Bondsmith Promotions

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

Imagine the Knights Radiant at the height of their power, their ranks fully filled. 10 Orders, 3 Bondsmiths,  the other 9 Orders headed by a Full 5 Oath Radiant and a Desolation impending.  Suddenly one of those Bondsmiths dies for whatever reason.  How does that spot get replaced?  I see three possibilities,  each however has its own problems. We are sure to get more information with RoW, but for now we can all speculate on which option is more likely based on what we know now. 

1. Let the Godspren handle it. 

They have been choosing candidates for millennia, surely they know what they want in a bondmate and can decide who to take over the mantle.  Problem is,  when a Godspren chooses a candidate they can come from anywhere,  even from outside the Organization.  Humans do not do well when they question the stability of their leadership,  and nobody is going to want follow someone who just walks off the street to become president.  Plus,  anytime a Knight dies their spren loses cognitive function.  The role of a Bondsmith is too important to leave to chance or the whims of a spren lacking some of its wits.  In peacetime it doesn't pose as much of a problem.  In war it could be devastating. 

 

2. Promote from within  the Organization                                                                                              This solves the immediate problem of having someone taking a leadership role in the Knights without experience.  Problem is,  the best candidates  for this are going to be high up in the hierarchy of their own Order.  Spren are territorial for the most part.  I don't see many of them giving up on their mates or their own cognition for almost any reason.  And in the case of the 5 Oath Radiants it may not even be possible. Could they share a Radiant? Brandon says it's possible but unlikely. 

3. Build your own successor

Thanks to the new info provided by Brandon,  it has been confirmed that Bondsmiths can have squires. This possibility seems perfect,  as you have a person familiar with the Knights taking over a leadership position  without knocking someone else from their post. And it narrows the random factors that arise from having a spren do the choosing.  The problem is the Godspren themselves.  If the Stormfather's bondmate dies and he or she has a pool of squires to choose from,  all well and good.  But what happens when the Bondsmith dies with no issue?  Do they pick a squire from their fellow Bondsmiths?  What if for example the Nightwatcher squire is in contention? The Stormfather picks the exact squire the Nightwatcher wanted for the successor to their own Knight? They are called siblings,  and siblings bicker. Sometimes it's harmless.  Other times...? Not so much. 

Anyway that's all I got.  Any thoughts on this?

 

[Elsebreaker]

I think that the Godspren would have final say in the end. After all, the Stormfather respects Dalinar, but doesn't always agree with his opinion of people. I can't see any one of the extremely powerful Godspren (especially if they're all as strong-willed as the Stormfather) letting somebody else dictate who they bond. I think that most likely it would be a Bondsmith squire but that is because squires tend to meld to the personality of the order. Spending lots of time around a Bondsmith would shape them to become more like one themself. However, I am definitely in agreement with your first theory.

[Karger he/him]

Given that Bondsmiths have squires and that plenty of other people were involved in the organization (as per Brandon's Bondsmith blurb) I think that their are a number of Bondsmiths in training at any given time and that the spren themselves have an eye on possible successors outside those groups.  Also I don't think going a few months without bonding is a big deal provided the other two bondsmiths remained capable.

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

5 hours ago, Karger said:

Given that Bondsmiths have squires and that plenty of other people were involved in the organization (as per Brandon's Bondsmith blurb) I think that their are a number of Bondsmiths in training at any given time and that the spren themselves have an eye on possible successors outside those groups.  Also I don't think going a few months without bonding is a big deal provided the other two bondsmiths remained capable.

In peacetime the Radiants could go for years with only one Bondsmith or perhaps none at all but as a Desolation approaches all hands need to be on deck and taking one offline for any length of time could be detrimental to the war effort.  The Radiants could weather it I'm assuming, but it wouldn't be good.  

I suppose that a successor could be found in the Knights organization and that the Godspren are actively scouting out their next mates. The question only occurs to me because of Syl's reaction to the gloryspren. We know that it's not impossible for a spren and a human to disagree without hurting the bond. But is a spren above poaching another's bondmate? How disruptive would it be if Dalinar died and the Stormfather chose Kaladin instead of any squires Dalinar happened to acquire? What if Kaladin or Jasnah or even Lift wanted to take a more active role in the Knights,  that they weren't content with just leadership of their own Order? Among the KR there will be ambitious people and the Bondsmiths are at the pinnacle of power. I don't necessarily trust the regulation of the KR to the spren,  some just aren't as discerning and as Spark proves, they may have their own agenda. 

[Karger he/him]

1 minute ago, Bigmikey357 said:

But is a spren above poaching another's bondmate?

If they are anything like humans probably not although other options would probably be tried first.  An unwilling individual dedicated to different principles is not usually going to be at the top of any lists.

2 minutes ago, Bigmikey357 said:

How disruptive would it be if Dalinar died and the Stormfather chose Kaladin instead of any squires Dalinar happened to acquire?

Fairly.  I doubt Syl would approve of either her father or her ex-bondmate which is why other options should be considered first but Syl would probably be able to weather the experience.

[Nellac]

I think a 5 oath radiant could pull it off, given they were from the right order. For example, an elsecaller dedicated to becoming a great leader could easily take on a bondsmith role. Also a stoneward that saw no other good options being available could see it as his responsibility and sacrifice to take over the role. In the end it would be up to the Spren, but these are easy ways I think you could have a high ranking radiant also become a bondsmith.

[Frustration he/him]

You have to remember that Bondsmiths didn't participate in combat, I doubt  that the Radiant's relied too heavily on them.

[Bigmikey357 he/him]

2 hours ago, Frustration said:

You have to remember that Bondsmiths didn't participate in combat, I doubt  that the Radiant's relied too heavily on them.

Generals die too, for nothing is certain in warfare,  especially the way Alethi do it. I agree it's less likely if they aren't on the battlefield but any Bondsmith is going to have a huge target on their back if the enemy is even a little bit intelligent. 

2 hours ago, Nellac said:

I think a 5 oath radiant could pull it off, given they were from the right order. For example, an elsecaller dedicated to becoming a great leader could easily take on a bondsmith role. Also a stoneward that saw no other good options being available could see it as his responsibility and sacrifice to take over the role. In the end it would be up to the Spren, but these are easy ways I think you could have a high ranking radiant also become a bondsmith.

If said spren is willing to share with a much greater spren I suppose it could be done. What I cannot see is a 5 Oath guy or gal dissolving their bond. I think the 5 oath Radiant has completely soul merge with their spren in a way only death could sever.

 

3 hours ago, Karger said:

Fairly.  I doubt Syl would approve of either her father or her ex-bondmate which is why other options should be considered first but Syl would probably be able to weather the experience.

If Kaladin never reaches that 5th Oath she'd be able to weather the storm. If he got to 5 I think that they'd have to share. Then again how would that even look to beings that are literally born from oaths?