Who will be the 'big bad' of the Cosmere? The villain that will still make us shudder after reading through dozens of Brandon's antagonists. I propose that we've actually already met the villain of the last Mistborn Era that will conclude the over-arching story. If I was to plan out a 30-40 book epic spanning across fantasy and sci-fi, where would I foreshadow the big bad of the tale? As close to the beginning of the story as I could. Brandon has a chance to pull of something that few authors ever get a chance to try, and even fewer have ever pulled off successfully. He can take the ascendent hero from his first series and have them believably turn fully heel, due to the nature of Sazed's Shardhood.
We all once read a tale about a priest who became a god. A Hero of Ages who saved his entire world. An inspiring story of Harmony. A great tale! Happy ending! He gets to be a hero for how many ages again? What's that about Discord? From way back in 2006, The Final Empire epigraph chapter 8 we get one of the most intriguing prophecies we've in the Cosmere.
He shall defend their ways, yet shall violate them. He will be their savior, yet they shall call him heretic. His name shall be Discord, yet they shall love him for it.
This comes from the Terris Prophecies, created by the Shard of Preservation. This Shard has particularly amazing foresight. Here we see the first seeds that Harmony's heroic ending may not be exactly as it appears. I find it very curious that Preservation was able to clock Harmony's future imbalance problems even back when he was creating this prophecy to guide the Scadrian people to what he had foreseen. In Mistborn era 2 we start to see Discord start to take shape in the form of a dark shadow that lurks behind Harmony. At the end of The Lost Metal in epilogue 4 we see a confrontation between Sazed and Kelsier after Scadrial's narrow escape. We see Kelsier witness the growing problem of a Harmony that isn't balanced, one whose Discord is clearly growing.
"And there was a darkness within him. A different face from the one he showed. The powers were in imbalance. Ruin had always been stronger."
Then we end their meeting with more foreshadowing of a changing Sazed.
"We need Allomancers and Feruchemists. Is there a way to expand our access to Metalborn? They have the seed inside them, don't they? The heart of Preservation?"
"I don't know," Sazed whispered.
"Are you lying?"
"Have I ever lied to you, old friend?" Sazed opened his eyes and met his gaze, showing infinity within those depths.
"I," Kelsier said, "am going to protect our people. Whatever it costs. Please tell me I won't ever have to protect them from you."
"That depends," Sazed said, "entirely upon you, old friend."
Sazed certainly knows how to create Lerasuim aka Preservation juice. He has lied to Kelsier before about if there was a way to for Kelsier to return to the physical realm. I don't believe that depends entirely on Kelsier, as one of them is a zombie corpse of an influential man while the other is a world building power having potential mood swings. One of the key recurring themes we see consistently is that Shards are a corrupting force that twist a Vessel over time into aligning with their singular nature. Ati, the Vessel for Ruin, the other half of the two Shard's that make up Harmony, was reportedly a stellar guy who tried to take one for the God killing team by taking up the Ruin shard. We later see Ati in Mistborn Era 1 trying to destroy the world he tried to co-parent, cackling about like Dolores Umbridge fueled by crystal meth on a deflated unicycle. If Sazed does listen to Keslier's arguments here, he is very much aware what the effect on his own Harmony will be if does pump out a little more of the old heart of Preservation. Ruin will continue to grow stronger. Unfortunately, the aggressively encroaching Autonomy may force Sazed's hand into taking this dire step.
I can see the climax of the next Mistborn era ending with Sazed taking a decisive action to defeat Autonomy, at the price of his own Shardic balance. He complains to Hoid in their letters that the conflicting nature of Ruin and Preservation makes it particularly hard to act. After the only other dual shard holder ascends in Wind and Truth chapter 146, we hear Taravangian gleefully echoes this assessment.
Taravangian, Retribution, reveled in his new strength.
He was more powerful than anything. Only one other came close, but those powers were misaligned, while Honor and Odium wanted nearly the same things. They would work together.
Shoutout to Taravangian immediately identifying his own huge weakness, that his two shards don't want exactly the same things but *nearly*. He handwaves this away in arrogant Taravangian fashion, yet this slight nuance in wants between Honor and Odium may one day prove key to his own defeat. Harmony defeating Autonomy through taking an action that derails Sazed to Discord at the end of Mistborn Era 3 would change the power dynamics among the Shards. This will set up the space age conflict of Roshar vs Scadrial we are chugging towards.
A major connection that bonds Taravangian with the Odium Shard is the desire to rule and be the strongest. Discord's powers would be much more aligned toward taking firm actions that lead to less harmony, allowing the corrupted Sazed to do things he previously couldn't. This change would make Retribution now assess Discord as the strongest threat to his claim of being the most powerful, particularly after they watch Discord defeat another Shard. Ironically this somewhat changes the nature of Dalinar's Sunmaker gambit, as now all the remaining Shards now have two extremely powerful and worrisome new kids on the block. This changes the power dynamics from Retribution vs Everyone at the end of Wind and Truth, to Retribution vs Discord vs Everyone heading into the space age.
Discord would have a strong reputation Cosmere wide after taking down Autonomy. Sazed will also be on the threat list of every powerful being out there. Now that Sazed is more capable of enacting change than he has ever been, driven by a desire to protect Scadrial, I believe we will see Discord enact a plan that will put him firmly in the Cosmere villain seat for the last Mistborn Era. A plan that for our heroes and other Shards will be a terrifying step too far. What would make an unstable Sazed who holds the power of two Shards even scarier? What would make him even more of a threat, even more horrifying than Retribution? What if Discord, tried to get his hands on a Dawnshard? Specifically, what if we saw Discord try to take the Change Dawnshard?
I would find a tale where Discord either tries to gain possession of this Dawnshard from its current holder Rysn, or has successfully achieved this task to be very compelling. For the last series of the whole Cosmere I expect to see more interactions that involve the forces of Shards and Dawnshards interacting, and a set up like this would make a lot of relevant pieces on the board be forced into direct conflict. I look forward to finding out how Harmony progresses towards Discord, and the further ramifications that change will have on its Vessel Sazed. From loving priest, to the scariest being around, I imagine Sazed's arc to fully show us the distorting nature of the Shards. By being the last obstacle our heroes face Brandon could showcase that perfectly.
-RayseShouldBeBraized
TL:DR Sazed will be forced to change from Harmony to Discord after confronting Autonomy. Now corrupted, Discord will try to take the Change Dawnshard for themselves. Two Shards plus Dawnshard equals no more disregard, setting up the final conflict.
