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Why do honorblades require heartbeats?


Showman

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In the very beginning of WoK and other times, it is proven that honorblades require 10 heartbeats to summon. Since they aren't dead spren that need connection to the (physical realm, i think), why would they require heartbeats?

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They don't actually, they only require them if the person using them thinks they do. Perception affects a lot of things in the Cosmere.

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Questioner

Based on what we know currently about ten heartbeats, why does Szeth require ten heartbeats to bring forth his Honorblade?

Brandon Sanderson

Perception is a very important part of how these things all work, and remember the Honorblades work differently from everything else. Everything was based upon them. Why don't you read and find out what's going on there, but remember that the characters's perception is very important.

Questioner

So then that's why at one point Shallan requires ten heartbeats and now she doesn't?

Brandon Sanderson

Right, it's the exact same reason that Kaladin's forehead wounds don't heal. Because he views himself as having those somewhere deep inside of him and he can't heal until that gets away. And it works for the same reason why in Warbreaker when you bring something to life, your intention rather than really what you say is what matters. It's all about perception.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

 

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5 hours ago, Void89 said:

Also: honor is dead :D

Well there's a can of worms~

Was Honor really a spren though? 

My first thought on that specific comment though, is that the Stormfather , who is definitely a spren, is still alive. So maybe if he somehow died then the Honorblades would truly require the ten heartbeats like any other dead blade.

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Just now, Mailnaise said:

Well there's a can of worms~

Was Honor really a spren though? 

My first thought on that specific comment however, is that the Stormfather , who is definitely a spren, is still alive. So maybe if he somehow died then the Honorblades would truly require the ten heartbeats like any other dead blade.

I DID NOT MEAN TO DO THAT

I don't know why it just did that forget this post~

Edited by Mailnaise
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1 hour ago, Mailnaise said:

Well there's a can of worms~

Was Honor really a spren though? 

My first thought on that specific comment though, is that the Stormfather , who is definitely a spren, is still alive. So maybe if he somehow died then the Honorblades would truly require the ten heartbeats like any other dead blade.

Careful what you dismiss so easily, honor might not have been a spren, but spren are tiny pieces of a God- and shardblades are copies of honorblades as we all know.

Edited by Void89
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46 minutes ago, CrazyRioter said:

Shards are not exactly spren, though Rosharians might call them that.

Arguably, Shards are spren of Adonalsium, or could be under the correct circumstances.

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Questioner

Spren. The phenomenon that creates spren. Is that Roshar-specific or is that a general effect?

Brandon Sanderson

Well, yes and no. So the question is, the effect that creates spren, is that Roshar-specific or is it general. The general fundamental rules that create spren are cosmere-wide. Spren are pieces of Investiture, usually pieces of Investiture that come straight from one of the Shards of Adonalsium, split off in some way, that because of human or other sapient creatures thinking about it or interacting with the power, the power starts to take on a life of its own. Develops personalities and comes alive, so to speak. And this can happen on any pla-- in any place where there is Investiture. So it could happen on any planet in the cosmere with significant amounts of free Investiture. The places you've seen this happen most commonly are on Sel and Scadri-- err Roshar. You haven't seen it on Scadrial, and you've seen little kind of hints at it on Nalthis, but not quite. And so-- But it's possible for it to happen anywhere. Seons and spren are basically the same thing with different powers-- powers kind of pushing them in different-- growth out of them-- That said, the non-sapient spren, so the spren that are not quite as-- They're not going to stand up and talk to you. Those all existed-- not all, but most of them existed on Roshar before the Shattering of Adonalsium.

JordanCon 2016 (April 23, 2016)

 

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