Where did Shardblade edge guards come from?

[dstokes7]

In several of the Stormlight books, there are thin pieces of metal used to cover the sharp edge of a dead Shardblade for training purposes. We are told that they break easily on their own, but when fitted to the edge of a Shardblade, they change shape to conform to the Blade. What baffles me is what these things are and where they come from. The fact that they can change shape indicates that they are 1) made of spren much as Shardblades and Plate are, and 2) that they are most likely still "alive" since they have retained the ability to change shape into the modern era. I figure it's possible they are some sort of Plate spren, and that maybe they gained their current function after being commanded to do so by their bonded radiant.

But if that theory is true, why would they have been made in the first place? The only reason they are needed is dead Shardblades can't change shape to blunt their edges like living Blades can, and as far as I know, there were no dead Blades prior to the Recreance. In addition, it seems that the radiants (with the exception of the Skybreakers) all abandoned their Shards at about the same time, and Mya indicates neither the spren or the ex-knights had any inkling that the Recreance would kill the spren and have the impact it had. There would have been no indication pre-Recreance to indicate that there would be a need for an object to cover up the edge of a Shardblade in the future, since it was assumed the Blades would keep on functioning as they always had.

So why would some radiant have commanded whatever spren these things are made of to become edge guards prior to knowing such things would ever be necessary? By the time anyone knew they would be needed, men would no longer have the necessary bonds to make them! So where did they come from, and why do they exist? Am I misunderstanding or missing something? I'd appreciate any insights!

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

1 hour ago, dstokes7 said:

In several of the Stormlight books, there are thin pieces of metal used to cover the sharp edge of a dead Shardblade for training purposes. We are told that they break easily on their own, but when fitted to the edge of a Shardblade, they change shape to conform to the Blade. What baffles me is what these things are and where they come from. The fact that they can change shape indicates that they are 1) made of spren much as Shardblades and Plate are, and 2) that they are most likely still "alive" since they have retained the ability to change shape into the modern era. I figure it's possible they are some sort of Plate spren, and that maybe they gained their current function after being commanded to do so by their bonded radiant.

But if that theory is true, why would they have been made in the first place? The only reason they are needed is dead Shardblades can't change shape to blunt their edges like living Blades can, and as far as I know, there were no dead Blades prior to the Recreance. In addition, it seems that the radiants (with the exception of the Skybreakers) all abandoned their Shards at about the same time, and Mya indicates neither the spren or the ex-knights had any inkling that the Recreance would kill the spren and have the impact it had. There would have been no indication pre-Recreance to indicate that there would be a need for an object to cover up the edge of a Shardblade in the future, since it was assumed the Blades would keep on functioning as they always had.

So why would some radiant have commanded whatever spren these things are made of to become edge guards prior to knowing such things would ever be necessary? By the time anyone knew they would be needed, men would no longer have the necessary bonds to make them! So where did they come from, and why do they exist? Am I misunderstanding or missing something? I'd appreciate any insights!

I don't think we really know what the edge guards are. The best Brandon has given us (that I can find) are these:

Spoiler

Quote

Questioner

Are the Shardblade practice guards... Are they made of aluminum?

Brandon Sanderson

Good question! RAFO!

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/13/#e4876

 

 

Spoiler

Questioner

You know the sparring guards, for the Shardblade training, the guards they put on the Shardblades. Are they made of aluminum?

Brandon Sanderson

So, they are not. Peter will not let me make them made out of aluminum. He's my continuity editor, he keeps me honest. I tried to get them to be aluminum, but there are reasons why they can't be. So we had to make them their own weird little thing, unfortunately. But you could make a sheath out of aluminum for a Shardblade that would work.

He keeps me honest, so it's good, but I did try to fit them in that way.

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/261/#e8780

 

 

That "weird little thing" sounds interesting, but... yeah.

[Nitpicking]

I assume they're old-school fabrials, like Soulcaster fabrials. Old-school fabrials have Radiant-level spren voluntarily choosing to become useful tools. (Compare to SPOILER FOR YUMI AND THE NIGHTMARE PAINTER:

Spoiler

The spirits of Komashi, which are summoned specifically to spend time as useful devices for the villagers.)

 

Edited October 25, 2025 by Nitpicking

[-ACE- he/him]

Oh my gosh. I never realized that those were basically spren. Thats wild