Where Does Syl Go?

[aczh1]

In both WoR and WoK, Syl disappears randomly for a short amount of time. Where is she going, and why does she never tell Kaladin where she's going (admittedly, Kaladin never asks her).

 

Pattern's behavior in contrast makes Syl's disappearances even weirder. Pattern always sticks next to Shallan, and only leaves her when Shallan explicitly tells him to scout. 

 

On top of this, Pattern is a liespren and Syl is an honorspren. I'm not implying that Syl is doing something nefarious out of Kaladin's view, but I would expect her to be more transparent than Pattern, and I'd expect pattern to be more slippery/devious.

 

Any thoughts? I haven't been able to think of anything Syl might be doing. Is there any pattern in her disappearances (right before highstorms, right after highstorms, etc). What could she possibly dbe doing when she's away?

 

(these were the only two bits of text i could find. should be more though.)

 

The stink of blood and viscera hung in the humid air.
Kaladin held his torch aloft as his companions fell silent. The
dank chill kept the bodies from rotting too quickly, though the
dampness counteracted some of that. The cremlings had begun
chewing the skin off hands and gnawing out the eyes. Soon
the stomachs would bloat with gas. Some rotspren—tiny, red,
translucent—scrambled across the corpses.
Syl floated down and landed on his shoulder, making
disgusted noises. As usual, she offered no explanation for her
absence.

 

A few hours later, Kaladin sat on a chunk of wood beside
Bridge Four’s nightly fire. Syl sat on his knee, having taken the
form of a small, translucent blue and white flame. She’d come
to him during the march back, spinning around gleefully to see
him up and walking, but had given no explanation for her
absence.

Edited March 20, 2015 by aczh1

[hoser he/him]

At one point Syl talks about having watched Dalinar.  So apparently she does some independent investigations. 

 

The chill spring weather might finally have slipped back into summer. It was still cool at night, but not uncomfortably so. Kaladin stood on Dalinar Kholin’s staging ground, looking eastward over the Shattered Plains. Ever since the failed betrayal and subsequent rescue earlier , Kaladin had found himself nervous. Freedom. Bought with a Shardblade. It seemed impossible. His every life experience taught him to expect a trap. He clasped his hands behind him; Syl sat on his shoulder. “Dare I trust him?” he asked softly. “He’s a good man,” Syl said. “I’ve watched him. Despite that thing he carried.”

Sanderson, Brandon (2010-08-31). The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) (p. 981). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

 

And to be fair to Pattern, while he is obsessed with lies, he seems too literal to actually make them up (so far). 

[aczh1]

Well, we don't know if she watched him on her own time or merely observed his actions with Kaladin (although the quote does suggest the former).

[natc]

Well, Pattern does seem to have been slightly busted, and being dragged back into the physical realm so irregularly might not have helped. I also recall it being said that some spren just suck at being invisible, so Pattern probably can't hoover too far off and scare someone. Disembodied fractals are freaky. Besides, Cryptics don't seem to be attracted simply to lies. Truth hidden within the lies is the domain of the Order of Lightweavers.

Syl honestly just acts like a windspren at times, always just floating off to watch people without warning. Not saying she isn't actually up to something beyond lashing people's shoelaces together when pissed but it fits the Windrunner thing.

[dvoraen]

I always wondered why we don't call Cryptics 'facadespren', since they seem attracted to falsity in presentation; specifically, they are attracted to people who present a mask to the world and deny the truth even to themselves.  They like lies, sure, but they seem to focus more on the illusory nature of the truth, which leans more towards the definition of facade, the way I see it.

[natc]

I always wondered why we don't call Cryptics 'facadespren', since they seem attracted to falsity in presentation; specifically, they are attracted to people who present a mask to the world and deny the truth even to themselves. They like lies, sure, but they seem to focus more on the illusory nature of the truth, which leans more towards the definition of facade, the way I see it.

Word doesn't exist in their language maybe?

This Damnation language is known to not make much sense to outsiders.

Edited March 20, 2015 by natc

[kari-no-sugata]

And to be fair to Pattern, while he is obsessed with lies, he seems too literal to actually make them up (so far). 

 

He tries once in chapter 17, but is bad at it - Shallan immediately spots it.

 

Going by Pattern, Cryptics are too static and they want to be more dynamic. He seems to be attracted to creative use of lies that lead to positive change or are interesting and useful (in the broad sense). At least for Shallan he doesn't want self-destructive or self-deceptive lies. I suspect he doesn't want plain lies.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

A significant thing to note, I think, is that Syl is absent both times Kaladin meets Hoid.

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

Well obviously she is getting freaky with another Surgebinder on the side.

[Aleksiel]

At one point in WoK Adolin noticed a windspren around his father in battle, so I think she must have spend some of her time away from Kaladin with Dalinar. Why she doesn't say anything I can't even guess. After Lamaril's soldiers beat Kaladin, she went to trip them, which is admittedly neither honorable, nor serving as any protection. 

 

Pattern has come to learn, so it makes sense he'll want to remain close to Shallan. He requires a lot of explaining.  Even form the start (ok, the re-start) Pattern wasn't inclined to leave Shallan and explore on his own whereas Syl had acted like a typical windspren. Pattern and Syl's behaviors are different as are their spren types and personalities.

 

edit: spelling

Edited March 20, 2015 by Aleksiel

[Xaladin he/him]

A significant thing to note, I think, is that Syl is absent both times Kaladin meets Hoid.

Probably because Brandon doesn't want to inevitable reveal anything (yet) he would have to reveal, should Syl and Hoid show up in the same scene.

[Mckeedee123 he/him]

Probably because Brandon doesn't want to inevitable reveal anything (yet) he would have to reveal, should Syl and Hoid show up in the same scene.

 

Exactly.

[WitSpren he/him]

Pattern does take off from time to time.    When Shalan is going on the Ghostblood mission the check out the Mad Man.    While she is drawing, he explores & comes back.   He had already found the Mad Man and a woman writing "rust" on the wall.   

 

Also:

He went off to watch Sebarial take a bath.    

He went off and listened to her newly acquired soldiers (all night or a significant portion) after she killed Tyn.

 

I had another but forgot it.

 

Judging from those, he probably "wanders" quite a bit.

 

 

I think that the "bond" allows them all to do this but the link draws them back when they feel the "need" from the human.    (With the exception of when Kal was "breaking" the link with his bad decisions.)

[dvoraen]

I think it's twofold, where they (Syl and Pattern) go:

 

1) They're probably still attracted to concepts related to what kind of spren they are in the first place.  Syl probably gets "pings" from Dalinar regularly, I'm willing to wager, which makes her flit off to where he is if he's nearby.

 

2) In Pattern's case, his motivations are explicitly clear, I thought: learning about humans since the older, 'dead' Cryptics had apparently not passed on their knowledge and experiences that they acquired due to the Nahel bond.  For Syl, she could be rather whimsical by virtue of being cousin to windspren, which are... flighty I want to say?  She has said she plays with them at times, if I recall.

[hoser he/him]

Syl and Hoid are together in tWoK. 

Probably because Brandon doesn't want to inevitable reveal anything (yet) he would have to reveal, should Syl and Hoid show up in the same scene.

 

“I don’t like him,” Syl’s voice said suddenly, coming from behind. “He’s strange.” Kaladin spun to find her on the boulder, sitting where Hoid had been a moment ago. “Syl!” Kaladin said. “How long have you been here?” She shrugged . “You were watching the story. I didn’t want to interrupt .”

Sanderson, Brandon (2010-08-31). The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) (pp. 807-808). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition.

 

In WoR, Syl is present in the zoo threesome dating scene.  Hoid drives the carriage on the way to the zoo.

[Elsecaller3414 she/her]

Also, when Syl disappears at the point that Kaladin falls into the chasm, I wonder where she goes then.  Does she go back to Shadesmar?

[emilylime she/her]

Also, when Syl disappears at the point that Kaladin falls into the chasm, I wonder where she goes then.  Does she go back to Shadesmar?

 

I think she becomes like a normal windspren again, as a result of Kaladin not following the Ideals of the Windrunners.

[aczh1]

It's stated in the book that Syl is an Honorspren, NOT a windspren. They're similar but not the same.

 

And when kaladin falls into the chasm, doesn't Syl just die?

[natc]

It's stated in the book that Syl is an Honorspren, NOT a windspren. They're similar but not the same.

And when kaladin falls into the chasm, doesn't Syl just die?

Yes.

The question being asked is where do dead spren end up if they aren't locked into blade form.

[navybrandt he/him]

Syl and Hoid are together in tWoK. 

 

 

In WoR, Syl is present in the zoo threesome dating scene.  Hoid drives the carriage on the way to the zoo.

Has a spren ever interacted with Hoid directly/made their presence known to Hoid? Hoid seems to have obtained a piece of magic ability from the worlds he visits (speculation), so does he ever have a use for stormlight?

[navybrandt he/him]

Yes.

The question being asked is where do dead spren end up if they aren't locked into blade form.

My guess would be Shadesmar. Given the screams that dead shardblade spren make, perhaps even the "place of tourment," but that is only a wild guess too. Death for a spren is not as permanent as a physical death to you or me. When Kaladin asked Syl about it, she simply replied, "I was only as dead as your oaths, Kaladin." (Words of Radiance, Chapter 86, page 1030). I believe dead shardblade spren will also come back to life as Kinghts Radiants renew their oaths. It's a mystery that will remain until Brandon Sanderson explains it.

[Bort he/him]

Throughout both books, but more so early on, Syl is a very curious creature. I think she just sort of wanders off to see what else is happening in the warcamps.

[Elsecaller3414 she/her]

Wouldn't new spren come over from Shadesmar or something as the Radiants renew their oaths?  Pattern was not a Blade before, I am pretty sure.  The spren risked their lives coming over, true, but I don't know if that applies to the "dead" spren.  Although, that theory would greatly explain why Adolin cannot will his Shardblade to stay when it is not in his hands, even when other Shardbearers can.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Elsecaller3414