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I haven't found any other forums that discuss exactly this, so I made a new topic. This forum proved that the Nightwatcher could be/probably is Cultivation. http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/38165-cultivation-is-the-nightwatcher/?hl=%2Bnightwatcher+%2Bspren#entry310555 So lets work with that assumption. We see that Syl, an Honor spren, refers to the Stormfather as her father. The Stormfather is also shown to be a part of Honor that fled when honor was killed. Quick note: Based on the book, elemental spren are from Cultivation, and emotional spren are from Honor. It looks like there might be an equal number of Cultivation spren (Shadow spren, possibly Light Spren) and Honor spren (Honor spren, Cryptics, High Spren) in the Knights Radiant in the end. So, since Wyndle calls the Nightwatcher "mother," what if he is a ..... Cultivation Spren! Wyndle is made up of vines, which you cultivate. Also, one of the surges he provides is growth and regrowth, which seem very reminiscent of the idea of cultivation. Tell me what you think, is Wyndle a Cultivation Spren?

So I was Sharding the Shard when I read a topic concerning the Boons/Banes and realised that the immortality of the Heralds sounds like a Nightwatcher "gift". -They never die but, have to endure incredible pain. Another reason I have for suspecting this is the Knights Radiant. The spren fashioned themselves after the Honorblades and Heralds. They not only grant Surges but, also physical ability, as seen with Kaladin. However there is no mention of Knights having longer lifespans or going to Damnation every so often. This is why I think the ability isn't from Honor ,but from a different source (aka Nightwatcher).

"Oh! I love to climb a mountain, And to reach the highest peak, But it doesn't thrill me half as much As dancing cheek to cheek." - "Dancing Cheek to Cheek," Irving Berlin, from the1935 movie Top Hat, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers THE FOLLOWING IS SPECULATION ABOUT THE NIGHTWATCHER. PLEASE READ IT AS SUCH. I believe there are several bars to the "prison" that binds Odium to Greater Roshar. The Nightwatcher is one such bar, the Cognitive Realm bar. Somehow Honor bound Odium’s and Cultivation’s consciousness together – a cognitive prison like Ruin’s was on Scadrial. Honor intended these restraints to limit Odium’s Physical Realm power to the creation of cognitive curses as part of the Nightwatcher. With his mind thus limited, Odium cannot otherwise direct his power. (See the “Origin of the Cosmere” post.) Honor must bind the other Shards together because neither Cultivation nor Odium on their own can forge such bonds (even if they wanted to). 1. Renarin calls the Nightwatcher a “powerful spren” (WoK, Kindle p. 735), as do Jasnah (WoR, Kindle, p. 71), Shallan (ibid, pp. 108, 309), and Sigzil (ibid, p. 469). [i envision a distorted “Adam and Eve” story (especially in view of Brandon’s apparent interest in Paradise Lost): instead of Satan tempting Adam through Eve, Honor tempts Odium through Cultivation, springing Honor’s trap. (Maybe…? But the trap was somehow sprung.)] The Nightwatcher’s characterization as a “spren,” if accurate, identifies it as cognitive investiture manifesting in the Physical Realm. See “A Confused Guide to Spren” and "Why Radiant Spren Are Not Sapient Until They Bond.") 2. Evidence of my assertion is the one known example of a Nightwatcher boon: the granting of “heaps of cloth” to Av’s father (in the WoK “Baxil” interlude (I-7)). Av’s father sold that cloth and saved his family during the “lurnip famine.” Av says the Nightwatcher gives people what they “deserve,” regardless of what they ask for or how they ask. That observation is consistent with Cultivation’s Survival mandate. Unlike Odium, whose power is limited to cognitive curses, Cultivation is free to help people Survive in the Physical Realm. (I don’t think it’s been confirmed whether Shshshsh is Dalinar’s boon or curse. If it’s his boon, then the forgetfulness helps him move on with his life...Survival.) 3. I describe Odium’s Physical Realm power as limited to “cognitive curses” because they all occur in the mind. Dalinar forgets Shshshsh’s name (if it IS his curse); Av’s father sees the world upside down; his brother loses the ability to feel his hands (a perception issue, since Av didn’t say his brother couldn’t use his hands). There's been tons of speculation about the Nightwatcher. How does this theory fly?

I was rereading words of radiance and while in the Lift section came across these two quotes: " 'What did you ask for, when you visited my mother?' ” -- Wyndle (Lift's Spreen) " 'Mother has given up on your kind. I can feel it. She doesn’t care any longer. Now that He’s gone . . .' ” -- Wyndle Wyndle's mother has got to be the Nightwatcher, because he asks "What did you ask for" implying Lift asked for a boon. Then "He" that is gone has got to be Honor, and the Cultivation has a thing for Honor, so him being gone would make cultivation depressed. There fore, Nightwatcher and Cultivation are the same! What do you guys think?

On r/StormlightArchive there was a theory that the old magic was voidbinding, in reference to the Parshendi being refered to as "the old people" This got me thinking on the Nightwatcher and where she would fit into this theory. Could it be that odium could have hijacked the Nightwatcher like he can spren and use her for his agenda. What would this mean for Taravangian? He has taken the role of semi-antagonist and it would be an easy transition in the story for him to become a legitimate villain. What could this implicate for Dalinar? Many things, but it would depend on when Odium theoretically took control of NW. Just food for thought, if this next book is Dalinar's as Brandon is saying then we will learn much more about the Nightwatcher.

Spoilers for WOR and WOK below It seems to me that as of WoR, we have little knowledge of the nightwatcher. Many people know of it (her?), but it is surrounded by mystery. The nightwatcher is referred to as evil in a way that I see as similiar to how voidbringers are, but shouldn't something of Cultivation be beneficial, not evil? My theory is that the nightwatcher is a fusion of odium and cultivation, perhaps a splinter of cultivation that was "hijacked" by odium. This could explain why there is a boon and a curse, and why they are balanced in severity, as odium and cultivation are balanced for control in the Nightwatcher, and one can only use power while allowing the other to use the same amount, Evidences: (sorry there's no page numbers, they're from my kindle) The Nightwatcher is Evil: Around the campfire in WoK in Chapter 27 Chasm Duty, Skar says he would "join the Nightwatcher herself around a fire if there was stew involved" Kaladin in the WoK Chapter 14 Payday say to Syl, "Bringing death and lies wherever I go. Me and the Nightwatcher." In WoK Chapter 65 The Tower, Dalinar is wondering if he should trust the visions, "They could be from the Nightwatcher or the Voidbringers." These all go to show that the Nightwatcher is seen as evil, or at least her curses are. The Nightwatcher is part of Cultivation: Wyndle seems to mention that "mother" has influenced lift in WoR. In the Chapter Lift he says, "She has visited the Old Magic,'... 'Our mother has blessed her," Now this is alot of assumption, but because of Growth, I'm assuming that Wyndle is a little piece of Cultivation, and "Mother" would be referring to Cultivation. It seems strange that the old magic and cultivation are mentioned separate, but the blessing is from the old magic and "mother." This supports the idea that boons are from Cultivation. Now, in a more speculative sense, could the Nightwatcher be one of the Unmade? Another topic, but slightly relevant. This theory came to me recently as I read Rothfuss's Wise Man's Fear and came to the part about the Cthaeh, something that saw the future perfectly, and was perfectly evil. This strikes me as something like the Nightwatcher, as in one of Dalinar's visions, Tanavast mentions something like Cultivation is better at seeing the future than he is. Part of this is an attempt to figure out why Mr. T is so evil, as there is currently a theory named "Taravangian's real way of saving mankind" by Raysen_ht, and it revolves around the fact that Mr. T's brilliance is actually his curse. So now I've got the groundwork laid. In conclusion, I think the Nightwatcher is an Unmade that is equal parts Odium and Cultivation, with the odious parts granting curses matching severity to the boons Cultivation gives. Holes in Theory: Lack of Knowledge about the Nightwatcher in general The source of the Nightwatcher's evil reputation could just be people bitter about their curses Cultivation is a force that isn't inherently evil or good, so may not be balanced by odium The Cthaeh already exists, and Brandon is an original writer, I feel he wouldn't reuse an idea. Mr. T really could be doing the best thing for the world in the Diagram, taking a "survival" approach rather than fighting approach. This is my first published theory, so sorry about its disorganization.

Hey! I've been working on a few drawings recently and I thought I would share them now! So tell me what you think of them! Also if you want to suggest any other ideas of what to draw from the stormlight archive that would be great. The first drawing is my depiction of Adolin. I kind of what to work on this some more, but I thought it looked good enough to show you guys. Adolin is suppose to be really good looking with messy hair in a military uniform. My second drawing is my new depiction of the NightWatcher. Now there isn't really a description of her in the book so I really had freedom to draw what ever I wanted.

The inverse link between Taravangian's "capacity" (read: intellect) and his compassion has always bothered me. Apparently, it bothers Taravangian, too. On the days when he is most intelligent, he is at his least compassionate. Or so he believes. Have you guys ever heard of the Milgram Experiment? Basically (and I'm greatly oversimplifying), the participants were told that they were taking part in a teaching experiment. Whenever the "learner" (who was in another room, and a confederate of the psychologist) got an answer wrong, the participant was told by the psychologist running the experiment to administer an electric shock. Eventually, the learner would start screaming and begging for mercy, then finally stop responding as the supposed shocks increased in intensity during the course of the experiment. Over 60% of test participants (and this test has been repeated numerous times and in numerous cultures) usually continue with the "shocks" to the fatal level. What does this have to do with Taravangian? The Milgram Experiment was about authority- whether people are willing to override their own moral compass and compassion when ordered to do so by an authority figure. I've always read a little more into it, though. It's not just about an authority figure- it's about being able to transfer responsibility for the act to someone else. In the case of the Milgram Experiment, it was because the participant was "just following orders," thus (in their mind) putting the responsibility for the acts on the shoulders of the psychologist. Or, to put it in another way: My theory is that the Nightwatcher did not curse Taravangian by inversely linking his compassion and intelligence. I theorize that this is a lie that he tells to himself, something that he has thoroughly convinced himself of, so that he can continue to do what he thinks is necessary. Even when he does feel guilt for his actions, he ultimately has someone else to blame- the Nightwatcher, for making him this way. You'd be surprised the sorts of things that people can convince themselves of when they don't want to face an ugly truth. Especially an ugly truth about themselves. Or, maybe you wouldn't be surprised- just look at the mental gymnastics that Shallan goes through to forget aspects of her own past. Of course, for this to be true, that would mean that Taravangian does not actually know the curse that the Nightwatcher afflicted him with. We don't know enough about what happens when someone goes to see the Nightwatcher to know if this is plausible. Does she tell them what their boon and curse are? Or are they left to figure it out for themselves? I have an interesting image in my head of Dalinar leaving the Valley and traveling home, not knowing the nature of his curse was until the first time someone mentioned his late wife. Lift gives no indication that she is cursed or thinks of herself as cursed, or has any idea what her curse might be (though she doesn't really think of the Nightwatcher or the Old Magic much at all, which doesn't give us much to work with). Many of the other curses we hear tell of (numb hands, upside-down vision) are obvious in an immediate sensory way, meaning that no explanation would have been necessary from the Nightwatcher. I suspect we won't know such details of the mechanics of a visit to the Nightwatcher until we actually see one, directly or in flashback. Taravangian is one of the most fascinating characters in the series to me. I really came to like him in Way of Kings and, when the big reveal about what he was really doing in his hospitals came about at the end, I felt betrayed. This kindly King, who builds hospitals and loves all, is a mass murderer? I was thoroughly shocked. My feelings about Taravangian changed forever in that instant. He, more than any character in the series so far, earned my ire in that instant. Learning about the nature of his intelligence/compassion dichotomy in Words of Radiance has not made me feel more charitable towards him. Instead, I see it as being much like Szeth- committing terrible atrocities because he can find a way, on some level, of blaming someone else. The idea that the lack of compassion in his diagram is directly caused by a curse rings hollow to me. I find the idea that Taravangian has desperately convinced himself that his lack of compassion is due to a curse to be much more compelling. And I wonder what the revelation of that fact, should I prove to be right, would do to Taravangian. The idea that the diagram calls for such cruelty and evil not because his more intelligent self was inherently without compassion thanks to the Nightwatcher, but because of his own choice (conscious or unconscious)... Well, I suspect that it would break him.

I am sure that a thread like this has been explored but seeing as I could not readily find it have have come to ask it myself. If you came the the Nightwatcher, what would you ask of her? Even better, what do you think would be what you would get? I would ask to know all the RAFO. I would then end up dumb and paralyzed so I could not share the secrets with anyone. ( /(Well Written Brandon.... well written)

For the past 24 hours I have been scratching my head about Zahel, in theory, actually being Vasher. While I'm not totally against this fact and would not mind it in the least of ways but I feel like there is something that is pointing to a Dalinar/Vasher tie-in. At first I was trying to tie the two characters together (Dalinar = Vasher), it sounded good in my head but Dalinar's background can easily be argued against, the tie-ins would become to complicated, plus I do not think Sanderson would make things that crazy, it is just not his style and then it hit me, Dalinar's wife. "Navani settled back, sipping her wine, safehand lying across her lap. 'Dalinar, your sons told me that you once sought the Old Magic. Why? What did you ask of the Nightwatcher and what curse did she give you in return?' 'I told them that shame is my own,' Dalinar said. 'And I will not share it." Here's the fun part, Shashara is a Returned. Prior to her Return, there is no record of her past life which makes me wonder, aside from Nightblood being on Roshar what else could possibly bring Vasher to Roshar? Maybe trying to figure out Shashara's past or maybe he does know and he wants to be around someone that knew her during a "simpler" time in her life? Yes, I agree the timelines would be and are different for each world within the cosmere but lets be real, that is the interesting part. Let me know what you guys think.

Is there any chance that the Nightwatcher is a Shardholder? It would make sense in that she can give powers, but also gives curses for some perverse reason. It is never stated anywhere, but it is a possible explanation.

I have just a basic understanding of the Cosmere (though I guess that's true of most of us until BS writes more books), but I'm confused about the whole shard/splinter/spren thing. (I'm talking about the shards of Adonalsium here - not shard blades or plate). If I'm not mistaken, I read/heard somewhere that the spren are splinters of Honor, who has died. It was his death that caused him to splinter. I realize it was just Honor's holder that died, but didn't the shard itself splinter into smaller pieces? But what about the Stormfather? He is also called a splinter of Honor and the Windspren are his children. So, are the Windspren splinters of a splinter? Next, the Nightwatcher is of Cultivation. So, has cultivation died/splintered too and Nightwatcher is one of her splinters? Or is Nightwatcher actually Cultivation as a whole? Wyndle (Lift's spren) talks about his Mother, so is he actually of Cultivation/Nightwatcher? If so, are some of the Knights Radiant of Cultivation instead of Honor? Also, how can Cultivation have Splinters (Spren) if she hasn't died/splintered? Finally, aren't the evil spren of Odium? How can he have splinters if he hasn't died/splintered? Also, does he have a "super spren" like Honor's Stormfather and Cultivation's Nightwatcher?

Hey everyone this is my first theory, it’s a pretty straightforward one. I apologize in advance if this has been discussed before. Alright it’s all based on this scene. Chapter 83 page 1003 “Storms” the surgeon said, “Highprince, you’re all scars under here. How many time have you been wounded in the shoulder” “Can’t Remember” “How can you still use your arm?” “Training and practice” “that’s not how it works…” she whispered eyes wider “I mean… Storms…” So my theory is that Dalinar got crippled and went to the Nightwatcher to be healed. Also after he bond with the Stormfather he breathed in stormlight and “he felt his wound healing in a familiar way, He’d done the before." The Nightwatcher healed him with stormlight.(see straightforward ) So what do you think?

So in Jasnah's prologue, I found an interesting little tidbit that Brandon did his sneaky "I'll mention this is passing to make it seem like it's not important" trick on. It's right after her shadows are playing with her the first time on screen. Jasnah's other experiences? So what kind of experiences would Jasnah have had? The closest we know to other supernatural happenings around Jasnah is Dalinar visiting the Nightwatcher. This theory is pure conjecture, but I would have to assume that the statement here references that event. Otherwise I have no idea what experiences this would be pointing to. Then again, there's the book Shallan is reading in Chapter 3: Pattern. So this snippet leaves me with a few questions. First off, I'm making it a rule to pay attention to every question Shallan asks. They always seem to be important and insightful (and usually aren't answered.) If it was one of the earliest works Jasnah published, then I would have to assume that she wrote and published it before her foray into Shadesmar, so what made her want to study it and the KR? If that's the case, did she not want Shallan to read it because she had learned some information is false? Does it maybe hold the information about Jasnah's "other experiences?" The other in universe book we know of Jasnah writing is about gender roles in the modern Rosharian society, which seems much more to Jasnah's character considering her thoughts on marriage and the subject. This book was read by Shallan a year and a half ago (Chapter 65 The One Who Deserves It.) Now granted, we don't know when this book was published, but considering that her experience in Shadesmar was 6 years ago, and this was available to read, most likely widely available, I assume that it has been released for quite some time, but not overly old. So if the book on Shadesmar is one of the first published pieces, why the sudden topic change either from gender roles to superstitions, or superstition to gender roles? These other experiences that Jasnah had seem very important to me, maybe they are the base that allowed Ivory to bond with her? What else does anyone supposed it could be, it not Dalinar's run in with the Nightwatcher. Jasnah seems like she'd be astute enough to recognize Dalinar's discrepancies relating to his wife, and the superstitions surrounding the old magic seem to be the ones that are the most verifiable, especially for Jasnah. Later on in Chapter three during Jasnah's discussion with Shallan, they are talking about the Stormfather and the Almighty: So Jasnah admits that the Almighty and the Stormfather might be real, might be a powerful spren. Might be a powerful spren such as the Nightwatcher. Jasnah all but admits that the Nightwatcher is proven to be real. For a skeptic like Jasnah, I wouldn't expect this idea to be presented without Jasnah being completely sure. Anyone else have any theories on what Jasnah could have experienced before that confirmed some superstitions were based on fact? EDIT: Added third quote.

There have been all sorts of theories regarding the origin and nature of the Stormfather and Nightwatcher. Mine is that Honor and Cultivation each invested the current incarnation of the Stormfather; and that Cultivation and either Adonalsium (though the “Old Magic”) or Odium each invested the current incarnation of the Nightwatcher. The Stormfather Both the Highstorms and the Stormfather pre-exist the arrival of Honor, Cultivation and humans on Roshar. Originally, the Highstorms were merely meteorological events. WoB states that at some point the Highstorms also became magical events. Our fearless WoB compiler RShara says she understands Brandon to mean “the stormlight part of the storm was added later, I'm assuming by a Shard.” Eshonai says the Stormfather is a traitor who was once a friend. This description suggests the Stormfather was the spren who personified the Highstorms to the Listeners. Eshonai also says the Highstorms and the Stormfather are involved in Listener form changes. Subsequent WoR events confirm that statement. The Stormfather now identifies himself as a sliver, a splinter and the spren of Honor. Humans personified Honor (the “Almighty”) as the Stormfather, by which the Stormfather became Honor’s spren. Though the Listeners claim the Stormfather betrayed them, it is unclear whether the Stormfather could have simultaneously remained a Listener’s spren. Eshonai’s comments suggest that the Stormfather may no longer be serving his function of overseeing Listener form changes, but we have no evidence of this. To the contrary, the Listeners continued to undergo their pre-stormspren form changes during Highstorms. The Stormfather’s failure to help Eshonai when she was being bound by the stormspren does not provide proof one way or the other. Throughout WoR, we see that the Stormfather has no autonomy regarding the bonding process. He accepts all KR oaths, and Syl says he has no power to stop the tightening of the Nahel bond if the KR “says the words.” This is no different than how he behaves towards Eshonai. The Stormfather states he is also a sliver of Honor. He claims he was present when Odium “murdered” Honor and fled. The following WoB provides guidance on how the Stormfather became Honor’s sliver: “Q: If Endowment were killed, would the Returned still come?” “A: Somebody needs to hold the magic. If no one holds the magic, the magic will gain sentience. Interesting and bizarre things happen then…” Odium (or rather Rayse) did not acquire any part of Honor’s splinters because other WoB says Rayse did not want to dilute his essence, his “hatefulness.” The only other sentient being in the neighborhood was the Stormfather. I believe the Stormfather absorbed Honor’s splinters and “fled.” Some indefinite time afterwards (immediately?), the Stormfather released Honor’s splinters, which greatly increased the number of Roshar’s spren (emphasis added): “Q: Were there spren bonds before Aharietiam?” “A: …The spren were around back then but they're not nearly what they are now. They've changed over the course of the book obviously…They are much more prevalent following Honor and what happened to him, but there were some spren on the planet before even that happened.” And, of course, the Stormfather retained a splinter of Honor as well. The Stormfather is thus simultaneously a spren, a sliver and a splinter of Honor, as he claims. But Cultivation has also invested the Stormfather. At a recent WoR signing, a fan asked Brandon to write something in his copy (emphasis added): “Q: For Words of Radiance, could you put a comment about something in the upcoming books, nothing specific, just something I can think about? Something like "Renarin has a spren" you wrote for somebody else in The Way of Kings? “A: [brandon wrote] ‘Stormlight makes plants grow.’" I believe the power of growth – Progression – belongs to Cultivation, not Honor. Cultivation is apparently the Shard responsible for stormlight, making plants grow and facilitating surgebinder healing. Thus, the Stormfather is a splinter of BOTH Cultivation and Honor. He may bring the Highstorms, but the stormlight the Highstorms contain come from Cultivation. The Nightwatcher We have not yet met the Nightwatcher and have much less information about her than we do the Stormfather. All we know is the following: Humans come to her for boons, which she dispenses together with a curse. Humans believe the Nightwatcher controls the “Old Magic.” Brandon has not explained what the “Old Magic” is. We believe the Nightwatcher selected Lift for Wyndle to bond with. This belief is based on Wyndle describing her as “Mother.” Since Syl and other spren call the Stormfather (and not Honor) “Father,” Wyndle’s designation suggests “Mother” means the Nightwatcher and not Cultivation. The Nightwatcher resides in the “The Valley,” which is located in the mountains between Emul and Greater Hexi. It is generally accepted in these Forums that the Nightwatcher is a rough analog to the Stormfather: Cultivation’s spren in the same way the Stormfather is Honor’s spren. This seems confirmed by Lift’s Nahel bond with Wyndle: the two surges granted Lift are Progression and Abrasion. Based on the surgebinding table and the concept of “cultivation,” these surges appear to stem from Cultivation. WoB states the analogy with the Stormfather is “on the right track” but not precisely correct. That statement suggests something else is part of the Nightwatcher. That may be why the Nightwatcher curses as well as grants boons. There are two other potential sources of Investiture in her: the “Old Magic” and Odium. According to the Coppermind Wiki, the “Old Magic” was the dominant religion on Roshar before the rise of Vorinism. Since Brandon has said that all Cosmere magic ultimately derives from Adonalsium, and we know Adonalsium has invested on Roshar, then the “Old Magic” may be derived from Adonalsium. If so, then the Nightwatcher is a spren of both Cultivation and Adonalsium. Alternatively, because the Nightwatcher curses her beneficiaries, Odium may have invested in the Nightwatcher. Both her name and behavior imply a darkness or meanness to her character. Human consciousness may have personified the uncertainties of growth and development in both beneficial and hateful terms, thus producing a spren comprised of both Shards. I find it interesting that the Nightwatcher’s curses seem unrelated to her boons: that would imply an almost schizophrenic or multiple personality spren whose two components don’t coordinate. We may not learn a lot more about the Nightwatcher until the second five SA books. That’s a long time to wait…

I thought about this one today when I was meant to be studying other things (Learning is difficult when you're still living in a book's world). The specific number of Bondsmiths was stated in WoR as three. Always three. The epigraph implied heavily that the Bondsmiths made the choice to keep their numbers limited. However, Dalinar's actions at the end of WoR gave me another idea: What if the Bondsmiths can only bond with unique spren? I know, every sentient spren is unique, but there are other honorspren than Syl, more Cryptics other than Pattern and so on. The unique spren would be of the Stormfather level, and he is a fragment of Honor. (I don't know if this makes him a Splinter, or so on) So what if the NIghtwatcher is the same to Cultivation as the Stormfather is to Honor? That would account for another Bondsmith. The final one gets interesting. Would they be tied to Odium's spren? I think it has a kind of poetic balance, based on the idea that to truly unite a people, you have to understand every aspect. One Bondsmith represents Honor (Dalinar), another Cultivation and yet another Odium. I'm interested in seeing what effect bonding with the Stormfather will bring about on Dalinar's personality. Does he remain a separate entity, or will the two minds fuse to a degree? If they remain separate, a Bondsmith could bond with Odium's unique while remaining level headed and not poisoned with hate. My previous theories have all been proposed before, or WoB'd out, but I think I'm finally getting on top of the speculation around here!

So I was thinking on the Lift interlude and a thought came to me. It's probably not quite right, but it could be a possible explanation. In this part Wyndle says, "Mother has given up on your kind. I can feel it. She doesn't care any longer. Now that He's gone..." Now my first thought was that He is Honor. But after reading WoR I came to wonder if He is actually the man (bondsmith) that Nightwatcher bonded with. If this were the case then one reason for her strange actions would be that she became broken like all the other spren who broke when the KR broke their oaths. And because bondsmith don't have shard blades we get a broken spren who gives strange blessings and even weirder curses.

Here is some quotiness from the Lift interlude which forms the groundwork for this rather simple theory: All of the above quotes were spoken by Wyndle (Lift's bondspren). I think these quotes virtually (though not absolutely) confirm that the Nightwatcher is indeed Cultivation. The first and second quotes refer to the Nightwatcher with Wyndle (and the Ring) referring to her as their "mother" and the third quote seems to clearly indicate (although not ironclad) Cultivation owing to the "Now that He's gone" part. So, one of my early criticisms of the Nightwatcher = Cultivation theory was that the boon/curse gifts of the nightwatcher did not smack of Cultivation since the curses that we had seen so far did not seem to have any purpose and seemed somewhat capricious. Now, in view of the third quote, I think that capriciousness fits nicely. It is my contention that Cultivation was so devastated at the loss of Honor that she by and large checked out of the whole game, as it were. She has given up on people (and the Oathpact?) and is depressed. Now, when people come to her, she makes the sword cut both ways out of bitterness of Honor's death. Now, there is still much room for discovery within this theory. Was the boon/curse system established before Honor's death. I think it was very possibly so. As so many have pointed out, the process of cultivation involves pruning as well as feeding. I would not be surprised to find that the 'curses' from Cultivation prior to Honor's death were constructive in the vein of some kind of disability (not necessarily bodily) in an area of less importance that leads to strengthening in some other area of greater importance. So, what do you all think?

I've seen it posted places that Dalinar went to the Nightwatcher to ask for a boon and the result was that he was cursed to forget everything about his wife, including not hearing anything specific people say about her. If this has already been confirmed somewhere then I apologize. I'm new to the online community and don't know for certain what has and hasn't been discussed. My theory is that the empty place in his mind where his wife used to be is actually his boon, rather than his curse. We know he gets one of each, and the details of the event remain vague, along with everything related to his wife. It's possible that after his wife died he was so stricken with grief that he thought it would be better not to remember anything about her at all. In this sense, maybe the loss of memories isn't the curse, but the boon, or possibly both, as with Taravangian's variable intelligence.

So Dalinar bonded the Stormfather. Quite awesome of him. But more importantly is the following quote. "But as for the Bondsmiths, they had members only three, which number was not uncommon for them; nor did they seek to increase this by great bounds....Their spren was understood to be specific, and to persuade them to grow to the magnitude of other orders was seen as seditions. Words of Radiance, Chapter 16, page 14." I propose that a bondsmith must bond with a spren that has authority in the spren world, like the Stormfather's authority over Honorspren. So the limitation to only a few bondsmiths is a result of their only being a few spren that are splinters of that magnitude. So since the Stormfather is already taken, for a new bondsmith to arise he/she would have to bond with someone like the Nightwatcher, or that spren in the Axies interlude. As to why it would be seditious to have many Bondsmiths, I propose that each Bondsmith was related to a specific type of spren: Honorspren, Cultivationspren, or ?Adonalsiumspren". The bondsmith would then have some influence over the formation of bonds, through the authority of their spren, and thus influence on who became a radiant. Syl had to defy the Stormfather after all. To have two Honor Bondsmiths would create division. Evidence of the ability for Spren to be "forced" against their choosing comes from Lift's interlude and how the Ring gave him to Lift.

I'm new here so this may have been discussed before, but one of the things I am most curious about is how the different Spren in the book will get along. Will they become friends, rivals, something more...? Here are some of my thoughts. Syl Pattern Glys Ivory Wyndle Stormfather Nightwatcher How do you think these Spren will respond to each other? Do you think we will have a Spren POV in the next book?

The theory basically is, the Nightstone is part of the body of Cultivation in physical form. Here's my reasons. When Szeth killed Gavilar and he gave Szeth the sphere it was night. Quote from Szeth: Prologue. So we have a sphere that glows with a black light at night. Next is a quote from a very unreliable source, but the details are too exact to be a coincidence in my opinion. So I reason that there must be some grain of truth in it. Quote from Szeths POV about Tooks story: I-3 The Glory of Ignorance. Now while I think that most of Tooks story is idle boasting, I do believe that he's at least seen a sphere that's same as the one Gavilar had, maybe even the same one. The description of a sphere that glows black at night is too big of a coincidence I think. Connections to Cultivation: The Shin seem to worship Cultivation, they also revere stone. Maybe Cultivation invested in the rock and minerals of the planet? Cultivation and the Nightwatcher are suspected to be the same person The stone glows black at night. Connecting to the Nightwatcher? (Cultivation) Tooks unreliable account of sealing it from the Nightwatcher (Cultivation) Possible conclusion - The Nightstone is a part of the body of Cultivation in physical form. Now there's a lot of holes and no evidence to connect the sphere to Cultivation other than guesses and dubious stories, and I'm not sold on the theory myself, but I thought it an interesting enough theory to share with you guys. ====================== My other thought, based on this quote: chapter 58 - The journey Was that the sphere is connected to the Midnight Mother, possibly one of the Unmade. Maybe the Unmade are the Parshendi dark gods and Gavilar was going to do something with the stone that would risk their return.

I did a quick search for this and didn't find anything, but feel free to tell me if this has been done before. The questioned posed is thus: if you were to seek out the Old Magic, what boon would you ask of the Nightwatcher? You can keep your answer in-world or not as you desire. The caveat is that the next person to post after you has to tell you what curse you received to go with your boon. If there are no objections...I'll begin: After much internal debate, I would probably simply ask to be awesome.

So here's a fun quote: That means that the Stormfather is probably an active entity in Shadesmar. My bet is that he's some type of spren, like the Nightwatcher or Cusicesh.

I theorize that the person of Cultivation has very little access to the shard of Cultivation. Here is my background information: Honorspren are the reason that Honor being shattered didn't effect the cognitive realm as much as on Sel, where a specific comparison to Seons, splinters of Devotion, has been made. Also, Cultivationspren exist (and thus might be splinters). Shards in all their power have rarely been able to appear to people lacking access to said shards power in some strength. Allomancers can see the mist spirit Everyone can see the mist spirit which is detached from its respective shard, and only spiked people could see Ruin's corporeal form. Additionally, Vin specifically appeared to Elend, an Allomancer in HoA. Honor has only appeared in human form so far to surgebinders like Dalinar and Kaladin. The Nightwatcher has some form approachable by humans. We know that cultivation was female, but the Rosharians recognize her as such, which implies some sort of being that may be in corporeal form. The base investiture by a shard is not enough to allow such interactions, as seen with Ruin, who very specifically could only appear to someone with a spike. Thus normal rosharians might not be able to see a shard that isn't more strongly invested in them (A possible exception to this argument involves feruchemists and whether or not they should have been able to see the spirit with Alendi at the Well) A parallel has been drawn between the mists and highstorms. The mists served to counter Ruin's power passively until a new Preservation came around. Highstorms could serve the same purpose of countering Odium. This would leave a fully empowered Cultivation capable of clearing out Odium's various investitures from Roshar, which has not been done. Leras was able to detach himself from his shardic power, so perhaps shards can do this to one another. In short, the nightwatcher appears to be recognizable as female, has much less influence on her world opposed to other shards, has spren that may be her splinters, and can be seen by non-invested humans. These suggest to me that by some means she has been deprived of her powers.