Steel Speedster ♂ Posted December 6, 2024 Posted December 6, 2024 There have already been a lot of posts trying to fit the Shards into some system of organization, usually based on the Dawnshards. I'm not really bringing anything new on that front. What I'm interested in investigating is whether the numbers associated with Shard's has any relation to how the Shards might be mapped. First off, a few of WOBs about Shard numbers: Spoiler The Only Joe (paraphrased) Do all shards have a number they're associated with? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) Some do, (most/some) don't. Firefight Portland signing (Jan. 16, 2015) Spoiler Questioner Does each Shard have a favorite, or special, number or color? Brandon Sanderson I would say that there are inclinations but it's not, perhaps, as specific as you are thinking. Bands of Mourning release party (Jan. 25, 2016) Spoiler Questioner I have a theory that each one of the Shards is related to a certain number. Preservation really likes 16, Honor likes 10, and Odium likes 9. Am I onto something? Brandon Sanderson Yes. Oathbringer Houston signing (Nov. 18, 2017) Given these three somewhat contradictory seeming statements, my theory would be that each Shard has an associated number, but it doesn't necessarily show up anywhere in that Shard's motif. So, I've been messing around with fitting the Shards into a table mapped to the Dawnshards like this: Spoiler I'm basing this off of the theory that UNITE, SURVIVE, and CHANGE are three of the Dawnshards (with CHANGE already being confirmed in Dawnshard (the book).) I'm not really interested in debating whether this is the case or not. I'm mainly interested in the numbers aspect, which likely could work with any other system organization. There are a lot of alternate theories, but this is the one I currently subscribe to. If you want to know my reasons, they are given, briefly here: Spoiler - UNITE: from Stormlight. Dalinar hears this a lot. - CHANGE: from Dawnshard. Pretty explicitly indicated to be the Command associated with Rysn's Dawnshard. - SURVIVE: spoken by Preservation in M:SH. Additionally, one Dawnshard is said to be diametricaly opposed to violence and harm, which sounds an awful lot like it would fit this one. All three of these are commands (i.e. ordering something to be done), and all three are printed in all caps. It's by no means irrefutable evidence, but as I said, this is just what I currently think. There are a few Shards whose numbers are known for certain: 16 for Preservation, 10 for Honor, and 9 for Odium. In addition, a couple Shards are not completely confirmed, but possibly hinted at. Namely, 5 for Endowment and 13 for Virtuosity. (WOBs): Spoiler Thought It seems that certain colors and numbers appear frequently in specific Cosmere books, like the number 5 in Warbreaker or red and blue in Elantris. Do these colors or numbers happen to refer to a specific Shard, and if so, would they be consistent across the cosmere? Brandon Sanderson Certain colors and numbers are important in reference to certain Shards. 17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 26, 2012) Spoiler Neon Borealis The story [Yumi and the Nightmare Painter] uses the Fibonacci sequence several times as a recurring element related to art (and the golden ratio). Given that nightmares need "over a dozen" feedings to materialize and the number 13 features heavily on Yumi's rituals, would you say that 13 is related to Virtuosity in the same way that 16 is to Preservation and 10 is to Honor? Brandon Sanderson Wow. Good guess. Secret Project #3 Reveal and Livestream (March 22, 2022) So, if we put those in, we end up with this: Spoiler Moving on to speculation... I am fairly convinced that Ruin's number is 11, as it crops up a lot in regard to Ruin-related things. The 11th metal for example. Another is that Inquisitors were originally given 9 - 11 spikes. Cultivation's number is likely 3, which appears a lot on Roshar alongside 9 and 10. There are 3 Shards, 3 moons, and most significantly, 3 people (that we know of) who were directly granted a boon by Cultivation. This is where I think that my number system really gets some credence. This places Ruin and Cultivation in the same column, which, (because of the order I put the columns,) is the CHANGE column--the one I would have put both in regardless of their numbers. Spoiler Beyond this, I don't think I can predict the specific number of any of the Shards, but I can still try to fit them into a column. The remaining Shards at this point are Dominion, Devotion, Autonomy, Ambition, Whimsy, Valor, Invention, Mercy, and the unknown Shard that wants to hide and survive. That last one seems pretty likely to belong in the SURVIVE column based on that wording. Mercy also seems to fit there the best. Meanwhile, Invention definitely goes in CHANGE. From here on out, most of the Shards could potentially fit in multiple columns but given that the UNITE column is the most open, I'm putting Dominion and Valor in that one, as both seem to fit fairly well. That gives us this: Spoiler (Note: The numbers I assigned these new Shards are random.) That leaves Autonomy, Ambition, Whimsy, and Devotion, with one spot in each column left. At this point, I'll note that the leftmost column seems like it may be related to emotion. The Shards in it are about giving, hatred (who also happens to claim that he is all emotions), and art. Whimsy and Devotion both seem like they could fit in this column, but to me, Devotion has connotations of service (i.e. actions) rather than mainly emotion. Therefore, I would put Whimsy in the first column and Devotion in the second. Autonomy prioritizes the self, so it fits well in the SURVIVE category, while Ambition could be seen as the desire to change something and therefore seems to fit moderately well in the CHANGE column. Our final chart looks like this: Spoiler How this fits each Shard: Spoiler Devotion: UNITE through love. Dominion: UNITE through rule. Honor: UNITE through bonds. Valor: UNITE through your actions. Cultivation: cause CHANGE through growth. Ambition: Desire to cause CHANGE. Ruin: CHANGE by destroying. Invention: CHANGE through progress. Autonomy: Ensure your SURVIVAL. Mercy: Allow others to SURVIVE. [Unknown Shard] (with an intent similar to wisdom): Know how to SURVIVE. Preservation: Ensure that everything SURVIVES. (The other four don't have a defined column theme but do all seem to be about emotion. Whimsy suggests a sense of fun, Endowment is about giving, which is a way to convey emotion through actions, Odium is about hatred (and according to him all extreme emotions), and Virtuosity is about art, which is generally seen as a deeply emotional activity.) (Again, note that Devotion, Dominion, Valor, Ambition, Invention, Autonomy, Mercy, and the unknown Shard could belong to any number in their column.) The biggest thing that's missing is a unifying theme across the rows as well as the columns. At the moment, I don't have any ideas about what this might be, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and let me know what you think! 1
Through the Living Shadow he/him Posted December 9, 2024 Posted December 9, 2024 On 12/6/2024 at 4:55 PM, Speeding Steelrunner said: There have already been a lot of posts trying to fit the Shards into some system of organization, usually based on the Dawnshards. I'm not really bringing anything new on that front. What I'm interested in investigating is whether the numbers associated with Shard's has any relation to how the Shards might be mapped. First off, a few of WOBs about Shard numbers: Reveal hidden contents The Only Joe (paraphrased) Do all shards have a number they're associated with? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) Some do, (most/some) don't. Firefight Portland signing (Jan. 16, 2015) Reveal hidden contents Questioner Does each Shard have a favorite, or special, number or color? Brandon Sanderson I would say that there are inclinations but it's not, perhaps, as specific as you are thinking. Bands of Mourning release party (Jan. 25, 2016) Reveal hidden contents Questioner I have a theory that each one of the Shards is related to a certain number. Preservation really likes 16, Honor likes 10, and Odium likes 9. Am I onto something? Brandon Sanderson Yes. Oathbringer Houston signing (Nov. 18, 2017) Given these three somewhat contradictory seeming statements, my theory would be that each Shard has an associated number, but it doesn't necessarily show up anywhere in that Shard's motif. So, I've been messing around with fitting the Shards into a table mapped to the Dawnshards like this: Hide contents I'm basing this off of the theory that UNITE, SURVIVE, and CHANGE are three of the Dawnshards (with CHANGE already being confirmed in Dawnshard (the book).) I'm not really interested in debating whether this is the case or not. I'm mainly interested in the numbers aspect, which likely could work with any other system organization. There are a lot of alternate theories, but this is the one I currently subscribe to. If you want to know my reasons, they are given, briefly here: Reveal hidden contents - UNITE: from Stormlight. Dalinar hears this a lot. - CHANGE: from Dawnshard. Pretty explicitly indicated to be the Command associated with Rysn's Dawnshard. - SURVIVE: spoken by Preservation in M:SH. Additionally, one Dawnshard is said to be diametricaly opposed to violence and harm, which sounds an awful lot like it would fit this one. All three of these are commands (i.e. ordering something to be done), and all three are printed in all caps. It's by no means irrefutable evidence, but as I said, this is just what I currently think. There are a few Shards whose numbers are known for certain: 16 for Preservation, 10 for Honor, and 9 for Odium. In addition, a couple Shards are not completely confirmed, but possibly hinted at. Namely, 5 for Endowment and 13 for Virtuosity. (WOBs): Reveal hidden contents Thought It seems that certain colors and numbers appear frequently in specific Cosmere books, like the number 5 in Warbreaker or red and blue in Elantris. Do these colors or numbers happen to refer to a specific Shard, and if so, would they be consistent across the cosmere? Brandon Sanderson Certain colors and numbers are important in reference to certain Shards. 17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 26, 2012) Reveal hidden contents Neon Borealis The story [Yumi and the Nightmare Painter] uses the Fibonacci sequence several times as a recurring element related to art (and the golden ratio). Given that nightmares need "over a dozen" feedings to materialize and the number 13 features heavily on Yumi's rituals, would you say that 13 is related to Virtuosity in the same way that 16 is to Preservation and 10 is to Honor? Brandon Sanderson Wow. Good guess. Secret Project #3 Reveal and Livestream (March 22, 2022) So, if we put those in, we end up with this: Reveal hidden contents Moving on to speculation... I am fairly convinced that Ruin's number is 11, as it crops up a lot in regard to Ruin-related things. The 11th metal for example. Another is that Inquisitors were originally given 9 - 11 spikes. Cultivation's number is likely 3, which appears a lot on Roshar alongside 9 and 10. There are 3 Shards, 3 moons, and most significantly, 3 people (that we know of) who were directly granted a boon by Cultivation. This is where I think that my number system really gets some credence. This places Ruin and Cultivation in the same column, which, (because of the order I put the columns,) is the CHANGE column--the one I would have put both in regardless of their numbers. Hide contents Beyond this, I don't think I can predict the specific number of any of the Shards, but I can still try to fit them into a column. The remaining Shards at this point are Dominion, Devotion, Autonomy, Ambition, Whimsy, Valor, Invention, Mercy, and the unknown Shard that wants to hide and survive. That last one seems pretty likely to belong in the SURVIVE column based on that wording. Mercy also seems to fit there the best. Meanwhile, Invention definitely goes in CHANGE. From here on out, most of the Shards could potentially fit in multiple columns but given that the UNITE column is the most open, I'm putting Dominion and Valor in that one, as both seem to fit fairly well. That gives us this: Hide contents (Note: The numbers I assigned these new Shards are random.) That leaves Autonomy, Ambition, Whimsy, and Devotion, with one spot in each column left. At this point, I'll note that the leftmost column seems like it may be related to emotion. The Shards in it are about giving, hatred (who also happens to claim that he is all emotions), and art. Whimsy and Devotion both seem like they could fit in this column, but to me, Devotion has connotations of service (i.e. actions) rather than mainly emotion. Therefore, I would put Whimsy in the first column and Devotion in the second. Autonomy prioritizes the self, so it fits well in the SURVIVE category, while Ambition could be seen as the desire to change something and therefore seems to fit moderately well in the CHANGE column. Our final chart looks like this: Reveal hidden contents How this fits each Shard: Reveal hidden contents Devotion: UNITE through love. Dominion: UNITE through rule. Honor: UNITE through bonds. Valor: UNITE through your actions. Cultivation: cause CHANGE through growth. Ambition: Desire to cause CHANGE. Ruin: CHANGE by destroying. Invention: CHANGE through progress. Autonomy: Ensure your SURVIVAL. Mercy: Allow others to SURVIVE. [Unknown Shard] (with an intent similar to wisdom): Know how to SURVIVE. Preservation: Ensure that everything SURVIVES. (The other four don't have a defined column theme but do all seem to be about emotion. Whimsy suggests a sense of fun, Endowment is about giving, which is a way to convey emotion through actions, Odium is about hatred (and according to him all extreme emotions), and Virtuosity is about art, which is generally seen as a deeply emotional activity.) (Again, note that Devotion, Dominion, Valor, Ambition, Invention, Autonomy, Mercy, and the unknown Shard could belong to any number in their column.) The biggest thing that's missing is a unifying theme across the rows as well as the columns. At the moment, I don't have any ideas about what this might be, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and let me know what you think! What if the first Dawnshard cats gory is smt like Feel? Emotion?
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