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Theories About Szenth's Dark Sphere


The Unhallowed

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I haven't dove too deep into the Cosmere (I am going to finish the books this summer), but I feel like the darksphere was more part of the Stormlight more than the expanded Cosemere. It seemed to be a negative form of Stormlight.  Is it possible that it has something to do with Odium's power? If I'm missing something super obvious, please let me know so I can no longer feel as a fool.

 

 

 

Quotes regarding the sphere...

"Szeth hesitated, then knelt down and took the sphere. It was odd, unlike any he'd seen before. Though it was completely dark, it seemed to glow somehow. With a light that seemed to be black." (WoK Prologue: To Kill)

 

"That tale always discomforted Szeth, as it reminded him of the strange black sphere Gavilar had given him. He'd hidden that carefully away in Jah Kaved." (WoK Interlude 3: The Glory of Ignorance)

Edited by The Unhallowed
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My theory is that it's a captured void-spren.

 

Remember, the Parshendi ordered Gavilar's assassination because he was trying to bring their gods back, and had shared his plans with them that night. I don't remember if we saw any first hand indications of what a captured spren looks like in the Eshonai chapters, but I could easily see this being what a powerful evil spren looks like when contained.

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My theory is that it's a captured void-spren.

 

Remember, the Parshendi ordered Gavilar's assassination because he was trying to bring their gods back, and had shared his plans with them that night. I don't remember if we saw any first hand indications of what a captured spren looks like in the Eshonai chapters, but I could easily see this being what a powerful evil spren looks like when contained.

It is possible that it was a captured Voidspren. Although, the Everstorm spreading Voidspren across the land would make having an artifact like that redundant. It seems like it will play a larger role in future books, but I can't say for sure.

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Can we possibly guess at what the sphere is by way of deducing what it is not?

For example:

It's not a stormlight infused gem.

It does not hold a regular spren.

The Parshendi do not know Gavilar has it (or else they would have instructed Szeth to pick it up).

The Ghostbloods may want it/are looking for it.

It cannot fall into the hands of the wrong people (ie Ghostbloods, Restares).

 

Any other WoBs saying what it is not?

 

As well, to note, Gavilar trusts a servant of the Parshendi with the sphere. What does that say about his trust of the rest of the Alethi and the Sons of Honor with this possibly dangerous item?

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I'm still holding out hope for it being an unmade-in-a-box.

 

It's definitely Odious.  Gavilar wanted to start a desolation, after all.

I really wish someone would ask Brandon if the Unmade have six*, or hundreds to their numbers.  The hints we've gotten are leaning towards the latter, but people in-world could be misapplying the term Unmade for Voidspren -- since the Unmade are officially Splinters of Odium... as spren are Splinters of their Shard(s), iirc-- so... WHICH IS IT?

 

Point being: if there are more than six 'major' Unmade, meaning there are 'minor' Unmade, I'll buy that one of those latter is in the sphere.

 

 

* Six Unmade + Ten Heralds = 16!

Edited by dvoraen
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  • 4 weeks later...

It definitely seems like similar magic.  The first part that popped into my head when I started reading the prologue for the fourth time was "Hey, that sounds a lot like Nightblood!"  The dark energy that Szeth described the sphere having just seemed to be the same.

 

Not exactly.  Nightblood leaks dark smoke.  The sphere is giving off dark light.

 

That's a huge disparity.  It's a case of similar but different at this point.

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That is true.  However, it would look very similar if someone wasn't looking too closely.  People using stormlight also seem to give off a sort of mist/smoke material, so... quite similar.

 

That smoke IS the stormlight.  Just like Nightblood's black smoke is the breaths of the people he kills.

 

The sphere's light is almost certainly different.

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That smoke IS the stormlight. Just like Nightblood's black smoke is the breaths of the people he kills.

The sphere's light is almost certainly different.

Yeah but stormlight doesn't give off smoke/mist when it's infused in a gem right? It gives off light. So the orb could be something similar. Heck it may be infused with breaths in a similar form as we commonly see stormlight infused gemstones. I dunno it could be a huge red herring but the similarities seem intentional.

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Gemstone light does shift around and pulse on and off if you look closely. It's definitely leaking out too, probably just not enough to be visible as a gas. Stormlight naturally glows, being in a gem does not change the fact that it is gaseous. It doesn't just "give off light" and nothing else.

There just isn't that detailed of a description for the black sphere right now. If we knew what the black light looked like up close we can compare it better.

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Gemstone light does shift around and pulse on and off if you look closely. 

Do you have a reference for this?

 

All I can remember are the fairly solid, steady light that it gives off.  For example, using spheres for light instead of candles or torches in the surgery room to provide even light, the goblet full of spheres that Lirin used to chase off the townspeople, etc.  (There've been at least three separate occasions prior to this where I seem to have made up stuff regarding gemstones based on memory, so it's an honest question.)

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Do you have a reference for this?

All I can remember are the fairly solid, steady light that it gives off. For example, using spheres for light instead of candles or torches in the surgery room to provide even light, the goblet full of spheres that Lirin used to chase off the townspeople, etc. (There've been at least three separate occasions prior to this where I seem to have made up stuff regarding gemstones based on memory, so it's an honest question.)

According to the Coppermind, which did have a source for that line as well so I checked it. It's WoR Chapter 22, as Kaladin examines the ruby in the hearth. The pulsing though I don't see anymore so I might just be thinking of something else, but if it's not evenly diffused I guess the lighting is bound to occasionally focus in one direction.

The light is steady relative to flickering candle flames, but the actual stormlight in the gemstone is just one chaotic storm swirling around. It glows continuously so I guess you don't notice either way.

Edited by natc
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As I explained in another thread (link below), Stormlight is a light emitting gas.  Nightblood gives off a gas (made of breaths) that does not emit light, as it is merely dark.  Gavilar's sphere gives off a dark light.  However, we do not know what it contains.

 

Here's the thread: http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/21283-measuring-stormlight/ 

 

Also, this outlines what's going on with stormlight leakage: http://www.austincc.edu/emeyerth/diffuse2.htm

 

Stormlight is a gas, and it is diffusing out of the sphere.  The sphere acts as a membrane that has very low permeability for exiting stormlight but very high permeability for entering stormlight, except for when it is being surgebound, which more easily draws the stormlight out of the sphere.

 

The spheres leak stormlight at a constant, but very slow rate.  However, it will simply APPEAR to leak faster as the amount of stormlight leaking increases.  Let's say that I have a sphere that gives off 100 candelas of light, and it leaks enough stormlight every hour to lose 10 candelas.  After 1 hour, it's lost 10% of its light.  From the first hour to the second hour, it loses another 10 lumens, but the brightness decreases by over 11% (90 to 80 versus 100 to 90).  From hour 2 to 3, it loses 12.5% of its light.  Skipping ahead, from hour 5 to 6, it loses 20% of its light.  Then 25%.  Then 33%.  Then 50%.  By hour 10, it's all gone.  The percentage is increasing at an increasing rate.  So it appears to be dimming more quickly, but the rate of diffusion has not changed.

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Unless you are using stormlight, in which case the rate of diffusion is entirely different, depending on the way of use or how much is used, etc, etc.

 

I already established that i was discussing stormlight sitting in a sphere.  It also works for an honorblade holder, except that the rate of diffusion is much higher because of the lack of a "membrane".  Same with a Radiant, except that they (may) have a gemheart, which would serve as a membrane and limit (or eliminate, possibly) any diffusion.

 

Using Stormlight does not defuse it.  Stormlight doubles as fuel, which makes utilizing surges entirely different from standard diffusion.

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Well, I am terribly sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about, because I am not an electrician and do not have any idea at all how electricity works. Can you at least try to explain it in a way that I can understand?

Well you're in luck, because nobody is talking about electricity.

We're discussing stormlight as an ideal gas here.

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Well, I am terribly sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about, because I am not an electrician and do not have any idea at all how electricity works.  Can you at least try to explain it in a way that I can understand?

 

I'm explaining about how we know that Stormlight is a (light emitting) gas, and very likely an ideal one.  Or it at least acts like an ideal gas, which most gasses do, so that point is moot.  So basically showing how stormlight is a light emitting gas.  No electricity involved :)

 

Sorry if I'm just throwing information out there.  I took AP Chemistry last year, and have a smorgasbord of the info stuck in my head.

 

Basically, stormlight is a gas that can be consumed by Knights Radiant to fuel the surges, similar to how Mistborn consume metals and Returned consume breaths (and stormlight).

Edited by Patrick Star
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Thank you for explaining at my level a little more.  Chemistry never was my strong point.  I understand that the Stormlight is used to fuel the surges.  However, I never did catch that the Returned could be fueled on Stormlight.  Where did you hear that?

Word of Brandon.  That's why Vasher is on Roshar.  He can live off the highstorms rather than by stealing breaths from other people.

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