Mistborn Characters Foreshadow the Shards

[Confused]

Disclaimer: I’ve not read Dragonsteel and have no private information about it. This post is speculation only. It is another in my periodic series, “A Theory of Cosmere Magic.”

Thinking through the Shattering’s mechanics reminded me of the Well of Ascension. That in turn reminded me of a post some time ago that compared Mistborn 1 characters with some then-known Shards. (I can’t find that post to link to and credit its author. If that was you, please step forward.) I’m now convinced Brandon intended Mistborn 1 to foreshadow Dragonsteel and the Shattering.

Comparisons between the Shards and the Mistborn 1 characters show this intention. There isn’t a one-to-one correspondence between each Shard and Mistborn character. Honor is not Elend. But the Mistborn character personalities, abilities and interests match well with Shard Mandates and Vessel personalities. (A later post will address Shard Mandates. I suggest you hold your comments on my one-word Mandate descriptions until I publish that post.)

Some names incorporate or reference their counterpart. Elend resembles “Nahel” (with the Vorin “h” wild card), Rashek resembles Rayse, and Yeden resembles Endowment. OreSeur has some assonance with Autonomy. Sazed may not resemble Skai, but he does resemble “skaze.” “Vin Cultivation” probably still makes Brandon chuckle – “Vin” is French for “wine.”

Honor – Elend

Honor binds (his Mandate). Elend wants to bind nobles and skaa into a single, fairly administered political entity – “unite them.” He prefers political solutions to conquest, though conquest becomes inevitable. (In this, he resembles Dalinar, bound to Honor.) Also like Dalinar, even Elend’s enemies view him as an “honorable,” idealistic man. He wears snappy uniforms, like Dalinar reports Honor wearing in WoK. Honor loves Cultivation.

Cultivation – Vin

Cultivation adapts (her Mandate). Khriss says, “the bonding of spren to humans is merely an expansion of what already exists in the nature of the planet.” (AU, Kindle, p. 535.) Cultivation adapts Adonalsium spren to make them bondable to humans. (Honor does the actual bonding.) Vin is a living symbol of adaptation – she is Mare’s flower, blossoming from street urchin to Ascendant Warrior. Hoid doesn’t get along with either Vin or Cultivation. Vin killed Rashek – will Cultivation defeat Odium? Cultivation loves Honor.

Odium – Rashek

Odium severs Connections (his Mandate). Hate corrodes and divides. Alendi’s journal repeatedly describes Rashek as hateful. His Final Empire works by dividing nobles from skaa. Rashek tries to destroy Terris Keepers like Tindwyl and Sazed. Odium killed Devotion and Dominion. (I recently proposed Aona and Skai may have been Rayse’s parents. Mistborn foreshadowing suggests the three might at least be ethnically related.)

Devotion – Tindwyl

Devotion loves (her Mandate). Tindwyl unconditionally loves Sazed, despite the impossibility of intimacy. She prefers death beside him than to leave Luthandel for safety. She “devotes” herself to Sazed and his research. She also devotes herself to her people – the Synod planted Tindwyl as a Breeder at age 14 to pass her Feruchemical genes to twenty children. That devotion made Tindwyl the magical “mother” of a large segment of Scadrial’s Era 2 Feruchemical population.

Dominion – Sazed

Dominion controls (his Mandate). Sazed seems an unusual choice, until you think about his self-control. He defies the Synod and frees the Terris people – he gives them self-dominion (another word for “autonomy.”) Tindwyl loves him because Sazed works to “change the world” – to control rather than to accept his circumstances. He is fastidious, formal and measured. Sazed lives with exquisite balance, an act of great self-control. Sazed is the perfect Vessel to simultaneously control Ruin and Preservation. Sazed loves Tindwyl.

Autonomy –  OreSeur (TenSoon)

Autonomy constructs his/her own many-faced pantheon of deities. I agree with posters who believe Bavadin was a shape-shifting dragon. Who better than kandra to foreshadow such a creature? Kandra served Rashek – Hoid believes Bavadin helped Odium. TenSoon “finished” (literally) what OreSeur had begun. TenSoon showed his “autonomy” by resisting his masters and fellow kandra.

Endowment – Yeden

Endowment gives life (her Mandate). She measures her gifts in relatively equal units of Breath. Breaths are the currency by which Endowment calculates her “Returned” on “Investment.” If a Returned can’t inspire the faithful to “Invest” him/her with a weekly Breath, Endowment terminates that “Investment” – the Returned dies. Yeden “endows” Kelsier’s crew. He is the source of funds the crew relies on to finance their rebellion. Yeden “gives life” to the Skaa dream of freedom, the return on his investment.

“Survivor” Shard – Kelsier

Enough said. Brandon says the Survivor Shard’s Mandate is not “surviving.” Based on Kelsier’s attributes – vision, charisma, team-building and delegation – “leadership” may be this Shard’s Mandate. How that translates into a magic system is unclear.

Ambition – Straff Venture

Ambition…is ambitious? We don’t know how Ambition’s un-splintered magic works, but we do know Straff is the most “ambitious” character in Mistborn 1. Ambitious people seek “ventures,” risky or dangerous activities with high return. Straff pursues power at all costs without scruples. He is willing to sacrifice both sons to gain power. Straff’s ambition made him ruthless, rapacious. Odium feared Ambition for a reason.

Preservation – Leras (as himself)

Ruin – Ati (as himself)

Hoid – Marsh?

Both Hoid and Marsh have acquired many magics they weren’t born with. Both have highly distorted, barely human souls. I’m guessing on this one. Hoid’s regret about participating in the Shattering also sounds like Kwaan, Rashek’s uncle who discovered Alendi. Either way leaves five Shards for the five remaining Mistborn crew members.

My broad-brush speculations about their corresponding Shard’s magic: Ham – skeptical magic. Spook – passionate magic. Breeze – manipulative magic. Clubs – artistic magic. Dockson – organizational magic. Dockson’s the only non-magical original crew member.

Brandon hints Leras may have been a pre-Shattering magic user. Hoid was a pre-Shattering Lightweaver. If the Mistborn pattern persists, all Vessels in the Dragonsteel “crew” except one will use pre-Shattering magic. 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Confused

[Argent]

This seems... beyond tenuous. The Shards' mandates are all fairly common attributes and emotions, it's not difficult to find people who represent them, especially if you filter their description through a lens of that mandate. And even then, I disagree with some of your choices. But even if I didn't, what you are doing is fitting the evidence to fit your "theory", and that - to me - is just not sound theorycrafting. 

[Fezzik]

9 hours ago, Confused said:

If a Returned can’t inspire the faithful to “Invest” him/her with a weekly Breath, Endowment terminates that “Investment” – the Returned dies.

What? Where did you even come up with this? The returned feed on breath. It has no bearing whatsoever on whether the returned in question is inspiring. Vasher is not inspiring anyone to give up anything right now, and endowment hasn't terminated him, he is surviving on Stormlight.

[Confused]

@Argent, we know Brandon loves foreshadowing. He’s shown his endings in his beginnings in other novels – HoA and SLA. I think he does so here. Do you really think a shape-shifting dragon (as many believe Autonomy Is) and a shape-shifting kandra who dreams of autonomy is coincidental? The kandra religion is about autonomy. (WoA, Chapter 33, Kindle Locs. 16424-38.) I credit Brandon too much as a writer to take this as coincidence.

Mandates arise from a Vessel’s character, not from “common attributes and emotions.” None of the known Mandates express an emotion, which is why Brandon uses words like “Odium” and “Devotion” instead of “Hate” and “Love.” Emotions are ephemeral. Character imprints a person the way Mandates imprint the Shards (Brandon’s point IMO).

Many people, fictional or real, share character traits. The characters in these books also set out to kill their God – and both “crews” succeed. These characters try to save their worlds from an unknown evil (the Deepness, fainlife). And (I speculate) they use a Shardpool to ascend. We don’t see this narrative in Elantris, Warbreaker, or SLA. Mistborn isn’t Dragonsteel, but I believe it does foreshadow it.

I take your point about “confirmation bias.” I chose not to lard an already long OP with the hundreds of quotes I highlighted that establish each character’s “character.” In most cases, textual support is overwhelming.

You can certainly “disagree with some of [my individual] choices.” But there’s a lot to back up the overall pattern – Mistborn characters foreshadow the Shards and their Mandates.

Elend: More than any cosmere character (including Dalinar and Kaladin), Elend represents an “honorable” person. Everyone describes him that way. Elend’s character reflects each Herald’s Primary Divine Attribute: Protecting, Just, Brave, Loving, Learned, Creative, Wise, Resolute, Dependable, and Pious. Elend binds his people with a code of law to implement his ideals. He refuses to lie to save his kingship. He honors his promise to the Church of the Survivor though its political support doesn’t save his kingship. He is the epitome of “oaths, promises and nobility,” what Syl says she is the “spirit” of.

Vin: I posit in the OP that Cultivation’s Mandate is “adapting,” specifically for human use. “Cultivation” changes something from its raw, natural state to a more humanly usable state. Making spren bondable to humans is an example. (You can also call this “Change” or “Growth” or “Progression.”) In Vin-like fashion, Cultivation’s adaptation “weaponizes” spren. No character in any book adapts as much as Vin. She rises from abused street urchin, to Mistborn, to Empress, to God. Vin’s relationship with Elend fortifies her foreshadowing of Cultivation. And don’t discount Brandon’s fondness for puns – not just the one in the OP, but also that Wyndle, Cultivation’s literal “scion,” is a vin[e].

Rashek: The connection to Odium/Rayse seems clear (to me). Brandon describes Rashek as “hateful” (or some derivative) more than any other adjective. Since the Well replenishes every 1,024 years, Rashek isn’t the first Scadrian to ascend, as Khriss suggests. But he may be the most divisive of that group. Rashek destroys the world he inherits – physically, economically and culturally. He commits genocide against his own people and forces them into breeding programs to dilute Feruchemy. He separates society into owners and slaves. My OP states Odium’s Mandate severs Connections. That’s what Rashek does. It is the nature of hate.

Devotion: Raoden hears Devotion’s voice as a “comforting parent [like] his mother.” (Elantris, Kindle p. 463.) Devotion as “mother figure” encompasses the aspects of Tindwyl’s character: Devotion to her children, to her people, and to Sazed. Sazed says of her (WoA, Chapter 30, Kindle Locs. 16010-17, emphasis added),

Quote

Tindwyl had, at last count, birthed over twenty children…each with a different father. Tindwyl had her first child when she was fourteen, and spent her entire life being taken repeatedly by strange men until she became pregnant…. She suffered the indignity because she knew that she did a great service for her people…Tindwyl’s position as a mother ensured future generations of Feruchemists among our people.

Tindwyl also acts as Elend’s surrogate mother, scolding and inspiring him to become a man and king. Her devotion to Sazed is obvious: Tindwyl helps Sazed with research she doesn’t believe in and stays in Luthadel with him – for him – knowing she will die.

Sazed: “Dominion” encompasses all aspects of Sazed’s character. Self-Control: Only Sazed has the perfectly-balanced temperament to be the Hero of Ages and hold both Shards at the same time. Brandon marks Sazed’s self-control in small things like his calm, his fastidiousness, and his unfailing politeness. Control of Others: Sazed several times recalls when he was steward in charge of households of servants. Political Control: During Vin’s weeks of unconsciousness and Elend’s absence, Sazed serves as head of government, guiding the subject kings of Elend’s newly established empire. Control of Events: Sazed is the only Keeper rebel. Tindwyl loves him because Sazed sought to change their world – and he did. Sazed helped set his people free, giving them self-Dominion. Control of Everything: Sazed ascended to become Harmony – God (on Scadrial). He’s the most powerful entity in the cosmere. You can’t have more “dominion” than that.

OreSeur and TenSoon: There’s room in the cosmere for more than one shape-shifting species. Kandras’ desire for autonomy, however, is an important part of their narrative, even in the Era 2 books. The “Trell” plot line has Era 1 antecedents. There’s too much commonality between kandra and Bavadin/Autonomy to ignore Brandon’s foreshadowing.

Yeden: I address the main similarities between Yeden and Endowment in the OP and don’t have much to add. Both Yeden and Endowment Invest in ideals: Yeden Invests in skaa freedom and pride. Endowment Invests in the ideals each Returned represents. Again, Brandon likes puns. I think the idea of a “Returned” on “Investment” amuses him.

Kelsier: We don’t know anything about the “Survivor” Shard beyond its name. A “Survivor” Shard does fit the foreshadowing pattern. The OP suggests the “Survivor’s” Mandate is “leadership.” Text establishes leadership as Kelsier’s dominant character trait - even to the point of self-sacrifice. The “Survivor” vessel might be the leader of the Dragonsteel conspiracy. (That last is “tenuous” – just some idle fluff to spin…though it may be true.)

Straff: I characterize “ambition” as a willingness to use any means to achieve one’s goals. We say ambition is “blind” and call hyper-ambitious people “ruthless.” Straff exemplifies Ambition’s ruthless amorality. Other nobles wish to become king. Straff wishes to replace TLR and become emperor. He will destroy anything in his way, including his sons and Luthadel’s entire population. Scores of passages support “ambition” as Straff’s dominant character trait.

I won’t defend my choice of Marsh to foreshadow Hoid. There isn’t much to go on there, and Hoid isn’t a Shard anyway. I do think the Dragonsteel “crew” will have one non-magical member.

@john203, the Returned need a Breath per week to stay alive. Most Returned get their Breath from worshippers – people who believe in the Returned and feel spiritually rewarded for their donation – “inspired” by them. The Returned are their “gods.” If no one gifts their Breath to their god, the god dies.

I believe Brandon metaphorically expresses this idea in financial terms: If “Endowment” does not get an adequate “Returned” on her “Investment,” she terminates that Investment. Like other “Investors,” she hopes to make a better “Returned” on a different Investment – she re-Invests a Divine Breath in a different mortal who represents a different ideal. (I don’t know whether Divine Breaths are re-usable, but it fits the metaphor.)

I just think Brandon’s word choice is too provocative to ignore. That’s my only point.

Vasher is not a typical Returned. He has his own trove of Breaths, which he now replaces with Stormlight.

Edited May 8, 2017 by Confused

[Spoolofwhool]

8 minutes ago, Confused said:

shape-shifting dragon as Autonomy

Not a really relevant criticism to the whole theory but do you have a source for that?

[Sanderson-Savant]

I'm hesitant to believe this as of the moment, but certaintly love the idea and work the amount of work gone into it

[Farnsworth]

This probably has a bit to do with the way Brandon writes. He sees the 16 shards as basic elements of the universe, and so it makes sense that he would have characters resemble them. I seriously doubt it was intentional.