Hoid and Surges

[Cosmer]

Hoid is clearly attempting to get pieces of every magic system available. To what end we aren’t 100% sure yet…

 

I have a few questions as it relates to this:

 

Why did he pick a Cryptic of all the spren available? (That’s assuming he had some control in that choice; maybe he didn’t). 
 

If we believe he’s going after EVERY magic system tied to each shard, how would he get a piece of Odium’s power? He didn’t go after a Voidspren originally, clearly.  
 

And because he didn’t get a Voidspren, or any of the other non-Cryptic Rosharan abilities, do we think he will try to get those somehow to complete his magic gathering (pun intended)?

 

I just can’t imagine he’s thrilled that someone else can lash things and he cannot…

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

19 minutes ago, Cosmer said:

Hoid is clearly attempting to get pieces of every magic system available. To what end we aren’t 100% sure yet…

 

I have a few questions as it relates to this:

 

Why did he pick a Cryptic of all the spren available? (That’s assuming he had some control in that choice; maybe he didn’t). 
 

If we believe he’s going after EVERY magic system tied to each shard, how would he get a piece of Odium’s power? He didn’t go after a Voidspren originally, clearly.  
 

And because he didn’t get a Voidspren, or any of the other non-Cryptic Rosharan abilities, do we think he will try to get those somehow to complete his magic gathering (pun intended)?

 

I just can’t imagine he’s thrilled that someone else can lash things and he cannot…

I believe the Radiant magic system is special in that ideals are required for the power, and so he choose not his favorite spren or abilities, but the ideals he believes he could uphold the best.

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

5 hours ago, Cosmer said:

Hoid is clearly attempting to get pieces of every magic system available. To what end we aren’t 100% sure yet…

 

I have a few questions as it relates to this:

 

Why did he pick a Cryptic of all the spren available? (That’s assuming he had some control in that choice; maybe he didn’t). 
 

If we believe he’s going after EVERY magic system tied to each shard, how would he get a piece of Odium’s power? He didn’t go after a Voidspren originally, clearly.  
 

And because he didn’t get a Voidspren, or any of the other non-Cryptic Rosharan abilities, do we think he will try to get those somehow to complete his magic gathering (pun intended)?

 

I just can’t imagine he’s thrilled that someone else can lash things and he cannot…

Brandon Sanderson has also said that becoming a full Lightweaver has been a long - term goal of Hoid's for a while, and he's very happy he can finally do it. 

[+Oltux72 he/him]

8 hours ago, Cosmer said:

Why did he pick a Cryptic of all the spren available? (That’s assuming he had some control in that choice; maybe he didn’t). 

• Lightweaving
• No oaths but truths. He does not want to be constrained.

8 hours ago, Cosmer said:

If we believe he’s going after EVERY magic system tied to each shard, how would he get a piece of Odium’s power? He didn’t go after a Voidspren originally, clearly.  

I suppose that was the reason he visited Ashyn.

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

19 hours ago, Cosmer said:

Hoid is clearly attempting to get pieces of every magic system available. To what end we aren’t 100% sure yet…

 

I have a few questions as it relates to this:

 

Why did he pick a Cryptic of all the spren available? (That’s assuming he had some control in that choice; maybe he didn’t). 
 

If we believe he’s going after EVERY magic system tied to each shard, how would he get a piece of Odium’s power? He didn’t go after a Voidspren originally, clearly.  
 

And because he didn’t get a Voidspren, or any of the other non-Cryptic Rosharan abilities, do we think he will try to get those somehow to complete his magic gathering (pun intended)?

 

I just can’t imagine he’s thrilled that someone else can lash things and he cannot…

Is he not, perhaps, going after magic from each Shard, but each system? Or just as many Invested Arts as he can? 

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

On 11/9/2025 at 3:44 AM, Oltux72 said:

• Lightweaving
• No oaths but truths. He does not want to be constrained.

I suppose that was the reason he visited Ashyn.

I agree with the truths thing, however he already did have lightweaving

[Returned he/him]

29 minutes ago, Ookla the Nine-Fingered said:

I agree with the truths thing, however he already did have lightweaving

Though it was a different kind of Lightweaving, and the Yolish Lightweaving apparently differs in some as-yet unclear ways from Rosharan.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

1 minute ago, Returned said:

Though it was a different kind of Lightweaving, and the Yolish Lightweaving apparently differs in some as-yet unclear ways from Rosharan.

If you read Dragonsteel Prime, it goes into more detail about Yolish Lightweaving

[Returned he/him]

38 minutes ago, Ookla the Dokja said:

If you read Dragonsteel Prime, it goes into more detail about Yolish Lightweaving

Are the details in Dragonsteel Prime still canonical? For now it's the only source for a lot of information teased elsewhere in Cosmere works but I never remember if it's official at this point.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

21 minutes ago, Returned said:

Are the details in Dragonsteel Prime still canonical? For now it's the only source for a lot of information teased elsewhere in Cosmere works but I never remember if it's official at this point.

It's not canonical, but as explained in the author's note, it exists in a half-canon state, so much of the worldbuilding is canon enough to make a strong, likely educated guess.

[Returned he/him]

23 minutes ago, Ookla the Dokja said:

It's not canonical, but as explained in the author's note, it exists in a half-canon state, so much of the worldbuilding is canon enough to make a strong, likely educated guess.

Lol, so more reliable than the theorycrafting that undergirds ~60% of the most active theorizing here! I should hunt down a copy of Dragonsteel Prime and read it, instead of just meaning to do it as I have been for years.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

4 minutes ago, Returned said:

Lol, so more reliable than the theorycrafting that undergirds ~60% of the most active theorizing here! I should hunt down a copy of Dragonsteel Prime and read it, instead of just meaning to do it as I have been for years.

I believe you can find it here:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/dragonsteel/words-of-radiance-leatherbound/updates/4692?ref=dpbs329&mc_cid=b5b4ac004d/

[Returned he/him]

1 hour ago, Ookla the Dokja said:

I believe you can find it here:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/dragonsteel/words-of-radiance-leatherbound/updates/4692?ref=dpbs329&mc_cid=b5b4ac004d/

I was able to download it, thank you for the link!

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

5 minutes ago, Returned said:

I was able to download it, thank you for the link!

Of course!

[+Oltux72 he/him]

On 11/26/2025 at 6:22 PM, Ookla the Nine-Fingered said:

I agree with the truths thing, however he already did have lightweaving

The Yolish version seems to be drastically inferior.

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

9 hours ago, Oltux72 said:

The Yolish version seems to be drastically inferior.

No, I believe the Yolish version was far more powerful, but hoid was never able to use it properly.