Confused

Excellent analysis, @Blightsong! I like your idea Melishi had other plans for BAM than a gemstone prison. Here are some unsupported, fanciful thoughts to play with. WHAT IF ... 1. Melishi is not a Bondsmith but “Ishi’Elin” – Ishar, the Binder of Gods himself. Ishar’s power during the False Desolation is greater than any Bondsmith because Honor still lives. 2. BAM is not an Unmade but a human who serves as the Sibling’s Bondsmith. Hessi describes BAM as “keen of mind, a highprincess among the enemy forces, their commander during some of the Desolations.” Except for Sja-anat (maybe), none of the Unmade seem “keen” – certainly not keen enough to command armies. This raises doubt BAM is an ancient Unmade. 3. BAM switches sides to help the Singers and leads them in the False Desolation. BAM’s “keenness” makes me question whether BAM led Singers in earlier Desolations (at least 2,500 years before) despite what Hessi says. Maybe? 4. BAM literally sells her soul to Odium to become an Unmade with access to Voidlight. BAM uses her bond with the Sibling to Connect Voidlight to the Singers via their gemhearts. The Fused seem to get Voidlight through their possessed body’s gemheart. But could BAM keep her bond to the Sibling when she’s Unmade, even (hypothetically) with Cultivation’s help? A mixed soul? 5. Melishi/Ishar forcibly bonds the Sibling to himself to cut off Singer access to Voidlight. Ishar’s assault breaks BAM’s bond to the Sibling and pushes the Sibling into “slumber.” Singer gemhearts no longer work, and Singers lose their ability to bond spren and transform. If the Stormfather slumbered, would the highstorms still distribute Stormlight? Idk. 6. Voidlight slips into Ishar before BAM’s bond breaks. It makes him more crazy than torture alone does. Through the Oathpact’s Connection among Heralds, the other Heralds’ insanity intensifies. As Cognitive Shadows made wholly of Honor’s Investiture, Voidlight can’t be good for the Heralds. And poor BAM! What did Ishar do to her, and where is she now? I end with a question about the False Desolation: Even with Voidlight, how do Singers gain forms of power? I presume living Singers did not suddenly drop dead and rise again as Fused. My guess is these were Regal forms of power granted by voidspren, not the power to bind Surges. Even with Voidlight, how do voidspren manifest on Roshar with the Oathpact still in effect? SLA shows how much humans can forget. Singer gemhearts are hidden. Listener Shattered Plains corpses ended eaten or in the chasms. Humans wouldn't even think to look for a gemheart in the listeners. P.S. – Blightsong, when you quote WoBs, could you please include the linked source in the quote box? Thanks!

Roshar is “a created planet” in a system “manufactured for a specific purpose.” I hypothesize Roshar’s purpose requires its three Great spren to grow the planet faster than is normally possible. The Stormfather (nee Rider of Storms) energizes growth with Stormlight. The Nightwatcher manifests growth by using Stormlight to transform spren from their Cognitive to their Physical Realm aspect. The Sibling IMO supports and enhances animal growth through gemhearts. Singers need three things for their transformational life cycle: Stormlight, spren, and a gemheart. I hypothesize each Great spren personifies Singer pre-Shattering perception of these three necessities. The Stormfather and Nightwatcher are the source of Stormlight and spren (IMO). Stormlight enables a spren to enter a gemheart and manifest in the Physical Realm as a Singer form. The spren Connects to the Singer’s Spiritual aspect through the Singer’s gemheart. This Singer mechanic predates the Shattering. Almost all Roshar’s creatures have “some sort of gemheart.” Gemhearts are composed of Investiture leaked into the Physical Realm. Gemhearts allow spren to enhance Greatshells, skyeels, and Rhyshadium. Most Rosharan gemstones are made from gemhearts, but some gemstones occur naturally. I propose the Sibling is the source of gemhearts. IMO, the gemstone-encrusted pillar in Urithiru’s basement IS the Sibling, or at least its Physical Realm manifestation. Renarin tells Navani’s scribes, “They’re not fabrials. They’re a fabrial.” (OB, Chapter 44, Kindle p. 455.) I think Renarin makes two points: (1) the Sibling is non-binary (“they” is singular), and (2) the pillar is the Great spren inside the Urithiru fabrial. Kalami’s team fails “to infuse the gemstone pillar.” (OB, Chapter 44, Kindle p. 454.) The pillar remains inert – “slumbering.” I agree with those who believe the Sibling is the Spren of Stone. I think the Spren of Stone personifies the Rosharan continent after Adonalsium built it through fractal mathematics principles. Sixth of the Dusk Spoiler: I think fractals are Autonomy’s “primal force.” Gemstones are fractals. Brandon says Autonomy’s assigned Investiture sits on Roshar. I believe the Spren of Stone is a potential Autonomy Avatar. Many disagree. If I’m right, it would explain why the Stormfather calls the Sibling “they” and Brandon hints the Sibling is non-binary: Autonomy too is non-binary. It makes sense to me each Great spren personifies a different aspect of the Singer life cycle. Singers first personified the Great spren. It also makes sense that Great spren Investiture comes from three different Shards – and Odium is not one of them. @RShara and others feel Brandon wouldn’t introduce a fourth Shard into SLA, mostly for narrative reasons. Two answers: First, Autonomy may not have an active or on-screen role. That Shard may only become Roshar-relevant later in the cosmere story and maybe never. Second, I feel Brandon does foreshadow Autonomy on Roshar. He specifically mentions Autonomy’s Rosharan Investiture in a WoB about the Patji Avatar. Brandon inserts this tidbit without any context, as if he were glad to drop an obscure breadcrumb. Regardless of the Sibling’s composition, they do seem associated with gemhearts. The fabrial magic system needs both spren and gemstones, plus human design. Fabrials to me are an Autonomy-Cultivation combo system, fronted by the Sibling and Nightwatcher.

“Upset the Balance of the Oathpact” Argent’s last cited WoB probably disproves my OP’s theory, but I don’t buy the alternatives. If Ishar was concerned Radiants would siphon Honor’s power, he would have said so. But his concern was the balance of the Oathpact. A Shard’s Investiture is unimaginably vast. Radiant access to that Investiture wouldn’t even be noticeable. I doubt even Herald access is more than a Nano-drop of the whole. Argent recognizes this problem with his theory. I don’t think diverting Honor’s Investiture to Radiants helps Odium free himself. Ishar’s concern is the Oathpact. Argent correctly points out the Oathpact doesn’t bind Odium. It binds the Fused and voidspren, blocking their Cognitive path into Roshar’s subastral. IMO, freeing the Fused and voidspren from Braize is the first step in Odium’s plan. The Fused and Singers defeating humans is the second. I speculate Odium destroying Roshar is the third and final step. I think Odium’s prison ties to Roshar, not Braize; or at least Roshar is his path out of Braize. Otherwise, there’s no need for Desolations. Odium’s Prison – “Unite Them” HOW Odium’s imprisoned remains the mystery. I keep thinking there’s something in this epigraph: Surges are Rosharans’ perception of the cosmere’s fundamental forces. Calling Surges the “bonds that drive Roshar” to me implies these forces hold Roshar together. Honor is the Shard that makes magic through bonds. Without Honor to regulate the balance of these forces, maybe “things fall apart [and] the center cannot hold”? I feel (without much evidence) that uniting the Surges somehow creates a mutually-supporting superstructure that binds Odium to Roshar. It would take the full binding power of all Roshar’s fundamental forces to pin Odium there. I suspect binding the Surges together will fall on Dalinar, given this foreshadowing: There’s two bits of vague evidence for uniting the Surges. One is this WoK, Chapter 9 Epigraph: Not much, I know. The second bit is Honor’s Double Eye. All the lines meet in the middle where there’s no reason to meet. When you put all the ideals together, representing all the Roshar-perceived fundamental forces, MAYBE you can imprison Odium. Ico’s Fear For convenience, here’s the quote again: Of all the explanations for Ico’s fear, I now side with @ScavellTane's: No Radiant spren is 100% Honor despite what each thinks. Glys highlights the risk Odium will subvert Radiant spren and “take over the magic system.” I also agree with @ZenBossanova that the risked disaster is another Ashyn. Divine Attributes I think there’s some misunderstanding about Divine Attributes. Posters comment here and elsewhere that Attributes are cultural, not mechanical, or are too closely tied to the Vorin perspective of Heralds. I feel these comments overlook Roshar’s unique magical environment. The Attributes ARE cultural. When asked about the lines crisscrossing the Double Eye, Brandon said, But on Roshar, culture MAKES the Divine Attributes mechanical. Of all known planets, only on Roshar does Cognitive Realm perception become Physical Realm reality. Syl confirms Radiant spren personify the Divine Attributes: Radiant spren are an essential Surgebinding mechanic. Through the Nahel bond, a cultural ideal grants a right-minded mortal the power of a god. @Calderis, you say my “Fifth Oath” ideas about the Divine Attributes are too “formulaic”: I think you undervalue your own point that oath expression varies by spren and Radiant. Same-order Radiants won’t have the same journey regardless of common Attributes. To protect, Teft has to overcome his addiction. Kaladin has to overcome his “god complex” that he must (and can) protect everyone. Each Windrunner candidate has their own brokenness to contend with. Same for all Radiants. That doesn’t mean their Attributes differ. Attributes are ideals that IMO mark the journey’s start and end points for each order, not the journey itself. All honorspren seek a Windrunner candidate for whom protecting others is paramount. If their candidate never learns leadership (as subjectively determined by the spren and candidate), that candidate will never achieve the Fifth Oath.

There seems to be a lot of confusion on this thread. I may as well add to it. 1. Every magic system does indeed use fuel. Thermodynamics requires it. Thermodynamics is the one rule Brandon insists on throughout the cosmere (as best he can). 2. Brandon says “almost every magic” uses Spiritual Realm Investiture for fuel. Even “end-neutral” Feruchemy relies on a “facilitating power” to pay the cost of attribute conversion. Otherwise, Feruchemy would have to cannibalize the Feruchemical gene for its fuel. 3. Hemalurgy too needs fuel. I see spiking as an act of entropy that summons Ruin’s Investiture. The metal spike Focuses the Investiture into the power that transfers sDNA. That Focused power fuels Hemalurgy. If Ruin’s Investiture didn’t fuel Hemalurgy, the spike wouldn’t have to be metal. 4. It’s true Allomancy isn’t “fueled by the metals.” It’s fueled by Preservation’s Investiture. BUT – thermodynamics (IMO) requires some activation energy. I think whatever “burns” metal activates the Allomantic process. Body heat or stomach acid adds energy to cause the metal molecules to vibrate. Molecular vibration signals the Spiritual Realm to Invest the Allomancer with the type of power that metal calls for. Here’s a relevant WoB: 5. The Aviar bond is not similar to a Nahel bond. Aviar magic is an “interaction with magic” system, not a “people with magic” system like Surgebinding. The Aviar bond is more like the Singers’ natural bond with spren, also an “interaction with magic” system. Honor’s bonds are voluntarily entered into between two sapient people. Aviar are sentient birds, not sapient. I suspect the Nahel bond differs from all other cosmere bonds if for no reason than they are Honor’s. Other bonds reflect the Shard that created them. That includes Devotion and Dominion (seons and skaze) and Autonomy (the Aviar).

@Argent's “The Magics of Roshar” topic speculates that the Fifth Oath fully merges Knights Radiant and their spren. Further speculation suggests a Fifth Oath Radiant becomes the equivalent of a Herald with Honorblade who can pull Investiture directly from the Spiritual Realm. I generally agree with this speculation. @Jofwu on that thread asks this question: The answer may lie in what Nale tells Szeth: Nale says the Oathpact is “balanced.” I read him to mean there’s only one Herald per divine attribute. Fifth Oath Radiants could upset that balance and weaken the Oathpact. The “measures we took” seems a reference to Taln. Ishar fears Fifth Oath Radiants might somehow disable Taln’s Desolation defense. While Honor lived, he could decline to accept Radiant Fifth Oaths. The Stormfather, who replaced Honor, has yet to decline any oath. Nale kills incipient Radiants to ensure they never rival Heralds. Ishar’s threatening letter to Dalinar fits this concern. Ishar doesn’t want a rival Bondsmith wielding the “power of Connection.” Crazy is as crazy does.

It’s been more than five years since I wrote about the difference between Radiants’ primary and secondary divine attributes. I concluded then that spren of an order are attracted to humans who exhibit that order’s primary attribute. I theorized the spren bond leads the Radiants to their secondary attribute but didn’t go into detail. A few days ago, in a very long post on many topics, I wrote about the impact of oaths on Radiant organization. I opined the Radiant’s Fifth Oath means they achieved their secondary attribute. That’s when they fully merge with their spren. This post puts more flesh on that conclusion. Here’s the list of each order’s primary and secondary divine attributes: Order Primary Attribute Secondary Attribute Windrunners Protecting Leading Skybreakers Just Confident Dustbringers Brave Obedient Edgedancers Loving Healing Truthwatchers Learned Giving Lightweavers Creative Honest Elsecallers Wise Careful Willshapers Resolute Builder Stonewards Dependable Resourceful Bondsmiths Pious Guiding The secondary attribute seems a more outward-looking, “uniting” version of the primary attribute. The primary attribute is about the Radiant. The secondary attribute is about how the Radiant should act toward others. It’s like the difference between first person (me) and second person (you). Windrunners better protect when they lead others. Skybreakers seem more just when they’re confident in their judgment. Dustbringer bravery (and hotheadedness) better serves when they’re obedient. Edgedancer love finds meaning in healing. Truthwatcher learning has meaning when given to share. Lightweaver creativity requires self- and artistic honesty. Elsecallers should temper their wisdom with care. (Jasnah “wisely” concluding to kill the Heralds...) Willshaper resolve makes them foundation builders. Stoneward dependability leads to resourcefulness. (Get the job done no matter what.) Bondsmith piety attracts followers to guide. This framework shows oaths bridge the gap between primary and secondary attributes. Each oath brings the Radiant closer to their secondary attribute. When they achieve it, the Radiant can say the Fifth Oath and merge Spiritual aspects with their spren.

Again, lots of good stuff to sift through! I’ve added headings to make the post easier to skim. @Argent: My goal is to move people away from the Shard = personality model. That model is only half-right. I believe the WoB that says Shards combine “primal force/fundamental law” with personality is Brandon’s single most important utterance about Shards. IMO, the Shard’s primal force explains how cosmere magic works mechanically. Personality explains how the Vessels use their Shard. I focus on Endowment (since you mentioned her) to show how force and personality meld. Does Endowment Fit My Cosmere Magic Theory? I theorize every Vessel Connects to Spiritual Realm Investiture through some primal force. You suggest Shards other than Ruin, Preservation, and Honor might not. Personally I think there’s too much ad hoc analysis of cosmere magic. Brandon says the cosmere generally works by the same set of rules. THE FOLLOWING IS SPECULATION. (That’s in caps for @Calderis' sake.) IMO, there’s a fair bit of evidence that Endowment’s primal force is quantum physics. You don’t have to agree, but assume that’s true to show how this might work. Primal Force My theory predicts Breath holders (1) access Spiritual Realm Investiture through quantum physics (Endowment’s “filter”), and (2) Awaken objects through quantum physics. Will these predictions hold? Brandon says Breaths equate to a quantum of Endowment’s Investiture – its smallest usable unit. Every Nalthian is born with that Investiture quantum. As you say, every Nalthian can Awaken. Endowment passes the first test since Nalthians access Endowment’s Investiture through quanta. To our knowledge, no other Shard allocates its Investiture by quanta or has a magic system built on them. The second test says Awakening itself must rely on quantum physics. Your “act of endowment” is the Awakener’s transfer of Investiture quanta to an object. There are no partial Breaths. Awakening passes the second test: Each Awakening works through the transfer of Investiture quanta. These bits of quantum “flavor” add to, but are unnecessary for, the theory: - The Heightenings represent the quantization of Breaths. Because of age, illness, and related factors, Breaths hold slightly different amounts of Investiture. - Awakening drains “color.” I believe Awakening destroys an object’s pigment molecules in all three Realms like Nightblood does. (Pigments reflect visible light the eye perceives as color.) For thermodynamic reasons, I theorize Awakening consumes the pigment molecules’ Investiture. These molecules are reduced to their subatomic particles – the realm of quantum physics. - Nalthis’ subastral is filled with light. Photons are quanta of light. Vessel Personality Brandon tells us Endowment wants to create a cosmere market in Breaths. Breaths are portable and self-Identify with their holder. Because Nalthis is Breaths’ sole source, supply is limited. Endowment’s Vessel chooses to endow Nalthis with a legacy of enormous wealth and cosmere significance. That is possible ONLY because Endowment’s primal force is quantum physics (IMO). As same-sized Investiture quanta, Breaths are the perfect asset for her market since the value of each Breath at any time will be the same as every other Breath. You can even create a futures market for Breaths. Who Created Radiant Spren It's Brandon’s hint in the quoted WoB, not mine. I don’t think it matters whether one Shard or two were involved. Because we’re talking spren, it seems more reasonable Cultivation made this change. She tells us, “I CONTROL ALL THINGS THAT CAN BE GROWN, NURTURED.” (OB, Chapter 114, Kindle p. 1079.) That includes spren. In my “Cultivation’s Long-Term Plan” post, I suggest her motive: “Cultivation may have foreseen Aharietiam and needed a magical alternative to the Heralds that didn’t rely exclusively on Honor’s Investiture.” Fabrials Apply Surges Ico uses his fabrial because Kaladin can’t Soulcast. My point is fabrials apply fundamental forces (Surges) like earth’s machines do. I think Ico’s fabrial uses Soulcasting’s Transformation Surge. IMO, introducing “natural properties of the Cognitive Realm” complicates the explanation. Imprisonment Is Not a Bond Imprisonment is NOT a bond. The “primal force/fundamental law” WoB says “Honor is the sense of being bound by rules, even when those rules, you wouldn't have to be bound by.” IOW, Honor’s primal force only encompasses voluntary bonds, not imprisonment or enslavement. I can only guess at gemstones’ role in ancient fabrials. Radiant spren transition between Realms through the Nahel bond. Maybe other spren need gemstones to transition. I presume Oathgate spren are the Oathgates’ Cognitive aspect (its “soul”). Maybe gemstones enable the Oathgate spren to manifest in the Physical Realm as needed to make the Oathgate work. This doesn’t seem too different from spren transforming Singers from inside their gemhearts. If Odium thought he needed these particular gemstones, they must be Spiritually tied to the Oathgate spren. My Characterization of Cal’s Words I only attribute to Cal his acknowledgment that Cultivation’s influence is the spren. The stuff you think I attribute to Cal comes from me, and I expressly preface it, “IMO...” Cal doesn’t say spren are transformative entities that transition between Realms. I do. And I stand by it. Radiant spren are Surgebinding’s engine, not some peripheral component. They generate the car’s power. IMO, it’s irrelevant that engine parts can be made from Honor, Cultivation, or Odium (unless there are cosmere tariffs). Cultivation controls “ALL THINGS THAT CAN BE GROWN, NURTURED” including spren of any Investiture. My previous post describes how I think spren Transform to access Surges. Requested WoBs Here’s two WoBs on “people with magic” vs. “interaction with nature” systems. Voidbinders Where is this “explicitly” stated? That might affect my opinion. Brandon says pre-OB we haven’t seen Voidbinding. That tells us Stormform is not Voidbinding. (In a literal sense, the listeners were Voidbringers.) Is there something I missed? (IIRC, didn’t you write the post that made this point?) Odium and Passion Not a big point, but FWIW I think the opposite is true. I think by severing people’s Connections to one another, Odium frees passion. One of my posts compares Odium to Freud’s id (unrestrained passion). Honor is Freud’s superego (culturally imposed societal rules), and Cultivation is Freud’s ego (mediating between the id and the superego). Brandon’s magical metaphor, IMO: People who cut themselves off from others fill with hate. Connections Brandon says Spiritual aspects are a mix of Connections with raw Investiture. Connections ARE the natural forces and emotions. People don’t Connect TO forces and emotions. People Connect to objects and other people THROUGH them: Gravity is a Connection between objects (including people) and a planet. Emotions Connect people to each other, to ideas, to times, to places, and to objects. Abrasion is a Connection between two objects in physical contact. All the cosmere’s fundamental forces are Connections. Kelsier sees that the Spiritual Realm is “Only Connection, person to person, man to world, Kelsier to god.” (M:SH, Part 3-3, Kindle Loc. 1032.) @Calderis: Mortals Access Investiture Through Shard Filters The issue is how mortals access Investiture, not how they “access ... a system.” Hemalurgy relies on magic that transfers sDNA between people. Ruin’s primal force “filters” that magic into spiking – an act of entropy. Hemalurgically-granted Allomancy and Feruchemy are still Preservation’s systems because even spiked Allomancers and Feruchemists access Investiture through Preservation’s “stasis” filter. Renarin accesses Odium through Honor’s bonding filter, the Nahel bond. That means Renarin Surgebinds when he foresees. No “hack” is necessary. IMO, Glys isn’t even a hack of Cultivation’s system. I think all spren, including voidspren, manifest their power through Transformation. Renarin is like any other Surgebinder except his spren also Connects to Odium. I’ll talk more about the Fused below. I think unique Shard filters explain most system differences, and planet peculiarities explain the rest. Windrunners bond to fly. Hemalurgist spike to transfer sDNA. Awakeners transfer Investiture quanta to Awaken, etc. Surges and the Fused We’ve had the “Fused are/aren’t Voidbinding” discussion before, and you are right to refer folks to that thread. I emphasize here, though, that “Surges” are simply Rosharans’ collective perception of cosmere fundamental forces. I think Singers and humans perceive the Surges identically. Since Singers predate Rosharan humans – and the Fused predate the Heralds – humans might have adopted the Singer’s perception of the Surges. I don’t think any of this involves hacking; but if it does, who’s hacking whom? You know I think the Fused do exercise their abilities differently from Radiants, but IMO their magical abilities as such don’t matter. Whether the Fused Surgebind or Voidbind IMO turns on how they access Investiture. I believe the Fused access Investiture through Odium’s filter. I HYPOTHESIZE his filter is breaking Connections. Hate divides. @Jofwu, Voidbinding glyphs half-rotate Surgebinding glyphs IMO because Voidbinders access the same Surges as Surgebinders by different means. I see different Surge expressions where Cal doesn’t. If Investiture access (the Shard’s filter) defines a magic system, half-rotated glyphs with the same Surges makes sense. Especially if Odium’s filter is breaking (not making) Connections... Cultivation and the Nahel Bond Not a biggie, but I think it misleads to say the “Nahel bond still involves Cultivation.” I don’t believe it does. Oath progression affects the bond, not the spren. Oaths are an “Honor-y” thing. For many Radiants, the Nahel bond may stall before the 5th and possibly earlier oaths. The bond prevents those spren from manifesting fully. (More on this next.) It’s not some inherent spren property related to Cultivation. If you still disagree, that’s fine. This is a minor quibble. Ishar’s Role Agreed. Oaths don’t embody organization or restriction. Lightweaver truths show oaths lack moral content. Oaths serve to strengthen the Nahel bond. BUT...Oath progression parallels the Radiant’s internal growth. I think their own growth restrains Radiant behavior. I believe an order’s primary divine attribute attracts the spren to its Radiant. IMO, each completed oath takes the Radiant closer to their goal, their order’s secondary divine attribute. I think each Fifth Oath manifests that attribute, fully merging Radiant and spren. The secondary divine attributes seem an outward-looking, “uniting” version of the primary divine attribute. Examples: Protecting others vs. Leading others to protect themselves. Loving others, which is about “you” vs. Healing others, which is about “them.” Wise, which can lead to Nightblood vs. Careful, ensuring your wisdom won’t hurt others. [I may flesh this idea out in an update to my 2014 post.] We don’t know the Dustbringer oaths or how many Malata has spoken. The Dustbringers’ divine attributes are “brave” (primary) and “obedient” (secondary). IMO, each oath marks Malata as more obedient. Your quote suggests Malata hasn’t progressed very far to obedience. Since Dustbringers literally seem to be hotheads, obedience is a good trait for them to aspire to. It puts them under some leader’s control. Malatadin? Conclusion Key idea: Shards magically differ only in how they access Investiture. Brandon says each Shard has its own magical “filter.” Surgebinders access Honor through bonds, Allomancers access Preservation through stasis, and Hemalurgists access Ruin through entropy. That much Brandon is clear about. Corollary: The magical abilities Shards grant work through the same filter. Windrunners bond gravity in a new direction to fly. Hemalurgists spike attributes (an act of entropy) to transfer them. Feruchemists return to the status quo (an act of stasis) when they re-convert Investiture into attributes. And I SPECULATE Awakeners transfer quanta of Investiture when they animate objects. I think this theory explains Shard magic. Vessel personality explains the rest.

Great post, @Argent, and great discussion by everyone!!! There’s so much here to digest and discuss, starting with my favorite topic. Means of Access Defines Magic Systems Yes! You, @Jofwu, and now even @Calderis all agree the Surgebinding system is Honor’s regardless of which spren grant abilities through that system. “Some of the magics lean more Honor and some [of] them lean more Cultivation.” And some like Glys grant Odium-associated abilities. Because Surgebinders access these abilities through the Nahel bond, the system IMO remains Surgebinding even for Renarin. I presented this analogy last year on Discord: The Nahel bond is like a gun. Surgebinders can load their gun with different bullets, namely spren of different Investitures that personify different abilities. But the nature of the bullet doesn’t change the nature of the gun. The gun (the Nahel bond) always belongs to Honor. The Boskone WoB @TheEdgedancer quotes also shows that magics like “flying,” that rely more on Honor’s Investiture, work through bond-creation: “So the way Honor accesses gravity is, you make a bond between yourself and either a thing or a direction or things like that and you go.” Brandon implies that magics like healing, that rely more on Cultivation’s Investiture, work through growth/transformation. IMO, the Boskone WoB establishes these two important rules of cosmere magic: 1. Each Shard’s unique means of accessing Investiture defines its magic system like the Nahel bond defines Surgebinding as Honor’s. 2. The magical abilities Shards grant work by the same method as the Shard’s means of accessing Investiture, like using bonds to “fly.” The Boskone WoB amplifies two older WoBs I often cite. They say in part: “The means of getting powers ... are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.” [2008] “The 'role' of the Shard has to do with the WAY the magic is obtained, not what it can do.” [2011] This 2018 WoB confirms three Shards’ “primal forces/fundamental laws.” Ruin is entropy, Preservation is stasis, and Honor “is the sense of being bound by rules, even when those rules, you wouldn't have to be bound by,” that is, bonds. IMO, mortals access Ruin by Intending an act of entropy; they access Preservation by Intending an act of stasis; and they access Honor by Intending a bond. You see this when you look at these Shards’ magic systems. I use every opportunity to make this case because I am so convinced it is the right way to understand Shards. This framework clears away a lot of the confusion the OP cites. I’ve yet to see a contrary analysis that addresses these four WoBs. Surgebinding Through Radiant Spren We don’t know when Radiant spren came to exist, but “All of the sapient spren are later developments.” Brandon hints Cultivation created them. Since Radiant spren mimic Honorblades, they must post-date them. I think Surgebinding didn’t exist until the Honorblades, and KR Surgebinding didn’t exist until after that. But I agree Honor’s bonding mechanic always held the potential for Surgebinding. Here’s a question: Radiant spren personify the Heralds’ primary divine attributes like protection, justice, and learning. Each Radiant spren binds the Surges its mimicked Honorblade can bind. Yet these Surges, for both Honorblades and Radiant spren, seem unrelated to the divine attribute. Why, for example, should “just” Skybreakers fly and divide? I know there are “natural pairings,” which I believe relate to the “five classical elements” of air, water, fire, earth, and aether. But the relationship between divine attribute and Surge always seemed weird to me. Oaths and Orders I’ve long believed Ishar threatened Radiant spren, not Surgebinders. Here’s the relevant quote: The bolded pronouns’ have uncertain antecedents. I think the first “them” refers to “men.” Ishar wants Surgebinders to organize themselves into the orders. IMO, the bolded “one” and “they” don’t make sense as references to men. Destroying all Surgebinders doesn’t prevent future Surgebinding because the Radiant spren are still around waiting to bond. Moreover, mortal men can’t agree to “precepts and laws” that bind future Surgebinder generations. But immortal spren CAN agree to bind themselves to Ishar’s laws, and IMO they did. As the Binder of Gods and the Bondsmith’s Patron Herald, Ishar could cut each spren’s Nahel bond, “killing” them. There’s not a lot to support this interpretation other than logic, but this seems more plausible than just threatening to kill Surgebinders who couldn’t bind later generations in any event. I don’t think oaths are a necessary part of Surgebinding. Bonds are “an Honor thing,” not oaths. Ishar felt he needed to organize men and impose oaths because oath-less Surgebinders had begun to appear. Radiant spren already searched for Cognitively compatible humans to bond with. Oaths IMO are just a means to regulate human power and prevent another Ashyn. Oaths don’t form the bond, they strengthen it. I believe Honor could have found another way than oaths to bond Honorblades to the Heralds and bind the Fused to Braize. I think the WoB you rely on refers to the subjectivity of oaths. It says, “two Knights Radiant in the same Order might speak the words differently, but the concept is the same.” The Boskone WoB, a year later, agrees: “whether or not Kaladin is keeping an oath is up to what Syl and Kaladin think is keeping that oath. It is not related to capital-T Truth, what is actually keeping the oath.” The WoR Chapter 42 Epigraph quoted above states Ishar did impose some “precepts and laws.” I speculate at minimum he imposed the First Oath, which binds all orders. Maybe the Heralds themselves vowed the First Oath’s litany when making the Oathpact. Each KR might interpret the First Oath differently, but it does bind them all to a general moral code. Anyway, “mankind's influence on the spren themselves” is the exception that swallows the rule. As your WoB shows, men and spren influence each other in an ongoing interactive process. Fabrials Fabrials to me are solely Cultivation’s magic system. Odium identifies Cultivation as the Shard of growth and transformation. Cultivation IMO accesses fundamental forces through transformation. Khriss calls spren “transformative Cognitive entities.” (SLA Ars Arcana.) I believe Stormlight causes spren to manifest in the Physical Realm. They transform from the idea they personify into the thing itself: fire, water, life, etc. All things have three aspects including these phenomena. Stormlight transforms spren from their Cognitive aspect into their Physical aspect. I think that’s the magical basis for fabrials. The Surges are Roshar’s perception of fundamental forces. (If you haven’t yet, I’d be honored if you would look at my “Primacy of Perception” thread about perception’s cosmere-wide role.) IMO, fabrials are machines that apply fundamental forces just like earth’s machines apply our fundamental forces. For example, a Surge that heats air can condense water onto a cold surface. Maybe Captain Ico’s fabrial uses the Adhesion and/or Abrasion Surges to cause Physical Realm air molecules to collide and generate heat and the Transformation Surge to bring the condensed water into Shadesmar. I’m unsure what you mean, Argent, when you say, “Something that still involves a bond.” You acknowledge modern fabrial users don’t bond their spren. Brandon says Honor's bonds are voluntary. I doubt even ancient fabrial users bond their spren. Oathgate users don’t seem to bond Oathgate spren. Cultivation’s Influence Cal, I’m thrilled you now agree Surgebinding is Honor’s system alone. If I can only get you to accept the Boskone WoB and related WoBs as a framework applicable to all Shards... (Sighs.) I agree Cultivation’s influence is the spren – Khriss’ “transformative Cognitive entity.” IMO, Stormlight transforms all spren from their Cognitive aspect into their Physical aspect regardless of the spren’s Investiture mix. The idea of fire becomes fire. The idea of foresight becomes foresight. The idea of flying becomes flying. The Nahel bond is the pathway that Connects the Radiant spren’s Cognitive and Physical aspects. Your Honorblade comment is apt. Honorblades access the same fundamental forces as spren but without spren. Honor’s Investiture is solely responsible for Honorblade magic. FWIW, your example supports the 2008 and 2011 WoBs I link above that say Shards differ only in “the WAY the magic is obtained, not what [the magic] can do.” The “Old Magic” I recall Khriss uses this term someplace, but I’m unsure what an “Invested Art” is. I assume you mean magic systems where mortals can direct the magic. (Art requires an artist.) Brandon calls those “people with magic” systems and says they all arose after the Shattering. Before then, there were only “interaction with nature” systems, where mortals interacted with magic as part of their ecosystem but couldn’t direct it. I think the Old Magic is an “interaction with nature” system. Mortals can ask the Nightwatcher for a boon, but they can’t direct or control what she’ll do. She gives mortals what she thinks they “deserve.” By my understanding of your definition, the Old Magic is not an Invested Art. Odium’s Magical Influence I agree, Argent, with pretty much everything you say about the Regals. Voidspren occupy their gemhearts like other spren do. And I agree this is an “interaction with nature” system that predates the Shattering. Odium now uses it to his advantage. I’m sure you know I disagree about the Fused. For many reasons – mostly textual and all of which I spell out elsewhere – I believe Odium’s primal force is breaking Connections. IMO, the “Broken One” takes someone’s pain by breaking their Connection to whatever (usually whoever) causes the pain. This broken emotional Connection leaves a void in that person’s Spiritual aspect through which Odium’s Investiture enters. Yes, I believe the Fused are Voidbinders. They have so few Connections to anyone that Odium’s Investiture fills them. They reincarnate by terminating their host’s Connection to life. I think the Fused break Connections to perform their magic. They dis-Connect the Gravitation Surge to fly and dis-Connect the Abrasion Surge to glide. I’ve advocated this interpretation elsewhere in much more detail and don’t intend to provoke discussion about it here. Few, if any, agree with me. We’ll discover what’s cosmere truth soon enough. Conclusion Oh, the joy of a thoughtful, well-considered thread on topics dear to my heart! Thank you all.

“Giant Pony” @Halyo_Alex and @Steeldancer: Thanks for your comments, but I think you misunderstand me. Non-magic users can’t create giant ponies or spontaneously change their Connections to become magic users. They can and do form mundane Connections through their relationships with other people and objects. Both mundane and magical Connections IMO mirror mortal perception, not the underlying reality. Earth’s gravity may help explain what I mean. Gravity’s Perception Newton in the 17th C. mathematically defines gravity. Newton’s formula is a metaphor, a scientific model. For 250 years, scientists “Connect” to gravity as Newton defines it. Then comes Einstein’s General Relativity theory. A new metaphor now describes gravity. Gravity doesn’t change, but our perception of gravity does. In cosmere terms, our new perception rewrites our gravity Connection. Paradigm Shifts: Text Examples Khriss describes how the “rules of perception” magically apply on Sel: Khriss refers to the way Sel’s location-bound magic systems access the Dor differently. I believe Selish magic always begins with some motion, but the motion’s form varies. Elantrians draw Aons, JinDo dance steps, Forgers and Bloodsealers twist essence stamps, and Dakhor monks twist their bones. These localized Cognitive expressions Connect differently to the Dor, but all still work. Here’s another example of perception’s role in making Connections: Perception Defines Spiritual Realm Ideals We agree Spiritual aspects are Platonic ideals. The OP theorizes perception defines Spiritual aspects and their ideals. Shai confirms this: Pattern tells Shallan the same thing: Mortal perception defines ideas (time, space, and gravity), objects (windows and tables), and all of Physical Realm reality. Marasi learns this when she draws power from the Bands of Mourning: The cosmere’s reality is “just energy coalesced,” or more deeply, pure Investiture organized in ways no one sees or understands. As Pattern says, “Your truth is what you see... What else could it be?” Babies? This made me laugh! Babies aren’t self-aware? Tell that to parents whose babies wake them every few hours to eat or be changed. I think those parents might disagree with you. Are Connections Inherent? SOMETHING “is.” Mortals call that something “Connection.” What does “where you were born” even mean when everything including “you” is coalesced energy/organized Investiture? Spiritual Realm Problems? What else could make Spiritual Realm changes? Rocks can’t write a Connection. Mortals instead Connect with their perception of the rock. They don’t see the rock at its subatomic, “coalesced energy,” or Investiture levels. Sentient minds observe the Physical Realm and create Connections to explain what they see. This is part of Brandon’s broader theme that the mind makes magic in the cosmere. Are Cosmere Truths Knowable? Unknowable by in-world mortals, not us. Deciphering Brandon’s brain is my mission too. Unlike you, on an actuarial basis I don’t have the next forty years to wait for my answers. The Human Ideal, Perfect Self, and Cognitive Self @Karger and @Bigmikey357, you ask an excellent question: where does one’s “perfect self” come from? I think we should distinguish between the “perfect human” and the “perfect self.” The human ideal IMO derives from humanity’s collective perception of itself. The “spark of life” that turns coalesced energy into humanity exists independently of that perception. I believe many, many Connections go into defining the human ideal. The “perfect self” OTOH is literally that – the best that person can be. IMO, the “perfect self” Connects to the human ideal, but no “perfect self” rises to the human ideal. I think our genetic capacity limits our self (though genetics is another scientific metaphor). In-world mortals might say inherited traits Connect to our ancestor’s gene pool. I believe an individual’s self-perception defines their “Cognitive self.” Kaladin’s Cognitive self has brands. Lopen’s Cognitive self grows him a new arm. Something “External” Perceives and Writes Connections? Why must “something external” perceive and write Connections when mortal perception defines everything? Even the cosmere definition of “fundamental force” varies by planet: The WoB characterizes our own universe’s fundamental forces as a “human construction.” I agree Adonalsium (or whatever) created the cosmere’s Investiture-energy matrix. The OP posits Connections are mortals’ attempt to understand and describe that matrix. I Have No Words... Oh, Calderis! (Last one, I promise.)

@Spoolofwhool's recent theory made me peer again into the Spiritual Realm. My conclusions may be more nuanced than new. I focus on time and foresight to illustrate. As always, this post represents MY INTERPRETATION of text and Brandon’s words even if not every sentence so states. Theory I theorize sentient life’s perceptions form all Spiritual Realm Connections and Spiritual aspects. The Spiritual Realm is a null set until some mind starts writing data there. I believe raw Spiritual Realm Investiture is protean, changeable, and can execute any command a mind imagines. Perception limits raw Investiture’s infinite scope for both Intentional magic and Connection formation. Adonalsium programmed the cosmere’s unknowable “operating system.” In-world people use the metaphor “Connection” to explain Adonalsium’s operating system. Connections describe perceived Physical Realm reality. Words like time and space have Cognitive and Physical Realm meaning but are “irrelevant” in the Spiritual Realm. IMO, perceiving a Connection writes that Connection onto raw Spiritual Realm Investiture. Connections are the programming code that defines Spiritual aspects. Connections collectively hold the cosmere’s full set of perceived information. Connections make the cosmere’s operating system comprehensible to mortal minds. Connections plug into the operating system like software applications. I think metaphors like time and space work as they do in the Physical Realm BECAUSE mortals perceive they work that way (or so Syl says). Two reasons magic systems differ are their Shard and their planet’s Cognitive Realm subastral. Each subastral’s unique perceptions form unique Connections. Each planet runs a slightly different version of Connection software. Hence hacking. What Brandon Says Analysis IMO, Brandon’s two key ideas are: (1) “Only Connection” has Spiritual Realm relevance; and (2) Spiritual Realm time and space “don’t mean anything,” are “irrelevant,” and are “one” with all other times and places. I reconcile these ideas by concluding time and space are themselves “only Connection.” If they are SR-irrelevant, time and space must be Cognitive Realm constructs sentient minds impose on the Physical Realm. Brandon acknowledges this and says our physics is also a construct – a way humans impose order on earth. Sentient minds define Connections. Sentient Minds Write Connections onto Raw Investiture Brandon says the cosmere’s “fantastical version of quantum physics” means “thinking about something can directly influence it.” Thinking (or feeling) can write or rewrite a Connection that changes the Spiritual aspect. In Cognitive Realm time perception, that programming can occur moment by moment. Space-Time As a human construct, space-time has no SR relevance except through Connection. A newborn’s birth programs its Spiritual aspect with its human-imposed calendar birth date. The SR stores that Connection’s information. Other Connections store information on life expectancy, place of birth, and ethnicity. Each of these represents the human term for some feature of the cosmere’s operating system. Past Events A society’s “history” exists in the collective memories of its people. IMO, these events are stored in their Connection to people who witnessed or are taught/told about the events; and the events’ Connection to art, writing, or other artifact that memorializes the events. Perception affects these Connections: “History is written by the victors.” Singers and humans have different Connections with their past that reveal different explanations for the present. Over CR/PR time, “history” is erased and forgotten as memory and artifacts fade. I speculate the Spiritual Realm “backs up” all its Connection data. Maybe this occurs at the atomic or sub-atomic level as people and objects decay into their components. Former Connections remain detectable the way digital data never fully erases. Seeing the past through Connections seems easy. The information Connections store may exist “forever,” or at least as long as someone or some artifact remembers it. This information should be available to anyone whose magic allows them to look at it. Foresight Brandon confirms Vessels “don't know the future exactly.” Shards vary in their foresight abilities. I tie Shard differences to their “fundamental law/primal force.” Preservation (stasis) foresees better than Ruin (entropy). Honor (bonds) says Cultivation foresees better than him. Renarin discovers Voidbinding’s limits when Dalinar rebuffs Odium despite Renarin’s contrary visions. Brandon believes cosmere future time is uncertain, a matter of possibility. If time, and hence future time, exists only as the construct of the collective sapient mind, what makes the future predictable at all? I’ll trot out some thoughts with no conclusions: 1. Brute Force Method. Maybe Vessels predict the future by trying to read the whole set of cosmere Connections – all the cosmere’s perceived information. Kelsier says you must “sort through” the SR’s “horrible overload of information and sensation.” Vessels might seek the sapient population’s collective sense of the future’s direction and weigh its probability against the full information Connections hold. This method resembles how the psycho-historian Hari Seldon foresees events in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. Taravangian seems to have written the Diagram with the brute-force method. 2. Algorithm Method. Each Vessel might use a Shard-specific algorithm to streamline their Connection data analysis. Maybe Fortune has its own streamlining algorithm when magic users tap that Spiritual attribute. These algorithms may cull and organize Connection data to make the future more comprehensible. 3. “Time Ribbons” Method. Maybe Adonalsium built Leras’ “ribbons of the future” into the cosmere’s operating system. Vessels and/or magic users can peer into these ribbons to foresee. (FWIW, Leras likes colorful language, as his Realmic “light” metaphor shows (also in M:SH).) All or none of these ideas might be “right-tracked.” They are not mutually exclusive. I’m sure there are other explanations. Foresight’s mechanics elude me. Conclusion My theory again: Spiritual Realm Connections reflect sentient life’s perceptions and not the cosmere’s underlying reality. Human metaphors like space and time are “irrelevant” in the Spiritual Realm but explain the Physical Realm in terms humans understand. As the Spiritual aspect’s programming code, Connections IMO execute sentient life’s programming commands. These include everything from a chasmfiend Connecting “food” with humans but not rocks, to Kaladin’s re-bonding his Connection to gravity. Connections paint Physical Realm reality to form the sensory tapestry sentient life experiences – the cosmere version of the Matrix. SPOILER: Postscript for @Calderis

Spool, I’m really glad your theory addresses cosmere thermodynamics. To me, thermodynamics is the key to understanding how the cosmere works. Time’s Role in Your Theory Your theory assumes Background Investiture flows through the Framework over time (bold added): But the SR lacks sequential time and location. In Brandon’s words, SR Investiture cannot “flow” if time and space are one, ever-present and location-less. “Flow” requires points A and B in time and/or space. IMO, your theory needs to deal with the SR’s timeless nature. Your Questions My second and third questions go to the nature and composition of Background Investiture. I address these in the next two sections. Do magic users power their magic with Background Investiture or some other SR Investiture? I refer to Feruchemical conversions of attributes into Investiture and back again. Composition of SR Investiture Why do you think this? Many Investitures have opposing effects. SR Investiture-homogenization might be cosmere catastrophic. Brandon mentions Devotion and Dominion’s dangerous interactions; and though Harmony-harnessed, Ruin and Preservation’s forces naturally oppose each other. Even if we assume the PR effects of SR Investiture are mixed together, that doesn’t mean the SR Investitures themselves are mixed. How Investiture Manifests in the Spiritual Realm Magic users access SR Investiture when they perform magic: Investiture exists in the SR in some shape or form even though “time and space are compounded in one” there. I metaphorically describe the Investiture repository as a “pool.” Maybe instead the SR is a hyper-dense Investiture-filled point that literally compounds time, space, and Investiture into one. Lopen Example No. I just thought Lopen might fall within your general rule if his Framework never changes. How Metalminds Trap Background Investiture You visualize Background Investiture as a “homogenous slurry” of Shard Investiture. Wouldn’t Feruchemy need Ruin and Preservation’s Investiture to activate the metalmind? As Background Investiture passes through their Frameworks, how does the Feruchemist and/or the metalmind pick out only Ruin and Preservation to power the Feruchemical conversions? FWIW, my model envisions the Feruchemist Intending (capital “I”) an act of entropy when they store their attributes and an act of stasis when they return their body to its preexisting condition (the status quo). These Intended acts summon Ruin and Preservation’s Investiture through the metalmind’s metal Focus to power the Feruchemical conversions. This model might work for your theory too and avoid a problem I highlight next. How Background Investiture Fuels Feruchemy If I understand you correctly, during the metalmind storage period some Background Investiture diverts to the metalmind. This happens because the Feruchemist’s attribute-to-Investiture conversion alters their Manifestation. In effect, the Feruchemist powers the Feruchemical conversion with some of the Background Investiture that would otherwise create its pre-conversion Manifestation: “part of the investiture relating to the specific attributes is usurped instead of being part of the Manifestation proper and is diverted into the metalmind where it is trapped.” But doesn’t the stored Investiture equate to all the attributes placed in the metalmind? Otherwise, on re-conversion the Feruchemist loses some part of themselves. How then is any Investiture “usurped” to power the conversion? Without added SR Investiture (a “facilitating power”), your theory may not solve the thermodynamic problem. (You might look at my post on magic system fuel to see my views on Feruchemy’s thermodynamics.) Maybe I’m just missing something here. End-Positive Magic Systems Brandon says SR Investiture powers almost all magic systems regardless of classification. Is flowing, homogenized Background Investiture the power’s source or does some other SR Investiture produce magic system power? Conclusion You present an interesting theory that explains some thermodynamic issues and other phenomena. I upvoted you for the topic and your analysis of it. IMO, a theory should integrate with other cosmere “facts” and theories. My questions try to flush these out and explore them. If your model can answer such questions, it becomes that much stronger. And if you have to refine it a bit to make the theory work better, well, welcome to a club with many members. Postscript I see Cal’s imprint on your theory. I wonder if he will look again at the facts that underlie my “Shard differences” theory instead of distracting himself with questions about “appropriate” speculation. The text and WoBs I cite explain the behavior of one-third of the known Shards without resort to speculation. I invited him in that post to focus only on the theory’s facts. He hasn’t responded. @Calderis, are you listening?

Nice job, Spool! You put a lot of thought into this, and it shows! Before commenting, I want to make sure I understand your theory. You believe cosmere “Background Investiture” (SR Investiture) constantly flows through a person/object’s “Framework” (its ideal state) over time. Background Investiture updates the instantaneously previous Background Investiture-filled Framework. Each moment in time, Background Investiture creates a person/object’s three-Realm “Manifestation.” Background Investiture can change the person/object’s Framework over time to accord it with the Manifestation – hardened perception can become reality. Magical intervention can also change a Framework and immediately update the Manifestation. The constant Background Investiture flow ensures, among other things, compliance with cosmere thermodynamics and explains your listed phenomena. Do I have that right? If so, I have some questions you might want to think about. 1. Your theory is a plausible metaphor to explain varied Cosmere phenomena. My biggest question: How can SR Investiture “flow” through time when all futures are probabilistically and simultaneously “present” in the SR and time itself has no “flow”? 2. Is Background Investiture raw SR Investiture undifferentiated by Shard? 3. We know there’s a pool of SR Investiture magic users draw on. Is this the same pool that flows through Frameworks as Background Investiture? 4. I’m unclear if a Framework is a fourth thermodynamic state – the "imperceptible" blueprint for Investiture itself – or is it also made from SR Investiture? FWIW, Brandon says Spiritual aspects are Connections imprinted on Investiture. 4. On your “exception”: As I see it, despite their PR Manifestations, (1) Lopen kept his pre-injury Framework, and (2) the trans person’s self-perception changed their Framework. Investiture in both cases enabled them to Manifest their self-perception fully. 5. Mechanically, how does a metalmind trap Background Investiture? Is Background Investiture Focused into Ruin/Preservation’s Investiture to make the Feruchemical gene or metalmind work? If so, how? 6. If metalminds trap Background Investiture, does the Investiture continue to accumulate until used? What if all the trapped Background Investiture gets used before a Feruchemical conversion completes? Does the conversion stop part-way through? 7. How does your theory affect end-positive magic systems, if at all?

Cal, I don’t begrudge your hesitance to speculate, though IMO you apply it selectively – (cough) Avatars. But you’ve never addressed the substance of my FACT-BASED theory. Unlike some things we quibble about, I think THIS THEORY IS IMPORTANT to understanding Shard nature and behavior. Please review it on its merits. If I didn’t value your input, I wouldn’t ask. Let me summarize the KNOWN FACTS again: 1. Shards combine personality and fundamental law/primal force. 2. Brandon TELLS us Ruin’s, Preservation’s, and Honor’s fundamental laws are entropy, stasis, and bonds, respectively. 3. Brandon SHOWS us how Honor grants his magic through bonds each time a Surgebinder uses his Honor-centric powers. 4. Brandon twice says the only difference between Shards is “the WAY they obtain their magic [capitalization in original],” confirmed a third time by the 2017 “Honor bonds” WoB. 5. These three Shards’ magic systems show us that a magic user’s Intended (capital “I”) performance of an act of entropy, stasis, or bonding summons that Shard’s Investiture. From these facts, I THEORIZE Shards obtain their magic through their fundamental law/primal force. This fact-based theory explains the behavior of one-third of the known Shards. (I exclude Ambition who has no known magic system.) I do speculate about the other six known Shards (but not Ambition) and always say so. (Look, for example, at this post.) I extrapolate the theory to these Shards based on text and WoBs about their magic systems. I associate Endowment with EMR, for example, because Awakening drains “color” – reflections of visible light, a form of EMR. Regardless, if my guesses about these Shards’ fundamental laws/primal forces turn out wrong, the theory would remain valid based solely on the known facts. I do believe Odium inherently breaks Connections. My previous post cites lots of text evidence for my belief. As I say in the earlier post, OB’s moral polarity, the novel’s conflict, is Unity (bonding) vs. Division (breaking). OB’s first chapter is entitled “Broken and Divided.” Breaking Connections is how Hate translates into cosmere force. On Voidbinding: IMO the three referenced WoBs show Brandon classifies magic systems by how they give magic to mortals, not what magical abilities they grant. The 2017 “Honor bonds” WoB shows the Nahel bond defines Surgebinding. Surgebinding’s transformative magic comes from Cultivation, but the magic system is still Surgebinding. Reason: Only Surgebinders get their magic through Honor’s Nahel bond. Glys may give Renarin future sight, nominally a Voidbinding ability, but Renarin is still Surgebinding. He too gets his magic through the Nahel bond. This is no different than Lift, Jasnah, and Shallan using Cultivation’s transformative abilities while Surgebinding. Breaking Connections to access Odium’s Investiture should “be able to act on anything” (or mostly anything). Brandon describes how this works in the 2008 WoB: Certain abilities are more naturally Voidbinding (like future sight), and other abilities are more naturally Surgebinding (like flying). But any Shard can theoretically grant any ability. Breaking a Connection to use an ability IMO doesn’t permanently break the Connection. Windrunners make multiple lashings (bonds), but when they release their lashings, normal reality and physics kick in. I believe the same is true of Voidbinders. They can allow their Connection to gravity (for example) to reassert itself in whole or part (up to one-G). Glys IMO allows Renarin to break his Connection to time. This allows Renarin to see the Spiritual Realm’s multiple future possibilities, some of which (Renarin now knows) can be wrong. Nor do I make such assumptions. I know you and others often tar my theories as unfounded, but it’s untrue. You cannot point to a single of my theories that isn’t based on substantial text and WoB evidence. Even my speculations (which I always identify as such) stem from Brandon’s words. If I look outside Brandon’s words – as I do with scientific principles like quantum physics or resonance – it is only to understand his use of those principles. As a reminder, I looked at more than fifty WoBs where Brandon uses the term resonance before concluding he meant the technical meaning in the one about Allomancy’s Focus. That’s not assumption; that’s hard analytical work. 1. I take no offense and hope my words give you none. 2. You should NOT “expect to be called out on” your assumptions. You should state them, and we can assess their reasonableness. But there’s nothing wrong with pre-conceived notions per se. Whether an assumption proves valid partly depends on how well the resulting theory explains known facts. 3. Different conclusions are understandable; different methods to reach those conclusions are not, at least when seeking cosmere “truth.” Your stated methods seem the same as mine, you just don’t take them as far as I do. I ask a lot of “why” and “how” questions. They lead me to answers that logically flow from the known facts, and I’m unafraid to state those answers. A theory’s best proof is how well it integrates our knowledge to explain a wide array of phenomena. My theory, I believe, fully explains Shards and their magic systems, even if some details about particular Shards may be off. 4. The real pitfall, I think, is how willing we are to modify our views in the face of contrary information. I’ve refined my theories many times based on new (to me) information. Many here are locked into their paradigms and never waver. I can launch into social commentary about this, but… Reflexive disagreement seems endemic to life and the Forum.

@Calderis: We Don’t “Fundamentally Disagree” on this Issue No, Cal, I don’t know where we “fundamentally disagree” on this issue. Brandon SAYS Shards combine personality and fundamental law/primal force. You previously said you didn’t think we knew enough to identify each Shard’s fundamental law or to guess how such law affects the Shard. Those views don’t conflict with this post. You’re just unwilling yet to speculate about these subordinate issues. I OTOH am perfectly willing to do so – hardly a “fundamental disagreement” – and I have firm bases for my speculations. Fact-Based Theory on the Difference Between Shards The 2018 WoB gives three examples of fundamental laws: Ruin (entropy), Preservation (stasis), and Honor (bonds). This 2017 WoB SHOWS how fundamental laws work in practice (quoted in part, bold added): Honor grants magic through bonds: The Nahel bond (to make one a Surgebinder) and each time the Surgebinder uses an Honor-centric ability. Brandon says Windrunners and Skybreakers forge a bond between themselves and their desired direction to access gravity. The 2017 WoB amplifies two earlier WoBs I often reference: These three WoBs show Shards magically differ only in their unique filter to Spiritual Realm power – “the WAY the magic is obtained.” The 2018 WoB says Shards combine personality and fundamental law/primal force. I think it’s SOUND THEORY to conclude each Shard’s unique filter IS their fundamental law/primal force. This theory explains a lot about Shard behavior including Shard Wars. For example, IMO magic users perform Intended (capital “I”) acts of entropy, stasis, or bonding each time they summon Ruin’s, Preservation’s, or Honor’s Investiture: Ruin – Spiking sDNA, destroying evil, and converting attributes into Investiture are all Intended acts of entropy. Preservation – Feruchemists Intend to return to their prior condition (the status quo) when they re-convert Investiture into attributes. The fixed (static) supply of lerasium and the Feruchemical gene limits the number of magic users and the strength of their powers. “Burning” metal allows Allomancers to draw Investiture through that metal’s static molecular structure. Honor – The Nahel bond grants Surgebinding; yet the 2017 WoB quoted above says, “some of the [Surgebinding] magics lean more Honor and some [of] them lean more Cultivation.” Surgebinders exercise their Honor-centric abilities like Windrunning/Skybreaking through bonding. Cultivation – Though the Nahel bond grants Surgebinding to all Knights Radiant, the 2017 WoB implies transformative magical abilities like Soulcasting and Progression come from Cultivation. I’ve yet to see a cogent counter-argument from you or anyone else. You instead say you choose not to speculate on these issues. You apparently don’t find these WoBs as compelling as I do. Theory-Making Approach Cal, you’re imaginative, quick-on-your-feet, and my favorite debate partner. But I still don’t understand your analytic approach to theory-making. Our last exchange four months ago, on Allomancy’s thermodynamics and the meaning of “resonance,” ended with you claiming WoBs are as likely wrong as right (bold added): And I don't. Brandon has a team for a reason. He can't be an expert on everything. The vast majority of the time that he's at a signing he does not have his team with him. There's a reason we have conflicting WoBs, and ones where he states things that obviously conflict with the books. Brandon is amazing but he's not perfect. He makes mistakes in addition to not being perfect. Part of the issue, I agree, is that the rules have been refined as the story progresses. But taking the underlying mechanics to the literal definition of Brandon's word choices, when many things are done to serve the story first and foremost, is a good way to be disappointed in my opinion. These are valid points, but Brandon’s words are our only cosmere guide. Text foremost, but we shouldn’t belittle his commentary. The cosmere is Brandon’s invention. What he says goes unless there’s an obvious error. To do otherwise leads to an ad hoc approach inconsistent with Brandon’s self-description as an author-architect. I think we should presume Brandon’s words are right and try to square his words with text and other WoBs. We should ignore his words only if we can’t place them in that broader tapestry. Context and subtext are vital. I looked at more than fifty WoBs before concluding Brandon intends the technical meaning of “resonance” in his 2011 WoB that first describes Focus. Those WoBs show Brandon knows what a resonance is both technically and metaphorically. If you’re a puzzle-solver like me, you seek cosmere truth wherever you find it and don’t reflexively reject potential solutions. Specific Responses Now, to your specific comments. Possibly... But it's also possible that, as Leras' betrayal of Ruin, and his description of that betrayal as a loophole in the agreement, that shards are only bound to what they believe they were agreeing to. And With Honor at least, we know he does not believe settlement with Cultivation was a violation of what he agreed to. Endowment says the Vessels agreed not to interfere with one another. She interprets their pact to mean no multi-Shard planets. Ati, Leras, and Tanavast disagree. But murder is “interference” beyond any interpretation. Endowment sniffs her nose while the other Shards do nothing. We can only conclude Shard interference bears no consequence. If we believe Taravangian, once Odium chooses to accept the challenger’s request for a champion, he is bound by his choice. Is there a cosmere Unbreakable Vow? But a deal with Odium is like a deal with the devil. Rayse will twist every circumstance and word to his advantage: Rayse refuses to write his word down. He comes to Taravangian only on Mr. T’s befuddled days. This allows Rayse to fudge or outright lie about his unwritten word. His word itself is ambiguous: “The city itself, and any humans who have been born into it, along with their spouses.” The words “have been born” mean those who were born in the city, those to be born before Odium kills all other humans, and MAYBE, but not necessarily, those born to Kharbranth-born after that: IMO, Odium will interpret his “word” to allow him to kill everyone not born into Kharbranth as of when he kills Roshar’s other humans. When that generation dies, so does the city. In exchange for that nanosecond of human life, Odium gets to avoid direct war with Dalinar. Why risk himself if Taravangian can neutralize the mortal Bondsmith for him? Good point. Maybe Hoid doesn’t have to “harm” another champion to defeat them? He can, for example, neutralize his opponent without causing “harm” (whatever that means). Maybe Hoid will adopt Preservation’s tactic and separate Odium’s consciousness from his Physical Realm Investiture? Your point's well taken. @Karger: Odium Break Connections I think broken “people” Connections cause the emotional Void, not the other way around. Hate divides people and breaks the Connections between them. Ultimately, a hateful person cuts themselves off from everyone and falls into an emotional void. Magic systems reflect both their Shard and their planet. On Roshar Odium breaks “people” Connections, but IMO his fundamental law/primal force can break any Connection. Dalinar’s last WoK vision and the OB Venli-Dalinar vision both show this, land and city disintegrating into a physical void. Only around Dalinar does physical reality reknit itself, as Honor’s Investiture bonds things together. There’s tons of text evidence that Odium breaks Connections. As imagery, he is the Broken One. He tells Taravangian, “I don’t need anyone,” highlighting his lack of people Connection. Moash and others say, “I’m not to blame,” as they seek to shed the guilt, shame, and pain their people Connections cause. When Dalinar nearly succumbs to Odium in Thaylen City, he says, “Alone…So alone,” because his memories of murder extinguish his people Connections. Other examples include SLA’s central theme – Unity vs. Division. I think Voidbinders break Connections to access Odium’s magic. Flying Fused, for example, by degree break or reinstate their Connection to gravity (up to one-G). They move in wider arcs than Windrunners who veer with sharp lashings. Their main tactic is to fall upon a target using normal gravity to accelerate. I imagine the flying Fused as gliders compared to engine-flying Windrunners. That partly explains the fuel usage differential. FWIW, as metaphor I also imagine Odium as Freud’s id, Roshar’s unrestrained primal urges. (Think of the Unmade.) My “Roshar’s Freudian Mind” post asserts Odium’s id conflicts with Honor’s superego, society’s binding rules. Cultivation as ego tries to reconcile (transform) their conflict. Questions About Champions 1. Does a champion have access to the full power of its Shard? 2. What happens to the Vessel whose champion loses? 3. What happens to the Shard whose champion loses? What do you think?

@Ammanas, @Araris Valerian, @Azul, @Blessed peace, @Briar King, @Dashichka, @DSC01, @Extesian, @Fourth Of The Night, @Gigalemesh, @goody153, @Idealistic, @Jondesu, @Julio, @Khyrindor, @Onslaught, @robardin, @Severian4Scadrial, @Slimy_Slider, @Sorana, @Stampede, @Storming Radiant, @Vexmeister, @Wander89, and @Wit Beyond Measure: Each of you has expressed interest in Robin Hobb’s “Realm of the Elderings” books in the last two years. I thought this post might interest you. WARNING!!! This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Hobb’s latest trilogy. FA refers to Fool’s Assassin (Book 1), FQ refers to Fool’s Quest (Book 2), and AF refers to Assassin’s Fate (Book 3). FURTHER WARNING!!! This post is MY INTERPRETATION of text. It is my opinion only no matter how affirmatively I express those opinions. * * * * * * * I LOVE Bee Farseer. This character at age ten is already one of the most accomplished magicians in fantasy-dom. As the nexus of past, present, and future represented by her three fathers Fitz, Nighteyes, and Beloved, Bee holds the power to make her world’s future: PREDICTIONS Bee Is Her Own Catalyst Bee tells both Fitz and Beloved that “no one can tell me ‘no’ anymore.” I believe she is her own Catalyst, who both foresees the future and makes it happen. Bee’s own actions change her “true Path”: Bee’s “True Path” As her White Prophet mission, I think Bee chooses to change the memories that cause people to take vengeance against each other: Bee Becomes the Mountain Kingdom’s Sacrifice Kettricken is Bee’s Wolf-Mother, the mate Nighteyes would have chosen for Fitz. Under Kettricken’s guidance and attention, Bee prospers and endears herself to the Mountain Kingdom. Her hair and eye color matches that of its people. Bee becomes a skilled huntress, her arrows her sting. Many come to the Mountain Kingdom for Bee’s healing and to hear a White Prophet’s wisdom as they once did for Beloved. King Dutiful names Prince Integrity the Seventh Duchy’s Duke. When Kettricken dies, the Mountain Kingdom chooses Bee as its Sacrifice. Bee’s Friendship with Dragons and Elderlings I think Bee stays close with Vivacia and the Paragon dragons through the Skill and occasional visits. Vivacia becomes Bee’s “Dragon-mother.” Vivacia loves Bee for helping Vivacia’s family, and Bee reciprocates: Paragon’s dragons see Bee as Beloved’s daughter and the person who chooses their freedom over personal power when she gives the Silver to Kennitsson. Karrigvestrit and the green Queen dragon demand to see Bee in Kelsingra and thank her and Fitz as dragon vengeance-takers. (AF, Ch. 44, Kindle Loc. 14503.) I think Bee cements the alliance between Kelsingra and the Seven Duchies by healing the “touched” and saving the Elderings from famine. Reyn tells Fitz Kelsingra always needs more grain. Two Bee dreams presage this: Bee Dreams a New Silver Source Bee withholds from Dwalia This dream seems to refer to Rapskal and Heeby. I think Bee discovers the “new land” across the ice holds a lode of Silver unaffected by the catastrophe that destroys Kelsingra and reduces its Silver output to a single well. Maybe the new land holds the Silver river Verity dipped his hands in. Bee Hides Her Skill Strength Natural ability, Thick’s teachings, and the integration of serpent potion with her “family magic” make Bee the strongest of all Skill users. Bee withstands Vindeliar’s Skilled summons when Fitz himself succumbs. Bee even hides her thoughts from Nettle’s touch in the Stone Garden – “’Nice walls,’ [Nettle says to Bee]. ‘Thick taught you well.’” (AF, Chapter 49, Kindle Loc. 15690.) No one including Nettle knows Bee’s full strength. Raised by a man of secrets, Bee keeps hers close. This Bee dream foretells what she becomes. The “old tree” is Molly, who bears Bee. Bee’s silver crown IMO refers to her Skill-strength, a queen among Skill-users: Prilkop’s Whites Become True Servants to Bee In his letter to Beloved, Prilkop acknowledges the Servants slaughtered dragons. (AF, Chapter 41, Kindle Locs. 13695-13710.) His belated discovery of their treachery and his desire to reestablish the Servants as true helpers to the White Prophet lead Prilkop to journey his Whites to the Seven Duchies. I believe they do serve Bee there; yet I suspect one or more of them will try to retaliate against Bee the Destroyer. Prilkop tells Beloved that most of his Whites have stopped dreaming. Rosemary’s Coup IMO, Rosemary is Regal’s bastard daughter, the counterpart to Fitz as a royal assassin. Rosemary feels indebted to Kettricken, who rescues the child Rosemary after Regal’s fall. With Fitz, Chade, and Kettricken dead, Rosemary mounts her coup. Rosemary disbands Chade’s spy network and steals his sequestered scrolls. These scrolls include Fitz’s account of Verity in the Stone Garden. Rosemary KNOWS, from Fitz himself, that Fitz’s body sires Dutiful. None of the Dukes believe that Verity’s Skilled possession of Fitz’s body makes Dutiful Verity’s natural son. The Dukes attribute Dutiful’s Wit to Fitz. Without a Verity heir, Regal rightfully becomes king when Verity dies. Regal’s heir should now rule. I believe Violet is Regal’s heir, a grandchild who can “prove” her lineage. Violet’s name hints at her royal (purple) heritage. Her condescension towards Bee and Shine is Regal-esque. Even before the coup, Bee’s enmity with Violet grows. Dutiful brings his downfall on himself. Like his mother, Dutiful thinks the best of people and trusts Rosemary. Both he and Nettle naively believe the Realm needs fewer secrets. We glimpse Rosemary’s true attitude when as emissary to Kelsingra after Fitz’s visit she downplays the value of a potential alliance. (AF, Chapter 17 Epigraph.) Perhaps Dutiful’s downfall is inevitable. He keeps the figurine of Elliania he found on the Treasure Beach. (The Tawny Man Trilogy, Fool’s Errand, Chapter XXIV, Kindle Loc. 8354.) Those who take items from the Beach are forever cursed: SPECULATIONS Text supports the foregoing predictions. Now I venture into the deeper waters of speculation and invention. An Army of Vindeliars – Does the Pale Woman Return? The dragons may have killed most of the Others, but I wonder if some escaped hidden underground or in the ocean. I also wonder if the Others kept a large reserve of serpent potion. If they did, they might create an army of Vindeliars. Will Ilistore lead them? Ilistore is supposedly dead. Fitz finds her empty mortal shell. But Fitz’s dead body could yield his soul to Nighteyes for a time; and through his blood Beloved imparts his soul into a Rooster Crown feather made from memory stone. I wonder if the Pale Woman moves her soul into memory stone. She could have become the animating personality of the second stone dragon left in the shallow waters off Aslevjal. Or maybe she moves into a memory cube, and Chade inadvertently brings her to Buckkeep. Perhaps she later possesses the body of an untrained apprentice Skill-user assigned to classifying the cube. Or maybe Ilistore possesses Violet herself (who Bee says “has no walls at all”) and becomes the Seven Duchies Queen. Ilistore sees Bee as a junction to a future she wants destroyed. She seeks Bee’s death. I speculate Ilistore and/or the Others strike at a Seven Duchies weakened by Rosemary’s coup. As a powerful and potent group of Skill-users, they will destroy or coopt the Farseers and their coteries. Bee notes that Nettle has created too many coteries, some of which may turn traitor. At minimum, those coteries are a way into the minds of Dutiful, his sons, and Nettle. Chade feared this. (FA, Chapter 3, Kindle p. 78.) The Skill-pillar in Buckkeep’s dungeons may allow the Others or the “Vindeliar army” into Buckkeep. Bee, Shine, and Spark save Hope and Promise from murder. Lant and Per aid their escape. I think Rosemary and/or Ilistore kill or seal Dutiful, Nettle, and Prosper. Integrity survives, since he’s in the Mountain Kingdom as its Duke. Bee Becomes a Dragon I think this transformation is inevitable, though I can only guess at the circumstances. This cryptic dream may predict it: Butterflies are a symbol of transformation, from an earthbound caterpillar to a winged beauty. Bee falls but “comes back” like butterflies do “to change all.” My favorite possibility for Bee’s transformation has Ilistore’s forces finding and encircling the escaping Farseers in the Stone Garden. Dozens of people witness Fitz entering his wolf and now know where the Stone Garden is. I believe Ilistore uses hammers and Chade’s exploding powder to destroy Verity and the other stone dragons. Their aim is to ensure Bee can’t activate the Stone Garden’s dragons. This Bee dream may predict the Wolf of the West (Fitz, Nighteyes, and Beloved’s stone dragon) trying to rescue the embattled Farseers: The Wolf’s “dozens of unhealable wounds” seem as if Ilistore’s forces broke chunks of memory stone from him. Somehow, through blood and Wit (Bee's?), the Wolf arises. As Sacrifice, Bee offers herself in exchange for the other Farseer lives. Ilistore “kills” Bee atop the rubble left by the stone dragons’ destruction. Bee’s blood sinks into the Silver-threaded rubble. Like Beloved and Ilistore herself, Bee’s blood transfers her soul into the memory stone. Silver is the raw stuff of magic. Silver-splattered Fitz makes wood combust with a thought. (AF, Chapter 46, Kindle Loc. 14828.) The Silver-threaded rubble retains the memories of older Farseers and their coteries. I think Bee commands the Silver to transform her into a bee-shaped dragon filled with the ancestral Farseer memories: “When the bee to the earth does fall, the butterfly comes back to change all.” Queen Bee. Other possibilities: Maybe Ilistore uses Silver to drown Bee. Or maybe dragons give Bee Silver. Or maybe Bee falls into the Kelsingra Silver-well. Silver does not kill Bee because the serpent potion she stepped in has already mingled with her blood and inoculated her against Silver damage. Queen Bee IMO has Skill-strength equal to a dragon's and can undergo the same transformation. One way or another, I believe Queen Bee becomes a true dragon. A Dragon Coterie? I think Queen Bee will organize the liveship dragons into a Skill-coterie that supports her. She will need this powerful coterie to contend with the army of Vindeliars. Because of their human memories, the liveship dragons are more likely to help humans than the other dragons. Maybe her dragon coterie helps her change human memory to end vengeance-taking. HOBB’S THEMES – MEMORY AND THE “GREAT MAN THEORY” OF HISTORY I think Hobb’s books explore the “great man theory” of history, that “heroes” and other influential people propel history’s direction. A White Prophet – history’s chance element – shifts fate from its current track through his or her Catalyst, the hero. As Bee’s thoughts about vengeance show, Hobb views memory as the guiding force of both personal and collective history. Fitz says memory forms a person’s character: The Skill-current IMO is people’s collective memories. Collective memory identifies the “great men or women” whose deeds and reputations linger longest and strongest. Survival in the Skill-current involves the maintenance of “self,” defined by personal and collective memory. Elderings and Skill coteries fill stone dragons with memory to provide a physical platform to remember self. Bee says Verity remains a dragon in the Skill-current (FQ, Chapter 38 Epigraph, Kindle p. 752). Six Duchies and Out Island peoples still remember Verity and his dragons that save the Six Duchies and defeat the Outislanders. Six Duchies folk remember Fitz as a wolf. Hobb’s view of memory and fate compares with Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time and James Islington’s still unfinished Licanius Trilogy. Jordan views time as cyclical. Islington (to the extent we can tell after two books) focuses on time-loops and whether changing the past can change the future. (“Licanius” in “High Darecian” means “fate.”) Hobb thinks a hero can change the future. CONCLUSION Time will aptly tell how close to the mark these predictions and speculations are. I hope you Hobb fans at least enjoyed this post’s ride.

How do Shards fight each other? What are the “rules”? How do Shards enforce these rules? Are there other Vessel agreements? This post gives my answers to these questions. Shard Rules I think the “rules” that govern Shards flow more from their essential nature than from some pact among the Vessels. Brandon says Shards are a mix of cosmere “fundamental laws” (which he also calls “primal forces”) and personality. Shard names reflect a “charged term,” a “cultural component,” for that fundamental law: “Ruin” is entropy; “Preservation” is stasis; “Honor” is bonds. IMO, “Odium” represents some cosmere force that breaks Connections – a repulsive, “odious” force. An earlier post goes into this idea in detail. Because each Shard’s fundamental law is unique to it, I believe for purposes of Shard Wars we need to focus on the fundamental law more than the Vessel personality that interprets the fundamental law. Shard Pact I do think the Vessels make some agreements before Shattering Adonalsium. Honor says the Shards must fight through a champion if their opponent so chooses. I suspect this is to avoid Vessel destruction (though that doesn’t seem to stop Odium). Endowment’s letter to Hoid says the Vessels also agree not to interfere with one another. She says each Shard should reside alone on a separate planet, presumably to avoid mixed Investitures. She excuses Odium’s murder of Aona and Skai because their Shards shared their planet. By that logic, Tanavast also deserves his fate. Endowment dismisses Odium’s murder of Uli Da as ridding the other Shards of a future problem despite the murder’s violation of the non-interference pact. Beyond these two agreements – a champion and non-interference – I’m unaware of other Vessel agreements. The multiple-Shard planets and the Shards’ non-reaction to Odium’s murders suggests no consequences for breaching the Shards’ agreements. The Odium Shard’s nature to break Connections makes Rayse’s breach of the Shard pact almost inevitable. How Shards Fight I believe Shards fight as a battle of fundamental laws/primal forces. Ruin’s Investiture decays/destroys. Preservation’s Investiture maintains the status quo. Honor makes Connections (bonds). Odium IMO breaks Connections. Even if Shards hold equal amounts of Investiture (which they no longer do), some fundamental forces may better suit Shard Wars than others. Hoid thinks Rayse “holds the most frightening and terrible of all the Shards.” The power to break Connections allows Odium to sever the Vessel from its Shard, thus killing the Vessel. By contrast, Ati slowly “strangles” Leras (says Khriss) rather than kill him at once. Ati interpreted Ruin’s entropy law as decay (a slow death). Had Preservation equal power to Ruin, the two Shards would stalemate – Preservation instantly healing whatever decay Ruin throws at him. I think some other Shard fundamental laws/primal forces are quantum physics (the physics of subatomic particles) - Endowment; fractals (the mathematics of complex patterns that are identical despite their size) - Autonomy; and transformation (mass-energy-Investiture conversion) - Cultivation. Even if you disagree with my premise, it might be fun to guess how such Shards would do in Shard Wars. Hoid as Harmony's Champion? What if Hoid is collecting the magic of multiple Shards because one will name him its champion? Harmony? Hoid knows the Shard pact terms and might be preparing to become a champion. In fighting another Shard’s champion, Hoid would have more magic at his disposal. Maybe he can defeat all other Shard champions. The climactic fight features Odium's champion against Hoid - fitting. Will the cosmere end in Hate or Harmony?

Yes, Autonomy’s Investiture comes from the Dayside sun. Khriss confirms this in AU. But I think most of the Investiture ends up in the ocean. The planet’s water cycle circulates the Investiture throughout the planet including Darkside. Sand Masters (and everyone else on Taldain) IMO drink Invested water and Daysiders absorb Invested solar radiation. Nalthis’ sun does generate that planet’s EMR – though the lightbulb WoB confirms mechanical EMR sources. But would Brandon duplicate Taldain’s Invested solar radiation mechanic? My doubt leans me toward my previous post’s Theory 2: “Color draining” Spiritually drains an object’s capacity to hold EMR. As you all say, that capacity resides in the object’s pigment. I think Awakeners drain the Investiture that comprises a pigment’s Spiritual Realm aspect. That Investiture activates Awakening. “Color draining,” IOW, destroys pigment in all three Realms just like Nightblood destroys “evil” people. I omit Scadrial because it’s not a pre-Shattering world. I focus on the inherent Investiture Adonalsium left on planets. Quantus asks a similar question to yours: I agree with both of you: Awakening’s color, Allomancy’s metals, and Sand Mastery’s water share a magical function. IMO, each is their Shard’s “pathway to power” down which Investiture transitions Realms. (Unlike color and water, metal is also a Focus and, Khriss says in BoM, a “catalyst.”) A November 2018 WoB describes cosmere “natural pathways.” I think water is Autonomy’s pathway generally and not just for Sand Mastery: Autonomy built Patji from the ocean, like Adonalsium built the Roshan continent (with Autonomy’s “assigned Investiture” IMO). You ask a good question, why do Allomancers burn metals but not Feruchemists, when metal accesses Shard power in both cases. The “writerly” answer: Brandon wrote Mistborn before cosmere “laws” fully crystallized. He later regretted his end-positive, end-neutral, and end-negative distinction because it “doesn’t scale well” to other worlds and magics. That WoB says almost every magic is end-positive, including Feruchemy. I think Brandon’s refined the cosmere’s rules since MB. The in-world answer: The Allomantic gene just works differently from the Feruchemical gene. Allomancy requires activation energy like every known magic system except the two nominally end-neutral systems Feruchemy and non-Awakening Breath transfers. Allomantic Intent does “spark burning” (a plus for your metaphor and a minus for your analogy). That’s like saying your decision to strike the match starts the fire and not the match itself. You still need the match’s activation energy. Besides, it doesn’t take a lot of energy to get a metal’s static molecular structure resonating. Lift’s metabolism transforms food into Stormlight, which I suspect takes a lot more energy than vibration – she’s awfully skinny. You say, “And ‘Resonance’ in this instance could be a Spiritual thing described however Brandon chooses. [Italics added.]” I don’t believe Brandon would casually pick the very word that culminates his description: “the molecular structure of the metal…what’s going on there, the pattern, the resonance of that metal…filters the power.” A metal’s resonance is a unique vibrational frequency – the perfect Focus. Metal absorbs the most energy at its resonance frequency (uncoincidentally IMO). Here’s Brandon’s literal analogy: “Digestion is to Food” as “Burning is to Metal.” “Burning” food or metal lends the activation energy for a process that returns even more energy to the system. Just as digestion adds energy to us, “burning metal” adds Preservation’s power to the Allomancer. Cal, our analytical differences often come down to this: I’m more willing than you to take Brandon at his literal word. Whether it’s “resonance” or “unified cosmere rules” or the mists fueling Allomancy “like a metal” or “pathways to power” or “primal force,” I accept and try to reconcile Brandon’s statements and the concepts that underlie them. When in doubt, I think it’s the side to err on.

This post addresses a mystery: In a world riven by race warfare, why does an Ascended being give Roshar’s deadliest killer the cosmere’s most dangerous object? Why link this scary duo when one doesn’t trust his moral code and the other doesn’t have one? One answer: Cultivation foresees Investiture growth will cause Nightblood to ascend as a Divine Object, the super-sapient Sword of Retribution. She chooses Szeth to teach Nightblood the meaning of evil – who deserves to die (“retribution”) and who doesn’t – before Nightblood ascends. The starting point: 1. Cultivation knows about Nightblood, since the Nightwatcher offers Nightblood to Dalinar: “A Blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated.” (OB, Chapter 114, Kindle p. 1078.) 2. We don’t know how the Nightwatcher acquires Nightblood, but we do know Nale ends up with him. 3. Nale delivers Nightblood to Szeth. ANALYSIS The main sections outline my narrative. The Spoiler sections are more technical. Nightblood Basics and Mechanics I tucked these subjects in a Spoiler because most of you already know this stuff. Cultivation Fears Nightblood’s Growth Nightblood adds Investiture “over time” (I believe each time he destroys evil). The added Investiture causes Nightblood’s mind to grow: “The more investiture clumped together, the more likely – and the closer to human-level intelligence it is likely to obtain.” Brandon tells us, “Nightblood is capable of more change than Vasher assumes.” “The only clues I'm willing to give on [Nightblood’s growth] right now are the ones that are in Oathbringer.” Nightblood picks up Lift’s vocabulary quickly enough, curses and all. That suggests some growth. If Nightblood continues to be used, he will inevitably reach “human-level intelligence” and theoretically surpass it. Cultivation fears a super-sapient being of enormous destructive power with no moral compass. With or without a conscience, if used enough Nightblood will ascend. Cultivation decides Nightblood needs a moral tutor. He’s still a child who doesn’t understand abstractions like “evil.” She may believe, “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” Cultivation implants Nightblood’s moral code while she can. How Nightblood Adds Investiture My best guess: Why Szeth? Szeth doesn’t trust his own moral judgment: “How was a twisted soul like his to decide who should die?” Impossible.” (OB, Chapter 118, Kindle p. 1124.) But the two Purelake scenes show exceptional discernment and judgment – when he assesses blame on the prison operator and when he “loopholes” himself to victory against other Skybreaker wannabes. Nale admires Szeth not for his combat skills but for his faithful adherence to an unforgiving moral code. Maybe Cultivation asked Nale to select Nightblood’s tutor; maybe she chose Szeth herself. Regardless, they chose well. But Szeth now navigates morality by Dalinar’s true north. As when bound by his oathstone, Szeth still avoids responsibility for his moral decisions. I believe this is unsustainable. Szeth himself must grow and learn to trust his own judgment before he can teach Nightblood who deserves to die. Cultivation Transforms Nightblood WoK describes a carved relief of “Nalan’Elin, emitting sunlight, the sword of retribution held over his head.” (Chapter 18, Kindle p. 286, bold added.) We don’t know what that sword is, maybe Nale’s Honorblade. Some posters note the idea of a “sword of retribution” fits Nightblood’s destructiveness. I think Cultivation/Nightwatcher transforms Nightblood into the Rosharan spren “Sword of Retribution.” The carved relief, still being worked on, shows the Sword’s cultural currency. “Retribution” means “deserved punishment.” I view Retribution as a subset of Just, the Skybreakers’ primary Divine Attribute. Nightblood might not technically be a highspren, because he was created differently and represents only a sliver of Justice. But I believe Cultivation/Nightwatcher gives Nightblood the ability to grant Skybreaking powers to Szeth. Nightblood does not Connect to Szeth through the Nahel bond: “Nightblood does not have the same spren bond, and so the renouncing of Oaths is not going to affect him.” As the Shard of transformation, Cultivation doesn’t need the Nahel bond (the “same spren bond”) to grant her magic to mortals. Nightblood’s existing Cognitive bond with Szeth communicates Szeth’s wishes. As a Rosharan spren (now), Nightblood can transform Stormlight into the Skybreaking powers. Why Not Another Highspren? Many posters believe Szeth does have a Nahel bond with a separate highspren. They may be right, but I think Nightblood himself is “the hidden spren who only rarely showed itself to” Szeth. (OB, Chapter 121, Kindle p. 1198.) I discuss this in the Spoiler. Conclusion Nightblood as the Sword of Retribution is not a new thought. I believe Nightblood as the living ideal of Retribution, a non-Nahel bond spren that grants Skybreaking powers and ultimately ascends, is. If this interpretation seems strained, it fits within SLA’s broader redemption arc. Why bring Szeth and Nightblood together if not to transform two mass murderers? They redeem the evil they’ve each done (like Dalinar tries to do) by destroying true evil here and now. Two predictions: EITHER – Szeth and Nightblood will ascend together. He will replace the broken Nale as Herald of Justice, wielding Nightblood the ascended Sword of Retribution. (Someone else must have predicted this by now.) OR – Instead, Szeth will achieve the Fifth Skybreaker Ideal and fully merge into Nightblood. He will become the Sword of Retribution’s Divine Conscience. (My personal vote goes to this one, if only for novelty.) Happy New Year’s, everyone! May it be a joyful, healthy, and prosperous year for all humankind! Confused

@Ookla, the Hivemind (Cal), in the Broadway musical 1776, John Adams says to the Continental Congress, “Consider yourselves fortunate that you have John Adams to abuse, for no sane man would tolerate it!” You may consider yourself fortunate (or not) that I’m insane… All Magic Has an Activation Cost Basic physics requires an outside force or energy to change a system in equilibrium. Brandon says the cosmere is our physics plus Investiture. (Do we agree on this or do I have to find the WoB?) In the real world, chemical reactions “will not occur unless a certain amount of activation energy is added first. In this sense, all reactions absorb energy before they begin…[bold in original].” Also, objects remain at rest or in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. (Newton’s First Law of Motion – Inertia.) Investiture can substitute for cosmere energy or matter, but it doesn’t change the need for some “activation” force or energy. In King Lear’s terms, “Nothing will come of nothing.” To me, this is bedrock principle, here and in the cosmere. Two Theories for Awakening’s Activation Cost Theory 1: My favored theory is that Nalthis’ inherent Investiture transmits through EMR. “Every world created” has inherent Investiture. I believe Nalthis’ electromagnetic field holds its inherent Investiture the way highstorms hold Stormlight, Taldain’s oceans hold Autonomy’s Investiture, etc. (Where do you think Nalthis’ inherent Investiture is in a world of color and light?) An object’s pigment absorbs the Invested EMR. Draining color drains this Investiture. Theory 2: Maybe “color draining” pulls in the Investiture that comprises a pigment’s Spiritual Realm aspect. Draining color seems to destroy an object’s ability to absorb EMR. Since pigment is Physical Realm matter, it has a Spiritual aspect. That Investiture may be enough to jump-start Awakening. Allomancy’s Activation Cost – The Science of Metal Burning These are NOT assumptions. Brandon says: Brandon equates metal burning with metabolism. While metabolism releases energy, it first adds energy to begin breaking food down. “Burning” metals releases Preservation’s power by adding the body’s energy. Brandon says a metal’s “resonance” makes it a Focus: “Resonance” in metal refers to vibrational frequency: IOW, Allomancers’ metabolic function causes metals to vibrate at unique frequencies. Each unique frequency makes that metal a Focus for a specific Preservation power. Awakening Needs More than “Breath, Command and Color” Where is the fuel? It’s not Breath or color. Awakeners recapture their indivisible Breaths, and “color” doesn’t exist. You seem to acknowledge Investiture’s role as fuel: Agreed. If a magic user has “access” and Investiture, “you have what you need.” For Awakening, Breath supplies “access,” the ability itself, but Breath is the Awakener’s sDNA. Breath can convert to energy, but we know Awakeners don’t do that, since they get back 100% of their Breaths undiminished. If Breath and color are not fuel, then the Awakener needs Investiture (or other energy) to activate the magic. Nightblood and Pigment Loss The Nightblood comment was for @Energy Surge, who apparently believes Szeth and Lift nearly died from pigment loss. A Shardblade-cut limb turns gray because the limb’s Connection to the person’s Spiritual Realm aspect severs. Investiture no longer extends into the Spiritually severed limb, just like blood no longer flows into a physically severed limb. The limb can’t be used again without Spiritual healing (like Kaladin’s arm after Szeth slices it). “Color draining” for Awakening is the same thing – an object loses its ability to absorb EMR when drained. Like a Shardblade cut, Investiture drain changes the object’s Spiritual Realm aspect. In both cases, “turning gray” associates with Investiture loss. I don’t recall if Nightblood’s holders recover their color. When Szeth gets his orders from Dalinar, after Nightblood drains Szeth, Szeth’s face is still “streaked with grey.” Maybe he can Spiritually heal his gray streaks with Stormlight, like Kaladin did. As a Returned, Vasher can cover up pigment loss and, with enough Breath, can maybe heal it too. Conclusion Cal, I will eat Overlord Jebus’ other shoe (by whatever name he now goes by) if you’re right and Awakening is just Breath and color with no other Investiture or activation cost. Will you, if you’re wrong? Also, I wouldn’t be too quick to tar others for “unfounded” theory based on “assumption.” I can point to a number of your theories that suffer that defect. Most theorizing is speculation built on incomplete information. As long as a theory works on its own terms and doesn’t contradict known “facts,” it’s as good as any other. (And if a theory fits with other theories to explain the broader cosmere, even better.)

The question: What is Awakening’s fuel? It isn’t Breath or color. Can we agree Awakening drains the Investiture held in “pigment” as its fuel? Reasoning: A. Nalthis is the world of color and light – electromagnetic radiation. Its Cognitive Realm subastral mirrors that perception. Its magic system is based on indivisible BioChromatic Breaths, quanta of Investiture. Photons are quanta of EMR. The Heightenings are the quantization of Breaths. B. I infer Nalthis’ inherent Investiture resides in its electromagnetic field and disperses through EMR. This parallels how other pre-Shattering Shardworlds hold and distribute their inherent Investiture: Roshar’s highstorms, Taldain’s oceans (through its water cycle), and Sel’s ground. C. I believe EMR-transmitted Investiture stays in an object even as the photons’ energy dissipates as heat. This Investiture sticks to pigment because pigment absorbs more EMR than pure white, and the darker the pigment, the more absorbed EMR. The pigment-adhering Investiture IMO is Awakening's fuel. I don’t see how pigment molecules alone fuel Awakening. The “unstated rule” is basic cosmere physics (ours, plus Investiture). In our world, energy begins a process. In the cosmere, Investiture can substitute for energy to begin a magical process. Since neither Breath (sDNA) nor color is Awakening’s fuel, I agree Investiture must supply it. @Energy Surge: Draining Rosharan gemstones of color undercuts your pigment argument. Gemstone color stems from the gemstone’s impurities. That shows “draining color” is purely a phenomenon of light, not pigment. I read Brandon’s two WoBs differently from you. It is “possible” to Awaken in “total darkness” (under my theory) if the drained object already holds Investiture, and you Awaken using EMR other than visible light – for example, ultraviolet or infrared light, X-rays, or radio waves. The second WoB also works under my theory. “Leaching” the red bulb’s color means draining the Investiture the pigment absorbs and destroying the pigment’s ability to absorb EMR. You think loss of skin pigment, not Investiture, puts Szeth and Lift at the edge of death? Nale warns Szeth to make sure he has plenty of Stormlight for Nightblood. When Nightblood runs out of Stormlight, he drains his holder’s Investiture. The Investiture drain destroys the pigment’s ability to absorb EMR, which is why Szeth and Lift are permanently gray-streaked. Metals don’t fuel Allomancy. An Allomancer’s internal body function (“burning”) provides the energy to cause metals to vibrate. This “resonance” summons Preservation’s Spiritual Realm power, which Invests the Allomancer. Marasi describes metal as Preservation’s “pathway to power,” and I believe EMR is Endowment’s pathway to her power. Every magic needs some energy to start going. Even “end-neutral” Feruchemy gets energy from a “facilitating” Spiritual Realm power. @Scion of the Mists: 1. I did not say Azure used Stormlight in Shadesmar. I did say, intending a general rule, “Rosharan Awakening runs on Stormlight.” A better rule is “Awakening needs Physical Realm Investiture, from whatever source, as energy to summon Spiritual Realm power down Endowment’s EMR pathway.” 2. YOU’RE the one who says Nalthis’ sun refreshes color, not me. I say Awakening drains Investiture. If color is leached from a Rosharan gemstone, for example, the gemstone turns into “dusty quartz” and loses its function. It can still hold Stormlight because of its unchanged molecular structure. Since a gemstone has no “pigment” and gains color solely from light striking impurities, something fundamental and Spiritual happens to the gemstone beyond mere color loss. Siphoning off Investiture won’t permanently change an object? Szeth and Lift might disagree (as would the Rosharan gemstones). Conclusion I believe Nalthis’ electromagnetic field holds Investiture and transmits it through EMR. Pigment absorbs Investiture-carrying photons. That Investiture remains in the pigment even after the photons yield their energy as heat. “Draining color” means draining the Investiture now held in the pigment and permanently (Spiritually) changing the pigment’s capacity to absorb EMR.

Magic Systems Off-World A cosmere with unified laws IMO should have uniform magical processes (with some variation). Just because the magics themselves differ doesn’t mean their processes differ. The OP looks only at magic systems on their native planets. IMO, these are the best exemplars of a uniform process. My focus on these exemplars has apparently caused confusion. To be clear, I believe 1. All magic systems except the Selish ones can theoretically make magic on any planet. 2. Mechanically, any Physical Realm investiture can convert to energy to start the magical process even if the Investiture is not from the Shard whose magic system it is. PR Investitures do not themselves make magic in the “people with magic” systems. Only Spiritual Realm Investiture (Shard power) IMO makes magic. 3, A magic user’s sDNA determines their ability to use an Investiture. The magic user generally must “hack” their sDNA to convert non-native PR Investiture into energy. With that said, I’ll respond to your individual comments. We agree: “There is nothing special about color on Nalthis.” How Awakeners make magic will be the same everywhere. But we disagree that “All it requires is breath, and available color.” I feel your view ignores magic’s need for initial energy. “Color” holds no energy: “The color of an object is not actually within the object itself. Rather, the color is in the light that shines upon it and is ultimately reflected or transmitted to our eyes.” If “color” is not within the object, then draining “color” from the object adds nothing to the magic. Awakening must require some fuel other than “Breath and available color” to work. The proof IMO is what Brandon says about using Rosharan gemstones to Awaken. Gemstones are made from Investiture (cut from animal gemhearts) or hold residual Stormlight like Rosharans themselves. When Awakeners drain “color” from the gemstone, they destroy the gemstone’s capacity to function. The gemstone turn “dusty gray.” Turning “gray” means the person or object has LOST INVESTITURE. If objects only lost color, they’d turn black. No light reflects from a black object because it absorbs all the light. Yet black is the best color for Awakening because light-absorbing black objects also absorb the most Investiture. Light-reflecting white objects absorb the least Investiture, and white is the worst Awakening color. Maybe there’s another explanation for these facts. But color ISN’T Awakening’s energy source. Which as I've stated many times, is one of the main reasons I do not believe we have seen Voidbinding used with Voidlight in a single instance yet. Again, the Investiture that STARTS the magical process can come from any Shard (if the magic user has the right inborn or hacked sDNA). When Glys uses Stormlight to “Voidbind” (if Renarin does Voidbind), Glys does what all spren do – he transforms (converts) the Stormlight into power, using some Stormlight to energize the transformation itself. The Fused are not spren and cannot transform PR Investiture directly into power. That means the Fused use Voidlight to summon Odium’s Spiritual Realm power – the same process as every non-spren magic system. The Fused are cloaked in Voidlight and IMO don’t use Stormlight even if they could. Honor’s Perpendicularity blows away the Fused attacking Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin in Shadesmar: “Fused screamed as a wind blasted them away, though Kaladin felt nothing.” (OB, Chapter 119, Kindle p. 1136.) Spren ability to transform PR Investiture into Shard power is why Breath-fueled Windrunning should be “easy.” Magic users inhale both Breath and Stormlight. If a Breath holder can attract and bond a Radiant spren and speak the oaths, the Radiant spren could transform Breath into power, and off they go. (Expensive, though.) Yes, lichen can be charged with any Investiture, but Brandon says lichen-charging “isn’t the magic.” Sand Mastery’s magic is forming the Cognitive bond with the lichen to configure the sand. Khriss is clear Sand Mastery draws Spiritual Realm power to make this bond. A Sand Master could theoretically hack their sDNA to consume some other PR Investiture than Taldain’s to summon power. They would still have to transmit that power by water to the lichen to make their Cognitive bond. Which one of these systems’ described steps do you disagree with? They seem pretty straight-forward to me and follow book and WoB descriptions. 1. Awakening CAN be used off-world. It just requires draining some other PR Investiture than Endowment’s. Rosharan Awakening runs on Stormlight. Awakening IMO needs “color” because Endowment’s “primal force,” her “means of access” to Investiture, is EMR. It doesn’t matter what PR Investiture activates that pathway. 2. Interesting point. Do we know they can’t? (I don’t remember one way or other.) If a colored object can be re-charged and re-drained, that doesn’t tell us much. But if it can’t be, Investiture loss must permanently change the object (like Rosharan gemstones). Mere color loss wouldn’t do that. 3. Un-Invested objects can’t be used, IMO. How the object becomes Invested doesn’t matter as long as the object can transmit the energy down an EMR pathway. What Investiture burns the metals? The Allomantic gene is sDNA. That gives Allomancers their magical ability, but they don’t use the Allomantic gene as fuel. Are you referring to something else? I agree with this, as first stated in my (over-starched) “Classification of Magic Systems” post. The OP’s first sentence limits its scope to “people with magic” systems the Shards created, not the pre-Shattering “interaction with nature” systems. In my “Magic System Components – General Theory” post, I propose “interaction with nature” systems have only Fuel and Focus as components. I concluded from our discussion that any type of PR Investiture (not color) from any planet could fuel Awakening and most other magics (if you hack your sDNA). Again, IMO these PR Investitures are the fuel to summon Shard power. They do not directly make magic. That is Shard power’s role. For Movie and Music Buffs, Apropos of Nothing… I posted The Magnificent Seven theme in the “Cosmere Magic Game” thread as the soundtrack for Szeth and Lift stealing the King’s Drop. If you like truly rousing music, I urge you to listen to this theme. Its main melody sounds like Szeth flying. A staccato counterpoint (Lift scooting) supports the main melody. About halfway through (the 2:30 mark?), the theme’s slow bridge conjures Szeth and Lift healing from Nightblood’s damage and then walking up to Dalinar. The main melody triumphantly returns to send the pair racing off again. They recover the ruby and give it to Dalinar at theme’s end. The Magnificent Seven was a Hollywood remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Before cigarette commercials were banned from TV, the theme played as background to the “Marlboro Man” commercials. Some of us are old enough to remember them. I loved the music before I found out it came from a movie. The power of advertising…

I believe all “people with magic” systems – where mortals direct magic rather than just interact with it – follow the same basic steps. These steps reflect Brandon’s “unified cosmere laws.” A magic user: 1. Begins by infusing energy into the magical process. 2. Uses that energy to summon Shard power. 3. Focuses that power as it Invests the magic user or an object. 4. Directs the Focused Investiture for some magical effect. Energy Infusion Some energy infusion always begins the magical process. Magic users metabolize metal or Investiture, or they move, or they simply command Shard power to add “facilitating” energy (Feruchemy and maybe non-Awakening Breath transfers). Summoning Shard Power I theorize the initial energy summons the magic’s actual fuel – Shard power – from the Spiritual Realm (or from the Cognitive Realm for the Dor). The lone exceptions IMO are Roshar’s spren-based magics because spren transform Stormlight into power rather than summon it. Brandon says, “almost every magic in the cosmere [including Feruchemy] is end-positive, almost every magic is relying upon an external source of Investiture to power it [italics in original].” Focusing Power Every known magic system except Surgebinding grants a single ability through a single Focus. Radiant spren act as a dual Focus for Surgebinders. I believe Cultivation transformed two “natural” spren, each with their own Focus, into Radiant spren. Directing Focused Power The magic user in every system directs the Focused power to produce some magical effect. Application to Each System Following are MY INTERPRETATIONS of these magic systems. I feel text and WoB support these interpretations, but they are still MY OPINION ONLY, not canon. Allomancy – Body heat (or maybe stomach acid) “burns” metals to begin Allomancy. Preservation’s power, Focused by the metal, Invests the Allomancer. The Allomancer directs the Focused power to perform magic. Feruchemy – Brandon’s clear that Shard power “facilitates” attribute conversion. The Feruchemist lessens an attribute (increasing entropy) by summoning Ruin’s power and regains the attribute (returns to stasis) by summoning Preservation’s power. The Feruchemist’s metalmind Focuses both powers. Hemalurgy – Spiking is an act of entropy that summons Ruin’s power through the spike’s metal Focus. Ruin’s Hemalurgic power transfers a magic user’s sDNA to someone else. (Nightblood works the same way – killing is an act of entropy that summons Ruin’s power through Nightblood’s metal Focus. This power allows Nightblood to “destroy evil.”) Awakening – I believe Awakening drains Investiture from colored objects, not color itself. “Color” is the eye’s perception of reflected light. IMO, Nalthis' electromagnetic radiation (EMR) holds Investiture. Colored objects absorb the Invested photons that aren't reflected as color. The drained Investiture provides the energy to summon Endowment’s animating power. I believe absorbed photons are Invested because the drained objects turn gray – like from a Shardblade cut, Azure’s Shardblade, and Nightblood’s drain on his holders, all of which involve Investiture loss. Awakeners Focus the animating power with a visualized command to the object they give Breath to. Sand Mastery – Sand Masters begin by dehydrating. I believe Taldain’s water is Invested, as Autonomy’s Investiture radiates its oceans and circulates through the planet’s water cycle. IMO, Sand Masters consume this Investiture to summon Autonomy’s Spiritual Realm power. Khriss says this power forms a “brief Cognitive bond” between Sand Masters and the microflora that configure the sand. I believe the microflora detect and absorb Sand Master water as they dehydrate, and the bond is made through the water contact. Like Awakening, Sand Mastery’s Focus is the visualized command the Master sends the microflora through their bond. Surgebinding – Surgebinders begin by inhaling Stormlight. Radiant spren transform Stormlight into the power they personify. Spren IMO are Roshar’s Focus. Roshar is the only known planet where Investiture converts directly into power, and spren are the reason. Through the Nahel bond, Surgebinders direct the Radiant spren’s power. Fabrials – Fabrial magic also begins with Stormlight infusion. Like Radiant spren, the Fabrial’s captive spren are Focuses that transform Stormlight into the power the captive spren personifies – light, heat, gravity, etc. The Fabrial user directs that power (in the way artifabrians designed the Fabrial to be used) by turning the Fabrial on and off. Voidbinding – Voidlight consumption begins Voidbinding. As Cognitive Shadows imprinted on Odium’s Investiture, the Fused IMO are Voidbinding’s Focus, each splinter giving access to a single power. Voidlight consumption summons this power from the Spiritual Realm. The Fused then direct their Invested power. Sel’s Magic Systems – I lump these systems together because they were one system before Odium mashed Devotion and Dominion’s power into the Cognitive Realm. I believe Sel’s magic systems still follow the same steps despite their current diversity: 1. I think Sel’s ground holds Investiture like Roshar’s highstorms, Nalthis’ EMR, and Taldain’s oceans do. Evidence: (i) each system’s form is a map of the local topography; (ii) Khriss says, Sel’s “very landscape itself has become Invested to the point that it has a growing self-awareness,” (AU, “The Selish System,” Kindle p. 18); and (iii) Raoden needed to draw Aon Rao on the ground, not in the air, to make it effective. 2. Each Selish system begins with motion – drawing a form, or turning an essence stamp, or stirring a potion, or dancing. 3. Each Selish system summons the Dor with Investiture the food chain leaches from the ground. Shai’s essence stamp uses organic inks. Bloodsealers use their target’s blood. Dakhor monk bones hold this Investiture. Forton’s potions IMO use some organic ingredients. The “mostly Spiritual” Elantrians draw Aons from the Dor because Aon Rao amplifies the Dor in Elantris – but Aon Rao itself has to be drawn on the ground. 4. Each system’s topographic form Focuses the Dor into the desired power. Each magic user directs that power for some magical effect. Conclusion Not every magic system perfectly follows the predicted paradigm. Feruchemy and non-Awakening Breath transfers begin with commands for Shard power to fuel the magical transaction. Surgebinding and Fabrial spren transform Stormlight into power rather than summon it. But for the most part, the paradigm presents a uniform series of magical steps.

@Ammanas, Ride of the Valkyries is too easy: the burning of Rathalas: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning…. It smells like victory.” From Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now: This first scene shows helicopter attack to the music, followed immediately by… – the napalm bombing of the village (and Robert Duvall’s famous quote above). Wagner was pompous, arrogant, anti-Semitic, and inspired Nazi propaganda. Woody Allen said if you listen to Wagner for 15 minutes, you want to invade Poland. Wagner stole his second wife (Cosima, the daughter of Franz Liszt) from his friend the conductor Hans von Bulow. Not a nice man…but the kind Odium could influence to burn down a city. Others: Battle of Thaylen City, especially Lift and Szeth. The main theme makes me see Lift scoot and Szeth fly after the King’s Drop. The theme ends with delivery to Dalinar. Inside Shallan’s mind - bittersweet overtones and child-like longing: This one’s for Pattern. Bach to me is the most mathematically pure of all composers. Pattern would have liked him.

I mean some “primal force” IS the Connection between the Vessel’s mind and its Spiritual Realm Investiture. "Means of access" to Investiture might be a better term than "primal force." This mind-spirit Connection is how the Vessel accesses its magic: “The means of getting powers…are related to the Shards, but not the powers themselves.” “The 'role' of the Shard has to do with the WAY the magic is obtained, not what it can do.” A 2017 WoB confirms Honor – and only Honor – accesses magic through bonds: Each Vessel accesses its Investiture through a different primal force Connection: stasis, entropy, bonds, etc. Personality IMO informs how the Vessels choose to use their magic. Vessel minds and personality over time fully conform to their Connection’s compulsions. Ati should be the first Vessel to succumb – his Shard’s Connection is entropy. The OP follows Jofwu’s distinction between a Shard’s unchanging “nature” and the Vessel’s “expression” of that nature. I read the three WoBs cited above to mean all Spiritual Realm Investiture is the same, regardless of Shard. That leaves Connection as the distinguishing factor among Shards. Each Shard’s “immutable nature” – i.e., the part unaffected by Vessel – is its specific primal force Connection: stasis, entropy, bonds, etc. That distinctive mind-spirit Connection between Vessel and Spiritual Realm Investiture IMO determines the Shard’s nature. Following are some examples taken from a concurrent post: Don’t know if that helps, Tater, but thanks for asking! I agree with this. Since the Shattering could have happened differently, recombining Shards might produce something…interesting.

Voidbinding and Surgebinding are separate systems that grant similar abilities. Three WoBs state the means of accessing Investiture defines the magic system, not what the magic can do. I explain why Fused Voidbind in this post and this post. The OP includes this theory because many do agree with you. Most magic systems grant similar abilities. “Honor doesn’t belong to gravity…Honor accesses gravity [by making] a bond between yourself and either a thing or a direction.” Fused don’t accelerate or shift direction as well as Windrunners because (IMO) they don’t access the gravity Surge by lashing (a form of bond). Investiture may be elsewhere in the universe, but as @Quantus points out, those other “places” must be completely cut off from the cosmere. To comply with thermodynamics’ first law, the cosmere must be a closed system, with no ability to access any other matter, energy, or Investiture. (FWIW, I still fear the cosmere is a Perfect State computer simulation in which the virtual beings killed the one human – Adonalsium.) Though “location” isn’t an internal Spiritual Realm property, the cosmere’s SR – as a whole – may occupy a “place” with its own cosmere location. We know SR Investiture has mass and flow. Otherwise, it would not press down on Roshar’s CR and drip Investiture into it. Even if the SR is just a computer that keeps tabs on cosmere data, that computer must exist somewhere. The cosmere can be a self-contained, thermodynamic-compliant system within a larger universe whose stars you see. I did not say color is Awakening’s fuel. I said “something about color draining” fuels Awakening. (I was trying to avoid controversy.) I believe Awakening doesn’t drain “color” – visible electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Instead, Awakening drains absorbed EMR. Color doesn’t exist as such. Color is how the eye perceives reflected light. A colored object absorbs and holds the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) wavelengths that don’t reflect light. Two recent WoBs IMO confirm this theory. (Shout out to @RShara for bringing these to my attention - even though she still disagrees with my interpretation of them!) One says it’s possible to Awaken in “total darkness.” My theory predicts you should be able to Awaken in darkness – by draining unseen, previously absorbed EMR. Even when you can’t see color, the object’s absorbed EMR remains attached to it. Here’s the second WoB: The wall’s color is reflected light. Because the wall is white, there’s no absorbed EMR to drain from it (unless you’re Susebron). The bulb’s tint, however, means the glass absorbs wavelengths other than red. An Awakener should be able to “leach” the absorbed EMR, causing the bulb to stop making red. More on Awakening: On Sand Mastery's Focus: I agree all Sand Masters have the same power, the power to animate sand like Awakening animates objects. Like Awakening, I believe Sand Masters visualize commands to the lichen through their “brief Cognitive bond.” Those commands “shape” how the lichen configure the sand and, IMO, are Sand Mastery’s Focus. FWIW, Nalthis and Taldain are the only known single-Shard major Shardworlds, and (IMO) they share visualized commands as their Focus. More on Sand Mastery and Taldain: On Roshar's Magic Systems: Honor’s Nahel bond is the means of access that defines Surgebinding. Cultivation’s spren are the Surgebinding Focus that “shapes the magic.” Spren transform Stormlight into the power they personify. But the Surgebinder can’t access that power or touch spren at all until Honor’s Nahel bond is in place. My rough analogy: the Nahel bond is like a gun and the spren are like bullets. The Surgebinder holds the gun and pulls the trigger. But without the spren bullets, nothing happens. The gun provides access to the bullets, but it isn’t the bullets. And each Radiant’s spren bullet Focuses a different magical ability. Fabrials also rely on spren transforming Stormlight into the power they personify. But there’s no bond between a fabrial and its user. Nor is spren enslavement a voluntary bond: “Honor is the sense of being bound by rules, even when those rules, you wouldn't have to be bound by.” IOW, fabrials use the same “bullets” (spren) as Surgebinding but a different “gun” as its means of access. Brandon says the “gun” defines the magic system, not the bullets. [Cal, I now agree Stormlight directly fuels spren-based magic, but that’s because Cultivation’s primal force is Transformation (Brandon’s word for mass-energy-Investiture conversion). I still believe the mists and other PR Investitures summon Spiritual Realm power “like a metal” and don’t convert into power.] I agree we need to consider both personality and primal force and have argued that. I do think we can figure out a Shard’s primal force and make my best guesses in the following Spoiler. “Primal force” does seem a poor descriptor, unless you translate “primal force” into “means of access.” Taking the Primal Force Challenge on Honor, Ambition, Endowment, and Autonomy: