Timewaster's Guide Archive

20 hours per day, and their hour is like a minute or two shorter than our hour.

This geological record is consistent with these conditions 620 million years ago: the day was 21.9±0.4 hours, and there were 13.1±0.1 synodic months/year and 400±7 solar days/year.

Also, Brandon has said that something different is happening with Szeth then with Kaladin, which implies that he gets his powers in a different way then Kaladin and we think he doesn't have a spren. But he did confirm that Kaladin and Szeth are using the same powerset, even if they get it in different ways.

Ah, that would make sense.

People took it seriously because of certain infamous epic authors who (for whatever reasons, often valid ones) take decades to write a handful of (admittedly phone-book-sized) volumes, and maybe run out of time on the Big Clock before they finish. It's a real and very present concern for fantasy fans in these days of lengthy multi-volume novels.

Brandon has always struck me as being more in the mold of authors like Pratchett or Butcher, who put out good work at a steady pace. He likes to write more (I think) than he likes Being A Writer, and we're all damn lucky that's the case.

1= Jes
2= Nan
3= Chach
4= Vev
5= Palah
6= Shash
7= Betab
8= Kak
9= Tanat
10= Ishi

I think the dates in the years would be more readable here if we converted them to just numbers 1-500 to correspond to the sequential day of the year. So it would be (month's #-1)*50 + (week #-1)*5 + (day #). I'll put the some examples in parentheses. Edit 2: I'll grudgingly add Peter's method of dates in, since he's an authority on the series. Also, since there's no math involved I'm less likely to mess it up.

1. “The love of men is a frigid thing, a mountain stream only three steps from the ice. We are his. Oh Stormfather…we are his. It is but a thousand days, and the Everstorm comes.”—Collected on the first day of the week Palah of the month Shash of the year 1171, thirty-one seconds before death. Subject was a darkeyed pregnant woman of middle years. The child did not survive. (271) [6-5-1]
2. “You’ve killed me. Bastards, you’ve killed me! While the sun is still hot, I die!”—Collected on the fifth day of the week Chach of the month Betab of the year 1171, ten seconds before death. Subject was a darkeyed soldier thirty-one years of age. Sample is considered questionable. (315) [7-3-5]
3.“Ten orders. We were loved, once. Why have you forsaken us, Almighty! Shard of my soul, where have you gone?”—Collected on the second day of Kakash, year 1171, five seconds before death. Subject was a lighteyed woman in her third decade. (377) [8-6-2]
4.“A man stood on a cliffside and watched his homeland fall into dust. The waters surged beneath, so far beneath. And he heard a child crying. They were his own tears.”—Collected on the 4th of Tanates, year 1171, thirty seconds before death. Subject was a cobbler of some renown. (404) [9-1-4]
5.“I’m dying, aren’t I? Healer, why do you take my blood? Who is that beside you, with his head of lines? I can see a distant sun, dark and cold, shining in a black sky.”—Collected on the 3rd of Jesnan, 1172, 11 seconds pre-death. Subject was a Reshi chull trainer. Sample is of particular note. ( [1-2-3]
6.“I have seen the end, and have heard it named. The Night of Sorrows, the True Desolation. The Everstorm.”—Collected on the 1st of Nanes, 1172, 15 seconds pre-death. Subject was a darkeyed youth of unknown origin. (51) [2-1-1]
7.“I’m cold. Mother, I’m cold. Mother? Why can I still hear the rain? Will it stop?”—Collected on Vevishes, 1172, 32 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed female child, approximately six years old. (196) [4-10-1]
8.“They are aflame. They burn. They bring the darkness when they come, and so all you can see is that their skin is aflame. Burn, burn, burn….”—Collected on Palahishev, 1172, 21 seconds pre-death. Subject was a baker’s apprentice. (249) [5-10-4]
9.“Victory! We stand atop the mount! We scatter them before us! Their homes become our dens, their lands are now our farms! And they shall burn, as we once did, in a place that is hollow and forlorn.”—Collected on Ishashan, 1172, 18 seconds pre-death. Subject was a lighteyed spinster of the eighth dahn. (477) [10-6-2]
10.“Ten people, with Shardblades alight, standing before a wall of black and white and red.”—Collected: Jesachev, 1173, 12 seconds pre-death. Subject: one of our own ardents, overheard during his last moments. (14) [1-3-4]
11.“Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns.”—Collected: Chachanan, 1173, 84 seconds pre-death. Subject: a cutpurse with the wasting sickness, of partial Iriali descent. (107) [3-2-2]
13.“I’m standing over the body of a brother. I’m weeping. Is that his blood or mine? What have we done?”—Dated Vevanev, 1173, 107 seconds pre-death. Subject: an out-of-work Veden sailor. (159) [4-2-4]
14.“He must pick it up, the fallen title! The tower, the crown, and the spear!”—Dated Vevahach, 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. Subject: a prostitute. Back ground unknown. (173) [4-5-3]
15.“The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.”—Dated Palaheses, 1173, unknown seconds pre-death. Subject: a wealthy lighteyes. Sample collected secondhand. (201) [5-1-1]
16.“A woman sits and scratches out her own eyes. Daughter of kings and winds, the vandal.”—Dated Palahevan, 1173, 73 seconds pre-death. Subject: a beggar of some renown, known for his elegant songs. (217) [5-4-2]
17.“Light grows so distant. The storm never stops. I am broken, and all around me have died. I weep for the end of all things. He has won. Oh, he has beaten us.”—Dated Palahakev, 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. Subject: a Thaylen sailor. (239) [5-8-4]
18.“I hold the suckling child in my hands, a knife at his throat, and know that all who live wish me to let the blade slip. Spill its blood upon the ground, over my hands, and with it gain us further breath to draw.”—Dated Shashanan, 1173, 23 seconds pre-death. Subject: a darkeyed youth of sixteen years. Sample is of particular note. (257) [6-2-2]
(19)“And all the world was shattered!” Maps yelled, back arching, eyes wide, flecks of red spittle on his cheeks. “The rocks trembled with their steps, and the stones reached toward the heavens. We die! We die!” (No Date)
20.“ReShephir, the Midnight Mother, giving birth to abominations with her essence so dark, so terrible, so consuming. She is here! She watches me die!”—Dated Shashabev, 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. Subject: a darkeyed dock-worker in his forties, father of three. (284) [6-7-4]
21.“Above the final void I hang, friends behind, friends before. The feast I must drink clings to their faces, and the words I must speak spark in my mind. The old oaths will be spoken anew.”—Dated Betabanan, 1173, 45 seconds pre-death. Subject: a lighteyed child of five years. Diction improved remarkably when giving sample.(307) [7-2-2]
22.“The death is my life, the strength becomes my weakness, the journey has ended.”—Dated Betabanes, 1173, 95 seconds pre-death. Subject: a scholar of some minor renown. Sample collected secondhand. Considered questionable.(306) [7-2-1]
23.“In the storm I awaken, falling, spinning, grieving.”—Dated Kakanev, 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. Subject was a city guardsman. (359) [8-2-4]
24.“The darkness becomes a palace. Let it rule! Let it rule!”—Kakevah 1173, 22 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed Selay man of unknown profession. (370) [8-4-5]
25.“I wish to sleep. I know now why you do what you do, and I hate you for it. I will not speak of the truths I see.”—Kakashah 1173, 142 seconds pre-death. A Shin sailor, left behind by his crew, reportedly for bringing them ill luck. Sample largely useless. (380) [8-6-5]
26.“They come from the pit, two dead men, a heart in their hands, and I know that I have seen true glory.”—Kakashah 1173, 13 seconds pre-death. A rickshaw puller. (380) [8-6-5]
27.“I see them. They are the rocks. They are the vengeful spirits. Eyes of red.”—Kakakes 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed young woman of fifteen. Subject was reportedly mentally unstable since childhood. (386) [8-8-1]
28.“That chanting, that singing, those rasping voices.”—Kaktach 1173, 16 seconds pre-death. A middle-aged potter. Reported seeing strange dreams during highstorms during the last two years. (393) [8-9-3]
29.“Let me no longer hurt! Let me no longer weep! Daigonarthis! The Black Fisher holds my sorrow and consumes it!”—Tanatesach 1173, 28 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed female street juggler. Note similarity to sample 1172-89. (403) [9-1-3]
30.“They named it the Final Desolation, but they lied. Our gods lied. Oh, how they lied. The Everstorm comes. I hear its whispers, see its stormwall, know its heart.”—Tanatanes 1173, 8 seconds pre-death. An Azish itinerant worker. Sample of particular note. (406) [9-2-1]
31.“All is withdrawn for me. I stand against the one who saved my life. I protect the one who killed my promises. I raise my hand. The storm responds.”—Tanatanev 1173, 18 seconds pre-death. A darkeyed mother of four in her sixty-second year. (409) [9-2-4]

I probably screwed at least 1 or 2 up, but I don't feel like double checking all 30. 21 is the only one we can be sure we see happening in the book, and oddly it's the only one out of chronological order compared to the rest of the death quotes. Edit 2: Fixed some wrong dates. 4-5, I think.

Most people agree with this logic, but then argue that she may have gotten the Shardblade from something besides her father on that night.  Possibly true, but extraordinarily unlikely.  My logic with this is:
(1) Her brothers apparently know nothing about what happened, either the murder (if that's what we would really call it; it might not fit our legal and moral definitions) or the shardblade.  This strongly suggests they were all indisposed or absent during what must have been a crazy night (that, no matter what actually happened).  Thus what her brothers think is irrelevant except as negative witnesses.  The most important things we know are things they didn't see, which constrains what happened, but only very slightly.  My key point here is:  Something crazy and deeply unlikely happened.  The brothers seem to know nothing about the oddest parts of it, and don't suspect Shallan of being involved.  Thus it apparently happened in a way that seemed mundane to them.  Thus is probably happened fairly quickly, or at a time when nothing was expected to happen.
(2) We know that Shardblades are perfectly hidden from normal people until they are summoned or their owner dies.  Taking a shardblade is as simple as grabbing it, given the chance.
(3) Thus father dies with Shardblade -> Shallan gets Shardblade by grabbing it out of sheer curiosity/complete shock-> it disappears, she claims it, and she wonders the on Earth she's going to do with herself -> it happened so quickly her brothers never notice -> she promptly runs away the best way she can, making reasonable excuses (perhaps destroying the Soulcaster herself?  It's a good reason to leave, after all),--- sounds like an extremely plausible sequence of events.

There are a lot of details not covered by the above theory, but since whatever happened must have been strange, this is the least strange version I can see.  Most importantly, said details can be shoe-horned in without much effort and without bending the basic outline.  Most efforts to deviate from this simple outline almost instantly run into difficulties or unneeded complications.  For insrance,

Anyway, that's how I see it.

The Soulcaster looked identical to the one she and her brothers had found in the inside pocket of her father’s coat.

It had been sheared in two places: across one of the chains and through the setting that held one of the stones.

You need to tell me something true, it replied. The more true, the stronger our bond.
Jasnah is using a fake Soulcaster, Shallan thought. I’m sure that’s a truth.
That’s not enough, the voice whispered. I must know something true about you. Tell me. The stronger the truth, the more hidden it is, the more powerful the bond. Tell me. Tell me. What are you?
“What am I?” Shallan whispered. “Truthfully?” It was a day for confrontation. She felt strangely strong, steady. Time to speak it. “I’m a murderer. I killed my father.”
Ah, the voice whispered. A powerful truth indeed….

If only Helaran had survived. Their eldest brother—then known as Nan Helaran, as he’d been the first son—had stood up to their father repeatedly. Well, he was dead now, and so was their father. They’d left behind a family of cripples.