Difference between revisions of "Order of Bondsmiths"

| Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination.

| The First Ideal of the Knights Radiant.{{book ref|sa1|59}}

| I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together.

| The Second Ideal of the Bondsmiths, as sworn by [[Dalinar Kholin]].{{book ref|sa2|89}}

| I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.

| The Third Ideal of the Bondsmiths, as sworn by [[Dalinar Kholin]].{{book ref|sa3|119}}

| But as for the Bondsmiths, they had members only three, which number was not uncommon for them; nor did they seek to increase this by great bounds, for during the times of Madasa, only one of their order was in continual accompaniment of Urithiru and its thrones. Their spren was understood to be specific, and to persuade them to grow to the magnitude of the other orders was seen as seditious.

| [[Words of Radiance (in-world)|Words of Radiance, chapter 16, page 14]]{{epigraph ref|sa2|44}}

| So [[Melishi]] retired to his tent, and resolved to destroy the [[Voidbringer]]s upon the next day, but that night did present a different stratagem, related to the unique abilities of the Bondsmiths; and being hurried, he could make no specific account of his process; it was related to the very nature of the Heralds and their divine duties, an attribute the Bondsmiths alone could address.

| [[Words of Radiance (in-world)|Words of Radiance, chapter 30, page 18]]{{epigraph ref|sa2|58}}

| We are uncertain the effects this will have on the parsh. At the very least, it should deny them forms of power. Melishi is confident, but Naze-daughter-Kuzodo warns of unintended side effects.

As Bondsmith spren have been described as shadows of gods, some hold that these spren are in some way be directly related to or associated with the Shards worshiped as gods on Roshar. This might explain why Bondsmiths are said to only bond specific spren, and also why there is a maximum total of three Bondsmiths at any given time, due to the the three Shards relevant to Roshar. Indeed the [[Stormfather]] and the [[Nightwatcher]] are Bondsmith spren{{book ref|sa3|111}} that are associated with [[Honor]]{{book ref|sa3|108}} and [[Cultivation]]{{book ref|sa3|114}} respectively. It has been suggested that the third Bondsmith spren may be the mysterious [[Sibling]],{{book ref|sa3|111}} but even still the nature of this unknown spren remains unclear. As Odium is the third major Shard with significant influence Roshar, it is possible that this third Bondsmith spren is associated with Odium in some way, even perhaps symbolically. However the concept of a Bondsmith that represents or is related to the enemy of the [[Knights Radiant]] is somewhat self-contradictory. Alternatively, it may be a spren that represents a balance between Honor and Cultivation.