Five little returned when out one day, through shades more and far away. Hey internet, I'm Steve, and this is Raffo. Considering the relative level of technology on Nulphus, the terms used in describing biocroma and awakening are surprisingly sophisticated. This is because at least some of the five scholars, the group of returned who studied Nulphian magic, had visited worlds that had gone through an industrial revolution, and therefore had more of a grasp on scientific theory. However, the only obviously industrialized society we've seen is in Mistborn Era 2, which takes place after the Stormlight Archive, which itself happens after Warbreaker. So what planet or planets did the five scholars visit? We're going to dig into the timeline of the Cosmere here. So if you haven't read at least Warbreaker, Stormlight, and Mistborn, but where? Here there be spoilers. The general consensus is that the five scholars gained their scientific savviness from their visit to Rochar, which at least Vashar is confirmed to have visited, because Nightblood is a direct attempt to make a shard blade with a different magic system. However, I don't think the dates match up for that to have been their only stop. The events at the end of Warbreaker occur roughly 300 years after the Many War, which was the conflict that essentially established the Kingdom of Halandran. The Tears of Edgley, a flower exclusive to the Valley of Halandran, and used in making valuable dies, and potentially a solid form of endowments in Vestiture, was one reason behind the war. Another was the discovery of Icar alcohol, and commands to make lifeless out of one breath rather than 50, allowing the creation of huge armies that didn't need to eat or feel pain. These discoveries were made by the five scholars who broke up at the beginning of the war. This was also when a certain sort of Neemee was created and used for the first time, though apparently he was called something else at this point. Vaux, the first returned, returned about 300 years before the Many War, but awakening wasn't discovered until 100 years previous. So we've got a time frame. The five scholars, a group of returned who studied awakening, could not have gone off-world any earlier than about four centuries before Warbreaker, and no later than three. Sounds like a pretty wide margin, but in relation to the rest of the Cosmere, things really start connecting because of it. So let's get a timeline. We know Alloy of Law, or Mistborn Era 2, occurs after the first half of Stormlight, but before the second half, for convenience I'll call them Stormlight 1 and Stormlight 2. So there's a 15 to 20 year gap. Mistborn Era 1 takes place 341 years before that. For 1024 years, the Lord ruler rules the final empire, keeping technology stifled. Previous to this, Clemmam had nearly reached the development of railroads. So Scadriel was almost an industrialization, but they got pushed back a thousand years. Originally, though, Warbreaker and Alloy of Law were set to happen at the about the same time, several hundred years before Stormlight 1. Due to realizing a timeline conflict, Alloy got pushed back. However, given that Brandon wrote Way of King's Prime with Vashor in mind, and then wrote out Warbreaker in order to flesh out his backstory, it's probably safe to assume that the duration between the two is still reliable. This puts Warbreaker a little bit before Mistborn Era 1, so 400 years before that, when the five scholars went to hopping, would have been solidly in the middle of the final empire, pre-industrialization. So Scadriel's out. Right, right, right, but what about Rochar? We know they visited there, why couldn't they have just had one stop? Here's why. On Rochar, the last desolation occurred about 4,500 years ago. Each desolation would wipe out up to 90% of Rochar's population, basically reverting them back to the Stone Age, and there was less than a year between the last two. In the Prairie to the Stormlight Archive, the heralds give up their honor blades and go into hiding. Humanity thinking they went to reclaim the tranquiline halls. The heralds knew how to smell steel, but that knowledge had to have vanished with them. We see in the Prelude soldiers with bronze head spears, putting Rochar in the early Bronze Age technologically, and having to rebuild from the Stone Up. 2,500 years later, Rochar was into the Iron Age. When Dalinar sees the Recreants at Feverstone Keep, his spearhead is of good steel, but most everyone is still wearing bronze armor, roughly equivalent to ancient Roman tech, which means 2,000 years later, present day Rochar would be at about the Renaissance, which matches what Brandon has said. However, we need to consider the popularity of Shautat. First, it's delicious. Second, it's reminiscent of the street food explosion that accompanied the industrial revolution here on Earth. So Rochar is on the cusp of industrialization. But 700 years ago, when the five scholars went to hopping, nowhere near that level of scientific thought. So Rochar, even though they definitely visited and saw shard blades, is out. And if there were additional stops, Vacher went home by this point. What else do we got? First of the Sun has barely hit industrialization by era 4, so that's out. Threnady, while they've got gunpowder, takes place after warbreaker, and it's really hard to get to, so that's out. Cell might be a viable option, given the scholarly focus of the Elantrians, but you've got the door to contend with in getting there, so that's less likely. What about Silverlight? It's almost confirmed that the five scholars visited this country that exists solely in the cognitive realm. But in the exact same mob, Brandon says that the five scholars are considered early Cosmere scholars, which to me means they had to get their scholarship elsewhere. So Silverlight, though still possible, is likely out. That leaves us with my favorite contender, Tall Dane. In terms of chronology, White Sand is the earliest published work in the Cosmere, solidly taking place before Alantris, which itself is at least hundreds of years before Mistborn. However, even at this point, they were incredibly technologically advanced, with Darkside Rivaling Mistborn era 2. They already have pistols and explosives, and at least according to some, stereosystems. They've got the technology to produce instant noodles, which you'd have to be whittless not to appreciate. This level of technology puts them at least the beginning of industrialization, and the level of scientific thought shown by Chris seems appropriate for that era. Given our timeline, White Sand should occur between 608 and 800 years before Warbreaker, so the five scholars could have been on Tall Dane as early as 200 years after White Sand. That's plenty of time to fully experience a revolution, but is probably far enough back that autonomy was still allowing visitors. We're not sure when Bobbin's tourism embargo went into effect, only that it's been many, many years. If all the Arcanum-Unbounded essays were written around the same time, that would have to be at least after the end of Mistborn era 1. 600 years later, because Chris references the movement of the planet and changes to its ecology. So there it is, a Cosmere timeline, and all its relative circumstantial glory. Speaking of Chris, my next video will be digging into the Investiture of Tall Dane. So please subscribe so you're notified when it comes out. If you've missed any of my videos, you can check them out here. There's a lot of White Sand to pull from for the next time, so if you haven't gotten the prose version, it's well worth your time to read. And find out!