Deadeye
| Deadeye | |
|---|---|
 by Casta
| |
| Type | Spren |
| Abilities | Splinter |
| World of Origin | Roshar |
| Universe | Cosmere |
“You use her corpse on the other side, don't you? Well, I won’t blame you. ”
Deadeye spren are spren who were bonded to Knights Radiant and were killed when their oaths were abandoned.[1]
History[edit]
Deadeyes did not exist before the Recreance.[2][3] What happened to spren whose Radiants abandoned their oaths prior to the Recreance is unknown. According to Kalak, who was involved with the incident,[4] this was related to the imprisonment of Ba-Ado-Mishram which also caused the transformation of the singers into the parshmen.[5] It is unclear if Ba-Ado-Mishram's release would heal the deadeyes.
Creation[edit]
A spren becomes a deadeye when the Surgebinder they've been bonded to breaks their Oaths.[1] It requires the Surgebinder to have previously sworn a sufficient number of them for the spren to manifest as a Shardblade -- if the breaking happens earlier, the spren appears to simply vanish. Regardless, the process causes the spren significant pain.[6]
Abandoning the Oaths breaks something in the Spiritual aspect of the spren.[7] Even broken, however, the Oaths continue to affect it, locking it in the form of a Shardblade and preventing it from returning back to the world.[8]
Appearance[edit]
In the Physical Realm, deadeye corpses are Shardblades.[1] There are several differences between dead Blades and living ones -- they do not glow, they are incapable of changing their shape, and they require a gemstone to be inserted in order to be bonded.[9][10][11] They also need ten heartbeats before appearing, as opposed to materializing immediately.[12] Moreover, when a dead Shardblade is dismissed, a deadeye spren doesn't appear in the Physical Realm the way a living one does, but rather remains in Shadesmar.[10]
They can be any type of Radiant spren, with Mayalaran being cultivationspren[13], Testament being a Cryptic,[2] and Captain Ico's Father being a lightspren.[1] Their eyes appear to be scratched out, though not like empty eye sockets, but rather like a painting that's been defaced.[14] Presumably, it's this that the name "deadeye" came from.
Becoming a deadeye leads to other changes in a spren's appearance as well. Live cultivationspren are made of green vines,[15] but Maya's vines are ashen brown, dried-out, and more tightly woven.[16][17][18] Deadeye Cryptics' head patterns cease moving and become twisted and jagged; though they don't have eyes to begin with, the same scraping effect appears in the center of the pattern.[19]
Behavior[edit]
“It hates you—but less than it hates others. ”
Deadeye spren cannot talk, only screech. They scream when someone attempts to summon them.[21] In the Physical Realm, a Surgebinder who touches a deadeye Blade will hear it shriek. Someone touching the Blade alongside a Surgebinder will also hear the screaming, which will apparently continue for some time after the Surgebinder lets go.[22]
In Shadesmar, deadeyes are generally placid and unresponsive. If left to their own devices, they'll try to reach the location of their Physical form.[1] They also seem to feel attracted to the people their Blades are bonded to.[15] In their desire to reach their goal, deadeyes ignore any obstacles in their way, which can be problematic when, for example, they waltz right into the sea of beads. Fortunately, it's easy to prevent them from movement -- Mayalaran only requires her hand to be held, and Ico locks his father up in a cargo hold.[15][1]
A deadeye retains some small level of consciousness;[8] however, it's unclear just how much sapience they have. While they usually seem dull to external stimuli save their desire to reach the Blades, there have been several cases of deadeyes showing higher awareness of their surroundings. Oathbringer's spren is aware of who holds it, and can discern Dalinar from others, reacting differently to him.[20] Mayalaran, in turn, follows Adolin around and tries to protect him.[15][17]
The Shadesmar location of a deadeye relative to the Physical location of its Shardbearer does have a minuscule impact on the speed at which the Blade is summoned. It seems that to become a Shardblade, the deadeye travels to the desired location at the speed of light, or something approaching it.[23]
Resurrection[edit]
“We! CHOSE! ”
—Mayalaran[4]
Deadeye spren can be at least partially revived.[4] Mayalaran, Adolin's deadeye Shardblade, regains consciousness during Adolin's trial by witness in Lasting Integrity while under extreme emotional stress.[4]
Once partially revived, a former deadeye spren does not return fully to their pre-deadeye form. In the case of Maya, her eyes remain scratched out, but she is able to speak. Her thoughts and speech seem slightly slow or off, although it is unclear whether that is simply due to being newly revived and overwhelmed. Reviving a deadeye does not create a Nahel bond between the deadeye and Shardbearer, though Adolin notes that he can sense Maya's emotions and awareness, which is not part of a Nahel bond.[4] It is unclear whether a deadeye can be completely restored to their original form.
In the case of Maya, she began to exhibit signs of consciousness a year before being revived. She attacked both Fused and Tukari to protect Adolin's life, and gave him her name as a thought.[17][24][25] Adolin interacted with Maya in a tender way, speaking to her as part of his dueling ritual and treating her as a person when in Shadesmar; this may have contributed to their Connection, encouraging the resurrection. By performing katas with her each day as a Shardblade, Adolin was able to teach her the movements and perform the same movements in Shadesmar.
Spren of all types believe it impossible to revive a deadeye. Before Maya was revived, spren who Adolin told of Maya's behavior assumed that he had trained her to act in such ways, which suggests that it may be possible to train deadeyes to perform certain tasks. When confronted by such behavior, or when being told of her speaking to Adolin, almost every spren replied with the same word: "Curious." When Dalinar inquires about bringing Oathbringer's spren back to life, the Stormfather states that he knows of no way to do so.[20] Pattern, on the other hand, speculates that if the original Knights Radiant who had broken their Oaths and killed them were still alive, it might be possible for a deadeye to come back.[26] If the person who broke the Oaths re-swore them, the spren could return; however, a different person swearing the same Oaths would not be enough.[13] It is likely that a large quantities of Stormlight would be an important, but not key element of the process.[7]
Notable Deadeyes[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ a b c d e f g Oathbringer chapter 101#
- ↑ a b Rhythm of War chapter 115#
- ↑ YouTube Livestream 23
— Arcanum - 2020-12-17# - ↑ a b c d e Rhythm of War chapter 94#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 97#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 69#
- ↑ a b Firefight release party
— Arcanum - 2015-01-05# - ↑ a b Firefight San Francisco signing
— Arcanum - 2015-01-17# - ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 72#
- ↑ a b Words of Radiance chapter 84#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 16#
- ↑ The Way of Kings prologue#
- ↑ a b Firefight release party
— Arcanum - 2015-01-05# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 93#
- ↑ a b c d Oathbringer chapter 102#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 87#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 117#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 22#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 29#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 28#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 89#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 57#
- ↑ Emerald City Comic Con 2018
— Arcanum - 2018-03-01# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 120#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 35#
- ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 75#