[OB] Syl’s memory

[SteveD]

There’s a reference during Kaladin’s return to Harthstone I don’t understand; Syl comments that Kal’s parents are ‘just as she remembers’. This confuses him, as he doesn’t meet Syl until he becomes a soldier. She responds with another memory about a person with a musical voice.

Whats going on here? Is the bond causing Syl to inherit Kal’s memories, or was she there much earlier then either of them realised?

[+Trellium he/him]

I think this is connected to the fact that their bond is based in their Spiritual DNA, which operates independently of time. 

[Calderis he/him]

As Trellium said, it's do to the bond being spiritual. By connecting to Kaladin's soul, and and he hers in turn, there is a kind of knowledge inheritance. They're souls have merged, and their souls contain a record of their history. 

[Weltall]

Welcome to the Shard!

Yeah, because 'time' doesn't exist in the Spiritual Realm there are some odd things that can happen with the Nahel Bond when you have souls bonding to one another. Here's a WoB that shows how this also works for things in the future.

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Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

Why is Kaladin so proficient--like naturally born to wield a spear. Is that a weapon he likes or is it a destiny for him?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

So destiny is a strong term. I would say he has natural aptitude, but no more so than a normal person who has a natural aptitude for something. But the way the Spiritual Realm works in the cosmere and the way Connection works, there were certain things that were happening to Kaladin before they happened.

Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

<Inaudible> Time and space.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

It's like Syl says in one of the books. "You didn't know me then, but I knew you then. Even though we hadn't met yet, I still knew you." You see some weird Connection things too. And these are mostly just for fun sort of cosmere connections. Like when you see Syl take on the look of Shallan standing on the beach. There's gonna be a connection there. It's forming, it doesn't exist yet, but all things are one in the Spiritual Realm, and we're just kinda seeing echoes of that. It's not meant to be destiny, it's more meant to be, "Hey there's little connections happening".

I would not say Kaladin is any more naturally gifted in that than your average professional sports player is naturally gifted in what they do.

source

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Weltall

[Stormfather-in-Law]

On 5/28/2018 at 6:46 PM, Calderis said:

As Trellium said, it's do to the bond being spiritual. By connecting to Kaladin's soul, and and he hers in turn, there is a kind of knowledge inheritance. They're souls have merged, and their souls contain a record of their history. 

Hrm. So why doesn't Kaladin 'remember' more of Syl's past in return?

[Calderis he/him]

11 minutes ago, Stormfather-in-Law said:

Hrm. So why doesn't Kaladin 'remember' more of Syl's past in return?

I can't be sure... But I honestly think it's because he's human. Humans are too much wrapped up in the Physical Realm to gain those things.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Calderis

[Weltall]

@Calderis This seems to be borne out by Kaladin's aptitude for the spear. The WoB that talks about Connection was triggered by curiousity about Kaladin's skill and while it's not explicitly referenced there's that one scene of him as a child practicing staff combat with the others despite his lack of any training. He seems to have gotten a bit of wonky Connection-based muscle memory (a Physical thing) from the future in that scene, explaining why it felt so right to him.