interesting though that this appears to be the majority position this time around. 

28 minutes ago, maxal said:

This one, he mentions magic would heal hormonal imbalance so it got me thinking, would autism be considered as a "hormonal imbalance"?

I second @WeiryWriter's answer to this. Speaking as someone with Asperger's syndrome (a kind of high-functioning autism), I can say with certainty that it is a fundamental part of my identity: it's absolutely not something that I would want to be "cured" of, even if you were to pay me for it. At the end of the day, all it really means is that I think differently to how most people do, and that's not a bad thing.

28 minutes ago, maxal said:

It might be applied to Kaladin to as he is likely to wonder about his feelings towards Jasnah.

What on Roshar makes you think that Kaladin will have feelings towards Jasnah? They seem completely unsuited for each other. Jasnah is, A) too old for him, and B ) far too much of a traditional lighteyes for him to be interested, surely.

I agree completely with @Spoolofwhool here. In fact, I've created a graphic to try and illustrate this:

Dalinar occupies 8.7cm * 5.39cm ≈ 47cm².
Kaladin occupies 8.86cm * 7.67cm - 4.63cm * 2.89cm ≈ 54.5cm².
And Jasnah occupies 10.11cm * 4.96cm ≈ 50cm².

So I think it's clear: of the three, Kaladin is the most attention hungry! 

The only real difference between the covers then is the background, with the first two depicting the Shattered Plains, and the third a wall; and this comes down to the locations of the respective scenes.

I'd also point out that whilst all three characters are posed, out of all of them, only Jasnah is actually doing something constructive (repairing the wall so that the bad guys don't kill everyone).

In short, I don't think there's any issue with the cover whatsoever, and I don't think that it should have been done any differently (of course I may be biased since Jasnah is my favourite character).

On 2/28/2017 at 7:16 PM, Hawkido said:

Well see that is the problem, I am not trying to examine things that are alike.  I am counting Oranges on one planet and Apples on another. The powers are presented differently, used and passed on differently, and have completely different rules and laws.  Why would they be categorized the same?  I categorize my paints by hues and pigments, and my nuts and bolts by size and thread.  Why would i try to categorize my paints by size and thread?

Again, why would they be categorized the same. When none of them are.

The strange part about your response here is that, whilst you claim that the different magic systems all have different rules that need not be consistent with one another, you seem convinced that each system has its own unique number associated with it. You seem to be striving for consistency, whilst at the same time decrying the need for it.

Nevertheless, I felt that it was in a sense, very illuminating. It very neatly demonstrates why we seem to be disagreeing on so much: we don't seem to agree on the very fundamentals. The way I read this, your argument seems to be predicated on the following propositions:

1. The various magic systems of the Cosmere are unrelated to each other.
2. Each magic system in the Cosmere has a specific, distinct, and objectively correct classification schema associated with it.

If I understand you correctly, then that would mean that you also disagree with @The One Who Connects' response, since that is inconsistent with the above propositions.

On the first point, Brandon has said before that the magics of the Cosmere follow the same unified rules, therefore they can all be considered to be different aspects of the same magic system. Hence why I feel that we need to approach the various magics using the same logic: they are all following the same principles, even if it is not readily apparent.

And on the second point, let's start with the assumption that there is a single correct way of classifying each of the magics. You seem pretty adamant that there must be 30 magic systems on Roshar because that's what Brandon said that there were (which indeed he did). The problem then arises is that he has categorised them differently as well: sometimes he says that there are 30 magic systems, other times three magic systems. Sometimes he classifies the Old Magic as a  magic system, sometimes he says that it isn't a magic system.

This can be extended to other worlds' magic systems as well, with him saying that Allomancy could be classed as its own system, or each misting power could be classed as its own system. He's even said that all 3 Metallic Arts could be considered the same system. In short, therefore, it can't be true to say that there is only one correct way to classify each magic system

I'm putting relevant WoBs in the spoiler box to save space.

1 hour ago, skaa said:

Gavilar was proto-Radiant, wasn't he? What if he was unconsciously healing his brother back then, the same way Stump was healing orphans in Edgedancer?

Another thought: What if Dalinar was a Squire of Gavilar? That would give him access to Stormlight during his Blackthorn days, though to be honest I'm not even sure if Bondsmiths could have Squires.

 

 

 

Well, Bondsmiths don't have access to the surge of Progression: only Truthwatchers and Edgedancers do, therefore it would be impossible for Gavilar to heal Dalinar like the Stump did. Bondsmiths get Tension and Adhesion.

As for the possibility of Dalinar being a squire, I doubt it.

Spoilers for The Thrill

28 minutes ago, Sheridan_rd said:

Not out of thin air, the spikes would be made in the usual fashion.

Harmony is half Ruin after all, and change is part of that intent

 

 

 

 

Yet Harmony and the Kandra seem to be opposed to the use of Haemalurgy (or at least the creation of new spikes): just look at how they consider Spooks book. I was under the impression that they weren't creating new blessings because doing so would involve killing people.

Quote

AGATE (15 OCTOBER 2008)

I can guess two possible options for the Kandra.

1. God Sazed endowed the gift of presence on the now mistwraiths.

2. Some of the Kandra survived in the cave with the Terrisman and people of the city, along with the small mistwraiths, these are re-born with the spikes they pulled out during the resolution.

I can imagine too that some Kandra on assignment may have hidden in the shelters with the rest of humanity.

BRANDON SANDERSON (15 OCTOBER 2008)

The Kandra.

Yes, they live. The people were smart enough, eventually, to replace their spikes. (And there were a couple who were on assignment who made it to storage caches.)

However, there will likely never be any more of them, since Hemalurgy is required to make them. They are now some of the few people who can communicate directly with Sazed, who—like Ruin—can whisper to people most easily when they are connected to him via spikes. With some speculation, you can probably guess what kind of roles the Kandra will end up playing in future books.

KAIMIPONO

On a broader level, is hemalurgy officially dead, then? Or is it still extant in some Ruin-free (but still messy) form? (If it's gone, is there any imbalance since Preservation's magic power is kept and Ruin's isn't?)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Is Hemalurgy dead? No, not at all. It, like the other two powers, was not created by Ruin or Preservation, but by the natural state of the world and its interaction with the gods who created it. It still requires the same method of creation, but very few people are aware of how it works.

 

 

 

3

Brandon says here that it is the requirement of Haemalurgy that is the reason there won't be any more Kandra. Implying that if more people knew how to create the blessings there might be more of them. Naturally, Harmony must know how to create them, which implies that he would be unwilling to do so.

That WoB is, however, very old at this point, so it might not be that reliable. Nevertheless, I don't think it's something that Harmony would do.

30 minutes ago, Sheridan_rd said:

I didn't think of that.

Though a strong Copper Cloud would probably protect him from other Alcomancers, but I see why he wouldn't risk Ruin having a chance to control him.

 

 

I didn't consider a Coppercloud: I'm not sure whether a Kandra using one would protect them from being controlled or not, to the best of my knowledge it's never been tested. I can see why it might protect him, though. The problem with this from the Lord Ruler's perspective would, of course, be that he'd have to be using a Coppercloud 100% of the time, and this would preclude him from ever Soothing or Rioting anyone. And then what if one of those early Allomancers were to discover duralumin, then they could potentially breach the Coppercloud.

Another reason that the Lord Ruler might not have wanted to become a Kandra that's just occurred to me: he made every Feruchemist in existence (aside from himself of course) into a mistwraith or Kandra, and none of them retained their Feruchemical powers. He might have been able to find a way around this, of course, but it's possible that he couldn't have made himself into a Kandra and remained a Feruchemist.

27 minutes ago, Sheridan_rd said:

And I suspect the Mistwraith's are gone because otherwise Harmony could have "blessed" new Kandra

I don't think he could have: in order to make new Kandra you need Haemalurgic spikes, and I don't think that there's any way around creating new spikes that would avoid the stabby approach. During Brandon's Shadows of Self tour, I got the opportunity to ask him directly why they couldn't create new Kandra by spiking mistwraith with the spikes for dead Kandra. His response was that the main reason for this was mostly cultural: in other words, the Kandra don't like interacting with other Kandra's spikes. He did not say that they couldn't do this because there's no longer any mistwraith, or that there would be no need to do that because Harmony could just create new spikes out of thin air.

Of course, since The Bands of Mourning contained that passage, the evidence now does indeed point to the mistwraith having gone extinct, but I like the idea that there could be some hidden away somewhere.

By the way, please try not to double post. If there's something that you'd like to add after you've already posted, there is an edit button on your post which you can use. 

3 hours ago, Sheridan_rd said:

As far as I know Mistwraith's didn't survive the Catecande (of course I could be wrong) and have not been mentioned in Alloy of Law series.

I have wondered why the Lord Ruler didn't make himself a Kandra when he Ascended, thus eliminating the need to be dependent on Atium to store youth.

 

 

 

 

Actually, they have been mentioned in The Bands of Mourning, chapter 12:

Quote

Together they approached the glowing building: a small, thatched structure that had a few weathered mistwraith statues sticking up from its mossy yard. The statues—made in the form of skeletons with skin pulled tight across the skulls—were traditionally thought to ward away the real things, as mistwraiths could be very territorial. Marashi suspected the creatures could tell the difference between real and stone members of their species—but of course, scientists claimed that the mistwraiths hadn't even survived the Catacendre in the first place. So the question was probably moot.

 

This would suggest that you're correct in saying that they didn't survive. Of course, the scientists could be wrong, so who knows: they are at the very least, however, exceedingly rare.

As for the Lord Ruler not making himself into a Kandra: I'm guessing that it's to do with him not wanting Ruin or any strong Allomancer (of which there would have been more than a few in the early days of the Final Empire) to be able to take control of him.

And now there's this one too:

My browser is Google Chrome, and I'm using the Windows 10 OS.

1 hour ago, Hawkido said:

I count Roshar's magics as 30 as that is what is quoted.

There are only 16 viable allomantic metals, (again excluding godmetals) You cannot perform any of the magics of Scandrial without them.  On Roshar without one of the 30 bindings you cannot perform any of those magics, regardless of stormlight.

5

The problem here is that you're not comparing like with like.

If you want to say that there are 30 magic systems on Roshar, then that's a perfectly valid thing to do. But what it means is that you're not then considering Surgebinding to be a magic system: instead, you're either considering the individual Radiant Orders to be magic systems, or the individual Surges to be magic systems. If you then want to compare this with the Metallic Arts, however, this means that you can't consider Allomancy to be a magic system. Nor Feruchemy. Nor Haemalurgy. Instead, comparing like with like, you would have to consider pewter Allomancy to be its own magic system, the same with pewter Feruchemy and pewter Haemalurgy. The same is true for each metal in each of the Metallic Arts. This would mean that there are 48 magic systems on Scadrial as @Yata correctly pointed out.

If on the other hand, you want to view each of the Metallic Arts as its own magic system, that would mean that you would have to view Surgebinding (and Voidbinding and fabrials) as a single magic system, and so the number of magic systems on Roshar would total 3, not 30.

55 minutes ago, Hawkido said:

Ruin only has one power and it really isn't a power granted, but rather used.  It is the ability to steal (at a loss) another power, and that stolen power then atrophies into nothing over time.  Ruin doesn't care who uses this power as its use always serves Ruin's singular purpose every time it is practiced, ruin.

1

Again, Haemalurgy can be considered as either 1 or 16 powers. If you say that Haemalurgy is only one power then that means that Allomancy is also only one power. You need to compare like with like.

Another example of your not comparing like with your example of the first and tenth Heightening (at 50 and 50,000 Breaths respectively) as an illustration of 5 being important on Nalthis. Leaving aside the fact that no Heightening other than the seventh Heightening (5000 Breaths) is consistent with this pattern, you've previously pointed at Scadrial's magics being centred around base 2, and Roshar's being based centred base 10 as highlighting the significance of Preservation's and Honour's supposed numbers. Yet none of the numbers of Breaths needed to reach a Heightening is a power of 5. Indeed you seem to be giving a special significance to the number 10 here. The only thing that 50, 5000, and 50,000 have in common for your pattern is that they are each 5 multiplied by 10 one or more times. Why would the number 10 have any significance on a base 5 scale?

It's very easy for the human mind to see patterns in things, this is true even when there is no pattern there to see (for example just look at what people see in the number 42). This is why it's so important to be consistent in your comparisons, it will happen far less if you are.

Also, you've already been asked once in this thread not to double-post and you've continued to disregard that request. Please stop doing it: it's actually against the forum rules.

So this is really minor, but the last two times that I've quoted someone it's put a number at the bottom of the quote box when I've posted it.

It's impossible to edit the number out because the number is outside of the editable text field:

Moreover, when I've attempted to edit it out, it's duplicated the number:

Is there a way to avoid it doing this?

4 hours ago, bleeder said:

Now, on a slightly related note, what are we thinking about The Ring? My personal theory is that The Ring is Cultivation, the Cultivationspren's "Mother" as Honor is the Honorspren's "Father". Or perhaps a spren council of sorts led by Cultivation/Nightwatcher.

 

 

2

From Lift's Interlude in Words of Radiance:

Quote

"I wanted to pick a distinguished Iriali matron. A grandmother, an accomplished gardener. But no, the Ring said we should choose you. 'She has visited the Old Magic,' they said. 'Our mother has blessed her,' they said.

 

The Ring clearly referred to the Nightwatcher as their mother here. This should automatically rule out the Ring as being Cultivation. I'd guess that it's a council of some kind that has the authority to govern Cultivationspren. Whether it's made up entirely of Cultivationspren itself, only in part of Cultivationspren, or not at all of Cultivationspren, and whether or not it only has authority over Cultivationspren, or even whether it has authority over all Cultivationspren, I have no idea. ( I never thought I'd ever have that many instances of "Cultivationspren" in a single sentence. )

Given that Jasnah referred to the Cryptics as being like "the lighteyes of the Cognitive Realm", I wouldn't be surprised if they're involved in it somehow, but that's basically conjecture at this point.

27 minutes ago, Blackhoof said:

Also, they wouldn't really be risking the shards- Sleepless don't seem like they could use them, so a retainer can just collect the shards after death if necessary. The kingdom itself wont lose them.

1

1

Why do you think they couldn't use the Shards?

They're able to combine and take on a human-like form: with a head, torso, legs, feet, arms, hands, fingers, etc. What's to stop them putting Shardplate on in this form? Moreover, what's to stop them from leaving a swarm of their hoardlings outside the plate, thus combining the advantages of both the Shards and the swarm at the same time?

I don't know of any WoB saying that Cultivation betrayed Honour, but I did find this:

Quote

SEONID

"If Cultivation and Honor were romantically involved, why did Cultivation not help Honor against Odium?"

BRANDON SANDERSON

"She did."

Note that Brandon could be giving an Aes Sedai type answer here: she could have helped Honour against Odium, and then at some point stopped helping him, so this doesn't actually disprove your idea. However I'd be more inclined to take it at face value at this point.