Author Topic: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)  (Read 7562 times)

ErikHolmes

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Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« on: September 27, 2010, 07:07:32 PM »
Ok, so I was rereading and noticed something big I think.

There are no Spren AT ALL whenever Dalinar goes back in time for his various visions. And there are plenty of times where there should have been.

Dalinar even mentions that he should be seeing Terrorspren at one point with Taffa's daughter, but figures its just too dark.
There are no painspren when he and Taffa are being cut to ribbons. And no terrorspren from Taffa or her daughter.
In the prelude, even with all that death and destruction, there are no spren.
There's no anticipationspren even when 300 radiants begin to charge Feverstone Keep.

Nohadon does mention spren, such as honor spren, but I get the impression he's talking about spren like Syl and I think she's something different entirely.

Also, in all of his visions Dalinar notices something that wouldn't work during his time. Flimsy buildings, long winters, etc. He explains them all away, but during his visions there are no signs that the world is plagued by highstorms.

So here is my theory:

The Almighty tells Dalinar that most of the things he's shown him he witnessed himself. Meaning he was alive at the time.
But during Dalinar's time the Almighty is dead.
I think that in the past there were no spren for everything. Anticipationspren, terrorspren, deathspren, etc. There were the sentient ones like Syl, but they were everywhere like they are now.

The modern spren came about when the almighty was killed, they are a remnant of his power, maybe his body, etc. Like the Mist in the Final Empire. And his death brought about the highstorms as well.
I think maybe the face in the storm is the spirit of the Almighty, his body has been destroyed, but he lives on as the raging source of the storms.

Thoughts?
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Erunion

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2010, 07:12:03 PM »
Great thought. I think your right, the Spren are shards of the almighty, with the more intelligent Spren, like Honorspren and whatnot, being shards that the Almighty cut off from himself in order to give humans power.
Not sure about the Highstorms, as I think they are still running, remember, the Flimsy buildings are protected by a lait.

Kykeon

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2010, 08:45:02 PM »
My thoughts exactly when I listened to WoK, but I considered the theory to be too obvious to be worth posting.
Great minds think alike it seems. ;)

So, let's say we bind a spren to a gem or a surgebinder, then the spren acts as the mind, the stormlight as the power and the gem/human as its body...
Nope, no idea were I'm going with this. :|

Stormblessed

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2010, 02:26:41 AM »
Maybe the death and splintering of the Almighty might have something to do with the highstorms and spren. I just dont have enough information to make a proper theory.
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Ari54

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2010, 04:56:40 AM »
That's pretty good speculation. :) I guess we'll see! :)

Harakeke

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2010, 10:27:27 AM »
There's also no mention of spren in the Interlude that happens in Shinovar.
Fabrials brought in from outside function in Shinovar, but natives find the idea of using Soulcasting to transmute materials to be "bemusing".

happyman

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2010, 05:52:30 PM »
There's also no mention of spren in the Interlude that happens in Shinovar.
Fabrials brought in from outside function in Shinovar, but natives find the idea of using Soulcasting to transmute materials to be "bemusing".


Oh, they mention spren all right.  They're notable by their complete absence!
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Fireborn

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2010, 06:36:05 PM »
I'm pretty sure there were highstorms, just not as powerful as in the present.
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KhyEllie

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2010, 05:30:21 AM »
I've always kinda thought it was odd how everything about Shinovar is more like our world. All the unique things about Roshar don't seem to apply there.

Stormblessed

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #9 on: October 09, 2010, 06:35:26 AM »
I've always kinda thought it was odd how everything about Shinovar is more like our world. All the unique things about Roshar don't seem to apply there.

It does seem to imply that Cultivation and the Shin are closely related.
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happyman

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2010, 04:58:11 PM »
I've always kinda thought it was odd how everything about Shinovar is more like our world. All the unique things about Roshar don't seem to apply there.

It does seem to imply that Cultivation and the Shin are closely related.

The other odd thing about Shinovar is that the highstorms never reach it.  They apparently can't get past the mountains.

This is probably connected as well.  No highstorms==no reason for the world to adapt to hurricane-force winds.

It could be as simple as evolution, or it could be a different Shard's domain, or what is left of one.
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KhyEllie

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2010, 06:33:15 PM »
For some reason those mountains stuck out to me as very significant. I thought at first that maybe they're where Roshar's magical well/pool is, since those seem to appear around hills and mountains, but there's really nothing to back this theory up.

FollowYourMuse

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2010, 12:39:13 AM »
I've always kinda thought it was odd how everything about Shinovar is more like our world. All the unique things about Roshar don't seem to apply there.

It does seem to imply that Cultivation and the Shin are closely related.

The other odd thing about Shinovar is that the highstorms never reach it.  They apparently can't get past the mountains.

This is probably connected as well.  No highstorms==no reason for the world to adapt to hurricane-force winds.

It could be as simple as evolution, or it could be a different Shard's domain, or what is left of one.


There are many hints that the beleifs of the Shin lean towards being effected by or including Cultivation.
They respect Farmers and craftsmen "He who adds is to be revered." Szeth refers to himself as "he who takes away"

The misted mountains do not just stop the storms they cause the storms to break apart and fade away, I think there may be more to it.

happyman

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2010, 03:52:58 AM »
I've always kinda thought it was odd how everything about Shinovar is more like our world. All the unique things about Roshar don't seem to apply there.

It does seem to imply that Cultivation and the Shin are closely related.

The other odd thing about Shinovar is that the highstorms never reach it.  They apparently can't get past the mountains.

This is probably connected as well.  No highstorms==no reason for the world to adapt to hurricane-force winds.

It could be as simple as evolution, or it could be a different Shard's domain, or what is left of one.


There are many hints that the beleifs of the Shin lean towards being effected by or including Cultivation.
They respect Farmers and craftsmen "He who adds is to be revered." Szeth refers to himself as "he who takes away"

The misted mountains do not just stop the storms they cause the storms to break apart and fade away, I think there may be more to it.

Well, being protected by a different Shard might be a reason the storms break up.  I was just noting the most obvious difference between Shinovar and the rest of the world.
Nature hates being reified.

Stormblessed

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Re: Spren and the Almighty (SPOILERS-for Mistborn too)
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2010, 06:33:52 AM »
Mountains protecting shin = lake/well/pool of Cultivation's power

Origin of Highstorms = lake/well/pool of Almighty's shard power

Thats my theory anyway.
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