Bigmikey357 he/him Posted April 22, 2019 Posted April 22, 2019 So we are 3 books into the Stormlight Archives and we have multiple magic users. Good so far. Yet all of our new Surgebinders are different than what we've been led to believe they were in the past. Dalinar has a power boost from his Bondsmith spren because it holds Honor's Cognitive Shadow. Kaladin and Jasnah bonded spren that went against the orders of their societies. Shallan broke and rebonded her spren. Timbre bonded an entirely different species. Renarin's Glys is corrupted, Lyft is a half-spren, Malata and Spark hold power granted by Honor and is working directly against his remnants. Szeth belongs to an Order that never disbanded so his bond should be typical, yet he wields a robot spren as an add on to his powers or so it seems. I brought up these examples to raise a few questions. One, Have we been misled as far as what we've been told the Radiants used to be? Edgedancers are supposed to be elegant but Lyft belongs. That's just the most blatant example. Are our new Radiants closer to the Ideal or were the pre-Recreance Radiants just as screwed up as our current crop? Next, should we expect any Radiants introduced from now on to be screwy or will the behavior of the orders even out as their ranks fill back up? One more. I presume that the Radiants present at the Avengers Assemble moment at Thaylen City will be the leaders of their respective Orders. At least that's how they've been presented so far. So will their idiosyncrasies influence how the Orders will conduct themselves moving forward or will they change to conform to the way their Orders were traditionally viewed? These are just questions I've thought about. I haven't truly attempted to answer them but if anyone wants to take a crack at it feel free. Also, if the post raises further questions please share.
+Invocation Posted April 22, 2019 Posted April 22, 2019 I think most of the changes regarding old Radiants vs new Radiants is the fact that Honor is dead. They used to have direct involvement with a mostly immortal being that had a vested interested in keeping them structured, allowing them to keep a much more rigid form of their Orders. With the difference in time, the Radiants are a more idealized version of what they actually may have been as well, distorting the perception further for our friends within the story. Whether the Orders will even out will depend on several influences, including how strict of an influence these first-generation New Radiants give for the future and whether another Shard becomes directly involved with the development (be it a new Honor or an Honor/Odium combo or Cultivation or some combination of all of these options) or if it's left entirely to more mortal influences. I wouldn't trust, though, that the ones we see at Thaylen City will be the leaders. I don't think they're all going to survive, which might cause some issues for the future of their Orders if they remain the only ones in that Order, which is a stretch with the flood of new Radiants bonding spren of all types (except for the ones that aren't bonding, like inkspren and lightspren).
Philomath she/her Posted April 22, 2019 Posted April 22, 2019 I think it is wrong to assume that the old Knights Radiant orders were these really homogenous groups of people who were all really similar. And it definitely is not the case for the new Radiants. Look at Kaladin and Lopen. Both are Windrunners now, but would anyone say that personality-wise they are all that similar? Clearly not. Being a Radiant of any particular order really just means that you somehow attracted the notice of that type of spren and are willing to swear and keep to that orders ideals. And that may look really different for everyone. The moment of Kaladin’s second oath was a big moment on a battlefield while Lopen’s was in a more quiet moment after visiting with injured soldiers and saying it as a casual comment. Basically, I think Hessi’s Mythica does a good job of giving a general summary of each order, but as with any stereotypes, can leave one grossly missing the nuances of an individual.
Kramerfarve Posted April 23, 2019 Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) 14 hours ago, Philomath said: I think it is wrong to assume that the old Knights Radiant orders were these really homogenous groups of people who were all really similar. And it definitely is not the case for the new Radiants. Look at Kaladin and Lopen. Both are Windrunners now, but would anyone say that personality-wise they are all that similar? Clearly not. Being a Radiant of any particular order really just means that you somehow attracted the notice of that type of spren and are willing to swear and keep to that orders ideals. And that may look really different for everyone. The moment of Kaladin’s second oath was a big moment on a battlefield while Lopen’s was in a more quiet moment after visiting with injured soldiers and saying it as a casual comment. Basically, I think Hessi’s Mythica does a good job of giving a general summary of each order, but as with any stereotypes, can leave one grossly missing the nuances of an individual. I’d think to encourage organization, the oaths gradually constrict in the ability to change them, but open in interpretation. I will follow Dalinar, a pretty straightforward oath with strict personal interpretation, becomes I am the law, a vaguer one with more open interpretation, but all members would have to say those four words with clear intent in mind. Edited April 23, 2019 by Kramerfarve
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