Heralds mental state affected by their Honourblades?

[sonNeturo]

I haven't seen this on another post yet but if it is can someone please put a link in here somewhere.

 

Right so I realise that Taln's state is most likely caused by the millenia of torture in taking the burden of ten to himself he seemed somewhat functional when he was in Kholinar. Fast forward to him being in Dalinar's camp he is a mess only showing some form of sanity when around magic. Now if you believe in the theory that Hoid now holds Taln's Honourblade (as the blade that Dalinar took was not an Honourblade due to the screaming spren and change of shape) the the change in Taln's state could be because of that.

 

 

The only Herald we know to be operating as his normal self is Nalan (darkness) but he has his blade. Shallash is going around destroying art of herself (completely reasonable or not?). I also remember someone saying to Darkness that they weren't supposed to get worse and that that creature has his lord's blade. I assume that Szeth had Jezrien's blade as he was using the windrunner abilities. I think the other man is a probable Herald and is still serving Jezrien (from a comment made by Darkness in Link's interlude he has gone mad/vegatable/something) and that being without his blade has made him worse.

 

I know that the Heralds are all operating under various levels of sanity (I'm sure that came from a WoB but I could be mistaken), but does anyone know if being without their Honourblades makes them worse?

 

 

 

Your thoughts, and please feel free to poke holes or add anything if it occurs to you.

Edited March 14, 2014 by sonNeturo

[WeiryWriter]

The only Herald we know to be operating as his normal self is Nalan (darkness) but he has his blade.

 

All we know is that a Herald went back for their Honorblade, the identity of that herald is by no means known.  Nalan is only a likely choice.

[Aleksiel]

Nalan hasn't manifested any surgebinding abilities (if this is still the correct word when said abilities come from  Honorblade and not spren), so we don't know for sure who has his/her blade and I wouldn't say he's reasonable. He seems somewhat sane only if you really widen the definition.

 

Taln came back with his Honorbladse and his mental state wasn't  well from the beginning, but he didn't get worse without the blade. He didn't really communicate in Kholinar; only said who he is and from then on just kept rambling about the Desolation. He was doing the same while he was transported to the Shattered Plains and supposedly still had the Honorblade.

 

So, I don't think there is evidence to support the Honorblade-mental state theory.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Aleksiel

[Jeiel]

Whatever caused Taln's mental state problem, I doubt it's separation from his Honorblade. Otherwise, Jezrien and Kalak would've shown even a slight twinge or anything from leaving theirs behind in WoK. It could just be that it has been faaaaaar too long since the previous Desolation, which in turn means he's been tortured in that in-between-desolation-plaace for that long too. Brandon could simply be preparing a special event in order for Taln to get healed.

 

Also, until another character meets him and verifies his identity, I won't 100% believe that Nalan is who he says he is.

[DiamondMind]

Nalan hasn't manifested any surgebinding abilities (if this is still the correct word when said abilities come from  Honorblade and not spren), so we don't know for sure who has his/her blade and I wouldn't say he's reasonable. He seems somewhat sane only if you really widen the definition.

 

I would actually say that Nalan is not sane and is quite twisted. However, he does manifest surgebinding, or at least the ability to suck in stormlight:

 

 

She glanced down the hallway. She could swear he was glowing faintly, and he was certainly running too quickly. Darkness was awesome too.

 

So if he doesn't have his honorblade, heralds have a natural ability to Invest themselves. I don't really have an opinion on this theory, just throwing this fact out.

[xbauks]

I would actually say that Nalan is not sane and is quite twisted. However, he does manifest surgebinding, or at least the ability to suck in stormlight:

So if he doesn't have his honorblade, heralds have a natural ability to Invest themselves. I don't really have an opinion on this theory, just throwing this fact out.

He hasn't used any surges so far so it could just be innate ability to use Stormlight. Or it could be deliberate. What if he refuses to use any surges? Part of the whole "surgebinders cause the desolation" craziness.

[Krenn]

 Brandon could simply be preparing a special event in order for Taln to get healed.

 

Also, until another character meets him and verifies his identity, I won't 100% believe that Nalan is who he says he is.

 

Here's an interesting question: Can heralds form a Nahel bond with spren, and become BOTH knights radiant AND heralds?  Taln could be a perfect candidate for that.

[RShara]

It's a bit vague, but I think he does manifest powers, rather than just holding Stormlight.

 

She glanced down the hallway. She could swear he was glowing faintly, and he was certainly running too quickly.
Darkness was awesome too

 

I don't think the spren bond affects what happens with Honorblades, so theoretically, it should be possible to bond an Honorblade and a Shardblade.

 

Makes what Kaladin has sound pretty interesting, doesn't it?

[xbauks]

It's a bit vague, but I think he does manifest powers, rather than just holding Stormlight.

I don't think the spren bond affects what happens with Honorblades, so theoretically, it should be possible to bond an Honorblade and a Shardblade.

Makes what Kaladin has sound pretty interesting, doesn't it?

It would be pretty pointless to be honest. WoB: very little compounding of the surges occurs so having an honourblade and shardblade would only be useful for the dual wielding.

Also the moving faster is something Stormlight does for everyone. As Teft puts it in WoK, it enhances the user.

Edited March 16, 2014 by xbauks

[Aleksiel]

I would actually say that Nalan is not sane and is quite twisted. However, he does manifest surgebinding, or at least the ability to suck in stormlight:

 

 

So if he doesn't have his honorblade, heralds have a natural ability to Invest themselves. I don't really have an opinion on this theory, just throwing this fact out.

 

'Twisted' is like 'not sane' to me, just a step below insane.

 

I agree though that Nalan has shown something similiar to the glowing effect of infusing with stormlight, however if he could surgebind he would have gotten Lift imo. Some members of Bridge Four also glow, but they are squires (which we still don't know how different from surgebinding is when it comes to abilities), so there are other explanations to his awesomeness. (No, I'm not suggesting Nalan is someone's squire though it's a possibility; there could be more ways for one to be able to inhale stormlight without being a surgebinder) Nalan didn't surgebind to get to Ym for example, but ran after him. He showed his blade then, but again no surgebinding; so my reasoning is that Nalan most likely isn't the Herald who went back for his/her Honorblade.