First time posting, so sorry if this is the wrong thread. Some spoilers for Misborn Era 2, RoW, and other cosmere books. Crackpot theories developed around 2 am ahead, so please take with a grain of salt and give honest feedback.
In Mistborn Era 2, we are given some information of Trell, the strange entity that is corrupting kandra and being worshiped by the Set. Debates with friends have led us to a few theories, and I was hoping for community feedback on them.
Sanderson confirmed in book signing that Trell was a shard we already knew. At the time of the signing, only 9 Shards were known: Devotion, Dominion, Odium, Honor, Cultivation, Autonomy, Endowment, Preservation, Ruin. We saw many people on here with the theory that Autonomy would be Trell, or that Trell would be an avatar of Autonomy. This doesnt feel like their motivation or Intent. Trell seems to be about control of the planet, or sphere as the kandra phrased it. Autonomy does not feel like one to actively control or rule a planet. If they did, why would Taldain not be the first taken over?
Ba-Ado-Mishram was a name that came to mind early in the talks. Her manipulation during the False Desolation sparked the idea that she could be manipulating the kandra. Her ability to give huge amounts of Investiture to the Singers along with her tricky nature was what led to that idea. However, despite her being missing from a long time on Roshar, we found no connection that would lead to her being on Scadrial.
The next idea was another popular one, Odium. Due to a timeline confirmed in another signing, Era 2 takes place in the time skip between Stormlight 5 and 6. In RoW, Taravangians deal with Dalinar would allow the Odium shard to finally leave, if Dalinar can not win the challenge in Stormlight 5. The sneakier manipulation of the planet feels far more akin to the planning shown by Taravangian, rather than the violence Rayse used. Again however, control does not appear to be part of the Odium Intent. Perhaps it was just Rayse himself, but Odium never seemed conserned about the people, just the Shards on the worlds. If he cared to rule or destroy them, Sel and Threnody would be ruled or extinct.
The final thought that was brought up was a strange one. The Dor, the mash up of Devotion and Dominion, left broken by Odium. Trells desire to be worshiped and control a planet seems to fit both Intents of the shards. Sanderson talks about the Dor gaining emotions in a Q&A from 2015, along with the Arcanum Unbound mentioning that the Sel landscape, effected by the Dor, seems to becoming self aware. This would also be oddly connected to the Kelsier memory seen at the end of Mistborn 6, as Kelsier is aware of the Ire past attention on Scadrial. The Ire are a group of Sel based world hoppers, seen in Mistborn: Secret History, where they had goals of stealing Preservations Investiture. A strange connection of Sel and Scadrial.
All of these were simply ideas thrown around by a grouo of friends. We are looking for more community ideas. Hopefully this thread can become a Trell theory board. We think Sanderson has given enough hints or clues to prove who it is, if we look carefully enough.
