On the morbid mechanics of the Oathpact

[+mdross81]

For a while now, I've been reviewing the books and trying to understand Nale/Ishar's motivations in killing proto-Radiants I feel like I'm close but not quite there on understanding why they thought it possible that non-Skybreaker Radiants swearing Ideals would potentially give an opening for Odium's forces to make the jump to Roshar and start a Desolation.

But one thing that has occurred to me is a pretty morbid scene related to the Oathpact that i think must have played out at the end of each Desolation.

So first, here's some basics of the Oathpact explained by the Stormfather in OB 38:

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After each Desolation, the Heralds returned to Damnation, the Stormfather said. If they died in the fighting, they went there automatically. And those who survived went back willingly at the end. They had been warned that if any lingered, it could lead to disaster. Besides, they needed to be together, in Damnation, to share the burden of torture if one was captured.

Ok, so if they die in the fighting, the Herald automatically gets sent back to Braize. And as we learn from Kalak in the Prelude, if they die in the fighting their Honrblade would vanish. Speaking of the Prelude, Kalak explains there that the Heralds always made a plan in advance on when and where they would meet after a battle:

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The place of meeting was in the shadow of a large rock formation, a spire rising into the sky. As always, the ten of them had decided upon it before the battle. The survivors would make their way here.

Ok, nothing too bad yet. But now consider Leshwi's explanation to Venli in RoW 14 of what the Heralds then had to do to activate the Isolation:

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“You mistake the cycle, simplify it,” Leshwi said softly. “We were only locked on Braize once the Heralds died and joined us there. Until then, there would often be years or even decades of rebirths during a Return – during which time the Heralds would train humans to fight. Once they were confident that humans could continue to stand, the Heralds would give themselves to Braize to activate the Isolation. The Heralds would need to die for this to work.”

So the Heralds had to give themselves to Braize, meaning they had to die. And we know that they would meet up together after the battle was over at a prearranged location. So when they had those meetings and decided that humanity could stand against Odium's forces without their aid, did they then ... kill each other? Commit group suicide together? All so they could go back and be tortured some more? Plus, aren't the Heralds pretty hard to kill? My best guess is that there was something special about the Honorblades that enabled them to kill one another/themselves.

It's still an unanswered question how they were able to activate the Isolation without dying this last time. I'm guessing that also had something to do with the Honorblades. Maybe by severing their bonds to their Blades, they were able to activate the Isolation?

As for why Nale/Ishar believed that the continued functioning of the Oathpact required them to to prevent Radiant bonds from forming, the most explanation we get comes from Nale in Edgedancer, chapter 9:

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"Ishar made the truth clear to me. If the bonds between men and spren are reignited, then men will naturally discover the greater power of the oaths. Without Honor to regulate this, there is a small chance that what comes next will allow the Voidbringers to again make the jump between worlds. That would cause a Desolation, and even a small chance that the world will be destroyed is a risk that we cannot take. Absolute fidelity to the mission Ishar gave us – the greater law of protecting Roshar – is required.”

Nale also offers this vague explanation to Szeth in OB 106:

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“I worked for thousands of years to prevent another Desolation” Nin continued. “Ishar warned me of the danger. Now that Honor is dead, other Radiants might upset the balance of the Oathpact. Might undermine certain … measures we took, and give an opening to the enemy.”

Lastly, I guess we can infer something about how Voidbringers travel between Roshar and Briaze from this exchange between Venli and Nale in RoW 77:

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“We didn’t do anything to return them,” she said, taking a gamble based on what he’d said earlier. “It was what you did.”

“Impossible,” Nale repeated. “Ishar said only a Connection between the worlds would cause a bridge to open. And Taln has not given in. I would know if he had….”

Seems like we can infer from this that when a Herald breaks, it causes a bridge to open between Braize and Roshar. Putting this together with the explanation in Edgedancer, it seems that Ishar convinced Nale that if humans began bonding spren again, they would discover the greater power of the oaths, and that swearing those oaths could likewise create a bridge between Braize and Roshar. Why that would be, I don't know.

Anyway, back to the mechanics of the Oathpact; what a grim scene this would be. The surviving Heralds meeting up at the end of each Desolation for a murder/suicide pact just so they can go back to Damnation to be tortured. I'm sorry to make y'all think about it, but I can't stop thinking about it now, so you're just going to have to share the burden with me.

[Karger]

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

So the Heralds had to give themselves to Braize, meaning they had to die.

Define die.  The fused can just will themselves to leave their bodies and the Heralds can probably manage the same trick or a similar one.

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

Commit group suicide together? All so they could go back and be tortured some more? Plus, aren't the Heralds pretty hard to kill? My best guess is that there was something special about the Honorblades that enabled them to kill one another/themselves.

I personally think they meet up again for a post battle report and analysis.  It might be a good idea for them to stick around for a while and reintroduce some concepts like sanitation depending on what type of damage the humans took. Of course that does risk the more depressing thought of the Heralds all willingly teleporting to torture world after spending a few days celebrating/commiserating with the victorious humans.

1 hour ago, mdross81 said:

Seems like we can infer from this that when a Herald breaks, it causes a bridge to open between Braize and Roshar. Putting this together with the explanation in Edgedancer, it seems that Ishar convinced Nale that if humans began bonding spren again, they would discover the greater power of the oaths, and that swearing those oaths could likewise create a bridge between Braize and Roshar. Why that would be, I don't know.

I actually covered that in my theory if you are interested.  I even have a few ideas about why Nale and Ishar acted the way they did but they would derail your thread.

Spoiler

 

 

[+mdross81]

1 hour ago, Karger said:

Define die.  The fused can just will themselves to leave their bodies and the Heralds can probably manage the same trick or a similar one.

Here’s hoping they can. 

 

1 hour ago, Karger said:

I actually covered that in my theory if you are interested.  I even have a few ideas about why Nale and Ishar acted the way they did but they would derail your thread.

I’m never so invested in my own theories that I turn my nose up at contradictory ones so I will check out your post. I’ve been meaning to but saw the length and knew I didn’t have the time. Looking forward to it though.