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Odium
GO BX

Grandpa Odium
Fan art by botanicaxu[1]

Biographical information
Race Shard
Gender Male
Status Alive
Abilities Splintering, Voidbinding
Social Information
Aliases Shard of Adonalsium
Appears in The Way of Kings (mentioned),
Words of Radiance (mentioned), Oathbringer, Rhythm of War,
Mistborn: The Lost Metal (mentioned)

Odium is one of the sixteen Shards of Adonalsium. He was originally held by Rayse[1] and was - for a time - one of the three Shards located on Roshar.

Odium is now trapped on Braize and has nine magic systems (i.e., Voidbindings).

Odium's name is first spoken in a vision had by Kaladin. He later asks Syl if she had heard the name, and she hisses and flies off, the name obviously greatly distressing her.[2]

In a vision given to Dalinar, it is revealed that Odium had killed the Almighty, although his means in so doing remain unclear.[3] His reason, however, is his ultimate goal: to become the most powerful entity in the cosmere.

Personality[]

KH StormblessedRev

Stormblessed Revised
Fan art by krhart[2]

Odium is pure hatred: that which one feels and that which one is provoked to feel.[2] As a Shard, he is held by a man (Rayse) who benefits from his intent[4] inasmuch as he was described as loathsome, crafty, and dangerous himself.[5] Rayse wanted to become what he is. Still ...

He bears the weight of God's own divine hatred, separated from the virtues that gave it context.[6]

A Shard's intent is somewhat interpreted by its holder.[7] Rayse doesn't want, in any way, to be influenced by the intents of other Shards. In this, he feels that Odium matches him perfectly. So, he Splinters the Shards he destroys, thereby preventing anyone else from taking up those Shards - and each their power - to challenge him.[8]

"I am emotion incarnate. I am the soul of the spren and of men. I am lust, joy, hatred, anger, and exultation. I am glory and I am vice. I am the very thing that makes men men."[9]

Characteristics[]

Odium is afraid of Harmony.[10] He despises the fact that somebody (i.e., Sazed from Mistborn) has two Shards. However, possibly unknown to Odium, the conflicting Intents of Ruin and Preservation make it difficult for Harmony to act.

Odium is extremely confident that he can out-smart Hoid.[11]

He is not the only Shard to have been forced to leave their world after it was destroyed.[12]

Odium is weirded out by Lift.[13]

Beliefs[]

A part of him genuinely believes in characterizing himself as Passion.*[14]

Quotes[]

Odium

Odium Reigns!
Fan art by botanicaxu[3]

"Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns."**

–Collected: Chachanan, 1173, 84 seconds pre-death. Subject: a cutpurse with the wasting sickness, of partial Iriali descent.

ODIUM COMES. MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL THE SIXTEEN.

–A voice in Kaladin's dream[2]

Why is there so much war? Must we always fight?.

... ODIUM REIGNS.

–Kaladin and a voice in his dream[2]

"Odium is the void, Kaladin. He draws in emotion, and doesn't let it go. You ... you brought him with you. I wasn't alive then, but I know this truth. He was your first god, before you turned to Honor."***

–Syl to Kaladin[15]

Cosmere[]

OatD TS

Odium as the Devil
Tarot card by Tara Spruit[4]

Odium is a Shard of Adonalsium. His power is hatred, both felt and provoked, and is related to the Thrill that men feel in battle.[16][2]

According to Brandon, Odium is not native to Roshar; he arrived long after Honor and Cultivation arrived on the world possibly following humanity after they destroyed Ashyn with their Surgebinding as stated by Syl.[17]

It has been confirmed that Rayse was the original holder of the Shard Odium[18] and it is suggested in the Letter that he had more than 'something' to do with what happened on Sel and the deaths of Aona and Skai of Elantris.[19] Odium went after Devotion and Dominion partially because they were breaking the rules, and because he seeks out those that might be a challenge to him.[20]

Odium also chased Ambition to the Threnodite system soon after the Shattering with the intent of killing the Shard. He mortally wounded Ambition there, tearing off chunks of Investiture, twisting the system.[21] Mercy was also there, but that Shard's involvement remains uncertain.[22]

Odium is an interloper who moves between planets wreaking havoc and leaving devastation in his wake.[8] He now resides on Braize but his presence is still very much felt and experienced on Roshar.[23] He is restricted to the Rosharan system of planets, seemingly due to something Tanavast did, and cannot at this time escape to destroy any more Shards. He is still, however, able to influence all 3 important planets in the Rosharan system: Roshar, Braize, and Ashyn.[24]

Also according to Brandon, Odium's binding, and that of the Heralds/Fused, encompasses Roshar and Ashyn. There are some subtle distinctions, but for the most part, being bound on Braize is the same as being bound on Roshar.[25]

In Oathbringer, Dalinar does not fall to Odium. That is a huge blow to Rayse-Odium. That he was defeated in a major way then, and that in Rhythm of War he was defeated again, this time by Kaladin, Rayse-Odium is no longer the threat he once was. But, Taravangian - who has a world view that is terrifying, elevates Taravangian-Odium (i.e., "Todium") to something more villainous.[26]

Odium could break his deal, but if he did, it would be very dangerous to those who would seek to have advantage against him.[27]

Notes[]

Pattern, Shallan's liespren, tells Shallan when she is on her way to the Shattered Plains that all spren are made of Honor, Cultivation, or Odium, and he is terrified to mention Odium's name.[citation needed]

*He has always ever been Odium since the Shattering.[28]

**The Eila Stele[29] confirms this. Further, Odium is known as the Broken One because he's had Investiture ripped off of him.[30]

Speculation[]

What if fighting the battle against Odium, or taking it to the next level of confronting him on Braize, is exactly what’s needed for him to break free? This could indeed create the dilemma Hoid mentioned to Dalinar, about letting Roshar burn if that’s what is needed to accomplish his purpose.[31]

Q&A with Brandon[]

***Q. Given the Sibling, and the death rattle about how "Three of sixteen ruled, but now the Broken One reigns", was there a third Shard on Roshar with Honor and Cultivation prior to Odium's arrival?

A. RAFO.

Good question.[32]

Q. Has Odium interacted with any Shards other than Honor, Cultivation, Dominion, Devotion, Ambition, and Autonomy in a meaningful way post-Ascension. If so, which one?

A. Very nice, specific question. RAFO.[33]

Q. You've mentioned before that Odium is scared of Harmony. Is it only because of the raw power of the two Shards? Or is he scared of what Harmony represents? (Meaning the possibility of merging two Shards.) Was he aware that this was possible?

A. He, on one level, was aware. But it was more of awareness of this as a possibility. It actually happening is part of what has him scared. It's the idea of the two merging Shards both being more powerful and finding a harmony. (Which Sazed is actually having way more trouble doing than Odium realizes.) Those two things really have Odium scared. Because, partially, this means he has to find a way to destroy or split Harmony without taking up a second Shard himself, because Odium knows if he takes up a second Shard, terrible things will happen. And so he doesn't want to do that. (Terrible things as he views them.) And so he's gotta find a way to split this apart, or somehow otherwise defeat.

Now, the more he learns about Sazed's actual state, the less afraid he'll probably be. But that's an advantage that Sazed has right now.[34]

Q. Why didn't Odium take the Investiture away from the Fused that rebelled against him at the end of Rhythm of War? At the end of Oathbringer, Odium tells one Fused that questioned him that he could take "that which gave [the Fused] life." So why didn't he do that to Leshwi and the others?

A. This is actually an excellent question. Odium, in his previous incarnation - we'll see how he acts now - part of the driving force of Odium is this kind of belief, mistaken or otherwise, that Odium represents all emotion, and strength of emotion, and basically the Passions in lore. Rebelling against him in the way that they did is actually in line with Odium's personal directives. The Vessel may not like it, in fact the power may not like it, but at the same time, there's a part of both of them that acknowledges, this is what they set in motion, and this is an appropriate use of the agency of the agents they chose. And so, unilaterally destroying those who turn against him is actually not an Odium thing. It's more an Honor thing than it would be an Odium thing. It's just not in line with how Odium acts or thinks, even though it's possible and there's threats and ... . That's not saying Odium wouldn't do it. But acting like Honor is not something Odium would necessarily want to do.[35]

References[]

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