Bondsmith Oaths

[Spinner16]

Dalinar says a lot of awesome things at the end of Oathbringer, and it is safe to assume that at least of them is an Ideal. According to The Coppermind, Dalinar's Third Ideal is as follows. "I will take responsibility for what I had done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man." This made sense to me. Then the descriptions of the orders came out on Brandon's website. That got me thinking. Theory time:

Bondsmiths are all about unity (or maybe Unity). However, the description does say that "this is a loose theme, as there are so few Bondsmiths—and the three sources of their powers are so different in personality—that the oaths can end up taking a variety of different shapes, depending on the situation." So it makes sense that the responsibility oath is something Dalinar would swear, it is attuned to his personal journey. But what caught my interest was the Dustbringer description, "Dustbringer oaths were themed toward responsibility. They were led to understand that the powers they used needed to be properly channeled, much as their own desires and wills needed proper form and shape." Take Dalinar's Third Ideal out of context. His words are an oath to take responsibility. He speaks to falling and becoming something better because of it. This sounds very Dustbringer to me. And this is Brandon we're dealing with. Literally every mention of the word "passion" in this books has some hidden meaning fans have yet to uncover. I find it hard to believe that Brandon would make this oath sound so similar to that of a Dustbringer without reason.

Extrapolating like crazy, I have reached this conclusion about Bondsmiths. Here are the facts:

1.They were the leaders

2.There were three of them

3.They worked to resolve disputes

A huge theme of the Stormlight Archive is that a leader learns through diversity of experiences. Nohadon's entire life was spent learning the ways of the people he led. Who do the Bondsmiths lead? The Radiants. What if Bondsmith Oaths are borrowed from the Orders of Radiants that they govern? That would be such an incredible way to ensure that the leaders were capable of understanding and resolving disputes. Here is how I propose bondsmith progression works.

Ideal 1: Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination

Ideal 2: Unity oath

Ideals 3-5: Ideals containing themes from 3 different orders of Knight's Radiant.

If there were three full Bondsmiths leading the radiants, and each of the three chose a different combination of 3 orders, that means that the Bondsmiths would, in a sense, be a part of all 9 other Orders. In addition, this diversity of Oaths and mentalities is what makes each Bondsmith so unique in abilities. Dustbringer fits Dalinar so well, and swearing that Oath allowed him to grow through a part of his life and understand the world more clearly. What Oaths are to come for him? Only time will tell. Or maybe time will only serve to disprove my theory.

 

[Honorless he/him]

I just saw this on Reddit today, OP might be interested:

https://amp.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/i3qiyt/theory_was_the_blackthorn_originally_going_to_be_a/

[Spinner16]

13 hours ago, Honorless said:

I just saw this on Reddit today, OP might be interested:

https://amp.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/i3qiyt/theory_was_the_blackthorn_originally_going_to_be_a/

I love this. Somehow every minute detail in these 1200 page books has some sort of importance. I really like the idea that the Nightwatcher changed Dalinar's order.