Another Dawnshard Theory (yawn)

[Propagandist]

Hi, so, I have little to back this theory up aside from the fact that Shards can Splinter, and that the vessels used Dawnshards to kill Adonalsium. As well as this simple RAFO'd WoB that doesn't deny the plausibility:

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RShara

So are there Four Dawnshards that each split into four more Dawnshards? Or just four? Are there 16 Shards and 16 Dawnshards?

Brandon Sanderson

This is intentionally vague, I'm afraid. (Sorry.)

 

Here's my gripe with the idea that there are only four Dawnshards, if we assume that there cannot be multiple of the same Dawnshard. I propose that Dawnshards could be split up, you know? Similar to how Shards themselves can break apart into fragments. I think that of the original vessels, each one had to have held one of these Dawnsplinters. So there are at least sixteen Dawnsplinters that may have been consumed in order for the pieces of Adonalsium to take them on. So, yes, there are four Dawnshards and each have a specific command, but there are sixteen Splinters at the least that carry those same commands.

As well, I see a lot of people put the shards into neat little tables based on Dawnshards, but that feels reductive. Every Shard, in a way, uses various Command to fulfill their Intent. They won't fit into these categorizations very well. Not to say that the Shard received wasn't influenced by the Dawnshard you were holding at the time! Because what could, in fact, be true is that there may have NOT been any balance in the Shattering-- there weren't four Dawnsplinters per Dawnshard to make the Shattering a neat, balanced 16 different parts of Adonalsium. Hence why we have some overlap in Intents of Shards, like Ruin and Odium. 

I think Dawnsplinters were what was killing Yolen-- Hoid refers to too many people getting these unrestrained powers in Rhythm of War. Investiture given to Dawnsplinters is what the Sleepless do not want, naturally. I think that it is basically like how metals work on Scadrial-- the Dawnsplinter you have inside of you is a key for the magic, and when you give it Investiture and have an Intent for what the Dawnshard will do, it will perform that Command, but guided by your Intent. Like if you Intend to kill someone and activate the Change Dawnshard, it will perform an act of Change to kill that person. Hence why I think it is so dangerous-- it may not be nuanced enough, and the amount of Investiture you give it changes how powerful the effect is. In a way, all magical effects are "Dawnshards" -- at least, Commands-- or also better seen as Spells, each one with more nuance than a simple Dawnshard. 

 

But that's pure speculation. Going back to overlap in Shards, I can't really tell you all of the Dawnshards and the Ideal sixteen Shards. I have my own theories on what the four Dawnshards are, though, and they're a bit silly and based on, of course, speculation. But that's really all. It's really more of a belief than a theory, I suppose. A man can hope. 

 

TL;DR: Splinters of Dawnshards used. That means there may be many people out there today who are Dawnshards... or Dawnsplinters.

 

[AerionBFII]

Brandons been incredibly tightlipped on dawnshards all we really know about them is that they pre date the shattering and they are what Adonalsium used to create all things. The individuals who shattered Adonalsium used the dawnshards to achieve the shattering and Adonalsium used the 4 Dawnshards to create all things. The individuals who were behind it had different motivations ranging from a desire for power and (more interesting) a belief in the necessity of the action. I always assumed what was killing Yolen was either Adonalsium itself or the force opposing it because Dawnshards are relatively useless on their own. 

I think it makes sense for there to be a limited number of Dawnshards, they're too powerful and they are absolute in their power, this would be undermined if there were multiplemversions of the same Dawnshard. I don't personally see the need for multiple Dawnshards with the same intent. 

I think the difference between Shards is that they are an intent like the make up of a person, removed from the others that balance them out. Dawnshards are commands and are enhancers to magnify power.

 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by AerionBFII

[IndigoAjah]

Personally I think any Dawnshard Command (an Action essentially) can be utilised by any Shard Intent (but to fully realise their power requires the Intent and expanded mind of a Shard - we know it probably works without one though, unless Adonalsium was induced to use them on itself).

 

The end result of these combinations will be variable though, and some Shards will struggle to get a lot out of certain Commands.

Change, the only conformed Command, can vary a lot depending on Intent.. Preservation would be pretty limited, but you can Change something to Preserve it in the long term. Ruin, Endowment, Dominion, Cultivation - these would all have obviously different Colours to the type of Change they would implement, but as mentioned above, almost every Shard's Intent revolves around Change in some way.

That Universal nature of a Command, applicable across Shards and all life rather than just one Group, seems most key to identify further Dawnshards.

 

I quite like Survive as one too, as it's fundamental to Physics (conservation) and Life (the instinct that drives life), just as Change is (Entropy and Evolution). Procreate/multiply another?