*SPOILERS* Theory: Kandra Worldhoppers and the Set

[skaa he/him]

In the San Jose signing, we got an interesting tidbit from Sanderson regarding kandra:

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Q: Is OreSeur… is a member of the same species a worldjumper?

A: Yes, there are several kandra who are worldhoppers.They are usually homebodies, but there are some who have gone off.

Now if you remember, before Paalm's little Feruchemical Steel trick, the kandra believed that they are incapable of gaining Allomancy or Feruchemy. This means it's likely that the kandra that Harmony sent off to inter-Shardworld errands worldhopped through non-Allomantic and non-Feruchemical means. Perhaps they just used Harmony's Shardpool. Or maybe Harmony gave some of them a Shardic gift of Worldhopping.

Anyway, I think it's highly likely that Paalm was one of these kandra Worldhoppers. After all, she is considered one of the most experienced of the kandra, therefore an obvious candidate for such potentially dangerous missions, and she's also very keen on serving Harmony (at least prior to the Wax assignment):

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She was loyal to the Lord Ruler, and then when he was gone, she became loyal to Harmony. Fanatical about it. Insisted on being given mission after mission, and never spent time with the rest of us.

Exploring other worlds would have given Paalm practical knowledge that others on Scadrial (except Harmony) might not know about. This might explain why she knew about microbial infections.

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If a tiny invader enters your blood, Bleeder said, the entire body begins to spin around it, to fight it, to find it and eliminate it. Like a thousand fingers of mist, like a legion of soldiers all too small to see. But what is very interesting is when the body turns upon itself, and these soldiers run wild. Free...

(Though it's possible that this is common knowledge among kandra, who might be able to make in-depth observations of infections and allergies in the bodies they eat.)

If Paalm was a worldhopper, then she probably gained her "trellium" off-world, perhaps while exploring some random desert planet (*hint* *hint*). She may have already been experimenting with "Alien Hemalurgy" even then, perhaps as a backup plan in case her relationship with Harmony goes south.

What's interesting is that, in the end, Paalm may not have been the only kandra who had a beef with how Harmony runs things:

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"What are you doing?" Wax demanded.

"Dying. We decided it! We won't fall again. We found a way out."

Unless, of course, she was suffering from multiple personality disorder, or was being possessed at the time.

(Edit: As Oudeis said below, the suicide mechanism is something all the kandra know how to do, so "We" refers to all the kandra, not just a certain rogue group. That makes everything I said beyond this point more doubtful. But feel free to continue reading, anyway, as I believe they are still valid speculations.)

Come to think of it, since Paalm only seemed to rebel after her fake death, it might be more likely that a group of rogue kandra recruited Paalm after that event. They may even be the ones who originally obtained trellium off-world, and simply gave Paalm a spike she could use.

So, to repeat, I'm speculating that there is a group of rogue kandra who would rather commit suicide than be controlled by Harmony. These kandra may have also been part of Harmony's special worldhopping team, but somehow became disgruntled (or corrupted). Imagine such a group meeting in secret during one worldhopping mission, far away from Harmony's reach, discussing goals that aren't necessarily in line with Harmony's plans.

On the other hand, if there is such a group of rogue kandra, why didn't they help Paalm during her attempts at revolution?

Or did they?

First, it's possible that not everyone in the group agreed with Paalm's plans. But assuming such a group does exist, I can think of two ways they may have helped Paalm. 1) they may have helped in creating her Hemalurgic chimera (or they may have lent her a portion of their existing Hemalurgic chimera army). 2) Some of them may have infiltrated the Set to steer it towards assisting Paalm.

Let's take that second possibility one step further. What if the Set itself is the group of rogue kandra, invisible to Harmony, wearing the bones of corrupt noblemen and employing human criminals (e.g. Miles and the Vanishers, the gunmen who fought Wax and MeLaan, etc.) to achieve their goals?

What if the real Edwarn Ladrian really did die in that accident, and was replaced by a rogue kandra? He'd just be wearing Edwarn's appearance like a man wears a suit...

Like a Mister Suit.

Edited October 17, 2015 by skaa

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

I vaguely remember a WoB somewhere about not all Kandra are allied with Harmony or something. It was either in the ama topic or on TL

[Voidus]

I think Harmony would probably notice if a bunch of Kandra suddenly went rogue, he noticed Paalm pretty quickly anyway.

[ArchonTremaine]

If Paalm was a worldhopper, then she probably gained her "trellium" off-world, perhaps while exploring some random desert planet (*hint* *hint*). She may have already been experimenting with "Alien Hemalurgy" even then, perhaps as a backup plan in case her relationship with Harmony goes south.

 

What's interesting is that, in the end, Paalm may not have been the only kandra who had a beef with how Harmony runs things:

 

 

Unless, of course, she was suffering from multiple personality disorder, or was being possessed at the time.

 

Come to think of it, since Paalm only seemed to rebel after her fake death, it might be more likely that a group of rogue kandra recruited Paalm after that event. They may even be the ones who originally obtained trellium off-world, and simply gave Paalm a spike she could use.

 

So, to repeat, I'm speculating that there is a group of rogue kandra who would rather commit suicide than be controlled by Harmony. These kandra may have also been part of Harmony's special worldhopping team, but somehow became disgruntled (or corrupted). Imagine such a group meeting in secret during one worldhopping mission, far away from Harmony's reach, discussing goals that aren't necessarily in line with Harmony's plans.

 

On the other hand, if there is such a group of rogue kandra, why didn't they help Paalm during her attempts at revolution?

 

Or did they?

 

First, it's possible that not everyone in the group agreed with Paalm's plans. But assuming such a group does exist, I can think of two ways they may have helped Paalm. 1) they may have helped in creating her Hemalurgic chimera (or they may have lent her a portion of their existing Hemalurgic chimera army). 2) Some of them may have infiltrated the Set to steer it towards assisting Paalm.

 

Let's take that second possibility one step further. What if the Set itself is the group of rogue kandra, invisible to Harmony, wearing the bones of corrupt noblemen and employing human criminals (e.g. Miles and the Vanishers, the gunmen who fought Wax and MeLaan, etc.) to achieve their goals?

 

What if the real Edwarn Ladrian really did die in that accident, and was replaced by a rogue kandra? He'd just be wearing Edwarn's appearance like a man wears a suit...

 

Like a Mister Suit.

 

 

It was not only Harmony who could mind control Kandraa, they may have developed the suicide switch in case of a Ruin type situation as well.   Meaning any attempt at mind control no matter the source, rather than being aimed at Harmony in particular.

[skaa he/him]

I think Harmony would probably notice if a bunch of Kandra suddenly went rogue, he noticed Paalm pretty quickly anyway.

Oh, I didn't say he doesn't know about them. He just couldn't take over them, or locate them easily, because they also have trellium spikes.

Why Harmony doesn't tell Wax about it? Well, in that case why did it take a year for Harmony to tell his agents about Paalm going "invisible" and presumably rogue, and only after she has already committed atrocities?

I think Harmony has taken these rogues into account and have included them in his plans, carefully manipulating those who think they are free of him, the same way he manipulates his own agents. He gives away information to his agents only as he sees fit, knowing (via his Shardic precognition) how each chess move will play out. I actually had a different title for this thread when I started writing it: Star Trell 2: The Wrath of Paalm, a reference to my previous theory about Harmony manipulating Scadrians, Star Trell: The Final Frontier. Of course, unlike when I wrote that theory, we now have strong evidence that non-Scadrian Investiture is involved in the Trellist conspiracy, but that only makes me more excited to see Harmony's endgame.

Because I'm sure he knows more about the conspiracy than his enemies think, and unlike Bloody Tan, they don't know they are still puppets.

Edited October 16, 2015 by skaa

[skaa he/him]

It was not only Harmony who could mind control Kandraa, they may have developed the suicide switch in case of a Ruin type situation as well.   Meaning any attempt at mind control no matter the source, rather than being aimed at Harmony in particular.

 

Good point. It's an ability that's useful even outside of Scadrian Shardpolitics, for sure.

 

Edit: Except for the part about being dead, of course.

Edited October 16, 2015 by skaa

[Oudeis he/him]

They did develop it for that reason; MeLaan tells Wayne this, dropping a seed that it's possible so it's a little less out-of-left-field when Bleeder does it. This is something MeLaan knows how to do, and something she says all kandra know how to do. She could also be a rogue kandra and lying, but I do not believe so.

 

Of course, this doesn't invalidate your whole theory, just that one bit of support. "We decided" is the kandra as a whole, not just a group of rogues.

[skaa he/him]

For those who like me totally forgot about that scene Oudeis is talking about, here's what MeLaan said:

"And there’s something else. We can die, if we want."

"What, just like that?"

"Kinda," MeLaan said. "Don’t know if you’ve read the accounts. They’re blurry about this topic anyway, but near the end of the World of Ash, Ruin tried to take over the kandra. Control them directly. Well, TenSoon and those in charge, they were really terrified by that. So they planned, and we all talked. And about a century after the Catacendre, we figured out a way to stop our own lives. Takes a little concentration, but sets the body into a spiral where we just...end"

So, yeah, there goes that part of the theory. It does make me wonder how Harmony feels about this, especially since his servants devised this suicide method after he took charge. Anyway, I hope we'll see in a few months if my speculation about the Set being a group of kandra (and my speculation that Paalm was a worldhopper) bears any resemblance to reality. Edited October 16, 2015 by skaa

[Oudeis he/him]

Keep in mind, Harmony is a God younger than almost every kandra. If anything, he's proof that the powers can transfer hands at times, and he himself is mostly worried about threats of incursions from other Shards (for, as we see, good reason). It took them a century to figure out. Just in case something does come up, if another Shard shows up with the same power to exploit the Flaw, if Harmony falls and his power is taken... it's better to have it ready, now, rather than have something happen and wish they'd prepared.

 

Still, point taken. On an emotional level it might feel like a slap in the face. Still, Harmony strikes me as someone who takes over under only the most dire of conditions, so mostly I expect he's thinking that it doesn't much affect him.

[Ari he/him]

I have to say, I like your theory that Trell influenced Paalm while she was world-hopping for Harmony. That's solid.

 

Also, I totally upvoted you purely for "Star Trell 2: The Wrath of Paalm", lol.

[qarlin he/him]

I think the set (including Wax's uncle) could be Kandra; at least some of them. The memory of Wax going to the bank with his uncle, and the end of AoL seem a bit different than their meeting in SoS; I don't have the book in front of me, but I remember Wax's uncle being more cold and calculating. Not so... jovial and mock friendly.

 

However, I could just be reading too much into it; it could be a facet of his personality that I hadn't seen yet.

 

With rogue Kandra running around, ANY difference in character is suspicious.

[Oudeis he/him]

But recall what Vin says; people change all the time. She suspected Ham because he wasn't posing his philosophical conundra as often; turns out, he was just somber in the face of impending doom. The fact that someone changed in two and a half decades is... honestly, neither reason to think they are or are not replaced by a kandra.

[yurisses]

I just wanted to add that Leslie swears using the God Beyond's name, which adds to the theory.

[AerionBFII he/him]

Love this theory. Spiked while out on duty Worldhopping.

Maybe the "Other Shard" is using her as a test subject or a probe to see if the method is effective and testing Harmonys defenses....

Shard Warfare...               

[Oversleep]

I'd like to see some cross world Shard guerrilla warfare. With Vin vs. Ruin we have seen direct Shardic fight; with Honor&Cultivation vs. Odium we see a one-world war waged with troops; time for two worlds at war, but since we're not at FTL level yet, it would have to be waged by worldhopper guerrila.