SwordNimiForPresident the sword/that sword Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 I think that Nightblood will like Shallan, she will be one of the first people he meets that actually wants to draw him. I think he will later be very disappointed. 4
Calderis he/him Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 Considering Shallan's mental state, I think she would fail his test.
+Invocation Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 Yeah, I'm with Calderis. She wouldn't be able to not draw him if he got unclasped. Might be interesting to see, though.
SwordNimiForPresident the sword/that sword Posted February 28, 2019 Author Posted February 28, 2019 TFW it it goes over their head 3
CrazyRioter she/her Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 *facepalm* Cute. But I agree with the others, given Shallan's belief she is a 'monster', she'd totally die to Nightblood.
ArcticJ Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 Just now, SwordNimiForPresident said: TFW it it goes over their head I’m thinking to myself... “someone will get it... right?” 1
+Invocation Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) 9 minutes ago, SwordNimiForPresident said: TFW it it goes over their head No, I got it. I just chose to ignore it. More fun to seem like an idiot to the internet. That's like my main pasttime. Edited February 28, 2019 by Invocation 1
Calderis he/him Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 I got it as well... But the joke is far less interesting to me than that I never considered that we have a character in the vicinity of Nightblood that would most likely be driven to kill everyone around her and then herself if Nightblood were tossed on the ground in front of her.
CrazyRioter she/her Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 I agree.The joke is mildly amusing, but Shallan's actual reaction to Nightblood is more interesting.
SwordNimiForPresident the sword/that sword Posted February 28, 2019 Author Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) To be fair, I think the Nahel bond would give someone the mental fortitude to resist Nightblood's murder rage. Pattern would start buzzing and break her out of the trance. Warbreaker spoilers Spoiler We see in Vasher's PoV that it wouldn't work on Denth because of his will power. Also, Nale and Szeth both passed the test. If ever there was someone guilty of murder. it's those two. Edited February 28, 2019 by SwordNimiForPresident
Calderis he/him Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 9 minutes ago, SwordNimiForPresident said: To be fair, I think the Nahel bond would give someone the mental fortitude to resist Nightblood's murder rage. Pattern would start buzzing and break her out of the trance. Warbreaker spoilers Reveal hidden contents We see in Vasher's PoV that it wouldn't work on Denth because of his will power. Also, Nale and Szeth both passed the test. If ever there was someone guilty of murder. it's those two. Nale is. Herald, so I'll give him that based off willpower. Szeth though? He didn't view himself as evil. He felt neither the nausea or drive to kill. He shunted all of his actions off on the people who named him Truthless when he shouldn't have been. It's the entire reason for why he wants his Fourth oath to be against the Stone Shamans. Nightblood's test is all about how you view yourself. And as much as he hated what he was doing, Szeth was holding to his beliefs. It's why Nale picked him to be a Skybreaker in the first place. It's also why I've theorized that a true Sociopath would be able to use Nightblood without an issue. They'd have no self imposed moral judgment for Nightblood to work off of. 1
King's Twit he/him Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 Y’all could very well be right that Shallan’s views about herself would lead her to drawing Nightblood, but I think it’s worth considering that the reason Shallan thinks she is a monster and hates herself is because of her use of a magic sword to kill people, which could be a block to any temptation to draw another magic sword to kill people. Plus I bet Brightness Radiant wouldn’t draw the sword, so if Shallan could manage to become her when Nightblood was near that would probably protect her too.
+Invocation Posted February 28, 2019 Posted February 28, 2019 33 minutes ago, King's Twit said: Plus I bet Brightness Radiant wouldn’t draw the sword, so if Shallan could manage to become her when Nightblood was near that would probably protect her too. I get the feeling that if Nightblood is close enough to where Shallan could reasonably draw him, any Stormlight would be consumed.
SwordNimiForPresident the sword/that sword Posted February 28, 2019 Author Posted February 28, 2019 Quote Brandon Sanderson Chapter Thirty-Five Vivenna Awakes, Bound by Vasher This chapter—with what happens in the latter part of it—is the most dangerous in the book. Dangerous to me as an author, I mean. I love good plot twists, but I worry about leaving them without proper foreshadowing. I've never done something as drastic as I have in this book, having a group of sympathetic characters turn out to be working for the wrong side. I hope it succeeds, but I know that if it doesn't, readers will be very mad. Nothing is sloppier than a book with unearned changes in character motivation. But we're not there quite yet. Before that we have the first real interaction between Vivenna and Vasher. He gives her what he likes to think of as the Nightblood test. One nice thing about having a sword that "cannot tempt the hearts of those who are pure" is that when someone like Vivenna touches it, she gets sick. I didn't want Nightblood to come across as a "one ring" knockoff. He doesn't turn people's hearts or corrupt them. However, in order to be able to do his job and fulfill his Command, he needs the ability to determine who is good and who is evil. This, of course, isn't an easy thing to determine. In fact, I don't think it's a black or white issue for most people. When Nightblood was created, the Breaths infused in him did their best to interpret their Command. What they decided was evil was someone who would try to take the sword and use it for evil purposes, selling it, manipulating and extorting others, that sort of thing. Someone who wouldn't want the sword for those reasons was determined to be good. If they touch the weapon, they feel sick. If others touch the weapon, their desire to kill and destroy with it is enhanced greatly. Nightblood himself, unfortunately, doesn't quite understand what good and evil are. (This is mentioned later in the text.) However, he knows that his master can determine who is good and who is evil—using the sword's power to make people sick, or through other means. So, he pretty much just lets whoever is holding him decide what is evil. And if the one holding the sword determines—deep within their heart—that they are evil themselves, then they will end up killing themselves with the sword. Vivenna passes the test, which surprises Vasher. He thought that she'd be the type who would use Nightblood to kill and destroy. (He doesn't have a high opinion of her, obviously. Of course, that's partially because he's let his temper dictate what he thinks.) Warbreaker Annotations (Dec. 22, 2010) I think that, even if Shallan feels she deserved to die, she still wouldn't meet the "someone who would try to take the sword and use it for evil purposes, selling it, manipulating and extorting others, that sort of thing" part of the test. I also think that Hoid's talk with Shallan in Kholinar helped get her on a path of self forgiveness that would save her from herself. I also think that she feels justified in killing her parents, even if she feels guilty for it. 3
King's Twit he/him Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 (edited) 21 hours ago, Invocation said: I get the feeling that if Nightblood is close enough to where Shallan could reasonably draw him, any Stormlight would be consumed. Except Nightblood doesn’t consume Breaths or Stormlight until he has been drawn. While he’s sheathed, all he does is deepen colors and send out psychic vibes Also, I don’t think Shallan’s alter egos depend completely on whether or not she has produced a physical illusion. Those help, but she seems to slip between Veil, Radiant, and herself pretty easily and seemingly without lightweaving Edited March 1, 2019 by King's Twit
+Child of Hodor Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 26 minutes ago, King's Twit said: Except Nightblood doesn’t consume Breaths or Stormlight until he has been drawn. While he’s sheathed, all he does is deepen colors and send out psychic vibes Also, I don’t think Shallan’s alter egos depend completely on whether or not she has produced a physical illusion. Those help, but she seems to slip between Veil, Radiant, and herself pretty easily and seemingly without lightweaving Love your name! Yeah, I don't think, even if he was unsheathed, Nightblood couldn't draw from Shallan if she wasn't touching him. I don't think we've seen him draw from anything he wasn't in contact with. Someone has to touch the hilt or the blade. On 2/28/2019 at 0:16 AM, Calderis said: Nightblood's test is all about how you view yourself. And as much as he hated what he was doing, Szeth was holding to his beliefs. It's why Nale picked him to be a Skybreaker in the first place. Quote Those that the sword defines as "evil" feel drawn to possess it; once an "evil" person picks Nightblood up, the sword amplifies the wielder's bloodlust causing him or her to slaughter anyone nearby and then commit suicide with the blade. A "good" person, someone who wouldn't want to use Nightblood for evil purposes, feels sick while looking at Nightblood; touching it can induce vomiting.[35] Wrapping the sword in a blanket seems to help suppress these effects.[23] The above is from the Coppermind and I don't know if it's interpretation is correct or not. Is it if they view themselves as evil or is it their desire to wield the sword for selfish reasons that impacts the test? The test only seems to happen when Nightblood is unsheathed and offered to the person / available for them to pick up. Is the test what emotions / thoughts spring up when the person sees the opportunity to wield this powerful, destructive object? Shallan feels terrible about killing her parents. She abandoned Pattern for a decade because of it. She doesn't like using him to hurt people. That may help her. People who pass, but not by willpower, feel nausea. We've seen magically induced nausea in SA. Dalinar feels it in tWoK when he slaughtered Parshendi while embracing the Thrill. He looked around at all the corpses, the Thrill leaves him and he feels sick. (tWoK ch. 26) It happens again in tWoK Ch. 56. It's due to the clash of Honor and Odium investiture within him that he feels sick all of sudden. Dalinar's honorable actions, which attracted a Nahel Bond, connect him with Honor. According to this WoB it's the combo of his honorable actions and the bond that cause the Thrill rejection that induced the nausea: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/2/#e135 Nightblood has Ruin investiture in him, probably a decent amount since he shouts DESTROY a lot. Could the nausea in part be due to the person not being very connected to Ruin through their past actions and also connected to other investiture that clash with Ruin? https://wob.coppermind.net/events/360/#e10902 Nightblood can read minds, but he needs to bond first. Although, he speaks into Szeth's mind immediately in WoR. The test could be one of investiture connection or that plus Nightblood reading their thoughts. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/167/#e3032 The Nahel bond, Shallan's connection to Honor/Cultivation through actions that attracted the bond, having Pattern in her ear helping her fight Nightblood's influence, and her longstanding reluctance to use her shardblade to kill people would help her.
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