Questions tagged [stormlight-archive]
For questions about "Stormlight Archive", an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson. In a unique setting filled with stone and storms, a king is assassinated and a vengeance pact sworn. The Everstorm is coming. The lost Knights Radiant need to be reforged, and old oaths spoken again, to find the power to fight it. Always use in conjunction with the [cosmere] tag.
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Is this Eshonai or Dalinar on the cover of The Way of Kings?
Michael Whelan’s very nice cover for The Way of Kings depicts two characters in the Shattered Plains. One in the right foreground is wearing Shardplate with alight red cloak with a somewhat crab-like ...
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1answer
134 views
Can plants “hear”?
In the Stormlight Archive series, most plants in the East freak out if you step near them: grass retreats into stone as you step on it, rockbuds pull their vines into their shells if you are close, ...
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1answer
142 views
Why is Szeth allowed to sully his grandfather’s reputation?
Szeth says in The Way of Kings that, as he is Truthless, he doesn’t go by Szeth-son-Neturo, so as not to insult his father. Instead he goes by Szeth-son-son-Vallano. Why is it alright, in his mind, to ...
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Why does Jaks allegedly lack ears?
In The Way of Kings, one of the bridgemen is named Earless Jaks. Was it ever mentioned why he’s called that odd name in any of the books? If not, is there a Word of Brandon on it?
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109 views
How did the levitating platform work?
In chapter 35 of Words of Radiance, Navani oversees the experiments around a levitating platform.
The experiment actually involves two wooden platforms (A and B), each having a set of stormlight ...
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188 views
Why did they think Alethkar might go to war with Jah Keved?
In The Way of Kings, in chapter 16 (a flashback to seven years ago), it says this:
There was talk of going to war with Jah Keved, once and for all.
Jah Keved and Alethkar are both Vorin, and speak ...
6
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1answer
105 views
Do plants on Roshar that move use nervous systems?
In The Way of Kings, many plants, such as grass, retreat into the ground when disturbed for protection form highstorms. Have the books or Brandon said anything about how this works? Do Rosharan plants ...
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2k views
What does “sample is considered questionable” mean?
In The Way of Kings, some of the death rattles have the note “sample is considered questionable” in the description of the subject. Shouldn’t all of the people have
Why are some of these quotes “...
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141 views
What happened at the beginning of the calendar?
In The Way of Kings, the death quotes have years they were recorded in, such as 1171. The Gregorian calendar is based on the birth of Jesus as year one A.D. What event is the calendar on Roshar based ...
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1answer
762 views
Why is there no sex in Brandon Sanderson's books?
I've read Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series, and I noticed that there are hardly any (if any) references to sexual activity between characters. I find that the author paints ...
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291 views
What affects spren gender?
How is gender generated among spren?
Example: Kaladin's spren Syl manifests as female. Was she female before bonding with him? Or did she choose to manifest as female because Kaladin is a lonely ...
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What order should I read the Stormlight Archive in? [duplicate]
I have already read Way of Kings and Words of Radiance and I was wondering what I should read next. I heard there are six smaller books that I need to read before reading Oathbringer and have no idea ...
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189 views
Can shard metal be affected by Allomancy?
Can a shard blade or shard plate be affected by Allomancy and/or be burned or have attributes stored in it?
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125 views
Why wasn't this character's Blade bonded?
At the end of The Way of Kings,
We know that Honorblades can be bonded, because
so why wasn't
Blade bonded?
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0answers
126 views
Can one really swear the third Ideal whithout even knowing his spren?
At the end of Oathbringer,
The problem is that when the Skybreakers explain how the process of swearing the Ideals works, they say that to swear the third Ideal you need to attract and bond a spren. ...
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73 views
How do Shardblades change shape and size?
Live Shardblades can change shape and size based on the needs of the bearer. But if they are a manifestation of a Spren moving fully into the physical realm, how can they change size/mass?
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270 views
Can aluminum block a Rosharan Shardblade?
We know from Oathbringer that
Does the same hold true for Shardblades from Roshar?
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1answer
325 views
How did Kaladin break his oath?
Throughout Words of Radiance, a lot of Kaladin's arc is dedicated to his struggle to come to terms with Elhokar's incompetence as king. He listens sympathetically to Moash's arguments about why the ...
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2answers
100 views
How do Fabrials work?
`In Oathbringer, Fabrial's are explained as working by means of trapping a spren. But there are multiple instances of Fabrials requiring Stormlight (Spanreeds, etc.) to work. So which is it?
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How does Odium's Intent influence how his magic is obtained?
We know that in the Cosmere, the method of obtaining Investiture is tied to the Intent of the Shard it comes from, although the use of the Investiture is not. For instance, Knights Radiant make oaths (...
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1answer
97 views
Can Fused heal with Voidlight?
Book three in The Stormlight Archives introduces new creatures called Fused, who can use Voidlight (the opposite of Stormlight) to accomplish similar things as one using Stormlight might do - like ...
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1answer
275 views
How did Lopen do this?
At the end of Words of Radiance,
Lopen draws in Stormlight.
The problem is that in Oathbringer, we find out that
a Knight Radiant's squires can only use Stormlight when within a few miles of ...
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1answer
111 views
Where is the ninth Honorblade?
In Words of Radiance,
Tarvangian tells Szeth that Kaladin must have one of the Honorblades to explain his using Stormlight.
to which Szeth responds "one of the other 7 is missing?" The problem is ...
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1answer
159 views
How did this happen to Dalinar in the visions?
In The Way Of Kings, Dalinar is in a vision which has him fighting against Midnight essence creatures. While he is fighting, he is helped by "the Thrill". The thing is that
So how did it affect him ...
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1answer
135 views
Where did the Alethi get new gems before the War?
The "War of Reckoning", which started out as a way to to avenge King Gavilars assassination, quickly turned into a political competition for gemhearts once the Highprinces discovered the amount of ...
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215 views
Are Shardblades “God Metal”?
We know that the "God Metals" in Mistborn are investiture from Shards in physical form. We also know that Shardblades are Spren, which are basically sentient investiture, manifesting in the physical ...
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Does the precision of the gem affect the amount of Stormlight it can contain?
We know that an uncut gemstone holds much less Stormlight then a cut one.
Does this mean that the more precise the cut, (more facets), the more Stormlight it can contain?
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2answers
217 views
How did Jasnah's Soulcaster gem crack? [Spoilers]
In The Way of Kings when Jasnah uses her Soulcaster to defend herself and Shallan against the 4 thugs in the alleyway, the book describes how one of the gems on her Soulcaster cracked from the strain ...
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1answer
131 views
How did Mraize get an Aviar?
As seen here Mraize has an Aviar. The problem is that First of the Sun, the planet that Aviar come from, does not have a Perpendicularity, as stated in Arcanum Unbounded. This being the case, how did ...
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2answers
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Is Nightblood a Shardblade?
In Warbreaker, Vasher uses Nightblood, an Awakened sword with enough Breaths infused in it that it has sentience. People who draw the sword end up dead and towards the end of the book when Vasher uses ...
3
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1answer
149 views
Why is Kharbranth independent?
In the Stormlight Archive series, Kharbranth is a city-state independent from the bordering Frostlands. I've read the first book and don't recall anything being mentioned about its history with the ...
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1answer
196 views
On Roshar, can humans have a light eye and a dark eye?
In the Stormlight Archive series, there are lighteyes, the ruling class of Alethkar, and darkeyes, mere peasants.
I know that genetics are different in these books from in real life, so here’s my ...
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176 views
Why doesn't Wit's Breath make the colors around him richer?
We know from Warbreaker that people with large amounts of Breath make colors richer around them, and that to achieve Perfect Pitch one needs enough Breath to reach the second Heightening. In Words of ...
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332 views
Did Gavilar and the Sons of Honor just get lucky?
Warning: major spoilers from Oathbringer in this question
During Oathbringer we learn that Gavilar and some of his friends called themselves the Sons of Honor and sought to bring back the Parshendi ...
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Who was this spren going to choose?
At the end of Oathbringer, Hoid grabs a spren (a Cryptic, it seems) from the ruined Alethi palace.
“I know you’d rather have someone else,” Wit said, “but it isn’t the
time to be picky. I’m ...
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Do you need to read Edgedancer before Oathbringer?
I'm listening to the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson and next in line is Oathbringer - due for release on the 16/11/2017 (in the UK).
I've noticed (via Audible) that there's another ...
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1answer
230 views
Does Odium’s control depend on Spiritweb damage?
We know that Ruin, on Scadrial, could mainly only influence those who had been given Hemalurgic spikes. Those with one, such as Vin, could be subtly influenced and spoken to. Those with multiple, such ...
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293 views
How does Kaladin confront Roshone?
Throughout book 1-2 of the Stormlight Archives Kaladin talks about how he is going to confront Roshone back in his home of hearstone. Do we know how he ends up confronting him?
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3answers
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Why is Dalinar's Blade screaming?
Spoilers for the Stormlight Archive.
At the end of Words of Radiance, when the Stormfather bonds with Dalinar, he asks Dalinar to divest himself of that "monstrosity", the Blade he's currently bonded ...
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2answers
182 views
Once a surgebinder drains a sphere, can it be recharged?
I had a hard time understanding this but I've not yet finished book 2 (maybe 75% of the way through). Seems like Kaladin was constantly finding new spheres as opposed to just recharging what he had.
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Who is the woman of a similar age to Wit?
In Words of Radiance, chapter 55, after Shallan hugs Wit (aka Hoid), Adolin jealously tells Wit:
Stick to women your own age.
To which Wit cryptically replies:
Well, that might be a little ...
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2answers
4k views
What is the meaning of a safe hand?
In the stormlight series by Branden Sanderson the women have something known as a safe hand. Does the series ever explain? If it does please list the book first and anything in the first book behind ...
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1answer
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Why does this character not get a spren to bond with or a Blade? [MAJOR Stormlight Archive spoilers]
At the end of Words of Radiance, when Szeth dies and gets revived, Nale, Herald of Justice, gives him "a replacement Shardblade" which is actually Nightblood, Vasher's sword in Warbreaker. If Szeth ...
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3answers
392 views
What color is Stormlight?
Dalinar began to pant, and when he moved quickly, he left trails of blue stormlight in the air.
From Way of Kings Chapter 56, page 977 of my edition. And then, 14 pages later in Chapter 57:
All ...
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1answer
533 views
How does Vasher stay alive on Roshar?
One of Vasher's more useful abilities as a Returned is his immortality. However, there is no Breath on Roshar, so how does he survive?. From what I can figure there are two possibilities: either he ...
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1answer
221 views
Why doesn't Syl remember her past?
In The Way of Kings, when Syl bonds with Kaladin, she has no memory of her past when she chose to form the bond. Other Nahel bonded spren like Wyndle (Lift's spren) remember where they came from (...
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1answer
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Why is Odium the most dangerous shard?
In the Stormlight archive, Honour describes Odium as
"the most dangerous of the 16".
However, Ruin from the Mistborn destroys multiple settlements for no reason at all, and this is before he ...
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2answers
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Why would it possibly be a good idea to brand Kaladin?
Kaladin is branded with the "shash" brand, meaning dangerous, for trying to escape and being overall dangerous. Sanderson has mentioned that, among other things, it diminishes is value as a slave, ...
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1answer
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Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance - Blocks of numbers in chapter prologues
I've recently finished listening to the audiobook version of 'Words of Radiance' by Brandon Sanderson.
Throughout the book (and the preceding book) each chapter has a quote or snippet from another ...
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2answers
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What boon did Dalinar Kholin receive from the Nightwatcher when he pursued the old magic?
We know that Brightlord Dalinar Kholin was cursed to forget all memories of his deceased wife when he asked the Nightwatcher for a favor.
Was it ever mentioned or hinted in the Stormlight Archive ...
