KalaDANG he/him Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Recently, something about the King’s Drop started really confusing me. When we first see it, we’re told it is a perfect and flawless gemstone, which allows it to hold stormlight perfectly without leaking, and this is demonstrated by the fact that the King’s Drop has resided in the Thaylen Gemstone Reserve for 200+ years but still shines brightly. Science wise though, this doesn’t really make a lot of sense, because if the stone can hold stormlight perfectly, how does the light that allows it to shine escape? Normal gemstones run out of energy because the investiture inside of them is spent by creating light energy. The King’s Drop “holds stormlight perfectly”, but it still shines? Wouldn’t normal scientific laws dictate that it should still run out of energy because its energy is stolen to generate light? It would make more sense for it to be perpetually dun. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changes form. Somehow, the King’s Drop can generate light without using up the investiture inside. And Brandon had told us that investiture should actually be following this rule. PrncRny (paraphrased) Why is Breath not consumed in Awakening, unlike most all other uses of Investiture? Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased) Not all Investitures are "used up." Much like energy, it isn't typically created or destroyed, just changes for. With Breath, in what it's used for, it is just more easily and readily recovered than in other forms. source I don’t know if I’m missing some crucial fact that would explain this or something, but this doesn’t really make sense to me.
Calderis he/him Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Because the light is not Stormlight leaking. The light is the glow of the Spiritual Realm pressing outward through the stormlight. Quote Alteroden With Stormlight, the better the gem is cut, the less Stormlight it leaks, and the longer it holds its charge. If a gem was perfectly cut, on a molecular scale, would it leak Stormlight at all? Brandon Sanderson In a theoretical flawless gem, then no it would not. Alteroden Would it actually give off light? Brandon Sanderson [...] Theoretically no it would not, but it's not what you're thinking... Alteroden No no no, that’s not what I’m thinking, I figured that’s something totally different. Brandon Sanderson Well, actually, it probably would still give off light, because it's drawing out of the Spiritual Realm. So I’d say it still lights, but it doesn't leak. The leaking is not where the illumination is coming from. The illumination is coming from a direct... It's basically a light bulb screwed into the Spiritual Realm. source 1
KalaDANG he/him Posted July 11, 2018 Author Posted July 11, 2018 (edited) Hehehehehe okay awesome. I couldn’t really come up with anything that made any sense. I was thinking maybe atomic level investiture collisions generating light but not using up the investiture or something. I was out of ideas. Edited July 11, 2018 by KalaDANG
Leyrann Posted July 11, 2018 Posted July 11, 2018 Let's be real though, the "Spiritual Realm leaking out" is really just a way to more-or-less scientifically (in cosmere terms) justify the gem shining, which is there because of the rule of cool.
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