Almighty's line to Dalinar

[Zas678 he/him]

"Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore"

Hmm. When I first read this line in the book (page 997, during the first/last vision Dalinar has), I assumed the Almighty was talking about shardblades, and talking about distributing them fairly or something like that.

But no. He says "the Shards".

His whole speech is full of Cosmere references. What do they mean?

"This isn't about me. It's about all of them" Slowly a light began to grow dim. Than another.

"Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore." "The Knight Radiants must rise again."

My interpretation? The two lights going out are symbolic of Aona and Skai being killed and having their shards be splintered.

But. I think the Almighty died, and Honor didn't splinter. I think that perhaps a Sliver (maybe a Herald?) took it up and is keeping a hold on it. I think the Almighty wants someone from Roshar to take it up. Possible one of the PoVs (Szeth would make an awesome Honor).

Either that, or that there are other Shards that need new people to take them up. But I think we will see another... what are we calling what happened to Sazed? An Ascension?

Perhaps (but not likely), when he says Unite them, he doesn't mean Alethi, or even Roshar. I think he may be talking about the Shards. He wants the Shards to stop squabbling among themselves (we're looking at you Ati and Leras), and to fight off Odium.

[Chaos he/him]

This is a very interesting interpretation. I like it.

Of course, we don't really know what Shardblades are and how they are related to a given Shard, so it's hard to really say. But the fact that they say "Shards" makes me likely to espouse this theory.

[SOM1else he/him]

I was thinking the same thing but then i went back and Shardblades and Shardplate is capitalized in the book, It could be the SoA but I think it more likely is Sb and Sp

[happyman he/him]

I suspected he was talking about Dawnblades, or something.  But yes, Brandon has a way of saying this which we will interpret incorrectly until book 6.

[Andrew the Great he/him]

I quite like this. And I really don't have many nitpicks either. However, the part about the Radiants rising again does make it a bit more likely that he's talking about Shard-blades/plate. However, they could, in his mind, all be part of the same general thing - the Radiants rising is connected to the Shards themselves or some such.

"Speak again the ancient oaths and return to men the Shards they once bore" also seems more indicative of Radiants with Shard-plate/blades. However, it's possible there are other Ancient Oaths and such that apply to Shards instead of the Radiants and their ideals.

I don't have much else in criticism of it, though. Overall, I think it more likely that Honor is talking about Shardblades/plate, but it is possible that he's talking about Shards, or both at the same time.

[ZeldaDad he/him]

Someone mentioned Szeth's oathstone as possibly being a Shard. Maybe he is the Sliver in your theory that's holding the Shard?

[Truthless he/him]

I feel like there isn't much chance of this referring to the Shards of Adonalsium.

First, there is only possibly one SoA on Roshar which is not held by anyone. Which would make the statement "Return to men the Shard they once bore." Which is not the case. Soooo, Dawnshards. Or some kind of restored form of the Shardblades.

Note - I guess we don't know for sure if Cultivation is held by someone, either. It could be on auto-pilot. But I really know next-to nothing about that particular Shard. And I feel like Shards dying/being killed is a huge deal, and if Odium had done her in, it would be mentioned by now.

It's possible that the quote means that all of the Shards of Adonie need to find new bearers for things to work out. But it just seems contrived. With the Dawnshards being lost, and the Dawnshards being very powerful and important, it makes perfect sense.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Truthless

[Zas678 he/him]

I feel like I was mistaken. Although uniting the planets may be the purpose of some (Hoid?), I think here the Almighty is telling Dalinar to have people use the Shards in the ways of the Kinght Radiants of old. (Remember that scene where they all left and the Shards left their glow?) This could be Dawnshards, but, as the Stormfather says, "without the Dawnshards", which seems to imply they are either broken, or unavailable, or lost. So I think it is return the Shards to their former glory, much like the people of Roshar themselves.

The reason for my former opinion was that it said Shards, which I interpreted as Shard of Adonalsium. But this is not the only way it is used. Several times in the text it is used to reference both Shardplates and Shardblades. (Hardback 281, 333, 346, 354, 355, 410, 526, 527, etc.)

Oh, and I still think that Honor is still being held like Kelsier held Preservation (by Jez?). Who else would be the Stormfather? And there is the whole "original holder of Honor" quote.

[Joe ST he/him]

Interesting, one of the Heralds now holds Honor, that sounds plausible. Nice

[Chaos he/him]

Oh, and I still think that Honor is still being held like Kelsier held Preservation (by Jez?). Who else would be the Stormfather? And there is the whole "original holder of Honor" quote.

I suppose that would depend on a lot of factors, like whether Honor was Splintered, and if so, what forms do those Splinters take.

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

I really like the implications of the initial interpretation here, but I have to agree that I think it's much more WoK/Roshar specific than that.

When I read that portion as the Almighty said "...it's not just about all of them", my thought was the planet for Silent Divine and all of its people, which would also imply the second light was a 3rd planet in the same "solar system" that was populated.

I do like the idea of the lights being Aona and Skai and the Almighty calling on someone to unite the Shards of Adonalsium, but that is a high calling indeed!

[happyman he/him]

I really like the implications of the initial interpretation here, but I have to agree that I think it's much more WoK/Roshar specific than that.

When I read that portion as the Almighty said "...it's not just about all of them", my thought was the planet for Silent Divine and all of its people, which would also imply the second light was a 3rd planet in the same "solar system" that was populated.

I do like the idea of the lights being Aona and Skai and the Almighty calling on someone to unite the Shards of Adonalsium, but that is a high calling indeed!

I actually interpreted that as stating that other star systems would be affected.

On the other hand, I interpreted the Shards as referring only to the magics on Roshar.

I don't see any reason to change these interpretations. There's a lot at stake here, but we have no idea what exactly, or how Odium could be bound or what effect that would have on the Cosmere as a whole. Local politics always trumps international news, after all.