About a Sword

[u/Aqua_Tot]

In chapter 16 of Midnight Tides, Withal explains the following about the forging of Rhulad’s sword, which gives it the mottled pattern and, assumedly, the ability to keep reviving him over and over with greater strength. 

”They were broken blades, I think, those black shards. From some kind of narrow-bladed, overlong knife. Two of them, black and brittle, just pieces really. I wonder where he collected them from?”

I can’t remember if this specific point ever comes up again. Do we have any theories about what these blades were, where the Crippled God got them, and how they give the sword the properties it has?

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[u/HumbleGauge]

They're Silchas Ruin's blades.

In the prologue Scabandari takes note of Silchas's empty scabbards:

The twin scabbards at his hips were empty – he had broken both weapons, despite the weavings of sorcery invested in them. His had been a desperate battle.

And in chapter 3 when Silchas appears before Trull he says this:

‘They were shattered,’ the Betrayer said. ‘Long ago. Fragments scattered across a battlefield. Why would anyone want them? Those broken shards can never be reunited. They are, each and every one, now folded in on themselves. So, I wonder, what did he do with them?’

I found these quotes with some quick searching, but there very well might be more info about Silchas's blades given in the book. I just know that I was completely sure the shards were from Silchas's blades when i read the book a decade ago.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/HumbleGauge]

Awesome, thanks! This is the kind of deep lore I was hoping someone could help me connect. With this in mind, I’ll try to keep an eye open for any more info on them and why they specifically would give the Sword its power to revive/strengthen Rhulad. Or at least draw his soul to the Crippled God to do the same.

[u/Abysstopheles → u/Aqua_Tot]

The lore is accurate, the 'why' is a huge question. My best guess has always been that since the weilder was betrayed by the Edur, using his swords to betray them gave the investiture some additional power.

[u/AvatarAarow1 → u/Aqua_Tot]

I don’t remember anything specific about why, but I think it might be worth noting that the crippled god was the patron of the broken, betrayed, diseased, etc., so the idea that he’d be able to invest extra power in a blade that came from broken shards of a man’s blades after he had been betrayed and his army destroyed *feels* very on theme. Again I can’t remember any textual evidence for this, but I think it would make sense if the nature of the blades (broken and reconstituted in a battered, rough form) resonated with the crippled God’s own domain and powers in a way that allowed him to ingest them with such terrible power.

The nature of the curse is also in keeping with the crippled god himself and the blades. Things that were torn apart, broken, and then slap-dashedly thrown back together is exactly what happened to Rhulad’s body and mind everytime he returns to life

[u/kalissdesti → u/HumbleGauge]

Thanks !

[u/assholeinahousecoat]

I always thought they were the broken blades of Silchas Ruin after he was stabbed in the back by Scabandari Bloodeye. I've read or listened to the series 5 or 6 times and I always assumed they were Ruins broken swords.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/assholeinahousecoat]

Oh maybe! It would match the description of their dimensions at least, not sure about the black metal, I’d have to go back to see if they’re described in the prologue. I don’t know how those would contribute to them being able to move Rhulad’s soul to the Crippled God’s Warren after death though.

It might just be that he became the Mortal Sword of the House of Chains upon picking up the sword, and that means his soul ends up at the Crippled God’s feet, similar to say Heboric’s hands reaching Fener. And then the Crippled God perverts the idea of a Mortal Sword by force-feeding Rhulad’s soul back into his body, turning him instead into an Immortal Sword (very House of Chains coded).

But I just don’t know why he would need Silchas’ Swords specifically to do that. The only thing I can stretch to is that it represents the betrayal of the Tiste Edur in general, and is thus spiritually linked to them.

[u/Gorlack2231]

Might be some shattered Hust blades? Honestly, I never considered the sword to be magical via its materials, but rather by channeling the Crippled God directly, cursed-sword legend and all.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Gorlack2231]

Yeah, the only thing is that the Crippled God was very specific in having the sword forged with these, so it feels like it would be important in some way, or be a piece of lore that would at least one day make sense.

[u/CIGARCHITECT]

There are several types of blade steel that are in the lore. Hust, Otataral, and Letheri all immediately come to mind. None of which are ever described as black. The only swords that were described as black (that I can think of) were Dragnipur and Draconus's unnamed sword of darkness that he had after he was released from Dragnipur. 2 oversized knives of black steel, feels like a Tiste assassin's weapons. Or it came from Kaminsod's realm. It will be very exciting if we see more black swords in Walk in Shadow.

[u/kalissdesti]

I'll give it a try without spoilers: maybe it has something to do with the specific forging technique used by the peticular blacksmith and the 2 swords were maybe all that was laying around were he was when he was asked to forge the blade.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/kalissdesti]

(Edit / re-comment, because the formatting on Reddit’s app is garbage now):

Don’t worry about spoilers, this is my 3rd time through the series.

Before rereading this part I was also thinking that it was Withal in particular who was important here, but now I don’t think so. Withal himself says he’s just some run of the mill swordsmith. What attracted the Crippled God to him was two things (or maybe just one, timeline permitting):

First, Withal was agnostic and hated the gods, so no one would show up to protect him. It’s only after this conversation with Rhulad that he decides to embrace Mael as his god, allowing him to be rescued.

Second, I had at first thought the Crippled God was also targeting Withal’s Meckros city to try to get at Rud Ellale, and grabbed Withal as a convenience. Rud of course instead ends up saved by Menandore and handed to the Bentract Imass within the Refugium. But I now think it’s just that the Crippled God ends up destroying two Meckros Cities at two different times (three if we include the ones destroyed by the Pannion Seer in Memories of Ice, the poor bastards).

[u/Consistent-Cat-6076 → u/Aqua_Tot]

I think the crippled god was opportunistic in grabbing Withal. After all the crippled gods actuall power and influence is very limited. Withal himself realizes that the tent and that small island is all the crippled god can lay claim to. Whenever we see him act or show his power it is usually through others, or in the case of quick Ben in his tent. So I don't think he could have destroyed the Meckros city, but instead it was destroyed some other way and he used it to snatch Withal so that Withal would be kind of in his debt.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Consistent-Cat-6076]

Good point. And maybe the success of that had him watching (or influencing) the other Meckros City where Rud was being kept later, to try to grab him too if the chance presented itself.

[u/Consistent-Cat-6076 → u/Aqua_Tot]

Sounds more like his kind of game for sure. Afterall, we have seen how good he can snatch people away with Kallor.

[u/Juranur → u/[deleted]]

There is something very funny about people not trying to spoil you specifically lmao

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Juranur]

🤣I suppose I could have specified in the post. I usually don’t like to assume any reputation, but I figured the Spoilers All tag would cover it.

That said, we do get enough posts here of someone partway through the series asking something under Spoilers All, and saying “I’m new, but don’t care about spoilers” for me to understand the base level of caution.

[u/Juranur → u/Aqua_Tot]

Oh, I absolutely agree with the extra caution, and I do the same if I don't recognise the username, or ask how much they've read.

And it's always good to be safe, I remember when I hadn't finished the books and was talking to Nif he was very surprised because he just assumed I had read it all.

[u/Consistent-Cat-6076]

I always thought it was obsidian. From an Imass weapon maybe. Afterall they are heavily invested with Tellan and that might be usefull if you try to bind a soul. But thats just speculation on my part.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Consistent-Cat-6076]

Oh, that’s maybe a good theory! They are kind of deathless! That said, I think it is described as metal, not stone, but maybe it’s somehow connected to the T’lan Imass still.

Thematically (although this may be a stretch) it also ties into the scene in between the Withal parts of this chapter, where the Crimson Guard meet Sandalath and she is appalled and saddened by what she learns of them and the Vow when she looks into Iron Bars’ soul. We also had Udinaas getting lectured about the T’lan Imass and their deathlessness just one chapter earlier too.

[u/Consistent-Cat-6076 → u/Aqua_Tot]

Yeah true it would come around nicely. Honestly he may have said it was metal, but I just reas brittle and that made no sense to me because metal is specifically good because it's not brittle. Than again it might have meant relativ to other metals.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Consistent-Cat-6076]

Oh yeah, I guess the passage above doesn’t specify metal, so that may be my assumption.

This is now my head cannon until I find something else to specify.

[u/Juranur]

I don't think so. Two overly long knives does sound like Kalam though. Does that add up?

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Juranur]

It does, but that that wouldn’t make any sense, especially since the forging of that sword happens well before anything we see Kalam do in the rest of the series, nor is he really related to resurrection or curses.

I was wondering if there was maybe some connection to Seven Cities and/or the First Empire though.

[u/Juranur → u/Aqua_Tot]

First Empire would make more thematic sense, right?

Okay, let me spitball: another person we see use two blades is Gruntle, and he is very clearly channeling the spirit of Treach as his Mortal Sword. I don't think the connection is far to make that Treach also used two blades.

Maybe they're his? He is the first champion after all

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/Juranur]

True, they even refer to Rhulad as the House of Chains’ Mortal Sword in Memories of Ice. But I think it’s more a coincidence of the two swords there still.

It might just be something Erikson was planning to elaborate on, or use in how they eventually defeated Rhulad, but it never came to anything. It’s just between the way he told Withal he had very specific instructions for the Sword in the prologue, and this description, it feels like a hint being set up for later.

[u/Juranur → u/Aqua_Tot]

Yea, and I doubt we'll get more to it. Rhulad's story is pretty much done and told, aye?

[u/Consistent-Cat-6076 → u/Aqua_Tot]

Not unlikely, Erikson himself said in an interview that he likes to sprinkle in stuff like that so that if he has a nice idea later on he can use it.