Bondsmiths Explained: Powers, Oaths and the Three Bonds

The Bondsmiths are the smallest order of Knights Radiant, with never more than three members, each bonded to one of three unique spren: the Stormfather, the Nightwatcher or the Sibling. They wield Tension and Adhesion, the Surges of Connection. Dalinar Kholin refounded the order, and Navani Kholin became its second modern member.

What are the Bondsmiths in the Stormlight Archive?

The Order of Bondsmiths is one of the ten orders of Knights Radiant on Roshar, and every one of its Ideals points toward unity. Historical Bondsmiths rarely fought on the front line. According to Coppermind, they resolved disputes between nations, set up governments where none existed and kept the peace between the other orders. Their patron Herald is Ishar, the Herald of Luck, known as the Binder of Gods before the Oathpact. Bondsmith squires gain only the basic uses of Tension and Adhesion, never the Connection powers. Spoiler note: this guide covers all five Stormlight books, including Wind and Truth.

Why can there only be three Bondsmiths?

The Bondsmith limit comes from the spren, not from any rule the Radiants wrote down. Every other order bonds a species of spren with thousands of members, but a Bondsmith must persuade one of three unique beings, so the order commonly had no more than three full members, and for long stretches only one. An in-world epigraph describes the Bondsmiths as having “members only three” and says that trying to make their spren grow like the other orders was seen as seditious. The order still had a wider circle: attendants and protectors who swore Bondsmith oaths knowing they would gain no powers, which some Radiants considered the purest form of Radiance.

The three Bondsmith spren are the strangest beings in the series. Coppermind explains that the Stormfather, the Sibling and the Nightwatcher were made from the essence of the Wind, the Stone and the Night, three primeval spren created by Adonalsium before the Shattering to watch over Roshar. The Stormfather is tied to Honor and the highstorms, the Nightwatcher is a Splinter of Cultivation who grants boons and curses through the Old Magic, and the Sibling, child of both Honor and Cultivation, is the tower of Urithiru itself. Each spren fuels its Bondsmith with a different Light, so no two Bondsmiths share exactly the same toolkit.

What are the Bondsmith Ideals?

Every Radiant starts with the same First Ideal: life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination. The Bondsmith Second Ideal is the order’s whole philosophy in one line: “I will unite instead of divide. I will bring men together.” The Third Ideal is the one readers remember, because Dalinar speaks it at the Battle of Thaylen Field in Oathbringer after refusing to give his pain to Odium: “I will take responsibility for what I have done. If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” The Fourth Ideal has no fixed wording: Coppermind describes it as unique to each member, with a shared theme that all life is precious, so the enemy can no longer be faceless. Our best Dalinar Kholin quotes collect the oaths in context.

What powers do Bondsmiths have?

Bondsmith Adhesion works on two levels. Physically, a Full Lashing pours Light onto a surface so that anything touching it sticks until the Light runs out, a power Bondsmiths rarely use and one they share with the Windrunners. Spiritually, by touching someone and willing Stormlight into them, a Bondsmith forges a Connection that lets them speak that person’s native language for weeks or even a couple of months. Combining Tension with that affinity for Connection lets a Bondsmith repair inanimate objects: in Thaylen City, Dalinar hears the voices of a shattered temple asking to be whole again and fuses its stones back together. Bondsmiths also amplify other Radiants: Dalinar and Shallan together create a map of Roshar out of Stormlight, as covered in Lightweavers Explained.

The Bondsmith powers at the top of the scale are cosmic. Because their spren are themselves sources of Investiture, Bondsmiths can pull Light through on demand and overcharge other Radiants. At the Battle of Thaylen Field, Dalinar grabs the Cognitive Realm with one hand and the Spiritual Realm with the other and opens Honor’s Perpendicularity, a conduit that refills every gemstone on the field. The Stormfather’s Bondsmith can also enter and eventually create highstorm visions, which is how Dalinar gives Kaladin his vision of Tien. Coppermind adds that after Honor’s death, the old limits fell away, letting Bondsmiths see the Connections between people and manipulate them directly, an ability that Honor had previously forbidden.

Who were the Bondsmiths before Dalinar?

The Bondsmith story starts before Roshar. Coppermind records that an ancient Bondsmith bound Surges and brought the human refugees from Ashyn to Roshar, and that Honor placed limits on Bondsmith power, including how many there could be, after Ashyn was destroyed. Ishar founded the Oathpact that bound the ten Heralds to Honor. The last true Bondsmith before the Recreance was Melishi, bonded to the Sibling. During the False Desolation, Melishi imprisoned the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram in a perfect gemstone, an act that wounded the Sibling so badly they lost the rhythm of Towerlight. The order disbanded at the Recreance, which we unpack in our guide to the Recreance.

How did Dalinar and Navani Kholin refound the Bondsmiths?

Dalinar Kholin bonded the Stormfather after the Battle of Narak, climbing to the top of Urithiru to confront the spren that had been sending him visions. The Stormfather was hostile to the idea at first, then accepted once Dalinar spoke the Immortal Words, on condition that Dalinar wield no Shards. Coppermind dates the formal bond and the first two Ideals to the start of 1174. His brother Gavilar had seen the same visions years earlier and formed only a tentative bond before his assassination. Dalinar then did what historical Bondsmiths did, uniting Vorin monarchs and Azir against the True Desolation, and at Thaylen Field he trapped the Unmade Nergaoul and challenged Odium to a contest of champions. Our Dalinar Kholin character guide covers the full arc.

Navani Kholin became the second modern Bondsmith during the occupation of Urithiru in Rhythm of War. The Sibling distrusted humans after the Recreance and disliked Navani’s spren-trapping fabrials, but as Raboniel corrupted the tower and Moash came to kill Navani, the Sibling accepted her words and bonded her at the last moment. Together they created Towerlight again and drove the invaders out. Navani can now hear and see everything in the tower, speak through its garnet veins and go without sleep, though she cannot leave Urithiru for more than a few weeks without weakening the bond. The full siege is covered in Rhythm of War Ending Explained.

What happens to the Bondsmiths in Wind and Truth?

Wind and Truth puts both modern Bondsmiths at the centre of the story. Dalinar opens a perpendicularity and takes Navani into the Spiritual Realm to relive history, where Navani watches Ishar perform the Bondsmithing that Connects the first Heralds to Honor. Back on top of Urithiru, Dalinar persuades the power of Honor with the words “I understand you” and Ascends as its Vessel, then formally renounces his oaths. Renouncing breaks his bond with the Stormfather, cancels the contest of champions and frees Odium, and Taravangian seizes Honor to become Retribution. Dalinar is killed by wind and debris shortly afterwards, shielding Gavinor in his final moments. Navani asks the Sibling to raise defenses against Retribution, and the crystal freezes her inside, alive but asleep.

The Bondsmith order ends the first arc of the series in a strange place. Dalinar is dead and his bond with the Stormfather was broken by his own renunciation. Navani is alive but locked inside the Sibling’s crystal around Urithiru. The Nightwatcher still has no known Bondsmith in the books. That leaves no Bondsmith free to act heading into the ten-year time skip before book six, which makes the order one of the biggest open questions of the back five. What we know about the next book is collected in Stormlight Archive Book 6: What We Know, and nothing about future Bondsmiths has been confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

What Surges do the Bondsmiths use?

Bondsmiths use Tension and Adhesion. Tension changes how stiff an object is and helps a Bondsmith repair broken things, while Adhesion binds objects together and, in its spiritual form, forges Connection between people. Stonewards share Tension and Windrunners share Adhesion, but neither order can manipulate Connection the way a Bondsmith can.

Can Bondsmiths have Shardblades or Shardplate?

Bondsmiths cannot manifest Shardplate, and they typically do not get a Shardblade either. When Dalinar bonded the Stormfather, the spren set the condition that Dalinar would wield no Shards. Coppermind notes it is possible but highly implausible for the Stormfather or the Nightwatcher to become a Blade.

Who is the Herald of the Bondsmiths?

The patron Herald of the Bondsmiths is Ishar, the Herald of Luck, who was called the Binder of Gods before he became a Herald. Ishar founded the Oathpact and is credited with organizing the Knights Radiant. He wields an Honorblade that grants the Bondsmith Surges of Tension and Adhesion.

Is Navani Kholin a Bondsmith?

Yes. Navani Kholin bonds the Sibling, the spren of the tower city Urithiru, at the climax of the occupation of Urithiru in Rhythm of War. The bond lets her produce Towerlight, restore the tower’s fabrials, speak through its crystal veins and go without sleep, as long as she stays close to the tower.

Why are there only three Bondsmiths?

Each Bondsmith must bond one of three unique spren: the Stormfather, the Nightwatcher or the Sibling. With only three spren available, the order historically had no more than three full members, and sometimes only one. In-world texts even describe trying to make the Bondsmith spren grow like other orders as seditious.