Nightblood: perversion of Awakening?

[Nitpicking]

It just occurred to me that Nightblood is the literal opposite of Endowment. Endowment is gifting. Nightblood's ability is to steal Investiture away from people and things. Sure, that isn't all it does, but its most dramatic manifestation is literally the opposite of Endowment ... using Endowment's Investiture in the form of Breath.

Were Vasher and Shashara influenced by Autonomy to pervert the power of Endowment? Or by Odium?

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

If you think of it that way, sure. But I find Nightblood to fit with Endowment's Intent quite well. It was gifted sentience, and really when it is using its ability it is endowing itself with more Investiture. Endowment is to power or give something, and that cannot happen without an exchange, leaving the giver with less and the recipient with more. 

 

Endowment has seemed pretty confident about being protected from Odium in the letters, but we can't be sure about Autonomy. That does not seem to be the way that Autonomy likes to operate, however. 

[Trusk'our he/him]

3 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

It just occurred to me that Nightblood is the literal opposite of Endowment. Endowment is gifting. Nightblood's ability is to steal Investiture away from people and things. Sure, that isn't all it does, but its most dramatic manifestation is literally the opposite of Endowment ... using Endowment's Investiture in the form of Breath.

It does seem that way a little, doesn't it?

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Were Vasher and Shashara influenced by Autonomy to pervert the power of Endowment? Or by Odium?

I always found its nature closer to that of Ruin, given the leaky black Investiture associated with Ruin's Intent, the stealing of Investiture through destruction (ahem, Hemalurgy anyone?), and the Command to "Destroy evil".

In fact, we do have a WoB on this, and though it's a bit shaky as to its exact implications I take it plus the aforementioned hints to suggest that Nightblood corrupt any Investiture it consumes to align with Ruin's Intent more.

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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. 

 

[Duxredux he/him]

Yeah, we need to read more than just what's on the label of the Shard to really say what is and is not in alignment with the Intent. Allomancy for one is fantastic killing people despite being the power of Preservation (my argument is that it greatly enhances the capacity for self-preservation). Ironically, it is Ruin's Hemalurgy that can "preserve" a piece of soul long past the donor's death - for centuries even. I'm not entirely sure how Sand Mastery relates to Autonomy as a concept at all. The Honor and Cultivation seem to relate to the Orders of Knights Radiant in the sense that power is gated behind progressive oaths, but I'm iffy as to how Division or Abrasion relate to the Intent of either Shard. 

I'll move to the main point of discussion: Endowment's Intent as it relates to Awakening. The gifting aspect is obvious in that Awakening requires hundreds if not thousands of people gifting their Breaths to a single individual. Awakeners who receive these gifts gain the various Heightenings and can temporarily grant life and give it conditional will. "No strings attached" basically only applies to when you give a Breath, mundane or divine, to another person. Lifeless are slaved to those who hold their Command Phrase even if the Breaths cannot be recovered. Awakened Objects can have their power and sentience recalled at the whim of the Awakener.

The thing is Nightblood still gifts power and was a gift in of himself from a certain viewpoint. Nightblood forms a bond with the person who wields him and grants them extraordinary power. As a sword with no method of locomotion, he enhances the wielder with terrifying strength and agility as they fight with Nightblood's own destructive force. If the wielder views themself as evil and is driven to take themselves out, well guess they should have read the terms and conditions before accepting the gift. Or as the case may be, having it shoved on them - Endowment can gift without consent. From a certain standpoint, the gift of Breaths from the thousand or so people that enhanced Shashara gave her a gift that let her will in the form of a directive live on for centuries as her Command to Destroy Evil continues to be followed. Perhaps Endowment's wheelhouse is gifts being given and less how that gift was used after the fact.

Now I'm not going to discount Shardic shenanigans in the creation of Nightblood, but if the question is if a Shard other than Endowment had to have been directing their attention and influence to Nalthis to kick off the change in Nightblood to get his special circumstances, then I think it could go either way. Ruin's Investiture is indisputably part of Nightblood, but I could see Shashara vehemently wanting evil as she saw it destroyed (it wouldn't be too far a stretch during the Manywar for her to have a specific atrocity in mind that she wanted Nightblood's power to destory) and having the right mindset to draw Ruin's power even unknowingly when giving a sentient sword a Command (a sword that in turn gained the ability to direct its Intent). Alternately, it could be a Shard giving the proper Intent remotely - as we see when Ruin orchestrated Spook receiving A-Pewter. Again, it could go either way and asking Brandon will probably get a RAFO at this stage - or he might give us a couple more details, you never can tell. I don't think we have any conclusive answers at present.

Edited May 21, 2025 by Duxredux
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