Trelagism and The Purelake Religion

[Plaeggs he/him]

So I was browsing the Coppermind when I came across the page for Trelagism, the religion of the worshippers of Trell. Some background: Trelagists believed that there were two gods, Trell and his healous brother Nalt. They thought that the night was sacred, as they could see the thousand eyes of Trell, the stars. They believed that in the day, Nalt shined his single eye (the sun) on the world, blocking the trelagists from seeing Trell's eyes, as he was jealous of their worship.

 

Now, this strikes me as very similar to the religion described by Ishikk in the Stormlight Archive. They worship Nu Ralik, but they pretend to worship Vun Makak, his jealous brother, the source of all of their misfortunes, to appease him.

 

I think that this is intentional, and that we will see something about this in some of the later Cross-Cosmere books. Thoughts?

 

TL:DR - Religious conspiracy. Purelakian religion is very similar to one of the Scadrian Religions. Expect to see explanation later in the cosmere. 

[Khyrindor he/him]

This has already been noticed. It's probably because of early worldhoppers spreading their religions around.

[DSC01 he/him]

My personal hypothesis is that Trell himself--not a god but a worldhopper--seeded the religions on various planets and included elements that were intended to be a thumbing of the nose at Bavadin. I'm assuming, here, that Bavadin is involved in recent events on Scadrial, and he corrupted Trelagism into Trellism as a small revenge against Trell.

[Stormgate he/him]

If this is true, then apparently, Shard politics is reminiscent of middle school relationships among girls.

[DSC01 he/him]

Well, it's more like this: So, you're an evil Shard, and you want to gain a foothold on another Shardworld. But you don't feel comfortable Investing there and drawing the other Shardholder's attention, especially because this Shardworld is Scadrial, and the Shardholder there is a lot more powerful than any other.

 

Now, you want to directly influence events, not just send some agents in (particularly because the Shard you hold is Autonomy). Well, fortunately, there's a magic system on this planet that might let you whisper into people's minds. The problem is, people who hear voices whispering in their minds are generally just insane. Unless, of course, they're hearing the voice of God. Fortunately, you are a god, so you just need to set up your own religion. Why not just infiltrate an existing one? 

 

And what do you know? A former denizen of your own world was there at some point and founded a religion that is pretty clearly mocking you, just like several others you've heard about from around the Cosmere. Well, wouldn't it be nice to corrupt that little ingrate's religion?

 

Definitely rather petty, but not necessarily middle school girl petty.

Edited November 26, 2015 by DSC01

[Khyrindor he/him]

Except that starting a religion would be against Autonomy's Intent. He wouldn't want to be in power over anyone, he wants to free people from other gods. It seems to me it would be more likely Odium. There was a WoB that said that he left something on every planet, and the Purelake religion and Trelagism both deal with something like hatred or jealousy. Only, the Purelake people seem to take it too well. 

[DSC01 he/him]

I think that Bavadin doesn't necessarily care all that much about other people's autonomy--just his own. I think the Shard's Intent is such that it won't totally warp his personality. Unlike Ruin, which turned a kind man bad, Autonomy is probably a little easier to Hold without changing one's personality, as that seems in line with its Intent. Therefore, a selfish Holder might be perfectly willing to violate others' autonomy in the pursuit of maintaining his own. 

[Moogle]

Except that starting a religion would be against Autonomy's Intent. He wouldn't want to be in power over anyone, he wants to free people from other gods. It seems to me it would be more likely Odium. There was a WoB that said that he left something on every planet, and the Purelake religion and Trelagism both deal with something like hatred or jealousy. Only, the Purelake people seem to take it too well.

 

Ruin had no problem creating something if it meant he could destroy two things later (to paraphrase).

 

In a similar way, I see no reason Autonomy could not create a religion if the goal of it was to overthrow an existing government or the like. Later on, he'd probably change his mind and work to destroy the religion he created, but I see no reason Autonomy couldn't do the same as Ruin.

 

That assumes he has a problem with religion at all - Autonomy seems likely to have a problem with large-scale power structures, but a religion which makes no demands over people's lives could very well be just fine by Autonomy.

 

---

 

I think that Bavadin doesn't necessarily care all that much about other people's autonomy--just his own. I think the Shard's Intent is such that it won't totally warp his personality. Unlike Ruin, which turned a kind man bad, Autonomy is probably a little easier to Hold without changing one's personality, as that seems in line with its Intent. Therefore, a selfish Holder might be perfectly willing to violate others' autonomy in the pursuit of maintaining his own.

 

Shards' Intents do not relate to themselves:

Eric Lake ()

It's a little odd that Preservation would inherently give up its power to fuel Allomancy, because you'd think he would preserve himself, you know? Does that make sense?

Brandon Sanderson

Preservation, as a Shard, is about preserving life, people, and the like. Not about self. No more than Ruin is about destroying self, or Cultivation is about growing herself.

(source)

Edited November 26, 2015 by Ookla the Moonless

[Moogle]

As a friendly reminder, please don't post White Sand spoilers on the public forums. Keep them to the PM thread.

 

Saying "I think X is right/wrong but I can't say why until White Sand comes out" is still a spoiler. It is essentially saying "White Sand says X".