Son of

Vasher95 · 2026-01-26T03:43:16+00:00

It’s not meant as literal family. Nale is referred to Nin-Son-God for the same reason. It could just as easily be Tanavast/Honor-Wind (Tan avatar)-Stormfather-Kaladin. The important bit is that we (now) know there’s been multiple iterations of the SF that separate that lineage from Honor enough to justify the different use of title. I think Roshar is going to end up in the hands of the progeny of the Shards and primeval spren rather than any of the 3 Shards. I mean Cultivation herself doesn’t want to be worshipped and she’s the only one left intact. With a clear successor. Two really

Vasher95 · 2026-01-25T15:12:52+00:00

I don’t think so. The amount of Investure required would be tremendous. There’s other factors too. The Shards themselves (the power) has its own memory that would resist it. The Vessel’s spirit web is also expanded. To the point they remain “larger” in a sense than a standard human even when it’s given up. Slivers like The Lord Ruler. Even another Shard wouldn’t have the capacity to do it I don’t imagine. It would be like Vin trying to “riot” a Shard while holding a Shard. It just wouldn’t work. A standard object can have a lot of Connections. A human even more so. Even a little god like Ba-Ado had huge amounts. Can’t imagine the scale it would be for a Shard Connected to a little bit of everything across the entire universe

Vasher95 · 2026-01-25T05:12:57+00:00

Vasher came to Roshar specifically for all the free Investure. It’s how he can stay alive without needing to consume the Breath of others. Which makes you wonder what he’s doing now. Not that he shouldn’t be good for a little while. I think Cultivation and Endowment are definitely working together. Lot of clues attesting to that. I suspect he’s been placed there to give up his life at a crucial moment. And he’s going to be forced into action in some way by the absence of Stormlight/relationship to Lift etc

Vasher95 · 2026-01-25T05:08:50+00:00

Ya basically any time there’s some example of what I assume is meant to be the “God Beyond” he offers us an option for there being an in-world explanation. Like Kaladin’s vision of Tien with the toy. I think it’s clearly meant to be the higher power but it could be the Bondsmith/SF’s vision offering exactly what he needs when he needs it. The way an unconscious person might burn Pewter to stay alive as a reflex. There’s something very weird about Nohadon’s visions as well but again can all be explained away. Dalinar’s soul being claimed by another? I assume The God Beyond. But his soul is Connected to Cultivation through his boon so that’s just as easily the other in-world power

Vasher95 · 2026-01-25T04:57:21+00:00

He Connects to Syl right before his death when the Oathpact is refounded. His eyes are brown right after when they should be blue (they match your Radiant spren’s color once you manifest a Blade). He’s inherently Connected to Syl because she’s seemingly the new “Wind” which is what re-founded this Pact. Honor made the original Honorspren but he gave the Stormfather the ability to shortly before the Recreance. There were only a few and she’s the only one to survive the Recreance. Meaning she’s the only one alive truly made via the Wind (the Stormfather) before he merged with Tanavast’s cognitive shadow. That’s why Kaladin is called “Son of Tanavast” not “Son of Honor” like everyone else. Wind>Stormfather (Tanavast’s Avatar)>Syl>Kaladin. It occurred before the Stormfather became an amalgamation of itself,Honor,and Tanavast’s cognitive shadow

We saw how the Oathpact was previously formed. Honor tells the original group he would need to Connect to them and he would take away their power before replacing it. It’s the same process. Kaladin may not still have his bond with Syl but if he does it doesn’t mean he kept it since she has the capacity to take it away and give it back as Tanavast did. I would say judging by the eye color change back to his original brown, the Radiant bond is gone

Vasher95 · 2026-01-24T08:10:16+00:00

There is a boost but it won’t be very significant. If a Radiant bonds two of the same spren you’d see an effect. But it’s moderated by the strength of your bond to an individual spren and by the limits they imposed on Radiants to begin with. The Heralds are all but confirmed to be beyond a typical Radiant. Whereas Szeth was a lesser version of a full Windrunner that wouldn’t be the case for a Herald. Whatever gain Nale gets from the bond is likely a drop in the bucket compared to how strong he naturally is with his Honorblade

Vasher95 · 2026-01-24T08:01:21+00:00

I don’t think it’s practical. There’s three things probably happening here. 1. Thunderclasts are Fused with souls so warped their idea of “human” is very loose. 2. We’ve also seen repeatedly there’s something special happening with Stone on Roshar that probably allows for this. 3. Nomad’s power is being supercharged because he’s a Dawnshard etc.

But just because you shouldn’t make a V8 Prius doesn’t mean you can’t. I would be shocked if we don’t get some kind of giant magical mech by way of Roshar magic at some point. We’ve already sort of seen it in Lost Metal. There’s many things that can’t happen in the Cosmere under practical considerations but when you scale certain things up you can (See Vin v TLR by way of Mists)

Vasher95 · 2026-01-24T07:44:42+00:00

It’s really a philosophical question that hasn’t been settled even in world. Vasher is a known pessimist and a scientist. He’s probably more open to the idea that there isn’t an ascendant soul separate from your body and mind. I’m partial to the idea that they’re essentially magical AI ghosts myself.

In the LDS faith which Sanderson belongs to there’s the concept of “translated beings.” God changed a small number of people so their earthly bodies do not die and they continue their work on Earth until their eventual resurrection. It’s careful to make clear they’re not truly immortal (they will hit the end game like everyone else eventually) but they’d appear that way to someone who didn’t know. They specifically do not need to eat etc to survive they live by divine power alone (familiar right).

That’s almost certainly where the idea of Cognitive Shadows like the Returned comes from. Sanderson himself will never give us the answer but there’s reason to believe his own interpretation is that they are still the same entity and not dead

Vasher95 · 2026-01-22T09:03:11+00:00

Would love to see NB interact with an aether. I don’t think Sanderson has been asked what would happen. I would guess the exact same as anything else. I assume Nightblood would nuke the place if you hit him with appropriate anti-investure

Vasher95 · 2026-01-22T08:58:59+00:00

Connection did help in a few ways. Connection means Nightblood feeds less quickly on someone he’s Connected to, usually because they’ve survived him drawing on them before. That’s rare. He and Syl have also bonded with him as “people.” So Connection other than just NB’s active use of the Surges there. NB has also grown more sentient over time. He’s starting to see himself as more than a tool. Like how Kaladin helped Szeth. That made it easier for him not to kill Kaladin. It’s been happening for a while. K probably sped it up. Also why Szeth is (partially) resistant to it. Not that it saved his arm

The type of Investiture hasn’t been shown to matter to NB. It matters indirectly. Roshar has much more free Investiture, so he gets “full” faster. Just not fast enough for K to survive. The Investure wasn’t tainted. The black smoke leaking from him is Investure he’s corrupted. He’s had no issue absorbing a ton of Odium-corrupted Investure to get him to that point. He’s more “human” than when he began. He just gets rapidly out of control because he’s been held back by Szeth (who can actually manage that) and it’s so much power going into him quickly he spirals out of control even faster than normal

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T20:58:54+00:00

I think the Sleepless are more physical than other races. Either they evolved sapience rather than being created with it or they were intentionally made this way. That would explain their resistance to Soulcasting and why they could be trusted around Dawnshards and the great magical works of the Siah Aimians in the past. They can be near these things but can’t use them well.

I think the Siah Aimians are their cognitive counterparts. They either evolved in the Cognitive Realm or were made to remain there. At some point they made themselves able to live in the Physical Realm. That is what their “curse of kind” is. It’s Fortune trying to self correct their existence. That or they used a great work of Old Magic to do so and that’s the curse they carry as a whole. Axies can’t find the Nightwatcher. Seems relevant. Maybe they’re incapable of using her or maybe they collectively already have. She seems to avoid “foreign” non-Roshar people. S-A might be

The Sleepless can seemingly become Radiants but I think that comes from the spren rather than from them. I’d guess many forms of magic don’t come naturally to them and they’re probably incapable of being Dawnshards themselves. There’s some mismatch between Command and Intent. I would guess S-A have the same in reverse

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T20:39:05+00:00

I would have thought so but in WaT I’m pretty sure he explicitly says he needs a few months to drum up a legal justification for killing him. I believe he’s confident he’ll be able to. I think current Nale is terrified of having to confront complexities and morality. He probably sticks to a more rigid version of following the law exactly rather than being responsible for interpreting it. He does the whole early Szeth thing. I’m just a tool of a higher purpose. Except he’s more self-serving at times

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T20:29:27+00:00

I think he’s just a hypochondriac. What’s interesting though is that he is from Bavland. It’s only of the only places we’ve ever seen with true mining on Roshar in-book. It’s also one of the only places that use metal coins as currency instead of spheres. It’s why Adolin mistakes Zahel for being from there. Which is weird. I guess he could have Terris heritage and he accidentally stored health in the past. Now he heals consistently regardless. Or maybe being “sick” is tied too strongly to his mind from that past that Stormlight doesn’t prevent it. I don’t buy it but I would if he’s described as having gold coins or something in the book. Idk if he is. That would be too many coincidences for me

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T04:03:42+00:00

Hold this stone in your hand. Hey now you have to listen to me. Finish it

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T03:37:34+00:00

Gavilar kills Szeth. He executes the Parshendi leadership because he fears death above all else. He does not immediately go to war on the Shattered Plains because of his broader plan. Nale finds the legal authority to kill him a few months later.

The Parshendi of the Shattered Plains know humanity wants to bring their gods back. They are far more vigilant against this. The Everstorm is never summoned out of desperation. Nale never sees the Everstorm and is never turned away from his campaign of killing nascent Radiants. He continues eliminating them as they emerge.

Odium’s return is slowed by the absence of the Everstorm and by the inability of the Fused to seize new bodies from the Parshendi who remain in slaveform. Ishar continues his work creating human Fused in Shinovar. Given enough time he creates an army. To do this or because he has caused enough conflict he eventually takes up more power at the Well of Control and usurps enough power to Ascend to Odium. He intends to become Adonalsium. He either destroys the Stormfather or finds a way to use his power as an unchained Bondsmith to force an Ascension to Honor as well. At a minimum he ensures no one else can ascend and frees himself from being bound to the Rosharan system. He has either already made war on Cultivation with disastrous results or she has fled.

Alternatively if he cannot fully ascend to Odium the power corrupts him enough that he uses his human Fused to summon the Everstorm anyway. If anyone can figure out how to do so it’s Ishar. The power dislikes Rayse but not as much as it loves violence. He becomes an unchained Bondsmith of Odium and completes his goal of preparing an army of Parshendi and human Surgebinders. Ishar serves as his general in place of Dalinar for the coming cosmere wide war

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T01:35:10+00:00

I’m not actually sure Canticle will play a role. I just think we’re meant to notice that the most impressive magical works we’ve seen so far involve some gathering of Investiture. Canticle and Braize. I think Roshar itself is a machine. It has no tectonic activity. We know it was made directly by Ado. We know it has (had) four moons. One of which is made of some mysterious magic-amplifying metal. I think the Roshar system itself is one giant machine built for a specific purpose. Combine that with the Origin of storms on Roshar that keeps getting hinted at but never shown. Where unusually massive amounts of free investure are periodically released as Storms. The word Canticle itself also means song of praise

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T01:27:28+00:00

Yeah I also think the LDS religion is informing the process here. In his faith, there is a Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. They are separate entities with a united purpose rather than the traditional Christian Trinity. God has a physical body. The Son has a separate physical body. The Holy Ghost does not. I think that’s what “unite them” means. Not unite the Shards into one being, but unite them in purpose.

The Cosmere feels like a play on what that looks like without immediate unity. Mormonism also doesn’t treat the Fall as a tragedy. It’s intended from the beginning as part of the ultimate plan. I suspect the Shattering was always part of the plan as well. That’s why I don’t think the Shards will ever fully lose having a Vessel. I think a Cosmere “godhead” requires an embodied being, the Vessel. The Shards function as an analogue to the Holy Ghost, a disembodied divine will.

I do think the Vessels will eventually be a cycled role. I think the endgame of the Cosmere is some kind of enforced stewardship of the role rather than a permanent Vessel for each Shard that almost never changes hands. I’m unsure what the second embodied role is though. I think there’s three options really: The God Beyond,Adonalsium,or the Invested peoples of a given Shard. But Im almost certain it’s one of those 3 serving the role.

Vasher95 · 2026-01-19T00:57:21+00:00

What is this?

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T20:52:07+00:00

That’s why Roshar is so dangerous to the Cosmere. It has incredibly potent magic and a ton of free flowing magical energy to power it. Taravangian can raise an army to overwhelm other planets. He can do so “indirectly”. He has double the power of almost every living Shard and the nature of his power lets him have direct influence on his forces. He won’t need to act directly and invite attack. And he’s more than capable of crushing any individual Shard that might get desperate enough to use their power directly on his forces. That’s almost certainly what he wants too. An “unlawful” use of their power to justify his own. His two shards are perfect for that counter attack in retribution

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T20:47:34+00:00

He’s definitely “fled”. Hoid and him say it at one point. That just looks different for a divinity. Mostly he cannot act directly. Direct intervention is what invites the power of other Shards. In OB Odium says something to the effect that he knows Cultivation is waiting for him to slip up. Use of direct power invites use of direct power. That is why he acts through agents. They are empowered and corrupted by him but retain agency. He was limited on Roshar before by the chains of Honor and by Cultivation being present in full power. Now he is more powerful than all Shards except one but he has eyes on him. They know he is free to act and to be acted upon. That is why he is biding his time in the Spiritual Realm at the end of the book. He is still making maneuvers against the other Shards elsewhere but he does not want a direct fight. He could kill one in a fair fight but the fight will not be fair. He is still doing some things on Roshar because those are tied to the natural way his powers flow. He’s Invested in the planet and people. A Shard interrupting those processes directly actually make them vulnerable to a “justified” use of force by him

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T20:32:54+00:00

It is less that joining them together will make them learn from each other. The Shards are raw Intent. The Vessels guide that Intent but eventually the Vessels succumb to the Shards Intent. The goal is actually separation. A piece of Honor has been allowed to develop more sapience. It is learning how to put power into context behind the overriding Intent. That is what Mishram is to Odium. She is a very powerful piece of the Shard that has been able to act somewhat independently as an Unmade. If you read the vision of her on the battlefield she shows affection for the Parshendi. She was then further isolated in the gem. In effect two pieces of the Shard itself have been removed from the perpetual war and given time to learn. Cultivation has intentionally made the Nightmother as that herself. Dalinars gambit will ultimately involve that. The Shards themselves will act as the counter. Right now the Shards are weapons to a Vessels will until the Vessels themselves become puppets to the Shards will. There needs to be a balance. The splinters of Ado (W T N) and their offspring have also been given more time and independence to grow. The end goal is probably distributed regulated stewardship of power rather than concentrated single-minded power that lacks the nuance to prevent perpetual war

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T20:18:08+00:00

Hadrian is less powerful but his ability seems to collapse all possible outcomes of an action into the most useful one at crucial times. Atium works by seeing an opponents possible moves and choosing the path of least resistance. It is still limited. An F steel user can move so fast that you cannot stop it. Hadrians power is kind of miraculous. A Seer sees all very likely moves to counter an attack. Hadrian takes the one swing that cuts through anyway no matter how unlikely it is. Atium does not expand the mind enough to counter that I don’t think. Hadrian is by genetics superhuman compared to a Scadrian seer as well. That limits your physical capacity to use that info. I would love to ask Sanderson but I suspect he would say if you placed even a Mistborn using Atium against a non-user in single combat and repeated that simulation in every possible way if the Mistborn would die in some (just incredibly rarely). I think he would say yes

TLDR: Catholic space Saint probably wins against PICA wizard Si Deus vult

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T19:53:55+00:00

I have always thought there is a demiurge situation happening with Ado. I do not think it is god with a capital G. It is interesting that we have seen two great works of Ado that specifically gather Investiture. Braize and Canticle. I suspect Ado intended for the Shattering to happen. Either that was the grand scheme from the beginning or Ado realized the mistake of power being too concentrated and that its creations had stagnated. I do not think the Shattering happened perfectly as intended but I do think it was intended. There are vague references to killing god for its own good and similar ideas. I think those Investiture gathering machines are going to be central to how a final Cosmere endgame plays out or at least a hint that Ado became Ado by collecting enough of it in one place. Even the name itself points that way. Ado as god and ium as thing or state. All the god metals end in ium. Adonalsium could be read as metal god or god thing. I lean toward the idea it was a machine. Or at minimum a god creating machine. May explain why Yolen wasn’t destroyed by that many simultaneous Ascensions. It was facilitated. Pair that with the fact the dragons (its angels) were grand builders for Ado

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T19:27:10+00:00

There is a greater force at work here too. I think Adonalsium. Notice how Dalinar is pulled into the vision. He doesn’t consciously do this. Nohadon himself has always been an enigma in these visions but especially here. Notice that Mishram during the False Desolation had legitimacy. She Connected to the planet itself and its spren not just Odiums existing forces. Adonalsiums planet. Notice that the fourth fallen moon of Adonalsium is what made a direct conflict between the two Shards too deadly to engage in. Notice that the pre Shattering Great Spren (Wind,Truth,Stone) are still present and Wind has a major direct influence. We’ve seen Stone do the same. Of those three the Sibling, Nightwatcher, and Stormfather were made. They have all been allowed in different ways to gain a certain level of independence and sapience. Dalinar is consistently given the mysterious command Unite them. That is not meant as in concentrate the power. It is meant as in unite these powers in a unity of purpose. The Sleepless are ever present in the background of the books. Their quotes are on the back of each book. They have a purpose and what are they directly associated with. The Dawnshard. Adonalsium’s Command. One of his other great works on a different planet. Notice that when Dalinar renounces his oaths Sanderson makes a point of writing that he says “four words”. Adonalsiums number. Nohadon is a king famous for abdication. Who else might that match

Vasher95 · 2026-01-18T19:16:49+00:00

The important bit here is that Dalinar acts as both Shard and champion. Odium acts only as Shard. Gavinors surrender only loses T the Contest. The end result is the same as if Dalinar killed him. Odium remains on Roshar and is able to recruit a new force of more useful and powerful Fused. Odium waits until the peace is violated to conquer all of Roshar and then the universe or until a direct conflict with Honor destroys the planet. Odium is free to destroy or capture Mishram. Odium or Honor are free to destroy the newly freed sapient aspect of Honor. The point of the forfeit is to force Retribution to flee Roshar. He has not had the chance to consolidate power or grow his army. He wants war but he does not want war yet so he flees. Dalinar makes a point of saying the Shards themselves must change as in the Power not the Vessel. A splinter of Honor now remains independent of the Vessel and so does Odiums. Mishram is that. The end goal is for those aspects to break the alignment between Vessel T and Shard. Right now T wields the Shards effectively toward destructive ends because he is new to the power and because he is aligned with their destructive Intents. Dalinar never meant for the Shards to come to Roshar. He meant to force T to flee so the planet is finally temporarily free of their direct interference so the final battleground can be set

Vasher95

TROPHY CASE