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[OB] Fundamental Surges Part II: The Shards


Leyrann

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The goal of this theory is to derive the 16 Shards of Adonalsium from the Surges as they are described in my theory of the Fundamental Surges[1]. To do that, I first devised a system that would use sixteen different combinations of Surges to form Shards, without these combinations being arbitrary. In the end, I ended with Preservation, Ruin, Wisdom, Existence (EDIT: maybe Unity, not related to Dalinar), Devotion, Dominion, Passion, Cultivation, Endowment, Autonomy, Honor, Creation, Evolution, Ambition, Progression (EDIT: or Ingenuity) and Curiosity as the sixteen original Shards. I have also included several points of discussion in relation to the Shards, and how this view on the Shards would influence those discussions.

 

Part I: The Quest for the Shards

According to Brandon, the Metallic Arts are created to fit on the same pattern as the Shards[2]. Though I suspect that it is not possible to find the Shards simply by looking at the Metallic Arts[note 1], it does tell us that there is a pattern to the Shards.

As I was thinking about the Surges, and realized they might actually be fundamental in nature – rather than simply believed to be so by Rosharans, like we once believed earth, water, air and fire to be fundamental – I realized that this would be the perfect starting point to find this Shardic pattern.

As I started working out the idea of the Fundamental Surges, it soon became too big to write as a single post, which is why I then posted a separate theory for the Surges, to serve as the base for this theory. After some fruitless attempts that ended with 16 Shards from 10 Surges, but had them mostly arbitrary in build-up, I decided to start from another direction, and use the smallest common multiple of 16 and 10, which is 80. This would imply that every Shard would consist of 5 Surges and every Surge would appear 8 times.

The Fundamental Surges theory allowed for a symmetry in the Surges that were used. As there are 3 Physical and Spiritual Surges, and 2 Cognitive and Hybrid Surges, it is mathematically required for any Shard to use either 3 Physical or 3 Spiritual Surges, and none of the others, as otherwise the symmetry would form a too large amount of Shards when avoiding arbitrary exclusion of combinations[note 2].

When taking this as starting point – a Shard uses either 3 Physical or 3 Spiritual Surges, and the other two are Cognitive or Hybrid in nature – 12 Shards can be formed, as there are 6 ways to make pairs when you have 4 options, which then gets doubled because of Spiritual and Physical variations. The last four Shards do not adhere to this pattern, but rather consist of the Surges that belong to a single Realm.

I want to stress, as I have also done in my Surge theory, that a Surge (or Shard) ‘belonging’ to a Realm does not mean the Surge or Shard exists only in that Realm. Far from it, as the Realms are little more than how our consciousness interprets the workings of the Surges.

The Shards can, more or less, be divided into four groups. The first group is the Two-Realm Shards, which consist of either Physical or Spiritual Surges and either Cognitive or Hybrid Surges. The second group is the Physical Mixed Shards, which consist of the Physical Surges and one each from the Cognitive and Hybrid Surges. The third group is the Spiritual Mixed Shards, which consist of the Spiritual Surges and one each from the Cognitive and Hybrid Surges, and the fourth group is the One-Realm Shards, that only consist of the Surges from a single Realm. These Shards, as will become clear, are also a bit more simple in Intent than the other Shards.

Now, one last note before we dive into specific Shards, I have written Part II of this theory without going back to adjust or change anything, which I consider an argument in favour of this theory, as I indeed got all known Shards in there, but did not get a single Shard twice.

 

Part 2: Surges to Intents

Let’s recap of which Surges the Shards would consist (numbered for easy referencing):

Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion, Illumination, Transformation (1.1)
Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion, Progression, Transportation (1.2)
Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Illumination, Transformation (1.3)
Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Progression, Transportation (1.4)

Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion, Illumination, Progression (2.1)
Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion, Illumination, Transportation (2.2)
Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion, Transformation, Progression (2.3)
Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion, Transformation, Transportation (2.4)

Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Illumination, Progression (3.1)
Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Illumination, Transportation (3.2)
Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Transformation, Progression (3.3)
Gravitation, Division, Abrasion, Transformation, Transportation (3.4)

Cohesion, Tension, Adhesion (4.1)
Gravitation, Division, Abrasion (4.2)
Illumination, Transformation (4.3)
Progression, Transportation (4.4)

Now, let’s think a bit about what these Shards would be like. I want to note, once again, that the ordering in Realms is not absolute, and that all Surges (and Shards) have effects in all three Realms. I’ll start with the last four Shards, as they are less complicated in their Intent.

4.1 through 4.4.

4.1: The Physical Shard. Related to Cohesion, Tension and Adhesion. Cohesion and Tension together control the qualities of solids, and Adhesion controls the qualities of liquids and gases. These are all things that very actively drift towards an equilibrium and no more change, which makes me think this may be Preservation.

4.2: The Spiritual Shard. Related to Gravitation, Division and Abrasion. Now, Division is directly related to the increase of entropy, as I argued in my Surge theory. Additionally, Gravitation and Abrasion control gravity and electromagnetism, two of the fundamental forces of nature. This seems, to me, like a perfect fit for Ruin, who represents change: the occurrence of fundamental forces and increasing entropy.

4.3: The Cognitive Shard. Related to Illumination and Transformation. Transformation means change and, in particular, cognitive change and therefore thoughts, illumination means consciousness itself (through L-Theory[3], explained further in my Surge theory). I would say this is a Shard that pursues knowledge and logic. A Shard that has been proposed previously – and might have been teased by Hoid in Oathbringer – that would fit this very well is Wisdom.

4.4: The Hybrid Shard: Related to Progression and Transportation. This Shard is the core of the connection between the Three Realms, through Progression, which forms the link between the Realms, and through Transportation, which allows movement between Realms. Additionally, as I also argued in my Surge theory, the connection between Realms that is granted through Progression is what we know as “life”, which makes me think that the Shard related to these Surges may be something like Life or Existence – which, on top of that, would make it a good fit for the so-called “Survival Shard”, despite “Survival” not being it’s Intent[4]. Take into account that life also has a habit of spreading, which is the Transportation part. EDIT: I figured in a later post in this thread that Unity or maybe Identity might be a good name for this Shard.

1.1 through 1.4

1.1: Physical and Cognitive. A Shard related to bringing equilibrium/balance (Physical Surges) and consciousness and thoughts (Cognitive). I would argue that this is a Shard that aims for calmness of thought, I’d almost say a meditation Shard. Devotion, maybe?

1.2: Physical and Hybrid. Another Shard related to balance, in this case coupled with life and movement. I think that this Shard is about how and where life is (interpreting Transportation as “distance” or “widespread”), with focus on the “how and where” in particular. When interpreting “life” as sapient life in particular, it looks like a very clear fit for Dominion.

1.3: Spiritual and Cognitive. A Shard related to the occurrence of fundamental forces and thoughts and consciousness. I would argue that this Shard is directly related to intensive feelings. Passion. Or Odium.

1.4: Spiritual and Hybrid. Again a Shard related to “stuff happening according to basic rules” (I’m just stretching my descriptions here to avoid saying the same things over and over again) and, this time, life and movement. Cultivation, anyone? I don’t think I need to explain this one, it just feels very obvious.

2.1 through 2.4

2.1: Physical with Illumination and Progression. A Shard related to balance, consciousness and life. I think this Shard would aim for consciousness and life to be. Of course, as we have seen with Soulcasting in particular, every entity in the Cosmere has its own – often very limited – consciousness. With that realisation, as well as the point where life is meant to be everywhere, and yet for there to be balance, Awakening appears to be made for this, so I’m going to put Endowment on this.

2.2: Physical with Illumination and Transportation. A Shard related to equilibrium, consciousness and movement or maybe places. This Shard, I would argue, wishes to be everywhere and wishes for things to not change. I don’t like how it feels like I’m ticking off all the Shards here (leaving me feeling like I apply a known Shard too easily) but I’m going with Autonomy. It just seems too much in line with what she’s been doing. Also take into account that she has so many personalities, so many separate consciousnesses.

2.3: Physical with Transformation and Progression. Equilibrium, thoughts and life, to sum it up. And I think I’m going to tick another Shard off. I earlier figured Honor would likely have the Spiritual Surges, as there is a theory somewhere that he is about creating Spiritual bonds, but just think about this. This Shard (2.3) wishes for thoughts (ideas, opinions) and life to stay mostly as they are, in equilibrium. This would explain both the Oaths (you have to adhere to your ideas and opinions) and the Oathpact (life needs to remain). Additionally, creating Spiritual bonds is often considered part of Adhesion, which would be one of Honor’s Surges.

2.4: Physical with Transformation and Transportation. Equilibrium with change (or thoughts) and movement. I would argue that this Shard would be looking to create sapient life, probably with a wish to explore, and to also have this life remain. Let’s go with Creation.

3.1 through 3.4

3.1: Spiritual with Illumination and Progression. A Shard related to fundamental forces, consciousness and life. This Shard would be looking for consciousness and life to be changing naturally at all times. I’m going with Evolution, and I’ll admit that I went with it partially because it has the exact opposite Surges from Creation, but it was also the first thing I thought of.

3.2: Spiritual with Illumination and Transportation. A Shard related to fundamental forces, consciousness and movement. As seen with Shard 2.2 (Autonomy), Illumination and Transportation mean wishing to be everywhere. When coupled with the Spiritual Surges, looking for change, this becomes deciding what happens everywhere. Ambition.

3.3: Spiritual with Transformation and Progression. Fundamental forces, thoughts and life. A Shard that is looking for the natural occurrence of change in thoughts – sentient life – and life itself. I would say that this Shard, more than any, is related to sentient life existing and, in particular, changing and thereby advancing. Let’s go with Progression, by lack of a better term (a different meaning of the word than the Progression Surge though). Any ideas for better names are welcome! (EDIT: Someone on discord came up with Ingenuity, which I like more)

3.4: Spiritual with Transformation and Transportation, the last of the Shards! Fundamental forces, thoughts and movement. With changing thoughts and wanting to be everywhere, I think Curiosity might be a good description.

So, in the end, the sixteen Shards would be these: Preservation, Ruin, Wisdom, Existence, Devotion, Dominion, Passion, Cultivation, Endowment, Autonomy, Honor, Creation, Evolution, Ambition, Progression(/Ingenuity) and Curiosity.

 

Part III: Food for Thought

Adonalsium’s Intent

Adonalsium himself had all ten Surges. Therefore, he had equilibrium, change, consciousness, thoughts, life and movement (or however one should call that one). All in one, and a balance. I would say (and yes, this is inspired a little bit by the theory about it) that his Intent was Unity, a balance of everything.

Harmony

Harmony, a merger of Preservation and Ruin, has both the Physical and the Spiritual Surges. This means that, on one hand, everything is supposed to remain the same, yet on the other hand, everything is supposed to change. This cancels each other out for the most part, making it hard for him to act. However, there is one thing where they do not interfere with one another, and that is in natural change. Though the Physical Surges for the most part signify balance and lack of change, they do allow for change if there is not yet equilibrium. This is how Harmony can act; by changing there, where a change creates equilibrium. With the filter of his Vessel, a good-meaning scholar, this means he changes in such ways that it allows those who are not hindered by Intent to do what he would want to do, but can’t do.

The Rosharan Triple Shard

In the past, I’ve theorized about a possible merger on Roshar, and I called the Shard Guidance, a mixture of growth (Cultivation), Honor and emotion (Passion/Odium). And what are the Surges in these Shards? The Spiritual Surges appear twice (Cultivation and Passion), and together they got the Cognitive and Hybrid Surges. Additionally, Honor provides the Physical Surges and Transformation and Progression, related to thoughts and life – together sentient life. First of all, this Shard would not necessarily be blocked from anything, as it would contain all ten Surges. However, it would have a focus on the Spiritual Surges and Transformation and Progression. Basically, the ten Surges plus Shard 3.3, which I called Progression. I would argue that this Shard therefore has a mix between Adonalsium’s Unity and the Progression Shard as Intent. I think Guidance, indeed, would be a fine name for this Shard. It aims for the progression of life and technology and also aims to unite everything. It guides towards something greater.

Odium versus Passion

This is a debate that has been raging on the forums for a while. First of all, a Shard focused on hate like Odium is, by some, said to be, does not fit into the theory anywhere; not by a wide margin. Second, and this is coming at it from the other side, I would argue that “Odium”, which basically means “hatred” is far more simple an Intent than any other we have seen. It doesn’t fit in the list of Shards we know. Passion, however, would do so far better. The reason that the Shard is called Odium, I think, is primarily because of the Vessel, who’s goals are largely odious.

Vessels

And that’s the last thing I want to talk about. The Vessels, as confirmed by WoB, ‘filter’ the Intent of a Shard[5]. Though the Vessel will have to adhere to the limitations it has received from the Surges that make up the Shard, it can do whatever it wants as long as it’s in accordance with those limitations. One thing does limit them even more, however, and that is that the amount of Investiture they control itself will slowly warp their mind to make even their wishes more in according to the Intent of the Shard; this is why Ruin eventually aimed for the destruction of the world even though Ati did not want this. Possibly, this may also have changed Rayse during his time in the Rosharan system, where he now focuses more on inciting emotion than he did in the past, when he focused simply on that which furthered his own goals (which was typically hatred, as making the correct people hate one another can do a lot for that).

[note 1]: Not that it stopped me from trying.
[note 2]: As an example, the ways a Shard can contain 2 Physical, 1 Cognitive and 2 Spiritual Surges would be enough for 18 Shards already.

[1]: 
http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/64703-ob-the-fundamental-surges-of-the-cosmere/
[2]: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/95/#e833
[3]: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/25226-the-l-theory-of-realmatic-strings/
[4]: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/6-bands-of-mourning-release-party/#e326
[5]: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/246-alloy-of-law-17th-shard-qa/#e5485

EDIT: I've come across WoBs that are potentially interesting in regards to this theory several times, but by themselves all not enough to warrant bumping this thread back to the first page of the subforum, so I'm instead going to edit in the links when I find them and once I got a bunch I'll write a single post about it.

For now, here's the first one, and curiously, I have Autonomy and Honor pinned down as opposites in a way, though different from the two ways I had previously considered opposites. In this case, they would be opposites in that they share the Physical Surges but have different Cognitive/Hybrid Surges. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/50-calamity-denver-signing/#e776

A second one, this one slightly strengthens the Ingenuity Shard, as Brandon has said he would pick a Shard we don't know yet: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/314-salt-lake-city-signing/#e8935

I found another one, which may actually be more important for the post on the Surges themselves, but for now I'm adding it here. This implies that it's at least valid to see the Surges as fundamental like we see our fundamental forces as such: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/373-skyward-chicago-signing/#e12004

Edited by Leyrann
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I feel like assigning a pattern to the Shards when we only know of 10/16, plus we don't know how much of their intents are from the Vessel and how much are from the Shard, is going to be inherently flawed.

Plus, I disagree with you on several assumptions and definitions (such as love or devotion being a meditative calm...) :)

Odium is about as simplistic as Devotion, and we know Devotion is Love.  We've had this discussion, with WoBs about how the definitions of the word Odium apply to the Shard Odium, and how Odium is by its nature, selfish.  And that Ruin would be a good match for Odium. And that, given Love is its own Shard, in order for Odium to be Passion, it would have to be Passion missing Love.

So I won't go further into those, other than to say I vehemently disagree that Odium is Passion.

Edited by RShara
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14 minutes ago, RShara said:

I feel like assigning a pattern to the Shards when we only know of 10/16, plus we don't know how much of their intents are from the Vessel and how much are from the Shard, is going to be inherently flawed.

Plus, I disagree with you on several assumptions and definitions (such as love or devotion being a meditative calm...) :)

Well, we're not going to find missing Shards without trying, and neither are we going to get correct definitions without discussion.

13 minutes ago, RShara said:

Odium is about as simplistic as Devotion, and we know Devotion is Love.  We've had this discussion, with WoBs about how the definitions of the word Odium apply to the Shard Odium, and how Odium is by its nature, selfish.  And that Ruin would be a good match for Odium. And that, given Love is its own Shard, in order for Odium to be Passion, it would have to be Passion missing Love.

So I won't go further into those, other than to say I vehemently disagree that Odium is Passion.

If we have hate and love as their 'own' Shards though, why don't we have Shards for all other emotions, like sadness, anger, happiness, etc?

Edited by Leyrann
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Well we DO Have Love as its own Shard, for sure.  That's been confirmed for a while.  I would dare say that it's because Love and Hate are diametrically opposed and are two of the very strongest emotions.  The ones most often personified and identified as driving forces.

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Applause for the well thought out theory. I am inclined to disagree however.

Slight segue to the Metals/Shards topic; that WoB you quoted merely states that there is some kind of pattern to the Shards and as well as the Metallic Arts (granted, the number 16 is too...precise/coincidental/specific to not be deliberate), not that they share the same pattern. The key thing with Brandon is he isn't always as elaborate with the answers he gives, and always delights in being vague when our wording isn't exact (tricksy Aes Sedai he is) so from that WoB, I would only draw that there is some kind of pattern (It could simply be that Leras decided there would be 16 metals, not necessarily what they would be. This kind of question is one I wish to ask Brandon), not that both pattern/groupings are the same.

As for the surges, they are actually the fundamental forces of nature, constant everywhere throughout the cosmere (Surges are just what Rosharans call them.) The thing with Surges is, any Shard could potentially access any of them as the Shards themselves are nigh omnipotent. I will grant that depending the Shard's intent (note the lower case i before Chaos sees it :P:ph34r:), some Shard's might have better proficiency over particular surges/forces than others but ultimately, they're all capable of the same feats, to either a greater/lesser degree...presumably :ph34r: (Future-sight being the prime example).

I definitely agree with you that there is some kind of grouping/pattern to the Shards, but until we get a bit more knowledge, I'm withholding judgement :P +1 for imaginative thinking and creativity. One of those intents is along my own thinking (Evolution, but I was thinking more Adaptation) but I do find the others unlikely. Props for trying though :D

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Honestly this reminds me of the Diagram. Love it and the thought and effort put forth. My only counterpoint is that this method of figuring out intent would put tremendous strain on Brandon. Think about it this way if Brandon had to work backwards from eighty combinations of very specific surges just to make them match intents he hasn’t even canonized because he does not know the details yet seems.. difficult to say the least. I think a broad overview and comparison of Surgebinding and the Metallic Arts would be better.

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6 hours ago, RShara said:

So I won't go further into those, other than to say I vehemently disagree that Odium is Passion.

Yeah I really don't see why so many people are inclined to believe Odium at his own words on this one. Frost's assessment of Odium seems more accurate. "He bears the weight of God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context."

Hatred in and of itself isn't evil. A divine being can hate oppression, hate lying, hate murder, etc. Odium IS hatred, he's simply acting upon his own intent, hating what he chooses to hate. This isn't divine hatred, and it's definitely not "passion" as Odium describes it. 

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13 minutes ago, Andy92 said:

Yeah I really don't see why so many people are inclined to believe Odium at his own words on this one. Frost's assessment of Odium seems more accurate. "He bears the weight of God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context."

Hatred in and of itself isn't evil. A divine being can hate oppression, hate lying, hate murder, etc. Odium IS hatred, he's simply acting upon his own intent, hating what he chooses to hate. This isn't divine hatred, and it's definitely not "passion" as Odium describes it. 

Yep.

(There's also the fact that Love is a separate Shard, so how can he be Passion without Love?  And Brandon saying Odium is inherently selfish, and saying that "Hatred, and that which provokes Hatred apply to the Shard with that name.")

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9 hours ago, ParadoxicalZen said:

Applause for the well thought out theory. I am inclined to disagree however.

Slight segue to the Metals/Shards topic; that WoB you quoted merely states that there is some kind of pattern to the Shards and as well as the Metallic Arts (granted, the number 16 is too...precise/coincidental/specific to not be deliberate), not that they share the same pattern. The key thing with Brandon is he isn't always as elaborate with the answers he gives, and always delights in being vague when our wording isn't exact (tricksy Aes Sedai he is) so from that WoB, I would only draw that there is some kind of pattern (It could simply be that Leras decided there would be 16 metals, not necessarily what they would be. This kind of question is one I wish to ask Brandon), not that both pattern/groupings are the same.

As for the surges, they are actually the fundamental forces of nature, constant everywhere throughout the cosmere (Surges are just what Rosharans call them.) The thing with Surges is, any Shard could potentially access any of them as the Shards themselves are nigh omnipotent. I will grant that depending the Shard's intent (note the lower case i before Chaos sees it :P:ph34r:), some Shard's might have better proficiency over particular surges/forces than others but ultimately, they're all capable of the same feats, to either a greater/lesser degree...presumably :ph34r: (Future-sight being the prime example).

I definitely agree with you that there is some kind of grouping/pattern to the Shards, but until we get a bit more knowledge, I'm withholding judgement :P +1 for imaginative thinking and creativity. One of those intents is along my own thinking (Evolution, but I was thinking more Adaptation) but I do find the others unlikely. Props for trying though :D

I don't think the pattern is necissarily the same as the Metallic Arts, but this was simply more or less a pattern that appeared simply because of the possibilities and my human mind's inclination to group what I find into easy tidbits. I've been thinking a little bit about how the Shards would translate to the Metallic Arts (not a lot yet), but I doubt that we'll see the quadrants of the Metallic Arts being made up by the quadrants of Shards I described here.

And yes, the Shards could potentionally acces any of the Surges, it's just that their Intent is defined only by some of them.

7 hours ago, TheHeadHancho said:

Honestly this reminds me of the Diagram. Love it and the thought and effort put forth. My only counterpoint is that this method of figuring out intent would put tremendous strain on Brandon. Think about it this way if Brandon had to work backwards from eighty combinations of very specific surges just to make them match intents he hasn’t even canonized because he does not know the details yet seems.. difficult to say the least. I think a broad overview and comparison of Surgebinding and the Metallic Arts would be better.

Getting to the Metallic Arts will be part III of the theory. :)

Anyways, I think Brandon more or less has the Shards in his mind already, and might have had for quite a while, but he doesn't want to pin down the exact Intent (of course, in this theory there's still more variation possible than the "changing between synonyms" that is all possible change once a Shard changes holder). Oh, and he likes watching us squirm.

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Another view on the ordering

While working on the Metallic Arts in relation to this theory, I realized that there is a second way to order the Shards, which draws attention to different aspects than the original ordering did. Therefore, I figured I'd make this post to order the Shards based on their Cognitive and Hybrid Surges first, rather than their Physical and Spiritual Surges. Primarily, this emphasizes the duality of Shards.

I do want to mention, however, that even though this duality exists, this does not mean the Shards on different sides of the duality are opposites. They can be, but they need not be. In fact, they still share two Surges. Even for the Shards that do not share a single Surge, however, this does not mean they are opposites. For example, think of Honor and Ambition. Though they probably won't get along well - or at all - they're not opposites exactly. Just wildly different.

(note on the numbering, when referencing to Shards I'll continue using the numbering in the opening post rather than the numbering I create in this post)

Group 1:

The base Shards. The four Shards that only have Surges from one Realm. The fourth group in the original ordering, though the first discussed.

Spoiler

1.1: The Physical Shard. Preservation.
1.2: The Cognitive Shard. Wisdom.
1.3: The Spiritual Shard. Ruin.
1.4: The Hybrid Shard. Life/Existence.

Group 2:

The Cognitive and Hybrid Shards. These are the Shards that have the Surges from two Realms only. In the orignal ordering, they were in the first group.

Spoiler

2.1: Cognitive and Physical. Devotion.
2.2: Cognitive and Spiritual. Odium.

2.3: Hybrid and Physical. Dominion.
2.4: Hybrid and Spiritual. Cultivation.

Group 3:

The Mixed Shards. These are the eight Shards that have both a Cognitive and a Hybrid Surge. I have decided to put them together into one group, as a distinction can be made both on sharing a Cognitive Surge or on sharing a Hybrid Surge, which would create two different groups with Shards that share as much with one another as they do with the other group.

Spoiler

3.1: Physical Illumination and Progression. Endowment.
3.2: Spiritual Illumination and Progression. Evolution.

3.3: Physical Illumination and Transportation. Autonomy.
3.4: Spiritual Illumination and Transportation. Ambition.

3.5: Physical Transformation and Progression. Honor.
3.6: Spiritual Transformation and Progression. Ingenuity.

3.7: Physical Transformation and Transportation. Creation.
3.8: Spiritual Transformation and Transportation. Curiosity.

Spoiler

(interesting how three of these four pairs have the same first letter...)

 

Edited by Leyrann
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Most of the classification ideas here seem arbitrary... 

Why would any shard be limited to a single realmatic function of anything? And if it were, how would it possibly be anything other than spiritual? 

I don't understand where the majority of this is coming from beyond opinion. 

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5 hours ago, Calderis said:

Most of the classification ideas here seem arbitrary... 

Why would any shard be limited to a single realmatic function of anything? And if it were, how would it possibly be anything other than spiritual? 

I don't understand where the majority of this is coming from beyond opinion. 

I'm not really sure what you mean by "limited to a single realmatic function". If you mean it as in "being responsible for a single part of realmatics", then I'd argue that's how Shards work, but I guess that's not what you wish to say.

As for "how would it be anything other than Spiritual", this is primarily a classification of the Shards, attempting to figure out the Intents from a basic system which I believe the WoB I linked implies exists. I may have the basic system wrong, but I personally believe I have it right. And just because Shards have Physical or Cognitive or whatever Surges doesn't mean, as I mentioned in the original post as well, that they're limited to that Realm or something like that. The classification is originally for the Surges, which for them as well just means that their primary (not necessarily all) effects are seen in this Realm or that. I then used the ordering I had for the Surges to come up with a pattern for non-arbitrarily assigned Surges, as arbitrary would mean there's no pattern. This classification does not then interfere with what the Shards actually are like or which Realms they're in (it's all three and mainly Spiritual of course), only what the limits of their powers (according to Intent) are. (additional note, I've actually also been fidgeting around a bit with the future sight stuff, but I'm not certain if that's related at all to this theory, and even if it is I could see it being very complicated. It might simply be more of a "so what does the Intent do? Okay then the Shard is this good or bad at future sight")

Either way I very much disagree with the classification being arbitrary. Yes, I have nothing hard to back up the classification of the Surges (though I do have a number of arguments why certain Surges belong in certain groups), but the Shards I extrapolated from that come directly from this classification, with every possibility in this pattern (thereby satisfying the WoB that Adonalsium could have shattered differently) exhausted. Additionally, though you might disagree with my train of thought at some points (where?), I derived the Intents of all ten known Shards from this, as well as two, arguably three Shards that may or may not have been hinted at (Wisdom, Ingenuity, maybe the Life/Existence Shard of which I am severely dissatisfied with the best name I could come up with).

---

Okay, with that out of the way, I wanted to continue a discussion I had with @RShara about Odium vs Passion. Basically, and I actually don't really like going here because it means tinkering, no matter how subtly, with past ideas for the theory (thereby weakining the "I wrote it in one go and got everything out of it" argument), but I figured that I might have slightly misjudged the Intents of the Physical and Spiritual Shard with the Cognitive Surges, which I identified as Devotion and Odium/Passion.

With the minor discussion on the OB spoiler board, where the old meaning of "passion" as suffering got mentioned, I figured that the true Intents might lie somewhere in between of what we disagreed about. For Odium, it would be about emotions becoming more - and eventually too - extreme. Most extreme emotions are negative (hate, fury, severe loss -> anger at the one that caused it, hence the other part of Odium, etc) and even those that aren't (extreme joy, etc, which by the way seem to at least partly be represented by some Unmade) can cause a lot of trouble or even death (I could see people getting a heart attack from something like extreme joy). As Shards have no balance, this Shard would just keep feeding the emotions until they would become too much. And at that point, there's only one possible consequence - hate or being hated, which would make Odium a fitting name for the Shard, even though technically it's all emotions.

On the other hand, there is Devotion (aka "Love" according to Brandon). I would argue that, as I mentioned originally as well, this Shard is related to soothing emotions. This is a really hard point to argue for anyone, as love is considered wildly different by differing people, but to me love is being at peace because you're with someone, or because someone is caring for you, and I think that is in large part also due to my Christian upbringing, which we know Brandon shares (though of course we are different denominations and stuff). The extremely intensive feeling that is maybe mostly related to what happens beneath the sheets I would rather classify as lust (which, let it be clear, does not necessarily make it a bad thing).

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The Hybrid Shard

Wohooo, we're back with some more additions to the theory!

I finally came up with some stuff for Shard 4.4, a.k.a. the Survival Shard for which I could not figure out a good name for the Intent.

I'm still not satisfied with what I have, but I feel like I'm edging closer. The Shard is related to life and movement, which could be explained as "life, being everywhere", or "life, from all places", or alternatively "life, as it is and acts". In the first cases, I would go with Unity (not related to Dalinar) and in the last case with "Identity". Both aren't truly satisfying, but I believe this Shard could be the essence of Adonalsium, so to say. The actual being he was, his 'self'.

I also think that, in a way, this Shard could be less restrained by Intent than any of the others, though still in a way limited (if it's Intent is more the Unity direction in particular, and I don't really feel the Identity Intent at all even if I prefer it over Life or Existence).

Anyways, if someone comes up with something better, I'd love to hear about it.

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/5/2018 at 9:55 AM, Leyrann said:

According to Brandon, the Metallic Arts are created to fit on the same pattern as the Shards[2]. Though I suspect that it is not possible to find the Shards simply by looking at the Metallic Arts[note 1], it does tell us that there is a pattern to the Shards.

I think that the best way to test this theory, if you believe that the metals really do match, if indirectly, would be to use this method of breaking down the shards into surges to connect each one to a metal. If it fits, you could be close. This way, you can't find the shards by looking at the metals, but you can find them both by looking at a medium, fitting the notes I quotes above.

Even though I doubt Brandon would go to this extent to make the shards, using this much personal interpretation, it's a great theory. Have an upvote!

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1 hour ago, The Gecko said:

I think that the best way to test this theory, if you believe that the metals really do match, if indirectly, would be to use this method of breaking down the shards into surges to connect each one to a metal. If it fits, you could be close. This way, you can't find the shards by looking at the metals, but you can find them both by looking at a medium, fitting the notes I quotes above.

Yup!

I've indeed done some work on fitting the metals on the same pattern as the Shards, but I've never really pulled through and finished it up. Maybe I'll do so this summer now that university is (almost) over.

My current expectation, though I need to work it out still, is that each grouping of 5 Surges from the original ordering has a related metal, where pairs of metals share their Cognitive/Hybrid surges, and the Enhancement metals (aluminium etc) are instead a separate group added by Preservation (the deviation from the pattern). As I said though, I haven't worked it out yet. My goal is to try to map the combinations of Surges with Allomancy and then see if it fits with Feruchemy as well, which would be an argument in favor of the theory.

Edited by Leyrann
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