Work Text:
THE JOURNAL OF SPREN STUDIES 2(1)
On the revival and rejuvenation of “deadeye” spren using cognitive and Nahel bond resonances
Jasnah Kholin
Abstract: Although the scholarship surrounding the Knights Radiant has merited sociological interest in the past, the shifts in power structure within Roshar as well as the recent revival of the Knights Radiant raises a question: what will become of the spren who have become Shardblades? Called “deadeyes” by the sapient spren of the Cognitive Realm, these spren are not “dead” so much as they are incapable of individualistic thought. This paper looks into the possibility of deadeye revival using qualitative research as its core methodology.
Keywords: Cognitive Realm, deadeye, Edgedancer, Nahel bond, revival, Shadesmar, spren
INTRODUCTION
There are several truths currently unwritten by scholars, all of which need to be recorded as a matter of record before the likely Desolation of this age. Specifically, the Shardblades used by soldiers on Roshar are actually spren given corporal form due to the Nahel bond, a shared power between man and spren. This information was confirmed through interviews with sentient spren (Ivory, personal communication, 1174; Syl, personal communication, 1174). The incapacitated Shardblade spren have lost their cognitive essence, their sentience, due to the breaking of the Nahel bond by the former Knights Radiant, figures spoken of as mythology in folkloristic accounts (Shadows Remembered, 1150).
Deadeyes are considered “dead” due to the sprens’ perceived lack of sentience. Until recently, an incapacitated spren had never been revived. A primary-source interview with one revived spren and her Nahel-bonded human partner has proven this idea incorrect (Kholin, personal communication, 1174; Maya, personal communication, 1174). The revival process releases the spren from their Shardblade form and allows them to regain autonomy in the Physical Realm, in addition to helping them regain parts of their identity such as names and personal memories.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Although there is not much research to be found on the Cognitive Realm, called “Shadesmar” by its inhabitants, there are likely several reasons for this gap in the literature. The individuals of this age have long since thought of the concept of Radiance, the Nahel bond, and the autonomy of spren as little more than folklore. Folklorist Vedel Tinar, in her seminal work on spren folklore transmission in Western Roshar, wrote (1150) that “[…]people spoke of the Knights Radiant with differing affect depending on age and religion. The youngest contributors spoke of the Knights Radiant with awe, while the oldest dismissed the idea as fantasy.” This dismissive attitude was prevalent until 1173, when the Knights Radiant as an organization, comprised of humans bonded to spren, was refounded and the concept of the Nahel bond became verified by scholars through firsthand accounts.
While new scholarship on spren has been published in recent years, there is no published work discussing the connection between “deadeye” spren and Shardblades. The closest work is Ethid Ashel’s article, “Spren of Radiant Orders: A system of classification for a new age,” published in 1174 in Journal of Metaphysical Realities. In this article, she discusses the attributes of each spren type, remarking on the Nahel bond being enacted between humans and sapient spren, not emotional-loci spren such as angerspren. The need for a spren’s personhood suggests that an absence or revocation of sentience is possible, as it is with humans who suffer trauma. In-person interviews with bonded spren, although not a part of the established literature as of yet, corroborate this idea.
Furthermore, discussion of spren and the Knights Radiant would be remiss without a look at scholarship on Stormlight and its uses. While Stormlight’s practical applications in lighting apparati and in fabrial design are well noted, particular by artifiabrian and scholar Riedrin Bentin, there is little recent scholarship on Stormlight use in regards to Surges, or uses by Nahel-bonded humans as facilitated by spren. Bentin, who has studied ancient texts regarding the Recreance and the former Knights Radiant, provides a unified theory of “resonance” by which different Orders both combine their Surges as well as access synergistic abilities (1165, p. 20-25). One such noted ability is the collection of “Memories” by Lightweavers, an ability that Bentin proposes is synthesis of the Order’s Surges of drawing light, then transmuting it to a mental image (1165, p. 27). Resonance is a poorly understood phenomenon and a very real gap in research for applied Stormlight use.
METHODOLOGY
The methodology for his research, given the gap in the literature and the recent changes in theoretical possibility vis-à-vis spren revival, was comprised of two components: direct interviews with a successfully revived spren, a Cultivationspren named Maya, and her Nahel-bonded human partner, Adolin Kholin, as well as with another member of the Edgedancer Radiant Order, Lift. The scope of this project, and of this paper, is not to fully investigate all possibilities for spren revival, but instead to propose avenues of further research. As such, interviewing was the primary methodology.
Interviews with the first two subjects were conducted in four sessions. The first session was done with only the spren, while the second session only involved the human partner, insomuch as each could remain separate given the nature of their bond. These interviews were conducted separately to look for gaps in memory and to confirm historical accuracy. The third and fourth interviews were directed at both parties at once, with third interview seeking initial answers and the fourth seeking elaboration. A later interview with the third subject was conducted after these initial four interviews were coded and analyzed. All sessions were recorded via a scribe for later review.
RESULTS
Initial interviews between Maya, the spren, and Kholin, the partner, revealed a few common beliefs shared between the two, which is not unexpected given that Ashel’s work (1174) suggests spren find humans whose personality and ideals match theirs and their Orders’. For example, both individuals believe strongly in the healing power of remembrance and the value of memory as a means of honoring the dead. This is a quality of the Order associated with their bond, the Edgedancers. The positive association between memory and fulfillment was brought up by both interviewees during separate sessions, indicating a shared value system. When Lift was interviewed at a later date, she showed an inclination towards those same values.
During the shared interview sessions, practical matters were discussed regarding the process of the revival as remembered by both parties. Kholin is an outlier in the treatment of his Shardblade, and this cannot be discredited as playing a large role in Maya’s eventual awakening. Even before he understood the former sapient nature of his blade, he spoke to it with familiarity, possibly helping Maya to remember herself at the moments she bore her physical form. Maya agreed with this idea, stating, “I could remember hearing him speak to me, even if those memories were faint in Shadesmar” (1174).
Throughout the four interviews, both Kholin and Maya suggested that Kholin’s active role in insisting Maya was alive, even when she appeared as a mere Shardblade, allowed her cognitive self to rebuild in the Physical Realm, which continued to solidify during her time spent as a deadeye in Shadesmar. That said, interviews also revealed that Kholin visited Shadesmar during this time, interacting with Maya in her incapacitated state. It is possible that a combination of Kholin’s speech acts and the further support of Maya as being a sapient being as he spoke with her cognitive-physical self could have had a synergistic effect.
Maya claimed that her true revival, her holistic recovery as a thinking entity, came about after Kholin suffered a grave injury that could only be healed by Stormlight. After half-remembering herself enough to think of herself in individualistic terms, giving her enough autonomy to tell Kholin her name, she still had yet to reach full awareness. This later injury triggered enough coherence for Maya to suggest that Kholin bond with her (1174).
Let it be noted that, although Kholin had a weak bond with Maya in her Shardblade form, as all Shardbearers have due to the nature of the blades, he had not yet developed a Nahel bond prior to Maya’s revival. She revived, then bonded with Kholin. This timeline is important to remember moving forward, as although Surges and Edgedancer-specific resonances could be considered important in the revival process, they were not required in this specific instance. This paper merely suggests areas of study to replicate this process, even beyond the need for a strong proto-sapient bond between a Shardbearer and their blade.
DISCUSSION
As seen through the interviews, themes of memory, remembrance, and healing are found in the actions and thoughts of all subjects. While it could simply be the case that Kholin’s unusual focus on his Shardblade as being alive was the catalyst to Maya’s revival, the alignment of the Edgedancer Order with qualities associated with “bringing up things from the past” may have played a role in starting this conversion process (Kholin, 1174). One area of interest revealed during the interview with Lift was the Surge of Progression, or growth, and the possible resonances arising between it and the Surge of Abrasion, or friction.
Resonance is poorly understood, even by ancient scholars. While some resonances are mentioned, as with the Lightweavers’ Memory and suggestions in Brando Sando’s texts regarding Windrunners’ inclination towards Stormlight equilibrium in group settings, others are unknown due to missing or lacking scholarship (2019). The Edgedancer Order is a group without a clearly defined resonance, although Sando teases the idea of communication as a possibility (2019). The Bondsmith Order, with its emphasis on rebuilding and strengthening bonds, is another area worth exploring. Both of these groups could have resonances that could assist with helping “dead” spren remember themselves. As testing resonances is beyond the scope of this paper, the author encourages scholars connect with collaborators with the Nahel bond.
CONCLUSION
Although the current framework of knowledge is sparse, these firsthand accounts of the revival process for deadeye offer much to spren- and Radiant-focused scholars. There is a gap in the literature begging to be filled by further primary research as well as purposeful experimentation. The exponential growth of Nahel-bonded humans on Roshar, as well as the large number of Shardblades, provides avenues for later work.
The revival of deadeye spren is not only of scholarly interest; it’s of humanistic value. Spren, particularly sapient spren, have differing moral codes and worldviews than the peoples of Roshar (Ashel, 1174). Even so, their cognitive functions and emotional engagement suggest a sentience that begs the question of an ethical need to work towards their revival. Even beyond this simplistic view, consider the practical applications. With Roshar heading towards war—undebatable even from the Veristitalian standpoint—reviving deadeye spren is not so much a matter of morals as it is a necessity.
REFERENCES
Ashel, E. (1174). Spren of Radiant Orders: A system of classification for a new age. Journal of Metaphysical Realities, 25(3), 30-38.
Bentin, R. (1165). Cognitive resonance, Stormlight, and a unified perspective on application and uses. Stormlight Research, 2(1), 12-50.
Bentin, R. (1167). A Stormlight primer.
Sando, B. (2019).
Shadows remembered. (1150).
Tinar, V. (1150). Folklore in transmission: Western Rosharian storytelling among the people.