The Unmade are Odium's prison; or, Odinalsium

[Shaggai]

I was thinking about the Unmade a bit, and realized a few things. First, they must use up a huge amount of Investiture. Nergaoul and Moelach have auras that can reach across entire kingdoms. They seem to be around the power level of the Stormfather. And there are at least six of them. That's a lot of power. So I started wondering: What if that was how Odium was trapped in the Rosharan system? He's so Invested in it that he can't leave without giving up a vast amount of power. So, to start with I'll list the facts about the Unmade that we know so far, and explain how they fit in.

 

1. They're extremely, extremely powerful spren (or sprenlike beings).
2. There are at least six of them.
3. They each have different powers (Moelach seeing the future, Nergaoul causing the Thrill, Sja-anat corrupting spren).
4. They hate humanity.
5. They're implied to be ancient Parshendi who "gave of themselves to destroy" by taking on vast amounts of Odium's power.

So, how that fits in.

 

1. Each of them would hold a large amount of Odium's power, thereby weakening him and forcing him to stay on Roshar.
2. Since there are so many, they wouldn't become the holders of Odium. Basically, a safety precaution. They would also take up more of Odium's power.
3. This is where Odinalsium comes in. When Adonalsium shattered, each of the Shards created its own magic system. Each Shard had different powers. Something very similar is going on here, with the different Unmade. It's possible that the Unmade will become a source of information for how the shattering worked, or at least how the Shards work.
4. This is the Intent seeping in. They were considered "personifications of different types of destruction." They contain different fragments of Odium's personality, similar to the Shards of Adonalsium. However, Odium's personality is composed mostly of hatred, so they don't have as much variation. Nevertheless, they still have different aspects. But the overall Intent remains. This is why Moelach gives glimpses of the future - it's trying to undermine Odium, but has to do so in an Odium-like way.
5. They "gave of themselves to destroy". But to destroy what? It's usually assumed that they wished to destroy humanity. I postulate that they took on the power of Odium, giving up their selves, in order to destroy Odium. A reverse Resolution, almost. The intentions were similar, at least.

As you see, this theory fits everything we know about the Unmade. Further, it explains why Odium is the Broken One.

 

Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns.

 

The use of "sixteen" implies that it refers to Shards, and the use of "reigns" implies that it refers to Odium. But Rayse likes his Intent. Rayse/Odium would perhaps be the least broken of the Shards. However, if Odium has had a semi-Adonalsium pulled on him, and the Shard proper has relatively little power, he would certainly be broken. He could still harness the Unmade to Splinter Honor, but would have difficulty leaving the Rosharan system.

 

So, what do you think? Am I a complete nutcase who's making up evidence where there is none? Am I the most brilliant person to have existed since the invention of the wheel? And if I'm wrong, where am I wrong?

Edited May 18, 2014 by Shaggai

[shawnhargreaves]

I like many things about this theory.  How would ancient Parshendi have gotten their hands on so much Odium power in the first place, though?

[Shaggai]

I like many things about this theory.  How would ancient Parshendi have gotten their hands on so much Odium power in the first place, though?

 

Probably with the help of Honor. They can already absorb spren naturally. With a Shard to help them, they could have taken quite a bit of power from Odium. It might even have been part of the Oathpact, to which Odium was an unwilling party.

[kaellok]

What if your premise is correct (Odium is bound to the Roshar system because of the Unmade), but through Odium's own actions rather than Honor's or anyone else?  I remember the WoB being fairly specific that the Oathpact was just between the Heralds and Honor, and no one else.

 

On the other hand, Odium may have created Slivers of Hate in order to combat Honor's Heralds.  I'm not sure how easily 6+ could be created, but we've seen something similar happen before.

[Shaggai]

What if your premise is correct (Odium is bound to the Roshar system because of the Unmade), but through Odium's own actions rather than Honor's or anyone else?  I remember the WoB being fairly specific that the Oathpact was just between the Heralds and Honor, and no one else.

 

On the other hand, Odium may have created Slivers of Hate in order to combat Honor's Heralds.  I'm not sure how easily 6+ could be created, but we've seen something similar happen before.

Ah, true. Odium wasn't part of the Oathpact. Then again, Odium could have been tricked, or Honor could have simply helped the Parshendi. I doubt Odium would bind himself to Roshar system without a compelling reason, and there doesn't seem to be one.

[lol_king]

Since Odium wants to be the only shard, and Cultivation is still alive, wouldn't Odium's next goal be to kill Cultivation's holder and splinter it?

[Shaggai]

Since Odium wants to be the only shard, and Cultivation is still alive, wouldn't Odium's next goal be to kill Cultivation's holder and splinter it?

 

Possibly. She's still in the Rosharan system, so it's possible that he could manage it.

[Kadrok]

Brilliant. I love it.

[Argent]

Interesting. This could be on the right track.

[GreyPilgrim]

Very good idea. It seems to fit very well with the evidence you've presented. Basically, you're proposing that somewhere along the line, Odium was Splintered, and each Unmade took up the power of one of these Splinters? I have a couple thoughts about that.

First, a Splinter has its own consciousness, based on what we've seen before. The only Splinters in human bodies we've seen yet are Returned. But one has to die in order to Return, and the Returned are actively created by Endowment. If what you propose is correct, Odium would have been Splintered against his will and would not have given away his power like that. Also, the holders of the Unmade likely didn't die if they were willingly trying to stop Odium, unless their thinking was wrong and that is why they have come into his power and are now doing his work. But there also does not seem to be any way to Splinter part of a Shard's power without breaking all of it unless you are the Shard, as Odium did with Honor, Devotion, and Dominion. But still, cool idea.

[Shaggai]

Very good idea. It seems to fit very well with the evidence you've presented. Basically, you're proposing that somewhere along the line, Odium was Splintered, and each Unmade took up the power of one of these Splinters? I have a couple thoughts about that.

First, a Splinter has its own consciousness, based on what we've seen before. The only Splinters in human bodies we've seen yet are Returned. But one has to die in order to Return, and the Returned are actively created by Endowment. If what you propose is correct, Odium would have been Splintered against his will and would not have given away his power like that. Also, the holders of the Unmade likely didn't die if they were willingly trying to stop Odium, unless their thinking was wrong and that is why they have come into his power and are now doing his work. But there also does not seem to be any way to Splinter part of a Shard's power without breaking all of it unless you are the Shard, as Odium did with Honor, Devotion, and Dominion. But still, cool idea.

I'm not necessarily saying he was Splintered. It might have been possible to do something to siphon the power away instead of breaking it off. If they had already taken on Voidspren (or, in the course of the plan, did so), they could perhaps have had a Spiritual link with Odium, allowing more power to be drawn into them. This is a bit far-fetched, I admit, but we don't have much information as to how Splintering is done and what can be done with Investiture. Allomancers can pull power from Preservation, we know, but that might be simply part of how Leras chose to handle his Investiture.

 

The holders of the Unmade didn't die. By "they gave up their selves", I meant that they became the Unmade instead of whoever they were beforehand.

[Ethan_sedai]

I like how it looks like Odin is going to be a Shard now!