Why do people think Shallan has a shardblade?

[ddleg]

hey guys i am new here and have been reading quite a few therioes on the forum.  i really wanted to know why in several posts people have stated Shallan has a shardblade.   I never picked up on this from the book.  

 

i also have a few other questions.

 

why do people name the almighty "Honor"? i thought honor and cultivation were seperate powers from the almighty.

 

Dalinar made his plate glow for a moment when he jumped under the falling claw of the chasm fiend at the hunt.  why do people think that the glow has been removed from the shards?  i was under the impression when i picked up on that, that it must be intention of some sort.   (The intention to protect or serve the codes)  - however, i dont know why syl was happy when he put it aside. (just pointing out that plate has glowed since the radiants gave them up.  even if it was only for a moment.)

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Bloodfalcon he/him]

On the Shallan topic, I was similarly confused, but there is a line where she is counting her heartbeats like someone summoning a Shardblade would, and I think Brandon confirmed it somewhere but I could use some backup.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Shallan's viewpoint makes reference to the "ten heartbeats" required to summon a shardblade one, maybe two, times in WoK.  It is not very noticeable, most people miss it on there first readthrough.

 

Are you familiar with the whole cosmere/Shard thing?  The "Almighty" is the name the Vorin religion uses for the Shard Honor.  The Shard Cultivation also dwells on Roshar while the Shard Odium, the big bad, is on a neighboring planet.  The sixteen Shards were once part of something known as Adolnalsium.  If you want to learn  more about this I really recommend the coppermind wiki.

 

As for your other questions, we don't really know.

[king of nowhere]

Shallan has a shardblade, it is confirmed by a couple of references. I don't have the book with me right now, so I don't remember exact quotes, but in one she said that her greatest sin was "ten hearbeats aside", while in the other she started to summon it.

 

As for the almighty, we all got the impression that the shard of honor, held by tanavast and now splintered, is what people used to worship as honor. However, I'm not sure we can exclude they also didn't put cultivation into it. I doubt they would know the difference.

[cem he/him]

As always, thinking of her father made her feel ill, and the pain started to constrict her chest. She raised her freehand to her head, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight of House Davar’s situation, her part in it, and the secret she now carried, hidden ten heartbeats away.

That's from tWoK Chapter 7. Pretty suggestive, isn't it?

 

2nd question: Nope, Honor is Almighty. Religion in Roshar is pretty accurate compared to other Cosmere worlds, possibly because of the Heralds.

 

3rd: Could be many reasons. Plates leak Stormlight when they are cracked. They also used to glow when used by Knights Radiant. Or for all we know it was a trick of sunlight. I don't read much into that scene at this point.

[Shardlet he/him]

 -however, i dont know why syl was happy when he put it aside. (just pointing out that plate has glowed since the radiants gave them up.  even if it was only for a moment.)

 

To add to what cem offered, many believe that Dalinar is on the verge of breaking through to old powers and fully 'activating' his plate.  Also, Syl is happy that Dalinar has given up his blade.  She has offered no indication about how she feels about the plate.  Also, we have not yet seen Dalinar give his plate to Renarin yet.  So, we will see next year if if does that in actuality.  He has reconsidered set decisions before (i.e., abdication, Navani).

[Morsk he/him]

why do people name the almighty "Honor"? i thought honor and cultivation were seperate powers from the almighty.

He refers to himself as both the Almighty and God before he dies, in the last vision. The title is misleading and ironic for a god that's dead, but wherever it came from, it's what Vorinism calls him.

We know the Shard is called Honor because people guessed from the "Child of Honor" line, and someone asked Brandon and he confirmed it. Also Chapter 2 is called Honor is Dead, but I think Peter had to point that out to us afterwards, and no one noticed at first.

[Meg]

Hey ddleg,

 

might I guess that you've read The Way of Kings only one time yet?

 

hey guys i am new here and have been reading quite a few therioes on the forum.  i really wanted to know why in several posts people have stated Shallan has a shardblade.   I never picked up on this from the book.  

 

There are some clues in the book: 

 

She carried a concealed weapon that she hadn’t used.

TWoK Chapter 39

 

In Chapter 45, when Shallan fled to her rooms, she was terrified enough to think about weapons. There is a huge clue to be found.

 

And there's confirmation by Brandon Sanderson:

 

QUESTION

And does she have a Shardblade?
BRANDON SANDERSON

She does have a Shardblade.

 

source

 

i also have a few other questions.

 

why do people name the almighty "Honor"? i thought honor and cultivation were seperate powers from the almighty.

 

That Honor "is" the Almighty is told in TWoK, Chapter 75, the last vision Dalinar has.

 

Honor and Cultivation are different Shards on Roshar but only Honor is the Almighty.

 

 

Dalinar made his plate glow for a moment when he jumped under the falling claw of the chasm fiend at the hunt.  why do people think that the glow has been removed from the shards?  i was under the impression when i picked up on that, that it must be intention of some sort.   (The intention to protect or serve the codes)  - however, i dont know why syl was happy when he put it aside. (just pointing out that plate has glowed since the radiants gave them up.  even if it was only for a moment.)

 

Here helps Chapter 52, the Dalinar's vision at Feverstone Keep. You might see the difference between the descriptions of the Shardplates from the vision and the event you refer to.

 

 

I intentionally didn't give all quotes and instead mostly hints because I think it's more interesting for you to find out more now than only to get some quotes.

 

I also suggest to have a look at the Coppermind Wiki and the WoT Interview Search (where a lot of tidbits from interviews are to be found).

 

edit: now it took me 30 minutes to post this and there are answers now, but I'll keep the post anyways.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Meg

[ddleg]

Wow.  i didnt understand the concepts of shards until i checked out the coppermind wiki. just now.   i didnt realize all the different worlds he made were connected like this.  and thanks to everyone now i get to go back and try to re-read all the stories and pick up on connections. 

 

I never realized they were intertwined like this. 

 

i always thought hoid was just an easter egg character brandon put in the books for fun. i didnt know it was the same hoid with an actual basis for being everywhere and intricate to the stories.  (so theoretically sazat "From mystborn" could show up in stormlight being as he is pretty damnation powerful now....   makes me wonder how hoid does his traveling)

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Yes, theoretically Sazed, now Harmony, could have shown up in the Stormlight Archive.  Brandon however has said he does not plan on doing so when he was asked this question.

 

Edit: To the best of our knowledge Hoid worldhop's by manipulating the Cognitive Realm/Shadesmar.  How he does so is unknown.

Edited October 1, 2013 by WeiryWriter

[Gloom he/him]

Now that everyone has convinced you that Tanavast/Honor is the almighty, I'll leave you with this quote to muddy up the waters.

 

atheistcanuck

The Almighty's original name was Tanavast, yes/no?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and no. The concept of the "Almighty" in Roshar has a lot of meanings, many of them wrong.

[cem he/him]

Wow.  i didnt understand the concepts of shards until i checked out the coppermind wiki. just now.   i didnt realize all the different worlds he made were connected like this.  and thanks to everyone now i get to go back and try to re-read all the stories and pick up on connections. 

 

I never realized they were intertwined like this. 

 

i always thought hoid was just an easter egg character brandon put in the books for fun. i didnt know it was the same hoid with an actual basis for being everywhere and intricate to the stories.  (so theoretically sazat "From mystborn" could show up in stormlight being as he is pretty damnation powerful now....   makes me wonder how hoid does his traveling)

Worldhopping is tied to the Cognitive Realm or Shadesmar as known in Roshar. But we don't have the particulars as of yet. Though apparently we'll get a hint of how Hoid does it.

 

And yes, Harmony could travel to Roshar. But as I understand it, it's not exactly easy to leave a world once a Shard Invests some of his/her power there.

[Unknowingly he/him]

Welcome to the cosmere my friend

Hope you enjoy catching up on all the info we have gathered as a community

[Argent he/him]

atheistcanuck

The Almighty's original name was Tanavast, yes/no?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes and no. The concept of the "Almighty" in Roshar has a lot of meanings, many of them wrong.

Interesting. I will need to reread the book before I am any more certain of this, but my current gut feeling is that at least a few nations have gotten the Almighty / Honor and the Stormfather / Jezrien mixed up. After all, isn't the Almighty strictly a god of Vorinism? If we take Brandon's words "the concept of the Almighty on Roshar" to mean not Honor specifically, but "the one true god" or something like that, then any religion that believes in a single supreme god (different from Honor) will make the concept more confusing. Teft provides a clue:

 

'[The Makabaki] worship Jezrien, though they don’t accept him as a figure from the Vorin religion. They name him the only god.'

-- The Way of Kings, Chapter 55 (Source)

 

So the Makabaki have a supreme and singular god, which in some ways would make Jezrien their equivalent of the Almighty. 

 

I know it's not the best theory, but it kind of fits.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Argent

[Darkarma he/him]

Well Honor himself admits he is the one called the stormfather or Almighty I believe in the second to last chapter.

 

Though i think it likely that the Honor shard might have passed into someone else's hands before being shattered given how fragmented Roshar views him as so many different entities. Possibly the original entity of Honor died fighting Odium and left the message that Dalinar stumbels across and then passes his shard on to Jezriem? Possibly the highstorms are the message itself. From there it gets shattered and used to create the Dawnblades, Honorblades, and or Shardblades. This is just my musings on the subject.

 

On topic, the first time we are alerted to Shallan's shardblade is when she firsts thinks back to how her father died. The second time is when she prepares to try and defend herself from the Cryptics right before she soulcasts her goblet into blood.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Darkarma

[name_here]

Tanavast would have been a Shardholder, as opposed to the Shard itself. Personally, I generally refer to the Shard/Shardholder combo by the Shardholder's name when their personality seems to be distinct from the intent of the Shard, and by the Shard's name when it doesn't. As a sidenote, Way Of Kings made the nomenclature incredibly confusing by introducing Shardblades and Shardplate.

 

The question of whether Honor (held by Tanavast, original personality probably absorbed unless he was a recent replacement) is the same as the Almighty is kinda a complicated one. The historical events associated with the Almighty appear to be ones involving Honor, but that does not mean that all the attributes ascribed to the Almighty are attributes possessed by Honor. I guess you could say Honor is the Almighty in the same sense that some ancient Celtic warlord is King Arthur; he existed but has little to no relation to the stories about him.

 

The Stormfather is Jezerin, who is one of the Heralds and historically was subordinate to Honor.

Edited October 13, 2013 by name_here

[Zizoz he/him]

Well Honor himself admits he is the one called the stormfather or Almighty I believe in the second to last chapter.

 

Though i think it likely that the Honor shard might have passed into someone else's hands before being shattered given how fragmented Roshar views him as so many different entities. Possibly the original entity of Honor died fighting Odium and left the message that Dalinar stumbels across and then passes his shard on to Jezriem? Possibly the highstorms are the message itself. From there it gets shattered and used to create the Dawnblades, Honorblades, and or Shardblades. This is just my musings on the subject.

 

On topic, the first time we are alerted to Shallan's shardblade is when she firsts thinks back to how her father died. The second time is when she prepares to try and defend herself from the Cryptics right before she soulcasts her goblet into blood.

Actually there are at least two mentions in between those:

 

Chapter 8:

 

As always, thinking of her father made her feel ill, and the pain started to constrict her chest. She raised her freehand to her head, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight of House Davar's situation, her part in it, and the secret she now carried, hidden ten heartbeats away.

 

Chapter 39:

 

Of course, there was one other aspect of that night that Shallan had to think of. She carried a concealed weapon that she hadn't used. She felt foolish for not even thinking of getting it out that night. But she wasn't accustomed to--

[Shardlet he/him]

Tanavast would have been a Shardholder, as opposed to the Shard itself.

 

Actually, Brandon doesn't care for the term Shardholder to be used this way.  He prefers to refer to both the shard and the person holding it together as a shard, but allows fans license to use whatever convention they like. 

 

Quote

@T.t.: Barring the Almighty, did we seen a Shardholder (like Sazed) in this book?

I think "Shardholder" would get confusing alongside "Shardbearer." Basically, in the Cosmere's terms, when someone holds a Shard of Adonalsium, I call that person a Shard of Adonalsium. They are imbued with the power of that Shard, but they also become the Shard. Fans can use whatever terminology they wish, but this is how I term it.

 

My own convention is to use 'shard' with a lower-case 's' to designate the shard itself and to use 'Shard' with a capital 'S' to refer to the combination of the shard and the person holding it.

[name_here]

I prefer drawing an unambiguous distinction, for situations where it's important to discuss Shards changing hands. Admittedly there is exactly one known case where there is any possibilty for confusion at present, but things might get more complicated in later books.

[Argent he/him]

I've been using Shard, I think, to denote both the actual Shard of Adonalsium and the person holding it at the moment. To me they always felt the same, since the person's identity is largely overwritten (after some time). I don't think we'll see a rapid enough change of possession of a Shard that the language will get confusing.

[FeatherWriter she/her]

For those still wondering about more Shallan Shardblade evidence, there is also this quote in Chapter 7:

 

It still felt odd to her that she been the one to take charge after…After the incident…After…

Memories attacked her. Nan Balat bruised, his coat torn. A long, silvery sword in her hand, sharp enough to cut stones as if they were water.

Edited October 14, 2013 by FeatherWriter