Bondsmiths and Truthwatchers

[Renegade]

This will probably be a long theory, and it might not make sense at the beginning, but just bear with me.

 

Okay, here is my theory:

Surgebinding is of both Honor and Cultivation, but some orders are primarily related to Honor and some are primarily related to Cultivation.

 

Okay, so what do we know about Bondsmiths and Truthwatchers?  For one thing, we know Dalinar is a Bondsmith.  Renarin is a Truthwatcher.  (Ym is as well, but we're not talking about him.)  Alright, so refer to the Ten Essences Chart and you'll find out that Ishar's (and therefore Dalinar's) divine attributes are Pious and Guiding.  This makes sense, as Dalinar is strict about obeying the Alethi Codes of War and following the Knights Radiant (Pious) and makes decisions and tries to set an example for the other Highprinces (Guiding).  Paliah's (and therefore Renarin's) divine attributes are Learned and Giving.  Again, this makes sense, as Renarin is always eager to learn (Learned) and helps others out (Giving).  Looking at the Essences Chart, you will also notice that Ishar's soulcasting properties are meat and flesh, while Paliah's are wood, plants, and moss.  It seems as if Bondsmiths and Truthwatchers are kind of opposite orders, especially since they are the two orders directly across from each other in the middle of the Knights Radiant Orders Table:

 

 

Yeah, Bondsmiths and Truthwatchers are basically opposites.  So what?

 

Ah, excellent question.  And that's where we get deep into this matter.  What happens to Dalinar that happens to nobody else?  During the Highstorms, he has visions of the past.  Visions of Honor, if I may add.  And what happens to Renarin that happens to nobody else?  During the Highstorms, he has visions... of the future.  And which shard does Honor say is good at foretelling of the future?

 

"I cannot see the future completely.  Cultivation, she is better at it than I."

 

If that weren't enough proof, let's look at Truthwatcher's and Bondsmith's Surges.  Truthwatchers have the Surges of Progression and Illumination.  Progression has to deal with healing and growing, and, coincidentally, the word "Cultivation" has to deal with growing plants.  Illumination has to deal with sight and seeing, two things that Cultivation is apparently good at.  On the other hand, Bondsmiths have the Surges of Adhesion and Tension.  Adhesion has the ability to bond things together, which is Honor's Intent.  We don't exactly know what Tension does, but if this theory is true, it will likely have something to deal with bonds.  If we split the KR chart into two halves (top and bottom), you get five orders of Honor-based Surgebinders and five orders of Cultivation-based Surgebinders.  Another one of the Honor-based Surges, Gravitation, deals with altering an object's Spiritual bond towards the ground.  The fourth (and last) of the "Honor-Surges" would be Cohesion, which, again, we know little about.  Since we don't know Cultivation's Intent, it is difficult to prove whether the other two Cultivation-Surges (Abrasion and Transformation) are related to Cultivation.  There's also Division and Transportation, the two Surges split between Honor and Cultivation.  My personal theory with the Surge of Division is that it is similar to how Ruin and Preservation worked together to create life on Scadrial.  Instead of Ruin and Preservation, though, Honor and Cultivation worked together to do something normally against their (or at least Honor's) Intent.

Also, as stated above, the soulcasting materials corresponding with Paliah and Truthwatchers are wood, plants, and moss, which are all related to the meaning of the word Cultivation.  Honor likely created the creatures of Roshar; Cultivation created the plants.

If you need any more proof, look at the KR Orders Table above, and look at the border.  The top half of the border (Honor's) is red, and has only male Heralds.  The bottom half (Cultivation's) is blue, and has only female Heralds.

Coincidence?  I don't think so...

 

So if this is true, what does it mean?  I think that it means that some of the Radiantspren (and perhaps regular spren) are more of Honor, and some are more of Cultivation.  This explains why Wyndle thinks of the Nightwatcher as his mother, and why Syl identifies herself with Honor and the Stormfather.

I also wonder what this means for the other 20 magic systems of Roshar.  Could Voidbinding be a combination of Cultivation and Odium?  In that case, what magic system is caused by Honor and Odium?

 

So, does this theory seem sound?  And what does this mean for our knowledge of the Cosmere?

[Tempus]

Here are some related theories from the Words of Radiance Forums:

 

 

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6905-analysis-of-knights-radiant-graph/

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6785-theory-dubble-eye-powers-spren-attributes-and-symmetry/

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/6611-two-pupils-of-the-double-eye/

http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/5847-magic-system-to-shard-correspondence/

Edited May 16, 2014 by Tempus

[Lightsworn Panda]

... This is a magnificent theory. Upvote to you, good sir.

[PorridgeBrick]

Honor likely created the creatures of Roshar; Cultivation created the plants.

Not to nitpick, since your theory is pretty accurate for the most part, but this sentence in particular is false.

Q: Are the Parshendi of Odium?

A: Not originally.

Q: Are the Parshendi of Cultivation?

A: Not originally.

Q: Are the Parshendi of Honor?

A: No.

The prevailing (read: mine) theory is that Honor, Cultivation, humanity, and all the earth-like life are actually refugees from the Tranquelline Halls, while the natives (Parshendi, Chasmfiends, all the crustacean/insectoid creatures) were created by Adonalsium, as we know from another WoB that Adonalsium created Roshar's first spren.

But back on topic. While H&C didn't create Rosharan life, I rather like the idea being applied to the Tranquelline Halls, with Honor making all the earth-like animals (explaining why Kal was called a 'Son of Honor') and Cultivation making earth-like plants (explaining why Cultivation is so big in Shinovar– it's the only place where her creations still live).

So if this is true, what does it mean? I think that it means that some of the Radiantspren (and perhaps regular spren) are more of Honor, and some are more of Cultivation. This explains why Wyndle thinks of the Nightwatcher as his mother, and why Syl identifies herself with Honor and the Stormfather.

And you are right.

BRANDON SANDERSON

So there has been dissension among them about who gets to call themselves honorspren, if that makes sense, and there is some disagreement among scholars about which ones are really, you know "This is what defines an honorspren".

But the spren you are running into are all (something) of either Honor or Cultivation, or some mixture between them. And you can usually tell the ones that are more Honor, and the ones that are more Cultivation. That should be able to be (something).

I also wonder what this means for the other 20 magic systems of Roshar. Could Voidbinding be a combination of Cultivation and Odium? In that case, what magic system is caused by Honor and Odium?

[shamelessplus]Well, if you subscribe to Intent Meshing, then the third system would actually be of Honor, Cultivation, and Odium. [/shamelessplug] Edited May 16, 2014 by PorridgeBrick

[Left]

I was just about to link to that thread-since I was like, "Ohhh yeah, I have a thread to link to for this topic!!" So I'm going to give the same link as PB just so I can say I did. http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/7900-other-shards-invested-in-stormlight/#entry132351

 

I like the part of the theory pertaining to the surges being polarized towards the two shards, however the rest seems a little loose.

[snote]

I have a theory that since Odium is referred to as "The Broken One" that he sacrificed part of himself in order to cause the shattering of Honor and Cultivation. That is why there are a finite number of Voidspren on Roshar. It's like they all claimed they would blow themselves up to make the world a better place and at the last minute Odium just threw a fire cracker instead of a nuke.