The Unknown God?

[TJtheWiz]

So I was re-reading Elantris the other day when I got to the end and was reading the scene where Hoid jumps into the shardpool (this is in the 10th anniversary edition of Elantris). At the very beginning of the scene, it refers to an "Unknown God". I combed through the WoB and this website, but I was unable to find anything which asks about this reference, so I decided I would make a theory or two about who this "Unknown God" is, and see what the community thought about it. The exact quote is below:

"Beneath him, the city of Elantris glowed with a splendid light. Soft, reassuring, the light seemed to ascend high into the sky, to the Unknown God's domain itself." (side note - I'm new here and don't know how to add quotes from books under a drop down bar, so if anyone could explain how to do that, that would be awesome).

So, I think the best theory of who this god is would be the existence of a shard that we have not learned about yet. The way I interpret it is to mean that the "domain" is outer space; we know about 10 shards currently, and all of these are either Splintered or reside on a planet, besides the one Brandon has mentioned that we don't know about yet that does not live on a planet. I think that this Shard fits the bill well for being the "Unknown God." It is also possible that it could be another Shard we haven't learned about yet, but the Shard I referred to is more likely, in my opinion.

I also briefly considered a possible sentient version of Devotion/Dominion put together following their splintering, but we know that Odium has pushed the power into the Cognitive Realm to prevent it from gaining sentience, so that theory is not possible.

Lastly, I feel that this god may be the "anti-Adonalsium" which has been theorized and partially confirmed. In all the books where we have had a chapter from the viewpoint of Hoid, we never hear him refer to the Shards with any reverence or mystery; he knew all of them before the Shattering, and so therefore doesn't feel particularly awed (for lack of a better term) by what they have become. I doubt he would refer to any of the Shards as an "Unknown God" because he knew them all by name, and by the Intent they took up. Therefore, this (maybe) disproves the first theory. Because we do not know much about the "anti-Adonalsium", we can't really support this theory, but I do think that if the "Unknown God" is not a Shard, it must be another entity which is as powerful, if not more powerful, than a Shard. The "anti-Adonalsium" fits the part pretty well.

So, what do you all think? Which theory do you think works the best with the information we know? Also, if there is anymore information that people have regarding this "Unknown God" please share it here.

[Calderis]

The Unknown God is most likely a reference to the God Beyond. 

Quote

Windrunner

Shai refers to an Unknown God, is this at all related to the rocks that fell from the sky that Shai's ancestors carved?

Brandon Sanderson

For her people, there is a relationship. But watch for mentions of the God Beyond in the books. There is more here.

As to the "Anti-adonalsium" that was the current Vessels. 

Quote

Eric

In Secret History we learn the 16 Shards that Shattered Adonalsium. Was that done [on behalf of the anti-Adonalsium force]?

Brandon Sanderson

You’re focusing too much on this idea of an anti-Adonalsium. It—the original question I believe that was asked me was “is there a force that is opposed to Adonalsium” and it left me a lot of wiggle room. In other words, the people who killed Adonalsium, you could say were a force, any person who opposed Adonalsium... What they were trying to get was a “devil” but to do that you must assume Adonalsium was a more Christian-style God, and I haven’t confirmed any of that.

 

[TJtheWiz]

@Calderis Thank you! I guess I need to re-read the Emperor's Soul again, I completely missed Shai refering to the Unknown God. Also, thanks for clarifying the anti-Adonalsium, I guess I misinterpreted what it was before.

Just a quick question; do we have any good theories as to who/what the God Beyond/Unknown God is?

[Calderis]

3 hours ago, TJtheWiz said:

Just a quick question; do we have any good theories as to who/what the God Beyond/Unknown God is?

The God Beyond is a subject that all theories are going to be equally baseless and valid. We're not going to get an answer. 

These are all of the WoBs directly related to the God Beyond 

https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?tags=god+beyond

The Beyond, and the God Beyond, are thing that I believe will never be explained. The God Beyond is the equivalent of God in real life, in that people will debate its existence and it will be impossible to prove either way. The Beyond itself is a true afterlife, separated from the may religions and shards of the Cosmere. 

So I think that Brandon will leave the Beyond up to reader interpretation. We'll see characters who believe in the Unknown God, and we'll probably see other who scoff at the idea. 

[teknopathetic]

My pet theory is that The God Beyond is Ambition. Ambition died, but the Shattering sent invested rock across space. Ambition has been working from beyond the grave to reform itself. 

[Yata]

15 hours ago, teknopathetic said:

My pet theory is that The God Beyond is Ambition. Ambition died, but the Shattering sent invested rock across space. Ambition has been working from beyond the grave to reform itself. 

I believe that doesn't fit with the few informations we have about the God Beyond but I can't say nothing for sure

[Shallan's Ward]

On 12/19/2017 at 8:49 AM, Calderis said:

The God Beyond is a subject that all theories are going to be equally baseless and valid. We're not going to get an answer. 

These are all of the WoBs directly related to the God Beyond 

https://wob.coppermind.net/adv_search/?tags=god+beyond

The Beyond, and the God Beyond, are thing that I believe will never be explained. The God Beyond is the equivalent of God in real life, in that people will debate its existence and it will be impossible to prove either way. The Beyond itself is a true afterlife, separated from the may religions and shards of the Cosmere. 

So I think that Brandon will leave the Beyond up to reader interpretation. We'll see characters who believe in the Unknown God, and we'll probably see other who scoff at the idea. 

To go along with that, I always thought that the god beyond might be an old religion from Yolen, Pre-shattering.

But as @Calderis pointed out, there is no way of actually knowing at this and most likely any point in the future.

Edited January 5, 2018 by Shallan's Ward

[Ammanas]

Could the The Unknown God be Cthulhu?

[Calderis]

36 minutes ago, Ammanas said:

Could the The Unknown God be Cthulhu?

Nyarlathotep

[Walin]

I think that it will be revealed in Era 4. By that time Hoid’s goals will be finished, and Hoid decides to eat some bacon.

This will be the way to know if he has reformed Adonalsium: if it tastes like Top Ramen, or Cup of Noodles. I can’t tell which will tell what.

Oh you guys were talking about the God Beyond. Yeah, Brandon’s probably going to stay ambiguous on that forever. There’s a wob that he wants it to be ambiguous whether there even is one.

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Walin
removed EDIT part because it was relevant in a different topic, not this one

[Calderis]

Found the WoB. Mistborn spoilers 

Spoiler

 

Quote

JWMeep

A question about Goradel. His end was very tragic, and was one of the things that had me in tears. The thing that really twisted the knife into me, is that he died that horrible death thinking that he had failed. When everything he tried to survive failed, his final act was to try to prevent the message into falling into Ruin's hands, but even that was futile. With those who seem to be active in the great beyond, did Goradel ever find out about what his actions helped to bring about? Was he ever thanked for his actions?

Brandon Sanderson

Well... I don't want to speak too much about the great beyond in the books, as in my opinion that level of cosmology is influenced by your own beliefs in the hereafter and in deity. Beyond that, I would rather not speak of what happens to the souls beyond the three Realms, as even Sazed doesn't know that.

Perhaps this will help, however. Like most of the leaders of soldiers in this series (Demoux, Wells, and Conrad included,) Goradel is based on and looks like one of my friends. In this case, it's Richard Gordon. He's read the book and cheered for his namesake's sacrifice and eventual victory. So the REAL Goradel knows.

source

 

 

Thanks @Extesian

Edited January 26, 2018 by Calderis

[The Gecko]

I have an idea, but it has major OB spoilers

I was reading somewhere about what Odium meant when he said "we killed you" before running away

One of the ideas that was said (I will try to find it and who said it) was that Dalinar had not made Honors perpendicularity, but instead kinda began putting Adonalsium back together, and that Adonalsium is only mostly dead and instead some kind of cognitive shadow. Perhaps the unknown God, and why Hoid calls him this, is because he is Adonalsium himself, merely as a shadow. Perhaps Hoid, though he figured it necessary for Adonalsium to die, didn't necessarily want him dead. Perhaps he wishes to gather the things he wants and help put him back together again.

This is my first spoiler tag, I hope it works