Dofurion

I honestly disagree... I think I've posted this before, but for me, Honor's problem is that he was the god of oaths, but he never bothered to have a defined ideological framework. If you look at the narrative in WaT, he only makes two oaths, and both are circumstantial (without foreseeing the consequences). I think things would have turned out very differently if, for example, Tanavast had just begun to carry the Shard and professed the ideals of Windrunner or Bondsmith. Or even further, and those of Elsecaller swore to Divinity.

I'm back on the forum and I find this post. I've been meaning to comment for a while now that the Trigger system is something I think would fit very well in the Cosmere, perhaps as an Invested Art manifested through Invention? Between that and some possible mecha, I'm fine with Era 4/5.

Sorry, I put Cilice instead of Silicon. It's basically one of the theories of extraterrestrial life, life forms based on silicon, due to the chemical similarities between silicon and carbon. Silicon can replace it in many cases. Therefore, it's also one of the candidates to explain the strangeness of fainlife. But if that were the case, the existence of humans capable of living within that ecosystem would be even more complicated to explain. Example:

I think I saw this statement in a WoB, but couldn't find it again. Yes, aesthetically, Fainlife is very reminiscent of the wastelands associated with the Eldrazi in Magic, with grey and whitish tones. Another thing I wanted to mention, but didn't know how to put it in the original post is that: If they are chiral organisms, then it also explains (or rather, the possibility) of the existence of human beings immune to fainlife (as Hoid would be during his time in Yolen (hence the white hair)). Unlike the other theory that was being considered, that they were life forms based on Silicon.

Well, to start, it is good to be clear about the concepts. What is Fain ecology? The Fain ecology is one of the two types of ecologies existing on Yolen. It includes the Sho-Del (occupying the same ecological niche as humans) and the dragons. The other ecology is the Trune, which we would call the normal ecology. What is Chiral? Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects that means they cannot be superimposed on their mirror images. Example: Your left hand and your right hand are mirror images of each other, but no matter how you twist or turn them, they will never be exactly the same. In chemistry, many organic molecules are chiral. This property is very important because chiral molecules can interact differently with other chiral molecules. They can be classified into 2: Levogyros: They deflect polarized light to the left Dextrogyros: They deflect polarized light to the right In Earth chemistry there is a trend, amino acids are almost exclusively levogyros and sugars and DNA (and RNA) are dextrogyros. Okay, now that we've got the concepts out of the way, let's get to the heart of the matter. Why do I think Fain ecology is a chiral ecology? Or rather, why do I think it's an ecology with a chirality opposite to normal? To begin with, the reason I made the connection in my mind was because the potential effects of the proliferation of inverted chirality organisms in our world are very similar to the situation we know existed on Yolen. Anyone who came into contact with such life forms risked dying from a kind of poisoning. It's very similar to what a chiral molecule could do to organisms by "derailing" protein processes and other biological functions. This may be relevant considering that Sanderson studied biochemistry at university before devoting himself full-time to writing. This resolves many doubts: This is why fainlife is deadly to trunelife (conventional ecology) The reverse should also be the same. Why is it considered something so different, after all even the Kandra and the Singers are not something so different from what we could find in our ecology.

Hybrid Shards can still manifest properties of their components, for example: Harmony can manifest Lerasium and Atium if he so chooses.

Wiki. I didn't insinuate that. I understand that, that's why I also used examples from Strixhaven. Yes, it is a better approach and supports much of my point regarding the Shards which Sanderson himself has defined. Indeed, that is my point. Many times when I read opinions of how Dominion should have been, I find myself with the perspective of being a cartoon Tyrant seeking raw and direct dominance (something more mono-Black or Black/Red). And not so much the calculating and methodical entity that I think it could have been. Also, the Shards not only like to exercise their intent, but for other beings to exercise it, not only do they like to dominate, but for others to dominate in turn. And that fits with something more structured like White/Black.

Introduction I know very well that this topic goes far beyond the general story and enters more into meta-narrative speculations. But I still believe that it is a very useful tool to interpret Sanderson's own opinion regarding the behavior of his characters. Now for some context. Sanderson was asked a while back how he would categorize the shards according to the colors of the MtG game. There are 5 colors and each one has a series of ideas traditionally associated with it: White: Peace Law Structure Selflessness Equality Blue: Knowledge Deceit Caution Deliberation Perfection Black: Power Self-interest Death Sacrifice Uninhibitedness Red: Freedom Emotion Action Impulse Destruction Green: Nature Wildlife Connection Spirituality Tradition Through these descriptions and combinations of them we can speculate a lot about the behavior of the Shards or at worst how Sanderson expects them to behave (in case we as readers interpret it differently). Over the years Sanderson has given his opinion on a few: 2018 [ref1]: Ruin: Black. Odium: Red. Honor: White. Preservation: White. Cultivation: Green. Devotion: Red/Green. Dominion: White/Black. Autonomy:"It's complicated". Ambition: Black. Endowment: Green (probably). Looking at this first comparison and comparing it with our current information, we find several curious coincidences such as defining Devotion as an entity associated with emotions, information recently awarded in WaT. Taking into consideration the previous point, I would like to point out the definition of Dominion as White/Black, which in MtG is linked to groups like the 'Orzhov' or the 'Silverquill', whose ways of acting are far from the fandom's conception of Dominion. 2022 [ref2]: Whimsy: Red. This fits very well with both the name of the Shard and the information we get from The Sunlit Man and Wind and Thruth. Caprice is a shard associated with self-satisfaction and the emotions linked to it. Now, as you may have noticed, none of the aforementioned shards are Blue (something Sanderson himself notes in [ref1]), this is important since said color is Sanderson's favorite [ref3]. So… What hypothesis can we come up with with this? A considerable portion of the remaining Shards should include the Blue color as an interpretation to define them. Sanderson's views on his characters, at least on a macro level, ultimately fit with his descriptions of colors: Categorizing Shallan as Blue/Red [ref 4]. Which is in line with his artistic predilection and would fit with what has been seen in characters such as the members of the 'Prismary' college in Strixheaven. And Szeth as White/Black [ref 4]. [Hypothesis] Fitting the remaining Shards into these categories Ok, first of all this will be a creative exercise since the ideal would be for Sanderson himself to define them and then we would speculate based on that. But as I imagine he considers that this could be a very big Spoiler for the intents of the Shards and that is why he has not responded again how he would classify them [ref2], this is still a good exercise in speculation. We have the following remaining Shards: Reason The first is the most recently revealed, Reason, which I believe would be mono-Blue. There is no other that fits that color so ideally. Invention For a long time I also considered Invention as a mono-Blue but seeing that the last Shard revealed also fits that color individually, I began to consider that it could be a pair, in this case Green/Blue. This fits a lot with what I've seen in the characters of the 'Simic Combine' guild and the 'Quandrix' college. Virtosity The Virtuosity case is quite simple, really, since its intent reflects both the technical aspect of the ability to create art, as well as the emotions that said art generates, then it is most likely Blue/Red. This is for the same reasons I put in the Shallan section. Valor My gut tells me Red/White, but the actions of said Shard contradict that. That's a more general question that's already been addressed, though. Mercy I honestly don't know what to think of Mercy, I'm at the point of thinking she's mono-White or mono-Black, it all depends on how Sanderson plans to approach the definition of his intent. Maybe we have another Autonomy case with a "It's complicated" Without anything else to add, I hope you enjoyed this post, I will be reading your comments.

The Sunlit Man Minor Spoilers:

My personal theory is that the god metal atoms are atoms that are not made of: Electrons Neutrons (down {2}, up {1}) Protons (down {1}, up {2}) Instead they are made of: Muons "Neutrons" (strange {2}, charm {1}) "Protons" (strange {1}, charm {2}) And that harmonium is precisely the equivalent of Cesium but with this change.

I've mentioned this in other posts, but I'm particularly interested in the symbolic implications that would arise for Kaladin if he were to swear the Bondsmith Oaths. Counting his original oaths, the herald oath, and these theoretical 4 additional oaths, that would be a total of 10 oaths. It would be very curious if because of this the power of Honor felt inclined to Kaladin as the power of Odium feels inclined to Ba-Ado-Mishram.

Godspren of Virtuosity. Personal theory.

As a slight side note, this is not the first time Shallan has done this, in Oathbringer:

The problem with this is that there is less time to carry out effective therapy. It feels like a "get well quick, while we're here years of war have passed"

Based on the groupings you made (according to Physical, Cognitive and Spiritual) I was able to do another of the most recurrent mental exercises when grouping Shards, grouping them according to the allomantically viable metals. And I think that this result is the one that has convinced me the most of all my attempts: Iron『Dominion』 Steel『Autonomy』 Tin『Invention』 Pewter『Valor』 Zinc『Ambition』 Brass『Reason』 Copper『Whimsy』 Bronze『Virtuosity』 Cadmium『Preservation』 Bendaleum『Ruin』 Gold『Honor』 Electro『Odium』 Chromium『Mercy』 Nicrosil『Devotion』 Aluminum『Endowment』 Duralumin『Cultivation』