Why are dragons not ruling the whole cosmere?

[Sythrin]

In the book, we are shown how f*cking powerful, technological advantaged and old the dragons are. And a lot of them, for example xisis, have imperial interests.

The seemingly only limitation that they have, is that they cannot aquire more powers and thereby variaty of powers compared to humans. But to they don‘t seemingly don‘t need. I would be not surprised if they are so much invested that they could repels shardblades (maybe with Nightblood as exception).

[RedBlue]

It appears they do effectively own Yolen and Silverlight.

I suspect the reason they haven’t expanded beyond there (other than economic and cultural influence) is that dragons aren’t the only dangerous thing in the cosmere. They wouldn’t want to mess with a Shard, and prior to FTL, most accessible planets had a Shard in residence. There are also three Dawnshards they don’t control floating around. They may have done a quick risk assessment — is it worth taking control of some primitive backwater planet despite the danger of running into something really nasty? — and decided that isolationism was much safer and more comfortable.

Also, limited numbers and complacency likely have a lot to do with it.

[alder24]

4 hours ago, Sythrin said:

In the book, we are shown how f*cking powerful, technological advantaged and old the dragons are. And a lot of them, for example xisis, have imperial interests.

The seemingly only limitation that they have, is that they cannot aquire more powers and thereby variaty of powers compared to humans. But to they don‘t seemingly don‘t need. I would be not surprised if they are so much invested that they could repels shardblades (maybe with Nightblood as exception).

It was said in the book that dragons decided to withdraw from Cosmere politics and even though many didn't uphold this promise, it probably played a big role in them being overtaken by other races in the long run. It was also said that dragons' biggest power is their followers, they are deities first and foremost and that is their main strength. I would also say that because of their longevity and small numbers, they might not be as inventive and capable of change as other mortal races are, which made them stagnant. Not to mention that they can't be everywhere and they aren't united, those who play in politics are selfish, thus they have no reason to work with others and share control over their dominions. Their technology and artefacts, while impressive, are being overshadowed by Scadrial's tech and as Dajer said, flight is now common in Cosmere. Also, their role as deities is being contested by other entities, like Shards, Aethers or even some Splinters and the constant progress of society redefines what a deity is (see Dalinar and Jasnah's opinion on Shards), which slowly but surely diminishes their main strength. All of this contributed to the fact that dragons don't rule Cosmere. They once were the main player, but no longer are. IotE ch 40:

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“The cities,” he said, “the skyways. The palaces in Shadesmar, beyond the perpendicularity, at Silverlight. Even before we knew that Yolen was the source of all the Shards and of humankind, humans revered you. Your people were once the greatest builders and creators of all the cosmere. Once.”
“It is for the best that we withdrew,” she said softly, pulling her eyes away from the screen. “We caused others to stagnate—or worse, to bleed.”
“And Xisis, your current master?” Dajer said. “Did he withdraw?”
Shards, he knew so much. Officially, all dragons had retreated from political life—they engaged in civil affairs, researched on their own, or kept to their religious duties. And yet, as Dajer seemed to know full well, few of her kin kept to that ideal, except in the loosest interpretation.

ch 45:

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“I don’t have a side,” she said. “If you mean the dragons in general . . . I’m afraid many would be just as quick to exploit you. The best of my kind don’t take any interest in other worlds or politics, so the ones who are out in the cosmere interfering . . . Well, we’re not generally the greedy monsters people like to pretend we are, but the ones who’d show interest in you are a self-selecting crowd.”

ch 46:

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Beyond that, dragons work best through followers, using them like I use my nodes. Starling is nothing without her crew, and Dajer can force her into impotence by threatening to execute them if she does not comply.
Technology has not killed the gods, Dusk, but it has made them smaller.

[Jult]

Contracts may also play some small role in this. Based on the way Starling reacts to the contract that Dajer presents and Ed's comments on it, contracts can be extra binding to dragons. It sounded more than just legally binding; which tracks with how we've seen other heavily invested entities interact with contracts and oaths. Tanavast said in WaT that the Shards were bound by 'divine rules'. Perhaps dragons are also? And they've agreed to certain limits on interfering with Shardic affairs?