Awesome Idea

[Glaring at the Survivor]

Nightblood is a Dawnshard.

Or a lower form of one.

As said in the topic description, this is likely untrue.

[Windrunner]

By Dawnshard do you mean the swords carried by the Heralds? Because, I'll eat my hat if those aren't called Honorblades. TWoK doesn't make it explicitly clear, but it does say that no one knows what a Dawnshard is, while Honorblades are quite obviously swords. The only possibility I see is that the Honorblades are the swords of the Heralds. I don't think Nightblood is like a lesser Honorblade though. They're both swords that have spiritual energy, but I think of the two Nightblood has more energy, simply because he can think, while there's no indication that an Honorblade has sentience. It's great that you've spotted a connection between the two though, the cosmere is full of them.

[Cones For Eyes]

This would be cool but I think that the evidence points against unfortunately. It's explained in Warbreaker that Vasher and his wife (can't rememebr name right now) created nightblood by infusing steel with a ton of breaths and that when she wanted to releases the knowledge of how to create sentient swords...well, let's say she met with an untimely end.

Unless Vasher some how travelled to Roshar and became a herald, I don't see how Nightblood could be a Honor/Dawn/Whatever-shard. What's the cronology of TWoK and Warbreaker anyway? Also, Nightblood is the only sword of it's type in existence (as far as we are aware) and there is more than one herald with more than one honorshard.

Interesting to think how a sword like Nightblood would be used on Roshar though.

[Cracknut]

Dawnshards are swords too? If so I doubt Heralds would use Nightbloods.

1. They would need Breaths to activate it. Maybe they could use Stormlight though.

2. Dawnshards were before Warbreaker. Vasher's connection is unlikely.

3. Burning 'souls' to destroy 'everything' in their path isn't Herald way imo.

Most likely those would be used by Voidbringers. But binding is Honor...

"Taking the Dawnshard, known to bind any creature voidish or mortal, he crawled up the steps crafted for Heralds, ten strides tall apiece, toward the grand temple above."

I doubt how swords like Nightblood could bind anything.

[Pechvarry]

Doesn't need to be a literal copy of an honorblade. See my thread on my idea of nightblood being a man-made, inferior shard. Perhaps nightblood is to endowment (in a twisted way due awakening's ability to program new intents) as honorblades are to honor. Being made different, and powered different, doesn't need to matter.

[Millennium]

Doesn't need to be a literal copy of an honorblade. See my thread on my idea of nightblood being a man-made, inferior shard. Perhaps nightblood is to endowment (in a twisted way due awakening's ability to program new intents) as honorblades are to honor. Being made different, and powered different, doesn't need to matter.

This is an interesting idea: that Nightblood is not necessarily an Honorblade as we know it, but shows us what an "Honorblade" might be like if invested with the power of Endowment instead of the power of Honor (or Odium, as some theorize). If so, though, then clearly each Shard must produce something very different from the others; for example, we have no indication that Honorblades think, but Nightblood clearly does.

If we extend this a little further, might Hemalurgic spikes be considered a sort of "Ruinblade" (though the nature of their magic means that they're not particularly useful as weapons)? What might a "Preservationblade" be like, and could it be related to Lerasium's "other effect"? With Aona and Skai gone, it would seem that we don't have anything on which to base a Devotionblade or Dominionblade, or could the Splinters of these Shards be used to similar effect?

[Glaring at the Survivor]

By Dawnshard do you mean the swords carried by the Heralds? Because, I'll eat my hat if those aren't called Honorblades. TWoK doesn't make it explicitly clear, but it does say that no one knows what a Dawnshard is, while Honorblades are quite obviously swords. The only possibility I see is that the Honorblades are the swords of the Heralds. I don't think Nightblood is like a lesser Honorblade though. They're both swords that have spiritual energy, but I think of the two Nightblood has more energy, simply because he can think, while there's no indication that an Honorblade has sentience. It's great that you've spotted a connection between the two though, the cosmere is full of them.

No I mean Dawnshards, not Honorblades.

[Windrunner]

Well regardless, we don't know what Dawnshards are. At least one "binds" things, which doesn't sound much like Nightblood to me, considering how destructive he is.

[Glaring at the Survivor]

Hmm. Good point.

[Asperity]

I expect we'll find out soon as the recent Q&A all but put out a neon sign that said Nightblood will be fighting Shardblades which one can assume that elements of Nalthis and Roshar will eventually converge. Which is very cool. However, I wonder if that will be during Warbreaker 2 or a later Stormlight novel (maybe the second book's epilogue will be related).

[Aethling]

Highly improbable simply because Vasher remembers being around when Nightblood was created.