Is Kaladin a Bondsmith?

[TheoreticalMagic]

I could see this going a number of ways. I'm of the opinion that with the original bindings null and void enough that the Shards are no longer bound within the Rosharan system, we don't have enough info yet to know whether the new Oathpact maintains and perpetuates the limits Honor placed on the Surges in the same way.....and the magic system already evolved in ways he didn't expect, given that he never planned for the Knight Radiants when he created the Heralds. The spren forming bonds with humans - within the structure of the framework he'd created - and thus granting use of Surges to people beyond the original Heralds....that wasn't of his design, that was human and spren impulses, instincts and innovations that led to that. So without Honor as any kind of limiting factor at this point, unless Ishar was deliberate about maintaining the original restrictions (and I don't think he was, he was adapting on the fly to figure out something that could work to protect spren instead of contain Fused, some significant changes are inevitable)....I think we could be look at a whole new field of play by the time the series returns. Meaning we could see spren being able to grant more or different Surges than in the past, or being able to bond multiple spren and have access to multiple Orders....

Especially because thematically, I could see the Heralds coming to the conclusion that trying so hard to focus individually on one singular aspect of Honor....like Justice, Truth, Loyalty.....was unintentionally or not leading to the exact same issues as arise from Odium being disConnected from any kind of tempering Love or Mercy or Compassion, shading Intents that provide a framing and context for divine Wrath and focus it productively rather than just destructively. Nale's entire storyline is his realization that Justice devoid of compassion, adhering to the letter of the law rather than looking to the spirit of WHY that law is needed or helpful....it just flat out doesn't work. It creates more harm than help.

So combined with the way this book made a point to remind/clarify that originally the Heralds had access to different or more Surges, that Ishar was an Elsecaller or used those Surges long before he was ever a Bondsmith....I could easily see the Orders - and the Heralds - becoming more of a guideline than a strict framework in the second half of the series. With more blurring of the lines between Orders or people belonging to multiple Orders or changing (evolving) from belonging to one Order at one time to a different Order at a later time, as they and their priorities and sense of Identity changes due to things that happen to them or shifts in who they want to be and what they want to focus on.

All of this is to say that yes, I do think that Kaladin is - or could be - a Bondsmith now, but I don't think that means that he isn't a Windrunner anymore or that he can't be both, just as I believe it doesn't mean that Ishar is no longer a Bondsmith or has to become a different Order or lead a different Order instead. With spren (and Knights Radiant) no longer confined to the Rosharan system, the whole cosmere has opened up to them in a lot of ways.....which means that Ishar could have a very different role to play in guiding people during the next Return. His history and expertise with Elsecalling and his history and expertise with Connections as a Bondsmith could be crucial in getting people who have Retribution gunning for them beyond his reach, finding allies on other worlds, transporting Knight Radiants to other worlds that need help or adapting Surgebinding to different Investiture sources, stuff like that. Meanwhile, Kaladin could step up to take on more of the traditionally spiritual/guiding/advising aspects of being a Bondsmith, befitting his role as Therapist to the Demigods. 

Edited January 11, 2025 by TheoreticalMagic