[OB] Who says that Sja-anat could not corrupt Radiant spren in the past?

[flying_shadow she/her]

I have an entire theory about how this is not true, but I don't have the book with me and can't check to see who said that. If Odium states that this is a new thing, then it's a new thing, but if he didn't, then Sja-anat could be lying and others either lying as well for various reasons or mistaken. Can someone please confirm one way or the other?

[Patrick Star]

Nobody ever said that she couldn't, but Sja-Anat implied that she hadn't tried corrupting oathgate Spren before.

I don't recall if that extends to radiantspren.  It's not really that she couldn't, more so that she didn't, assuming that's the case.

[Calderis he/him]

It is from Hessi's Mythica, but it is obviously directly from one of the sources she found, because she doesn't appear to understand what it means. 

Quote

Of the Unmade, Sja-anat was most feared by the Radiants. They spoke extensively of her ability to corrupt spren, though only “lesser” spren—whatever that means.
—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 89

 

[Song she/her]

We also know that a Truthwatcher in the past said "I foresaw this".  So that would suggest to me that Glys is not the first higher level Radiant Spren that has been corrupted, even if it was so rare that most of the Radiants and Hessi didn't hear of it.

[Patrick Star]

This is also all complicated by Sja-anat possibly going rogue.

The simple answer is that we don't know.

Keeping Sja-anat's ability to corrupt greater spren hidden may have been to her advantage.  Maybe she defected before the Recreance in secret, then had to come up with a different plan afterwards.

[RShara she/her]

Or Glys was the one that was bonded to the Truthwatcher back then

[Subvisual Haze]

49 minutes ago, Song said:

We also know that a Truthwatcher in the past said "I foresaw this".  So that would suggest to me that Glys is not the first higher level Radiant Spren that has been corrupted, even if it was so rare that most of the Radiants and Hessi didn't hear of it.

Someone on these forums also hypothesized that the person named Kazilah in this Words of Radiance epigraph may have been executed by the other Radiants for being corrupted by Sja-Anat as Renarin/Glys are now.  It's not beyond reason that Kazilah may have been the Truthwatcher who left the cryptic gem archive message about foreseeing things.

Quote

"In short, if any presume Kazilah to be innocent, you must look at the facts and deny them in their entirety; to say that the Radiants were destitute of integrity for this execution of one their own, one who had obviously fraternized with the unwholesome elements, indicates the most slothful of reasoning; for the enemy’s baleful influence demanded vigilance on all occasions, of war and of peace."

 

[Angsos]

Maybe Sja-Anat kept the ability hidden since BAM is the high princess. I'd think Sja-Anat would be the loftiest unmade if people knew she could corrupt Radiatspren because corrupting them would outdo producing voidlight.

[+Harrycrapper]

Maybe she couldn't do it while Honor was around, he may have had some way of blocking her from doing that to the Radiant Spren.

[MountainKing]

Haze where did that quote come from?

[ScavellTane]

Words of radiance epigraph.

[Subvisual Haze]

4 hours ago, MountainKing said:

Haze where did that quote come from?

WoR Chapter 51 Epigraph

https://coppermind.net/wiki/Words_of_Radiance/Epigraphs

The epigraphs in general are a goldmine of plot teases and hints in Brandon's books, so it's really nice to have them all compiled like that.

[flying_shadow she/her]

I guess I might as well post my theory. So, here's the thing. We read that Sja-anat couldn't corrupt Radiant spren before, but I think that she could, but it was not spoken of and the Radiants that this happened to kept it secret.

 

------

 

There is the Oathbringer epigraph, "Don't tell anyone. I can't say it. I must whisper. I foresaw this."(chapter 85, OB). This was said by a Truthwatcher, which reminded me of Renarin's visions and how he was affected by them. I immediately noticed the similarity, but there can only be a link if Sja-anat could corrupt higher spren before. Another thing I noticed was in a WOR epigraph. "the enemy’s baleful influence demanded vigilance on all occasions, of war and of peace."(chapter 51, WOR). This does sounds like they are specifically vigilant against the enemy's influence, but they could have been talking about propaganda. This, however, connects with the following epigraph: "Of the Unmade, Sja-anat was most feared by the Radiants"(chapter 97, OB). Why was she so feared if all she could do was make harmless spren act strangely? Of course, we read about what this results in during the Kholinar arc of OB, but it does not appear to be bad enough to make an organized group of Radiants extremely terrified.

 

I feel that Sja-anat's ability to corrupt higher spren would have caused such fear, though. We can see how powerful and damaging her corruption is in Renarin's POV, it is definitely something the Radiants of old would have been seriously hampered by if this happened en masse. The sight of a corrupted spren in the city would have meant that any Radiant's spren could be next, so they would have run. And the reason there are no records of this happening is pure propaganda - the Radiants are humanity's shining beacon of hope, learning that there is a danger they can do nothing about would have demoralized the population and perhaps made them more likely to side with the Voidbringers out of hopelessness and desperation.