Paleth Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) Unmade Origins Most people probably already know this but Unmade are named after deities of the ancient near east, they also have some linguistic connections to Urdu/Hindi languages: Spoiler Ashertmarn - Asherah - ashert (patience~urdu), marn (death ~ not) Ba-Ado-Mishram - no clear equivalent - baado (the wind~urdu), mishram (consultation~urdu), mishr (leader~urdu / mixing~hindi), mish (advice~urdu) Chemoarish - Chemosh - arish (throne~urdu) Dai-Gonarthis - Dagon - arthis (artist/artisan~urdu) Moelach - Moloch - ? Nergaoul - Nergal - ? Re-Shephir - Resheph - shephir (shepherd~urdu) Sja-Anat - Anat - sja (decoration~urdu / punishment~hindi) Yelig-Nar - ?? - ? Stormfather - Hadad - curiously his sister/consort is Anat, while Sja-Anat show willingness to defect Odium While this might not hold any significance i believe this isn't a mere coincidence, they are ancient godspren. Quote The Unmade are a deviation, a flair, a conundrum that may not be worth your time. You cannot help but think of them. They are fascinating. Many are mindless. Like the spren of human emotions, only much more nasty. I do believe a few can think, however. - Diagram on Unmade 1 I find this quote particularly interesting, it depicts Unmade as related to human emotions, not people, not parshmen. This connection might suggest that Unmade share their origin with humanity - the devastated world of Ashyn. Just as Stormfather embodies Highstorm or Nightwatcher - Transformation, Unmade would personify forces which shaped the world itself - powerful emotions that defined life on Ashyn. At first, i considered each one to represent particular Vice, like Wrath or Gluttony, but there's much more to them: Quote "He had imagined it as some evil force, malignant and insidious, like Odium or Sadeas. How wrong he was." - Dalinar about Thrill "No emotions beyond an overpowering curiosity, and that ephemeral attraction to violence. Almighty above … it’s like a creationspren. Only so, so wrong." - Shallan about Re-Shephir They are not inherently good or evil, they are both, Vices and Virtues depending on one's perception. Each Unmade embodies the whole spectrum of a particular passion, just like Nergaoul personifies will to fight, some could interpret it as desire to protect, others to conquer. Divine Attributes We all know that each Order has set of Divine Attributes linked with it, apparently, they are somehow connected to the Unmade. I assume every Radiant has innate Virtue/Vice, related to Divine Attributes. A secondary surge of each order is considered dangerous. This is something that is mentioned over and over, Jasnah warns Shallan about Transformation, Nale says roughly the same thing to Szeth about Division, etc. Obviously, it's not relevant to the nature of power itself, because adjacent order gets it as their primary surge. Quote "If you have the soul of a warrior, that passion could destroy you, unless you are guided. Come to us." -Windrunner in Midnight Essence vision Philosophically virtue is an elusive concept, it demands careful and sustained reflection before it can become part of one's life. Radiants seem to share this view, giving the nature of their Oaths. Pursuing a Virtue blindly and failing to understand it, might turn it into a Vice. Perhaps danger associated with the second surge, is related to twisting an ideal into something bad, possibly exposing Radiant to an Unmade/Odium? Virtue lies in Divine Attribute linked with corresponding Order. For example, Windrunners exhibit will to Protect people and show great capabilities in Leading them. Their attitude/perception makes the concepts of Leading/Protecting easy to grasp and comes naturally to them. Vice, on the other hand, is related to Attributes of adjacent Order. Spoiler Order Virtue Vice Example Bondsmiths Pious/Guiding Protecting/Leading Dalinar would protect/lead rest of the world by beating it into submission Windrunners Protecting/Leading Just/Confident Kaladin struggle with lack of confidence and his view of justice is distorted Skybreakers Just/Confident Brave/Obedient Szeth lacks the courage to disobey his masters Dustbringers Brave/Obedient Loving/Healing Not enough information about Malata Edgedancers Loving/Healing Learned/Giving Honestly i don't get Lift at all, but certainly i wouldn't call her scholarly Truthwatchers Learned/Giving Creative/Honest Renarin is special case due to Glys corruption, Truthwatchers were considered secretive and esoteric Lightweavers Creative/Honest Wise/Careful being rash is pretty much Shallan's modus operandi by now Elsecallers Wise/Careful Resolute/Builder a contradiction to support the theory, Jasnah is very resolute but coincidentally she seems to be past her 3rd oath Willshapers Resolute/Builder Dependable / Resourceful Venli is the same case as Renarin (considered she is a Willshaper), WoR depicts them as: "varied in personality, but generally possess a "love of adventure, novelty, or oddity"; the book further says that they are "capricious, frustrating, and unreliable" Stonewards Dependable / Resourceful Pious/Guiding we haven't seen Stoneward yet 8 Windrunners or at least Kaladin, struggle with the idea of Justice. Kal view of this ideal is distorted, he takes it personally and allows emotions to cloud his judgment, his attempt at being righteous almost killed Syl. On a side note, Jezrien translates to "the Judge" in urdu, coincidence? While Moash still shows the attitude of a Windrunner through his desire to protect Parshmen, he contorted Just into Vengeful and led him to Odium. Similarly, Szeth stumblings revolve around being blindly obedient and not brave enough to challenge his masters. He mustered the courage to defy Nale and escaped Odium grasp as opposite to the rest of Skybreakers. Spoiler If my assumptions are correct there is no Unmade related to Pious/Guiding attributes. I hate to poke a hole in Talenel's immaculate image but he remained unbroken simply because there is no Unmade corresponding to his Vice, not his unbreakable will. This gives at least some semblance to Heralds idea that he could handle tortures indefinitely, i assume they would need more substantial argument than just Taln being stubborn and blessed with strong willpower. Keep in mind that this not means being immune to influence of the other Unmade. Another piece giving this reinforcing this theory is particular relation of Thrill, Dalinar and Kaladin. Spoiler Quote Shardlet (paraphrased) In response to the RAFO I complained that I didn't even get to my third question which was, "Does Kaladin feel the Thrill? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) *Laughs* No he does not. Kaladin is "immune" to the Thrill. source Quote Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] What's with Kaladin being special with his oaths that he explodes with power every time he says it? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] That is a function of Windrunners being very close to Bondsmiths, which has certain effects. Questioner [PENDING REVIEW] Would other Windrunners also do that, as well? Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW] Yep. source Quote "Killing. Slaughtering. Blood flew in the air and the dying groaned at his feet. He tried not to pay too much attention to that. They were the enemy. Yet the sheer glory of what he did seemed at odds with the desolation he caused. He was protecting. He was saving. Yet he was killing. How could something so terrible be so beautiful at the same time?" - Kaladin fighting parshendi in WoK 2 Quote "He dug deeply within, and found the Thrill waiting. It filled him, driving away dissatisfaction. Within moments he was roaring his pleasure. Nothing these men did could touch him. He was a destroyer, a conqueror, a glorious maelstrom of death. A god." - Dalinar at the Rift 1 Kaladin might not feel the same Thrill as other men do but still, have similar exultation. Stormlight drives him to action, grants immense focus and endurance, in the same way, as Thrill affects Dalinar. I suspect Windrunners share this characteristic, they receive purified version of the Thrill devoid of bloodlust. While this feeling is empowered by Stormlight/Honor, Kaladin felt this before bonding Sylphrena, thus this seems more like a natural affinity. Conversely, Dalinar is super susceptible to this effect, to him violence is intoxicating and addicting, he revels in conquest. Perhaps this is the reason why Bondsmiths bear no Blades, as a reminder of their Vice. Apparently, this correlation encompasses each pair of Radiant Orders and Heralds, one's Virtue becomes Vice of the other. If proven true, this theory could provide an answer to most persisting questions, the madness of Heralds, a reason for Recreance and Cataclysm of Ashyn. Let me know what you think. Edited January 15, 2019 by Paleth bad table formatting, hope it's clearer now 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kon-Tiki Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 The Virtues you are referring to seem to be different than the attributes associated with each order in the Ars Arcanum. Do you mean them to be something fundamentally different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleth Posted January 15, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 Umm was that bad formatting? I've tried to embed html table but it didn't work for some reason. By Virtues, I meant attributes of corresponding order as given in the Arcanum, i.e. Windrunners => Protecting/Leading. The same attributes are twisted into something bad - the Vice, by adjacent Order, i.e when Bondsmith try to Protect/Lead he/she patronize and conquer, just like Dalinar was inclined to beat other nations into submission in order to defend them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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