Commands & Intent?

[Runyan Firetree]

Spoilers for Warbreaker and Stormlight

Maybe I just need more caffeine this morning, but I'm having trouble making sense of a recent reply from Brandon on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/51u8qu/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_4/d9i30dm/?context=3
 

Quote

 

reddit 1: Also what would happen if I had a LOT of breath and tried to awaken something that was still alive...?

WoB: RAFO...You could say that investing someone with your Breath, however, IS Awakening them.

reddit 2: Are Commands unique to Endowment and those with Breath, or do other shards have an equivalent or similar power / ability? The girl Vasher rescues, his statements to Denth, and your quote above seem to point that Commands can be used on living entities for some purposes... I've always wondered if there was more to Dalinar referring to "unite them" as a 'phantom command'. If other shards use commands or something similar it could also explain the mechanism of the Nightwatcher's boon/curse related to Dalinar's memory loss.

WoB: Intent is one of the components of the Magic, as you'll see frequently. These things are related.

 

Am I correct that Brandon confirmed that other shards have an equivalent or related ability to commands?  If so, do you think there is more than just the surface meaning of Dalinar labeling "unite them" as a "phantom command"?

[DeTess she/her]

We already know that several magic systems require specific intents or commands to be used, Hemalurgy only works when on intents to make a spike (you can't create a hemalurgical spike accidentally). Other systems, like Forgery and Aondor require specific shapes that inform what the magic should accomplish, which is a form of command.

 

[Elenion he/him]

13 hours ago, randuir said:

Hemalurgy only works when on intents to make a spike (you can't create a hemalurgical spike accidentally)

Actual question here: so was Vin's earring really a hemalurgic spike, seeing as she didn't mean it to be one?

[Eki]

46 minutes ago, Elenion said:

Actual question here: so was Vin's earring really a hemalurgic spike, seeing as she didn't mean it to be one?

 

Spoiler

Yes. She wasn't the one who made the spike - her mother was. And even then, it was probably Ruin who provided the Intent. Vin received the spike, but that's irrelevant.

 

[Yata he/him]

2 hours ago, Elenion said:

Actual question here: so was Vin's earring really a hemalurgic spike, seeing as she didn't mean it to be one?

The Intent have to be provided to make the Spike, then it's a Invested object who will function without any Intent and you have to remember that Ruin can provide the Intent to make a Spike if He wants.

For example when Spook was Spiked the swordman didn't know anything about Hemalurgy....But Ruin managed to fix the path of the sword to hit the right bindpoint and provided the Intent to make a Spike.