Could someone bond an Unmade?

[Epicdaf]

From Oathbringer, Chapter 30:

Quote

Shallan knew Re-Shephir at the same time the thing came to know her. The spren tugged and prodded at Shallan's bond with Pattern, seeking to rip it free and insert herself instead. 

Is it possible for anyone, radiant or even a bondsmith to bond an Unmade? 
The Unmade seem to share a lot of similarities with the Stormfather and the Sibling. 

What do you think? Is this a RAFO?

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

We have seen three instances of someone trying to bond with an Unmade: Aesudan (Elhokar's wife), Amaram, and Shallan. The first two tried to bond with Yelig-nar, and Re-Shephir tried to bond with Shallan.

4 minutes ago, Epicdaf said:

Is it possible for anyone, radiant or even a bondsmith to bond an Unmade? 
The Unmade seem to share a lot of similarities with the Stormfather and the Sibling. 

I think this can happen. Radiant Spren and Unmade are both Splinters of a Shard. The Unmade are made up of more Investiture than anything Honor created (There is a WaT quote for this, but I don't have access to that right now).

The Unmade seem to have abilities outside of a bond, and that seems to be their purpose. Yelig-nar is an exception to this because he needs a host to participate in a battle.

[Epicdaf]

You're right. I'd forgotten about the other two. 
Thank you for your research. 
I wonder what attributes the bond would grant. 
We've obviously seen what Yelig-nar can do to a normal person. I wonder if it would have a different effect on a radiant, singer, or bondsmith. 

 

[First of the Tide He/him]

Yes, almost certainly. the Nahel bond is a tie between investiture and a physical being. there's plenty of examples, such as Renarin and Glys, singers and their forms of power, or the chasmfiends, of non-radiant spren bonding. The effects of non-radiant bonds are poorly explained, as are the reasons behind the radiant bonds.

For example, luckspren/mandras make chasmfiends lighter. This might be because the mandras themselves are relatively light, a relatively unique trait, and so can fly. So, following that logic, musicspren make ryshadium... more translucent? more horsish? fsr it's "smarter", which doesn't seem to have anything to do with musicspren at all! like, musicspren aren't particularly smart, compared to other spren. the only argument I can see is "music sometimes is thought to improve intelligence". But if that's the case, then how does luck ever improve the ability to not be crushed by your own biology?

The reasons behind the radiant bonds make a similar amount of sense. especially bondsmiths. It could fairly easily be argued that the surges you're given mostly align with radiant orders because they inherently align with the intents of the spren. And then you get to bondsmiths. How is it at all plausible that the most honor-coded spren and the most cultiv.-coded spren share any common intent or inherent powers whatsoever, beyond that which all other radiant spren would? the only really applicable thing is "is biggerrer"(technical term), in which case, i believe, the unmade might give bondsmith-esque powers.

Alternatively, consider looking at the effects of corrupted spren and regal spren(lesser voidspren which can bond a regal) on their bonded partner.(I'm not gonna do these cuz so much of the voidspren/regal pages need updating or deconfuzationalizing(technical term))

Regal and Voidspren and Corrupted Spren

Also, I'm not entirely sure Yelig-nar uses a Nahel bond. the books and the coppermind say bond like 8 bajillion times, but it doesn't seem like a perfect correlation. I have absolutely no backing for this other than the vibes feel off. 

[alder24]

WoBs say it's theoretically possible, but it hasn't happened yet:

Spoiler

Blankets

Can the Unmade be bonded?

Brandon Sanderson

Wow, plausible... Yes, or possible, I should say.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

 

Spoiler

Questioner

Someone asked you last year if the Unmade could be bonded and you said technically yes. Have we seen any evidence of this, or will we?

Brandon Sanderson

Uhh, you-- Eh-- Not yet, no. It doesn't really happen. Technically it could but it just doesn't really happen.

Shadows of Self London UK signing (Oct. 19, 2015)

 

[First of the Tide He/him]

4 hours ago, alder24 said:

WoBs say it's theoretically possible, but it hasn't happened yet:

  Reveal hidden contents

Blankets

Can the Unmade be bonded?

Brandon Sanderson

Wow, plausible... Yes, or possible, I should say.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Questioner

Someone asked you last year if the Unmade could be bonded and you said technically yes. Have we seen any evidence of this, or will we?

Brandon Sanderson

Uhh, you-- Eh-- Not yet, no. It doesn't really happen. Technically it could but it just doesn't really happen.

Shadows of Self London UK signing (Oct. 19, 2015)

 

So I'm right! Yelignar's bond is not a Nahel bond. Iiiiiinteresting

[Nitpicking]

Here's a sideways answer: we've seen it happen. Dalinar bonded the Stormfather.

We know the Stormfather was made by stealing some aspect of The Wind, an Adonalsium Splinter that was on Roshar before the Shattering. I would argue that the Stormfather is one of the Unmade. Unmade by Honor, not Odium.

[puts on Plate to defend himself from angry nerd mob]