Somethings wrong with Odium.

[Frustration he/him]

I've noticed something that doesn't add up, and has causes me to wonder, is Odium actually Odium. Odium(the word) is intense hatred, not something I've really seen from him except maybe against the other shards. Furthermore by WoB Odium(Shard) wants to splinter the other shards to be the guy on top. Interestingly that reasoning seems to reflect Ambition, which if you look at where Odium has been he leaves traces of Ambition in the cultures there, Shu-Dereth on Sel, and Vorinism on Roshar both talk with awe about Ambition. So either

1. Odium isn't Odium but instead Ambition this has two versions, 1.Ambition won the Odium Ambition fight, and Odiums vessel was the one killed, or Odium actually took up Ambition as well.
2. Ambition(Vessleless) is following Odium for some reason I can't understand

[RShara she/her]

Hatred can be hot or cold. It can be calculating and patient and careful. Odium's a tactician, not just a hot-headed warrior.

[Honorless he/him]

I think that's more Rayse, the Vessel than Odium.

It is really a shame that Ambition's dead though. Of all the Splintered Shards, this is the one whose Intent sounds the most intriguing and whose background I'd have loved to have dug in to.

[+Invocation]

42 minutes ago, Honorless said:

It is really a shame that Ambition's dead though. Of all the Splintered Shards, this is the one whose Intent sounds the most intriguing and whose background I'd have loved to have dug in to.

Same. I've always mourned Ambition for the fun that Shard would have brought to the Cosmere.

Also, I agree with RShara that it's probably Rayse doing his thing. He did specifically seek to become Odium, so he probably had an idea of this plan from the beginning.

[Honorless he/him]

It seemed, from Endowment's letter that Uli Da herself might've been dangerous as a Vessel, and not just because of the Intent of the Shard

And she did give him a fight... RIP Ambition

[Weltall]

15 hours ago, Booknerd said:

Odium isn't Odium but instead Ambition this has two versions, 1.Ambition won the Odium Ambition fight, and Odiums vessel was the one killed, or Odium actually took up Ambition as well.

Odium has always been Odium since the Shattering and we know that Rayse refuses to take up other Shards because they would change his nature and he doesn't want that. Ambition's Vessel defeating Rayse and taking up Odium makes no sense because Edgli is aware that the former is dead and Uli Da was 1) female and 2) a Sho Del. Odium's projections are neither of these things. And Hoid and Frost both agree that Rayse is still Odium's Vessel.

Your theory doesn't fit the facts or the observations of characters who clearly know more than we do and it's based entirely on Odium not fitting your mental image of what 'hatred' is supposed to look like. As @RShara put it, hated doesn't have to be hot, it can be cold and calculating. I'd direct you to Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo for an excellent example of the latter. Also, Odium is not just hated but that which provokes hatred. Brandon has confirmed that both of these definitions apply to the Shard and the latter definition most certainly doesn't need to represent the kind of hot-blooded anger that you think Odium is missing.

And lastly this WoB is extremely relevant (spoiler-tagged because it involves Elantris and this is the SA forum):

Spoiler

Quote

vanahian

We know that Bavadin has several 'avatars' allocated at some Shardworlds, major and minor, over the cosmere...is Austre from Nalthis one of them? Is the Wyrn of the Fjordell Empire or Jaddeth one of them?

Or if we recall what the followers of Shu Dereth believes that 'Jaddeth rewards devotion in his followers, as well as ambition' + something you said some time ago about the ramifications of Ambition demise... Is the Wyrn or Jaddeth Himself connected with Ambition?

Brandon Sanderson

You can expect things on Sel to be either Dominion or Devotion. People can be ambitious--even Shards--and reward ambition even if they're not specifically tied to the Shard of Ambition.

Skyward Pre-Release AMA (Oct. 27, 2018)

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by Weltall

[Karger he/him]

Also remember Odium's hatred is not anger.  "His rage does not cool."  It reminds me a lot more of the dispassionate complete and utter lack of compassion that we see from dictators or perpetrators of war and genocide.  The cost does not matter he just wants to keep on destroying until he gets to his goal.