Why You Should be Terrified of Taldain | Cosmere Theory

All right, time to put on the tin-foil hats, because today we're talking about the isolated planet of Taldain, and its mysterious Shard: Autonomy.

What are Autonomy's goals? What's been happening on the planet in the hundreds of years since it was sealed off from the rest of the Cosmere? We don't know for sure, but we have clues...

#cosmere #brandonsanderson #stormlightarchive

Music:
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[Slink]

White sands definitely got hurt by the medium. Art just costs too much to make them as long as sanderson needs them to be to write the story well.

[Hammerholics]

Having to choose between hilarious cosmere comedy and serious cosmere deep dives is a problem I am willing to accept. Love the channel and hope it grows! I'm not sure what would get you the most views but I will binge anything you post similar to this type of video.

[elzed]

I was shocked when I was reading white sand and realized “Duchess Khrissalla” was THE Khris. It feels weird to see a recurring cosmere character in a visual medium. I wonder how she’ll react if her home planet becomes a galactic threat? Will she finally take an active role in the main narrative?

[evelynbasham]

I listened to White Sand with Graphic Audio and that greatly improved the experience. I hope Brandon and Dan revisit the tale in prose form.

[steel_inquisitor]

Gotta say after reading TLM I really want to see a cyberpunk brutalist Taldain.

[croaker]

This video kicked ass, please make more along these lines. As a Cosmere superfan and avid theorist I enjoyed it. You also have a great voice for an audiovisual medium.

[GhastIyPhoenix]

A theory about Autonomy. I may be going out on a limb here, but here goes: In MB secret history, when Kelsier and Khriss meet, Kelsier asks if Khriss can help Kelsier stop Ruin, and Khriss replies something like "we don't have the resources to stop a shard right now". This implies that somewhere, someone has developed a way to counter a shark's power. What if the people of Taldain figured that way out, and Autonomy's goal is to stop the wider cosmere from figuring this out. This is just an idea, but if you are right in that the people of Taldain are aware/ruled by Autonomy, they might want to be able to stop her, if the need arises. Maybe I am spitballing, but that is just an idea I came up with while watching.
By the way, great content. Very funny!
Edit: yes, I am aware that I mistyped shard as shark, but it's funny so I'll keep it lol.

[NataliaPunko]

You have some very interesting and totally viable theories, so yeah, it's a food format! Just don't forget about the scetches, esp. the cosmere ones, because they bring a lot of people to your channel and you're just too good at them

[milkman]

Bro I haven't read Elantris but the audiobooks for this are INSANE

[jessehughes]

This is stellar stuff. Sharing with the few friends I have that understand me cosmere-wise.

The music, the vibes, the way you showed the WOBs on-screen for us pause-and-readers, it was all really well done. Fantastic work!

[gamerrask]

Loved the video and the theory, I would really like more stuff like this! Also great narration

[mymarcster]

This recommended to me this week made me chuckle. Nice video

[henrychipperfield]

I really enjoyed your lines of thinking! I've been keeping rough tabs on what the fandom's theories and ideas are since I read the Cosmere a few years ago, and this lines up with basically everything I've heard so far. Three things to bear in mind:

Firstly, I ordered a copy of the White Sand Omnibus edition which was done in a kickstarter several months ago. This isn't available to be ordered anymore as far as I'm aware, but should hopefully help with some of those pacing issues you mentioned (and which I agree with).

Secondly, I think it is bold to assume that noone at all has managed to visit Taldain since Bavadin restricted access, since we regularly see incredibly powerful and knowledgeable individuals and groups getting fooled by several people (Hoid obviously being the worst offender). this is just a nitpick and probably not hugely relevant, but hey ho.

Finally, it has been confirmed that Autonomy has / had some kind of alliance / agreement / pact with Odium. I think this was in a WoB somewhere, but also possibly mentioned in the SA epigraphs maybe. Anyway, I am extremely excited to see how this will turn out after Odium's... change in management... shall we say in RoW. Anyway, great video!!

[AK-trlo]

It definitely feels like Autonomy is going to be a major player in the space age of the Cosmere. It seems like she has already carved out a decent number of planets for herself at the point we are in the timeline. of the shards we know of, she has a presence on by far the most different planets. I believe there are also a couple of WoBs that imply she may have been allied with Odium at one point. On top of that there is a very popular theory that she is related to Mistborn Era 2’s Trell. Regardless of the tech level of Taldain, it seems like she is getting in early on interplanetary interference.

[JRcottom]

Just found your channel today. I've been looking for a good cosmere discussion and theory channel. Great work man!

[GenZVall]

What's the name of the background music used in the video? It was great for setting the mood on how potentially dangerous Taldain could be in the Cosmere

[michaelweber]

As far as I know, it is still possible to get the prose-version of White Sand from17th shard for free. It is sowewhat unpolished, as it did not go through the usual revision cycle, but brandon says it is the most readable of his pre-publication stories and I did enjoy it quite a lot.

[lambornD]

Interested to see your thoughts on this after reading The Lost Metal.

[yago_guillamon]

Also, it seems that Trell, the villainous "God" of Mistborn Era II, is trying to sabotage the development of Scadrial. I'm not entirely sure about this, but we'll all find out tomorrow in The Lost Metal.

[Kk-fjtn]

I love these because you are contemplative...Would love more!!