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CapnAndy posted:So there you go, there's your answer. That is awesome. Thanks for taking the time to write all this out.
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Aug 25, 2023 03:07
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See - it's just like I said. Gandalf is Goku.
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Aug 25, 2023 03:35
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Goku is a Gandolf. Jasnah is a Gandolf. Jasnah is a Goku. Goku doesn't understand romance... it all makes sense.
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Aug 25, 2023 03:42
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CapnAndy posted:Five Maiar are sent to the mortal world. These five are forbidden from attempting to match Sauron strength against strength. They're there only as advisors and guides, to support the mortals and offer good advice. And to drive this home, their powers are strictly limited and they're in the flesh of old men and locked to those bodies, when normally they can put on and take off physical forms like clothing. These are the Istari -- the wizards. And they're not all given the same power set, either. They're given what they're going to need. Saruman, as their leader, is the most powerful of them. That's the origin of Gandalf the Grey. He can do some magic, he knows some stuff, he has his nature as a wanderer and lover of forgotten things and peoples. There’s also Radagast (spelling?) who basically just talks to animals and plays a very minor role in the story as a messenger who sends the eagles to rescue Gandalf from being trapped by Saruman. The two other Maiar wizards are so irrelevant that they don’t even get names in the original trilogy. IIRC, the later established canon is that they gave up their mission and just hosed off to distant lands.
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Aug 25, 2023 03:52
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MagusofStars posted:Two are Gandalf and Saruman. One’s blue
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Aug 25, 2023 04:30
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They're both blue actually  Tolkien couldn't ever figure out anything about them apart from that, though.
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Aug 25, 2023 04:47
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Everyone loved Allatar and Pallando, especially Christopher Lee.
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Aug 25, 2023 08:02
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CapnAndy posted:So there you go, there's your answer. And as a bonus, you learned that Gandalf, Saruman, Sauron, and the Balrog were all the same species! Okay, technically I never mentioned the Balrog, so... surprise! Balrogs were Maiar too. The Sun is also a Maia! Or, rather, the Sun is a magical UFO made of glowing fruit, piloted by a Maia of flame who resisted the corruption that turned her brothers into Balrogs.
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Aug 25, 2023 08:12
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Anshu posted:The Sun is also a Maia! Or, rather, the Sun is a magical UFO made of glowing fruit, piloted by a Maia of flame who resisted the corruption that turned her brothers into Balrogs. 
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Aug 25, 2023 08:14
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CapnAndy posted:Now tell ‘em why eclipses happen The Maia who pilots the Moon-UFO (made from a glowing flower) is a) kind of a flake, which is why the lunar cycle doesn't neatly match up with anything, and b) in love with Arien, the Sun-pilot (who is blazing hot in every sense of the phrase). Soevery so often, when both are in the sky at the same time, he flies the Moon right up next to her and blocks her light from the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this means getting close enough for her radiance to start burning him—and that's why the Moon has dark spots!
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Aug 25, 2023 08:20
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Here’s something fun — a TikTok voice actor recording a stunning take on Dalinar’s great rest monologue from Oathbringer. Spoilers, sort of? It doesn’t really give anything but obviously more impactful if you know the context. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8FKRc2W/
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Aug 26, 2023 03:21
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That's beautifully done, but definitely some light Oathbringer spoilers.
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Aug 26, 2023 03:50
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More than light, I'd say, for anyone who's not up to Oathbringer yet.
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Aug 26, 2023 06:22
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CapnAndy posted:More than light, I'd say, for anyone who's not up to Oathbringer yet. Yeah I wouldn’t watch it unless you’ve read Oathbringer considering the cultural importance that reading has in Roshar. Also nobody should be spoiled by any ending bits of Oathbringer, it’s pure joy.
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Aug 26, 2023 16:29
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Aggro posted:Here’s something fun — a TikTok voice actor recording a stunning take on Dalinar’s great rest monologue from Oathbringer. Spoilers, sort of? It doesn’t really give anything but obviously more impactful if you know the context. My futile struggle to make the video full screen and kill the overlay is helping me understand how my parents feel about technology. Absolutely annoying, hope it’s better on the app. Great VA work though.
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Aug 27, 2023 04:45
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Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 5-12 & Part 1 Interludes Sadeas went full moustache twirling villain mode in his little POV, I'm curious if he'll change his tune when the Parshendi rise up. Not that Navani and Dalinar would have really noticed the differences in the Parshendi, but it sucks that Sadeas distracted them for so long. I swear to the Almighty though, if Sadeas and the other Highprinces don't align with Dalinar after the poo poo starts getting real, I'll lose all hope for them. I do understand the game theory bullshit with them not wanting to be the first one to work together and possibly get fewer gemhearts, but a surely they'll realize a full on war for what it is. Dalinar tells everyone in the room that he wants to bring back the Knights Radiant, and Kaladin decides to just not do anything yet. I realize this book is over 1000 pages but there's only so much teasing that needs to happen. Syl has had some really fun lines recently, like "We have to be consistent, or we'll break your brains", followed quickly by "A snort is *not* a chuckle, I know this because I am intelligent and articulate. You should compliment me now." The idea that honorspren are basically windspren without the bond is interesting, I wonder if the spren that have bonded our heroes are a higher form of spren derivative from more basic spren. Cool little sparring scene with Kaladin and three of his friends, and then when Kaladin thinks he needs someone like him to spar with I can only think that Szeth is still on his way. I am still curious how that meeting goes. I'm dead set on Szeth not killing Dalinar, though I'm not exactly sure if he'll be stopped or convinced. Probably stopped then convinced. Then of course the first of Kaladin's deamons shows up, with Kvlakv on the way too. I predicted a while ago that Kaladin would kill Amaram for his plate and blade at some point, and honestly it might still happen. I cannot wait to see Amaram recognize Kaladin and make a mess in his shardplate. Shallan though, she's having one hell of a book so far. She gave Pattern a name, and everyone can see him, quite different from how things happened with Syl. I wonder if Pattern will gain the ability to hide from everyone else over time. And Shallan can create holograms or whatever. That's cool. Then Shallan gets the book that is the name of the book! Then she sinks the ship by convincing it to turn into water. Hope she can get another copy. I already posted that I don't think Jasnah is dead, and while Shallan recovered Jasnah's chest of books (with the exception of Words of Radiance that she had out) pokes holes in Jasnah teleporting out like Alezarv, I still think she'll survive a stab wound. I'm hoping all Radiant Orders can heal themselves with some Stormlight, so I'll just have to wait and see if she shows up. Navani's journal indicates that she thinks Jasnah is still dead in the new year, so that's not a great sign for my theory. I expected this Shallan flashback to be her fathers death, but obviously that'll be towards the end of this book. This feels like maybe she killed her mother and... her mother's lover? "The eyes" makes me think her mother was killed by a shardblade? Another map in a new language, but "Nazh" seems to be watching over Shallan which I don't think is a bad thing. Shame Shallan couldn't convince a stick to light itself on fire. "I am a stick" indeed. I wonder if the ship being manmade made it more susceptible to her suggestions, or if she was just too tired to convince the stick. That does lead to her running into Kaladin's old slave merchant, Kvlakv. When he agreed to take Shallan and the trunk to the Shattered Plains my first thought was that Kaladin is gonna kill him, and then Amaram showed up in Kaladin's POV shortly after. Both of his demons are coming to him. Holy poo poo Parshendi POVs! I'm going to have to read these again I'm sure, there was so much in there, given how different their society is from human society. And how it's the same in some ways. I am pretty lost on what exactly Gavilar would have said that necessitated his instant assassination. How would Gavilar have brought back the Parshendi/listener gods? And who even are their gods? He wanted to bring back the Codes, like Dalinar. Did he also want to bring back the Radiant orders? Are the Heralds the listener gods? I don't necessarily like that, but Eshonai and the Parshendi do not like the idea of their own gods returning. At first I thought maybe it was stone beasts like the thunderclasts or even just larger greatshells, but I don't think so anymore. The stormform is the answer to Navani's journal question about what changed so quickly in the Parshendi. The whole form system is pretty wild. I'm curious if they have a different form for each spren, or if only certain spren work. I'm now pretty suspicious that Bridge Four's Shen is a spy in dullform, and not just a random slaveform Parshendi. Then, when talking to "the five" it is revealed that the ancient forms are tied to the listener gods. Maybe it's certain spren like the honorspren and Cryptics, since the five bring up Kaladin's surgebinding as a sign that the humans have the ancient forms. Or maybe it's Odium given the distinction between power coming from the listener gods versus from spren. I really want to know what Eshonai would say to Dalinar, but I don't see how there will ever be an opportunity for that. RIP Ym, he could have become a Radiant but mooncheek killed him. His religion that everyone is One reminds me of Andy Weir's The Egg and other ideas about people being the universes consciousness. Since I reread the prologues multiple times, mooncheek reminded me of someone with a similar mark on their cheek in Szeth's prologue. That person was described as Azish, not Makabaki, though it seems like Makabaki is an ethnicity and Azish is a nationality so there is a chance it's the same guy. Maybe this is who the two people Jasnah overheard gave their shardblade to. This also makes a third assassin at that party. I nearly forgot to write about Rysn because all of the other interludes are so amazing, and Rysn is just merchant-Shallan. But she did walk up Godzilla and then jump off his head so that's fun. Shame about her shattered legs. These living islands reminds me once again of the world turtle, or the lion turtle from ATLA. I wonder who Rysn will visit next, after the Shin and Reshi. Also the Reshi Isles on the map looks way larger than even any greatshells could be, or are the islands like Abri and Kadrix not what these are? I am curious what the important parts of Rysn's interludes are. Just introducing us to various cultures? Showing us these massive greatshells? Is it Rysn herself? Progress so far: 
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Aug 27, 2023 06:05
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Minorest of minor Stormlight spoilers early book 2 before where pik_D is I am a stick! is probably the most popular Stormlight shirt I've seen by far. Vague idea of the point of Rysn's interludes if you are curious She's a minor character who gets some POV stuff outside the interludes/side books In general there's a lot to Shallan's flashbacks you have the pieces for most of it so far, a few things you'll kick yourself once you realize.
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Aug 27, 2023 06:21
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pik_d posted:That person was described as Azish, not Makabaki, though it seems like Makabaki is an ethnicity and Azish is a nationality so there is a chance it's the same guy. Great read as always, pik_d. You have a nationality question. On Brandon's site (https://www.brandonsanderson.com/), you can go to Books & Art, and click on Way of Kings. There are all the illustrations that are in the book, plus some unreleased ones! And there's a map of the Silver Kingdoms there, that's unfortunately not in Way of Kings itself. You can look up all these illustrations for a book without getting spoiled on later books, but you should obviously not look up the Words of Radiance illustrations until you've finished it. Unfortunately, all the Stormlight Books are displayed on one page. There are decent dividers between the books, so you are not liable to accidentally scroll down too much to see illustrations of the later books, but you need to have the willpower to resist scrolling further, just a warning. If you'd prefer a direct link to the map, take this Coppermind link: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Silver_Kingdoms#/media/File:Silver_Kingdoms.jpg So as you can see, Makabaki are all the people that live in the territory of former Makabakam, which encompassed Azir and most of the surrounding states. So a person can be both Makabaki and Azish at the same time. Whether that's the case for the guy you've mentioned is for you to find out though. I can only recommend going to Sanderson's site and looking up these cool illustrations once you finish a book. Especially for people like Mordiceius, who don't have these illustrations in their audiobook.
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Aug 27, 2023 07:01
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pik can I interest you in This 100% canonical bonus chapter in which the deepest, most closely guarded secrets of the Cosmere are revealed for the first and only time
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Aug 27, 2023 07:33
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I'm currently re-reading Words of Radiance, while it was fantastic on my first read, it's also great on a reread. Ending spoilers: The Shallan sections become so much better in retrospect, when you know what to look for.
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Aug 27, 2023 13:02
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CapnAndy posted:pik can I interest you in This 100% canonical bonus chapter in which the deepest, most closely guarded secrets of the Cosmere are revealed for the first and only time Jog my memory, is there a moment somewhere where a soulcaster is reaching out to or briefly touches a stick?
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Aug 27, 2023 13:44
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Potato Salad posted:Jog my memory, is there a moment somewhere where a soulcaster is reaching out to or briefly touches a stick? Yes. Shallan manages to convince the ship she and Jasnah are on to turn into water. But afterwards, when she's washed on shore, she fails to soulcast a single stick into fire.
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Aug 27, 2023 16:12
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socialsecurity posted:Minorest of minor Stormlight spoilers early book 2 before where pik_D is I am a stick! is probably the most popular Stormlight shirt I've seen by far. Vague idea of the point of Rysn's interludes if you are curious She's a minor character who gets some POV stuff outside the interludes/side books What I know about Shallan's family and past
Shallan now blames herself for her mother's death, which happened when she was 11, so Shallan is only 17 now (but years are 500 days so its not the same, I know). Is I said, Shallan's mothers eyes indicate that she was probably killed by a Shardblade, the same one Shallan now has almost certainly. What's interesting is the carpet is red so blood was spilled, which doesn't happen from a Shardblade. So there was more to that then a kid swinging around a Shardblade for some reason. The man was more bloody than Shallan's mother, so I'm curious who had the regular blade that killed him. What I don't fully understand is why Shallan killed her father. Did he finally turn his anger on her after all that time? Was he ordered to by whatever secret society he was part of?
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Aug 27, 2023 21:34
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CapnAndy posted:pik can I interest you in This 100% canonical bonus chapter in which the deepest, most closely guarded secrets of the Cosmere are revealed for the first and only time This has big Groot energy, or maybe little Groot energy. Torrannor posted:So as you can see, Makabaki are all the people that live in the territory of former Makabakam, which encompassed Azir and most of the surrounding states. So a person can be both Makabaki and Azish at the same time. Whether that's the case for the guy you've mentioned is for you to find out though. WoR Chapter 16 Yeah, I'm sticking with "they're the same person", and now I'm wondering if Zahel, who Kaladin meets a few chapters into Part 2, is also this same person. Zahel has a scar on his cheek and Brandon doesn't let Kaladin give us his skin color or any kind of guess about where he's from, but I'm wondering if the scar is the moon shape lighter spot that this assassin has.
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Aug 27, 2023 21:44
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pik_d posted:
pik_d posted:WoR Chapter 16 You are definitely noticing some important things, here, and wondering some of the right questions.To people with full Cosmere knowledge: Should we tell pik_d that (padding) Zahel is Vasher (padding)? As far as I can remember it's never been outright stated in any of the books so far, but it seems to be common knowledge in the fandom... so if not now, when?
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Aug 27, 2023 22:39
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Anshu posted:
It's not super obvious until his POV chapter like halfway through the book, no need to rush it.
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Aug 27, 2023 22:43
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socialsecurity posted:It's not super obvious until his POV chapter like halfway through the book, no need to rush it.
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Aug 27, 2023 23:15
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Anshu posted:
Its pretty obvious after a future event
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Aug 27, 2023 23:19
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M_Gargantua posted:Its pretty obvious after a future event Yeah, isn’t it in Oathbringer? Or am I misremembering?
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Aug 27, 2023 23:29
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Louisgod posted:Yeah, isn’t it in Oathbringer? Or am I misremembering? Can't remember how obvious it is in Oathbringer but very obvious in Rhythm of War
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Aug 27, 2023 23:31
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Full Stormlight spoilers: Once Nightblood hits the scene at the end of WoR your antenna should go up, if you can figure out that Azure is Vivenna (and it's pretty obvious) she's quite clearly spelling out who Zahel is, and then Zahel all but turns to the camera and goes "I'm Vasher, if you hadn't figured that out yet" in RoW.
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Aug 28, 2023 00:31
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CapnAndy posted:(and it's pretty obvious) It’s been so long since I read that book your obvious point sailed right over my head. I should probably do a reread at some point.
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Aug 28, 2023 00:46
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Anshu posted:
We shouldn't. They've been pretty analytical. They might connect Zahel's color metaphors to a Nalthian once they see Nightblood at the end of WoR, or once they figure out that Azure is Vivienna (has mini-Nightblood, can change her hair color, is a good sword fighter, makes hints of abandoning a royal station). If they haven't figured it out after RoW, we can talk about it again, imho.
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Aug 28, 2023 08:57
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Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 13-25 (First half of Part 2) The epigraphs telling me all about the different forms is cool, though it's interesting that quite a few were Listener songs of Listing, and then it was songs of Winds, Secrets, and Histories (so far). Makes me think there might be a form for every possible spren given how many stanzas there are. I wonder if Sanderson has them all written out, or adds more as he needs. It's actually a little sad reading some of these, especially t he scholarform, artform, and meditationform. The modern listeners don't know how to achieve those, they could have a whole rear end society. Stormform, along with nightform, decayform, and smokeform seem more likely to be used in this story. RIP Bluth, I thought he was becoming interesting, then he died after deciding to be helpful. At least Shallan is continuing to use what Jasnah taught her about how she carries herself to get her way. And now she's going to learn subterfuge from Tyn, which Pattern is probably very happy about. Speaking of Pattern, he's been chatty recently, talking about "spren of him" which I assume to be Odium. Later he reveals that Honor is the third Shard, which would be the Almighty. I am suspicious about Pattern claiming that the Radiants killed their spren, but mostly because I don't like it. Hilarious that as soon as Shallan loses Bluth to battle and Kvlakv to his own cowardice she picks up Gaz, she's just running into all of Kaladin's old "friends". I think he'll fare better meeting Kaladin than Kvlakv would have. Not sure how his debt will come into play, since I don't even know who he's still in debt to. Helaran being a shardbearer gives me a little understanding of why Shallan's dad may have wanted him gone. It also makes sense that everyone thinks their father killed their mother and her lover (which I had called) since no one would suspect then-11 year old Shallan. And who were Helaran's new friends? I don't think he was in the same group as their father. I want him to still be alive. I'm wondering if Urithiru is the city that the humans can't see that the listeners basically live in now, it makes sense given the location and fact that it's "gone". Whatever happened to create the Shattered Plains was probably a means of destroying the city. I also like the juxtaposition between Pattern wanting lies, then the next time we see Syl she reminds Kaladin "No lies, ever". Those two spren really will not get along when Kaladin and Shallan end up in the same place. Zahel, as I said in a previous post, is suspicious with the cheek scar and lacking a full description. And now he's with Renarin, who has very recently become a suspect for me in the assassination attempt on Elhokar. He was nervous during the high storm, which sure may be common, but he also recently received a Shardlbade and this new attempt on the King's life was made with a Shardblade. I'm wondering if he simply thinks his father should be King, or if something else is going on with him. He's been largely a background character but he's in the story for a reason, surely. He's had the means, motive, and opportunity in both assassination attempts, assuming he wants his father (and therefore maybe eventually himself) on the throne. Interesting, but not unexpected, that Kaladin is skeptical about Dalinar's visions. I mean Kaladin at least has a reference for what a Radiant is. I wonder though, if Dalinar's visions are caused by some kind of spren? And then they talk about Amaram and Kaladin gets mad. I like that Kaladin does tell Dalinar what happened between them, even if Kaladin doesn't think Dalinar believed him. And then Lopen's cousin Punio shows up? That's not weird at all. Extremely funny that the "monsters" in the most recent chapter are just horses. And Jenet is apparently very pretty, and is already pissed off at Adolin. And neither of them (Kaladin or Jenet) want her to teach him about horse riding. A perfect match if you ask me. Can't wait for him to be expertly riding Dreamstorm in the future. Progress so far:
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Aug 29, 2023 23:27
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pik_d posted:Stormlight Words of Radiance Chapters 13-25 (First half of Part 2) quote:And Jenet is apparently very pretty, and is already pissed off at Adolin. CapnAndy fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Aug 30, 2023 |
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Aug 30, 2023 00:23
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Jenet is the horse girl who throws rocks at Adolin without pause, I haven't found out exactly what happened.CapnAndy posted:I know this is an asininely vague thing to say, but on one particular guess, you are both so close and simultaneously nowhere near the truth that it's funny as hell. I'll tell you which one when you're done with the book, if that helps. This here is why I post theories. I'm guessing it's the Renarin one.
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Aug 30, 2023 00:25
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Reading over Pik_d's theories makes me pleased by how much we do know. I've done many fantasy series where they are so averse to any answers before the end it's refreshing to be like the opposite for once.
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Aug 30, 2023 21:55
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socialsecurity posted:Reading over Pik_d's theories makes me pleased by how much we do know. I've done many fantasy series where they are so averse to any answers before the end it's refreshing to be like the opposite for once. But how much is there that you aren't even aware you don't know? 
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Aug 30, 2023 22:20
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pik_d posted:But how much is there that you aren't even aware you don't know? Luckily in at least one case, Brandon very clearly decided to make up a whole ton of convoluted and nonsensical backstory just to create more secrets. So maybe we'll never run out of things we don't know
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Aug 30, 2023 23:15
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Slanderer posted:Luckily in at least one case, Brandon very clearly decided to make up a whole ton of convoluted and nonsensical backstory just to create more secrets. So maybe we'll never run out of things we don't know Oh Lord Ruler, Secret History was a hell of a decision, if a author I was less on board with pulled some of that I would of probably dropped them.
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Aug 31, 2023 01:27
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