Sylphrena
| House / Order | Windrunners |
|---|---|
| Race / Culture | Honorspren (Sprencryptic / spren of Honor) |
| Status | Alive |
| Origin | Shadesmar; bonded to Kaladin |
| Born | Spren of Honor (the Stormfather's "daughter") |
| Died | |
| Weapon | Manifests as Kaladin's living Shardblade (a spear) |
| Fate | Kaladin's bonded honorspren; a leader among her kind |
| Portrayed by |
Sylphrena, almost always called Syl, is one of the most beloved characters in The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. She is an honorspren -- a spren of Honor -- bonded to Kaladin, forming the partnership that makes him a Windrunner of the Knights Radiant. Curious, playful, and fiercely loyal, Syl is both Kaladin's source of power and the voice of his conscience.
As an honorspren, Syl is a fragment of the divine, and her bond with a human is forbidden by the other spren -- making her a rebel among her own kind even as she becomes essential to the Radiants' return.
Background
Syl is an honorspren, one of the "children" of the Stormfather (the great spren of the Highstorm and the remnant of the dead god Honor). She is among the oldest of her kind -- referred to as the "Ancient Daughter" -- and bonding Kaladin against the wishes of the other honorspren in Shadesmar is an act of rebellion. To do so she risks her very identity, for if the bond breaks she can lose her mind and become a "deadeye," as happened to spren during the ancient Recreance when the Radiants abandoned their oaths.
Biography
Syl first appears to Kaladin as a simple, near-mindless windspren in his darkest days as a slave and bridgeman. As Kaladin's despair gives way to his protective instinct, the bond deepens and Syl grows in intelligence and self-awareness, eventually revealing herself as an honorspren. She guides him toward the Ideals of the Knights Radiant, rejoicing as he speaks each one.
In Words of Radiance, when Kaladin's hatred and broken oaths threaten the bond, Syl briefly dies -- becoming nearly a deadeye -- before Kaladin's renewed commitment to the Third Ideal restores her, and she manifests fully as his living Shardblade, able to take the form of a spear. Through the later books she remains his constant companion, conscience, and source of Stormlight-fueled power, and she becomes a leader and advocate among the honorspren for renewing bonds with humans.
Character
Syl is playful, mischievous, and intensely curious about the human world, delighting in small things and teasing Kaladin out of his darkness. Beneath the levity she is wise and principled, embodying Honor itself: she cannot abide lies, oathbreaking, or cruelty. Her bond with Kaladin is mutual and loving -- she helps heal him, and he keeps her alive and sane. She is among the most emotionally important relationships in the series.
Powers and abilities
- Main article: Windrunners
As Kaladin's honorspren, Syl is the conduit for his Surgebinding. Through their bond, Kaladin draws in Stormlight and wields the Surges of Adhesion and Gravitation. Syl herself can shift between an invisible spren form, a small human-like figure, a ribbon of light, and the form of a living Shardblade -- typically Kaladin's spear. Honorspren are sapient beings in their own right, with their own society in Shadesmar.
Relationships
- Kaladin -- her bonded Radiant, whose conscience she guards and whose power she enables.
- The Stormfather -- the great spren of the highstorms, regarded as her father.
- The honorspren -- her people in Shadesmar, whom she defies and later helps lead toward renewed bonds.
- Pattern, Wyndle, and other Radiant spren -- her fellows in the reborn orders.
Quotes
Honor is alive. He's dead, but he's also alive.
I am yours, and you are mine. We are honor.