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Nightblood's Cognitive aspect


Argenti

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Do we know if Nightblood has a cognitive aspect? I know he isn't a spen and doesn't have a body in the CR, but does he have a sphere or a fire (Or whatever the Nalthian version is). Along with that, what do summoned shardblades look like in the CR?

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34 minutes ago, Argenti said:

Do we know if Nightblood has a cognitive aspect? I know he isn't a spen and doesn't have a body in the CR, but does he have a sphere or a fire (Or whatever the Nalthian version is). Along with that, what do summoned shardblades look like in the CR?

Everything/everyone has a Cognitive aspect. This is a somewhat semantic argument but Brandon has said that calling Nightblood a Robot Spren isn't super far off. Have you read Oathbringer and/or Rhythm Of War? We know what a Shardblade looks like in the Cognitive realm (though they cannot be summoned there). As for Nightblood; using Restares as an example, I would guess he just appears the way he does in the Physical Realm in the Cognitive Realm.

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Boogalyhu34

Can Nightblood be considered a Splinter and does it function like a spren realmatically, are there distinct differences is what I'm asking.

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood is kind of his own strange thing. He's an attempt to use one magic to replicate something in another. He's closest to a spren, but kind of like a...robot spren, for lack of better words to use.

Argent

When you say that Nightblood is "an attempt to use one magic to replicate something in another," do you mean life in general, or are you referring to a specific effect in a specific magic system?

Brandon Sanderson

There are those involved who knew that Shardblades existed before they tried the Nightblood experiment.

uchoo786

So does this mean Vasher had knowledge of Shardblades before creating Nightblood?

Brandon Sanderson

It means what I wrote, and nothing more at this point. :)

wickedmath

Dude. That's the most tantalizing RAFO I've seen in awhile. Have other Shards made Shardblades besides Honor?

Brandon Sanderson

:) RAFO

Phantine

Is that why Vasher uses the word 'Investiture' instead of some personal term for it?

Brandon Sanderson

I could be wrong, but I think Vasher was the first one in any book I allowed to use cosmere-aware terms for speaking of things like the magics. (Investiture is one of these.)

/r/books AMA 2015 (July 25, 2015)

 

Edited by The Sovereign
Added the relevant WoB
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In OB ch 208 Honorspren told Lazure that Nightblood just passed through their city in CR. So it must have a cognitive aspect. And likely it looks the same as it looked when Nightblood was pulled into Odium's "vision" in RoW ch 113:

Spoiler

The Physical Realm faded as Odium pulled Taravangian into the place between worlds. Taravangian’s body was not as weak here. This form was a manifestation of his mind and soul. And those were strong.
The sword at Szeth’s waist—that strange, terrible sword—manifested here, in this realm where Odium brought Taravangian. The god looked down and saw the curling black darkness, and seemed surprised.
Taravangian seized the sword and pulled it free of its scabbard, hearing it scream for pleasure. He turned and thrust it upward—black smoke curling around his hands.

 

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2 minutes ago, The Sovereign said:

Everything/everyone has a Cognitive aspect. This is a somewhat semantic argument but Brandon has said that calling Nightblood a Robot Spren isn't super far off. Have you read Oathbringer and/or Rhythm Of War? We know what a Shardblade looks like in the Cognitive realm (though they cannot be summoned there). As for Nightblood; using Restares as an example, I would guess he just appears the way he does in the Physical Realm in the Cognitive Realm.

I meant while actively summoned and in blade form, not just their spren form. But I forgot about Taravangian grabbing nightblood's Cognitive Aspect (which is still weird).

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If nothing else, its well established that a cognitive aspect will always develop over time. Vasher is an old, old dude, and he's had Nightblood since before we first met him. Both Nightblood and their creator have thought about them for more than a long enough time for one to develop, even if it didn't initially exist. Though personally, I imagine Nightblood's cognitive aspect has existed since it's creation. Nightblood is conscious, if not the sharpest tool in the shed. :P

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1 hour ago, Argenti said:

I meant while actively summoned and in blade form, not just their spren form. But I forgot about Taravangian grabbing nightblood's Cognitive Aspect (which is still weird).

By their nature Spren can't be in Blade form in the Cognitive Realm. The conversion to the metal is a result of the Investiture fully manifesting in the Physical Realm. I suspect if someone in the Physical Realm transferred into the Cognitive Realm with their Shardblade already summoned it would simply revert to Spren form (Dead Eye or Living) as soon as they were in the Cognitive Realm (I'd need to go back an reread the chapter in Oathbringer, but I believe we've actually seen this with Adolin/Mayalaran). Nightblood is an exception because while functionally a Spren, he is really more like a Returned. He was always his Physical aspect as he was Awakened as such rather than beginning as a Cognitive Aspect and being converted. Regarding Taravangian grabbing Nightblood's Cognitive aspect; Keep in mind that everything exists in all three Realms and when a lot of Investiture is pooled the Realms tend to blur. It is not surprising that the Combination of the presence of Odium, Nightblood, and the transitioning of Taravangian's Soul as he was dying would accelerate this blurring.

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3 minutes ago, The Sovereign said:

By their nature Spren can't be in Blade form in the Cognitive Realm. The conversion to the metal is a result of the Investiture fully manifesting in the Physical Realm. I suspect if someone in the Physical Realm transferred into the Cognitive Realm with their Shardblade already summoned it would simply revert to Spren form (Dead Eye or Living) as soon as they were in the Cognitive Realm (I'd need to go back an reread the chapter in Oathbringer, but I believe we've actually seen this with Adolin/Mayalaran). Nightblood is an exception because while functionally a Spren, he is really more like a Returned. He was always his Physical aspect as he was Awakened as such rather than beginning as a Cognitive Aspect and being converted. Regarding Taravangian grabbing Nightblood's Cognitive aspect; Keep in mind that everything exists in all three Realms and when a lot of Investiture is pooled the Realms tend to blur. It is not surprising that the Combination of the presence of Odium, Nightblood, and the transitioning of Taravangian's Soul as he was dying would accelerate this blurring.

neat

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5 minutes ago, The Sovereign said:

By their nature Spren can't be in Blade form in the Cognitive Realm. The conversion to the metal is a result of the Investiture fully manifesting in the Physical Realm. I suspect if someone in the Physical Realm transferred into the Cognitive Realm with their Shardblade already summoned it would simply revert to Spren form (Dead Eye or Living) as soon as they were in the Cognitive Realm (I'd need to go back an reread the chapter in Oathbringer, but I believe we've actually seen this with Adolin/Mayalaran). Nightblood is an exception because while functionally a Spren, he is really more like a Returned. He was always his Physical aspect as he was Awakened as such rather than beginning as a Cognitive Aspect and being converted. Regarding Taravangian grabbing Nightblood's Cognitive aspect; Keep in mind that everything exists in all three Realms and when a lot of Investiture is pooled the Realms tend to blur. It is not surprising that the Combination of the presence of Odium, Nightblood, and the transitioning of Taravangian's Soul as he was dying would accelerate this blurring.

I wouldn't be 100% sure on that. Considering that in RoW
 

Spoiler

Ishar has managed to bring Spren, in their Cognitive form, fully into the physical realm...I would imagine that it would be possible for them to be in blade form in the cognitive realm with some magic hand-wavy trickery. Though, since I have no idea how Ishar managed what he has, I have no idea how that would work either. I simply caution using such definitive statements in the Cosmere, as there is so often an exception(s) to stated rules.

 

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24 minutes ago, JohnnyKaizen said:

I wouldn't be 100% sure on that. Considering that in RoW
 

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Ishar has managed to bring Spren, in their Cognitive form, fully into the physical realm...I would imagine that it would be possible for them to be in blade form in the cognitive realm with some magic hand-wavy trickery. Though, since I have no idea how Ishar managed what he has, I have no idea how that would work either. I simply caution using such definitive statements in the Cosmere, as there is so often an exception(s) to stated rules.

 

Fair, but keep in mind that Ishar is an unbound Bondsmith with Thousands of years of experience with his powers and he is doing things with Connection that wouldn't be possible if Honor were alive and intact.

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On 3/23/2023 at 8:10 AM, The Sovereign said:

By their nature Spren can't be in Blade form in the Cognitive Realm. The conversion to the metal is a result of the Investiture fully manifesting in the Physical Realm. I suspect if someone in the Physical Realm transferred into the Cognitive Realm with their Shardblade already summoned it would simply revert to Spren form (Dead Eye or Living) as soon as they were in the Cognitive Realm (I'd need to go back an reread the chapter in Oathbringer, but I believe we've actually seen this with Adolin/Mayalaran). Nightblood is an exception because while functionally a Spren, he is really more like a Returned. He was always his Physical aspect as he was Awakened as such rather than beginning as a Cognitive Aspect and being converted. Regarding Taravangian grabbing Nightblood's Cognitive aspect; Keep in mind that everything exists in all three Realms and when a lot of Investiture is pooled the Realms tend to blur. It is not surprising that the Combination of the presence of Odium, Nightblood, and the transitioning of Taravangian's Soul as he was dying would accelerate this blurring.

I think he was asking what I see if you summon your live or dead blade in the PR while I'm in the cognitive. I personally don't think anything would happen, because deadeyes can be captured and cared for.

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On 4/7/2023 at 1:53 PM, IlstrawberrySeed said:

I think he was asking what I see if you summon your live or dead blade in the PR while I'm in the cognitive. I personally don't think anything would happen, because deadeyes can be captured and cared for.

Yeah I was, I was basically trying to ask what the bead would look like.

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10 hours ago, Argenti said:

Yeah I was, I was basically trying to ask what the bead would look like.

I don't think there would be a bead. This is a sentient entity, far more invested than a simple stick, it has a soul representation, not a bead. Shardblade summoned to PR would look like Shardplate from CR - and we know how Shardplate looks from CR, Adolin tried to take his Shardplate to the diplomatic mission to CR in RoW, but it didn't went through the Oathgate, he saw his Shardplate from CR as "something that glowed blue", not as a bead. Both Shardplate and Shardblade are spren, so they look alike from CR, as a glowing blue shape, not a bead. The same with Nightblood - it looks like a dark smoke in CR, not a bead. They are sapient, they have souls, they are more invested, they're not objects.

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1 hour ago, alder24 said:

Both Shardplate and Shardblade are spren, so they look alike from CR, as a glowing blue shape, not a bead. The same with Nightblood - it looks like a dark smoke in CR, not a bead.

This is what I've been asking the whole time! Thank you!

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