TheKiwifisch

I have thought about it and my answer is: On Roshar it is common to carry around little objects of Investiture. Nobody would think it weird and it would be difficult to distinguish a glowing sphere from a glowing coin. Both are small, round and would glow so bright that you would not notice one was flat on two sides and the other a sphere. On the other hand, being Invested, as in holding Investiture in the body, is somewhat rare on Roshar. Radiants usually hold the Investiture for only a limited time and it leaves their body when they open their mouth. Taravangium would have seen Wit talk, noticed no Investiture leaving his body and deduced that it was some other type of Investiture. One could also argue that Wit was holding an unusually high amount of Investiture even when compared to a Radiant. That would make TOdium suspicious.

This post contains spoilers for Stormlight Archive’s Rhytm of War, Mistborn’s Bands of Mourning and minor spoilers for Warbreaker. Proceed with caution. In the epilogue of Rhythm of War, Wit encounters the new Odium and their interaction leaves us wondering if the encounter truly happened as Wit expected or whether he has been outwitted (hah). I will summarize some “facts”: 1. Wit planned entering the old palace in order to meet Odium. 2. Investiture can be used to store memories. 3. Odium notices that Wit stores his memories in his Breaths. 4. Odium does something to Wit’s Breaths. 5. Wit appears panicked. 6. Wit appears to have forgotten he had already met Odium. 7. The encounter “repeats”. 8. Wit loses his perfect pitch, an ability granted by holding a sufficient number of Breaths. I think it is safe to say that 1. – 3. are facts. I will explain what I think what really happened during 4.-8. Put on your ralkalest foil hats and let's dive in. Wit, the man himself, gives us a few hints in the epilogue. Wit does a coin trick while talking about storytelling. He explains to Design that performing a magic trick without actual magic is more impressive. He talks about misdirection (“dirty tricks”) and then shows us that he had two coins all along. Now here is my theory: Wit knew exactly what he was doing. He planned to meet Odium and he planned to trick Odium into thinking he had been outwitted. “But wait”, you say. “Odium did mess with Wit’s Breaths! He stole them and that’s why he loses his perfect pitch. To that I say: “True, he stole his Investiture. But what about second Investiture?” Breath is not the only thing in the Cosmere capable of storing memories. Copperminds can do so as well. Wit is shown playing with a coin. That’s his Coppermind. He uses both Breath and Copperminds to store memories. These are the two coins that are parts of a whole. During the initial encounter, he starts storing his memories from the last few minutes into his Coppermind. When Odium “attacks”, Wit truly is panicked because he doesn’t know what’s going on. His memories are partially in his Coppermind and therefore not in his mind. His lack of information makes the rest of the encounter scary. While Odium talks about his predecessors’ agreements, Wit finishes storing the memory of the meeting into the Coppermind. The Breaths are a decoy, the misdirection. Odium does steal a few of his Breaths but Wit has a backup in his coin now. After their second encounter, Wit appears to have forgotten that they had already met a few minutes before. He seems confused and looks for Design. Then he meets Odium. At this moment, Wit genuinely thinks this is their first face-to-face meeting in over a thousand years. While talking to Odium, he glances at his coin and thinks “I wanna tap that. But not now with Odium watching.” The encounter ends. Wit walks away and tries to whistle. He notices a few of his Breaths are missing. He taps the coin and recalls his memories. Their first face-to-face meeting in over a thousand years had gone exactly as he had imagined. Some problems and possible answers about this theory: P1: It might be impossible to upload memories into Breaths and into a Coppermind at the same time. A1: 1. Wit could have stored half of his memories in his Breaths and half in his Coppermind. He can then piece together through context what happened. 2. The more interesting explanation is that Wit created this scene in advance (storytelling) and left those memories as a decoy for Odium. Here is an excerpt from the epilogue. The biggest clue, however, is the very last sentence of the epilogue. He *imagined* the meeting, as in he created images of it. How? Lightweaving. P2: Why does Odium notice the Breaths but not the Coppermind? A2: Wit says (Like Breath.) (Unlike coins.) Breath is Investiture that Wit is endowed with. It is a part of him, at least temporary. Metalminds store Investiture outside of the body. Odium is not interested in the coin at all. Why would he? Breath is much more interesting. Maybe if he had not noticed that Wit stores memories in his Breaths, he might have been curious about the coin. But that’s the magic of misdirection. P3: If Feruchemy existed before the Shattering or if Odium learned about Feruchemy at some point before Rhythm of War, he would be much more wary of a coin, something that is not commonly used on Roshar. A3: During his negotiation with Dalinar, Rayse says This implies that the different manifestations of Investiture are not known to each Shard. Plus, Odium was trapped in the Rosharan system, so he might have missed a few things P4: Why did Odium not notice that Wit's prepared memory was fake? A4: Wit is an amazing storyteller and could create illusions with Yolish Lightweaving prior to bonding a Cryptic. The Surge of Illumination would enhance and complement his abilities. P5: Why could Odium not foresee that Wit would attempt to create a fake memory? A5: Wit spent quite some time around Renarin who can interfere with Odium's predictive powers. Wit's Fortune allows him know where he is supposed to be but even without Fortune it would be smart to stick around Renarin if you want to avoid Odium's gaze. P6: Is Wit even a Ferring? We only know he is an Allomancer. A6: BoM chapter 21 Wit doesn't have to be a real Feruchemist or Ferring. He would just need to have access to a filled Niccrosilmind. P7: Where would Wit get a filled Niccrosilmind from? He visited Scadrial during Era 1, presumably left and came back during Era 2. However, Stormlight takes place before Era 2. A7: Wit could have visited Scadrial again between Era 1 and Stormlight to get a Nicrosilmind. Another and easier solution is that someone brought the Nicrosilmind to him. There were at least three Scadrians on Roshar, two of which are heavily implied to be Ferrings or Feruchemists. So that's my theory. I invite you to re-read the epilogue with these thoughts in mind. Channel your inner conspiracy theorist and try to find as many connections between what Wit says during his performance to the Spren and what happens during his meeting with Odium. I would love for you to add your thoughts and expand this little theory. TLDR: Wit is an advanced method actor. He played the fool but was actually still the Wit. He said to Odium "~~You cannot have my memories~~ Please feel free to take my memories" but only if you can find the right ones.