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I suspect that when Radiants who have reached a certain degree of progress in the Nahel bond die, they go to Braize. Several points of evidence have led me to to suspect this: The Nahel bond was not designed by Honor, but was an attempt by the spren to imitate what Honor had given to the Heralds. In WoR chapter 87, Syl clarifies to Kaladin that the Nahel bond was specifically based on the Honorblades. The Prelude to the Stormlight Archive tells us that one of the conditions of the Oathpact is that the Heralds would return to Braize to be tortured if they died, and were expected to return willingly if they did not die during a Desolation. To abandon the Oathpact, they had to leave their Honorblades behind, willingly and intentionally giving them up. They did so by slamming the Blades into the stone ground. This suggests that the Honorblades was the basis of their connection to the Oathpact, and thereby to Braize. The coded passage from the Diagram found in the WoR Chapter 84 epigraph references "the secret that broke the Knights Radiant". Apparently there is such a secret, and obviously it would need to be a very significant one. When Dalinar observes the Recreance in his vision (WoK Chapter 52), he sees the Radiants slam their Blades into the stone ground, as the Heralds did, and as Dalinar does when he relinquishes Oathbringer to Sadeas. This is clearly how the Bond is broken, though why they needed to leave the Plate behind as well is unclear, mostly because we know so little about what Shardplate actually is and whether it has any connection at all to the Heralds (whom so far have never been shown wearing Plate of any kind). Nale believes, following Ishar, that when the proto-Radiants "naturally discover the greater power of the Oaths"..."without Honor to regulate this, there is a small chance that what comes next will allow the Voidbringers to again make the jump between worlds." (Edgedancer, Chapter 9) This suggests that the Radiants are connected in some way we do not yet understand to Braize, and could potentially (though by no means certainly) bring a Desolation the same way the Heralds do. Whether Ishar is correct in this belief or not is not yet known to us. To bring these points together, the Nahel bond is based on the Honorblades, and severed by the same means that the Heralds severed their ties to the Oathpact. Is it possible, then, that by copying the Honorblades, the Nahel spren inadvertently recreated the not-so-desirable aspect of the Honorblades that connects the Heralds to Braize? If so, it is possible that when Radiants die, their soul(?)/Cognitive shadow/non-material aspect goes to Braize, as the Heralds do, instead of going through the usual afterlife? This would be an extremely serious side-effect for the Nahel bond to have, and it's hard to imagine anyone, least of all the Radiants who were all broken people in some way, stoically accepting more-or-less-eternal torment after their death. As others have theorized, we already have reason to believe that the afterlife is messed up in some way on Roshar, but if the Radiants suddenly found out that they were more or less guaranteed to go to Damnation, that would go a long way toward explaining the Recreance.

Why do we get 2 effects from a Nahel bond? Building off the theory that the focus for surgebinding is the Nahel-Bond itself, or more precisely, the puzzle-piece-filling of a Spren into a broken human to form a new reforged/"whole" entity. I posit that it is because the bond works in 2 directions: The spren completing the person's brokenness while the person completes the Spren's sentience. This then implies that each type of bond-forming Spren requires a different aspect of sentience to become whole. So, can we line this up on the Ars Arcanum chart for Divine Attributes and Surges? Let's try! 1st Theory of Combination: Each participant in the bond provides a single row from the Divine Attributes table. - Kaladin provides Protecting/Leading/Adhesion; Syl Provides Just/Confident/Gravitation. - Lift provides Loving/Healing/Abrasion; Wyndle provides Learned/Giving/Progression. - Shallan provides Creative/Honest/Illumination; Pattern provides Wise/Careful/Transformation. Ok this one just looks wrong. Shallan is *not* the honest one in this relationship. But she is the creative one... So on to our... 2nd Theory of Combination: Each Participant provides one of the 2 Divine Attributes from each of the applicable rows in the table. It is then the combination of these 2 attributes that results in the specific surge that is expressed. Furthermore I posit that the two participants in the bond will form an 'X' on the chart between the attributes. Let's see if it holds up: - Kaladin Protecting + Syl Leading = Adhesion; Kaladin Confident + Syl Just = Gravitation. - Lift Loving + Wyndle Healing = Abrasion; Lift Giving + Wyndle Learned = Progression. - Shallan Creative + Pattern Honest = Illumination; Shallan Careful + Pattern Wise = Transformation. - Dalinar Pious + Stormfather Guiding = Tension; Dalinar Leading + Stormfather Protecting = Adhesion OK so far those are looking spot on! Yeah! Now on to more speculative pairings: - Renarin Learned + ____spren Giving = Progression; Renarin Honest + ____spren Creative = Illumination - Jasnah Wise + Ivory Careful = Transformation; Jasnah Builder + Ivory Resolute = Transportation - Skybreaker/Szeth Just + Highspren/Nightblood Confident = Gravitation; Skybreaker/Szeth Obedient + Highspren/Nightblood Brave = Division - Stump (Edgedancer vs. Truthwatcher): I must say I'm stumped by Stump either way. Followup Questions: Can we use this theory to posit the types of spren that will bond the other surgebinders? (E.g. Renarin's spren would in some way bring Giving and Creative to the relationship, so what might that spren be?) Are the Honorspren always Leading & Just and the Windrunner always Protecting and Confident? Could you gain access to the same 2 surges via a different bond with a being who was Leading and Just and a spren who was Protecting and Confident? Could it be that Szeth's pairing with Nightblood is actually a swap/subversion of the traditional Highspren bond? Meaning a normal Skybreaker provides Confident and Brave while the Highspren provides Just and Obedient. Even further - are there 4 types of bonds which could theoretically grant access to the same 2 surges?? (Add Protecting/Just being + Leading Confident spren as well as Leading confident being + Protecting/Just spren.)

So I was wondering why szeth didn't become a skybreaker a long time ago,and I must say I'm surprised even baffled that szeth hasn't yet bonded or at least attracted a highspren,given how that guy sticks with the law to the very end,hell even the order's patron was attracted to szeth and even invited him to the order,I know some people will object that no spren will choose szeth because some of the things that he does are evil even kaladin mentioned it,but I don't think the highspren will worry about that,skybreakers are all about following the law no matter what,their second ideal is "I will put the law before all else." And to szeth he is just following the laws of the shin. Skybreakers don't care if their actions seem evil or not right,if you break the law they will execute you without any hesitancy and with no mercy,look at how Nale for example executed ym because he unwittingly played a part in the poisoning and death of a person or how he wanted to execute lift (who's a child) for petty stealing,so I doubt skybreakers and highspren will bother much about szeth previous killings and assassinations because he was technically following the law Why do you think he doesn't have a spren? Or is that he has already attracted a spren but that the spren hasn't revealed itself to him yet? Like how syl was following kaladin since when he was in amaram's army but never revealed herself to him until he later became a slave in the wagon,personally I do think in my opinion that even if szeth doesn't have a spren now,he'll eventually attract one now that he has been officially invited to the order.

So, I've always noticed a similarity between Kal's impressions of Syl an Tien. This made me wonder if Syl was somehow a pseudo-reincarnation of Tien. But she has really old memories, so this seemed unlikely. Then I saw this WoB: http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=836#26 This says most of what spren get is physical form and memory in the PR. So, what else do they get? I don't know as much of the spiritual realm as I'd like, but what I've gleaned is that it is a realm of connections. Spren seem to be cognitive manifestations of abstract concepts that are drawn to perceived instances of those concepts in the PR. Being abstract things, do they therefore lack connections (and so presence) in the SR? Kaladin has an unusually strong desire to protect, which drew Syl. That desire to protect initially was focused on Tien, with whom he had a very strong Connection. When he lost Tien, that connection remained, but the associated desire to protect became more generalised. Syl represents that desire to protect. So, in bonding with Kal and becoming the cognitive manifestation of his desire to protect, does she also tap into his spiritual connection to Tien, and so inherit some part of their emotional relationship? If so, does this count as pseudo-reincarnation? Whilst this started with the Syl-Kal-Tien relationship only, I have also noticed it applies to Dalinar-Stormfather-Gavilar. The Stormfather was drawn to Dalinar as a result of his desire to unify the kingdom, and hold rigidly to the codes (both presumed aspects of Bondsmiths). These are both desires tied strongly to the memory of his brother. Also, Dalinar always felt his brother was an unstoppable force that shaped those around him into what he needed them to be, making them better as a byproduct; this is clearly also true of highstorms (though whether this is a particular impression Dalinar holds regarding highstorms is unclear). The evidence of spiritual connection seems less obvious here, until Dalinar's final vision in WoR, just prior to bonding the Stormfather. In that vision, which the Stormfather did not consciously send, Dalinar felt as if Gavilar were in the next room (paraphrased). That suggests a spiritual connection to Gavilar manifested via the Stormfather. What this means for Pattern, Ivory, Glys... I think we need to know more. What do you guys think?

I don't know if this has ever been discussed, I can't find a thread about it. There's a scene in a chasm where Kaladin wonders whether he's the only one with a beginning Nahel bond. Syl says at some point: "I just ... I don't know what I know." but it's not quite clear whether she's thinking about Kaladin's original question at that moment. Then follows this scene, which makes me wonder every time I read it: What made Syl change for a moment? I cannot imagine this is meaningless or just a wrong impression on Kaladin's part. Yet, after several rereads, I've still found no possible explanation. My only idea is that maybe at that moment, she makes some connection to Shadesmar, retrieving knowledge she didn't have before, with the result that she now remembers she's not the only spren that has tried to bond. But that seems a little far fetched. Ideas? Or definite solutions I just haven't been able to find?

So in one of Dalinar's visions in Way of Kings he sees Radiants who have helmets on and then all of the sudden do not. It seems like a silly thing to be an effect of the vision as there are no other weird discrepancies and Brandon is not one to add details for no reason. Also the fact that after the battle of the Tower where Dalinar is betrayed by Sadeas he loses his shardplate's gauntlet. He then says that the Parshendi could hold that gauntlet and regrow it into a full suit if Dalinar did not have the rest of the shardplate. He borrows Adolin's gauntlet and says his shardplate will regenerate the hand piece with stormlight and time. So if shardplate regenerates like some kind of organic coral type thing could modern shardplate also be made of dead spren stimulated by stormlight? Are we seeing the Radiants in Dalinar's vision drop their visor mentally with a thought? If shardplate is made of spren is it the same spren as the blade or a different one that becomes the armor once they reach the 5th ideal or something like that? WILL KALADIN BOND A damnation GLORY SPREN FOR THE SHINIEST ARMOR AWARD ALREADY!!! Sorry... got carried away. Interested to hear your thoughts.

I have been looking and I can't find anyone who makes the case for the connection between the "broken" people and the bond the spren create, however it's something I've been contemplating for a while. I think it's Pattern who speaks about how Shallan was broken and that's how the nahel bond could be formed and I found it interesting because I can see four other KR's who might be termed Broken in the same kind of way. My thoughts are as follows. Shallan: her mental problem is that she dissociates - she is unable to deal with truth - Her Spren is a cryptic who progresses her in her order through Self Awareness and Truth. She's only able to deepen her nahel bond through overcoming her issues of dissociation. The essense attributes of her order is Creativity and Honesty. Kaladin: His mental issue is Depression - he is prone to giving up and inaction - His Spren is Honorspren - he progresses in the nahel bond through dedication to Protect (action) - His anger and restlessness in WoR lead him to mildly depressed state where he chooses inaction - but he revives the nahel bond with Syl by rededicating himself to protection and proaction. The essense atributes of his order is Protecting and Leadership. Renarin: His mental issue is Autism - Autism is linked to issues of learning and development - It's harder to say exactly how he progresses as of yet, but Truthwatcher and the essense attributes Learned and Giving. Give some indication that it'll likely be through similar means as Shallan, he also seemed to grow to fit in better with the Bridgemen, overcoming difficulties in relating to others? perhaps he'll need to become more of a scholar and accept his abilities. Ym: His mental issue indicated in his chapter, is addiction, (he's described as having drunk and partied away all his inheritance) Which is why I would suggest he was also a Truthwatcher (rather than an Edgedancer) His addiction makes him a Taker. Overcoming his addiction and dedicating himself to hearing the stories of everyone he helps (giver) also means he's dedicated to learning. Lift: Her mental issue is I suspect ADHD, she's prone to distraction and not paying attention(uncaring). Her bond with her Spren Wyndle deepens when she acknowledges and speaks the second ideal of her order - "I will remember those who have been forgotten" (Caring) the essense attribute is Loving(caring) and Healing. Jasnah: I honestly don't know, but I suspect she has some issue she's overcome to a large degree being she's proficient in Elsecalling, Her issue likely deals with the opposites of the essense attributes Wise and Careful. Perhaps something that makes/made her unreasonable, insensitive, blunt, thoughtless, inattentive? Absentminded? Losing herself in scholarship? could be something similar to Lift, ADHD, hyperfocus is part of it after-all. Dalinar: His mental issue, might be the same as Ym, addiction, he's described as having been almost addicted to the Thrill, and he was prone to drinking in excess, furthermore he was neglectful and mismanaged the war for a similar reason, addicted to the idea of getting revenge, excessively attached to the codes, causing division, he also lost faith as he was told Honor was dead, the almighty was gone. Overcoming his flaws which lead to division of the kingdom, he was neglectful for many years while Gavilar had the throne, and the other high princes manouvered, then when Gavilar died in his shame and self-recrimation for that neglect lead him to become attached to the codes which in turn lead the other high-princes to see him as divisive, because he put himself as holier than them. Dalinar dedicates himself fully to the ideal of uniting rather than dividing with his second oath. The attributes connected to Bondsmiths are Pious and Guiding. Dalinar has to overcome his need to force and control the path of others. Now we come to speculation! Elhokar: His mental issue is paranoia - he's erratic, fearful and (self)-destructive (he's acknowledged this last one, he tries to do right, but he keeps self-destructing in some way) I make the argument here that he's very clearly "broken" he's already seen something that seems to be spren of some kind. Going by the already formed pattern his mental issue makes him the opposite of the essense attribute of the order, Willshaper is the most likely with the attributes Resolute and Builder. Further I think he also contains some of the positives,having a love of adventure, novelty and oddity. Rysn: I'm not certain but I'm going to call her leaping off the Island irresponsible and unstable (in the search for dependability and resourcefulness) again working from the theory that an order's KR will have to overcome a mental deficiency opposite the essense attribute here Dependable and Resourceful would make her a candidate for Stonewarden. I'd even say she embodies one of the flaws of the Stonewardens, Stubbornness, she was unwilling to give up even when she was told by the King that the trade wouldn't be possible, she also somehow survived a rather large fall. (I'm not as certain of this one, but I think it works) Eshonai: I think her Mental issue is Social Anxiety (fear), her adventuring and discovering seems to me to be to a large degree to remain away from her people, she's IIRC described by her mother as being a disobedient child. Eshonai is clearly scarred in some way, and again if we do as before, the things she's been overcoming has been the opposite attributes to the Order of Dustbringers(releasers) Bravery(courage) and Obedience. (again it's debatable, and I'm not sure about Parshendi and Surgebinding as such, but she's at least a candidate in my mind for that order, again because of how I've interpreted her personality.) Szeth - I'm just not sure how to touch this one... Like he's shattered, I can imagine he might become a Skybreaker? He's completely without confidence and I'm not sure he trusts that what he has done was truly just, so it might be that he's going to need to overcome his uncertainty, self-doubt, and what injustice he might caused before? I don't think he's going to be Evil in any case, I think the beauty will be in how he comes to be a whole and hale person fighting for Roshar. I'm gonna end it here, I'm interested in hearing if anyone has any thoughts and if it makes sense in some fashion.

So, I have this thought every time I see this quote: (Emphasis added)It was definitely a slip on Sanderson's part, but was it simply a slip of the tongue or was he accidentally hinting about something important? I propose that the spren the Radiants bond with are simply common spren with more Investiture in them. Windrunners can stick two things together, which apparently has something to do with air pressure, and they can literally ride the winds, so they bond Invested windspren. Lightweavers create illusions and can change objects from one to another, creating something else. Thus, Lightweavers bond Invested creationspren. I don't know enough about Bondsmiths, Elsecallers, or Truthseers to determine their common spren. Thoughts?

So basically I'd like to discuss the various bonding spren and their relation to "normal" spren. We have explicit confirmation that Syl (and presumably all honorspren) and windspren are cousins. The most apparent difference between the two is the honorspren's ability to form a Nahel bond and gain sentience in the Physical Realm. I also presume that within Shadesmar, honorspren are fully sentient with windspren less so. Otherwise, honorspren and windspren are very similar in temperament and appearance. So may question is, do all spren capable of bonding have a "cousin" among the regular spren? I would bet this is the case, so I'd like to theorize what spren we've seen that could be related to bonding spren. I think the most likely case is the stormspren and angerspren. In WoR, their consistently described similarly. Eshoni's description of angerspren is very close to how Syl sees the stormspren. I believe Adolin also mentions how the spren leaving the dead Voidbringers resemble angerspren. I bet Cryptics and creationspren are also related, for several reasons, most of which are purely circumstantial. I first started thinking this when I saw the similarities between how Shallan attracted dozens of creationspren when she drew Pattern and how Kaladin attracted a bunch of windspren while flying. Then I started thinking about how the creationspren's nature seems a good match for what we know of a typical Lightweavers artistic ability. Then Pattern mentions that he doesn't like creationspren much because the don't do anything besides show up when other people do stuff, which seems kind of an odd thing to mention. I seem to recall him also saying that his own kind are prone to inaction. Is there a connection here? While I'm thinking of it, most of the radiant spren we've seen have a resemblance to their associated essence: Syl is like air/wind, Wyndle has crystals in his form, Ivory looks oily, Ym's spren is a glowing plant. Of course, Pattern doesn't look like blood, and I'm not sure how the Stormfather resembles "Meat, flesh". Maybe he has a corporeal form? Anyways, we can probably try and figure out the rest of the radiant spren's relation based on their predicated appearance. I think a lot of people have already speculated that a Dustbringer/Releaser's spren would resemble a flamespren. The Skybreaker's essence is smoke, so maybe the logicspren Shallan mentions in WoK? They're supposed to look like "tiny stormclouds", and logic might fit with the highspren's thing with legality. I've thought for a while that the "cometspren" from the Eshonai chapters would be related to starspren (Whether they're the spren for WIllshapers or Skybreakers has been widely discussed). Starspren are supposed to be rare, yet Sanderson keeps mentioning them, and they would probably resemble a comet in form. So, maybe? As for the rest of the orders, Truthwatcher spren = lifespren? I don't believe we've seen any spren resembling Ivory or Wyndle, and we haven't seen the Stonward's spren, that I know of. I wonder if the spren used to animate the Ten Deaths are related to the same spren as their corresponding radiant spren...(I am assuming that we have Death for each Essence) Okay, done rambling. You may resume your regularly scheduled theorizing.

So, my though that Cusciesh is voltron spren has now been pretty well debunked, I would like to propose a grander, more elaborate theory/thought. Based on the epigraph above, we see that there are usually 3 Bondsmiths at a time, regardless of how large other orders may be or not. It may be that the Stormfather can bond more than one Radiant at a time given his power level, but I'm not inclined to think so. In tWoK/WoR, we hear of only 3 Spren who are very large and very in charge of what they have going on. The Stormfather: proven to Nahel bond with Bondsmiths Cusciesh: definitely spren, probably related to the KR the Nightwatcher: gives the "old magic" but we don't know what that means really and presumed to be a Spren My theory is that each of the 3 bondsmiths are bonded to one of these Spren, and that in some way, these 3 spren are similar in the way that honorspren or cryptics are different. I.e. not all Honorspren are like Syl in temperment, nor all Cryptics like Pattern. I don't have a lot to back it up really, other than that there are 3 very large Spren floating around Roshar and there are only 3 Bondsmiths at a time. Only other mention of Bondsmiths shows that they had a unique ability and they alone could address the divine duties and natures of the Heralds. I think that is because they are bonded to the 3 single most powerful/knowledgeable/oldest Spren on Roshar Well, there it is... let me know your thoughts!!

Theory in brief: There are “fundamental forces” on Roshar that are not surges. I believe the KR will be able to use these forces to defeat Odium. The following quote got me thinking: “[syl] nodded, alighting in the air and settling down, her legs crossed at the knees as if she was primly seating herself in an invisible chair. She continued to hover there, moving exactly in step with him. “’Giving up all pretense of obeying natural laws again, I see,’ [Kaladin] said. “’Natural laws?’ Syl said, finding the concept amusing. “Laws are of men, Kaladin. Nature doesn’t have them! [...] It’s more like…more like an agreement among friends.’” WoR, p. 130 (hardcover). Syl makes this last statement as Kaladin begins his surgebinding education. I immediately thought of Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix. Syl’s teasing tone masks the truth of Roshar: that even the surges themselves are contrivances – “an agreement among friends.” The Ars Arcanum author states in WoR that the “Ten Surges…thought to be the fundamental forces by which the world operates – are more accurately a representation of the ten basic abilities offered to the Heralds, and then the Knights Radiant, by their bonds.” This definition of the surges suggests that Roshar “operates” by fundamental forces in addition to or other than the ten surges. Syl’s light-hearted comment about natural law turns out to be accurate – it IS an “agreement among friends” – the Oathpact itself! The epigraph to WoR Chapter 35 (from the in-world Words of Radiance, chapter 8, page 6) describes that “agreement” as applied to the KR through the Nahel bond: “They also, when they had settled their rulings in the nature of each bond’s placement, called the name of it the Nahel bond, with regard to its effect upon the souls of those caught in its grip; in this description, each was related to the bonds that drive Roshar itself, ten Surges, named in turn and two for each order; in this light, it can be seen that each order would by necessity share one Surge with each of its neighbors.” Note that this agreement limits the surges that any order of KR can bind, but not other forces. Moreover, the statement that each surge “was related to the bonds that drive Roshar itself” suggests that when Adonalsium and/or some or all of the three Shards invested on Roshar, they bound Roshar’s physical phenomenon within certain constraints. [Speculation: Because the Everstorm moves west to east, will it somehow undo “the bonds that drive Roshar”? Will it thus also undo whatever it is that binds Odium to the Rosharian system? Is this what the Everstorm is intended to do, rather than to simply wipe out humanity? And has Odium used the pretext of a Listener triumph over humans as the motivation for them to create the Everstorm? The epigraph to WoR Chapter 89 (emphasis added and reformatted), from the Diagram, says "destroy [the Parshendi] ​outright ​before [​one of them] ​obtains ​their ​power. ​It ​will ​form ​a bridge."] The Ars Arcanum author believes “there should be another series of abilities that is even more esoteric than the Voidbindings. Perhaps the Old Magic fits into those, though I am beginning to suspect that is something entirely different.” What are the implications for Roshar and the war against Odium if there are other fundamental forces than the surges and another “series of abilities” than surge- and voidbinding? Some observations: Nothing in the Nahel bond version of the Oathpact precludes the KR from using non-surge forces. The other “series of abilities” predicted by the Ars Arcanum author may involve these non-surge forces. We don’t yet know either the mechanism or the means or medium of Investiture necessary to access the non-surge forces. Prediction: By Book 10, our SA heroes will discover and find a way to utilize these non-surge forces to win the war against Odium.

At this point, I'd like to put some increased evidence forward for the idea that the Parshendi are the true inhabitents of Roshar, who initally went to war against humanity for reasons that were somewhat understandable. Perhaps they were even created by Adonalsium when it was on Roshar, but that is irreleveant. Firstly, I'd like to point out that the Parshendi are unable to bond with the Nahel spren. I interpret this to mean that the Parshendi were unable to bond with the Nahel spren because they were closer to the Cognitive Realm than other peoples. This allowed them their forms, but they were not well-rooted enough in the Physical realm to form Nahel bonds with the most intelligent spren. However, then for whatever reason, human refugees arrived, I believe fleeing an attack by Odium onto their home planet of Braize, in the company of Honor and Cultivation. And they could bond with the Nahel spren just fine. However, they also were doing what humans do and conquering the Parshendi land with the help of these powers, and powerful spren such as the Stormfather, who they called traitor. They beat the Parshendi and drove them back into Braize, which was now a hellish nightmare, thanks to Odium. They called this place Damnation. I believe some memory of this conquest can be seen in this Death Rattle. The Parshendi, who had been around for much longer, felt betrayed by the spren, who gave humans some fantasitc abilities. How could the Parshendi hope to match them? This is echoed here, with disturbing implications. At this point, I believe Odium saw what had happened happening, and realized that he had had a stroke of good fortune. His army was here. They were angry, they wanted their homes back. So, he and the Unmade made an accord with them. They would give them new forms, forms of power, in exchange for destroying humanity. The Parshendi agreed, without realizing the trick. Once they took on these forms and bonded with Odium's voidspren, they were his Voidbringers, scourge of Roshar. This is shown here. The Parshendi songs even claim that the gods gave them powers similar to the human Surges. Another quote again mentions that it was crafted by the Unmade. This also explains something else. The Last Legion may not have been able to remember a time when they were free to chose their own form, but it used to be so, before humanity arrived. So although time has dulled the specifics, the ideas of the forms themselves remain. There is one quote that seems important that I cannot make sense of, though. Ideas on what this means are welcome. All in all, I think this is a pretty solid interpretation of early Rosharan history and the conflict between the humans and the Voidbringers. Obviously some of the details may be wrong, but I think the outlines are on the right track.

This isn't exactly a theory per say, but over the last few days I've been mulling over how Nahel Bonds develop, and compiled what we know about it in this list. I've tried to provide examples from the books for everything, but some stuff is a little iffy. Stages in the Nahel Bond: 0.5. Person goes through a traumatic (soul-breaking) experience that allows them to form a nahel bond. (Kaladin losing Tien, Shallan killing her father.) 1. Something about a person's cognitive aspect attracts a spren that is capable of bonding to them. a. At this stage, some very limited surgebinding ability develops. (Shallan’s first journey to Shadesmar.) 2. Inciting incident that solidifies the bond. (Kaladin rejecting the Shardblade (Maybe), Shallan admitting that she killed her father.) a. Spren begins to assume a Physical form. (Shallan begins seeing her Cryptic soon after this.) 3. Continued behaviour in line with what originally attracted the spren. a. Spren gains more control over its form, and starts to become more cognizant. (Syl making herself known to Kaladin.) Surgebinder slowly gains some increased skill and manipulating their Surges and utilizing Stormlight. (Kaladin begins to instinctively discover new abilities.) 4. Internalization/Vocalization of the Ideals a. Each one grants some sort of boost to the Surgebinder’s powers; greater Stormlight retention, more control over surges, perhaps even giving them access to Shardplate/blade. (Kaladin post Battle of the Tower) 5. Full Knight Radiant, fully bonded to their spren, having spoken all the Ideals for their order. Going by this, Elhokar (and maybe Dalinar) would be at one, Shallan at two, Ym at three, Jasnah would be four (maybe three, we don't know for sure if she's spoken any Ideals), Lift at four, and Kaladin would also be at four. Anything I missed? Anything I have completely wrong? Any crazy theories people want to make? EDIT: Ouch, just fixed the typo in the title now. That's embarrassing. EDIT #2: Made some changes based on the suggestions below.

So, I know a lot of people aren't going to like this - but here we go. Let's start off with the reasons people think that Dalinar is becoming a Radiant: The back cover implies about a Bondsmith whom many feel is the name of the last unknown order of the KR. He is acting more Honorably something we associate with KR His visions His obvious desire to reform the KR OK, I'm probably missing a few in there, but that's the gist of it. Now take a step back from your bias and your love for Dalinar (he is a bleeping amazing character). While I agree he is the Bondsmith (WoB have confirmed t he 5 PoV characters, and it would make sense if they matched up with the 5 titles on the cover) I personally believe that Bondsmith has a different meaning and is not an order of the KR. I think Dalinar is taking over for his brother and leading the front to reforging the Bond with the spren. What is another for when you forge something? You Smith something. This making me feel he is more playing the roll of Nohadon in the creation of the KR. I believe that he is the Bondsmith for the radiants and his actions are helping unite the world in preperation for the Everstorm. *Caveat* if there is a WoB stating he has a spren, just go ahead and tell me so I know my last 30 minutes looking up stuff was wasted for nothing. Pick it apart ladies and gentlemen!

So, this is actually a rather small post, but I feel it is important. Kaladin, as far as we've seen him, seems very honorable, always doing the right thing, and never really breaking the rules. He seems a bit too honorable, and he attracted an Honorspren. WoR spoiler This seems a little too similar to be a coincidence. Are the Nahel-bonding spren attracted to those similar in personality to them? Or, and this is an interesting thought, do they manipulate the person they plan on bonding to and change their personality, their intent? Syl confirms that she was following Kaladin since before he even joined Amaram's army, around the time he volunteered to go with his brother to defend him. Seems honorable. WoR spoiler