Categorizing Everything: The Shards and Dawnshards Episode

[MistbornMathematician]

We know that many, many of the arcane processes in the Cosmere can be firmly categorized. We have push/pull, internal/external, and physical/mental/temporal/enhancement for metals (and perhaps other magic systems as well), we have Shard connections and percentages thereof (such as with each Surge having some percentage Honor and some percentage Cultivation), and we even have several suggestions of how Shard intents came from the four Dawnshard Intents, such as here. 

I now propose that literally everything arcane in the Cosmere can be put in a table of sixteen (or, for Dawnshards, four), indexed by the internal push/internal pull/external push/external pull and physical/mental/temporal/enhancement splits. I will replace “enhancement” with “spiritual” and  “mental” with “cognitive”, using the Hemalurgic variations because they correspond nicely to the three realms which, as you'll soon see, is highly convenient.

 

Let’s start with the Dawnshards. I propose that they correspond to physical/cognitive/spiritual/temporal, and separately correspond to internal pushing/internal pulling/external pulling/external pushing. We don’t have enough information to really speculate on the internal-external or push-pull polarities, but we can say that Change fits quite well with Temporal. 

If we check Dawnshard theories, a lot of people agree that one Dawnshard likely governs feeling, thinking, free will, or something along those lines. Common words are “Live”, “Feel”, “Think”, “Choose”, or “Decide”. Most people also think that there’s an opposing Dawnshard to Change, being something like “Exist” or “Continue”, or something to limit Change, being something like “Obey” or “Rules”. Others think that there’s something with life itself, calling it “Live” or “Be” or “Exist”. Then there’s people who think there’s something with Investiture, being “invest”, "connect", “empower”, or “soul”. I agree with most of that — I think there’s likely an “Exist” Dawnshard, which causes things in the Physical Realm to physically exist, a “Feel” Dawnshard, which causes the perception of sapient things to generate the Cognitive Realm, and an “Connect” (in the spiritual way) Dawnshard, which causes souls to exist, Investiture to connect to people, and the Spiritual Realm to exist as one big mass of Connection. The Change Dawnshard would be responsible for, on a Cosmere-wide scale, allowing Investiture to travel between the three realms and time itself to flow, as has been proposed in the past. It would also be different from the rest (since there's no real "Change Realm"): something we know is true:

Spoiler

Curtis

Could you write something about Dawnshards that we don't/won't know?

Brandon

One Dawnshard is different from all the rest. 

Words of Radiance release party (March 3, 2014)

So this theory of Exist/Feel/Connect/Change does correspond very well to physical/cognitive/spiritual/temporal, but let’s be honest here, we came up with these Dawnshards to match, so it really means nothing. It would be far more compelling if they also happened to correspond with internal pushing/internal pulling/external pulling/external pushing, but we don’t have evidence of that yet. 

As such, let’s put a pin in this, and move on to the bigger thing this post will attempt to categorize: Shards. 

 

To avoid Yumi spoilers, I’ll refer to the spoiler Shard as X (and the other, perhaps more accurate, describing word as Y). I'll also assume the Wisdom/Prudence/Survival Shard exists, and I'll call it Prudence. So we have the Shards: Ambition, Autonomy, Cultivation, Devotion, Dominion, Endowment, Honor, Invention, Mercy, Odium, Preservation, Prudence, Ruin, Valor, Whimsy, and X. 

Spoiler

X is Virtuosity, and Y is "artistry", Virtuosity's main Intent. 

The push-pull law is Cosmere-wide (I remember a WoB on this, but I couldn't for the life of me find it), so if we make the guess that opposing Shards form a push-pull pair, let’s start with the one confirmed opposing pair of Shards: Ruin and Preservation. Both have a strong case for being Temporal, as Ruin is associated with entropy and Preservation is associated with resisting entropy, and them being External would make thematic sense, as their Intents are far more Cosmere-wide than most. We also see that A-Cadmium and A-Bendalloy, which slow down and speed up time, respectively, in that regard would correspond to Preservation and Ruin, and are also Temporal and External. So let’s say that Preservation is the External Pulling Temporal Shard, and Ruin is the External Pushing Temporal Shard. 

The other semi-known pair, Devotion and Dominion, as per this WoB, is also notable for Devotion having a kind of opposition with Odium. Devotion and Dominion seem set up as a very similar pairing to Ruin and Preservation, so I will assume they form a push-pull pair, and suggest that the semi-opposition with Odium means it's off-by-one from a push-pull pair from Devotion. The closest would be in the same physical/cognitive/spiritual/temporal region, so we’ll go with Dominion being an internal-external pair with Odium and a push-pull pair with Devotion. Odium definitely seems Cognitive and Internal, and A-zinc inflames emotions and is Pulling, so I suggest that Odium is the Internal Pulling Cognitive Shard and, therefore, Dominion is the External Pulling Cognitive Shard and Devotion is the External Pushing Cognitive Shard. 

Now, let’s check out some Feruchemical elements — specifically, the Spiritual ones, as some Spiritual elements definitely seem to be associated with certain Shards. Honor may correspond to Connection, and thus F-duralumin, making it the Internal Pushing Spiritual Shard, and if Autonomy does indeed correspond to Identity, as is thematically appropriate, it would then correspond to F-Aluminum, making Autonomy the Internal Pulling Spiritual Shard. This opposing nature does seem to check out, as Honor binds things together while Autonomy makes them different (and she is “is driven to divide off from the rest of [the Shards], go her own way”, according to Sazed), so they make a believable push-pull pair. 

While we’re on the topic of pairings, what’s the true opposing Shard to Odium? What’s Internal Pushing Cognitive? I suggest Mercy. Mercy is kind of similar to Devotion (Devotion was even theorized to be Mercy, before we even knew Mercy was a Shard), akin to how Dominion and Odium share several similarities, and Mercy decidedly opposes Odium’s hatred. Mercy may even have directly come into conflict with Odium during Ambition’s shattering, but the exact role Mercy played is unknown. Regardless, I’ll suggest that Mercy is the Internal Pushing Cognitive Shard, filling out the four Cognitive Shards. 

Moving on, let’s look for more prospective push-pull pairs. The remaining Shards are Ambition, Cultivation, Endowment, Invention, Prudence, Valor, Whimsy, and X. Prudence could oppose either Whimsy or X, as X can be compared to Y, but I propose that Prudence and Whimsy form a push-pull pair and Prudence and X form a one-off push-pull pair, like Odium and Devotion. This would force the three of them to be Physical shards. Whimsy and Prudence seem quite Internal, and X could definitely be External, but for who’s Pushing and who’s Pulling, we’ll have to come back later.

Now, let’s go back to Temporal. As options, we have Ambition, Cultivation, Endowment, Invention, and Valor. Without relying on previous Dawnshard theories, aside from Change being the Temporal Dawnshard, we see that Cultivation (being described as “Change, regardless of where it leads” by Odium and slightly curated change by herself) fits perfectly. So what’s Cultivation’s opposing Shard? I think that it’s definitely not Endowment or Valor. Comparing Ambition and Invention, Invention seems much more tied to Change, and Invention could also be viewed as “artificial change” as opposed to Cultivation’s “natural change”, so I am comfortable saying Invention and Cultivation are the Internal Temporal Shards. As F-gold heals, and is Internal Temporal Pulling, I feel somewhat confident in saying Cultivation is the Internal Pulling Temporal Shard and Invention is the Internal Pushing Temporal Shard.

Moving back to Spiritual, we have Ambition, Endowment, and Valor. Endowment’s Intent involves giving gifts or bestowing powers, and moreover Awakening is the art of putting Investiture into an inanimate object and brining it to life, which does correspond well with FH-nicrosil, and A-nicrosil can also be viewed as bestowing power upon a target. It’s a tenuous connection, but I’ll put Endowment as the External Pushing Spiritual Shard. To oppose Endowment, I suggest Ambition, as Ambition is about consolidating power to exert one’s will over others, as opposed to distributing power to others to do with as they wish, and so I’ll put Ambition as the External Pulling Spiritual Shard. How could Ambition correspond to Fortune or Destiny? Honestly, I don't really think it does. Maybe the idea of looking towards the future, trying to become the best and most powerful that you can be? That would be quite ironic seeing as Ambition had the shortest future of any Shard.

Finally, this puts Valor as the External Physical Shard opposing X. I’ll be honest, unless Valor’s Intent isn’t exactly “valor”, similar to Odium also involving non-hatred emotions and X being closer to Y, this one doesn’t make a ton of sense. Perhaps Valor can be considered function-over-form in a way that X is more form-over-function. I suppose this does fit quite well with X being External Whimsy, since it would make Valor External Prudence, but it is a large assumption to think that Valor's true Intent might be more "practicality" or "utility".

So who’s Push and who’s Pull? Because AFH-tin deals with senses, while AFH-pewter deals with strength, I’ll say that Whimsy and X are Pull, like tin, and Prudence and Valor are Push, like pewter. This is the most tenuous connection so far, so I would not personally take a lot of store in it.

This gives us a final categorizing of:

PHYSICAL	Pushing	Pulling		Pulling	Pushing	COGNITIVE
External	Valor	X		Dominion	Devotion	External
Internal	Prudence	Whimsy		Odium	Mercy	Internal
Internal	Honor	Autonomy	Cultivation	Invention	Internal
External	Endowment	Ambition	Preservation	Ruin	External
SPIRITUAL	Pushing	Pulling	Pulling	Pushing	TEMPORAL

At this point, I will “fix” this table, and take stock of all of its patterns. If it is remotely correct, it will be consistent, and hopefully will also share patterns with the Dawnshard categorization above.

So let’s start with opposing push-pull pairs:

Valor and X: This makes sense, if Valor doesn’t exactly mean “valor” and instead is more like “practicality” or "utility", as suggested above, which would properly oppose Y.

Prudence and Whimsy: This makes a lot of sense, as Prudence is thinking through things while Whimsy is not really thinking at all.

Dominion and Devotion: This is (semi) canonical.

Odium and Mercy: This makes a lot of sense, as hating things and being merciful to them are entirely different.

Honor and Autonomy: This makes sense, as Honor binds things together and makes them obey rules, while Autonomy splits things apart and breaks rules. 

Ambition and Endowment: This makes sense, as Ambition is about gathering power and using it while Endowment is about giving power out for others to use.

Cultivation and Invention: This makes sense, if you look at their change from the natural/unnatural and willing/forced perspectives. 

Preservation and Ruin: This is canonical.

 

Not bad. Let’s check how the proposed one-off push-pull pairs are doing:

Whimsy and Valor: This makes sense, if Valor is indeed “practicality” or "utility", as Whimsy isn't very practical or useful at all.

Prudence and X: This makes some sense, perhaps in the “STEM vs performing arts” sort of way.

Dominion and Mercy: This makes a lot of sense, as controlling and Dominating something is very rarely a form of Mercy. 

Odium and Devotion: This is (semi) canonical.

Honor and Ambition: This makes a little sense, as Honor is about following the rules even when it disadvantages you, while Ambition often demands you break the rules for your own advantage. 

Endowment and Autonomy: This doesn’t make much sense. Autonomy endows things with power and makes them her avatars, but it’s a stretch. Endowment is also fairly Autonomous, as she refuses to help Hoid and thinks Shards should all stay separate.

Cultivation and Ruin: This makes a lot of sense, as both want change, but Cultivation wants “positive” change while Ruin wants “negative” change. 

Preservation and Invention: This makes some sense, as Invention often includes an element of “out with the old, in with the new”, and definitely is an element of change. 

 

There’s one pairing that doesn’t quite hold up. There’s an emergent pattern I noticed here, where Shards often display the Intent of the other Shard in their internal/external pair. So let’s check those out:

Valor and Prudence: We know nothing about these Shards.

X and Whimsy: Whimsy we know nothing about, but X definitely acted in a “whimsical” matter, wandering around the Cosmere and 

Spoiler

Shattering itself.

Dominion and Odium: All we know of Dominion is that the Skaze are quite hateful, but Odium definitely exhibits the desire to dominate. 

Devotion and Mercy: Aside from thematic similarities, Devotion’s voice in her Perpendicularity was extremely merciful.

Honor and Endowment: Honor very famously endowed some famous people with powers, but admittedly not moreso than many Shards. Bonds do endow people with powers, though, and they are highly associated with Honor. Endowment, meanwhile, does believe that Devotion and Dominion deserved what they got because they broke the rules, which is something, but not much.

Autonomy and Ambition: We don’t know much about Ambition showing Autonomy, aside from potentially minding its own business before Odium showed up, but boy oh boy do we see Autonomy displaying a ton of Ambition. 

Cultivation and Preservation: Both share an interest in creation and protection, but this is also quite weak.

Invention and Ruin: Ruin is quite inventive, but this is very weak.

 

Three out of eight aren’t particularly strong, which isn’t great but isn’t absolutely terrible. Certainly when it does hold, it tends to hold very well, but this isn't particularly convincing in and of itself. 

 

So now, let’s go back to the Dawnshards, and “plug them in”. 

Let’s look at Change. What’s the “truest” Shard of Change? Odium seems to claim Cultivation is, but Ruin claims that he is, saying “Life is change, and I represent that change”, and I personally believe Ruin on this one, so I'll make Change the External Pushing Dawnshard. 

Similarly, Honor must surely be the “truest” Shard of Connecting, which would make Connect the Internal Pushing Dawnshard. 

For Feel, I think Odium is the clear choice as the “truest” Shard of Feeling, which would make Feel the Internal Pulling Dawnshard, and that would then force Exist to be the External Pulling Dawnshard. This makes X the “truest” Shard of Existing, which I think would make both Hoid and Brandon very happy. 

This then gives us a full “history” of the Shards, if we assume that the Physical/Cognitive/Spiritual/Change split happened first. 

PHYSICAL	Pushing	Pulling		Pulling	Pushing	COGNITIVE
External	Valor Exist, then Change	X Exist, then Exist		Dominion Feel, then Exist	Devotion Feel, then Change	External
Internal	Prudence Exist, then Connect	Whimsy Exist, then Feel		Odium Feel, then Feel	Mercy Feel, then Connect	Internal
Internal	Honor Connect, then Connect	Autonomy Connect, then Feel	Cultivation Change, then Feel	Invention Change, then Connect	Internal
External	Endowment Connect, then Change	Ambition Connect, then Exist	Preservation Change, then Exist	Ruin Change, then Change	External
SPIRITUAL	Pushing	Pulling	Pulling	Pushing	TEMPORAL

Checking these against the suggestions here, this does align somewhat, though the most notable difference is Preservation not being Exist, then Exist — at least, at the end of the day, Preservation ended up having Exist as the second split, but the notion of having Ruin and Preservation as a push-pull pair does prevent that entirely. 

Coming up with some kind of thematic justification for each of these:

Valor, if "practicality" or "utility" more closely aligns with the Intent, is about changing to match existence, doing what works in a way that makes sense.

X, as Y more closely aligns with the Intent, is about the true purpose of existence (as someone like Brandon might see it, that is). 

Prudence is about connecting with existence, understanding it and acting accordingly. 

Whimsy is about feeling existence out, doing whatever takes your fancy.

Dominion is about imposing your feelings upon an area or people, bending them to your will.

Devotion is about changing how you act based on your feelings, with empathy and the desire to serve. 

Odium is about raw, unfettered feeling.

Mercy is about feeling a connection with something, and then acting accordingly. 

Honor is about pure connection, being bound to rules and bound to each other.

Autonomy is about having your own feelings, despite your connection to others.

Endowment is about connecting with things, and changing them through that connection. 

Ambition is about taking your connections and seizing what exists? I don't know about this one, I'll be honest with you.

Cultivation is about change in accordance with one's feelings, letting things evolve how they see fit.

Invention is about change from observed connections, creating new things from existing principles.

Preservation is about imposing your will upon change, halting it. I also don't know about this one. 

Ruin is about the purest essence of change. 

 

There are a couple more emergent patterns now that I'll note: 

Change and Exist oppose each other, as do Feel and Connect.

With this, we see that the two Shards we know much about whose second Dawnshard split opposes their first both do not want to follow the command of their first Dawnshard: Preservation does not want things to Change, instead preferring that they remain stationary, and Autonomy does not want things to Connect, instead preferring that they remain separate. Perhaps Mercy would prefer that things not Feel, and Valor would prefer that things...not Exist? I'll be honest, I'm not feeling that last one. That sort of concept would honestly work better with X, as Y is about making things that don't exist and X did in fact do that thing I spoilered earlier. If we did swap X and Valor, though, then that would make "the true purpose of existence" something far more mundane and less Brandon-y, and we would likely also have to swap Prudence and Whimsy to match the other patterns, and I don't see how Exist->Connect and Exist->Feel would work particularly well for Whimsy and Prudence. Perhaps Valor actually does want to stop things from existing because it's the nihilistic "pragmatic" thing to do. Perhaps this pattern is entirely accidental and I'm just reading too much into things as, debatably, I've been doing this entire time. 

 

The final pattern we'll look at is flipping over the Dawnshard axis: We've looked at the external-internal and push-pull oppositions, so now let's compare pairs of Shards across the Physical-Temporal and Cognitive-Spiritual oppositions and see how closely related they are.

Valor and Ruin: If Valor is, in fact, secretly desiring the end of all existence, that direction works. Going the other way, Ruin does also claim to be practical and pragmatic, saying that he's inevitable, necessary, and outright beneficial. If Valor is really Valor, then, well, this one makes zero sense.

X and Preservation: Y is often a form of preservation, and Preservation definitely finds things that withstand the test of time (like truly great Y) beautiful. 

Prudence and Invention: Thematically, both deal with reality and thinking about it the right way in order to come up with the "right" solution. Just with Invention, that solution is something new. We don't know much about the Shards themselves, though. 

Whimsy and Cultivation: We don't know if Whimsy likes to cultivate things, but Cultivation definitely lets things follow their whims when growing. 

Dominion and Ambition: You rarely find ambition without the desire to dominate, and you never find the desire to dominate without at least some ambition.

Devotion and Endowment: Giving powers to people does align with Devotion's Intent, and Devotion's desire to help and serve may be somehow related to the unusually high endowment of Investiture that Elantrians have. This one's weak, though.

Odium and Autonomy: Odium is stated to want to remain pure, which definitely aligns with Autonomy's Intent. He also rewards those with great Passion, who stand out and prove themselves -- very much like Autonomy. Autonomy, meanwhile, definitely seems to hate anything that doesn't go her way, and is bitterly envious of anything or anyone that beats her in any way, such as how she wanted all of Scadrial just because they were technologically advanced and because she was intimidated by Harmony (at least, if you believe Shai).

Mercy and Honor: If we go with the idea that Mercy wants everything to stop Feeling, they do align somewhat during Honor's decline, where he cared more for the oath or bond itself than the meaning or virtue behind it. But this is weak.

 

All in all, an interesting pattern, but not one that'll convince you or me that this is all correct. If anything, the recurring issues with the Physical quadrant make me pretty convinced that I've done something wrong somewhere. 

 

So, to sum up, my suggested Shard and Dawnshard tables:

PHYSICAL (EXIST)	Pushing	Pulling		Pulling	Pushing	COGNITIVE (FEEL)
External	Valor Exist, then Change	X Exist, then Exist		Dominion Feel, then Exist	Devotion Feel, then Change	External
Internal	Prudence Exist, then Connect	Whimsy Exist, then Feel		Odium Feel, then Feel	Mercy Feel, then Connect	Internal
Internal	Honor Connect, then Connect	Autonomy Connect, then Feel	Cultivation Change, then Feel	Invention Change, then Connect	Internal
External	Endowment Connect, then Change	Ambition Connect, then Exist	Preservation Change, then Exist	Ruin Change, then Change	External
SPIRITUAL (CONNECT)	Pushing	Pulling	Pulling	Pushing	TEMPORAL (CHANGE)

	Pushing	Pulling
External	Change	Exist
Internal	Connect	Feel

 

I have no solid evidence for the vast majority of this. Especially the "Valor is secretly Utility and is also the ultimate final BBEG of the Cosmere that wants total annihilation" bit which has precisely zero justification aside from these patterns which, I must remind you, I have essentially made up.

As such I am open to any and all suggestions because I doubt I'm more qualified to speculate than you.

 

 

EDIT:

I have encountered this WoB which, in the framing of "the Exist, then Change Shard likely is nihilistic and wants everything to stop existing", seems to be compelling evidence that Prudence is actually this shard: 

Spoiler

Paleo (paraphrased)

Is Wisdom a Shard? If so, how bad does it want to survive?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

There is a Shard with a similar intent. The Shard has realized that survival might not be the most desirable/important.

Footnote: Paleo later asked Brandon for clarification on this one because he couldn't quite remember the survival part when he wrote it down. Brandon stressed again what the Shard has realized.
Stuttgart signing (May 17, 2019)

This, however, seems to largely contradict the notion that Whimsy and Prudence are internal. Moreover, it goes against the very Sandersonian idea that art and beauty are the truest purpose of existence. I would be strongly remiss if I didn't at least mention this, though. 

Edited October 12, 2023 by MistbornMathematician
added new WoB

[Atlas333]

I just want to start by saying that this is an incredibly impressive theory, so much so that I can't wrap my head around all the details, so I'm just going to stick to what I do understand. 

My main suggestion is about Preservation's placement on the chart. I think your reasoning is very solid about it being in the temporal section, but something doesn't seem right to me that it isn't "exists, then exists." 

Additionally, there's this quote in Secret History when Sazed takes up the shards that could be seen as evidence that Preservation and Ruin aren't a push-pull pair. 

Quote

Kelsiere stood in awe of the way they combined. He'd always seen these powers as opposites, yet as they swirled around Sazed, it seemed they actually belonged to one another. 

Also, I've always thought that invention and ruin were opposites (create and destroy). I don't have much evidence for this, though. 

So, if I had to suggest changes, it would be to swap preservation with x and then swap x with invention if that makes sense. The only problem is that this probably messes up more than it "fixes." For example, this would mean that preservation is now the opposite of valor. Although x could be seen as a form of change, so I do think that fits. 

Still, great theory overall.

[Argenti he/him]

On 9/8/2023 at 1:19 AM, MistbornMathematician said:

On 9/8/2023 at 1:19 AM, MistbornMathematician said:

Preservation

Change, then Exist

Why would Preservation change first? Preservation doesn't do change, I always put Ambition under change (Internal change) 

[MistbornMathematician]

Firstly, apologies for my delay in responding. I've been quite busy lately, but I really should have checked back in sooner. Anyways,

On 9/27/2023 at 2:52 PM, Atlas333 said:

My main suggestion is about Preservation's placement on the chart. I think your reasoning is very solid about it being in the temporal section, but something doesn't seem right to me that it isn't "exists, then exists." 

I agree. It definitely feels quite "off". I suggested that a possible explanation is Shards whose secondary Dawnshard split formed a push-pull pair with their first were "rebels" against the initial Command, but that is more of an excuse than anything else given that Autonomy rebelling against Connect is something like four or five big assumptions deep and we know absolutely nothing about whether Mercy is rebelling against Feeling or, most speculative of all, that Valor is rebelling against Existing. Something like an overcorrection to a Command does make some kind of thematic sense, where the second Command's opposition to the first causes something like a slingshot effect, but there's certainly no in-world justification for any of it. What you pointed out here, though:

On 9/27/2023 at 2:52 PM, Atlas333 said:

Additionally, there's this quote in Secret History when Sazed takes up the shards that could be seen as evidence that Preservation and Ruin aren't a push-pull pair. 

Quote

Kelsiere stood in awe of the way they combined. He'd always seen these powers as opposites, yet as they swirled around Sazed, it seemed they actually belonged to one another. 

feels to me to be something of a much more grounded possibility. I'd thought that Ruin and Preservation were definitely a push-pull pair, but like you said, perhaps they're Change-Change and Exist-Exist, and there's some sort of "double negative" relationship there which makes them appear to be opposites, yet belong together. There's an argument to be made that this is just how push-pull pairs work, or that this is a result of Ati and Leras being so close to each other for so long, but it definitely opens up the possibility that Ruin does oppose something else, like Invention or Cultivation. 

On 9/28/2023 at 1:36 PM, Argenti said:

Why would Preservation change first? Preservation doesn't do change, I always put Ambition under change (Internal change) 

Primarily, because I was working under the strict assumption that Ruin and Preservation were a push-pull pair. Preservation also does seem distinctly Temporal, which almost certainly is associated with the Change Dawnshard. As Atlas pointed out, though, perhaps that's not something we should take for granted.