How do you wish the cosmere to end?

[Sythrin]

While it will be a very long time until we see the end, we can still theorize or hope how the ending will look.

My personell favourite is that the last scene will be how we switch other to Hoid how he sits in front of publicum or any listener and starts with something like: "Let me tell/sing you a story from a long time ago", which eludes to the cosmere as a whole and we get the impression its directed at the reader. (Or if Kaladin becomes a full fledged therapist with a spin of story teller as it is eluded in SA4, than perhaps him in the position.)

I know its kinda cliche and perhaps old fashioned but I love a classical story teller at the end of a story.

Edited May 17, 2024 by Sythrin

[Mags she/they]

I'm not sure how I want the final end to be, but we need an ember-island-players (It's an atla thing) style recap near the end of the series for sure lol.

Edited May 17, 2024 by J. Magi

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

8 minutes ago, J. Magi said:

I'm not sure how I want the final end to be, but we need an ember-island-players (It's an atla thing) style recap near the end of the series for sure lol.

YES

[Mags she/they]

Just now, Through The Living Glass said:

YES

I think in one of the newspaper graphics in Era 2 there's an ad for a Hero of Ages based play, but I'm thinking something on screen (of course) and covering more than just one book/world.

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

Just now, J. Magi said:

I think in one of the newspaper graphics in Era 2 there's an ad for a Hero of Ages based play, but I'm thinking something on screen (of course) and covering more than just one book/world.

That would be so awesome though.

It'd be so interesting to see a different perspective (e.g. scadrial)

[Mags she/they]

16 minutes ago, Through The Living Glass said:

That would be so awesome though.

It'd be so interesting to see a different perspective (e.g. scadrial)

Yeah! It'd be hilarious too of course.

Edited May 17, 2024 by J. Magi

[Through The Living Glass She/They]

2 minutes ago, J. Magi said:

Yeah! I'd be hilarious too of course.

I'm sure you would be. 

[Mags she/they]

11 minutes ago, Through The Living Glass said:

I'm sure you would be. 

adskljfa;lasdjf that was a typo, I meant to say: It'd be hilarious too of course.

lol I'll fix it

[Forts Board]

With a Boom!

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

I hope that Brandon allows others to write other stories in the Cosmere even after he's finished his part in it, while also making sure that no money-grubbing corporations turn it into an undead cash cow. Good thing he has his own company eh?

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

I think the ending of the Cosmere should be akin to the ending of Chapterhouse: Dune. (Spoilers for that book below)

Spoiler

The ending of Chapterhouse introduces a brand new type of character with little-to-no explanation, while our protagonists head off on various other adventures.

I like this type of ending because it drives home the scale and complexity of an entire universe; not every thread needs to be wrapped up, and the story doesn't need to "end" with the books. The Cosmere can continue long past the end of the last book.

That said, it's still important that the overarching story of Adonalsium, the Shards, and Investiture gets some sort of conclusion. I just hope it's not like "everything is solved, and everyone lived happily ever after." Some ambiguity can make the universe continue to feel alive. 

[The Stormfather He/Him]

Ending : Odium + autonomy defeated, most plots resolved but with one completely random and irrelevant tiny mystery unsolved to make all the sharders go crazy.

[Dreamwa1ker she/her]

On 5/20/2024 at 9:37 PM, The Stormfather said:

Ending : Odium + autonomy defeated, most plots resolved but with one completely random and irrelevant tiny mystery unsolved to make all the sharders go crazy.

Oh like (Wheel of Time ending spoilers):

Spoiler

Rand lighting his pipe not with magic but seemingly just willing it to light in the final scene?

I approve. There's always another secret.

Edited June 22, 2024 by Dreamwa1ker

[Adonalsium Help Me]

On 5/20/2024 at 4:27 PM, EdgedancerJacob said:

I think the ending of the Cosmere should be akin to the ending of Chapterhouse: Dune. (Spoilers for that book below)

  Hide contents

The ending of Chapterhouse introduces a brand new type of character with little-to-no explanation, while our protagonists head off on various other adventures.

I like this type of ending because it drives home the scale and complexity of an entire universe; not every thread needs to be wrapped up, and the story doesn't need to "end" with the books. The Cosmere can continue long past the end of the last book.

That said, it's still important that the overarching story of Adonalsium, the Shards, and Investiture gets some sort of conclusion. I just hope it's not like "everything is solved, and everyone lived happily ever after." Some ambiguity can make the universe continue to feel aliveI'm drawn to this type of ending because it underscores the vastness and intricacy of an entire universe; not every narrative thread needs to be neatly tied up, and the story doesn't have to reach a definitive conclusion with the books. The Cosmere can extend far beyond the final book. However, it's crucial that the overarching story of Adonalsium, the Shards, and Investiture reaches some form of closure. I just hope it's not a case of 'everything is resolved, and everyone lived happily ever after.' An ambiguous conclusion can keep the universe feeling dynamic and keep us all intrigued and curious about what's next. 

I like this idea overall. I have always found Cosmere very much a fantasy Dune, with the idea of what happens to the victors in 30,000 years and how the long term affects the story and point of view. 

I believe that, yes, the basic idea of the story is Hoid putting God back together again or making sure he pushes the boulder at just the right moment to make God again.

So I would find the end of the Cosmere and a strange new place where after breaking apart a god by people to take its power, we see that they have also created a new race that was unknown until then, one of gold and one to find the way of the One and all the experiences that a god could never have. We will have massive shard battles, and C-beams will glitter in the dark. As we reach the epic conclusion of all shards and the understanding of humanity Uniting into one giant Sanderlanch across three different series. Our storyteller ponders the next chapter of a god put back together again, now enriched with all the human experiences of life that could not have happened without the shattering.

And with that, Hoid puts down his flute, and we wonder what happens next.

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

It will end with ambiguity, open loops, plot holes, and arcs that yet might be.

If it doesn't, the fans who make the whole operation float will lose interest before Sanderson dies, retires, or formally names a successor who shall take over for him.

The cosmere shall conclude, either delightfully as one of, if not the best, anthologies of all time, or in catastrophic failure as one of, if the not worst, most squandered projects of all time, by 2050 at the latest. The insurers (actuarial science majors) will guarantee that that prophecy comes true unless 100% of them are guaranteed to survive to 100 years old or older, and I challenge anyone to challenge that...

 

[Returned he/him]

I want it to end cleanly, that's all.

Given its scope and the way projects/releases have been approached I fear there is a real danger of the series being overstuffed one way or another, like a TV show that started out great but prefers running for as many seasons as possible rather than telling a tight story. I don't think there is much risk that Sanderson will totally lose the thread or write pure filler but I could see the metaplot getting so complex that either the writing suffers just to explain it.

As for a plot conclusion, I have no idea! There is so much yet unwritten that if I tried to choose an ending it would probably end up being invalidated by the next ten books anyways, so I'm trying to not get too attached to any predictions right now.

[clowncarcrash]

Eh, I'm not sure if I care to think of how it will end because, at the time writing this I don't really see the Cosmere as 1 story, I see it as a setting. Maybe that will change with Mistborn Era 4.

 

I wouldn't mind it keep going as a franchise after Brandon is finished writing, as long as when he's done its a good off-ramp for dedicated readers. I read a lot of comics so that doesn't phase me, but I know there are people that love definitive endings.

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

I feel like the end will feature one of those two options:

-Adonalsium reunited, all Shards recombined by someone. This would nicely echo the end of the first and last Mistborn eras too

-All Shards shattered, the power of Adonalsium forever dispersed, opening the way for a new era in the Cosmere.

I'd spontaneously lean towards 2, but both would be good to me if done well.

 

What I absolutely want, however, is a feeling of closure. I want to close the book and think " Yeah, this is how it should end for those characters." I don't mind whether Brandon spends 100 pages explaining the world after like LOTR, or is vague and open-ended like WoT (well, as long as some stuff is actually suggested), but I want the end to feel like the end.

So basically : Brandon please dont mess it up.

 

On 5/17/2024 at 10:15 PM, J. Magi said:

I'm not sure how I want the final end to be, but we need an ember-island-players (It's an atla thing) style recap near the end of the series for sure lol.

"Wow that's a really good Kaladin cosplay! Too bad your slave brand is upside down."

"It's NOT... whatever."

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

I suspect that the cosmere shall and must end in the establishment of a mechanism of lasting peace and security between worlds. Whether this is by the eradication of several shards, or by the unification of all of them, or by something inbetween remains to be seen however. I'm hopeful though that the hostilities between major shardic worlds will largely begin to taper off once strong transparent understanding of the underlying mechanics of the major future magic systems is widely available (fabrial science, scadrian medallions and excisors, elantrian symbolic programming, ect).

Will there be war? Sure. Sociopathic mistborn who believe themselves to be God and wish to recreate the order of Inquisition to aggregate magical arcana for themselves? Maybe. Shall we learn from all of them and better understand and guide ourselves? Definitely. I'm excited for the future of storytelling. 

[teknopathetic he/him]

Beach Volleyball flashback montage episode followed by a return to the present with an intense final battle.

Edited July 25, 2024 by teknopathetic

[SwordNimiForPresident the sword/that sword]

Heat Death (Our Universe, not theirs).

[BookmasterBoy He/Him]

On 7/25/2024 at 9:04 PM, SwordNimiForPresident said:

Heat Death (Our Universe, not theirs).

Haha, yeah, that's what it seems like with how many new projects he keeps adding 

[SPECTRE120]

I just hope Hoid finally gets his instant noodles.

[smokeesid]

Hoid destroying the existence of every single share so that there can neither be a vessel nor there can be any type of power. 

[Endnighthazer]

I think the final conflict will be between people who want to reunite all the shards (Hoid?) and people who think all the shards should be shattered (kelsier?). Probably one side will be close to achieving its goals by the end. I could see Hoid dying, I think a lot of the big players probably will, while the lesser protagonists probably survive to explore the universes afterwards. I could see Kal or Sig taking over as a new Hoid-type figure. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends with no Shards left