Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

This Q&A was obtained in May 2010 and was never posted. Josh and Mi'chelle took good notes, but the answers are not direct quotes, rather, the paraphrasing of them. Some stuff here is very outdated (like my question about "imbue"), and so on some things I have put my notes in, to avoid misinformation.

In the most recent Hero of Ages annotation, you said that Preservation chose Vin to be the recipient of the power, just as Preservation had chosen Alendi previously (thus, this was why Ruin had manipulated the Prophecies). Was Alendi also chosen precisely sixteen years before the Well of Ascension's power returned?

Yes. He was chosen exactly sixteen years before, but he was a bit older then Vin when he was chosen.

Why did the Well of Ascension refill every thousand years rather than 500 or 200, etc.?

It's actually every 1024 years. The Lord Ruler just befuddled the information a bit.

What would have happened if Ruin *did* get the atium? Yeah, the world is destroyed, but how does Ruin "absorb" the atium so he can utilize the power?

He would metabolize it, just like the normal people have to do. However, if he did get it he would then be able to destroy the world.

Why is there such an imbalance between the amount of atium and the amount of lerasium in the world? Also, why are atium and lerasium very imbalanced in Allomantic power (Lerasium is far more useful than atium, really)?

There isn't. Leras is just spread out further. He is in the mists, in the Well, and in the lerasium. Ruin's power however is considerate strictly in atium.

Since the dawn of Scadrial, why was Feruchemy isolated in a single distinct population in the world, namely the Terrismen? Allomancy, while rare within the population of Scadrial, at least was not isolated to one population, it was spread evenly, it seems. What is special about the Terrismen that only they get the power of Feruchemy? Does it have something to do with the previous Ascensions before Rashek, with the guardian keeping the power for a time?

It's all in the spiritual DNA, which is passed on like normal DNA. However, they are a separate people. They've kept themselves isolated, similar to the jews in our world. When I asked he said there have been some Feruchemical-mistings in the past, but they are very rare.

Is Edgli Endowment's real name?

RAFO, however the flowers are related to Endowment somehow...

Why are specific focuses chosen for specific Shards? Why metals for Ruin and Preservation and not Commands like Endowment?

RAFO.

Are Shards all paired? Does Endowment have a counterpart?

RAFO. Also, yes and no. Not all Shards have perfect counterparts like Ruin and Preservation.

QUESTION

Why were Ruin and Preservation linked together?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Because they're such perfect opposites. Basically it's just an opposites attract thing.

Is Endowment blind to the words spoken by Awakeners? Is he blind to art?

RAFO

Is Endowment linked to the ocean in Warbreaker?

RAFO.

Long, long ago when Hero of Ages came out you listed four Shards other than Ruin and Preservation. You said we interacted with two directly. One is a tough call, we've never met the Shard itself but have seen its power. The other one we've not met directly but have seen its influence. My questions:

-Is the Dor the "tough call" one?

-Do you count Hoid in this list of four shards? It makes a difference for the theories, Brandon! You don't even need to say if he is bound to a shard, rather just if you consider him in this list.

RAFO, and no, Hoid is not included in the list. (Still not sure if he has a shard or not)

How many Shards have existed on Roshar?

Three

Will Hoid's character arc, as well as the whole Adonalsium arc, get a satisfactory conclusion eventually?

It depends on what Brandon decides to do. We also might or might not get the rest of the story (pre-story). From a market standpoint it's not wise, simply because if the books require you to have read 32 other books before you read them it doesn't make sense to work on them. However, if the demand is high enough he MIGHT do them after all of the rest of the cosmere books.

Does Ruin have a pool, similar to Preservation's pool with the Well of Ascension and Skai's pool in Elantris?

Yes. His pool is the pits.

Can Sazed "will" himself to any Shardworld if he so desires?

Yes, he has the capacity for it. However, will he? Don't know. If he did there would be a lot of ramifications for it...

Will Sazed eventually go mad trying to hold two Shard's power at the same time (being pushed to two different Purposes simultaneously for millennia)? Why hasn't anyone else tried this trick before in the Cosmere?

No. Since they're so opposite they work together to create a whole. However, after a LONG time it would change him as a person.

This one is a personal favor... See, for metals that have Feruchemy, this verb is "charge". A metal is Feruchemically charged. But, you've been using the term "charge" for Hemalurgic metals, too, which I think is confusing. Before HoA I called Hemalurgic metals "Imbued" metals. I humbly petition to have that be the official term, because it's just confusing otherwise.

The Seventeenth Shard members use the term of Invest for all of those type of things. However, what they use in world is different on each world. For example WoK is infuse.

Could you tell us a chronology of the Shardworlds thus far? Like, did Warbreaker happen after Mistborn or before, things like that. Personally, I was under the impression you said Mistborn was a sequel to Elantris, but Mi'ch and Josh disagree.

He wasn't positive on where Warbreaker went, but Elantris is first and MB is after it.

Can Inquisitors still breed through human reproductive methods?

Yes

Why did Rashek create mistwraiths the way that he did?

He wasn't sure what you meant by this, but he was sure that the annotations would cover what you wanted to know.

How long is the lifespan of an Inquisitor?

It depends on the powers they're given. Some burn up quickly, and others are extended. In general though they do tend to have slightly longer lives. Since Marsh has the missing bag of atiums he's going to be around for a while.

Does being female alter the spiritual overlays on a person, so that a Hemalurgically imbued spike would need to be placed differently than in a male body?

No. In fact, there are female inquisitors in the huge fight when Vin goes blasting through them, but he felt like bringing that out would have been distracting.

In the future when atium is rare again and we have a good Table of Allomantic Metals, which metal steals Allomantic Temporal powers?

It will be on the table when Brandon brings them out. Feruchemy is the next poster to come out. Until then RAFO.

Let's say hypothetically we get Ruin, Preservation, and Endowment to create a planet. Would there be *more* magic systems due to Endowment's involvement (think permutations), or would this specifically not work at all?

It could work. There is the potential for more magic systems.

Is Hoid evil?

*chuckle* What do YOU think?

Can Hemalurgy be used to steal magic attributes from any Shardworld?

Hemalurgy has larger ramifications then just Scadrial. That's about all he'd say.

Does atium have a "side effect", much like how lerasium has a "side effect" in creating Mistborn?

RAFO

What do you call mixing Allomantic powers with Feruchemical powers? Allochemy?

He hasn't decided yet.