Odium's Epigraph Reactions

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

I suppose I may only be fishing for reassurance this time, but did anyone else tear up reading Odium's PoV in epigraph #2?

The previous iteration of Odium was the fully engulfed and embodied vessel of God's divine hatred, hatred being the product of misunderstanding or lack of understanding combined with either fear or insecurity...so...I take that to mean that the previous iteration of Rayse was essentially the divine representation of Adonalsium's personal feelings towards all that exists in the cosmere which they either could not understand or, more likely, had to intentionally force themselves to relinquish command or control of, IE: human self determination and the rights to pursue exploration and growth by...any creative means that even the meanest or least invested creature can come up with by...any means necessary...and...Rayse leaned into it, like the perfect picture of an absolutely unchained sociopath with godlike power who knows his people's hatred but does not feel it personally beyond letting it guide who he targets for violence and in what order.

Taravangian though...Taravangian feels the entire Cosmere's hatred. I would even liken him unto the full opposite side of the spectrum from Rayse.

It is just...very difficult for me to hold any feelings towards such a creature as T.Odium other than sympathy. He's the only animal in the cosmere burdened with involuntarily feeling the aggregated negativity of every other living creature, and he doesn't even have the benefit of being counterbalanced by an innate enjoyment of harming others that his predecessor seemed to possess.

 

Anyway, I'm over it now, but still curious: how did you react? Is T.Odium behaving or reacting to ascension the way you expected? How would you handle being placed in the divine superposition of being able to perceive all of mankind's hatred simultaneously while being incapable of cope with it in any way other than via adopting short-term catastrophic violence or ultra-extreme long-term hands-off strategies? Need to know by Friday please.

[RandomCable he/him]

Quote

Odium knelt, holding a dying child.
...
So many children died here, unseen. And Odium…

That was not my name, he thought. I cannot lose myself in godhood.

Odium wept for them, and—having formed a body from his infinite essence—held one little boy close.

Hmmm... yes...
This scene... It was... Beautiful I suppose. How TOdium was so caring for those who hurt... It almost made me feel sorry for him.

And I appreciated that it showed Odium's power isn't just Hatred but also all powerful emotion.
Just the lines ive quoted above... They gave me the chills. Very very well written and just incredible

Oh yea also all kinds of tiny puzzle pieces of the cosmere floating around. Appreciated that too.

I didn't quite expect Taravangian to react quite like this, I expected either more logic or more hatred, but this seems like a blend of the two sides of him. Kind of similar to Harmony when his powers worked together.
Makes me wonder if Odium is also made of two halves, one of logical hatred and one of emotional hatred?
Indeed, very interesting.

[+Lewis Nethur He/Him]

11 hours ago, RandomCable said:

Hmmm... yes...
This scene... It was... Beautiful I suppose. How TOdium was so caring for those who hurt... It almost made me feel sorry for him.

And I appreciated that it showed Odium's power isn't just Hatred but also all powerful emotion.
Just the lines ive quoted above... They gave me the chills. Very very well written and just incredible

Oh yea also all kinds of tiny puzzle pieces of the cosmere floating around. Appreciated that too.

I didn't quite expect Taravangian to react quite like this, I expected either more logic or more hatred, but this seems like a blend of the two sides of him. Kind of similar to Harmony when his powers worked together.
Makes me wonder if Odium is also made of two halves, one of logical hatred and one of emotional hatred?
Indeed, very interesting.

Totally agree! I thought it was incredibly telling and ironic how the juxtaposition of Hoid's vehemence and hatred for the "Passions" plays out alongside Odium's demonstration of passionate care for the innocent.

Honestly...it immediately made me wonder if Hoid wouldn't be just as valid a vessel for Odium as Taravangian. In trying to refute the passions, he merely demonstrated his own ignorance of how Odium works, as well as his own hatred for hatred...

The magnitude of bias, bad assumption, ignorance, and need for fast action with partial information that has often been manipulated or obfusicated that is playing out on screen is new ground for the cosmere in my opinion.

[CognitiveShadow he/him]

15 hours ago, RandomCable said:

I didn't quite expect Taravangian to react quite like this, I expected either more logic or more hatred, but this seems like a blend of the two sides of him. Kind of similar to Harmony when his powers worked together.
Makes me wonder if Odium is also made of two halves, one of logical hatred and one of emotional hatred?
Indeed, very interesting.

I suspect this is partially a result of Cultivation's boon/curse that she gave to Taravangian as a mortal. I don't think it still impacts him directly, but I do think it played a part in influencing him and preparing him for what it would be like to take up Odium - the clash of logic and emotions in extremes, training one to take control of their mind even when overwhelmed with passion and strong feelings. I think it's why ascending to Odium is a difficult task for anyone.