Survival Shard

[VirtuousTraveller he/him]

Now that we have an idea about Kelsier's continued involvement in the cosmere, do you think he's the Vessel of the "survival shard?"  Considering "survival" is so connected to his mission on Scadrial, it seems to make sense to me.  The intent of the shard is related to survival, and the fact that it's hiding is only "tangibly" related to the intent.

Hiding = There's always another secret? :-P

EDIT:  If this idea has been presented before, I apologize!

Edited September 26, 2016 by VirtuousTraveller

[Pagerunner he/him]

It's an idea that pops up every now and again, and with good reason. All we know about this Shard is that it wants to hide and survive, and Kelsier is, of course, the Survivor. But I think it's a common case of overthinking, seeing connections where there aren't any. The intent of the Shard is not directly related to surviving. So, it's not quite as you say, where the Intent is about surviving but not necessarily hiding. The Shard isn't about either hiding or surviving, but its holder is smart enough to see what's going on in the Cosmere and trying to stay out of it. (Which doesn't really sound like Kelsier to me. Since he straight-up punched a Shard.)

One theory that I saw in another thread that I liked a lot better is that Frost holds the Survival Shard. He wants to stay out of things (and asks Hoid to do the same), but as a Shard he's strong enough that Hoid will ask him for help against Odium. Furthermore, he's from before the Shattering (which means he can be one of the original Shardholders).

[PallonianFire he/him]

3 hours ago, Pagerunner said:

One theory that I saw in another thread that I liked a lot better is that Frost holds the Survival Shard. He wants to stay out of things (and asks Hoid to do the same), but as a Shard he's strong enough that Hoid will ask him for help against Odium. Furthermore, he's from before the Shattering (which means he can be one of the original Shardholders).

Hmm, I don't know if I've ever considered that Frost might be a Shard. I don't really know why I wouldn't have. Maybe it's cuz his organization is called the Seventeenth Shard (whereas whichever Shard he might hold would be one of 16) or what. Hrm.

[Jondesu he/him]

On 9/26/2016 at 1:50 PM, Pagerunner said:

One theory that I saw in another thread that I liked a lot better is that Frost holds the Survival Shard. He wants to stay out of things (and asks Hoid to do the same), but as a Shard he's strong enough that Hoid will ask him for help against Odium. Furthermore, he's from before the Shattering (which means he can be one of the original Shardholders).

Considering Brandon has confirmed that Frost is not a worldhopper, I would find that very unlikely.  It's not impossible, of course (Sazed hasn't left Scadrial as far as we know), but it would be odd considering the Shard involved, and suspicions that the said Shard may not be on a planet at all.

jW

[ParadoxicalZen he/him]

Nor has it been confirmed that Frost is a member of that organization, only that he has friends in it. IIRC, Frost's 'functionally' immortality was asked about earlier this year and I seem to recall that it was a factor relating to his species, but it is possible he could be holding a Shard.

[goody153]

Quote

do you think he's the Vessel of the "survival shard?"  Considering "survival" is so connected to his mission on Scadrial, it seems to make sense to me.

We don't know the intent of that shard, WoB just said he wants to "stay away" from Odium so it could any shardic intent that is more pacificistic with a smart vessel(maybe).

And the "survive" theme isn't even originally from Kelsier it's from Leras(preservation) he implanted that on Kelsier.

[Argel he/him]

If Kelsier was the original vessel then Leras, Ati, and Hoid should have all recognized him and hr them.

If he picked up the Survival shard later on, then what happened to the original vessel? He/she just gave it up?!? Or Odium splintered it and Kelsier somehow found it and figured out how to unplinter it so he could pick it up despite having never left Scadrial till after he died and being Cosmere unaware until meeting Khriss and Nazh also after his death?!? 

Am I missing something that would make this a plausible theory?

[Pagerunner he/him]

11 minutes ago, Argel said:

If he picked up the Survival shard later on, then what happened to the original vessel? He/she just gave it up?!? Or Odium splintered it and Kelsier somehow found it and figured out how to unplinter it so he could pick it up despite having never left Scadrial till after he died and being Cosmere unaware until meeting Khriss and Nazh also after his death?!? 

Am I missing something that would make this a plausible theory?

Why not? He held Preservation for a time; that's surely going to give him some knowledge to work with. He's also a resourceful guy, as evidenced by how he played the Ire to wind up holding Preservation in the first place. Khriss and Nazh might even keep helping him out. There'd have to be a reason for the transition, but I don't think we have a WoB saying that no other Shards have changed hands, so the possibilities are open. Just like SH or the Southerner medallion tech, we wouldn't know anything about it until we get there.

I agree it's an unlikely theory, but that's because I think it's a misinterpretation of the what little we know of the Shard in question. Not because I don't think Kelsier could find a way to take a Shard that matched well with his personality.

[Magestar he/him]

I think it's more likely that it will happen, then that it has.  It seems like a very likely possibility, even if the Shard's intent is not 'Survival', persay.  Kelsier is so attuned to anything having to do with survival, that he would probably be able to connect with it very well.

The only problem I forsee is that the Shard actually has nothing to do with survival, and the fact that it just wants to survive is more a Vessel thing.

I don't think we know enough about Frost to say he could be the lone Shard who wants to survive. (You know, I'm see why most people call it the Surivival shard.  'That lone shard that just wants to survive' is a bit of a mouthful. )  And I agree that the fact that he has not ever worldhopped is a definite point against that.