[OB] WoBs Questions

[Naurock]

Where do you guys research your WoBs? I could swear I saw one a year back or so saying a Herald with an Honorblade is going to be able to do much more than a normal person with it. 

I've been searching the Arcanum here for tags, Heralds, Herald, Honorblade, and on and can't find it. Does anyone else remember this quote? 

This has been sticking in my head lately, due to my perceived foreshadowing that Nale and Szeth will fight. I wonder how it would look because Nightblood was described by the Nightwatcher as a "sword that cannot be defeated". Nightblood told Szeth that he could show him that Nale's sword was nothing and let him show him how.

[The One Who Connects]

We have the problem that we have all sorts of information in all sorts of places. Arcanum was meant to condense everything into a singular location, but as Pagerunner mentions, that takes time. In the meanwhile, have my shortcut:

On 7/15/2017 at 9:52 PM, The One Who Connects said:

Helpful Links for Everybody to Have:

• The Coppermind: Wiki of all things Sanderson (already linked by Ammanas, but I'm being thorough)
• Theoryland: Database holding the WoBs from many Signings, Q&A's, and other events.
• Pagerunner's Database: Compendium of all things Brandon has posted on Reddit.
• Events and Signings: Topics containing audio/transcripts of all recent Signings, Q&A's, and other events. (a lot haven't made it onto Theoryland yet)
• WoP 2015: A collection of questions answered by Peter Ahlstrom. (Here b/c none of the rest of you seem to have it bookmarked )
  • WoP 2016: Small List, but it gets overlooked a lot.
• Arcanum: Fan-Made Database to replace Theoryland, set for release a little before Oathbringer comes out.
• The Annotations: Brandon's behind the scenes info-dumps about the stories, writing process, and fun tidbits.

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On 4/12/2018 at 0:31 PM, Naurock said:

I could swear I saw one a year back or so saying a Herald with an Honorblade is going to be able to do much more than a normal person with it. I'm starting to think I imagined it. While looking for it now I think I'm going crazy.

We have a few different WoBs that say some related things:

Quote

Rybal
Can the Heralds Surgebind without their [Honor]Blades, and if not are they under the same restrictions the Radiants are?

Brandon Sanderson
[...] I will say that the Heralds without their Blades are incapable of the powers you are familiar with. It doesn't mean there aren't other things they can do, but they are incapable of the powers you are familiar with throughout the book.

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18th_Shard
Does a Herald using an Honorblade consume the same "dangerous" amounts of Stormlight?

Brandon Sanderson
Honorblades are less efficient; this doesn't change when a Herald uses them. (But they have other advantages.)

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Steeldancer
The Heralds, back before Honor died, were they directly powered by Honor?

Brandon Sanderson
Yes. You’ll find out more about that, but the Honorblades were pieces of Honor’s soul that he gave them and direct access to his essence.

Plus a little speculation:

Quote

hwiles
I think at this point we're definitely supposed to be confused about the Herald's strengths and weaknesses.  We've pretty much only seen them at their absolute worst, ie: drunk, pessimistic, and maybe even downright unhinged.  But at some point in the distant past, they were granted immense powers and chosen to be humanity's protectors, presumably due to their heroic nature and close association to either or both Honor and Cultivation.

Maybe there are thing we don't know about the Herald's surgebinding that will allow them to be immensely powerful...

Yata
Also, every Honorblade was made specificaly for an Herald....Maybe he is the "perfect host" for a Specific Honorblade's Bond. The Blade may work with other humans (also other herald) but it's more inefficient bound (like a Radiant with less Oaths spoken).

Spoolofwhool
My thoughts are that the Honorblades were designed to be "keys" for the Heralds' spiritwebs. When wielded by the Herald they were created for, it fully unlocks all the abilities in the Herald. However, when used by someone else, it can only correctly interface with certain, more general, parts of the spiritweb, which results in only a limited number of abilities being granted.

Patrick Star
Yeah, the Heralds could presumably make much better use of their honorblades than a normal person, and each herald was worth an army by themselves, since they could repel desolations before the radiants formed (albeit with much higher casualty numbers).

hwiles
Plus, when a Herald dies, their blade disappears from the physical realm with them, so we already know they are more closely bound to the blades than Szeth ever was. Possessing an Honorblade does not a Herald make   Closer bound to me implies access to greater powers, like how Radiants' bonds work.

PantsForSquares
My current theory - developed on another thread here - is that Honorblades and Heralds are two halves of a whole - while the Honorblades provide access to the Surges, the Heralds themselves act either as a force multiplier or have other powers that allow them to exceed the power of a fully-realized Radiant (whereas Szeth loses to Kaladin moments after the latter's sworn his Third Ideal). We know that they have some other powers, but there's no way that agelessness and heightened reflexes alone justify their mythical stature.

[Scion of the Mists]

There is a WoB "Stack Exchange" thread where you can post you question and have some WoB masters help you out.  

[Naurock]

Thank you @Scion of the Mists. I'll give it a try there too.

[Pagerunner]

The big caveat with Arcanum for the moment is that pre-WoR stuff hasn't all been transferred over yet. If you definitely remember it, and you didn't see it in Arcanum, you can check Theoryland; they have all the earlier stuff.

[Naurock]

Lol, that's the thing @Pagerunner I'm starting to think I imagined it. I saw someone else post it and while looking for it now I think I'm going crazy. Thanks for the link!

[Naurock]

1 hour ago, The One Who Connects said:

We have the problem that we have all sorts of information in all sorts of places. Arcanum was meant to condense everything into a singular location, but as Pagerunner mentions, that takes time. In the meanwhile, have my shortcut:

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We have a few different WoBs that say some related things:

Plus a little speculation:

This speculation thread you provided is actually the exact quote I remember. So it wasn't a WoB. My bad, everyone. Thanks @The One Who Connects