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Truthwatcher Illumination


honorblades

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Today I would like to share a little idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a few weeks, regarding the nature of the Truthwatcher Radiant surges. 

Let's get this out of the way first: Renarin is one of the only Truthwatchers we have seen use their powers on screen, however as he has bonded a corrupted spren, it is not exactly clear which power (or lack of power) is due to him being Truthwatcher, or due to the influence of Sja-Anat. My main point here being that Renarin seems unable to use the surge of Illumination at all, but to me that does not indicate that Truthwatchers in general are unable use Illumination. 

Radiant Surges


 As we all know, the Radiant Orders share a single surge with the neighboring orders, with each order having a unique combination of two. Surges work largely the same between orders, with some examples being:

  • Bondsmiths and Windrunners: can use Adhesion to stick things together 
  • Windrunners and Skybreakers: can use Gravitation to fly (read: fall) 
  • Truthwatchers and Edgedancers: can use Progression to heal others
  • Elsecallers and Lightweavers: can use Transformation to Soulcast
  • Elsecallers and Willshapers: can use Transportation to enter the Cognitive Realm at will

Etc, etc. There are a few more but I wont list them all here. I think that the existing correlations between orders strongly implies that a regular Truthwatcher will be able to create illusions.

We also see that each Order has a sort of synergy with their specific surges. Some examples of that include:

  • Lightweavers using Transformation to add a physical weight & presence to their illusions
  • Elsecallers being able to Soulcast without physically touching an object

Additionally, we have seen some Radiants use a surge in a way that is different than how another order uses it. Case in point: Dalinar using Spiritual Adhesion. Now, it is entirely possible that Windrunners also have access to this application of the surge, but if so we have not seen that on screen yet. Similarly, this could be a result of Dalinar being a somewhat.. special version of a Bondsmith. However my point here is that in certain cases, surges can work differently for the different Radiant Orders, and I believe Truthwatchers are able to use "Spiritual Illumination" in a way that Lightweavers might not be able to. 

How it applies to Truthwatchers


Lightweavers are known to uplift the spirits of those around them, and Shallan in particular is able to see a sort of "spiritual ideal" that a person is capable of becoming. I think this is due to Lightweavers being able to use a Spiritual aspect of Transformation to gain insight to how a person might grow and change. This has always given Lightweavers a more positive bias in my mind - but what about the opposite? We see in Oathbringer that Shallan is capable of creating horrifying illusions, but I think that application of Lightweaving makes much more sense coming from a Truthwatcher. I think Truthwatchers seem to be able to "see" through people in a way, for example a Truthwatcher may be able to tell when someone is lying . . .Or perhaps in the same way that a Lightweaver is able to see what a person dreams of becoming, a Truthwatcher would be able to see what a person fears. Using illusions not to distract, but as a source of fear & chaos on the battlefield. Any readers of a certain as-of-yet-unreleased book might know what I am talking about here. 

The idea that started this train of thought for me was basically this: Lightweavers lift the spirits of others, but what if there was a Horror Lightweaver? Someone who could create the illusion of being surrounded by terrors - and perhaps specifically the horrors you yourself fear the most. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me that this fits the Truthwatchers more than the Lightweavers. Either would be capable of it, surely, but one is better than the other. 

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know if this is plausible at all or if I am completely off my rocker. See you in the comments. 

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1 hour ago, vegvisr said:

Let me know if this is plausible at all or if I am completely off my rocker. See you in the comments. 

We might actually have seen Renarin do this.  He shows Adolin a version of himself perfected.

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Yeah, most of it is as I choose to think of them too. I've wondered if Bondsmith and Truthwatchers were placed at the centre of the Surgebinding chart because they were both good at the Spiritual side of their Surges.

The Unification thing Dalinar did was because of Stormfather's status as a Cognitive Shadow of Honor, but the other uses of Spiritual Adhesion were probably inherent to the Order.

We do see Renarin do something else with Illumination though when he banished the Thunderclast with light during the Battle at Thaylenah. Ym's spren too asked him to summon the light, iirc.

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32 minutes ago, Karger said:

We might actually have seen Renarin do this.  He shows Adolin a version of himself perfected.

I went back and checked, you are totally right! When Renarin uses Regrowth to heal Adolin's wrist:

 

Quote

Renarin looked to him, then smiled. A pulse of Radiance washed through Adolin, and for an instant he saw himself perfected. A version of himself that was somehow complete and whole, the man he could be. 

 

It is very interesting catch. This seems to imply that seeing this perfected version of someone else may be related to Spiritual Illumination, not a combo of Illumination and Transformation as I had previously thought. 

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2 minutes ago, R J said:

We do see Renarin do something else with Illumination though when he banished the Thunderclast with light during the Battle at Thaylenah. Ym's spren too asked him to summon the light, iirc.

We do not know that is illumination it progression makes more sense in both cases.  You are purging unwanted investiture from stone and using it to not die when an insane Herald stabs you.

1 minute ago, vegvisr said:

It is very interesting catch. This seems to imply that seeing this perfected version of someone else may be related to Spiritual Illumination, not a combo of Illumination and Transformation as I had previously thought. 

 

Edited by Karger
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2 minutes ago, vegvisr said:

I went back and checked, you are totally right! When Renarin uses Regrowth to heal Adolin's wrist: It is very interesting catch. This seems to imply that seeing this perfected version of someone else may be related to Spiritual Illumination, not a combo of Illumination and Transformation as I had previously thought. 

That is a meaning of 'to illuminate' :D. Transformation probably helps motivate people to transform themselves into better versions of themselves.

Just now, Karger said:

We do not know that is illumination it progression makes more sense in both cases.  You are purging unwanted investiture from stone and using it to not die when an insane Herald stabs you.

Yeah, I assumed it was Illumination because it used light. It would probably make more sense if this used both surges: a cleansing light. (The Truthwatchers are Paladin+Cleric type, might as well get all the moves!)

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6 minutes ago, R J said:

Yeah, most of it is as I choose to think of them too. I've wondered if Bondsmith and Truthwatchers were placed at the centre of the Surgebinding chart because they were both good at the Spiritual side of their Surges.

Ooo wow I really like this explanation. 

 

7 minutes ago, R J said:

We do see Renarin do something else with Illumination though when he banished the Thunderclast with light during the Battle at Thaylenah. Ym's spren too asked him to summon the light, iirc.

I don't know why it has never occurred to me that scene also used Illumination, thank you for this. 

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We see shallan do something similar when she sketches people as they could be. She did this with Bluth, the deserters, and Elhokar. When they saw her sketches it motivated them to be better people (though Elhokar was already trying). So Truthwatchers do the same but hyped up a bit? They heal people on a spiritual level as well as physical, and show them who they could be, without the need for a sketch? technically shallan could do this to an extent, but for Truthwatchers it comes naturally. 
 

the Truthwatchers “illuminate” what could be and help them “progress” toward it. 

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I think Renarin will be able to use illumination/light weaving to show his stained glass future sight to others, maybe with Dalinars help, the same way as Shallan does with the maps.

Also, could it be possible for a truthwatcher or lightweaver to create something similar to a thunderclast using an illusion then giving it substance with regrowth or soulcast stone in a light weavers case?

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2 minutes ago, Halyo_Alex said:

What if Dalinar can supercharge Renarin's access to Fortune in general? That could be critical for screwing up Odium's plans, actually.

You’re probably right.

Quote

“A section of words that had faded from golden to black. What was that? As he drew near, Taravangian saw that the words were blacked out into eternity starting from this point on his wall. As if something had happened there. A ripple in what odium could see... 
At its root, a name. Renarin Kholin.” 
-Oathbringer Hardcover Pg. 1216

 

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Another power we've seen Shallan use that I think is an Illumination thing is a kind of clairvoyance thing; we saw her make sketches of Yalb and Shalash's current whereabouts once. 

I've always believed that that's something that Truthwatchers are better at than Lightweavers. Being able to just kind of watch people they have Connections to at a distance and stuff.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 6.06.2020 at 8:43 AM, Gilphon said:

Another power we've seen Shallan use that I think is an Illumination thing is a kind of clairvoyance thing; we saw her make sketches of Yalb and Shalash's current whereabouts once. 

I've always believed that that's something that Truthwatchers are better at than Lightweavers. Being able to just kind of watch people they have Connections to at a distance and stuff.

Yep, ive thinking the same. Main Illumination power of Truthwatcher will be see people and things far away asn ability to show this to others. And Radiant Quiz can partialy confirm this, because there the main goal of Truthwatchers is "I will seek truth" - and what is better in this than ability to see almost everything?

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Lightweavers can also soulcast at a distance.  Also,  it's not 100% confirmed that Lightweavers can use Transformation to add extra weight to their illusions.  While Jasnah is usually right,  it could also be the amount of stormlight that Shallan used,  as investiture carries is own weight. 

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With the new quiz showing that Truthwatchers are the nerds and geeks of the Knights Radiant I thought they would use illumination more like a projector, and basically having holograms all around them. More of the map making aspect of illumination than the disguise making aspect.

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All of the Radiants have more unique abilities than just the one Resonance. Just looking at Windrunners, Kaladin has the ability to "move with the wind" using the flow of air pressure to sense attacks and move preemptively. He also has the ability to ride Highstorms in dreams (and maybe consciously with more practice) and see what's happening in the world in real time, as it actually is. 

Shallan has the strange ability to go into a trance and see important scenes while also having the ability to show people better versions of themselves and transform them inside. All the orders have unique combinations and we don't know enough to know them all yet. 

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