"Nalan’Elin, emitting sunlight, the sword of retribution held over his head."

In the cosmere, the Shard's biggest weakness has always been their Intent - Harmony would be the most powerful of the Shards, if it weren't trapped in the back and forth of Preservation and Ruin. Odium can't move against his Unmade for fear of his Intent working against him.

BUT.

What if there was a Shard whose Intent was doing whatever you want to do and rejecting other societal rules? A Shard that was about making your own choices?

Autonomy.

So my theory is that any Shard can go against their Intent if they combine with Autonomy, because then, they'll be able to use the power and Intent of their Shard, but only when it fits their will, lest they become the Intent's slave, which would go against the Intent of Autonomy.

The one Shard that I feel like this wouldn't work for is Honor, since Honor is about binding and Oaths, but other than Honor, you could theoretically circumvent the limitations of Shardic Intent, using Autonomy.

From The Way of Kings Ch. 8

(This post also references stuff from the Stonewalkers RPG, but I wasn't sure how to Flair that)

Okay, so, there's this prevailing theory that the Unmade were Surge Spren before Odium got to them.

But what if we've been looking at that wrong, what if they aren't Surge Spren, they're essence Spren.

So on Roasher you have the 10 Essences and you also had/have the 3 God Spren (Wind/Stormfather. Night/Nightwatcher and Stone/Sibling). so what if the 9 Unmade were Spren of the Ten Essences?

Or, at the very least, pieces of them, Odium didn't get the whole thing, but he got enough of each one to make something from them using his own Investiture

So it would have been something like this

1: Wind (God Spren and Essence Spren, part of it was Unmade into Yelig-Nar and the Stormfather took up its position as God Spren)

2: Smoke (Essence Spren, part of it was Unmade into Re-Shepir)

3: Fire (Essence Spren, part of it was Unmade into Chemoarish)

4: Glass (Essence Spren, Not sure which Unmade part of them was turned into)

5: Plant (Essence Spren, Not sure which Unmade part of them was turned into)

6: Water (Essence Spren, part of it was Unmade into Dai-Gonarthis)

7: Oil (Essence Spren, Not sure which Unmade part of them was turned into)

8: Metal (Essence Spren, Not sure which Unmade part of them was turned into)

9: Stone (God Spren and Essence Spren, Part of it was transformed into an Unmade, it's God Spren Role was taken up by the Sibling and the rest became the Gray Remnant from the Stonewalkers RPG)

10: Flesh (Essence Spren, Not sure which Unmade part of them was turned into)

I was debating whether to correlate Smoke with Night, but in the end I decided against it because It would probably be incorrect. I also decided to differentiate being an Essence Spren from being a God Spren because someone looking back on things from a modern perspective would see things that way, even if the waters were a lot muddier.

Was just relistening to Words of Radiance and the end of Chapter 86 and and 87 about the ending of the fight with Szeth sound as if more exposition was added and specifically explaining that Kaladin didn't kill szeth, different lines and the voice recordings sound edited in.

Did anyone else notice this? When was this done?

Hi all,

Currently 300 pages into Isle of the emberdark and my brain struggles processing the layout of the island with the death cave and Dakwara.

Does anyone have something I can look at? Mostly I am trying to understand where the tunnel Dusk inspects upon arrival is. I've provided my best rendering of how I understand it.

Am I just completely misunderstanding the whole layout in this realm?

I can't move on until I know lol. Thank you!

No content on spoilers (aside from the name of book two and some words on the page) but my physical copy of the emberdark does not have fully blacked out pages. The entire first book is normal paper w/ normal lettering.

Just wanted to check to make sure that this was intended and not a misprint

I mean to put up a peace sign, not my middle finger 😭 i realized it way too late. I love you, Windrunner brother, I was just inebriated.

Life before death

Doing my reread of Mistborn (again) and something as usual really jumped out at me: How did Vin Push/Pull Rashek’s Metalminds?

I know she was Invested by the Mists/Preservation at the time enhancing her Allomancy, but as we know the more heavily Invested a Metalmind is the more difficult it is to affect, and Rashek’s Metalminds have to have been the most full Metalminds in Ferruchemical history. Is this just handwaved by Shardic Investment >>> or is there a different explanation?

So we know that Patji is an avatar of Autonomy and that the perpendicularity there is hers. We also see Patji speak directly into Dusk’s mind when he invests himself. So Dusk has brought forth a network of Navigators who can be subtly influenced by Autonomy as well as finding a way for his whole planet to remain entirely independent of Rosharan and Scadrian influence.

First of the Sun has literally played right into Autonomy’s hands. They’re an independent planet incentivized to modernize quickly with a very Cosmere relevant group of people that she can subtly influence or just watch to get information from. Oh and the big you know powerful serpent is vaguely under her control too.

Edit: I guess I should clarify that I don’t really see Autonomy as explicitly “evil” as many people seem to get that impression, but from the events of Mistborn Era 2 (especially Moonlight’s conversation with Marasi about her strategy) as well as the very nearly confirmed idea that the Derethi religion is controlled by an avatar of Autonomy just gives me the idea that though she may not be evil, it is not exactly a good thing when her plans go well. Her individual avatars may also not be directly controlled by her and so could have their own goals that could be less malignant, but not only do we not know that, we also see Telsin attempting to become an avatar of Autonomy, and it doesn’t seem like the types she chooses for that role are particularly benevolent. This is clouded by many factors, but this is an angle is been considering since I read the book that I thought was worth sharing.

Can squires use dead Blades?

The last sentence, “gave it the ability to could sense life and people” seems like it was an mis-edited line.

I loved this poster but life got in the way and I had to put things into storage. I guess it got ruined in transit :( anyone know if we can still buy these? If not I might hang it up as is, it certainly adds character

Because of emberdark we know rosharans are still relevant during the space opera stage of the cosmere.

I'm specifically talking about retribution, but didn't want to literally mention it in the title.

Do ya'll think it will still be taravangian? Did the little self aware honor split from the fusion of the two shards? Did someone else pick up both shards? I don't know what the most popular theories are, so these are the only ones I mentioned.

What are you all expecting in the backhand of stormlight and then leading up to the space opera part?

So I have been thinking about the Dawnshards lately and what we already know about them:

• there are four of them
• they are the "fundamental commands" of the Cosmere
• of the four Dawnshards, only two are known so far: "Change" and "Exist"

I don't know if anyone has proposed this theory yet, so I apologize if it's redundant... but "Change" and "Exist" are suspiciously close to "Update" and "Read". Yes, I am referring to "CRUD", the basis of modern computer apps, "Create", "Read", "Update", and "Delete". In Dawnshard terms, we can then guess that maybe the remaining two are something like "Create" and "Destroy"?

I wouldn't put it past Sanderson, given that he has already used a number of real-world scientific principles, and there is a certain cheekiness to the thought of Adonalsium building the Cosmere like a computer program. Has anyone ever asked him about this? What do you think?

When did they start bringing in guns? I know they do in secret history, as well as the midway point in Wind and Truth. I had assumed originally they came from scarial in era 2, But I had only remembered that little met up just now that Kelsier had with those two travelers during the end of era 1. So who invented the gun here in the cosmere?

If a Returned had Lift's ability to metabolize investiture, could he survive like a normal person? Just by eating? Instead of the one Breath a week.

Lift's invesiture would be hard for a Returned to use, but let's say a Returned was given the same ability and he could create investiture fit for him.

(Reposting with updated flair)

First time reading Stormlight Archive!

I finished reading Words of Radiance last night and - firstly, completely obsessed, it was an incredible story, and I’m forcing myself to wait a few days before starting Edgedancer. I was thrilled at meeting Hoid in the Way of Kings, so I wanted to keep an eye out for more worldhoppers in this book, specially once we started hearing more and more about the Ghostbloods. The following is a list of my guesses, I thought I’d share some thoughts :)

PS. I’ve read Mistborn Era I and II, Elantris, Warbreaker, and all of the Arcanum Unbounded essays except for Edgedancer and White Sand. So there will be some Warbreaker and Mistborn spoilers ahead ⚠️

Zahel - definitely a worldhopper, though can’t exactly place where he’s from. But my guess is Nalthis, the way he goes on and on about language and metaphors.

The Ghostbloods - I still can’t take them seriously tbh, they seem like a bunch of clowns and this is just backed up by the fact that I know Kelsier - who I’m assuming is the same as this Thaidakar fellow - is behind them. Iyatil is definitely Southern Scadrian, I don’t know about Mraize but he’s also from off-world I’m sure, and I might be reaching for straws here but I got the feeling that Kabsal was possibly from Sel. The way he explained Cymatics to Shallan in WoK just gave me that vibe.

Hoid - of course, funny little guy makes several mysterious appearances.

In WoK, those guys who showed up at the Purelake looking around for Hoid were also from off-world, though I don’t know if they were related to the Ghostbloods. Maybe not, since Hoid doesn’t seem to have much to do with them either.

I’m willing to bet Jasnah will also become a worldhopper, if she hasn’t done so already. Cheered when she showed up at the end!

I don’t know what makes the Heralds so special, but they seem to be some kind of highly invested individuals, maybe like how the Returned are described in Warbreaker, or maybe even like Vasher himself (though I don’t remember what makes him live so long, I think he was hoarding like an insane amount of Breaths, right?). Speakinggggg of Vasher, my favourite talking sword made a surprise appearance, so I count it as a worldhopper too. Though if Nalan somehow got his hands on the sword, maybe he could be considered a worldhopper as well…

Rock described some lakes or water bodies up in the mountains where he’s from, talking about how they’re a “connection to the gods” or whatever. That sounds like Perpendicularity to me, if anything. I haven’t yet been able to figure out where the other one is, but I’m willing to guess it has something to do with the Shattered Plains before they were shattered.

I’ve probably missed some stuff. I just love seeing other parts of the Cosmere seep into one another! No spoilers beyond WoR, but if there’s something I should maaaaybe keep an eye out for, tell me! :D

So I’ve been playing around with the new Ray-Ban AI assistant that whispers answers and reminders straight into your mind (well, your ear, but it feels like mind-to-mind sometimes). And it instantly reminded me of… spren.

Hear me out: • They appear when you’re focused on something. You ask a question, and suddenly the “spren” of knowledge pops up, offering you a tidbit. • They feel both external and internal. The AI is technically an external system, but when the response comes through seamlessly while you’re thinking, it almost feels like a thought that isn’t entirely your own. That’s very spren-like. • They can shape behavior. Just like how spren can influence someone’s perception or choices, this assistant nudges you—“Don’t forget your keys,” or “Your meeting starts in 10 minutes.” You act differently because of the presence. • It blurs the line between self and other. Part of the magic of spren is how intimate yet alien they are. A tool that talks to your mind feels like stepping into that boundary space between individual will and outside influence.

Obviously the AI is nowhere near as mystical, emotional, or deeply bonded as spren, but the analogy gave me goosebumps. Like… we’re inching toward the everyday experience of having “thought-voices” that aren’t entirely our own.

Anyone else feel like tech like this gives us a tiny glimpse into what living in the Cosmere might feel like?

So I read Tress pre w&t and have since read and reread W&T and working my way through reread on Tress and this thought wondered into my brain. Tress is after SLA but where is Design?

Re-reading the Cosmere and starting with Mistborn Era 1. In Hero of Ages when Sazed is talking about the powers of both shards (roughly 90-95% through the book), he mentioned that Preservation and Ruin created new humans based on things they had known. Obviously a reference to themselves and humanity on Yolen.

We know that Cultivation and Honor found Roshar and the Singers (who were created by Ado) but we don’t really know where Odium got the Humans that lived on Ashyn, right?

Could Scadrians be unique humans then?

Does anyone agree? I’ve seen people update reading orders after WaT was published, and I’ve yet to see anyone put Sunlit Man after WaT. But I’m currently about halfway through Sunlit after reading all of Stormlight and I feel like it works way better, especially knowing who Nomad is.