Finding Old and New Shards in the Hero of Ages

[Ciridae]

Reading through the epigraphs of each chapter of the HoA  I was surprised to find the names of several known shards. So I went back and reread all of the epigraphs and wouldn't you know it, all of the known shards, with the exception of Ambition can be found in the heading paragraphs. Not all are mentioned by the exact name that we know, but they are all there.

We know Brandon loves to hide secrets in his epigraphs, like how the ending of HoA was secretly the very first thing we read in TFE. So I think there's a reasonable chance that some of the other names or mandates of the remaining shards are hidden in the HoA. However Brandon has said that he does not yes want to canonize the remaining shards and reserves the right to change them if he feels they don't work, which is probably why I couldn't find anything on Ambition, but it's still fun to theorize. But before I mention possible mandates mentioned in HoA, here are the quotes concerning the shards that we already know of (In no particular order and spoilered for size, emphasis mine):

Ruin and Preservation are obviously everywhere in the epigraphs, so I didn't bother finding a specific quote.

Endowment

Spoiler

"A person's genetic endowment may make them a potential Allomancer..."

Devotion

Spoiler

"...that he worried less about true faith in his followers, and more about stability, loyalty, and quantifiable devotion."

Dominion

Spoiler

"They had more spikes than any of his other Hemalurgic creation, and that put them completely under his domination."

Not quite Dominion, but close enough.

Odium

Spoiler

"More than one person reported feeling a sentient hatred in the mists. (...) Some felt peace within it, others felt hatred."

This one is a bit of a stretch as it refers to the mists, but the reference to hatred is there.

Cultivation

Spoiler

"...then finally became a mature artisan who could develop plants and creatures for specific purposes."

No name dropping of Cultivation here, but I think the reference is still clear.

Honor

Spoiler

"...with a hint of Preservation's own soul to give them sentience and honor."

Autonomy

Spoiler

"Only in the throes of a blood frenzy did they have any form of autonomy."

 

Ambition

Like I said above, I couldn't find anything for Ambition other than some discussion on Ruins obsession with finding Atium but I feel like the connection wouldn't hold up to scrutiny.

 

Notice how many of the names are the ending of a sentence. I don't know if it means anything but I thought I'd point it out. I found several possible shardic mandates or intents. I'll start with those that I liked the most. Again, spoilered for size, emphasis mine:

Discovery

Spoiler

"Somehow in his wanderings he discovered stories that no Keeper had ever heard"

Maybe not the best mandate for a shard, and it's in the middle of the sentence but I thought it might still be an intent.

Deception or Betrayal

Spoiler

"...the chunk of Ruin's body that he had stolen away during the betrayal and imprisonment."

"...fearing a deception on the Lord Ruler's part."

This is one of my favorite ones, because it would be such a perfect opposite to Honor. We know not all shards have a perfect diametrical opposite like Ruin and Preservation, but I do think that a shard of deception is very likely.

Purity

Spoiler

"...his power pure and unadulterated by time and breeding."

I mostly think this could be interesting since Purity certainly seems like a divine attribute. Others have also put forward the idea that the planet Purity in the Threnody System was named after a shard.

Experience or Knowledge

Spoiler

"Yet, this knowledge was different from experience, or even the ability to use that power."

These just seem to fit, and others have proposed a shard of Wisdom before.

Survival

Spoiler

"We might very well have been able to find plants to eat that did not need as much light to survive"

This one fits with one of the most common theories about possible shards, based on the WoB that there is a shard that just wants to survive. He later added that this does not mean that survival is necessarily its mandate/intent, but who knows? I do think however, that a shard of Wisdom would fit better with this WoB.

Fortune

Spoiler

"I don't think the people really understood how fortunate they were."

I do not believe that this is a Shard, but rather one of the cosmere's fundamental mechanics like Connection and Identity. But since it was capitalized in Secret History, and I know there are others who do believe that it could be a shard, I put it in here for completion's sake.

In addition I wrote down Envy, Loyalty and Ignorance, but I feel like those wouldn't work as well as mandates, and loyalty is already very close to honor.

I checked if these ideas had been discussed before but i couldnt find any threads that were similar so I really hope this was something interesting for everyone.

Let me know if you find any other possible shards that I might have missed!

[Spoolofwhool]

Nice work.

However, I honestly think that assuming that common words are specifically placed to indicate other shards is a fallacy, and that little to no weight should be taken. 

Also note that the WoB that there is a shard that wants to hide and survive came out four years after Hero of Ages. Since that the intent isn't that action, use of the reference to survival really doesn't mean anything.

[Ciridae]

I don't think it really means anything, at least in relation to other possible shard. It was a place to look, so I looked. Other threads discussing possible future shards had named some things that also appeared in the epigraphs, so I mentioned them as well. But I still think it's very interesting that all the shards we know of are hidden there. I'm reasonably sure it's no coincidence, even if speculation based on that might not yield the most acurate results.