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I have heard it mention off-hand... What evidence etc. do we have?

There's been a few "sorting the shards into quadrants" "sorting the shards into quadrants and trying to find matching Dawnshards" and similar posts recently, and while I absolutely love reading those, this post is here for less linear thoughts about Adonalsium and the missing shards, but missing shards nonetheless. Let's stop with the preambling and get to what I want to get to: ODIUM and what it means for ADONALSIUM. Let's start by looking at one of the (imho) coolest quote of all the cosmere: Emphasis mine. Source: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Words_of_Radiance/Epigraphs#Chapter_71. Refresher: this is from one of the letters in reply to Hoid, so probably from either a shard or another old, cosmere-aware figure like Frost. So, for the sake of argument, let's assume what they write can be treated as fact. This quote has stuck with me, among others because it makes Odium such an interesting foe and such a cool idea: The hatred of a God, without all the rest of God. I want to talk about this quote some more. Let's reiterate three things: 1. Adonalisum was shattered into 16 pieces. As far as we know, there's no Debris or anything like that left. They're 16 pieces of a whole. Those could have been split up differently, but weren't. It's not a little god with 1/16th of all of Adonalsiums properties, but with ALL of 1 of 16 properties (or 2, in Harmonys case). 2. Rayse Odium calls himself Passion and sais that that's what they are. Passion. Emotion. He even tells Dalinar that he's the only one of the gods that understands human emotion, that knows it. 3. Despite this, everyone else more or less agrees that Odium is first and foremost Hatred. The way he is described in text and in universe is as seething, hating, hot and burning and hateful. Now, what am I trying to say: What does this mean for Adonalsium? Well, one of multiple things. That depends on what the last two shards are. We know almost nothing about Adonalsium, yet, sadly. But here's my thoughts, which I hope to make understandable: I really hope atleast one of the last two shards is an emotion. Something like "Love" is a common guess, but even just something like "Care" or "Charity" (which the ancient greeks would argue was one of multiple forms of love anyway). Seriously. Because if there isn't another Emotion-Shard, then Rayse/Passion is right. In that it isn't just Hate, but all emotions/passions. Or rather, all the emotions/passions Adonalsium was capable of. It's why I refer to it as Passion in the title of this post. Let's look at the quote about it again: Virtues. Not "other emotions." Now, we can argue that Virtues are an emotional thing, but I think the semantics are clear. The letter doesn't say "without the other emotions." or, the very clear thing many religions irl share: "His Love" There's a few conclusion to be drawn from this, and I will list those in a second, but I want to first look at the shards again to underline this. Virtues: Honor, Autonomy, Ambition, Mercy, Valor, (Wisdom, Prudence) Divine Properties: Endowment, Dominion, Devotion, maybe Cultivation? Forces of Creation/Nature: Preservation, Ruin, maybe Cultivation? Uh, no idea: Whimsy, Invention. To be clear: This isn't supposed to be a sorting or anything like that. I don't think this is how the shards are grouped or even if they are grouped. The point of this list is to drive home the point that none of these are emotions. There sure are some Virtues, especially Honor and Mercy and Wisdom stand out as ones that sound like they would give Odium much needed context. But, again, none of these are emotions. (Is bravery an emotion? I wouldn't say so. Semantics, maybe) This leads me to a few possible conclusions: 1: One of the two so far unknown shards is also about emotions. Especially "Love" or one of its derivatives would of course fit a God the way we on earth imagine it well, and would make a good counter to Odium. I know there aren't clear pairs, but another shard of emotion would mean Adonalsium had atleast two different distinct emotions or emotional states. Because otherwise... 2a: (Odium is the only Emotion Shard and Rayse is lying about Odium = Passion) Adonalsium was a deeply hateful being. If it was shattered into 16 Aspects of its being, and only one of them is emotion, and that is pure Odium, Adonalsium must have been hateful in the same fulfilling, allencompassing way that Odium is. If Odium is "Just Adonalsiums Hatred without The Rest" and none of "The Rest" are emotions, then Adonalsium felt basically the same way that Odium does. Hate with a hint of Anger for a rare change. Even the better version of this isn't much better: 2b: (Odium is the only Emotion Shard and Rayse is right about Odium = Passion) Adonalsium was a deeply hateful being anyway. If Odium is the only emotion shard, and is not "God's own Divine Hatred" but rather "God's own Divine complex emotions", then well, Adonalsiums complex emotions must still have been hugely dominated by Hate. 3: Odium is all emotion that Adonalsium could feel and just got the way it is after the Shattering. Maybe "God's Divine Passions/Emotions" is up to interpretation the way Ruin could be slow decay or active Catastrophes, and it got interpreted into Odium. Then again, it sounds like Odium went on his killing spree pretty quickly after the Shattering, so it's not like he started out loving and jolly and became bitter and hateful with lots of time. (4: Adonalisum wasn't a being in the same way that we humans are, its/their emotional state is not really understandable with human understanding of emotion. We don't even know if Adonalsium had a person/vessel/personality/anything, for all we know it could have been a machine or mechanism or a force of nature more than an entity. Does a poisonous plant feel hate when it kills you for eating it? Does a storm, or a robot that was tasked to protect something when it hurts those that try to interfere with its task? Maybe Adonalsium didn't feel much, so much of what it was was Creation, and to argue about Adonalsiums Emotional landscape is futile? The only things we can assume to know are that It experienced bravery, it showed mercy, it cultivated, preserved, and destroyed things, it dominated and was devoted, it invented, it was whimsical, it wanted to survive, it was ambitious, it was autonomous, it endowed things, and: It felt Hate/it hated.) I personally hope for the former for the sake of our heroes and everyone in the cosmere, but let's continue the thoughts based on 2a and 2b for now, because there's some thought that might make these ones more likely. Whether or not Rayse was right is kind of irrelevant. Whether or not Adonalsium felt only Odium or Passion, if that 16th of Adonalsium that was/is Passion was the way back then it is now, well, Adonalsiums emotional landscape was a bad one. Even with the "context", as in "the virtues that gave it context", it doesn't paint the nices picture of the Cosmere's old God. If it's Wisdom keeping Adonalsiums Hate in check then that sounds like they came to the conclusions it's not smart to destroy everything. If it's Honor, then Adonalsiums is sparing lives because of some Oaths or feeling of duty. Cool, I guess. Not kindness, though. Mercy is the biggest candidate for a counterweight, but that to me has bully-vibes still. "I want to kill you tbh but I'm sparing you because I'm so mercyfull" isn't exactly kind either, is it? If that's what Adonalsium was right, then no wonder that a group of people came to conclusion it had to be destroyed. (And if Rayse was an evil leaning person before the Shattering, then no wonder he wanted that Shard in particular. Sounds like one of the few they'd be sure to exist afterwards.) Long, long post. If you read this far, thanks for sticking with it. I'm intrigued if other people thing my argument is conclusive at all, an what your thoughts about this are. Will we get another Emotion Shard? Will we not, and Adonalsium was very hateful? Is it futile to imagine Adonalsiums Emotions the way neurotypical Human Emotions work? Or another possible answer?

Main theory The Cosmere as a whole is a large story full of smaller stories. The story is supposed to have an ending, and in my opinion there is only one ending that works thematically to the story that starts with the shattering of Adonalsium: namely the re-unification of all the shards. There are several WoBs regarding if this is possible or not. Brandon often responds to questions in a vague manner, like that some (in-world) believe it possible but that it would be hard. My interpretation of that is that not any not-a-man with a couple of shards could do it. You would need to not only be able to reform splintered shards but also pick up shards that you lack connection with. In other words, you would need some kind of extra connection power. Some kind of power capable of uniting (or bonding) the shards together. You would need something like… a bondsmith. Let’s move on to the most controversial part of this theory, the interaction between Dalinar and Odium at the climax of Oathbringer: In this moment I believe that Odium is talking about Adonalsium, not Honor. I believe that Adonalsium is the name of the vessel, and the title of Adonalsium is Unity. This explains Odium’s momentary loss of control. For a split second he believes that somehow, no matter how implausible, Adonalsium is actually alive. This thought terrifies him. Soon afterwards he regains his senses. All the “Unite them” commands that Dalinar hears refer to uniting all the shards of Adonalisum. This is a very well executed escalation of storytelling, something Brandon is very fond of: First we interpret it as uniting the highprinces. Then as uniting all the kingdoms of Roshar. Then as uniting the splinters of Honor. Then as uniting all the shards of Roshar. Then finally as uniting all shards of Adonalsium. Dalinar will go on a quest to unite all shards of the Cosmere, his main opposition being Harmony (soon to be Discord). However, what happens when he picks up each new shard? Is he supposed to come up with a new name matching all the different shards’ intents that he currently holds? No. When Dalinar picks up the three shards of Roshar he will take the title of Unity even though he does not have all the required shards. Dalinar must pick up the fallen title of Adonalsium (Unity). The tower (towerlight), the crown (TBA, voidlight+lifelight) and the spear (warlight). These are all the combinations of the Rosharan shards that Dalinar will end up taking, which will probably be the end of SA10. He will call himself Unity, but he will be a less perfect version. You might even call him a broken version of Unity. The Cosmere wide war will be that of Unity versus Discord: quite the poetic pairup, and it fits well thematically with the Cosmere-wide plot. The shattered shards represent discord in the Cosmere. All (and none) of the Shards are evil because they are all extreme versions of their intent without other characteristics to balance them out. The only chance for stability and unity in the Cosmere lies with Unity. Bonus: The first chapter where Dalinar is introduced is called Unity. TLDR: Dalinar reforms Unity (Adonalsium) and restores stability to the Cosmere Side theory: Adonalsium’s plan There are multiple instances where we see that Shards are capable of creating huge complex plans that manage to outmanoeuvre other Shards. Most famously how Preservation’s plan worked for millenia to result in Harmony. Cultivation also set pieces into motion to have Rayse replaced by Taravangian. So far, the destruction of all the vessels we have seen has come from the intervention of another Shard. This begs the question: How could Adonalisum, holder of all 16 Shards, holder of the most powerful foresight powers to ever exist, be caught by surprise by a couple of mortals? Even if those mortals had Dawnshards to help them? What if Adonalsium was not caught by surprise? What if… Adonalsium planned for the shattering and set in motion a huge and complex plan to have all the pieces reunited again? What if creating Roshar was an essential part of that plan? TLDR: All the stories of the Cosmere have been part of Adonalsium's plan with the end goal of re-uniting all shards. Side theory: Adonalsium is not dead as long as he lives in the hearts of men I have previously pitched the idea that Dalinar currently has (or has access to) the Dawnshard of Uniting. This would be the voice speaking in his mind and the warmth he senses at times. However, Dalinar does not exhibit all the signs of holding a Dawnshard. Allow me to quote Brandon: There is a striking resemblance to the name of Unity and a Dawnshard that desires uniting. What if during the shattering of Adonalsium he imprinted on one of the Dawnshards? In a process similar to how cognitive shadows are created, parts of the vessel Adonalisum still exist fused with the Dawnshard. The voice that Dalinar hears could then possibly be the voice of Adonalsium himself, expertly pulling the strings in the background. This could also be the key that helps with picking up shards to which Dalinar lacks proper connection. TLDR: Adonalsium still lives in some form inside on of the Dawnshards. Bonus death rattle: If crown truly refers to (voidlight+lifelight) in the death rattle higher up then this could possibly refer to Odium (the darkness) picking up Cultivation and forming some shard that is related to ruling, giving the name of that specific light.

You need a significant connection to a Shard to become a vessel of that Shard, right? Does that mean that you would need connection to all Shards to become a vessel of Adonalsium? Or would you need connection to Adonalsium somehow? Something else? This might limit who could ascend to Adonalsium quite severely, depending on the answer to my next question. In order to have a connection to a Shard, do you simply need to act in line with that Shards intent, or do you need to connect with it on some other level. For instance, could someone from Roshar be really devoted on Roshar, then travel to Sel and ascend to Devotion (assuming anyone can ascend to Devotion), or would you have to be really devoted on Sel and connect with Devotion's investiture there before you could ascend? If you need to be on the same planet as the Shard, which I think you would, then only worldhoppers could conceivably ascend to Adonalsium. And what worldhoppers have become solidly Invested from Shards on multiple worlds? As far as I recall, we only know of one: Hoid. Hoid has access to Surgebinding, Awakening, and Allomancy, and possibly other Invested arts. Does this have something to do with Hoid's goal? Is Hoid trying to ascend to Adonalsium? This seems out of character for Hoid, who has never shown interest in ruling others, but perhaps he has motivations we don't know about. Whether Hoid is trying to ascend to Adonalsium or not, he may end up being the only person who can, and I suspect that when it is both necessary and possible, he will do so. Hoid will become Adonalsium. What do you think? Do you need connection to all Shards to become Adonalsium? If so, what kind of connection? Does this suggest anything about Hoid?

When I was looking at some recent threads theorizing about Unity (basically the only time we ever hear it referenced is when Dalinar says "I am Unity!" at the climax of OB and Rayse says "we killed you!), I realized that I had my own theory - and that it also solved the problem of how Adonalsium was shattered. Before I continue, I would like to state that this isn't just a repeat of the things I said in the "death of Unity" thread - I crafted my thoughts into a full-fledged theory this time. 1. What is Unity? Let's get straight to the point - I believe that Unity is a lot like a Shard, but not - it's more like a binding agent. Like an egg used in baking. It isn't there to taste good, it's there to hold the things that taste good together. By this same logic, Unity is there to hold the Shards of Adonalsium together. I'll get to how it does this later, but the implications for this are pretty staggering. Firstly, it would explain how Adonalsium was shattered - Unity was somehow removed from the equation (e.g. its holder was killed), making Adonalsium's Investiture split into sixteen pieces. There are a couple different options for why it couldn't hold itself together. It could've been in 16 different pieces at the start, or (and I think this is the more interesting option) it could've been too big to hold itself together. Maybe Investiture works in weird ways on a large scale, and Adonalsium is just so Invested that it splits into sixteen different pieces. (I don't actually have any supporting evidence for this, but it sounds plausible). 2. How does it hold things together? I believe that Dalinar's "Bondsmith unchained" powers are, in reality, the part of Unity that he holds. I say "part" because I believe all three Bondsmiths hold a part of Unity. This feels like it could have some prevalence in KoW or back-half Stormlight, or in Era 4, where the reformation of Adonalsium seems like it'll be at least a small plot point. I think this because Dalinar's main power is Connection manipulation, and that's exactly what you'd need to hold Adonalsium together. This could also apply to Ishar's destruction of Ashyn - maybe he removed the Connection between the planet and its magnetic field, or its orbit, or something big. Backing up a little further, I think something from his experimentation allowed him to gain access to the remnants of Unity and somehow piece them back together - again, that's something we'll probably see when the time comes for Herald flashbacks. yeah that's basically it This is all just wiiiiiild speculation. But I think it makes at least a modicum of sense. Let me know your thoughts!

Is Ado a root word? What does it mean? I see it in some major character's names. Adonalsium, Adolin, Ba-Ado Mishram. Or, in the latter two examples, do they simply reference Adonalsium? Or maybe Ado is kind of like Eru in Middle Earth - the God name. What did Eru mean? One? Something like that. In that case, perhaps Ba means Anti or Against or Enemy of. Mishram, enemy of Ado. Speaking of names, Adonalsium sounds like a metal to me. So then, is Ado the name and Adonalsium the metal? Like Leras to Lerasium? Or Ati to Atium? Ooh, I think I'm on to something! Ado is the original holder of god-power. His metal was shattered and taken by the 16. But it is not exactly Ado himself. Hmmm. I like it!

Hello everybody, I'm a newbie to the forums and want to share in on some fan theories and cool Cosmere discussions. I was recently listening to a great podcast, Cosmere Conversations, and it got me thinking... Shard Carry-Ons When beings seize the power of the Shards and ascend to become Vessels, their immediate belongings like clothing and weapons accompany them into some pocket dimension or into the Spiritual Realm. Leras had a knife on him during Secret History. Rayse, Leras, Ati, and Vin materialize with their original clothing once they died. Sazed ascended with his metalminds and was even able to access them. I was incorrect. He tapped them just before ascending and they dropped to the ground. Thanks @LewsTherinTelescope! So, what other carry-on luggage can you bring along on the ride to godhood? Shardblade/Shardplate? Bonded spren/Unmade? Nightblood? Hemalurgic spikes? God metals/Essences? Pancakes? Anti-Light? Restrictions & Resistance So are there any restrictions? Could Investiture or Connection play a role? We see that Vin was unable to ascend until she removed her earring (hemalurgic spike). But Sazed was able to ascend with his heavily Invested metalminds. Perhaps the flavor of Investiture is key? Vin could not seize the power of Preservation (end-positive) because she was holding the power of Ruin (end-negative). Sazed was able to seize the power of both Preservation and Ruin along with his metalminds because Feruchemy is of both Preservation and Ruin (end-neutral)! I'm not sure if there is a connection with Connection here (at least in the relationship between the Invested items and the Shard), since Vin and Sazed would be very Connected with their respective items. Regarding Nightblood near the end of RoW, it's possible (but not explicitly stated) that the sword could have fallen away or out of Taravangian's grasp before he ascended. I don't think Taravangian would have been able to ascend with Nightblood in hand anyway...but perhaps if there was a similar scenario with Endowment instead of Odium... My hypothesis so far based on observations: Attempting to seize the power of a Shard while holding the Investiture of another Shard will be met with resistance. Shard Merging Is Harder Than It Looks We have witnessed only a single Shard merger and it was as easy as picking up the power of both Shards at the same time, right? But could this have been accomplished under different circumstances? Remember the profound resistance that Vin (as Preservation) experiences when trying to attack Ruin? Almost like opposite pushing the same ends of a magnet together. She eventually does attack him in full force, but kills them both in the process - no merging takes place. Did the end-neutral nature of Sazed's Invested metalminds act as a catalyst for the merge? What if he was instead an Allomancer or was spiked or didn't have any relevant Investiture at all? Could a spiked Allomancer take and merge both Shards? I know there is a lot of intentional poetic symbology in Mistborn (Ruin + Preservation = Harmony), but perhaps balance is exactly what's needed for any successful Shard merger. Balanced Investiture We are introduced to balanced or stabilized Investiture combinations in the form of Shardblades (Honor metal + Cultivation metal), Towerlight (Stormlight + Cultivation light), and Warlight (Stormlight + Voidlight). I have a sneaking suspicion that these discoveries in Investiture will have profound importance if these Shards are ever going to merge. We will probably see Navani experimenting with combining all three lights in the next book. Considering Raboniel's doubtful comment on the amount of Anti-Light it would take to destroy Odium, I don't think this path would be pursued. Revised hypothesis: Attempting to seize the power of a Shard will be met with resistance while holding the Investiture of another Shard. Merging multiple Shards will be met with resistance unless holding the combined Investiture of these Shards. Now Some Hot Takes Navani becomes/creates the catalyst to merge Honor, Cultivation, and damnation, maybe even Odium! Hoid has been collecting bits and pieces of Investiture all over the Cosmere. What if he possessed a small bit of Investiture from each Shard and was able to become a Vessel with all these on his person? Would this create a mini-Adonalsium? A "Shard" that isn't actually bound by any singular Intent and has more agency? I don't know but I wanna believe! Sorry for the long rant. Please, share with me your thoughts on all this! Has anyone else here posted some similar nonsense?

Let's talk about The Shattering of Adonalsium. (bit of a long post, I know, but trust me). Now, we can all agree that the Shattering is A Big Deal™ by Cosmere standards, and we've all been dying to get any tidbits as to the how's and why's of such a monumental event. Storms, we barely know the where's and who's! Most we can say is it happened A Long Time ago, in Yolen, and maybe Uncle Andy went along with it? That is why whenever Hoid or Khriss or whoever makes a reference to the Shattering, we pay VERY close attention! We are desperate to know what it looked like, why it happened, how it went about, what everyone in the Cosmere felt, and a million other things. We would love nothing more than a first-hand account of Adonalsium's death. But you know what Brandon gave us instead? Not a recollection of events by a scholar, not exposition by one of the Shards, not the how's or why's or the answer to any of those questions; no, instead of telling us how it looked or sounded or came about, Brandon showed us how the Shattering felt. From Dawnshard, ch. 16: Now I don't know about you folks but to me it seems that the first ever look we get at the Shattering, the first POV from the death of Adonalsium, is in the form of emotions. Those are the emotions that Adonalsium itself felt at the moment of its death. And how amazing is that?! For such a foundational event for the entirety of the Cosmere, we don't get something "normal" like 'Hoid remembered that fatal day, when everything ended' or some "regular" storytelling like that! Any other saga based on such an event would have just released a prequel featuring the Shattering. But instead, we get to experience firsthand what the Shattering felt like. We learn not what was said, nor the details of what transpired, but the feelings of God's death from millenia ago. And that, dear Sharders ,is the most original thing Brandon has ever written. Thanks you for coming to my TED talk.

God What is God actually? Or what is a god? I think about that far too much but I enjoy the thoughts of others. And Brandon did put his thoughts into his books. Some things he did put there intentionally and some probably without thinking about it. I read a lot about similar topics in this forum and i assume that my basic idea was already mentioned but most things I found were older. I am thinking this through while writing it. There will be errors and I hope someone finds them. Gods throughout the history of mankind in the real world I've never met someone who actually believed in one of the ancient gods of the Greek, Egyptians, or Vikings in the way they are represented in the strategy game Age of Mythology. And by my Christian standard the gods in the game are not gods at all. They are not all powerful or all knowing. They are not good. They are more than one entity. They did take on physical forms and sometimes even impregnated women. As somewhat of a christian myself I have to think about Jesus when writing that sentence. He had a physical form, his father was God and he did not seem to be all powerful. But this discussion should not be about him. The ancient pantheons knew many Gods and all of them had a different purpose. The main Greek gods for example are known as the Twelve Olympians. And the ancient gods did always fight or party. There are many great stories about all of them. Gods in the Cosmere as seen by the residents To talk about all of them would probably be more difficult than talking about all of the gods in the real world, but I want to bring up my favorite examples. Blushweaver is called a god, but from my viewpoint she is a resurrected, highly invested, human. The Stormfather is a god for many Rosharans. He is basically a Spren for us. The Heralds are also gods for many Rosharans and I do not know what they are for me, but they are similar to Blushweaver and the Returned. For the Un-Kalaki all Spren are gods. And last but not least there are the Shards and Adonalsium himself. This is more difficult. For someone who believes in the divinity of one of the beings mentioned above the shards would probably be gods too. And Adonalsium as a combination of all of them would logically also count as a god. Many gods becoming one In our world it happened that one religion devoured others. Sometimes a polytheistic religion slowly focused on one of the gods at first and then integrating the aspects of the other gods into the main god. Multiple religions and multiple gods became one god as the only god of one general religion. This happened a lot and is related to other phenomena. If you think about the pyramid (hierarchy) of needs it makes sense to pray for food and shelter at the beginning stage of a developing society. But later those basic needs are fulfilled and love, esteem and self-actualization become more important. Those needs are more abstract than food. This leads to the god, responsible for this need, being more abstract. This is a complicated topic and you can spend years looking into it but my main argument is that in our world multiple religions and gods did unite to become one. The Shattering of Adonalsium In the cosmere the whole topic of religion currently begins with the Shattering of Adonalsium. Adonalsium, an (all-)powerful being was shattered into 16 Shards. Those Shards represent different aspects of the same being. And maybe something important happened with the 4 Dawnshards before that, but this is currently RAFOed as far as I know. Here is where part one of my conclusion starts. The Shattering of Adonalsium is the opposite of what happened in our world. In our world many gods become one. If we think of Adonalsium as a god then his shattering is one god becoming many. And not only Adonalsium did become many gods, but his shards did too. In Greek mythology divinity gets passed on to the children of the god. If both parents are gods, the child is a god too. If only one parent is a god, the child is born as a halfgod. If we use this theory on Roshar, then every Spren is a god. We can argue about how much divinity is needed to actually be called a god, but it is hard to draw a line. So let's just use the easy way and say everything that is pure investiture without a physical form is a god. This would be one easy way to define god in the cosmere. It is clearly not perfect but it is a definition. It is not the definition I would use from an out of world perspective but it would be fine as an inworld one for me. Socrates? What has Socrates to do with that? Socrates asked difficult questions. Imagine someone asking about honor. What is honorful? If you ask many people there will be a consensus on a lot of honorful behaviors. But some things will be contrary. And this thought of contrary views on honorful behavior can be represented by spren. Syl believes that Kaladin is honorful. Other Honorspren may agree or disagree, but no other spren agreed enough to make him a radiant. The part of Honor (and Cultivation maybe) that thought of Kaladin as honorful enough to become radiant is called Syl. So Sy is only a small part of the whole Adonalsium, but a part with power and an opinion. If we say that Adonalsium is the god of the Cosmere we can argue that he did split up himself, his will and his power into many little pieces but those pieces are still the will and power of the whole so every Spren is Adonalsium but Adonalsium is all Sprens and all the other Shards as well. A Spren is then a part of God. It is divine. If we accept that Adonalsium never was all powerful or willingly limited himself that every part of Adonalsium is still God in its essence and Identity. Are Humans Gods now? No. But as mentioned in the cosmere and the real world. There is something special about Humans. In the Cosmere we can add a lot of other beings to the list of special ones. But to keep it easy I´ll just talk about humans. Every human has some kind of divinity. We have souls or something. That's a complicated and abstract philosophical and religious idea. And I will not discuss all world religions at once but most agree that humans are special. The one above all The true God of the Cosmere So even if we do not agree on Adonalsium being a God there is something even deeper than that. If we define God almighty and something that knows everything, the past, the present, the future there is still one being that fits this description. Brandon Sanderson! He created the Cosmere. He created it out of nothing in his mind. He completely decides all physical rules. He can change them anytime, but it would make a worse story. He knows the past of the cosmere and also it’s future. He can do whatever he wants with it. He is almighty in the cosmere. He is God. Of course he is not the god of our real world, but no one in the Cosmere can prove that Brandon exists. He creates characters and tries to make them seem conscious. And he does it so well that they seem real or believable to all of us. But sometimes he has to intervene in the broader story. Intervene in what would normally happen. He creates coincidences that bring the important people together. Someone finds the right book at the right time. People meet randomly or due to mysterious reasons like Hoid. Hoid is somewhat the main way of Brandon to influence the story. And by influencing the story he changes the cosmere itself. And Brandon created the Cosmere in a way that Hoid seems to be real and not divinie. At least not much more divine than many other beings. Hoid can be everyone. He can be beggar on the streets, the king's wit, or just some random traveler you meet at a campfire. But Hoid is always Brandon’s influence. Hoid is in a way the inconspicuous hand of god. And have you ever met a Hoid in your life? Someone who did influence your path through life in a positive way without you noticing it at first? Maybe something that seems unimportant, like a stranger wearing a funny T-Shirt with a joke on it. You meet someone special years later and remember that joke. You tell the joke, one thing leads to another and you are happily married. This is a bad example but it is related to something that actually happened. So the true god of the Cosmere is Brandon Sanderson. He created it and tries to change as few things as possible, even though he knows everything and is almighty. But he influences the people in small but well calculated ways with his delegate that we know a Hoid.

So. I was going through the "Hero of Ages" prophecy and I found the line, "That which has been sundered must again begin to find its whole." (here's a link: https://coppermind.net/wiki/Terris_Prophecies#Prophecy_quotes) Now, supposedly the prophecy is only referring to Sazed, but let's think about it for a bit. "That which has been sundered . . ." (by the way, sundered is a synonym for split.) Well, Harmony wasn't sundered. Adonalsium was sundered. So presumably, this line should be referring to Adonalsium. Which means that "[Adonalsium] must again begin to find its whole." Whole??? Yeah, we saw Ruin and Preservation combine into Harmony. But Harmony isn't whole. Harmony is 1/8th of whole. 12.5%. Therefore, I predict that all the shards of Adonalsium will eventually be collected and fused back together. Seems like a cool way to end the story of the cosmere. I went through the other lines from the prophecy, but those all talk about the Hero directly, and most of them do sound like they refer to Sazed. Although, wouldn't this be fun, what if Sazed isn't the Hero of Ages? He just fits the prophecy well enough that nobody's looking for the Hero anymore. They think it's him, Harmony. When really, it's somebody we haven't been introduced to yet so we can't compare them against the prophecy. I don't know. For now, I'll assume that Sazed is the Hero of Ages, but I am confident that Adonalsium will eventually become Adonalsium again. I mean, Odium already did a good portion of the work. How many shards has he splintered so far? It's at least, like, five. Somebody just needs to go collect the splinters. If Sazed did that, maybe his Intent would change enough to let him be more useful. Anyway, that's all I got.

Here's the inscription Brandon left for me in my copy of Rhythm of War... "Adonalsium was not mad at the Shattering - more sad...'

Hi, i'm new here but I have a crazy theory so I made an account so that I could share it. I have talked over this theory with some friends that are big fans of The Cosmere and we believe that it is possible. I have seen the theory that Hoid will become the new Adonalsium a couple times, but I believe that he already is/was. The theory in its simplest form is that Hoid is/was Adonalsium. First off, we know that Hoid was present at the shattering of Adonalsium, but nothing I have seen states in what form or fashion. We also know that all the shards have vessels, those that hold them. It stands to reason that Adonalsium also had a vessel that held all his power. It would also explain why Hoid is world-hopping around collecting magic systems, he's trying to put himself back together. I know that supposedly Adonalsium was killed when he shattered, but what if Adonalsium is the name of the power and not the name of the vessel. The death of Adonalsium could be referring to the death of the power when it shattered, but not the death of the vessel that held it. In conclusion, Hoid is what was leftover at the shattering of Adonalsium; he is now searching out the shards and learning all he can about them in the hopes of stitching himself back together. What do you think of my theory? I don't know the most about The Cosmere so there could be things that i'm not aware of that disprove my theory. If any of you have any evidence for or against this i would love to see it. Thanks for reading my theory, ~TheVillageIdiot

So I was curious about the devotion aspect of Adonalsium and I couldn't find any WoB, page in the Coppermind or post in the forums that talks about it (I might have missed it and if so I'm sorry for bringing back a subject you may have tackled before) so I just wanted to bring this idea and see what you all think of it. From this WoB we can assume that the shards are fragments of Adonalsium's personality and, following this assumption, much like he kept a balance between preservation and ruin and had a desire to cultivate and the growth of things, he also had a sense of devotion directed towards to something or maybe someone. I don't think Adonalsium was devoted to a higher entity since this is one of the questions Brandon wants to leave open and having the most powerful entity in the universe worshipping something it thinks is even bigger would pretty much confirm it, so I think this devotion had to be directed towards something like a plan it had (much like how some people are devoted to the Diagram). My best guess for what this plan could be is the purpose of giving sentience to the Cosmere, as theorized and somewhat confirmed in this WoB. It could also be related to the creation of the Rosharan System and how Adonalsium had an specific purpose for its creation, or it could be something entirely different. This also raises some questions, like: Did Devotion's vessel know what was Adonalsium's devotion directed towards after she ascended? If so, is this part of the reason Odium decided to attack her and Dominion? This could also be part of the reason why Odium decided to splinter and trap most of their power in the Cognitive Realm, so nobody could ascend and get knowledge of Adonalsium's intentions. Well this is pretty much what I wanted to talk about, what are your thoughts in all this?

Though I've lurked often on this forum, I have been less than thorough so if the theory below has already been posted… please give me a link (if you'd be so kind) as I'd love to read the discussion! And if this would be better posted elsewhere, please let this newbie know how Also yes, starting off my forum theorizing with a Hoid theory? Clichéd, but I never claimed to be cool. Like many, I often think about Hoid. What does he want? What are his motives? What is his favourite food? All vital cosmere questions. We know Hoid is gathering different kinds of investiture in the cosmere. At first I thought that maybe he wants to achieve a certain level of power to achieve a specific aim. But this has problems: I don't see Hoid using the investiture-equivalent of using an atomic bomb… nor do I know whether he'd have access to all the invested arts he collects if he's off-planet from these shards. So my mind travelled to the beginning, prior to the Shattering. We know Hoid was alive in Yolen pre-shattering and we know he has certain magical powers such as lightweaving in Yolen or his agelessness. If he had this magic prior to the shattering, then it's possible that the magical signature (is this a correct term?) of his power is of Adonalsium. That's to say, the investiture within his spirit web is pure undiluted Adonalsium. So then the shattering happened, and the power got divided. We know that Hoid has certain restrictions/conditions - such as not being able to hurt others, or that he always appears where he's needed (or so he thinks). We don't know how these restrictions came to be, but a reasonable guess would be that they are conditions set by an oath he took. I do believe he mentions an oath of a sort to Shallan. Why would an oath restrict him so if he isn't a shard? This I don't know, but maybe it has to do with his original Adonalsium magic-system. If we consider the idea that the shards, as pieces of Adonalsium, have their rules and magic based on that template then the fact they're bound by oaths could also extrapolate to the original magic users. If Hoid, by the time of the shattering, was already relatively old (a couple of centuries maybe?) then it's possible he was some kind of priest/advanced mage of Adonalsium and therefore had made his oaths as a way to advance in the magical ladder. These oaths cannot be broken. This could also explain why Honour uses oaths: it's an adaptation of the ancient system… and since he really likes oaths then it suited him just fine instead of coming up with something new. This could also explain Honour not being able to foresee the Heralds breaking the oaths: maybe the oaths made to Adonalsium were more binding and impossible to break than those made to Honour. So, what if Hoid isn't happy with these restrictions/conditions of existence? Then he would try to change them. But if the oath took place pre-shattering, then the investiture binding it would be of Adonalsium within his spirit-web. While his innate investiture might be of Adonalsium, he might not have enough juice to make the changes. Therefore, to change his spirit web, he would need to access all the 16 shards magic in order to make the necessary changes. To me, this explains why he's gathering investiture and possibly why he's so concerned about Odium. Maybe it's harder to gather or use the investiture of a splintered shard. The more shards Odium destroys the more difficult it's for Hoid. In fact, I think that given his line to Dalinar about him being ok with seeing Roshar burn to achieve his goals this makes sense. He's selfish in terms of what he hopes to achieve rather than being a good person who's concerned about the well-being of the Cosmere. Now why does he want to change his spirit web? Maybe if not to release him from his oath, there could be any other number of reasons. Maybe, he just wants to die… or maybe he wants to save/bring back someone (as hinted by epigraphs) but to do so he'd have to break his oaths so he's trying to get rid of them. I don't know what his ultimate goal is, but this theory seems to be a plausible way to achieve them. What do you think?

Hi everyone, I'm new and excited to get started! So Hoid is not a shard, that's always made me think, what can he do. Hoid has an assortment of powers but I have a feeling we don't know of them all, for example Hoid is both a mistborn and a light weaver but when Yasna threatened him with a shard blade he said that he doubted it could kill him, but from what I know with only the powers he has, a shard blade would still be very deadly. So from what Hoid implied he is much more powerful then we know, so that raises a question what are those powers and also where would Hoid fall on the power scale, he would come up higher then a radiant and an allomancers for sure but would he be higher lower or equal to a shard? Could Hoid be more or just as powerful as Adonalsium?

I don't often speculate on cosmeric lore but a thought came to me. We know (see WoB below) that the shattering did not have to happen in the precise way that we think of it having gone. We also know that numerology while a part of the comere and shard lore is not necessarily specific for every shard (see WoB below). While we don't know why this is the case I have a theory. Perhaps the numbers of specific shards relate to the different ways that the shattering might in theory have happened. To develop this perhaps as a result of the shattering these possible futures did not just go away. They stuck to quite possibly the shards who could have differently influenced the outcome.

This is probably the most telling WoB on Adonalsium I've seen Pod (paraphrased) You said at the Starsight release that [Adonalsium] was intentionally preventing the spren from accessing Surges through fabrials and such pre-Shattering. Was this a passive or active effect? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) It was kind of both - the way [Adonalsium] worked was just that the way he saw the world was the way the world worked. He didn't want the spren to be able to do that, so they couldn't. Pod (paraphrased) So did [Adonalsium] want to die? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) *makes face along with various non committal hmings* Pod (paraphrased) That at least gives credibility to the theory. Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) Yeah, it gives credibility to the theory. Footnote: *I don't know how to describe the face - it definitely wasn't confirmation but it looked incriminating to me American Fork High School Signing (Dec. 12, 2019) so with Adonalsium, the way he saw things was the way things were. the spren couldn't access the surges because that's what adonalsium saw, so that's the way it worked. so is this saying that whatever adonalsium wished to see, happened.? Like if there was nothing and he wanted to see a world, would it magically appears? its like the chicken and egg theory. did adonalsium want to see something, so he did? or did he see something that was already there and that's the way things were? like the spren couldn't access the surges because he saw them that way? Or they already couldn't access the surges and he saw that so that became "law"

This is my first post, so if I got anything wrong, let me know. I’ve been thinking about Harmony, who may be the most powerful being in the Cosmere, since he is two shards. My main question is: could Harmony combine with the rest of the shards to reform Adonalsium? Here is my thinking on the topic so far. The first challenge would be reforming the splintered shards—does anyone know if that’s possible? The second challenge would be getting all the shards into one place at the same time, in their complete forms, and vessel-less. Could one of the current vessels, for example, Sazed, claim the other shards, or would it have to be someone new, flaming all the shards at the same time? The third challenge, and end of my line of reasoning: In his letter to Hoid, Sazed mentions that “the powers I hold are in such conflict that the most simple of actions can be difficult.” -Third Oathbringer Letter. If Harmony has so much trouble reconciling Ruin and Preservation, would any Adonalsium 2.0 be rendered powerless by all 16 shards residing in it? One final thought. Was the shattering of Adonalsium a permanent, Cosmere-altering event? Or was it more like Pangea; simply the last of several occasions when all the continents (shards) were one. Now the continents are separate, but in a few million years or so, scientists tell us they’ll collide to form another supercontinent, which in turn will eventually separate again. Maybe Adonalsium is different every time it recombines, as the shards combine in different ways, with different vessels.

So I've been thinking about the 'sun' in Shadesmar and the clouds trail towards it... It was just a thought, but could this point be where Adonalsium was shattered? I think this because it may have been an explosion of sorts which could be the cause of the clouds expanding outward from that point. I don't have any facts to support this, I was just wondering what you all thought of this?

So just out of pure curiosity, out of all the Shards that are currently named, which one would you most want to take up and for what reasons? If you were in the cosmere where would you go, what would you do, and why would you do it? Feel free to discuss below.

So I think the broken one is Adonalsium. It's an obvious conclusion , isn't it ? What's the synonym for shattered ? That's right ,broken Yes , yes , it's too obvious and u have already thought of and rejected this but bear with me. I think it's more of a metaphor. Like odium wants to be the only God right. That's why he's murdering other shards and maybe that was his motivation to shatter Adonalsium in the first place. So now he finds himself not a god but a entity that has been bound to the Greater Rosharan system for millennia and he has been forced to invest there too , much to his chagrin. Then he's also realizing that killing Shards isn't really that easy as he thought. He was quick with Ambition and DnD , he must have thought it would be way easier after killing Dominion and Ambition whose intents clashed on the same frequency as his . He must have thought the rest were easy prey that he would slash through them in little time and be the one God , but then he had to spend millennia killing honor but at the cost of got bound and he still had to lay dormant for a few more millennia and now he still has to deal with cultivation and even those splinters of honor are still fighting . His Victory is not assured and even if he does it will be difficult to uninvest himself from the system , assuming he actually can break the bounds , his Victory doesn't necessarily mean his freedom and by now other shards are wise to him , the last few millennia have been a great opportunity for them to learn how to deal with him and smart shards like endowment seem to have even constructed contingencies/weapons to deal with him. Shards like autonomy with thier multiple daughter shards will be harrowing to hunt down and autonomy herself or one of her avatars at least seems to be quiet cunning . Then u have harmony , a greater shard who terrifies odium. Then there are the 6 other unknown shards who might have gotten used to thier powers by now and have had ample time to study Rayse . might stand against , defeat or atleast offer a prolonged resistance to Rayse. Many of them might have far better futuresight , a priceless advantage. Then there's hoid , he by himself is a threat and he's trying to forge an anti- Rayse alliance as well. He also had to deal with new developments like technological progress on Scadrial , roshar and Sel and perhaps nalthis. Maybe even taldain. Silverlight shouldn't be underestimated either. So far they have remainder neutral observers but it could change. These humans might in a few centuries be powerful enough to take on a bound shard. Especially If they have Shardic help. Then there's the problem of the Evil on Threnody , which might or might not be Ambition in vengeance mode. Even if it isn't, it's still a possible threat. Then u have the sentiant landscapes on Sel , an unforeseen effect of the Dor being converted into free investiture. I'm imagining they won't be too happy with Odium or odium too happy with them as he wants to kill the stormfather for being a big splinter of honour and sane principles might apply for the selish landscapes as well. Then there's Nightblood and hemalurgy. A shard using hemalurgy based overpowered puppets might easily defeat Odium's forces. They could even create new species like Koloss , kandra and Psalms werewolves to tackle his regular troops. All in all , Odium is in a bad position. Maybe the other shards are waiting for odium to become weaker still by fighting honor and cultivation . And then they will spring upon him. Or maybe odium is doomed to be bound to the Rosharan system in any eventuality. I'm sure odium has given all this and more , enough thought. So he's bitter and he's thinking " Hell , I defeated u Adonalsium but now look at me now ,bound to this system and even if I win , it will still be really difficult to be free again and even if I am , i might still have my work cut out for me and I might get killed myself , maybe even by those puny humans. U have ur revenge. I thought by now I would be the only God and i would reign supreme. U were broken but maybe u foresaw all this , Maybe in a way u still reign ". Moalach might have picked up on this thought and being mindless , didn't really think twice about revealing Odium's thoughts in a death rattle. So yeah that's my theory . Even if my analysis of the death rattle is wrong. U can't deny how screwed odium is , can u ?

Ok, so bear with me on this one. Something has been bothering me, like many who read Oathbringer, ever since Odium said "We killed you." Like many Stormlight fans, I have been mentally (and literally) screaming "What do you mean by WE!" And anyway I've done some thinking, and I think that Unity, instead of a new Shard, as many have theorized, is actually and old Shard that used to live on Roshar. A Shard that was (presumably) killed by Odium and ((possibly Honor?)) (((Working together?))) There is a little possible evidence for this. In the death rattles, one of them goes like "Three of Sixteen ruled, now the broken one reigns" or something like that. Feel free to correct that. Anyway, the way that is worded makes it seem like Odium, the broken one, is not in that original three. Also, since we know there are 3 god-spren--the Storm dad, Nightwatcher, and the Sibling, that leads me to believe that there used to be 3 Shards other than Odium, since it doesn't make sense to me that a Knight Raidiant would bond to a spren of Odium, or that Cultivation or Honor would have two god-spren. That other Shard, Unity, was not liked by Honor or Cultivation or any other Shard. Which makes sense, because they might feel threatened by the fact that he might try to Unite the Shards back into Adonalsium or something. I'm thinking that the Cryptics might be spren of Unity, which is why nobody likes them. It also just makes sense, because math and lies don't really make sense as belonging to Honor or Cultivation, but I can see Unity liking the fact that math is a unifying principle of the universe or something like that. Also, it would make sense because the Dawn Cities are all math based, and they are linked the Uthirthiru in some way ( I think theres a line about the strata being similar? And they both are grown out of rock? Feel free to check that.) And we know that the sibling was related to the tower city as well. So, if the Sibling is a spren of Unity, it all works out. Honor or Cultivation (or both) wanted to get rid of him, but couldn't due to limitation based on their Shard Intent. Neither of them could kill Unity, so they invited Odium, knowing his violent reputation, to come on over to Roshar so he could take care of Unity. That also explains why Odium was allowed onto Roshar on the first place, because I feel like two Shards working together could have blocked him from coming there, if they so wished. Anyway, Odium splintered Unity (possibly with help from one or more of the other Shards) and decided to stay. Eventually, he also splintered Honor, and Cultivation went into hiding. A part of Unity survived, and may have been that voice that's been guiding Dalinar since Book One. That voice seems really distinct from the Stormfather, and I think he once even said so in Oathbringer that he wasn't talking when Dalinar heard the "Unite them" voice. The light that Dalinar feels at the end of books Two and Three may also be the effects of Unity. Dalinar was able to briefly hold whatever is left of Unity, which allowed him to summon the Perpendicularity and all that fun stuff at the end of Book 3. I think that as the books progress, we will only keep on seeing how Unity is actually separate, and wants to be revived. Some odd bits: The splintering might have been the Scouring of Aimia. The Aimians that are a bunch of cremlings seem like something that Unity might have created or liked (since it's a bunch of cremlings unified into one creature) and he might have lived in Aimia. The Unmade might be corrupted Splinters of Unity. I don't think that Odium could have nine relatively large spren of himself and still remain as powerful as he is, so I think he corrupted the Splinters of Unity after he killed him, and those became the Unmade. Obviously, it isn't a perfect theory. And if you've made it to the bottom, congrats on somehow getting through all my disorganized thoughts. Anyway, I want to know what you think, so please feel free to share your thoughts on my theory!

In OB, when Moash kills Jezerien, on a recent reread of OB, i noticed that ShallAsh cries out, OH GOD! OH ADONALSIUM! This makes me wonder, why would a herald cry out in the name of Adonalsium? not Honour? or Almighty? even Cultivation may be. But Adonalsium? Did the Heralds worship Adonalsium? Does that mean they followed a pre-shattering religion? or could it mean that they were alive pre-shattering? How old exactly were these heralds at the time of forming the Oathpact? How much time was there between shattering and forming the Oathpact? It can not be within a single lifetime. Even human exodus from Ashyn and settlement on Roshar and then first desolation, forming of fused by odium and forming of Oathpact with honor, all these events in totality, should have taken a long time, atleast a 100 years if not more, but still we know from wobs, that heralds came from Ashyn. Again, how old were these heralds? I always thought that they became Immortal after the oathpact, since they are basically cognitive shadows, but now i am wondering if they were already immortal when they came from Ashyn? Because that could explain a lot here. Were they surgebinders who destroyed the planet? hence, they were made to leave? So had that surgebinding granted immortality too? I am all too confused here. any thoughts guys, please share...