Could Nightblood destroy a planet?

[Immortal Platypus]

So I was reading WOBs to answer some of my questions, and I ran across one (posted below) that says that Nightblood eventually turns to converting matter to Investiture if he doesn't have an easier way to get it. Extrapolating that, if he wasn't sheathed for long enough and consumed his wielder, if he wasn't sheathed for long enough, would he start eating the planet? If he consumed the planet, what would he consume next? If he ran out of things to consume, what would happen?

Personally, I think he could destroy the planet until all that was left was his sheath (which he apparently can't consume for some reason?). Then, I have no idea what follows that.

Spoiler

Jasonioan

If one were to have an unlocked metalmind, nicrosil, and held it while wielding Nightblood what would happen? Would he be taking Investiture from the--

Brandon Sanderson

That is a RAFO... you will start to find answers to these sorts of things as more people are involved with Nightblood.

Jasonioan

...So, if it was like a coppermind would the information be destroyed?

Brandon Sanderson

That is an excellent question, what I've said before is that Nightblood will feed on whatever Investiture he can gain access to. He will start with the easiest Investiture to reach. He will eventually turn to converting matter into Investiture and eating that.

White Sand vol.1 Orem signing (June 29, 2016)

 

[NameIess]

no, he could not. At least, not quickly. There’s a lot of matter in a planet, and Nightblood would take a really long time to eat it all.

Relevant WoB’s:

Spoiler

Phantine

What does Nightblood do if he gets fully drawn and runs out of breath and people to eat?

Does he start vaporizing the ground and start boring a hole to the center of the planet?

Brandon Sanderson

No, he won't. (Good question though.) I'm not sure I want to get into the mechanics of why not, yet. It WAS one of the first things we talked about with Nightblood, though.

Phantine

Not to go into mechanics, then, does Nightblood just 'go to sleep' when his job's done?

That would explain how Vasher is confident he'll be able to get Nightblood back, even if the person he tosses Nightblood to ends up fully drawing the blade.

Brandon Sanderson

He doesn't sleep, but if he draws in enough, he'll start to sound drunk or drowsy (depending on your interpretation.)

Stormlight Three Update #6 (Feb. 7, 2017)
 

Questioner

Nightblood has more Investiture than any other being, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Not every other being, but definitely one of the most highly Invested individuals that we have seen.

Questioner

So Nightblood, he was used to wound Odium. Is Odium now weaker than he was before?

Brandon Sanderson

Not in a relevant way. Technically, yes. Not in a relevant way. The amount taken, compared to how much there is, is pretty small. And a whole bunch of what happened there was focused on the Vessel, not on Odium itself.

Questioner

Could Nightblood consume Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood would get full before consuming even the smallest fraction amount of Odium. As you saw, Nightblood kind of got full in that instance. Actually, it was with the perpendicularity, it would be similar to that. So for those who are wondering, no, you can't stab Nightblood into the planet and absorb the planet. Nightblood is really dangerous, as we've seen, but we're not talking "absorb planets" dangerous.

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 (Nov. 22, 2021)

 

[Trusk'our he/him]

16 minutes ago, Immortal Platypus said:

So I was reading WOBs to answer some of my questions, and I ran across one (posted below) that says that Nightblood eventually turns to converting matter to Investiture if he doesn't have an easier way to get it. Extrapolating that, if he wasn't sheathed for long enough and consumed his wielder, if he wasn't sheathed for long enough, would he start eating the planet? If he consumed the planet, what would he consume next? If he ran out of things to consume, what would happen?

Personally, I think he could destroy the planet until all that was left was his sheath (which he apparently can't consume for some reason?). Then, I have no idea what follows that.

  Hide contents

Jasonioan

If one were to have an unlocked metalmind, nicrosil, and held it while wielding Nightblood what would happen? Would he be taking Investiture from the--

Brandon Sanderson

That is a RAFO... you will start to find answers to these sorts of things as more people are involved with Nightblood.

Jasonioan

...So, if it was like a coppermind would the information be destroyed?

Brandon Sanderson

That is an excellent question, what I've said before is that Nightblood will feed on whatever Investiture he can gain access to. He will start with the easiest Investiture to reach. He will eventually turn to converting matter into Investiture and eating that.

White Sand vol.1 Orem signing (June 29, 2016)

 

@NameIess already gave the answer, but to add on remember in Warbreaker when Vasher had to chuck Nightblood to the ground in order to avoid being consumed? Nightblood gouged the floor a little, but stopped soon after. It needs an active input of Investiture to continue destroying, and I doubt matter alone works well enough for that for it to be self-sustaining.

Fortunately, I can actually quote this since it's free online: 

Spoiler

He cried out, arm shaking.  Destroy. . .evil. . . Nightblood said in his mind, all lightness gone from the tone, all familiarity.  It boomed like a command.  An awful, inhuman thing.  The longer Vasher held the sword, the faster it drained his Breath.

            Gasping, he threw the sword aside and fell to his knees.  It skidded, tearing a rip in the ground that puffed away into smoke, but hit a wall with a pling and fell still.  Smoke rose from the blade.

            Vasher knelt, arm twitching.  The black veins on his skin slowly evaporated.  He was left with just barely enough Breath to reach the First Heightening.  Another few seconds, and Nightblood would have sucked the rest away.  He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. 

 

Warbreaker, chapter fifty-six

 

[Immortal Platypus]

3 hours ago, NameIess said:

no, he could not. At least, not quickly. There’s a lot of matter in a planet, and Nightblood would take a really long time to eat it all.

Relevant WoB’s:

  Reveal hidden contents

Phantine

What does Nightblood do if he gets fully drawn and runs out of breath and people to eat?

Does he start vaporizing the ground and start boring a hole to the center of the planet?

Brandon Sanderson

No, he won't. (Good question though.) I'm not sure I want to get into the mechanics of why not, yet. It WAS one of the first things we talked about with Nightblood, though.

Phantine

Not to go into mechanics, then, does Nightblood just 'go to sleep' when his job's done?

That would explain how Vasher is confident he'll be able to get Nightblood back, even if the person he tosses Nightblood to ends up fully drawing the blade.

Brandon Sanderson

He doesn't sleep, but if he draws in enough, he'll start to sound drunk or drowsy (depending on your interpretation.)

Stormlight Three Update #6 (Feb. 7, 2017)
 

Questioner

Nightblood has more Investiture than any other being, right?

Brandon Sanderson

Not every other being, but definitely one of the most highly Invested individuals that we have seen.

Questioner

So Nightblood, he was used to wound Odium. Is Odium now weaker than he was before?

Brandon Sanderson

Not in a relevant way. Technically, yes. Not in a relevant way. The amount taken, compared to how much there is, is pretty small. And a whole bunch of what happened there was focused on the Vessel, not on Odium itself.

Questioner

Could Nightblood consume Odium?

Brandon Sanderson

Nightblood would get full before consuming even the smallest fraction amount of Odium. As you saw, Nightblood kind of got full in that instance. Actually, it was with the perpendicularity, it would be similar to that. So for those who are wondering, no, you can't stab Nightblood into the planet and absorb the planet. Nightblood is really dangerous, as we've seen, but we're not talking "absorb planets" dangerous.

Dragonsteel Mini-Con 2021 (Nov. 22, 2021)

 

cool. I had a follow-up question, but Trusk answered it with a quote, so we're fine

3 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

@NameIess already gave the answer, but to add on remember in Warbreaker when Vasher had to chuck Nightblood to the ground in order to avoid being consumed? Nightblood gouged the floor a little, but stopped soon after. It needs an active input of Investiture to continue destroying, and I doubt matter alone works well enough for that for it to be self-sustaining.

Fortunately, I can actually quote this since it's free online: 

  Hide contents

He cried out, arm shaking.  Destroy. . .evil. . . Nightblood said in his mind, all lightness gone from the tone, all familiarity.  It boomed like a command.  An awful, inhuman thing.  The longer Vasher held the sword, the faster it drained his Breath.

            Gasping, he threw the sword aside and fell to his knees.  It skidded, tearing a rip in the ground that puffed away into smoke, but hit a wall with a pling and fell still.  Smoke rose from the blade.

            Vasher knelt, arm twitching.  The black veins on his skin slowly evaporated.  He was left with just barely enough Breath to reach the First Heightening.  Another few seconds, and Nightblood would have sucked the rest away.  He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. 

 

Warbreaker, chapter fifty-six

 

sweet, I had a follow-up, but the quote answered it, so we good

[Trusk'our he/him]

1 minute ago, Immortal Platypus said:

cool. I had a follow-up question, but Trusk answered it with a quote, so we're fine

sweet, I had a follow-up, but the quote answered it, so we good

Nice. Glad I could be of assistance.

[Through The Living Grub He/Him]

On 1/21/2026 at 10:07 AM, Trusk'our said:

@NameIess already gave the answer, but to add on remember in Warbreaker when Vasher had to chuck Nightblood to the ground in order to avoid being consumed? Nightblood gouged the floor a little, but stopped soon after. It needs an active input of Investiture to continue destroying, and I doubt matter alone works well enough for that for it to be self-sustaining.

Fortunately, I can actually quote this since it's free online: 

  Hide contents

He cried out, arm shaking.  Destroy. . .evil. . . Nightblood said in his mind, all lightness gone from the tone, all familiarity.  It boomed like a command.  An awful, inhuman thing.  The longer Vasher held the sword, the faster it drained his Breath.

            Gasping, he threw the sword aside and fell to his knees.  It skidded, tearing a rip in the ground that puffed away into smoke, but hit a wall with a pling and fell still.  Smoke rose from the blade.

            Vasher knelt, arm twitching.  The black veins on his skin slowly evaporated.  He was left with just barely enough Breath to reach the First Heightening.  Another few seconds, and Nightblood would have sucked the rest away.  He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. 

 

Warbreaker, chapter fifty-six

 

Vasher was able to just toss Nightblood away? Why was Szeth not able to in the climax of OB?

[Trusk'our he/him]

2 minutes ago, Xiahida said:

Vasher was able to just toss Nightblood away? Why was Szeth not able to in the climax of OB?

Vasher still had some Investiture by the end, enough to reach the First Heightening. 

Szeth ran completely out of Stormlight and Nightblood began to consume him directly. He had no issue sheathing Nightblood after receiving another hit from Dalinar's Perpendicularity, or normally when he still had Investiture from Spheres.

[NameIess]

1 hour ago, Xiahida said:

Vasher was able to just toss Nightblood away? Why was Szeth not able to in the climax of OB?

I think it’s possible that Nightblood has grown stronger, able to maintain a connection even without contact where he wasn’t to before.