Rlain Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 So I think it's pretty clear that Kaladin is going to have his bridge men as a squad. Does it seem likely to anyone else that Shallan will have her mercenary guards as a squad? She is showing them how to be honorable and I don't think the squad necessarily needs to be loyal to the specific branch if surgebinders ideals, just the surgebinder leader himself. In this case that's Shallan. I think it would be useful to a lightweaver to have a group of fighters as a squad, even if they're not very lightweaver-like. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blys Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 Seems possible. They seem to be sticking around, and in a position to be such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkanimereal1 Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 I'm not sure, although I think there's a pretty good chance that could be the case. I have to say, that was one of my favorite parts of this book: watching Shallan interact with and inspire so many people. She didn't always succeed (such as with Tvlakv or whatever his name was), but it was awesome to see her grow so much as a character and be able to inspire those around her. We saw that in Kaladin pretty much from page one of TWoK, but it was great to get to see that same growth in Shallan from a young girl making really dumb, ill-informed decisions (stealing from Jasnah, cough cough) to actually taking on a leadership role and looking out for those around her. Super awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgedancer Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 Interestingly my first thought when she recrutied them was: "So, Shallan now has a following just like Kaladin, is this gonna be a thing for all major characters?" Honestly, I wouldn´t be suprised if they turn into her stormlight-powered Bodyguards to balance out her lack of fighting capability, although having a Shardblade should even that out by itself. Then again Lightweavers are one of the more individual orders so bets are still up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloom Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 I also find it interesting that Kaladin and Shallan chose similar types of people as their followers. Kaladin chose the hopeless and downtrodden criminals and slaves of the bridges, and Shallan chose deserters. The primary similarity between these groups is that almost every one of the people they consist of are broken in some way. This not only makes them potential soldiers for their guard, but may also lead to some of them achieving even higher levels of power through a nahel bond as Lopen appears to be doing. Look out world, Gaz the Surgebinder is a definite possibility. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitSpren Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 So I think it's pretty clear that Kaladin is going to have his bridge men as a squad. Does it seem likely to anyone else that Shallan will have her mercenary guards as a squad? She is showing them how to be honorable and I don't think the squad necessarily needs to be loyal to the specific branch if surgebinders ideals, just the surgebinder leader himself. In this case that's Shallan. I think it would be useful to a lightweaver to have a group of fighters as a squad, even if they're not very lightweaver-like. Yes, I feel the same. Her growth in this book was just great. & the way she pulled up the people around her, similar to Kal but different in her own way, using hew own skills. I can't wait until Gaz grows a new eye. Also, I kind of think that she will be actually weaving illusions on some of her "team". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AerionBFII Posted March 16, 2014 Report Share Posted March 16, 2014 Kaladin/Windrunners - Bridge 4 will mostly be Squires (dampened down powers like just the inhaling stormlight) I don't think it will be likely be the bandits and Gaz fit this criteria, could be wrong but the WR Squires are unique to the WR. (Shallan is named after the patron Herald of the Lightweavers, 'Shalash') “These Lightweavers, by no coincidence, included many who pursued the arts; namely: writers, artists, musicians, painters, sculptors. Considering the order's general temperament, the tales of their strange and varied mnemonic abilities may have been embellished. —From Words of Radiance, chapter 21, page 10” I think the Bondsmiths will be the least populated like in the olden days - There were only 3 members The Skybreakers... i see them as similar to the WR but having a very different moral code, they could possibly have Squires? Haven't thought much about the other orders so far this is the best i can do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Thorn Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I see the ability to empower squires as more universal to surgebinders as a whole. Just as the Nahel bond gives the Radiants their powers, there is a connection between the Radiant Knight and their followers that empowers the squires. It is not from any of the individual surges, but is implicit in how the surges are granted. This ability might also be inherent to the Heralds. Because they are the ones all this is patterened off of, and because they needed it more, For a long time it was just the Heralds without and Radiant support. Against Thunderclasts and who knows what else. Now, spren can be made up of more than one shard. Just like foresight is stronger in Cultivation then Honor, The anointing of squires might be stronger with Honor. So those spren that are more of Honor might have potiential to support more squires, or require a lesser connection between Radiant and follower to become squires than those more of Cultivation. So where Kaladin can have an oversized company or a small army as squires, Shallan might only have a squad or a platoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humph Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 I see the ability to empower squires as more universal to surgebinders as a whole. Just as the Nahel bond gives the Radiants their powers, there is a connection between the Radiant Knight and their followers that empowers the squires. It is not from any of the individual surges, but is implicit in how the surges are granted. It is a different bond. Bridge 4 views itself as connected with Kaladin, and hence they share a bond with him. This mirrors Kaladin's bond with Syl, and participates in it at one remove. In other words, how they view themselves (cognitive level) has a real effect on them in the physical realm (inhaling stormlight). I can definitely see Shallan's followers developing that same level of bonding. I don't think every order of KR will have the same potential to have squires, though. Orders like Truthweavers I would suspect would have few, if any, squires, since, acting in the background as they do, they would tend to have fewer opportunities to inspire such a squire bond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junior Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 It's been interesting seeing Gaz acting more or less like a puppy. I suspect that something is going to need to be done about the leader of the deserters, though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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