The Knights Radiant, commonly known as Radiants, were a military organization of ten consecrated orders, centered at Urithiru on Roshar. Commonly believed to betray mankind, they are referred too as the Lost Radiants. Their symbol was golden hourglass shape, of eight spheres connected with two at the center.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Orders of the Knights Radiant 2.1 Windrunners 2.2 Dustbringers 2.3 Stonewards 2.4 Lightweavers 2.5 Remaining Orders (Still Unknown) 3 Ideals of the Knights Radiant 3.1 The First Ideal 3.2 The Second Ideal 4 References

HistoryEdit

According to legends, the Heralds founded the Knights Radiants and gave them Shardplates and Shardblades to protect mankind against the Voidbringers during conflicts know as the Desolations. For centuries the Knights continued to watch, combat and protect, until the weight of their endless struggle forced them to abandon their duty, on what is now known as the Day of Recreance. Details are vauge, but it is suggested some simply abandoned their shards, gave up on the fight, and walked away. It is also suggested that others might have been corrupted and used their strength to rule over lesser men. It has been centuries since the fall of the last Radiant, and today only legends of the Lost Radiants and their Shardblades and Shardplate remain.

Orders of the Knights RadiantEdit

The Radiants were divided into ten different orders, each of which somehow corresponds with one of the Heralds. Each Order had two powers associated with it, and each power was used by two different Orders. The Knights Radiant used Shardblades and Shardplate, which were etched with glyphs and glowed a different color according to the Order they were a part of. Each Radiant was bonded to a spren, and that spren determines the powers and order the Radiant belongs to.

Orders included the Order of Stonewards, the Order of Windrunners, and possibly Dustbringers. The Knights Radiant used a system of powers known as Surgebinding (surgebinding might refer to the specific powers of just one or a few of the orders, instead of all of them) .

WindrunnersEdit

The Windrunners were an order of Radiants who used two primary types of Surgebinding, gravity and atmospheric pressure. The combination of these two Surges resulted in three separate powers which were known as the Three Lashings. The glow of their Shardplate was blue.Dalinar Kholin witnesses hundreds of them in his vision of the Day of Recreance, abandoning their Shardblades and Shardplate.

DustbringersEdit

Dustbringers are a order of knights mentioned by Kalak in the first prelude: "Even some sections of rock smoldered. The dustbringers had done their work well."

It is speculated that the Dustbringers could cause objects to combust.

StonewardsEdit

The glow of their Shardplate was amber. With the combination of topaz and heliodor fixed in metal, one could regrow flesh and bone. The combination was called a Regrowth; however, this may be a kind of fabrial and not a power of the order. Talatin was a Radiant of this order.^[2]

LightweaversEdit

An order that used the same abilities as the king's Wit, Hoid.

Remaining Orders (Still Unknown)Edit

Even less is known about the remaining Orders. One key detail is known regarding 2 Orders, but not the Orders to which it applies: Jasnah Kholin's research indicates that 2 as of yet unnamed orders were capable of Soulcasting without the need of a fabrial.

Ideals of the Knights RadiantEdit

The Ideals of the Knights Radiant, also known as The Immortal Words, are a set of rules by which the Radiant lived. The First Ideal, identical for all orders of the Radiants, is used as their motto. The four later Ideals were said to be different for each order of Radiants. These ideals were based on book the Way of Kings.

The First IdealEdit

"Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination."^[3] The First Ideal is explained to Kaladin by Teft:

• Life before death - The Radiant seeks to defend life, always. He never kills unnecessarily, and never risks his own life for frivolous reasons. Living is harder than dying. The Radiant's duty is to live free.
• Strength before weakness - All men are weak at some time in their lives. The Radiant protects those who are weak, and uses his strength for others. Strength does not make one capable of rule; it makes one capable of service.
• Journey before destination - There are always several ways to achieve a goal. Failure is preferable to winning through unjust means. Protecting ten innocents is not worth killing one. In the end, all men die. How you lived will be far more important to the Almighty than what you accomplished.

The Second IdealEdit

The Second Ideal is revealed to Kaladin by instinct during the midst of the battle at the Tower.

“

I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.[4]

”

It is not known yet which Order of the Radiants this Ideal is from, although it is suspected to be from the Windrunners.

ReferencesEdit