Raysium and Anti-Voidlight

[Duxredux he/him]

So... why can Raysium conduct Anti-Voidlight without exploding? If it's a matter of alloying and a pure sample of Anti-Investiture can't destroy an alloy, then how are we framing Anti-Light killing Spren and Fused when it's unlikely that they are pure samples of their respective Investitures? If for whatever reason Honorspren and all Fused are basically pure samples of Stormlight or Voidlight, then does that imply that all other Radiant Spren are safe from until opposition with their varying composite Investiture that is manifested when they become a Shardblade? Is there a distinction between solid Godmetal versus gaseous Investiture, and does that mean Shardblades and Plate may not react to Anti-Stormlight?

Couldn't find this posted already with a quick search.

[Quantus he/him]

The short answer is that different forms of Investiture have different rules, just like different forms of Energy have wildly different rules (even within the same broad categories), heat and light and gravity and magnetism are all Energy, but they each have their own rulebook, and even Radio Waves vs Microwaves dont behave the same. 

The explosion part requires forcing both Light and the Anti-Light into the same container, the annihilate each other inside the container which becomes over-pressurized.  Without the container, the annihilation still happens but energy just gets released.  It's the difference between lighting a pile of gunpowder on a plate vs inside a grenade housing.  

As for the Godmetal Raysium, Godmetals are weird because they are Investiture converted and solidified into Matter, so they dont play by the same rules as either Investiture in gaseous Form (ie the Lights) or in any pure Investiture form (ie while Investing a person or Object, or when Sapient).  Per WOB, the solids are settled into a specific purpose and sort of crystallized that way, compared to the gas or liquid forms that are more free, and thus more volatile in this context.  

Overall, Anti-light works on the principles of Wave cancellation so it has to match the original are perfectly as possible with a slight phase shift.  The simpler the sample/state of Investiture, the easier it will be to match that waveform.  The Lights are simple and constant (like the pure Tones they come from) so it's relatively straightforward to counter it completely.  Anything more more Identity will have a more complex waveform "voice" that would need to be matched to get the same cancellation resonance, most dramatically with Plate and with sapient Spren.  It's possible in theory to craft Ant-light to counter any specific Investiture, up to and including specific surges and/or effects of any magic system, but it's a lot more target-specific than Anti-Matter (which just cares what subatomic particles are involved). 

 

[alder24]

1 hour ago, Duxredux said:

So... why can Raysium conduct Anti-Voidlight without exploding? If it's a matter of alloying and a pure sample of Anti-Investiture can't destroy an alloy, then how are we framing Anti-Light killing Spren and Fused when it's unlikely that they are pure samples of their respective Investitures? If for whatever reason Honorspren and all Fused are basically pure samples of Stormlight or Voidlight, then does that imply that all other Radiant Spren are safe from until opposition with their varying composite Investiture that is manifested when they become a Shardblade? Is there a distinction between solid Godmetal versus gaseous Investiture, and does that mean Shardblades and Plate may not react to Anti-Stormlight?

Couldn't find this posted already with a quick search.

Yes, Shardblades are resilient to that form of anti-light. It seems that solid form of investiture would not react like that because it's solid and gaseous anti-light has a hard time interacting with it. It's much harder to mix a gas with a solid than to mix a gas with a gas.

Spoiler

TopicCharming2157

Living Shardblades are the physical manifestation of spren. If Moash had used Raboniel's anti-Stormlight charged dagger to stab a spren while in Shardblade form, would it kill the spren? (Like Kaladin forming a Syl shield to guard a stab)

Brandon Sanderson

Physical form of a spren is going to be more resilient to this.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 3 (Dec. 16, 2021)

 

Spoiler

TheBurningDusk

In Rhythm of War, why did the anti-Voidlight not react with the raysium in the dagger?

Brandon Sanderson

I will RAFO that for now. Good question, but... yeah, there's some reasons here.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 3 (Dec. 16, 2021)