skaa Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 Okay, so here's a theory about the planet Roshar. So far we've had two planets with only two Shards (Scadrial and Sel). Both of those planets seem to have Shards that are thematically related to each other (Ruin and Preservation, Devotion and Dominion). My theory is that, long before Odium arrived on Roshar, that planet also had two Shards that are thematically linked. If you're thinking, "But the concept of Honor seems to have little to do with the concept of Cultivation," we'd be in complete agreement. And that's where my theory comes in: I don't think Honor was Cultivation's partner. I think Desolation was. This is the story I have in my mind: Long ago, Honor and Odium had a planet all on their own. As expected, Odium tried to destroy Honor, but he failed, and Honor left the planet along with a few humans in his care. Travelling through space, Honor and his people came upon the planet Roshar, which by then was also experiencing its own Shardic war. Desolation was gaining the upper hand over Cultivation, and the land was starting to become more and more desolate. Honor intervened in the fight, defeating Desolation and saving the only part of Roshar left untouched: Shinovar. But Honor's Intent prevented him from killing Desolation, so he imprisoned him the same way Preservation imprisoned Ruin. (Come to think of it, Honor probably imprisoned Odium as well before he left his original planet, though obviously the imprisonment wasn't permanent.) Knowing that Desolation will be able to free himself eventually if he ever regains enough power, Honor requested his own people, his Heralds, to form an Oathpact and ensure that Desolation will never prevail. I'm still unsure why the Heralds had to go to that place of pain in between "Desolations". Perhaps they had to help maintain Desolation's prison somehow. But I know that they endured all the pain due to their sense of honor, and that they only gave up once they felt the influence of their other god: Odium, who had at last located his enemy. And without the Heralds, Honor found it harder to imprison Desolation and was forced to sacrifice his entire Mind the same way Preservation did on Scadrial. This was why his influence over Roshar faded. And with the arrival of Odium, the vast majority of the people on Roshar became less honorable in general. Odium decided that he would destroy Honor and help Desolation escape, perhaps letting Desolation finish Cultivation off before dealing with him as well. So that's my theory. I'm sorry if someone else already thought of this (I did a simple search and didn't find anything like it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windrunner Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 I really don't think that Desolation is a Shard, the name doesn't sound quite right to me. There's also this, which would leave your theory with one too many Shards. CHAOS How many Shards have existed on Roshar? BRANDON SANDERSON Three Source Hope this doesn't sound too much like a buzzkill, but the idea of a fourth Shard on Roshar has been tossed around before, and it always runs up against this wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaa Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 I really don't think that Desolation is a Shard, the name doesn't sound quite right to me. There's also this, which would leave your theory with one too many Shards.Hope this doesn't sound too much like a buzzkill, but the idea of a fourth Shard on Roshar has been tossed around before, and it always runs up against this wall. No problem at all! As I told Kadrok in my Nicrosil thread, it's good for me to learn more pieces of the Cosmere puzzle even if it means my theories get disproved in the process. I'm now reading Brandon's Q&A thread here to be able to make better theories in the future. He also said that Honor and Cultivation arrived on Roshar at the same time, so that's that. I still think that every Shard (at least the original 16 of them) has a thematic partner. Apparently some of them decided to partner with someone else, and some decided to go solo. Who knows? Maybe there is a Shard called Desolation on another planet. I'm thinking maybe he's Bavadin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Monstrosity Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 (edited) I really don't think that Desolation is a Shard, the name doesn't sound quite right to me. There's also this, which would leave your theory with one too many Shards.Hope this doesn't sound too much like a buzzkill, but the idea of a fourth Shard on Roshar has been tossed around before, and it always runs up against this wall. http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=718 There are inhabited planets in the cosmere that don't have any Shards there. There may be inhabited planets that only have a Splinter of a Shard. There are 10 core cosmere planets, which tell the overarching story of the cosmere. He could be Aes Sedai truthing. What if there were a bunch of splinters of some other shard, that only came over as splinters? Edited May 16, 2013 by Phantom Monstrosity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senor Feesh Posted May 16, 2013 Report Share Posted May 16, 2013 He has actually stated that not every Shard is paired... so I'm afraid that one is out too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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