Stormblessed Dolphin Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 So, something I've wondered about. And before I continue I would like to warn of spoilers for WoR, because I don't booksellers of any kind, so please make sure you have read the second stormlight book before continuing :). Please forgive me if I don't have all my facts right. But it is my understanding that to become a surgebinder, you have to be 'broken' Anyway, I'm wondering why Shallan was able to become a lightweaver. Yes, she has a pretty broken up past, but I want to bring up one thing. I always assumed her broken past was her ordeals with her father. But in WoR when we get to see her backstory, it is revealed that she formed a bond with Pattern before the death of her mother. So my question is, what else happened to her that makes her eligible to be bonded with a spren? Am I missing something? Or am I just not getting my facts right? Someone with more experience, please help me understand what's going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammanas Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) I'm sure there are others that can answer these sort of questions better that I, but I was under the impression that it is completely the sprens decision of who they want to bond. With that information I would say that the spren could see characteristics in Shallan that hadn't been developed yet...I think Pattern could see who she would become. Perhaps that has something to do with the realm he/it is from? Edited December 4, 2017 by Ammanas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormblessed Dolphin Posted December 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 Right, I think the Spren does get some say in it, and being from the cognitive realm, it is possible that Pattern could see what she could become. And maybe someone who is more an expert on this topic will come along and help both of us lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hoodie Mistborn Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 Unless there is a WoB that I haven't seen, at this point we have no idea what happened to/with Shallan pre-killing her mother that would have broken her to the point of being able to bond Pattern, that is still RAFO. I have an inkling of some hints in OB, but I can't for the life of me remember them right now, and they weren't definitive even if they were hints. Just more statements of something dark before the mother's death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHobbit Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 We may find out what other events have shaped Shallon when she speaks her 4th Ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) Brandon Sanderson has suggested we might've fixated on the idea of 'brokenness' a bit too much, and gave a reason for why Shallan could have bonded Pattern before. I'm putting the new WoB under a spoiler simply because it was asked during one of the Oathbringer signings, and because it is still waiting to be reviewed. As far as I can tell, there are no spoilers for Oathbringer in it, it is just about Shallan's past based the info we got from WoR. Spoiler Questioner How was Shallan able to bond with Pattern before she was broken? Brandon Sanderson She was open to him even before she went through a lot of that turmoil Questioner I thought everybody had to be broken in order to... Brandon Sanderson Well, that's their philosophy in-world. But I'm not going to say whether it's correct or wrong... I will imply that there are other means as well. Edited December 4, 2017 by Willow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oberyn Posted December 4, 2017 Report Share Posted December 4, 2017 37 minutes ago, Willow said: Brandon Sanderson has suggested we might've fixated on the idea of 'brokenness' a bit too much, and gave a reason for why Shallan could have bonded Pattern before. I'm putting the new WoB under a spoiler simply because it was asked during one of the Oathbringer signings, and because it is still waiting to be reviewed. As far as I can tell, there are no spoilers for Oathbringer in it, it is just about Shallan's past based the info we got from WoR. Reveal hidden contents Questioner How was Shallan able to bond with Pattern before she was broken? Brandon Sanderson She was open to him even before she went through a lot of that turmoil Questioner I thought everybody had to be broken in order to... Brandon Sanderson Well, that's their philosophy in-world. But I'm not going to say whether it's correct or wrong... I will imply that there are other means as well. From what I remember, there has to be a place for the spren, or the magic, to fill. It is seeing as being broken because the magic could help fill up your soul again. But what if you are so open minded you can just absorb new ideas without much trouble? Being very little could certainly help Shallan in this case, as children are more prone to ask question and accept different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted December 5, 2017 Report Share Posted December 5, 2017 9 minutes ago, Oberyn said: From what I remember, there has to be a place for the spren, or the magic, to fill. It is seeing as being broken because the magic could help fill up your soul again. But what if you are so open minded you can just absorb new ideas without much trouble? Being very little could certainly help Shallan in this case, as children are more prone to ask question and accept different things. Yeah, I think it's important that there's place in a person's spiritweb for the bond. However we still know so little about the Nahel Bond and the Spiritweb, and how all of this works, that apparently we were overly fixated on one (the most common?) method of bonding a spren. Besides that, I don't know, this WoB was actually a bit of a surprise to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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