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Inadvertant Ingredient in Making Nightblood


Kaladin Zahel

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Im on my 2nd reading of Oathbringer and am noticing the similarity between Nightblood and the Thrill.

First, they both have people who are immune to their influence with those who successfully resist them experiencing nausea.

Second, they both basically create berserkers who will kill until everyone is dead - usually including the wielder.

So my proposed theory is that NB was created on Roshar using Breath and possibly ambient Voidlight. When Shashara gave the Command she was open to Nergaoul at the time and NB was awakened with an additional and unintended amount of Odium's investiture. This leads to NB being more bloodthirsty and probably more powerful than it rightfully should have been.

This would also make me feel better about Vasher killing his love. Perhaps, during their trials with NB they ended up massacring Rosharans. Then, Vasher under the influence of the Thrill killed Shashara out of a mixture of bloodlust and horror at how wrong NB was.

Additionally, black seems to be the color of Odium's captured investiture although not his metal. So this could explain NB's color change post awakening.

There are also the more specific similarities between NB and the Thrill like the internal commanding and thumping coming from both influences.

Please let me know if you all have felt similar or if I'm just plain crazy.

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Nightblood was created on Nalthis.

Quote

Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

One question I've been thinking about a lot, and that is the black bladed sword. Is there just one sword, or is there one for each world, that [works with?] different...like Shard powers, or is it just one sword that can work with all?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

[Nightblood] is something special. A long time ago, some people from the Warbreaker world came to Roshar, saw Shardblades, thought, "We can do this," went home and tried to make one. And that is Nightblood. And it went horribly horribly wrong. And so they didn't make any more, except now, Azure's sword is somewhat related. But that is the origin of Nightblood. Trying to make a Shardblade out of a different magic system.

source

 

Edited by Spoolofwhool
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Seeing the WOB, I wonder if what happened had something to do with them being all Returned. There's obviously something different about Nightblood which we'll only find out if Brandon ever writes Nightblood or we get a POV from Vasher thinking about it.

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I definitely see what you’re saying in how they’re similar. I think they’re definitely similar in the way they affect people mind-wise. Similar to how a Smoker can create the same effect as an aviar with copper clouds. Same principles, but under different shards on different planets. But yeah, it was definitely created on Nalthis. I think it’s more likely that somehow, when nightblood was awakened, the sheer amount of investiture (Nightblood has been confirmed to one of the most invested things in the Cosmere) along with the command given together created the effects that we see come from nightblood, and mimics the effects that Nergaoul creates. 

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I have wondered If Nightblood was made with a combination of Voidlight and Breath, however there does not appear to be any evidence for this.

But there is a meta connection between Nightblood and Odium I have a hard time thinking coincidental: the purpose of the Wrath of God is the Destruction of Evil. 

Edited by ghajan monk
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For what it's worth, a relatively popular theory (that Im coming around to these days) is that Nightblood's activation Command ("Destroy Evil", which ended up basically just being "Destroy Some Stuff") used the initial Breaths Investiture to forge a Connection to another Shard, and that "Destroy" as the Command caused the Bond to go to Ruin.  We know per WOB that Nightblood is heavily Invested far beyond the Breaths that went into his creation (though no confirmation on if he's just accumulated that investiture by absorption).

 

Also, worth noting that "Black" is not an exclusive color for either Ruin or Odium, so that doesnt confirm or deny anything particular.

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23 minutes ago, Quantus said:

For what it's worth, a relatively popular theory (that Im coming around to these days) is that Nightblood's activation Command ("Destroy Evil", which ended up basically just being "Destroy Some Stuff") used the initial Breaths Investiture to forge a Connection to another Shard, and that "Destroy" as the Command caused the Bond to go to Ruin.  We know per WOB that Nightblood is heavily Invested far beyond the Breaths that went into his creation (though no confirmation on if he's just accumulated that investiture by absorption).

 

Also, worth noting that "Black" is not an exclusive color for either Ruin or Odium, so that doesnt confirm or deny anything particular.

I read that post and can defintely see that as being plausible. It seems impossible for shardic worlds to not be influenced even subtley by non-resident shards. I just haven't read Mistborn in awhile to see if there are any obvious similarities with how Ruin influences people compared to Nergaoul's.

So maybe, you have Endowment's magic with a dash of Ruin(from the commmand 'destroy' and a sprinkling of Odium(Shashara presumably 'hates' evil when visualizing the command).

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40 minutes ago, Kaladin Zahel said:

I just haven't read Mistborn in awhile to see if there are any obvious similarities with how Ruin influences people compared to Nergaoul's.

The Thrill and Nightblood are both pretty reminiscent of emotional Allomancy. 

There are similar effects across multiple magic systems. Two forms of Lightweaving (Rosharan and Yolish) plus an Aon for illusions. Consistent healing. Etc. Etc. 

I think trying to look at an effect on one world and saying that something similar on another must be derived from the same source is a flawed argument. All of the magics run on the same underlying principles. The specifics vary. 

Edited by Calderis
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