{Theory} The Shattering of Adonalsium happend over a long period of Time.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Premise

Thank youTempus for providing a Good Theory Template.

The accepted version of Events is that some person, power or thing Hit Adonalsium, and it Shattered into the 16 Shards of Adonalsium. I doubt this.

 

Hypothesis

 

The Shards were Broken off of Adonalsium One at a Time. Possibly in an attempt to Make Adonalsium a Better Power.

 

Chronology of Known Shards

 

Odium

 

The First Desolation was between 9000 and 100,000 Rosharan Years ago.[1] This translates to about 9900 and 110000 Earth Years.[2] Unfortunately, we don’t have a Timeline for When Odium visited Sel.

 

Honor and Cultivation

 

Honor and Cultivation came To Roshar together,[3] and they were there long before Odium was there. [4] This means that there is a Significant amount of Time Before the First Desolation.

 

Endowment

 

Endowment has only Been actively Returning people on Nalthis for a little over 700 years.[5]
 

Preservation and Ruin

 

The well takes 1024 Years to Refill, and has been filled twice that we know of.[6] Preservation and Ruin came to Scadrial together, and Preservation imprisoned Ruin in the Well as soon as they finished with Creation. Since the second Refilling, there was a 302 year gap.[7] So they’ve been on Planet for 2350 Years.
 

Devotion and Dominion

 

The City of Elantris was created hundreds, if not Thousands of Years before the Events of the book.[8] Shu-Keseg, the Original Religion, was founded after the Splintering of Dominion and Devotion.[9]
 

Unnamed/Unseen Shards

 

The Traveller/Space Shard

 

We have a Word of Brandon that stating that there is a Shard that isn’t on a Planet. This shard isn’t the Shard that wants to Survive.[10] Tempus has talked about this and guessed that a Shard could only Stand being UnInvested for about 500 years, before getting Bored. (Note that His words are taken completely out of Context.)[11]
 

Bavadin’s Shard

 

The Shard of White Sand I can’t really Talk about this Shards activities Without Spoilers for Unpublished Work, so Suffice it to Say, that Bavadin has been on World for at least half of a Millenium. Probably More.
 

The Shard of Survival

 

Well. It’s been Surviving. We can assume that it’s invested in a planet somewhere, due to Brandon’s Comment about the Traveller Shard.[12]

 

The Shardholders

 

It’s possible that not all of the Shardholders were Human, Which means that some of them could have had a Longer lifespan than Normal Humans. They were all from Yolen though. and They all Knew Each Other.[13]

 

Conclusion

 

All the Shards have been active for Different amounts of Times. But if they were all broken off of Adonalsium at the same Time, then they should be Equally Experienced. So they were Shattered at different Times.

 

Conjecture/Speculation

 

Here’s What I think happened.
 

Adonalsium was a Power on Yolen, Rayse, being a Crafty and Dangerous man, figured out how to Shatter Bits of it’s Power. He Broke off the Shard of Odium, took it up, and Left Yolen. The other 15, as well as Hoid, Figured out how he did this, and decided to Replicate it, to Spread out throughout the Cosmere. Aona and Skai both took up Shards, and headed off to Sel.

 

Tanavst, being In love and Honorable, insisted on his Girlfriend/Wife getting one. They left together, and eventually Settled on Roshar. After a While, Odium learns that Others Followed his Lead, and Shatters Dominion and Devotion, then heads to Roshar to do the Same to Honor and Cultivation. He kills Honor, but gets trapped by the Surges and Cultivation.

 

The remaining 16 learned that The Power and Intent of the Shard could Change a Person, So they Gave Ruin to the Nicest Person they could, Ati, and paired him with a Shard that could Balance out his Power. Eventually Endowment Takes up her Shard and heads to Nalthis.
 

The other 8 Shards were also taken up and some point, and they left Yolen as well.

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Other Possibilities are that Aona and Skai got their Shards, and Adonalsium kept Breaking, leading the Shardholders Forcing Odium on Rayse out of fear of it Deveolping Sentencee or Corrupting a Better man, As Ruin did to Ati. Rayse Blamed this on Devotion and Dominon, and Killed them
 

References

 

1. The Desolations Nine By Tempus And Tempuses Post Below.
2. WoP in the Thread "Is Kaladin actually 27 years old?

3. Cosmere Q&A - 17th Shard (Verbatim)

   Lance Alvein

   Did Cultivation come to Roshar with Honor, or was she already on Roshar when Honor arrived?

   Brandon Sanderson

   Good question. They came together.

    

4. Brandon

    

   Odium is not native, that's the thing. Are any of them native? So if you dig the deeper question, are any of them native, ehhh, none of them are native to the planets you've seen so far. What I probably should've said to be more precise is that Honor and Cultivation were there long before Odium showed up.

    

5. Windrunner's Theory
6. See Post #13. Can't copy/Paste or Link Right now.
7. WoB

8.  

   Tor Q&A with Brandon Sanderson (Verbatim)

   Locke219 ()

   How long ago (before Elantris 1) was Elantris built?

   Brandon Sanderson ()

   Hundreds of years if not over a thousand years.


    

9. Chris King (Miyabi)

   And here is the last one for Sel: Does Shu-Keseg predate the splintering of Devotion and Dominion?

   Brandon Sanderson

   No, I don't believe it does.

    
10. End of the Post.
11. Tempus's Argument (Again, Taken Out of Context)
12. WoB Somewhere. Also refrenced inRefrence 10.
13.  

Q: Were all the original sixteen Shardholders from Yolen?

A: Yes.

Q: Were the original sixteen Shardholders after the shattering all human?

A: Uh … RAFO. There are three races on Yolen. Three sentient races.

 

Q: Did the original sixteen Shardholders all know each other?

A: Yes they at least-- Yes, I would say that they did.

 

Edited June 10, 2014 by Hello. My name is Joe

[High prince of geeks]

There's also the fact that Ferumency has been around for longer then hermology and alomancy. I think this is because Harmony created Ferumency then split into ruin and preservation.

[A Joe in the Bush]

There's also the fact that Ferumency has been around for longer then hermology and alomancy. I think this is because Harmony created Ferumency then split into ruin and preservation.

They've all been around for the Same amount of Time. Alendi, the First Hero of Ages, Was a Seeker. And Ruin and Preservation were around Before Harmony.

[TheOneKEA]

This is an interesting theory. With so little textev about the early timeline of the Cosmere it has no more or less of a chance at being accurate than any other theory, but given the references I think this one is well founded.

I'd love to ask Brandon if the Shards were created all at once or if they were originally seized all at once.

[Tempus]

Hey Joe, nice theory. A few things. Firstly, you say 'first Desolation', but that is mistaken. The last Desolation was the one about 4500 years ago. All Desolations occurred prior to that. Secondly, the gaps between known first appearances of Shards are hundreds or more often thousands of years, and humans (most Shardholders) can't live that long. This theory could still be possible, but you'll need a more compressed timeframe, or some rationale for that.

[Moogle]

I find the idea of Odium being the first to be doubtful thanks to this epigraph from WoR:

 

He bears the weight of God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context. He is what we made him to be, old friend. And that is what he, unfortunately, wished to become.

 

The Shattering was likely planned by a good portion of the sixteen Shardholders and Hoid and would have happened at the same time.

Edited May 30, 2014 by Moogle

[A Joe in the Bush]

The Shardholders

 

It’s possible that not all of the Shardholders were Human, Which means that some of them could have had a Longer lifespan than Normal Humans. They were all from Yolen though. and They all Knew Each Other.[13]

 

Hey Joe, nice theory. A few things. Firstly, you say 'first Desolation', but that is mistaken. The last Desolation was the one about 4500 years ago. All Desolations occurred prior to that. Secondly, the gaps between known first appearances of Shards are hundreds or more often thousands of years, and humans (most Shardholders) can't live that long. This theory could still be possible, but you'll need a more compressed timeframe, or some rationale for that.

 

The Possibility that the Shardholders Aren't all Human, or were Changed when the First Shards was Made, Exsist. If you've Read The Excerpt of Liar of Partinel, you know that the 3 races were Human, Aether, and Dragons. (Though the Dragons are assumed and come from the Letter) We only know the Species of Ruin, Preservation, Honor and Cultivation. Those four are confirmed to be Human, with Human Lifespans (Unless Magiccly Changed) But the other 12 could be either of the other two species.

 

Also, I apparently Misread your Desolations thread. When was the First?

[Tempus]

We don't know when the first Desolation was. My theory suggests 9000 years ago, but it could be anywhere from that to 100,000 years ago.

[Cstryon]

We don't know when the first Desolation was. My theory suggests 9000 years ago, but it could be anywhere from that to 100,000 years ago.

100,000 years... That makes Hoid pretty old, and that's without considering the possibility that some time passed after the shattering, and the first desolation.

I like this theory though. But I don't think Odium just took the shard. The quote from the letter says that they made him what he his. So I suspect after the first shard/shards were taken from Adonalsium, this started a chain reaction, and Adonalsium began to shatter. They forced or convinced Rayse to take up Odium.

I think if this happened over time, the first shards to go would have been Dominion and Devotion. Maybe Rayse shattered them, because he blamed them for starting the shattering, thus leading to him having the burden of Odium.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Updated. Thanks for the Feedback.

 

EDIT: *Gasp!* Someone's Espoused my Theory! Yah!

Edited May 31, 2014 by Hello. My name is Joe

[Lupis]

You haven't taken into account the time it took for the shards to reach their planets. Depending on how far they were from the breaking point it could take vastly differing times for shards to get to their own planets. Also there is nothing to say Ruin and Preservation immediately decided to make humans when they reached Scadrial. They could have bickered over the details for millenia first.

[NutiketAiel]

You haven't taken into account the time it took for the shards to reach their planets. Depending on how far they were from the breaking point it could take vastly differing times for shards to get to their own planets. Also there is nothing to say Ruin and Preservation immediately decided to make humans when they reached Scadrial. They could have bickered over the details for millenia first.

 

Given how Hoid seems to have no problem getting from planet to planet in time to be there for every novel he wants to be in, and that the (presumably mortal) members of the 17th Shard (not us, that OTHER 17th Shard) are also able to hop from planet to planet within their lifetimes, I don't think this would be much of a factor.

 

Of course, Hoid travels through the cognitive realm, and we don't precisely know how the 17th Sharders are doing it.  I suppose that it is possible that the shardholders are confined to a slower form of interstellar travel, but we've seen no real evidence of it, and I don't know why they would be limited in this way.

 

As for millennia of bickering... remember that the shardholders we know of so far, including Ati and Leras, were human.  It's one thing to set a thousand year plan into motion because you're, say, trapped in the Well of Ascension and have no choice.  It's another to bicker with someone for thousands of years and refuse to act in all that time while also free.  Shardic intent is a factor in this to be sure, but remember that Ati and Leras would have been holding their shards for a much shorter time at this period, and so would presumably not have been as warped by the intents of their shards yet.  So, while thousands of years of bickering are certainly possible, I don't consider it to be likely.

 

I think there are two good explanations- the first is that Preservation and Ruin created non-sentient life on Scadrial first, and only added humans later.  I believe that the text supports this, though I don't have my books in front of me to find a reference.  I recall, however, the decision to make sentient life was a separate decision.  The second explanation (which can coexist with the first) is that the Well of Ascension has been used multiple times.  Just because we only know of two uses (Rashek and Vin) doesn't mean that there weren't more before.  The Lord Ruler did a fantastic job of twisting culture and history to his own benefit during his reign.  I would not be at all surprised if part of that campaign was to eliminate all myths and legends of previous uses of the Well.  With that in mind, humanity could have stretched back for quite a few millennia, going through multiple cycles before Ruin was finally able to corrupt Preservation's chosen hero (and he failed anyway thanks to Rashek.  Yay Lord Ruler!).

 

But that's just Scadrial.  My main problem with your theory is this- what kind of god lets people carve pieces off of it?  A singluar event makes much more sense to me.  Whether Adonalsium allowed it to happen, or whether it was somehow against its will, it happened all at once.  If it was against his will, maybe someone could get away with it the first time, but I would think the second time someone tried, the god that was still composed of 15/16ths of its ultimate power would put a stop to it.  On the other hand, if Adonalsium was a willing participant in its own shattering, then it still makes sense for it to happen all at once.  Presumably, its personality would change as each shard and its accompanying intent was removed.  Who knows how that would affect its mind, or its willingness to participate?  Once its Honor was removed, what would hold it to prior agreements?  Or perhaps its Devotion to the plan would be stripped from him.

 

If it did happen, though (and I still think it unlikely), I think the "Survival" shard would have to have been the first to go.  Removing the godhead's survival instinct might make it more pliable to having pieces carved off of it in the future.  I imagine a being with every aspect of its personality except the desire to survive would be pretty damned depressed.

 

"Oh, why do I even bother surviving?  I have no drive to.  I hate living like this.  Why don't you go ahead and take away my hate?  ...  OK, that's better.  Thank you, mysterious Yolen people."

Edited June 9, 2014 by NutiketAiel

[MistLord]

Here's your 6th citation by the way:

http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=691#3

 

Awesome stuff

[The Mad Reader]

For the timelines, you might want to consider when each book takes place. I'm pretty sure Brandon has said something about this, but I'm not sure where to find it.

 

100,000 years... That makes Hoid pretty old, and that's without considering the possibility that some time passed after the shattering, and the first desolation.
 

 

I believe that Hoid has been around for more years than he's lived through. I'm not really sure how it works, but I recall reading a WOB about it. 

[A Joe in the Bush]

Can't Quote on this Computer. Annoying that.

 

@MistLord: Thank You!

 

@NutiketAiel: You're probably Right about Survival being First. But When I was writing this Theory, I was operating under the Assumption that Adonalsium was an Artificial God. A made Weapon to defeat the Skull Moss and Fain Life on Yolen. There's a Theory about that Somewhere.

 

@MadReader: You Are Correct. Hoid is for all intents and Purposes, Immortal. the Rest of the Seventeenth Shard has a Increased Lifespan at the very Least.

[NutiketAiel]

@NutiketAiel: You're probably Right about Survival being First. But When I was writing this Theory, I was operating under the Assumption that Adonalsium was an Artificial God. A made Weapon to defeat the Skull Moss and Fain Life on Yolen. There's a Theory about that Somewhere.

 

 

It's an interesting idea.  I can't say that I agree with it at this point, but I'd love to see the arguments for it.  Does anyone know where we can find that theory?

[A Joe in the Bush]

I can't find an Actual Theory, But here's a couple of People saying it.

 

^ I know you guys have talked about aspects in excruciating detail before in the chat, so I'm avoiding any of that lest we start arguing about talking trees.

I also wanted to point out that it's confirmed in Hero of Ages that an afterlife exists in the cosmere and that Shards are unable to affect them.

At least, Sazed wasn't able to return Elend and Vin to their bodies.

Which kind of makes me think Adonalsium was a construct either born of necessity or created by something else to manage life in the cosmere and the physical and spiritual aspects.

Source

 

 

My assumption has been that once upon a time Adonalsium was whole and lived on the human homeworld with Hoid and co. I think adonalsium was an artificial construct but that may just be me.

Anyway, when he shattered the original 16 shardholders gained power and started exploring the stars. Eventually they created life in their own image thus propagating humans across the Cosmere.

source

[Quiver]

So... reading over it, it's an interesting theory. I'm not sure if I buy into it or not; for one thing, I have my own headcanon about why Endowment has been relatively inactive until recently, and this theory contradicts it. For another...

 

While the stripping of Adonalsium might make for a really got setting or background, I think the general, or expected idea, is that it happenbed all at once, as the climax to the storyline of the Liar of Partinel or Dragonsteel; whichever the Yolen book is. It certainly seems like an appropriately epic event; the death of a god makes a big climax. But that meta-logic isn't any reason it should happen that way, and might be good argument as to why it shouldn't.

 

 

 

The accepted version of Events is that some person, power or thing Hit Adonalsium, and it Shattered into the 16 Shards of Adonalsium.

 

Oh God.

 

This guy shattered Adonalisum.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Quiver

[TamM]

I thought that the shattering of Adonalisum was the cosmic "Big Bang" 

[NutiketAiel]

Ugh. And frownie face for Quiver for making me think of Superboy Prime.

:-(

Edited June 12, 2014 by NutiketAiel

[Quiver]

"I'll kill you, Adonalsium! KILL YOU TO DEATH!"

 

Tam- I don't think I've heard that theory before, but I think we have WoB that Adonalsium had been to Roshar, so...