Nightblood v. Callandor

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

Since finishing The Dragon Reborn and experiencing Nightblood's abilities in the SA, I've been wondering what would happen if Szeth and Rand crossed blades. Here are the conclusions I have arrived at.

1.) Saidin/One Power is Investiture. In this instance, Callandor acts as a conduit for the One Power. When the two blades touch, NIghtblood draws Investiture from the True Source. Callandor is not destroyed, but instead of Rand drawing it's power, Nightblood does so. However, Nightblood may destroy the Sword that Cannot be Touched. If that happens, well, then Rand is dead. But, since there is no Cog/Spirit Realm in WoT, I don't think this is would occur.

2.) Saidin and the One Power are not Investiture. In this instance, I believe that Callandor would be destroyed, as there is nothing else for Nightblood to feed on.

A few other things.

The former theory is assuming that Tel'aran'rhiod is WoT's Cognitive Realm and the True Source is the Spiritual Realm. Which semi-works with the way the World of Dreams and the CR behave.

• You can die in both.
• You can channel/Surgebind/use other means of Investiture in both
• You can move freely if not easily between both.
• Things are present in CR/World of Dreams that are not present in the Physical Realm.

Thoughts, Sharders?

[alder24]

Did you read RoW?

Spoiler

When Nightblood and Honorblade met, Nightblood was able to chip a piece from Honorblade. I think it could be like this with Callandor, if True Power is investiture and Callandor is highly invested.

 

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

3 hours ago, alder24 said:

Did you read RoW?

  Reveal hidden contents

When Nightblood and Honorblade met, Nightblood was able to chip a piece from Honorblade. I think it could be like this with Callandor, if True Power is investiture and Callandor is highly invested.

 

I forgot about that part. Is an Honorblade Invested or is it, like Callandor is for Saidin, a conduit of sorts?

[offer]

25 minutes ago, phillycheesesteak said:

I forgot about that part. Is an Honorblade Invested or is it, like Callandor is for Saidin, a conduit of sorts?

Honorblade is made of solid investiture (called godmetal).

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

57 minutes ago, offer said:

Honorblade is made of solid investiture (called godmetal).

Ah. So if Callandor is simply a highly invested object, it probably would go the way @alder24 stated in his above post.

[alder24]

If Callandor is not invested but is just a gateway for investiture to pass through it would be like, again RoW spoilers:

Spoiler

Nightblood striking perpendicularity, which collapsed it.

This would mean, that while Callandor is passing investiture, it's getting slightly invested (temporary), preventing it from being immediately destroyed. However Nightblood would most likely draw more investiture than Callandor could provide and collapse/sever the link between it and True Power, ultimately consuming the sword after it. It would be like trying to power Nightblood with an Aon.

Spoiler

Questioner

Could an Elantrian just write an Aon above Nightblood and then use it forever?

Brandon Sanderson

Use it forever? No. 

Questioner

Forever is pushing it.

Brandon Sanderson

No, no, I mean, Nightblood would destroy an Aon pretty quickly. It would pull power through it--

Questioner

It would be like trying to put too much power through a small--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, it would just rip it up to shreds. You'd get a little use out of it. He would eat the very structure of it, if that makes any sense.

Oathbringer Leeds signing (Dec. 1, 2017)

 

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

9 minutes ago, alder24 said:

This would mean, that while Callandor is passing investiture, it's getting slightly invested (temporary), preventing it from being immediately destroyed. However Nightblood would most likely draw more investiture than Callandor could provide and collapse/sever the link between it and True Power, ultimately consuming the sword after it. It would be like trying to power Nightblood with an Aon.

So is there no limit on how fast Nightblood can draw investiture?

[alder24]

15 minutes ago, phillycheesesteak said:

So is there no limit on how fast Nightblood can draw investiture?

How fast? I don't know. Nightblood requires exponentially more investiture the longer it's being held. At some point it would just draw more than is being provided. But that's when he's sucking it out of his wielder. RoW spoilers:

Spoiler

When Nightblood striked perpendicularity he instantly drew so much investiture from it, that he collapsed perpendicularity . So with one strike, he can draw a huge amount of investiture at once. Also he was able to kill a Vessel, that holds even more investiture, Nightblood took it all at once. But it was so much investiture, that Nightblood went into some sort of food coma, so there is a limit of how much Nightblood can eat at once, but I don't think that there is a limit on how fast. WoB about food coma:

Spoiler

lucagreene18

If Szeth were to have drawn Nightblood immediately after he had consumed Rayse, would he still have drained Szeth's Stormlight? As it said he seemed like he had eaten as much as he could.

Brandon Sanderson

At that point, Nightblood had entered into essentially a food coma... Well, no, the food coma one came when he was drawing from the perpendicularity. I don't think he was in food coma mode at that point. I think that he could still have drawn more at that point, I'd have to go look at exactly what I wrote, if I'd put him into food coma mode or not. It is possible.

This is one of the things I wanted to answer with the book. A lot of people have been theorizing, could Nightblood eat an entire Shard? And indeed, Nightblood could not eat an entire Shard. That is not within his capability. In fact, one of the reasons that he leaks Investiture is: he's too stuffed full of it. There is more Investiture in the sword Nightblood than it can actually hold, it's supersaturated. And it leaks Investiture (that it's done some weird things to). But it is constantly hungry for more and constantly leaks it, but it definitely can get full for a time, and it could not eat an entire Shard.

I did see questions about that from people floating around, and it's something I'd been meaning to get to eventually. Nightblood is definitely relevant to things that are happening in the Cosmere, but it is not as simple as grabbing the sword, sticking it into a Shard, and defeating the Shard, unfortunately. Though, as you see in this book, there are reasons for a Shard to still be afraid of Nightblood. It didn't destroy Odium, but Rayse still really had a bad time.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 1 (Dec. 17, 2020)

 

 

[WarlordNWN]

Spoiler alert for WOT: My question is, what would happen if Nightblood were to begin drinking in the True Power? The Dark One is literally evil itself. Unlike the One Power, the True Power is inherently a very corrupting force. Nightblood is a sentient being, I can't imagine he can come into contact with that much pure evil and have no adverse side effects.

Plus its worth remembering that not even the Dark One could stop the flow of True Power into Callandor. I can only imagine what would happen if Nightblood begins to drink of evil itself.

[TwinStorm He/Him]

22 hours ago, WarlordNWN said:

Spoiler alert for WOT: My question is, what would happen if Nightblood were to begin drinking in the True Power? The Dark One is literally evil itself. Unlike the One Power, the True Power is inherently a very corrupting force. Nightblood is a sentient being, I can't imagine he can come into contact with that much pure evil and have no adverse side effects.

Plus its worth remembering that not even the Dark One could stop the flow of True Power into Callandor. I can only imagine what would happen if Nightblood begins to drink of evil itself.

The True Power at least, is above the One Power, which we are considering Investiture to be. I don't think Nightblood could drain that, as its in a different weight class of power altogether.

[Argenti he/him]

2 minutes ago, TwinStorm said:

The True Power at least, is above the One Power, which we are considering Investiture to be. I don't think Nightblood could drain that, as its in a different weight class of power altogether.

It's not above the one power- it's a different energy that works on different rules.

It doesn't really have a good equivalent in the cosmere- there's no magic in the universe that isn't investiture. Emberdark

Spoiler

Perhaps the evil and anti investiture would be similiar? I have no idea.

 

22 hours ago, WarlordNWN said:

Spoiler alert for WOT: My question is, what would happen if Nightblood were to begin drinking in the True Power? The Dark One is literally evil itself. Unlike the One Power, the True Power is inherently a very corrupting force. Nightblood is a sentient being, I can't imagine he can come into contact with that much pure evil and have no adverse side effects.

 

But at least this, I don't think would matter. We'll say that "evil" is its intent, and as far as we've read, nightblood corrupts and changes all investiture, regardless of its shardic intent. I don't see why it would be different here.

[Qianweilian He/him]

On 7/15/2025 at 11:38 AM, TwinStorm said:

The True Power at least, is above the One Power, which we are considering Investiture to be. I don't think Nightblood could drain that, as its in a different weight class of power altogether.

I thought it wasn’t stronger so much as the DO allowed the Forsaken to use far more of it compared to their regular channeling ability.

On 7/15/2025 at 11:48 AM, Argenti said:

But at least this, I don't think would matter. We'll say that "evil" is its intent, and as far as we've read, nightblood corrupts and changes all investiture, regardless of its shardic intent. I don't see why it would be different here.

On 7/15/2025 at 11:38 AM, TwinStorm said:

The True Power at least, is above the One Power, which we are considering Investiture to be. I don't think Nightblood could drain that, as its in a different weight class of power altogether.

Honestly, I think the True Power might destroy Nightblood similar to the cleansing of the taint. The True Power is inherently destructive and can destroy cuendillar, something probably similar to Tanavastium. Nightblood would draw more and more of it, eventually destroying itself as the True Power would probably attack it.

On 7/14/2025 at 1:17 PM, WarlordNWN said:

Plus its worth remembering that not even the Dark One could stop the flow of True Power into Callandor. I can only imagine what would happen if Nightblood begins to drink of evil itself.

Regardless of a durability standpoint, I think that Callandor is more powerful, in addition to being designed to channel the True Power. The sa’angreal channels and amplifies the TP, Nightblood would just try to eat it.