Shard

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The Shards of Adonalsium, or Shards for short, are pieces of the power of creation itself.[1] They are named after a specific action or ideal, called an intent. A mind must control a Shard. When a person holds a Shard, they are imbued with its power, but they also become the Shard.[2] Despite this, fans have created the term Shardholder to refer to the person who holds a Shard (not to be confused with Shardbearer, but this term is not canonical.

There are sixteen Shards[3], and they are the most powerful known entities in the cosmere. They are related to many, if not all, magic systems, and for practical purposes, they are gods.

Nine Shards have thus far been mentioned in the novels, either referenced by their Shard’s name or its holder. Those known by intent are Ruin, Preservation, Honor, Odium, Cultivation, and Endowment. In addition, Aona, Skai, and Bavadin are confirmed to hold (or have held) Shards, though their Shards’ intents are currently unknown.

Introduction

“Even now, I can barely grasp the scope of all this. The events surrounding the end of the world seem even larger than the Final Empire and the people within it.

I have delved and searched, and have only been able to come up with a single name: Adonalsium. Who, or what, it was, I do not yet know.

”

—the Hero of Ages[4], emphasis added

It is not unknown what Adonalsium is, whether it be a person or a great power. Since Shards have been called pieces of the power of creation[5], it is theorized that Adonalsium is in fact the power of creation. Regardless of its nature, Adonalsium was The Shattering, and thus the Shards of Adonalsium came into being. The Way of Kings heavily implies there are sixteen Shards.[6]

These Shards are named after their respective intent, which represents the driving force of the power[7]--an aspect of creation. However, after the Shattering, the Shards were left with no mind to control the power. For Realmatic reasons, a mind--Cognitive power--must be attached to the Spiritual power of the Shard. People eventually took up these Shards, like Rayse and Bavadin, who share some history with whoever wrote the Letter.

When a person takes up a Shard, the extreme power vaporizes the body, allowing the person’s mind to expand.[8] From then on, the person’s consciousness feeds on the power of the Shard to remain alive[9], but the Shard’s intent is the driving force of the power. Over an immense time--centuries, perhaps millennia--a Shardholder’s mind begins to change, slowly molding to the Shard’s intent.[10][11]

“Ati was once a kind and generous man, and you saw what became of him. ”

—The Letter, about Ati, the holder of Ruin[12]

It is not clear who the original Shardholders were, or where they came from. Over time, Shardholders begin referring to themselves as their Shard’s name (though they do remember their original selves[13] They eventually scattered throughout the cosmere, taking residence on several different Shardworlds and influencing events on their given planet. Ruin and Preservation made a pact to create on Scadrial,[14] and constructed humans in the form which they have seen before[15]--presumably on the planet where Adonalsium and these Shardholders came from. Judging from humanity on other Shardworlds, the Shards on those worlds probably created humanity there, too. However, the Shardworlds existed before the Shards arrived there[16] so there is a case to made that humans already were present during the Shards’ arrivals.

Often, a Shardholder’s original name is mentioned in some form on their world. Atium is named after Ati, lerasium after Leras, and those condensed essences of their Shards’ power. AonDor is derived from Aona, a Shardholder on Sel.[17]

At this point, all known magic in the cosmere is related to a Shard.

It appears that the bond between human and Shard is permanent. The only evidence of Shards changing hands after the original Shardholders are when a Shard dies. When that dies, the person’s original body rematerializes and falls to the ground as a corpse.[18]

Ruin and Preservation were drawn together because they were such perfect opposites[19] (though not all Shards have pairs like those ones do[citation needed]). Direct confrontation between their two powers was excruciatingly painful, and they eventually destroyed each other. It is not clear whether if any two Shards collided, they would both die, or if this was simply an effect of Ruin and Preservation having such opposite intents.

It is implied that not all Shards are equal. Rayse is said to hold the most dangerous of the sixteen, Odium.[20][21] It is unknown what makes Odium inherently so dangerous, whether it is due to the intent, or because Odium actually has more power than other Shards.

Odium was powerful enough to travel to Sel, kill Aona and Skai, and Splinter their power:

“One need only look at the aftermath of his brief visit to Sel to see proof of what I say. In case you have turned a blind eye to that disaster, know that Aona and Skai are both dead, and that which they held has been Splintered. Presumably to prevent anyone from rising up to challenge Rayse. ”

It is unknown if Odium is special in his ability to Splinter a Shard, but regardless, the person who wrote the Letter is terrified of Odium’s power.

If Brandon were to do a novel where different magic systems collide as the focus of the book, he refers to it as a conflux book.[23]

The Seventeenth Shard are not a Shard of Adonalsium, but rather an organization of people who hop between worlds.[24]

Known Shards

There are nine known Shards, listed here:

Shard Holder World Series
Ruin Ati[25] (later Sazed) Scadrial Mistborn[26]
Preservation Leras[27] (later Sazed) Scadrial Mistborn[28]
Endowment[29] Unknown Nalthis Warbreaker[30]
Unknown Aona[31] Sel[32] Elantris[33]
Unknown Skai[34] Sel[35] Elantris[36]
Honor Tanavast[37] Roshar Stormlight Archive[38]
Odium Rayse[39] Roshar Stormlight Archive[40]
Cultivation[41] Unknown Roshar Stormlight Archive[42]
Unknown Bavadin[43] Unknown Unknown

It is likely that this is a complete list of all the Shards for the published Shardworlds. Some worlds have more Shards than others.[44]

Ruin and Preservation are the only Shards on Scadrial at the moment.[45] By the time of the Hero of Ages spoiler thread (before the Way of Kings release), Brandon mentioned that there were four Shards other than Ruin and Preservation that have been seen:

“You've interacted with two directly.

One is a tough call. You've never met the Shard itself, but you've seen its power.
The other one you have not met directly, but have seen its influence.

”

—Brandon Sanderson[46]

Endowment was confirmed to be the Voice from Warbreaker,[47] which Lightsong interacts with. Raoden interacts with a second voice when he jumps into the Shardpool in Elantris (presumably Aona’s). Before the release of The Way of Kings it was not clear what the other two Shards were. However, Hoid was not a Shardholder on that list.[48]

With the Way of Kings, the Letter demystifies the other two unaccounted for Shards: we had not directly met Skai’s Shard, but his power on the planet of Sel has been seen (and, presumably, his related magic, with the Dakhor). And Odium traveled to Sel, killing Aona and Skai, so by default his influence is pervasive on Sel.[49] So, all the Shards on Scadrial, Sel, and Nalthis are accounted for.

There are three Shards on Roshar[50] and they are confirmed to be Honor, Odium, and Cultivation[51]. Therefore, for all Shardworlds that have been seen, all Shards are known.

Still, that leaves eight additional Shards that have not been seen, and the only reference to any of them is that Bavadin is a Shardholder.[52] The last seven Shards are unknown.

Forms and Subdivisions

“Ruin's consciousness was trapped by the Well of Ascension, kept mostly impotent. That night, when we discovered the Well for the first time, we found something we didn't understand. A black smoke, clogging one of the rooms.

Though we discussed it after the fact, we couldn't decide what that was. How could we possibly have known?

The body of a god—or, rather, the power of a god, since the two are really the same thing. Ruin and Preservation inhabited power and energy in the same way a person inhabits flesh and blood.

”

—Sazed[53]

A Shard’s power can take many different forms, related to the three realms: the Physical, the Cognitive, and the Spiritual.[54] All are extensions of the Shard’s power, and in the Hero of Ages, sometimes referred to as the body of the Shard.[55]

In its Physical form, it can appear as a solid, and does one specific thing.[56] On Scadrial, a Shards’ Physical essence was a metal, and these god metals each performed a specific effect within the Metallic Arts.

In its liquid form, it is most potent.[57] The Well of Ascension is one such pool of a Shard’s power, and as it was formed from Preservation’s own mind, the liquid essence of a Shard is said to be related to the Cognitive aspect. Many Shards have such a Shardpool. Ruin’s is located below the Pits of Hathsin.[58] Raoden encounters a Shardpool, where hoed can go to relieve their pain.[59] That pool is theorized to be Aona’s Shardpool.

It is not clear what the gaseous form of Shards (the Spiritual power) do in general, but the mists--the power of Preservation--are able to fuel Allomancy as if working as a metal.[60] The black smoke that was found in the chamber before the Well of Ascension was Ruin’s corresponding “mist”.[61]

There are further subdivisions of Shards: Slivers and Splinters.

Sliver

A Sliver is a human intelligence who has held the power and released it.[62] There is a certain threshold of power where one would be considered a Sliver of Adonalsium. Every person on Scadrial has a bit of the power of Preservation, but they are not technically Slivers. Though there is some grey area in what it means to be a Sliver, individuals who have directly held the power of a Shard are usually termed Slivers.[63]

The Lord Ruler held a bit of Preservation at the Well of Ascension and letting it go. This altered him, and that residue of a Shard inside him was what scholars would term a Sliver. After Vin gave up Preservation, she was considered a Sliver, as was Kelsier by the end of the Mistborn trilogy. Elantrians are not slivers.[64]

Splinter

Splinters are the qualitative opposites of Slivers, as Splinters have never been human. It refers to a specific kind of fragment of a Shard's power.[65] Brandon has not told us the complete definition of a Splinter. Lerasium and atium, despite being condensed essences of their Shards, are not Splinters. One distinguishing factor of a Splinter is that they often have an intent, separate from their Shards'.[66]

The divine Breath that Returned hold are the only confirmed Splinter (a Splinter of Endowment[67]), though they appear in The Way of Kings and Elantris as well, but not Mistborn.[68] It is been theorized that Seons are Splinters, and Brandon has said this line of theorizing is very close to being correct[69].

It is not clear how Splinters are formed, though it appears a Shard must actively create one. Endowment seems to be able to form them at will for Returned. Odium traveled to Sel and Splintered Aona's Shard and Skai's Shard. Since Odium killed Tanavast,[70] the holder of Honor, it has been theorized that Honor is Splintered as well.

Powers

Here lists some general abilities of all Shards. More powers may be discovered as more books are published. Also, it is possible an individual Shard’s abilities may vary depending on their intent, but such distinctions are not known at this time.

Shards hold a vast amount of Spiritual energy, and have enormous capabilities, so much power that they have effectively become gods. Moving a planet is easy for them to accomplish.[71] Shards exist on a higher level than the Physical Realm, and have expanded Cognitive aspects and perceptions. Time seems to matter little to Shards. Minutes can pass like hours.[72]

Shards can will themselves to various parts of their world instantaneously (or near instantly).[73] They can will themselves to other Shardworlds, as noted from Odium’s journey to Sel[74] and Brandon implying that Sazed could travel to another world, but chooses not to.[75]

Shards can fuel magic, as evidenced by Ruin and Preservation’s ability to fuel all the Metallic Arts.[76] Ruin could manipulate the contents of Feruchemical metalminds. Ruin and Preservation can both whisper into the minds of humans.

Shards can see into the future, though this is difficult to do. Honor describes seeing the future like “It’s as if the future is a shattering window. The further you look, the more pieces that window breaks into.“[77]. Cultivation is apparently better at seeing into the future than Honor. Preservation saw into the future and created the Terris Prophecies.[78] Most of the time, temporal abilities are related to the pure essence of a Shard (see atium) or to a Splinter (like Returned do).[79] Since Wyrn can see into the future through some method, it is theorized he may hold a Splinter or be a Sliver, but he may also have this power via Seon or Skaze.

Shards can develop complex constructs with their power. Preservation made the mists Snap Allomancers long after his mind had withered away.[80] Honor created a visual journal which Dalinar now sees during highstorms.[81]

Aspects of Shards’ power regenerate over time. The Well of Ascension reformed every 1024 years[82] rather than vanishing forever. Atium also regenerates, though when atium was burned away, Ruin was not able to use it. It isn’t known whether all of a Shard’s power would regenerate eventually.

Weaknesses

One of the largest weaknesses a Shard has is that its holder is shaped to its intent. Ruin and Preservation could not create by themselves, as it was against their Shards’ intent to do so alone.

Shards, though their minds are significantly expanded, are not omniscient, omnipresent nor omnipotent. Even after Ruin was free from his prison, he couldn’t influence everything. After the end of the Hero of Ages, Sazed can more easily influence events where the mists are located[83], which implies that there is a limit to his Shards’ power.

Ruin could not read minds. It is unknown whether this is a limit to all Shards. In the Alloy of Law it is speculated that Sazed is reading Waxillium’s mind.[84]

Preservation and Ruin are blind to metal, the focus of the Metallic Arts. It is not clear if other Shards are blind to an aspect of their respective focus, but Brandon has stated that Sazed is also blind to metal[85]

Honor states to Dalinar that a champion may bind Odium, but it is unknown what he meant.[86]

Relationship with Magic Systems

“The powers of Ruin and Preservation are Shards of Adonalsium, pieces of the power of creation itself. Allomancy, Hemalurgy, Feruchemy are manifestations of this power in mortal form, the ability to touch the powers of creation and use them. These metallic powers are how people's physical forms interpret the use of the Shard, though it's not the only possible way they could be interpreted or used. It's what the genetics and Realmatic interactions of Scadrial allow for, and has to do with the Spiritual, the Cognitive, and the Physical Realms.”

All magic systems that are currently known are related to Shards. Allomancy is of Preservation, Hemalurgy is of Ruin, and Feruchemy is the balance between the two Shards. AonDor, by name, appears to be related to Aona's Shard. Awakening is of Endowment. It is thought that Surgebinding is of Honor, but this is not confirmed. The only magic that may not be related to a Shard are Hoid’s ability to move from planet to planet, but the mechanics of his powers are not clear.

The types of magics that exist on a world depends on which Shards are present. If Endowment were to move to Scadrial, additional combinations of magics may form[88]. However, Shards did not create magic systems. Ruin and Preservation did not create the Metallic Arts.[89] Rather, magic is a natural function of the world, a Shard’s intent, Realmatic interactions, and sometimes genetics.[90]

Magic systems have a focus. Metals are the focus for the Metallic Arts, Aons are the focus for AonDor, and the Commands are the focus for Awakening.[91] The focus seems to be related to Shards themselves, as Ruin and Preservation could not perceive metal. It is not known what determines a focus for a given Shard, or if all Shards are blind to their focus in some way.

Theories and Speculation

This page or section deals with theories or speculation.
Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

The Principle of Intent

This principle states that all magic is directly related to a given Shard’s intent.[92]Awakening endows power, so it is of Endowment; Hemalurgy ruins; and Honor’s Surgebinding deals with oaths and bonds. From a Shard’s intent, one can postulate a magic system’s mechanics easier.

Shardic Sentience

It has been theorized that a Shard’s power creates sentience. [93][94] Preservation put a fragment of himself into the people on Scadrial, granting them sentience, and the large quantity of Breaths (presumably fragments of Endowment) in Nightblood are a factor in his sentience.

Aona and Skai's Shard Intents

Aona's Shard was confirmed to be a synonym of Love or Compassion.[95] When Brandon was pressed if Devotion was her Shard’s name, he said we are essentially right. He said Devotion may even be the term he settled on, but he must check his notes to be certain.[96]

Skai’s Shard has been postulated to be Unity, Cohesion, or Passion. His Shard is not Obedience.[97]

Shardholder of Endowment

Endowment’s Shardholder is currently unknown, but since the Tears of Edgli are related to color and Awakening, it’s been said that Endowment’s original name was Edgli.

It is also theorized that Endowment’s Shardholder is female.

Speculated Splinters

Since Aona and Skai’s Shards have been Splintered, it commonly espoused that Seons and Skaze are Splinters of Aona’s Shard and Skai’s Shard, respectively.

Syl and Honorspren are also thought to be Splinters.

Bavadin

The world of The Silence Divine takes place in the same solar system as Roshar. Due to Rayse and Bavadin being mentioned in the same sentence in the Letter, it is theorized that Rayse and Bavadin are allies, and therefore, Bavadin stays close to Rayse, by staying on the planet of The Silence Divine.

See Also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  2. ↑ Goodreads 2.0 Q: Barring the Almighty, did we seen a Shardholder (like Sazed) in this book?
  3. ↑ Template:Bref
  4. ↑ Template:Bref
  5. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  6. ↑ Template:Bref
  7. ↑ THoA Annotation 58, Part Two
  8. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  9. ↑ THoA Annotation 58, Part Two
  10. ↑ THoA Annotation 57
  11. ↑ Template:17s
  12. ↑ Template:Bref
  13. ↑ Europe Tour, Q: Do they still remember their original name?
  14. ↑ Template:Bref
  15. ↑ Template:Bref
  16. ↑ Europe Tour, Q: Who names the planets?
  17. ↑ Template:Bref
  18. ↑ Template:Bref
  19. ↑ Template:17s
  20. ↑ Template:Bref
  21. ↑ Template:Bref
  22. ↑ Template:Bref
  23. ↑ 17th Shard Interview, Q: Will you ever write a book or series where different magic systems come into the same world?
  24. ↑ Welcome to 17th Shard
  25. ↑ Brandonology#HoA Thread
  26. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  27. ↑ Brandonology#HoA Thread
  28. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  29. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: Could you tell us the numbers per book?
  30. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  31. ↑ Template:Bref
  32. ↑ Template:Bref
  33. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  34. ↑ Template:Bref
  35. ↑ Template:Bref
  36. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  37. ↑ Brandon’s Twitter
  38. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  39. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  40. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  41. ↑ 17th Shard Interview, Q: Is Cultivation a Shard on Roshar?
  42. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: what is the name of the planet that Elantris is on?
  43. ↑ Europe Tour, Q: Does Bavadin hold a Shard?
  44. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: Could you tell us the numbers per book?
  45. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler Thread, Q: With all the talk about action and reaction and whatnot, will some force form to counter Sazed's new Ruin/Preservation mix?
  46. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler Thread, Q: Have we met these four by name, or just by influence?
  47. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q: Could you tell us the numbers per book?
  48. ↑ Template:17s
  49. ↑ Template:Bref
  50. ↑ Template:17s
  51. ↑ 17th Shard Interview, Q: Is Cultivation a Shard on Roshar?
  52. ↑ Europe Tour, Q: Does Bavadin hold a Shard?
  53. ↑ Template:Bref
  54. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q:Of the people that were sick for the 16 days in comparison to just the 1 day, it is mentioned that they would be able to burn more precious metals (atium). Could it also be possible they are/were Mistborn - with the ability to burn all 16 metals?
  55. ↑ Template:Bref
  56. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  57. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  58. ↑ Template:17s
  59. ↑ Template:Bref
  60. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  61. ↑ Template:Bref
  62. ↑ Template:17s, Q: Is the definition of Sliver: Someone who has held a large part of the raw form of a Shard temporarily?
  63. ↑ Goodreads, Q: Also, would the Elantrians and the Lerasium-mistings be considered Slivers?
  64. ↑ Goodreads, Q: Also, would the Elantrians and the Lerasium-mistings be considered Slivers?
  65. ↑ Template:17s, Q: How is a Splinter different from a Sliver?
  66. ↑ Template:17s, Q: Do Splinters have their own Intent, in addition to the Shards’?
  67. ↑ Goodreads, Q: If a returned gives away his/her breath they die right?
  68. ↑ Template:17s, Q: How is a Splinter different from a Sliver?
  69. ↑ Europe Tour Q&A
  70. ↑ Template:Bref
  71. ↑ Template:Bref
  72. ↑ Template:Bref
  73. ↑ Template:Bref
  74. ↑ Template:Bref
  75. ↑ Template:17s
  76. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  77. ↑ Template:Bref
  78. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler Thread, A: The Terris prophesies were created by Preservation before he attempted his imprisonment.
  79. ↑ Brandonology#Tor Q&A, Q: how the eff did Wyrn see into the future?
  80. ↑ Barnes and Noble Q&A, Q:Of the people that were sick for the 16 days in comparison to just the 1 day, it is mentioned that they would be able to burn more precious metals (atium). Could it also be possible they are/were Mistborn - with the ability to burn all 16 metals?
  81. ↑ Template:Bref
  82. ↑ Template:17s
  83. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler Thread, A: The mists are now an extent of Sazed's power, and where they roam, he is better able to influence things.
  84. ↑ Template:17s
  85. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler Thread, Q: Is Sazed effected by the metal blindess, or can he see thing written in metal?
  86. ↑ Template:Bref
  87. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  88. ↑ Template:17s
  89. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler Thread, Q: Is Hemalurgy dead?
  90. ↑ Hero of Ages Spoiler thread, Q: Allomancy is fueled by Preservation's body? How exactly does that work?
  91. ↑ Chaos’s meeting with Brandon insists it is so.
  92. ↑ Template:17s
  93. ↑ Template:17s
  94. ↑ Template:17s
  95. ↑ Theory: Aona and Skai’s Shard name
  96. ↑ Template:17s, Q: Is Aona's Shard name Devotion?
  97. ↑ Theory: Aona and Skai’s Shard name


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