gjustice99 she/her Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 So I read a Q&A the other day that said there was something special about Shallan's ability to "take" a memory and then use that memory to be able to recreate the scene perfectly later on. At first I thought there was nothing special about Shallan's artistic abilities other than her having a photographic memory and natural artistic skill, but then, in my reread of TWOK, I found this: "When she collected a Memory of a person, she was snipping free a bud of their soul, and she cultivated and grew it on the page." the Way of Kings p.134 Notice that Brandon used the word cultivated. I don't think it is a coincidence that he used this word and one of the shards on Roshar is called Cultivation. I think maybe Shallan's memory taking ability and artistic skill are somehow linked to Cultivation.
Observer Posted November 25, 2014 Posted November 25, 2014 As usual, I'm far too lazy to actually post more than one link, but this has been brought up before on various threads. We already have WoB that Shallan's memory is magical, but not a surge. Try looking around on here, I'm fairly sure somebody brings it up at some point. http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/4325-shallan-memory-surge-connection/
Mckeedee123 he/him Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 (edited) Is it possible that some orders were led by Cultivation, not Honor? Does she have her own form of "binding"? Edited November 30, 2014 by mckeedee123
sanderfan she/her Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 I can't find the source right now (I don't have my book with me to check) but I'm pretty sure we know that Lift turning food into stormlight is a boon from the nightwatcher, not a Nahel bond.
Oudeis he/him Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 Kaladin's fighting skill comes from his bond. Syl confirms this in WoR.
Moogle Posted November 26, 2014 Posted November 26, 2014 (edited) At the very end of WoR, Hoid mentions that Jasnah has an uncanny sense of direction. Kaladin has a strange talent for getting mercy from his superiors. Lift can turn food into stormlight. I've always kind of wondered if developing a Nahel bond gives you talents aside from the surges. Lift's ability to eat food comes from the Nightwatcher, not her bond. Wyndle wouldn't be surprised otherwise, and Darkness clearly only expected her to be able to take Stormlight from gems. Nalan would know if the Edgedancers could all obtain Stormlight from food. Edited November 26, 2014 by Moogle
Incheoul Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 If the Nahel bond is responsible for Kal being a great fighter, maybe some of that ability goes to the squires of a radiant. I remember Kal was surprised at how good bridge 4 was with formations and the spear. He even says something like "they were better than they had any right to be" or something.
Oudeis he/him Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 That was sorta explained in text as, he'd already gotten them in shape, and they were desperate enough that everyone was 100% dedicated to the task. I just read that scene and I don't remember him thinking they were impossibly good the way Kaladin is, just extremely focused. Still, a bit of proto-squire transference of ability could have brought them from "remarkably good" to "incredibly good". If this is the case... hrm, can we look forward to Gaz the sculptor? Would he have to get Shallan's specific artistic talent, or just an artistic talent? Hrm. Lightweavers could be skilled in different arts. Is every Windrunner a combatant, like Kaladin? Is it different weapons, different styles that people can specialize in, or are they all the same? Is it possible for them to be skilled in something non-combat related? With Syl saying that no other honorspren has crossed or likely will, we'll prolly only ever get to see Kaladin as an example.
gjustice99 she/her Posted November 27, 2014 Author Posted November 27, 2014 If the Nahel bond is responsible for Kal being a great fighter, maybe some of that ability goes to the squires of a radiant. I remember Kal was surprised at how good bridge 4 was with formations and the spear. He even says something like "they were better than they had any right to be" or something. Thats because of the situation they were in. They were trying to escape from Sadeas' warcamp so they were eager and it was also much better than doing bridge duty.
Mckeedee123 he/him Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 Kaladin also seems to have a strange talent for getting leniency from his superiors, right? Hoid comments that Jasnah has a good sense of direction, too, at the end of Words of Radiance. Some other possible talents related to the bond.
Moogle Posted November 27, 2014 Posted November 27, 2014 (edited) Kaladin also seems to have a strange talent for getting leniency from his superiors, right? Hoid comments that Jasnah has a good sense of direction, too, at the end of Words of Radiance. Some other possible talents related to the bond. I wouldn't say that he has a strange talent for getting leniency, but I would say he has (super)natural charisma in spades (despite being a jerk). People want to trust him. Even Elhokar sucks up to him, trying to get advice from him on how to be a good king. It fits well with the Windrunners being leaders. Edited November 28, 2014 by Ookla the Infinite 2
Guest Posted November 28, 2014 Posted November 28, 2014 Kaladin also seems to have a strange talent for getting leniency from his superiors, right? Hoid comments that Jasnah has a good sense of direction, too, at the end of Words of Radiance. Some other possible talents related to the bond. Kaladin's talent related to the bond is most likely his fighting ability which has always been supernatural. Even as an untrained kid, he knew how to wield a spear. His leniency is mostly spurred from his upbringing where he was raised to be more then a regular darkeye. It was later reinforced by Amaram's treason and the bad treatment the bridgemen received. Or this is how I see it.
Moogle Posted November 28, 2014 Posted November 28, 2014 (edited) Kaladin's talent related to the bond is most likely his fighting ability which has always been supernatural. Even as an untrained kid, he knew how to wield a spear. I don't think there's only one talent granted per bond. Shallan's both very talented at drawing and gets super-memory. Edited November 28, 2014 by Ookla the Infinite
Guest Posted November 28, 2014 Posted November 28, 2014 I don't think there's only be one talent granted per bond. Shallan's both very talented at drawing and gets super-memory. True, but I do not see "getting leniency" as a talent... The only superior we have seen him getting extreme leniency from is Dalinar, but Dalinar's known weakness is his blind trust into those he deems worthy. Clearly, he has taken a liking to Kaladin and sees him as a person they can trust. However, he has turned a blind eye on his possible implication on the attempts towards Elhokar.
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