Pandora's shard

I just listened to shardcast about Taravangium and I have a theory about cultivation and her plans. I am sorry if it has been discussed before, but I could not find out any similar theories. After RoW, it's clear that something is going on in the background in cosmere related to shards. We also know, Autonomy has been seeding herself in different planets. And, Odium has been destroying shards. As Gatorgirl theorised in the shardcast, Autonomy may be the brains of the operation and odium the muscle. So, here is my theory:- Autonomy and Odium worked together to destroy shards who could be a threat to them. Odium came to Roshar, and even if he got bound in the system, he was able to splinter the shard of Honour. Vessels of cultivation and Honour were romantically linked. So, Cultivation entered the game, and wants to take revenge from this group of shards, not just personally, but at the cosmere level, by negating all their plans. And she is doing so by being the master manipulator that her shard allows her to be. She understood Rayse, and so, she knew of the problem between the vessel and shard of Odium. So, she seeded Dalinar to foil the plans of Rayse and destabilise him so that, he could be easy picking. She seeded Taravangium with passion and intellect, so the shard of Odium noticed him, and in the resulting conflict, where Rayse-Odium was already desperate, Taravangium killed Rayse and became the new Odium. So, cultivation got her revenge on one level. But on a different level, she is also fed up with what is going on in the cosmere and how, Autonomy wants to reign supreme. So, in one play, she changed the predictable Rayse with totally unpredictable Taravangium. All the shards knew and understood Rayse, but only Cultivation understands Taravangium. So, while all of us 17th shard people think Taravangium has tricked cultivation, may be, she actually accepts the unpredictability, and wants that from Todium. And in one play, she has also taken away the biggest weapon of Autonomy away from her. Now, while cultivation cannot control, predict or manipulate Taravangium, absolutely no other shard can too, including Autonomy. And so, now, she has cultivated Todium to be her weapon for the cosmere. We know that something is going on in the background in Cosmere related to shards. Cultivation's actions just blew away all those plans of other manipulators. And cultivation is playing a game only she can play, that of cultivating things to reach a goal she wants to achieve, even when the path to that remains unknown. But, here comes her third plan. As Roshar grows in significance, and becomes the hub of cosmere that affects everything, all other shards will focus here and will try to stop both cultivation and odium. And they will do this by sending their agents. Roshar is all powerful because of its investiture and how freely it is available. That goes for stormlight, and now, as Odium almost surely becomes native to Roshar, so will be voidlight. So, what better way destroy the power of Roshar than to cut the connection of stormlight and voidlight from human and singers? There will come a time in future where other shards will work together to make magic disappear from Roshar. And so, the contingency plan is Lift. I don't think she is being groomed to take over cultivation. It is too repititive. I think, Lift is Cultivation's contingency plan for the absolute worst condition. So, in short, in one step, cultivation destabilised Odium. In second step, she replaced vessel of Odium with a much more crafty vessel, thus flipping all plans of her opponents, and in third step, she has planned for absolute worst. Cultivation's three plans. She might have more plans which we don't know now, but with present information, this is my theory..

These discussions are the reasons I love this community!! So, characters like Kaladin, Dalinar, Shallan...all fight against odds, and then learn to live normally!!! And that is so charismatic that we all can't ignore them. That is their character growth!! Learning to live normally!! What to do with a character who already does live normally?? Who has sorted out issues, so, doesn't have to go through such arcs? I didn't mean to say, best of them all in the sense of, he is better than all of them as a character. I just meant, he is the most stable person.. the one, who is most balanced emotionally, and who does not need to go through such difficult times.. It is so easy to discount these people, because what's so special about them? They can handle themselves. So why to worry? Doesn't that make them atleast noticeable that they are special because they are normal? When weird becomes normal, doesn't normal become weird? That Adolin can remain who he is despite everything going around him, and not go into bouts of jealousy, or depression, or vengeance.. ya.. for me, that makes him special...

Yep, that's how I have always seen magic of Knights Radiant to be.. Another thing I want to put here. Speaking oaths.. Doesn't Rythm of War prove that speaking oaths is not enough? You have to have deficiency, then you overcome it, and then, the oaths help you gain the magic. It is almost like, u grow as a person, and so, does magic inside you. So, if a person is perfect, which Adolin almost is, then how can Knight Radiant magic help you grow as a person and fill you with magic? As for Adolin and Maya, I think, they are heading to a path of being bonded without the limits of Nahel bond, that is, Adolin will be able to use her without having to say the oaths first.. and the more Maya and Adolin share of each other with each other, the abilities of Adolin in using Maya will grow. (I accept that I will end up being wrong, but this is my guess) But, as a person, Adolin has very little growth to do.

To me, Adolin is the most stable character of the stormlight archive.. the most balanced emotionally, good from inside, smart enough to understand when others need help, and when he should hold back, good at whatever he does, and that is why, he will never have had a proper Spren bond, because, he does not have holes in him to be filled by nahel bond. He is, in short, the embodiment of how a "good" person should be in real life. And that is why, a lot of people hate is character because, he is so balanced and helping, he is never that interesting. Hell, I have seen threads where, some of them say, his arc is about helping others.. hell no guys that is what a good person does. He/she is always there for anyone who needs them. And, isn't that what Adolin always does? And I think, the next part of his character arc is going to be about dealing with drawbacks of being a perfectly good person and how others take that for granted and don't care how much emotional support a perfectly balanced and good person need too. Specially, in his relationship with Dalinar.

U cannot have her pain!!!

The Defeated One's death was actually fun. Not serious.. not with much deep implications.. not with any deep emotional connect.. it was just like, hell yeah, get off my sight.. get killed by Kal while he is being awesomely dangerous.. I actually thought, it was one of those Hollywood popcorn action moments.. totally opposite to Raboniel's.. which was oh so wow.. and I felt that deeply!!! And Adolin's arc.. wow.. But Lezian the Defeated?? Naah.. just wanted him to get beaten up like pulp everytime he showed up and, in the end got my wish!!!

Na'avi!!

Guys, in a fight, or a melee or whatever, what do you all men's by cheating or playing dirty? If we remove powers, then we are just dealing with non powered weapons.. are those wood weapons or metal ones? I am thinking, guns are not allowed.. or are they?what about arrows? Can the arrows or wood weapons or metal weapons be put on with poisons on them? How do u define winning? Does one win a duel when the other dies, or gives up? Do u have to with hold honour or rules of fight? Are there even rules? If there are no rules, except one, which is, no power allowed in the form of investiture, so, can a fighter bring tank in this war, guns line Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator? Let's suppose guns, grenades and any such technical advancements are not allowed, and one can only fight either without weapon, or using a weapon which is not a missile or a munition. With these two rules, who do you think will win?? I would ask once again.. what does it mean by cheating in a fight? Because, then, the person who fights the dirtiest and has no moral issues with the actions used to win, will win. Brandon has already said, in such a fight, either Kelsier or Vasher comes out on top of everyone. And then, the two decide between them. It tells me more about Kelsier and Vasher and their characters that Brandon sees them like this. And, I am terrified at the implications.. think of them as heroes guys.. keep on thinking of then as heroes..because Brandon has put them in very specific circumstances to be perceived as ones. But I think, both of them are not.

Oh.. thanks!! For sure for sure!!!

Hi!! Oh, I am already enjoying it.. it's such a fun community.

Hi!!! Offcourse we are waiting for his next one already!! He has done this to us. So, he better take care... We are all Sanderfans!! As for favourite Cosmere series, I like them all. All of the are great read... better than most books out there. But if I had to point out one, it would be the background he is building to. The overarching story. Each series in itself is great. But the hidden thread that binds them all, the manipulations that happen in each series because of what's going on in the background with the shards and other crazy people will have to be my favourite part!!

Yep... All of them.. including white sand (prose version) and secret history and arcanum unbounded.. currentlg reading Way of Kings Prime!! As I said, Brandon's books are a necessity!! Actually, other people have said they have one absolute favourite ones. I don't know how to put it, but I don't have any favourites when to comes to his books. Especially the cosmere ones. Their base quality is so gud, they are all unputdownables. Then, one quibble over which is slightly better than other, but it doesn't matter. Infact, I read his 1200 pages long book, and end up saying, wait, it got over? I felt short! I know I have been reading for 2 days, but I have everything in my head.. it didn't feel like so long!! It's awesome.

Hello everyone!! Joined few days back. Awesome theories, and great discussions.. Love Brandon's books. All of them!! Just finished Rythm of War. It's great, but for me, oathbringer was better. But some of the moments in Rythm of War... Wow. Can't wait for the next book. Brandon's books are a necessity.. Cheers guys!!! Love this community.

Why do I feel like most of you don't understand Kelsier? He is, arguably, the most driven character of entire entire cosmere. And absurdly talented. And very charismatic. And, dedicated. So, when such people focus on an argument, what happens to people who support the other side? I sometimes get Thanos vibe from Kelsier. Yes, what he wants is gud. But the means that he may employ is certainly not extremely moral. And when such morality meets such drive, charisma, personality and talent, the same character can turn from the best hero to the worst villain so quickly. Why, because, whether a character is hero or villain is defined by people who argue. And always, the against u in an argument is villain So, yes, Kelsier can be a villain in Cosmere depending on the goals that he wants to achieve and the goals that Brandon is showing us to be gud. Having said all these, I do believe Thaidakar is Kelsier. Now, let's see if Brandon has conned us or not this time..