Physical Illusions Mechanics + Questions

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

Inspired by a Reddit comment

In WaT, we see Shallan create physical Lightweavings. Do we know if this is something any Fourth Ideal Radiant with access to Illumination can do? Or is this actually a Lightweaver-specific Resonance that connects Illumination and Transformation?

In my opinion, the answer is the former (that any Fourth Ideal Radiant with Illumination can do it). I think this is implied by the fact that Investiture can be 'physical' in the Spiritual Realm. What do you think?

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, EdgedancerJacob said:

we see Shallan create physical Lightweavings. Do we know if this is something any Fourth Ideal Radiant with access to Illumination can do? Or is this actually a Lightweaver-specific Resonance that connects Illumination and Transformation?

To be fair, she also did it in Oathbringer (Ch 120).

Spoiler

“I…” So many beads, so many spren, churning in the lake that marked Thaylen City. So overwhelming.

“That rubble near the wall will be easier than the ground itself,” Jasnah said, “as you’ll be able to treat those stones as distinct units, while the ground views itself all as one.”

“It’s too much,” Shallan said, exhaustionspren spinning around her. “I can’t, Jasnah. I’m sorry.”

“It is well, Shallan,” Jasnah said. “I merely wanted to see, as it seemed you were Soulcasting to give your illusions weight. 

It may not be a Fourth Ideal thing, so much as practice with the powers and understanding the Intent to pull it off. (Mistborn Era 2 Spoilers)

Spoiler

Much like Wax and his Steel Bubble, which we see in BoM another (non-Twinborn) Coinshot has learned to do

 

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

16 hours ago, Treamayne said:

It may not be a Fourth Ideal thing, so much as practice with the powers and understanding the Intent to pull it off.

That makes sense. As a follow up, do you think a Truthwatcher would be able to do it, with proper practice and Intent? 

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, EdgedancerJacob said:

That makes sense. As a follow up, do you think a Truthwatcher would be able to do it, with proper practice and Intent? 

I do not, I think it's like a Reverse Lashing (Adhesion and Gravitation) - a merged surge that requires access to both Illumination and Transformation

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

5 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

I do not, I think it's like a Reverse Lashing (Adhesion and Gravitation) - a merged surge that requires access to both Illumination and Transformation

Okay interesting! And I'm sure that reaching the Fourth Ideal makes it easier for Shallan/other Lightweavers to use this Resonance, in that they have simply have access to more power. Because while I acknowledge she does this in Oathbringer, she's much better and more intentional about it in Wind and Truth. Thanks for the clarification! Would still be curious what Brandon has to say about it...

[Treamayne]

12 minutes ago, EdgedancerJacob said:

Okay interesting! And I'm sure that reaching the Fourth Ideal makes it easier for Shallan/other Lightweavers to use this Resonance, in that they have simply have access to more power. Because while I acknowledge she does this in Oathbringer, she's much better and more intentional about it in Wind and Truth. Thanks for the clarification! Would still be curious what Brandon has to say about it...

No WoBs on it yet that I can find. Oddly, while it seems there are 3x as many announcements as there used ot be, there are less-than-half as many opportunities for Q&A and WoBs. 

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

50 minutes ago, Treamayne said:

No WoBs on it yet that I can find. Oddly, while it seems there are 3x as many announcements as there used ot be, there are less-than-half as many opportunities for Q&A and WoBs. 

This is obviously off topic, but I don't mind less opportunities for WoBs. It makes the Q&As feel a bit more special and keeps Brandon from giving too much away (e.g. Taln never broke, giving wink-wink-nudge-nudge RAFOs). 

[Nitpicking]

I thought that having two spren bonds was part of why Shallan could manifest.

Do her Truths count as oaths for both her spren?

[EdgedancerJacob he/him]

On 4/5/2025 at 6:41 AM, Nitpicking said:

Do her Truths count as oaths for both her spren?

I think that, yes, those do count! And yet another example of why this may be worth asking Brandon!!

[Treamayne]

On 4/5/2025 at 9:41 AM, Nitpicking said:

Do her Truths count as oaths for both her spren?

The WoB implies this is not the case:

Spoiler

enceladus_47

Does Shallan's "I killed my spren" count as a truth?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm gonna leave up to theorizing, figuring out the timeline that's going on with Shallan. What we can say is that Shallan is reconstructing, in many cases, oaths she has said before. And it is working slightly differently than someone who is saying new oaths. And indeed, saying she killed her spren is one of those steps. I'll leave it to you to try and parse through that. It's actually pretty complicated. We have a nice big page explaining all of this stuff internally, to make sure that we're keeping it all straight. Because she has violated oaths and reconstructed them, is basically what's happening. And she is regressing, and she's doing a... 1.1 steps forward, 1 step back, sort of thing, kind of frequently.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 1 (Dec. 17, 2020)

Standard Brandon doublespeak - but the implication is that some Truths are progressing her Bond with Pattern, and some Truths are reconstructing broken oaths with Testament. Likely best example:

Spoiler

WoK Ch 45:

Quote

What are you?

She clutched her hand to her chest, losing her balance on the soft bed, falling to her knees on the rumpled blanket. She put one hand to the side, steadying herself on the nightstand, fingers brushing the large glass goblet that sat there.

“What am I?” she whispered. “I’m terrified.”

This is true.

The bedroom transformed around her.

This is almost certainly reconstructing a Testament Oath that allowed her to Soulcast in theis scene.

Hope that helps