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We learned a lot of information in Oathbringer, and it's taken me quite a few days to process what I've read. A lot of that processing seems to happen as I'm lying in bed half asleep, and that is where this theory comes from. TDLR; Surges came first, Honor bound them to Heralds and his Investiture via the Oathpact, and this was done to help stop surges from destroying Roshar during Desolations. Now that the TLDR is out of the way, let me actually explain where my brain went with this. 1. Humans, according to OB, came to Roshar because they'd destroyed their home with Surgebinding. -- I believe that it's being called surgebinding because that's how the powers are known on Roshar at this time. My theory postulates that humans had Surges, ALL surges, in an unchecked manner and this led to the Cataclysm on Ashyn (likely) or whatever their original home was. They were able to use Surges because it it simply just channeled/focused Investiture. It did not *require* Stormlight, but whatever the equivalent is where they are from. 2. Humans came to Roshar, as refugees, Odium followed them, and they were accepted there. -- At first they settled in fine, but then decided they wanted more... seems plausible. In the book we're told the humans were the enemy in the first Desolation (if not some of the first few Desolations). I can buy this. They would have been seen as invaders, as is evident by the Fused's hatred of humanity. There are still remnants of human worship of Odium on Roshar (in the form of Thaylen Passions, as one example). 3. Odium is the side with the most Passion. -- I believe the reason Dalinar's visions show humans fighting humans fighting parsh, et al, is because there were not distinct sides. Odium basically liked to stoke the coals and cause a ruckus in order to inspire passion. Early Desolations were a manifestation of this I believe, and throughout the years people simply gravitated to the side they were more comfortable with. 4. Early Surges were unchecked. Hence, the Oathpact. -- Here comes part of the meat of my theory. I believe early use of surges were unchecked, and all surges were accessible by anyone who drew upon Investiture to use them. This made them extremely dangerous. Also I believe ANY Investiture could fuel them. Therefore my theory postulates that 9 of the Heralds (not Taln) were men and women who could use all surges AND were in positions of power in Roshar were chosen by Odium during the creation of the Oathpact. The Oathpact was a way for Honor to allow Surges to remain on this world, but be limited and bound by oaths, so as to not destroy it like it did the previous world humans occupied. Taln was selected by Honor. I don't necessarily think the Heralds were told they were selected or by whom. I also think this is why today it's called Surgebinding. Honor literally bound the Surges, and bound them to HIS Investiture, created the Honorblades as a way to limit how many surges of what type could be used in conjunction and that this is the basic idea of the Oathpact. Honor did not want these surges on Roshar all the time, so the agreement was made that after each Desolation the Heralds would go to Damnation to give humans time without them. I don't think Honor counted on the Spren trying to mimic the Honorblades. The KR were then formed to keep the spren in check and to keep humans further bound by oaths in order to use Surges. This was all rolled into the Oathpact. EDIT: After reading some WoBs I'm adjusting my theory a bit to account for information I did not have while sleeping... 5. Odium sidesteps the Oathpact. -- Once the Surges were no longer free to be used by anyone, Odium was at a disadvantage. He began by torturing the Heralds, trying to corrupt them. I think their Connection to Honor was too strong to be corrupted, so he turned to the next best thing... the spirits of the dead parsh from the early Desolations. (He still tortured the Heralds, as we know, and he did so to begin new Desolations as soon as he could following the last one). He couldn't allow them to use Surges, since he Surgebinding is bound by the Oathpact, but he sidesteps this with what we know as "Voidbinding", a corrupted version of Surges, likely powered by one or more of the Unmade. This is legal since the Unmade are not likely part of the Oathpact. 6. The Death of Honor. -- Wild tin-foil part of this theory is that the Heralds themselves, with the help of Odium, killed Tanavast and splintered Honor. WHY??? Why would the Heralds do this?? Because he was weakening. I posit that the Heralds believed that if Tanavast was killed someone would take up the Shard and strengthen Honor and keep the Oathpact strong. Odium swooped in and Splintered Honor before that could happen. This is all extremely unlikely, but it kind of fits the narrative I have going here so I forced myself to write it anyway. So, here we have it. This is what I ended up with after digesting the information given to us in Oathbringer. I only have a physical copy of the book, so I don't have actual quotes in this post, but I can probably work to find some. I'm pretty happy with this theory, even though I'm probably wrong in most, if not all, of it, but it's what my brain concluded while I was asleep so I thought I'd share and see what the other more-cosmere-aware folks here thought about it.

Some pre-publication observations and predictions: Spren Wars I think Syl and the yellow-white spren Yixli both personify the “protection” ideal. Yixli shepherds the listeners to Revolar, warns them of Kaladin, and then recommends Kaladin (Mr. Protection himself) to other listeners. Yixli’s spren type overflies the crowds and inspects buildings, like a police force. But Yixli appears to be a stone spren. I interpret this to mean listeners personify stone as “protection,” not the wind like humans do. This represents a different cultural perspective and relationship with their environment. Just as humans enslaved the listeners, I think human ideas (personified as spren) banished listener ideas (also personified as spren) from Roshar’s subastral (its place in the Cognitive Realm) to Braize’s. Brandon’s message: Colonization eradicates native cultures. Brandon says Braize is “like a prison.” Odium’s Invested and “captive” there. I think Braize is also a prison for the listener spren. IMO, the Oathpact bars the Cognitive Realm bridge between Roshar and Braize. When the Herald’s “break,” listener spren pour across the bridge; then into Roshar’s Physical Realm as listeners (and other lifeforms) assume their symbiotic forms. I bet Braize’s subastral holds gemstones instead of glass beads. IMO, that’s how listeners perceive ideas. Re-Shephir and Taln This reminds me of Taln left behind in Damnation while the other Heralds escaped. (I may have missed someone else first suggesting this.) It parallels the WoK Chapter 54 Epigraph’s death rattle: Posters think this epigraph refers to Taln (and it may). But what if it refers to Re-Shephir? It says the burdens of nine, not ten. Taln bears the burdens of ten, since he’s part of the Oathpact. Maybe Re-Shephir says, “Almighty, release me,” because she was glued to Urithiru’s Stormlightning Rod by massive amounts of Stormlight? Other questions: What were the Unmade doing in Urithiru’s basement when Desolation ended? Could this be the same moment as the Heralds’ Aharietiam “triumph?” Why weren’t the Heralds and Unmade fighting each other? Was Re-Shephir abandoned because Taln was abandoned? The Fused I’ve said for a long time that Odium’s magic can’t form bonds. Instead, Odium severs Connections. I think the Fused prove this. IMO, voidspren act like viruses and change the Spiritual DNA of a target spren. The “infused” voidspren mutates the “natural” spren, giving Odium control of the natural spren’s bonded host. The voidspren itself doesn’t bond the host. I think Syl hissed at the Fused-Spren because she sensed the corrupted natural spren that’s part of it. If the Fused can direct Odium’s power without a bond, then bonds can’t be Roshar’s Focus. (Sorry, @Calderis.) “Fusion” may turn out to be a form of bond, but the word implies a full joining, a union, not merely a symbiotic Connection. Gavilar’s Sphere @Pagerunner and others view Chapter 31 as proving Gavilar’s Sphere holds only Voidlight and not an Unmade. I think the Sphere holds both. Fabrial gemstones hold both Stormlight and a spren. I think this type of parallelism is important and intentional. I continue to believe there must be an “Everstormfather.” Just as the Stormfather personifies the highstorms and distributes Stormlight, the Everstormfather is a giant Odium spren that personifies the Everstorm and distributes Voidlight. (I agree the Everstorm is Odium’s Rosharan perpendicularity.) The Fused infuse themselves with (IMO) bond-breaking Voidlight. The Fused use the energy from their internal broken bonds to summon the Surges. I think the Urithiru Fused looks wasted and incomplete because his body breaks down to make his magic. The Origin As a total guess, I think the Origin may be the entrance to the Cognitive Realm bridge between Roshar and Yolen. Yolen is the “origin.” I’m unsure how this squares with our knowledge of perpendicularities, but I’ll throw this possibility out there…

There's been a lot of speculation about what the secret was that destroyed the Knights Radiant, as well as speculation into the causes or mechanics of the Desolations and the Oathpact. I have a wild theory that connects the two. There's probably a thousand things wrong with it, and even I see a bunch of holes and leaps in logic, but hopefully it will at least be entertaining. It starts with a WoB exchange I saw posted in another topic earlier today by Steeldancer, so credit goes to them for finding this quote: So we know that the Heralds all being present on Roshar causes another Desolation to occur. The question is, why? Well let's consider what we know of Worldhopping, because that is essentially what is happening. Spren (and perhaps originally the Listeners themselves) come from Braize to Roshar. Other worldhoppers transition between the Cognitive realm and the Physical realm using Perpendicularities. Other WoB have confirmed that perpendicularities could be caused by a massive amount of Investiture. I believe it was confirmed that Jasnah essentially did a miniature version of this to return to the physical world. My theory is that the Heralds act like Investiture lodestones. If they stay long enough in the world, there is a kind of critical mass that occurs, creating enough of a perpendicularity for Odium's forces to transition en masse into Roshar. This is basically how the new Everstorm worked. Once a critical mass of Fused Listeners was reached, they were able to call the storm. I believe the Everstorm itself is Odium’s perpendicularity on Roshar, at least this time around. We know it carries Voidspren with it, and could be what allows them to come into the Physical realm in large numbers. We also know that it was created by a large number of Fused (ie, Invested) Listeners pooling their energies. That sounds like a recipe for a perpendicularity to me. Now what if the Highstorm works in the exact opposite way (which would make sense, since they are reversed in every other way). The Highstorm is described by (suspiciously colour-obsessed and oddly familiar) “Zahel” as “invested to the hilt and looking for somewhere to stick it.” (As an aside: god bless “Zahel”). The Highstorm disperses Investiture. It takes a huge amount, maybe enough to form a perpendicularity, but then spreads it out across literally the entire world. I submit that this was its primary purpose (because remember, the Stormfather has been tasked with keeping the Highstorms coming, and presumably Honor would have some reason for unleashing these things periodically upon the world). My theory is that there are other ways to enable (or hasten) a Desolation. Perhaps with sufficiently concentrated Investiture, Odium can create a workaround, or at least speed things up, with less time between Desolations. The Highstorm is a check against this by dispersing Investiture, whereas the Everstorm keeps it concentrated (which is which it doesn’t infuse gems with Stormlight). So Honor works to prevent (large) perpendicularities from forming, and Odium tries to create more. Smaller perpendicularities ensure that the two worlds will never be entirely isolated, but might not facilitate a lare-scale invasion. The Oathpact, then , could be an agreement. Honor creates a bargain by which Odium has a shot at Roshar every once and a while. Honor essentially creates the Honorblades as a controlled means of opening a path between worlds by way of highly concentrated Investitute (which could be why Syl refers to Szeth using a dangerous amount of Stormlight with the Honorblade). At the same time though, he makes them double as a means of fighting against the very invasion they facilitate. Odium, in turn, agrees not to just come over to Roshar and destroy it himself, an agreement that binds him even after Honor's death. So how do the Knights Radiant fit in? Well we already know that they were not intended by Honor. They were the result of the spren taking it upon themselves to mimic what he had done. They mimic the Honorblades, which are presumably involved with the Oathpact (see above). What if, unintentionally, they have re-created certain aspects of the Oathpact as well, as a side effect of the nahel bond? The Heralds, when concentrated on Roshar, kicked off Desolations. The Fused, when concentrated on Roshar, kicked off the Everstorm. And for however many centuries, human beings, Invested to the hilt, as it were, were concentrating themselves in a specific location: Urithiru. What if this was enough to, if not cause the Desolations, at least exacerbate them in some way? What if it created enough of a perpedicularity to allow some of Odium's forces onto Roshar in a consistent manner, like a door propped open even between the Desolations. Spoilers from Edgedancer: To me, this seems like the kind of revelation that would utterly crush a group dedicated to sacrificing for the good of all. To learn that they and their spren had in fact been causing or at least hastening/worsening the Desolations, that all of their efforts and sacrifice were only perpetuating a cycle of endless violence, I could see that breaking them, and causing the Recreance.

So, I haven't done much research on this but I wanted your guys thoughts on where the other honorblades are. I know nine of the Heralds left theirs when the Oathpact was abandoned, with Taln keeping his. Szeth has an honorblade, Nale has his own (presumably) that he uses to hunt people bonded with spren, and Taln brought his own with him when he returned. Thats three of the ten, do the rest reside with the Shin? And if they do why are the Shin in control of 7 honorblades? Another thing on dawnshards, I was reading another thread about how the Parshendi could be dawnsingers due to their singing language and the fact they predate humans on Roshar (I think). If so could Eshonais shardblade be a dawnshard?

I theorize the Heralds are humankind’s personification of the Divine Attributes. Those Ideals – the Heralds in Shadesmar spren form – IMO fend off Odium at the place Roshar’s and Braize’s subastrals meet. Judging by the Shadesmar map, I think Roshar is a major Shadesmar crossroads. I suspect Braize, the farthest planet of Greater Roshar, has only one Shadesmar passage back into the main channels – the planet Roshar. Somehow Odium is boxed in on Braize. The Oathpact binds the Heralds to stand at Roshar’s gates and keep Odium out. Like the Returned, which Brandon says is the same magic system, I think Honorblades are splinters bound to the Heraldic Ideals. On Roshar, alignment with an Ideal determines the strength of the bond that gives power. I think this must be true of Heralds, since spren modeled the KR on the Heralds. IMO, as humankind’s belief in the Heraldic Ideals strengthens, the bond between the Honorblades and Heralds also strengthens, increasing Heraldic power. As belief fades, the bond – and the Heralds’ power – weakens. This may explain the Sons of Honor’s actions (with reverse causation). I believe Odium attacks the Heralds’ strength in two ways. First, he seeks to undermine human belief in the Heraldic ideals. Second, he directly assaults those Ideals in their spren form. IMO, Odium’s power severs bonds. That what hate does – it generates power but consumes you. Odium’s power tries to sever the weakened Ideals from their bond with Honor. IMO, the Heralds’ torture is Odium’s bond-severing power melting through their bonds. Over time, Odium’s power breaks the Herald’s bonds. Desolation spills into Roshar. The Heralds cry havoc, and war comes to the Physical Realm.

Thanks to Barnes and Noble, we've just had this STUNNING artwork from Oathbringer shared with us. I want to say it's Honor and Cultivation, but it could also be Ishar and Vivenna. Let the theorising begin!

I mention this idea on another thread and flesh it out here. Many theories highlight the difference between Surgebinders and Knights Radiant. These theories look at these two quotes, the first from in-world Words of Radiance, the second from Dalinar’s Nohadon vision: Theorists conclude the original Surgebinders are not bound by the Knight Radiant oaths. I agree. Here’s my take on what Ishar and Nohadon do and what IMO the Herald's Oathpact's oath is. Ishar’s “was the most important part at their inception.” I think he imposes his “precepts and laws” when spren first grant Surges to men. He organizes the Orders, and I think he imposes the first oath: “Life Before Death. Strength Before Weakness. Journey Before Destination.” IMO, that oath creates the Nahel bond. Since Ishar requires no other oaths, oath makers instantly become full-powered Surgebinders. Nohadon later laments that Surgebinder Alkavish “brought us to war before the Desolation,” weakening humanity. (WoK, Chapter 60, Kindle p, 850.) The problem is the spren less discerning than honorspren; if they choose a bad bond-buddy, there’s no way to ratchet back the full power granted. I agree with posters who think Nohadon is a Bondsmith. I believe he founds the Knights Radiant and creates the Order oaths as a safety valve of phased-in bonding. Unlike “Ishar’s Knights,” as Taln calls them, Knights Radiant gain power as they align with their spren’s ideal. Now the fun and maybe (?) even novel part…Where does the first oath come from? I think it’s the oath the Heralds give to Honor when they join the Oathpact. The spren copy the Honorblades. Ishar organizes the Orders like the Heralds and substitutes the Nahel bond for an Honorblade. I think human Surgebinding requires the same oath the Heralds give. The first oath reads differently from a Herald’s perspective: “Life Before Death.” You will live and die over and over again. “Strength Before Weakness.” Your strength will weaken under torture. “Journey Before Destination.” Your torture will never end.

What follows is my current theory on how the 10 Heralds became the 10 fool's through the coarse of the Desolations. I will update this post as it evolves. I will try to provide links to all WOB. Quotes will come from the kindle versions of the books via cut and paste. I will list book, chapter, and location number. Bold will be my emphasis. Italics will be possible contradictory evidence. Number 18 here From Reddit Fantasy Bookclub Q&A with Brandon Sanderson Feb 28th, 2011 We will start with this quote which shows us all Heralds were in WOK. First, the Desolations occurred when the Heralds were sent back to Roshar after one of them broke under the torture of Odium. Second, each Herald is associated with a primary and secondary Divine Attribute. (Possibly primary from Honor, Secondary from Cultivation?) Third, the torture does not happen in the physical realm. It occurs in either the cognitive, or more likely the spiritual realm. Fourth, when Odium breaks a Herald, he is literally breaking part of that Heralds spiritual connection to the Divine Attribute. Fifth, Odium's goal was to break all the Heralds and bring about the the Everstorm, allowing him to shatter Honor and Cultivation. Sixth, breaking the Divine Attributes shifted them towards something more compatible with Odium and less compatible with Honor. This resulted in the attributes associated with the 10 Fool's. Number 19 in this WOB, says each is uniquely insane. NOTE: One of the biggliest issues with this theory is not knowing the 10 Fools attributes. Two Fools are named. Two have attributes. Cabine - He acts like a child although he is an adult. TWOK chapter 37, page 593, location 10668 Eshu - He speaks of things he does not understand in front of those who do. WOR chapter 71, page 593, location 16877 One issue I have here is that the 2 Heralds I would link these two too are both female. Paliah and Battar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1) We have a WOB on this. Not a confirmation, but along those lines. 2) Herald. Primary Divine Attribute. Secondary Divine Attribute. Jezrien. Protecting. Leading Nale. Just. Confident Chanarach. Brave. Obedient Vedel. Loving. Healing Paliah. Learned. Giving Shalash. Creative. Honest Battar. Wise. Careful Kalak. Resolute. Builder Talenel. Dependable. Resourceful Ishar. Pious. Guiding 3) Since Odium was attempting to break the Heralds focus on their Divine Attribute, the torture most likely took place in the spiritual realm. The spren would probably know something if it took place in the cognitive realm. One thing pointing to the cognitive realm though is the fact that Taln appeared covered in condensation much like a shardblade. 4) By breaking the Herald, Odium shifted their Primary attribute to closer align with his shard and align less with Honors. This usually resulted in an almost inversion of the attribute. SPECIFICALLY I THINK ONLY THE PRIMARY ATTRIBUTE WAS BROKEN/TWISTED. Below I will show what I think the attribute shifted to after the Devine attribute. Herald. Primary Divine Attribute. Secondary Divine Attribute. Jezrien. Protecting. (Submission) Leading Nale. Just. (Arbitrary)(Judgement) Confident Chanarach. Brave. Obedient Vedel. Loving. Healing Paliah. Learned. Giving Shalash. Creative. (Destructive) Honest Battar. Wise. Careful Kalak. Resolute. (Weak-willed) Builder Talenel. Dependable. (Erratic) Resourceful Ishar. Pious. (Traitorous) Guiding These are based off of what we have seen or heard in the books so far. These are not perfect words, but the 17th shard manymind will probably come up with better. There are some subtle indications that only 9 of the 10 fool's have a strong history or mythology. Here is one concerning Lyft and pancakes. I think I subconsciously connected Lyft's silly quest to eat all 10 Pancakes with the 10 fool's. Research could not find a direct correlation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jezrien gives up on protecting humanity personally, submits to the Will of the group, and sacrifices Talenel to uphold the entire oathpact. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nale shifts from Just- working within the accepted standards of right and wrong to Arbitrary- following the rule of law without regards to morality.....he goes straight lawful evil. From Edgedancer Chapter 9, page 596 Arcanum Unbound, location 8565 Judgement not Justice. From Edgedancer Chapter 9, page 596 Arcanum Unbound, location 8565 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shalash is pretty clear with her running around destroying art, and significantly art that depicts her and other heralds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kalak is in no way resolute when Jezrien meets him. He is in fact very weak willed, confessing that he cannot go back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Talenel (if it really is him) comes back a broken man, highly erratic and unable to perform his duties as the Herald of War. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ishar formed the Knights Radiant originally, he led the Bondsmiths. He was also the one who promulgated the traitorous idea that 1 Herald could support the Oathpact. From Edgedancer: And And ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5) We know there were not literally 99 desolation. I suspect there were 9. One each time Odium broke a Herald. Then the next time that Herald would not be tortured as hard so that about her would break first. Nine also being the number of Odium I believe would work well with this. After the Oathpact was discarded, Odium let humanity rewrite Roshar's history and religion in preparation for the Final Desolation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6) The corruption of the 9 Heralds weakened Honor, but the Knights Radiant provided some support, until the Day of Requience when they abandoned all their oaths. Honor shattered shortly after. I have to go back and find some more quotes and WOB to fully support some of this, but I will edit them in as I find them.

Adolin! We know Dalinar is hesitant to take it for himself. We know he sees its usefulness. We know that it won't stay with Kaladin, because he is a Windrunner already, and two powered up allies are better than one. Stormfather said it granted more power/knowledge that Dalinar would hesitate to think himself worthy of. It must be in the hands of a close and trusted ally. It is undoubtedly best used by someone who would be eligible to be a champion in fighting, (see coming conflict with Odium's champion). Renarin, and Jasnah are also powered up, so probably not them. It is the choice that yelled out during the chapter he spent staring at the blade and talking to the Stormfather, and his remonstration of himself during the sparring chapter about being older, and "why was he trying to fight a young man's battle". Dalinar has the Bondsmith role with the knights and a new title of King of Urithiru. Can he be flying off to handle things himself, or does he need to be at central command? You could not leave such a power unused with the threats being levied on them. Someone must take up the sword and learn the powers. I don't think this is proof, but it is decidedly the type of foreshadowing Sanderson plants. Besides, who wouldn't think that the Kolin heir is the best choice? It should be so.

Is there any evidence of any heralds worldhopping after they “ended” the oathpact? With their level of knowledge I would think they would be able to do so especially considering they would be proficient at going to shadesmar?thoughts?

I may not be the first person to mention this, but I suspect there might be a pattern of sorts going on in the chapter headings of each Stormlight book. We know from experience with multiple Sanderson books that the epigraphs before the start of the chapters play into the story, but in a very broad sense in that they don't make sense until either the book or even multiple books are completed. This occurred with Mistborn, and I believe that may be the case with the Stormlight Archive with the symbols of the Heralds in the arches at the head of each chapter. I believe there is a deeper meaning to them we have yet to understand, and I want to try to figure it out. Help with this theory would be very much appreciated. What we know: The ten Heralds each have a number and a Soulcasting Essence dedicated to their name in Vorinism (i.e. the number Jes for Jezrien, which represents 1, or the number Nan for Nale, which represents 2). The Heralds all have known symbols of their faces associated with the symbol of the Knights Radiant, and those faces appear multiple times on each chapter heading. Each time, there are two sets of faces on the archways, sometimes the same face four times and sometimes two different faces occurring twice. There has been a previous example of a cryptic message being hidden in a series of numbers in the Stormlight Archive, that being Taravangian's Diagram message written in a series of numbers that translates into What I'm wondering is: What if those Herald faces (and their associated numbers) are a long list of numbers written as a form of code that extends across either each book or the entire Archive? And if so, what could it translate into? What super important message could we get out of it? Now, I did find a few flaws with this theory, originally. If the Heraldic numbers go from 1 to 10, wouldn't that be confusing as a code form, since the lettering in codes works in single digits, namely 0 through 9. So what I'm thinking is either we could mark down the implied numbers from each chapter headings as Jes - 0 Nan - 1 Chach - 2 Vev - 3 Palah - 4 Shash - 5 Betab - 6 Kak - 7 Tanat - 8 Ishi - 9 or Jes - 1 Nan - 2 Chach - 3 Vev - 4 Palah - 5 Shash - 6 Betab - 7 Kak - 8 Tanat - 9 Ishi - 0 Who knows? Maybe it leads to some grand, complicated message with monumental importance to the Stormlight Archive or even the Cosmere as a whole. Or maybe this is all a dud, and there's no secret meaning to the Herald faces in the chapter headings, and I've been wasting my time. Either way, I would love to have some help with figuring this all out, since I don't really have the requisite time to do so. Thanks!

Hello everyone! This is my first theory post, and I will try my best to make the progress of my arguments clear. The goal of this post will be to analyze the Shin society, its relation to stone and its inherent pacifism. First let's lay out the basics that everyone knows: The Shin are extremely pacifists. Drawing blood, fighting, and worse, killing is seen as extremely tabou and if someone commits such an act, he abandons his right as a Shin "citizen"and is seen by his prior peers as someone who is less than a Shin. Stone is sacred for them. So sacred that even walking on Stone is considered a blasphemy (the first one that Szeth tells us in his narrative). Declaring that a New Desolation is on the way is totally blasphemous. These two facts will be the key of the timeline and analysis I will propose to explain them. To start the analysis, we have to go back very far. So far, that we go back to the prologue of the Stormlight Archive. The day Kalak walks a desolated battlefield, to arrive upon 7 honorblades cast out into the rock and to Jezrien. Thus, they talk, and thus a decision is made: to fade away, letting Taln to his fate. Kalak and Jezrien abandon their honorblades alongside the other, and announce to mankind that the greatest victory has been made: the cycle of Desolation is over. And so it was said that peace everlasting had been won. Let’s abandon the Heralds Point of View now, and focus on Mankind. Their gods disappeared, announcing an eternal peace. As a testament of the truth, they let their most precious tools encased in Stone. The Heralds will never need these weapons again, and therefore discarded them as useless. The very Heralds of War, that had been protecting mankind left their weapons behind, as a testament to the futility of killing now that Voidbringers are gone. My theory is that what would become the Shin society originated from there. After all, if the gods declared warring and fighting as utterly pointless, and as a testament to that left their weapons behind, what greater calling left to Man that to follow them? And thus, killing another human became seen as one of the greatest sacrilege that can be committed in the proto-Shin society. What more sacred than a life, when even the gods turned away from killing to live in anonymity? What more sacrilege that to doubt that the gods themselves bought peace, by thrusting their weapons into stone? And thus Stone is made sacred, by holding the Covenant of Everlasting Peace. Walking on Stone in Shinovar is walking on the most sacred element, that hold the peace promised by the gods. Before continuing, and to make clearer the worship of Stone in the Shin religion, let me quote Steven Erikson (yeah I’m a fanboy like that): So the proto-Shin saw Eternal Peace as the most worthy path shown by the gods. And the symbol of that peace was kept by stone. As ages came and passed, the two became slightly separated: The ritual becomes what is sacred, and most Shin may not be able to tell you why Stone is sacred. Nalan say that Szeth’s people revere the spirits of Stone, but that Him, as a Herald (of Justice) is Szeth’s god. He is even surprised that Szeth does not recognize him. That would not be the case if Nalan only appointed himself as a patron and personal god of Szeth, but it reveals us that Szeth should have made the link by himself and recognized one of his gods, that participated in the Covenant of Eternal Peace. And there we are, at the moment we have a society which revers peace to the point of extremism (which is not a bad thing is itself, mind you), would rather die than to walk on stone, and for whom announcing a Next Desolation is betraying the Greatest Gift the Gods ever left to mankind. The Shins are a model from our modern point of view: they are one of the only society known to man to have (nearly) eradicated all violence within itself. And to think that all of this is based on a lie is something that I find very tragic. They trusted their gods who told them that they were forever safe from Voidbringuers, and thus followed their deities closely by forsaking violence. But they have been deceived, for the True Last Desolation is coming.

What We Know: Brandon, for some unknown reason, refuses to acknowledge this 'Taln' as the Herald Talenelat. He continually refers to him as "the man who calls himself Taln..." This 'Taln' does, however, display certain physical characteristics that have been associated with descriptions of the Heralds before. Namely, he has "dark skin," and speaks "perfect Alethi," without any "hint of an accent." He also catches darts at hyper-speed... He only speaks perfect Alethi in his first appearance by the gates of Kholinar. His accent changes to something like gibberish when Elhokar and Dalinar are 'interrogating' him. Further proof that something strange is going on is his apparent inability to immediately know who he is, as demonstrated by his hesitation ("Who am I? I... I am Talenel'Elin, Stonesinew..."). (I'm pretty sure this happens somewhere else, but I can't remember where, at the moment.) Theories: Here's a compilation of some of the theories I've seen regarding the dual identity of this character: He's the same Taln, but he's been broken over 4500 years of constant torture. Seems to imply that Brandon is just trolling us with his description, which seems highly unlikely to me considering the strange inconsistencies mentioned above. He's someone else (likely a Herald overcome with remorse) who went to the Nightwatcher and asked her to release Taln. The way she 'fulfilled' his wish was by placing Taln's mind in his body, thereby 'releasing' him. This seems plausible; the only issue I have with it is that it seems that just because we don't know the limitations of the Old Magic, we ascribe any unexplained occurrence to the Nightwatcher... Similar to the above, but removing the Nightwatcher aspect. Maybe he's just a Herald overcome by grief, who has developed a multiple personality syndrome as a way to cope. He could be an Aimian impersonating the Herald Talenelat, though that does not explain how he has the memories of being tortured on Braize or knows so much about the role of the Heralds. This is a little far-fetched, but, now that I think about it, he could just be a really good actor that is impersonating Taln... The current Comere-connecting theories are that he's either a kandra, Forgery, or Hemalurgy was involved. (BTW, if we're ruling in Scadrial Investiture, Allomancy could just as easily be an explanation for his lightning-fast reflexes...) My Theory: There is a chance that this has been said before, considering how long the books have been out for, although I did search for it and couldn't find this specific theory anywhere... If it is somewhere, hopefully I'll add something new to the discussion or provoke some new thoughts. Here goes: Could it be that the some form of the Heralds' minds are held in their Blades? Being that the Honorblades are a large part of what makes a Herald a Herald, that seems to make sense to me. Taking this a little further, it could be that the Heralds are tortured on Braize, not only until they break, but until they actually die. At least physically. Their minds live on in the Honorblades, which then return to Roshar and are bonded by the bodies which will eventually become the new Heralds. There is even a WoB (It's here, I believe) which says that they can remain on Roshar for a certain period of time before another Desolation begins. That could be a transitional phase when the bodies accustom themselves to holding the Herald's mind within them, allowing for them to be fully adjusted and ready to carry out their individual missions once the Desolation starts. This 'Taln' could simply be the body holding the Herald Talenelat, a suitable explanation for Brandon's cryptic way of referring to him. What do you guys think? (Now that I'm thinking about it, there is the issue that Brandon doesn't refer to the other Heralds we know of (Nalan and Shalash, for example) in this same obscure manner. Is there a way you can think to explain this or is my theory drowned already...)

So... The Heralds. Lots of interesting things going on here, and I just wanted to make a thread compiling all the information in one place, as well as adding some theories here and there. One thing I find interesting is that Brandon seems to take extra care to not confirm the appearances of any of the Heralds. I believe that even the so-called confirmed Heralds, namely Nalan and Shalash, have actually not been explicitly stated to be who we think they are. With all of the discussion centering around Taln description, Brandon may just have pulled a beautiful distraction from the fact that all the other Heralds are in the same boat as our Mad Talenel. Nevertheless, looking for them throughout the book is quite a bit of fun, and so here it is: The Heralds, and Where to Find Them. (Any information that can be added would be great. I'm probably missing quite a bit...) P.S.: I've included the phrases/curses used in the Heralds' names as I believe they conceal more information than we're giving them credit for. They are obviously each used in specific situations, but they may even be hints towards aspects of the heralds themselves. I believe there's a WoB somewhere that says the Heralds are not necessarily all from Roshar, which can lead to some interesting theories... Jezrien (Jezerezeh/Prime Kadasix/Kadasix of Kings): Order: Windrunners Physical Description: Regal; Wears blue and white; Young, looking barely into his thirtieth year; Short black beard, neatly trimmed. Quotes: "Praise Yaezir, Herald of Kings. May he lead in wisdom. If he ever stops drooling." (This is the line that implies that the beggar at the feast might actually be Jezrien. More on that below. It also draws a comparison to the "Kadasix of Kings" title. 'Kadasix' seems to be the word for 'Herald' in Azir, as proven in a statement by Nalan below.) Phrases: There don't seem to be any curses in Jezrien's name. The Azir have the "Praise Yaezir," but that's pretty much it. I wonder if that means something... Theories: There's been a theory that Kaladin's predecessor as head of the Cobalt Guard, Niter, is actually Jezrien in disguise. This is mainly due to the fact that Niter wears the Kholin blue and white, and is described as "tan-faced," with a "black beard, cut short," an extremely similar description to Jezrien's in the prelude. Nale (Nalan/Nin): (Herald of Justice) Order: Skybreakers Physical Description: Dark skin; has a pale crescent birthmark on his cheek; wears a black uniform with a double row of silver buttons down the coat's front, a stiff silver collar poking up from a shirt underneath; thick gloves with collars extending halfway back around his forearms; has a dead, lifeless stare. Quotes: "She glanced down the hallway. She could swear he was glowing faintly, and he was certainly running too quickly. Darkness was awesome too." (If he really is using Stormlight, he may be the Herald who we know took back his Blade. Then again, it may just be one of Nalan's little gadgets...) “The Kadasixes have spoken,” said one of the scions. “The Heralds?” Darkness said. “They have done no such thing. You are mistaken.” (This seems to me to be further proof that 'Darkness' is a Herald (as if it was needed).) Phrases: Nalan's Hand (Used when acknowledging a decision regarding justice) Theories: He is one of the most 'confirmed' Heralds, and is believed to be Darkness, one of the Azish ambassadors at Gavilar's feast, and the one who gives Nightblood to Szeth in the WoR Epilogue. Chana (Chanaranach/Chanarach): Order: Dustbringers (Releasers) Physical Description: Unknown Quotes: "The fastest man e’er known to live. The surest feet e’er known to roam. In time long past, in times I’ve known, he raced the Herald Chan-a-rach." (The fact that Fleet's speed is validated through its comparison to Chana makes sense, seeing as she also has access to the surge of Abrasion which, as Lift has demonstrated, can definitely make one quite fast.) Phrases: Chana knows, Chana help (Used when referring to something that concerns family, more specifically motherhood.) Theories: Vedel (Vedeledev): (Herald of Healing) Order: Edgedancers Physical Description: Unknown Quotes: Phrases: Vedeledev's Golden Keys (This is an interesting one. I haven't come up with anything for this one just yet, but there's obviously a story behind this.) Theories: Pali (Pailiah/Paliah): Order: Truthwatchers Physical Description: Unknown (Unless the Palanaeum theory is true, in which case we know she's old...) Quotes: Phrases: Pailiah knew Theories: It is confirmed that the Palanaeum was named after her, but there is a theory that the "berobed female ardent" Shallan sees is actually the Herald Pailiah in disguise. (More below.) Ash (Shalash): (Herald of Beauty) Order: Lightweavers Physical Description: Extremely beautiful; Dark skin; Long, beautiful black hair; "Eyes like a Shin, but tall and lean, like an Alethi"; Hair worn free, reaches down to waist; wears sleek and tight trousers; light violet eyes; wears a thin-bladed sword Quotes: "The mistress has good ears. Strangely good ears." - (WoK pg. 707) "Perhaps I should get myself a Shardblade." (Indicates that not only is the "thin-bladed sword" not a Shardblade, but she likely doesn't have one at all.) "A woman sits and scratches out her own eyes. Daughter of kings and winds, the vandal." (This fits with her being Jezrien's daughter (confirmed here), and is also the most solid evidence that the Mistress is Shalash.) “I’m worried about Ash...She's getting worse.” (WoR Prologue - A Herald talking about Shalash's condition to Nalan. Likely referring to her recent destructive streak.) Phrases: Ash's Eyes (Used when referring to something that concerns beauty) Theories: She's destroying pieces of art that she appears in. (This is actually already confirmed.) The reasons for this could be an entire thread all on its own, although I particularly like Argent's theory that the Heralds are rebounding off of their divine attributes. Creativity and Honesty seem to be the exact opposite of breaking in to places and vandalizing art. there is also the quote in the WoR Prologue that mentions how "Ash is getting worse." Cases of destroyed art include a missing Shalash statue in the WoK Prologue (pg. 23), the Baxil Interlude (WoK pg. 707), and Lift noticing a scratched out face in a portrait of the Heralds (WoR pg. 690). Battar (Battah): Order: Elsecallers Physical Description: Unknown Quotes: Phrases: Battah send that girl some sense... Theories: Kalak (Kelek): Order: Willshapers Physical Description: Unknown Quotes: Phrases: Kelek's Breath, Kelek's Tongue, Kelek knows (It's been postulated for a while that Kelek's Breath may be a hint towards his having come from Nalthis. Something I just thought of, however, is that Kelek's Tongue could also refer to the removal of the God Kings' tongues... Could it be that Kelek has no tongue?) Theories: There is a wounded bridgeman whom Kaladin helps that may turn out to be the Herald Kalak. He reacts slightly differently than the other bridgemen Kaladin cares for, but this is very much just a theory. (More below.) Alternatively, some have theorized that he is the man Nalan is talking to in the WoR Prologue. This seems to have a little more basis to support it. Taln (Talenelat/Talenel): (Herald of War/Stonesinew) Order: Stonewards Physical Description: Dark brown skin and eyes; back beard Quotes: “The burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.” —Dated Palaheses, 1173, unknown seconds pre-death. Subject: a wealthy lighteyes. Sample collected secondhand.” "...The Ancient of Stones must finally begin to crack It is a wonder that upon his will rested the prosperity and peace of a world for over four millennia." Phrases: Talat's Hand, Constellation named Taln's Scar Theories: I have a whole other thread on this. Ishar (Ishi): (Herald of Luck) Order: Bondsmiths Physical Description: Not much. He might have a long beard though, and is probably the scholar-figure of the Heralds. Quotes: Phrases: Ishar's Soul Theories: Is he the beggar mentioned below? The beard does seem to match Ishar's appearance in the Heraldic Icons that appear above certain chapters... ??? (Theorized Heralds): One thing to keep in mind is that Brandon has obviously seeded in certain red herrings with 'Heraldic' descriptions. Regardless, here are some of the more suspicious ones of the bunch: WoK pg. 23 - "A man with a long grey and black beard slumped in the doorway, smiling foolishly--though whether from wine or a weak mind, Szeth could not tell. "Have you seen me?" the man asked with slurred speech. He laughed, then began to speak in gibberish, reaching for the wineskin." (There are arguments for this being either Jezrien or Ishar. He is almost certainly a Herald, however, due to his comment of "Have you seen me?" when there are a line of Herald statues across the hall.) WoK pg. 40 - "The soldier on the other side of Cenn nodded. He was a lanky, red-haired Veden, with a darker tan skin than the Alethi. Why was he fighting in an Alethi army?" WoK pg. 502 - "It turned out to be just an old, berobed female ardent, shuffling with a lantern and followed by a parshman servant... Lit that way--with her figure hidden but the light streaming between the shelves--it looked as if one of the Heralds themselves were walking through the stacks." (Theorized to be Pali. The reason for this seems to be because we have a WoB saying that the Palanaeum, where Shallan is at the time, was named after her.) WoK pg. 745-746 - "He had dark brown skin and brown eyes, his thick black hair pulled back into a long, braided tail... He didn't have even a hint of an accent. Kaladin had expected him to be Azish because of the dark skin." (This is tentatively theorized to be Kalak, more through process of elimination than anything else.)

So, this is going to be a half baked theory, and I'm not nearly familiar enough with WoK or WoR to really support it, as I don't have the books yet, but here it goes anyways: We have WoB saying that we have seen Hemalurgy used on other worlds than Scadrial. (If you want more, see this thread) But he makes it sound like we shouldn't be able to find it. Another Nurse Worldhopper? Anyways, I started thinking about how you'd go about finding a hemalurgically spike individual, and what came to mind was the insanity and "voices" that were the biggest hints at spiked individuals on Scadrial. But I wasn't sure. After all, Ruin is now a part of Harmony, and i don't think Harmony would make people go insane. However, what if the back door could also be accessed by other Shards? Thus, if another shard became aware of Hemalurgy, they could replicate what Ruin was doing with Penrod, Spook and Quellion. That's when it hit me: The Heralds went to Damnation, were tortured, and came back insane. Theories are all about Odium breaking them to start desolations. But what if Odium became aware of Hemalurgy, and started spiking heralds. He would intermingle the spiking with other forms of torture so that people might not notice that he was leaving metal needles in their bodies. I'm not sure if he took complete control (like with Inquisitors) or just opted for a couple spikes and a voice in their head. Think I'm bogus? Take a look at this quote: I'm sure there are others. But for now, i just wanted to get these ideas down.

We know that the Oathpact was between Honor and the Heralds. What we don't know is exactly when the Oathpact was formed. Was it in response to Odium showing up? Was it in anticipation of this event? Or did it have absolutely nothing to do with Odium? Here answer 1. Here answer 3 Here answer 4. Here answer 6. These all show that Odium had no part of the Oathpact, and his being stuck on Roshar is an indirect result of it. Now WAST time. The creation of The Dor, and the fight with Ambition surely could be felt by the other Vessels in the Cosmere. It could have become obvious that Odium was hunting Vessels and destroying them. While not diametrically opposed like Ruin and Preservation, there could be some issues with Honors focus on Permanant Bonds, and Cultivations more change centric intents. As lovers, they should have become aware of these issues fairly early after moving in together (on Roshar). Endowment splits off a splinter of herself in every Returned. The contests that selected the Heralds were designed to select 10 individuals. While some were martial in focus, not all necessarily were. Chana is noted for her great speed for instance. While Honor obviously presided over them, perhaps Cultivation was also a judge. Knowing that Odium would be coming, Honor decided to self splinter. This allowed him to focus his intent into specific individuals with the traits he was looking for, rather than the randomness of being shattered. A bunch of mini-champions if you will. While it might make him a bit weaker overalls to spreading out his power overall, it might make him more resilient in the end because of the individuals would be known. He might have forged a separate pact with Cultivation prior to this where she would also do the same to a lesser extent with the chooses, thus giving her a seat at the judgement. This would have allowed Brandon to state that the Oathpact was between Honor and the Heralds, and not mention her. Now if each was looking for specific traits in the contestants, it would make sense if these became ingrained in the Vorin religion. We have this nice table of essences and relations to Heralds from the Vorinn religion. Divine Attributes Primary Divine Attributes of Protecting, Just, Brave, Loving, Learned, Creative, Wise, Resolute, Dependable, and Pious. I feel that I can tie all of these attributes to something Honor would be looking for in someone to hold part of his power. Secondary Divine Attributes of Leading, Confident, Obiedient, Healing, Giving, Honest, Careful, Builder, Resourceful, and Guiding. I feel I can tie all these attributes to Something Cultivation would be looking for. The individuals selected were to lead the people by being living representative of these ideals. Honor splintered off a fairly large bit of Investature to each, and Cultivation a smaller. But this infusion of Investature would seek to enhance these traits in each individual over time becoming more and more a part of their intent. Since they had strength in particular focuses these would be exemplified. Now this large amount of Investiture would probably have affected their life spans as we have seen on Nalthas and on Sel. Having extremely long lived individuals exemplifying ideals should lead to a highly stable society. Thus the Tranquiline Halls mythology. An almost to perfect society, yet not stuck on the now but also the future do to Cultivations influence. The Heralds had to make the Oathpact with Honor, but what was the Oath. TO UPHOLD THE IDEALS FOR AS LONG AS THEY LIVED. The Reward extremely long life. They would not be Heralds of War. But Heralds of Life. Heralds of Ideals. So then Odium shows up. We have the First Desolation. THEY ALL DIE. But due to the splinters they hold, they all become Cognative Shadows. Odium is set back, but these little fairly helpless Heralds are now trapped. They have held a splinter so long they have been warped on the SR to be almost programmed to stay and uphold these ideals. So each time a Desolation starts they move back into the PR and fight for these ideals against the one who killed them. Because of this Odium is stuck. Every time he tries to destroy Honor, they come back like Army ants attacking his flanks. And by coming back they inspire others to the same ideals. Thus indirectly trapping him in Roshar. He sences that Honor is weak, so his hatred won't let him leave, but every time he attacks, the Heralds show up to buffer honors strength. Thus he starts a long game as I outline in my 10 Heralds 10 Fools thread.

Hoid knew the Heralds either from prior Desolations or prior to the Oathpact. From WOK: When Taln appears, Wit refers to him as "my confused, unfortunate friend" This is not part of a conversation any longer at this point, but more along the lines of something muttered to himself, so it is not an act for others. His wording lacks its usual satire and charm. This implies that he either spent a lot of time during one of the prior Desolations on Roshar in Talns company, or that he knew him prior to the Oathpact. Possibly as far back as Yolen.

Just wanted to post a thought on my recent reread of the first two books of SA. From what I have read here, most have found the Herald Pailiah to be the Ardent walking through the Palanaeum that Shallan notes walking by like a Herald in WoK. What if this ardent is the SAME ardent from Lhan's interlude, who he thinks is called something "like" Pai? Since Pailiah's order is the truthwatchers I don't see her being dishonest with her name, and "Pai" could be kind of a nickname. Also, being an ardent goes with "learning" and her concern for the waste and desire to give to the poor goes with "giving". She is highly critical of the ardents, even the church itself, and comes across as an outsider. Her writing of the glyphs at the end of the segment also goes along with what we know of the truthwatcher order (similar to Renarin's writing at the end of WoR, and also possibly Dalinar's wall). As for the "execution" of Pai, do we know how she was executed? In other words, was she killed in a way that a Truthwatcher could not recover from with Regrowth? Pai certainly did not seem to fear death. Obviously if this is Pailiah she would have needed to either retrieved her Honorblade or somehow formed a Nahel bond to use the truthwatching surges.

Hi, I was just wondering how the power of Fullborns would scale with regards to Heralds. In particular, how would Kelsier or Spook (who are similarly powerful) match up against a Herald? Assume that both Fullborns have access to all 16 Metals (in unlimited quantities), but no God Metals, and that Herald has access to unlimited Stormlight and is one with offensive capabilities. Furthermore, how would The Lord Ruler have matched up against a Herald? All 10 Heralds? Thanks

I had a passing thought that I don't recall any discussion or WoB about. Is it more than mere coincidence that the number nine is significant in some way to Odium and that nine Heralds left the Oathpact? If there's any RAFO's out there about this I'd like to see them. I've seen lots of discussion about related topics, but not this specifically. If it is the case that there is more going on here, I am at a loss as to what it could be. Maybe Odium could only influence 9 of them at once specifically? That sounds highly unlikely, but it's the only thing I can come up with off the top of my head.

@Tariniel "Could it be that the some form of the Heralds' minds are held in their Blades? Being that the Honorblades are a large part of what makes a Herald a Herald, that seems to make sense to me. Taking this a little further, it could be that the Heralds are tortured on Braize, not only until they break, but until they actually die. At least physically. Their minds live on in the Honorblades, which then return to Roshar and are bonded by the bodies which will eventually become the new Heralds. There is even a WoB (It's here, I believe) which says that they can remain on Roshar for a certain period of time before another Desolation begins. That could be a transitional phase when the bodies accustom themselves to holding the Herald's mind within them, allowing for them to be fully adjusted and ready to carry out their individual missions once the Desolation starts. This 'Taln' could simply be the body holding the Herald Talenelat, a suitable explanation for Brandon's cryptic way of referring to him. What do you guys think?" This was a brilliant idea I ran across made by @Tariniel that I wanted to add to with a tiny bit of evidence Here are all the Death Rattles that I believe to be made by Taln This is the first and most related to the above paragraph. That shard of his soul could be the Honorblades. Which could explain that Taln's physical body is still in Braize. While his blade became the man known as Taln once Talenel broke physically in braize, splitting his cognitive shadow (which I also believe to be held in the blades) from his body. This "Shard of his soul" is now on Roshar somewhere... since there is another entire topic related to Talenel's blade I shall just maintain that the "man known as Taln" as said by a WoB must have touched the fallen honorblade and was imprinted or perhaps IS a living Honorblade, A Nightblood esque chracter who is an actual physical human. This is Taln's death in my opinion. Perhaps the most shocking evidence of how devastating the betrayal of the other Heralds really is. Taln stands not just the average every day torment in hell, but rather one compounded. Atlas bearing the weight of a world in my opinion. Also the "Madness of them all" is interesting, since we know the "Heralds are all insane" per WoB, I wonder if perhaps this insanity was still given to the others even though they didn't return to Braize. This last death rattle is Taln's blade returning to Roshar, along with his cognitive shadow to be implanted upon the new Taln. All responses are welcome and arguments appreciated!

So I apologize if this was made clear already by previous posts but the more discussions I read, I end up with more questions as well as answers. So my question involves a WoB that says tuned oathpact was formed by honor and the heralds. I'm paraphrasing here. So if that's true then the honorblades that gave the heralds ten different orders and surges all came from Honor. I'm confused because don't edgedancers have cultivation Spren? How did Cultivation get involved?

So, I was discussing with several people on the Cosmere Discord, and I came up with a question about the Oathpact. I wanted to ask the wise members of the Shard what they thought. Do you consider Heralds to be an integral part of the Oathpact? Or is it more based upon the Honorblades? Is it both?

I hate the Heralds. From stupid self deprecating Shallash to abusive and misled Naln. Every single one of them is a traitor of the highest magnitude that deserves a fate worse than Sadeas, after not only did they abandon a friend to a fate far worse than death, they LIED about it. No. No forgiveness for Naln after Edgedancer from THIS angry reader. Only Taln is exempt from my anger, someone who held out for 4500 years of torture suffering the fate of TEN people, but for one man... I can't WAIT for him to come to his senses, because he's going to have one HELL of a problem with those who left him behind. Can someone please give me a reason that they should not be universally reviled by every single reader of the SA!? Pity is not acceptable in my opiion, I wouldn't have care if they had ALL given up the Oathpact, but they left Taln behind. Sacrificed him, while they went on to have their minds break NOT because of 4500 years of torture, but because they were just too irresponsible and stupid to hold it together. *Takes deep breaths* I could be wrong, but since we have a WoB that says I don't know why they deserve anything good coming to them.

So, upon reading Edgedancer, a theory coalesced in my mind. It is my belief that the 10 Heralds (or, at least, the 9 who stayed) are now behaving as the 10 Fools. Or at least, they're now behaving as an inversion of their attributes (which is what I believe the Fools to be, inversions of the Heraldic archetype). Following this paradigm, Nale (who is supposed to be Just/Confident) is extremely unjust (see him murdering the urchin), but remains confident. Furthermore, he has allowed himself to be completely deceived. From his discussions, we know that Jezrien (Protective/Leading) is doing anything but leading (although he may still be being protective?). We also have hints that Ishi (name? - but Pius/Guiding) is likely either gone evil (inversion of piety), or is misleading people unintentionally (inversion of guiding). Also, Poor Taln was Dependable/Resourceful enough for a time, but has now broken, becoming impossible to depend on and without any resources. As an additional note of interest to this theory: the Everstorm came only after Taln, the last of the Heralds, allowed his behaviour to be inverted. While he remained Dependable/Resourceful, the Everstorm was held at bay. (This in turn leads to ANOTHER crazy theory: to stop the everstorm you need all 10 heralds to get their acts together? Or possibly to be replaced by 10 new Heralds?)