Wolfie2168 Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) Hi everyone, New to the site and have a question. I've done some looking around and can't seem to find anything regarding this. It seems like a fairly obvious question that nobody is asking but it's very possible that I've missed the an obvious answer or it's already being discussed somewhere. If so I apologize in advance. We all know that Szeth is given a sword that is potentially Nightblood from WarBreaker. I don't think there's any argument there. However, when Nin brings Szeth back from the dead, he tells him that he he is perfect for the order of Skybreakers. This is confusing to me on a number of levels. As far as we know there are only two ways to become a surgebinder; bond with a spren or be in possession of an honor blade. Szeth has no spren and is now without an honor blade. So, my question is how can he become a Skybreaker? Does he have a spren that he/we are unaware of? Any clarification / theories are much appreciated! Edited May 19, 2014 by Wolfie2168 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomeness Summoned Posted May 19, 2014 Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) Do you mean Nin said he was perfect for the Skybreakers (not windrunners)? There are many indications that the skybreakers Nin now leads isn't completely made of surgebinders. It's more of an organization now than just one of the orders of the KR so he wouldn't have to be a surgebinder for Nin to consider him a member of the Skybreakers. The way Szeth held to the rules for being truthless despite how much mental and spiritual anguish it put him through to do so would make him a perfect candidate for the Skybreakers who follow the rule of law above all else. Brandon has also confirmed that in essence knightblood is a shardblade. We don't know exactly what that means yet but it is possible that someone could bond with knightblood on Roshar and gain some kind of surgebinding abilities as a result. They probably wouldn't be the exact same abilities as an actual Skybreaker but as I said, that isn't critical to be a part of Nin's skybreakers. By the way, welcome to the site! Edited May 19, 2014 by Awesomeness Summoned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie2168 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2014 Awesomeness Summoned, I apologize, I misspoke. I did mean Skybreakers. Thank you for the correction! That makes a lot of sense. I was looking at it in the light of, if you belong to one of the orders, you're a surgebinder. Interesting that Nin has decided to induct individuals that are not capable of surgebinding and including those that hold true to the ideal of the Skybreakers. Thank you for the insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superman Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 I thought it was more like the shardblades were spren. so, if szeth had a shardblade, he would have a spren. I guess he just started off farther in the "bonding" between spren and knight radiant. the one that confuses me is how shallan ended up with her shardblade. did she just have him earlier, and end up coincidentally with the same spren? I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomeness Summoned Posted May 20, 2014 Report Share Posted May 20, 2014 +++ I know it's in the title already but what follows is definite spoilers +++ I thought it was more like the shardblades were spren. so, if szeth had a shardblade, he would have a spren. I guess he just started off farther in the "bonding" between spren and knight radiant. I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at here. The shardblades we typically see are spren who's KR abandoned their oaths, thus killing the spren and eternally locking them in the form of a sword. Brandon has hinted that those spren can be brought back to awareness like Syl was but it is extremely difficult and unlikely. Since those spren are functionally dead and can't form bonds, then you cannot become a surgebinder by bonding with a regular shardblade. Szeth gained his surgebinding abilities because the blade he carried was an Honor Blade (one of the herald's blades, likely Jezrian) which grant surgebinding abilities to the person that has it. Brandon has said that knightblood is essentially a shardblade. Since he is alive, we take that to mean one of the shardblades that is formed from a living spren (like Syl or Pattern) and thus it is possible that Szeth might gain some surgebinding abilities from creating that bond. the one that confuses me is how shallan ended up with her shardblade. did she just have him earlier, and end up coincidentally with the same spren? I don't know. When Shallan was a child she had progressed in the bond with Pattern far enough along that Pattern could become a shardblade (what she killed her mother with). The tragedy of killing her mother cause Shallan to create mental blocks and she chose to forget about Pattern. She did not completely abandon her ideals and sever all connection with Pattern though so instead of going dumb (dead), he just backed off from her and weakened the bond a little. After the events of tWoK, Shallan started to face the secrets of her past and reform the bond with Pattern, enough that she could once again use him as a blade. Hopefully that clears things up for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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