Shards and the Oathpact (theories and spoilers abound)

[ThePledge]

Hi all, love the forums and the discussion, want to start by thanking all the people who have made this a fun place to lurk.

I'm new to the whole greater cosmere aspect, so apologies if I get terms wrong, or if I'm rehashing something that has been done to death.

Firstly, is it ever explicitly stated that the voidbringers are supported by odium? I understand that voidbinding is the form of investiture associated with him, but are the creatures themselves?

I have been tossing around the idea that the oathpact was a pact between the three shards of Roshar, an agreement to put aside their differences in order to fight an external threat. The breaking of the oathpact by the heralds led to Odium, the shard dominated by lust to fight, the reason for war, as honor explains to Dalinar, destroying Honor. I'm not sure how well this all stands up, but it's a thought. Viewed this way, the constant war and struggle that Odium engenders on Roshar may be just what Vorinism claims, a way to be stronger. Perhaps odium isn't the shard trying to destroy mankind, but trying to ready them in the only way that a violence obsessed shard can, forcing them to fight in order to better their ability to fight.

I realize all this is a stretch, but I kind of like the idea that the three shards once worked together, just as Ruin and Preservation in Mistborn. Taking this line of thought further, it could be guessed that perhaps the major invested objects we have seen in Roshar were each invested by the action of different shards. Odium, the destructive force, creating the shardblades as tools of destruction; Cultivation, the life-giving force, creating the shardplate as tools to enhance and protect, and Honor forging the bonds between mankind and spren that grant the powers of investiture.

The shardplate and spren attachments are weaker, but I like the idea of odium being the force behind the shardblades. The lust for them is driving the wars that entangle Roshar, their destructive nature seems right up Odium's alley, and it might explain why Syl, an honorspren and presumably close to Honor, bound to Kaladin after he refused the blade. The blade is the tool of destruction, he chose the third path, to fight only in order to protect. that seems to me like the path of honor. Also, Syl comments that she prefers Dalinar after he gives up the blade.

Last quick thought. I may be reading to deeply, but it seems like Lirin's argument "there are those who heal, and those who kill", as well as Kaladin's belief that there are also those who kill to protect others, closely mirrors Cultivation, Odium, and Honor. Just a thought.

Thanks all for reading through this wordy first post, I look forward to hearing your thought, or any holes I've missed.

[Dros]

I was also thinking along the same lines, Pledge. Holes abound in my theory below, but whattaya gonna do? My own thoughts from another thread below:

I thought Nohadon founded them with the Way of the Kings as their guide. I might be wrong on that, though. I was thinking the Way of the Kings just changed the way people accessed Honor's power and created the KR. They did it before, but not the same way as a KR would. And that's a HUGE assumption on my part. Also, boons and curses are a theme in the book, as well. Old Magic will do something great for you...but not without a price to pay. Regaining the power of the KR is great, but now you have the Desolations to deal with.

For background though, I have a somewhat...different view of the Oathpact. I think we are looking at the Oathpact like it was treaty between warring Shards. That might be slightly off, in my opinion. Brandon had said Shardic power interferes with one another. If that's the case, three Shards allowing people to access their powers on one planet might be a bit hard to control without cooperation. One might need a bargain...or a compact, or say, an Oathpact, i.e. each party has certian obligations to fulfill, to make sure the magic on that planet has the desired effect. When all three parties were fulfilling these obligations, Roshar might have once been a flourishing planet...that had to fight a vicious war against an unknown enemy at regular intervals. Making the Oathpact really, really important to the defense of the planet.

Also, I don't think Odium is the Enemy during the Desolations (something many, many...many people don't agree with). I think he got pissed at Honor because his guys broke the Oathpact and messed everything up. This makes sense to me, because it's hard to believe that Honor said he should've known Odium would come for him. If you're warring with someone and have a brokered peace that you break, why wouldn't you think the enemy is coming for you. I think Honor's saying, my guys messed up, Odium is hate incarnate, I should have known he would've been really upset about this. I think Odium killed the Shards on Sel, because they interfered in some way on Roshar and he just got mad as hell about it.

I think when we see the quote, "Three of sixteen ruled, now the Broken One reigns." it means Honor, not Odium. I think the guy in the sky telling Kaladin he can't ride the storms anymore is a recording from Odium. "Honor broke the Oathpact, pal, GET OFF MY LAWN!" His quip at the end, "Odium reigns"? It's his way of saying "O'Doyle Rules!" in my opinion. A reminder that he's still around.

Taking all of that and applying it to the new reading of the chapter is somewhat how I got the above idea. I usually don't put it out there, because it's messy and I'm not quite sure I believe it myself.

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted folks to see where I was coming from.