theory MtG colors and Dawnshards

[KandraAllomancer]

This has been discussed before, but as far as I know it was never updated to include the new Shards from RoW.

The basic premise, obviously, is that the Dawnshards would correspond to the cards colors in Magic: The Gathering. The WoB below provides some crucial information here:

Quote

LordSkybreaker

Hey u/mistborn I have a couple questions about Magic: the gathering.

What colors/kind of deck do you play in magic?

What colors are the known shards?

What colors are the various orders of the knights Radiant?

And finally, have you ever thought of doing the story for Wizards Of The Coast on one of their mtg blocks?

Brandon Sanderson

Any combo-style deck I can draft--or esper if I'm constructed.

Ruin: Black. Odium: Red. Honor: White. Preservation: White. Cultivation: Green. Devotion: Green/red. Dominion: Black/White. Autonomy: It's complicated.

(Also, question 3 is way too large for me to commit to right now. And for 4, if the right opportunity came along and they were interested, I could see myself doing this.)

SoupOrMan692

What about Endowment and Ambition?

Brandon Sanderson

Ambition is mono-black, and endowment is probably mono-green. Some of the blue shards are ones we haven't seen as much from yet.

Skyward Pre-Release AMA (Oct. 5, 2018)

There are two major issues that need to be solved, though:

• There are 5 card colors and 4 Dawnshards. I believe that's not really a problem, as the Change Dawnshard covers two colors: green and blue
• Devotion and Dominion have two colors, quite possibly because Elantris was written before Cosmere fully took shape. I think, however, that, when other Shards are taken into consideration, they can be reasonably placed within red and white colors, respectively

All the colors description below were copied from here.

Also, as I've realized while writing this down, Dawnshards and Awakening work in a kind of similar way, and Awakening uses colors  

White Shards (Dawnshard of Order/Unity/Morality?)

White color description:

Spoiler

White puts value in the group, the community, and its civilization as a whole. White believes that suffering is a by-product of individuals not prioritizing the good of the group. White's ultimate goal is peace—a world where there is no unnecessary suffering, a world where life is as good as it can be for each individual, a world where everyone gets along and no one seeks to disturb the bonds of unity that White had worked so long to forge. To govern and protect its community, White makes use of and puts value in a number of broad concepts; morality (ethics, grace, truth), order (law, discipline, duty), uniformity (conformity, religion), and structure (government, planning, reason). White is a color commonly associated with good and justice, but if left unchecked or if everyone is not working toward the same unified goal, White can become authoritarian, inflexible, and capable of sacrificing a small group for the sake of a larger one. Everything necessary to preserve the laws, rules, and governance that White created.

Shards: Honor, Preservation, Dominion, the 16th Unknown Shard

They seem exceptionally important for the Cosmere as a whole, as all core worlds (Roshar, Scadrial, Sel) have at least one Shard from this category.

This is possibly the Dawnshard from the Poem of Ista, as well as Hoid's Dawnshard, based on his old quasi-Stoneward oath and inability to hurt people. 

Black Shards (Dawnshard of Individuality/Destruction?)

Black color description:

Spoiler

Black doesn't see anything as fundamentally immoral. To black, the only measure of right and wrong should be whether or not it leads to success. Black is open to opportunities and strategies rejected by others as taboo or forbidden—death, torment, infection, betrayal. Black characters will do anything to ensure their own well-being even at the expense of others; to black, anything less only allows others to do the same. Thus, black does everything possible to gain the only commodity that can secure it from weakness, and ensure its ability to get whatever it needs or wants—power.

Although if taken to extremes, black's selfishness and lack of ethical restraint can result in tragedy, at its most basic level black is not inherently evil. It has a very cynical world view, and its core philosophy is that of self-determination and release from society-imposed limitations. Black has an ally in blue, as it appreciates its subtlety and use of cold logic. Black is also allied with red, respecting its desire to do things on its own terms. However, black's disregard for other members of the group, spirituality/religion, and the sanctity of life oppose it with green and white.

Shards: Ambition, Ruin, Whimsy, Autonomy (the "main" Shard, Avatars can probably have different colors)

Red Shards (Dawnshard of Emotion?)

Red color description:

Spoiler

Above all else, Red values freedom. It wants to do what it wants when it wants, to whom it wants, and nobody can tell it otherwise. In summary, Red thinks that all you have to do is listen to your heart and simply act accordingly, letting your emotions guide you. Red loves life much more than any other color and so it believes that all people must live to its fullest. Red believes that life is an adventure, that it would be much more fun if everyone stopped caring about rules, laws, and personal appearances and just spent their time indulging their desires through experience. Red doesn't live its life questioning choices it has made and lives in the moment; Red is spontaneous and embraces every adventure put before it. Red is the color of immediate action and immediate gratification. If it wants something, it will act on its impulses and take it, regardless of the consequences. Red embraces relationships and knows passion and loyalty and camaraderie and lust. When Red bonds with another, it bonds strongly and fiercely. To outsiders, Red might seem a bit chaotic; that's only because others can't see what's in red's heart. Red sees the concept of order of any kind as pointlessly inhibiting, believing that only through embracing anarchy could everyone really be free to enjoy life to the fullest with no regrets.

Shards: Odium, Devotion, Valor, Mercy

Green & blue Shards (Dawnshard of Change)

Green color description:

Spoiler

Green doesn't want to change the world, it wants everybody to accept the world as it is. Green is convinced that the world already got everything right. Green tries to coexist with it instead of trying to change it, regulate it, norm it, or take advantage of it. Green is the color of nature and interdependence. It believes that the natural order is a thing of beauty and has all the answers to life's problems, that obeying the natural order alone is the best way to exist and thus favors a simplistic way of living in harmony with the rest of the world. This can often lead to it being perceived as a pacifistic color, as it does not seek to make conflict with the other colors as long as they leave it alone and do not disrespect nature. However, it is fierce when it feels threatened and can be predatory and aggressive if its instincts dictate. Green believes each individual is born with all the potential they need, that it's imprinted in its genes. That everyone was born with a role and that the goal is to recognize it and then embrace it, and thus do what they were destined to do. But that role interconnects with the web of life, and thus everyone has to learn how you fit into the larger picture. We are not alone, we are a part of a complex system full of interdependency. Green truly believes that every individual has to bother to sit back and understand the bigger picture and don't get so caught up in the details of their lives.

Blue color description:

Spoiler

Blue is the color that wants perfection and looks on the world and sees opportunity to achieve that, figuring out what you could achieve with the right education, experience, and tools. For Blue, life is one of constant discovery as you keep seeking to better yourself. This way of living requires the right attitude. You have to be open to possibilities, but also not too hasty in action. Blue is methodical and exact and recognizes that there are many forces, even some that come from within, that lead an individual astray. It is better to think one's options out carefully and select correctly than to rush to a decision. Implicitly, in that general world view, blue believes in tabula rasa: every one of us is born a blank slate with the potential to become anything. One need only understand how, to make the change. So with this goal before it, Blue reasons that if it is to make itself better, it must become capable of everything it could be capable of, for that is to "merely add" to its own capabilities. Blue believes it can't possibly be bad to acquire the potential for any conscious action. Thus, Blue, believing it is capable of changing anything if it understands the change, and believing it is imperative that it acquire every capability it could have, concludes that it is imperative that it understand change. As such, blue is the color most interested in technology and wants the latest and greatest version of whatever it is using. Moreover, blue decides that it must understand everything; for truly, understanding can only improve one's effectiveness in any task. To gain understanding, blue must acquire knowledge. Since knowledge itself will inform every other decision, blue forms its principal goal: omniscience, the knowledge of all.

Shards: Cultivation & Endowment (green), Invention and (non-canonical yet) Wisdom / Prudence (blue)

The Change Dawnshard seems to cover both natural growth and intentional human activity, making it compatible with both green and blue colors

Edited March 31, 2021 by KandraAllomancer

[mathiau]

Wait, Devotion is Gruul? The storming embodiment of Love is Gruul? not Boros?

The overlap between White and Green is mutual aid and so I don't think Devotion being Green rule her out from the being of the Binding Dawnshard

Quote

Shards: Ambition, Ruin, Whimsy, Autonomy (the "main" Shard, Avatars can probably have different colors)

What is Whimsy doing in the black quadrant? (or in the Destroy/Individuality quadrant for that matter) Whimsy will be blue/red or mono red not black

Quote

Shards: Odium, Devotion, Valor, Mercy

I guess Mercy could be Boros (white/red) so yes this works

Quote

Shards: Cultivation & Endowment (green), Invention and (non-canonical yet) Wisdom / Prudence (blue)

Yes Wisdom is would be blue, no they doesn't work as an aspect of Change

[KandraAllomancer]

On 1.04.2021 at 3:53 AM, mathiau said:

Wait, Devotion is Gruul? The storming embodiment of Love is Gruul? not Boros?

Yeah, thinking about this made me reconsider a lot of things about Selish Shards. Come to think of it, we know very little about them. Almost all of which assume comes from the nature of seons/skaze (hardly reliable, it would be like trying to infer the nature of Honor from honorspren or highspren) or religions - and it is entirely possible that the concept of unity was influenced by something akin to the Iriali religion, and only later modified to fit the nature of the Shards. The only thing we can attribute purely to Devotion seems to be the voice in the Shardpool (presumably Aona's CS?), and she wants to take Raoden's pain, which makes me want to include Devotion in the red category

On 1.04.2021 at 3:53 AM, mathiau said:

The overlap between White and Green is mutual aid and so I don't think Devotion being Green rule her out from the being of the Binding Dawnshard

The other white Shards seen to represent concepts that are rather impersonal, though

On 1.04.2021 at 3:53 AM, mathiau said:

I guess Mercy could be Boros (white/red) so yes this works

I've been thinking about this, and I wonder if some common themes in Cosmere might correspond to compatible pairs of Dawnshards. Unity would be white/red (even Odium wants some form of unity after all, being the sole ruler of Cosmere) and Passion would be black/red

On 1.04.2021 at 3:53 AM, mathiau said:

What is Whimsy doing in the black quadrant? (or in the Destroy/Individuality quadrant for that matter) Whimsy will be blue/red or mono red not black

Depends of a definition of Whimsy, I guess - I can see Whimsy as anything except for white, really. I decided on black as Whimsy might be arbitrary, irresponsible an selfish, which stand in opposition to the values of the white Shards. Also, I was searching for pairs that would have problems with inaction due to opposing forces - and Dominion/Autonomy and Honor/Whimsy sound almost as bad as Preservation/Ruin in tat regard

On 1.04.2021 at 3:53 AM, mathiau said:

Yes Wisdom is would be blue, no they doesn't work as an aspect of Change

Demanding things to be better relies on knowing what is better and that's where I think Wisdom might fit in. I admit that it relies on a broad definition of the Change theme, though