An alternative view of Skybreaker Oaths

[Nellac]

There has always been an assumption that the entire point of Skybreaker oaths is to follow the law. But what if that's not quite right? What if instead of following the law or a certain moral code, they are finding their own personal moral code. Many times we think that each oath builds on the last, but what if, at least for Skybreakers, they are replacements? Brandon has said that a Skybreaker could swear to the pirate code for their third oath, but that blatantly goes against the second ideal of following the law. I think each oath is a step towards a strong moral identity and that each oath replaces the last given.

If we take a look at each of the Skybreaker specific oaths they seem to follow the general formula of generating a moral compass. The second oath is "To put the law before all else" or "to seek justice." The law is the most basic form of morality there is. Most laws in a society reflect the morals of that society. Murder, theft, rape etc are illegal almost everywhere because most people consider them to be immoral. Things like slavery are seen as moral by some people and immoral by others, so some countries have it legalized and others don't. In the end laws are a general reflection of the morality of the society, or at least those who lead it. If someone were to try to find what was moral from absolute basics, this is the first step.

Even if someone follows the law, they don't really have a strong moral identity yet. For example if there is a child playing on the street you have no legal obligation to pull them out of the way of passing cars. You do however have a strong moral obligation to do so, by most moral codes. The third ideal is about finding a strong moral base to build upon. This vould be something like a specific religion. It could also be following a certain individuals teachings. Szeth swears to Dalinar, but I think we could easily see a Skybreaker swear to the teachings of someone who is dead, like Ghandi or Aristotle or something. They are using the code they swear to as a next step in building their own morality.

The fourth ideal is where the morals are tested in the real world. There are many philosophies and ideas that sound grand on paper, but don't work in the real world. There is also something to be said for the increased knowledge you gain on a subject when you actually have to use it. When someone questions your morality and really makes you think about not whether something is right or wrong, but why that thing is right or wrong, you become much stronger in your understanding of right and wrong. When a Skybreaker takes on their crusade, it's not just about their end goal, it's about what they'll have to do along the way and how that will change them and how they think. It's the journey before the destination.

The fifth ideal comes when a Skybreaker has found and is confident in their own morality. Nale declares that the fifth oath is, "I am the Law." For him this may have been true because his entire moral code is wrapped up in the law. For others though it may be more vague. I think a better blanket oath would be "I know what is moral." Following this trail I want Szeth's fifth oath to be "I know what evil is." When a Skybreaker reaches this point they are confident in their understanding of right and wrong. They know what is good and they know what is evil. They no longer need the crutch of a moral code or the law to tell this to them. We see Nale do this a lot. Because he considers himself to be the law, he does a lot of things that are only borderline legal. That being said, he considers them to be fine and moral so they must be legal, as he is the law.

Now, I know that a lot of this is just theoretical. All things considered we haven't really seen that much about the Skybreakers and how they might grow and change so we'll just have to wait and see. I just found this to be an interesting line of thought and wanted to put it out here for others to think about.