[Theory] All Radiants could Soulcast

[Terisen he/him]

Alright, this is my first theory here.  Be gentle!

 

I think it's possible that all the orders of the Knights Radiant has access to Soulcasting along with the other Surges granted by their particular order.  This stemmed from the scene where Kaladin is learning to do a Basic Lash and sees Shadesmar.  This bothered me and I kept thinking about it, concluding it may be possible Soulcasting to occur for other orders.

 

 

"Kal?" Sigzil's voice asked, though it seemed distant.  Like an unimportant buzzing.

...

The voice faded. For a moment, Kaladin thought he saw shadows of a world that was not, shadows of another place.  And in that place, a distance sky with a sun enclosed, almost as if by a corridor of clouds.

 

WoR p. 469-470

 

This is a bit strange.  It seems to imply that viewing Shadesmar was the reason that Kaladin was able to start performing the Basic Lash.  But this would be inconsistent with all the other non-Soulcasting surges we've seen used for the first time in the story.  Kaladin didn't view Shadesmar when he did either of the other two Lashes (Reverse Lashes while running bridges and Full Lashing when sticking the sphere pouch to the barrel).  Nor did Shallan view Shadesmar when she started Lightweaving for the first time.  But for some reason, Kaladin sees it here.  I believe he was so metally focused that he inadvertently crossed Realms, however briefly.  His experience is also very similar to Shallan's earlier in the book.

 

 

Shallan set her jaw and tried again.  More slowly this time, slipping into that place with its strange sky and not-sun.  For a moment, she hovered between the worlds, Shadesmar overlaying the world around her like a shadowy afterimage.  Holding between the two was difficult.

 

WoR p. 143

 

Shallan hovers between the Realms, much like Kaladin did.  Kaladin sees Shadesmar but still is aware of Sigzil talking in the Physical Realm.

 

The only two people we've seen Soulcast are of those two orders, but it's possible that it's simply a coincidence that the two who have Soulcast have access to the Transformation surge.

 

 

"How do I make it change?" Shallan asked of Pattern.

"Mm...I do not know.  You must persuade it.  Offer it truths, I think?"  

 

WoR pg. 144

 

Based on this, the requirements for Soulcasting seem to be visting Shadesmar while holding Stormlight, finding the object you wish to change, persuading it to change (be it through truth, logic or some other form of persuation) and offering the object the Stormlight as fuel for the change.  All of those steps appear to be able to be accomplished without a bond to a spren that would put one in the order of Lightweavers or Elsecallers.

 

We've made the assumption that the surge of Transformation is Soulcasting.  It's even in the Ars Arcanum that way.  But that document is written from the perspective of someone in-world and probably shouldn't be taken as an absolute truth (though it's probably fairly accurate in most, if not all, aspects).

 

 

Q: Is Soulcasting a subset of Surgebinding?

A: Yes, it is.

 

WoB  8/4/2011 Signing

 

This would seem to imply that Soulcasting is one of the surges in the chart.  But I don't think it necessarily means that.  If you have access to surges, you would have access to Soulcasting due to being able to visit Shadesmar while holding Stormlight.  This would mean that Soulcasting is still a subset of Surgebinding while not necessarily being a specific surge.

 

This does, however, leave the question of what the Transformation surge is if it is not Soulcasting?  It's possible that I'm way off here.  If I am, it still begs the question of why Kaladin briefly slipped into Shadesmar when learning to Lash.

 

[Shaggai]

Soulcasting is a specific way in which certain Orders can interact with Shadesmar. The Basic Lashing is another. When performing a Basic Lashing, Kaladin is using Shadesmar to alter the direction that Roshar's gravity pulls him. That's why he sees Shadesmar without Soulcasting.

[WeiryWriter he/him]

It is safe to say this is a definitive no, sorry about that.  The WoR Ars Arcanum refers to Transformation as "The Surge of Soulcasting", yes it is an imperfect in-world document but I'm inclined to agree with it here.  Jasnah also mentions towards the end of tWoK that there were two orders who could Soulcast without a fabrial.

 

And frankly it doesn't fit with what we understand of Surgebinding.  The only ability shared by all Surgebinders is the ability to infuse Stormlight and the benefits thereof.  The main abilities, the Surges themselves, are each restricted to two adjacent orders, and Soulcasting (according to everything we have been told in the books and in interviews) is one of those abilities.

 

As Shaggai mentions I think Kaladin is just seeing into the Cognitive Realm (which I don't think is a usual circumstance) because what he is doing, or really what all Surgebinding does, is going to be reflected in the beads/cognitive aspects of whatever is being manipulated.  Also keep in mind he really only glimpsed it and it wasn't a voluntary action like with how Shallan does it.

 

Anyway, congrats on your first theory!  I can see the logic behind how you got there, unfortunately I don't agree. I look forward to any future theories though!  Good luck.

[Terisen he/him]

Yeah, I thought it was a bit of a stretch, but I was encouraged to post it to see if anything came out of it.  I knew there was a flaw with the whole Transformation surge.  I tried to work around it, but knew it was definitely a weak point.  I still think that Kaladin briefly crossing into the Cognitive Realm is out out the ordinary.  When Shallan is really trying to construct Lightweaving at the beginning, she didn't slip into Shadesmar, despite definitely knowing how to do so.  Something still feels off about it.

[Swimmingly he/him]

It's possible that it's just something that can happen when you stress the Surges oddly, breaking down barriers. I wouldn't be surprised if seeing into the cognitive occasionally is an effect of bonding with a Cognitive being that's used you as leverage to enter the Physical; when you pull yourself up, you push what you hold down. I think, as a consequence, all Surgebinders are a little in the Cognitive, and might glimpse it occasionally, even if they can't use it for anything useful.

[Terisen he/him]

It's possible that it's just something that can happen when you stress the Surges oddly, breaking down barriers. I wouldn't be surprised if seeing into the cognitive occasionally is an effect of bonding with a Cognitive being that's used you as leverage to enter the Physical; when you pull yourself up, you push what you hold down. I think, as a consequence, all Surgebinders are a little in the Cognitive, and might glimpse it occasionally, even if they can't use it for anything useful.

 

I think this makes a lot of sense.  I agree that due to the bond, the Surgebinders live partially in the Cognitive, but I think that it still might come up as something useful.  And stressing the surges by invoking more of the Cognitive may have some results along the lines of drawing more power to the surge than normal.  Doing this repeatedly may then have the consequence of being like an Allomantic Savant, only with Stormlight.

[kari-no-sugata]

Soulcasting is a specific way in which certain Orders can interact with Shadesmar. The Basic Lashing is another. When performing a Basic Lashing, Kaladin is using Shadesmar to alter the direction that Roshar's gravity pulls him. That's why he sees Shadesmar without Soulcasting.

 

That's how I saw it too. I suspect that Jasnah can do more simple types of Soulcasting without explicitly entering Shardsmar - and expect Shallan to be able to learn to do the same.

[PorridgeBrick he/him]

It's possible that it's just something that can happen when you stress the Surges oddly, breaking down barriers. I wouldn't be surprised if seeing into the cognitive occasionally is an effect of bonding with a Cognitive being that's used you as leverage to enter the Physical; when you pull yourself up, you push what you hold down. I think, as a consequence, all Surgebinders are a little in the Cognitive, and might glimpse it occasionally, even if they can't use it for anything useful.

I'm not sure about the anything useful bit– if all it requires is Surge use, then it could probably be trained to get it consistently. There's probably something useful you can do by mentally entering the Cognitive, even without bodily being there: at the very least, communicating with spren to some extent.