Diffusion of power following the death of a Shardholder

[FirstSelector]

I apologize if this is already a known aspect of the cosmere, but I couldn't find it spelled out specifically in the forums.

While reading the Mistborn HoA annotations, a particular quote from Brandon stuck out (Ch. 62):

Alendi was one of the very first Allomancers, and he gained his powers as the mists began to cover the world.

That's important.

It occurred to me that this would have been soon after Preservation gave up his mind to trap Ruin, and then I realized that there are two other instances when we have seen the loss of the mind controlling a Shard. The first is in the same book, when Ruin died after Vin sacrificed herself. The second is the death of Honor at Odium's hands.

My theory is the following: when a Shardholder dies, the power of the Shard diffuses into the world.

The two examples from HoA are the rise of the first Mistings when Preservation dies and the increase in the rate of destruction of Scadrial when Ruin dies. The latter is evidenced by Sazed's line in the epigraph to Ch. 82:

Once Vin died, the end came quickly.

Mad_Scientist gives a very good explanation of Honor's power diffusing throughout Roshar and granting the spren sentience.

I think that this abrupt infusion of power is characterized by a few things. First, it appears to the inhabitants of the world as a new source of power. Suddenly having Allomancers running around or spren everywhere is quite a change. Second, at least for Honor and Preservation, they left behind "automatic" devices to help the people on their respective worlds.

There are obviously some things left to be verified about this theory. First, we know that Aona and Skai were killed on Sel. This would mean that their power, too, diffused into the world and created some noticeable changes. We do not yet know what happened following these events. I would not be surprised, however, to learn that the human -> Elantrian transformation was an automatic mechanism left behind by Aona, similar to the mists and Snapping.

Second, we know that the Returned suddenly appeared on Nalthis. However, I find it unlikely that this is due to Endowment suddenly buying the farm because of the Voice that offers Returned another chance.

More work is clearly needed to elucidate what happens when a Shardholder dies and leaves behind his vast power.

[Chaos]

Welcome to the boards, FirstSelector. Good to have more people here, as always.

I sort of agree with the theory, but not for the reasons you state. I don't think you are interpreting those quotes correctly. That's not a bad thing, but follow my logic:

Alendi was one of the very first Allomancers, and he gained his powers as the mists began to cover the world.

That's important.

It occurred to me that this would have been soon after Preservation gave up his mind to trap Ruin, and then I realized that there are two other instances when we have seen the loss of the mind controlling a Shard. The first is in the same book, when Ruin died after Vin sacrificed herself. The second is the death of Honor at Odium's hands.

Well, for one thing, the Well has refilled itself more than just Alendi's time, but that's a small quibble. Preservation using his mind to trap Ruin didn't involve his death. Those are quite different things. Once he died, someone else had to take up Preservation's Shard.

The two examples from HoA are the rise of the first Mistings when Preservation dies and the increase in the rate of destruction of Scadrial when Ruin dies. The latter is evidenced by Sazed's line in the epigraph to Ch. 82:

Once Vin died, the end came quickly.

The rise of Mistings is less related to Preservation's death and more because the Well of Ascension was refilling. That was the trigger that led to more Snapping.

And the reason why the end came quickly was because now they were too close to the sun, I had thought. It was just because Preservation's power wasn't... Preserving. It needed a new host.

So I would disagree that Mistborn is good evidence for this theory, at least with what you cite. More interesting is Sel and Roshar. Aona and Skai's power were Splintered, which, when you look at that epigraph again, implies that their power can't be taken up completely. I interpret this as someone unable to take up the Shard, like Vin and Sazed did. It's really a quite different mechanism of a death of a Shardholder.

[Silus - Shard of Flame]

Reading this I was thinking, "Why would the Well refilling lead to more Snapping? What's the reason for it?" The thought just kind of jumped into my head. "So there would be more bronze Mistings to find it."

What do you guys think? Does that make sense to you?

[Chaos]

Reading this I was thinking, "Why would the Well refilling lead to more Snapping? What's the reason for it?" The thought just kind of jumped into my head. "So there would be more bronze Mistings to find it."

What do you guys think? Does that make sense to you?

There doesn't have to be a direct correlation, since the mechanism that is Snapping the Allomancers no longer has guidance from Preservation. It was designed, I believe, to create Allomancers so the atium can be burned off eventually, if Ruin is freed from the prison. Preservation knew that's how they won in the end, but the machine of Snapping hasn't aged very well. Lots of unintended side effects.

[FirstSelector]

Chaos, you're right about the distinction between Preservation's death and his attempt to trap Ruin. I was speaking too quickly, I think - I meant Preservation's power was without a strong guiding mind, and was just attempting to follow its Shard's intent.

I wonder, then, at the sudden appearance of Allomancy during Alendi's time. Since I think you are right about the Well existing (and filling/draining) before Alendi's time, it would imply that there was someone other than an Allomancer to use the power so as to not free Ruin.