Oathpact
| Oathpact | |
|---|---|
 by taratjah
| |
| Related to | Heralds, Honor, Fused |
| World of Origin | Roshar |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Oathpact is an oath held by the Heralds of The Almighty to protect the world in the times of the Desolations.[1]
History
During the Desolations, Odium had given his soldiers powers, allowing them to remain past their deaths as Cognitive Shadows. After being killed, these singers, known as the Fused, were able to take over the bodies of other singers and manipulate the Surges with Voidlight. Every time a Fused was killed, the soul would simply be born again into a new host. This made an impossible challenge for the humans as their strongest enemies could never be permanently killed, and so the Oathpact was created to solve this problem.
Five men and five women gave themselves up voluntarily to this pact, who would become known as the ten Heralds. With Honor's blessing, they traveled to Braize and sealed the spren of the enemy there. It prevented the Fused from returning, and so ended the war. But the Fused tortured the Heralds on Braize until one of the Heralds broke. Thus the Heralds and the Fused would return, starting a new Desolation. At the beginning, the Heralds held strong and hundreds of years passed between Desolations.[2] Around 2500 years later,[2][3] the Heralds started to lose their sanity, and there was less than a year between the last two Desolations, which left humans no time to rebuild society.[2] To solve this problem, nine Heralds found a way to abandon the Oathpact and left Talenel, who has never broken, to uphold it by himself. For over four and a half millennia, Talenel withstood the torture of the enemy, but he finally broke, returning to Roshar. This caused the True Desolation, currently occurring on Roshar.[2]
After the Last Desolation, nine of the Heralds abandoned the Oathpact, leaving only Talenel to uphold it.[1] However, despite what they believe, all the Heralds are still bound to the Oathpact.[4] Dalinar saw the Oathpact and noted a particularly strong, still potent connection when he touched Nale with Bondsmith powers.[5]
Mechanics
The Heralds and the Shard Honor were the only two parties who were part of the Oathpact.[6] Odium being bound to the Roshar system was not a direct result of the Oathpact but the Oathpact is part of it. [7] Upon dying during a Desolation, the Heralds are returned to Braize; however, even if they survived the Desolation, they are still supposed to return or the Fused will continue to reborn.[1]
While the Oathpact still remains,[8] how much is unknown. Ishar implied that there is a way to reset the Oathpact when he shortly regained sanity. He instructed Dalinar to meet him in Shinovar and let a Radiant swear an Ideal near him to proceed.[9]
Notes
- ↑ a b c Prelude to the Stormlight Archive#
- ↑ a b c d Oathbringer chapter 38#
- ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 76#
- ↑ Salt Lake City ComicCon 2017
— Arcanum - 2017-09-23# - ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 47#
- ↑ Words of Radiance signing Dayton
— Arcanum - 2014-03-19# - ↑ Shadows of Self Chicago signing
— Arcanum - 2015-10-12# - ↑ Steelheart Seattle signing
— Arcanum - 2013-10-14# - ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 111#