"The Pillars of the Sky"

[Shardcellist]

While rereading The Letter, commonly attributed to Hoid, I noticed this phrase:

 

"For I have never been dedicated to a more important purpose, and the very pillars of the sky will shake with the results of our war here. I ask again. Support me. Do not stand aside and let disaster consume more lives. I've never begged you for something before, old friend. 

I do so now.”

 

Letter and Reply posted for reference:

“Old friend, I hope this missive finds you well. Though, as you are now essentially immortal, I would guess that wellness on your part is something of a given. I realize that you are probably still angry. That is pleasant to know. Much as your perpetual health, I have come to rely upon your dissatisfaction with me. It is one of the cosmere's great constants, I should think. 

Let me first assure you that the element is quite safe. I have found a good home for it. I protect its safety like I protect my own skin, you might say. You do not agree with my quest. I understand that, so much as it is possible to understand someone with whom I disagree so completely. Might I be quite frank? Before, you asked why I was so concerned. It is for the following reason: Ati was once a kind and generous man, and you saw what became of him. Rayse, on the other hand, was among the most loathsome, crafty, and dangerous individuals I had ever met. He holds the most frightening and terrible of all the Shards. Ponder on that for a time, you old reptile, and tell me if your insistence on nonintervention holds firm. Because I assure you, Rayse will not be similarly inhibited. One need only look at the aftermath of his brief visit to Sel to see proof of what I say. In case you have turned a blind eye to that disaster, know that Aona and Skai are both dead, and that which they held has been Splintered. Presumably to prevent anyone from rising up to challenge Rayse. 

You have accused me of arrogance in my quest. You have accused me of perpetuating my grudge against Rayse and Bavadin. Both accusations are true. Neither point makes the things I have written to you untrue. I am being chased. Your friends of the Seventeenth Shard, I suspect. I believe they're still lost, following a false trail I left for them. They'll be happier that way. I doubt they have any inkling what to do with me should they actually catch me. If anything I have said makes a glimmer of sense to you, I trust that you'll call them off. Or maybe you could astound me and ask them to do something productive for once. For I have never been dedicated to a more important purpose, and the very pillars of the sky will shake with the results of our war here. I ask again. Support me. Do not stand aside and let disaster consume more lives. I've never begged you for something before, old friend. 

I do so now.”

 

“I’ll address this letter to my “old friend,” as I have no idea what name you’re using currently. Have you given up on the gemstone, now that it is dead? And do you no longer hide behind the name of your old master? I am told that in your current incarnation you've taken a name that references what you presume to be one of your virtues. This is, I suspect, a little like a skunk naming itself for its stench. 

Now, look what you've made me say. You've always been able to bring out the most extreme in me, old friend. And I do still name you a friend, for all that you weary me. Yes, I’m disappointed. Perpetually, as you put it. 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. My path has been chosen very deliberately. Yes, I agree with everything you have said about Rayse, including the severe danger he presents. However, it seems to me that all things have been set up for a purpose, and if we—as infants—stumble through the workshop, we risk exacerbating, not preventing, a problem. 

Rayse is captive. He cannot leave the system he now inhabits. His destructive potential is, therefore, inhibited. Whether this was Tanavast’s design or not, millennia have passed without Rayse taking the life of another of the sixteen. 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. I suspect that he is more a force than an individual now, despite your insistence to the contrary. That force is contained, and an equilibrium reached. 

You, however, have never been a force for equilibrium. You tow chaos behind you like a corpse dragged by one leg through the snow. Please, hearken to my plea. Leave that place and join me in my oath of nonintervention. The cosmere itself may depend upon our restraint.”

 

While there is a good possibly that that phrase is mere metaphor, a) this seems like a type of hidden clue Brandon Sanderson would enjoy

(The Hero of Ages will bear the fate of the world on his arms)

, and that's not much fun for theorizing.

 

 

My thoughts:

Hoid and the Dragon (going with these as the Writers of the two letters, based on general consensus and implied information) both knew the original Shardholders. Presumably, therefore, they were from Yolen (or, at least, were familiar with Yolen and its inhabitants). They speak of Adonalsium, to my mind, as an individual; the Dragon seems to term him God.

 

It may be possible, then, that (if they exist) the Pillars of the Sky are located on Yolen. To my mind, they would seem as a political or religious center. (i.e. The White House, the House of Servants pre-Breaking in The Wheel of Time, Tar Valon post-Breaking, Urithiru pre-abandonment, Kredik Shaw in the Final Empire, etc.)

 

What do you think? Let open discussion reign!

[kaellok he/him]

An interesting take.  I always assumed that the Pillars of Sky were more of a metaphorical nature referencing the Spiritual Realm.  I think I still do, but I'll explore the idea in my head a bit more before coming to a firm decision.

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

An interesting take.  I always assumed that the Pillars of Sky were more of a metaphorical nature referencing the Spiritual Realm.  I think I still do, but I'll explore the idea in my head a bit more before coming to a firm decision.

I agree with kaellok. People use figurtive language sometimes so we can't read too much into that.

[king of nowhere]

also, if it was simply a center of religious significance, hoid would not be concerned too much. if it is not a metaphor, it must be something upon which the very creation depends. However, I'll go for the metaphor.

[PunSpren he/him]

The first thing that come to mind for me is Stephen Kings "Beams" in the Dark Tower Saga, The beams hold up creation and center on the tower. So If this is indeed a clue of some sort, I think it is more a super structure, something with how the three realms of Physical, Cognitive, and spiritual are held together, or apart.

[Shardcellist]

I'm not saying it's not a metaphor; it probably is. I just noticed this in my latest reread of The Way of Kings and thought it might be interesting to discuss. As a center of politics or religion, these theoretical Pillars of the Sky would be central to Yolen and the Cosmere. That was just one thought; although unlikely, it was all that came to mind. 

@PunSpren, I really like that idea. I haven't read those, but an integral part of the Three Realms in the form of Pillars could prove to be interesting.

[killersquirrel59 he/him]

I agree with kaellok. People use figurtive language sometimes so we can't read too much into that.

 

And how many of you thought that

"The Hero of Ages will bear the fate of the world on his arms"

was just figurative language on your first read through of Mistborn? I know I did. 

[Khyrindor he/him]

If it were a place of significance, wouldn't they be capitalized?