Why is Bravadin Brandons favorite shard holder?

[Thanatos]

This is more of a throw out your theories thread. 

So why do you think Bravadin is Brandons favorite shard/vessel?

My opinion is that Bravadin has way more involvement in the Cosmere then people know. More so than any other shard.

Ohh and i think shes a dragon. 

Would not be suprised if shes in all books in one way or another.

Whats your theories?

[Stark he/him]

We did get a few new interesting tidbits about Bavadin recently.  That she has multiple personas (not personalities) and likes to insert herself into various pantheons.  That there are some pantheons made up entirely of her personas.

 

And we know that there are more than just humans in the cosmere, and more specifically on Yolen, which could lead to non-human vessels.  While I like her not being human, I'm not sure about a dragon.  Her ability to be everywhere, involved with and aware many things seems very reminiscent of a newly revealed species.  While Shards tend to be closer to omniscient, there could be a more mundane reason why she is able to be a little bit everywhere:

Edgedancer Spoiler:

Spoiler

What if Bavadin is a Dysian Aimian?  An Autonomous hive mind that can spread her hordlings everywhere and monitor everything.  It could make her difficult enough to destroy as to explain why Rayse sort of partnered with her, and can lead to her being able to develop numerous personas, and endless minions , all the while maintaining her Autonomy..

 

[Landis963 he/him]

17 minutes ago, Stark said:

We did get a few new interesting tidbits about Bavadin recently.  That she has multiple personas (not personalities) and likes to insert herself into various pantheons.  That there are some pantheons made up entirely of her personas.

 

And we know that there are more than just humans in the cosmere, and more specifically on Yolen, which could lead to non-human vessels.  While I like her not being human, I'm not sure about a dragon.  Her ability to be everywhere, involved with and aware many things seems very reminiscent of a newly revealed species.  While Shards tend to be closer to omniscient, there could be a more mundane reason why she is able to be a little bit everywhere:

Edgedancer Spoiler:

  Hide contents

What if Bavadin is a Dysian Aimian?  An Autonomous hive mind that can spread her hordlings everywhere and monitor everything.  It could make her difficult enough to destroy as to explain why Rayse sort of partnered with her, and can lead to her being able to develop numerous personas, and endless minions , all the while maintaining her Autonomy..

 

Bavadin is Yolese, alongside Hoid, Ati, Leras, and the other Shards.  

[emailanimal he/him]

12 minutes ago, Stark said:

Edgedancer Spoiler:

 

All Vessels are from Yolen.

Spoiler

The species you are referring to appears to consist of native Roshar fauna brought together by some sort of consciousness. 

This suggests a no.

Back to the OP:

Bavadin appears to be an 11-dimensional chess player with complex schemes in place that she advances via the religions she infiltrates. Her Intent suggests that she wants to arrest the power of any given Shard. I suspect that her alliances with any Shards are temporary at best. That is to say, whatever she did to help Odium was a strategic thing, and she will gladly backstab him to prevent him from achieving world domination as well. Perhaps her Intent dictates that she tries to limit the influence of any given Shard beyond their Invested world - and some time, even ON their Invested world.

As to why Brandon likes her - she is probably very fun to plot through.

[Stark he/him]

I completely agree that all original vessels are from Yolen, and therefore she is from Yolen too.  We have semi-canon confirmation that there are at least three major species on Yolen.  But there is nothing to say that Bavadin is not a Yolen analog to the Rosharan life form I had referenced.  If humans can develop naturally (and unnaturally) on numerous planets, so too can other life forms.  It is within the realm of possibilities that that species exists on Yolen, and that Bavadin is one of them.

 

@emailanimal, I like the 11-dimensional chess visual.  And I very much hope that she ends up being a major Cosmere villain, as the master manipulator planning schemes within schemes is far more interesting than Odium's "I hate everything!  Hate all the things! Hate! Hate! Hate"

Edited December 15, 2016 by Stark

[Spoolofwhool]

To be fair, if I created a character who gained god-like powers then went around using them to pretend to be deities of other religion, that would probably be my favorite character. Just the flexibility and the giant con game they were running would be so amusing to conceive and write about.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Spoolofwhool

[HavoKinetic]

Brandon might just like how little we understand Bavadin. There's always another secret - Brandon knows them all already, so the one he plans to reveal 99th out of 100 is his favorite. ( I say out of 100 because it's not like he was going to answer "oh my favorite is Havokin, the anthropomorphic squirrel who picked up the Honesty shard. You haven't met him yet")

[Thanatos]

Brandon did say dragons can appear as human. 

Why not be able to shapeshift into another species.

[emailanimal he/him]

5 hours ago, Stark said:

I like the 11-dimensional chess visual.  And I very much hope that she ends up being a major Cosmere villain, as the master manipulator planning schemes within schemes is far more interesting than Odium's "I hate everything!  Hate all the things! Hate! Hate! Hate"

I am not certain Bavadin is a villain any more than any other Shard is.  My guess is, she a much more complex character.  But I do want to  see her and Hoid duke it out. They are a match.  Which probably means, we are not going to see this play out until the sci-fi Mistborn.

[emailanimal he/him]

1 hour ago, HavoKinetic said:

( I say out of 100 because it's not like he was going to answer "oh my favorite is Havokin, the anthropomorphic squirrel who picked up the Honesty shard. You haven't met him yet")

Now, that I would like to see.

[emailanimal he/him]

11 hours ago, Stark said:

I like the 11-dimensional chess visual.

In all fairness, I did not come up with it; the phrase is the name of a trope from TVTropes.

[ROSHtaFARian2.0]

I just think its a mistake to assume that Bavadin's impersonation of various beings means that she was originally a shapeshifter, pre Ascension. She holds a Shard, with all the power that comes with it. Shards have created entire planets, altered orbits, created life forms, etc. I think manipulating how they're perceived by mortals is way at the lower end of the scale of what they can do, and just because she's the first Vessel we have indications of using her power that way doesn't mean its because she, the Vessel, is a shapeshifter.

[ROSHtaFARian2.0]

No, that makes sense, and it fits for the idea that Bavadin was originally a Yolish Lightweaver too, adept at using illusions and misdirection. So I wouldn't be surprised to find any of those things true, I just think looking for a causal link between Bavadin's abilities and her tendencies can be limiting. Like.....having the mindset you're describing certainly makes sense as a symptom of having a shapeshifter or illusionist's abilities....but having that mindset shouldn't necessarily be used to predict the presence of a shapeshifter or illusionist, you know?

[Knight Oblivion]

Maybe Bavadin is Brandon's favorite character because they're a strong, independent Vessel that doesn't need your restrictive, binary gender constructs.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Knight Oblivion

[Rasarr she/her]

7 hours ago, Knight Oblivion said:

Maybe Bavadin is Brandon's favorite character because they're a strong, independent Vessel that doesn't need your restrictive, binary gender constructs.

Brandon referred to her as "she"... Although I do know a non-binary person who prefers to be called by feminine pronouns, so who knows? I suppose being a Shard of divine power with a habit of shifting between male and female personas could alter your gender identity.