Ashbringer

My guess is that the Command bridges the Intent-to-Investiture gap, sort of translating the Intent so that the Investiture can do what it’s supposed to - or what it thinks its supposed to. Kinda like coding: Intent is what you want to do, but Command is what you actually write as code. (As for Rosharian/Scadrian Commands... the bonds/metals act like a template to access Surgebinding/Allomancy, so perhaps those qualify as Commands as well? Maybe?) As for what that says about the Dawnshard... perhaps it’s a perfect translator to “change”, allowing your Intent to perfectly affect Investiture to change what you want (or whatever command the Dawnshard uses). Or maybe just a way to hack the magic system to use Investiture to Change without being “perfect”. Who knows.

There's also the possibility that the Sleepless are referring to a Larkin they found a very long time ago, which has since died from old age... then again, who knows how long Larkin live naturally.

I think it's what Rushu42 (the in-thread Rushu, not the in-book one) was saying earlier - that "To make a Command" refers to the actual creation of the Dawnshards, not their use. Or, probably more accurately, that level of "Command" can only be achieved by a diety who understands how their Intent shapes their Investiture, but the Dawnshards achieve that Command for them - letting Investiture be shaped into Intent perfectly by anyone without needing a diety's mind, so long as it relates to "change" or whatever the Command is. ... the question is, does "diety" include Shards? Or just Aldonalsium? Because if it's the former, a Dawnshard would do little for a Shard. The latter... has cataclysmic possibilites. It really depends on what the cosmere definition of "Command" is, because it sounds remarkably similar to Intent... but they're clearly supposed to be different things. Maybe it means Intent is what you want to do, and Command is how that's relayed to the Investiture? And so a Dawnshard is like a perfect communicator to the Investiture to do exactly what you want to do... instead of a purposeful command like "Fetch Keys", the Command can simply be "Change" and with a word the world is set aflame... It feels like it's the Investiture equivalent of a perfect human-to-Assembly Code translator.

is that a Sleepless could probably form a creature the size of a Chasmfiend. We also need to consider the size of the monsters at the end. It's difficult to get an exact size estimate, but we do get descriptors. First, they are able to fit Huio in their mouth while he stands. Two, their legs are described as spindly compared to the body, but the legs are also the thickness of tree trunks. I get the impression that these creatures are much larger than Santhids. However, it's interesting that there are a total of seven of these monsters; one originally, then six more followed. We also know that there are 20 Sleepless following the First, making there a total of 21 Sleepless actively guarding Akinah. We don't know for sure that all of them were present on Akinah, but considering how important they consider its defense and the presence of a large group of people containing multiple Windrunners, it's not unreasonable to assume they went all out and all the Sleepless were present on Akinah at the end of Dawnshard. This could imply that each monster was comprised of three distinct Sleepless hordes, which would mean hordelings from different Sleepless are capable of working in conjoint to form larger masses. It's definitely a stretch to say we know absolutely that the monsters were comprise of multiple Sleepless, but the numbers divide by each other, and I can't think of any reasoning for why Sleepless would not be able to combine hordes to create larger creatures. ... I think each of those monsters WAS a Hordeling... a single Hordeling. If they were composed of a bunch of small Hordelings, Huio wouldn't have been able to kill one with a Shardspear. It would only kill the Hordelings it hit. And I think Nikli would have a different form of combat if he had a giant mass of Hordelings instead of a set of big ones. ... which implies that what we saw in the battle was just Nikli. The youngest Sleepless.

I think that means that that Dawnshard CAN bind (or affect) any creature, regardless of whether they're human or not. Which is points for another Dawnshard on Roshar. Although I wouldn't be surprised if anyone could take up the Dawnshard as well, including a Fused or Odium himself.

It's a bit long...

I think we know that Rsyn's Heightening-like abilities aren't specifically tied to Endowment. They're more of an allegory, because Rsyn's now very highly Invested, like a person holding a lot of Breaths. "Care" is interesting... if you want to put Devotion and Odium in the same group, the command could be more encompassing of Emotion / Passion / Feeling. I like Purpose too, but I feel like the Commands are supposed to be verbs... That would fit Autonomy quite well, probably more so than Survive. Since my current grouping map uses different Commands, do you think we should try and make different maps out for different hypothetical Commands?

The “weapon” is no longer in its original, functional state, we know that much. But we also know that Hoid has something called the “First Gem”, a piece of that weapon. Could be a Dawnshard, could be something else. But I don’t think Aldonalsium fell from the four Dawnshards alone. My guess for a “different” is that one of the Dawnshards is “broken” to some degree. But I like the sentience idea.

Oooh... that would fit with the suggested “Think” Command quite well.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S ONLY TWENTY FOUR SLEEPLESS IN ALL OF ROSHAR! That and Dawnshard-naming-roulette, which is somehow slightly easier than Shard-naming-roulette.

Navani married Dalinar in Oathbringer, so that should check out.

My guess is that Awakening is just a very small-scale version of what a Dawnshard can do: funnel Investiture into fulfiling a Command. Except a Dawnshard’s Command is so versitile that in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing it becomes world-ending. I like the theories of Nightblood being (or being heavily influenced by) a Destroy Dawnshard, as it would explain his odd creation and some WoBs - for example, holding Ruin-esque Investiture. I’m suspecting the Commands are Change, Unite, Divide/Destroy, and Remain; but there have been some others I’ve seen. “Think” and “Feel” are ones I like - it ties to Odium and Ruin’s “passion” and the idea of creating life. And giving something a Command to Think could have... a lot of fun consequences

The Dawnshards predate the Shattering - Nikli said they helped cause the Shattering. So while some Shards may be attuned to Dawnshards, the Dawnshards “started it”. Also... I’m not sure if Honor knew where the Dawnshards were. The fact that Odium hasn’t layed waste to Aimia to try and get it means it probably can’t be sensed easily, so it’s possible that something happened to a Unite Dawnshard that made Honor lose track of it. It’s also possible that you can’t just tell if someone’s a Dawnshard or not.

I'll join! What happens if Faleast becomes the Lord Ruler

My guess with my current map is that each Shard is attuned to Dawnshards, but four shards are attuned to only ONE Dawnshard instead of two. Cultivation's a good candidate for Change.exe, and Honor would be fully attuned to a hypothetical Unity, Odium to Division/Destroy, Preservation to a hypothetical Remain, etc. Moving Autonomy, adding "Ingenuity" As Change>Remain. Honor: Unite > Unite Endowment: Unite > Change Unite > Divide Unite > Remain Cultivation: Change > Change Ruin: Change > Divide Change > Unite Ingenuity: Change > Remain Preservation: Remain > Remain Devotion: Remain > Unite Remain > Change Dominion: Remain > Divide Odium: Divide > Divide Divide > Unite Autonomy: Divide > Remain Ambition: Divide > Change

I had some Command-alignment ideas in the What We Learned thread based of each 4 group splits into 4 again. I'm not sure where Intelligence/Wisdom/Ingenuity would fit, though. (Those might be only 2 shards.)

My guesses so far is Change, Unite, and the Remain/Preserve. Maybe something like Divide/Destroy - to me change is from one thing to another, not one thing to nothing. I think since we know that the Dawnshards split Adonalsium, and someone on the Discord pointed out the mural shows the sun break into 4, then 16, that maybe not only do the shards group into 4s, but in each group of 4 there's a secondary command. Like Honor would be Unite>Unite, Odium Divide>Divide, Ruin Change>Divide, Preservation Remain>Remain... the problem is one has to be primary and one has to be secondary or there's overlap. And we'd be guessing at which are which. Hmm. Honor: Unite > Unite Endowment: Unite > Change Unite > Divide Autonomy: Unite > Remain Cultivation: Change > Change Ruin: Change > Divide Change > Unite Change > Remain Preservation: Remain > Remain Devotion: Remain > Unite Remain > Change Dominion: Remain > Divide Odium: Divide > Divide Divide > Unite Divide > Remain Ambition: Divide > Change And then our Wisdom and Ingenuity shards... somewhere. Thoughts?

In the acknowledgements, Isaac Stewart is credited as "Isaa¢ Stewart" with the cents symbol... I don't know if that's intentional or not though.

Anyone’s thoughts on Nightblood being (or heavily being touched by) Command: DESTROY? It seems like it would fit the power level... I also really want to call the Dawnshards Create.exe, Destroy.exe, etc...

That’s what I’m thinking as well; it’s a massive amount of power, but it feels like... something Bondsmiths were made for.

Something to add to this theory: when the Sleepless were talking, they mentioned that Dalinar going down the path of Honor (assuming that means his swearing his Third Ideal) makes him more dangerous, not less. If Dalinar is reforging/attuning the Unite Dawnshard, I doubt he could continue as the champion of Odium... but if he’s still a Bondsmith and a more powerful one at that, it’s much more likely he could access the Dawnshard (perhaps his 5th Ideal). I don’t know how likely it is considering how terrified the immortal Sleepless were of letting their Dawnshard out, but it’s more evidence.

Remain does sound much more... regal. Although “preserve” comes to mind...

My guess is that has to do with being able to look at them from Shadesmar and see their Cognitive aspect as different.

I think she was just a normal person. Nikli said so when he got captured, and seeing what the Sleepless are capable of... I’m inclined to believe he didn’t need much help.

There’s a Reddit post where Brandon’s answering questions on r/Stormlight_Archive. (I hope that works... I’m not sure if thats what you mean though.)