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Questioner

Is the Thrill related to the Parshendi magic?

Brandon Sanderson

The Thrill is related indirectly.

Questioner

For spoiler reasons... is the Thrill at all attached to Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Book three will give more explanation to this. But attached, you could say, that is related.

rjl [PENDING REVIEW]

If Red investiture = co-opted by another Shard, what about the Thrill?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Kind of.

Darkness (paraphrased)

Ok. The Thrill of Battle and the Thrill of Contest are noted as "distinct". Do the two come from different sources?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

No.

LadyKnightRadiant [PENDING REVIEW]

Kaladin not ever feeling the Thrill. Is there a reason for that?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

There is a reason for that... What do you think?

LadyKnightRadiant [PENDING REVIEW]

I think it's because he's too good and too pure for this world.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

That is, I would say-- Let's just say that there are points where Kaladin could have felt the Thrill. But once he had the attention of certain nebulous spren, somebody was watching out for him.

LadyKnightRadiant [PENDING REVIEW]

That was gonna be my second. I thought "He's probably just too good for it," and then I was like, "It's probably Syl's fault."

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

There's a bit of a war inside of Kaladin.

Questioner

Is there some sort of dead Shardic power on Roshar that is manipulating everyone to be evil and, sort of testy, and stuff like that?

Brandon Sanderson

Do you mean the Thrill?

Questioner

Yes, but not just the thrill. The way that they treat everything like a game.

Brandon Sanderson

That is specific to Alethkar, in that region. That is mostly the fault of the Thrill. Like, if you go to Azir, they don't act the same way.

Questioner

So that's just a cultural thing?

Brandon Sanderson

It's a cultural thing enhanced magically by a certain ancient spren.

Questioner

Is the reason Dalinar rejects the Thrill because he has a connection to Honor through his visions from the Stormfather?

Brandon Sanderson

…Is the reason that Dalinar rejects the Thrill because he has a connection to the Stormfather through his visions?

Questioner

Yes.

Brandon Sanderson

The answer is yes, this is parti-- this is in play. Though you could say the two of them have a si-- The reason he has a connection to the Stormfather also influences the reason that he rejects the Thrill, so it may be more correlation than causation, but there's at least a little causation as well.

theblackthorne

I find the Shin fascinating. Given their reputation for docility and Szeth's internal monologues, am I right in thinking that the Shin do not feel The Thrill?

If so, is this due to the protection of Cultivation or sheer distance from Nergaoul? And finally, is an awareness or fear of the Thrill the reason for the Shin societal disdain for soldiers or is it primarily to discourage use of the honour blades?

Brandon Sanderson

Distance is the big factor here, though there are cultural reasons for things as well. In addition, being very close to something tied to Honor reduces the effects of things like the Thrill. As for the Shin culture, you'll find a great deal in the next three books, so I'd rather not say much now.

Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

For the Thrill, did you get the idea for that from Ether in the Book of Mormon?

Brandon [PENDING REVIEW]

No, not specifically. But I mean, I've read Ether so many times, it's got-- Yeah, that seems like a very natural connection.

Questioner

Is the Thrill related to Investiture, or heritage, or both, or neither?

Brandon Sanderson

It is definitely related to Investiture.

Questioner

Why was Dalinar able to feel the Thrill during his visions from the Stormfather?

Brandon Sanderson

Why was Dalinar able to feel the Thrill during his visions from the Stormfather. Well that would indicate that the same reason he feels the Thrill now still was in existence. Well not-- I mean was still affecting him. Does that make sense? He was in the real world, his body was in the real world. Whatever makes him feel the Thrill was still affecting him. Does that make any sense?

Questioner

I was curious about the concept of flow, and how the Thrill compares to that.

Brandon Sanderson

What do you mean? Expand upon that. 

[clarification]

So you mean like in the zone, in the moment. The Thrill does overlap with that a little bit, but the Thrill is something distinct. It does give you some of that focus.

Blightsong

Was Sadeas ever affected directly by Odium or an Unmade, not counting the Thrill?

Brandon Sanderson

NOT counting the Thrill, ok uhhhhm. There are affects of other unmade around, and Odium's effect - direct effect? I'm going to say, no, maybe some indirect effects.

Blightsong

What about Roshone?

Brandon Sanderson

Uhhhm, no. The Thrill is the main thing that is getting the Alethi so, I mean, there are others around, but it's not as obvious with that as with other things.

Zach G

Were the Alethi made by some creator-figure and given the Thrill deliberately?

Brandon Sanderson

Roshar was inhabited before Honor and Cultivation arrived. The Thrill did not exist then.

Zach G

So it's a response to the power of one of or both of them?

Brandon Sanderson

I didn't say that... :)

MiToRo94 [PENDING REVIEW] (paraphrased)

This is a question about both The Stormlight Archive and the Mistborn series. Does The Thrill have anything to do with zinc, Rioters, or Allomancy in general?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] (paraphrased)

"They work on very similar principles." Their magic is based on similar ideas, and they do have a lot in common. A specific example would be that, "they both can affect different people to different extents and in slightly different ways. You can see that in how the Thrill affects Dalinar, and how burning zinc affects kandra differently than others on Scadrial. That is because kandra have pierced souls, so Allomancy affects them differently."

gpmushu (paraphrased)

Has the Thrill existed longer than the Death Rattles or have they both been occurring for about the same period of time?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

The Thrill and the Death Rattles started around the same time, but the locations for the two fluctuate and have been since they appeared.

gpmushu (paraphrased)

Do darkeyes feel the Thrill?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes, they do

AmbiguousPuzuma

In Chapter 19 of The Way of Kings, when Dalinar has a vision of fighting Voidbringers (maybe something else?) as a farmer, he says that he felt the Thrill in the vision. Does this mean that Nergaoul was active there, at the time that vision was "recorded" or was it Dalinar's viewing of the vision that was affected by the Thrill? Would the actual person whose perspective he was seeing have felt the Thrill if he had fought?

Brandon Sanderson

This is a great question, and one I've never been asked before. The answer is going to be a little vague.

First, Dalinar could have felt the Thrill from Nergaoul, and imported it into the vision.

Second, Nergaoul could have been active then, and the farmer could have felt it when he fought.

So both theories are valid. Which is it? I am going to hang back from answering this for now, as I am digging more into the Unmade in a future book.