I want to see Sja-Anat further break the mold

[Stark he/him]

This one will be short and brief. 

 

We've seen Sja-Anat break spren before, up to radiant spren and oathgate spren and have them still function, just differently.  Renarain and Rlain are the two biggest examples of this, having bonded her changed spren.

 

We also now have direct evidence from Spren who knew him when he was younger that the Stormfather has changed.

 

Terrifyingly, Raboniel was trying to unmake the sibling.

 

Given enough time, and influence, spren can change.  We know Sja-Anat wants to change.  I'd really like to see her break the mold and become the fourth Bondsmith Spren.

[Ninth of the Night]

4 hours ago, Stark said:

We've seen Sja-Anat break spren before

Keep in mind, this is a matter of perception. Sja-anat would disagree with that interpretation, as she doesn't like the term "corrupted" either. Her spren are enlightened, free to choose for themselves. Free to change.

Not sure how you got to the fourth bondsmith idea, that seems like a leap in logic.

[bmcclure7]

6 hours ago, Ninth of the Night said:

Keep in mind, this is a matter of perception. Sja-anat would disagree with that interpretation, as she doesn't like the term "corrupted" either. Her spren are enlightened, free to choose for themselves. Free to change.

Not sure how you got to the fourth bondsmith idea, that seems like a leap in logic.

I don’t see why you think whether she would agree with this assessment or not has any relevance either that’s what’s happening or it isn’t. 
 

I agree it’s a leap logic that she would become a bond Smith spren anything I suspect she will become a third faction

[logicless.bt]

I think this is certainly possible, if Sja-Anat's relationship with Odium changes from RoW. Todium might not want her to secede from the singer side of the war just like how Rayse didn't, but he could be replaced, traveling the Cosmere, or fundamentally changed by Honor by the end of WaT. Or maybe she acts as the patron of the Fused/singer deserters like Leshwi, and somehow manages to break free from Odium's full control over her.

Either way, I think that Sja-Anat occupies a fascinating narrative place regarding SLA's themes. We constantly get reminded about oaths and how spren can't change while humans can, and the idea of the letter of oaths vs the spirit of oaths. It's a whole thing with Honor, our side's main god: is complete intransigence the REAL meaning of Honor? Is it more honorable to be able to change your mind and, say, end a war once you realize that the nation you're fighting against was the original inhabitants of the planet you reside on? First it seems to be the former, but as time goes on we shift more toward the latter -- but the thing is, Sja-Anat allows spren to CHANGE, and therefore participate in this discourse. This power is similarly portrayed as twisted and harmful, but opinions on that are slowly shifting. I expect Sja-Anat to become more and more relevant -- there are some truly crazy twists she could do, like offering the Stormfather Enlightenment rather than becoming a deadeye if Dalinar breaks his bond during the contest. [That would be the ultimate expression of letter vs spirit of oaths, but this is a tangent.]

But what type of power would she grant via a bond? Fundamental shifts of Odium non-withstanding, I don't think she'll open Odium's Perpendicularity. Perhaps Dalinar-Honor or Kaladin-Honor save her from Odium when she defects, and then she becomes a child of Odium and Honor like the Sibling? Generating Warlight would be really cool because it would power regular Radiants, defected Fused and Regals, and enlightened Radiants.

[Stark he/him]

12 minutes ago, logicless.bt said:

Either way, I think that Sja-Anat occupies a fascinating narrative place regarding SLA's themes. We constantly get reminded about oaths and how spren can't change while humans can, and the idea of the letter of oaths vs the spirit of oaths. 

But what type of power would she grant via a bond? Fundamental shifts of Odium non-withstanding, I don't think she'll open Odium's Perpendicularity. Perhaps Dalinar-Honor or Kaladin-Honor save her from Odium when she defects, and then she becomes a child of Odium and Honor like the Sibling? Generating Warlight would be really cool because it would power regular Radiants, defected Fused and Regals, and enlightened Radiants.

This is what I have been thinking about too.  Once the stalemate of the original three is broken, all options become open.  I think she would grant the ability to change the nature of the bonds.  Freedom for the Oathgate spren, freedom for the Soulcaster spren.  Giving intelligent spren the chance to change, allowing them the option to bond singers in radiant fashion.  

As a bondsmith spren, I can see Sja-Anat opening options for new kinds of bonds.

[Jescape]

Spren say they don't change. We have seen that they do, and not just when they form bonds. In fact the very idea that the spren could betray the early listeners certainly implies that they always could and did, whether they like to admit it or not.

[Stark he/him]

I think the issue is that spren change very, very slowly compared to the rest of the world, and even more slowly when under the direct influence of a shard.  From what we see, both spren and voidspren started changing after Honor died and Odium was locked away.  But they change faster when bound to humans who are catalysts for change.

 

But if you are a immortal representation of a concept that changes so slowly as to be imperceptible as compared to the may flies buzzing around the Physical Realm for their extremely short lives, I can see how you would adopt the misconception that you are above change.