Shallan, Mishram and Sja-anat

[Eahlendell]

I was reading the preview chapters of The Knights of Wind and Truth yesterday, and there was a line about Shallan speaking to Sja-anat. It seems they’re quite familiar with each other now, which could be a significant development.

I can't shake the feeling that Testament might end up becoming enlightened. This would potentially make Shallan a unique bridge between two different types of Radiants: the traditional Radiants and the enlightened ones.

This got me thinking about Ba-Ado-Mishram and the themes of wind, night, and stone. Mishram was once called the "queen of the gods," which I believe refers to the older gods from Ado's era. I’ve always speculated that there would be sixteen "OP" spren (overpowered spren), but now I’m starting to question that theory. Here’s where we stand:

We currently have four of these powerful spren.

If we count the Unmade, we’d have twelve.

Adding the Sibling, the Nightwatcher, and the Stormfather brings us to fifteen.

So, only one seems to be missing.

However, recent revelations complicate things. We’ve learned that the Sibling is connected to stone, the Nightwatcher is a new creation by Cultivation, and the Stormfather, while powerful, is much younger than the original Wind. This suggests that there may be more than just the four original gods we’ve been considering.

As I write this, I realize that the number four appears repeatedly, even more than sixteen does. For example, we have the four Dawnshards. In the mural at Akinah, it seems that Ado was divided into four parts, and each part was further split into four pieces. Perhaps, then, Ado's "lucky number" is four rather than sixteen.

What do you all think? Could this pattern around the number four hint at something fundamental about Ado or the gods?

[Ninth of the Night]

18 minutes ago, Eahlendell said:

It seems they’re quite familiar with each other now, which could be a significant development.

Not particularly, Sja-Anat has an unexplained soft spot for Shallan, ever since speaking to her in Kholinar and saving her group from the invasion. But Shallan seems to understand her on a subconscious level as well. Regardless they haven't interacted all that much.

27 minutes ago, Eahlendell said:

I can't shake the feeling that Testament might end up becoming enlightened. This would potentially make Shallan a unique bridge between two different types of Radiants: the traditional Radiants and the enlightened ones.

It's a reasonable theory, others have speculated similarly. I'm not fully on board, but considering Shallan's strange kinship with Sja-Anat I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow happens.

29 minutes ago, Eahlendell said:

I’ve always speculated that there would be sixteen "OP" spren (overpowered spren), but now I’m starting to question that theory.

There, uh, might be some flaws in your understanding. Numerology in the cosmere has been discussed extensively, though I can't find the correct topic I've seen before... so I'll do my best to explain a bit. Hopefully one of the more resourceful users can provide the relevant links/WoBs.

16 is only significant due to how many Shards were split from Adonalsium, but it could have been any number. It wasn't thematically tied to the cosmere before the Shattering. And most of the Shards have an associated number, Preservation is 16 for example, which is why the number is so prevalent on Scadrial. Honor is 10, Odium is 9, and we can only speculate on the rest.

There was no "lucky number" ascribed to Adonalsium. There were 4 Dawnshards (weapons) that were used to shatter Ado into 16 pieces. That's what the mural was depicting.

[logicless.bt]

2 hours ago, Eahlendell said:

I was reading the preview chapters of The Knights of Wind and Truth yesterday, and there was a line about Shallan speaking to Sja-anat. It seems they’re quite familiar with each other now, which could be a significant development.

I can't shake the feeling that Testament might end up becoming enlightened. This would potentially make Shallan a unique bridge between two different types of Radiants: the traditional Radiants and the enlightened ones.

Leaving the rest of your theory aside, I think you're a little to the left on this one. Maybe testament will be enlightened, maybe not, but I think that Shallan's role will be similar to Adolin: restoring both the deadeyes' minds and their relationship to the Knights Radiant. They are pretty much our only two main characters who have interacted with spren government, and they're also the most closely tied to deadeyes as a whole. I can see Shallan and Adolin together restoring relations with the spren who resent humanity for the Recreance.

Renarin and Rlain are much more likely to be the bridge between regular and enlightened knights (as well as listeners and humans). Renarin's book is coming up, for one, so he has ample room to explore it. Rlain has been referred to as the Bridger of Minds, for another. They're going to be our first onscreen human-listener relationship and Renarin was shown on a throne in front of the Parshendi in the most recent chapter. They're probably going to explore both dichotomies when it comes time.

[Wanguu He/Him]

I think it would be a little narratively unfortunate / ironic for Renarin and Rlain if Shallan gets an enlightened spren through Testament - I think it's more likely that Renarin and Rlain don't do all that much in this book, and more of the enlightened stuff / 'voidbinding' for the second half. It seems more likely to me that Shallan and Adolin together explore the two halves of a broken radiant bond, and with the Ba-Ado-Mishram stuff, figures out a solution to it.

[Eahlendell]

2 hours ago, Ninth of the Night said:

16 is only significant due to how many Shards were split from Adonalsium, but it could have been any number. It wasn't thematically tied to the cosmere before the Shattering. And most of the Shards have an associated number, Preservation is 16 for example, which is why the number is so prevalent on Scadrial. Honor is 10, Odium is 9, and we can only speculate on the rest.

There was no "lucky number" ascribed to Adonalsium. There were 4 Dawnshards (weapons) that were used to shatter Ado into 16 pieces. That's what the mural was depicting.

If always imagined that the mural was a circle broken into four with each price broken down again. 

[coolsnow7]

On 11/12/2024 at 11:18 AM, Eahlendell said:

I’ve always speculated that there would be sixteen "OP" spren (overpowered spren), but now I’m starting to question that theory.

The “magic number” of Roshar is 10. I would expect 10 “OP” spren. I don’t think we need to assume that all of the Unmade (or the Sibling) were originally OP spren.

On 11/12/2024 at 11:18 AM, Eahlendell said:

can't shake the feeling that Testament might end up becoming enlightened.

I like this idea. Nothing to support it yet, except Sja Anat being Shallan’s best friend, but it would fit nicely.