Taldain: A Deep Dive into Sanderson’s Dual-Faced Cosmere World

You’ve seen “Taldain” mentioned in Cosmere books. It’s the planet from Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand, a world stuck between two suns.

One side faces eternal daylight (Dayside). The other exists in permanent twilight (Darkside). This creates two completely separate civilizations with different magic systems.

It’s the homeworld of Khriss, the scholar who writes those Ars Arcanum essays. The Shard Autonomy rules the planet.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How Taldain’s binary star system works
• The civilizations of Dayside and Darkside
• Sand mastery mechanics and water costs
• Autonomy’s control over the planet
• The story of White Sand
• Taldain’s significance in the Cosmere

What is Taldain?

A Tidally Locked World

Taldain’s setup is bizarre. It’s a planet tidally locked between two stars, a configuration that isn’t natural.

One side of the planet always faces a massive blue-white sun called AisDa, creating a world of eternal daylight. The other side faces the Eye of Ridos, a dim white dwarf surrounded by a particle cloud, leaving it in permanent twilight.

This tidal locking isn’t natural. Autonomy herself positioned Taldain at a Lagrange point between the two stars. She maintains this unstable orbit through constant intervention.

Scientists in the Cosmere call this “Wombear’s Saddle”—an orbit that requires active manipulation to prevent the planet from settling into a stable position.

The planet has one moon, Nizh Da. It maintains a polar orbit directly over the terminator line separating day from night. Like the planet itself, Autonomy controls this moon’s orbit to maintain its position regardless of where Taldain is around the binary stars.

Dayside and Darkside

The permanent division creates two distinct worlds on one planet.

Dayside experiences endless sun, never seeing darkness. The landscape is white sand covered in lichen. Settlements cluster around water sources and geographic features. Five nations occupy this hemisphere: Kerzta, Lossand, Denka, Seevis, and Tallon.

Darkside receives only ultraviolet light filtered through the particle cloud around the Eye of Ridos. Plants and animals evolved to use UV radiation, causing them to glow in ways visible to Darksiders but invisible to those adapted to normal light. The Dynasty, a powerful empire with firearms and explosives, dominates politically here.

Between these two hemispheres lies the Border Ocean. At its center churns the Terminal Storm, a perpetual storm system with constant rain and thunderstorms. Crossing from one side to the other takes days and presents real danger.

The Shard of Autonomy

Bavadin holds the Shard of Autonomy and controls Taldain. She participated in the Shattering of Adonalsium and settled in the Taldain system, Investing the local sun with her power.

Bavadin’s philosophy centers on strength through struggle. She believes only those who overcome adversity reach their full potential.

This belief has shaped how she manages Taldain—creating harsh environments and conflicts while maintaining tight control over technological and cultural development.

Her specialty is creating avatars: separate, semi-autonomous entities wielding portions of her power. She’s created entire pantheons where every god is Bavadin in a different form. This allows her to act through multiple personas at once across the Cosmere.

The Unique Astronomy of the Taldain System

A Binary Star System

The Taldain system contains two stars with drastically different characteristics.

AisDa, the larger star, is a blue-white supergiant providing intense illumination to Dayside. The Eye of Ridos, much smaller and dimmer, is a white dwarf surrounded by the Particulate Ring—a dense cloud of particles that filters most visible light, allowing primarily ultraviolet radiation to reach Darkside.

Taldain sits at a Lagrange point between these stars. This position should be unstable, with gravitational forces from both stars pulling the planet into a different orbit.

The Eye of Ridos exerts some stabilizing influence, but Autonomy’s power keeps Taldain locked in place.

This system was engineered. Autonomy built it herself to create the perfect conditions for her magic.

The Consequences of Tidal Locking

The permanent division between light and dark creates extreme environments:

On Dayside:

• The sun never moves from the sky
• Endless daylight and heat create a desert environment
• Most life exists beneath the sand rather than on the surface

On Darkside:

• No proper daylight ever arrives
• UV illumination allows life but creates a different ecosystem
• Flora and fauna glow under UV radiation

Temperature differences between hemispheres exist but aren’t as extreme as you’d expect. Darkside doesn’t experience snowfall despite its permanent twilight. This suggests Autonomy’s Investiture moderates the climate, preventing the frozen wasteland that would naturally occur on a tidally locked world’s dark side.

The Terminal Storm serves as both barrier and consequence. The temperature differential between hemispheres creates this perpetual storm system at the terminator line. It makes crossing between sides dangerous enough to keep the civilizations separated.

Different Ways of Keeping Time

Each hemisphere developed its own time-keeping system based on practical needs.

Dayside hours last 90 standard minutes, with each day divided into 15 hours. This extended hour measurement helps inhabitants organize their activities in the absence of day-night cycles.

Darkside uses standard 60-minute hours with 24-hour days.

This creates a conversion challenge: one Dayside minute equals about 1.066 Darkside minutes. A full Dayside day equals 22.5 standard hours.

Both systems use Nizh Da’s orbital period as their base measurement. The moon’s orbit determines the length of a “day” on Taldain, even though Dayside never experiences sunrise or sunset. This provides a consistent temporal reference that both hemispheres can use despite their environmental differences.

The Dayside Civilization

Geography and Settlements

Dayside’s land forms a large circular continent surrounded by ocean. White lichen covers most of the sand and rock, giving the landscape its characteristic color. This lichen isn’t just cosmetic—it plays a role in the planet’s Investiture system.

Mount KraeDa stands at the continent’s center, serving as both a landmark and navigational reference. Since the sun never moves from the Dayside perspective, people use Mount KraeDa and other geographic features to orient themselves rather than tracking solar position.

The Kerla region in the western portion has a high water table, creating an ecosystem far more abundant than surrounding deserts. This area supports diverse plant and animal life in what Daysiders describe as more of a “lake of sand” than a true desert.

Two nations dominate Dayside politics:

• Kerzta in the southwest is the most influential nation with its capital at Ker Kedasha
• Lossand neighbors Kerzta, stretching from Mount KraeDa toward the southern coast with its administrative center at Kezare

These nations have maintained centuries of enmity due to religious and political differences over sand mastery.

Unique Flora and Fauna

Life on Dayside evolved to escape the harsh surface conditions. Most flora and fauna exist beneath the sand where temperatures remain more moderate.

Dorim vines provide the water source for many Daysiders. These plants draw water from underground sources and store it as a defense mechanism—the water dissolves the shells of creatures that try to eat them.

When you need water, you pour liquid on sand to draw nearby vines to the surface, then cut them open. The vines can repair themselves when fitted back together.

Daysiders don’t call lands with dorim vines “deserts,” even though they are covered in sand. Lossand is called a desert because it lacks dorim vines, even though it has river water sources.

Sandlings represent the most common fauna. These creatures range from small insectile variants to massive deep sandlings inhabiting the profound sands. Most feed on the lichen-covered sand layer exposed to sunlight.

Predatory species like the DelRakin hunt other sandlings, while others like the Delrak Naisha hide just beneath the sand and emerge to consume whatever disturbs the surface above them.

Daysiders have domesticated several types of sandlings:

• Tonks: Their main animal for riding, though they bury themselves during sandstorms and fear water
• Terhan: Larger creatures used in warfare, sometimes treated with DoKall to make their carapace water-resistant
• Rezalin: Creatures with oversized rear legs for rapid long-distance travel

Culture, Religion, and Politics

Dayside culture revolves around the constant sun. The perpetual daylight creates psychological effects—most Daysiders experience fear or anxiety about darkness since they never encounter it naturally. They feel a spiritual connection to the sun, with some cultures worshipping it as a deity.

The Ker’reen religion, dominant in Kerzta, teaches that the sun represents the eye of the Sand Lord, a deity embodied in sand itself. Kerztians view sand mastery as heretical corruption of the Sand Lord’s body.

This creates centuries of conflict with Lossand, where sand mastery is an accepted Profession.

Lossand’s government operates through the Council of Taishin, comprising eight representatives heading the eight Professions vital to Lossandian life. These include sand masters, soldiers, judges, merchants, artisans, trackers, and other essential functions.

Each Profession holds equal standing in theory, though practical influence varies based on economic power and social prestige.

The Kelzin, a wealthy landowning class, frequently attempts to control which individuals serve as Profession representatives. This creates tension between democratic ideals and plutocratic reality. This political dynamic drives much of the conflict in White Sand.

The Darkside Civilization

A Land of Ultraviolet Light

Darkside receives light composed primarily of ultraviolet radiation, with most visible light filtered out by the Particulate Ring around the Eye of Ridos. This creates an environment invisible to eyes adapted to visible light but perfect for those who evolved there.

Darksiders developed biological adaptations to their UV environment. Their teeth, eyes, and nails glow under ultraviolet light. The native plants and animals evolved to utilize UV radiation, creating landscapes that appear to glow in ways both striking and unsettling to visitors from Dayside.

When Darksiders visit Dayside, they must wear dark lenses to protect their eyes from the intense visible light. The sun’s position can determine whether protection is necessary—if it’s not directly overhead, they can sometimes manage without eye protection.

Some Darksiders refer to their hemisphere as “Starside” due to the prominence of stars in their sky. The Eye of Ridos provides enough light for life to flourish but doesn’t overwhelm the stars the way AisDa does on Dayside.

The Dominant Dynasty

The Dynasty represents the most powerful political force on Darkside. Its influence runs so deep that the language spoken by Darksiders is called Dynastic, named after the political entity rather than maintaining an independent linguistic identity.

The Dynasty has achieved the highest technological advancement on Taldain. Firearms, explosives, and other advanced weaponry are common products of their industrial systems. This technological edge helps maintain their dominance over smaller nations.

Despite the Dynasty’s power, some kingdoms resist its expansion. The Kingdom of Elis and Iiaria maintain their independence, though relations remain tense.

Elisians have dark brown skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. They maintain distinct cultural practices like their preference for tea prepared with cinnamon.

The Dynasty’s control extends beyond military might. Their agents infiltrate groups throughout the continent, gathering intelligence and exerting influence. This creates a climate of suspicion and paranoia in regions resisting Dynasty expansion.

The Darksider quarter of Kezare (called Lonzare) provides evidence of ongoing interaction between hemispheres. This district within the Dayside city contains flowers native to Darkside, creating a cultural and botanical pocket of Darkside identity despite the Terminal Storm separating the continents.

The Starmarks Magic System

The Starmarks operate as Darkside’s magic system. Those who access their starmarks are called the Starcarved, representing a select population capable of wielding this Investiture.

The system functions through tattoos with effects far less visually dramatic than sand mastery. Starmarks manifest in several different colors and allow the Starcarved to create razor-sharp blades or generate shields capable of withstanding bullets.

The specifics of how individuals become Starcarved remain mysterious, though it appears to require introduction by an existing Starcarved through a testing process.

The Starcarved are charged by weekly pulses of light and Investiture emanating from the Eye of Ridos. These pulses occur every seven orbits of Nizh Da, representing the mechanism by which Autonomy invests power into the Darkside magic system.

Here’s the limitation: starmarks don’t function on Dayside. They’re not even visible in normal light.

This suggests the starmarks may be UV-based tattoos, only visible and functional under ultraviolet radiation. This creates a hard magical boundary between hemispheres—Starcarved lose their powers when crossing to Dayside, just as sand masters find their abilities weakened or non-functional on Darkside.

The Magic of Taldain

Sand Mastery: Mechanics and Power

Sand mastery is the telekinetic control of white sand. It’s a magic found only on Dayside, taught by the Diem organization.

The distinctive feature: manipulated sand turns black right after use and remains unresponsive until re-Invested.

The white sand isn’t ordinary desert sand. A microorganism living on individual sand particles creates the whiteness and indicates the sand is Invested with Autonomy’s power. When a sand master manipulates the sand, the grains glow with an iridescent rainbow color visible in darkness but appearing as yellow-white in daylight.

Sand masters manipulate distinct ribbons of sand. Power level is determined by the maximum number of ribbons you can control at once. Young or weak sand masters manage only a single ribbon, while the most powerful can utilize over two dozen in coordinated action.

As you use multiple ribbons at once, your consciousness expands to allow better control. Each ribbon can be strengthened by adding more sand, while precision and speed improve through training and practice.

The mechanics of ribbon conflict follow precise rules:

1. Attacking a ribbon from the side causes it to collapse
2. Two ribbons colliding directly both dissipate
3. The tip of each ribbon concentrates its energy, making it the effective striking point

Applications include:

• Creating whirlwinds to lift yourself (requires at least three ribbons)
• Constructing temporary platforms for walking
• Building structures like staffs
• Combat uses including sand projectiles and defensive shields

The Toll of Water and Dehydration

Water serves as the energy currency powering sand mastery. It causes a chain reaction of sudden growth and energy in the microorganisms inhabiting the sand. Sand masters forge a brief Cognitive bond through water that allows them to draw small amounts of Investiture from the Spiritual Realm.

The cost is severe: water is drawn directly from your body as you work, leading to dehydration.

The first lesson sand masters learn is monitoring their water supply. Accomplished sand masters carry a qido, a horn-like waterskin designed for Dayside use. You can’t operate indefinitely—you must continually consider your hydration status.

The more ribbons you control at once, the faster you deplete your water reserves.

Overmastery occurs when you push beyond safe limits, consuming too much of your water supply. Your mouth becomes dry and your eyes burn intensely. After overmastery, your powers disappear temporarily, potentially lasting as long as a week. During this period, any attempted sand mastery causes sand to turn black right away.

Overburning represents the ultimate sacrifice. In desperate situations, accomplished sand masters can feed the sand the final drops of water in their body, then give up their lifeforce for one final explosive command. This technique kills the sand master but produces a devastating attack.

Terken presents a weakness. This substance renders objects completely impervious to sand mastery effects. Certain native creatures possess terken carapaces, and Kerztian assassins exploit this by wearing terken armor or applying dissolved carapace paste to their bodies. Sand touching terken turns black right away, deactivating your control.

The Starmarks of the Darkside

The Starmarks function as Darkside’s answer to sand mastery, though the systems appear quite different on the surface. The Starcarved receive their power through tattoos charged by weekly pulses from the Eye of Ridos.

These pulses occur every seven orbits of Nizh Da, creating a regular charging cycle. If a Starcarved goes too long without receiving a pulse, their powers weaken, though the exact mechanics remain less documented than sand mastery.

The starmarks manifest in several colors and allow for different applications. Known uses include creating razor-sharp blades and generating shields strong enough to stop bullets. The full range of abilities remains mysterious, as Darkside has received less narrative attention than Dayside.

The UV-based nature of the starmarks creates interesting limitations. They’re invisible in normal light and non-functional on Dayside. This suggests the Investiture mechanism relies on ultraviolet radiation, similar to how sand mastery requires the wavelengths of light from AisDa.

The Connection Between Magic Systems

Despite surface differences, sand mastery and Starmarks share similarities. Both derive from Autonomy as their Shardic source. The sun invests power into the lichen on sand similarly to how the particulate cloud sends out pulses investing power into starmarks.

Sand masters who study their craft recognize these parallels. The weekly pulse system on Darkside mirrors the constant investment through sunlight on Dayside. Both systems demonstrate similar underlying mechanics despite different manifestations—one visible and dramatic, the other subtle and tattoo-based.

This connection suggests a deep unity to Taldain’s magic. Autonomy created two expressions of her power suited to each hemisphere’s environmental conditions. The division between hemispheres creates separate magical traditions, but they’re branches of the same tree.

Black sand requires four hours of sun exposure to revert to white and become usable again. This recharging mechanism parallels the weekly pulse system for Starcarved, though on a different time scale. Both systems require regular re-investment from their power source.

The Overarching Influence of Autonomy

Bavadin and Her Avatars

Bavadin participated in the Shattering of Adonalsium and picked up the fragment that became Autonomy. She came from Yolen in the ancient past and wound up in Taldain, where she Invested the local sun with her power.

Her philosophy centers on a belief that strength comes through struggle. To Bavadin, only those who overcome great adversity achieve their true potential.

This belief has shaped Taldain’s development—the harsh environments, the conflicts between nations, the challenges facing both civilizations all reflect her conviction that difficulty breeds excellence.

As a Shard Vessel, Bavadin possesses tremendous power. She’s ageless, incorporeal, and capable of feats beyond mortal comprehension.

Her specialty is creating avatars—sapient, semi-autonomous entities wielding portions of her Shardic power.

Through these avatars, Bavadin can assume multiple appearances and act through different personas at once. She’s created entire pantheons where every deity is Bavadin in disguise. This makes her an exceptional actress capable of maintaining dozens of different identities across the Cosmere.

This approach extends her influence far beyond Taldain. She’s seeded avatars on multiple worlds, including Patji on First of the Sun and an unnamed avatar on Obrodai. On Scadrial, she created the religion of Trelagism as a seed of influence designed for later activation.

The Sand Lord Avatar and Religious Manifestation

The Sand Lord (sometimes called the Sun Lord) represents Autonomy’s most prominent avatar on Taldain. He plays a role in Dayside religion and culture, particularly through the Ker’reen monotheistic religion dominant in Kerzta.

Kerztians believe the sand represents the Sand Lord’s body while the sun is his eye. They regard sand mastery as heretical corruption of the Sand Lord’s sacred form. This creates the religious conflict driving centuries of tension between Kerzta and Lossand.

The Sand Lord manifested at some point to an individual named Elorin, apparently with the goal of destroying the sand masters. Whether complete extinction of sand mastery was intended remains uncertain, but the message clearly communicated disapproval.

The religious schism between Kerzta and Lossand may have been engineered. Both nations were founded by siblings—Kerzt and Lossa—who both claimed to receive visits from the Sand Lord. But the content of these messages differed dramatically.

Lossa received sand mastery as a gift, while Kerzt was led to understand it as a curse.

This origin story suggests sophisticated manipulation. Autonomy, through her Sand Lord avatar, created conflict by delivering contradictory messages to the founding siblings. This ensured perpetual tension between the nations, fitting her philosophy of strength through struggle.

Sand masters of Lossand maintain a tradition of agnosticism regarding the Sand Lord despite living in a culture where most people feel spiritual bonds with the sun. Yet sand masters commonly curse, praise, and petition the Sand Lord in everyday speech and desperate situations. Even agnostics acknowledge his existence and power.

Technological Advancement and Autonomy’s Control

Bavadin has shared her advanced understanding of physics and technology with Taldain’s inhabitants. This led to the planet becoming one of the Cosmere’s most technologically advanced worlds and the fastest to advance.

But this gift comes with strings attached. Autonomy insists on controlling how far technology progresses, preventing development beyond specified limits. She offers advancement but imposes rigid constraints on that advancement.

Bavadin has meddled in Taldain’s cultural and political development from ancient times. This includes manipulating individuals in attempts to divide faith in the Sand Lord and destroy the Diem if they proved unworthy of survival.

This pattern reflects Autonomy’s contradictory nature. She offers what appears to be individuality and advancement but imposes rigid control.

One analysis describes her approach as “fake individualism”—like advertisements telling people to “go their own way” by purchasing the same products as everyone else.

Each person receives a distinctive house, but only in ways that fit Autonomy’s plan. This creates an illusion of diversity while maintaining absolute control. The technological advancement follows the same pattern—you can progress, but only as far as Autonomy permits and only in directions she approves.

At some point, Autonomy stalled Taldain’s technological progress. This coincided with the planet’s isolation from the rest of the Cosmere, representing a complete reversal from its status as one of the fastest-advancing worlds. The stalling occurred around the Night of Sorrows, about 1175 on the Vorin Calendar.

Isolation and Perpendicularity Control

Autonomy closed off Taldain to visitors at some point in its history, preventing easy access through traditional perpendicularity methods. This isolation locked the planet away from the rest of the Cosmere.

She’s demonstrated control over perpendicularities, even creating artificial portals that defy understood mechanics. She’s barred access to Taldain through the Cognitive Realm, locking native worldhoppers out of their own homeland.

This action has resulted in the exile of figures like Khriss and Baon, who cannot return to Taldain despite originating there. They’ve become permanent refugees, unable to go home because Autonomy refuses to permit their return.

On other worlds, Autonomy has demonstrated the ability to create temporary artificial perpendicularities with precise spatial and temporal constraints. This level of control over cosmere mechanics exceeds what most other Shards have shown, suggesting either greater skill or deeper understanding of perpendicularity mechanics.

The isolation serves multiple purposes:

• It prevents outside interference with Autonomy’s experiments on Taldain
• It creates a controlled environment where she can shape civilization without competing influences
• It demonstrates her power to other Shards—Autonomy can lock down an entire planet and keep it locked down despite any protests

The Story of White Sand

The Crisis of the Diem

The Diem operates as the institutional structure organizing, training, and governing sand mastery on Dayside. The building in Kezare was carved from a single block of white sandstone through sand mastery itself, representing both an architectural marvel and a symbol of the order’s power.

The Diem functions as one of the eight Professions comprising Lossand’s governing structure through the Taishin council. The Lord Mastrell holds leadership of the Diem, a position of political and social prestige.

The crisis begins when Kerztian warrior-priests launch a devastating surprise attack during an advancement ceremony. This assault massacres nearly all sand masters present, leaving only a handful of survivors scattered and hiding.

The attack appears coordinated with political pressure to dissolve the Diem. This two-pronged strategy combines military violence with political maneuvering, creating a crisis that threatens to destroy the order completely.

The timing suggests careful planning. By attacking during a ceremony when sand masters gathered together, the assassins maximized casualties while minimizing the number of separate attacks needed. The political pressure following the attack exploits the chaos and grief to push for the Diem’s dissolution before survivors can reorganize.

Kenton: The Unlikely Survivor

Kenton emerges as one of the few survivors of the attack. He’s unusual among sand masters—able to control only a single ribbon despite most masters commanding multiple ribbons. This makes him weak by conventional standards.

Nevertheless, his skill with his singular ribbon and his determination to succeed despite limitations have earned him the title of Mastrell. He achieved this by surviving the Mastrell’s Path, a legendary trial that he completed against all expectations.

Following the attack, Kenton faces the challenge of convincing the Taishin to maintain the Diem as a living institution. He’s granted only two weeks to make his case, creating intense pressure alongside the trauma of losing nearly all his colleagues.

Each Taisha head representing the eight Professions has distinct reasons for opposing the Diem’s continuation:

• Economic concerns about resource allocation
• Religious opposition to sand mastery
• Simple political opportunism

Drile, the highest-ranked surviving sand master, presents a rival claimant to Diem leadership. He harbors his own political ambitions and develops an antagonistic relationship with Kenton characterized by mutual accusation and competition for authority. Drile flees after a direct confrontation.

Khrissalla and Baon: Visitors from Darkside

Khrissalla presents herself as seeking to discover the secrets of sand mastery to avenge her late fiancé, Gevalden. He had traveled to Dayside in pursuit of sand masters and was killed during that expedition.

But Khrissalla harbors her own agenda. She’s conducting experiments attempting to make sand mastery work on Darkside.

As an Archicist scholar of Investiture, she’s one of the most accomplished scholars of Investiture in the entire Cosmere, with knowledge exceeding even Hoid’s in some domains.

She maintains a complex relationship with Kenton characterized by mutual distrust, hidden agendas, and an undeniable connection. Their chemistry and back-and-forth dialogue form one of the narrative’s core strengths. Neither character fully trusts the other while clearly desiring to do so.

Baon accompanies Khrissalla as her guard and personal assistant. He’s a Darksider from the Dynasty with dark brown skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. He demonstrates combat skills and tactical thinking.

Baon operates under dual missions. He protects Khrissalla. Secretly, he serves as an intelligence agent for the Dynasty, evaluating the threat posed by sand masters. This creates tension as his loyalty is divided between his companion and his government.

Baon discovers his ability to sense and control sand mastery, suggesting the magic systems aren’t as hemisphere-locked as believed.

The Political Conspiracy

The massacre wasn’t simply a religious attack. It was part of a larger conspiracy involving members of Lossand’s elite.

The political intrigue expands to include figures like High Judge Heelis, who leads the Taishin, and Lord Merchant Vey, whose disappearance becomes central to uncovering the conspiracy.

Kenton must navigate this political landscape while grieving his losses and rebuilding the Diem. The two-week deadline creates constant pressure, forcing him to make alliances and compromises he might otherwise avoid.

Ais, a Trackt (Dayside law enforcement official) assigned to protect Kenton, faces her own conflict. Trackt cultural traditions include innate hatred of sand mastery, yet her duty requires protecting a sand master. This tension between personal belief and professional responsibility drives her character development.

The conspiracy reveals deep connections between Kerztian religious opposition and Lossandian political factions. Some members of the Taishin see the Diem’s destruction as an opportunity to redistribute resources and power. Others genuinely believe sand mastery represents a heretical practice that should be eliminated.

As Kenton investigates, he discovers an insider enabled the attack. Someone within the Diem provided intelligence about the ceremony’s timing and security arrangements. This betrayal cuts deeper than the attack itself, revealing corruption within the order he’s trying to save.

Taldain’s Role in the Cosmere

A Core World in the Cosmere

Taldain occupies an important position as one of the ten “core worlds” forming the foundation of the overarching Cosmere story. These core worlds each feature Shardic influence and host narrative events of cosmere-wide importance.

While Taldain may not possess the prominence of worlds like Roshar or Scadrial in the current timeline, its status as a core world indicates it will matter to future developments.

The chronological placement is interesting. White Sand is the earliest book in the current Cosmere sequence, taking place before even the events of Elantris. This early timeline positioning suggests events on Taldain represent foundational developments that will impact later history.

Khriss, a native of Taldain, will become one of the most important scholars of Investiture in the entire Cosmere. She authors the Ars Arcanum essays appearing in numerous Cosmere books, explaining magic systems and their underlying mechanics.

Her exile from Taldain due to Autonomy’s isolation creates an interesting dynamic. She can’t return home, but her knowledge of Taldain’s magic systems gives her unique insights into how Investiture functions across different worlds.

Potential for Space Exploration

One aspect of Taldain’s importance concerns its technological trajectory and potential as the first spacefaring civilization.

Before isolation occurred, Darksiders were on target to become the first spacefaring civilization in the Cosmere, with technological advancement potentially exceeding even second-era Scadrians in some domains.

The isolation imposed by Autonomy appears to have halted this progress. She prevented Taldain from achieving space travel before other Cosmere civilizations, though her reasons remain unclear.

Was she concerned about Taldain spreading her influence too far? Did she fear competition from other Shards if Darksiders developed interplanetary travel? Or does space travel somehow threaten her control over the planet?

Whether Taldain’s inhabitants will overcome Autonomy’s restrictions remains a question Brandon Sanderson has indicated he will “RAFO” (Read And Find Out). This suggests space exploration will play a role in future Taldain narratives.

If Darksiders do achieve space travel, it could alter Cosmere power dynamics. A spacefaring civilization controlled by Autonomy would extend her influence throughout the system and potentially beyond. Other Shards would need to respond to this expansion.

Autonomy’s Broader Agenda

Autonomy’s activities on Taldain represent only one aspect of her larger strategy. She’s seeded avatars throughout the Cosmere, creating multiple paths of influence across different worlds.

On Scadrial, she created Trelagism as a seed of influence designed for later activation. The Set, a secretive organization, worships Autonomy in her persona as Trell, with Telsin Ladrian serving as her Invested avatar on that world.

This expansive strategy reflects Autonomy’s intent to spread her influence throughout the Cosmere. She’s not content controlling a single planet. She wants footholds on multiple worlds, creating redundant paths to power.

She maintains diplomatic contact with other Shards and has navigated complex political situations involving other powerful entities. Yet she remains isolationist regarding her own world. This contradiction—spreading influence abroad while jealously guarding her home—reveals tension in her nature.

Her contradictory approach to individuality and control creates internal tensions. She offers freedom and advancement while maintaining absolute authority. She encourages technological development while imposing rigid limits. She creates multiple identities and personas while demanding conformity to her vision.

These tensions may manifest in unexpected ways. A Shard built on the concept of autonomy that restricts freedom contains inherent contradictions. Whether these contradictions will create problems for Bavadin remains to be seen, but they represent potential vulnerabilities in her long-term plans.