The nature of moving through Shadesmar (Major WoR Spoilers)

[Zenith]

I'll be up front here, I don't have a terrible amount of solid evidence, many parts of this there are inferences or guesses. If there are any quotes you know of that support/destroy this theory, please post them.

 

Anyway, before starting, let's list what we know about Shadesmar:

 

Shadesmar is the Cognitive Realm. Shadesmar has been glimpsed by Kaladin, albeit briefly, and Shadesmar is mentioned by the ardents in the interlude from WoK (can someone give me the name of it? I don't have my WoK copy easily accessible right now). Shallan and Jasnah are much more helpful in terms of Shadesmar, giving us on-screen looks at it. Every time we've seen it on screen, Shadesmar is made out of little beads, with the exception of Kaladin, who only sees the sun of Shadesmar. These beads can be manipulated in various ways, from Jasnah making a raft, or to whole sections of the palace at Kholinar to stand on. Jasnah can force the beads to move and do other things, but Shallan is less adept at it. Each bead in Shadesmar represents on object, be it Stick or the palace at Kholinar. These beads can be talked to with the aid of spren, and persuaded to change into other objects. Spren look very different in Shadesmar as well. Exhaustionspren are giant vultures, Pattern is the symbols seen in Shallan's drawings in WoK.

 

With that out of the way, let's talk about travel through Shadesmar.

 

Jasnah presumably uses the Transportation surge to get to where she is at the end of WoR. The journey to that place was not instantaneous, and seemed difficult. Jasnah wasn't looking as she was when she was in the ship, and had picked up some packs along the way. This probably means that travel through shadesmar takes some sort of supplies, be it spheres, food, blankets, etc. We also know that Jasnah talked with some spren, and it is mentioned they haven't dealt with someone living in a long time. Then, at the end, we know Jasnah's journey wasn't precise. I think the reason for this is that the Transportation surge physically takes someone into Shadesmar. In Shadesmar, the person has to walk around Shadesmar (I'm guessing time is a little messed up here as well), until they get to the approximate place in shadesmar that corresponds to the approximate place on Roshar. This is why it can get imprecise - Shadesmar and Roshar are very similar, but not exactly the same. If someone has to approximate the location on Roshar that corresponds to the place in Shadesmar, then the travel wouldn't be very precise.

 

Thoughts?

 

Edit: Here are some quotes

 

 

Q:  Do you know how you're going to write how Hoid goes between worlds?

A:  Yes I do.  There is a big clue in [WoR]. There is a very big clue in the very first book I published.

(Thanks WEZ313) So, we need to look in Elantris, and we have a clue in WoR. I'm guessing Rock's story at the bar has a lot to do with this, and if we assume that the horneater pools are Shardpools, then it's logical to assume that Shardpools are somehow connected with Shadesmar.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Zenith

[LinkasZelda]

That makes sense. I also think that Shadesmar probably looks different, depending on the world you're in. So certain locations in the Roshar Shadesmar might correspond to locations on Scadrials Shadesmar and etc.

This is probably why Hoid appeared on the mountains in Roshar, he was in some corresponding location on a different world.

[FirstSelector]

Hoid's appearance in the mountains is almost certainly linked to the location of one of Honor or Cultvation's Shardpools being in the Horneater Peaks.  This is reinforced by Rock's story and ability to see spren.

 

I like this idea, though it leaves out one important detail.  When confronted by Hoid about her locatoin, Jasnah indicates that she was particularly stressed "at the time of [her] escape."  Note that the attack on the boat took place significantly before their meeting.  Also, based on Hoid's description of the geography, I find it likely that they meet somewhat close to the southern edge of the Frostlands.

 

I think it is reasonable to claim that Elsecalling, like all Surgebinding, requires Stormlight.  As such, I think there is some connection between how much Stormlight Jasnah was able to consume and the distance in the Physical world between her entry and exit from the Cognitive realm.

 

However, why this is the case coupled with Brandon's statements about inaccuracies makes me wonder.  Good thoughts!

[AerionBFII]

 

Q:  Do you know how you're going to write how Hoid goes between worlds?

A:  Yes I do.  There is a big clue in [WoR]. There is a very big clue in the very first book I published.  

 

Found this by complete coincidence just before i found this nice theory thread 

Hope this helps you in some way

[LinkasZelda]

Found this by complete coincidence just before i found this nice theory thread 

Hope this helps you in some way

That would be Elantris, right? Hmmm... I'm due for a reread anyway... so I wonder what he meant...

[Zenith]

Found this by complete coincidence just before i found this nice theory thread 

Hope this helps you in some way

With this quote, let's assume that this big hint is Hoid coming out of the Horneater pools. Assuming those are Shardpools, then it's safe to assume that Shardpools have something to do with worldhopping. I've heard it theorized that people can only come out of Shardpools when worldhopping, which seems reasonable enough. I'm wondering what happens if this is the case, and the pools are gone (Mistborn spoilers)

Like when Vin gives Preservation's power up.

Thoughts?