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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?

Okay so this theory is going to be half formed and probably not great but a lightbulb went off in my head while re-reading Mistborn. Burning atium grants future sight, to a degree, feruchemists can store youthfulness, and and an atium spike can steal any ability. It makes sense that in Ruin's own magic system it could steal any ability, making it the most powerful metal out of his system because it decays the source of the power, but the other two are temporal in nature. We also know that Cultivation and Endowment are very skilled in future sight while other shards struggle with this. What I'm thinking is that Shards from the change quadrant of the Dawnshard chart will have more powerful temporal abilities, this being due to the fact that the nature of their power is to change things and so they can read the effects of changes much more easily. I am pretty steadily convinced that invention will also be one of the Change Shards so in theory that takes care of all four from that quadrant. If I'm right about this, the other three quadrants relating to the nature of the shards abilities would grant four Shards a specific strength in their given attribute rather than simply having power related to that attribute. We know from a word-of-Brandon that one of the Dawnshards is unique while the other three have a much closer relation so I'm asking in this post if anyone has ideas for what the other Dawnshards might be based on the powers granted by certain shards. I know this is kind of a long shot because Odium is also particularly skilled in future sight and Preservation showed at least proficiency in this area as well, but I feel at this point any information we can base theories on is worth looking at for the sake of hopefully predicting a Dawnshard or two before the next Stormlight book comes out 3 years from now

This has been discussed before, but as far as I know it was never updated to include the new Shards from RoW. The basic premise, obviously, is that the Dawnshards would correspond to the cards colors in Magic: The Gathering. The WoB below provides some crucial information here: There are two major issues that need to be solved, though: There are 5 card colors and 4 Dawnshards. I believe that's not really a problem, as the Change Dawnshard covers two colors: green and blue Devotion and Dominion have two colors, quite possibly because Elantris was written before Cosmere fully took shape. I think, however, that, when other Shards are taken into consideration, they can be reasonably placed within red and white colors, respectively All the colors description below were copied from here. Also, as I've realized while writing this down, Dawnshards and Awakening work in a kind of similar way, and Awakening uses colors White Shards (Dawnshard of Order/Unity/Morality?) White color description: Shards: Honor, Preservation, Dominion, the 16th Unknown Shard They seem exceptionally important for the Cosmere as a whole, as all core worlds (Roshar, Scadrial, Sel) have at least one Shard from this category. This is possibly the Dawnshard from the Poem of Ista, as well as Hoid's Dawnshard, based on his old quasi-Stoneward oath and inability to hurt people. Black Shards (Dawnshard of Individuality/Destruction?) Black color description: Shards: Ambition, Ruin, Whimsy, Autonomy (the "main" Shard, Avatars can probably have different colors) Red Shards (Dawnshard of Emotion?) Red color description: Shards: Odium, Devotion, Valor, Mercy Green & blue Shards (Dawnshard of Change) Green color description: Blue color description: Shards: Cultivation & Endowment (green), Invention and (non-canonical yet) Wisdom / Prudence (blue) The Change Dawnshard seems to cover both natural growth and intentional human activity, making it compatible with both green and blue colors

Does this not strike you as the good old foreshadowing that Brandon does? Now that we know that Big T is Todium. So here is my theory- Then on that day we can embrace, knowing it is all over. Old friend 'The day we can embrace' -> The embrace could mean that Dalinar loses and becomes a Fused and becomes aware that 'it is all over'

I have had this theory sitting in the back of my mind for a while and the recent events in RoW prompted me to join 17th Shard and pitch it to the cosmerenauts. This is my first major theory post, but I thought it was worth sharing. Please be gentle in your critique haha While reading RoW and experiencing Navani experimenting with the science of frequency in the Cosmere I was reminded of Kabsals experiment with cymatics and how tones created different sand patterns corresponding to Akinah, Thaylen City, Vedenar, and Kholinar as a proposed proof that the Almighty exists. I propose that this happened on a scale larger than a city back when Odium killed Honor. I believe the splintering of a shard shattered the plains. The remnants of this event are seen in the symmetric shape of the plains that could represent Honors tone before his death. I included some images of documents we were given from the cymatic experiment and the birdseye view of the shattered plains for comparison. What do you think? Any contrary or supporting thoughts? Has this discussion been brought up before?

Heleran was a full Shardbearer, with a Blade and Plate. He was also a Skybreaker. This doesn't make sense, for a few different reasons. Scenario 1 Heleran is a Skybreaker and has a living blade. Kaladin killed him. His blade didn't disappear. If he was a Skybreaker, why did the Blade stay? It should have broken the bond but left the spren alive, free to seek a new Radiant. Scenario 2 Heleran is a Skybreaker with a dead blade. Automatic migraines. Scenario 3 He has a dead blade, and isnt a Skybreaker. False, we know he was a Skybreaker. So can anyone tell me, what is up with his blade and plate!?!

Adolin dueled 4 Shardbearers. Relis, Elit, Abrobadar, and Jakamav. Relis - Shardblade, Shardplate Elit - Shardplate(borrowed), Shardhammer Abrobadar - Shardblade, Shardplate Jakamav - Shardblade (borrowed), Shardplate This means that when Adolin won, he gained 2 Shardblades and 3 suits of Shardplate. He just won two sets of Shards and an additional Shardblade. When Kaladin is released from prison, Adolin says This should mean that the only thing left is a Shardblade, but apparently, there is still another suit left, because Adolin tries to give it to Kaladin. What am I missing, or is this a continuity error?

I believe that the behavior of different Lights, their combinations and anti-Lights can be easily described using simple physics analogies. Shardic Intents are pure states, that, like quantum states, can be added together in any proportions, creating custom Intents / Rhythms. The easiest examples are Investitures of two different Shards mixed in 50%-50% proportions e.g. Harmony (ettmetal) = Ruin + Preservation, War (Warlight) = Honor + Odium, Science (Towerlight) = Honor + Cultivation Rosharan spren are different mixes of X% Honor + Y% Cultivation, where X and Y add up to 100. This would, fortunately, make creating custom anti-Lights rather difficult. Anti-Lights are Investitures of opposing Intents, for example Ruin and Preservation. As Odium seems to lack a directly opposing Shard, anti-Voidlight is some combination of other Intents that doesn't occur naturally. I would assume some mix of Honor, Devotion and maybe Dominion (since they share the Unity theme) and maybe others, mixed in the exact proportions that create the Rhythm exactly opposing that of Odium. With this assumption, two planets of Cosmere (Scadrial and Roshar) correspond nicely to the behavior of two types of hadron particles: mesons and baryons. Mesons are built from a quark and an anti-quark and are inherently unstable. Ruin and Preservation's Investitures being their own anti-Investitures explains a lot: the explosion of power that kills Vin and Ati, Ati being unable to splinter Preservation to Khriss' confusion, mists avoiding hemalurgic spikes. Ettmetal exists only because both powers are held by one individual, and, as mesons, is extremely unstable. Baryons are made of three quarks, so neither can each other's anti-quark. They are bound together in a way that makes them confined together: pulling one quark would require more and more power the further you take it from the particle. It is exactly the same behavior that seems to bind Odium to Braize and H&C to Roshar, the latter described exactly by Mraize in his talk with Shallan

In RoW, Venli mentions “Honor’s Moon” when referring to Nomon (the light blue moon). This got me thinking and I went onto Coppermind. Sure enough, we have a green moon (Mishim) and a violet moon (Salas). The same colours as the Lights. Is Mishim Cultivation’s Moon and Salas Odium’s Moon? It makes sense. Could each moon on Roshar be connected to a Shard?

Since we've obviously seen the shattering of Adonalsium (Not literally) and the splintering of other shards. What stopped the original 16 from splintering their own shards and taking up the other 15 pieces from each other? Making a series of mini-adonalsiums with their powers, but equalized as to not change the person holding them nearly as much. Possibly reducing these conflicts we've seen. Any WoB on this topic, or is this too outlandish a question to be considering.

At the end of RoW, Taravangian ascends to Odium and inherits quite a few memories and information from Rayse. Well, I don't know if it's Brandon's favoritism towards TOdium, but I don't understand why Taravangian inherits so much information, but Kelsier, Vin and Sazed don't inherit any information from each other's pre-Preservation vessel (Kelsier from Leras, Vin from Kelsier and Sazed from Vin). And the same case of Sazed with Ati. Maybe Kelsier doesn't inherit any information from Leras because the latter was slowly dying, but Vin should have inherited Kelsier's short-time memories as Preservation as well as Taravangian from Odium, and Sazed should have inherited Vin's memories and Ati when ascending, but it was not like that and it gives me a feeling of unevenness between the shards, despite the fact that Odium is somewhat hurt by his battles in the Cosmere, but Preservation and Ruin are intact despite the deaths of their original vessels.

Taken from https://cosmere-cosmeme.tumblr.com/

Was just wondering which new magic system you would love to see from the new Shards that were introduced. I,personally,would love to see Whimsy. Mercy seems frightening tbh

So here is Brandon's first comment about this shard on reddit: So there you have it, based on Brandon's comment Whimsy is as close to Caprice as it gets which to my mind makes it the most terrifying shard out there (regardless of what Cultivation says about Odium!). A good question to ask Brandon would be why he chose Whimsy and not Caprice. Is that related to the vessel's perception of the shard? Or is there an actual difference between Whimsy and Caprice?

Enjoy! Note there are spoilers, so listener beware! Download links mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g7zduxqiV-CX0beQxiHKhuPMiKCP8rM2/view?usp=sharing wav: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W84nVcSljQVcLW8tGfX0AaAkCerQIIQN/view?usp=sharing

The text of RoW makes it sound like Rayse, the Vessel of Odium, was materially damaged by his plans not working out. Like Dalinar and Kaladin not becoming his champion actually hurt him in a way that made his death more likely. That's weird. The Shard vs. Shard battles did most of the damage and then being trapped for 7,000+ years probably didn't help. Rayse never embraced all aspects of the Shard. He prefers to be called passion and only says "they call me Odium". Compare that to Wit asking Mr. T who he is and he simply says "Odium". The Shard got frustrated, developing a mind of it's own. It's not been controlled well by Rayse, as Harmony theorized in an epigraph. Right after Dalinar turns him down in OB Rayse rants about "we killed you". I take the "we" to mean the Vessel and the Power since they aren't on the same page all the time and literally are two different minds. It gets way worse real quick only a year after Dalinar rejects him we see the Power trying to escape Rayse's body throughout RoW. I guess that was the last straw and the power is like "get me away from this loser". More generally, it's weird that a Vessel can take damage from "things not working out how you hoped". Which seems heavily implied by the quote. Is that what killed Tanavast? He thought the Heralds and the Oathpact would last forever and then the Heralds let the Fused out over and over until 9 of them quit altogether. Is that the damage he took that led to his death, people disappointing him? The coroner's report would say: "fatal case of being wrong" He was already dying when the Radiants quit according to the Stormfather in OB Ch. 38, did the Recreance finish him off? Or did all this weaken him allowing Odium to finish him off and splinter him? I can't decide if I like this idea or not. "My favorite football team missed the playoffs, ow!" *-10HP*

I've been talking a walk through memory land, and decided to make this thread. If you could split yourself into 16 shards, what would they be? (Pretty sure I saw a similar thread like this, but screw it.) They can be literally anything. Has to be sixteen of them though. Also feel free to tell us the Shards' intent and/or unique abilities, like autonomy constantly making avatars of themselves. I will post my own list once I actually spend more than five minutes thinking about it.

First time posting here. Hi, everyone. So I just happened to randomly notice today ...in the Gathas, there are seven Amesha Spenta, that is "emanations" of the creator, Ahura Mazda. Two of them are Vairya and Armaiti--that is, Devotion and Dominion. That same article on Zoroastrianism also mentioned that theYasna is a ceremony to strengthen Creation against the forces working to destroy it. Coincidence? Well, maybe. I thought it was interesting, though.

The idea that the 16 Shards can be categorized in groups of 4 (a la Mistborn metals) is not a new one, and I think Dawnshard is going to further support that theory. The mural that seems to depict The Shattering of Adonalsium and imbues Rysn with her Command is described as having 16 "mostly symmetrical pieces" grouped into fours. So let's make groups of 4! I'm sure there's going to be tons of different theories on how the Shards are organized. Even when trying to find commonalities between all the Shards, there's bound to be people who see different patterns than others. Let's start with what we know, or at least what we think we know... About the Dawnshards in general: The Dawnshards are "the four primal Commands that created all things" The Dawnshards were used to undo Adonalsium itself Both a Command and Intent are required to use "the most powerful forms of Surgebinding [Magic]" that ordinarily "transcends traditional mortal understanding." These are demands "on a level no person could ever manage alone" -- a single person would not be able to handle wielding this combined power. So the Dawnshards predate the Shattering of Adonalsium and thus cannot have been created by the Shattering. They were used to create all things -- the power of creation, potentially wielded by Adoalsium, who is a deity. The people (Dragon, Human, mortal or immortal, but otherwise just people, not deities) who Shattered Adonalsium would have been incapable of using a Command on their own, even with the proper Intent. -- Could they have been required to work in groups of four? I think perhaps four people with similar Intents likely were needed to use each Command, and then the four Commands must have been used together to kill God. Four groups of four, with each person having a specific Intent that somewhat related to the Command they were helping to wield. And what do we know about the Commands specifically: Rysn's Command seems to have a theme, which is Change. "Accept it. Know it. CHANGE." "It was then that she grasped, in the smallest way, the nature of the Command inside her. The will of a god to remake things, to demand they be better. The power to change." Rysn seems to be able to appreciate colors and tastes much more clearly after being imbued with the Command, which is similar to the effects of investiture created by Endowment (Breaths, Nalthis) "Storms. Was it her, or did this tea taste extra good? She inspected it, then glanced at the sunlight pouring through the porthole. Was it . . . brighter than usual? Why did the colors in her room look so exceptionally vivid all of a sudden?" Rysn also appreciates the musicality in Drlwan's voice -- is this another effect similar to that of a Heightening? Or is Rysn potentially hearing the Rhythms of Roshar? "Strange, how she saw the contrast of shadows much more starkly now. And . . . why did Drlwan’s voice sound more musical?" The Command agrees(?) with Rysn's decision to let Cord keep her Shardplate out of tradition. Because it's the honorable thing to do? Because it's a gift that Rysn has endowed to Cord? Tradition, doing something because it has been done before, actually seems to be somewhat in opposition to the theme of "Change," so I feel this is important to explore. "'Cord discovered it,' Rysn said. 'It’s traditional to let the one who first claims a Shard keep it.' The Command pulsed with warmth as she said that." So based on this information, I feel pretty sure that we can at least begin to categorize the Shards. Everything that follows here is just my best guess at a grouping. CHANGE -- "The will of a god to remake things, to demand they be better. The power to change." Endowment -- Must be, based on the changes Rysn is experiencing. Even though I personally feel like it's a stretch to put this here. Advancement? The addition of things, or gaining of new things, to improve or grow? Cultivation -- Growth, personal improvement, etc. Could be the source of Rysn beginning to hear the Rhythms. Definitely belongs in this category. Ruin -- Entropy, decay, mortality. Definitely belongs in this category. ? SURVIVE -- The will of a god to create enduring life, that extends itself into infinity even beyond it's own death. The power to survive. Preservation -- Stability, safety, unchanging. Definitely belongs in this category, and really the basis for why I think "SURVIVE" or "LIVE" must be a command -- because Kelsier certainly hears the Command to SURVIVE in Mistborn, and it is not coming from Leras. Autonomy -- Self-reliance, individualism, independence. The ability to survive while depending on only yourself. Definitely belongs in this category. The unknown shard "who just wants to hide and survive." -- Obviously belongs in this category even though we don't know what the true intent is. ? UNITE -- The will of a god to bind things, to conncet people with eachother and with the land and life around them. The power to unite. Honor -- Oaths, connecting people to eachother, binding them to their words and traditions. Obviously belongs in this category, and the basis for why I think "UNITE" or "CONNECT" must be a command -- because Dalinar certainly hears the Command to UNITE all throughout SA, and it is not the Stormfather, nor is it Tanavast. Dominion -- Connecting people to the land, and to eachother with political power and territory. This one may be a stretch, but it's my best guess. I think it probably belongs in this category. ? ? CARE -- The will of a god to create meaning and purpose, to demand that life exists for a reason. The power to care. Odium -- Pasion, love, hatred, emotion, motivation (though "Motivation" would be a great Shard name on its own). Definitely belongs in this category. Devotion -- Purpose, worship, crusades/quests. This one is also a stretch; honestly I have the hardest time with the Selish Shards because their Intents are confusing to me. But I believe this one belongs here. You devote yourself to a mission or a purpose in life, whatever that may be.. Ambition -- Personal goals, enthusiasm, striving to achieve. If devotion belongs here then Ambition certainly does as well. ? If Wisdom is the Shard that just wants to "hide and survive" then it belongs under the SURVIVE Command. But if Wisdom is a completely different shard, then I would want to probably put it under the CHANGE command, because knowledge changes you. Actually... now that I think about it, I think there may be two Shards here. "Wisdom" is a thing that you have whereas "Knowledge" is something that you gain with time and experience and experimentation. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that "Wisdom" is the shard that wants to survive and hide, and keep its secrets, and just study the world as it is without affecting the outcome, and that there is another shard along the lines of "Knowledge" or "Discovery" that is about change through experiences. Anyway, just had to write down my own thoughts. I'm really interested to see how other people categorize the shards. And I'm also interested in thoughts on my categorizations and would love for people to poke holes in it or improve it or change it around so it fits better. What do you guys think?

This thread is to continue the discussion about the natures of the four Dawnshards, and which Shards might be associated with each, but with the addition of Invention, Whimsy, Mercy, and Valor. --- My current idea: Change - Cultivation, Ruin, Endowment, Preservation. I understand that including Preservation here seems backwards, but being adamantly against change is still being defined by your relationship to change. Bind or Restrain - Honor, Dominion (the binding of others), Devotion (the binding of the self), Autonomy (included here under the same rationale as including Preservation under CHANGE). Act - Odium (acting from hatred, passion, fury), Ambition (taking action to fulfill one's goals), Invention (acting on ideas), Whimsy (the freedom to act on caprice). The final set, I have a hard time summing up in a single verb, but I understand as sort of a philosophical opposite to ACT. What Odium, Ambition, Invention, and Whimsy have in common is that they are centered on the desires, feelings, and thoughts of the self, with a certain disregard for what effects your actions have on the world around you. These Shards all impose their own will on the world, exert control on the world. In contrast, the final set have in common a certain self-abnegation. Instead of being able to impose your own will on the world, these Shards are about what you do when you have no control over the world, how you behave when faced with bad circumstances. I am reminded of Jasnah's perspective on the word 'hope': a value you turn to when you lack options. Arguably irrational, yet still noble. With that in mind, I lean toward Accept, but React or Choose could also work. Valor - True valor only exists when you are scared, but stand firm anyway. You accept that circumstances are dire, and choose to disregard your own survival. Mercy - True mercy only exists when you could punish somebody, but stay your hand. You accept letting somebody "get off light", and instead choose forgiveness and compassion. Hypothetical Wisdom/Prudence/Understanding Shard - The better part of wisdom is setting aside wishful thinking and accepting the world as it is, choosing to face hard truths over comforting lies. Honestly, a Hope Shard could very well fit here, but who even knows. I actually see all four of these Commands as underpinned by a fundamental philosophical dichotomy: that of self vs other, or perhaps subject vs object. But that gets very nebulous (and long-winded) so I'll save it for another post, perhaps.

So. Becoming a Shard of Adonalasium obviously has many benefits. Instant immortality, a rapidly expanding mind, an infinite well of power to draw on. And an automatic pass into the most exclusive club in the Cosmere. Yet for all its benefits, becoming 1/16th of God carries with it significant drawbacks, as Sazed would point out. The main drawback is the power itself, forever pushing you to act in ways that promote its agenda. To go against the power is to know pain, something that should have been left behind upon ascension along with your physical body. And it's that aspect that makes a Vessel a Cognitive Shadow. They are the greatest of them but face the same limitations as the Heralds, Fused, Kelsier, Vasher, whoever. Not only is being a Vessel not all it's cracked up to be, it's also a role that former mortals are particularly unsuited for. The problem is 2 fold. The first one is as stated above, the power is always pushing, always trying to shape its Vessel. The second however is unique to mortals and it is simple. Mortals are just not built for immortality. The mind breaks out of sheer inertia. And though the power does help with the issue by expanding the mind of the Vessel, that mind was still once a mortal one. The limits of mortality don't go away, they're merely postponed. Ask the Fused how difficult just 7000 years is on a mortal mind. If you can find a sane one. It thus occurred to me that the best candidate for a Vessel, one who could deal with the endless tug of war between shard and vessel best would be someone who was naturally immortal at the time of ascension. Their will would not die out of fatigue alone because they possess minds built for immortality. And the only immortal race of beings that I know of at the time of the Shattering were Dragons. There have been 2 of those immortals confirmed in the Cosmere, Frost and the current Vessel of Cultivation, Kovari. So why is this important? Because there's a new Odium in town, one that's crafty, extremely dangerous, and holding a power that even the other Shards are wary of. And new Vessels should have major advantages over original Vessels who have long ago succumbed to Shardic Intent in terms of freedom to act and of movement. Kovari seems to have made a major misstep in putting Taravangian in position to take up that particular Shard. I admit I thought so too at first but now I'm not so sure. She's a rather crafty lizard lady herself and probably won't have completely lost her will to Cultivation's Intent due to her previous immortality. There will be some terrifying days ahead for Roshar but I have faith that Tod will not have things all his own way, that Kovari has contingencies, and that everything will mostly work out in the end. What do you guys and gals think?

So, in RoW, we obviously got a lot of new shards. I always have fun coming up with fusion shard names, so let’s do some using the new shards from RoW. Ideas: Mercy + Odium = Sympathy. I feel like this would actually be a really good pairing. I have an ongoing idea that Mercy is somehow the “virtue that gives Odium context” (in reference to Frost saying Odium is god’s own divine hatred separated from the virtues that gave it context). Whimsy + Odium = Tantrum? That’s not an actually good shard name, but I think it sums up what this would be pretty well. Invention + Cultivation = Experimentation Valor + Honor = Determination/Conquest. The “unstoppable force” of shards plus the “immovable object” of shards. Mercy + Devotion = Salvation/Worship. I feel like this could be something like “Compassion ”, but has the potential to also be really scary. The “cult” shard. A base of unquestioning devoted followers with a deity who performs miracles... add dominion and this becomes truly terrifying. Whimsy + Honor seems like a really bad combination. Any ideas what it would be called?

Please feel free to move or link this if it has already been addressed elsewhere. To the best of our knowledge, does Brandon intend to do different series for the remaining 6 unnamed Shards individually or are there WOB that indicate that he will be introducing them during “crossover novels”?

We have four confirmed new Shards: Invention, Mercy, Whimsy and Valor. Wisdom (or something similar) seems to be confirmed as well: which leaves us with just one, 16th unknown Shard. We also have some information about previously unknown Shards: I would also add: 5. The one that would be used for Dark One, if it was part of Cosmere 6. The "Anguish Shard" 7. Odium's ally that isn't Autonomy 8. The Shard that will be used for Aether magic, as it will be probably changed not to be pre-Shattering Here are my propositions: 1. Wisdom, probably, although they don't want to hide anymore. Seems like a good Shard to be associated with Silverlight, if there is a Shard there (currently RAFO) 2. Probably Mercy, although Wisdom would count in the past 3. Whimsy, maybe? I'd like to hear your opinions on this one 4. The Initiation that seems both random and affected by mechanical devices makes me think Invention and Whimsy. Both also work quite well for magic that combines exact geometric blueprints with chalkling unicorns We'll get more information in Book 2 5. The original idea was based on works of Tesla, which heavily implies Invention. If the Narrative existed in that version, it could have been of Whimsy, making it the same potential combination as the Rithmatist 6 & 7 My guess would be Mercy 8. Could be any Shard(s), really, so I'll go with Valor and the 16th unknown Shard

Okay, technically there are still two we don't know, but one of them is almost certainly something akin to Wisdom or Prudence. It's time to make wild guesses and place bets about the last one, so that years down the line someone can point to this thread and say "CALLED IT" and have eternal bragging rights. :o) Anyway, since Shards are aspects of divinity, it seems to me that there is a pretty notable omission in the current list: Justice (or perhaps Fairness).