Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him Posted June 22, 2017 Posted June 22, 2017 So, I was thinking.... Most of the shards tend to have some sort of opposite. And there has been discussion on what Odium's opposite is. However, I'm wondering if anyone has looked at it from a perspective of opposite goals instead of opposite characters. For example, You have Ruin and Preservation, who have opposite goals: Destroy, and keep things the way they are. Now so far Odium's goal has been to shatter and essentially remove all other shards. Would that mean that his opposite would be a shard trying to reunite the shards into a single being again? On a similar note, If you were to combine Ambition and some other shard, couldn't you get an entity trying to absorb all of the other shards?
Calderis he/him Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 I feel like if a Shard were to have tried this, it would have been the one to repeatedly inspire the words "unite them" 6
StrikerEZ he/him Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 Yeah, Calderis makes a good point. Plus, there's a WoB out there (Sorry WoB-hunters, searching for them is a pain on mobile) that not all shards have direct opposites, though some do (i.e. Ruin/Preservation). So I doubt that Odium has an opposite. Not to say he doesn't, but I doubt he does (unless you want to count Devotion). Also, I find it highly unlikely that, of the ten (I think) confirmed Shards, none of them have been shown as collecting other shards or having been collected by another shard, which would mean that your collecting shard is one of the six we haven't had confirmed yet and also has collected some of the other five.
Brightlord M. Alhstrom he/him Posted June 23, 2017 Author Posted June 23, 2017 Unless one of the shards we have seen is doing it, be we haven't noticed. Maybe Cultivation? Kinda seems like something along that alley. And Harmony is doing it, in a way... Maybe as Harmony becomes more and more aware of the whole plot, he will realize that the only way to really attain harmony in the world is by reuniting the Shards.
Spoolofwhool Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 I doubt there is. Note that Odium splintering shards isn't directly becuase of the intent of odium, but rather because of how Rayse, its vessel, has chosen to interpret it. Therefore, another vessel of Odium may not have the desire to destroy shards. As such there is unlikely to have a shard which will generally seek for the uniting of shards, but an interpretation of a shard by a vessel could result in that. 1
Ari he/him Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 (edited) 13 hours ago, StrikerEZ said: Yeah, Calderis makes a good point. Plus, there's a WoB out there (Sorry WoB-hunters, searching for them is a pain on mobile) that not all shards have direct opposites, though some do (i.e. Ruin/Preservation). So I doubt that Odium has an opposite. Not to say he doesn't, but I doubt he does (unless you want to count Devotion). Also, I find it highly unlikely that, of the ten (I think) confirmed Shards, none of them have been shown as collecting other shards or having been collected by another shard, which would mean that your collecting shard is one of the six we haven't had confirmed yet and also has collected some of the other five. The WoB said that the remaining shards didn't as neatly sort into pairs of opposites when compared to Ruin and Preservation IIRC, as it was dealing with people speculating as to remaining shard names. So you get shards that are "opposites" grouped together like Devotion and Dominion or Honour and Odium, but they're not quite as polar opposites as Preservation and Ruin were. And then there's the odd situation of shards like Endowment, Ambition, Autonomy, and Cultivation who are out there on their own, or joined up with a pair of shards. Presumably at least some of them are opposites (I would place Ambition tentatively opposite Endowment, for instance) who have managed to avoid this phenomenon: Quote Question Are there a specific reason why opposite Shards tend to end up in the same system? Brandon Sanderson Yep. He's previously made comments that opposites attract, so it could be a metaphysical force similar to electrodynamics where opposite shards find it hard to seperate once they get close to each other. Speaking of which, that gives me an idea about Odium... edit: I also spotted this WoB which is highly relevant: Quote Question What Shard is the opposite of Odium in the sense of the [board? Borg?] Brandon Sanderson There are several that could be considered opposite-- Question I mean in the assimilation sense, you’ve said that Odium doesn’t want to absorb any of the other ones but which one would want to? Brandon Sanderson Oh, which one would want to join with him? Question Or any of them. Brandon Sanderson *pause* I think that *long pause/picks up after next question* I think that if personalities had been different, Honor and Odium, there would have been a very natural pairing, not that they’re opposites but they would have attracted. Which sounds as if the questioner is getting at this idea, but Brandon is stuck thinking of what happened to Harmony, which presumably wouldn't happen if it was part of some Shard's Intent to unite all the other shards. I think what you have to remember is that Odium's plan to smash all the other shards is the means to his Intent, and simply a plan, not necessarily his Intent itself. Edited June 23, 2017 by Ari not double-posting 1
nervousnerd he/him Posted June 23, 2017 Posted June 23, 2017 Yeah Odium just wants to smite things like old testament god. He opposes anyone who he thinks will get in his way. The only reason he concentrated on shattering shards is that they are the only thing that can stop him from working towards his intent and any that come together like Harmony are his worst nightmare.
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