Hello again.
I just posted for the first time but, in case you didn't read it, I greet you all again.
I believe BS is a good foreseer. He plants seeds in his books which give fruits long time in the future of the series. That is why I think if he has planted the Shards theme (and he just plainly said he has), then he would have done it in a way we can recognize it.
I write this because I believe we will see similar patterns regarding the Shards. For example, having two opposite forces to create, a triad of magic systems and things like that.
One of the constants I believe should be that any "magic" comes from the energy from creation, through a Shard. He said that the way it comes out or the form it takes (the "magic effects") will depend upon the Realmatics (or something like that, I believe he means the World and Realm mechanics
).
Furthermore, he says we have met 6 Shards (R&P, 2 others who have interacted, 1 power, 1 influence). I just can suppose he refers to series widely known to everybody and not just a few Chosen (that is, Elantris, Mistborn and Warbreaker).
So, I believe we have 2 Shards in each of this worlds, and that each one is opposite to the other in their world. As you have pointed out, they don't have to be at war, in Elantris they could be Life and Death or Energy and Rest or some other duality which will not be confronted but complementary.
Also, they could be at war, but they are not in the same stage as in Mistborn. In Mistborn, we have the Final Battle. In Warbreaker we see conflict in a minor scale (some people who want to get rid of their rulers). In Elantris conflict is very high, the Wyrn wants to dominate the world and kill every arelean or teosian.
And after this runt, if you are been so nice as to keep reading, thank you and here is something maybe can help us discern whether there are Shards active or not in a world and its general "alignment"(or maybe not, who knows
).
Magic has a source. Its source has to be something which is part of a Shard, because all magic effects must come from the power of creation (this is something I have to assume and have no final evidence to, but we are theorizing....). So, any magic effect must be "fueled" by something. And this something can tell us (if we think about it) if the magic leads to general "good" or "evil".
For example, in Elantris we have the Dor. This seems to me much like the Mists (although less physical). So, I assume that this must be the body(=power) of a Shard. We have 3 ways to channel it, Aons, ChayShin and Dakhor. This one seems generally "good", although the "Dakhor effects" (not the enhancements, which are permanent), need sacrifice, but maybe they are using another magic system (remember that Inquisitors could have Allomancy, Ferruchemy and Hemalurgy).
In Warbreaker we have Breath. It seems to me like what we know of Preservation. There is a spark of Preservation in every human in Scadrel. Maybe this is something similar. Difference is, this spark can be given away, received and stored. I don't know what to think of this, but it seems like the "Spirit" of a Shard, whatever it is. This is something of a "neutral" magic, neither you lose or gain, present or steal.
I will end this suddenly because I fear I made a long post and I am starting to rant. I'm sorry, my second post and I'm doing it.....
Well, let's see what comes of it. I'm still on page 8 of the HoA spoilers so, I probably miss a lot of things. Thank you for reading
