Squires and Outsiders

[CosmicSieve]

Some Knights Radiant get Squires. For example, Shallan picked up a bunch of mercenaries, and some of them became Squires. At the same time she acquired slaves. None of them became Squires. She definitely viewed those two groups differently, with the mercenaries seen as redeemable men, who she drew pictures of to show them their heroic potential. The slaves she treated more like they deserved their position, but she'd help out of debt so they could restart their lives... eventually. Her family had owned slaves, but the only person she had seen as they were being enslaved was her brother Jushu, who had run up great debt, and her assumptions about her slaves might be based on that.

In Bridge Four, almost all its members become Squires-- but not Dabbid or Rlain. Dabbid is seen as almost their mascot, and Rlain is often unseen and on the fringe of the group.

So, I guess my question is, is the Radiant's view of their followers falling outside their group what keeps some of them from being able to become Squires? What about Pattern's and Syl's view of them? Or does how these people on the fringes view the Radiant also factor in, so that if they feel like an outsider who is excluded, they are excluded? 

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

1 hour ago, CosmicSieve said:

Some Knights Radiant get Squires. For example, Shallan picked up a bunch of mercenaries, and some of them became Squires. At the same time she acquired slaves. None of them became Squires. She definitely viewed those two groups differently, with the mercenaries seen as redeemable men, who she drew pictures of to show them their heroic potential. The slaves she treated more like they deserved their position, but she'd help out of debt so they could restart their lives... eventually. Her family had owned slaves, but the only person she had seen as they were being enslaved was her brother Jushu, who had run up great debt, and her assumptions about her slaves might be based on that.

In Bridge Four, almost all its members become Squires-- but not Dabbid or Rlain. Dabbid is seen as almost their mascot, and Rlain is often unseen and on the fringe of the group.

So, I guess my question is, is the Radiant's view of their followers falling outside their group what keeps some of them from being able to become Squires? What about Pattern's and Syl's view of them? Or does how these people on the fringes view the Radiant also factor in, so that if they feel like an outsider who is excluded, they are excluded? 

This all seems pretty reasonable to me, as it involves the Connection a Radiant has with those around them, so if their bond is closer or deeper, then the easier it is to make them squires. 

I feel like the mindset of the Squires themselves is also important; it has to align with the requirements of their Radiant's order, to some degree at least. As we see Rlain eventually become a Truthwatcher, he was probably more aligned with that order than the Windrunners (though because he's an enlightened Truthwatcher, this perhaps isn't the best example).

How Syl and Pattern feel though...I don't feel that factors in as much. Though, we do know that their bond encourages likeminded spren to form new bonds, and that this comes easier with squires of an existing Radiant. So maybe it's the Connections of the Radiant brings the squires, and the Connections of the Nahel spren brings other spren.