Nightblood's Telepathy

[rhythmwraith]

I wasn't sure whether to put this in Stormlight or Warbreaker so i went for cosmere.

Essentially, we see Nightblood interact and talk with not just Vasher and Szeth but also just random characters (like Old Chapps). I find it really strange that the way he can communicate is via telepathy since this is something we don't really see in the cosmere. I had a thought that maybe Nightblood's cognitive aspect communicates with another person's cognitive aspect and the two somehow translate to physical. Not sure about the mechanics of that but i'm just throwing out ideas.

The other really out there theory i had is this: we know of one other instance where the ability to read minds and communicate with people has been plot important. Ruin and Preservation. I know Nightblood has some weird stuff going on and I also have a recollection that in Mistborn Prime, Endowment shows up with Ruin and Preservation. So i was thinking maybe Ruin and Preservation did some shardic intervention when Nightblood was made (we already know Ruin has something to do with Nightblood from WOBs). And from this, Nightblood got his ability to read minds (from Preservation) and his ability to talk back (from Ruin).

So yeah, lemme know what you guys think

Edited September 3, 2020 by rhythmwraith

[trav]

are regular Shardblades not also communicating via "telepathy"? not sure right now.

at least theres other instances like some animals in a shortstory. they can project thoughts and receive thought projection.

 

still good question. its certainly uncommon. I wouldn't necesarily attribute it to Ruin or Preservation though.

Edited September 3, 2020 by trav

[+Oltux72]

3 hours ago, rhythmwraith said:

Essentially, we see Nightblood interact and talk with not just Vasher and Szeth but also just random characters (like Old Chapps). I find it really strange that the way he can communicate is via telepathy since this is something we don't really see in the cosmere.

• Harmony
• Seons
• Spren with their Knights
• Animals on First of the Sun
• The Stormfather sending visions
• Paalm
• Sja-Anat's messenger bird
• Kelsier to Spook
• Awakeners at the Tenth Heightening

[rhythmwraith]

21 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

• Harmony
• Seons
• Spren with their Knights
• Animals on First of the Sun
• The Stormfather sending visions
• Paalm
• Sja-Anat's messenger bird
• Kelsier to Spook
• Awakeners at the Tenth Heightening

Those are all good examples but I think those can either by accounted to hemalurgy which is a construct of Ruin, direct shardic stuff and spirit web bonds. But the creatures on first of the sun are definitely interesting, I just don’t think we see anything quite like nightblood’s communication 

[+Oltux72]

32 minutes ago, rhythmwraith said:

Those are all good examples but I think those can either by accounted to hemalurgy which is a construct of Ruin, direct shardic stuff and spirit web bonds

• Seons
• Kelsier to madmen
• Mental Command of the 10th Heightening

[Fezzik]

What is your definition of "telepathy", iirc, seons only respond to verbalization. I can't remember if anyone "thinks" responses to NB. Doesn't everyone talk to him?

[rhythmwraith]

2 minutes ago, Fezzik said:

What is your definition of "telepathy", iirc, seons only respond to verbalization. I can't remember if anyone "thinks" responses to NB. Doesn't everyone talk to him?

I just checked and Vasher definitely thinks responses to him. It seems NB can also "hear" what people are saying too.

[ftl]

If Nightblood is an "artificial shardblade", then I'd guess his telepathy is most similar to the way Knights Radiant communicate with their Spren. We know there's telepathy/intent going on there - most people can't hear the Spren, and of course the Knights can summon their shardblade and change it's form without saying anything aloud.

[+Oltux72]

On 04/09/2020 at 3:03 PM, Fezzik said:

What is your definition of "telepathy", iirc, seons only respond to verbalization. I can't remember if anyone "thinks" responses to NB. Doesn't everyone talk to him?

The Seons have telepathy among themselves. How else could they transmit a conversation over hundreds of kilometers in real time?

 

On 03/09/2020 at 4:39 PM, rhythmwraith said:

Those are all good examples but I think those can either by accounted to hemalurgy which is a construct of Ruin, direct shardic stuff and spirit web bonds.

Not Sja-Anat's messenger bird. It is at least two steps directly removed from Odium.

On 04/09/2020 at 3:07 PM, rhythmwraith said:

I just checked and Vasher definitely thinks responses to him. It seems NB can also "hear" what people are saying too.

It may seem that people speak without thinking, but I am afraid that is physiologically impossible. I cannot recall Nightblood ever reacting to any sound his bearer did not hear or utter. I could not give evidence for Nightblood being able to conventionally hear at all.

[Honorless]

Spren in Shardblade forms also communicate telepathically. The Aviar are described to be capable of forging temporary weaker Bonds which is what allows them to shield minds or show possible deaths to their humans, I'm guessing Nightblood is also capable of forging a temporary weak Bond of some kind with nearby humans, it would also explain how he could tempt some people with itself and make them kill others and themselves if he sees them as evil, for instance this is what Nightblood does in the opening scene of Warbreaker.

[+Oltux72]

1 hour ago, Honorless said:

Spren in Shardblade forms also communicate telepathically.

Thus raising the question what Honorspren not in Blade form do when they show themselves selectively. Unless you want to propose that they create two different, yet blending forms of reality, you but with telepathy do you explain that? Do spren show on photographic plates?

[Honorless]

35 minutes ago, Oltux72 said:

Thus raising the question what Honorspren not in Blade form do when they show themselves selectively. Unless you want to propose that they create two different, yet blending forms of reality, you but with telepathy do you explain that? Do spren show on photographic plates?

Pattern probably, Syl depends if she's "toggled on" to be visible to everyone and so on. We don't know the particle physics of the 3 Realms so we'll have go along with conventional wisdom. Invisible to people is probably invisible to most devices, partially visible (to a select no. of people might be detectable by some devices, visible would be detectable. These questions might get answered when we move to space age but then again with Investiture, their tech base might be too different from ours to make accurate deductions off of them.

[+Oltux72]

On 05/09/2020 at 9:09 AM, ftl said:

If Nightblood is an "artificial shardblade", then I'd guess his telepathy is most similar to the way Knights Radiant communicate with their Spren.

Now that I think about that, that conclusion can hardly be reconciled with the timing. If Warbreaker is indeed after The Final Empire then the first Returned showed up after the Recreance. In other words, unless you want to propose the unlikely alternative that Warbreaker (was he already using the alias Vasher?) met a Skybreaker, then Nightblood must be modelled after a dead Shardblade.

[Brgst13]

Not necessarily.  There is a theory that Cultivation played a role in its creation.  If this is true, she may have guided Vasher and co. on modeling it after a living blade even though there were very few living blades.  Also, there were still Skybreakers around with living blades.