Who is Discord?

[Transformation]

In Ch 66 of TLM, Telsin speaking to Wax says “…Harmony knows he’s growing impotent, that Discord is near, and so he created you. A sword. Who can act when he cannot.”

It’s an interesting wording and the way I read it initially I assumed that there is a Shard named Discord that is approaching. Placing TLM in the overall timeline I thought of what we learned in RoW regarding the three pure tones of Roshar. There’s a theory that perhaps Odium and Honor could be taken up by a single vessel and the name Discord wouldn’t be a bad one. I could see Dalinar being connected enough to both to hold them. Since Era 2 takes place after Stormlight 5 it’s possible that the new shard of Roshar could have be concerning to Sazed and it could have caused him to begin planning. Plus there’s the whole “being a god lets you see into the future kind of” thing.

The other possibility that people are theorizing is that Harmony will become Discord. There is mention in TLM of Harmony being unstable and that Ruin has more power. But, getting into music theory a bit, the difference between harmony and discord isn’t whether the various parts are the same strength or even in time, but it’s the notes that they are playing. 

I’m not sure. I could see both possibilities  what do y’all think? 

 

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

Actually it's referring to how Sazed isn't quite as in Harmony as he likes to believe due to the imbalance of power of the polarized Shards he holds. The Shard of Ruin is slightly stronger than the Shard of Preservation, which is leading to Sazed having trouble with his nature as 'Harmony' which is reliant on keeping the Shards in balance, when he eventually fails his Intent and name will shift to Discord to show how the Shards in him are no longer in any kind of balance and very bad things will start to happen.

[Kasimir he/him]

29 minutes ago, Transformation said:

There’s a theory that perhaps Odium and Honor could be taken up by a single vessel and the name Discord wouldn’t be a bad one.

I feel like RoW hinted that if that Shard has a name, it would be War.

29 minutes ago, Transformation said:

The other possibility that people are theorizing is that Harmony will become Discord. There is mention in TLM of Harmony being unstable and that Ruin has more power. But, getting into music theory a bit, the difference between harmony and discord isn’t whether the various parts are the same strength or even in time, but it’s the notes that they are playing. 

There are multiple reasons to think this is more likely:

1. The Terris prophecy epigraph in HoA states: "He shall defend their ways, yet shall violate them. He will be their savior, yet they shall call him heretic. His name shall be Discord, yet they shall love him for it." 

2. We have WoBs that the only reason Harmony is Harmony was because of his ability to balance the two Intents as well as he had.

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chasmfriend's friend (Paraphrased)

My friend asked for Brandon to write something about Harmony in her Alloy of Law.

Brandon Sanderson

There's another name Harmony could go by if he weren't able to control the conflict between his halves… *to Zas* Have you guys figured that one out yet? Oh, I'm not going to say anything. You have it on recording… I was pretty sneaky with that one so I don't know if you have it or not.

Which is later clarified as:

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Questioner

Last time you said that his name, if it wasn’t Harmony, it would be something else. Is it Discord?

Brandon Sanderson

This is relevant.

Questioner

It is relevant?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

And also:

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Shallan's Ward

While Sazed holds Preservation and Ruin, could his intent change from Harmony to Discord?

Brandon Sanderson

It is possible

But also to your music theory point, you might find this WoB interesting:

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Questioner

Is there a significance between Harmony and Discord being musical terms? And would they be considered different Investiture tones? 

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and no. So what's going on here is that... it is significant, I chose those two terms very specifically. Not gonna tell you a lot about Discord or things like that, but the idea is that idea of Harmony is in... the sounds are in harmony, they are working together. In Discord they are not. I wouldn't call them Investiture tones, more the way the two tones are responding to each other.

 

[lacrossedeamon]

There's also the theory that the hero of the Terris prophecies aren't Scadrial specific with Dalinar, Vasher, and possibly even Raoden also fitting some of the criteria pretty well. Gotta also remember the parts of the prophecy we've seen aren't the original version.