Some theories about Bondsmiths and their spren

[in Truth,watcher of tv he/him]

So, this is a bunch of theories about all things Bondsmith that have been simmering in my head for a while. I’ve tried to keep it concise, so I can probably expand on my reasoning if need be. Feedback welcome. 

Firstly, waterbending. We have fire magic with the Dustbringers, air magic with the Windrunners, and earth magic with the Stonewards (as well as literal elemental magic with Soulcasting). Adhesion can manipulate pressure, and Tension includes water surface tension; to me, those seem like the two forces you need to move and shape water. It also fits thematically, water being a universal and regulating substance on a living planet, especially Roshar. 

Secondly, the Nightwatcher. The only thing we really know she does is the Old Magic, but I think this is misleading. As a Bondsmith spren, she is by definition broadly Connected across Roshar and has a crucial role, but playing a genie for the occasional person who enters her Valley doesn’t match this.  
I think the Nightwatcher is the spren of gemhearts. They are a manifestation of Investiture, and it would be fitting if the Stormlight provided by the Stormfather is held in gems of Lifelight provided by the Nightwatcher. 
If the Windrunners have a special association with the Stormfather, then it makes sense if their counterparts on Cultivation’s side of Surgebinding have an association with the Nightwatcher; the Edgedancers’ Soulcasting essence is crystal after all. 

Third: Bondsmith responsibilities. Considering the Bondsmiths are sworn to unite but are Bonded to vastly different spren with different Intents, I think the different Bondsmiths will swear to unite different types of sapient beings to the Radiant cause. 
Since Honour acts as the god of people on Roshar, the Stormfather’s Bondsmith is sworn to unite “men” (which probably can extend to singers). Cultivation acts as the god of nature, and we are starting to see that many of the greatshells are at least somewhat sapient, so I would think the Nightsmith swears to unite the greatshells (or even broadly ‘nature’) to the cause. 
When it comes to the Sibling, it’s a bit less clear. The other two have Shards with well-established areas of Investment but for the Sibling, being a mix, I can only think of two phenomena on Roshar that could be described as an even mix of the Shards: the Knights Radiant and spren. I’m fairly sure all three Bondsmith’s are responsible for uniting the Radiants, so that leaves the Siblingsmith to swear to unite the spren peoples. 

 Fourth: Bondsmith influence. This is a bit out there, but I was thinking about how the Bondsmiths are meant to be “guiding” as an Order, and what this could mean. They are the centre of a web of Connection and represent a powerful conduit of Investiture, so I would expect that Intent to influence the union. It seems to me, within a society, Honour relates to centralised hierarchy and militancy while Cultivation relates to grassroots productivity (warform and workform each triggering a Pure Tone of the Shards is a good indication). 
So far, while there has been only a Stormfather Bondsmith, the Knights Radiant have been gathering to Urithiru and fulfilling their Oaths in militant ways: soldiers, field medics, spies. When/if we get a Nightwatcher Bondsmith, I think the Radiants may decentralise a bit and we will see the them moving to more community focused roles: leaders, social workers, artists. We’ve seen a bit of this in RoW with Kaladin being forced to step down from the military and finding other ways to protect, this may be setting up future storylines. 
The Siblingsmith I would think has either a balanced effect or could cause the Radiants to have a more internal focus. 

 Fifth: the Platespren. Gloryspren likely form the Stormsmith’s Plate, but they don’t really fit with the other Bondsmith spren. The Platespren are generally ‘cousins’ or related concepts to the Radiant spren, and glory being a bold, noble and socially oriented concept is fitting for the Honour-aligned Bondsmith. Cultivation, on the other hand, is a more subtle, nurturing and nature focused Shard. So, I think the Nightsmith’s Platespren might be riverspren. In terms of associations to the Nightwatcher; you would expect to find a river in a mountain valley and the Nightwatcher is described moving through the trees like a river. Riverspren are also notably large and smart spren like windspren and they would connect back well with the Bondsmith’s possibly manipulating water. 
As for the Siblingsmith, I would guess their Platespren would be awespren; they would be fairly common around Urithiru and the listeners sing about the Knights Radiant to the Rhythm of Awe. 

[Quantus he/him]

I love the idea that Bondsmiths will have platespren as different as the Godspren, I hope that proves out. 

[Atlas333]

13 hours ago, in Truth,watcher of tv said:

Third: Bondsmith responsibilities. Considering the Bondsmiths are sworn to unite but are Bonded to vastly different spren with different Intents, I think the different Bondsmiths will swear to unite different types of sapient beings to the Radiant cause. 

Since Honour acts as the god of people on Roshar, the Stormfather’s Bondsmith is sworn to unite “men” (which probably can extend to singers). Cultivation acts as the god of nature, and we are starting to see that many of the greatshells are at least somewhat sapient, so I would think the Nightsmith swears to unite the greatshells (or even broadly ‘nature’) to the cause. 

While uniting nature could be the goal of the nightsmith, I don't think most forms of nature are really sapient enough to do so; rather, I think it's much more likely that the nightsmith will focus on uniting the parshendi (and potentially traitorous fused). I think this makes sense as the parshendi are more in touch with nature than other cultures we've seen. Additionally, the listeners seem to be reemerging as a new faction that largely goes along with what you've said (grassroots organization and close relationship to gemhearts). Finally, listeners left their previous god and essentially sacrificed themselves; I think it would be poetic for them to get a new god (cultivation) to protect them.

[Dofurion]

20 hours ago, in Truth,watcher of tv said:

Secondly, the Nightwatcher. The only thing we really know she does is the Old Magic, but I think this is misleading. As a Bondsmith spren, she is by definition broadly Connected across Roshar and has a crucial role, but playing a genie for the occasional person who enters her Valley doesn’t match this.  
I think the Nightwatcher is the spren of gemhearts. They are a manifestation of Investiture, and it would be fitting if the Stormlight provided by the Stormfather is held in gems of Lifelight provided by the Nightwatcher. 
If the Windrunners have a special association with the Stormfather, then it makes sense if their counterparts on Cultivation’s side of Surgebinding have an association with the Nightwatcher; the Edgedancers’ Soulcasting essence is crystal after all. 

Well, based on its body structure it should have a relationship with the Mistspren.

20 hours ago, in Truth,watcher of tv said:

Third: Bondsmith responsibilities. Considering the Bondsmiths are sworn to unite but are Bonded to vastly different spren with different Intents, I think the different Bondsmiths will swear to unite different types of sapient beings to the Radiant cause. 
Since Honour acts as the god of people on Roshar, the Stormfather’s Bondsmith is sworn to unite “men” (which probably can extend to singers). Cultivation acts as the god of nature, and we are starting to see that many of the greatshells are at least somewhat sapient, so I would think the Nightsmith swears to unite the greatshells (or even broadly ‘nature’) to the cause. 
When it comes to the Sibling, it’s a bit less clear. The other two have Shards with well-established areas of Investment but for the Sibling, being a mix, I can only think of two phenomena on Roshar that could be described as an even mix of the Shards: the Knights Radiant and spren. I’m fairly sure all three Bondsmith’s are responsible for uniting the Radiants, so that leaves the Siblingsmith to swear to unite the spren peoples. 

Well, there is a hypothesis a couple of years old that would classify them as follows:

• Stormfather: Men/men bond
• Sibling: Men/Spren bond
• Nightwacher: Spren/spren bond

And in the last books we have been shown that the Spren can be equally or more divided than men.

20 hours ago, in Truth,watcher of tv said:

Fifth: the Platespren. Gloryspren likely form the Stormsmith’s Plate, but they don’t really fit with the other Bondsmith spren. The Platespren are generally ‘cousins’ or related concepts to the Radiant spren, and glory being a bold, noble and socially oriented concept is fitting for the Honour-aligned Bondsmith. Cultivation, on the other hand, is a more subtle, nurturing and nature focused Shard. So, I think the Nightsmith’s Platespren might be riverspren. In terms of associations to the Nightwatcher; you would expect to find a river in a mountain valley and the Nightwatcher is described moving through the trees like a river. Riverspren are also notably large and smart spren like windspren and they would connect back well with the Bondsmith’s possibly manipulating water. 
As for the Siblingsmith, I would guess their Platespren would be awespren; they would be fairly common around Urithiru and the listeners sing about the Knights Radiant to the Rhythm of Awe. 

Honestly, I am in favor of Riverspren being the Truthwatcher's Platespren, since it is conceptually coherent with the "Mist" theme.
Besides, I have the hypothesis that unlike the other 9 Orders whose Platespren come from common Sprens in quantity (like Riverspren), the Bondsmith's Platespren should be a little rarer. For example, for the Nightwatcher, I am in favor of Rainspren being associated with it, they are Sprens that appear mostly during the Weeping (coincidentally, a time without Highstorm's).
As for the Sibling, I think the ideal ones would be the Bindspren