Where are the shards hiding?

[Shadow of Electrum he/him]

So at the time of writing this I have read a good amount of the cosmere. I'm up to date on Stormlight, Mistborn, White Sand, Warbreaker, and Elantris, but I still don't know where most of the shards are. I've looked on the wiki and it shows that we know where most of the shards are, but I've only been able to identify 6 direct appearances. Preservation and Ruin appear in Mistborn era 1. Automation appears in era 2. Then Honor, Cultivation, and Odium appear in Stormlight. The only other times I can remember more shards being named was Sazed's notes in Stormlight. I haven't seen any shards mentioned in White Sand or Warbreaker at all, but somehow according to the wiki we know the shards of those planets already??? Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question but I'm at a complete loss as to where the other 10 shards are hiding.

Edited November 4, 2023 by AvonZapper

[alder24]

44 minutes ago, AvonZapper said:

Automation appears in era 2

Autonomy. Her home world is Taldain, a planet from the White Sand graphic novel.

44 minutes ago, AvonZapper said:

I haven't seen any shards mentioned in White Sand or Warbreaker at all, but somehow according to the wiki we know the shards of those planets already?

Yes, not every book mentions a Shard presence, as characters simply aren't aware of them, they don't possess that Cosmere knowledge. But small hints are there. Lightsong in Warbreaker hears the call of Endowment to Return, while Raoden in Elantris hears deceased Devotion's talking to him in the Shardpool (unconfirmed). Devotion’s images also appear in the city (iirc). The actual confirmation of some Shard presence on planets comes either from WoBs (Words of Brandon), or Arcanum Unbounded.

Warbreaker ch 57:

Quote

He remembered the other side. And he remembered a voice, calm and comforting, offering him an opportunity.
To Return.

Elantris ch 61, the voice of Devotion (unconfirmed):

Quote

The water held Raoden in a cool embrace. It was a thing alive; he could hear it calling in his mind. Come, it said, I give you release. It was a comforting parent. It wanted to take away his pain and sorrows, just as his mother had once done.
Come, it pled. You can finally give up.
No, Raoden thought. Not yet.

 

From Stormlight's letters we know that Devotion and Dominion settled on Sel (Elantris) and were Splintered there (killed), and Ambition was attacked in the Threnodite System (also said in Arcanum Unbounded), but killed in the unknown location. As for the rest, I think Endowment was confirmed to be settled on Nalthis (Warbreaker) by WoBs. and Autonomy on Taldain was confirmed in Arcanum Unbounded as well WoBs earlier (plus said in TLM iirc).

The connections to Shards can be picked up if you look at how the magic works, proverbs and sayings people are using, religions and characteristics of deities and stuff like that. But in most cases Brandon used to talk about them, and revealed them in WoBs, long before they were revealed in books (like we knew where Endowment, Autonomy, Devotion and Dominion were, before they were mentioned by names in books). Nowadays Brandon doesn't talk much about less known Shards (like the one revealed in RoW), it's just what we know from books.

The oldest WoB mentioning and confirming Endowment presence on Nalthis (2009): 

Spoiler

Zas678

Now this one will probably be RAFO'd: I know you already said that there are four Shards outside of Ati and Leras in your other books. Could you tell us the numbers per book? Is just a standard two per book? Or do some have more than others?

Brandon Sanderson

Some worlds have more than others. You have seen the effects, influences, and work of four other Shards. One Shard, however, was no longer on the world by the time the story was told there.

Zas678

I know that we've "interacted with two directly" (the pool in Elantris, and The Voice that called Lightsong back to life) that we've "seen it's power" (Dahkhor??) and another that we've seen their infulence (I have no idea on this one, though I think it might be whatever pointed out Aon Rao in Elantris to Raoden)

Brandon Sanderson

Nice guesses on most of those. You've got some things right. You've got some things wrong. The only thing I'll confirm (and I don't think I've said this before) is that The Voice is, indeed, one of the Shards of Adonalsium. (Endowment is that Shard's true name, by the way.)

Barnes and Noble Book Club Q&A (July 8, 2009)

 

44 minutes ago, AvonZapper said:

Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question but I'm at a complete loss as to where the other 10 shards are hiding.

Not a dumb question at all. We don't know this, we don't know where the rest of Shards are located. To summarize, we know where those are:

• Preservation and Ruin (Harmony in Era 2) are on Scadrial - Mistborn series
• Honor, Cultivation and Odium are on Roshar - Stormlight Archive
• Devotion and Dominion are Splintered (dead) on Sel - Elantris
• Endowment is on Nalthis - Warbreaker
• Autonomy is on Taldain - White Sand
• Ambition fought near Threnody, but was Splintered and killed somewhere else - Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell

Those are all Shards which location we know of. We know where 10 Shards are. The location of the rest are unknown, Those are: Invention, Mercy, Valor, Whimsy and two unnamed Shards.

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter spoilers, don't look if you haven't read:

Spoiler

Virtuosity is one of the unknown Shards, she was Splintered on Komashi, the world where Yumi takes place.

 

That's all we know about Shard's locations up to date. Most were told to us in books, some in WoBs, so it's no wonder you didn't know about Endowment or Autonomy etc as they weren't mentioned at all in books about their worlds.

Edited November 4, 2023 by alder24

[Treamayne]

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31 minutes ago, AvonZapper said:

So at the time of writing this I have read a good amount of the cosmere. I'm up to date on Stormlight, Mistborn, White Sand, Warbreaker, and Elantris, but I still don't know where most of the shards are. I've looked on the wiki and it shows that we know where most of the shards are, but I've only been able to identify 6 direct appearances. Preservation and Ruin appear in Mistborn era 1. Automation appears in era 2. Then Honor, Cultivation, and Odium appear in Stormlight. The only other times I can remember more shards being named was Sazed's notes in Stormlight. I haven't seen any shards mentioned in White Sand or Warbreaker at all, but somehow according to the wiki we know the shards of those planets already??? Sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question but I'm at a complete loss as to where the other 10 shards are hiding.

When you say you have read White Sand, do you mean the unpublished Prose version, the Three-Volume Graphic Novel, the Graphic Audio or the Omnibus? If  you have the Graphic Novel (volumes or Omnibus) you may want to look closely at the last page (and other pages throughout - check sky, clouds and sand dunes). Minor Spoilers:

Spoiler

In the Omnibus, there is a specific page from Khrissalla's Journal on this topic, Omnibus page 489. Slightly more:

Spoiler

Taldain is Autonomy's world - The Shard masquerading as Trell on Mistborn era 2. WoB:

Quote

emailanimal

[Brandon] must have had enough of chuckles every time someone referred to [Autonomy] as a "he" over the past few years.....

Brandon Sanderson

[Autonomy] has several male personas, and has often appeared as male for one purpose or another, so it's not that much of an issue. She has more female personas, but some of the male ones are quite popular.

This won't be relevant for a long while, but as a service to the community, let me say this: try not to get too hung up on gender, race, or even human appearance where [Autonomy] is concerned. There are some peoples who worship entire pantheons where every member is actually her.

 

 

Also, you may remember from Elantris when Galladon is talking to Raoden about the Dor. Well, there is more about that in the Arcanum Unbounded anthology (if you have not yet read that - the System Essays are written by White Sand's Duchess Khrissalla) - so there is information on two more Shards there (slight Ealantris\Emperor's Soul\Sel spoilers):

Spoiler

Quote

Windrunner

Is the Dor made up of both Devotion and Dominion's power?

Brandon Sanderson

The Dor's nature, and why it acts as it does, is in part related to this question.

17th Shard Forum Q&A (Sept. 25, 2012)

Quote

Questioner

Saying that, "Odium did not leave his power behind on Sel. He left several other powers which are now, to a large extent, mindless." So, is another power- did he have some kind of *inaudible* under control or--

Brandon Sanderson

So I dodged that one very easily. I was talking about Dominion and Devotion, which he could have taken up and left behind. It technically answered the question. That was the answer. I even said on a tape later on "I wiggled out of that one real well," but they didn't know how I wiggled out of it. When they said "Did he leave behind any powers?" Those are the powers he left behind.

Questioner

But they weren't his powers?

Brandon Sanderson

No, but they were-- As soon as he killed them, he could have had them, right? So it definitely gave me wiggle room.

 

 

[Shadow of Electrum he/him]

Thanks for all the answers! It appears that I will have to read arcanum unbound now that I have read Elantris. I'm glad to know that my knowledge isn't too far behind what we know as a whole. I had theorized that devotion was one of the shards on Sel, but I had convinced myself that I didn't have enough information to know that for sure. I'm really excited to learn more about the cosmere and see how things will heat up with Autonomy's conquest and Taravodium's mission to save the world from itself, so that's all from me for now!