Which oath gives you shardblade?

[gloriousGlorfindel]

After a relisten of oathbringer, I was thinking about which oath # gave you spren as shardblade. From what we see of the Windrunners( Kaladin and Teft) and Edgedancers (Lift), I assumed it was clear that it would be oath number 3.

 Now when Dalinar is returning from visiting the Azish after getting that Oathgate opened, he has one of his flashback remembrances and almost faints. He runs to the Oathgate and forces the stormfather into a shardblade and uses that to open the Oathgate. But he had not sworn his third oath by then ( assuming no more oaths after "unite rather than divide") , so how did he get a shardblade?

The other anomaly is Shallan. She's spoken too truths on screen and she already had a shardblade before all that, does that mean she's a full radiant now and just does not remember?

I apologise if there's another thread about this on the forums, couldn't find one.

Noob alert!

[Calderis]

It is generally the third as far as we know... 

With Shallan, she actually said three truths on screen... But even if it were two, that would be in addition to the first oath that all radiants swear, placing her at three... In addition to the fact that she's regressed after achieving her blade as a child before killing her mother. 

As for Dalinar... Who know what's up with that, because Bondsmiths don't get blades. 

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Questioner

And there's one last question if I may: I'm really into swords and such. I couldn't help but notice king Elhokar's Blade. It's just... All the others are ornamented, and they may have some glyphs, but it is the only one where it is explicitly it is told that there are ten fundamental glyphs on it which are the glyphs of the orders. I read some of the chapters from Dalinar from Unfettered II, and I know how he got it for Elhokar. Is there also some more backstory to this Blade?

Brandon Sanderson

There's a backstory to every Blade and every one of them is special, that's the problem. But I will be exploring the origins of some of the Blades. Eventually. Not a ton, but a little bit.

Questioner

As it is ornamented in such a way... Could it be related to a Bondsmith?

Brandon Sanderson

Bondsmiths didn't have Blades.

Questioner

All of them? It's just... Maybe it was just the Stormfather...

Brandon Sanderson

No. That's a really good guess. Really good guess. I'm gonna RAFO Bondsmiths because you gonna learn a lot about them in the next book because it's the Bondsmith's book. That's a really good theory, but it's not true. 

Questioner

But maybe there is at least something to it.

Brandon Sanderson

But there's a reason to it, why it has all the 10 orders.

Leipzig Book Fair (March 24, 2017)

So we don't know the mechanics exactly. 

Personally, I think that the third is universal and this WoB that says it varies... 

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Questioner

Do you have to have done the third oath before you can convert your spren into a Blade?

Brandon Sanderson

In most orders, yes.

Questioner

What about Shallan then? Did she do it, cause she was a kid when she first--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, um... you will find out more.

Firefight San Francisco signing (Jan. 17, 2015)

Is because Bondsmiths didn't get them. 

Overall, we just have to wait and see. 

[TheBeast22846]

Yeah, I'm wondering if this is something like the "air in Shadesmar" thing, and the exception to the 3rd order of Radiants for Shallan is just for narrative reasons.

For those who don't know, someone asked Brandon why people didn't need to bring air into Shadesmar. In short he said, "There is air in Shadesmar because I needed there to be air in Shadesmar." https://wob.coppermind.net/events/332-jordancon-2018/#e9512

The plot with Shallan and her family is HUGE, and her shardblade is at the heart of it. Brandon would need Shallan to get her blade early for the story to make sense. For that to happen there may need to be exceptions to Radiants swearing oaths to get their blades.

Edited September 21, 2019 by TheBeast22846

[Quantus]

1 hour ago, TheBeast22846 said:

Yeah, I'm wondering if this is something like the "air in Shadesmar" thing, and the exception to the 3rd order of Radiants for Shallan is just for narrative reasons.

For those who don't know, someone asked Brandon why people didn't need to bring air into Shadesmar. In short he said, "There is air in Shadesmar because I needed there to be air in Shadesmar." https://wob.coppermind.net/events/332-jordancon-2018/#e9512

The plot with Shallan and her family is HUGE, and her shardblade is at the heart of it. Brandon would need Shallan to get her blade early for the story to make sense. For that to happen there may need to be exceptions to Radiants swearing oaths to get their blades.

IN shallan's case there's also the complicating factor that she apparently progressed pretty far the first time, but regressed after she started repressing her memories of her parents.  Which for me begs the questions 2) what was her SoulCrack the first time before all that familial trauma, and 2) what were Child-Shallan's spoken Truths?

[+Oltux72]

2 minutes ago, Quantus said:

2) what were Child-Shallan's spoken Truths?

"I love my mommy more than anything else" - The truth has to be true and fundamental, not fascinating to anybody else.

[ThurgreatMarshall]

On 9/21/2019 at 0:31 AM, gloriousGlorfindel said:

Now when Dalinar is returning from visiting the Azish after getting that Oathgate opened, he has one of his flashback remembrances and almost faints. He runs to the Oathgate and forces the stormfather into a shardblade and uses that to open the Oathgate. But he had not sworn his third oath by then ( assuming no more oaths after "unite rather than divide") , so how did he get a shardblade?

I also originally thought that Dalinar managed to force the Stormfather into a shardblade, but the text isn't explicit about that. Instead it says:

Quote

 

I will not be a sword to you. We spoke of this.

Darlinar growled. He felt something he could touch, something beyond places. The power that bound worlds together. His power. 

Wait, the Stormfather said. This is not right!

Dalinar ignored him, reaching beyond and pulling power through. Something bright white manifested in his hand, and he rammed it into the keyhole. The Stormfather groaned, a sound like thunder. The power made the Oathgate work, regardless.

 

I think that we're intentionally supposed to believe Dalinar forced the Stormfather into a shardblade. But given later information that Bondsmith's dont have blades, and the ability of Dalinar to grasp the cognitive and spiritual realms, I think that's what Dalinar did here. It's not clear if he's powering the Oathgate with the Spiritual or Cognitive realm, but one of the powers is what is likely driving it. 

[Argel]

On 9/21/2019 at 1:36 PM, Quantus said:

IN shallan's case there's also the complicating factor that she apparently progressed pretty far the first time, but regressed after she started repressing her memories of her parents.

We know from a WoB she was one oath/truth ahead of Kaladin at the end of WoR (putting her at 4), so we can also infer that Lightweaver's get their armor after the 5th truth and that regressing requires new truths to be spoken or she'd be at 5 already. If the trend follows then Kaladin finally speaks his 4th and Shallan her 5th in the next book. And hopefully we figure out where Jasnah is, though with a back 5 book, one has to wonder how many reach the 5th in the front 5.

Back on topic, Renarin and Adolin are wildcards. At a guess the third oath applies to Renarin. Assuming Adolin awakens his blade, how far will he have progressed by then? Given how hard that's supposed to be, he may need to reach the 4th or 5th before his blade awakens.

Edited September 29, 2019 by Argel