[OB] Hoid and Dalinar Theories

[Kalidar]

Hi all, 

i have two theories I want to get feedback on concerning Hoid and Dalinar. First, from my reading of the first 3 stormlight books I've concluded that Hoid was a conspirator in the down fall of Adonalsium who refused a shard after his defeat. But, do you think he was some other facet of Adonalsium to gain consciousness, as hinted at in WOD when wit claims he was "an idea ripped from a page" (maybe wit gaining sentience after Adonalsium fell), or is he a former resident of Yolen who has gained additional power? Also, in regard to Dalinar in OB, I believe he is manifesting some aspect of Adonalsium when he claims to be "harmony". This idea is supported by the dreams he has had that the Stormfather admits he did not send. I think these dreams are coming from some part of Adonalsium which was not destroyed. Furthermore, it is possible Hoid is leading all of the Shards to Roshqr to reunited into an ultimate God by Dalinar by the will of Adonalsium. 

Thoughts, questions, comments? 

Thanks 

[Scion of the Mists]

We have confirmation that Hoid is originally from Yolen and that he predates the Shattering.  It has been theorized that he may have merged with Adonalsium's cognitive shadow (if such a thing exists).  

Dalinar said "I am Unity" - not Harmony.  Nobody knows what exactly that meant, although people have lots of ideas.  Check out the Oathbringer forums, there are probably a dozen different Unity threads.  

Hoid's mission is still unknown.  Brandon has said that reuniting the shards "is what the books seem to indicate is happening."

[RShara she/her]

As Scion said, Hoid definitely predates the Shattering. There used to be bits of his origin story available to read on Brandon's website but they've gotten lost

Have you read the Traveler excerpt on on Arcanum? It's an unpublished scene that Brandon read from recently, showing a meeting between Hoid and Frost. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/332-jordancon-2018/#e9518 My persona theory is that Hoid is trying to bring someone back from the dead.

 

Yeah, Dalinar said, "I am Unity" not Harmony. Harmony is someone else. We have no idea who or what Unity will turn out to be, but there are plenty of speculations. You can Search them on the top right

[Journey Before Pancakes]

39 minutes ago, Kalidar said:

Furthermore, it is possible Hoid is leading all of the Shards to Roshqr to reunited into an ultimate God by Dalinar by the will of Adonalsium. 

That doesn't seem too likely.  Several of the shards seem to want to abide by the "non-interference" policy, and would therefore avoid the whole situation.  It's also unlikely that the reforming of Adonalsium would take place on Roshar.

As for the rest, most of this has been talked about all over 17th Shard.  Dalinar becoming Unity is something we don't know for sure beyond that it's obviously significant.

Hoid could have meant any number of different things when he talked about being an idea ripped from a page.  He's a pretty big enigma for the most part, beyond some non-cannon unreleased work.

Hoid seems to be one of the least willing conspirators if he was one; based on what has been revealed so far, and how Brandon words his responses (though he leaves plenty of wiggle room).  For example, this WoB:

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/9-calamity-philadelphia-signing/#e7671

[Weltall]

Welcome to the Shard!

We know that Hoid was born well before the Shattering and uses magic that predates it (his Lightweaving and his healing), so he wasn't given life by that event. We don't know exactly how much time passes between his birth and the Shattering but we know that at one point Brandon intended for his origin story to happen about five hundred years before Dragonsteel, the series that will eventually showcase the big event itself. That's subject to change but he's still comfortably older than the Shattering. We also know for a fact that Hoid is the second-oldest person in the Cosmere and only slightly younger than Frost, the oldest. In other words, he's been around since before even the Vessels were born. We do not know what he meant by his claim that he began life as a thought, except that Brandon has confirmed he wasn't breaking the fourth wall and he meant that statement literally.

As for exactly what Hoid is, we really don't know. Brandon has been asked if there's anything of Adonalsium in him (in the same way that the Stormfather merged with the Cognitive Shadow) but Brandon of course gave a Read And Find Out response to that one, at the same time that he acknowledged a common fan theory on what Hoid's up to without confirming that it actually is what he's up to.

Quote

Questioner

So, Hoid was there during the Shattering of Adonalsium. Odium is going around, like, destroying other Shards. We know that Hoid is collecting and has pieces of some of the other Shards.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

Since Hoid was there at the original Shattering of Adonalsium. Is there an echo image of the original Adonalsium in Hoid?

Brandon Sanderson

Uh, that's a RAFO. Here's your card. But it is a valid theory.

Questioner

I have a two-parter on that.

Brandon Sanderson

You can ask me the next part, but it is a RAFO.

Questioner

Is his end goal trying to join as many pieces of Adonalsium together to *inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Um, that, I will give a "that's a very good guess." And that is what the books seem to indicate is happening.

source

So yeah, it certainly looks like Hoid is trying to reassemble Adonalsium but we don't know if that's actually the case. Even if he is, it won't be the endgame of Stormlight Archive because Brandon has been very clear that he intends the series to be readable standalone and it's not the Big Cosmere Crossover, in spite of it being more crossover-y than other works so far. It's the final Era of Mistborn that's going to be the huge crossover and the last story in the timeline. Hoid is going to be a major character there and in the Dragonsteel books all the way on the other end of the timeline.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Weltall

[RShara she/her]

Also this needs to go into the OB spoilers forum, since it mentions OB spoilers.

[Argent he/him]

@Kalidar, posting the same thread multiple times (as well as replying to a thread multiple times in a row, though that hasn't been an issue) is strongly frowned upon, and I ask you to avoid doing that in the future. For now I've simply merged your subsequent threads into this and move it to the Oathbringer Spoiler Board.