The Stormlight Archive series, of which Oathbringer is the third novel, brings together many elements of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere and reveals connections between the characters of this world and those of other worlds in the Cosmere. The Cosmere is the “universe” in which the worlds of most of Sanderson’s novels exist, including the Stormlight Archive series (2010-2020), both Mistborn series (2006-2022), Tress of the Emerald Sea (2023), and Elantris (2005). The Stormlight Archive series provides hints that there is some grander conflict happening in the Cosmere and that Odium’s attempted takeover of Roshar plays a role in that larger conflict. The stakes are incredibly high for these characters as they face gods or what they once considered gods; the stakes, however, are even higher than the characters truly realize.

Novels that take place within the Cosmere usually contain at least one character from another world—often this crossover character is Hoid, who appears in the Stormlight Archive as Wit. Other books also leak into the Stormlight Archive, particularly through the appearance of Highmarshal Azure, who admits to being from another world and seeking the sword Szeth now carries in Oathbringer, a sword named Nightblood that appeared alongside Azure in Warbreaker (2009).