Unbound Spren

[Trusk'our he/him]

Radiant Spren have been bound in the past, allowing the creation of the Knights Radiant instead of just wild Surgebinders.

If I'm understanding my lore it was Tanavast working with Ishar and Nohadon to found the Radiants, crafting oaths that would both maximize Surgebinding power and inhibit the most dangerous of their abilities.

However, we saw some other things, like Glys talking about how Radiants and their Spren don't have the same telepathic abilities that naturally exist via the Nahel bond. Perhaps even a Radiant's protection from Savantism comes from Tanavast's tinkering.

In any case, we've seen that both returning Deadeyes and Enlightened Spren have full use of their telepathy- perhaps they're no longer of Honor in the same way they once were, either by largely replacing that piece of themselves or simply having it ripped out when Honor was upset by the betrayal of Mishram.

 

I wonder then, could Unbound Surgebinders begin to exist again? I don't think the Unoathed are exactly what this would be like, as they appear to be somewhat their own thing (and most of them wouldn't want to form a true Nahel bond anyways).

Spoiler

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/551-youtube-spoiler-stream-7/#e17115

Questioner

Can an Unoathed revive a deadeye to the point they can have Surges available to them again?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, this is theoretically possible, but it is not the same bond. In other words, the Unoathed will not get those Surges. And most of the deadeyes are of a sort that would not want to grant them. That gives too much power over each other to the people; and it's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of morality to them. And this is a disagreement: what happens in the Radiant bond feels too close, for some of the spren, to slavery. It's not, in my opinion; and it's not, in the other spren's opinion. But it is in their opinion, and they get to make that decision.

However, if such a Spren did choose to bond someone in that way perhaps they'd have access to both of their Surges from the get go, but maybe being less efficient, more like an Honorblade. Speaking of which, perhaps they'd be able to summon their Spren as a Blade- but probably no Plate, since those are separate Spren and I'm assuming those are more tied to the Orders and oaths than just the Surgebinding Spren themselves.

Furthermore, it would be interesting since the Spren now holds even greater autonomy over the bond, no longer requiring true oaths, but is still in charge. So they could be more flexible if they wanted and probably avoid the kind of pain that would exist if their Radiant broke their oaths (though with Mishram freed, Deadeyes may not happen naturally anymore, so this may not be relevant).

Savantism might even become a thing for them, assuming that a Surgebinder's protections are actually from artificial tampering and not the status quo.

[DoctaDajman]

14 hours ago, Trusk'our said:

Radiant Spren have been bound in the past, allowing the creation of the Knights Radiant instead of just wild Surgebinders.

If I'm understanding my lore it was Tanavast working with Ishar and Nohadon to found the Radiants, crafting oaths that would both maximize Surgebinding power and inhibit the most dangerous of their abilities.

However, we saw some other things, like Glys talking about how Radiants and their Spren don't have the same telepathic abilities that naturally exist via the Nahel bond. Perhaps even a Radiant's protection from Savantism comes from Tanavast's tinkering.

In any case, we've seen that both returning Deadeyes and Enlightened Spren have full use of their telepathy- perhaps they're no longer of Honor in the same way they once were, either by largely replacing that piece of themselves or simply having it ripped out when Honor was upset by the betrayal of Mishram.

 

I wonder then, could Unbound Surgebinders begin to exist again? I don't think the Unoathed are exactly what this would be like, as they appear to be somewhat their own thing (and most of them wouldn't want to form a true Nahel bond anyways).

  Reveal hidden contents

https://wob.coppermind.net/events/551-youtube-spoiler-stream-7/#e17115

Questioner

Can an Unoathed revive a deadeye to the point they can have Surges available to them again?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, this is theoretically possible, but it is not the same bond. In other words, the Unoathed will not get those Surges. And most of the deadeyes are of a sort that would not want to grant them. That gives too much power over each other to the people; and it's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of morality to them. And this is a disagreement: what happens in the Radiant bond feels too close, for some of the spren, to slavery. It's not, in my opinion; and it's not, in the other spren's opinion. But it is in their opinion, and they get to make that decision.

However, if such a Spren did choose to bond someone in that way perhaps they'd have access to both of their Surges from the get go, but maybe being less efficient, more like an Honorblade. Speaking of which, perhaps they'd be able to summon their Spren as a Blade- but probably no Plate, since those are separate Spren and I'm assuming those are more tied to the Orders and oaths than just the Surgebinding Spren themselves.

Furthermore, it would be interesting since the Spren now holds even greater autonomy over the bond, no longer requiring true oaths, but is still in charge. So they could be more flexible if they wanted and probably avoid the kind of pain that would exist if their Radiant broke their oaths (though with Mishram freed, Deadeyes may not happen naturally anymore, so this may not be relevant).

Savantism might even become a thing for them, assuming that a Surgebinder's protections are actually from artificial tampering and not the status quo.

I like this. It would be fascinating to see. 

What would fuel the surges? 

[Trusk'our he/him]

51 minutes ago, DoctaDajman said:

I like this. It would be fascinating to see. 

What would fuel the surges? 

Hmm, probably no Stormlight from sworn oaths given their nature. . .

There's still Warlight, and it probably isn't too hard to split that and Towerlight into their base Investitures.