Mixing and Matching Surges

[TacoBellChoutaMeal]

I tend to think about Mistborn a lot more than I tend to think about Stormlight. That’s because Twinborn being able to have seemingly two random powers is really interesting to me. Radiants have two powers as well, but they’re each locked into oaths, and every Radiant from every order has the same two surges. If you could mix and match any two surges from any two orders, which ones would you take and why? 
 

I think that Cohesion and Division would be a really interesting combination. Break down a wall and then patch it right back up again behind you. What about you, what do you think?

[Jult]

This is actually a thing that can happen thanks to the Honorblades. WoB:

Spoiler

Quote

Questioner

If a Radiant uses an Honorblade or binds a second spren, could they get new abilities/resonances by having access to Surges that aren't usually combined?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, they could. Indeed.

San Diego Comic-Con@Home 2020 (July 23, 2020)

It actually seems pretty likely that we'll see something like this happen in the back half with some of the Shalash theories floating around.

Progression and Transportation would be pretty fun. A one-man Evac/Medic team.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

10 hours ago, TacoBellChoutaMeal said:

I tend to think about Mistborn a lot more than I tend to think about Stormlight. That’s because Twinborn being able to have seemingly two random powers is really interesting to me. Radiants have two powers as well, but they’re each locked into oaths, and every Radiant from every order has the same two surges. If you could mix and match any two surges from any two orders, which ones would you take and why? 

I would take Abrasion and Cohesion, because you could pull off some crazy stunts. Slide across the ground and reshape it to give yourself ramps, turning the world into your own personal skatepark. Or slick yourself, soften the walls and slip straight through them, since Abrasion can let you move through liquids with ease.

Or even do what Lift has shown is possible and increase the friction of the melted stone you control and wrap it around people to more easily bind them.

1 hour ago, Jult said:

This is actually a thing that can happen thanks to the Honorblades.

Yeah, but the Honorblades are too rare and important for just anyone to use. Even more so after WaT.

Technically speaking, a person can swear two sets of Oaths, we've kind of seen this with Shallan, but she's just a double Lightweaver.

Would be very interesting in the Back Half if we got a main character who is trying to balance two sets of wildly differing oaths between two different Spren. Like trying to reconcile an Honorspren and Highspren, or going with a compassionate free spirit with a Cultivationspren and Lightspren.

It'dbe super unlikely, since Spren don't seem to like sharing a Bond with a single human, but if both were willing it could happen.

[Jult]

59 minutes ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

Yeah, but the Honorblades are too rare and important for just anyone to use. Even more so after WaT.

True. But it won't need to be just anyone. Out of the current Heralds, I think only Nale and Kaladin currently have bonded Spren. Any of the other 8 could take some oaths. Also, Jezrien's blade is out there with Moash. And I guess there's nothing stopping the Heralds from loaning out their blades if they wanted.  

More importantly, I just remembered Nightblood can grant all 10 Surges now. So, that will hopefully come into play too!

[Nitpicking]

25 minutes ago, Jult said:

More importantly, I just remembered Nightblood can grant all 10 Surges now. So, that will hopefully come into play too!

SPOILERS FOR The Sunlit Man, Isles of the Emberdark, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, etc.:

Spoiler

We haven't seen or heard of Nightblood in anything post-Stormlight, have we? Does he get destroyed in the Big Climax of the Stormlight Archive?

 

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

7 hours ago, Nitpicking said:

SPOILERS FOR The Sunlit Man, Isles of the Emberdark, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, etc.:

  Hide contents

We haven't seen or heard of Nightblood in anything post-Stormlight, have we? Does he get destroyed in the Big Climax of the Stormlight Archive?

 

The Cosmere is a big place, and Nightblood is just one sword, one that not many people know about or understand the significance of. I'd say that the absence of evidence does not mean he isn't around somewhere.

[Nitpicking]

19 hours ago, JustQuestin2004 said:

The Cosmere is a big place, and Nightblood is just one sword, one that not many people know about or understand the significance of. I'd say that the absence of evidence does not mean he isn't around somewhere.

I agree completely. I just like to speculate.

[JustQuestin2004 he/him]

Actually, I once had an idea for an original Radiant Order, I called them the Bonebracers.

They were meant to have the Surges of Progression and Tension, and unlike the usual use of Tension, they'd be able to use it directly upon their own bodies, allowing them to bend their own bones to give them extreme flexibility, as well as contracting their muscles to force them to exhibit much greater force, similar to the Tension Fused if on a lesser scale. Though if used in that way, they'd need to use Regrowth on themselves to boost their healing to keep up with the severe muscle tearing.

[earthexile]

Progression and Transportation could have a really interesting combined effect- Jasnah can launch her Soulcastings as a ranged attack, or cause it to spread through multiple targets if they're touching. If Transportation offered that same boost to Progression, you could heal frontline guys from a safer distance, or even cast healing through a whole formation at once. It would take crazy amounts of Light of course, but that's a given with any big effect.

[Highprince645343]

I was thinking about this recently, I feel like Truthwatchers would make more sense with transformation over progression, they're a scholarly order and it would fit in with what they do a lot more then healing. Frankly progression feels like at an out of place surge on Truthwatchers, I guess it might be because doctor might fit the general occupations of Truthwatchers?

[Teravangian]

On 7/18/2025 at 12:18 AM, TacoBellChoutaMeal said:

I tend to think about Mistborn a lot more than I tend to think about Stormlight. That’s because Twinborn being able to have seemingly two random powers is really interesting to me. Radiants have two powers as well, but they’re each locked into oaths, and every Radiant from every order has the same two surges. If you could mix and match any two surges from any two orders, which ones would you take and why? 
 

I think that Cohesion and Division would be a really interesting combination. Break down a wall and then patch it right back up again behind you. What about you, what do you think?

I really want to see gravitation + abrasion

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

On 7/18/2025 at 3:02 PM, Jult said:

True. But it won't need to be just anyone. Out of the current Heralds, I think only Nale and Kaladin currently have bonded Spren. Any of the other 8 could take some oaths. Also, Jezrien's blade is out there with Moash. And I guess there's nothing stopping the Heralds from loaning out their blades if they wanted.  

More importantly, I just remembered Nightblood can grant all 10 Surges now. So, that will hopefully come into play too!

I know its been a while, but shouldn't you spoil that?

[Nitpicking]

2 hours ago, Clarkmon22 said:

I know its been a while, but shouldn't you spoil that?

It's a Stormlight Archive spoiler. This is the SA Forum, which is a spoilers-allowed zone (for the Stormlight Archive).

[Clarkmon22 He/Him]

aight