Vivenna's Blade
| Vivenna's Blade | |
|---|---|
| Abilities | Cuts through any substance |
| Homeworld | Nalthis |
| Universe | Cosmere |
| First Appeared | Oathbringer |
Vivenna's Blade is an Invested weapon possibly crafted via Awakening[1] carried by Vivenna in her guise as Azure on Roshar.[2] While the origins and full powers of the Blade are still unknown, it displays an ability similar to Shardblades to cut through any substance with ease.[3] Vivenna made great use of her Blade defending the city of Kholinar against the Voidbringers[4] and aiding several members of the Knights Radiant in their escape from Shadesmar.[5]
Appearance and PersonalityEdit
Little is known of Vivenna's Blade's personality, if it even has one that resembles an object like Nightblood. It seems likely that it has some level of intelligence, as it is able to investigate its wielder,[6] but it is unknown whether the Blade is truly self-aware. It is known that Vivenna at least views the Blade as female, although the gender identity of such constructs may be subject to interpretation by the wielder.[7]
Despite having an otherworldly look to it,[8] the Blade is not instantly identifiable as a Shardblade or something similar.[4] This is likely due to a difference in origins, as the Blade does not have a spren like Radiant Shardblades do.[2] Its appearance actually differs from that of a typical Shardblade in several ways. Her Blade is small for a Shardblade,[9] is much shorter [4] and thin as well.[9] The Blade is also bare of any gemstones attached to the crossguard or pommel. The Blade has a silver glistening basket hilt.[8]
AbilitiesEdit
“There's no spren here for my Blade because it's flawed. I can't summon or dismiss it, like you can yours. She's a handy weapon, but a pale copy of what you carry. ”
—Vivenna on her Blade[2]
Like many Shardblades, Vivenna's Blade has the ability to cut easily through any non-living substance nearly effortlessly.[3] Unlike Rosharan Shardblades, when Vivenna's Shardblade kills a human it does not cause their eyes to burn out, rather their entire body turns a strange ashen gray color.[4]
Her Blade is also not able to be summoned or dismissed at will.[2] Upon someone drawing Vivenna's Blade for the first time, they will feel a tingling sensation as the Blade investigates them.[6] As the weapon needs to be drawn before investigating someone, it is possible that her sheath, like Nightblood's, is made of aluminum.[10] If the sheath is constructed of aluminum, it is likely that Vivenna's Blade is also blocked by aluminum. It is unknown if other parallels with Nightblood hold true, such as the type of Command Vivenna's Blade was given.[11] However, it doesn't require a source of Investiture to be safely drawn.[12]
HistoryEdit
Early HistoryEdit
The origin of Vivenna's Blade is as of yet unknown, but some things may be inferred about it. Due to the fact that it leaves corpses drained of color[4] and is known to share some similarities with Nightblood,[1] it seems likely that this Blade is an Invested weapon crafted on Nalthis by Awakening the Blade to form a Type Four BioChromatic entity.[13] It was Awakened via a different process or a different Command than Nightblood.[1][12] As only Yesteel[14] and Vasher[11] have knowledge of the process that creates Type 4 BioChromatic entities, it seems likely that one or both may have had a hand in the creation of Vivenna's Blade.
Vivenna seems to associate her past failures and burdens she has let down with the Blade for reasons unknown,[15] so it is possible it played a role in some event in Vivenna's past that she regrets. If the Blade was truly crafted by Awakening on Nalthis, it was likely brought through Shadesmar to Roshar by Vivenna some time in or around early 1173.[9]
Siege of KholinarEdit
“He fought like a Voidbringer. I was there. We were almost overwhelmed, then Azure joined us, holding aloft a gleaming Shardblade. He rallied our numbers, inspired even the wounded to keep fighting. Storms. Felt like we had spren at our backs, holding us up, helping us fight. ”
—A member of the Wall Guard on Azure[8]
Vivenna had possession of her Blade by the time she arrived in Kholinar before the Voidbringer siege truly began. After the Wall Guard lost their previous commander in the riots, she used her Blade to defend the wall against the Cult of Moments, which tried to seize the wall in the chaos.[8] She took up the name Highmarshall Azure, keeping her identity as a woman largely a secret from the city at large, as it would be odd for a woman to be a military commander or hold a Shardblade. As the Voidbringer siege began, Vivenna used her Blade to keep the Fused at bay, as they feared her Blade.[16] Vivenna also made use of the Blade to carve out chunks of stone in a secret room beneath the windblades. She did this to provide her Soulcasters with sufficient raw materials to make enough grain to feed the city under siege.[3]
After meeting Kaladin and agreeing to use a portion of the Wall Guard to liberate the palace,[17] Vivenna helped lead the attack by using her Blade.[4] After being overwhelmed by the singer armies, Vivenna brought her Blade with her to Shadesmar when Shallan engaged the corrupted Oathgate near the palace.[9]
Travels Through ShadesmarEdit
Vivenna kept her Blade on her through their travels to Celebrant,[2] but it was confiscated by the honorspren when Vivenna and her companions escaped Celebrant on their ship, the Honor's Path.[18] During the journey, Vivenna told the first mate Borea that she knew of a way to make Blades without the enslavement of a spren and offered to prove it to her.[6] Borea brought Vivenna's Blade on deck and drew it like instructed, allowing the Blade to investigate Borea. She returned the Blade to Vivenna and offered passage to Lasting Integrity and information on a possible sighting of Nightblood, in exchange for knowledge of how Vivenna's Blade had been forged. When Vivenna's companions left the Honor's Path to travel to Thaylen City, she and her Blade remained behind to fight off the pursuing Fused with the honorspren crew.[5]
TriviaEdit
- Vivenna's Blade has its own name, which Brandon intended to put into Oathbringer, but he was toying with several different names and was not satisfied with any of them, so he left it out.[19]
- Vivenna's Blade is sometimes jokingly called, out-of-universe, "Asterisk", as a reference to a Word of Brandon where he answered a question about its name with "Yes. Asterisk." "Asterisk" here means that there's more to it that he's not saying, but the phrasing made it seem as though that was the full answer, leading to the joke.[20]
- As it is a heavily Invested magical weapon, Vivenna's Blade is likely technically a Shardblade even if its Investiture comes from a different source.[21]
- Nightblood and Vivenna's Blade meeting in combat would have awful consequences; however, Nightblood is more powerful.[22]
NotesEdit
- ↑ a b c Orem signing
— Arcanum - 2017-12-21# - ↑ a b c d e Oathbringer chapter 93#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 81#
- ↑ a b c d e f Oathbringer chapter 83#
- ↑ a b Oathbringer chapter 110#
- ↑ a b c Oathbringer chapter 108#
- ↑ /r/books AMA 2015
— Arcanum - 2015-03-13# - ↑ a b c d Oathbringer chapter 70#
- ↑ a b c d Oathbringer chapter 89#
- ↑ Oathbringer release party
— Arcanum - 2017-11-13# - ↑ a b Warbreaker chapter 51#
- ↑ a b YouTube Spoiler Stream 6
— Arcanum - 2023-12-19# - ↑ Warbreaker Annotations
— Arcanum - 2011-07-25# - ↑ Warbreaker Annotations
— Arcanum - 2011-03-21# - ↑ Oathbringer chapter 101#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 79#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 82#
- ↑ Oathbringer chapter 102#
- ↑ Oathbringer signing London
— Arcanum - 2017-11-28# - ↑ Legion Release Party
— Arcanum - 2018-09-19# - ↑ Calamity Austin signing
— Arcanum - 2016-02-25# - ↑ Starsight Release Party
— Arcanum - 2019-11-26#