So at the end of [Oathbringer], how aware is Odium of what Nightblood is and can do?
Modestly.
Taking the sheath, that kind of thing?
He knows. I would say more than modestly, he is well aware.
What's the character on [the UK Oathbringer cover]?
That is Jasnah. I think. I am almost 100% sure.
I wasn't sure. There's a bunch, there's a few different characters that could all fit, so I wasn't certain.
I sent the same description of the scene near the end with the wall to both artists and that's basically what they came up with.
Do you have any plans to do a Cosmere crossover book?
Yes, but it's a little ways off.
Atium spikes, they can hold a lot. Can they hold multiple different abilities, can they hold Surgebinding and--
Usually you've gotta use a spike for one thing at a time.
If a Shardblade was put through Wayne's eye, would he able to use his ability to [heal the wound]?
Yes, he should be able to heal that.
What's the concept of the safehand?
Yes. There's a writerly answer and an in-world answer. Which do you want to know?
Let's do the writer answer.
Writer answer, so. I am fascinated by taboo. I am fascinated by the fact that in Asia you don't show your, the bottom of your foot to people. It's terribly offensive. I am fascinated that in some cultures some parts of the body are shown and others aren't. Things that we would consider vulgar, to other people are not, and vice versa. It just fascinates me as a writer and when I approached the books I was looking for a ways that I could give a feel for a human culture but not one that we have seen before and the safehand grew out of that.
How many spren-- can you only bond one spren?
That's a Read-And-Find-Out. You'll have to read and see.
If Red investiture = co-opted by another Shard, what about the Thrill?
Kind of.
The voidspren for stormform were red, were they originally of Honor?
Nope.
Is Shallash/Ash going to be a Dustbringer? (So Dalinar's count can be all 10 orders)
RAFO
How many oaths/Ideals has Dalinar sworn by the end of OB?
The # you Think
There's one of the Knights that has sworn not exactly what people think.
How do the Knights establish leadership in their ranks? Was it a democracy?
It is different for every Order. Some are more democratic than others.
Now that jet lag is a thing in Roshar, what is the time difference between Shinovar and the Shattered Plains.
I'm gonna do what I call a PAFO, which is: my assistant Peter is the one who tracks all of that. I have offloaded that to him. I used to keep all that stuff in my brain, but I just don't have space. Ask Peter.
Let's say Lift got a hold of Szeth's Honorblade? Would she become a [Windrunner], or would she be both [Windrunner] and Edgedancer?
Both.
What's your favorite order of Surgebinders?
Probably the Bondsmiths.
Can an Allomancer burn any god metal? Or is it specifically Preservation and Ruin?
That is actually a RAFO. There's some funkyness going on there.
This [Kaladin chapter icon] looks a lot like the Allomantic metal symbols? Is that completely coincidence?
That's coincidence. There is something weird about that picture, but it's not that.
Is there a thing which determines what kind of spren is a higher spren, and what is, like, a basic...
Amount of Investiture, the way they're regarded, and a few other minor factors.
Would Kelsier be able to wield Nightblood?
In his current state? That'd be really dangerous.
I didn't say "should"! I said "would"! *laughs*
Briefly.
When Kaladin runs out of Stormlight, is that something you've worked out, how much Stormlight should have, and how much each move takes?
So, what I do is, I actually write the thing first, and then I tell my assistant, "Work out how much he needs," and then I give him that much. I work backward. Yeah, I do that a lot in books, but that's a little bit seeing how the sausage is made, there.
Saze. How do you pronounce it?
I sayˈse͡izɛd. And that's the way Kelsier says it. But, in-world, Sazed himself would say something closer to se͡izd.
Is ten of significance in Roshar as sixteen is on Scadrial?
Yes, it is.
Did Hoid think of the Shattering as necessary?
*pause* Kind of.
When Odium said "we killed you" to Dalinar, was he referring to Adonalsium? Was he referring to Honor?
RAFO.
Can Hoid be killed by Nightblood?
RAFO.
A word for the intent/mandate? The canon word for it, do you have a term for it?
No, we don't.
Do spren not appear in Shinovar because the highstorms don't Invest there?
No. And spren don't necessarily not appear.
Is there any hope for a History of Aons companion book, with Elantris sequels? 'Cause I really like those ones you did way back when.
Yeah, there's a hope, but not a big hope.
With the ardents and the flamespren, is something going on similar with Cusicesh?
Only slightly.
Because he seems to be stuck in a cycle.
There is something there, but it's not as direct a connection as you might be making it.
If Elhokar had been able to finish his sentence, what type would he be?
He would have been a Lightweaver.
Will we ever find out what Lift asked of the Nightwatcher?
Yes. It's probably gonna be her book before you find out. Book Six.
If someone did, like what Dalinar did at the end of [Oathbringer], go on Sel, and they Ascended to take up the Dor, would they be stronger or weaker than Sazed?
If someone were able to take up the entire Dor, would they be stronger or weaker than Sazed? I would say equivalent.
Aren't they all Shattered? Aren't they all Splintered, both of them?
The thing about it is, taking up the power-- taking up the power would-- So, I'll leave it at this. I would say equivalent. Everything still considered.
Dilaf seems to be very similar to Voidbingers in terms of what he looks like, when he's in his full form. Is there something to that?
Yes. It's not a big connection, though.
Is Nightblood made of the same material as the sheath?
No. Good question.
Does Hoid use a similar time-shifting method to the Heralds?
No. The Heralds don't time-shift.
The painter dude that Shallan had the book from... Was that Hoid?
The Oilsworn? No, that is a little tuckerization for Dan dos Santos, who did the American cover of Warbreaker, and did several of our interior arts in here [Oathbringer], the fashion pages. He's one of my favorite artists.
Do Ryshadium have gemhearts?
Um... I'll RAFO that for now. I'm just kind of staying really dodgy about Ryshadium, on purpose. I will dig into them later on.
For Adonalsium to create the universe, therefore he must have infinite power to create an infinitely sized universe. Therefore, infinity divided by sixteen is equal to infinity. Therefore, why don't the Shards have infinite power, which they clearly don't, because they can be killed?
The power can't be killed. The entity controlling the power can. Infinite power existing and being able to access the infinite power are different things, and a finite mind, even added to a very powerful sense of power, isn't necessarily able to tap all of that.
What about Ruin and Preservation in Well of Ascension? We hear about Ruin using some of its power. Therefore, it must not have infinite power, because if you minus something from infinity, it's still infinity...
So, infinite power is changing forms. It's not going anywhere, right? So, the Investiture, the power, is becoming energy, which is doing work, which is being released back into the system. Nothing's growing or shrinking. It is simply changing forms, and potential energy is becoming kinetic.
How was the universe created?
...The cosmere? I'm going to give you a RAFO card.
I think Kelsier is one of the best-crafted fantasy characters I've seen in the world. He resonates with me on new levels. What exactly were your influences in the character when you were constructing him?
Two big influences for Kelsier. The first is, I wanted to do kind of the classic rogue archetype guy, but someone who had had something so fundamentally life-shaking in his life that he had to look deep within and become somebody else. But it's mixed with the other big inspiration, which is, there's kind of some psychopathic tendencies to him, and he would be a villain in many other books. But in this one, he's what the world needed. And those two combinations created for me a really nice tension inside a character.
Shallan... in Oathbringer... she meets Adolin, and he's staring into her eyes. And she thinks that he can see that when she's Shallan again. So, my question is, is she correct? And if so, how did Adolin see that?
So, it's not a magical thing. She shifts even when she's kind of being herself-- When she becomes different people, even if she's not completely Lightweaving herself, she shifts.
Is it visible?
It is visible.
So he's looking very closely.
And he wouldn't be able to point out that he had seen that. But it's intuitive, and he's learned to recognize that.
...In her final scene, she seems like she kind of summons her personas-- as if she's fully in control, and they're not coming by themselves anymore, is that correct?
No.
So, they still come and go as they want?
Yes, she's much more in control, but still has a way to go.
Would Wit basically approve of what she's done?
He would give her a "that's a step forward, but you're not there yet."
When Lift says to Dalinar that he smells like her, does she mean Cultivation or Nightwatcher?
[She] meant Nightwatcher, but Nightwatcher is kind of Cultivation, so, yeah.
Could two kinds of <spren> talk to each other. So, could Syl talk to Nightblood?
Yes, that is possible, definitely.
How do you write the <Shardblade> fighting, like the fencing aspect of it? I guess you do all the research for that, the way the Shards actually work?
So, the fight scenes, right? The first drafts are usually pretty bad. I kind of just get down what's happening, who it's happening to, what I want the outcome to be. And then I do a lot of refining, and I try to find people who are actual fencers...
And I usually try to add something to my worlds that doesn't exist in our worlds, like Shardblades and things, just so I can have a little more suspension of disbelief for people like yourself, where you're like "Well, they have different positions."
...But I do try to get some primary sources who can tell me where I'm doing stuff really bad... Matt Easton's YouTube channel is really great for that. Schola Gladitoria, Matt Easton. When I have two people who are fighting with actual weapons, I go-- He usually has done some HEMA things where you see, like, ten bouts with that. And I can watch it, and be like "Alright, this is how it would go down."
Is the Iri religion based on knowledge of the [Shattering], anything like that?
Kind of, yes.
But they don't know it?
They don't know it, yeah. I would say yes, there are echoes of it. There are more recent events that they don't even quite remember that are more influential.
Who's your favorite spren in The Stormlight Archive so far?
...Right now it's probably Pattern. But I don't know. I love them all. They are my children.
So, if Dalinar used Spiritual Adhesion to forge a bond between Sja-anat and Honor or Cultivation or whoever, then could Sja-anat corrupt a spren, an Odiumspren back to Honor or Cultivation?
Maybe. Nyeh...
What about the Fused?
The Fused-- I mean, it's the same kind of thing, they're a Cognitive Shadow. Eh? Eh. I'm gonna give you an "Eh." on that one... I don't know how you write that on the forums.
What book are you most excited about working on?
I would say the Wax&Wayne book, the last one, I am really eager to do. I've got a lot of really good notes for it.
It was actually really interesting, because I started reading Oathrbinger-- I'm a teacher, I teach philosophy, and I was actually using that with my students, which is interesting because it came out particularly randomly. Is there inspiration for some of the philosophy that goes in?
I have a philosophy minor. There's a bunch of random philosophical-- yeah. It's all over the place.
