*SPOILERS* - All about Cultivation // Stormlight Archive // All Things Cosmere

[@TravisGafford]

Hi! Just stumbled across this video and while I'm not sure I buy the idea that Cultivation is a villain yet, it is always cool to see someone new start posting on this site about stuff that I enjoy! I felt you did a good job of getting across your information and argument. Looking forward to future videos.

[@Fantasialore]

Thanks! Welcome any tips or advice you have for me as a new KZbinr!

[@brandonwolfsohn4886]

I think Cultivation has been warped by her shard the same as the others. What makes her interesting is that she can kind of be seen as a mix of Ruin and Preservation, with many of the pros and cons of each rolled into one. She both prunes and nurtures to cause growth. I think early on, she genuinely just wanted to make things with Tanavast, but just as he was slowly drawn away by his shards Intent, she has grown more and more out of touch with WHAT she is cultivating. Maybe she realized that she couldn't help herself from trying to cultivate Odiums plans as much as Honors. I think she only wanted Honor to influence her power because she couldn't control it, but when Honor became distant and then died, she realized that she would accidentally hurt Roshar by growing Odoiums power and plans, just like how fertilizer from farms washed into the ocean and causes growth of red tide algae that kills huge amounts of sea life. Also, side note, I am loving your videos, keep up the good work!

[@Daniel-bf2mn]

I think that everything was according to her plans, what caused oduim to take up honor? Dalinar not being able to fight baby Gavinor , and i honestly think that Gavinor were drawn to spiritual realm because of lift( which got her powers from her) and who told dalinar to go to the spiritual realm? Oh it was dalinar, and what made dalinar to let go of the shard of honor? Changing dalinar's memory So what i am saying forming the retribution was her plan all a long, literally everyone thought having taravangean as Oduim was bad i don't believe that for a second she thought she could convince him otherwise. Other thing is i think she even had plans for after ascending of retribution, she was making nighwatcher for SOME REASON for when she wasn't there, and how about lift? Her ability to use food as investure is clearly for when there's a shortage of it I think she her plan is what dalinar decided to do at last, she knew she couldn't defeat oduim on her own so she cultivated him to become retribution for other shards to do the job

[@Fantasialore]

Yes, I forgot to mention that it’s not a coincidence to me that Lift, the third character she influenced, is now left on Roshar.. with an ability to produce Lifelight - suddenly a critical ability.

[@djbslectures]

I've been thinking she might be secretly working towards her own ends for a long time

[@Zagarot03]

Honestly the Taln argument is the most compelling for me personally. I'll always back up my buddy Taln

[@Fantasialore]

For sure! Any enemy of Taln is an enemy of mine! I will say, the one thing that gives me pause on the Taln theory is that he also initially views Honor with the same suspicion - so my one thought is that his attempt to kill Cultivation could have been his general ire at all the Shards, rather than being specific to her?

[@FrostFireTiger]

As someone who has read a lot of Chinese "Cultivation" stories (stories about characters cultivating inner energy inside themselves), this Shard seems to be severely underused. She is too hands-off, which is strange. All of the 3 Roshar shards were really at odds with their power. But Cultivation hasn't been shown to have suffered like the other two. Maybe this is something related to the Horn Eater Peaks?

[@BernardBronston]

Cultivation reminds me, at least a little bit, like Odin from Norse Mythology. Odin manipulates people into going onto adventures to become great warriors to join he's army of the dead when Ragnarök arrives. I'd say she's a bit more amoral or ambivalent (I'd kind of want to place her at true neutral to borrow a D&D term) than outright villainous. It's my impression that Cultivation, ultimately, got what she wanted (to leave Roshar and replace Rayse). I still think she bit of more that what she could chew with Taravangian and doesn't have the control she thought she would have over him. I also think she was relying on Dalanar becoming the new Honor and maybe have the two of them continue to duke things out on Roshar. This may be a victory, though not working as intended, if the other Shards are what are keeping Taravangian boxed in.

[@Fantasialore]

I feel like she may have predicted the end of Stormlight, and the death of the Stormfather, because why else would her third boon (to Lift) be predicated on making Investiture without Stormlight?

[@BernardBronston]

@@Fantasialore I think she probably has the best future sight of anybody in the setting. But I'm also thinking of Hoid saying that Dalanar's choice as being one in a million odds. Probably not the most rigorous statistical analysis on what happened but it feels weird that Cultivation would bet on a low probability option. Though something low probability does have a 100% certainties of happening once they've already happened so maybe her future sight is just that good. The alternate idea is that her future sight helps her see low probability futures. Lift feels like Cultivation's wild card, her ace up the sleeve, something being held in reserve against more surprising possibilities. It is interesting that Lift can synthesize her own Light now that Odium is monopolizing it away from the Radiants. Maybe I'm taking too much of what Cultivation does at face value but I also like the idea that for all her manipulations she is a little fallible. I think a lot of fans tend to lean on the idea that she's really good at seeing the future and thus has a really good long term plan that's going to come together in the final book. Which I don't mind but as we've seen both in Mistborn and Oathbringer the future isn't set in stone and doesn't always work out the way people using future sight seem to think it will. I tend to think that Cultivation is pulling more of a Xanatos gambit where you plan for multiple outcomes and have contingencies that will have the planner walk away with something that they want.

[@DrVort]

Trough the book I felt like Cultivation got outmanevoured and her plans were in ruins. And she was, in some cases. But I don't think Cultivation got only one layer in her plans, we seen more than enough that she had much of redundancy in them. So I would tell that she's neither 'won' nor 'failed'. Clearly, the most favorable possibilitiy she foresaw haven't come true. I guess she wanted to leave Roshar, if for nothing else, but from a grave of her husband Tanavast, it must be reminding her for everything they made there and that's now lost. Also for example, we still doesn't know a thing what she is planning with Lift.

[@Baked_beans9]

I'm 100% convinced that Cultivation is both aware of what Retribution did in *that* interlude, AND that she is entirely planning to grow Roshar out as a major superpower before taking over as a new Shard, something like "Conquest." I think that, thematically, Conquest would be a far bigger and better villain to deal with big picture for the Space Opera era of the Cosmere, especially considering Brandon's Star Trek and other scifi influences.

[@Fantasialore]

Yeah - that’s very plausible to me! Her aims could have changed to cultivating Roshar for a wider battle - very much in the vein of Vorinism, which I’m willing to bet was partly influenced by her.

[@chucklechumelo]

I think this is where the story is going. Constant growth can't be sustainable and will tax the civilization that already exist.

[@JediBlueDog]

Im new to this channel. I’m curious whether you think that Mercy may be a villain as well. She was somehow involved in the fight between Ambition and Odium although it seems she ran into Ambition after his fight with Odium. Harmony is also worried about her. I’m pretty sure that Mercy is the one who dealt the final blow to Ambition because it would be the merciful thing to do to put him out of his misery. I also think that she was working with Rayse in some way. The fact that Harmony is worried about her is also very telling.

[@DrVort]

I think that operating in a frame of villain or not is diminishing to Vessel's character. From all info we have so far - I strongly believe that all shards are very neutral on good-evil axis we may imagine, if applying morals to them works at all. They all are strongly driven by some concept, an intent of their shard, infinitely capable to be a 'hero' and a 'villan', making them both at the same time.

[@8684LYFE]

Secretly?!? :P

[@Fantasialore]

lol

[@devinokeeffe9835]

Very interesting

[@Brightness_Radiant]

I have a feeling that in Arc 2 Retribution + Cultivation will merge into one.. Unite them right?

[@francesccampos1343]

Nah, Brandon has never put ANY female as a true main or important villain, all of them get redeemed or justified one way or another. Be aware for spoilers up to WIND AND TRUTH. Take a look to every single parshendi woman in the Stormlight Archives, all presented initially as more mad, evil, dangerous and ruthless than the previous one, but all of them redeemed and justified by the end: Eshonai, from dangerous alien warrior to pacifist and honorable general who wanted peace. Venli, singlehandely provoques the Last Desolation, murders thousands of people and parshendi, and releases the fused who take other alive parshendi bodies. Nah, she gets forgiven by everyone, gets to be a radiant and can easily refuse and escape from Odium. Leshwi, from being a ruthless and mad spirit with the sole purpose of anihilating all humanity... to being super noble, refusing Odium and escaping just to be a pacifist. Raboniel, she was so mad and evil than even the fused think her to be too crazy, murder thousands of people through the years and invades Urithiru killing everyone who tried to oppose her... nah, she was only a fellow scientist woman who only wanted the best for her child, befriends Navani and even saves her from Moash. Mishram, she was so evil and mad that even the Unmade and Odium feared her, she constantly threatens to kill and destroy everyone... nah she was a healer and a pacifist who wanted to stop Odium, but was betrayed... what a BS. On the other side, the likes of Gavilar, Amaram, Sadeas, Lezian, Abidi, Rayse, Taravangian... nah they are just plain evil...

[@lizadon0740]

Waxs sister from mistborn era 2 was a straight up villain and completely iredeimable. Also the shard of Autominy is also a villian.

[@francesccampos1343]

@lizadon0740 Autonomy hasn't even been seen yet, so she is perfectly redeemable, Venli, Raboniel and Mishram were completely evil first and then got redeemed. And Telsin hasn't been even a major active villain yet, so not much to count there.

[@Fantasialore]

I may argue that Aesudan and Ialai are both kind of ‘villainous’ or at least dislikable characters!

[@JediBlueDog]

Shan is quite a villain as well. Captain Crow is quite villainous and so is Riina. Penrod, Cett, Quellion, Zane, Elhokar, Ati, Hrathen, Treledees, and Bluefinger are all male villains that are given sympathy or villainous seeming characters later shown to be good. I think you were just suffering from confirmation bias.

[@KarlF45]

@@francesccampos1343 oh dear, are you aware of confirmation bias? you are providing examples that support your theory whilst ignoring, invalidating, or twisting anything that challenges your theory. Even your suggestion that Taravangian is just plain evil is challenged in book. Are you simply lacking media literacy?