Candidates for The Sixteen

[Mercy]

With the understanding that Dragonsteel Prime is pre-shattering, I was contemplating who could be viable candidates for being involved in the shattering, or as one of the 16 original vessels.

 

The one I feel matches best, so far, would be Kalord Strafen as a possible match for Rayse. He's shown that he is "loathsome, crafty and dangerous" (description of Rayse by Hoid, WoK Epigraphs), and has a history of not getting on with Hoid at all. Additionally, the old Kalord Strafen is described as having a "birth name long forgotten", which could be Rayse (even assuming that the character name wasn't subsequently changed by Brandon). When Rayse appears in Oathbringer, he presents himself with "a golden crown in his powdery hair", which seems fitting for one who was once a king.

 

Alternatively, Bat'Chor as Rayse, based on knowing that Rayse and Hoid were once friends. The route Bat'Chor seems to be heading down would suggest a possible ending to that friendship.

 

Other less developed theories:

 

Tzern as Tanavast, who Hoid thinks is "a fine enough fellow" who "bought me drinks once" (WoR Epilogue).

 

Courteth as Edgli. Seems to have the right amount of selfish disinterest hidden behind a veneer of actually caring. Also doesn't care much for Hoid (Oathbringer Epigraphs).

 

Yoharn as Ati. Very lacking in evidence, but one could assume that Yoharn likely has red hair like his father, which is a known trait of Ati. Known, as a mortal, for being kind and generous 

 

Ryalla as Valor. Some of the little we know is that Valor is female and fond of Hoid.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

Unfortunately I don't think we'll find much in there directly, because at the time Prime was written the Shatterers were planned to be the demigods like Aronack. It's possible that after making that change Brandon then decided to take characters from the original outline and use them as Vessels, but Jerick is no longer planned to be in the final novel, Brandon mentions "you'll see a proto-character who has become Shallan" which seems to imply Ryalla won't either, and Tzern presumably became Dalinar since we know he came from a Dragonsteel character, so it's hard to say if any of these will even be around when it releases. Not to say there's no point in theorizing, we do know Bat'Chor at least will still exist so he hasn't erased the entire cast, Hoid did still get decapitated so some of the events are still planned, and Aronack might still be a weird god dude (he's in Liar, which was probably written after Brandon had decided the Vessels would be mostly mortals). Just a thing to keep in mind when wondering which characters will make the cut.

One curious thing: Slonis, the goddess of mystery and childbirth, is known as "the Mother of the World", and if the Shatterers were meant to be these demigods then she's a good candidate as Aronack's weird murdery cult leader sister. This title shows up in Stormlight for most likely Cultivation, the mysterious withdrawn goddess of life, an immortal and one of the original Vessels. Might she have developed into Koravari, or at least might Brandon have borrowed some of the ideas from Selonis's character when making her?

[jaddeth below]

I feel that Ryalla is going to be Virtuosity  because of her talent for ballads and poems. The one thing I feel is linked to Dawnshards is those four hidden names in Dragonsteel. could those become the names of the Dawnshards. I think that Tzern becoming Honor is so cool especially as the whole link with the Knights Radiant and war would be such a nice Easter egg.

6 hours ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

Unfortunately I don't think we'll find much in there directly, because at the time Prime was written the Shatterers were planned to be the demigods like Aronack. It's possible that after making that change Brandon then decided to take characters from the original outline and use them as Vessels, but Jerick is no longer planned to be in the final novel, Brandon mentions "you'll see a proto-character who has become Shallan" which seems to imply Ryalla won't either, and Tzern presumably became Dalinar since we know he came from a Dragonsteel character, so it's hard to say if any of these will even be around when it releases. Not to say there's no point in theorizing, we do know Bat'Chor at least will still exist so he hasn't erased the entire cast, Hoid did still get decapitated so some of the events are still planned, and Aronack might still be a weird god dude (he's in Liar, which was probably written after Brandon had decided the Vessels would be mostly mortals). Just a thing to keep in mind when wondering which characters will make the cut.

One curious thing: Slonis, the goddess of mystery and childbirth, is known as "the Mother of the World", and if the Shatterers were meant to be these demigods then she's a good candidate as Aronack's weird murdery cult leader sister. This title shows up in Stormlight for most likely Cultivation, the mysterious withdrawn goddess of life, an immortal and one of the original Vessels. Might she have developed into Koravari, or at least might Brandon have borrowed some of the ideas from Selonis's character when making her?

How do you know that Aronack is in Liar of Partinel. I am curious since the unpublished chapters don't see to discuss such a person.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

21 minutes ago, jaddeth below said:

How do you know that Aronack is in Liar of Partinel. I am curious since the unpublished chapters don't see to discuss such a person.

He is in there, king of Rens/Renz.

[jaddeth below]

I can't even remember which chapter he appears in Liar, but thanks for the heads up. That means the story for Dragonsteel will change significantly if he appears in the story 500 years ago before the Eternal War narrative, which Brandon had planned to write.

[KnightoftheCosmere]

I know Aronack, who claims to be Oreon (though we know Aronack is his "true name"), doesn't seem very much like Preservation, but the Oreon and Xeth share strong lore parallels with Preservation/Ruin ie Oreon is White and Xeth is Black, just like Preservation and Ruin.

[jaddeth below]

They do share parallels, because in his introduction Brandon says that he took some things from this book that later became canon in the Cosmere, which could refer to Ruin and Preservation.

[LewsTherinTelescope]

6 hours ago, jaddeth below said:

I can't even remember which chapter he appears in Liar, but thanks for the heads up. That means the story for Dragonsteel will change significantly if he appears in the story 500 years ago before the Eternal War narrative, which Brandon had planned to write.

He's not onscreen, to be clear, but characters mention him a few times and he seems to be doing the same "speeding up the development of one particular nation of which I am head" shtick. He comes up in Chapters 2 and 6, it looks like.