Cultivation’s senate of shards: Retribution, Redemption, and Responsibility

[WordOfBrandon]

I think cultivation’s goal is to create a senate of shards on Roshar, and it this way cultivate herself and the other shards, so that they can be "United" in cultivating the cosmere.  I think the shards will be the newly introduced Reason (secretly active on roshar) eventually joined with

Retribution = Odium + Honor  | Vengeance for breaking an oath

Redemption = Cultivation + Honor | Forgiveness for breaking an oath

Responsibility =  Reason + Honor |  Accountability for actions with a sense of honor (helping to govern Retribution and Redemption)

 

Honor will be what binds Odium, Cultivation, and Reason.  In fact we have already seen an instance of this at the end of Wind and Truth.  When Taravangian tries to absorb the spren the power of honor within the heralds communicates with honor in Retribution to say their oaths must be respected.  Forming the first senate like ruling of what actions a shard can take.

We all know that cultivation has been playing the long game, and I think she has been doing so with the help of a shard introduced in this book Reason.  It would make sense with cultivation being able to see further ahead then other shards.  Also Taravangian has acknowledged his creation of the diagram had a “touch of divinity” even when was a mortal.  While we believe that the touch of divinity was just cultivation, the connection to his increased reasoning makes me wonder if cultivation connected Taravangian with Reason in some way. 

This paragraph appears on the back of cover of Wind and Truth and obviously all the highlighted words start with Re.  Throughout the book we see our main characters searching for redemption, and trying to take responsibility for their past actions.   Brandon is teasing us with all the Re prefixes, and the suffixes imagined, forged, formed, and born all point to the concept of things being "Remade" or cultivated into a better state.

Quote

As cultivation pulls her final string, and sends the Reimagined King to seek the truth, we must wait and tremble.  The Reforged Spear becomes the hope of spren.  The Reformed Woman pries in corners of a god’s mind.  The Reborn Assassin puts his knife to the throat of a once proud people.

As Tarvangian, Dalinar, and I believe Cultivation have realized… the shards are “broken gods”.  They are too pathological in their intent to make sensible decisions.  Odium’s power wants to rage out of control, Honor’s power cares more about oaths than the spirit of the oath, and I believe cultivation’s power will cultivate anything against all “reason”.  Dalinar’s key realization after ascending is that Honor does not care for people’s self improvement.  Worded another way Honor lacks a sense of redemption and generally has a childish understanding of what it means to be honorable.

Ultimately the other themes in the first few Stormlight books have been Jasnah preaching about replacing kings with a republic structure.  Wit teasing Dalinar that he controls unchecked power, and can wager the fate of a planet.  Dalinar realizing even in his attempts to do good he was sometimes a tyrant, and Szeth realizing that a singular authority dictating right and wrong may not be possible.   Lastly and not least Taravangian’s obsession with the idea that as a former king he should make all the decisions and knows what’s best for everyone.

The next few books will be about defining what Honor means to different people and how it can unite with the shards mentioned above. Additonally I believe some of the radiant orders will be more closely associated with some of the dual shards.  Overall Brandon has managed to create a complex dialogue that talks about the danger of oaths for their own sake what the nature of honor really means!

Edited December 10, 2024 by WordOfBrandon