The Windrunners' gambit

[Ripheus23]

The Shardblades are made of godmetal, what if Plate is too? This is my theory: Honor himself swore to humanity, via Nohadon, to protect them if they themselves swore what became the Fourth Ideal for whichever order. By this he meant that he would commit his Physical essence not just to fighting but pure protection, as armor.

The involved highspren/lesser spren are imitating something, then. Namely, just as the Heralds form a "protective barrier" in the Cognitive Realm, the spren become Physically protective. There's a special equality with the Windrunners where their highspren are directly of the godmetal, as well as the spren who heal Plate as it gets damaged. In the other cases besides the pure Cultivation case, the associated spren only are healers of Plate, like the vow of the Heralds causes them to be recreated after being destroyed, over and over.

However, this would explain how Honor died, too. Kind of like how 

Spoiler

Ruin was "weakened" by all the atium being separated from him ...

... Honor, after the Recreance, had the mirrors of his promise being destroyed over and over by the malicious civilizations that succeeded the Knights Radiant, and Odium somehow contaminated Honor such that Tanavast started to actually die because of the Plate being abused.

Why Odium? If the binding by the Heralds is akin to the deeper binding of Odium, I think Odium was able to seal Honor in the Plate to some degree, in a counterstrike.

So one Bondsmith matches to the Windrunners, the one for the Stormfather, since he is THE honorspren. Let's suppose Ishar's army gets a hold of the missing Shardhorde and Dalinar's forces had the foresight to have their Windrunners all swear a new Ideal on the battlefield, at the same time, who might win? 

[Elsecaller_17.5]

I’m not convinced that shardplate is a god metal or any metal at all because it doesn’t act like one. Two of the main properties of metals are conductivity and malleability where shardplate is nonconductive (it can block lightning) and brittle (when it breaks it shatters, doesn’t bend). Furthermore it’s definitely not Honor’s godmetal cause that’s what Shardblades are made out of.  I’ll give you that on the coppermind it says when it shatters it explodes into “bits of molten metal” but if iirc in the book the modifier like is used.

Even if it is a metal, and a god metal, it wouldn’t weaken Honor because Tanavastium is what shardblades are made of.

And I honestly have no clue what this is?

3 hours ago, Ripheus23 said:

 

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So one Bondsmith matches to the Windrunners, the one for the Stormfather, since he is THE honorspren. Let's suppose Ishar's army gets a hold of the missing Shardhorde and Dalinar's forces had the foresight to have their Windrunners all swear a new Ideal on the battlefield, at the same time, who might win? 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by Truthwatcher_17.5

[Ripheus23]

There's a WoB that says the extra burst of power Windrunners get per Oath has something to do with the relationship between Bondsmiths and Windrunners. So imagine if Dalinar had a battalion of Windrunners ready for that extra burst... I was speculating on a dire situation that might call for a move like that.

EDIT: @Truthwatcher_17.5 there is this WoB:

Questioner

Would Allomancy affect Shardplate or Shardblades?

 

Brandon Sanderson

It cannot affected Shardblades. Well, "cannot" is a strong word. Things with innate investiture are much more difficult to affect with any of the magics at all. Which is why it's very hard, for instance-- Szeth is not able to bind people, or Lash people wearing Shardplate to the ceiling. In the same Allomancy would not be able to Push on it without some help. Duralumin and a really strong [Steel]Push could probably do it. 

 

Questioner

I was just wondering if it's actually metal.

 

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yes. It is metal-ish... it is metal enough for Allomancy to work on it.

 

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/161/#e6927

EDIT 2: Also there is a WoB, I wasn't sure about all that it said but it seemed to imply that Cultivation's godmetal is in the Blades too. Like there's a ratio, except Sanderson also said the role of the highspren complicates that description/analogy.

Also I found one that said the Recreance affected Plate differently and less. So my idea is that not Plate being destroyed and recreated, but by dishonorable people, is what damaged Honor.

Lastly, I think the Fourth Ideal of the Windrunners is a copy of the vow of Honor himself, and the having of Plate by other Orders of Knights is a squire-like effect but between the Orders overall, maybe?

Edited August 16, 2019 by Ripheus23