Theory: Shards are giant souls

[Elementalist]

I apologize in advance if this theory has already been proposed by another.

For a while, I've been confused by Hoid's statement in Words of Radiance. In chapter 67, he says:

I cannot risk too much, because if he finds me, then I become nothing- a soul shredded and broken into pieces that cannot be reassembled.

The idea of a soul being broken into pieces is reminiscent of the Shattering of Adonalsium. I've seen it suggested that this is because Hoid is Adonalsium, and can therefore be shattered. However, I've begun to consider it the other way. What if Adonalsium, and by extension its Shards, are souls?

There's more to this absolutely crackpot theory than one quote and the general feeling that if I was Brandon, this is what I would do. (That is, of course, why I am not Brandon.) We have seen from Warbreaker that a piece of a shard can bonded to a human soul. This is what happens when a Returned Returns with a divine breath that is a Splinter of Endowment. Going further, we can postulate that when one takes up a Shard, what happens is that the person attaches their Spiritweb (and the controlling consciousness connected to it) to the massive Spiritweb of the shard.

Thoughts?

[A Joe in the Bush]

So the different Shards are just scraps of the Biggest Soul? And aren't you changing your spiritweb in order to gain access to Invesiture? I don't think you attach your Web to anything in order to Magicfy things. (Except Hemalurgy.)

[ZeldaDad]

I've definitely always imagined the shattering of Adonalsium as the breaking of a soul and I too saw the similarities in Hoid's quote that you mentioned. I can get behind that for sure, and I do not think Hoid is Adonalsium. As far as the machanics of how that interacts with a person's spiritweb, etc. I admit I still don't know enough to make an accurate judgement, but I hope this thread fleshes out. I'd like to see it discussed.

[Elementalist]

So the different Shards are just scraps of the Biggest Soul? And aren't you changing your spiritweb in order to gain access to Invesiture? I don't think you attach your Web to anything in order to Magicfy things. (Except Hemalurgy.)

 

I consider it a bit like Breaths. With them, you do attach things to your spiritweb to gain power. I think of taking up a Shard being something like gaining a rediculously high Hightening. It's not exactly the same, but it works as an analogy.

[Shardmancer]

A shard is a piece of Adonalsium.. .Your thinking more of splinters or slivers it sounds like that retain some sentience, but the term soul just throws me off how can he be split into 16 different souls- with different intents just sounds little wierd.. Always props for trying though

[Elementalist]

A shard is a piece of Adonalsium.. .Your thinking more of splinters or slivers it sounds like that retain some sentience, but the term soul just throws me off how can he be split into 16 different souls- with different intents just sounds little wierd.. Always props for trying though

I should clarify- when I say soul, I mean spiritual construct. My thought is that Adonalsium was a massive Spiritweb, and that when it Shattered there were 16 smaller (though still massive) spiritwebs. This actually gives me an idea- ardents on Roshar believe that the spiritual realm is a place of pure ideals, and each Shardic intent is also a sort of ideal- ideal hatred for Odium, ideal destruction for Ruin, ideal honor for Honor, etcetera. If a Spiritual concept shatters, it makes sense that it would split into separate ideals. That's assuming the ardents are right, of course.

[Shardmancer]

Intresting that makes slightly more sence.. .I hope im not completely misinterpreting your theory- but if the shard is a spirtual contrust it seems to have strong presence in the cognitive and physical plains. I would think there is an apsect of the shard that exists in all realms since we know that a shattering affects all realms. That being said each ideals relation to spirtual intent makes some sense..

 

And **Upvote** cause i Love Mustang!

[PorridgeBrick]

I consider it a bit like Breaths. With them, you do attach things to your spiritweb to gain power. I think of taking up a Shard being something like gaining a rediculously high Hightening. It's not exactly the same, but it works as an analogy.

Some support here for this.

Q: So these Ideals in the Spiritual Realm: Divine Breath, does that heal by accessing some Ideal of Human Health: so a guy who had never had a tongue and doesn't know how to speak all the sudden has a tongue and can speak?

A: You are... [LONG pause] You are, um, on the right track. Because the Breath is... eh. How can I explain this? You are, yeah... So... So each Breath is a shade of diety, right? And each Breath incorporates into it this sort of idea of being endowed by the diety Endowment, correct? And so each Breath you hold brings you one step closer to becoming like that, and so what you're saying is... is yes, kind of true, yes.

DOUGLAS

What about a Lerasium savant? Or would that require so much Lerasium that the person attempting it would ascend to become a new Shardholder?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Basically, this is what ascension is.

[GreyPilgrim]

Interesting idea. I have a comment on the terminology used, however.

 

 

Intresting that makes slightly more sence.. .I hope im not completely misinterpreting your theory- but if the shard is a spirtual contrust it seems to have strong presence in the cognitive and physical plains. I would think there is an apsect of the shard that exists in all realms since we know that a shattering affects all realms. That being said each ideals relation to spirtual intent makes some sense..

 

And **Upvote** cause i Love Mustang!

 

This is pretty much how I see it as well. Shards cannot be souls; their soul (Spiritual aspect) is merely a part of them. They have a presence in all three Realms, just like everything else we have seen at this point. I would agree that the Shards' most powerful aspect is their Spiritual one as well; their Physical presence (atium and lerasium, the mists, and Shardpools [maybe] being the only ones we have confirmation on) is relatively weak, being very concentrated, and in order for the Shard to perform as we have seen them perform, it requires a sentient mind, or Cognitive aspect, to hold on to it, though the Shard's Cognitive aspect is pretty strong as well, inevitably changing that of the one holding it at any given time. But the most prominent manifestation of a Shard is its Investiture, which does correspond to its Spiritual aspect.

 

I would not say that Shards are giant souls, exactly. But they most certainly have powerful souls.