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Splinters See the Future


Chaos

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So, this is a very interesting excerpt from the newest Warbreaker annotation:

Why does Siri having sex with the God King make Lightsong's dreams turn more violent? Well, it means that the impending disaster is far more dangerous. If she is with child, then the tragedy of her death is that much greater. Beyond that, her having a child (or being thought to be going to have one) is part of what makes Bluefingers do what he feels he needs to in executing her.

He might have done that anyway, but the actual event of the consummation of the marriage is a powerful turning point in the karma of the city and the future of the world. And Lightsong, who is extra sensitive to these things because of being a Returned, is affected by that change in what is coming in the future.

Emphasis mine.

I would immediately conjecture that it such a power is not exclusive to Returned; any Splinter would have this capability. After all, Wyrn can see the future. That must mean he's a Splinter.

That's pretty interesting, when you think about it. We know Preservation could see into the future, and apparently Cultivation is good at it. So Shards have this capability. But Slivers like Vin and the Lord Ruler don't seem to...

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This gels with one of Brandon's answers to my questions in the last Open Call:

I know it’s a RAFO, but how the eff did Wyrn see into the future? That seems above even a Shardholder’s abilities!


Ha, wow, that is indeed a RAFO. Note that we have seen temporal abilities in the Cosmere before. Most of the time these are related directly to the pure essence of a Shard or to a Splinter.

we really need a consistent understanding of the difference between a Sliver and a Splinter. One that would explain why one would be able to see into the future and another wouldn't (assuming Slivers can't that is. It's possible that Vin would have been able to see into the future with more time & practice, since she actually possessed an entire Shard. I digress)

EDIT: Rioter, you beat me to it

Edited by Puck
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Indeed. I was merely making the comment that if someone sees the future, they are probably a Splinter (or ingesting atium).

I've been thinking a while why Ruin didn't foresee Preservation's plan. He should have the same capability as Preservation, right? Was that power isolated in the atium or something? It doesn't quite make sense in my mind. Atium or no atium, Ruin should've been able to predict Preservation. Maybe he predicted Preservation and simply got it wrong. But still, there's a missing piece to the puzzle there.

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Well, for one thing they can't see the future completely and some are better at it then others (does this have to do with the nature of their Shards, or is it a matter of personal practice on the part of the Shardholder?)

Also, it's highly possible that they can't predict the actions of other Shardholders directly (although they may anticipate by other means) because it would cause a similar result to two people burning atium.

Edited by CrazyRioter
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Maybe a Shard predicting a Shard is like two people burning atium fighting each other.

EDIT: dang it CrazyRioter! Twice in one night on one thread!

Edited by Puck
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I don't think that Wyrn needs to be a Sliver. I think he could just have access to a sliver.

I believe that Seons and Skaze are Splinters (of Aona and Skai, respectively) , and that while Seons are able to talk to each other instantaneously (through the Cognitive Realm, probably), Skaze are able to see bits of the future.

And I think that Vin could've seen the future as Preservation if she had some free time. Or at least some sort of future. Doesn't the Almighty talk about how the future is hard to see, how it splits farther and farther the farther away you look?

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I have to go with the theory that the Shard's ability to see the future is very similar to Atium, except far more potent. Then, like others said, two fighting Shards would tend to neutralize each others ability to see the future.

My theory is that the variability of the future isn't any different for the Shards as it is for the people burning Atium. It's just that the mental abilities of the Shards are expanded sufficiently that they can comprehend and adapt for all the possibilities in extremely flexible ways. They can also see events that are either inevitable or which their existence will make inevitable. But yes, it does have limits.

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