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Realmatic Theory, Satsuoni edition


Satsuoni

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So, for my 500th post I've decided to get myself together, and try to collect my theory of everything in one post. In many ways, it may intersect with Kurkistan's MEC, but I think it is different enough.

First, a disclaimer:

This theory represents my interpretation of the structure of Brandon's Cosmere. As much as possible, I tried to base it on known facts from the books and interviews, but I am not infallible. Therefore, while everybody is welcome to discuss it, and everybody if entitled to their own interpretations, my opinion may only change if the direct, factual evidence is presented that contradicts my opinion, ad not interpretation of the fact that contradicts it. In other words - I am stubborn :P .

OK, I've tried to collect some data, but that was taking too long. So without further ado:

Concept of energy

One fundamental part of my theory is that in cosmere, like in our world, there is no true distinction between energy and matter. Therefore, in cosmere also, energy can form stable formations, on which I shall expound more in the Pathways and Cycles section. That also means that such formations can be broken and used to fuel other abilities.

The three realms

One of the fundamental differences between my and Kurkistan's theories is that I assume that all realms are equally important (does not hold true for all beings, but on the average). Any change on any realm results in the corresponding change in the other realms by the connection (see Pathways) between realms. Some changes, however, are easier to make in one realm over the other.

Now, for the Realms:

All things exist in three Realms, Gaotona. Physical, Cognitive, Spiritual. The Physical is what we feel, what is before us. The Cognitive is how an object is viewed and how it views itself. The Spiritual Realm contains an object’s soul—its essence—as well as the ways it is connected to the things and people around it.

Let us assume that ShaiLu knows at least a little what she is talking about. That, as well as other evidence (which I may quote after edits) results in me defining Realms thusly:

Spiritual Realm:

Primary(the main form or function of the realm):

The spiritual realm contains connections that define the way the object interacts with others. Stores interactions from past, present, and future. All of them can be changed. Connections are not strictly bidirectional - one object may be connected to the other but not vice versa. Ghost-like entities, for one, may see the world, but most of the world won't see them.

Therefore the presence of the physical object consists of its molecular and atomic bonds, as well as the connections between it and other objects, like gravity, EM, etc. Some bonds are reinforced naturally by both sides, and therefore regenerate (like gravity). Some do not.

Living objects are much more complex, and contain a "soul" which gives not only additional connections to Cognitive and Physical realms, but also additional ties to other living objects.

Secondary: You can store physical objects in there, like the full physical form of Shardblade. In fact, that seems to be true for all realms.

Cognitive Realm - Shadesmar

Shallan screamed as she found herself in midair, falling backward in a shower of beads. Flames hovered nearby, dozens of them, perhaps hundreds. Like the tips of candles floating in the air and moving in the wind.

Shadesmar, unlike other Realms, is connected for all cosmere, instead of forming separate islands for each world, therefore enabling Worldhopping. I am of the camp that thinks that 1. There is no true vacuum in Shadesmar, so that the objects separated in Physical realm, like planets, are clumped together in Cognitive, and 2. Objects that see themselves, however vaguely, as parts of the whole -like Shards - tend to be closer together. Therefore, the whole cosmere forms a distinct part of the Shadesmar, rather than being in separate pieces.

Now, my theory is that Cognitive realm is, in a way, a Realm of the Form. What the objects think of themselves, and what they are thought of by others. It does not mean that the form is presented in this realm - I highly doubt that objects see themselves as small beads. This is also the realm where all object are sentient, and contains their memories - not history, but memories. Increased connections between Cognitive and Physical make object sentient, although not necessarily alive.

Physical Realm

Physical is the realm where, as evidenced by the name, most physical things reside. In a way, the most active Realm, certainly most important to the story. IMO, it is the default interaction Realm,where connections from Spiritual and choices from Cognitive come into play.

The pathways and cycles

You are standing in a maze of twisty passages, all alike

Another fundamental part of my Realmatics theory is introduction of pathways and cycles.

Pathways are "solid" energy forms that can direct more traditional energy. They can run both inside the boundaries of a Realm and across the boundaries, carrying energy from one realm into the other. The spiritweb, for example, is a network of pathways. The "form" ,the location(within or across realms) and the connection to other pathways define what effect the pathway can provide when it is filled with energy.

Cycles are loops of recoverable energy. A human soul is a cycle. A breath is a cycle, so that while the absolute power of a single Breath is limited, Breath never runs out unless broken somehow.

Some cycles can be broken, so they would leak energy and weaken over time. Even the pathways making up the cycle can leak over time, although that generally takes longer than simple energy leakage.

Odds and ends: positive, negative, neutral

Going by my theory above, the separation of Investitures into end-positive, negative or neutral depends on the sum total of the energy given to a cycle of user's well, soul, I guess, over time.

Hence, Allomancy forces more energy into your cycle, and though it leaves after usage, the sum total is positive. Hemalurgy breaks the cycle so it leaks until reconnected, so it is end-negative, etc.

Now, given the above theory, this is how I think the common magical systems in Cosmere work:

(Also, I am adding links to my old ASD again. If somebody is going to downvote them, at least post why. Keep in mind that not all ASD are up to date, but they (IMO) are still close enough)

Allomancy

ASD

This one is relatively easy:

This is getting deep into the issue, but it has to do with a person's spiritual makeup and a 'wounded' spirit being easier to fill with something else, kind of like a cut would let something into the bloodstream.

Snapping creates a weakness in Spiritual makeup. Swallowing metal makes it part of Spiritual makeup as well (touching blood even more so). Metal provides additional pathways connecting parts of your Spiritweb with the wound and possibly reaching outside. Enough of the energy goes inside for you to feel the connection. When activated (burned), the metal channels energy from Preservation or Harmony into the pathways of your Spiritweb and those connected to it, strengthening them (tin, pewter) or even activating the ones that were passive (iron, etc). The metal gets ripped apart by the power going through it.

Feruchemy

ASD1

ASD2

ASD3

You actually modify the pathways within (likely) spiritual makeup of the metal, in a way unique to your spiritweb (the part responsible for feruchemy, anyway) This also allows compounding, since altered pathways now provide the same power that was stored in them, but only for you (or the person who happens to have piece of your soul, see Hemalurgy).

Hemalurgy

ASD1

ASD2

ASD3

ASD4

OK, metal becomes part of Spiritual makeup - it is from fairly recent bit of info, not sure where exactly.

Anyway, in my realmatic theory the metal bonds to certain pathways (in addition to all physical damage it deals) and when extracted, carries that part of the spiritweb with it. The bonding isn't perfect - at least at first. The energy leaks out quickly, and the pathways start to decay and probably separate from metal. When the spike is inserted at the right place in acceptor, however, it connects to his/her cycle and receives enough power from that to stabilize. Becoming part of the whole cycle also helps with stabilization. My theory is that bound spike actually decays slower then simply harvested (since Vin's spike seemed OK with her not wearing it for years at time)

Awakening

ASD1

ASD2

ASD3

According to my theory, a Breath is a full cycle, which is pretty weak, compared to the actual soul. It has better connection (wider pathways) to the Physical realm, and can therefore be seen a little. While Breath by itself does not have a lot of Cognitive-Physical connections, it still has some, and that is why a lot of Breaths change your perception(perfect pitch, color perception, etc) in addition to improving some of your physical attributes (no illness, no aging). Also, Breaths are relatively malleable, since they have little to no physical form, probably, and their pathways can be altered.

Breaths stick better to object that already have pathways predefined in a way similar to their origin.

Since physical forms partly define Spiritual human-shaped objects work better. Objects that have remainder of the pathways from being alive work better. Human corpses, with proper commands, work too well, since the Breath sinks into the existing pathways and won't come out again. Since one Breath is not enough to power/recreate all pathways between Cognitive and Spiritual that a human has, Lifeless are pretty stupid. It is quite probable, that with enough Breaths and proper Commands they can be brought to life.

Incidentally, this theory explains sentience of Nightblood - they simply created enough connection between his Cognitive aspect and Physical one, as well as molding those aspects by their own Cognitive input (Command)

Soulcasting

Ok, this image is more of a joke than anything…

ASD

The theory I have about Rosharian Radiants in general is that a bond with a spren allows them to use some of the spren's abilities.

Here, my theory is that truthspren are those beings that mainly exist in the Cognitive realm:

Entities exist on all three realms that are only vaguely shadowed on the other realms. You have seen entities who exist primarily on the Cognitive Realm + are shadowed on the Physical.

They are only seen in Physical Realm as shadows in somebody else's mind, in memories of Shallan and reflections in case of Elhokar.

If we assume that the bodies of Shallan and Jasnah were still in the Physical Realm (we are certain about Jasnah, since she doesn't disappear when soulcasting) then in this case, these spren give them temporal usage of their own bodies and perceptions, or something similar. That also gives them ability to alter the way object views itself (and as other people, even reality itself see it), which in turn changes their Physical and Spiritual makeup. Note that the spiritual protection afforded by "being alive" does not seem to apply - humans turn into whatever without dying first (and can be transformed in parts, like Shallan was).

Windrunning

ASD1

ASD2

Another variety of Surgebinding.

In this case, a spren gains additional connections between Cognitive and Physical realms, and a human gains additional connection to the Spiritual realm, where he can absorb more or less raw power into his own spiritweb (infusing, perfecting themselves) and then direct that power into pathways of Gravity connections (bending or redirecting them) and apparently something like Pressure connection. Once again, it can be noted that a spren had those abilities originally (Sylphrena sticking objects together)

Shardblade

OK, I am getting tired.

Anyway, a Shardblade is a tool that can apparently cut through the Spiritual makeup. In case of living beings, it first cuts through additional overlay - the soul. If the main connections from the soul to the body (apparently locates in the nervous system) are severed, the resulting backlash of no longer ordered energy damages the nervous system (yes, eyes are part of the brain), and the energy itself escapes into physical realm in the rawest form it has - the mist (black mist that looks like smoke in this case). This is similar to the black smoke emitted by Nightblood, and those destroyed by it:

Is there any relation between the smoke that is emitted when a Shardblade cuts somebody and the smoke that Nightblood emits in Warbreaker?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, there is. You've been...are you a 17th Sharder?

In case of a non-living object, the blade severs connections between atoms instead, resulting in clean cut.

The blade itself is attached to the spirit of the wielder, and that place of attachment can be ripped off and transferred to another person my Hemalurgy. Furthermore, it should seem that this spirit is what keeps the Blade in the Spiritual Realm in the first place, since it drops when a person dies.

AonDor

In case of AonDor, somebody close enough to Dor (Elantrian) - draws an outline of the pathway from Spiritual into Physical (possibly with modifiers into Cognitive). If the outline is close enough to the one accepted by the Dor in the current location, it activates, taking power from the Dor, morphing and hopefully doing whatever it was going to do, either dissipating, or creating a stable channel of formed power afterwards.

Dakhor

Similar to the above, except that the patterns are somehow made into bones, making a monk a mobile Aon (possibly the reason a monk dies when used up). It is unknown whether the patterns are given by the one who initiates the transformation or etched by the Dor itself.

Forging

Gates some power of the Dor to bridge the pathways that make up the history of an object in Spiritual Realm. Only the history of the object's connections/interactions is changed, other objects still have the history as it actually was. Thanks to the changes in the perceived history, the object changes its appearance and properties.

So, questions? Err.. more questions?

Edited by Satsuoni
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Interesting. I'll have to mull this one over a bit, but it makes a certain amount of sense on the face of it.

One bit of evidence you might want to throw in is that the black mist from Shardblades is linked to that which is produced by Nightblood, presumably from him destroying/dis-articulating Spiritual aspects.

EDIT: Also, sorry to put this on you, but where exactly do you disagree with my own MEC? It seems that you're more talking about mechanisms, and i see that you took up my Cognitive definition of Commands.

I don't recall saying that the three Realms were unbalanced, though I suppose by definition of mystical energy as originating from the Spiritual might disagree with yours.

Edited by Kurkistan
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That might just be my misconception, but in your case there seems to be a definite direction in the interaction of the realms - from spiritual to cognitive to physical and back, while in my theory all Realms are one, in a sense - interaction in any Realm causes changes in both others, depending on the connection, and you cannot really separate pieces of the object.

I've tried to explain that concept to Nepene yesterday, but essentially, in my mind, the presence of an object in three realms is like, for example, electric, gravitic and inertial (Higgs?) presences of electron - not really separable, although distinct. (Which would make some spren WIMPs, I guess XD)

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Probably just me being unclear/changing my mind halfway through. I think I used Physical->Cognitive->Spiritual as an example, but I recall mentioning a Cognitive->Spiritual change once. It's not so much an inequality of the Realms as it is them not being extremely tightly bound. I don't see a problem with any theoretical directionality or degree of change.

I may just be misreading you here, but you seem to be demanding immediate changes in the other two Realms as a consequence of a change in one of them. The window in TES thought of itself as a stained glass window that happened to be broken, due to its Cognitive momentum, while rightly it should have had just a "broken window" aspect, if all three of its aspects necessarily immediately affect each other.

Rioting or Soothing someone's emotions needn't have a noticeable Physical affect, discounting the brain--and the brain is a tricky subject, what with the whole "potentially doing away with the other two Realms thing" if you leave the brain as the seat of the mind.

I do have a bit of a definite direction for energy transfer between the Realms (the buck stops at the Spiritual, at least for magic).

As far as visualizations go, I suppose you're is of a solid object: move any part and you move the whole; while mine could be described (off the top of my head) as three objects tied semi-loosely together by strings: moving one will affect the others, but not necessarily immediately and not necessarily to any noticeable degree.

----

EDIT: New matter.

I do like your visualization of the cycle: constantly in motion (and thus energetic) but internal and self-sustaining. I suppose you have to include that it builds upon its own energies, at least to some degree, to explain how Breaths do a lot of stuff without running out of energy, as well as other "soulful" activity.

Edited by Kurkistan
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Probably just me being unclear/changing my mind halfway through. I think I used Physical->Cognitive->Spiritual as an example, but I recall mentioning a Cognitive->Spiritual change once. It's not so much an inequality of the Realms as it is them not being extremely tightly bound. I don't see a problem with any theoretical directionality or degree of change.

Ok, I freely admit that I may have misread you. It just seemed more directional somehow.

I may just be misreading you here, but you seem to be demanding immediate changes in the other two Realms as a consequence of a change in one of them. The window in TES thought of itself as a stained glass window that happened to be broken, due to its Cognitive momentum, while rightly it should have had just a "broken window" aspect, if all three of its aspects necessarily immediately affect each other.

Rioting or Soothing someone's emotions needn't have a noticeable Physical affect, discounting the brain--and the brain is a tricky subject, what with the whole "potentially doing away with the other two Realms thing" if you leave the brain as the seat of the mind.

My quotes from above posts that are related to this matter:

This is also the realm where all object are sentient, and contains their memories - not history, but memories
interaction in any Realm causes changes in both others, depending on the connection,

And another one, from the Tales of the Goblet:

I’ve been as I am for a great long time

So, to answer your first point, yes, I posit that indeed, the initial change in one realm causes instant change in others. Brain, in this case, is an area in Physical realm that has a very high density of pathways between realms especially Cognitive-Physical. Change in brain may cause same results as Rioting/Soothing, and vice versa. Some changes in one of the realm may have little to no analogue in the others, if they are not connected.

Also, the window remembers what it was, but it is not what it was. Its memory of being a stained glass window is strong, but without the seal, it is not, currently, it. But this memory leads to it accepting changes in the history easier. I assume it works in the direction of the bad, too - if people hated its form for a long time, it found find easy to change into that form again, but I may be wrong here.

As far as visualizations go, I suppose you're is of a solid object: move any part and you move the whole; while mine could be described (off the top of my head) as three objects tied semi-loosely together by strings: moving one will affect the others, but not necessarily immediately and not necessarily to any noticeable degree.

Not exactly, since "parts" still assume separation, and in my theory, such separation signifies a drastic change in state, so that the object can't even be called what it was anymore, like Human->Ghost, and even that requires something remaining. I prefer "attributes" to "parts", like the above example of "charge, inertial mass and gravitic mass"

I do like your visualization of the cycle: constantly in motion (and thus energetic) but internal and self-sustaining. I suppose you have to include that it builds upon its own energies, at least to some degree, to explain how Breaths do a lot of stuff without running out of energy, as well as other "soulful" activity.

I may be unclear on this part, but I call it cycle precisely because it recycles expended energy, not matter where it goes on the way, unless the cycle is broken (like in case of Hema spikes and apparently Nightblood, to an extent)

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Ok, I freely admit that I may have misread you. It just seemed more directional somehow.

Probably my fault. I focused a lot more on the power flow of magic, which I think has a pretty clear S->C->P directionality, so most of my discussion focused on that.

So, to answer your first point, yes, I posit that indeed, the initial change in one realm causes instant change in others. Brain, in this case, is an area in Physical realm that has a very high density of pathways between realms especially Cognitive-Physical. Change in brain may cause same results as Rioting/Soothing, and vice versa. Some changes in one of the realm may have little to no analogue in the others, if they are not connected.

Here's another try: Vin get's a bit more violent than usual and chops off Bob's arms. He is still the same person--still has the same memories and the same history--but his Physical form has been fundamentally altered. His Spiritual aspect is presumably a bit less diffused (no arm to Shardblade through now), but is it really different?

Also, the window remembers what it was, but it is not what it was. Its memory of being a stained glass window is strong, but without the seal, it is not, currently, it. But this memory leads to it accepting changes in the history easier. I assume it works in the direction of the bad, too - if people hated its form for a long time, it found find easy to change into that form again, but I may be wrong here.

I'm still not sure about this one. I'll mull on the nature of Forging for a bit and get back to you.

Not exactly, since "parts" still assume separation, and in my theory, such separation signifies a drastic change in state, so that the object can't even be called what it was anymore, like Human->Ghost, and even that requires something remaining. I prefer "attributes" to "parts", like the above example of "charge, inertial mass and gravitic mass"

Sorry, I think I was unclear there (I detect a pattern...). My theory is the one of parts, your's is the one with one solid object.

I may be unclear on this part, but I call it cycle precisely because it recycles expended energy, not matter where it goes on the way, unless the cycle is broken (like in case of Hema spikes and apparently Nightblood, to an extent)

Ah, sorry I misunderstood you. Fair enough. I suppose you're drawing on Brandon's "turbine" explanation for why Preservation fuels Allomancy for free?

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Here's another try: Vin get's a bit more violent than usual and chops off Bob's arms. He is still the same person--still has the same memories and the same history--but his Physical form has been fundamentally altered. His Spiritual aspect is presumably a bit less diffused (no arm to Shardblade through now), but is it really different?

Plenty different - the Spiritual Life part of his body no longer has support for arms (Since the pathways of the Spiritual Physical, i. e. connections defining interaction of corpse) are gone, and cognitive is perceived differently, and hence changed. For a while (unlike in the case Shardblade is used), the "soul", the life patterns corresponding to "having arms" will persist, and hence the body would be able to be healed (by gold), but without support, it will eventually weaken and fade, Cognitive part changing to match (arms? what arms? I guess I used to have the, once).

I'm still not sure about this one. I'll mull on the nature of Forging for a bit and get back to you.

OK

Ah, sorry I misunderstood you. Fair enough. I suppose you're drawing on Brandon's "turbine" explanation for why Preservation fuels Allomancy for free?

Weirdly enough, this part of the theory was formulated long before Q&A (since it seemed so obvious), but that was a nice conformation, yes.

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Plenty different - the Spiritual Life part of his body no longer has support for arms (Since the pathways of the Spiritual Physical, i. e. connections defining interaction of corpse) are gone, and cognitive is perceived differently, and hence changed. For a while (unlike in the case Shardblade is used), the "soul", the life patterns corresponding to "having arms" will persist, and hence the body would be able to be healed (by gold), but without support, it will eventually weaken and fade, Cognitive part changing to match (arms? what arms? I guess I used to have the, once).

Healing is quite obviously carried out in accordance with Cognitive aspects. And that's the thing, really. The Spiritual aspect needn't change when the body does--you're still you even if you're missing a piece or two--and really, it shouldn't. The Spiritual aspect, as far as I can tell, is the traditional soul, what makes a person who they are at a foundamental level. The emperor's soul (hur hur) is composed of his personality and important memories; it's not based on the form of his body.

Resealing opens up questions, I'll admit. Hopefully I'll address them when my brain starts working again.

Think of it this way: some parts of the spiritweb are located in the extremities. Vin and Wax's spikes are earrings. Do you really think that that part of a person's Spiritual aspect would just go away if the extremity were separated? Or would it simply become inaccessible or possibly "contract" into another location?

EDIT: In either of the "part of your soul isn't chopped off in your ear" explanations, the Spiritual aspect isn't really changing, it's just that its Physical interface has been altered.

Edited by Kurkistan
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Ok, to answer you.

First, I was a little bit mistaken in my OP.

Here is the quote:

Therefore the presence of the physical object consists of its molecular and atomic bonds, as well as the connections between it and other objects, like gravity, EM, etc. Some bonds are reinforced naturally by both sides, and therefore regenerate (like gravity). Some do not.

Living objects are much more complex, and also contain a "soul" which gives not only additional connections to Cognitive and Physical realms, but also additional ties to other living objects

With the bolded text being an addition. In other words, the part that changes is not your soul - unless you were cut by shardblade - but your body's connection collection. So you lose access to the soul from the physical realm -you can't cut off part with shardblade my waving it over stump (I hope...) Whether the bind points are lost or migrate somewhere else over time, I don't know.

Yet when cut with Shardblade, it is part of your soul that is cut off, and the physical part then leak life and becomes dead, though physically whole.

Also, yes, the Cognitive healing does make more sense, although does not really explain aging - what if you continue to see yourself as young and live as hermit? Will you stop aging then? But that is an aside.

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Ah, that makes much more sense.

I'm actually beginnning to doubt whether Shardblades are damaging Spiritual aspects when they "sever" limbs. There's no talk of "scaring their victims on a fundamental level" or anything for people who are just partially paralyzed. We also only see the "black smoke of soul-death" when the spine is cut through, but not for the limbs.

What if, instead of "killing" part of the Spiritual aspect when a limb is cut through, all the Shardblade does is sever it's connection to the Cognitive aspect (i.e., you'r ability to perceive or control the limb)? So I suppose the question we should ask is "could someone benefit from a Hemalurgic spike placed in a limb which had been 'severed' with a Shardblade?"

That's just a possibility, though.

As far as Healing goes, I suspect that people are being a bit too loosey-goosey with with the "how an object is viewed and how it views itself" definition of the Cognitive Realm. It's almost certainly a more metaphysical "view," and a fairly robust one at that--TLR was perceived by most as an inherently immortal god, perhaps by everyone but himself as such, and yet the Human Form's age-restriction was still present.

I suspect, then, that Cognitive restrictions on fundamental things (such as what it is to be Human, to be a Window, etc.) are defined on a population, perhaps even Cosmere-wide level, and simply accessed by individuals, while more personal things such as state of health have a bit more freedom.

Edited by Kurkistan
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Ah, that makes much more sense.

I'm actually beginnning to doubt whether Shardblades are damaging Spiritual aspects when they "sever" limbs. There's no talk of "scaring their victims on a fundamental level" or anything for people who are just partially paralyzed. We also only see the "black smoke of soul-death" when the spine is cut through, but not for the limbs.

What if, instead of "killing" part of the Spiritual aspect when a limb is cut through, all the Shardblade does is sever it's connection to the Cognitive aspect (i.e., you'r ability to perceive or control the limb)? So I suppose the question we should ask is "could someone benefit from a Hemalurgic spike placed in a limb which had been 'severed' with a Shardblade?"

Well, I for one would argue for consistency - the eyes are the only part of CNS outside the body, and located right next to the greatest concentration of Realm-spanning pathways, so even if the nerves in the limbs were to burn up and emit "smoke", we probably won't see it, and there would be much less that from the brain, anyways. The truth is, we don't know much about partial wounds like that in long term. Is the limb alive enough to not rot or shrivel over time? Is the cutoff point exactly where the blade passed or does it propagate back, like in case of spine, but lacking the energy to sustain destructive reaction? We don't know, since in the book everybody cut by the blade was quickly killed off afterwards (IIRC) They did say "a limb", so did they mean the whole limb was inactivated at once? Could Shardblade be used by the dentist to stop my teeth from hurting by carefully slicing through their bases? That said, obviously Shardblades are much more evil and destructive than Hemalurgy, since you can't make Cat Inquisitors with it.

As far as Healing goes, I suspect that people are being a bit too loosey-goosey with with the "how an object is viewed and how it views itself" definition of the Cognitive Realm. It's almost certainly a more metaphysical "view," and a fairly robust one at that--TLR was perceived by most as an inherently immortal god, perhaps by everyone but himself as such, and yet the Human Form's age-restriction was still present.

I suspect, then, that Cognitive restrictions on fundamental things (such as what it is to be Human, to be a Window, etc.) are defined on a population, perhaps even Cosmere-wide level, and simply accessed by individuals, while more personal things such as state of health have a bit more freedom.

Maybe... I still suspect some interaction with Spiritual. Perhaps they act in combination for this.

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The Shardblade stuff is still speculation, I agree. We really need more evidence.

As far as Spiritual interactions with Healing, I would hazard that Spiritual "Forms" (like the spiritual idea of a "window") come into play, probably in guiding and restricting individual Cognitive aspects.

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That said, obviously Shardblades are much more evil and destructive than Hemalurgy, since you can't make Cat Inquisitors with it.

You can steal shardblades to enhance cat inquisitors.

Brandon said that there would be some scene that would please cosmere aware people at the end of Stormlight 2. I personally am hoping for a battle between Hoid and the seventeenth shard where we would get to see different magic systems interact. That would give us some more data to see if your theory is accurate.

For example, could a shardblade cut steelsight?

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Well, you could steal it with Hemalurgy, but this seems to be one of the few cases when using Hemalurgy is not the answer. If you can spike a shardbearer, you could probably just kll one, and bind the blade without using up bind points. If the bearer is your friend, he/she could just be talked into gibing the blade up...

And I doubt Shardblade can cut Steelsight, not unless it can cut gravity. Although it may serve as an obstacle to Steelsight. The better question might be, what does the blade (either drawn or hidden) look like in steelsight? Maybe you can pick up shardblade user by using it.

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Since Brandon said a Shardblade can't be pushed on, I doubt it would even be visible. However, much like things in the body, it might actually create a little bubble of anti-steel, allowing you to track the blade via the vanishing and appearing lines

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