How do world travelers travel?
Well, there are various different methods. The main one that people have figured out involves pools of energy on the various planets.
So like we saw in Elantris? Okay...
If you read mostly in Words of Radiance you will see--
I was noticing that some of the Aons from Elantris, have similar names to the Surges on Roshar. Like there's an Aon for Cohesion, which is a Surge. Does that have anything to do with each other?
Vaguely, yes.
What about the ones with the names of Shards, like Endowment, which is a Shard.
Mmhmm.
Those are related?
Yes.
What do they have to do with each other?
It's a tangential relationship.
So we know that Nightblood was created by people who had some knowledge of Shardblades.
Mmhmm.
But we also know that Nightblood consumes Breaths when it's used.
Yep.
So do Shardblades require that kind of energy? It doesn't seem like they--
No.
So why are they different?
Because they were made with different magic systems, by different people, and different styles.
So we know that Shardblades can't cut through other Shardblades because they are Invested objects, right?
That is definitely-- Yes, that's part of it.
So could a Shardblade cut through other kinds of Invested objects like--
Depends on how Invested it is.
--like a Hemalurgic spike?
A Hemalurgic spike would resist being cut.
Allomancy requires, you need to be either a Misting or a Mistborn to be able to do that. But Hemalurgy you just need to stab someone through the heart. So what would stop someone on Roshar from using Hemalurgy, because it's not Innate? Do you have to be in proximity to Ruin?
Intent is a big part of a lot of the magics, including Hemalurgy, meaning that you need to know what you're doing. Or somebody needs to-- There needs to be Intent involved in what's happening to you.
So like with Spook when he got spiked, where was the Intent?
The person who was driving that spike was being influenced by Ruin, and the Intent was there.
So unless you knew what you were trying to do with a Hemalurgic spike, you couldn't do Hemalurgy?
You could not steal attributes no.
Is it possible to steal Surgebindings.
It is possible to steal Surgebinding.
Is there going to be crossover, like is someone going to have Feruchemical powers and also Surgebinding?
That's a Read And Find Out.
Cadmium or bendalloy with duralumin or nicrosil?
That's a RAFO.
The nature of humans on different worlds, like people from Warbreaker have a Breath, people from Scadrial, do they have a Breath as well?
They do not.
That's specific to the Endowment Shard?
Yup.
I've read that Hoid does have a Breath. Was he born with a Breath or--
Hoid was not born on Taldain-- err Nalthis, on Nalthis. So no, he did not start with one. But the magic was much different when he started. He was before the Shattering of Adonalsium so things are weird regarding him.
I have a question about Nightblood. I think I heard that-- Something you said in a Q&A that it is related to a Shardblade, or was a Shardblade?
Yeah… So Nightblood. Vasher visited Roshar, saw Shardblades, came back and tried to make one. With what he knew of his magic. That's the short version of it. Kind of simplifies things, but yes.
Why isn’t the next book about Szeth? He’s my favorite character and he only had /four/ chapters in the first book.
I know. Szeth-- The next book's not about Szeth because I didn't feel his backstory matched what was going on with this book well enough. I felt it matched Dalinar's.
Is Szeth in the third book?
Szeth will appear in the third book yes.
Yes!
More than the other ones I hope?
Does the sword corrupt him?
You'll have to see. *laughter* Where you're really going to get a lot of Szeth is Book 5. But you will see.
When Kaladin is Invested Stormlight specifically rises from his skin. When he is Lashed to a wall, what direction does it travel? Up to him, or to the world?
When he is Lashed to a wall where does the Stormlight go. So when it's puffing off him, and he's Lashed to a wall it will asc-- I think it will puff-- It will escape and go up.
Typical up.
Yeah, typical up.
Did Sel's early magic users have Aona's help in building Elantris?
That's a RAFO.
If Breeze, Dalinar, Sarene, and Shallan played a game of Apples to Apples, without powers or spren, who would win? *laughter*
Alright, alright, alright, alright. Name the people playing again.
Breeze, Dalinar, Sarene, Shallan.
Okay, Jasnah. *laughter*
What would happen if Nightblood cut into a Shardpool?
Um, well I'm going to RAFO that for sure.
What would a larkin do on Scadrial around a metal?
A larkin on Sca-- It would have to-- *pause* I'm going to RAFO that. I mean I know what it would do, but let's let you see what larkins can do more.
Why can a human be affected by Surgebinding but metals within their bodies cannot be Pushed or Pulled?
They can be Pushed or Pulled, if you're strong enough.
So is it just the Innate Investiture--
The Innate Investiture is interfering with things. Like if you look at it this way: So you're Surgebinding someone, I am touching him and sending the power straight into him. There's difference between there's something inside of him that I'm messing with and going through?
If an Awakener went to Roshar and bled color from a gem, would this gem still hold Stormlight?
If an Awakener bled-- No it would-- Oh wait yes it would because a colorless gem could still hold Stormlight. It just would not have--
Would not have the properties of the original color.
Yeah, the color is integral to what's going on because molecularly some of these gems are the same except for the different coloring. The coloring is kind of what--
What defines what magic.
Yeah. It has to with fabrials and some of the effects, and that relates directly to the spren and what spren-- anyway.
So it said in the book that if Marasi and Wayne had it on at the same time-- Would it cancel it out all the way, or would it just cancel out where both of the bubbles were?
Where both of the bubbles were.
So it would be like a--
You could make a bubble in a bubble, yes. Third book of...[Era 2]...will have a moment where they try to do a time bubble in motion.
A bubble in a bubble.
Not that one, the motion one, so you'll finally get some views on what's going on. You get some rules on that.
If someone ran into a time bubble, like from the outside into it, what would--
The moment they touch it they would be in it.
If Wayne and Breeze, like if Wayne had a time bubble up and Breeze was inside Pushing on somebody's emotions what--
He could still make that work.
Would it affect it?
Not really. It wouldn't dramatically affect it. You're going to have one of these sort-of effects-- Yeah, because what he is doing is on another Realm, it's not going to affect it.
Is that the same with all of the *audio obscured*
Not necessarily. See what's going on is if you are affecting things on the Cognitive Realm--
It's kind of time-independent?
Yeah? It's not as-- Really it's the Spiritual Realm that is completely time-independent, right? All time and space are irrelevant once you reach the Spiritual. You're kind of going to go over the top a little bit, it's going to work just fine. In fact you can probably-- So he could use that to make his metals last a little bit better, probably. So that is a hack of the magic systems that you could probably do.
Did Kaladin’s name come from anywhere in particular?
No. I'm sure the word paladin was in the back of my head, but it's not like he shares much with like an actual paladin. His name was Merin in the initial version and it was-- it didn't work, he wasn't a Merin and all the fans-- all the readers were like "this name just doesn't work" so I spent years hunting for the right name for him, and that's the one I ended up with. It's really based-- it's Kalak, which is the Storm-- not really the Stormfather but people y'know. Most of the names you'll find are based off one of the Heralds in some way. So he's KALA + DIN, Kalak and din is a suffix.
We do have a meaning for it though. Can I tell them the meaning?
Ehhh, have we canonized it?
We have canonized it, and we have told people before.
Then yeah.
It means "Born unto Eternity".
...I mean, it means that in the same way that names mean something, like my name means-- But when they're naming him that they aren't thinking that. What they are doing is picking one of the Heralds and making a name out of it. But my name technically means "Dweller by the Beacon", but really what it means is "He was the son of Alexander".
Does Shai become a worldhopper in The Emperor's Soul?
Not in the actual book The Emperor's Soul.
But in the future?
*silence*
RAFO?
Could a Forger re-write their history to adjust the kind of metal they burn as an Allomancer?
They could, but it actually wouldn't do anything, because the magic would not be able to replicate the other magic.
So they would not be able to re-write history in the necessary way?
They would not be able to. I mean they could, but it wouldn’t have an effect, does that make sense? It would do nothing, it would be like you can create the stamp, the stamp would look like it was working but you just wouldn't end up with Allomancy.
Do other Shards have [intents?] like Honor with the Heralds and [Odium] with the Unmade?
Do others have things like that?
Yeah.
Yes, there are other things like that.
Could you Awaken a Shardblade?
Uhhhhhh yes but it would reeeeeaaaalllllllyyyyy hard. Theoretically possible.
Hypothetically could Nightblood Splinter a Shard?
Uh, Splintering a Shard takes more power than Nightblood has.
The Letter in Part 2 of The Way of Kings, is that written to the Survival Shard?
To the what?
The Survival Shard.
No.
The cover of, the front cover of any Way of Kings books, there's the little engraving, are those Honorblades?
They are the symbols of the various orders of Knights Radiant stylized as Honor-- as Shardblades.
Oh, okay. That makes a lot more sense, because I've seen the symbols on the back...
*pointing at the book* So it's this symbol right here is the same symbol as this.
Right, it's just a little more expanded and stuff down the blade. Wow.
What does Glys look like?
I have intentionally not told you.
Wow, okay.
*pause* It is pretty relevant, what Glys looks like.
How about, how many worlds has Vasher visited?
How many worlds has Vasher visited? He has visited fewer than half-a-dozen, so fewer than six.
Who is Lady Truth?
Well, who do you think Lady Truth is?
Tindwyl is who I hope it is. *long silence* Why is that a secret?
Because there are certain things I am not sure how much more I want to say in the books, or how much things-- So it's not that it needs to be a secret or something big and mysterious is happening, but it's because if I speak now I risk undermining things that I might do and I don't want to risk that even if there's a decent chance that whatever I say won't have anything to do with it. So a lot of times my RAFO's are "I know the answer to this, it's not a big secret, but I am not ready to just pin it down". Does that make sense? You've already pried a couple important things out of me so...
Is there a finite amount of Investiture?
Yes.
So is Nightblood consuming it?
Yes. Very, very slowly.
My friend asked for Brandon to write something about Harmony in her Alloy of Law.
There's another name Harmony could go by if he weren't able to control the conflict between his halves… *to Zas* Have you guys figured that one out yet? Oh, I'm not going to say anything. You have it on recording… I was pretty sneaky with that one so I don't know if you have it or not.
*written* Why did Vasher Return? What did he want to accomplish?
You know what you’re going to get in this one.
I have a feeling. That's okay.
Come on, someone I'm going to write another book about?
But that's in the past though, right?
It is, but his past is-- It is a good question. It is an important, relevant question, relevant to who he is.
Are you going to do another book for Perfect State? ‘Cause that sucked me in.
A lot of people really want more.
It made me so mad. "Stop writing novellas! I need more information on this."
The big secret on that is that Sophie, the one-- is actually his nemesis. So the robot was not actually a robot, it was a VR thing that she was controlling...
So are you going to write another?
I don't know if I will, I don't know if I will. So you didn't actually get to see Melhi, his nemesis getting to play with him in-person and things like that. So there's layers there that are kind of complicated.
Like even with the cosmere novella you released Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, that one I was like "Why are these so short?!" I'm not used to this.
That world is important to the cosmere, so that world-- Silence herself you won't see any much more of, but that world itself is very cosmere relevant.
Are Ruin and Preservation separate in Sazed or are they fully combined together like can he give one of them, or does he have to give both.
They are not fully combined. I mean that's not the way this works. He could pull off a piece of one even and make-- stuff like that. That's totally, totally viable. I mean it's basically what happened with the spren. The spren existed before even Honor was destroyed and things like that.
So, did the-- my gosh, on Sel-- the Aons-- not the Aons-- the seons did they exist before the Splintering?
They did not. That's a good question. But they are not the majority of the power. They're just little pieces, they are like the sparks when something gets destroyed. The sparks are not the majority but they are the sparks that were thrown off, if that makes sense?
Are Trellism and Trelagism the same religion?
Uuhheha, that's a RAFO too.
Is it the same god in both?
Let's just say that… who Trell is and what happened is a matter of some interest in the cosmere and amusement to me.
Which eye did Gaz lose?
Which eye did Gaz lose? Did I go back and forth on that?
I have no idea.
Okay, that's a Peter. I thought it was the left eye but if i did it wrong… It's entirely possible. I have no idea. It's in my notes.
How did he lose it?
Well that is a RAFO! That is definitely a RAFO.
Can a Mistborn turned into a Lifeless still use Allomancy?
*long-ish pause* Uh, no.
So I would assume that is the same for a Feruchemist?
Yeah if you-- taking some-- Yeah. No they can't.
Can a Shardblade-killed body be turned into a Lifeless?
Can a Shardblade-killed body be turned into a Lifeless. Yeees, it can be re-Invested. Yes.
Are there any side-effects to doing so?
Uhhh, there would be side-effects. I won't tell you what they are. They would be minor, minor, mostly inconsequential side-effects.
The effects of trellium on the bendalloy? Those are going to RAFO'd
They are. I'm sorry. These are the sorts of things the future series will be dealing with.
Will we ever see anything else of Shai?
Yes, someday-- You may not see another novella of the same style but you will at least see her in books somewhere.
Can you tell me the name of Dalinar's wife?
Well… I can but I'm not going to, because it's not that big a deal but it is something for him in the books. I would just rather you read it in the books, but you will find out.
Will it be in the third book?
Well in the flashbacks he doesn't have that issue so when you see her from his viewpoint in the flashbacks he can say her name and he can hear it. So the flashbacks involve him meeting her and things like that, so you'll know her name then. And it's not like some big secret like "Oh her name--" but I would rather you just read it there.
How do koloss breed with humans, because you say in Alloy of Law that one of the--
What happens is the koloss breed with each other and a koloss-blooded is the result, because a koloss needs the Hemalurgic spikes to make them full koloss. So if two koloss breed you get a koloss-blooded, which is basically a human with some weird genetics in them and if they choose to go through the transformation to full koloss they will become one.
So you initially said that you had started the first third [of Shadows of Self] and then you took a break for two years.
Yeah, mmhmm
I kind of get the feeling that in the first third The Set was supposed to be the Big Bad villain of the second book and then you massaged it into the kandra. Is that the case or--
No the kandra was always planned as the second book villain. When I sat down to do the outline of the three, that is when I decided-- So yeah it was the kandra. The big change is that Marasi wasn't working at all, that's probably one of the reasons I stopped it. I had to rebuild her from the get go in that one, and she works much better in the revision. I was pushing her in the first draft more toward lawyer/attorney stuff and it just wasn't working, it's not where she wanted to go.
Not to bring up Rithmatist, do you think it is just going to be the two books or--
I plotted it at three, so it is probably going to be The Rithmatist, The Aztlanian, and then I-- The Nebraskian? But I have to find some goofy thing so it's not necessarily Nebraskan...
So are any characters, like Vasher, going to be in any of your other books?
Well, Vasher is in Words of Radiance.
Yeah, I knew he was in Words of Radiance. Is he going to show up more in that? Have more importance?
He is not going to have a huge role, he'll have a little one. Normally I try to confine people who are interfering in other series to their own series, if that makes sense?
I just notice that in the newer Mistborns that some of the older Mistborns, on the metals, aren't there a couple metals that are missing?
Yes. There are. They didn't quite understand the-- all things, just like we don't understand all science, and as the series progresses you will see that table become even more intricate as it becomes more and more scientific.
So this series is a step modernized? I've only read the original.
This one is a step modernized, still all the magic and stuff, but it's kind of mixing gunslinging and Allomancy. There's going to be another series that's going to be 1980's level technology where you'll really see things start to modernize, and then there's a science fiction series. Eventually.
If you were to place yourself in the... what Knight Radiant-- what Radiant Order would you be?
Mmmmm.
It's a hard question.
Yeah that is a hard question. I probably naturally, I think the best fit would be Lightweaver but it could be Bondsmith depending on what mood I'm in. You'll have to read that one… Dalinar becomes one at the end.
We don't know much about them yet. What do they do? There's only three though, right?
Right now? There's-- yeah. But there's also Lift, who's an Edgedancer--
No, I mean three Bondsmiths.
Oh, yeah. There aren't very many, ever.
How hard is it to write about the death of a character? Like when you wrote about Kelsier, and Vin had to go through the aftermath--
It's, to me, pretty hard. The thing is, it's harder for me in the planning because by the time I reach it in the books I'm usually well-prepped for it because I'm an outliner so I know before I start. It's not like in the moment. Once in awhile, I'll have to go and rebuild the outline, y'know, this person has to not make it but usually I know it very early on. But it can be hard, for sure. But it helps like, that I know their whole life, you know what I mean? I don't just get the glimpse of the story, I know everything about them. And you do know that there are hints of Kelsier in Book 3 Mistborn, he was around doing some stuff.
Prior to Words of Radiance, when did Wit last get a hug?
It had been a long time.
