Dalinar manifesting the Stormfather stuff

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

Full SA spoilers. You have been warned.

In OB, Dalinar uses the Stormfather to work an Oathgate and hurts the Stormfather in the process. Why is it so bad? Is it because he already exists as the Highstorm and this was splitting his essence? Is that why no Bondsmiths have Blades, because their spren are already in the Physical Realm?

[Raelynn]

I think it was partially about respect. If the Stormfather didn’t want to be manifested and controlled by a human (as many spren are sensitive about), then it would be rude for Dalinar to force that on him.

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

4 minutes ago, Raelynn said:

I think it was partially about respect. If the Stormfather didn’t want to be manifested and controlled by a human (as many spren are sensitive about), then it would be rude for Dalinar to force that on him.

But it had a physical effect on him, and the Honorspren used it against Adolin in the trial. There seems to be a reason beyond respect.

[Frustration]

The Stormfather made him promise that Dalinar wouldn't use him as a blade. If there is more beyond that, we don't know

Edited yesterday at 02:23 AM by Frustration

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

I had the thought that a Blade divides people, war and whatnot, but there has to be a very important reason we’re just missing.

[Treamayne]

11 hours ago, Ascended Grubberfly said:

In OB, Dalinar uses the Stormfather to work an Oathgate and hurts the Stormfather in the process. Why is it so bad?

It is implied (not yet confirmed) that Dalinar over-drew on what his bond should be able to provide. He was only a Second Oath Radiant at the time - so, much like Kaladin in WoR when he injured Syl by overdrawing their weakened bond while falling into the crevasse, Dalinar caused harm to Stormfather by trying to force his essence into working the Oathgate by direct Connection (likely Spiritual Adhesion) rather than with a third-oath blade (which he would not have had anyway). 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:35 PM by Treamayne
SPAG

[alder24]

10 hours ago, Ascended Grubberfly said:

Full SA spoilers. You have been warned.

In OB, Dalinar uses the Stormfather to work an Oathgate and hurts the Stormfather in the process. Why is it so bad? Is it because he already exists as the Highstorm and this was splitting his essence? Is that why no Bondsmiths have Blades, because their spren are already in the Physical Realm?

A spren manifesting physically (like a Shardblade) is severely restricted and bound in its new form. The Stormfather is vastly more than a regular Honorspren. He's omnipresent on Roshar, he's Honor's Avatar, he controls Highstorms, provides Stormlight, he's bound to Roshar on a level that far surpasses regular spren. If he were to be manifested fully physically some things might break. Nobody really knows what would happen but it could be bad. 

Moreover, this puts a strain on his bond with Dalinar because things like this shouldn't be possible. It's against their Oaths. An act like this harms him and risks him becoming a deadeye, which would have been catastrophical.

[PanLin they/he]

On 6/22/2026 at 2:37 AM, Ascended Grubberfly said:

In OB, Dalinar uses the Stormfather to work an Oathgate and hurts the Stormfather in the process. Why is it so bad? Is it because he already exists as the Highstorm and this was splitting his essence? Is that why no Bondsmiths have Blades, because their spren are already in the Physical Realm?

The Stormfather not appearing as a blade was a specific request from him, but yes, the Sibling can't be manifested as one because they already exist in the physical realm as Urithiru.

As for the rest, a big plot point throughout the Stormlight Archive is the tension between the Stormfather's wishes to do things his way, and Dalinar's insistence on changing the Stormfather and forcing their bond to do things the Stormfather doesn't want to do. This is essentially a very clear example of that tension, and consistently approaching a Radiant bond in this way is a surefire way to eventually create a deadeye.