History Fridge / TheStormlightArchive

[[folder: Rhythm of War]]

** [[https://www.history.com/news/coding-used-to-be-a-womans-job-so-it-was-paid-less-and-undervalued Random historical trivia]]: the early computer ENIAC was built by two men, but its programmers were women who were tasked with programming it when no programming languages existed. The men got all the credit since people thought building the computer was the only hard part, but programming was an exacting task. If the artifabrians built the computer, Navani is the programmer. Also, programming computers ''was'' compared to women's work of planning a dinner party.

[[folder:''Dawnshard'']]

[[/folder]]

** Notably, there is also their omnicidal end goals. While Odium primarily wants to destroy the heroes and the peoples of Roshar they're defending because accomplishing this gets him out of a pact that keeps him bound to Roshar so he can finally go and start killing other Shards, Ruin wants to commit omnicide as a means in itself, with the implication that after he's killed everyone on Roshar, he's going to destroy the physical planet itself. While for Odium it is merely the means to an end, for Ruin it is the end in itself.

* Shallan's first chapter headers are full of nested brilliance. Since the headers are done in black ink with no grayscale, it looks like an ocean at sunrise or sunset, which fits how she rode a boat to a port city. In ''Oathbringer'', it turns out to be Jasnah's chapter header. The dark sky isn't because of sunset, that's Shadesmar. Shallan switching to Pattern could represent how she moves out of Jasnah's shadow, or how she's pretending to be an Elsewalker instead of a Lightweaver.

* Azure coldly tells Kaladin that she's not going to help Dalinar because she has no reason to protect a man she's never met, no matter his reputation. Reasonable enough on its own, but it makes a lot more sense given what she went through in ''Warbreaker''. [[spoiler:Vivienna's companions tricked her into triggering a bloody revolution in a peaceful city because she was raised to hate that city, and because her companions only showed her one side of the story. Only after seeing everyone and everything with her own eyes does she do the right thing]]. Azure will protect people in immediate need, but she knows she can't see the big picture (knowing that hearsay is unreliable) and is likely wary of the consequences of her actions.

* In the epilogue Wit mentions that the system of Lighteyed rule, despite seeming so bizzare, was created for perfectly logical reasons. Actual eye color is clearly as poor and indicator of intelligence and leadership quailities on Roshar as on Earth, but what probably happened, was that people remembered the Radiants having eyes that glowed, and are still deferential to bright eyes without remembering the reasons. Even more so, it's revealed that if you pick up a Shardblade, your eyes change color to light. It's quite probable that ''all'' lighteyes are the descendants of Radiants and Shardbearers.

[[index]]
* Fridge for ''Literature/TheCosmere'' as a whole can be found [[Fridge/TheCosmere here]]
* Fridge for ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' can be found [[Fridge/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy here]]
* Fridge for ''Literature/MistbornSecretHistory'' can be found [[Fridge/MistbornSecretHistory here]]
* Fridge for ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'' can be found [[Fridge/WaxAndWayne here]]
* Fridge for ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' can be found [[Fridge/{{Warbreaker}} here]]
[[/index]]

** A war where the most powerful nation in the world reacts to a horrific act of violence by launching an invasion of a relatively distant land, fighting a numerically inferior foe in a harsh, difficult landscape. The foe uses innovative, insurgent tactics. The war causes deep stress on the homeland, extends for a great length of time, gets many people killed (often for no good reason) and those prosecuting the war lose their focus on what they're really out there to fight. Might not be intentional, but [[TheWarOnTerror there are some striking parallels there....]]

* Wit/Hoid's story to Kaladin:
** At first glance, it almost seems like a BigLippedAlligatorMoment, until one looks back over the setting itself. The tale shows what happens when people allow unconfirmed belief to rule their actions, and how people can do the most horrible of things because of belief in some greater power that excuses their actions. Three of the four main characters fall victim to this in their own way: Kaladin's inability to get over his own guilt and self-loathing, which convinces him that things are hopeless. Dalinar's belief in what the visions are showing him, which ultimately leads him into the trap during the battle on the Tower, as well as making the mistake of assuming ''The Way of Kings'' was applicable to all of life, and not the creation of a man who had been forced to unify the nations by force so he could implement his ideals. And most importantly, Szeth's strict adherence to Stone Shamanism and carrying out his assassinations at the order of whoever commands him, when all he would need to do to stop ''everything'' from happening would be to simply refuse to follow the orders of whoever holds his oathstone.
** Becomes even more brilliant once we learn ''why'' Szeth was made Truthless. [[spoiler: He tried to warn the Shin that the Desolation was coming. Because it ''obviously'' wasn't true, they branded him Truthless and forced him into slavery, and to bear the guilt of all the lives he claimed, and he went along with it, as he viewed it as the only punishment suitable.]] And then it turns out that [[spoiler: he was right and the Shin were wrong. The desolation was coming. The Knights Radiant had returned. All of the deaths he caused were for ''nothing''... because he believed the Shin over himself]].

** Notably, there is also their omnicidal end goals. While Odium primarily wants to destroy the heroes and the peoples of Roshar they're defending because accomplishing this gets him out of a pact that keeps him bound to Roshar so he can finally go and start killing other Shards, Ruin wants to commit omnicide as a means in itself, with the implication that after he's killed everyone on Roshar, he's going to destroy the physical planet itself. While fr Odium it is merely the means to an end, for Ruin it is the end in itself.

** [[spoiler: The Fused who are willing to destroy Roshar to kill all the humans. ]]

* Dalinar's visions are like a video game. He can interact with the world, move about freely and make choices, but in the end the story is still on the rails, and it's going to head where it wants no matter what he does. [[spoiler:The parts where the Almighty is speaking to him are non-interactive cutscenes]]. Even more so in ''Oathbringer'', when he [[spoiler: can have them any time, can bring other people in, and start examining the "coding" to find limits and even what could be considered easter eggs.]]

** [[spoiler:The humans conquering Roshar from the parsh, and sending them to Braize which could be the world they ruined and escaped from]].

** [[spoiler: Battle of Thaylend Field, were ten Surgbinders [[note]]Dalinar, Lift, Szeth, Jasnah, Kaladin, Shallan, Renarin, Teft, Taln and Shalash [[/note]] fought against Voidbringer army. ]]