Jump to content

Let's gather what we know of the powers and limitations of the shards, shall we?


Kykeon

Recommended Posts

-They have yet to show any abbility to read or influence minds under normal conditions.

Um, what? 

That was in reference to the shard's again.  ;)

Ah, that makes sense.

I'm not entirely certain about it, though.  Ruin and Preservation could not read minds, and neither could the people who used their power for other things, so it seems safe to say that those two shards were limited in that way.

On the other hand, Nightblood can read minds, as well as influence them.  It was created by the power of Endowment.  Are we to assume that Nightblood has a power that Endowment does not?  That seems... unlikely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Are we SURE Ruin and Preservation are separate Shards?  I seem to remember that Sazed said he wasn't sure why Ruin and Preservation were ever separated or even how they could have been after he absorbed them both.  What if they are the SAME shard, just had been split until Sazed put the power back together.  That could be why they couldn't create without working together.

I haven't read interviews etc. about this - so I apologize in advance if there's empirical evidence conflicting with my statement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are we SURE Ruin and Preservation are separate Shards?  I seem to remember that Sazed said he wasn't sure why Ruin and Preservation were ever separated or even how they could have been after he absorbed them both.  What if they are the SAME shard, just had been split until Sazed put the power back together.  That could be why they couldn't create without working together.

I haven't read interviews etc. about this - so I apologize in advance if there's empirical evidence conflicting with my statement.

Well, Brandon's referred to them as separate Shards. He said that they just came to Scadrial (the Mistborn world) because opposites attract. Different powers, just drawn to each other.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are we SURE Ruin and Preservation are separate Shards?  I seem to remember that Sazed said he wasn't sure why Ruin and Preservation were ever separated or even how they could have been after he absorbed them both.  What if they are the SAME shard, just had been split until Sazed put the power back together.  That could be why they couldn't create without working together.

I haven't read interviews etc. about this - so I apologize in advance if there's empirical evidence conflicting with my statement.

I'm thinking that Sazed's thoughts were more of a lingering realization of the nature of Adonalsium, and the shattering thereof.  They feel like they should be the same Shard because they are both part of something greater that was once split.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are we SURE Ruin and Preservation are separate Shards?  I seem to remember that Sazed said he wasn't sure why Ruin and Preservation were ever separated or even how they could have been after he absorbed them both.  What if they are the SAME shard, just had been split until Sazed put the power back together.  That could be why they couldn't create without working together.

I haven't read interviews etc. about this - so I apologize in advance if there's empirical evidence conflicting with my statement.

I'm thinking that Sazed's thoughts were more of a lingering realization of the nature of Adonalsium, and the shattering thereof.  They feel like they should be the same Shard because they are both part of something greater that was once split.

Sazed didn't say they were part of the same Shard.  He said they the powers "belonged together," and adds that maybe someday he'll find out why they split.  This sounds like he was feeling an echo of Adonalsium when he took the powers.  Given that he knows the name, this seems extremely likely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm. I was thinking about what The Almighty said at the end of WoK. "You may be able to get him to pick a champion. We are bound by certain rules."

Thinking about this, I was reminded of Vin and Marsh, and after Vin became Preservation, Elend and Marsh.

Will we see some epic duel between characters? It seems like Dalinar has been chosen by the almighty, but it could be Kaladin too. Who might represent Odium? Who is so focused on Hate that it will overtake them? Perhaps we will have to wait and see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so just an observation that may have been brought up already. Seems that the nature of shards are all reliant/based on a single emotion that are pieces of what we feel.

Which makes all of them (including the "good" shards like the Almighty or Preservation) mentally ill to a certain degree, as well as unbalanced in the way they can use their power since they are all only ONE part of a formerly whole entity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so just an observation that may have been brought up already. Seems that the nature of shards are all reliant/based on a single emotion that are pieces of what we feel.

Which makes all of them (including the "good" shards like the Almighty or Preservation) mentally ill to a certain degree, as well as unbalanced in the way they can use their power since they are all only ONE part of a formerly whole entity.

I think this is a very valid point.  It reflects deep realities in the Cosmere, methinks.

For instance, I would be very hesitant to call "Preservation" good.  Under the Lord Ruler, we see very little good, but simply enormous volumes of preservation.  Preservation was just "better than Ruin, from humanities point of view" because he was stopping the immediate end of the world.  Sazed is almost certainly better than both, individually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this is a very valid point.  It reflects deep realities in the Cosmere, methinks.

For instance, I would be very hesitant to call "Preservation" good.  Under the Lord Ruler, we see very little good, but simply enormous volumes of preservation.  Preservation was just "better than Ruin, from humanities point of view" because he was stopping the immediate end of the world.  Sazed is almost certainly better than both, individually.

Which would mean that holding the shards 'poisons' the holder until they lose what individuality they possessed.

This thread is really interesting, though some of the things should probably be put on the wiki. Are you all ok with me copying your theories/ideas?

Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this is a very valid point.  It reflects deep realities in the Cosmere, methinks.

For instance, I would be very hesitant to call "Preservation" good.  Under the Lord Ruler, we see very little good, but simply enormous volumes of preservation.  Preservation was just "better than Ruin, from humanities point of view" because he was stopping the immediate end of the world.  Sazed is almost certainly better than both, individually.

Which would mean that holding the shards 'poisons' the holder until they lose what individuality they possessed.

This thread is really interesting, though some of the things should probably be put on the wiki. Are you all ok with me copying your theories/ideas?

Joe

I don't mind, but I suspect that the people maintaining the Wiki would prefer to have well-sourced theories rather than this speculation.

I do have evidence, mind.  Brandon made some important comments on the state of Ruin's mind in his annotations for MB3.  He basically said that very little was left of Ati's personality except what applied to the power he was holding.  If this applies to all Shardholders, then whether they're "good" or "evil" depends much more on context than anything else.

But you can copy over whatever you like.  I don't have time to look up the appropriate sources, myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think this is a very valid point.  It reflects deep realities in the Cosmere, methinks.

For instance, I would be very hesitant to call "Preservation" good.  Under the Lord Ruler, we see very little good, but simply enormous volumes of preservation.  Preservation was just "better than Ruin, from humanities point of view" because he was stopping the immediate end of the world.  Sazed is almost certainly better than both, individually.

Which would mean that holding the shards 'poisons' the holder until they lose what individuality they possessed.

This thread is really interesting, though some of the things should probably be put on the wiki. Are you all ok with me copying your theories/ideas?

Joe

I don't mind, but I suspect that the people maintaining the Wiki would prefer to have well-sourced theories rather than this speculation.

I do have evidence, mind.  Brandon made some important comments on the state of Ruin's mind in his annotations for MB3.  He basically said that very little was left of Ati's personality except what applied to the power he was holding.  If this applies to all Shardholders, then whether they're "good" or "evil" depends much more on context than anything else.

But you can copy over whatever you like.  I don't have time to look up the appropriate sources, myself.

which may explain why the Shardholders don't  call each other by their real names, the personalities of the original people have been basically obliterated, so it kind of wouldn't fit.

Also kind of makes me feel sad, cause that one line from the letter-epigraphs in WoK says that Ati was a nice guy......

edit : The reference is from the annotation for chapter 57

Ruin's consciousness
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't mind, but I suspect that the people maintaining the Wiki would prefer to have well-sourced theories rather than this speculation.

I do have evidence, mind.  Brandon made some important comments on the state of Ruin's mind in his annotations for MB3.  He basically said that very little was left of Ati's personality except what applied to the power he was holding.  If this applies to all Shardholders, then whether they're "good" or "evil" depends much more on context than anything else.

But you can copy over whatever you like.  I don't have time to look up the appropriate sources, myself.

Well I kinda am one of the maintainers  :D so yeah :D

Indeed, I really need to read the annotations. I just thought I might be able to glean some distilled information from this thread, laziness and all XD

Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • Chaos locked this topic
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...