Helwar Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Hi everyone. It’s been a long time since I became aware of the “Cosmere”, and I’ve spent most of the time in these forums (though I do not post much, I like to read you all ). There is one thing that always struck me as weird: The Shattering of Adonalsium, it’s said to have been done by an “opposing force”. As far as I know (and I could be terribly wrong) we know nothing about this force, yet everyone seems to think that’s some kind of “anti-adonalsium”. Another entity as mighty and powerful as him that somehow shattered him. But when I first learned about the shards that sixteen people took up the fragments of Adonalsium the first thing that crossed my mind was: “Hey, those 16 broke a god in Shards and are now having fun being godlike”. Couldn’t it be that the “opposing force that shattered Adonalsium” wasn’t an anti-Adonalsium godlike being but the actual 16 shardholders? We don’t know HOW was Adonalsium shattered, so I have no evidence for and against it… But we do know that they mostly chose their shards. It’s implied on a letter (I think in WoR) that they let Rayse take Odiums shard, fully knowing what it was. Also, neither of the 16 is actually in a hurry to restore Adonalsium. If they were ALL THERE, with all the shards in a single place, and before their intents started to influence them… Why didn’t they try to “fix” Adonalsium? Instead they took their shards and started toying with them in the world, creating their own planets, peoples, magics… I think that it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they shattered Adonalsium on purpose, to take its powers or just because some other reason and the shards were a nice spoil of war. The only thing that I think it’s “against” this theory, is the same letter that we assume is from Cultivation, in wich she says something like they should be careful on Roshar, because they tread lands made by Adonalsium, and she seems to respect him/it. (Sorry I don’t have the exact quote). My answer to this is that you can still respect an enemy, and more so if it’s done in hindsight, when you are in the same position that enemy was. What do you think? Is there anything out there that directly denies this theory? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moogle Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) The respondent to Hoid's letter is not Cultivation, it's from a dragon (probably)! That said, your theory is probably thinking along the right lines. The response to Hoid's letter says: While I mourn for the great suffering Rayse has caused, I do not believe we could hope for a better outcome than this. He bears the weight of God’s own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context. He is what we made him to be, old friend. And that is what he, unfortunately, wished to become. It seems quite likely that Hoid and the dragon (who him/herself now holds a Shard/Splinter, since they are "immortal") were in part responsible for the current batch of Shardholders. Rayse himself also seems to have been involved, given that Odium is what he "wished to become". It isn't much of a leap to assume that the sixteen Shardholders plus Hoid were responsible for the Shattering. Edited July 16, 2014 by Moogle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiosity Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 The theory is certainly plausible, but again, we really don't know much about the Shattering/Hoid/Yolen to say for sure. For this kind of stuff, I usually let other people do the theorizing because I don't like extrapolating from so few data. However something that you said intrigued me… The only thing that I think it’s “against” this theory, is the same letter that we assume is from Cultivation, in wich she says something like they should be careful on Roshar, because they tread lands made by Adonalsium, and she seems to respect him/it. (Sorry I don’t have the exact quote). My answer to this is that you can still respect an enemy, and more so if it’s done in hindsight, when you are in the same position that enemy was. You mean this quote? It's on the Coppermind, right here. Is not the destruction we have wrought enough? The worlds you now tread bear the touch and design of Adonalsium. Our interference so far has brought nothing but pain. I've never thought about Cultivation as the recipient of the Letter, though I would agree with Moogle that it would probably be a Shard (and the dragon part comes from Hoid calling the recipient "you old reptile"). I would say that the 16, along with Hoid and possibly some others (beginnings of the 17th Shard?) were either trying to somehow correct Adonalsium by splitting up the power, or did not approve of Adonalsium in the first place. Or maybe they didn't know what Adonalsium was when they Shattered him, so they then took up the power and learned to respect what he had done. Uh… That last one probably lacks some credibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfalcon Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 This was my take on it. There is a little discussion there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helwar Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Thanks Bloodfalcon, I didn't find your thread when I searched if this was already being discussed. To moogle: I didn't knew there were any dragons. Well, I knew there was ONE in a yet unwritten book. To Curiosity: That's EXACTLY the quote I meant. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurkistan Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Also, it's best to pull the quote.Source Q: Before Adonalsium shattered, was it consciously opposed by something, be it people or another cosmic force? Is whatever opposed it still around?A: Yes. Yes. We've no guarantee (as I've said) that this opposition caused the Shattering, or even played a real role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodfalcon Posted July 21, 2014 Report Share Posted July 21, 2014 Also, it's best to pull the quote. Source We've no guarantee (as I've said) that this opposition caused the Shattering, or even played a real role. We've gotten another book that could count as three books based on length, and I still find this subject to be the most intriguing just for how little we know. We have so much additional information that somehow tells us so little. And to think we could be waiting decades before any of that gets written down... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mail-mi Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 My theory: Odium will be taken care of in the Stormlight Archive, and by the time we get to Mistborn 3, we're going to be dealing with this "opposing force." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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