[OB] Purpose of the Nightwatcher

[FirstSelector]

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.

Edited November 15, 2017 by FirstSelector

[Ryshadium]

I do not have any real objections to this theory.  It makes much sense.  Would she be "trapped" in the (presumed) power source that Shallan found? That seems sad for such a sapient spren. 

[CaptainRyan]

Interesting theory but I think, barring further evidence, that I disagree. None of the evidence listed (Uruthiru having a ton of fabrial-tech, the gem pillar being big enough to contain a large Splinter, etc.) specifically points to the Nightwatcher. I think we would jump to that conclusion because she is the only other super spren we know. There is, however, a possibility, of at least one more (the Sibling).

[IndigoAjah]

If The Nightwatcher is to Cultivation what Stormfather is to Honor, does that imply the third Bondsmith Spren is of Odium? 

[Wandering Investor]

The Stormfather says the third sibling is "slumbering". This, combined with the Radiant gems mentioning "The Sibling is changing" and "Good night, dear Urithiru. Good night, sweet Sibling." seem to indicate that the third Great Spren is the one powering the tower, not the Nightwatcher. But it weakened and then eventually went dormant. The Stormfather mentions that "you[humans?] have hurt them enough", so it raises questions about what weakened it.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2017 by Wandering Investor

[Ryshadium]

For some reason, I didn’t realize until right now that the Sibling was not the Nightwatcher. D’oh!

[lookingglass]

18 hours ago, Wandering Investor said:

The Stormfather says the third sibling is "slumbering". This, combined with the Radiant gems mentioning "The Sibling is changing" and "Good night, dear Urithiru. Good night, sweet Sibling." seem to indicate that the third Great Spren is the one powering the tower, not the Nightwatcher. But it weakened and then eventually went dormant. The Stormfather mentions that "you[humans?] have hurt them enough", so it raises questions about what weakened it.

 

I agree. I think the spren of stones or maybe the spren of Roshar the planet could be the Sibling. I don't believe it's another Shard. Stones are sacred to the shin and gems come from Roshar itself so it would make sense that stones could have a spren and that people have been thinking about them as one entity enough that it's become a cognitive shadow.

 

[Subvisual Haze]

19 hours ago, Wandering Investor said:

The Stormfather says the third sibling is "slumbering". This, combined with the Radiant gems mentioning "The Sibling is changing" and "Good night, dear Urithiru. Good night, sweet Sibling." seem to indicate that the third Great Spren is the one powering the tower, not the Nightwatcher. But it weakened and then eventually went dormant. The Stormfather mentions that "you[humans?] have hurt them enough", so it raises questions about what weakened it.

 

I was actually planning to post this theory later tonight in it's own thread, so great minds must think alike

The 3 godspren seem most likely to be Stormfather, Nightwatcher, and the spren of Urithiru.  Renarin notes that the entire tower is one giant fabrial.  Thus it makes sense that simply infusing the gem-pillar in its basement with stormlight was not enough to restore functionality.  A fabrial also requires a spren to make the transformation (spren+stormlight=change).  Rather than a large number of enslaved lesser spren, I think there was one large godspren which acted as the CPU and caretaker for the whole tower.  It also seems like a very appropriate spren for a Bondsmith to wish to bond, "I will bring men together" - a functioning Urithiru would do a great job for that.

Current fabrials work by enslaving lesser spren.  I suspect that this wasn't always the case though.  Spren are drawn and attracted to ideas and change, perhaps the earlier fabrials worked by attracting the necessary spren, then releasing them when the necessary task was done.  It's easy to see how that could easily lead to "let's just capture the spren permanently in these gems, then they'll always be available for instant use!".  Perhaps this is what went wrong with the godspren of Urithiru, mankind started to regard and treat it like a tool instead of a partner.

[ROSHtaFARian2.0]

Apologies if somebody has suggested this already, but we've been focusing on three Bondsmith spren and three Shards on Roshar and trying to draw a line between those two symmetries, but what if the third bondsmith spren is born of the resonance of Honor and Cultivation? We know when two Shards power a magic system, there's a side-effect or resonance that's not quite another power in and of itself, but is something unique to the interaction of the two Shards....what if the bondsmith spren break down as the Nightwatcher is to Cultivation as the Stormfather is to Honor, and the Sibling, the third bondsmith spren, is to the resonance of Honor and Cultivation, the interaction between the two that fuels Surgebinding and creates the spren that govern human access to each of the ten Surges?

Edited November 16, 2017 by ROSHtaFARian2.0

[Shadowmancer]

The spren of Urithiru, huh? A giant stone tower. That would make it a spren of ... stone? Perhaps there is more to the "God of the Stones" theory. The spren of Urithiru could either be this "god" or else a portion of his power.

[TheOneKEA]

I agree wholeheartedly with this theory, and we have a strong example of how this could work when we saw the Oathgate spren in the Cognitive Realm. I suspect that the first visit to Urithiru in Shadesmar will make it obvious where the spren is (or was).

[FirstSelector]

So, while I still think that there are some really important parts of this theory that are correct, it's not the Nightwatcher.

The most compelling part about the theory, in my mind, is specifically that plants wilted when the Radiants were leaving.  This is a pretty obvious clue that Cultivation must be involved somehow, and I only know of one significant Splinter of that Shard.

 

I very much like the idea above that the third Bondsmith is connected not to the Unmade, but to this third Sibling that is a combination of Honor and Cultivation.  It certainly makes sense - they would only be Siblings if they were all born of the same parents.

[Wandering Investor]

There is a potential issue with the Sibling being a resonant child. The highstorm existed before Honor and Cultivation got there (WoB), which likely means the Stormfather existed before as well, in some form or another. This doesn't necessarily mean the Sibling wasn't created later, but it does raise the possibility that the Sibling and Nightmother may have been around before the Shards arrival. Either way, the Sibling could still be what powers the tower, it is just a question of where it came from.

[Daishi5]

So if we have 3, and the Sibling is the spren of the stone, that would give us 3 godspren as the spren of the skies, the spren of the plants, and the spren of the earth.

[taxilian]

On 11/15/2017 at 5:08 PM, IndigoAjah said:

If The Nightwatcher is to Cultivation what Stormfather is to Honor, does that imply the third Bondsmith Spren is of Odium? 

This seems very unlikely given this WoB: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/117/#e1640

Quote

Brandon Sanderson

So all the magic on Roshar, all the surgebinding on Roshar, is going to have its roots in Honor and Cultivation. Um... There is some Odium influence too, but that’s mostly voidbinding, which is the map in the back of the first book.

I initially had the same thought