Did Heralds swear the Ideals?

[Morsk he/him]

I already think Vedeledev is in Taravangian's death room, because her icon is on the chapter. And if she's anything like Darkness and Shalash, she'd be drawn to her thing, like justice or art, but "doing it wrong". Being in a death room in a hospital fits.

Then I remembered Lift's Second Ideal: I will remember those who have been forgotten. And this,

 

"Sometimes we need more bodies than the terminally sick can provide. And so we must bring the forgotten and the lowly. Those who will not be missed.”

She could be in the room because she's bound by the same oath Edgedancers are, and even more important than healing to her is to remember these forgotten people. Even as she helps kill them.

If this is how it works, then Nohadon didn't create the Ideals, but discovered a way for Surgebinders to access them. Spren had figured out how to bond with humans, but it might have been a human who found out how to add the Ideals to make it stronger.

It should be easy to confirm or deny, once we see more Radiants and Heralds. In Shallan's arc especially, if her Second Ideal doesn't help explain why Shalash destroys art but feels a Shardblade would make it too easy, then the theory's probably wrong. Also Jezrien would have the Windrunner oaths, and would have to protect those who cannot protect themselves. The Shin, maybe?

Edited November 17, 2013 by Morsk

[Argent he/him]

I think Vev kind of fits, and I'd be curious to see how the others obey (or don't) the Ideals, but I am not entirely sold on this. It's interesting, but I'll be conservative about it.

[marianmi]

While I agree Vev is in Kharbranth, possibly in the hospital, I do not think the Heralds swear the oaths, or are bound by them.

They existed before the KR and before the ideals. I think that that's how they were, i.e. exhibit those attributes (e.g. protecting/leading).

[Shardlet he/him]

While I also am disinclined to think that the Heralds are bound by/committed to the ideals of the order they are most closely identified with, I do think that, though the ideals came later and they are in some way associated with Nohadon, that they had to have been established as power-ups by someone with access to more power (without some substantial evidence) than either the Heralds or Nohadon.  As lovely and happy as the ideals themselves are, by their coming to the minds of KR and potential KR spontaneously and verbatim and being linked to the power-up in surgebinding capability, they at least seemingly must be sourced in either Honor or Cultivation (I'm leaning towards Cultivation).  I just don't see how anyone else other than a Shard or someone holding the power of a shard could have established the system otherwise. 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

Mason Wheeler

 

 

You've said that Splintering a shard is essentially the same thing as the shattering of Adonalsium, repeated on a smaller scale.

Brandon Sanderson

 

Yeah.

 

 

 

 

By this we can assume that 10 intents related to honor are floating around somewhere. If these are attached to honorblades, then it could be possible that each of the heralds was bound to an ideal. Speaking of honorblades, this does provide an explanation of why Szeth is so stubbornly following his charges to kill people; the honorblade is influencing his thoughts.

[marianmi]

Speaking of honorblades, this does provide an explanation of why Szeth is so stubbornly following his charges to kill people; the honorblade is influencing his thoughts.

 

His blade's ideals would be close to "Protecting/Leading" ... how would these intents influence him to stubbornly follow charges to kill people?

[Morsk he/him]

Szeth has the Attributes backwards if anything. He's a killer and a slave, not a protector and a leader. I have another theory that this is from an Honorblade, and that Szeth took Jezrien's place as a Herald, but like all the Heralds he's really screwed up and doing it wrong.

I see it as separate from this theory though. It's hard to get them to work together. Szeth obviously hasn't sworn these Ideals, because he's bad at holding Stormlight, and there's no way he's bound to protect those who can't protect themselves.