◒

Voidbinding

From The Coppermind
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Coppermind has spoilers for all of Brandon's published works, now including The Sunlit Man. Information about books that have not yet been released, like Stormlight 5, is allowed only on meta-pages for the books themselves. For more details, see our spoiler policy. To view an earlier version of the wiki without spoilers for a book, go to the Time Machine!

Voidbinding
TWoK Rear Endsheet.jpg
by Isaac Stewart
Related to Odium[1]
Prerequisites Unknown
Type Unknown
World of Origin Roshar
Universe Cosmere
This page or section needs to be updated with new information for Rhythm of War!
Be aware that in its current state, it may not include all additional content yet.
This page or section deals with theories or speculation.
Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

Voidbinding is a manifestation of Investiture on Roshar of which little is known. It is connected to Odium and his Unmade,[2] and predicting the future is said to be of it.[3] Khriss's writings in the Ars Arcanum states that there are ten levels of Voidbinding and that it is cousin to the Old Magic.[4]

Prerequisites[edit]

Not much is known about how one becomes a Voidbinder under normal circumstances. It has been said that Voidbinding usually, though not always, originates with the Unmade.[2] Parts of Voidbinding have been looked into in the past, but it likely has not been fully explored.[5]

A possible example of a method of becoming a Voidbinder is by bonding with a corrupted Nahel spren. Renarin Kholin's ability to see the future seems to be connected to Voidbinding,[6][7] and it is likely he gained it through his bond to the corrupted spren Glys.[8] How much Renarin's abilities relate to Voidbinding is currently unclear.

It is "theoretically possible" for a fabrial to imitate at least some parts of Voidbinding.[9]

Mythology[edit]

One of the most common powers associated with Voidbinding is prophecy and foresight.[3][10] According to the ardents, even the Heralds denounced its use. Whether or not this is true or a myth is yet to be seen, although Jasnah believes this to be true. Regardless, in Vorin nations, any type of prediction is considered to be taboo.[11] The ardents worried that Dalinar's visions were connected to Voidbinding, although since the visions come from Honor, that was an unfounded concern.[12]

The Vorin reluctance to guess the future led to the rise of games like breakneck, that don't require directly guessing the future.[11] Many Vorins are distrustful of stormwardens, since they predict when highstorms are going to occur.[13]

Abilities[edit]

Very little is known about the abilities of Voidbinding. While Khriss says that there are ten levels to Voidbinding and refers to "Voidbindings",[14] it is unknown what this means.

Renarin's ability to see the future is related to the Voidbinding chart,[6] though the precise relationship between his powers and Voidbinding remains unclear.[7]

While details on the ability are sparse, Renarin's future sight is shown to be imperfect, as the events he foresaw during the Battle of Thaylen Field did not come to pass.[15] It seems to also in some way be fueled by Stormlight.[6]

Voidish Surges[edit]

There are glyphs on the Voidbinding chart that share position with and are variations of the Surge glyphs on the Surgebinding chart. Instead of the axial symmetry of the Surge glyphs, the glyphs on the Voidbinding chart exhibit rotational symmetry.[16][17] It may be that these glyphs represent either alternatives to, or variant expressions of, the Surges in Surgebinding.

As Renarin Kholin is apparently unable to use the Surge of Illumination in the manner normal Truthwatchers do,[18] it is possible that his visions of the future come from this hypothetical "Voidish" expression of the Surge of Illumination.

Regals[edit]

Nightform, one of the Regal forms of power, was said to allow for foreseeing the future.[19][20] This suggests a possible relation to Voidbinding, and may have implications about the other forms of power.

Known and Likely Voidbinders[edit]

For more information, see :Category: Voidbinders.

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ Boskone 54
    — Arcanum - 2017-02-18#
  2. ↑ a b Skyward Pre-Release AMA
    — Arcanum - 2018-10-22#
  3. ↑ a b The Way of Kings chapter 18#
  4. ↑ Rhythm of War Ars Arcanum#
  5. ↑ General Reddit 2019
    — Arcanum - 2019-08-03#
  6. ↑ a b c Oathbringer Chicago signing
    — Arcanum - 2017-11-21#
  7. ↑ a b JordanCon 2018
    — Arcanum - 2018-04-22#
  8. ↑ Oathbringer chapter 116#
  9. ↑ Calamity release party
    — Arcanum - 2016-02-16#
  10. ↑ Salt Lake City signing
    — Arcanum - 2017-12-16#
  11. ↑ a b The Way of Kings interlude I-6#
  12. ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 75#
  13. ↑ The Way of Kings chapter 60#
  14. ↑ The Way of Kings Ars Arcanum#
  15. ↑ Oathbringer chapter 118#
  16. ↑ Surgebinding Chart
  17. ↑ Voidbinding Chart
  18. ↑ Rhythm of War chapter 6#
  19. ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 23 epigraph#
  20. ↑ Words of Radiance chapter 34 epigraph#
This article is still missing information. Please help The Coppermind by expanding it.
Retrieved from "https://coppermind.net/wiki/Voidbinding?&oldid=192915"