Difference between revisions of "Ishar"

|image=Ishar Endsheet.jpg

|abilities={{tag+|Cognitive Shadow}}, {{tag+|Shardbearer}}

|aliases= Ishi, Tashi, Tezim, Ishu-son-God

|universe=[[Cosmere]]

}}

{{update|sa4}}

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== Appearance and Personality ==

{{image|Ishar by Shuravf.jpg|side=left|width=250px}}

{{quote

|None are Radiant but him. His fury is ignited by your pitiful claims, and your unlawful capture of his holy city is an act of rebellion, depravity, and wickedness.

}}

 

 

He is known to be incredibly charismatic, capable of swaying entire nations to follow him, as well as to convince the other Heralds of his opinions and his sanity.{{book ref|sa3|106}}{{book ref|sa3|64}} He also seems to be scholarly, and deeply interested in the inner working of the [[Oathpact]] and the mechanics surrounding it.{{book ref|sa1|part=prelude}} In addition, Ishar is an excellent duelist, easily defeating five Windrunners of the Third Ideal with minimal use of [[Surgebinding]]. The [[Stormfather]] notes that among the [[Heralds]] he was only average in skill, though he was not a warrior at the beginning of the [[Oathpact]].{{book ref|sa4|111}}

 

This megalomania and charisma together make for a highly dangerous combination, as even now the other Heralds hold Ishar in particularly high esteem. [[Nale]] claims that Ishar has always been the wisest of them all, and [[Shalash]] believes that he would know how to cure [[Taln]]'s madness.{{book ref|sa3|121}} Additionally, Shalash presents him as a confident, eager man; energetic, and more of a battlefield commander than a wise scholar. He is bold rather than crafty, a man who pulled others after him on seemingly crazed ideas that ended up working.{{book ref|sa4|111}}

 

== Attributes and Abilities ==

{{for|Herald#Abilities|a general description of Heraldic powers}}

 

 

 

=== Binder of Gods ===

Unlike other Heralds, Ishar is sometimes described as having powers even before he became known as a Herald, although whether this means he had them before ''becoming'' a Herald is uncertain. His particular powers are seemingly tied to the [[cosmere]]-wide phenomenon of [[Connection]]. He is often described as the founder of the [[Oathpact]], and is believed to have been the founder of the [[Knights Radiant]], forcing them to organize and adopt precepts to live by, likely to prevent another [[Ashyn]]-like catastrophe.{{epigraph ref|sa2|42}}{{book ref|sa3|64}} Even among the other Heralds, the Radiants were sometimes known as "Ishar's Knights".{{book ref|sa2|63}}

 

== History ==

{{image|Ending the Oathpact by Katie Payne.jpg|side=right|width=400px|Abandoning the [[Oathpact]] with the other [[Herald]]s}}

=== Herald of the Almighty ===

{{quote

}}

 

 

The Oathpact demanded that to stop the [[Desolation]]s, the Heralds had to travel to [[Braize]] after each one ended. This led to them being tortured until at least one broke, sending them all -- and a Desolation -- back to Roshar.{{book ref|sa3|38}} It was during one of those cycles that [[Surgebinder]]s began appearing. Ishar was instrumental in transforming this scattered group into the [[Knights Radiant]], although what precisely he used, other than threats of death and destruction upon those who wouldn't obey, is unknown.{{epigraph ref|sa2|42}} During that time, he also sought a way to preserve information between the Desolations.{{book ref|sa3|47}}

 

 

{{quote

|Tashi doesn't care much for what you do here. In fact, I’d pray that he doesn’t reach your city, as I doubt you’d like the consequences.

}}

 

{{image|Ishar's Cryptic by Nozomi.png|side=left|width=350px|One of the spren, a [[Cryptic]], Ishar has experimented on}}

 

 

 

He summoned his own [[Honorblade]], which he claimed to have received from Szeth's father before he thanked Ishar for letting him die. Ishar attacked Dalinar, easily defeating the five Windrunners. As Dalinar opened a [[perpendicularity]], Ishar approached him and created a Connection with Dalinar, meaning to steal his bond with the [[Stormfather]] as well as Dalinar's Connection to Odium, in which he sensed Odium's and Dalinar's opposition to each other.{{book ref|sa4|111}} At the last moment, Szeth used Nightblood to sever Ishar's new Connection and then collapse the perpendicularity, which Ishar had been holding open against Dalinar's will. Nightblood was then able to chip a piece from Ishar's Honorblade. Shocked by the damage to his Blade, Ishar opened his own perpendicularity, which the Stormfather was unable to sense, and fled into [[Shadesmar]] with his men. Once Ishar was gone, Dalinar heard the Herald's voice through the perpendicularity. Sounding much more sane, he informed Dalinar that he could be restored temporarily if a Radiant swore an oath near him. Ishar claimed to know a way of resetting the Oathpact, and asked Dalinar to meet him in Shinovar, before reverting to madness.{{book ref|sa4|111}}

 

Ishar had been experimenting on Radiant spren, somehow bringing their cognitive forms into the physical realm and measuring how long they were able to survive—usually mere seconds—and then performing autopsies. The Stormfather was extremely distraught at this revelation and called it an abomination.{{book ref|sa4|111}}

 

== Culture ==

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