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Chapter 122: "'Taravangian!' Odium said. 'This is remarkable.... You did this without access to Fortune, or the Spiritual Realm?'" Could Fortune be the name of a previously unknown Shard? Taravangian is clearly one of the more Realmatically aware players on Roshar, so it's not too big a stretch to think he might know the names of Shards on other worlds, or that Odium would guess that.

We don't know that Adonalsium created anything right? So he/she/it was just a huge body of mass and energy before the shattering? So what if Adonalsium shattering was like the Big Bang and and all that mass/energy rapidly sped outward and then all the different types of shard energy attracted each other like gravity and collected with matter in many large groups of energy and mass that became the planets in the cosmere. This would explain soooooo many things but it breaks my brain and is hard to explain. Please leave other implications of this theory that I may have missed in the comments.

Okay, first off, this thread will make a lot more sense if you read my theory that it's based off. However, I will provide a basic explanation here. My theory is that Hoid was the mastermind behind the Shattering. We also know that he was offered a Shard, and refused it. Now, here's the question. If he decided to shatter Adonalsium but refused a Shard, there are only a few possibilities as to his motives. This would say that it wasn't for power unless he had a change of heart between the Shattering and the time he was offered a Shard. So, what was his motive? Could Adonalsium have seemed threatening to him in a way we don't understand? What do you guys think?

Hi, i'm new here but I have a crazy theory so I made an account so that I could share it. I have talked over this theory with some friends that are big fans of The Cosmere and we believe that it is possible. I have seen the theory that Hoid will become the new Adonalsium a couple times, but I believe that he already is/was. The theory in its simplest form is that Hoid is/was Adonalsium. First off, we know that Hoid was present at the shattering of Adonalsium, but nothing I have seen states in what form or fashion. We also know that all the shards have vessels, those that hold them. It stands to reason that Adonalsium also had a vessel that held all his power. It would also explain why Hoid is world-hopping around collecting magic systems, he's trying to put himself back together. I know that supposedly Adonalsium was killed when he shattered, but what if Adonalsium is the name of the power and not the name of the vessel. The death of Adonalsium could be referring to the death of the power when it shattered, but not the death of the vessel that held it. In conclusion, Hoid is what was leftover at the shattering of Adonalsium; he is now searching out the shards and learning all he can about them in the hopes of stitching himself back together. What do you think of my theory? I don't know the most about The Cosmere so there could be things that i'm not aware of that disprove my theory. If any of you have any evidence for or against this i would love to see it. Thanks for reading my theory, ~TheVillageIdiot

There's plenty of evidence that Adonalsium was a person, who is now dead. If that's true, he was probably the most invested person ever to have existed. And if that's the case, shouldn't he have left an extremely long-lasting cognitive shadow? Shouldn't the ghost of Adonalsium be haunting the cognitive realm to this very day? (presumably trapped on Yolen, the way Leras was on Scadrial.) This seems like an obvious question, but I can't find any WoB on this topic. So I'm posing the question to all of you on the Shard who have been in the fandom longer than I have. Has anyone ever asked Brandon this? Does Adonalsium have a cognitive shadow? I know this would probably get RAFOed, but I'd like to know if the question has been asked.

About half a year ago, I posted up a thread in Cosmere Theories called Narrowing Down the Last Shards (below) in which we as a forum posited many excellent ideas. It's long but worth the read as much of what I say in this post I derived from there. I have since changed my opinion with some ideas I'm sure you all will appreciate and tear up as you please. Having said that, in this thread I will go a step further. Not only will we try to discern the remaining six Shards, but we will ask what we can do with that information, and theorize what kind of magic, worlds, and people those Shards may have created. Thus, I present to you The Rest of the Shards and Where to Find Them. So as before, here are some things we think we know, and some suppositions, before I get to the List: Shards are all godly attributes, possibly based on the Judeo/Christian god, Adonai (for which Adonalsium was named). Shards do not have perfect pairs or opposites Shards may also be considered to have many opposites There is a Shard (besides Ambition) that has not Invested in a planet. Aforementioned Shard wants to hide and survive because it is a wise decision. Survival is not the capitalized intent, and is only tangentially related to the capitalized Intent. Shards' Intents, by the definition of the word, are active. They have a goal. Odium is the most dangerous of the Shards. Ambition was #1 on Odium's hit list, which means that there are no other Shards which he would find more dangerous than Ambition. Hoid and Frost know what they're talking about. I know I missed a few things that I wanted to say. Feel free (as before) to correct me, or add to the things we know. Most of that is from WoB, and some supposition, and was derived from previous responses. Part 1: The Rest of the Shards: Disclaimer #1: Not all of the ideas for Shard names were mine, and I am not claiming that they are original. I appreciate all the thought you wonderful people have put into this, and thank you for broadening my mind on this subject. I will ping some of the contributors of the original thread in the references in Part 3. Disclaimer #2: As I mentioned above, Adonalsium is likely based off of the Judeo/Christian God. I am a believer, and some of the Intents are based on my views of God. They may not match your own, and that's okay. Please do not take my posited Intents or arguments thereof as me trying to convert you. The Intents are speculation based on my beliefs, Brandon's beliefs, and are just as valid in this discussion as your own. I hope that we can discuss this subjectively. Disclaimer #3: This will be a lengthy post, and I don't think I will hide anything in spoilers to shorten it. If it looks too long too read, fret not. I won't be insulted if you just want to skim through the list at first, and simply read the parts that interest you. If you do wish to respond to something, however, please take the time to read my opinion on it, otherwise, I may just quote stuff I already said back at you. I don't mean to be insulting if I do so, so don't take it as snark. Disclaimer #4: I recognize the possibility that Brandon may not have finalized all of the Shards Intents as of yet, which would render all of this rather useless. But of course, this is the Shard where we can discuss any theories no matter how baseless they are! Brandon, if you're reading this and I'm right about everything, I promise I didn't break into your personal wiki, and if I correctly guess future magic systems or worlds, I promise not to say that they're my ideas. I'll just be glad that I called it. As before, Shards we know are in Green, and Shards we don't know are in Red. This does not mean that they are in the correct groupings, however. This is all speculation. The four quadrants that I believe make up the being Adonalsium are as follows: Creation, Personality/Authority, Action, and Divinity. I believe we can put all sixteen Shards into groups of four, as opposed to pairs as I originally thought. Group 1: Creation Many have spoken (in-universe and out) that Preservation and Ruin are the forces of creation. This is not wrong, but I don't think that's the be-all and end-all of the Creation force that is Adonalsium. Some of these Intents refer not only to the physical creation of nature, but actions and mindsets about people. (Cultivation or Sanctification of followers for example) Cultivation: Growth, Creation, Sanctification Cultivation embodies positive change with the intent of creating something better. It can destroy things if necessary in order to make something better out of it, or in its place. Preservation: Guarding, Stasis, Immutability Preservation cannot create anything new on its own; it can only act to preserve what is already in place. Preservation also points to the god attribute of immutability, the unchanging nature of God. Ruin: Destruction, Decay, Entropy Ruin's end goal is to break everything down to its most basic parts. Historically, Ruin was able to help create things, only if it let him destroy more things afterward. Brandon has remarked that this would make Ruin compatible with Cultivation, which supports this theory. Chaos: Neutrality, Quiescence, Abeyance, "Letting the chips fall where they may" As I mentioned in the "Things we think we know" section, Shards need to have an active goal in order to fulfill the logical requirements of the word "Intent". For this reason, I am not totally sold on any of the above-selected words, but more the overarching goal of them collectively. The obvious hole in the quadrant is the art of negative neutrality, in the same way as Preservation is a positive neutrality. However, as Intent denotes activity, it cannot truly be neutral. Thus, I settled on the word "Chaos". Group 2: Personality/Authority Adonalsium was seen as God in the cosmere (source: Hoid & Frost). We need the personality of God (based on the Judeo/Christian God as above) as well as his right to rule if we want to fulfill all of the necessary components that make up who they are. Dominion: Controlling, Ruling, Conquering This is the type of power Adonalsium would have by divine right, similar to a king or a god. Charisma: Leadership, Magnetism This is the type of power that would make Adonalsium worthy of being served. What good is the authority of a god if they are not worthy? It is a hole that needs filling, and it contrasts the other names in this quadrant. I know many people aren't sold on the name; neither am I. But it is the best word I've found to communicate the broadness of the overarching Intent of the hole in this quadrant. Devotion: Servitude, Care, Love, Mercy I feel the need to point out that Devotion is a fairly broad definition, which includes many other Intents many people have posited for names of Shards (including Love). Brandon himself called it Love before he changed it to Devotion. This is the reason why I do not have "Love" in any of the quadrants, as it is included in Devotion. I used to have this Shard paired with Odium as I had asked Brandon if they were opposites. His reply was that they "could be considered as such", however, Odium does not fit with this quadrant, so I abandoned that line of thought. I may have just left too much wiggle room in what we consider as opposites, as people have pointed out before. Autonomy: Independence, Freedom This Shard point's to the godly attribute of independence, god's self-sufficiency in that they do not require anything. Autonomy is a weird Shard with a highly...debatable Intent, which has led to some confusion in the past on how we can define a Shard's Intent. The consensus is that the Vessel is able to act on their interpretation of the Intent, and that the Intent may change slightly as a result, depending on the Vessel. This may be what Brandon meant when he said that Adonalsium could have been split in different ways. Group 3: Action Going again back to the nature of Shardic Intent, Adonalsium is a god of action. He was a creation-force that had a goal in mind, and this should be true for the Shards as well. The four below Intents cover most, if not all, of the main actions the Judeo/Christian god. Endowment: Giving, Mercy With love and care, god would be one who gives to his followers in order that they use their gifts for his glory (see: Spiritual gifts). Separated from the context of other Shards and their respective Intents, Endowment becomes what we see in Warbreaker. In conjunction with the other Shards in this grouping and the others, I believe that Endowment includes mercy and forgiveness, though there is an argument that they may be a Shard on their own. Retribution: Punishment, Justice, Vengeance A favourite of many on this thread, and one I used to oppose, I have come to see that this Shard would contrast Endowment (including mercy), and Honor, rather than being part of Honor (though that argument is still intact), Retribution is an action the Judeo/Christian god does quite a lot of, separated by his promises (Honor). Ambition: Taking, Improving, Acting If there is a Shard that is tenuously...off...in this grouping, Ambition would be the one (In which case I would replace it with Mercy). The only reason I say that is because Ambition (though involving action) is more of a mindset, like Odium (which would put it in the "Divinity" section below). However, it does make a good contrast with Endowment as well, and somewhat fills in the hole of a god demanding something from his followers. This works if we say Ambition involves sanctification of followers more than an improvement on God's behalf (which wouldn't be a godly attribute). Honor: Promising, Covenant We see both Honor and the Judeo/Christian god bind themselves to their promises, as well as expect it of their subjects. Group 4: Divinity The final grouping is the overarching theme of what makes god or Adonalsium divine (see: Hoid & Frost). It is, in fact, the most undisputed necessity of godhood. I will explain my choices below. Bear in mind that this is the one with the most unknowns, as there are still three Shards unaccounted for in my pattern. Therefore, this includes my suppositions on there needing to be a Shard of Wisdom/Enlightenment, and a Shard including Mystery, which are both heavily needed in a god figure like the Judeo/Christian god. Enlightenment: Wisdom, Knowledge, Omnipotence, Ingenuity Though all Shards have some measure of Omnipotence, we would be amiss to not include a Shard of Wisdom. It is my belief that this Shard is the Survival Shard that wants to hide, not Investing in a planet for fear of Odium, acknowledging that it is the wisest action for self-preservation. I included the possibility above of Ingenuity, as Brandon may have slipped and confirmed it accidentally, though that is a measure of semantics and debatable. Odium: "Divine Hatred", Wrath, Envy And we come to the villain of the Cosmere... I put Odium in this grouping because of Hoid's words: "He bears God's own divine hatred, separated from the virtues which gave it context". Notice his use of the word "divine". In this grouping, if he was still part of Adonalsium, Divine Hatred is undoubtedly a big part of God's divinity and holiness. Enigma: Mystery, Paradox As I mentioned above, Mystery is a big part of what separates God from mortals. I chose Enigma because it sounds cooler it's more encompassing than Mystery. It definitely plays a role in Divinity and makes a good pairing with Enlightenment. I say "Paradox" because I know people will bring it up based on the obscure "Alcatraz Shard WoB" and it somewhat fits. Purity: Holiness, Chastity Admittedly, this is the Shard I am less sure on. I include it because Holiness is perhaps the largest part of divinity, and it gives Odium the context Hoid talks about. Also, there is a mysterious planet called Purity in the Threnodite system that doesn't follow the pattern of funeral songs. As I mentioned in the write-up for Ambition, it's possible that it belongs in this slot in Divinity, leaving Mercy in its place in Action. However, doing so would leave Odium without those virtues to give it context in the subject of Divinity, and would leave both groupings somewhat unbalanced. Edit 1: Added Part 2 in spoiler below (hopefully):

I was browsing through forum discussions on here and I found this quote in a topic about the Nightwatcher: What stood out to me more about this quote though was the bit about Adonalsium at the end. Maybe I've just missed this or something, but I personally believed Adonalsium to be the original Power of Creation that was held by a person similar to how people hold the Shards. I believe Brandon referred to Adonalsium as a "he" at one point, which may not necessarily have been a reveal of any sort. However, there was also this quote from Khriss in Secret History: So it's seems Khriss also believed Adonalsium to be a being holding the power. However, the bit at the end of the WOB seems to be Brandon slipping out that Adonalsium was the original, whole Power of Creation that had become sentient, similar to a Splinter, which is a known property of Investiture when not held by a being for a time. This idea seems very cool to me, as when Brandon writes the Dragonsteel books and we learn more about Adonalsium, it would be very interesting to see what kind of mind a pure force/energy like that would have, especially when not influenced by the intents of the sixteen Shards. I would expect it to really be a God figure in temperament, because Brandon has said that the intents of the Shards were loosely inspired by attributes of deity. The fact that Adonalsium would be a sentient being of pure energy from the Cosmere rather than a human or other mortal being given that power could also lend Adonalsium credibility as a true God figure in the eyes of some. And from what we've seen of The Liar of Partinel potentially implying that Adonalsium was destroying Yolen through the fain life, it would be interesting to see what potentially went wrong in its mind, since it could be some effect of the Investiture. This could also be the reason the sixteen Shattered Adonalsium, because its Investure mind went wrong somehow and they believed that humans/other species needed to hold the power to prevent this. I think it could ultimately go either way (Adonalsium being a being or sentient Investiture) but if Adonalsium really was pure sentient Investiture, I'd be very excited to read more about that. Let me know if this was already commonly accepted information though.

Hey Sharders! Long time lurker, but first time poster! Hopefully im not regurgitating a theory posted elsewhere, and apologies if this theory expands a bit beyond the confines of roshar, it's about an entity on roshar but by necessity has to expand a bit further! Let me know if i should move this to cosmere theories! but i have some ideas about the origin of the Nightwatcher. It starts with our current understanding of the nature of spren capable of nahel bonds. From what I understand, these spren are small pieces of honor, and cultivation to varying degrees depending on the variety. And have been referred to as splinters of honor or cultivation. These splinters are bits of investiture left without will or a host long enough that it gains sentience. (There has been confirmation in a WoB that spren are splinters similar to the way seons are on sel) I've come accross a number of theories proposing that the nightwatcher is of cultivation, possibly a kind of cognitive shadow similar to the stormfather. This doesnt hold up in my opinion, there is a WoB that i dont know how to link which tells us that cultivations holder is still alive, and from what we know of the old magic, it doesnt seem to fit into the types of investiture made possible by honor and cultivation. (nor the possible iterations of voidbinding that we'll see more of soon) I propose that the nightwatcher is actually a splinter of adonalsium from pre-shattering. There were already other spren on Roshar before any of the shards came there. I think it's possible that this is a magic system that predates all other kinds on roshar, and was put into place before any shards were taken up. The concept of a boon and a curse doesnt feel at all like the symbiosis present in all of the magic from honor, cultivation, or even odium. Thoughts?

think I know who knows, or rather, knew, where the remains of the weapon is: Preservation! in secret history, Preservation says "I needed a sign. Something he couldn't change. A sign of the weapon I'd buried. The boiling point of water, I think. Maybe it's freezing point? But what if the units change over the years? I needed something that would be remembered always. Something they'll immediately recognize. Sixteen." a sign of the weapon, and sixteen, being one of those signs, and how many Shards it split Adonalsium into, is too much of a coincidence. Also, Ruin and Preservation created Scadrial, so they could design aspects of it in special ways. If he had buried it at the core of the planet, no one would be able to get to it, not on the Physical Realm, not without Either Ruin or Preservation noticing, and they wouldn't be able to get to it in the Cognitive Realm, as the investiture in metal makes it so that Shards cannot touch or influence it and probably are unable to get past it, so Shards would not be able to get to the core of the planet, because the inner and outer cores would be made out of metal. In addition, Ruin and Preservation are so heavily invested in the planet that they can't leave, so that would make them Guards that can't leave their posts. The only thing I can't figure out is what the boiling/freezing point of water has to do with the weapon of opposition of Adonalsium. What do you guys think?

This theory comes from thinking about the likelihood that Adonalsium and his shards and attributes are based on or closely related to Earth religions. It is important to note that I am not suggesting that these books are allegorical. Their internal consistency and foundation have been made stronger by the study of world religions. These ideas were sparked by thinking about Odium as a manifestation of divine wrath: This is something that has been discussed already, but I think it is a huge clue to what is going on with the shards more generally. Although Odium is described as “divine hatred,” I think readers have correctly interpreted this to mean “wrath.” (I think it’s also possible that some of the other shards—perhaps especially those with weaker or very compatible vessels—have gone a little “batty” from being isolated from other divine virtues that would have kept them from going overboard with their Intent.) So, anyway, substituting Odium for the theologically familiar “wrath” is a smart move, as it allows for some speculation but is not blatant. Some shards, such as Endowment and Dominion are actual theological concepts, but they are less obvious to readers than Wrath would have been. This brings me to another possible substitution: “Honor” as a replacement for “Covenant.” There is a lot of debate over the relationship between goodness and honor, but what if Honor represents the covenants that a god makes with a people? (Covenant—or compact, if you like—also has legal and social meanings in addition to the theological one.) Thinking of Honor as representing covenants maintains the oath and bonds aspect of Honor, but it should allow us to talk about honor (and Honor) with less emphasis on goodness. On the other side of the coin, it also allows for more flexibility and room for interpretation with how covenants, oaths, and bonds are “honored” in-world. (Rightness vs. Justice vs. Letter of the Law, etc.) It is probably more useful to think of “honor” as a verb: to enforce or follow through on a covenant, oath, or to maintain a bond. Again, I am not arguing that the possible use of the concept of a covenant is allegorical. Tanavast never sent a rainbow after a particularly bad Highstorm. Gods make promises to and agreements with their followers. I won’t attempt to rewrite our understanding of the Cosmere or even of SA with this theory. I am more interested in how it could influence existing discussions and current and future theories. The one application I’ll suggest is also probably the most obvious. I suspect Adonalsium already had a covenant with the Listeners before his shattering: Post shattering, Honor, now separated from “the whole” appeared with the more Physically-inclined, spren-attracting humans and a willingness to betray or downgrade preexisting covenants. For a Listener, flirting with some other gods would not be unreasonable under those circumstances. Keeping in mind that Honor may have been a little intense with his Intent as a shard, are there other ways that covenants and agreements might have ended up a bit “off”? What is the Oathpact? Why do the Heralds blame Honor for their situation? Is a hypothetical Parshendi covenant still in existence somehow? Finally, I realize that this doesn’t touch on Cultivation’s role, though hopefully it will lead to speculation about how she fits into this picture. I’m very interested to hear thoughts on this idea! Also, I'm just realizing the bad timing of suggesting a theory just before we dig into the first chapters of Oathbringer. Oh well!

I'm curious if the number 16 is important to the cosmere because that's how many Shards Adonalsium shattered into or if the number 16 has a deeper importance and Adonalsium shattered into 16 Shards because of that deeper importance.

Has anyone ever thought about Adonalsium shattering in the same way an atom does? I'm talking about the way nuclear fission works; beta and alphas decay etc . Usually the atoms that split off are extremely radioactive and put off a lot of energy themselves. If there is a thread that existed or a question put towards Brandon could you refer it to me! The reason I wonder is that it ends with ism and this refers to elements much of the time. A lot of your heavier weight elements naturally decay very quickly some on the manner of microseconds or less. I'm wondering if Adonalsium is referring to an extremely heavy weight atom that was either stable or maybe it was unstable which is why he/it had to be shattered.

I just completed a reread of TWOK, my first after finishing all of the other works in the Cosmere, and had a thought about the Dawnshards... The only things we know for sure about the Dawnshards is that: They are not the same thing as regular shards on Roshar (shardblades), nor are they they same thing as the Honorblades which were held by the Heralds. -- WOB They played a huge role in protecting humanity on Roshar from the desolations in the past, and Honor is worried about the fact that they are now lost -- Dalinar's final vision in TWOK They can bind "any creature voidish or mortal" which apparently is a special property -- Poem of Ista Given all this info, it seems to me that most people thing the Dawnshards were some sort of ancient Spren that could bind to voidish and/or mortal beings that conferred unique powers that are now lost. Perhaps the people these Dawnshards bound were the Dawnsingers. It's a great theory, but I've got another, simpler one... What if the "Dawnshards" are actually just another way to describe Shards of Adonalsium? I started the Cosmere with the Stormlight Archives, so it has always confused me just how many different things are described as "Shards." What if, on Roshar, the BIG shards, the "complete" Shards of Adonalsium (ie Honor, Cultivation, Odium), are referred to as the Dawnshards in order to differentiate them from different, regular "shards" which are actually shards of shards (spren). Here's why I think this might fit: They are the shards that existed on Roshar at the "dawn" of creation, ergo they are the "Dawnshards" "Talk of them was obviously prevalent among those recording the early mythologies" They can bind any creature voidish or mortal. As far as we know, there aren't any limitations on picking up or holding a Shard of Adonalsium They existed some time ago and played a part in helping humanity fight off the desolations (Honor and Cultivation vs. Odium) But they are lost now (Honor and Cultivation are dead/splintered), and Honor is worried that humanity can't fight off the desolations (Odium) without them The magic system on Roshar seems somewhat different in present times (post-splintering?) than in Dalinar's visions of the past (pre-splintering?) If I'm right, then this gives the following quote form the Poem of Ista new meaning... Someone tried to hold on to a Shard of Adonalsium, probably Honor, presumably after its original bearer died. They must not have been able to hold onto it because we know now that Honor is splintered. Maybe this is why the person in the poem had to "crawl" up the steps. What do you guys think? Poke holes in this for me...

So, essentially, from this WoB, we can determine that the method of Splintering is the same as the original Shattering, and that this will hold true across all levels further down the line too. What I want to know is if the original 16 Shardholders were all present with Hoid at the EXACT moment of Adonalsiums shattering. If so, then wouldn't they all technically know how to splinter/shatter other Shards? From the information we have, so far the only Shards who have demonstrated knowledge of Splintering are Odium and Autonomy (their misendeavours on Sel). Why would this be the case? Extra question: Which non-Shards, that we are aware of, have knowledge of Splintering? Hoid is an obvious pick, but what about Khriss or other 17th Sharders?

I don't know if this has been suggested before but I have a theory as to what Hoid is up to. I think his quest is to reforge Adonalsium by traveling to each of the shard worlds, collecting a splinter of each shard, and then combining them. I think this would then either cause a cascade effect across the cosmere or create a new cosmere (mini verse) with him as the vessel for the Adonalsium. I do think it's more likely the former because of some of the things he has said on Roshar. He said things like "though I care for this world I will watch it burn to get what I need". I think this implies that he would ascend into the current cosmere and be able to restore the planet in a similar fashion as Sazed when he ascended to become Harmony. Thoughts?

By now, everyone probably know that in the beginning (or at least the beginning of time relevant to us in the Cosmere), there was Adonalsium. He was Shattered by 16 people, who split his power into 16 equal parts, and then separated and went their different ways, some together, some not. Then, after everyone settled down, Odium (formerly known as Rayse) travelled around the Cosmere, splintering Shards as he went. The Splintering split the Shards into Splinters with different Intents to the Shard they were once part of. Now here's the thing; Shattering sounds very much like Splintering: a new Intent? Check; a splitting of the power? Check. This means that the things we know about Splintering can be applied to Shattering, and vice versa. As proven by Sazed, more than one Shard can be held by the same person/entity. This means someone can take a Splinter's power and merge it with another to creat a new Intent, with a greater power than before. This means that Splintering may not be irreversible as once thought, merely difficult to gain enough Splinters to gain power equal to the power held by the Shards. This is no doubt what Odium wanted when he started his killing spree. He may not have been able to destroy the power completely, but could do enough that it made things really hard to gain a power level equal to that of Odium's. Of course, he might have trouble trying to combat Harmony, what with him having the power of two Shards, but that will come later. This means that, eventually, someone may be able to gather the power of all 16 Shards (and their Splinters), and become Adonalsium. Of course, this doesn't make one invincible... Feel free to add anything if you like, since this theory is probably incomplete and needs refining.

So, I've been thinking a lot about magic systems lately. They all seem to be related to the Shard that created them (preservation is related to pushing on metals and enflaming people's emotions? That's a bit of a stretch), and Adonalsium is all the Shards, and so doesn't really have a specific Shardic Intent, and so the magic system he may or may not have created would just be something to do with Investiture, and nothing else. This is what I think it would be: You take something and you store Investiure in it (kind of like nicrosil feruchemy), in the form of physical abilities/attributes. This includes speed, emotions, health, etc. (sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? Don't worry, it deviates from feruchemy in the next part). Then, the Investiture stored in the object is not anything in particular, but just pure Investiture. When you want to use it, you simply drain the Investiture out of it and convert it into anything you want it to be. People who could use this magic system would be able to use magic systems created by other Shards as well, since all the Shards came from Adonalsium. So, you could make yourself really light, then fly across the sky by pushing yourself along on a coin. Here's why I think the magic system would work: Adonalsium doesn't have a specific Shardic Intent, so he can do anything without conflicting against it. The magic system, similarly, wouldn't have any specific boundaries. This, however, means that it is subject to normal rules, such as the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy (and so matter and Investiture) cannot be created or destroyed. You may be thinking at this point 'but that can't be true, since Allomancy created Investiture'. However, I have two answers to this. The first is that the Investiture wasn't created, it simply came from somewhere, and that somewhere was Preservation. His Intent didn't allow destruction, or Ruin, so the power couldn't come from the people themselves; it had to come from Preservation. My second answer is that, for all the Investiture being created by Allomancy, an equal amount was lost through hemalurgy. Therefore, no Investiture was gained or lost, therefore leaving the rule intact. Because of this rule, the Investiture would either have to come from Adonalsium (which I find unlikely, since it would A: weaken him to the thing that opposed him (look on the Coppermind for details), and B: would make him 'interfere' (quote from Harmony), and would split the power into Shards, leaving him weaker and with an Intent that would leave his mind. So, it has to come from the humans who use it. However, the thing stored is pure Investiture, since it's not from any particular Shard, and so you could convert it to anything you want, and since it doesn't have any focus, you can store it in anything and can store anything and tap anything, even if the thing you're tapping isn't the same thing as what you stored. Feel free to add anything if you want, since I probably left something out or made a loophole.

What is the official name for beings that hold one of the shards of Adonalsium?

Okay, I don't know if anything like this has been mentioned before so, sorry if it has. Anyway, I realized recently that in the cosmere there seem to be a lot of opposites and parallels to everything. When kelsier is first teaching Vin about allomancy he says that every push has a pull (or something like that) meaning that everything has an opposite or a consequence. Every allomantic metal has an opposite to it and when combined they (most of the time) cancel out. We see more opposites on Sel, where the seons seem to be the exact opposites of the skaze. One emits light while the other seems to absorb light. On Roshar we see that honorspren are the opposites of cryptically and tend to dislike them, just how shallan and kaladin hated each other at first. But then we also see that a bunch of the shards seem to have opposites, so what if they all have opposites? It isn't really sixteen different shards but eight pairs of opposites. Ruin vs Preservation. Odium (hatred) vs Devotion (love). Autonomy (self sufficiency) vs Dominion (control). These are the obvious pairings but there are also unobvious ones: Honor (morality) vs Ambition (desire) and Endowment (natural skill) vs Cultivation (improving or refining something) So with this trend of opposite shards, perhaps we can learn more about the six shards whose intent we don't know. Brandon has mentioned that there is a shard who "just wants to survive" but he hasn't specifically named its intent as survival or anything else. With this we can try to speculate what the opposite of a shard who just wants to survive would be. The answer could be A) A shard who just wants to die, B) A shard who wants to kill/destroy or C) Something else entirely Then if we could figure out that pair it would leave us with four more shards of unknown intent which would only be two pairs, so we'd be close to figuring them all out. Let me know if you have any other proof, or prove me wrong. Either way we'll be one step closer to unraveling some of the biggest mysteries in the cosmere.

The Shattering is the singular event in cosmere history. Brandon says, “The great writing question of the cosmere, the underlying theme is, what do men do when given the Power of the Gods? How do they act? What do they do?” This post speculates how the Shattering might have happened mechanically. It is another in my periodic series, “A Theory of Cosmere Magic.” Unlike splintering, which leaves an indeterminate number of differently sized splinters, the Shattering produced precisely 16 Shards of originally equal Power. Khriss says the Vessels “divided [Adonalsium’s] essence between them.” (M:SH, Part 3-2, Kindle Loc. 938.) Brandon uses the word “essence” to mean the Physical Realm manifestation of “the godly powers.” (I use the term “Powers” to describe the “godly powers” – Spiritual Realm Investiture that isn’t part of a Spiritweb.) The Vessels could easily divide Adonalsium’s liquid “essence” if he had a “godpool.” Shards leave perpendicularities on planets they Invest. I think Adonalsium left a single “godpool” at the place he Invested the entire cosmere. That place was Yolen. “Killing” Adonalsium meant erasing his mind, his capacity to direct the Powers. His godpool gave the Vessels access to his mind. I speculate the Vessels dropped an aluminum “bomb” into the godpool. Aluminum is “magically inert” and acts as an “Investiture sink.” The aluminum neutralized Adonalsium’s Cognitive Realm Investiture – his mind – making him “brain dead.” The Spiritual Realm Investiture – the Powers – survived undamaged. After the aluminum “bomb” killed Adonalsium, his liquid “essence” lay in the godpool. The Vessels quickly sluiced his essence to 16 separate pools of equal volume. The Vessels entered their pools and ascended, emerging as Shards of equal Power. When Rashek and Vin immersed themselves in the Well, their ascensions were partial and temporary. The Vessels’ ascensions were full and permanent. I attribute this difference to the fact that Adonalsium was dead when the Vessels entered their pools, but Preservation was still alive when Rashek and Vin entered the Well. The Well also didn’t represent all of Preservation’s power, since he created it from his own mind to trap Ruin’s consciousness. After Preservation died, Vin did fully ascend by absorbing the mists, the “condensed ‘essence’ of [Preservation’s] godly powers.” Did the Shards hide Yolen to prevent someone like Vin from using the godpool when it replenishes? That’s why Rashek hid the Well. In an accompanying post, I speculate Mistborn foreshadows Dragonsteel. Perhaps Odium wants to kill the other Vessels to become the “one god” when the godpool is full again…16,000 years after the Shattering? Is this what Hoid fears?

Another in my ongoing series “A Theory of Cosmere Magic” Classification of Magic Systems Pre-Shattering Magic Basic Realmic Theory Brandon deflects questions about the cosmere’s origin and the nature of the “God Beyond.” He states the “God Beyond” and related subjects depend on one’s religious attitudes. But Brandon does provide some hints. The most important comes from Sazed [HoA, Chapter 55 Epigraph (emphasis added)): I read the word “originally” to refer to the period pre-Shattering, before the Shards ascended. These “powers” (the “Powers”) at that time lacked “thoughts and personalities.” To me, this comment means the ability to direct the Powers does not require “personhood.” “Consciousness” means you’re “alive,” but it does not make you into a “person” with a self-identity largely formed by social interactions. The Powers had no social interactions. We see the same distinction between splinters (self-aware bits of Cognitive and Spiritual Investiture) and spren (splinters that do have their own “thoughts and personalities”). Brandon describes the “spren-making” process: "because of human or other sapient creatures thinking about it or interacting with the power, the power…develops personality and comes alive.” “Adonalsium” is the name the cosmere gives the anthropomorphized pre-Shattering Powers. Since Adonalsium was not a “person,” he couldn’t have been human or any other species that became a Shard – the Shard Vessels did have “thoughts and personalities.” I believe Adonalsium was the self-directing Powers. Brandon says, “Somebody needs to hold the magic. If no one holds the magic, the magic will start to gain sentience. Interesting and bizarre things happen then.” The Powers developed sentience and “bizarrely” created the cosmere. Khriss is unsure whether that made Adonalsium a “force” or a “being,” though she thinks the latter. (M:SH, Kindle Loc. 938, Part 3-2.) “Adonalsium” is an anagram for “a mind, a soul.” Brandon also says “Adonalsium shattered because he was killed.” I interpret this WoB to mean “shattering,” like “splintering,” happens when the mind that controls the Powers “dies.” Posters read this WoB to mean Adonalsium was “alive” and “male.” Since Adonalsium was “conscious,” he was “alive.” Spren prove being “alive” does not require corporeal form. While Brandon uses the male pronoun to describe Adonalsium, both here and elsewhere, I’m not sure we can conclude “he” was male. Divine gender tends to be masculine in many cultures (an observation, not a sexist assertion). The male pronoun in this context may or may not be significant. After the Powers acquired consciousness, I believe they – Adonalsium – Invested the cosmere’s three Realms in a single act – a “Big Bang.” Under Brandon’s “one substance” principle, Adonalsium converted part of himself into Creation. The Powers are the raw material of Creation (which I define as the sum of all Spiritwebs and their corresponding Cognitive and Physical Realm aspects). When the Powers Invest, they become the created matter, energy or Investiture. As a creative force, the Powers WANT to be used, MUST be used. Magic users feel this compulsion – the Powers push a directing mind to action. This creative compulsion explains why mindless Powers become self-directing. It also explains why I believe the cosmere’s Creation occurred in a single moment: once Adonalsium became the Power’s directing mind, the Powers exploded with pent-up creative energy. After Creation, the remaining Powers (the Powers that didn’t convert into Creation) were confined to the Spiritual Realm. Though they formed everything, they were un-Connected to Creation. That’s why there were no catalytic magic systems before the Shattering – there were no Connections through which a magic user could access the Powers (Adonalsium). In this sense, Adonalsium was a “heavenly” God, a “transcendent” God. But Adonalsium was also an “immanent” God, present in Creation. “God is in everything” is another idea Brandon borrows from Spinoza. This idea appears in Brandon’s statement that Investiture is the “Condensed ‘essence’ of the godly powers.” Marasi says metals are the “concentrated essence” of Preservation. (BoM, Kindle p. 359.) This idea also underlies the cosmere’s version of the thermodynamic laws, the inter-convertibility of matter, energy and Investiture.

This is more a question than a theory and I think that probably we have not data to discuss this, but were it goes... Brandon stated that the Cosmere happens in a dwarf galaxy... I wonder if what we know of Realmatics and Investiture is true for the remaining of the universe. Like, is there a cognitive Realm of other galaxies? Is there any Investiture outside this galaxy? This lead me to the next topic... Why are all Shards in this galaxy? I understand that galaxies are very, very far way... except that in the Cognitive Realm the space between galaxies should be almost non-existing. Given that, why do all the Shards of Adonalsium stay in the same galaxy... Specially knowing that Odium would go after then. If it was for defence, they should have stayed more together!! So, they stay in this galaxy. Maybe Adonalsium, and per inheritance it's shards, are bound to this galaxy. This lead me to think that Adonalsium is not this Universe god... Maybe there is no Universal God in this universe... But if Adonalsium is not the God of the universe, it makes sense that there would be other "Adonalsium"s in other galaxies... And we might see that eventually!! Now, as a small point, can anyone point me to any information on what was Adonalsium? My question is, was Adonalsium power with a vessel? Was there a "mortal" driven this immense power? If yes, how many vessels did Adonalsium had? If not, then was we pure sentience Investiture?

I'm going to submit an idea for a shard that has no basis in any previously stated theory (that I am aware of), that is not based on any patterns or rules I've noticed in the books, that really only comes from the idea that I think this shard would be awesome. I think it would be awesome to see a hivemind shard. The shardholder can invest in a planet and create life, but all of that life would just be an extension of itself. It wouldn't have Harmony's issues with maintaining any kind of balance for free will, there is no free will, except the will of the shard. I don't know what it would be called, it wouldn't be like domination, it might be an "opposite" of autonomy. If this shard did exist, I imagine it possible that Dysian Aimians are a race created by it, in which case at least a part of the shard itself would be on Roshar. That last part falls apart a bit when you start thinking of Siah Aimians as well. Thoughts? Anybody else have ideas for shards that would just be cool, without worrying too much about how it fits into any unifying theories of the cosmere?

Hi! Kell here. I'm obviously running out of ideas… Finally reading the Alloy of Law again will definitely help. I'd normally do some weird Feruchemic theory right now but I don't feel like it. Maybe in five minutes. Anyways, forgive my ignorance but when Adonalsium reigned supreme, were there any other gods? Take Trell for example. Did he exist, or were there others? Did Raidri-- oh nevermind. Ausar and his bro Galath probably did tho Ising the I of being STORMING CURIOUS! Seeya!!

Hello friends. I've been thinking a lot about Shards over the last month or so, especially in advent of the upcoming Q&A on Reddit. It's been a while since I've seen one of these, so I figure there's no harm in putting this out there again (especially in light of new reveals in AU). I want to think about Shards, and possibly narrow down the six remaining Shards, and I would love some input from you guys (I've been driving my family crazy with questions on their thoughts in the last couple days). Firstly, here's what we know. We know ten of the sixteen Shards of Adonalsuim. Listed in order of reveal/publicity, they are Devotion, Dominion, Preservation, Ruin, Endowment, Honor, Cultivation, Odium, Autonomy, and Ambition. We know that Odium Splintered at least four Shards. We now know all four: Ambition, Devotion, Dominion, and Honor. Odium had a 'hit-list', and Ambition was #1. There is a Shard that just wants to hide and survive, but that Shard's intent is not 'Survival'. There is a Shard that is not on a planet. (This could refer to Ambition, depending on where it was finished off.) There are two Shards that aren't on a planet, Ambition, and one other. Here's some stuff we're I'm pretty sure about/think we know. (Please let me know if any of these suppositions were confirmed) Shards are based somewhat on "divine attributes" of a god figure. Shards have an opposite pairing, but most are not clear opposites.* * There's been a lot of discussion involving this, and it's looking more and more unlikely that there are pairings of Shards. However, since it's somewhat simple to use that supposition as a format for now, if nothing else. Here's some supposition/speculation I make on the information above. If the sixteen Shards of Adonalsium were all combined, the result would be a god figure. Because of this, we can assume that there are likely no duplicates (for example, there wouldn't be a Shard of Immutability, as Preservation already fills that role). Now onto the Big List. I'm going to attempt to fill in this list of Shards and their pairings, and I will update this list with our guesses. Confirmed Shards will be in Red, guesses will be green. Confirmed pairing will be bold, highly likely will be italicized, and unsure I will leave plain. Here goes. Preservation Ruin Dominion Autonomy Odium Devotion* Endowment Ambition** Honor Absolution?*** Cultivation Tribulation Enlightenment Enigma Purity**** Synthesis? * On the Odium/Devotion pairing. I put this one up because Odium is defined by hatred and jealousy, whereas Devotion is stuff like love and service. I find it to be a likely pair, but a good argument can be made for and Honor/Odium mashup as well. ** On the Endowment/Ambition pair, I find this one a bit of a stretch, I'll admit. It comes from the thought process of Endowment being giving to others, and Ambition looking to receive. It's a tenuous connection, but I'll leave it here for the time being until we find a better candidate. *** One of the possible Shards my family came up with is Mercy (or forgiveness) EDIT: Absolution involves both of these, also, you can be absolved of burdens and Oaths. It's also a God attribute so I like it better. I'm still not too sure I like it as a whole. I like the idea that it's a possible opposite to Honor, because the way we've seen Honor act sounds like a Judgement type, dealing heavily with Oaths. Forgiveness and Mercy sometimes happens in Honorable people in SA, but I haven't seen it represented in a Shard (though there is a case to be made that Endowment or Cultivation could involve it). **** Purity seems like a likely Shard to me. We haven't seen a Shard that represents the righteousness or holiness of god, and I think there's an argument to be made that Purity could fill those shoes. There is also a planet named Purity in the Threnodite System that breaks the pattern of funeral songs like the other planets. Now, let's discuss. Please bring forward an idea of the remaining six shards. Even feel free to argue my pairings if you like. Please keep in mind these things on looking for Shard possibilities. Divine attributes separated from the virtues that give them context (as Hoid would say). Attributes that aren't shared in another Shard. Shards that wouldn't logically be higher on Odium's hit-list that Ambition. Otherwise he would have targeted them first. Edit 1: Added Tribulation, added confirmed information about Ambition and the other Shard without a home. Edit 2: Absolution instead of Mercy, added Synthesis as an opposite of Purity.