Dawnshard [SPOILERS FOR WHOLE BOOK]

Zashara Sho'am

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What did you guys think?

I loved the representation with Rysn. I see so many comments from people in wheelchairs about how Brandon has done a great job, and I know the beta team had a lot to do with that. I'm glad he listened to input from people who have lived experience with being paraplegic.

Also very much loved seeing more Lopen and Huio. Was definitely the right amount of funny and serious for me.

And yes, the Dawnshard reveal/ending was freaking amazing.
 

Aduiavas Ida

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Yes, I liked that the result of this adventure was not that Rysn was healed and could walk again. That her strength now lies in her wisdom.

And I liked the end-result with Huio and Lopen. How Lopen realized that, while his humour is often spot-on in tense situations, he can be a bit abrasive and borderline cruel. That has been my main annoyance at his character through the last three books.

I also really enjoyed the fact that the people on that ship spoke so many different languages. Thaylen, Alethi, Horneater and Herdazian. And yet they were able to work together.
 

Zashara Sho'am

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Yesss, I really liked the language barrier thing. Huio is actually really smart, but because his Alethi is not good, he doesn't come off that way to the Alethi.
 
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I loved that it has an actual avalanche. I was reading at 11 PM. My entire family was peacefully asleep. I was like, "Oh storm it, this is the avalanche, I should be sleeping!" But nope, I finished the book.

My favorite part was absolutely the third oath bit. When Huio moved in front of Lopen and burst into light, my immediate reaction was "OH SNAP! HE HATES YOU, LOPEN!" Then when Lopen said those words later and briefly nothing happened, I was so disappointed by his lack of shardblade. And then this tiny dagger appears. Lopen's Honorspren is so different from Sylphrena. It's really curious.

And the Dawnshards! Four divine commands that are part of Adonalsium, but are also kind of external to him and were used to kill shatter him. This is so confusing and I foresee a Cosmere Thanos type situation. I always thought that would be someone reforging Adonalsium, but with...

...how much trouble Sazed is having with just uniting two complementary shards, ...

...I suspect the Dawnshards will play a much larger role in later Cosmere. Also, pretty sure that next time we see Rysn, funky stuff will go down. I think if she can get some control over the Dawnshard, which I think we already saw some hints of, she could easily be able to heal herself. Or recreate herself, really. But do I actually want that? It would undo her bargain and would maybe... cheapen her struggles? And since, according to many people on Tumblr, her struggles are so beautifully representative of a lot of real life struggles from people who don't have access to magical healing powers, would that be a good thing? I'm not sure if we'll ever see that in the Stormlight Archive, though. I can see it happening in Mistborn Era 4, instead.

Also, can I just say how cool it is that the Reshi King became a man once he could surgebind?
 

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I do have some concerns regarding the longevity of the Dawnshard. Does this mean that Rysn is more or less immortal? If not, what happens when she passes? Is the Dawnshard lost, or does it pass to someone or something else?
 

Zashara Sho'am

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I do have some concerns regarding the longevity of the Dawnshard. Does this mean that Rysn is more or less immortal? If not, what happens when she passes? Is the Dawnshard lost, or does it pass to someone or something else?

Brandon RAFO'd that one:

User SheHartLiss wrote:
Does that mean Rysn is now immortal?
Is a dawnshard a shard along the same lines as odium/ honor or is it a combination of 4 of that type of shard? Or are dawnshards entirely separate?

Brandon commented:
RAFO on most! But the Dawnshards predate the shattering, so they're something other than traditional Shards. Similar, but distinct in some ways.

We know Wit is immortal and was a dawnshard for a while (and I think is immortal because he was a dawnshard, but it was before the shattering so things were different).
 

Aduiavas Ida

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You know, all of this Shard business is confusing to me :look: I mainly rely on other people figuring stuff out and telling me :P
 

Roheryn ni Galghandhrei t'al'Djinn

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I mean, it is really fun to tell people RAFO if you know the answer but don't want to spoil it for them... :halo
 

Zashara Sho'am

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You know, all of this Shard business is confusing to me :look: I mainly rely on other people figuring stuff out and telling me :p

I'll admit that I don't know this stuff well. :laugh: I rely on the true cosmere nerds to put this all together!
 

Aduiavas Ida

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Yup. I read the Oathbringer reread on Tor.com and they are the ones that helped me see all the connections there :P
 
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