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I might have missed it but are we ever told how old Lift is? i think it's mentioned or hinted that her gift from the Nightwatcher is some sort of Peter Pan, never growing up thing so was just curious as to whether she is a lot older than she appears.

So I've had this theory bouncing around in my head ever since finishing Oathbringer. The theory is: The Nightwatcher is a spren of both Odium AND Cultivation OR foreseeing the future IS NOT of the Voidbringers. Now, there's already been a LOT of speculation going on about the foreseeing part. We know that all Shards can see the future to some extent or another. I'm speaking here of the spren/investiture/influence of the Shards, NOT the Shards themselves. Dalinar's visit is what started me thinking about the Nightwatcher and Odium. It describes the Nightwatcher as a "shadow" that "seeped from the darkness", was made out of "dark mist" and "[stalked] him like a predator" (OB Chapter 114). The things she suggests to Dalinar as boons are quite interesting and unlike the intents we've seen from other Cultivationspren or Cultivation herself -- namely renown, wealth, skill, beauty, followers, glory, and possessions. Note that these boons align VERY CLOSELY with the Odium-driven passions we see in the Unmade and the Voidbringers! Also compare the appearance of the Nightwatcher, a combination of black and green (dark green mist), with the description of Cultivation herself -- brown skin and brown dress, no references to darkness of any kind. The other thing that could point to the Nightwatcher being of Odium is THE DIAGRAM. The purpose of the Diagram (as it is currently understood) is to save the world by anticipating, predicting, and FORESEEING the future. The boon Mr. T received included investiture that gave him FORESIGHT. Here's where the second part of the theory comes in: if the Nightwatcher is truly and purely of Cultivation, then FORESEEING THE FUTURE IS DEFINITELY NOT OF THE VOIDBRINGERS. And really, it's possible that the Nightwatcher is of Odium AND foreseeing the future isn't of the voidbringers. Of course, there's the whole confusing thing with Renarin, and (to my knowledge) we don't know if regular Truthwatchers can foresee the future or if it some twisted result of Renarin's spren. They imply that it's due to the corrupted spren, but I'm not about to trust that until it's a little more solidified not to mention Kaladin's strange foreseeing stunt in Shadesmar. So what do y'all think? Legitimate theory, interesting idea, or just me trying to anticipate a totally unpredictable all-powerful Shard of Awesomeness named Brandon Sanderson?

I saw this idea a while back and thought I would recreate it for people (like myself) who missed it. So there is a classic forum game that I've usually seen called "yes, but". Usually used in reference to wishes. Basically, the first person posts a wish, then the poster after them grants that wish but tacks on a rider to make it awful, then posts their own wish. And so on and so on. The Boons and Curses from the Nightwatcher seem ideal for this. Since the bane doesn't necessarily have to be directly connected to the boon granted, this opens up a bit more leeway, but I think it could still be at least mildly amusing to see what we lurkers of the forums come up with. I’ll start: I want the intellect of a zinc compounder constantly.

So, as far as I can remember we have three viewpoint characters that have sought the Old Magic: Dalinar, Taravangian, and Lift. Did any of them actually wind up dealing with the Nightwatcher instead of Cultivation herself? I'm leaning no, given how far what they each got was from what they asked for, and the difficulty of nailing down a discrete boon/curse for any of them. (Taravangian is closest in both these metrics, so I suppose he's most likely to have dealt with the Nightwatcher directly, but the outsize role the Diagram is playing in events makes me suspect Cultivation would have wanted to handle it personally.) The relevant Dalinar flashback implies that Cultivation steps in for some but not all supplicants, so it makes sense that these three, all of whom are going to have a huge role in this Desolation, would merit her attention. It's also possible that the lore we have about the Nightwatcher is unreliable, and even "standard" boons/curses are more complicated than we've been led to believe. It would be nice to have a PoV from somebody with a more standard experience, or even a scene where we see the Nightwatcher do her thing without intervention from the boss. Maybe Baxil will change his mind and be back for an interlude.

I have been trying to figure out what Lift's boon and curse are. I think that her boon is that she can metabolize food into Stormlight (although there might be more to it than that). I used to think that her curse might therefore be, on the flip side, that she cannot draw in Stormlight. There was a discussion thread started a few weeks ago that I found, where this was confirmed - Lift can only derive Stormlight from food, which could be seen as both a blessing and a curse. But there are several reasons to believe that Lift's curse has something to do with nightmares. There is a line in Edgedancer seems to suggest that Lift doesn't like falling asleep, and at the time I thought it was because her curse was having frequent nightmares. Looking back, I am much less certain that this line actually suggests Lift has nightmares, although at the time I read it I was very certain. But there is some evidence in Oathbringer to suggest I might be right. For one thing, we don't know what the Nightwatcher is the spren of - I'm pretty sure this was discussed in an earlier thread. The Stormfather is the spren of the storm, the Sibling is the spren of Urithiru (possibly), and I think that the Nightwatcher is the spren of dreams. It would make a lot of sense, since people go to the Nightwatcher to make their dreams come true, and she rewards them with something good (like a dream) and something bad (like a nightmare). This is further suggested in OB when Dalinar visits the Nightwatcher. So I think it's a real possibility that the Nightwatcher is the spren of dreams. There is an element in Oathbringer that makes me think that Dalinar's visions are sort of like dreams, and so it seems plausible that the Nightwatcher might be able to influence them - the fact that Lift can enter Dalinar's visions. Because Lift can enter his visions, it makes me wonder if her curse is somehow related to the nightmares of other people. I think that the Nightwatcher, being the spren of dreams, cursed her so that every time she sleeps, she sees other people's dreams - "a life she couldn't have" - or other people's nightmares - " a life that terrified her." So Lift is able to enter Dalinar's visions because they are essentially dreams. The Stormfather himself makes a comment when Lift appears that makes it seem like that the Nightwatcher somehow orchestrated Lift's ability to enter the visions. I think it seems possible that the Nightwatcher actually extended her powers to Lift. The Nightwatcher is a spren, and Lift is more sprenlike than normal humans - she is partially in the Cognitive realm at all times, which allows her to touch Wyndle. Lift is also able to turn food into Stormlight, and the Nightwatcher is very connected with Cultivation, who is connected with growth, food and vegetation. And Lift can enter other people's dreams, while the Nightwatcher is the spren of dreams (according to my theory). I am starting to think that Cultivation is launching a major plot behind the scenes to topple Odium in a way he least expects it, and that her plan has something to do with her possible influence over Taravangian, and her possible influence over Lift. I am not sure how Lift's potential ability to see other people's dreams relates to her boon and curse, or if I am wrong about this whole thing, but it's definitely interesting to think about.

Hello everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. Love these forums. I have a theory that I think hasn't been considered yet by the 17th sharders here yet. What if the Sibling that the Stormfather mentions is a spren from adonalsium itself? I think that the three godspren that the bondsmiths bond to are NOT related to Odium whatsoever, because why would a spren that represents Odium as a god want to work with the Knights Radiant? We know that the original spren of Roshar came from adonalsium, and that the Singers predate the humans and may have predated Honor and Cultivation on Roshar. Who did they worship before Honor and Cultivation? We know that the original rhythms are related to the spiritual realm directly. So perhaps they worshipped adonalsium itself? We also know that Ash swears in Adonalsium's name during the battle of Thaylen City, so the heralds at least know of Adonalsium as well. So I believe that the third godspren represents a god, but not Odium. Adonalsium.

When Dalinar visits the Nightwatcher and she is trying to figure out what to give him she offers a very specific item. Chapter 114 "The Cost" page 1078 of the US hardcover: "Perhaps it is possessions you wish, she said. Spheres, gemstones. Shards. A Blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated." Did the Nightwatcher have possession of Nightblood and was offering to pawn it off on someone else? This was five and half years in the past so Nale might not have had possession of Nightblood at this point in time. It's possible the Nightwatcher was offering to create a new sword that happens to be like Nightblood. Even if that is the case I suspect the Nightwatcher must have seen a sword like Nightblood in order to think of creating one for someone else. Perhaps Vasher visited and part of his cost (or boon) was to have Nightblood taken. Or perhaps Lady Azure visited and asked for a blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated and that's where she acquired her blade.

So this will be rather quick, because I am on my phone (traveling for a signing). I will attach sources when I have my computer. I propose that the original purpose of the Nightwatcher is to power the gigantic fabrial that is Urithiru. She defended the city, allowed the farms to function, and everything else. Her Bondsmith was continuously in attendance for her. Hints about fabrial: Navani already suspects that the tower is a fabrial. The gemstone pillar and the gemstone seams are the heart and veins of the system, as she points out. There are also references to defense systems in the epihraphs, the lifts, and other machinery that would presumably be powered by stormlight. The big pillar is a big giveaway - it would hold almost an almost unthinkable quantity of Investiture. Perfect for holding a huge Splinter of a Shard - especially the Shard whose magic is fabrials. It is pretty obvious that the city was created as a whole piece by Honor and Cultivation. In addition to a Jasnah WoK epigraph suggesting this, the city is laid out with extreme care. The fabrial was simply set in the walls with the plumbing, guideposts, and ultilities. Failure of the farms: Cultivation would almost certainly want to set things up so that humanity could thrive in the mountains. Since it would be hard to grow things naturally, she sent a big Splinter of her power. When the Nightwatcher ultimately left, the farms no longer could sustain any growth, as they are planning on stone, far up the mountains. Other thoughts: There are Radiant gem memory epigraphs that allude to this. The biggest clue is the one that says "Goodnight Sibling," using the same word that the Stormfather uses to describe the Nightwatcher. This could also be why the Shin hold Urithiru in such regard - the biggest Splinter of their god resided there. It may also provide clues on their views about fabrials. Doesn't it seem weird that a big Splinter just sits in a valley near Urithiru and grant wishes? Especially when the Shard is fully aware and unshackled? I doubt that was Cultivation's original goal. Conclusion: The Nightwatcher is Urithiru's spren. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that this is true. She powered the whole system and her presence enabled the farms. The exact circumstances of her leaving are up for debate. Was it when Cultivation "gave up on humanity" after Honor's death? Is this the secret that Taravangian fears the Alethi will discover? Can only the right Bondsmith fix it? We'll see.

So now we know why Dalinar regained his memories despite the boon and curse of the Nightwatcher lasting lifelong. Dalinar's boon and curse came from Cultivation herself and not the Nightwatcher, with the intention to let them fade after time, so Dalinar could deal with his burdens in doses he could handle. Here, Cultivation actively crosses Odium's plan to currupt Dalinar with the Thrill to make him his Champion in the end. Odium seems to be very wary of Cultivation. When Lift appears in the vision where Odium talks to Dalinar, Odium nearly seems frightened and disappeares immediately. Lift has been in the Valley, too. I assume that Lift also has been altered by Cultivation herself and not the Nightwatcher. Dalinar reeks to her like Cultivation, I guess her own smell is much stronger. The little unassuming and awesome girl might become Cultivation's joker and eyes and ears. I am looking forward for more!

So the assumption is that if the Stormfather is bondspren #1, his counterpart the Nightwatcher is bondspren #2. This leaves us with the pressing mystery of who bondspren #3 could be, because the only other shard on Roshar is Odium himself. #3 can't be a Shard's cognitive shadow, unless Odium has a split personality or something. It breaks the pattern, which is why every Sharder and their cat is speculating about it. But is there an actual WoB that the Nightwatcher is #2, or is this just a "it stands to reason" fanon? Because if it's not the Nightwatcher, then maybe there's a different pattern. One that's nice and symmetrical (and we all know how Vorins love symmetry) when we see all the parts. *sends out the WOB Signal, waits for Calderis or Extesian to drop by*

So, we know little of aimians. We however know that at least one of them, Axies, is followed by something called the Curse of Kind. The curse might give bad luck, since Axies says: So, Axies has his curse, and thus we can guess (or is it even confirmed?) that the other Aimians have it as well. Now, how did they get it? Theory: Aimia was scoured some time ago, and most Aimians seems to have been killed. A guess is that the Aimians then went to the Nightwatcher and asked for a boon for their whole people in order to survive. They got it, whatever it is (immortality, perhaps), but also got the Curse of Kind, which brings bad luck upon all of them. What do you guys think?

Hello, This is a theory on Dalinar's lapses of memory concerning Evi, and the implications that it might have in the future. My theory bases itself on the premise that Dalinar's visit to the Nightwatcher made him lose all memories concerning his wife, Evi, and made him unable to hear her name again. I would suppose (and this is a supposition, in no way based on facts) that the Nightwatcher operated by severing his connexion to his wife, separating all memory, feelings and stimulus about Evi, and placed it in a Box inside Dalinar's mind that he is unable to access. Now, Dalinar has married Navani, his oaths of marriage witnessed and approved by the Stormfather. Navani has replaced Evi as his wife, and I think that what is happening is that the Box in Dalinar's mind is being filled by Navani, while Evi leaks out of the Box. I think that slowly, Dalinar will mix feelings and memory between Navani and Evi, slowly confounding the two, and Navani will bleed away into the Box until Dalinar forgets everything about her, and is unable to have any stimulus of Navani. In the end, he will remain married to someone he cannot remember and has trouble to have even basic interactions with. I think it would be truly tragic for both characters, as as the Stormfather noted, his Oaths are binding forever, and breaking them has huge consequences. When he stated that, some sharders theorized that Navani would be the one to break them, due to maybe hidden motives or agenda. But I will find it more fitting story wise if Dalinar ends up being the one screwing up his marriage performed by the Stormfather just because of a visit to the Nightwatcher a long time ago. It is strongly implied that the switch is happening now because of the change of wives, and not because Dalinar is being healed by Stormlight. Dalinar inhaled Stormlight to heal himself before in WoR, and it didn't have this effect. Furthermore, the problem with Stormlight healing is that it is based on Perception. I doubt Dalinar could have restored his memories via Stormlight healing precisely because the Cognitive image he has of himself (on which Stormlight bases itself to heal) does not include the memories of his wife. Juste like Kalladin kept his slavery brands, because he percieve himself as soemone with the brands. Dalinar percieves himself with someone with a memory lapse when it comes to his wife, which make it very hard (imposssible ?) to just regain memories with Stormlight. He wasn't in contact with the Everstorm, and therefore didn't benefit from the same effects than the Parshmen did (a healing of the soul to make it whole). Plus, it would make for an awesome, (even if it is tragic) story.

Hey Sharders! Long time lurker, but first time poster! Hopefully im not regurgitating a theory posted elsewhere, and apologies if this theory expands a bit beyond the confines of roshar, it's about an entity on roshar but by necessity has to expand a bit further! Let me know if i should move this to cosmere theories! but i have some ideas about the origin of the Nightwatcher. It starts with our current understanding of the nature of spren capable of nahel bonds. From what I understand, these spren are small pieces of honor, and cultivation to varying degrees depending on the variety. And have been referred to as splinters of honor or cultivation. These splinters are bits of investiture left without will or a host long enough that it gains sentience. (There has been confirmation in a WoB that spren are splinters similar to the way seons are on sel) I've come accross a number of theories proposing that the nightwatcher is of cultivation, possibly a kind of cognitive shadow similar to the stormfather. This doesnt hold up in my opinion, there is a WoB that i dont know how to link which tells us that cultivations holder is still alive, and from what we know of the old magic, it doesnt seem to fit into the types of investiture made possible by honor and cultivation. (nor the possible iterations of voidbinding that we'll see more of soon) I propose that the nightwatcher is actually a splinter of adonalsium from pre-shattering. There were already other spren on Roshar before any of the shards came there. I think it's possible that this is a magic system that predates all other kinds on roshar, and was put into place before any shards were taken up. The concept of a boon and a curse doesnt feel at all like the symbiosis present in all of the magic from honor, cultivation, or even odium. Thoughts?

Can I have some help from the shard to gather all the Nightwatcher Banes that we know of? I might develop a theory... Thanks!

So, we have a Word of Brandon that Cultivation is alive. Have we ever gotten an actual confirmation from him that Cultivation is currently on Roshar (or anywhere within the Roshar system)? Why? There is a well-known WoB somewhere comparing Nightwatcher and Stormfather. While he did not draw the exact parallel, he did point out that the question was along the correct lines. Stormfather is a Cognitive Shadow of Honor (right?). Nightwatcher may be something of a Cognitive Shadow of Cultivation. But why would a living Shard have a cognitive shadow? Perhaps because it left the proverbial building. Looking through WoBs on this topic, there is one early one where he says "yes" to a statement "Cultivation is a Shard on Roshar", but this can still be interpreted from a historic perspective, not as "Cultivation is on Roshar now". So, has anyone ever asked Brandon if Cultivation is actually ON Roshar during the events of the Stormlight Archive? (counterpoint is Cultivation is heavily Invested in Roshar, and may find it difficult to leave. I argued elsewhere, that Investing Odium in Roshar was part of Honor's plan, which is why Odium was allowed Desolations and own spren. I do not have a good answer to that, except a vague feeling that Cultivation's Intent may be something that might allow her to, at least for a time, not reside on a planet she Invested into... Not certain why or how. Autonomy may be able to do so as well, so it is not out of the realm of impossible).

So with Oathbringer coming up, it's likely we'll finally get the answer to what Dalinar asked, and what his boon/curse were. So I was thinking it would be interesting to see what we all think he asked. Personally, I think that he was responsible for his wife's death, whether directly or indirectly, and asked for the guilt to stop. So I think his boon was forgetting, mainly because in way of Kings were he says he "foolishly" washed her away. So I think he only wanted to forget the things leading up to her death and lost everything, but as for his curse... No clue. What do you think?

So we know Taravangian is acting pretty evilly (although he believes he is saving the world). He is sending assassins after everyone (including Dalinar), and a lot of what he is doing is a direct threat to honor and the radiants. Initially, I thought he was probably somehow under the corruption of odium... But maybe not. You see, everything he does is shaped by his gift from the nightwatcher. And the nightwatcher is a splinter of cultivation. I don't think we know for sure that cultivation's and honor's intents are in perfect accord. Maybe both are trying to save things but they still work against each other to an extent. Odium might well still be involved... But I think we should not assume that cultivation is basically aligned perfectly with honor. Cultivation is a distinct third shard acting on this planet.

Basically, this is how I imagine the Life-Nightwatcher interaction went down. I may be fuzzy on time details but the major point is what I believe her "curse" is. Lift (age 10 Roshar years): Nightwatcher, give me something awesome! Nightwatcher: You amuse me child. I give you Wyndle, and bring you into the cognitive realm. You will be able to touch Wyndle and turn food into stormlight. Probably some other stuff go ask Brandon. Lift: Who? Nightwatcher: AS I WAS SAYING. You will exist partial in the cognitive realm...you will exist as an idealized concept of yourself, but still with a physical form. This is your curse. You are as you are now, Lift, forever 10, and forever *cringe* awesome. Half-joke half-serious, but really, is this why she seems so young at heart, and likes to ignore her age?

In the recent Oathbringer prologue reading we learned that Gavilar believes that some kind of acient, powerful spren was used to turn the Parshendi into Parshmen. A lot some people believe this spren to be an Adonalsium spren (and that this Adonalsium spren is the third bondsmith spren), but I have a different theory. A quote directly relating to how a Bondsmith defeated the Voidbringers is as follows. "So Melishi retired to his tent, and resolved to destroy the Voidbringers upon the next day, but that night did present a different stratagem, related to the unique abilities of the Bondsmiths; and being hurried, he could make no specific account of his process; it was related to the very nature of the Herald and their divine duties, an attribute the Bondsmiths alone could address." This suggests that a Bondsmith, Melishi, is responsible for the creation of Parshmen. It has long been hinted at and theorized that the Nightwatcher is the second Bondsmith spren, and this is supported by a recent interview when Brandon seemed to believe that the fandom knew who the second Bondsmith spren is. It struck me that the Nightwatcher has displayed the ability to change beings and their spiritual or cognitive aspects. I think that it would make sense that Bondsmith bonded to the Nightwatcher would be able to 'curse' the Parshendi into the state they are in now, or at least persuade the Nightwatcher herself to do so. What are your guy's thoughts on this new info?

Does it explicitly say that Dalinar's lack of being able to remember his former wife or hear her name is a CURSE from the nightwatcher? I ask, because I was discussing it with a friend and I always assumed that it was his BOON. My theory is that he asked the Nightwatcher to take away the pain from the death of his wife, and the form of the BOON was to forget her completely, and that we don't know yet what the curse is. But I wanted to verify if it says it's a curse explicitly. Thanks.

So, let's think up some possible curses Nightwatcher might give. We're operating under assumption that the curser are indeed neurological. We already had a man who saw the world upside down and a man who lost sensation in his arms. Some I invented: doing things manually. THE LIST Your curse is: to breathe manually to blink manually to swallow manually Any ideas for curses?

Okay, so we have a WoB that the Nightwatcher is connected to Cultivation similarly to how the Stormfather is connected to Honor. There's another WoB I've seen that's even more explicit, but I can't find it. Basically, he says that the Nightwatcher is to Cultivation what the Stormfather is to Honor. But the Stormfather isn't really Honor's spren, even though he thinks of himself that way. He's Tanavast's Cognitive Shadow (or we might even call him Tanavast's Spren, at least Rosharans likely would, considering that's even how they'd refer to Adolnasium according to Brandon). While Cultivation's Vessel is still alive (and I don't think we know her name, though we know it's a she), so she doesn't have a Cognitive Shadow, I think that she's able to appear in a physical form (perhaps intentionally spren-like, perhaps forced into that due to the way magic works on Roshar), and that we see not Cultivation's Intent playing out directly in the Nightwatcher, but the personality of Cultivation's Vessel. I.E., if Cultivation's holder is named Jane, then the Stormfather is to Tanavast what the Nightwatcher is to Jane. The Nightwatcher isn't carrying out Cultivation's Intent directly, though certainly colored by it, but rather is a glimpse into the personality of the original Vessel, who has not been completely subsumed, just like Tanavast wasn't and Odium probably hasn't been. Just a theory, but I also asked this in a simpler way on Reddit and I'm hoping Brandon himself might weigh in (probably not since it's a bit more complex than he likes to answer there, but I had to try): Question on Reddit about the Nightwatcher and Cultivation jW

This craziness started here. So, here's the theory: Dalinar's wife is Vivenna who is currently Nightwatcher. What I'm proposing here is: Vivenna took over the entity known as Nightwatcher, merging with it. In exchange for boon, she takes Breath of the person who asked for it... the thing is, Rosharans don't have easily detachable part of the soul, so it causes complications. Neurotypical complications, known currently as 'curses'. Prior to taking over Nightwatcher, she was Dalinar's wife. She worldhopped to Roshar with Vasher and that's why Zahel likes Dalinar's kids. Because they are Vivenna's kids. That also explains their hair. Dalinar thinks he went to Nightwatcher, because he did. With Vivenna. Then she merged with Nightwatcher and took his Breath (or rather equivalent of it), what caused his memory loss. And what made him broken which opened possibility of the bond to the Stormfather. Vivenna gathers all these 'Breaths' in attempt to check whether there is Eleventh Heightening. What she plans to do with it, I don't know. Maybe a stronger Type IV BioChromatic Entity?

Here's my conclusion of two SA so far, and I'm not sure this speculation has been confirmed or common-known, so just have a look: In WoR, we could see that Wyndle, Lift's Nahel spren, called Nightwatcher as "mother", as well as Stormfather indicated Syl as his "daughter". This is the first clue. Secondly, we can be sure that except for the Voidsprens, all Roshar spren are of Honor or/and Cultivation. Thirdly, we know that Stormfather is the cognitive projection of Almighty, referring to as Honor; while Nightwatcher is deeply involved with Culti. So they are the symbol spren of the two Shards. So, can we say that SF and NW are at the position of parents of all spren species? Looking forward to any new suggestions:))

I know a lot of people think the Nightwatcher is a spren of Cultivation, but if the Nightwatcher is associated with "Old Magic," could that mean that it is old, meaning she was there before Honor and Cultivation? Could the Nightwatcher be a Splinter of Adonalsium? What part of the boons/curses behaves Cultivation-ey? It doesn't seem obvious to me. I think we are missing a large part of the picture if we assume the Nightwatcher is primarily a Cultivation thing. Perhaps Cultivation got involved later, but I think Nightwatcher is either native to Roshar or otherwise splintered directly from Adonalsium. What say ye?