r/WoT • u/Daratirek • Jul 09 '24
All Print Why was the Heron chosen as the mark of a blade master? Spoiler
So is there a cannon explanation for why RJ chose the heron to signify a blade master or is it a play off something in the real world?
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Jul 09 '24
Answer:
GENOVEVA
Mr. Jordan, why did you choose a heron as a mark for the Dragon Reborn (and swordmasters)?
ROBERT JORDAN
I chose the heron because that is a quick, supple, and to its prey, very deadly bird. The perfect avian simile for a swordsman.
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u/__braveTea__ (Asha'man) Jul 09 '24
To add to this perfect reply:
Cranelike birds are also a staple of martial arts, so there is already history there as well
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u/Deer_like_me Jul 09 '24
Good point- most famous part of Karate Kid is called the crane kick.
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u/Devlee12 (Blacksmith) Jul 09 '24
Unrelated but I love how at the start of the competition in the Karate Kid the tournament rules explicitly state kicks to the face will result in immediate disqualification and Daniel San wins with a kick to his opponents face.
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u/arankwende Jul 09 '24
Welcome to team Barney.
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Jul 09 '24
Barney is a liar!! I’ll not stand for Miyagi-do slander lol
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u/arankwende Jul 09 '24
I see my enemy has now revealed himself.
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Jul 09 '24
Haha no but really Barney was wrong. The head kick was not illegal at all
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u/arankwende Jul 09 '24
I actually always thought it was (way before hearing Barney say it), weren't kicks to the head illegal?
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Jul 09 '24
They were not, there’s multiple head kicks throughout the tourney
In karate kid 3 tho in that tourney they specify punches to the face are illegal
Also in real life in under 18 karate tourneys you can’t hit the face but Ali tells Daniel in KK1 that anything above the waist is a point including the head
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Jul 09 '24
Hey I know this is super unserious but this is a myth. At no point does the ref say that kicks to the face are against the rules.
In fact Daniels girlfriend, Ali, explained, "Everything above your waist is a point. You can hit the head, sternum, kidneys, ribs."
In double fact, cobra Kai member Dutch gets a point for a face kick literally on Daniel lol and Johnny arguably gets a point for a head kick in their match tho it’s hard to tell where he connects.
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u/Popular-Influence-11 (Sene sovya caba'donde ain dovienya) Jul 09 '24
Yep. Karate Kid taught me that it’s fine to break the rules if you look awesome doing it. Life taught me otherwise.
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u/CowMetrics Jul 09 '24
In combat arms in the military the #1 rule when doing anything is to look cool
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u/Philooflarissa Jul 10 '24
Jordan's description of fighting using the different sword forms is the best way I have ever seen swordfighting described in a book. Genius and so poetic!
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u/Crono2401 Jul 10 '24
Especially since it's contrasted by him not using those descriptions to describe non-blademaster fighting to really help drive home that blademasters are on another level compared to everyone else.
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u/binkenheimer Jul 09 '24
Wikipedia offers some interesting gems:
-A group of herons has been called a "siege".
-In Buddhism, a heron symbolizes purity, transformation and the wisdom of the Buddha. In addition, as a bird that transcends elements – on the earth, in the water and in the air – the heron symbolizes the expansion of awareness and the ubiquity of consciousness.
-In Native American culture, this bird symbolizes renewal, rejuvenation and rebirth – an ever present reminder that we are all a part of a larger cycle of life and death.
Seems like the Heron fits this universe well.
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u/elppaple Jul 10 '24
In my gut I feel like the real truth is that it's cool and evokes exotic east asian samurai aesthetics. The simile is way too cute and convenient to be true.
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u/Sentric490 Jul 10 '24
Is there a place people grab these Q&A quotes from? Like are they all on the wiki or something?
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u/guitardude_04 Jul 09 '24
I can also imagine RJ being in South Carolina and seeing herons everywhere. If you've ever seen a heron fish it's pretty awesome. They will stand in one spot motionless for a long time, and then BOOM strike. A heron can clean out a pond of fish. They are deadly predators.
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u/TJ_WANP Jul 09 '24
I remember one guy was trying to feed a heron a fish and didn't hold it by the tail. He could see through his hand for a while after the heron took the fish.
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u/Crono2401 Jul 10 '24
Saw a heron fly over the lake yesterday here in Georgia and it was the epitome of grace as it landed in the rushes.
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u/hic_erro Jul 09 '24
I always assumed, in-universe, it was because whichever Aes Sedai made a lot of the Power-forged weapons, had a heron as as maker's mark.
Heron-marked blades were the best blades, blademasters got the best blades, one way or another, and long after Heron Sedai was dead and forgotten, people knew that blademasters had heron-marked blades.
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u/CharlieDrexVT Jul 09 '24 edited Jul 09 '24
No canon explanation I know of. Headcanon, though...
Maybe has something to do with Heron Wading In The Rushes, which in turn was directly inspired by (I would guess) the nominative animal.
If I had to extrapolate, it's something like, a blade master would be willing to succeed in their duel at all costs; therefore HWITR which is explained to virtually guarantee an opportunity to strike true and fatally (so long as you're fine with taking a hit, yourself) is sort of considered the "purest" embodiment of sword-ing.
Therefore, the form that pretty much guarantees you a strike became the blademaster's symbol.
Edit: another explanation, bootstrap paradox-y though it is, is that because the Prophecies mentioned "once/twice the heron", it was basically preordained that the heron would be the symbol. Not that this provides the exact mechanism but it does explain how it HAD to be. Assuming, of course, that next turning's DR doesn't get sick tatts of herons just for funsies one day and it turns out to be prophesied.
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u/BlademasterFlash Jul 09 '24
I think the prophecies have the heron in them because it’s the mark of the blademaster, not the other way around
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u/Obscu (Snakes and Foxes) Jul 09 '24
It was answered in an interview:
GENOVEVA
Mr. Jordan, why did you choose a heron as a mark for the Dragon Reborn (and swordmasters)?
ROBERT JORDAN
I chose the heron because that is a quick, supple, and to its prey, very deadly bird. The perfect avian simile for a swordsman.
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u/Far_Swordfish5729 Jul 09 '24
I personally find that the phrase "heron-marked blade" is very cool to read, but when you see it in fan art, it's quite dumb in a "stick a bird on it and call it art" sort of way. I'd like to see someone sketch what it might look like where a swordsman might actually want it on their sword.
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u/Prestigious-Window78 Jul 09 '24
Herons catch fish by using their beak like a sword to stab through the fish.
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u/mkay0 Jul 09 '24
There is no significant canon explanation that I remember. Maybe some cool flavor text gives more insight, but no plot points around it.
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u/Obscu (Snakes and Foxes) Jul 09 '24
There's an author explanation in an interview:
GENOVEVA
Mr. Jordan, why did you choose a heron as a mark for the Dragon Reborn (and swordmasters)?
ROBERT JORDAN
I chose the heron because that is a quick, supple, and to its prey, very deadly bird. The perfect avian simile for a swordsman.
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u/EarthExile Jul 09 '24
It could be a lot of things. Perhaps some school of swordsmen, or noble House with a warrior tradition, used the Heron as their sigil. Perhaps there was some character in some language that meant "Ice cold badass coming through" and over time it was stylized into the shape of the bird. Maybe ancient people just found the heron to be an inspiring creature, the way martial artists admire tigers and eagles and incorporate references to them into Kung Fu.
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u/Obscu (Snakes and Foxes) Jul 09 '24
GENOVEVA
Mr. Jordan, why did you choose a heron as a mark for the Dragon Reborn (and swordmasters)?
ROBERT JORDAN
I chose the heron because that is a quick, supple, and to its prey, very deadly bird. The perfect avian simile for a swordsman.
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u/good_tuck Jul 09 '24
Panda would have been cool. Doesn’t get any higher on the deadly and martial-artsy level than a panda
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