Question about unmade

[RadiantNights]

What exactly are the unmade, I'm not really understanding it. Are they spren or some other being?

[Moogle]

Probably listeners who gave themselves to Odium and had their minds sandblasted by immense amounts of power, to go by Rlain.

[name_here]

According to Taravangian, they're spren. It's fairly likely they can bond with Listeners, though, since Yelig-nar has personally killed people.

[Argent]

All we know is that they are spren or spren-like beings (assuming Taravangian's Diagram is correct). They can be bonded with, the way listeners bond with other spren, and this bonding presumably results in a new form / forms. Beyond that, it's all speculation. Some of us believe they are the the Parshendi gods. @Moogle (and some others I still don't know I want to join) takes it a step further and claims they used to be ordinary listeners who gave themselves - their souls - to Odium, who then turned them into said Parshendi gods presumably by separating them from their bodies (hence their spren-like nature). They also seem to have unique powers that affect people around them (e.g. the Thrill and the Death Rattles) - powers the Surges don't seem to account for, by the way.

[hoser]

{Speculation}

I think the Unmade are Odium's counterparts of the Heralds.  Some people (including me, but I don't want to take credit for plagiarized thoughts) think that humanity and the Heralds came with Honor and Cultivation came to Roshar from somewhere else (Tranquilline Halls).  If so, the Unmade could be from that other place.  The Unmade could then be beings that Odium invested and which gave up their bodies (hence the name).  They would then be investiture with consciousness, which is essentially what spren are, but with a history of having been a creature.  I do think they are what the Parshendi refer to as their gods.

{/Speculation}

[PorridgeBrick]

{Speculation}

I think the Unmade are Odium's counterparts of the Heralds.  Some people (including me, but I don't want to take credit for plagiarized thoughts) think that humanity and the Heralds came with Honor and Cultivation came to Roshar from somewhere else (Tranquilline Halls).  If so, the Unmade could be from that other place.  The Unmade could then be beings that Odium invested and which gave up their bodies (hence the name).  They would then be investiture with consciousness, which is essentially what spren are, but with a history of having been a creature.  I do think they are what the Parshendi refer to as their gods.

{/Speculation}

I don't really think they're true counterparts. There's not ten of them, after all. I prefer the idea of them being analogues of the Stormfather– they're both spren, and seem to have the same role as rulers over the spren like Stormfather has with honorspren and the Nightwatcher with Wyndlespren.

[GreyPilgrim]

The Unmade are definitely not the Heralds' counterparts. The Ten Fools are. We've had WoB on that for a while:

Brandon Sanderson

First Question: Yes, ten is a number of mythological import in the world. The Ten Fools are, essentially, the opposites of the Ten Heralds—who each represented an ideal.

(source)

[hoser]

Counterpart: a person or thing holding a position or performing a function that corresponds to that of another person or thing in another place.

I don't really think they're true counterparts. There's not ten of them, after all. I prefer the idea of them being analogues of the Stormfather– they're both spren, and seem to have the same role as rulers over the spren like Stormfather has with honorspren and the Nightwatcher with Wyndlespren.

 

The Unmade are definitely not the Heralds' counterparts. The Ten Fools are. We've had WoB on that for a while:
(source)

Collectively, I believe that the Unmade are the counterparts of the Heralds.  No, there may not be exactly ten and they are not exact opposites of the Heralds.  I believe they are designed to fit Odium's intent as the Heralds fit H+C's intent.  During the desolation, they act for Odium as the Heralds once acted for H+C.  They try to win the Desolation for Odium as the Heralds are supposed to try to win the Desolation for the other side.  I do think that fits the definition of counterpart, but anybody who has a better word is welcome to offer it.  Depending on the criteria under consideration, I believe that a given object can have multiple different counterparts.