The Nature of Shardplate

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

So far the best use of "living" shardplate is in the chapter Starfall where we see a windrunner dismiss their helm seamlessly, and it has a glow to it unlike any "dead" shardplate.

The major theory on this is that the shardplate is each intellectual Spren's cousin spren gathered and used as armor wind spren for Honorspren, etc. 

However I think that the Radiant's themselves are the source of the shardplate. It could be another layer of skin as it were, an attempt by their bodies to make themselves less porous and give the leaking Stormlight a place to be held in. 

The reason I think it's a new magical skin is because it regrows when fed Stormlight. Wouldn't the dead wind spren inhabiting said plate be unable to regrow once the bond is broken?

It is Another effect of the symbiotic bond between the spren and their Knights. Thus giving the knights another means of protection while ensuring that their knights always have a source of Stormlight. It's something I haven't found a specific thread on yet. 

 

[Fulminato he/him]

In the end of the same chapter dalinar see the windrunner's plate don't glowing, only a single glyph (the double eye) emit a fain light.

I think the plate are somehow related to the glyph kaladin "drew" whit stormlight. The first in the corridor when sworn the third oath after absorb all the light in the lamp, the second when landing in the shattered plains after saving dalinar lashed to the sky by sezth.

 

A intetesting thing is the heralds lakcing of shardplate

[The Sovereign]

11 hours ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

The reason I think it's a new magical skin is because it regrows when fed Stormlight. Wouldn't the dead wind spren inhabiting said plate be unable to regrow once the bond is broken?

I would guess that something different is happening with Shardplate. Seeing as Shardplate doesn't cause the screaming that Shardblades cause when a Radiant touches it I'm not sure we can jump to the conclusion that Plate is also from dead Spren. In addition, we don't see nearly the animosity from Syl, the Stormfather, etc. regarding Shardplate as they have toward Dead Spren blades.

Something else to consider; Sprenblades were the result of the Spren trying to copy the Honorblades, we don't have any indication that the Heralds wore Shardplate, what then would the Spren be copying? 

[Darkness he/him]

I honestly think it is the cousin spren, but I do see how it's definitely arguable. I never thought about the glyphs kaladin makes, that is definitely important but I can't even guess at how or why. I dont think the shard plate is dead in the same way as the blades though, mostly because I don't think the cousin spren were able to connect as deeply with the radiants, so they weren't really affected as badly as the primary radiantspren.

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

37 minutes ago, Darkness said:

I honestly think it is the cousin spren, but I do see how it's definitely arguable. I never thought about the glyphs kaladin makes, that is definitely important but I can't even guess at how or why. I dont think the shard plate is dead in the same way as the blades though, mostly because I don't think the cousin spren were able to connect as deeply with the radiants, so they weren't really affected as badly as the primary radiantspren.

But wouldn't Syl show a disdain for shardplate as well if it were the wind spren? I mean she hangs with them all the time! It'd be like seeing a coat made of puppies and saying "As long as it isn't people I'm good Cruella!"

[Darkness he/him]

not really... It's not like they are corpses under my thinking, so it's basically the windspren continuing to protect people. I think Syl can appreciate that kind of action. It's also possible that she doesn't remember the origins of shardplate yet.

[KnightofLight]

I'm not sure exactly what the plate is, but I'm confident that a knight receives it after saying more oaths. I bet Syl will remember how to be plate and blade eventually. However I don't know how they don't hear screams when wearing it... so that theory has holes. My other theory is the plate was made in urithiru and the technology was lost 

[Fulminato he/him]

i found the lesser spren swarm teory shortsighted, can works for windrunner, a little logic jump for fitting to the lightweaver, but the other eight order? there is a 'lesser spren' for the bondsmith, i suppose the skybreaker can gather the windspren too, but don't find any logical bond between high spren and windspren

[Darkness he/him]

the stormfather told dalinar, "you will be a radiant without shards" plural, so that's another little conundrum. WoB confirms that all orders had access to shardplate. Though many chose not to use it, possibly because they weren't warriors. How does the stormfather expect that Dalinar wont get shardplate?

I always assumed that the cousins to highspren would be logicspren, but I'm not really sure why.

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

2 hours ago, Darkness said:

the stormfather told dalinar, "you will be a radiant without shards" plural, so that's another little conundrum. WoB confirms that all orders had access to shardplate. Though many chose not to use it, possibly because they weren't warriors. How does the stormfather expect that Dalinar wont get shardplate?

I always assumed that the cousins to highspren would be logicspren, but I'm not really sure why.

Well what would the Stormfather's "cousin" spren even be?

[Spoolofwhool]

23 hours ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

Well what would the Stormfather's "cousin" spren even be?

Bondsmiths never had shards so this doesn't apply. 

Edit: WoB is only that they didn't have shardblades. No idea about plate.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Spoolofwhool

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

1 minute ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Bondsmiths never had shards so this doesn't apply. 

Reference? We know Ishar had an Honorblade

[Darkness he/him]

Ishar isn't a radiant, so I wouldn't really count him. The Rosharan Bondsmiths have never had blades. However, Brandon has said,

 

Interview: Oct 1st, 2013

Steelheart Signing Report - Argent (Paraphrased)

Question

Did all orders of Knights Radiants use Shardplate?

Brandon Sanderson

It was available to all of them, and they could (all) use it. Many Knights (not Orders) chose not to. There were Knights who were not soldiers and had not interest in wearing Shardplate [/spoiler]

as for the cousins to Bondsmith spren, I personally have this wacky idea that the moons are the physical bodies of the 3 superspren, so that might make their cousins starspren... Not sure how you might attract those though. Possibly gravityspren instead? They would be easier for them to get to through adhesion.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Darkness
for some reason, my close spoiler tag isnt working on my phone

[+Extesian he/him]

37 minutes ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

Reference? We know Ishar had an Honorblade

Recent WoB says blades (so nothing about plate).

Quote

Is there also some more backstory to this Blade?
A: There's a backstory to every Blade and everyone is special. That's the problem. But I will be exploring  the origins of some of the Blades. Eventually. Not a ton, but a little bit.

Q: As it is ornamented in such a way... Could it be related to a Bondsmith?
A: Bondsmith's didn't have Blades.
Q: All of them? It's just... Maybe it was just the Stormfather...
A: No. That's a really good guess. Really good guess. I'm gonna RAFO Bondsmiths because you gonna learn a lot about them in the next book because it's the Bondsmith's book. That's a really good theory, but it's not true. But there's a reason to it, why it has all the 10 orders.
 

An Honorblade is different, I think the main thing is that superspren don't want to limit themselves somehow by physically manifesting as a sword, and of course 'dead' Shardblades are repugnant to all spren. 

Edited May 5, 2017 by Extesian

[Spoolofwhool]

22 hours ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

Reference? We know Ishar had an Honorblade

Oops. WoB was different than what I thought it was. Will correct myself. I was thinking of the one Extesian posted.

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

@Spoolofwhool No worries, it'd be cool if their shards manifested differently. Maybe command over spren since we know Ishar bound the KR to the immortal words

[Spoolofwhool]

7 hours ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

@Spoolofwhool No worries, it'd be cool if their shards manifested differently. Maybe command over spren since we know Ishar bound the KR to the immortal words

Maybe, but I don't believe that to be the case, and I think there's enough to indicate that Ishar didn't do that. I think the epigraph is referring to more external laws. Besides, if it is talking about the Immortal Words, what need would be there for Ishar to destroy them if they didn't follow them since they wouldn't have their powers anyways? I think there's also another WoB which talks about the oaths being part of the concepts which created the spren, but I'll check. 

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

On May 4, 2017 at 6:19 PM, Darkness said:

the stormfather told dalinar, "you will be a radiant without shards" plural, so that's another little conundrum. WoB confirms that all orders had access to shardplate. Though many chose not to use it, possibly because they weren't warriors. How does the stormfather expect that Dalinar wont get shardplate?

I always assumed that the cousins to highspren would be logicspren, but I'm not really sure why.

I always assumed the Stormfather used the plural because Dalinar had already given away his plate to Renarin...

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

4 minutes ago, Crucible of Shards said:

I always assumed the Stormfather used the plural because Dalinar had already given away his plate to Renarin...

They get new shardplate through the nahel bond. So Dalinar will eventually get it once he's progressed far enough. How it happens is the question

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

5 minutes ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

They get new shardplate through the nahel bond. So Dalinar will eventually get it once he's progressed far enough. How it happens is the question

Has that been confirmed officially?

Edited May 7, 2017 by Crucible of Shards
To clarify

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

I mean, that shard plate comes through the nahel bond?

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

3 minutes ago, Crucible of Shards said:

Has that been confirmed officially?

Im not sure if there is a WoB but it HAS to be true. Those Radiants that came to save Dalinar in one of his visions had glowing shardplate that they could dismiss at will. How else would they have gotten it? 

Edited May 7, 2017 by Radiant_Jaeger

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

1 minute ago, Radiant_Jaeger said:

Im not sure if there is a WoB but it HAS to be true. Those Radiants that came to save Dalinar in one of his cisions had glowing shardplate that they could dismiss at will. How else would they have gotten it

Well, just because we don't have a plausible alternative at the moment doesn't mean that Sanderson doesn't have something up his sleeve. For the record, I think you're very likely correct.

[Radiant_Jaeger he/him]

Just now, Crucible of Shards said:

Well, just because we don't have a plausible alternative at the moment doesn't mean that Sanderson doesn't have something up his sleeve. For the record, I think you're very likely correct.

True, I never saw Renarin coming so this could sideswipe me too, and thanks!

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

I mean, if they have proximity-sensor fabrials which don't seem to corresond to any specific surge, why not have a separate mechanic for Shardplate?