White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings Expertly While Soldiers Burn. Got it?
Hi Internet! I'm Steve, and this is RAFO.
A recurring topic in my last few videos has been the concept of bonding in the Cosmere, and today
we finally get to talk about the instance that basically everybody knows and loves:
the Knights Radiant of Roshar.
Quick recap: Cosmere bonding occurs when the spiritwebs of two individuals are bridged,
typically a human and some sort of splinter of investiture. This allows
spiritual resources and abilities to be shared between the two entities.
On Roshar, specifically with the Knights Radiant, this is called a Nahel bond,
and means that the bonded spren now has a solid tie to the Physical Realm,
as well as the bonded knight developing control over the natural surges that those spren personify.
Ten overlapping surges; ten orders of knights radiant; only seven of which we've officially met.
It can be pretty difficult trying to keep them all straight. Luckily,
you've got me. After hours of research and pondering, I've created this acrostic to help you
remember the difference between Willshapers and Windrunners.
If you've read the prologue to the Way of Kings, this should feel pretty familiar to you:
White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings Expertly While Soldiers Burn. Got it?
White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings Expertly While Soldiers Burn.
Kay. So it all starts with our favorite and the most well known order: the Windrunners.
Windrunners have control over the surges of Adhesion and Gravitation, so they are able to manipulate
atmospheric pressure around objects, and alter their spiritual gravitation connection to their planet, changing their specific gravity.
But not like "specific gravity" just, like, their specific gravity.
Basically they can stick stuff together and make things fall the wrong way.
Apart from the first ideal which all Knights Radiant share:
"Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination,"
the ideals we've seen of the Windrunners are all related to protecting.
"I will protect those who cannot protect themselves; I will protect even those I hate; I will cry when I can't figure out who to protect."
The Windrunners are presided over by the "Herald of Kings," Jezrien, who has some gorgeous art in the endpapers of Oathbringer.
I mean, have you seen him? Huh!
Now we know that each surge overlaps with two radiant orders. And in this case,
Gravitation is shared with the next order (White Shin) Skybreakers.
The Skybreaker's oaths are centered around the concept of justice,
and they take it upon themselves to absolutely "Nale" any lawbreakers.
So far Gravitation is the only surge we've really seen used by the Skybreakers,
allowing them to "fly" in the same manner as Windrunners.
"That wasn't flying! That was falling with style!"
They also have access to the surge of Division, which means they should be able to influence the decay or dissolution of substances.
However, we've yet to really see that surge from a Skybreaker. Division is also used by the...
(White Shin Dude) Dustbringers.
It seems that control over this surge allows the breaking of chemical bonds between atoms,
which causes a large release of energy, often in the form of a flame.
Perhaps that's why they preferred the name "Releasers."
The amount of control that Dustbringers have over this surge is really impressive,
from delicate engravings to straight-up combustion of stone.
We don't know much about their patron Herald Chanarach, except that Fleet once beat her in a race, implying she's real fast.
This is probably because of the other surge Dustbringers can bind, that of Abrasion.
However, the most we've seen of Abrasion is actually from the next order,
the (White Shin Dude Executes) Edgedancers
Abrasion is the surge of friction; Edgedancers are able to change how much grip their body has to any surface,
enabling them to run up the steepest inclines, or slide effortlessly on the ground like butter on a warm pancake.
The oaths of the Edgedancers seemed to focus on compassion and empathy:
Remembering the forgotten and listening to the ignored; though
I'm not sure I would want to necessarily go to Lift for therapy.
The other surge of the Edgedancers is Progression, which is basically exactly what it sounds like:
making things grow faster than they normally would. This works on plants as well as people,
manifesting is the ability to heal others. Basically extending the benefits of Stormlight healing to other people.
Knowing this, it makes sense the Herald over the Edgedancers, Vedel, was responsible for training surgeons before Desolations.
The other order known for their healing abilities the (White Shin Dude Executes Three) the Truthwatchers.
We don't really know much about them despite the fact that we've met, at least briefly, three in the book so far.
Historically, this order has been fairly closed off and secretive not because of "an exceeding abundance of disdain,
but rather an exceeding abundance of tact."
According to one Truthwatcher, their uniqueness stems from the fact that they can "see,"
likely a combination of their surges Progression and Illumination.
We've seen what this may look like in Oathbringer, but that account may not be the most reliable because...
...reasons.
We've yet to hear any of their oaths, but the Truthwatchers were known to seek knowledge for the benefit of other people.
Perhaps this is why their Herald, Pailiah, has been seen in the Palanaeum in Kharbranth.
(White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings) Lightweavers do exactly what their name says:
They can weave light. More technically, they, as with Truthwatchers, have control over light, sound, and other waveforms.
They can make illusions. The applications of this power are pretty varied, from espionage to
"providing spiritual sustenance for the other orders." Pretty sure they were the cute cat video database of the Knights Radiant.
The other surge of the Lightweavers is that of Transformation: turning one substance into a different substance.
In world this is called soulcasting. This enables Lightweavers, as well as the next order Elsecallers, to change
stones into grain, rock into smoke, and blood into...
different blood. The only things that are impossible to soulcast are aluminum,
for Cosmere-wide reasons and, apparently, sticks.
Unlike the other orders, Lightweavers only have one standard ideal: "Life before death," etc.
The later ideals require the speaking of individual "truths," seemingly geared toward personal growth and self-discovery;
though this also may feed into some self-destructive tendencies as well.
In fact, the patron of the Lightweavers, Shalash, has taken both self-discovery and self-destruction quite literally.
Next up are the (White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings Expertly) Elsecallers!
Of whom we've met but one. This order can soulcast as well as, appropriately, elsecall,
or transfer at will in and out of the cognitive realm using the surge of Transportation.
Given the danger of travel into Shadesmar, it makes sense that this order is known for being wise and careful.
Though if the rumors are true about what their patron herald Batar is doing, perhaps they are too careful.
Sharing the surge of Transportation is the Willshapers, though they're not "masters of Shadesmar" like the Elsecallers are.
They can also bind the surge Cohesion, but since we haven't really met any Willshapers yet, we don't know what that means exactly.
The pat.. the pu.. psadfoiop;sas;kldfa;we;f
The prelude to the Stormlight Archive is in the viewpoint of Kalak, the patron herald of their order.
But we still don't know much about them except that Kalak had either really good or really bad breath.
(Okay, White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings Expertly While Soldiers.)
Then there's the stony, stoic, Stonewards who we've also never met. Kinda.
There's a crazy guy running around after the Way of Kings that may or may not be Talanel, the Stoneward Herald.
In a flashback, a flash-way-back, we also witness a Stoneward binding a surge to form steps out of the side of a cliff face.
This gets referred to as the surge of Tension. It's not! Sorry guys, the Stormfather is wrong on this one.
It's Cohesion, or the surge of strong axial interconnection, which seems to be able to affect
the material phase of substances, or at least stone, making it go all goopy instead of be solid.
If surgebinding allows manipulation on other realms - cognitive or spiritual as well as physical -
then perhaps that's how the Willshapers got their name: by making people's wills go all goopy.
Anyway, Stonewards can also bind Tension, the soft axial interconnection surge, which is shared with the...
(White Shin Dude Executes Three Lashings Expertly While Soldiers Burn)
...Bondsmiths. Now the Bondsmith's are an interesting trio, mostly because of what that sentence says.
Historically there's been a max number of three. So far we've met one, so considering the potential number of nights and other orders,
these guys are already 33 percent done with the awkward getting-to-know-you games.
Just like the other Heralds, the former leader of the Bondsmiths is still kicking around on Roshar.
Ishar, the herald of luck, was apparently the wisest of the heralds, and at least according to some,
the only one who didn't go cuckoo for crempuffs over the past four and a half thousand years.
After learning what he's up to however, I'm not too sure about that.
Bondsmiths bind the surges of Tension and Adhesion, and as implied by the name, are focused on
bonding and connecting things. Uniting, if you will. Adhesion also gives the use of the full lashing,
as we've seen with the Windrunners, which is being able to stick things to other things.
Tension is a bit more fiddly, because it works differently for Bondsmiths than it does for Stonewards,
but in relating to the binding of things we may be able to think of the surge of Tension similar to how we think of
a rope that has tension: a force that is literally connecting two objects. Pull on one, it pulls on the other.
It's also been described as the ability to take something flexible and make it rigid,
or to make a piece of cloth become as hard as steel
What with fabrial technology progressing as it is, sounds like something we might have seen already in Jah Keved.
We know that Tension can be used by Bondsmiths to repair inanimate objects,
pulling things back together like beads on a spiritual string.
We've also seen Adhesion used on a spiritual level,
sticking to spiritwebs together, artificially creating a connection.
Apparently when you combine these two surges of Tension and Adhesion, some pretty crazy cool stuff can happen.
Thank you so much for watching this video. Also big thanks to the indomitable
Jofwu both in general for his support of the Sanderfan community, and letting me use this nifty chart!
If you like the art you saw in this video, be sure to support the artists that I've listed in the description below.
They have some fantastic stuff; check them out!
Next time we'll be continuing our exploration of investiture on Roshar,
so check out these other videos to make sure you're up to speed.
I'll try and get it released quicker than the last one, so be sure to subscribe so you're notified as soon as it comes out.
In the meantime, the next Legion book was just released, so...
I have to Read And Find Out.