Could Dalinar unlock the Cognitive Oathgates?

[+robardin he/him]

His being able to renew spheres with Stormlight wasn't a one-off thing he was able to do at Thaylen Fields; afterwards, he also "overcharged" Kaladin for his flight first to Kharbranth, then to where Skar and Drehy had hidden out with little Gavinor.

When the Stormfather commented that no previous Bondsmiths he'd bonded with had been able to do this, Dalinar noted that he was something new: "Honor's remnants, your soul, my will."

Odium counts him as having Ascended, and he had formed Honor's Perpendicularity. (And presumably does do every time he renews spheres or overcharges a Radiant with Stormlight, if on a lower scale.)

So is he "Honor Enough" now to count as The Parent who locked the Oathgates from the Cognitive side? Or was The Parent in question another Shard (Cultivation)?

 

[+Invocation]

Given the fact that for purposes of Odium's locking within the Rosharan system he counts as Honor, I'd say that if the parent in question is actually Honor (I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't Cultivation, but I accept that I'm probably wrong there), he would be able to.

[+robardin he/him]

1 hour ago, Invocation said:

Given the fact that for purposes of Odium's locking within the Rosharan system he counts as Honor, I'd say that if the parent in question is actually Honor (I'm not entirely convinced it wasn't Cultivation, but I accept that I'm probably wrong there), he would be able to.

Yeah I had been assuming it was Honor until I wrote that post, then I suddenly realized that "the Parent" could mean either non-Odium Shard on Roshar. Hmm.

 

[CrazyRioter she/her]

I hadn't considered that the Parent could be Cultivation before seeing this post either. It's a good point.

I'd say that if the Parent is Honor, he has enough of Honor's authority at this point to unlock them.

[+Child of Hodor]

 

3 hours ago, robardin said:

Yeah I had been assuming it was Honor until I wrote that post, then I suddenly realized that "the Parent" could mean either non-Odium Shard on Roshar. Hmm.

 

They do say “Travel was forbidden by word of the parent” ... “The parent is dead now” “Travel was forbidden during the parent’s last days” Ch. 116 OB

They are explaining to Shallan that they can’t open the gate because the parent who told them to lock it is dead and can’t undo the command. Can’t be Cultivation or Odium.

I think Dalinar can unlock it now. He may have to form the perpendicularity and then give the order. 

[CrazyRioter she/her]

Oh, I'd forgotten the exact words they used, that does look like confirmation that it was Honor.

[galendo]

While contextually "the parent" probably refers to Honor, it's worth noting that it could refer to one of the larger spren like the Sibling.  Death seems to be something of a continuum with spren rather than a binary state, so a spren that had retreated enough -- been hurt enough, in the Stormfather's words -- could reasonably be considered dead, especially since damaged spren don't recover on their own.

So possibly the Radiants need to restore the Sibling and/or Urithiru before the restriction can be lifted.

[Karger he/him]

The real question might be why Honor locked them in the first place.