[SH spoilers] Theory of the Shadesmar Glass Beads

[Confused]

There’s an interesting discussion on this thread about the Cognitive Realm structure of different Shardworlds. Scadrian cognitive objects are made from mists and resemble their Physical Realm form. Rosharan cognitive objects consist of glass beads. More strangely, the blueprint of each object is contained within a single bead, but the object itself holds no form until it snaps together with other beads. Why such an extreme difference? (I ignore Sel for now, since its “Cognitive bubble” – is that now a canonical term? – is in dangerous disarray. And we know little of Nalthis’s.)

 

As FirstSelector points out in the cited thread, Adonalsium himself may be responsible for Shadesmar. Substantial Adonalsium residue may linger on Roshar, including in Shadesmar. But it’s difficult to form any theory about that. (Might Roshar’s fourth “more esoteric” magic system mentioned in the WoR AA involve Adonalsium’s investiture?) I’ll focus instead on the three Shards who subsequently invested in Roshar.

 

We would expect Shadesmar and its beads to reflect the influence of the Shards’ investitures. Here’s my explanation for Shadesmar’s structure.

 

Odium

 

I think Odium is the reason each bead is self-contained. Odium is the lone wolf who doesn’t bond or play well with others. We believe that Nergaoul, the Unmade responsible for the Thrill, resides in the black sphere Gavilar gave to Szeth, essentially a glass bead. To me, it makes sense that an investiture that divides and corrodes will cause cognitive objects to separate themselves from one another into their own containers – if for no other reason than to shield themselves from Odium’s influence. (A thought: could seons have formed around Aons for the same reason once Odium visited Sel?)

 

Honor

 

Honor binds. His influence allows each bead to snap together with other beads to form a semblance of the first bead’s cognitive object. That's odd because it means other beads temporarily relinquish their ties to their own object. Yet we see this happen in WoR’s prologue, with Taln’s statue and Gavilar’s palace. Bead construction requires Stormlight and motivation.

 

Cultivation

 

I now believe that Cultivation’s mandate (intent) is Time. Cultivation’s investiture permits the visualization of a future goal achieved by time compression. The beads snap together instantly, after the visualization of the cognitive object occurs. Honor and Cultivation working together undo what Odium did, isolating each object into its own glass bead.

 

Thoughts?

[11thorderknight]

I don't know about the specifics of why glass beads on Roshar, but it's very noteworthy that the Scadrian Cognitive Realm consists of mist, which is a reflection of the physical manifestation of Investiture on Scadrial. On Roshar, Investiture manifests as Light, which is contained in gems....kinda close to beads. 

 

More importantly - Shadesmar seems significantly more dangerous to hang out in than the Scadrian Cognitive Realm. Remember, Honor is Splintered. I don't think this is a coincidence. I bet that the more Splintered Shards there are on a planet, the more dangerous the Cognitive Realm there becomes. We don't know what exactly is going on on Sel, but we know it's very, very dangerous in the Cognitive Realm there. 

[Landis963]

It's the amount of free-floating, mindless Investiture in a given environment.  Don't forget, Roshar has all those spren leaking Investiture into the environment, and going to Shadesmar without a bright sphere or two is still suicidal.  Sel is undoubtedly even worse.  

[Moogle]

A few thoughts...

• The bead thing is not necessarily unique. Kelsier is capable of taking Cognitive objects and wrapping them into little balls of mist. What is unique seems to be that it is the default for the Cognitive to seem like that. (Unless what we're seeing is Kelsier - fully in the Cognitive - versus Shallan only being able to partially view the realm.)
• The implication from the theory is that the Shards' presence is what determines the Cognitive Realm's features. And there may be something to this - certainly each world's Cognitive Realm is different - but how does this theory extend to Scadrial? Preservation and Ruin... I can't seem to associate the ideas of stasis and change with the Cognitive there.
• As a possible mechanic behind the idea you bring up, I note the Well's presence on Scadrial. More Investiture = suddenly the Cognitive Realm begins super dangerous with no ground or anything. (One suspects Sel is basically impossible to walk over due to the free floating power - might the Expanse of Densities be Sel due to this?)
• So, the Shard's free-floating power can alter the Cognitive - their Investing a planet should logically influence it. (Though to what degree, I do not know.)
• The Expanse of Vibrance implies a connection to Color/Breath, which in turn implies a serious link to world's magic. Similarly, the Cognitive Realm in Scadrial has mists. Shadesmar seems a bit strange in that nothing in it immediately links to the magic on that world... except, of course, for the beads, which represent Stormlight to some degree. This may imply that Shadesmar's bead-forms have nothing to do with Odium at all, and just represent the spheres.

Hrm. This is an interesting topic...

 

Definitely something to think about more.

[Kingsdaughter613]

I'm going to turn your theory on its head and suggest the following:

We know that the form Investiture takes on any given world is determined both by the planet and the shards invested on that planet. Instead of the shardic investiture shaping the cognitive realm, I propose that it is the opposite.

The spiritual investiture of the shard is filtered through the cognitive realm to manifest as the magic system of the individual shard world. This helps to explain how Odium can be on Braize but have investiture on Roshar; there is no concept of distance in the spiritual realm. The cognitive realm is linked to a physical place however.

This is what makes most sense to me anyway.