What do you want to see in a Warbreaker sequel?

[Elite01]

I know that the warbreaker sequel has been talked about for a while and there is no current release date or timetable if/when we will get a sequel. I still would like to hear what y'all would want to see in a sequel. 

Here is what we know (according to coppermind) 

Would likely be called Nightblood

Would focus on Vasher, Vienna, and nightblood trying to stop Yessteel as he does new things with an improved version of ichor-alcohol blood. The coppermind says it could also include trying to create awakened shardblades and a second manywar. 

It would also give us more information on the origin of the Idrian royal family, Returned and would act as a bridge for why certain characters from Warbreaker show up in Stormlight.

 

What I would like to see

I can't remember where but I've heard the idea of a lifeless PoV character. It seems impossible but there were hints in the first book that some lifeless were more aware than others, such as Arsteel being more animated when he was fighting. It would be very interesting

I would want to see new ways to use Breaths including new commands. I would specifically want to see new ways Awakening can be used in combat because I feel like it doesn't really compare to Allomancy or Surgebinding when it comes to power. 

I would also want to see Vienna get better at Awakening because

Spoiler

we know she eventually makes her own awakened sword in Oathbringer

I also think it would be interesting to see a different kingdom besides Hallendran and how they view Breaths and Returned because outside of a few countries, we don't know much about Nalthis

Anyway, we don't have a lot to go off but what would y'all like to see in a warbreaker sequel? 

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, Elite01 said:

I can't remember where but I've heard the idea of a lifeless PoV character.

Warbreaker Annotations (ch 47):

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

Lightsong Sees the Lifeless and Takes Command of Them

They keep them in the dark. This is a bad idea. They don't realize it, but the Lifeless are far more aware than everyone assumes. Clod in this book is a foreshadowing of that, and there won't be much more about it in the rest of the novel. It's one of the focus points for the sequel, if I ever write it. (Which will actually have a Lifeless as a viewpoint character, if I can find a way to swing it.)

We also can expect more from Jewels and Tonk Fah (Annotation to Ch 57):

Spoiler

Brandon Sanderson

And by the way, we don't see Tonk Fah, Jewels, or Clod again in the book. They'll come back in the sequel. Without Denth's control, Tonks is off to start murdering and killing wantonly; by the next book, he'll have changed quite dramatically.

Jewels, on the other hand, is taking Arsteel (Clod) to his brother, who is a master of Lifeless Commands. (Yesteel invented ichor-alcohol.) She hopes to find a way to restore to Arsteel some of his memories and personality.

Other possible mentions:

Spoiler

Annotations to the Prologue

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

Vasher Awakens the Straw Figure

<snip>

Those two things—making the doll in the shape of a man and using a bit of his own body as a focus—are supposed to create instant resonance in the magic for those reading it. I think it works, too. Unfortunately, there's a problem with this, much like with the colors above. In later chapters, the characters are generally powerful enough with the magic that they don't have to make things in human shape or use pieces of their own body as a focus.

If I were to write a sequel to the book (and I just might—more on this later) I'd want to get back to these two aspects of the magic. Talk about them more, maybe have characters who have smaller quantities of Breath, and so need to use these tricks to make their Awakening more powerful.

Annotations to Ch 4

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

Other Notes

Yes, there are Returned in Idris. There are Returned everywhere in this world that there are people. (The name of this world is Nalthis, by the way. Mistborn takes place on a world called Scadrial, and Elantris on a world known as Sel. See the fun things you learn by reading annotations?)

I'd like someday to do a sequel to Warbreaker, in part because I want to show off all of the different ways people in Nalthis deal with the Returned. They're treated in very strange ways some places. For instance, just across the mountains there's a kingdom where when someone dies in a way that might be heroic, the corpse is immediately purchased by a nobleman hoping to hit the jackpot and get a Returned. You see, since Returned can heal people, keeping one around to act as an emergency insurance plan to restore your health is a great idea.

Annotations to Ch 22

Quote

Only Potential Heirs of Idris Have Royal Locks

This is true. It's not a matter of genetics, but lineage. That's a subtle distinction. Only the children of the person who ends up inheriting will have the Royal Locks. (Though there are a couple of notable exceptions to this, they won't show up in this book, as it will take another novel to explain why and how the Royal Locks really work. If I ever write a sequel, that should be in it.)

Annotations to Ch 22

Quote

Clod the Lifeless

<snip>

Another tidbit that never comes up is that Jewels was in love with Arsteel, which is the primary reason she joined Denth's team in the first place. Arsteel joined it because he wanted to try to redeem Denth; he felt that a reconciliation between Denth and Vasher was possible, and as a peacemaker, he thought he might be able to make it happen. As for why Vasher killed him . . . well, I'm afraid that's another story that will have to wait for the sequel.

Annotations to Ch 44 / 55

Quote

Siri and Susebron Talk about How the Next God King is Created

Siri's impulse here—that the next God King might not really be the son of the current one—is a good one. She's actually right, though there are a lot of other things in this conversation she's wrong about.

It is possible for a Returned to have a child. Vo, the First Returned, did it. The God King isn't special in that he can do it; any of the Returned could, but it requires some special knowledge that—I'm afraid—I'll have to keep secret until the sequel. Suffice it to say that the priests know how it is done.

***

Of course, there is a hint in the text about it—or at least a question. If they depended only on a Returned child taking Susebron's place, then why were they worried about Siri having sex with Susebron? They didn't need her to sleep with him unless they expected that sex to do something.

I'm sorry to leave this issue a mystery, and I'm even more sorry to not explain how Susebron can give away his Breaths. It's not important to this book, and so I felt that having Treledees give the explanation here would just bog things down. I'd rather wait until a sequel, where I detail the magic system in a more complete form, to give you these explanations.

Annotations to Ch 51

Quote

Nightblood and Vasher Interact as He Sneaks into the God King's Palace

Note that Nightblood is capable of more change than Vasher assumes. Vasher has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to Nightblood. He makes assumptions he wouldn't make regarding other people or elements of Awakening. It's hard for him to regard the sword without bias. If you want to know more about this, read the sequel. (Er, if I ever write it.) Which is tentatively named Nightblood.

Annotations to the Epilogue

Quote

Vasher Explains Some Things, but Leaves Some Things Hidden

I'm worried about leaving Vivenna's two questions unanswered. One is pretty obvious—how Vasher can hide how he looks—but the other is unintuitive. I wish I could explain better in the book, as I said above, but I decided in the end to just leave it hanging. It's a bit of a violation of Sanderson's First Law, but not a big one. The reason I feel I can get away with it is because Vasher didn't use his nature as a Returned to solve any problems. It is more a flavoring for his character than it is important to him getting out of danger or fixing things. He could have done everything he needed to in this book without being Returned. So I feel it's okay not to explain why he can be Returned and not die when he gives away his Breaths.

Can Vivenna change her appearance more? She can indeed. She could actually stoke that fragment of a divine Breath inside of her and start glowing like a Returned. She can't change her physical features to look like someone else, but she can change her age, her height (within reason), and her body shape (to an extent). It takes practice.

And yes, the scraggly miscreant is how Vasher sees himself. Not noble and Returned, which is part of how he suppresses his divine Breath.

Events in the second book may change that.

 

Most of what I really want to learn in a potential sequel was already mentioned in the annotations above, but I also hope we learn when/why Vasher left and if Nightblood travelled with him or not. 

[alder24]

I want to see all that was already mentioned, but I really want to have Nightblood creation explained in details, I want to know what was his name before Vasher named him Nightblood, the origins of the Five Scholars and why they knew they are siblings, and just a lot of cool, new Awakening in action. And a bit more about Endowment choosing new Returned.

SA spoilers:

Spoiler

Vivenna's sword creation, why they all split and came to Roshar, and how Nightblood get to Nightwatcher.

 

[Treamayne]

19 minutes ago, alder24 said:

SA spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

 how Nightblood get to Nightwatcher.

 

Well, to be fair (Spoilers):

Spoiler

We don't know for sure that she had Nightblood, only that she knew of the sword and was sure that she could procure it to give to Dalinar. OB Ch 114

Spoiler

The Nightwatcher’s tendrils dodged away from his face, like splayed fingers. She leaned back, pursing her lips.

Perhaps it is possessions you wish, she said. Spheres, gemstones. Shards. A Blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated. I can give it to you.

“Please,” Dalinar said, drawing in a ragged breath. “Tell me. Can I … can I ever be forgiven?”

"I can give it to you" seems to me like a classic Sanderson misdirection - making fans assume that Nightwatcher or Cultivation had Nightblood (at that time) - but could just mean they know Nightblood is on Roshar and can use Old Magic (or other means) to make sure Dalinar receives the sword. In fact, the way she uses "darkness" there (instead of black smoke, as it is described in every other SA instance so far) makes me think Nale already had it, but NW thought she could take it. 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Treamayne
SPAG

[trav]

I try not to have expectations of sequels.

Warbreaker is my favorite book so a sequel will most likely not live up to my expectations.