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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.

Long time leader first theory post I have a theory about the origin of the unmade and the heralds. I think he unmade we're humans at one point "unmade" into powerful evil Spre when the midnight mother is defeated shallan get the impression she was trying to understand something she lost. In symmetry I believe the Heralds may have been Spren "Made" human which is why they are so dedicated to their ideals. Just a gut feeling

Recently Mister Sanderson replied to an interesting question on Reddit. The Question alone would be a bit interesting but his answer have some cool extras: First of all we have a confirm that someone may get the Surgebinder's perks also through the Honorblades and it's not something unique to the Nahel bond. But the part I feel really spicy is this: "For example, Jezrien didn't actually have any squires, as none of the Heralds did." This sentence may have a couple of interpretations: - Heralds never had Squires - Heralds has no Squires now Both are pretty interesting (of course the first more) because this mean that modern Nale's Skybreaker can't be his Squires. This mean that if we see someone of the drawn in stormlight, They must to have a RK at least. Much more (to me) this WoB destroy the possibility of a Szeth as Squire of Nale as a way for him to be capable of Breath Stormlight to use Nightblood.

Words of Radiance Spoilers below, please be warned. Perhaps I failed to follow something, however this seems to be an oversight in Words of Radiance. We start out with a conversation between Dalinar and Amaram in which Dalinar shows Amaram his irrefutable evidence of Amaram's deceitful nature. Dalinar reveals that he had planted the rumor that the Herald Talanel spoke of a treasure of Shardblades hidden in a cave. Dalinar had placed Talanel's blade in the cave, but only after having bonded with it. He then summoned the blade after Amaram had thought he successfully stole it. The important distinction to recall here is that Dalinar bonded with Talanel's blade. Later in the book Dalinar is speaking with the Stormfather and wishes to bond him. The stormfather tells Dalinar that he will have to get rid of his shardblade, which we have learned is essentially the undead corpse of a spren (rather metal in my opinion). Dalinar drops the blade and instantly breaks his bond. This is the part I have a question about, as it does not make sense, and if it does make sense it paints a very different picture of Talanel. We learn from both Sylphrena and the internal monologue of Szeth that the original shardblades were made by Honor, whom Dalinar refers to as the Almighty. We also learn that these blades are different from other shardblades in that they give the wielder surgebinding powers, and are referred to as Honorblades. This was later imitated by the spren who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Honor and help fight the Desolations, thus creating the Radiants. This sets up the conflict that I read with Dalinar's conversation with the Stormfather. The Honorblades are not spren corpses like the rest of the shardblades. The honorblades give surgebinding capabilities to the wielders. With those two statements held to be true, we have to ask two questions: 1.) Why was Dalinar unable to inhale Stormlight until after he bound the Stormfather if he was bonded to an Honorblade? and 2.) Why did the Stormfather have Dalinar cast aside his shardblade if it was not a spren corpse, but in fact an Honorblade? I can arrive at two separate conclusions for this. One is simple, there was a Continuity error and it was missed in editing. There was never meant to be any hidden meaning behind Dalinar bonding a Herald's Honorblade, and it's a miniscule issue in what has so far been an exemplary piece of fantasy writing. The second conclusion is a little heavier. This is the assumption that Sanderson and his editors are far more diligent than I am, and in fact intended every scene. This implies that either the Herald Talanel bonded a shardblade other than an Honorblade; or Talanel is not a Herald. If this is the case, it could suggest a follow up, if Talanel is not a herald, is it possible that the man who saves Szeth is not a Herald either? I am very interested to hear anyone else's input on this. I am new to the forum, and it is possible this has been discussed before and I haven't found the thread, if so I apologize.

I was reading through Way of Kings again, and I noticed something very odd. On Kaladin's first bridge run, there is an unnamed bridgeman who says, "Talenelat'Elin, bearer of all agonies." The bearer of all agonies part interests me, because it clearly refers to the fact that he is the only Herald still being tortured in death, while all the other Heralds broke the Oathpact and are still alive. However, all of the common people believe that the Heralds won, stopped the cycle of Desolations, and chased the Voidbringers into the Tranquiline Halls. That being the case, how does this random bridgeman seem to know this information about Taln when nobody else does? Additionally, he is described as being old and leathery-faced. I don't know how much older he would be than Kaladin, but I imagine it's pretty significant, especially when you consider the physical strength and stamina needed for a bridgeman. How would such an old man have survived carrying bridges long enough to know the ins and outs of how the whole process worked? He knew enough to tell Kaladin tips for making the carrying easier, knew not to make Gaz mad, and was able to look for the signs to see that the current bridge run was "going to be a bad one". It seems odd that someone so apparently old would be strong enough to survive carrying bridges as long as he must have. The man also is the only bridgeman we see to show any kindness at all to Kaladin, while all the other bridgemen are pretty much completely dead inside. Much like Kaladin when he becomes "the wretch," they don't care about anything or anyone. So why does this bridgeman, who has clearly gone on at least a few runs before (and it seems likely that it's more than just a few), suddenly help Kaladin without any real reason to do so?

I've seen this brought up briefly in passing, but I think it deserves more of a look. To my understanding it is pretty much accepted that the masked man face at the beginning of any chapter in the books indicates that Hoid will be in the chapter. I believe there is one chapter where he isn't explicitly there, but is mentioned by Shallan. The faces also seem to appear for specific characters as well. Certain characters seem to always start with at least a same, recurring face (if I remember correctly). The faces could also, however, be representative of heralds. So what does this all mean. Are the faces indicative of characters? Are they indicative of heralds? Or is it both? Could the characters somehow be connected to a certain herald, and what does that mean in the long run? If this has been answered or discussed elsewhere, sorry. I couldn't find it.

Ok in the Prelude to TWoK Talenel (Taln, Talenelat, Talenel'Elin) dies and his honorblade vanishes, so that there are only 9 left in the circle. In Words of Radiance, doesn't Dalinar bond Talenel'Elin's honorblade? And if Dalinar DID bond the honorblade, as WoR mentions in multiple places that Dalinar had bonded "that madman's blade". Why, at the end of WoR, does the blade that Dalinar has bonded start screaming inside his head after Dalinar swears his second oath, and The Stormfather refer to the blade as a "monstrosity"?? Especially if Szeth had an honorblade, and it did not scream in Kaladin's mind.

Base Information Names (included for convenience) Personality The man in the Prelude to The Way of Kings has always interested me. This may in fact be the the seed that began this theory. His name is given as Kalak, Herald, Patron of the Willshapers. More than this, his attitude is startalingly similar to another man we have read of in Brandon Sanderson's works. A very old man, with a very youthful body. Bourn down heavily by the weight of his age, his knowledge, his sins, and responsability. Not a man who lives for himself at all; instead, a man who lives to correct the wrongs he wishes he had never created. The man who instructed Kaladin Stormblessed to "Choose the option that makes it easiest for you to sleep at night." After all, "That's what I wish I'd done."

Hey all, so I'm thinking the Oathpact might be more simple than we've, or at least I've, given it credit for. The way I see it, Honour and Odium have a chat. Maybe after Odium hits Braize and forces H/C to Roshar. Honour proposes a contest. He will pick ten of his best to face any trial Odium can throw at them, if they fail Odium gets a shot at Honour, or Roshar. Odium, being tricksy, rightly points out that Honour could just never said champions to face Odium's challenges. No challenge is no failure, and thus Odium never gets a chance. Honour is like "fine, if they don't return after a while you get another shot" Odium decides fair is fair and thinks torture is the best way to challenge Honour's champions, perhaps not necessarily in keeping with Honour's understanding of the oathpact or intent but the deal has been made. The reason why the Desolations were getting fiercer over time is because with each desolation Odium gets a better idea of how to attack and make use of his resources. Just as the Spren and Heralds seem to get a better idea of the proper game plan. However, with Aharietiam the Heralds throw a wrench into this plan as Taln is too stubborn to break. Odium eventually gets frustrated and just decides to throw the deal to the wind and go at Honour. Because he's no longer acting within the bounds of the deal honour can bind him, in this case to Greater Roshar/Braize. Of course, Honour is dead, so that sucks. The way I see it, the Oathpact is the specific name for the deal Honour made with the Heralds. Thus why it doesn't include Odium as a binding participant, as per WoB...probably. In this model the Oathpact is like a contract of employment between one company Honour and ten people. I've some thoughts on Parsheni and Odium Influence that I may share later. So, that's it. If anything here is mindnumbingly simple just feel free to cruise on by.

I wasn't sure where exactly to put this, but I noticed on Shalash's page, it's confirmed by a WoB that she is Jezrien's daughter. Or at least, it's posted on Theoryland. I wasn't sure if there were any book references, or hints that would have inspired someone to ask this question. I didn't see much on her particular wiki, since not much is known about her in general. I assume we don't know who her mother is. But when I checked Jezrien's page, it didn't mention Shalash at all. I feel like this is something that should be mentioned & I figure it's pretty significant. It makes me wonder about all the other Heralds. Are they also related? Mostly I thought that this was a very interesting piece of info, and I haven't seen anyone else talking about it. But today is also my first day, so this might be information that everyone else is used to.

I'm new to this website! I'm so glad that it exists to help me. I recently finished WoK and WoR. I loved these books, they were great. After reading, I had many questions that this website helped fill, but not all of them. I am still confused on the Heralds... so little of them is known I feel at this point. Question #1: The book starts at the end of a desolation and one of the heralds had died (herald of war). The other one states that "I can't go back, I just can't" and the other agrees and says the others felt the same. They mentioned that the one herald that died will be enough to cover for them and they his suffering is better than all their sufferings... when they die they get sent somewhere to be punished or something in preparation to come back again? Question #2: The heralds left their swords and left... what does this mean? Are they dead at this point or simply immortal like beings wandering the world? We know their swords eventually found their way to the Shin but what of the heralds themselves (other than herald of war which apparently came back to life of some sorts in WoR)? Question #3: In WoR we know the Herald of War makes a return that Wit was there to welcome saying "you may be too late". He doesn't really do much... I don't know what happens but supposedly when the heralds die they go to some place and come back for the next desolation. So is the Herald of War the only "active" herald now? Question #4: Similar to question 3... the person that saved Szeth at the end was a herald? I don't understand who that was or the significance. But I feel there is one. Thanks so much for any help filling in the gaps for me!

Hey guys, first post and first topic here. I was reading all of the awesome theories here, combined with a Stormlight Archive re-read, and had an interesting thought. Tell me what you guys think. Just a heads up, I didn't exactly do my due diligence with the WoB quotes. I'm quoting mostly from memory, but if you guys think there is potential to this theory then I'll come back and flesh this out with links quotes and such. Okay, so we have WoB that, on Roshar, Nightblood behaves very similarly to Shardblades. I think there is more to it than that. I think Nightblood behaves similarly to an Honorblade. (This may already be the prevailing theory, but I don't know if there is actual WoB to that effect.) For one, Honorblades have more in common with Nightblood than they do with Shardblades. Honorblades are actual physical objects that are heavily invested; same as Nightblood. Shardblades, however, are Spren, which are mostly cognitive entities, that are mimicing the effects of Honorblades. Between Honorblades, Shardblades, and Nightblood, Shardblades are the odd ones out. There is also the obvious similarity in their destructive potential. Honorblades and Nightblood are all very powerful tools. This is the superficial similarity that everyone makes and takes for granted. After that conclusion is reached, it's easy to stop thinking about it. But what if the Honorblades made the Heralds instead of the Heralds simply being matched with the Honorblade that best suited them? In The Way of Kings CHAPTER 18: HIGHPRINCE OF WAR, there is an interesting piece of information. That sword of retribution line really caught my eye. I guess it's a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" dilemma, but what if Nalan, who's Divine Attributes are Just / Confident which could easily lead to Retribution, became that way by holding the Sword of Retribution rather than the nameless Honorblade that Nalan wields having become known as the sword of retribution simply because it was Nalan wielding it? I propose that the Honorblades are so heavily invested that they have a sort of Intent of their own, much like Shards of Adonalsium, that shapes the personality of their bearers. For example, if Jezrien and Nalan had initially been given each other's Honorblades, then perhaps Jezrien would be Just / Confident and Nalan would be Protecting / Leading. This is where Nightblood comes in. Nightblood, like Honorblades, consumes Investiture in order to fuel the powers it uses to perform its Command. I'm proposing that, on Nalthis, Honorblades would have their own Commands. In this case, "Command" is what Nalthians call "Intent." In fact, I believe Vasher explicitly describes the process of giving a Command as visualizing the intent behind the Command. In other words, endowing something with an Intent. So if, on Roshar, Nightblood is using Investiture to perform its intent, that would mean that "Destroy Evil" would translate into an unknown Primary and Secondary Divine Attribute. This is a rough draft of a theory, but I hope with some input from the community it can be fleshed out and formalized into a working theory to describe the relationship between invested objects, Intent, and Commands.

OK, 'pologies if this has come up elsewhere, I'm at work (don’t have real time to scroll through all posts (tag checked though)) and had a thought. I'm rereading WoK book 1 and have just finished the bit where Kaladin has teamed up with Rock and Teft to milk Knobweed. When Kaladin asks Teft for his loyalty, Teft refuses as he ALWAYS lets people down / betrays their trust. Admittedly he goes on later in the book to elaborate on his failures in Envisagers. I know it is a real stretch, and based on one line of dialog, but I think there is a real possibility Teft is a Herald. He knows things about the Heralds and while his "ignorance" could be explained by him being a junior member of the Envisigers, it could be explained through training Kaladin (i.e. not dumping it all on him at once), senility/mental instability (he would be well over 6000 years old (a significant time of which he was tortured in one way or another)) or not wanting to admit to himself what is coming (the Endstrom). As this is my first theory post an I am a delicate flower, if scorn is the rained down on me from a great height, please include kittens to soften the blow. Elwarko

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but has anyone noticed this: from tWoK- City of the bells describing Tozbek "He wore...a silver buttoned black coat. She's imagined him getting that scar on his jaw in a furious sea battle..." Ummm...don't we know someone else who wears a black uniform with silver buttons with a scar on his face? Don't know what to do with this information, please help.

I just came across this quote from Shallan.. "She paused, noticing what she’d drawn: a rocky shore near the ocean, with distinctive cliffs rising behind. The perspective was distant; on the rocky shore, several shadowy figures helped one another out of the water. She swore one of them was Yalb. A hopeful fancy. She wished so much for them to be alive. She would probably never know. She turned the page and drew what came to her. A sketch of a woman kneeling over a body, raising a hammer and chisel, as if to slam it down into the person’s face. The one beneath her was stiff, wooden . . . maybe even stone?” Is she able to draw 'truths' even though she is un aware of them? So are the sailors alive? and is the woman with the chisel the herald 'Shalash' who I believe is the woman in the WoK interlude destroying art (of herself). If so, what does it mean for her powers?

Apologies if this has been addressed, but I couldn't find anything with search. Sorry on the slight WOR spoilers. I'm not too familiar with the spoiler policies, so if this should be elsewhere, sorry for the extra work MODs. The prohibition against predicting the future is bugging me quite a bit, and I think offers a little insight into the Recreance. Admittedly this is mostly supposition. IIRC, in WOK we are told that prescience is a gift of the voidbringers. Words of Radiance slight spoilers: If you look into the future of Roshar after the Final Desolation, you would presumably see another desolation coming. You know that this is impossible, the Heralds themselves have confirmed that the Final Desolation has occurred, and you know that in the past you were able to actually see the future. There are two conclusions that can be drawn from this. One is that your vision of the future is wrong. If your vision is wrong, something must have happened to change it, and because what you now see is heretical to the heralds, and pro voidbringer, it follows that the enemies of mankind have screwed up our ability to see the future. The second is that the heralds have in fact lied about the Final Desolation truly being the FINAL desolation. If enough KR came to that conclusion, that the highest archetypes of human virtue and divinity have lied about such an important event (out of base cowardice no less), I can imagine a pretty harsh reaction from an order of knights based on Oaths. I can even see this causing the KR to dissolve. I buy this as the cause of the Recreance more than the other explanations that I've seen. As a side note, if I were a Herald, and wanted to hide the same of my violation of the Oathpact, I would need to eliminate the chance of anyone looking into the future and seeing that I was lying. Thoughts?

I just ran by this is my reread. It was when bridge 4 went on a run rear the end of the book when dunny dies. Bridge 4 didn't loose loose a man till they he was trampled. This was a moment of change, Kaladin started helping other wounded bridge crew members. Then I noticed the man with the arrow in his leg they said this about him. He says how. will i get back to camp if i cant walk. but he had no accent and though he had dark skin like a azish. not a direct quote just from memory, but could this of been a hearld. Possibly testing kaladin. The final hold outs came around maosh said he was wrong about him, im not sure if im just reading to deeply or if it could be a herald and if so which?

I'm new, obviously so I don't know if someone hasn't already discussed this but I'll bring it up anyways; what are the chances of Wit(Hoid) being a herald? I feel like he is the only person in the SA who knows what is going on and he has been everywhere (world singer) and anywhere. He would have had years, thousands of them to learn and travel. He knows from experience but masks it with humor. And the end is a give away I feel like, him knowing where to be, what to look for and what would happen at that moment. This is just a theory and I haven't brushed up my reading on it recently but what do you think? p.s. If someone has already started this thread let me know!

This is by no means a real theory, but rather a fun thought: I think it would be an interesting plot device if, now that several of the Heralds abandoned their oaths, the Heralds are vulnerable and no longer "respawn" on Roshar. They still have very long lives, but the next time they die, they are kapput. I know there are a lot of different ideas of how the entire Order/Herald/Gem/etc. relations work, but I think it would put a really unique spin on things if their permanent death disconnected their Order from the Surgebinding chart in a way. I'm not sure which scenario I prefer, but it could mean that they cannot use abilities that are a combination of the relating to surges anymore, or something like that. This may put a lot of pressure on some capable main characters to find the Heralds and control them. It would essentially be trying to round up a group of rabid lemmings as they all run for a cliff in insanity (yes, I know the whole lemming thing isn't exactly true, but it provides an image). It wouldn't be my favorite interpenetration of the quote, but the entire "Unite them" sequence for Dalinar could relate to this urgent quest to find the Heralds and get them back on their feet. It seems like all of the Orders/Heralds will be needed for the Everstorm or whatever awaits us at the end of 10 books/years.

Hi I'm new and I started a reread of Way of Kings and I found something that I thought was interesting. I noticed it because I thought I read somewhere that Hoid wasn't the only character that is common to Brandon's books. Here's the lines (p. 11): 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 I just thought that it was weird that there would be a random man that has a speaking part with no other purpose in the book. Then as a read further I realized that it could also maybe be one of the Heralds (who says they aren't immortal?) (p. 12) He counted off each one, and realized there were only nine here. One was conspicuously missing. Why had Shalash's statue been removed? This could be what the man meant when he asked Szeth the question--his statue is missing. Obviously I could just be reading too deep into this, but it was a fun thought so I wanted to share it.