Cosmere Maps [AU Spoiliers]

[HoidvsVoid]

Here is the Cosmere map for those who couldn't find it.

Spoiler

Just like Mistborn: Secret History, there is a lot of new information in this book. So let us dissect a few.

First of all the maps: First, the Galaxy (or is it universe?)  We have possibly a new planet called "The scar" (weird name I know) which is part of a constellation of a Reptilian beast (a serpent or dragon...sound familiar?)  

Second: Roshar, which is part of a constellation of a shardbearer's, more specifically on its heel/tendon. From the map it seems like it is fighting the serpent in a final battle. Like Roshar it is the primary foundation of the Shardbearer, and without it, it would lose its balance and fall to the beast. The Knight is probably honor.

Third: Scadrial, this is a weird one since it seems like it is barely connected to the hair of a woman's face constellation (I am not sure what this signifies, but maybe it ties in to the next one). Maybe it ties into the flowing of hair which can sort of be represented as a huge but slow surge of power. (But that seems like a stretch).

Fourth: Nalthis. this one is the most interesting in my opinion, since it is a constellation grown from another (both Nalthis and Scadrial share a constellation) But while I could not discern Scadial's placement meaning, Nalthis is obvious. It is on the breath of the previously mentioned women's face, a barely visible misty wind engulfing the planet and the constellation line growing from the constellation. This correlates to Endowment breathing breath into Returned and people using breath as investiture. If I knew what the Scadrial placement meant, I could probably discern this unique occurrence, but maybe the you will figure that out and post theories below. The woman is probably meant to be Endowment, but maybe it is Vin, or maybe they are the same...dundundundun. (or not).

Fifth: Sel, which is the part of the constellation of a genie's lamp, on the open end part with similar said mist coming out. This signifies that it is the only possible place in its constellation for investiture to come out of, and in only a very controlled amount. It is never-ending, but very restricted in passage. Just like the Dor.

Sixth: First of the Sun, this one is more difficult to understand, but it looks like a constellation of a boy on boat reaching out to a lone planet far from its own constellation (First of the Sun) and the planet is on some long rope/thread/net (figurative obviously). Maybe the boy is granting the planet power even though there is no shard on it. Or maybe it is a worldhopper trying to travel to the planet via Perpendicularity (hence the thread). Or maybe it is the Ones Above.

Seventh: Taldain, It is in the middle/center/heart of a constellation of a bare gnarled tree. This might signify that it is being protected or isolated from outsiders and it is impossible to make it past that wicked pointy tree to make it inside the outside shell and into its core. Just like Bavadin/Autonmoy is currently doing. 

Eighth (and final): Threnody, This one is second the most interesting because it almost looks like it, the constellation of a another women, with the planet at the back of her neck, is watching from the sidelines while the other planets dig deeper into the fray. And that is very much Threnody's ideology.

However, if you look at the map as a whole it could look like all the known planets are ganging up against the serpent, which could be in the future. But that also might be a stretch.

 

Now individually, they all have their own map which I will get into;

First, Sel, it is interesting because each planet here has two names (sel/seol) one without the added Aonic language, and the other with. This might just be a small detail or might hint at some things (because the moon doesn't have two names, just one Oem, which is already an Aonic name). There is also a sign on the planet which I don't know the meaning of. It does not look like an Aon. But more to that later.

Second: Scadrial, this one is very interesting, as it shows the two orbits of the planet, from the Lord rulers time to the Harmony time. The old one is closer to the sun with a steel sign showed on the planet, signifying that it was pushed closer, too close, to the sun. Meanwhile, the new orbit is farther away from the sun with a Harmony sign on it, showing that it is in perfect placement. Also there are two further planets, the closer blue one called Aagal Nod ans the farther red one called Aagul Uch. The blue could represent Preservation's good intent of blocking the planet behind him, ruin, from interfering with the planet. (It is funny because Presevation is Nod, like yes, while Ruin is Uch, like eww gross).

Third: Taldain is my favorite, and it finally clarifies how White Sand works. The two big luminaries, one near invisible because of a particulate ring (sort of like pollution) blocking most of it from view, except part of the rays/brightness. (The sign is two sides of the planet (pretty simple).

Fourth: Threnody, it is a planet with a symbol of a knife, an open eye, and a six petaled snowflake thingy. Those might represent the three simple rules of the forest of hell. Knife: Don't shed blood. Open eye: Don't make a light to see with Snowflake: Not sure, but maybe go slow, not fast, like a snowflake. Also, there is a much bigger planet far away from Threnody called Purity, which could possibly be a shard. (not likely, but would explain a lot like how it has Investiture). Also, we do have news of a new shard that used to be in that system that Odium fought there: Ambition. (Two new shards in one System!)

Fifth: First of the Sun, not much to talk about here. It has a symbol of a feather, or something (not really sure what it is supposed to be). First of seven planets. That is it really.

Sixth (and final): Roshar, The most interesting in my opinion, the planet is marked with the famous five crossed sword that is the chapter heading to many of the side characters. Roshar is in the middle of Braize and Ashyn. Roshar is the only one with moons (all of which are palindromes). More interestingly however are the ten other planets farther away which are named after the ten heralds (so again, all are palindromes). This makes me wonder if when they die, is it possible they go onto their respective planets to reside (not physically) until they are called on again. (Also, they are all numbered. But numbers are represented by lines which seem to number them by lines, but after six, they retract back towards one. Hopefully someone can discern a possible method of applying it),

Also, we don't see a map of the world of Warbreaker. Why is that?

Why some planets have signs on them might be just random for planets that are in our story, or maybe there is more to it than meets the eye.

Obviously there is more but I already typed enough.  

And that is it. Any comments, mistakes, thoughts, theories, questions, or answers, please inform me. Anything i missed I want to discuss.

Edited December 5, 2016 by HoidvsVoid

[dendrophobe]

I think that Yolen must be in The Scar. Just the name implies that some kind of wound happened there (the Shattering?), and it's in the shape of a dragon. Where do we know that dragons exist? Yolen.

Also, is this the same as Taln's Scar, visible from Roshar? I think it must be (although we can't tell from the star chart whether it's red or not!)

[HoidvsVoid]

That is exactly what i was implying.

[Argent]

I trusted my Kindle to (temporarily) skip over stories, and I think I must've missed all that. I saw each system's individual star chart and essay, but none of this... bigger stuff. Where can I find it (once I am done with work )?

[dendrophobe]

I'm not sure on the Kindle edition, but the charts to which we're referring are on the inside of the hardcover, partially covered by the dust jacket.

[Oversleep]

4 hours ago, HoidvsVoid said:

However, something weird, while the description in the chapter made it seem that the planet goes around the sun, the map clearly shows that the sun(s) goes around planet (while it turns from gravitational force). Maybe I am reading it wrong. "On the other side of the planet is Dayside, which faces the larger of the two stars, a blue-white supergiant around which the dwarf orbits."  (The sign is two sides of the planet (pretty simple).

It's simple - both Taldain and the dwarf orbit the supergiant. However, their periods are synchronised so that Taldain becomes tidally locked.

[Argent]

30 minutes ago, dendrophobe said:

I'm not sure on the Kindle edition, but the charts to which we're referring are on the inside of the hardcover, partially covered by the dust jacket.

My copy should arrive today (I hope), so I'll take a look at that and then rejoin this discussion Thank you.

[Pagerunner]

Is the image after Brandon's preface in the Amazon.ca preview the same as the endsheet? (link to listing)

[Chaos]

Taln's Scar and the Red Rip (the same description but from Scadrial) must be referring to the Scar. Man that image of it is terrifying. What horrible things happened there?

Yolen could be there, for sure. Otherwise maybe Yolen's star is itself hidden. It's really hard to say.

But the Scar? Something really important is going on there.

[dendrophobe]

1 hour ago, Pagerunner said:

Is the image after Brandon's preface in the Amazon.ca preview the same as the endsheet? (link to listing)

Yes, it is. Good catch!

[RShara]

Is the star chart/constellation chart spatially accurate?  As in, that's where the systems are in relation to each other (I know they're not proportional)?

Edited November 22, 2016 by RShara

[HoidvsVoid]

Thanks oversleep. I thought for some reason that the dwarf was referring to taldain.

 Whoops!

Argent, it is in the preface, right before the selish system. 1% Page 14 of 672.

Edited November 22, 2016 by HoidvsVoid

[Pagerunner]

So, having gotten a hold of the hard copy, I have some detailed observations about the endsheet:

• It appears to be an in-universe depiction. There are cracks running all through it, so it looks like an old painting. The names are not cracked, so they are not part of the original piece; it probably had no words, much like the Way of Kings endsheets. The cracks do not run through the stars, so they are probably glass or something like that.
• The rays coming from each star aren't affected by the cracking, so they're probably not painted on. It's probably just a representation of the light sources, and it's important to note that only the planets we've seen (plus Nalthis) have these rays. They're probably brighter because they're closer (or, in the case of Taldain, fairly close and also just plain brighter). If the constellations are viewed from Yolen, then it makes sense that major Shardworlds will be closer to Yolen; the Shards aren't going that far after the Shattering.
• Is this the entire night sky? I don't think so, and I think there are more Shardworlds that aren't visible. The net in the Drominad constellation extends off the edge of the image. Any amateur stargazers care to comment whether or not our night sky can be entirely mapped in a rectangle? Or if we can even put the northern and southern hemispheres' constellations on the same image?
• With Nalthis being someone's breath, Roshar being an armored warrior, and First of the Sun being someone on a boat, I find it hard to believe that these constellations were not fabricated in response to the cultures on those worlds. But I doubt there was Shardbearing before Honor and Cultivation went to Roshar or Breath on Nalthis before Endowment, so that would imply that they were named late. But Scadrial isn't in its own constellation, which would make sense if they were named early, since it didn't have a habitable planet before the Shattering. So, I'm wondering exactly when these constellations were created.

[WeiryWriter]

9 hours ago, HoidvsVoid said:

Also, there is a much bigger planet far away from Threnody called Purity, which could possibly be a shard. (not likely, but would explain a lot like how it has Investiture). Also, we do have news of a new shard that used to be in that system that Odium fought there: Ambition. (Two new shards in one System!)

I don't think Purity is another Shard, Brandon is pretty sparing with revealing Shard Intents and he just gave us one with Ambition. There's also the fact that Branodn has said there are no Shards on Threnody (and if a Shard was going to be anywhere in that system it would be Threnody). Not to mention Khriss makes no mention of Shards in the Threnodite system essay outside of Ambition and Odium.

Also the impression I got from the essay was that Ambition was never settled in the Threnodite system. They and Odium were fighting and as part of that they just happened to end up in the system for Odium to inflict a grievous wound, spraying the system with some of Ambition's Invesiture, before the fight continued, and ended, elsewhere.

9 hours ago, HoidvsVoid said:

(Also, they are all numbered. But numbers are represented by lines which seem to number them by lines, but after six, they retract back towards one. Hopefully someone can discern a possible method of applying it),

Those are what have been dubbed "Vorin numerals", we've seen them before.

5 hours ago, Oversleep said:

It's simple - both Taldain and the dwarf orbit the supergiant. However, their periods are synchronised so that Taldain becomes tidally locked.

Oversleep is correct here. The circle around Taldain that both suns lie on is just an artistic touch, not an actual description of orbits.

1 hour ago, RShara said:

Is the star chart/constellation chart spatially accurate?  As in, that's where the systems are in relation to each other (I know they're not proportional)?

I think it's as spatially accurate as it can be? Like I do think this is a artistic rendering of the night's sky from somewhere in the cosmere (my main theory is Silverlight, though it could be Yolen) so there is going to be potential for some weirdness (since constellation maps kind of ignore how far each star is from the viewer).

42 minutes ago, Pagerunner said:

 Is this the entire night sky? I don't think so, and I think there are more Shardworlds that aren't visible. The net in the Drominad constellation extends off the edge of the image. Any amateur stargazers care to comment whether or not our night sky can be entirely mapped in a rectangle? Or if we can even put the northern and southern hemispheres' constellations on the same image?

I would agree that this is probably not the entire night sky. I don't think it is possible to map everything in a rectangle, at least not with out some major distortions. The most accurate way would be mapping it onto the inside of a sphere.

[lookingglass]

7 hours ago, Argent said:

I trusted my Kindle to (temporarily) skip over stories, and I think I must've missed all that. I saw each system's individual star chart and essay, but none of this... bigger stuff. Where can I find it (once I am done with work )?

I couldn't find it on my kindle either

Can anyone take a photo and upload it here please?

 

[Argel]

In my Kindle version, it's at the end of the Preface / just before The Selish System.  Page 14.

 

Regarding the constellations... We do not know why e.g. Nalthis's magic uses breath, beyond that magic manifests differently in each planet, or maybe planetary system. If the latter, then perhaps the constellations came first and that influenced how the magic manifested, suggesting a CR tie-in.

Scadrial was created by Ruin and Preservation so could be an exception to this. 

Constellations have to be viewed from somewhere, so is this a point of view image? Given Dragonsteel is the origin story, it seems likely Yolen is in The Scar. So are we viewing these from an unknown world? 

Edited November 22, 2016 by Argel

[HoidvsVoid]

Here is the photo to all who want to see it.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited November 22, 2016 by HoidvsVoid

[lookingglass]

 

2 minutes ago, HoidvsVoid said:

Here is the photo to all who want to see it.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thank you!

[lookingglass]

Does anyone have an idea where Starlight could be on the map?

Also to me it seems that the Radiant is the only one fighting with the Dragon. Did anyone notice that the girl is blowing the lamp where Sel is out?

Edited November 22, 2016 by lookingglass

[lordofarda]

What I want to know is as constellations have to be viewed from one point/location, where are we viewing this map from? And what culture made out the constellations from the random patterning of the stars from this location?

[PallonianFire]

14 minutes ago, lookingglass said:

Does anyone have an idea where Starlight could be on the map?

You mean Silverlight? I still think it's a Cognitive Realm city.

[HoidvsVoid]

Well, obviously it is a process of elimination. The only planets we don't see specifically here so far are Vax and Yolen. While one of those is probably in The Scar, that leaves one more. 

[PallonianFire]

Just now, HoidvsVoid said:

The only planets we don't see specifically here so far are Vax and Yolen.

Of the planets we know about. Isn't there another major Shardworld unaccounted for?

[HoidvsVoid]

I think so. That is why I said so far.

[PallonianFire]

I'm especially curious, now, to see if Brandon considers Threnody a major Shardworld