WoA Alternate Ending Revisited

[FirstSelector]

I have been particularly interested in the alternate ending to Well of Ascension for quite some time.  In the explanation for why he changed it, Brandon explicitly mentions that there are hints of Shards.  In the original ending (which I should stress is non-canon), the Well is in the mountains and Sazed is attacked by Marsh at the Conventical of Seran, before he can read the plate.

The key scene happens just before Marsh kills Sazed with his own Coppermind:

Quote

The coppermind clanged to the ground. Sazed turned, glancing toward the entrance to the room. The mist spirit stood there, making a faint impression in the mists.

Marsh screamed. Sazed turned, and found three more of the spirits standing behind Marsh. The Inquisitor turned away from them, stumbling. As one, the three spirits raised their hands and pointed toward the doorway. The one there stepped aside.

Marsh held his hands to his head, shaking it. He gritted his teeth, hissing. The three spirits at the back of the room stepped forward, however, herding him. With a final cry of denial—it almost sounded like he was in pain—Marsh dashed from the building, running out into the mists.

Sazed lay, stupefied, on the steel floor. He turned toward the spirits. They stood silently for a moment, then raised their arms and pointed toward the hallway into the Covenant.

I have long thought that this was the aforementioned hint.  Now, previously I had asked Brandon if we had seen these other mist spirits, with the implication that they were Shards.  He was a bit non-committal the first time.

This time I was more direct.  He confirmed that those spirits were three other Shards, and I asked him to put the name of one of them into my book.  He hesitated until I pointed out that it wasn't canon anymore.  So, in this alternate ending, Endowment was there* to stop Marsh from killing Sazed.  The asterisk is from Brandon, which I take to mean both that it is not canon and that there is some weirdness.

This raises all sorts of interesting questions.  Did those three Shards arrive because they had particularly good foresight?  Who else was there?  Did they actually travel all the way across the galaxy, or did they somehow project themselves?  How often do the Shards actually intercede in cosmere-scale events on other planets?

In retrospect, it makes sense that Endowment has very good foresight.  She specifically sends Returned back with a purpose, even if they don't see why until it is right upon them.  I also would suspect that Cultivation was there, which makes me wonder if Odium killed Honor when she left (in this alternate universe).

Edited December 7, 2016 by FirstSelector

[Pagerunner]

This is really interesting. I assume you were talking to Brandon at the Chicago signing? (Just to clarify, since you didn't specify in your post.) I'd like to see the audio transcription, once we get it.

It presents a view of the cosmere where the Shards are interacting, going from world to world. That's very different than the impression we've gotten so far, where each Shard has their own world and Autonomy is the oddball for messing with others'. Even though this scene got cut, would they still be working together like that behind the scenes of Mistborn 2? I don't think so, since we didn't see any of them in Secret History.

This does give a glimpse of hope for a pipe dream I've had to tie together Warbreaker and Stormlight even further. Hoid is looking for help with Odium; he's asked Frost, who I assume to be a Shard. Frost says 'no,' maybe Hoid goes and asks other Shards. Endowment might be one he turns to eventually, and she would go to Roshar to take up the battle against Odium. It would tie together how Vasher and Nightblood fit into Stormlight; we've already seen one of Endowment's Shardblades and magic users on Roshar. I'll check this idea against the Third Letter when we get it in Oathbringer; if it's not to Frost, then maybe he'll get another 'no' for the Fourth Letter, and the Fifth Letter is what gets Endowment to come along.

So, all-in-all, a very cool avenue of questioning.

 

[WeiryWriter]

Ooh, that's interesting.

Was this at a signing, if so, would you mind posting about this in the relevant event thread? We recently codified our policies on signing reports, and we would generally prefer that things get posted in the event forum before being posted elsewhere.

[FirstSelector]

Correct, this is from the Chicago signing.  I'll make a post with the image, but this is a subject I have been long interested in and frankly couldn't resist.

Edit: done, though my phone was misbehaving.  Sorry to do things out of order.

Edited December 7, 2016 by FirstSelector