Calinar's (Shard?)blade (WoR Spoilers)

[Amaror]

So I recently reread both Stormlight books and don't really get one thing:

We know about the remaining Herald, the one who died and tried to keep the Oathpact, that he arrived for the True Desolation in Kholinar with his Honorblade. Afterwards he was carried to the Shattered Plains with Hoids help and arrived at the Shattered Plains to be seen by Elhokar and Dalinar with his Honorblade. 

Dalinar subsequently used him in order to "test" Amaram after he heard the accusation of Kaladin and Amaram refused to help Adolin in the Arena. He bound the blade that arrived with the Herald and hit it in a cave. He then ordered Amaram to find out about the blade that the Herald had carried, tricking him into stealing the blade which Dalinar had allready bounded.

So far, so good. Now we also know that Dalinar experiences his Visions most likely because he has a bond with the Stormfather. In the end of Words of Radiance, Dalinar speaks the first two ideals of the Bondsmiths, summons his blade, hears the screams and drops it unbonded.

But that doesn't make sense. This blade came with the Herald and should be an Honorblade. Honorblades existed before the Nahel Bond and are not dead Spren. So Danilar has no reason too hear screams upon touching it. 

What am I missing here? Did someone (Hoid maybe?) exchange the Honorblade for a "regular" Shardblade? Maybe on his way to the Shattered Plains? What do you guys think?

[Quiver he/him]

4 minutes ago, Amaror said:

So I recently reread both Stormlight books and don't really get one thing:

We know about the remaining Herald, the one who died and tried to keep the Oathpact, that he arrived for the True Desolation in Kholinar with his Honorblade. Afterwards he was carried to the Shattered Plains with Hoids help and arrived at the Shattered Plains to be seen by Elhokar and Dalinar with his Honorblade. 

Dalinar subsequently used him in order to "test" Amaram after he heard the accusation of Kaladin and Amaram refused to help Adolin in the Arena. He bound the blade that arrived with the Herald and hit it in a cave. He then ordered Amaram to find out about the blade that the Herald had carried, tricking him into stealing the blade which Dalinar had allready bounded.

So far, so good. Now we also know that Dalinar experiences his Visions most likely because he has a bond with the Stormfather. In the end of Words of Radiance, Dalinar speaks the first two ideals of the Bondsmiths, summons his blade, hears the screams and drops it unbonded.

But that doesn't make sense. This blade came with the Herald and should be an Honorblade. Honorblades existed before the Nahel Bond and are not dead Spren. So Danilar has no reason too hear screams upon touching it. 

What am I missing here? Did someone (Hoid maybe?) exchange the Honorblade for a "regular" Shardblade? Maybe on his way to the Shattered Plains? What do you guys think?

Yup!

That's exactly what happened. That blades got switched at some point. the fact that Dalinar hears screams that he really shouldn't hear is the major giveaway of that... but also, the descriptions of the blades don't match up. The one that "Taln" had when he appeared was described as like a spike; the one which Dalinar unveils for his test is like a cleaver.

So... yes. Brandon confirmed that someone switched the blades. We don't know who did it, or why (though I believe Brandon confirmed that it wasn't Hoid) but... a switch definitely happened. 

[The One Who Connects he/him]

Quote

Question

How was Dalinar able to bond Taln’s shardblade-- honorblade?

Brandon Sanderson

It’s not Taln’s honorblade.

Source

Quote

Question

It was not? So what happened to the Honorblade that the Herald had?

Brandon Sanderson

Nobody kno- Well, somebody knows, but it is not known to the main characters.

Question

Can I ask if uh, Hoid-

Brandon Sanderson

If Hoid knows?

Question

Yeah.

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid did not take it, but I’m not answering whether he knows.

Source

It's a different blade than the one Taln had in WoK. (They are even described differently iirc)

Quote

Question

Did Hoid switch out the blades?

Brandon Sanderson

Hoid did not switch out the blades, but good question.

Source   Hoid did not switch the blades out, but he may be aware that they are switched.

Nice speed Quiver. This is what I get for faulty memory and needing sources

[Argent he/him]

Sourcing your WoBs is good, @The One Who Connects

@Amaror, here's another fun tidbit to sleep over. While absolutely everything in the book pointing to the fact that the man who arrives at the gates of Kholinar at the end of The Way of Kings is the Herald Talenelat'elin (a.k.a. Taln, a.k.a. Talenel), Branon - to the best of my knowledge - has never referred to him by name. It's always something like "the man who calls himself Taln."

[Amaror]

57 minutes ago, Quiver said:

Yup!

That's exactly what happened. That blades got switched at some point. the fact that Dalinar hears screams that he really shouldn't hear is the major giveaway of that... but also, the descriptions of the blades don't match up. The one that "Taln" had when he appeared was described as like a spike; the one which Dalinar unveils for his test is like a cleaver.

So... yes. Brandon confirmed that someone switched the blades. We don't know who did it, or why (though I believe Brandon confirmed that it wasn't Hoid) but... a switch definitely happened. 

Wow thanks for the fast response. 

This reminds me of another thing I noticed during my reread, though it's a lot more nebulous and theoretical than that honorblade.

During Taravangians chapter in Jah Keved his "Bodyguard" Mrall is happy to see the destruction of Jah Kevek. Really happy. And it sound very similar to the feelings Marsh describes when he has been taken control of by Ruin. Ruin is obviously not on Roshar, so this could either indicate that he is being influenced by Odium (We allready know that Odium influences people in this way in the form of the thrill) or maybe Mrall is a worldhopper from Scadrial. Though that is more unlikely since by this time Ruin should allready be merged into Harmony since that one guy from Scadrial is on Roshar. Whatshisname the pious survivor general.

Also: What Taravangian is doing sounds a bit similar to what is described in one of Dalinars Vision. Nohadon tells "Dalinar" that one of the Radiants had just started a massive civil war before the Desolation hit. I think it's not unlikely that the Diagram has been corrupted by Odium in order to weaken humankind on Roshar before the True Desolation.

[Kingsdaughter613 she/her]

It's actually been a few centuries since Harmony ascended. Alloy takes place between the two five book arcs, or thereabouts. So we can rule out Ruin. The Survivorist general is Demoux.

Good catch though! I'll have to re-read Mrall's reaction at that part.