sleepyspren Posted November 4, 2023 Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 I read a theory a while back saying that nightblood is a sharblade stolen from roshar by the 5 scholars to have breaths put into him to awaken. Vasher himself says it's odd how the blade shouldn't awaken with so few breaths as it had. In wob we learn that the honor blades have some form of sentience already. I put forth the theory that nightblood is Talm's honorable. Nightblood is to small for radientspren shard blades,and the only blades we know that fit that style are the honor blades. Who is more fitting to carry it home than no other than szeth. I think the shin will recognize nightblood in SL5 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustQuestin2004 Posted November 4, 2023 Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 Taln's Blade was with him on Braize for 4500~ years. It came back with him a bit before the end of TWoKbut was replaced with a regular Shardblade before he reached Kholinar. Warbreaker happens a few hundred years before TWoK. So unless the 5 Scholars were willing and/or able to get to Braize and steal the Honorblade in question, then Nightblood isn't Taln's Blade. Nightblood was Awakened with just 1000 Breaths by Shashara, who was at least at the 9th Heightening, but was able to become more Invested as it killed people and sucked their souls, which is why it's so Invested. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepyspren Posted November 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 (edited) Supposedly it was but we don't actually know if it was. Shardblades can be commanded to stay. Besides, why would someone swap a blade for a blade? Doesn't make sense unless it was someone shin? It doesn't add up as to why he had a blade that wasn't his own. Unless during the fighting he lent his blade to another and grabbed someone's who had died and went back with a fallen radiants blade Edited November 4, 2023 by sleepyspren 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treamayne Posted November 4, 2023 Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 (edited) Welcome to the Forums. 7 hours ago, sleepyspren said: I read a theory a while back saying that nightblood is a sharblade stolen from roshar by the 5 scholars to have breaths put into him to awaken. Vasher himself says it's odd how the blade shouldn't awaken with so few breaths as it had. In wob we learn that the honor blades have some form of sentience already. I put forth the theory that nightblood is Talm's honorable. Nightblood is to small for radientspren shard blades,and the only blades we know that fit that style are the honor blades. Who is more fitting to carry it home than no other than szeth. I think the shin will recognize nightblood in SL5 Jossed by WoB. Nightblood was not a Shardbade that was awakened - They were a sword that was Awakened to mimic the properties of a Shardblade. The extra investiture (non-breaths) were because Endowment did "something" to help make Nightblood, and (likely) thier choice of Command accidentally mixed some of Ruin's investiture into Nightblood. WoBs: Spoiler Quote Walin Does Nightblood contain any of Ruin's Investiture? Like, not atium, but... Brandon Sanderson Yes, technically; and I'm not wiggling around that, because technically, location in the Cosmere and who belongs to what gets really weird, right? Because Ruin's Investiture is everywhere--but I'm not talking that way. I'm talking the way you actually mean it. Legion Release Party (Sept. 19, 2018) Quote OrangeJedi When Nightblood created, was Endowment involved in any way more than normal? Brandon Sanderson Good question, you qualified that the right way! I would say yes, but maybe not to the extent you're thinking. OrangeJedi Normal being using Endowment's Investiture to Awaken. There's something special. Brandon Sanderson I would say, there is something special. Legion Release Party (Sept. 19, 2018) It has been theorized that Nightblood also contains a Divine Breath (like a Returned) technically making Nightblood a Splinter. Quote Questioner I have a question about Nightblood. I think I heard that-- Something you said in a Q&A that it is related to a Shardblade, or was a Shardblade? Brandon Sanderson Yeah… So Nightblood. Vasher visited Roshar, saw Shardblades, came back and tried to make one. With what he knew of his magic. That's the short version of it. Kind of simplifies things, but yes. Holiday signing (Dec. 12, 2015) Quote Questioner One question I've been thinking about a lot, and that is the black bladed sword. Is there just one sword, or is there one for each world, that [works with?] different...like Shard powers, or is it just one sword that can work with all? Brandon Sanderson [Nightblood] is something special. A long time ago, some people from the Warbreaker world came to Roshar, saw Shardblades, thought, "We can do this," went home and tried to make one. And that is Nightblood. And it went horribly horribly wrong. And so they didn't make any more, except now, Azure's sword is somewhat related. But that is the origin of Nightblood. Trying to make a Shardblade out of a different magic system. Idaho Falls signing (July 21, 2018) Quote Questioner Is [Nightblood] like, the Shardblades, kind of thing? Brandon Sanderson It is. So, what happened is: Vasher, who was involved in the creation of Nightblood, visited Roshar and came back with this knowledge, and they tried to create something. Questioner So he based it off those? Brandon Sanderson Yes. And they got it kind of right. Salt Lake City ComicCon 2017 (Sept. 22, 2017) Quote Questioner So is it possible to Awaken a Shardblade? That's the question-- that's my question for you. Brandon Sanderson Um... With the magic system of Awakening, you mean? Questioner Yeah. Brandon Sanderson So, all forms of Investiture strongly resist other forms of Investiture. Questioner Makes sense. Brandon Sanderson *brief interruption* Nightblood is essentially an Awakened... Trying to do that. Questioner 'Cause he shows up in Words of Radiance, right? Brandon Sanderson Yes. So, it-- let's just say it'd be very, very hard. Because it's like saying, "Can-- I want to turn on a lightbulb that's been turned on." Yes, you can... maybe... I don't know what that even means. It's already Invested. It's already Awakened. Calamity release party (Feb. 16, 2016) Hope that helps Edited November 4, 2023 by Treamayne 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alder24 Posted November 4, 2023 Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, sleepyspren said: I read a theory a while back saying that nightblood is a sharblade stolen from roshar by the 5 scholars to have breaths put into him to awaken. It's impossible to Awaken a Shardblade because it is already considered to be Awakened by the system. Investiture resists investiture and you can't put more Breaths into something so invested like a Shardblade. Spoiler Questioner Can you awaken a Shardblade? Brandon Sanderson Can you Awaken a Shardblade? A Shardblade would already be defined as Awakened, by the magic systems. Questioner And what about the Plate? Brandon Sanderson Plate would already be defined as probably too heavily Invested to Awaken because it already is. Oathbringer release party (Nov. 13, 2017) 7 hours ago, sleepyspren said: In wob we learn that the honor blades have some form of sentience already. I put forth the theory that nightblood is Talm's honorable. That's not possible for several reasons. First Honorblades are as invested as Shardblades or even more, you can't Awaken them. Second is that Taln's blade was with him on Braize for 4500 years, he returned with it and was using it in Kholinar during WoK epilogue, but later was switched by some unknown people. The timeline of this switch doesn't match up with the time of Nightblood's creation - the events of Warbreaker happen generations before WoK, and Nightblood was created 300 years before the Warbreaker. That's simply impossible. Spoiler Questioner The Herald of War at the end of Way of Kings-- I assume he had an Honorblade with him? Brandon Sanderson Yes. Questioner Okay... So when Dalinar had the sword that he gave up... Brandon Sanderson Yes. Questioner ...for the Stormfather it actually cried, which it typically happens if there's spren in the sword, which means that was not an Honorblade, correct? Brandon Sanderson Yes, and if you look they're described differently! Questioner Which means somebody else has the sword, correct? Brandon Sanderson The sword was switched out! Questioner Probably by Wit. I'm not going to ask you for spoilers, but... Brandon Sanderson Wit does not have the sword. Questioner No!? Brandon Sanderson But... I can't-- I dunno if I've told people whether or not he at one point had the sword... But he does not have the sword now. White Sand vol.1 release party (June 28, 2016) Spoiler Questioner Why didn't Dalinar get the powers of a Stoneward when he bonded Taln's [Honorblade]? Brandon Sanderson Some readers have already figured this out, so I don't think I'm engaging in too large a spoiler to dig into this one here. There are several oddities going on here. The most important one relevant to this question is the Blade in question. If you compare the descriptions of the sword described in the epilogue of The Way of Kings to the one that traveled with the madman (allegedly Taln, the Herald) to the Shattered Plains, you'll find they are different. The one that the characters obtained in Words of Radiance is NOT an Honorblade. It's an ordinary Shardblade (as ordinary as one of those can be called.) I'm not going to say specifically what happened to the Blade Taln arrived with at Kholinar, but I will say that it IS a different weapon from the one in Words of Radiance. The other issue here is the somewhat lesser question of whether this character is actually Taln, the Herald, or not. Some characters in-world don't believe that it is, though his viewpoint in Words of Radiance strongly implies otherwise. This isn't specifically relevant to the conversation for reasons I'll talk about below--but it is tangentially related. Because in the cosmere, Intent is important to many of the types of magic. It's theoretically possible to hold an Honorblade and not realize what its powers are, and therefore be unable to access them. As an aside, this character was actually the primary protagonist of the version of The Way of Kings I wrote in 2002. A man who woke up, with lingering memories of madness, and claimed to be a Herald when nobody believed him--as he couldn't manifest any powers, seemed to have lost his sword, and lore said the Heralds weren't coming back anyway. When I wrote the new version of The Way of Kings in 2009 or so, one goal was to focus the storyline. I'd included so many characters in the 2002 version that none of them progressed very far in their arcs, creating a strong setting and interesting characters--but a bad book. During the new version, I decided that this character would be moved to the later books, and I'd explore him there. In the 2002 version, the text was very dodgy on whether or not Taln was a Herald. Confronting the fact that he might be crazy was a major arc and theme of the book--however, as I've worked on the new version, I've realized that it would be dangerous to be too vague on this. Stringing people along with the question for a book or two is one thing, waiting until book six or eight to do a character's arc, and leaving the question of whether they're a Herald or not all that time, seemed unfair. So the text is going to be making manifest fairly quickly who this person is. You'll have confirmations long before we dig into his viewpoint in the later books. So, a recap: 1) The swords WERE swapped somehow. 2) Someone could hold an Honorblade and not realize they had access to powers. 3) This character may or may not actually be a Herald--but the text is going to make the answer clear, and I'm not trying to trick you. FAQFriday 2017 (May 19, 2017) Spoiler LewsTherinTelescope How long after Warbreaker does Way of Kings take place? I know you usually don't finalize timeline details until they actually are stated in-book, but are you willing to say how far apart the books are, in the current plans? Brandon Sanderson I have Warbreaker happening a few generations before, right now. However, I'm very likely to move Elantris up in time, so it's a little in the air at the moment. LewsTherinTelescope Thanks! I assume asking why Elantris being moved affects how far apart Warbreaker and Way of Kings are is a behind-the-scenes thing and/or RAFO? Brandon Sanderson Yeah, it does. The big linchpin is going to be when I need Sel and Scadrial to align when big crossovers start happening. We'll know in a few years; there are things I intend to write that I could imagine needing to change, after they're finished, that will influence the timeline structure. General Reddit 2020 (Aug. 5, 2020) 7 hours ago, sleepyspren said: Nightblood is to small for radientspren shard blades Nightblood was made out of steel, to match Returned size - it was explained in Warbreaker. 7 hours ago, sleepyspren said: I think the shin will recognize nightblood in SL5 We know the description of Taln's Honorblade, WoK epilogue: Quote To his side, he carried a massive Shardblade, point down, sticking about a nger’s width into the stone, his hand on the hilt. The Blade reected torchlight; it was long, narrow, and straight, shaped like an enormous spike. It doesn't match Nightblood's description. I think Shins already have Taln's blade, they were the one that switched it, they could do it with their Honorblades, as they planned to retrieve Jezrien's blade from Szeth if he were to die using other Honorblades (probably the one granting Elsecalling). There was a WoB or a quote on how they would retrieve Szeth's Honorblade, but I can't find it. 5 hours ago, sleepyspren said: why would someone swap a blade for a blade? Because Honorblades are much more dangerous than regular Shardblades and they grant Surges without limitations. Shins most likely took it as they might think they have duty to guard all Honorblades and thus they most likely swapped Taln's blade to the inferior one. Heralds can use Honorblades to the extent even beyond that we've seen Szeth did. 5 hours ago, sleepyspren said: It doesn't add up as to why he had a blade that wasn't his own. In WoK it was Taln's blade. It was his own Honorblade, and Kalak in Prelude noticed Taln's blade was the only one missing. Taln's blade was trapped on Braize with him for 4500 years, during the time Nightblood was created. But Nightblood was modeled after Honorblades. Spoiler Questioner I have a question about Nightblood. I think I heard that-- Something you said in a Q&A that it is related to a Shardblade, or was a Shardblade? Brandon Sanderson Yeah… So Nightblood. Vasher visited Roshar, saw Shardblades, came back and tried to make one. With what he knew of his magic. That's the short version of it. Kind of simplifies things, but yes. Holiday signing (Dec. 12, 2015) Spoiler Fluffy (paraphrased) When the Five Scholars traveled to Roshar, this happened post Recreance, so most Shardblades would have been dead, how did Nightblood gain sapience? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) Shardblades weren’t the only Blades around that were active, there were Honorblades. Honorblades are self-aware, but do not manifest a spren in the Cognitive Realm. Dragonsteel 2022 (Nov. 15, 2022) Edited November 4, 2023 by alder24 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepyspren Posted November 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 Well you all have given ample evidence to say I rest my case lol. Thank you for the welcome! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alder24 Posted November 4, 2023 Report Share Posted November 4, 2023 1 minute ago, sleepyspren said: Well you all have given ample evidence to say I rest my case lol. Thank you for the welcome! I'm always happy to talk about Nightblood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.