King's Twit he/him Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 (edited) Okay, this isn't going to be a real theory, but I wanted to throw an idea out to be discussed, and its partly predicated on the material from the sample chapters, so I needed a thread in the BoM spoiler section. According to the Ars Arcanum, Hemalurgy is "dangerous to the Cosmere". You know what else is dangerous to the Cosmere? Odium. And I think it may be for the same reason. Odium is trapped on Braize (somehow) and the only way he seems to be able to have a direct influence on things outside of Braize is through the Voidspren. But if they can only bond with the Parshendi, that is, on a Cosmere-scale, fairly limited. Hemalurgic Spikes allow Ruin to influence and directly control pretty much anyone and anything, so far as we know, and Paalm had a Spike which somehow seemed to let another Shard (or entity; I haven't given up on you, Rust!) gain the same influence over her. What if the person influencing Paalm is Odium? We know that there was a Kandra worldhopper, and there's speculation that it could have been Paalm. What if she went to Roshar and got herself spiked by one of His voidbringers (if the Parshendi are the voidbringers)? Because of their so-called fluid bindpoints, I would think that Kandra would be one of the easiest creatures in the Cosmere to spike correctly without Ruin's intrinsic knowledge of Hemalurgy. So Paalm comes back to Scadrial with some new spikes and a new voice in her head. Somehow, maybe through experimentation, she figures out how to charge and bind a Spike such that it can grant her Allomantic and Feruchemical abilities. Then she dies and the other Kandra end up with her spikes to study. What if a somewhat amoral and ambitious Kandra (looking at you VenDell) decides that the best way to study the spikes would be to try them out? Now Odium has a new servant who he can continue to study Hemalurgy through, as well as spike at least one other Kandra (assuming that the Kandra who calls herself MeLaan is in on the plan). If Odium can develop an advanced enough understanding of Hemalurgy to successfully spike humans, or create hemalurgic constructs, he could begin to spread his influence across the Cosmere, which would be very dangerous indeed. WOW, that got real tinfoil, real fast. I still think the possibility should be considered, though. Edited December 21, 2015 by King's Twit
Stormgate he/him Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 Although, since you're talking about Scadrial, aluminum foil hats are actually practical. I wonder if Sanderson knew what he was doing at the time.
King's Twit he/him Posted December 21, 2015 Author Posted December 21, 2015 Although, since you're talking about Scadrial, aluminum foil hats are actually practical. I wonder if Sanderson knew what he was doing at the time. It may not have crossed his mind when he chose aluminum to be the Investiture-inhibiting metal (if that's what aluminum does), but it must have when he decided to have everyone walking around with aluminum foil-lined hats.
Stormgate he/him Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 When aluminum becomes cheap, people are going to forgo the hat, making the whole thing out of aluminum. Back on subject, Odium doesn't like investing in planets. Maybe it was Autonomy, or perhaps the mysterious Survival Shard. I'm leaning towards Survival. (I'm just going to call the Survival Shard Endurance)
King's Twit he/him Posted December 21, 2015 Author Posted December 21, 2015 I was arguing that Odium may not need to Invest in planets to do this, He may be hijacking Ruin's system for His own, if that is possible. But I guess for Odium to have something like a God metal, He might need to Invest somewhere. He could see it as a temporary measure, though. A temporary Investment until He can use His new pawns to free Himself from Braize.
Lazarus52980 Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 If there really is a survival shard, maybe Kelsier can pick that one up? THAT would be interesting... 1
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