TheHeadHancho

I love all of the theories posted very, very much, but an interesting few counter points that should be discussed: if Harmony already has unity’s intent then can it still be Adonalsium’s intent? could Dalinar have stated he was Unity because that is his interpretation of Honor’s intent (due to Honor pushing him to unite throughout the books)? since it has been stated that the secondary intent inherited by every shard is to create, wouldn’t that be a big part of Adonalsium’s intent as well? (Along with sapience)

Braize is basically on fire, remember? OB spoiler: I think the above negates the whole “two tears” theory, and also you are mistaken when you talk about, relative to the people of Roshar, the placement of the Tear as a star in the sky. The star WOULD move relative to Roshar because of Roshar’s orbit and axial tilt (which would actually be an interesting question at a signing). Braize would be visible, potentially, the entire year.

I think that Odium will escape Braize. However something will definitely happen to him along the way. Perhaps Cultivstion is killed and their shards are forced to fuse...?

That’s what I meant by heavily invested

I want to try to answer and identify any and all possible avatars of Autonomy throughout the Cosmere as possible. Be warned: possible spoilers. To preface, if you are unsure of what I’m talking about, it has been hinted at in books and mentioned by Brandon that Bavadin splits up their identity in a way similar to shallan (almost!) and spreading out, “colonizing” the Cosmere. current list — Patji: located on First of the Sun, has enough investiture in one place to have a functioning perpendicularity and be considered “a shard” with an asterisk of course. Considered to have writes the first OB letter. — Obrodai: nameless for now; was stated by Patji that a “manifestation of our being” is forming there (Obrodai). — Trell: a mysterious being worshipped by Miles Hundredlives. Location: Scadrial. — Taldain: the planet where most of Autonomy’s power is centralized. Where Bavadin the true vessel is said to be. — other: it has been stated by Brandon that there are pantheons where every person worshiped is Bavadin.

You know, the Larkin was also able to feed off of voidlight in OB.

Have you considered that it could leave behind investiture?

the difference between the two is very complex. It deals with the function of things in the spiritual realm, namely: the spiritweb. The reason it has been established that a radiant needs to be “broken” (having had their spirit web ripped) is so that the spren can insert themselves into the gap, basically providing a tap into a purer investiture. Returned, on the other hand, are just heavily invested by Endowment. I believe it works somewhat similarly to the Old Magic on Roshar; in return for endowing someone with health at the sacrifice of your own life, you can be given life. In this case, the divine breath would be placed over memory in the web.

It has been stated by Brandon that Hoid is capable and actively heals his soul to a near miraculous extent. When looking into the Nahel bond and realizing that advanced radiants can heal their soul as well (not as well as Hoid but still), I have come up with a theory. Perhaps one of the reasons Hoid has been traveling specifically to worlds with increased amounts of innate investiture and trying to claim each magic is to have enough of a significant amount of investiture lacing his spiritweb to be able to heal. However, I am not sure if this extends to his apparent immortality (or heavily increased lifespan). I recall having read that he travels through time rather than waiting for things to happen.

What I was confused about was the usage of pronouns in the letter. Whatever aspect of Autonomy it was sent to, it could have been describing itself or several aspects.

Perhaps the shard is surviving through nonintervention. So it’s “smart enough to stay out of it” and just nullifies it’s direct ablity to create. I say this because: 1. I know Brandon stated that shares have an innate intent to create and 2. This shard is not inhabiting a planet. Maybe... Ommision...?

To elaborate on an important detail from M:SH, Hoid can physically harm the “dead” or cognitive shadows. But, not anything “living.” The few terms established seem very simplistic to me, and something inside me wants to know the extent this harm can go.

Uli Da is the confirmed vessel of Ambition. I bring this is up because Endowment mentions in her portion of the letter that she/he/it was "dangerous from the beginning" as justification for Odium's going after the shard. I believe that either this happens to be because either the nature of it's intent, or the shard's original race. We don't yet know which shard(s) have a race other than human, but we know at least one is different in that regard. Keep in mind that both or neither of these things could be true.

I can't find the quote but I know that Brandon has stated that there are only two shards on Scadrial. (which he stated to be Ruin and Preservation combined as Harmony) Trell must be something else. Maybe its a splinter of Autonomy...

I think that the Reverse Lasing black hole idea is fascinating. I could see it being used to trap (at least) a mistborn burning atium if it is created behind them or something. However, I am not sure of the extent of the power of using Atium+Bendalloy+Duralumin (meaning: I don't know if they would be able to sense the lashing behind them or see the Windrunner's power actually move behind them). As for escaping, the Windrunner can lash themselves backwards as much as they need to, right?

The reason i believe souls and metal are revealed "to be the same" in M:SH is because Scadrial humans were created from Preservation and Ruin, and are thus invested. Metals are the same way; they are either solidified masses of shardic power (Atium, Lerasium, or Harmonium) or just imbued with their power (because they exist throughout the cosmere).

cool

We've seen it done before:

I think that stormlight has more to do with cultivation. We know that it kind of "endows" the ecosystem, but we also know that plants absorb stormlight to grow.

I'm not sure if anyone has thought about or come up with something like this already, but from the discussion I read through no one had a very feasible name created for the “survival shard.” Brandon has stated that it just wants to hide and survive (the probable intent of the shard) and that it would be partnered with devotion to do something good. With that in mind, I was thinking of something along the lines of either salvation or protection. Both of these things I feel could partner with devotion nicely to form something similar to defense. I just wanted to rekindle this conversation and try to have a look at it from a different point of view. Thanks!