On this week’s reread, Dalinar is visiting Vedenar… and his past. He’s slowly spiralling down into depression and what I suspect is PTSD, and it’s so very hard for us as readers to watch. Generally speaking, a character needs to hit rock bottom before they can begin the upwards trajectory of their arc, and Dalinar’s not there yet… but he’s heading that way, and fast. Join Alice and I as we walk alongside Dalinar on this descent and try to pick apart some nuances.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread. If you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

No Cosmere spoilers this week, so no worries on that front.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Dalinar
WHERE: Vedenar
WHEN: 1174.2.5.1 (One week after the Monarchs’ Meeting, 8 days after the fall of Kholinar)

Dalinar is in Vedenar, dealing with his newly awakened memories. He has a brief discussion about spren with Taravangian, then visits some veterans of the Veden civil war who tell him about the Thrill’s presence in the city. Finally, he’s beset by some curates from the Holy Enclave who excommunicate him before he flees back to Urithiru to self-medicate with alcohol.

Beginnings

Title: An Old Friend

The Thrill.

It started to glow inside Dalinar. So familiar, so warm, and so terrible.

Alice: This is another title that is actually a quote from a different chapter. (I love those, and the way they link the events together!) In Chapter 120, when Dalinar approaches the red mist on Thaylen Field, he greets it with, “Hello, old friend.” We’ll talk about this more below.

Heralds: Ishar (Priest, Bondsmiths, Pious & Guiding) and Chana (Guard, Dustbringers, Brave & Obedient)

A: I have to assume Ishar is here primarily to reflect the curates who step in at the end to denounce Dalinar. He could also be representing the madness of Ishar (though I’m not sure what that is), because this tactic at this moment seems moderately insane. Of course, there’s also the Bondsmith connection, because Dalinar does some very sketchy things with his power, and the Stormfather is not at all happy about it.

A: As for Chana, I can’t help noting that the Essence and the Soulcasting Property associated with her are Spark and Fire, respectively—and Dalinar is seriously bothered by that sort of thing, now that his memories of Rathalas have returned.

Icon: Kholin Glyphpair, for Dalinar’s POV

Epigraph:

I am convinced that Nergaoul is still active on Roshar. The accounts of the Alethi “Thrill” of battle align too well with ancient records — including the visions of red mist and dying creatures.

—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 140

A: Neragoul? Still active? Ya think?

Lyn: I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.

Thematic Thoughts

It seemed that Dalinar had been four people in his life. The bloodlusty warrior, who killed wherever he was pointed, and the consequences could go to Damnation.

The general, who had feigned distinguished civility—when secretly, he’d longed to get back on the battlefield so he could shed more blood.

Third, the broken man. The one who paid for the actions of the youth.

Buy it Now

Then finally, the fourth man—the most false of them all. The man who had given up his memories so he could pretend to be something better.

L: So, we do get some plot-relevant things in this chapter (the presence of the Thrill) and some worldbuilding snippets (information about the spren), but primarily this chapter is about Dalinar and how he’s dealing with his newfound memories. There’s a lot of questioning of what makes a good person in here, and none of it is easy. There are no easy answers when it comes to morality. There are almost always shades of grey and extenuating circumstances, and poor Dalinar is having to face all of this from his own past. Who is he, really? Do his past actions define him, or is who he is now stronger than what he was?

A: So much of what he faces here are his own false dichotomies. (Is “quatrechotomy” a word?) He’s thinking, at this point in terms of “then” and “now” as if they were different people, but the seeds of one are in the others all the time. This very quotation will come back to him in Chapter 120, when he realizes there’s more of a continuity than he’s seeing here.

L: I’d also venture a mostly uneducated guess that what Dalinar’s dealing with here is PTSD. All of the hallmarks seem to be present—hearing things, phantom smells, intrusive memories and thoughts.

A: It may be PTSD, but there’s definitely a “magical” component to it as well. There are a few too many things here that show up later in a clearer context; one of the things he hears is a voice that says Give me your pain. That, and several other pieces from this chapter, are being built up to prepare him for his decisions in the climax scenes. I have to wonder, now that we know the context, if Cultivation is taking a hand here.

Stories & Songs

“Would you make it so the Sunmaker lived longer and accomplished his desire, uniting all of Roshar under a single banner? … But what if it left you, today, in command of a completely unified people? What if his slaughter let you save Roshar from the Voidbringer invasion?”

L: This is a really tough philosophical query, and I don’t blame Dalinar for not being able to deal with it, given his state of mind.

A: IMO, this is yet another false binary being set up by Taravangian, and I don’t know if he’s just trying to mess with Dalinar or what. It simplistically assumes that the Sunmaker’s tyranny is one option, and lack of unity is the only other option. Even on the face of it, the dichotomy is fake, because what happened was neither of those, though Dalinar falls for it anyway. There are many, many other paths that could have been taken to create greater unity, or to create greater divisions, among humans.

And frankly, I have very little patience for people who try to force someone to make a fake decision on something over which they never had, and never will have, control. It’s a stupid question masquerading as “deep,” and it irritates me. (Okay, Taravangian mostly irritates me these days…)

L: It’s the old “would you go back in time and kill baby Hitler” question, only Roshar-ized.

Though he still hadn’t recovered the details of him meeting with the Nightwatcher, the rest was as fresh as a new wound, dripping blood down his face.

A: Well, that’s graphic. Appropriate, though, I suppose.

Dalinar’s state of mind in this chapter, inexplicable though it is to those around him, is thoroughly shaped by the return of these memories. At this point, we really have to wonder, with him,

Why must I have these memories? he thought, angry. Why did they suddenly return?

A: He, and we, will have to wait a while yet (in book terms) to understand. At this point, though, the Nightwatcher seems to be capricious in the extreme. We’ll wait to discuss what really happened when we get to Chapter 114…

From reports he’d heard earlier, the civil war had brought incredible losses. Even baffling ones. Many armies would break after suffering ten percent casualties, but here—reportedly—the Vedens had continued fighting after losing more than half their numbers.

A: Certainly bizarre, and unaccountable to a seasoned veteran like Dalinar… until he talks to the wounded survivors later in the chapter. Worth noting: Each of these men had survived when his entire platoon had fallen.

“What was it like?” Dalinar asked softly. “The civil war, the battle here, at Vedenar?”

“It was a nightmare, sir.” …

… “Nobody would stop, Brightlord. Even when it should have been done. They just kept right on fighting. Killing because they felt like killing.”

“It burned in us… That river inside of you, pulling your blood all up into your head and making you love each swing. Making it so that you can’t stop, no matter how tired you are.”

A: To the reader, this is definitely A Clue, right? Sounds exactly like Dalinar in flashbacks. He recognizes it immediately, of course, and feels it stir in himself in response, even though it’s been a long time. And he connects the dots:

Even back on the Shattered Plains, when he’d last felt it, it had seemed to be weakening. Suddenly that made sense. It wasn’t that he’d been learning to overcome the Thrill. Instead, it had left him.

To come here.

A: Taravangian had commented on this in one of his Interludes in Words of Radiance. He was right.

It’s all about momentum.

A: Triggered by the comment from one of the veterans, this takes Dalinar—and us—right back to some of those earlier flashbacks. From the first one, in Chapter 3 (which is even titled “Momentum”), to the first battle at the Rift, to the ambush, to his slog back to camp, to the destruction of Rathalas, the Thrill urges and provides momentum. It can be useful, but it can also be terrible.

L: I’d say the terrible far outweighs the useful.

A: There’s a whole lot of this chapter that ties into the climax of the book, but I think we’ll address that more in Motivations and Spren.

Bruised & Broken

The air smelled of salt and was filled with the sounds of waves smashing on cliffs outside the city. How did they live with that constant roaring?

L: I just wanted to make mention of the fact that little things are annoying to him. This is indicative of his troubled state of mind, and we see this in Kaladin as well when he’s having a depressive episode. It’s very true to life.

Even along the sanitized path he walked for the tour, they passed scorched buildings, piles of rubble.

He couldn’t help but think of what he’d done to Rathalas. And so, Evi’s tears accompanied him. The cries of dying children.

A: This is so hard to read. I know he did those things, and in one sense he deserves to feel horrible, but… I like my 50-something Dalinar, and I don’t like seeing his pain. There’s more:

Out beyond—on the fields north of the city—black scars on the rock still showed where heaps of bodies had been burned following the war. He tried to turn away from all that and look out at the peaceful ocean. But he could smell smoke. That wasn’t good. In the years following Evi’s death, smoke had often sent him descending into one of his worse days.

L: I wonder if this smoke is real or if it’s just in his head, like the crying is. Either way it’s horribly tragic, of course.

Dalinar tried to stand, straight-backed and at attention, beneath the weight of it all. Unfortunately, he knew too well that if you locked your knees and stood too straight, you risked fainting. Why was it that trying to stand tall should make you so much more likely to fall?

A: This seems to need a deeply profound comment, and I can’t find one—except to note that it’s all true.

“Unfortunately, I’m certain I didn’t make the best choices I could,” Dalinar said.

“But you wouldn’t change them. If you did, you’d be a different person.”

I did change them, Dalinar thought. I erased them. And I did become a different person.

A: And there’s our dilemma, along with his. For two books, we knew Dalinar as the honest, honorable, self-controlled general—and we (or at least, most of us, I think) liked him that way. Now we’ve had it shoved in our faces that he wasn’t always such a great guy, and had some moments of being a truly horrible human being, and the disconnect is great and painful.

L: It’s a difficult question that Taravangian asks, here. In most cases, it’s our experiences—and especially our mistakes—that shape us into who we are. But Dalinar didn’t remember his mistakes. Does remembering them now change who he is? Clearly not, but he can’t know that.

A: That’s one area in which I have total sympathy for Dalinar: These memories have been dumped on him with very little time to adjust, in the midst of a chaotic situation with thousands of people depending on his leadership. Even trying to carry on and make decisions with all of this in his head must be excruciating.

As if that weren’t more than enough to go on with, the Curacy picks this moment to attack, as publicly as possible:

“Dalinar Kholin,” the ardent said, louder. “The council of curates declares you a heretic. We cannot tolerate your insistence that the Almighty is not God. You are hereby proclaimed excommunicate and anathema.”

A: I have a few theological issues with this—primarily, that there’s no “communion” for him to be excommunicated from—but I guess we’ll go with the “translation artifact” explanation for that. In any case, they do technically have the authority to proclaim him anathema, though I don’t think they’re likely to have the power to enforce it. Too many people look to him for leadership, and they’ll take a heretic general they know over any of the options. (Pretty sure the curates aren’t qualified to take his place, no matter what they think!) I’m not sure they picked a wise time or place, but… given what they think of him, I don’t suppose they’d be willing to travel to Urithiru by Oathgate!

What they couldn’t have anticipated was his instinctive reaction, and it shocks him, too:

I’m going to kill him, a part of Dalinar thought. I have to run now, or I will kill this man. It was as clear to him as the sun’s light.

So he ran.

A: What follows is fascinating in its own right, and we discuss it below. But the voices, and the Thrill, follow him. In another blatant foreshadowing, he turns first to The Way of Kings to drive back the pain, but he’s not there yet, and it doesn’t help. Broken man that he is, he slides backward to that recent flashback instead: He goes to Adolin’s room and finds some strong violet wine, the kind that would be kept for a special occasion. Trapped (as he sees it) between killing or getting drunk, he chooses the latter.

Poor Dalinar.

Squires & Sidekicks

“Sir?” Rial said, holding out a canteen that smelled of something strong. “I know you said I shouldn’t carry this, but I did. And … and you might need it.”

A: Oh, Rial. I know he means well, but that’s such a bad idea. I was pleased to see Dalinar turn away from it here… and very sad to see him turn back toward it later, in private. Interestingly enough, Rial is one of those who will later become a squire to Teft. How appropriate.

Places & Peoples

A: I don’t know that it’s of great importance, but Dalinar does mention a couple of times that the Veden people love ostentatious gardens. It’s a nice reminder that not all the world looks like the barrenness of the Frostlands or the Shattered Plains, and the farther you go west, the more you’ll find naturally lush greenery. It’s also a nice reminder that Shallan comes by her Natural History calling… well, naturally. She is Veden, after all!

Tight Butts and Coconuts

A: In the vein of “jokes and curses” we get Dalinar cursing

Taln’s palms!

I wonder what it is about Taln’s palms that makes them important? Of course, I wonder the same thing about Kelek’s breath and Ishar’s soul and Ash’s eyes…

L: Taln is the Herald of War, so his hands would be important (what he uses to hold his weapons.) Ash is the artist, and hence eyes would be integral to her, to see her works. Kelek is a little less obvious, as he’s a builder… what importance would breath have to that?

Meaningful/Moronic/Mundane Motivations

A: As we meet with Taravangian this week, I’m deeply distrustful of… well, pretty much everything he says or does. When Dalinar mentions that he seems to be feeling better, he says,

“It’s a good day for me. I feel better than I have recently, but that can be dangerous. I’m prone to think about mistakes I’ve made. … I try to tell myself that at the very least, I made the best choice I could, with the information I had.”

A: This has so many overtones I can’t possibly address them all. The first question I can’t help asking is whether this is a compassionate day or a genius day, or where it is on that spectrum. The cynic in me assumes it’s nearer the genius level, but with enough emotion to give him the insight to manipulate Dalinar like a puppet. That would imply that the “mistakes” he refers to are the decisions he makes when he’s “stupid,” which he now sees as bad decisions, but the best he could do with the mediocre intelligence he had to work with. (If you can’t tell, I like the “stupid but compassionate” end of the spectrum more than the “brilliant but emotionless” end… but I don’t trust either one.

L: I don’t know. I think he could also be more on the compassionate side and be looking at all of the awful things he’s done as his mistakes. He doesn’t seem to be doing a great job of manipulating Dalinar here, other than throwing him even farther off-kilter mentally than he was to begin with.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

“There are legends of metal that can block a Shardblade. A metal that falls from the sky. Silver, but somehow lighter.”

L: I’m curious as to how and why aluminum is falling from the skies.

A: Meteorites, I assume. Real-life meteorites don’t typically contain aluminum, although a few have, but there’s no reason aluminum shouldn’t be more plentiful in Cosmere meteorites. (Now we just need Scotty to give them transparent aluminium, and we’ll be all set? Or is that what the atrium window in Urithiru is made of already?)

L: Hmm, yes, I was thinking meteorites as well but I never knew that aluminum has been found in them. Maybe this is speaking to more aluminum being present in space, or… maybe there are wrecks of starships up there!

“The gemstone,” Taravangian said, “imprisons the kind of spren that gives things substance, the kind that holds the world together. We have entrapped in that shield something that, at another time, might have blessed a Knight Radiant.”

L: Is he implying that they’ve got a HIGHER spren trapped in there? Ugh!

A: That certainly seems to be the implication, which is truly awful. I have to wonder just how much Taravangian knows about the Radiants and their spren, though. If he doesn’t really know much, he could just be guessing about these “blessing” a Knight Radiant. If he knows a lot more, he could be referring to the “cousin spren,” which (we assume) are instrumental in forming the living Shardplate. Given that he has a pet Dustbringer Radiant, I think the “complete ignorance” option is off the table.

But why would he be telling Dalinar about it? Doesn’t it seem that Dalinar would be upset by using the sapient spren in this way?

L: Unless that’s all Taravangian is trying to do, upset him. If so, he sure seems to be succeeding.

“You lure in a spren with something it loves. You give it something familiar to draw it in, something it knows deeply. In that moment, it becomes your slave.”

L: This is pretty awful to think about, especially since so many spren are important characters who we, as the readers, have come to love. The part that particularly troubles me is the “lure it with something it loves” part. This strikes me as awwwwwwfully foreshadow-y and I don’t. Like. It.

A: Well, it is foreshadow-y, but (I hope) not in the way you’re thinking. Dalinar remembers this exact quotation away off there in the climax, and applies it to Nergaoul, drawing in the Thrill like an old friend, and trapping it in the King’s Drop.

L: Yeah, that’s not what I was referring to in this instance. It feels bigger to me, like this is going to come back someday in an even bigger way, but… that’s pure speculation on my part.

A: We may find out this is how Ba-Ado-Mishram was trapped, and it wouldn’t at all surprise me if it was a not-quite-successful version of this that partially imprisoned Re-Shephir. I truly hope we don’t see it used against other Radiant-bonding spren in further books, though…

I will not be a sword to you. We spoke of this.

Dalinar growled. He felt something he could touch, something beyond places. The power that bound worlds together. His power.

Wait, the Stormfather said. This is not right!

Dalinar ignored him, reaching beyond and pulling power through. Something bright white manifested in his hand, and he rammed it into the keyhole.

L: I’m left wondering if the Stormfather can’t be a Shardblade, or if he just doesn’t want to be. The “This isn’t right” part is a little troubling…

A: This whole scene is troubling. What exactly did Dalinar get hold of? He mentions “the power that bound worlds together”—could that be Adhesion? Did he grab the essential Surge itself? Or is “beyond places” referring to the Spiritual Realm, and the Stormfather doesn’t think he should be touching it? It feels… brutal, though, the way he just forces it into a key for his immediate use. I can’t help but think that this is related to what he does when he brings the Realms together (Chapter 120, yet again) except there, it doesn’t feel wrong—it feels perfect. Are they really the same kind of thing, or am I seeing more than is there?

Quality Quotations

It took being a soldier to understand the heroism of simply being willing to continue after all your friends had died.

 * * *

The Nightwatcher had ripped apart his memories like the fabric of an old blanket, then sewn a new quilt out of it.

A: I love this analogy on multiple levels. There’s the obvious one, in which fabric is cut to pieces and then sewn together in a new way, which just makes me happy anyway. Then there’s the less obvious: if you take old fabric and piece it together to try to make something functional, any weaknesses in the fabric will give under pressure, and the new quilt will unravel despite all your work.

A: Just one chapter next week—Shadesmar Exploration Society does costuming!

L: YAY COSTUMING!

A: And also arrives in Celebrant, by the way.

L: As always, feel free to continue the discussion in the comments section below!

Alice is having fun playing with flags as frequently as possible. Also, three wins this week, and an overall 10-0 record. Whee!

Lyndsey has one more weekend of work remaining at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire before life goes back to normal (ugh) again. A special shout-out this week to her friends Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, the Misfits of Avalon, and the Penniless Jacks, all of whom you should absolutely check out if you love great entertainment!

Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me… on a Reacher ship in an ocean of beads on a journey to Celebrant? (It’s a pity not to work in something about the river Styx, or that the song wasn’t done by Journey instead. Oh well.) Here we are on board, in this week’s Oathbringer reread! Adolin does some clever fashion alterations (I’m so proud of him) and begins questioning who he truly is, which can’t possibly bode well for the future… Also, Azure is enigmatic.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

In this week’s reread there are references to Warbreaker in the Cosmere Connections section, so if you haven’t read it, best to give that section a pass. But if you haven’t read Warbreaker by now, you really need to correct that. Go read it! (After you finish this week’s discussion, of course.)

Chapter Recap

WHO: Adolin
WHERE: On board the Reacher ship; arrival at Celebrant
WHEN: 1174.2.4.4 (Two days after chapter 99)

On the ship to Celebrant, Adolin makes some adjustments to his clothing in order to look nicer. He has a brief discussion with Azure about duty and responsibility, then goes down below to fetch his “deadeye” spren before they arrive in Celebrant.

Beginnings

Title: Deadeye

“We’ll soon arrive. Let’s go get your deadeye.”

A: This is the first instance of the term “deadeye,” and I find it unutterably sad. It’s the way the spren all refer to any spren who are still bound to the Shardblade form as a result of the broken bonds of the Recreance, and it’s … kind of awful to see them in this form. IIRC, we never actually see any other such spren, so we can only assume from the name that they all have that look of scratched-off eyes. (Hey, if I get my wish that Adolin brings his Blade back to life, it would be pretty awesome to see her eyes return to normal!)

Heralds:

Shalash (Patron of Lightweavers, Herald of Beauty. Role: Artist. Attributes: Creative & Honest)

Vedel (Patron of Edgedancers. Role: Healer. Attributes: Loving & Healing)

L: So, Maya was an Edgedancer’s spren. That explains Vedel being here.

A: Sure does! I don’t see a lot of other healing going on, so… that’s all I’ve got. As for Shalash, Adolin’s costuming is truly a work of art! He’s very creative. Also, honest: twice, in his conversation with Ico, he notes that “rudeness doesn’t necessarily imply untruth” when speaking of uncomfortable things. He’s being sort of brutally honest with himself, as well—but we’ll talk about that below.

Icon:

The Shardbearer marks an Adolin POV. (Squeeee!)

Epigraph:

Moelach is very similar to Nergaoul, though instead of inspiring a battle rage, he supposedly grants visions of the future. In this, lore and theology align. Seeing the future originates with the Unmade, and is from the enemy.
—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 143

A: On the dry technical side, we’ve been given to understand that the death rattles Taravangian has been pursuing so assiduously are the result of Moelach’s presence. As “visions of the future” go, they’re really quite useless IMO; you can’t tell what they’re predicting until you can look at the event in hindsight. How Taravangian & Team use them to update, correct, and interpret the Diagram is totally beyond me. I can’t help wondering what else Moelach does besides give visions to dying people.

But there’s another aspect to this, and that’s whether “seeing the future” really does originate with Odium.

L: Is this the reason why Renarin can see the future, then? Because his spren is corrupted by the Unmade?

A: That’s the big question, and we don’t have a solid answer yet. We know, from one of Dalinar’s visions, that Odium is not the only Shard who can see into the future; Honor himself could, some, and he claimed that Cultivation was much better at it. IMO, the Truthwatchers always had some future sight—not necessarily all of them to the same extent, but I believe it was part of their skillset. I suppose I might be prejudiced on that, since I like Renarin and don’t want his special skills to come from Odium, but as far as I know, there’s no reason for Honor to lie about it. At the same time, Glys has been touched by Sja-anat, so… who’s to say?

One thing I’m now curious about, though: is it possible that Cultivation has deliberately downplayed her ability to see the future? Did she encourage the Truthwatchers to hide it from the others, so that in the end virtually no one realizes what she (and/or they) can do? Is this another of her “long game” moves, hiding things from Odium so that he doesn’t know the weapons she can range against him?

L: Or… OR… (and this is REALLY tin-foil-theory-y), what if Sja-Anat had corrupted the Truthwatcher spren all along?

A: Uh… that would be sort of creepy… My first thought is that of course she hadn’t because Jasnah has a drawing of what a Truthwatcher spren is supposed to look like, and it ain’t like Glys. But… Glys is able to hide when he doesn’t want to be seen. Would it be reasonable that, as a race, they tend to stay hidden, so that no one would know if some of them were corrupted even though most weren’t? On the other hand, that would mess with my own tin-foil theory that Cultivation has just as much future vision as Odium, but she’s hiding it. Hmm.

Seriously, though, there’s a whole starving lot we don’t know—about Cultivation, about Moelach, about death rattles, about Sja-anat, about Truthwatchers, about seeing the future… We’re just guessing at this point.

Hey, did you notice that the Rhythm of War progress bar is up to 73%?

Relationships & Romances

“You are not to be blamed. Betraying oaths is simply your nature, as a human.”

“You don’t know my father,” Adolin said.

L: Oof. Oh, Adolin. I love how highly he thinks of his father, but I am terrified to see what happens when the truth comes out about Rathalas. Because you know it’s going to eventually.

A: It is going to come out, for sure. But I’m not sure, in any of Dalinar’s past, that you can point to a situation where he broke an oath. His actions at Rathalas, horrific as they were (especially to our eyes), weren’t really that far outside Alethi norms, and didn’t break any rules he’d ever sworn to follow. The only possible “rule” I can see him breaking is in refusing to hear the parley envoy—which obviously would have changed things dramatically—but no one seemed particularly shocked at the time.

On the other hand, he did participate in covering up what really happened to Evi, right up until he went to the Nightwatcher and forgot it. Not a broken oath, but not honesty either.

“I look terrible, don’t I?… No makeup, with hair that hasn’t been washed in days, and now wearing a dumpy set of worker’s clothing.”

“I don’t think you’re capable of looking terrible. … In all their color, even those clouds can’t compete.”

A: Obligatory d’awww… but the best part is, he doesn’t just say stuff like that to make her feel better. He really means it. That’s what I love about these two.

Come to think of it, that’s one of the biggest things I love about Adolin in everything—whatever he does or says, he’s completely genuine. That’s probably why he’s so bothered by not telling Dalinar about Sadeas—he’s not a disingenuous person by nature, and it preys on him to try to keep secrets from those he trusts.

Places & Peoples

L: I honestly have no clue where to put this discussion regarding Adolin and fashion, so I’m just going to drop it here, since I’m making some broad societal comments.

He rolled the sleeves of the jacket up to match, approximating an old style from Thaylenah. … It needed a waistcoat. Those, fortunately, weren’t too hard to fake. Ico had provided a burgundy coat that was too small for him. He removed the collar and sleeves, stitched the rough edges under, then slit it up the back.

L: I just continuously adore Adolin for his fashion sense. In a society that is so stereotypically masculine in most regards, an appreciation and love for fashion seems, to us, to be a very feminine trait. We certainly don’t see any other male Alethi who are as interested in it as Adolin is.

A: Well, there are a lot of mentions in The Way of Kings about other fashionable young men, and even a couple about Sadeas using “fashion” (as in, his coat buttons) to make a wordless but pointed comment to Dalinar. But Adolin is undoubtedly the best at fashion, and the one most committed to it.

L: And he is unabashedly in love with fashion. As in most respects of his life, he makes no excuses for the things he loves. He is who he is, and storms take anyone who doesn’t like it. Case in point:

“Did you really sew that?” she asked.

“There wasn’t much sewing involved,” Adolin said. “The scarf and jacket hide most of the damage I did to the waistcoat—which used to be a smaller jacket.”

“Still,” she said. “An unusual skill for a royal.”

A: I loved that bit. It’s so easy to assume that, as a royal, he’s totally accustomed to having servants do everything for him. How much of his ability to do things for himself is a matter of really not having all that many servants around, and how much might be because he trusts his tailor and himself and no one else, we don’t know. But he can take care of his own clothes, and I find that both hilarious and endearing.

“Very nice,” Ico said. “You look like an honorspren going to a Feast of Light.”

A: I still don’t know whether this is a compliment or an insult…

Tight Butts and Coconuts

Kaladin gaped at Adolin…. That befuddled expression alone made the work worthwhile.

“How?” Kaladin demanded. “Did you sew that?”

Adolin grinned.

L: I will never get over how much I love these two.

A: This was priceless.

“I see. And are you enigmatic on purpose, or is it kind of an accidental thing?”

A: LOL. The snark is strong with this one.

Weighty Words

King. Was Adolin a king? Surely his father would decide not to continue with the abdication, now that Elhokar had passed.

L: And so we begin this little arc of Adolin’s, in which he has to seriously consider whether or not he has what it takes (or if he even wants) to be king. Personally, I think he would make an amazing king. It’s often those who don’t want power who are most worthy of having it. Adolin displays a staggering amount of empathy and care for the common people of Alethkar (and the world in general), and since he’s not a Knight Radiant, he has less conflicts of interests than, say, the person who actually does wind up in charge. (Not that I am saying that I don’t think that Jasnah will make a good ruler, I’m just thinking that Adolin might have made a better one.)

A: This is a tough thing to consider. I can’t really second-guess Sanderson on the way he’s choosing to write the book, but from “in-world” I totally agree. I think Adolin would make a much better king than he thinks he would

L: We continue these thoughts below:

More, he felt his own growing worry that he might actually have to take the throne. He’d grown up knowing it could happen, but he’d also grown up wishing—desperately—that it never would. In his quiet moments, he’d assumed this hesitance was because a king couldn’t apply himself to things like dueling and… well… enjoying life.

L: It’s totally understandable for Adolin to fear change, to fear the heightened level of responsibility that being a ruler would bring. But I think higher of him than he seems to think of himself. Adolin has always stepped up and faced new difficulties with grace. I believe that, if called upon to rule, he would do an amazing job at it.

What if it went deeper? What if he’d always known inconsistency lurked within him? He couldn’t keep pretending he was the man his father wanted him to be.

L: Then we get to this. I think a lot of this is stemming from what happened with Sadeas. Before then, he’d been the model son and soldier. But killing Sadeas made Adolin realize that there’s something deeper within him. I’m not sure if I would classify it as an inconsistency, so much as an independent streak when it comes to doing what needs to be done regardless of the morality.

Buy it Now

A: Right on. IMO, this is another false binary, but one Adolin creates for himself. He thinks he’s “inconsistent,” but that’s only because he feels he’s pretending to be the man Dalinar wants him to be. At present it’s wrapped around killing Sadeas, and he thinks that makes him “not the man his father wants him to be.” But what I’m seeing in him is a man striving to live up to his own ideals; he thinks of it as trying to be what Dalinar wants, but I can’t recall him doing anything he didn’t think was the right thing to do. Of course his ideals are shaped by Dalinar’s ideals, but they’re also shaped by Evi’s training, and in neither case does it make them less his own. (There’s also the disconnect between Dalinar’s expectations now vs. Dalinar’s expectations when his son was young; if you want “inconsistent,” there it is. It stands to reason that Adolin was shaped as much or more by the Blackthorn as by the proto-Bondsmith, and the Blackthorn wouldn’t have had any problem over getting in a murderous fight with a declared enemy in a dark alley. It’s the Bondsmith that might have trouble with that.)

So I don’t think he’s inconsistent. He just doesn’t realize that he’s not actually pretending most of the time. And really, it’s not a bad thing to be the man he is, instead of what (he thinks) his father wants him to be.

“Sometimes, the best way to do your duty is to let someone else—someone more capable—try carrying it.”

Such a foreign idea. Sometimes you took up a duty that wasn’t yours, but abandoning one? Just … giving it to someone else?

He found himself musing on that.

A: Wow, is that ever going to come back around! That’s exactly what he ends up doing when he declares that he won’t be king, and I can’t help thinking this was the moment the seed was planted for that decision. Whether it was “the best way to do his duty,” time will tell. As you say, Lyndsey, Jasnah will probably make a good queen. But Adolin would probably be a much better—and more effective—king than he realizes. It will be interesting to see how it plays out, and I hope we get to see Azure’s reaction.

“But humans will betray trust if it is given to them.” The spren frowned, then seemed to grow embarrassed, looking away. “That was rude.”

“Rudeness doesn’t necessarily imply untruth though.”

“I did not mean an insult, regardless. You are not to be blamed. Betraying oaths is simply your nature, as a human.”

L: Interesting to note the spren’s thoughts here. I think the spren have some sort of supernatural bond which literally prevents them from breaking oaths. When viewing humans, for which this is a choice, I can see how it would be confusing and frustrating for them. Like trying to explain to someone how gravity is infallible, when the person in question can choose to ignore it.

A: Heh. Yes, indeed. The Stormfather has commented on this in the past, iirc. It’s not so much that there’s a bond which prevents the spren from breaking oaths, though; it’s more that they just… can’t. It would be like water deciding not to be wet any longer. As personifications of ideas, they literally cannot be what they are not – which would make humans really bizarre creatures from their perspective.

Cosmere Connections

“And how many royals have you known?”

“More than some might assume.”

L: ::snicker::

“The throne was better served by someone who enjoyed sitting on it.”

“Duty isn’t about what you enjoy. It’s about doing what is demanded of you, in serving the greater good. You can’t just abandon responsibility because you feel like it.”

A: He has a valid point. Duty is not dependent on emotion. Reflecting on the events from Warbreaker that she’s referencing, though, I think Azure stated her point badly. Siri’s primary qualification as queen was not merely that she enjoyed her position, but that she was better suited to it, both by (lack of) training, and by temperament. Vivenna really would have been a terrible queen, given the circumstances; all the assumptions about the political situation had shaped her education in ways completely inimical to dealing with the truth. The effects on both Hallandren and Idris would have been even more devastating with her in Siri’s place. She’d probably have been an acceptable queen for Hallandren in another setting, and almost certainly she’d have been an excellent queen for Idris, but that wasn’t needed either.

“I can’t help feeling that [the Wall Guard] is merely one in a long string of duties abdicated, of burdens set down, perhaps to disastrous results.” For some reason, she put her hand on the pommel of her Shardblade when she said that. … “But of all the things I’ve walked away from, the one I don’t regret is allowing someone else to rule. Sometimes, the best way to do your duty is to let someone else – someone more capable – try carrying it.”

A: Oh, Vivenna. What have you been doing since we saw you in Warbreaker? The comment about letting someone more capable do the job refers to the fact that Siri was better at being Susebron’s queen than she would have been. But … what are the other duties that make up a “long string”? And what is the story behind her sword??? I really want that sequel.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

Ico studied him with metal eyes—bronze, with holes for pupils, like Adolin had seen done for some statues. Even the spren’s hair appeared sculpted in place. Ico could almost have been a Soulcast king from an age long past.

L: Man, did I miss it before when he was described as being made of metal? Because I don’t remember it and this is really cool.

“I wish you hadn’t locked her in here,” Adolin said, stooping down to peer through the squat doorway.

“Can’t have them on deck,” Ico said. “They don’t watch where they’re walking and fall off.”

L: Poor things. So I suppose they can’t see or sense their surroundings at all, then… I’m curious as to exactly how this happened, since it’s a trait they all apparently share. Did they scratch out their own eyes, or did something else do it to them? If the latter… what?

“Can’t stand the thought of him wandering around somewhere,” Ico said, eyes forward. “Have to keep him locked away though. He’ll go searching for the human carrying his corpse, otherwise. Walk right off the deck.”

L: I wonder if they all go looking for their corpses, and if so, if they are trying to cross over between the realms or if they just… wander through Shadesmar, mirroring the location of their bearers. It’s really sad… especially when you consider the fact that with the way the land/sea is reversed, that means most of the deadeyes are just wandering around on the bottom of the bead sea somewhere.

A: Well, there’s an image… and one that makes me even sadder for these poor spren. But what happens when they’re summoned, then? Do they disappear from Shadesmar? Do they just go catatonic for the duration? If Ico is able to keep his father locked up on the ship, does that mean that no one has bonded him? Or does he somehow return to the same location when his Blade form is dismissed? The fact that Maya was physically present with Adolin as soon as they transferred to Shadesmar, despite the fact that he’d not been holding his Shardblade at the time, argues that they do tend to stay in the same vicinity. I wonder … but I’m going to break my brain if I think about it too hard.

“My daughter used to work there, before she ran off chasing stupid dreams.”

L: I’m really curious as to whether or not this is a spren we’ve seen somewhere, or will see eventually.

A: The most popular theory I know (starting with the beta, and continuing through the fandom till now) holds that his daughter is Timbre, the spren who was beginning to bond with Eshonai, and currently rides around in Venli’s pouch.

Next week we will be tackling chapter 102 all on its lonesome. Join us then, and as always, in the comments section below!

Alice is now entering the Pacific Northwest season of the Weeping. Unlike Roshar’s four weeks, hers will last six or seven months….

Lyndsey is going to miss all of her Renaissance Faire friends dearly, but she has to admit that it’s going to be nice to sleep in a real bed on the weekends again instead of in a tent. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

On this week’s installment of the Oathbringer reread, our intrepid Shadesmar explorers take a shopping trip in Celebrant! They discover many interesting things, from paintings to the object permanence qualities of clothing, to… Fused? Here in Celebrant?! Read on, dear readers, and join us in more detail-picking and theory-crafting!

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

In this week’s reread we also discuss some minor spoilers from Mistborn: Secret History and Warbreaker in several sections, so if you haven’t read those, beware.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin, Azure, Pattern, Syl, and Maya.
WHERE: Celebrant, in Shadesmar
WHEN: 1174.2.4.5 (This is officially the day after Chapter 101, so even though no noticeable time has passed for the team in Shadesmar, it is presumably the following day in the Physical Realm.)

In Celebrant, Kaladin, Adolin, and Syl are on a shopping trip for clothing, weapons, and other supplies. Kaladin discovers a painting that reminds him of the urgency of their mission, then Syl is recognized—turns out she has quite a price on her head. They make their way back to the docks, where Azure, Shallan, Pattern, and Maya are trying to secure passage. However, their plans go upside down when they realize that the “routine inspections” are actually overseen by the Fused. Ico’s ship is burned and Syl reveals herself in order to gain passage on an Honorspren ship.

Beginnings

Title: Celebrant

L: Well, this one’s easy enough. They arrive in Celebrant this week, so… there’s your chapter title!

Heralds: Chach, aka Chanarach (Chana). Brave/Obedient. Dustbringers. Role: Guard. Soulcasting Property: Fire. Essence: Spark

A: On a guess, a lot of this choice is based on the Fused (accidentally?) setting fire to Ico’s ship. Probably part of it is also the behavior of… pretty much everyone on the team, guarding one another as much as possible.

L: I wonder if the stone spren we were seeing a lot of were Dustbringer spren….

Icon: Oddly enough, Pattern is the icon for the chapter; that usually denotes a chapter starting with Shallan’s POV, but in this case it begins with Kaladin. That’s okay, though; Shallan—and Pattern—get into the act soon enough.

Epigraph:

Moelach was said to grant visions of the future at different times—but most commonly at the transition point between realms. When a soul was nearing the Tranquiline Halls.

–From Hessi’s Mythica, page 114

A: This is interesting timing. I just had a conversation on Facebook about the real origin of the Tranquiline Halls concept. Per WoB, it’s actually Ashyn. I speculated that the reason the story says that the Voidbringers conquered the Tranquiline Halls is that some of the humans on Ashyn somehow accessed Odium’s Investiture, and that’s why their Surgebinding became more dangerous and damaged the world so badly.

But here, Hessi is clearly referring to where a person’s spirit goes when they die. We know from Mistborn: Secret History as well as Warbreaker that most people go to the Cognitive Realm and then (usually) to the Beyond. We also know that the Heralds and the Singer ancestors, whether in the Cognitive or the Physical Realm, go to Braize, not the Beyond.

None of that has to do with Moelach, of course, but I thought it was interesting. In any case, Hessi and Taravangian clearly agree on the source of the Death Rattles. I think I need to go back and review those, and see what kind of correlations people have been making. How informative are they, anyway?

Stories & Songs

A figure stood up there, with the marbled skin of a parshman. He floated a foot or two off the deck next to Ico, looming like a stern tutor over a foolish student.

“Perhaps,” Azure said, “we should have asked who runs the inspections.”

A: Talk about hindsight…. That was definitely unexpected. Not to mention, unfortunate.

“It’s a unique piece, human,” she said. “From the far-off Court of Gods, a painting intended only for a divinity to see. It is exceptionally rare that one escapes being burned at the court, and makes its way onto the market.”

“Nine shadows,” Kaladin said. “The Unmade?”

“This is a piece by Nenefra. Is it said that each person who sees one of his masterworks sees something different.”

L: I wonder how much of this is BS just so the seller can make it seem more important/worth more than it really is. I’m skeptical of the “everyone sees something different” bit, but that part about the Court of Gods… what could this possibly be in reference to? All I could think was Warbreaker, but I don’t think that scans….

A: Yep, he’s talking about Warbreaker. That much is confirmed by WoB, if only by his acceptance of the assumption in questions; however, he won’t say if the painting here is one we actually saw there, or just another one from there. It’s probably fairly valuable, being from another world, but I agree that the seller is most likely making up some of the schtick here, though whether that’s for a bigger sale or to gloss over the fact that he can’t see anything special, I won’t guess! About that “everyone sees something different”… Brandon was extremely evasive about whether or not that was true, or how it works. I’d bet that Investiture — on Roshar, a spren bond — is part of being able to see anything at all in it.

L: Well, nice to know that my instincts were right for once!

Relationships & Romances

“And I’m… I’m kind of like a spren lighteyes. I didn’t want you to know. In case you hated me, like you hate them.”

L: Oh jeez. This breaks my heart. Poor Syl.

Places & Peoples

According to the signs Syl could read, some items were far more expensive than others. Syl seemed to think the difference had to do with how permanent the thing was in Shadesmar—which made Kaladin worry for the clothing they’d bought.

L: Interesting. So their economy is based not entirely on export/import, but on object permanence?

A: It makes sense, doesn’t it? I sympathize with Kaladin’s concern!

According to the list from the dock registrar, [the honorspren ship] was heading someplace called Lasting Integrity—which was to the southwest.

A: I wonder if it’s located at the point corresponding to Kharbranth. It seems reasonable, though I don’t know why that should be a center for honorspren.

Tight Butts and Coconuts

“What’s that?” Kaladin asked.

“Clothes!”

“Why do you need clothes? Yours are built in.”

“Those are boring.”

L: Bless you, Syl. Never change.

“Sylphrena, the Ancient Daughter?” one shouted.

“That’s me!” she shouted back. “You’d better catch me before I scamper away! Wow! I’m feeling capricious today. I might just vanish again, off to where nobody can find me!”

L: I can’t even with her. I adore her.

A: Such a hoot—and at the same time, such self-sacrifice. After spending all this time in disguise because there’s a reward for her capture, she throws it all away on their one chance to get away from Celebrant and the Fused there.

Weighty Words

“You… you are a Radiant? The old oaths are spoken again?”

“Yes,” Shallan said, helping Adolin’s spren to her feet.

The frightened little spren sat up straighter. “Oh, glorious day. Glorious! We have waited so long for the honor of men to return!”

Buy it Now

L: I really love this reaction.

A: Let’s see… this is a “vine spren”—an Edgedancer’s spren, or Cultivationspren. These are the ones who sent Wyndle to seek out and bond Lift; as a whole, they seem inclined to approve of the Radiant bonding. Not all the spren races are so eager, but it sure is nice to see this one!

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

The city wasn’t as densely populated as most human ones, but the variety of spren was stunning. Reachers like Ico and his sailors were common, but there were also spren that looked much like Adolin’s sword—at least before she’d been killed. They were made entirely of vines, thought they had crystal hands and wore human clothing. Equally common were spren with inky black skin that shone with a variety of colors when light hit them right. Their clothing seemed part of them, like that of the Cryptics and honorspren.

L: So we’ve got Edgedancer spren (Cultivationspren) and Elsecaller (Inkspren) ones. I’m curious about the crystal hands on the cultivationspren, and also why they’re wearing human clothes!

There were other spren with skin like cracked stone, molten light shining from within. Still others had skin the color of old white ashes—and when Kaladin saw one of these point towards something, the skin stretching at the joint of his arm disintegrated and blew away, revealing the joint and knobs of the humerus. The skin quickly regrew.

L: I’m very curious about what orders these spren represent!

A: An educated guess says that the first are the spren of Stonewards, and the second likely the spren of Dustbringers. We don’t have a name for the Stone spren yet (unless they’re Stonespren), but later in the book, Malata calls her Dustbringer-spren an “Ashspren.” She also implies that they aren’t very excited about the human bonding, an attitude that’s reflected in the ones they meet here:

They eyed the humans with overt hostility, and one flicked fingers toward Kaladin. Those fingers exploded to bits of dust, leaving bones that grew back the flesh.

A: Well, thanks for that mental image!

“No children,” Kaladin noted.

“There have been a few,” Syl said. “They just don’t look little, like human children.”

“How does that even work?” Adolin asked.

“Well, it’s certainly less messy than your method!” She scrunched her face up. “We’re made of power, bits of gods. There are places where that power coalesces, and parts start to be aware. You go, and then come back with a child? I think?”

L: This is pretty fascinating to consider.

A: I laughed pretty hard about Adolin’s response, that it sounded much like what his nanny told him about where babies come from. But I have to wonder whether it’s really like that (which would be a funny twist) or if Syl was told the equivalent of a human evasion.

“There are many varieties [of Voidspren],” she said. “Some of golden light, others are red shadows. Curious, yes. And it sounds like some of the Fused are with them—men with shells that can fly. I did not know this.”

L: The thing I find interesting about this is that Pattern finds it “curious.” Did he not expect for there to be different kinds of Voidspren?

A: That’s what it sounds like. That, or he’d simply never thought about it, so now he’s curious.

I have to wonder (I seem to be doing that a lot!) whether the red here reflects what we’ve been told about the significance of red in the Cosmere; it should, anyway. Per WoB, red indicates the corrupting or co-opting of one Shard’s Investiture by another Shard—not a specific other Shard, but any other. If that’s the case, these red Voidspren ought to be spren originally from Roshar who are now Invested by Odium’s power, while the golden ones are most likely solely of Odium.

[The Fused] stopped at the mouth of the alleyway, watching them board the ship. Honorspren gave it pause, apparently.

A: Isn’t that interesting. We know the honorspren seem to be standoffish, but this indicates that the Fused is, if not actually frightened of them, at least extremely cautious about them. Why?

Sheer Speculation

And sitting in a locked, glass-topped box, a long thin silvery chain.

…

“A thousand broams?” Kaladin asked. He looked down at the box, which was locked to the table and guarded by a small orange spren that looked like people.

L: I mean…. When I read a silvery chain the first thing I always think of are the chains (a’dam) the sul’dam use in Wheel of Time to control women who can use the One Power. This could be an homage, but Sanderson doesn’t usually do this. I find it more likely that this is something that’s going to come back somewhere down the line—because otherwise, why would he have mentioned it in the first place?

A: Why, indeed! My first thought was of the necklace Shallan’s father gave her, which is confirmed (in-world, anyway) to be aluminum, which “can only be made by Soulcasting.” We know that’s not quite true, but it seems to be the standard assumption. I don’t think it’s the same item, because this is described as “a long thin silvery chain” and Shallan’s necklace was described as “a necklace of fat silvery links.” Still… what are the odds that it’s aluminum, and therefore valuable throughout the Cosmere?

Next week, we’ll tackle chapter 103, returning to Dalinar’s POV in a vision, where he has a very odd conversation with… who or what, we can speculate then!

Alice is, as promised, busy running all over the Puget Sound area with her daughter’s volleyball team. One more regular season game, and then it’s tournament time. Whee!

Lyndsey isn’t sure what to do with her weekends now that she doesn’t have the renaissance faire eating up all of her time, but at least she has the Starsight release party in Utah next month to look forward to. If you’re interested in following along with her trip to Utah, follow her on Facebook or Instagram.

Welcome back to the Oathbringer Reread! This week is either meta or surreal, depending on your perspective and/or your definition, as Dalinar has a lovely chat with … well, with someone who may or may not be a product of his imagination. Or maybe it’s a Shardic interaction. Or… who knows? Click on through and see what you think it is.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done. This week’s reread doesn’t contain spoilers for any other books; although there’s a very brief discussion of Realmatic Theory, it’s just what was in the text.

Lyndsey and Aubree were unavailable this week for various real-life-related reasons, so yours truly will be flying solo. Wheee!

Chapter Recap

WHO: Dalinar
WHERE: Though Dalinar is physically in Urithiru, the action is in Vision-Kholinar
WHEN: 1174.2.5.4 (Three days after fleeing from Vedenar, the Thrill, and the curates)

Dalinar “wakes” in a place he just barely recognizes, and finds Nohadon writing a shopping list. The two of them converse about life and leadership issues until Dalinar is smashed out of his presumed vision by a bunch of thunderclasts; he discovers that he’s in bed in Urithiru, it was (probably?) a dream, and he remembers the night of Gavilar’s funeral in great detail.

Beginnings

Title: Hypocrite

“I’m a lie, Nohadon. A hypocrite.”

“Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man who is in the process of changing.”

As Dalinar notices, this is something he himself said in the past. He just didn’t realize how true it could be, and how hard it could be to deal with your own past once you’ve changed.

Heralds: Jezrien, Herald of Kings, patron of Windrunners, Protecting/Leading, King

This chapter couldn’t really have anyone else, could it? The whole thing is Dalinar interacting with a legendary king on the subject of leadership.

Icon: The Kholin Glyphpair indicates Dalinar’s POV.

Epigraph:

Many cultures speak of the so-called Death Rattles that sometimes overtake people as they die. Tradition ascribes them to the Almighty, but I find too many to be seemingly prophetic. This will be my most contentious assertion I am sure, but I think these are the effects of Moelach persisting in our current times. Proof is easy to provide: the effect is regionalized, and tends to move across Roshar. This is the roving of the Unmade.
–From Hessi’s Mythica, page 170

She’s got a valid point about regionalization, from what little we know of the Unmade. The Almighty could (or could have in the past, anyway) affect things planet-wide, but the Unmade have localized effects. Some are very concentrated, like Yelig-Nar who deals with a single individual, while others affect a wide area, like Moelach or Nergaoul. Some… we don’t know yet. Hopefully we’ll get more information from Hessi, for whatever reliability you place on her words.

Also, notice the underlying assumption (pointed out to me by Aubree)—the Death Rattles can’t be from the Almighty, because they’re too often prophetic, and of course we know that seeing the future is evil and from Odium, not our precious Almighty!

Stories & Songs

Yes, he remembered this place well. This was the vision where he’d met Nohadon, author of The Way of Kings.

We return to history and legend, and there’s no way to know where they overlap. This is a familiar place, as Dalinar has returned to this vision several times. Except that, of course, it’s not the same vision. I question the validity of this vision, honestly. Or rather, I really wonder about its provenance. It’s clearly not a new vision from Honor. Is it from Odium? Cultivation? Or is it just a nightmare—Dalinar’s brain trying to sort out all the craziness that’s going on in and around him?

(Side note: I have a quibble with the Coppermind entry on Nohadon; it reads as if Dalinar’s visions are true to life and this is really what Nohadon was like when he was older. We really don’t know if that’s true; it depends totally on the source of this vision/dream/whatever-it-is.)

Speaking of which… what is it?

Dalinar started toward the balcony, but storms, that light was so intense.

This reminds me of … well, somewhere along the line, when Odium invades one of Dalinar’s visions. The light is super intense until Odium moderates it for him, if I’m remembering it right. Does that imply this is from Odium?

“Yes, you shop, don’t you?”

“I … usually have people to do that for me.”

“Ah, but of course you do,” Nohadon said. “Very like you to miss a simple joy so you can get to something more ‘important.’”

This is really bugging me now. This sounds like someone who actually knows Dalinar. Honestly, I’m leaning more and more toward this being Cultivation, but I’m not sure I can articulate why—other than I’d rather have her than Odium messing with Dalinar’s mind. And that last crack about missing a simple joy for something more ‘important’—to me, that sounds more like Cultivation than Odium, but I can see the opposite argument.

Nohadon leaped off the side of the balcony. He laughed, falling and sliding along a cloth banner tied between a tower window and a tent below. Dalinar cursed, leaning forward, worried for the old man — until he spotted Nohadon glowing. He was a Surgebinder — but Dalinar had known that from the last vision, hadn’t he?

First off—so you still have to go up the hard way, but why not go down a slide instead of the stairs, if you can? Second, I now really wonder what Surges Nohadon could bind. The first time we saw him, in the vision of The Way of Kings, Chapter 60, he mentioned that “not all spren are as discerning as honorspren.” Does that mean he is bonded with an honorspren? Or is Karm, the man Dalinar stands in for in that vision? On a bet, I’d guess Nohadon is a Windrunner just prior to the establishment of the Orders, but that doesn’t really explain why he’d need the slide. (And of course there’s always the question of whether the spren at that time were already limited to the two Surges per race, and all that, but… that’s another area of speculation altogether.)

“I walked all the way to Urithiru on my own. I think I can manage this.”

“You didn’t walk all the way to Urithiru,” Dalinar said. “You walked to one of the Oathgates, then took that to Urithiru.”

“Misconception!” Nohadon said. “I walked the whole way, though I did require some help to reach Urithiru’s caverns. That is no more a cheat than taking a ferry across a river.”

This made me laugh—Dalinar telling Nohadon what he really did. Like you’d know better than he would, dude? Heh. (Of course, neither Dalinar nor I believe he’s talking to the real Nohadon, but still!) I also like the way this ties into the beginning of Part Two, when they discovered that there was a tunnel system below Urithiru that, followed far enough, took them out into the foothills of Tu Fallia. According to the book, Nohadon claimed to have walked “from Abamabar to Urithiru”—but we know that his seat was a much-earlier Kholinar. Could Abamabar be the likewise much-earlier name of Kholinar? I mean… why not? If I can go on the assumption that he started from his home—which, if Abamabar = Kholinar, had its own Oathgate, no walking required—he would have had ample space to do all the things he recounted, but it would still have been a reasonable distance. And I don’t see why Nohadon would talk about the journey through all these lands if he hadn’t done it. Look at where Tu Fallia is on the map:

If you’re walking from Kholinar to Urithiru, you go through Alethkar, Vedenar, Triax, and Tu Fallia—and, come to think of it, possibly right up Cultivation’s valley. Huh. Obviously Dalinar has been there; I wonder why he hasn’t put this together. Unless he’s just accepting the standard explanation without really thinking about it, which… well, people are known to do that. From time to time. I guess.

Ooookay. Back to the matter at hand.

He reminds me of Taravangian, Dalinar suddenly thought. How odd.

We just recently got a new WoB telling us that Taravangian also dealt with Cultivation rather than the Nightwatcher to receive his boon and curse (though he doesn’t seem to realize that, per his thoughts in Chapter 121). If this vision is from Cultivation, could that resonance be what Dalinar senses as a similarity between Nohadon and Taravangian, like Lift noticed in Dalinar? And in that case, are all the odd visions (the ones that don’t come from Honor/ SF or obviously from Odium) from Cultivation? I sure do enjoy speculating some days…

Then there’s this fascinating—and central—discussion about principles, with Dalinar thinking that making the right decisions should always have good results. Nohadon disagrees, at least in the immediate sense.

“Isn’t a principle about what you give up, not what you gain?”

“So it’s all negative?” […]

“Hardly. But maybe you shouldn’t be looking for life to be easier because you choose to do something that is right!”

It’s a very human thing to think: if I make the right choices, life should go well for me. And yet, if you want to talk about right and wrong in an absolute sense, rather than “right = what is good for me personally,” Nohadon is absolutely correct: sometimes, doing the right thing bears a tremendous cost in the short term. Sometimes, the benefit is a long, long way off; sometimes, the benefit is for someone else. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.

A wise person once said, “We all choose what we want most.” The immediate response is, “No, we don’t, or I’d stay in bed instead of going to work.” If you think about it, though, you get out of bed and go to work because in the long run, you want the paycheck (and you want to keep the job so you get the rest of the paychecks) more than you want to stay in bed today. Often, we do things in the way that is socially acceptable not because of the thing itself, but because of the social acceptance that comes with it. Or, if you’re in one of my Facebook groups, you refrain from talking about RL politics even when you think it’s a relevant topic, because you’d rather stay in the group than start that discussion.

Dalinar knows this, at some level, but it’s fun to see him work through it consciously.

He saw it above the buildings, a stone creature with an angular face and red spots glowing deep in its rocky skull. Storms! And he had no weapon.

Nohadon stepped from the tent, holding his bag of grain. He looked up and smiled.

(Gotta say, that creeped me out! I thought for sure this was an Odium-vision at this point!)

The creature leaned down, then offered a large, skeletal hand. Nohadon touched it with his own, and the creature stilled.

“This is quite the nightmare you’ve created,” Nohadon said. “What does that thunderclast represent, I wonder?”

This is just getting surreal. The person in his dream/vision, likely created by a Shard, is now asking Dalinar about the nasty creatures with which he’s populated said dream/vision. ACK. But Dalinar’s response to the question just hurts:

“Pain. Tears. Burdens. I’m a lie, Nohadon. A hypocrite.”

And without copying it all, Dalinar finds himself surrounded by monsters who crush buildings.

The rest of the interaction belongs in the next section.

Weighty Words

“All things exist in three realms, Dalinar,” Nohadon said. “The Physical: what you are now. The Cognitive: what you see yourself as being. The Spiritual: the perfect you, the person beyond pain, and error, and uncertainty.”

Welp. There you have Realmatic Theory in a nutshell. Good luck understanding all the implications, though!

“You’ve said the oaths,” Nohadon called. “But do you understand the journey? Do you understand what it requires? You’ve forgotten one essential part, one thing that without which there can be no journey.”
“What is the most important step a man can take?”

“Journey before destination.” This is so big, so profound. Nohadon, or Dalinar, or a Shard (probably), knows that while he’s said the words, Dalinar hasn’t really grasped the concept of the journey. Or at least he hasn’t grasped how intentional his own personal journey needs to be, completely aside from leading the nations. As before, he’ll soon assume (chapter 105, I think?) that the most important step is the first step. It’s not until nearly the end of the book that he realizes the truth: the most important step is always the next step. You can’t just start; you have to keep going.

Bruised & Broken

It had been … what, three days since his return from Jah Keved? His excommunication from the Vorin church?

He remembered those days as a haze of frustration, sorrow, agony. And drink. A great deal of drink. He’d been using the stupor to drive away the pain. A terrible bandage for his wounds, blood seeping out on all sides. But so far, it had kept him alive.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about the professional definition of alcoholism, but it occurs to me that Dalinar may not ever really have been an alcoholic. He was, if anything, a Thrill addict; he couldn’t stay away from that particular adrenaline rush. But alcohol… it was never anything more than a way to numb his mind, either from lack of the Thrill, or from his own painful memories. He wasn’t, as near as I can tell, irresistibly drawn to drinking most of his life; he turned to it as the only available means of drowning out his brain. As I said, I’m no expert, and I’m not saying that many alcoholics don’t do exactly that. It just seems that, except for a few years, Dalinar has always been able to have wine with a meal, or at a social event, without any inclination to drink too much. It’s only when he’s bored and missing the Thrill (e.g. Chapter 49) or after the destruction of Rathalas and Evi’s death (Chapter 88) that he turns into a complete drunken sot. Most people I’ve talked with who have actual experience indicate that “a single drink” virtually doesn’t exist for them; one inevitably leads to many, or at least to the nearly-overwhelming urge for more. They have to stay away altogether.

So… he’s broken, that’s for sure. Who wouldn’t be, with such knowledge suddenly bursting in? But I’m not sure he’s an alcoholic; I think he’s just a tormented man who uses liquor (or firemoss) to drown out the things he can’t cope with any other way. Once there’s another way to deal with it, whether it’s Cultivation pruning his memories or—as in the current sequence—returning them, he simply sets aside the alcohol and gets on with what needs to be done. I could be wrong, but that doesn’t sound like any description of alcoholism I’ve ever heard.

Dalinar awoke, huddled in his bed in Urithiru, asleep in his clothing again. A mostly empty bottle of wine rested on the table. There was no storm. It hadn’t been a vision.

Speaking of alcohol… He certainly thinks the whole thing was an alcohol-fueled nightmare. I think it was a vision from Cultivation, who doesn’t need a highstorm, like the Stormfather does, to touch his mind.

He buried his face in his hands, trembling. Something bloomed inside of him: a recollection. Not really a new memory—not one he’d completely forgotten. But it suddenly became as crisp as if he’d experienced it yesterday.

The night of Gavilar’s funeral.

The night that started him on The Way of Kings. But we’ll deal with that in his next chapter, in two weeks.

Places & Peoples

“I’ll be cooking Shin loaf bread today, if I can get the ingredients. It always breaks people’s brains. Grain was not meant to be so fluffy.”

You have to do a little connecting of dots, but in just a few chapters, Szeth will comment on a grass that reminds him of wheat. I’m thinking that Nohadon is going to buy wheat to make bread that’s more like what we’re used to—and that most of Roshar eats some form of flatbread rather than anything resembling a loaf. Yet another reminder that Shinovar is very Earth-like, while the rest of Roshar is very not.

The men wore long skirts, tied at the waists by wide girdles, some of which came all the way up over their stomachs. Above that they had bare chests, or wore simple overshirts. The outfits resembled the takama Dalinar had worn when younger, though of a far, far older style. The tubular gowns on the women were even stranger, made of layered small rings of cloth with tassels on the bottom. They seemed to ripple as they moved.

Seems like this ought to be verifiable somehow; was this really a style from … whenever this was? Roughly five thousand years ago, or maybe six thousand? Come to think of it, that might be hard to verify! But there’s no way this is Dalinar’s imagination or memory creating these images. I just don’t buy that.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

“Stormfather?” Dalinar called, his voice echoing. “Stormfather, why have you sent me a vision? We agreed they were too dangerous.”

It’s worth noting that, though Dalinar doesn’t point it out, the Stormfather never answers. In a later chapter, he’ll deny any knowledge of this event. I’m assuming (as noted above) this means that Honor had nothing to do with this one.

Quality Quotations

It swung open easily beneath his touch, and he stepped out of the loud sunlight to find himself in a circular room.

“Loud sunlight.” What a lovely, unexpected phrase.

Welp. The more I work through this chapter, the more I’m convinced that it’s one of the Shards. There’s just too much knowledge represented that Dalinar couldn’t possibly have. And for a lot of different reasons, not all of which make much sense, I believe it was from Cultivation. What do you think it was? Nightmare? Odium vision? Cultivation vision? Something else entirely? Discuss!

Also, join us next week for Chapter 104, in which Navani tries to keep the show on the road.

Alice is excited and apprehensive: volleyball playoffs begin tonight!

Hey there! Welcome back! We’re back in Urithiru for the Oathbringer Reread this week, and not dreaming either. It’s all meetings, logistics, and scholarship this week, with undercurrents of personal interactions to keep things interesting. I mean, Sebarial is always… interesting, right?

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the entire novel in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done. There are no Cosmere spoilers in this week’s reread, so you’re safe in that regard.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Navani
WHERE: Urithiru
WHEN: 1174.2.5.4 (The same day as Dalinar’s dream/vision/nightmare in Chapter 103)

Navani meets with the loyal highprinces in Dalinar’s absence, trying to address the many different issues that arise with thousands of people living in a semi-functional tower city. Once that is concluded, she checks in with Jasnah’s team down in the gemstone library.

Beginnings

Title: Strength

What had happened to them in Kholinar? Where were they?

Strength. They would return.

A: This whole chapter is full of Navani maintaining strength even though she’s worried sick about her son, grandson, and nephew—because somehow, someone has to be strong and keep this kingdom functioning. Of course, for reasons she doesn’t yet know, Dalinar has even more to cope with than she does, but we’ll get to that later.

Herald: Paliah is the Scholar, patron of the Truthwatchers, with the divine attributes Learned and Giving.

A: I’m guessing Paliah is here equally for her role as Scholar, reflected in Jasnah and her team, and for her position as the original Truthwatcher, per the focus on Renarin and his abilities. It’s also possible that Giving is demonstrated in Navani’s efforts to keep things going until Dalinar can recover from the worst of his issues.

Icon: The Fabrial Gemstone icon, new just a few chapters ago, tells us we’ve got Navani’s POV.

Epigraph:

Ashertmarn, the Heart of the Revel, is the final of the three great mindless Unmade. His gift to men is not prophecy or battle focus, but a lust for indulgence. Indeed, the great debauchery recorded from the court of Bayala in 480—which led to dynastic collapse—might be attributable to the influence of Ashertmarn.

— From Hessi’s Mythica, page 203

A: It seems fairly obvious that Ashertmarn was already taking up residence in Kholinar during Words of Radiance, when we had the Interlude from the ardent Lhan. It also seems likely, in retrospect, that it didn’t arrive there until after Navani had left to return to the Shattered Plains (in The Way of Kings). I’m happy about this; it explains why Navani thought that Aesudan had things well in hand, when the first thing we saw in Kholinar was a complete shambles. I wonder if the timing of the arrival of a powerful Unmade is significant—like, if it’s tied to one of those dark-light spheres Gavilar had.

L: I’ve been wondering the same thing about the dark-light sphere.

Relationships & Romances

She just had to give Dalinar time. Even if, deep down, a part of her was angry. Angry that his pain so overshadowed her growing fear for Elhokar and Adolin. Angry that he got to drink himself to oblivion, leaving her to pick up the pieces.

But she had learned that nobody was strong all the time, not even Dalinar Kholin. Love wasn’t about being right or wrong, but about standing up and helping when your partner’s back was bowed. He would likely do the same for her someday.

L: This is a wonderfully mature way of looking at things, and a very nice contrast to the more immature romances we’ve seen up to this point. Adolin and Shallan are sweet, yeah, but they lack the life experiences that Navani has. I don’t blame her for feeling a little angry, but the fact that she’s able to self-analyze the reason why and come to terms with it is absolutely wonderful. It’s a good thing that Dalinar has her.

A: You nailed it, Lyndsey. This maturity in a relationship is such a breath of fresh air! Sure, we all understand why she’s angry about it, but I do admire her decision to step up and do what needs to be done when Dalinar can’t. I especially admire her internal acknowledgement that it’s not all one way, and he’ll do the same for her. (I wonder if this is foreshadowing…)

It’s also worth noting that Navani doesn’t know the extent of what Dalinar is facing. There’s the obvious: the disappearance of the Kholinar team, including their sons, and his excommunication from the Vorin church. Both of those are traumatic—but honestly, I’m pretty sure Dalinar could keep going in the face of those two problems. It’s the problems he hasn’t told her about, at least not in detail, that have him crawling into the bottles. I have a suspicion that she’ll learn about those (probably off-page between books) as she proofreads his biography manuscript. I wonder how she’ll respond.

Storms, Navani thought. [Renarin] truly looks happy. … She’d worried when he had first “joined” Bridge Four. He was the son of a highprince. Decorum and distance were appropriate when dealing with enlisted soldiers.

But when, before this, had she last heard him laugh?

A: This just… I don’t quite know what to say, but I love seeing Renarin with Bridge Four. They are so good for him.

L: Same. Bridge 4 is a haven for misfits, and it’s always lovely to see someone find a home there.

There was no arguing with Jasnah, any more than there was arguing with a boulder. You just stepped to the side and went around.

A: Hah! That’s Jasnah, all right—and a wise mother! Their other interaction is priceless:

“It’s not the language, but the dismissal,” Jasnah said. “Histories.”

Oh, right.

“History is the key to human understanding.

Here we go.

“We must learn from the past and apply that knowledge to our modern experience.”

Lectured by my own daughter again.

“The best indication of what human beings will do is not what they think, but what the record says similar groups have done in the past.”

“Of course, Brightness.”

A: This just cracked me up. I mean… Jasnah isn’t wrong. You see it all the time IRL—people think that this time they know what to do, and it will be fine, despite the fact that their big idea has been tried and proven to fail repeatedly. But giving her mother the professor lecture, with Navani’s thoughts interspersed, and then “Of course, Brightness”—maybe it’s just me, but I laughed so hard at that section.

Bruised & Broken

Teft, for example, had been hauled before Aladar’s magistrates two days ago. Public intoxication on firemoss. Aladar had quietly requested her seal to free him.

L: Oh, Teft. We know that his story winds up positive (at least… so far), but this still hurts, to see him backsliding.

A: ::sniffle::

She had no problem being a wife or mother to monarchs, but to be one herself—storms, what a dark path that would lead them all down.

A: Why? What do we not know about Navani??

L: Yeah, honestly, I don’t see the horror in this. She doesn’t strike me as the type to be making an observation about women in positions of power, so there must be something else going on here.

A: Exactly. She has nothing but respect for Queen Fen, and we don’t hear that she objected to crowning Jasnah. It seems that the issue is with Navani herself. It could just be that she doesn’t think she’d be a good queen, but… the phrasing seems more emphatic than that.

Squires & Sidekicks

The five men of Bridge Four arrayed themselves behind Navani. They had been surprised when she’d asked them to escort her; they didn’t yet understand the authority they lent the throne.

A: There’s nothing huge to say about the Bridge Four team in this chapter; they’re just solidly there, as chill as ever. Leyten, Hobber, Huio, and two others escort Navani, remain cheerfully expectant of Kaladin’s return, circumspectly remind Navani that their abilities are limited (by Kaladin’s absence and the fact that only one at a time can use the Honorblade), tease Renarin, and generally act just like themselves. Love those guys. (Also, if you didn’t see the cut text, it’s one of my favorite lines ever. I even suggested it as a chapter title.)

L: They’re the best.

Places & Peoples—& Politics

Brightness Bethab had come representing her husband. The men in the army tended to disrespect him for letting her do so — but that ignored the fact that marrying Mishinah for her political acumen had been a wise and calculated move.

A: Ah, Rosharan politics and roles. It’s pretty funny that among the Alethi nobles, women being the scholars and engineers as well as the only ones who can read, there’s still this idea that men are the clever politicians. Personally, I find it quite admirable that Highprince Bethab was smart enough (given his position) to recognize his own areas of weakness, and find a wife who is strong in those areas—and one he can trust, too.

Aladar cleared his throat, sitting. “You know, Brightness, that we are the most loyal to your husband’s cause.”

“Or at the least,” Sebarial added, “we’re the ones hoping to get rich by throwing in our lot with him.”

Buy it Now

A: Sebarial cracks me up, even as I sometimes want to smack him. Nothing like enlightened self-interest to keep things going!

L: I mean… at least he’s honest.

“Navani,” Brightlady Bethab said. … “We appreciate that you’ve taken the initiative in this difficult time.” There was a glint to her orange eyes, as if she assumed Navani was enjoying her new power.

A: That’s a natural assumption, even if it’s not true currently; we know that in the past, Navani did enjoy the scheming and politicking, and did her part enthusiastically. I still find myself annoyed by the assumption.

L: Eh. I think there’s a distinct difference between scheming behind the scenes and taking the actual reins, which is what is being insinuated here.

“The highking proclamation has not been made official,” Navani said. “I think it’s best to pretend you don’t know about it, for now. …”

A: Sigh. It’s painful to read this now, knowing how this secrecy will later be used against them. I’m not sure openness would have served any better, of course, but… it’s still painful to look ahead.

L: Transparency may have helped them, but then again, it may not have. We honestly have no way of knowing.

A: Meanwhile, there’s a meeting. They have to sort out the latest logistical problems with living in Urithiru, where the infrastructure is all there but is stubbornly non-functional. Plumbing issues (going both ways), labor issues, materiel issues, food issues… Fortunately, the temporary solutions are worked out in a three-hour meeting we don’t have to read.

L: ::says a silent prayer of thanks to the Stormfather for that::

Tight Butts and Coconuts

… all but Sebarial, who appeared to be flipping through a stack of cards bearing pictures of women in compromising positions.

A: How many of them are showing their safehands? Seriously, though, this is totally a thing Sebarial would do—bring his favorite porn collection along to a boring meeting.

L: Sebarial just doesn’t give a single, solitary flying f*** about what anyone thinks of him and I’ve got to respect that.

A: Except Navani, a little? (Actually, I think he does care—he deliberately presents himself in a way that pushes others to see him in a light that keeps them from taking him seriously. It leaves him a lot more room to maneuver.)

“The only thing he seems to be mourning,” Sebarial said, “is the fact that people won’t bring him bottles of wine fast enough for—“

“Damnation, Turinad!” Navani snapped. “That’s enough!”

Sebarial blinked, then pocketed his cards. “Sorry, Brightness.”

A: I’m not sure which is funnier, Sebarial’s initial comment, Navani’s reaction, or Sebarial’s reaction to Navani! I mean, no, Dalinar in a drunken stupor isn’t exactly funny, but Sebarial’s phrasing sure is. I think he sometimes forgets that people can be passionate about things he thinks are unimportant—which is why it’s so funny when Navani snarls at him, and he actually apologizes for ill-timed snark. Who knew he could do that?

Also, now we know what “Turi” is short for.

Murky Motivations

During Gavilar’s last days, he had gone strange. Few knew how dark he’d grown, but they had seen the eccentricity.

A: Am I right in thinking this is the first hint of Gavilar “going wrong” in a more obvious sense? I mean… that whole thing about bringing back the Listeners’ “old gods” and having something with Voidlight trapped in a sphere was pretty wonky. The Sons of Honor plan to jumpstart a new Desolation to bring back the Heralds was bizarre at best. But… I don’t remember seeing him as really growing dark. I guess most of what (little) we know had come from Dalinar before this, and he a) thought his brother was next thing to God and b) was too drunk most of the time to notice anyway.

The Prologue for Rhythm of War is from Navani’s perspective. I wonder if we’ll get more on the subject of Gavilar growing dark.

L: I seem to recall discussion of him going strange (presumably in reference to his adherence to the Way of Kings), but I don’t recall ever reading anything about him being dark. It does seem to fit with his actions and with that dark gem he was carrying around, though. Which I still want to find out more about…

“Tell us honestly, Brightness,” Sebarial said, leaning forward. “What does the Blackthorn want? Is this all secretly a way for him to dominate the world?”

Storms. Even they worried about it. And why shouldn’t they? It made so much sense.

A: It’s not true, of course, and she convinces them of that. There are a couple other things worth noting here, though.

One is (as we’ve said before) that it really is understandable that the rest of the world views Dalinar’s coalition with suspicion. Unification is, far too often, merely a code for subjugation. Unfortunately, he can’t drag the entire world into the visions with him, to convince them of the burning necessity to come together.

L: …Not yet, anyway.

A: The other thing I… well, I wonder about, though I don’t have evidence: Do the Alethi highprinces actually object to the idea of Alethkar dominating the world? As long as they’re well-positioned to benefit from it, I can see some of them (at a minimum) thinking that it would be just fine. Why not?

L: Yeah, we don’t really get the tone of that dialogue. Navani assumes they’re worrying about it, but they could very well be hoping for it instead. It’s certainly possible.

And, bless them, these four did want the coalition to work. Aladar and Sebarial, for all their flaws, had followed Dalinar into the dark of the Weeping and found Damnation waiting there. Hatham and Bethab had been at the advent of the new storm, and could see that Dalinar had been right.

They didn’t care that the Blackthorn was a heretic—or even whether he usurped the throne of Alethkar. They cared that he had a plan for dealing with the enemy, long-term.

A: This almost needs a different title, because the motivation here is clear as crystal: Survive.

L: They’ve seen first-hand what’s at stake, so it makes perfect sense that they’d be all in.

Stories & Songs

A: The end of the chapter involves Navani checking in on Jasnah’s team of scribes, who are attempting to translate all the gemstones in the library to see what they can learn. Navani, naturally, is primarily concerned with any tidbits of information about making Urithiru work. Jasnah is interested in the history. It makes for some funny interactions, but we don’t actually learn a whole lot.

Navani does comment—in a statement that we now know as foreshadowing of dire things to come—that the Dawnchant is close to being cracked. That seems to trouble Jasnah, but no explanation is given. In retrospect, it seems possible that Jasnah has been keeping close tabs on the project, and is becoming aware of the implications of what has been translated thus far.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

The glyphs were scrawled in white on the highprince’s wall, the paper read. [There follows more quotation, and then a summary of Renarin’s secretive warnings prior to the Everstorm.]

It was a little odd, but in the face of everything else, it didn’t really register. And… well, it was Renarin. Why had Jasnah collected all of these?

A: This fits loosely within Jasnah’s earlier assertion that she needed to keep Renarin close and to study his powers. However…

I have a description for you, finally, Jasnah, another said. We’ve convinced the Radiant that Lift found in Yeddaw to visit Azimir. Though she has not yet arrived, you can find sketches of her spren companion here. It looks like the shimmer you see on a wall when you shine light through a crystal.

A: Knowing what we know now, it’s impossible not to feel apprehensive. Jasnah was apparently suspicious of something at this point—and Navani’s reaction indicates that this is not merely normal procedure. She was not only collecting every bit of information about Renarin’s abilities, but also about his spren. Was she bothered by not ever being able to see his spren? Had she caught a glimpse? Was she becoming convinced that his powers didn’t line up with the historical record of what Truthwatchers did? What was her concern? We really don’t know what triggered this investigation, but something has her worried. And, unfortunately, rightly so.

Appraising Artwork

A: There’s just a brief mention of this little item in the chapter, but it will become a Plot Point later on. The translated text reads as follows:

Touch the gems in the correct combination to release a shock from the front nodes that will incapacitate an attacker

Top View

Side View

Stormpiece

Timepiece

L: This reminds me a great deal of Asami’s gloves in Avatar: Legend of Korra. I wonder what kind of spren they’ve got trapped in there? Are there different spren/gems for each function?

Well, that wraps it up for this week. Next week, we’ll be tackling Chapter 105 all on its lonesome. We’ll join Dalinar in attending Gavilar’s funeral, and watch him make a momentous decision…

Alice is losing her voice from yelling at volleyball matches. She also, finally, learned how libero substitution works. It’s complicated.

Lyndsey is currently working on a flight suit from Sanderson’s Starsight. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Welcome back to the Oathbringer reread, where we’ve reached Dalinar’s penultimate flashback: Gavilar’s funeral. We have ardents, highprinces, family, and a recently-discovered ancient book, all combining to start Dalinar down a new path.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

In this week’s reread we also discuss a small thing from Mistborn: Secret History in the Stories & Songs unit, so if you haven’t read it, best to give that section a pass.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Dalinar
WHERE: Kholinar
WHEN: 1167.10.1.2 (Just a little over 6 years ago from the current storyline)

Dalinar is at Gavilar’s funeral. Some keteks are spoken, and Gavilar’s corpse is soulcast into a stone statue by a Soulcaster. As Elhokar swears vengeance on the Parshendi, Dalinar leaves, sending Adolin back to swear for their house. He pauses outside his room, looking for a key, when he hears Jasnah reading aloud from The Way of Kings. He hears something in those words that gives him hope, and begins planning his trip to the Nightwatcher.

Beginnings

Title: Spirit, Mind, and Body

“Spirit, mind, and body,” the wizened ardent said, her voice echoing in the stone catacomb. “Death is the separation of the three.”

A: We’ll discuss the rest of the statement below, but for now we’ll just note that this is the source of the title. The ardent is speaking of Gavilar, but I think the chapter itself is dealing with Dalinar’s spirit, mind, and body—all three of which need help.

Heralds

A: Jezrien is the sole Herald on this chapter, which seems quite appropriate for the funeral of one king, and the reading of a profound, life-changing book by another king. And of course, the title of that book is “The Way of Kings.”

Icon

Kholin Glyphpair, Inverse, tell us (as if the “Six Years Ago” didn’t) that this is one of Dalinar’s flashbacks.

Stories & Songs

A: Continuing the quotation from the chapter title, the ardent goes on:

“The body remains in our realm, to be reused. The spirit rejoins the pool of divine essence that gave it birth. And the mind … the mind goes to the Tranquiline Halls to find its reward.”

A: This is the Vorin version of Realmatic theory, and it makes me chuckle. The body being “reused” is sort of hilarious; normally, you think of the “dust to dust” or “pushing up daisies” version, where your body breaks back down into organic material which is used by plants and all that, but Gavilar’s body is apparently being “reused” as a statue. In point of fact, however, Kaladin told us (WoR chapter 2) that if you didn’t rank high enough to get turned into a statue, your body is burned… so I guess it would be more “ashes to ashes,” eh?

The bit about the spirit sort of fits with what we saw in Mistborn: Secret History, in that most people seem to just… go into the Beyond after they die. So, maybe? And then there’s the Tranquiline Halls thing, which is definitely a Vorin twist on the afterlife. I can’t help wondering if this theology is based on what was once known of the Heralds, whose Cognitive Shadows returned to Braize to hide, to fight when they couldn’t hide, and to return to Roshar when they could fight the torture no more. Obviously Braize isn’t the Tranquiline Halls; the Heralds returned to Damnation, and as far as we know no one returned to Ashyn, but it’s the kind of mythos people develop. It’s not much of a reward to go to Damnation every time you win, for one thing. For another thing, while there is (as far as we know) no actual battle going on to reclaim Ashyn, in one sense the Heralds did fight for a sort of “Tranquiline Halls” in the sense that they were fighting for the survival of humanity on Roshar, which is their refuge from the destruction of Ashyn. But … we really don’t know what happens in Roshar’s afterlife, for non-Herald people. So this is all speculation.

“An old text. Ancient, once well regarded. It’s associated with the Lost Radiants, so nobody references it anymore.”

A: From the text, it seems that Dalinar had heard about the book, and had heard bits and pieces of it when Gavilar talked about it, but this is the first time he actually listened to what it had to say. Granted that we only have a few tidbits, I find myself confused. If Gavilar was listening to Nohadon’s book so much, trying to follow that example, and trying to follow the Codes… how is it that he was turning so dark, messing with trapped Voidspren, trying to trigger a new Desolation? The activities and aims of the “Sons of Honor” seem to be in conflict with everything Nohadon said; it’s hard to feature Gavilar on that path and developing the beginnings of a Stormfather-Bondsmith bond as something that could be happening simultaneously.

L: I don’t know… I could see him completely misreading things and jumping to the wrong conclusions. We see that sort of selective misinterpretation of the message of religious texts all the time IRL, after all.

A: True. Culture, mindset, worldview, and personal proclivity all play into how you interpret a text. It seems that maybe Evi’s influence over Dalinar was larger than we’d thought, if he gets such a different message than his brother did. Cultivation, too, would affect his later reading; here, though, he’s just got himself and what he’s learned along the way.

Relationships & Romances

He sought out Navani, and knew instantly that the ketek had been hers.

A: We’ll talk about the ketek a little more in People & Places. Here, I wanted to talk about Navani and Gavilar. I find it … odd, I guess, that Navani could write such a stirring and passionate poem, when we have all sorts of indications that she and Gavilar were not exactly united anymore. Just last week, she thought about how dark he’d grown in his last days; back in The Way of Kings, she claimed that though she was never unfaithful to him, she’d had ample reason to be. Was this just for form, or was it written with their early days in mind?

L: I think it’s entirely possible to be wholly in love with someone in the moment, but then to realize in retrospect the problems in the relationship. Hindsight is 20/20 after all, and when you add in the societal expectations of being a good wife/queen…

When she read the last word, Dalinar found himself weeping again. Jasnah dabbed at her own eyes. She had always been so much stronger than he was, but here they shared an understanding. This was their send-off to Gavilar’s soul. This was their farewell.

A: I’ve been so influenced by Navani’s hints about Gavilar, that I keep forgetting how much Dalinar and Jasnah loved him. (Also, the cynic in me wonders how much of Jasnah’s reaction here was grief for her father, and how much was anger at herself for failing to protect her family despite her assassin network.)

L: I definitely read this more as anger on Jasnah’s part. When she left the funeral she seemed more angry than anything. My theory is that Gavilar might have been trying to awaken Knight Radiant traits in her when she was young (all those hints we have seen about some traumatic event in her childhood) and hence she has a very complicated emotional response to his death. But… that’s just a theory.

A: Uh… I’m sure I must have heard that theory, but I don’t recall thinking about it much. It would fit so well with the sort of “snapping” we saw in Mistborn, and even more with Jasnah’s thought that “people she loved could still hurt her.” It was one of the things that seemed terribly twisted in Mistborn, and it’s almost more so here, if that’s what happened. At least there it was something the nobles’ kids expected, and had a potential reward they could see…

“I’ve been a poor father these last few years,” Dalinar said.

“Nonsense,” Adolin said. “You—”

“I’ve been a poor father,” Dalinar repeated, raising his finger. “To you and your brother both. You should know how proud I am of you.”

L: About time, Dalinar. I’ve so very glad that he said it, even though it’s come at the eleventh hour.

A: Hear, hear! I find it fascinating that he’s finally able to say it only after he’s made the decision to change. The effects of his visit to Cultivation are immense, but I really think his journey starts in this chapter, and this acknowledgement is evidence.

Evi had said the Old Magic could transform a man. It was about time he started trusting her.

A: A little on the late side there, dude. Still, she was right about a lot of things, and there are still the living to consider.

Bruised & Broken

Dalinar had started controlling his vices; he’d confined his drinking to monthly trips away from Kholinar, visiting outer cities. He said the trips were to let Elhokar practice ruling without Dalinar looking over his shoulder, as Gavilar had been spending more and more time abroad. But during those trips, Dalinar drank himself to oblivion, letting himself escape the sounds of children crying for a few precious days.

A: You know, back in Words of Radiance when Dalinar was telling Kaladin about “the Roshone affair,” he said that he “was … away at the time.” Many of us assumed the apparent reluctance to talk about his absence was because he’d gone off to see the Nightwatcher. It seemed reasonable at the time. Now it’s apparent that it happened when he was off on one of his drinking escapes, since “the Roshone affair” was at least a year before Gavilar’s death. That’s actually kind of awful, to realize that both Kaladin and Moash had their lives thoroughly messed up by something that probably wouldn’t have happened if Dalinar hadn’t gone off to have a private bender.

And of course, he wasn’t really controlling himself as well as he claimed. He may have stopped drinking as much, and he quit yelling at his sons and tried to be kinder to them, but he was still totally smashed when Gavilar died.

L: Alcoholism is a terrible disease and I do respect him for getting a handle on it, with or without supernatural assistance.

He pretended he was better these days, kept telling himself he was in the process of finding a way out of this mess. Of returning to the man he’d once been.

But that man had been a monster. Frightening, that nobody had blamed him for the things he’d done. Nobody but Evi, who had seen what the killing would do to him. He closed his eyes, hearing her tears.

A: These moments of honesty with himself are what keep me from hating Dalinar at this stage. He’s a shambles, but even prior to hearing Nohadon’s book and deciding to take a new step, he’s self-aware enough to see a) that he was a terrible person when he fought; b) that his society (nor even his sons) would never condemn him for it; and c) Evi, the outsider, was the only one who could see the damage he did to himself by being the Blackthorn. (Well, he did a lot of damage to other people, too…)

L: The fact that society would never condemn him for his actions, but he has grown to do so, is super important. Breaking free of everything you have ever known is a HUGE, huge step!

Bliss waited inside.

No, not bliss. Oblivion. Good enough.

A: That’s painful.

L: And understandable, honestly. Anyone who’s ever dealt with depression or trauma will understand this sentiment intimately.

A: There’s one other thing I wanted to quote here, though it’s out of order. It’s a separate thing, but it’s … well, here:

“After we win back the Tranquiline Halls? What then? No more war?”

Is that when we finally get to rest?

“You needn’t worry, Blackthorn,” Jevena said. “Once that war is won, the Almighty will certainly provide for you another conquest.” She smiled comfortingly, then moved on…

A: That was such a stark contrast in expectations. Dalinar is at the point where he hates everything that made him the Blackthorn; the ardent assumes that he’s just worried about winning too much and having nothing left to fight. Good grief.

Places & Peoples

A: What can you tell about a people by looking at their funeral traditions?

I don’t have an answer to that, by the way. All I can do is observe. The ketek, of course, is not limited to funerals; it’s considered the highest form of poetry—in Vorinism, anyway, with it’s symmetry and wordplay. But it does seem to have been the choice for a state funeral, since there are a whole series of them read, ranging from traditional funeral keteks to those composed for the occasion. Like this:

“You, always about dreams.
My soul weeps.
Farewell, weeping soul.
My dreams…
always, about you.”

A: This is a powerful bit of poetry. Isn’t it amazing what can be done within the restrictions of the ketek form?

L: Yes, I am consistently impressed with this form of poetry. Honestly I wish this were a thing IRL, because it takes a lot of skill to compose one of these in a meaningful way.

A powerful pose; the mortuary sculptors had done a fantastic job.

L: This is so cool. In the real world we have similar things in undertakers who make the corpses look better for open casket funerals/wakes. This is so much more permanent.

A: Quite permanent, indeed! I had to giggle a little about the soulcaster brushing the hair off Gavilar’s forehead, though; what if that little gesture messed up some very careful sculpting??

Weighty Words

“You will love. You will hurt. You will dream. And you will die. Each man’s past is your future.”

“Then what is the point?” I asked. “If all has been seen and done?”

“The question,” she replied, “is not whether you will love, hurt, dream, and die. It is what you will love, why you will hurt, when you will dream, and how you will die. This is your choice. You cannot pick the destination, only the path.”

A: It’s a little shocking to realize that this is the first time Dalinar has heard the beginnings of the “journey before destination” motif that will shape his life so dramatically from here on. The effect on him is profound; he finally makes a decision to turn away from the oblivion-seeking, and instead try something that might change him.

L: It’s pretty sobering to realize just how much something can affect you, even at an older age. I am reminded of all the messages that I see on social media channels about famous writers or actors who didn’t get their start/big break until after they were 30, or 40, or 50. It is entirely possible for one event to completely change you for good, regardless of how old you are.

“I must,” Dalinar whispered, “go on a journey.”

Paths. Dalinar could not choose his end.

But perhaps his path …

The Old Magic can change a person, Evi had said. Make something great of them.

A: Earlier in the chapter, Dalinar thought about how he’d managed to get his drinking under control and be a more civilized person while he was in Kholinar, but it’s pretty obvious that it wasn’t enough; he was completely passed-out drunk at the feast the day before. This is the moment when he decides to seek outside help, not knowing what might happen, but knowing that nothing he can do is adequate.

L: The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? Dalinar obviously realized this, but the choice to seek outside help is a big one. Even if his chosen help is… shall we say, on the over-powered side? He had people he could have turned to, but Dalinar has never seemed to be the type who would burden others with his emotional difficulties. So, it makes sense that rather than talking to his family or his friends (soldiers), he would turn instead to a higher power.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

A: It should be pointed out, shouldn’t it: the Soulcaster we see here bears a certain resemblance to the stonespren we saw in Shadesmar.

The Soulcaster might have been male, might have been female. Hard to say, with that hood up over their face. The skin beneath was colored like granite, cracked and chipped, and seemed to glow from within.

A: Like… that’s not creepy or anything. But it sure sounds like this, from chapter 102:

There were other spren with skin like cracked stone, molten light shining from within.

So… do Soulcasters (i.e., the people who use the Soulcaster fabrials) end up turning into spren?

L: Hooboy. That’s a loaded question. When Syl talked about baby spren, she mentioned that they just… show up, right? So maybe this is accurate.

Next week, we’ll do Chapter 106 by itself. It’s not a terribly long chapter, though there’s a lot in it, but the following chapter is too long to combine the two. So… just one.

Alice is done with her share of the volleyball season; her daughter’s team plays in the state tournament this week, but she’s not going along this time. Life. Still, they made it to State!

Lyndsey is excitedly planning her trip to Utah for the Starsight release event in two weeks. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Greetings, oh wanderers of the Cosmere! Welcome back to Roshar, where we’ll be having fascinating conversations with a deranged Herald, a confused former assassin, and a snarky sword. This week, if you hadn’t guessed, we’ll check back in with Szeth at the end of the flight launched back in Chapter 98. We still don’t get Nalan’s promised revelations, though.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

This week’s reread has no particular greater-Cosmere discussion, so you’re safe on that front..}

Chapter Recap

WHO: Szeth
WHERE: On the journey, arriving in Marat
WHEN: 1174.2.7.1 (Three days after the paintball game in Chapter 98. Note that this is 6 days ahead of the main timeline, and approximately the same time as Venli arrives in Marat.)

Szeth, Nin, and the other Skybreakers arrive in Marat. Szeth and Nin have a(nother) discussion about what, exactly, justice is.

Beginnings

Title: Law Is Light

“Law is light, and darkness does not serve it. Ask, and I will answer.”

AA: It’s an interesting statement, coming from the guy our favorite Edgedancer refers to as… Darkness. Even more interesting in that he says this in response to Szeth’s “May I ask you a question?” He’s in the middle of acknowledging that he and Ishar have been wrong this whole time, but he still purports to be able to give “right” answers.

Heralds: Nalan, Judge, Herald of Justice, patron and member of the Skybreakers, attributes Just & Confident

AA: This one is easy—the chapter is all about the Skybreakers, and most of it involves Nalan pontificating to Szeth. Let me also note that the soulcasting properties associated with his gemstone are “opaque gas, smoke, fog.” I just think that “gas” is appropriate. (I’m really unimpressed by Nalan these days, in case you didn’t notice…)

AP: Just and Confident are definitely his attributes too! He is obsessed with justice, and entirely convinced that his interpretation is correct. Even when he admits to having been wrong, he is absolutely certain that his new interpretation of events is the correct one. And blowing smoke seems to be a special talent.

Icon: The Assassin, for a Szeth POV

Epigraph:

I find Ba-Ado-Mishram to be the most interesting of the Unmade. She is said to have ben keen of mind, a highprincess among the enemy forces, their commander during some of the Desolations. I do not know how this relates to the ancient god of the enemy, named Odium.
— From Hessi’s Mythica, page 224

L: I’m terrified to see what happens when she eventually gets set free.

AA: I know, right? It might not be as bad as we think, because one of her most damaging abilities was her ability to form the Connection that made the False Desolation possible. Still, she was apparently pretty dangerous even before that, so… yikes?

AP: Sooo…I’m wondering if she is possibly already free? Her imprisonment is what put the singers into slaveform in the first place. After being healed by the Everstorm, I wonder if her prison was weakened, or if she was released prior to that to enable them to be healed within the storm. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we get this epigraph on a chapter that looks at the aftermath of the singers regaining Identity.

Thematic Thoughts

Together, the two of them flew to a smaller town on a hill near the coast.
Szeth knew the effects of war when he saw them.

AA: Smashed walls, broken doors etc. Szeth assumes at first that it was “that tyrant in Tukar” (who we know is actually Ishar), but Nin says this is a different danger. He goes into something that, on first read, looks like a non sequitur:

“It says ‘justice,’ “ Nin said. “This was a courthouse.”

…

“The ones you call parshmen name themselves the singers,” Nin said. “They took this town and pressed the survivors into labor at some docks farther along the coast. Was what happened here justice, Szeth-son-Neturo?”

“How could it be? … Ordinary people, living ordinary lives, suddenly attacked and murdered?”

AA: We don’t know yet, and he doesn’t tell us in this chapter, why Nin might possibly see this as a form of justice. That backstory will have to wait for another day.

L: In retrospect, since we know the backstory, it is a strikingly haunting question. Is it justice, to make people pay for the actions of their ancestors? Is it justice, to take back lands which rightfully should have been theirs? To repay centuries (possibly millenia) of slavery with violence? It’s a really heavy question, and one that I don’t think has a “right” answer.

AP: I don’t know that there is a “right” answer either, but I do want to note that this is not just the sins of the ancestors. The parshmen were currently enslaved until they were awakened by the Everstorm. What happened here was a slave rebellion.

AA: It was a slave rebellion of sorts, but I’m not entirely sure about the culpability of the slave owners, if they treated the parshmen well. (There’s no excuse for treating slaves badly—beyond the simple fact of owning them, which is dodgy in itself.) The parshmen, as they were left in the aftermath of the False Desolation, might well have died out had not the humans taken some responsibility for them. Making them slaves wasn’t, perhaps, necessary… but if you’re going to take responsibility for generations of people who can’t take care of themselves, it’s probably reasonable to get some return for your efforts. But that’s… kind of a discussion for a different time.

Szeth doesn’t know any of that yet, and all Nalan gives him here are weird hints about lords and princes and how ordinary people are sometimes killed in nominally “just” conflicts.

AP: They are oblique hints for sure, but he is still on topic. These are some of the clearest hints that we get prior to the big reveal that the humans and Odium are the invaders. If they hadn’t arrived on Roshar, everything would have continued to work in harmony. I think it’s definitely possible to justify a slave uprising. One of the repeating themes in Oathbringer is that multiple perspectives exist for the same events. So while, yes, it’s possible to look at this event the way Szeth does and see “ordinary people, living ordinary lives,” those ordinary people were slavers. It’s also possible to see the perspective of the Singers who labored under them and rebelled once they had the ability to do so.

AA: Totally possible to see both sides—and to realize that true justice may not be possible. After all, the people who started it have been dead for millennia.

Switching to a quick diversion on Skybreakers, and Nalan in particular,

“You are in a unique position, Szeth-son-Neturo. You will be the first to swear the oaths of a Skybreaker in a new world, a world where I have failed.”

AA: I suppose as a Herald, he does have a greater responsibility for the world in general than most individuals do, but it still seems pretty arrogant to take all the credit/blame himself. A world where I have failed? What about we? Because I’m thinking that all the Heralds (except Taln) failed, however understandably. The only thing different about Nin is that his Order stayed around in hiding, so he had a whole organization to support his … Desolation-avoidance efforts. Does that make it his failure? Meh.

L: Well, he also failed to see the signs that the Desolation had begun again and killed a whole hell of a lot of proto-Knights Radiant.

A: Thereby shooting all of humanity in the foot. Thanks, dude.

“I worked for thousands of years to prevent another Desolation. Ishar warned me of the danger. Now that Honor is dead, other Radiants might upset the balance of the Oathpact. Might undermine certain … measures we took, and give an opening to the enemy.”

AA: I’m still completely baffled by this. What is he talking about? Was he (and maybe the other Heralds) behind the Recreance, influencing the Radiants to shut the system down, and leaving only the Skybreakers to sneak around in the shadows getting rid of any incipient Radiants before they can mess things up?

L: Yeah, this is really curious. What balance of the Oathpact? Isn’t the Oathpact already kaput? So many questions!

In the distance, farther along the coast, a large bay glistened with blue water. Many masts of ships gathered there, figures buzzing around them.

AA: I’m not sure if Szeth knows, but we should recognize those figures as Fused…

AP: I’m glad you mentioned that, because I was thinking of them as the rest of the Skybreaker party exploring the area! Fused makes more sense.

“I have failed. And now, for the people, justice must be done. A very difficult justice, Szeth-son-Neturo. Even for my Skybreakers.”

AA: Is Nin, or are all the Skybreaker leadership, already planning to dump humanity and support the Singers’ claim to the entire world? If so, why? Nin (and Ishar) should know the whole truth of the beginning of the conflict. Are they now saying that they were wrong in the first place, and should have let humanity be wiped out instead of ever creating the Oathpact?

L: It’s a scary thought, but one which has at least some small amount of merit. I don’t think that humanity should be wiped out, obviously, but some recompense is necessary. There must be something that can be done, whether that’s finding a new home for humanity (possibly another planet) or trying to broker some sort of compromise in regards to land ownership. The slavery’s got to stop, though. On both sides.

AP: That’s what I’m getting too. I think in typical Nale fashion he’s going to take it too far, to absolutes. But from his hints in this chapter that was the plan already. I do agree that there needs to be some sort of reparations or recompense, and a path forward to sharing the planet is going to be incredibly difficult.

“I am hardly passionless. This is the problem. I am … different from how I once was. Worse, perhaps? Despite all that, a part of me wishes to be merciful.”

AA: He’s at least acknowledging that there’s something awry, much as Kalak did in the Words of Radiance Prologue. I guess that’s … not nothing? (Okay, so the guy is ten thousand years old, and presumably hasn’t slept in 9,950 years or so. There’s a reason he’s awry, I’ll grant him that much!)

L: Interesting philosophical query—does passion help or hinder the execution of law? On the one hand, an emotionless, unbiased view would be most logical (see: Vulcans) but on the other… having passion and emotion allows you to see and empathise with the victims of a situation.

AP: Invoking the “P” word has become an automatic red flag for me! During the reread, this is what signalled the most clearly that he’s been in contact with Odium, or someone Odium adjacent. On a slight tangent, I want to note that the enemy is Odium, not the singers themselves. And we have seen that Odium is equally willing to partner with humans or singers to advance his agenda. Interestingly, Odium, in that he represents “passion,” is a good fit for Nale, who is a zealot for the law. After centuries of torture he has lost his ability to feel compassion or mercy, and he takes justice to extremes, granting himself the ability to be judge, jury, and executioner. No surprise that he is going to apply that same extreme thinking to the human/singer conflict once he chooses a side.

“And is … mercy such a bad thing, aboshi?”

“Not bad; merely chaotic. … Some of those who are set free change their lives and go on to produce for society. Others recidivate and create great tragedies. The thing is, Szeth-son-Neturo, we humans are terrible at spotting which will be which. The purpose of the law is so we do not have to choose. So our native sentimentality will not harm us.”

AA: Such an interesting contrast to Nohadon’s questioning, isn’t it? To say nothing of Dalinar’s! Remember that discussion Dalinar had with Taravangian about the dilemma posed by a situation where three are guilty and one is innocent? Taravangian’s view seems much closer to Nin than to Nohadon.

Buy it Now

Rabbit trail: why are the uncertain characters, the men who find it difficult to know how to answer that question, the ones who seem much more sympathetic to the reader? Nalan and Taravangian both seem to have reached the conclusion that it’s better to kill the innocent man too, in order to prevent possible future harm to other innocent people. While I’m sure we all want the possible future harm to not happen, neither the Herald nor the King seem… well, trustworthy in their judgement. Both Dalinar and Nohadon have great difficulty with the question, and we—or at least I—find them much more congenial characters.

L: Well, yeah… they’re allowing their emotions to guide them, they’re being empathic. This is a much more relatable and “human” trait than cold logic.

AP: Humans aren’t rational creatures! Morals and ethics are difficult, squishy, complicated questions. There isn’t an “easy” answer. Part of what keeps me engaged in the Stormlight Archive is this recognition that moral questions are hard. However, Nale’s insistence that following the law absolves him of moral culpability is flawed as well. Because messy chaotic humans make the laws.

“I know you are great, ancient, and wise,” Szeth said. “But … to my lesser eyes, you do not seem to obey your own precepts. You hunted Surgebinders, as you said.”

“I obtained legal permission for the executions I performed.”

“Yes,” Szeth said, “but you ignored many lawbreakers to pursue these few. You had motives beyond the law, aboshi. You were not impartial. You brutally enforced specific laws to achieve your ends.”

AA: He’s got you there, buddy…

L: True. It’s the old “the ends justify the means” argument.

AA: Nin at least has the honesty to acknowledge it, but then he totally rationalizes his decision:

“… The others have told you of the Fifth Ideal?”

“The Ideal where the Skybreaker becomes the law?”

Nin held out his empty left hand. A Shardblade appeared there, different and distinct from the Honorblade he carried in the other hand. “I am not only a Herald, but a Skybreaker of the Fifth Ideal.”

AA: Which… wow? He sort of implies that Skybreakers don’t get a spren-blade until the fifth Ideal, which seems unusual. What bothers me far more is the idea that the individual becomes the law. That’s concerning enough, given the fallibility of human nature, but this guy is messed up in the head—and he “is“ the law? That’s seriously frightening stuff there.

To be fair, I’m not 100% sure what they mean by that phrasing; I generally interpret it to mean that the Fifth-Ideal Skybreaker believes himself to be sufficiently erudite that his decisions are justice by definition. That… yeah, no. I don’t think so. He’s using it to justify what he moments ago acknowledged was ineffective and likely wrong: killing Radiants for centuries, under the incorrect assumption that it would prevent a Desolation.

L: I think we’ve discussed this before, but yeah. I’m going to be really interested to find out what Szeth’s Fifth Ideal winds up being.

“… I must tell you of the decision we Heralds made, long ago. On the day that would become known as Aharietiam. The day we sacrificed one of our own to end the cycle of pain and death…”

AA: It appears that he’s going to tell something pretty close to the truth, at least…

AP: Well, his side of it at least…

Stories & Songs

They stopped several times to recover hidden stockpiles in mountain peaks or remote valleys.

AA: Pretty convenient, being the only people who could fly. Stockpile whatever you want, no one else can get to it to steal your stuff!

To find doorways, they often had to hack through five inches of crem. That amount of buildup had probably taken centuries to accumulate, yet Nin spoke of the places as if he’d just left. At one, he was surprised to find the food long since decayed—though fortunately, the gemstone stockpile there had been hidden in a place where it remained exposed to the storms.

In these visits, Szeth finally began to grasp how ancient this creature was.

AA: Uh… yeah. Truly ancient, and also out of touch with the passage of time, apparently.

L: Well, that makes sense, for an immortal being that’s been around as long as he has.

AA: I find it quite snicker-worthy that Nin was surprised about the food having decayed. What I really wonder, though, is just how long these stashes have been there. Since the Recreance? Have they been maintained over the last thousand years? Also, why?

L: Boy Scout motto: Be prepared? It makes a lot of sense to me that if you’re literally immortal, you’d set up contingencies for every possible situation.

“…aboshi.” The divine honorific was his best guess of how to address one of the Heralds, though among his people it had been reserved for the great spren of the mountains.

AA: Once again, Szeth is trying to sort out what to call people; this feels sort of like the way he calls Nightblood “sword-nimi.” It’s logical that he would try to be as reverent as possible, I guess. What really jumped out at me, though, is “the great spren of the mountains.” Is that spren-singular, or spren-plural? Is he talking about the Sibling?? It would make sense in several ways, and would also be a cool reason for the Sibling to have plural pronouns. It would also imply that the Shin know a lot more about certain things than the rest of the world. Or, if they don’t actually know the significance of the spren, they still know of the existence thereof.

Or, of course, it could just be that every mountain has a spren, and they refer to those spren as “aboshi.”

AP: Also a good reminder here about how the Shin feel that rocks are quite literally holy ground and refuse to walk on them. So you may be onto something there!

…at his hand, where a glistening Shardblade appeared. One of the two missing Honorblades. Szeth’s people had care of eight. Once, long ago, it had been nine. Then this one had vanished.
He’d seen depictions of it…

AA: So just in case anyone was still in doubt, yes. Nalan reclaimed his Honorblade, and it was not recent. We don’t know how long ago “long ago” is, but definitely prior to Szeth’s lifetime, and I’d say it’s implied that it’s been at least centuries. Possibly millennia.

Flora & Fauna

They landed on a plain full of strange brown grass that reminded Szeth of wheat, save for the fact that this pulled down into burrows, leaving visible only the small bob of grain on the top. This was casually eaten by wild beasts that were wide and flat, like walking discs, with claws only on the underside to shove the grain into their mouths.

The disclike animals would probably migrate eastward, their droppings containing seeds that—stuck to the ground—would survive storms to grow into first-stage polyps. Those would later blow to the west and become second-stage grain.

L: I kind of imagine these things as horseshoe crabs!

AP: Living roombas!

AA: I couldn’t come up with a single plausible mental image, honestly. All I could see were the Ivar’s clams. Still, weird animals aside, the seeding method is totally accurate, and also cool. I wonder if this could really be an adapted form of wheat. Depending on what skills the humans brought with them from Ashyn along with their plants and animals, they could have originally had the ability to begin this kind of plant modification. It would be pretty cool to find out that they got it started and then it went wild even while the wars were starting.

Places & Peoples

Historically, Marat wasn’t truly a nation—but neither was it a place of nomads, like the backwaters of Hexi and Tu Fallia. Instead, Marat was a group of loosely connected cities, tribally run, with a highprince at their head—though in the local dialect, he was called “elder brother.”

AA: I quoted this partly for the worldbuilding, and partly because I have a question. Why does Szeth think in terms of highprinces? Is that a worldwide thing? Do the Shin have them? Has he spent so much time in the Vorin kingdoms that he’s using their wording? Or is Sanderson just having him use it for our sake?

L: My take on this is that he’s spent so much time in Vorin territory that he’s started to think in those terms.

The country made for a convenient waystop between the Vorin kingdoms of the east and the Makabaki ones of the center west. Szeth knew that Marat was rich in culture, full of people as proud as you’d find in any nation—but of almost no value on the political scale.

AA: On one hand, it’s a bummer to be dismissed so readily, but on the other… you just get to live your life and not get dragged into world politics. (Or at least, you mostly did until recently.) I wonder if this was always the situation, or if some of this was caused by the various attempts at world domination from both the east and the west. Were they, at one time, an actual kingdom, but disrupted so thoroughly by the trampling of armies that they gave it up as a bad job, and made themselves not susceptible to national acquisition by simply decentralizing all government?

All life worked in concert, he’d been taught in his youth. Everything but men, who refused their place. Who destroyed instead of added.

AA: This is the ending of the paragraph quoted in Flora & Fauna, and it makes me wonder about the Shin. The first sentence seems to fit with what little we know of their culture, where they place farmers as the highest calling and warriors as the lowest. But the other two sentences—is that Shin teaching, or Szeth’s own experience? It might be Shin; what seems to be a very regimented social structure could be based on the assumption that humans must be forcibly constrained in order to function properly in the world. Or it could just be Szeth; he has a very twisted view of pretty much everything, what with being condemned and outcast, spending nearly a decade doing anything reprehensible or honorable at the behest of his “owners,” finding out that he was right in the first place… It will be interesting to learn more of the Shin culture and what led to all of Szeth’s years of exile in the first place.

L: The way this is worded, it makes me think that the entire saying is one he was taught in the Shin culture. It could be learned, but the wording of it leads me to believe that it all belongs together.

AA: That would also fit with the Shin disapproval of all the eastern people, who profanely walk on stone and all that. They do see all humans—except themselves—as having refused their appropriate place, simply by dint of living in the lands east of the mountains. All in all, I think you’re right.

AP: It’s also yet another hint that humans just ain’t from around these parts.

Tight Butts and Coconuts

Aw, the sword said from his back. We missed the fun?

AA: Thank you, Nightblood, for a (completely ignored) moment of humor! Also, you’re really kind of sick, you know?

L: ::snicker::

You should draw me, the sword said.

“And do what, sword-nimi?” Szeth whispered.

Fight him. I think he might be evil.

“He is one of the Heralds—one of the least-evil things in the world.”

Huh. Doesn’t bode well for your world, then. …

AA: It’s really bizarre when Nightblood is the voice of reason. Just sayin’.

Also, while it’s probably true that originally, he was one of the least-evil things in the world, that ended a long, long time ago.

L: I was going to say “well…” but honestly, you’re right. Boy’s been out murdering innocent people for centuries.

AP: Yeah, if he’s setting off Nightblood’s evil-sense, then we’ve got a problem.

Sheer Speculation

AA: Hey, here’s a fun little speculation. If Szeth really was referring to the Sibling when he said “the great spren of the mountains,” what are the odds that he might end up being the third Bondsmith instead of progressing all the way in the Skybreakers? I like the idea of Rlain bonding the Nightwatcher, so we have a Listener involved. Then we could have Dalinar, Rlain, and Szeth as the Bondsmiths. I could see that.

L: Oooooor Rlain could bond the Sibling?

AP: Interesting theory, but I think I’d prefer to see Szeth progress into a “good” Skybreaker rather than a Bondsmith. Also, selfishly, I want to see the progression of each of the orders, and we don’t currently have another Skybreaker to follow.

Quality Quotations

He’d seen depictions of it, strikingly straight and unornamented for a Shardblade, yet still elegant. Two slits ran the length of the weapon, gaps that could never exist in an ordinary sword, as they would weaken it.

AA: Well, I certainly seem to have asked more questions than I answered this week! Chapters like this are a mixture of fascination and frustration to me; there’s so much more insight into Nalan’s thinking than we’ve ever had before, but at the same time there’s still so much we don’t get to see.

Now it’s your turn. What do you make of all this?

Next week there will be no post, due to the USA Thanksgiving holiday. The week after that, we’ll dive into Chapter 107, which is long and full of tension, what with Dalinar and Taravangian POVs that twist the reader into knots.

Alice is done with volleyball for the year, but on a high note. Her daughter’s team took 8th place at the state tournament (out of 58 teams in their division, made up of the smallest schools in the state) and brought home their first-ever state trophy. Alice currently has no voice left, but hopes to recover someday soon.

Lyndsey is thankful this year for her families—not those dictated by blood, but those she’s found along the way. She loves her fellow Sanderson beta/gamma readers, rennies, cosplayers, fire performers, and all the other communities she’s been blessed to be a part of over the years with a fierce and undying love. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Aubree just started a new D&D campaign and is totally basing her asshole paladin on Nale.

Brandon Sanderson newsletter subscribers got a surprise drop this week: the rough draft of the first chapter of the in-progress Stormlight Archive Book 4! You have to be signed up to his newsletter, but if you sign up now, you should get the chapter in your inbox.

The very end of the chapter is also available on Reddit, although it contains huge spoilers for the action in that chapter, so beware before you click. (Shout-out to user u/shikshake, who uploaded the excerpt after noting that Gmail clips the last few paragraphs; a fairly key passage!)

No word yet on a release date, but Sanderson’s progress is right on schedule. According to the progress bar on his website, the outlines for books 4 and 5 are 100% done, while the rough draft for book 4 is 82% finished.

Note to readers: The comments below may involve discussion of the events in the chapter.

Lyn: Welcome back from Thanksgiving break, faithful readers! Aubree and I are back from the Starsight release party, where Brandon read an excerpt from Rhythms of War! If you’re not opposed to spoilers, you ought to go and check it out, if you haven’t already. We had a lovely time, but now Alice and I are ready to jump back into the reread with chapter one hundred and seven! Dalinar is (thankfully) coming off his bender in this chapter, and boy oh boy do we have a lot of information imparted to us about military strategy. I spent a lot of time on the map this week to help illustrate what’s going on, from locations of Oathgates to vague areas of conquest by the Voidbringers and arrows to indicate what Dalinar suspects their next movements to be. We hope this helps to better illustrate how the major players are moving on the world map, as we’re beginning to enter the end-game…

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread – if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done. You’re safe from broader Cosmere spoilers for this week.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Dalinar
WHERE: Urithiru
WHEN: 1174.2.5.5 (the day after the last chapter with Navani)

Dalinar pulls himself out of the haze of alcohol he’s been under and attends a planning meeting, in which he realizes that they’ve misinterpreted the Voidbringers’ actions. They’re not planning on attacking Jah Keved – they’re going to attack Thaylen City. He leaves and talks briefly with Kadash about his excommunication, then we switch over to Taravangian, who’s having guilty thoughts about setting plans into motion regarding Dalinar…

Beginnings

Title:  The First Step

What was the most important step a man could take? The first, obviously. But what did it mean?

A: He’s not entirely wrong, but not entirely right either. At this point, though, it’s important for him to take that first step out of self-pity and back into the fight.

Heralds: Battah (Battar), Wise/Careful. Elsecallers. Role: Counsellor. Chach, aka Chanarach (Chana). Brave/Obedient. Dustbringers. Role: Guard

A: Hmm. Well, both orders are represented by their members (Jasnah and Malata) in this chapter, and I expect that’s part of why they’re here. I also expect that the content of the meeting – strategy, consultation, and the effort to protect humanity from Odium – is also intended.

Icon: Kholin Glyphpair, denoting a Dalinar chapter

Epigraph: There is very little information about Bo-Ado-Mishram in more modern times. I can only assume she, unlike many of them, returned to Damnation or was destroyed during Aharietiam.

–From Hessi’s Mythica, page 226

A: Bahahaha! If you only knew!

L: Wishful thinking, here.

A: Right? I’m just waiting for one of the Fused to find that imprisoning gemstone…

Thematic Thoughts

He liked the ritual [of shaving]. The chance to prepare, to cut away the nightly chaff and reveal the real person underneath–furrows, scars, and harsh features included.

L: There’s a lot more going on with this than just the obvious, of course. The metaphor should be pretty clear, but he’s indicating that he doesn’t like hiding who he really is now. All of those imperfections are what make him who he is, and he’s not going to hide them. Or drown them in liquor. Not anymore.

Stories & Songs

Most, Navani included, seemed to remember him as more noble than he deserved. Yet he didn’t ascribe any magic to this. It was simply the way of human beings, subtly changing the past in their minds to match their current beliefs.

L: Similar to “history is written by the winners,” isn’t it? People do have a tendency to see what they want to see… all one needs to do is look at all the different interpretations of any religious text to see this apparent in the real world.

A: It’s also very much a matter of perception. Not only do we remember things from our own viewpoint, we always interpret them based on our own expectations and understanding at the time. People see you much differently than you see yourself. In this case, Dalinar was pretty much the ideal of the Alethi in many ways, the more so because he rarely let his doubts and uncertainties show. He looked confident and heroic from the outside, even though he was often unsure, frustrated, or simply running on adrenaline. In the matter of Rathalas, too, there was the PR campaign to spin the events into the most useful narrative they could. Even worse, for Dalinar, he’s changed so much in his own ideals and standards that he can’t help but see the younger version of himself as an immature, self-centered hothead – but everyone else remembers The Blackthorn as an idealized Alethi warrior. Cognitive dissonance FTW!

“Moelach seems to have settled in the Horneater Peaks. Joshor is on his way there now. We might again soon have access to the Death Rattles.”

L: I wonder why Moelach fled… Did it realize that Taravangian was taking advantage of its presence, maybe?

Relationships & Romances

Gavilar had taught him to shave. Their father had been too busy getting himself cut apart in foolish duels of honor, including the one where he’d taken a blow to the head. He’d never been right after that.

L: Is this the first time we’ve heard anything about Dalinar’s father? I think it is.

A: We’ve heard a very little bit about him before; Adolin thought about him for two sentences back in The Way of Kings, Chapter 12, noting that he’d suffered from delusions in his later years, believing he was back at war. (What war, we don’t know, but it seemed like the Alethi were always fighting one another if they didn’t have anyone else to fight, so that’s pretty believable.) I was amused by “he’d never been right after that” – it sounds to me like maybe he’d never exactly been what you’d call “right.”

L: I wonder if this is why Dalinar is, for the most part, so condescending regarding Adolin’s penchant for duels. It would make a lot of sense.

A: It would. He might remember a time when he thought his dad was pretty cool for being a duelist, but that stage was clearly overshadowed by a time when he realized that the duels were stupid and useless. I wonder if Dalinar also saw them as his father trying and failing to relive his “glory days” of being a warrior.

L: Well, I more meant that he’s remembering that it was a duel that resulted in his father’s injury, and he might be afraid that his son would suffer the same fate. I can absolutely see Dalinar subconsciously blaming dueling for his father’s condition, and that’s why he thinks of duels as stupid and useless.

A: Hmm. That’s a fair point. Given their society, it’s not a thing you could outright tell your son not to do – especially not with “fear for your brainbox” as a rationale – but it might well be that Dalinar dislikes dueling for more reasons than just “it’s only pretend war.” And I have to say, watching your parent go delusional is really hard.

“You’re more patient than I deserve. You should have dumped me out of bed and poured the wine on my head.”

“I had a feeling you’d push through.”

L: These two are just too sweet.

A: …but I’d have laughed if she followed his suggestion. Just sayin’.

Bruised & Broken

“You’re not the man you were back then.”

Oh, Navani. I never grew beyond that man; I just hid him away.

L: Interesting philosophical query; is he right? Is all growth and change just burying the things we don’t like about ourselves, and encouraging the things we do want to grow in their stead? Our experiences are a part of us, unless we forget them entirely (supernaturally or otherwise), but even then… scars remain, scars which subtly change us. Everything that happens to us changes us, so can we ever truly say that we’re not the person we were before? Or are we an amalgamation of all the people we’ve been, piled one atop the other until each individual ceases to be recognizable as such, like colors blending into black?

A: Is a fruit merely the same thing as the seed from which it grew? Is a peach seed the same as a peach tree the same as a peach? They all have the same basic genes, but growth means that you leave some things/forms behind as you become the next thing. You’re not (quite) the same person today as you were yesterday, because you had some small experience which changed the way you looked at some small thing. No one is ever quite the same person they used to be.

In this case, I think Dalinar believes he hasn’t changed, and IMO he’s wrong – but there are a couple of mitigating factors. We need to keep in mind that Dalinar hasn’t yet recovered the memory of his visit to the Nightwatcher; at this point, he assumes that he merely asked to forget – taking the coward’s way out of dealing with his pain. Although that’s more or less what he intended to ask, even then he had grown enough to realize that he needed forgiveness, and he unintentionally asked for it. The decision to go to the Nightwatcher was, as we talked about a few weeks ago, one step toward dealing with his past in a way that didn’t involve alcohol poisoning.

Another thing he hasn’t yet realized is that he has grown and changed tremendously in the intervening years. It may be that this growth would not have been possible if certain memories hadn’t been removed; that doesn’t mean he didn’t grow. IMO, the removal of those particular memories didn’t change his essential character, and it’s that person who was able to grow into the Dalinar who became the first Bondsmith in centuries.

L: If he’d gone back to the way he was before after getting his memories back, there’d be a case for him not changing. But he’s definitely not the Blackthorn anymore.

A: No, in this case, I think Navani is more correct than Dalinar, though both have elements of truth. Yes, Dalinar did hide (or have hidden from him) some of his experiences, but he has outgrown the need to bury them, and is (as we will see soon enough) now ready to face them. All of them.

Diagrams & Dastardly Designs

L: I’m going to put Ialai here, for lack of a better place…

Her silence now didn’t mean she was being respectful. It meant she was saving her barbs to whisper where he couldn’t hear.

L: You know… I both love and hate her. I love her because she’s playing the Game of Houses/Thrones perfectly–you want to be circumspect, you want to spread rumors to take your enemies down as ruthlessly as possible. But I hate her because damn, woman, there is more at stake here. Also I value honesty… and she’s definitely the opposite of that. (I would be a terrible, terrible politician.)

A: I dunno; I think we could all use a little more honesty in politics! But you’d hate it, so there’s that. Anyway… I agree on Ialai; she’s clever (despite Jasnah’s barb about “work harder on the intelligent part”) and has shown herself to be quite capable of plotting to secure her own ends. Back in the day, her “ends” lined up with those of Gavilar and Dalinar; hence Dalinar’s recollection of the days when they’d joked together. In more recent years, her goals separated from his. IMO, she was always looking out for her own personal interest, and she (and Torol) put their money on Gavilar as their own best bet for a rise to power and wealth. As long as that’s what was happening, they were aligned; after Gavilar’s death and Dalinar’s trip to the Nightwatcher, it became apparent that they could advance their own power by undermining Dalinar and crowding him out of his influence over Elhokar, so… that’s what they pursued. Now, she still wants power, but she also wants (what she sees as) revenge, since she’s convinced Dalinar was behind Torol’s death. I suppose in a way I can’t blame her for that, but… as you say, Lyndsey, humanity itself is at stake here, and you’d think she could set aside her personal issues for a while.

“Taravangian?” Dalinar said. “We’ll leave troops in Jah Keved too, in case I’m wrong. Don’t worry.”

The old man looked to Dalinar, then strangely wiped tears from his eyes.

“Are… are you in pain?” Dalinar asked.

“Yes. But it is nothing you can fix.” He hesitated. “You are a good man, Dalinar Kholin. I did not expect that.”

L: Yikes. We readers, with our inside knowledge of what’s going on with Taravangian, realize what’s going on here. He feels guilty for putting plans into motion that will result in Dalinar’s death. Poor Dalinar, though, has no clue…

A: Even as I pity Taravangian, I really hate him. If “the greater good” requires deliberate sacrifice of good people without their knowledge, is it really the greater good? It’s not an easy question, I’ll admit; nonetheless, I find it deeply disturbing that he takes it upon himself to decide who lives and who dies.

“We’ve found what happened to Graves,” Adrotagia continued. “Scavengers found the storm-blown wreckage of his wagon, and there was an intact spanreed inside.”

“Graves is replaceable.”

“And the Shards?”

“Irrelevant,” Taravangian said. “We won’t win the prize through force of arms. I was reluctant to let him try his little coup in the first place.”

He and Graves had disagreed about the Diagram’s instructions: to kill Dalinar or recruit him?

L: Well, we knew that Graves was dead (he was with Moash when the Fused attacked), but it’s cool to see this verification of how he fit into the Diagram organization!

A: It still seems odd to me, that Taravangian can be so confident in the Diagram that he orders people murdered on the strength of it, and at the same time allow his underlings to decide that it means something different that requires a whole different set of people to be murdered.

Places & Peoples

“We don’t want to normalize what you’ve done or what you’re saying. That doesn’t mean we will abandon our posts. Your people need us, Dalinar, even if you believe you don’t.”

L: I’m really glad that Kadash, at least, is a good man too. He’s more concerned about his flock than himself. The ardentia shares a lot of traits with modern organized religion, and this sentiment seems to echo what a lot of religions believe – do what’s right, regardless of what government (ie, earthly power) tells you. Man is fallible. The god you believe in, presumably, is not. This gets a little murky in this particular situation, considering what we know about the Cosmere as a whole and that holders of Shards (who were usually at one time mortal) are often revered as deities… and hoo boy, are a lot of them fallible!

A: Heh. It’s well written, and it’s one of my ongoing frustrations with the Cosmere – all the “deities” turn out to be just normal, fallible human beings with extra power but no extra intelligence.

Tight Butts and Coconuts

“I was excommunicated from the Vorin church soon after hearing of Kholinar’s fall. I took it poorly. Did you expect me to react by throwing a feast?”

“I expected you to lead us, not sulk.”

I deserved that.

L: Yeah… you kinda did.

A: Yep.

“Ialai,” Jasnah said, “it is good you are here. Sometimes, an intelligent dissenting voice tests and proves a theory. I do wish you’d work harder on the intelligent part.”

L: ::wistful sigh:: Jasnah, you absolute treasure.

A: This whole scene was so rich. I find it highly amusing that Dalinar’s Eureka! moment is the result of a snarkfest.

 “But most of our ships were lost to the blustering Everstorm.”

A: I have to point this out as a most suitable epithet from a Thaylen admiral. “The blustering Everstorm” seems so fitting from him.

Weighty Words

There is one I have been watching, the Stormfather added. I can see her, when I don’t see others.

“A leader?” Dalinar asked.

Maybe.

L: This has to be Venli. I imagine the Stormfather can see her because she’s also a proto-Radiant… but this begs the question, why can’t he see the other Voidspren? Can Odium mask them from him, somehow?

A: I honestly  have no idea, and no theory either. It’s logical that if there’s only one member of Team Odium he can see, it’s got to be Venli and it’s got to be because of Timbre. But I don’t know why.

“This place is awful. Every last idiot here is frozen, ears to toes.”

L: Well… that’s an interesting saying!

She reached forward, whipping off her glove–safehand no less–and pressing it against the table.

Marks spread out from the point of contact, little swirls of blackness etching themselves into the wood. The scent of burning filled the air, but the flames didn’t persist if she didn’t will them to.

The swirls and lines extended across the tabletop, a masterwork of engraving accomplished in moments.Malata blew off the ash. The Surge she used, Division, caused objects to degrade, burn, or turn to dust.

L: I love how she just does this for fun. There’s literally no reason for her to do it, other than to prove a point–I’m dangerous, and don’t you forget it.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

“Still there, I see,” Dalinar said, relieved.

Where would I go?

“I hurt you,” Dalinar said. “When I activated the Oathgate. I was afraid you would leave me.”

This is the lot I have chosen. It is you or oblivion.

L: Oblivion? Interesting. I wonder if he’s referring to oblivion coming if Odium achieves his goals, or if he’s saying that breaking his oaths now would result in his destruction…

A: I’m assuming that if their bond were broken, he’d go back to being essentially the mindless storm, rather than the increasingly sapient being he is. I’m not sure that makes sense, entirely, though, because he seemed to be pretty intelligent prior to bonding…

I… may have felt something, the Stormfather said. During a recent highstorm, it felt like Stormblessed was there with me.

L: I kind of like that the Stormfather calls Kaladin “Stormblessed.” Not Kaladin… not “the windrunner…” No. Stormblessed. It’s a damn cool name so I’m happy to see it, but it rather denotes a degree of respect (especially coming from the storm), doesn’t it?

A: I think it does, and it does indeed seem like a high compliment from him.  I’m fascinated that he can feel Kaladin through the highstorm in Shadesmar.

“Spark is game for whatever it takes to get vengeance. And what lets her break stuff.”

L: Very interesting. Vengeance for the Recreance and her fallen brothers and sisters, perhaps? Or vengeance against the Voidbringers?

A: Given her comment just a couple of paragraphs earlier, about “what the Radiants did to Spark’s friends” and the death of “hundreds of ashspren,” I have to assume she’s referring to the Recreance. She doesn’t seem to notice (or at least care) that there were hundreds of other spren involved as well. Granted that a number of the orders’ spren seem to be reluctant to trust humans again, the ashspren are the only ones who are outright hostile.

Chapter 108 is another long one, back with the Shadesmar Exploration Society, so we’ll just tackle that one next week. (L: Kal and Adolin return! Hooray!)

Alice is happily playing Christmas carols again. It’s Advent!!

Lyndsey had an absolutely amazing time at the Starsight release in Utah! Have you started reading it yet? If not, SCUD, WHY NOT? Get going, it’s an amazing book! If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Tor Books has announced that Brandon Sanderson will return to Roshar and the Cosmere universe on November 17, 2020 with the fourth volume in his landmark epic fantasy series, The Stormlight Archive!

Debuting in 2010 with The Way of Kings, the Stormlight Archive has been the central epic upon which Brandon Sanderson’s larger literary universe currently revolves. Known formally as the Cosmere, this universe includes the Mistborn book series, Elantris, Warbreaker, White Sand, and a multitude of short tales and ephemera. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, certain peoples and aspects from one book series can unexpectedly appear in other series, even when other book series take place in entirely different solar systems.

The conclusion to Oathbringer, the latest volume in the Stormlight Archive series, brought massive upheaval to Roshar, and series readers are understandably eager to see what comes next. Tallied all together, The Stormlight Archive books have sold over 4 million copies to date.

“It has been almost twenty years since I first outlined The Stormlight Archive,” says Sanderson. “Back then, I didn’t think anyone would be interested in this crazy epic I’d devised–and it’s been so thrilling to see enthusiasm for it grow to such heights over the years.  Book four finally gets to one of the foundational scenes I conceived from the beginning. In fact, it might be the very first big scene I imagined, and my favorite in the entire series.  A part of me can’t believe people are finally going to be able to read it. Less than one year now! Life before death, Radiants.”

Stormlight Book 4 is available for pre-order now from your preferred retailer. The title and cover are yet to be revealed.

Tor Books recently announced that Brandon Sanderson’s fourth book in the epic Stormlight Archive series would be arriving next November. In the announcement, the author shared one tantalizing hint of what’s to come, saying, “Book four finally gets to one of the foundational scenes I conceived from the beginning. In fact, it might be the very first big scene I imagined, and my favorite in the entire series. A part of me can’t believe people are finally going to be able to read it.”

Today, of course, fan forums are rife with speculation as to what that “big scene” could be. Here are some of our favorite candidates!

1. Whatever it is, it probably doesn’t involve any spren or spren-related activities.

From u/jmcgit:

The 2003 version of the book didn’t have spren, so I don’t expect it would be that. I think it would be one of the major WoK [Way of Kings] Prime characters.

Since Brandon has suggested that Dalinar isn’t as big a focus in this book as he was in Oathbringer or book 5, I’m going to throw in a guess that the “foundational scene” is about Talenel. We know that Taln’s story was a big part of his original plans, but that story has been delayed to later books because the 2003 book was a little too cluttered. It makes sense to me that Brandon would be ready to progress it.

2. Something so cinematic that it could have been the prologue in The Way of Kings?

From u/isupposeilltrythis:

Im thinking Shattered Plains origin story.

3. Something key to the story of the larger Cosmere itself, but so complicated you could see why backstory was needed…

From u/noseonargu17:

Pattern and Sylphrena confess their love for one another and consummate it in the cognitive realm, leading to the birth of the true combination of lies and honor: Hoid. (something something time traveling fetus)

4. Kaladin swears! No, not that kind of swear…

From u/christiankeeney:

Really intrigued to see what the scene is that Brandon is referring to in the article. Thinking it has to be a Dalinar moment since he said it has been in the works since the beginning. Kaladin swearing the 4th ideal could be a candidate too.

And multiple people think it might have something to do with Wit’s epilogue/soliloquy. But who’s to say? In the meantime, leave your fan theories below!

Good morning, faithful Rereaders! Have you heard the wonderful news? We have an official release date for Stormlight 4! November 17, 2020! Huzzah! (Now, Alice and I would like to remind you that this could still change. Nothing is set in stone until Team Dragonsteel tells us that it’s set in stone, but still. Excitement! Jubilation! High-pitched squeals of merriment!)

::ahem:: As exciting as this is, we do need to get back on track, because we’re nearing the end-game here, people. And this is one heck of a long chapter. We’ve got painful confessions, and Syl locked up (No! Poor Syl!), and Kaladin drawing near to the Fourth Ideal, and Fused on the horizon, and… and… Hoo boy. Lots and lots to cover, so come along and prepare your seat on the Honor’s Path as we continue our trip through Shadesmar.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

In this week’s reread we also discuss some things (very mild spoilers though) from Warbreaker in the Cosmere Connections section, so if you haven’t read it, best to give that section a pass.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Shallan, Kaladin, and Adolin POVs (accompanied by the rest of the Shadesmar Exploration Society)

WHERE: Shadesmar, on board the Honor’s Path.

L: I’ve done my best to chart out their likely path on the map below. Note the location of Thaylen City, southwest of their current location. If they’re going to deviate from their chosen route, as Kaladin hopes, now would be the time to do so.

WHEN: 1174.2.5.5 (one week after departing Celebrant, and some indeterminate number of days following.)

Aboard the Honor’s Path, Syl has been locked away but the rest of the Shadesmar Exploration Society (SES) have been given free rein of the decks. Shallan is trying to come to terms with which of her personalities are “real,” and starts collecting up some beads in case they need to make a quick getaway. She and Adolin have a frank discussion in which she explains to him about her personality issues, and Adolin admits that he killed Sadeas. Meanwhile, Azure makes a deal with the honorspren first mate to secure passage for herself—and only herself—in her quest to hunt down Nightblood, after they reach Lasting Integrity. Kaladin, however, is hell bent on getting them to Thaylen City instead, and as soon as possible. He attempts to convince the captain of the ship to take them there, and in the process starts drawing near to the Fourth Ideal. Windspren congregate around him, much to the shock and awe of the sailors and the captain. When Kaladin reveals that a Bondsmith has appeared, the captain reconsiders. However, it is then that they realize that they’re being tailed by no less than eight Fused…

Beginnings

Title: Honor’s Path

Their current vessel, Honor’s Path, was faster than Ico’s merchant ship.

Heralds

Jezrien: Herald of Kings, Patron of Windrunners. Divine attributes Protecting & Leading. Role: King.

Nalan: Herald of Justice, Patron of Skybreakers. Divine attributes Just & Confident. Role: Judge.

A: I can see Jezrien here because of the honorspren as well as his Windrunner—and especially this Windrunner’s leadership via his drive to get back to where he can protect Dalinar. I’m a little less confident on Nalan’s presence.

L: Well, Kaladin is doing a lot of thinking about his own Ideal and who chooses what’s right and wrong. That seems very similar to the sorts of questions that Szeth is asking over with Nalan currently.

Icon: Pattern, since we start with Shallan’s POV; it switches to Kaladin and then Adolin

Epigraph:

Chemoarish, the Dustmother, has some of the most varied lore surrounding her. The wealth of it makes sorting lies from truths extremely difficult. I do believe she is not the Nightwatcher, contrary to what some stories claim. —From Hessi’s Mythica, page 23

A: I’m… not sure what to say about this. I think this may be the first time she’s mentioned by name, though one time (one!!) someone cursed by the name “Dustmother” back in The Way of Kings. Hessi says there’s a wealth of lore about her, but we’ve yet to see any of it.

Stories & Songs

“What happens if we carry the beads away too far?” Shallan asked, curious as the mistspren handed her the bucket. “They are tied to objects in the Physical Realm, right?”

“You can carry them anywhere in Shadesmar you wish,” the captain said. “Their tie is through the Spiritual Realm, and distance doesn’t matter. However, drop them—let them free—and they’ll work their way back to the general location of their physical counterpart.”

L: This is very cool.

A: I know, right? This answers a lot of questions I’d had earlier—like the relationship between a deadeye spren and the Blade they form. If the connection between the Cognitive and Physical realms is actually through the Spiritual realm, there are all sorts of implications.

Relationships & Romances

A: This chapter opens up (at least in retrospect!) the dynamic between Shallan and Adolin vs. Veil and Kaladin. We’ll get it spelled out much later, but here we get several small hints that Kaladin is attractive (romantically) to Veil, rather than to Shallan. (There’s more on this in the following section.)

There’s a lovely, sweet scene between Shallan and Adolin, where he’s clearly worried about her. She’s oddly annoyed by his concern—which seems to be Veil coming through, even though she’d very much been thinking as Shallan about her recent avoidance of Soulcasting.

“Shallan?” he asked.

“Shallan will be fine,” she said. I’ll bring her back in a moment. I just have to recover … her…”

Adolin glanced at the fluttering pages with the different versions of her. He reached out and hugged her, saying nothing. Which turned out to be the right thing to say.

… “Which one do you like the most?” she finally asked.

A: She proceeds to explain her personalities to him: Veil, the one with the white outfit but currently troublesome. Radiant, the prettier swordplayer. And a new personality she’s trying to figure out, who can Lightweave.

“Shallan’s broken, so I think I’m trying to hide her. Like a cracked vase, where you turn the nice side toward the room, hiding the flaw. I’m not doing it on purpose, but it’s happening, and I don’t know how to stop it.”

A: She’s expecting him to give her advice; instead, he gives her honesty.

L: As he does.

“I … Shallan, I killed Sadeas.”

A: He pours the whole thing out, including that the whole time they were “hunting a killer” it was a sham, and that he thinks (essentially) that he did something very wrong, but he’s not sorry. And she surprises him by simply saying, “Good for you.”

L: (More on this in how it relates to Adolin’s state of mind down in the “Bruised and Broken” section.)

A: They share this moment of honesty, and it culminates in one of my favorite moments:

“You never did say,” she whispered, “which one you prefer.”

“It’s obvious. I prefer the real you.”

“Which one is that, though?”

“She’s the one I’m talking to right now. You don’t have to hide, Shallan. You don’t have to push it down. Maybe the vase is cracked, but that only means it can show what’s inside. And I like what’s inside.”

So warm. Comfortable. And strikingly unfamiliar. What was this peace? This place without fear?

A: I know there’s a lot of disagreement about this, but I firmly believe Adolin is right. He’s one of the very few—maybe the only person—who can see through all the disguises to the real Shallan, even when she herself doesn’t know who she is. (Incidentally, I think this might be connected to his Edgedancer-ish character; the same thing that makes him able to see “the real Shallan” makes him able to connect to Mayalaran and, I hope, will make him able to bring her back to life.)

L: It really is a beautiful scene, and a wonderful example of a healthy relationship—on Adolin’s side, anyway. He’s there to support her and to help her become a better version of herself, even if that better version is just realizing that she’s been the better person all along. However… I still don’t see the same level of emotional maturity from her. A relationship is two sided, and both partners should be supporting the other. I know she’s going through a lot herself right now, I just hope that eventually, when she gets herself ironed out, she’s going to be ready to be there for him when he inevitably needs her.

A: Sigh. Her relative immaturity (both emotional and intellectual) is definitely a problem, and I do hope she gets herself sorted out. I love how good Adolin is for Shallan, but I have to admit she’s not a terribly good match for him at this point. And unfortunately, we see it just a couple pages later in the same chapter. There’s this other scene… and I’m reminded that despite how I see Adolin, he’s not nearly as self-confident as I think he should be!

Kaladin, the storming bridgeman, stood at the bow of the ship, surrounded by glowing lines of light. They illuminated his heroic figure …

Just ahead of him, Shallan seemed to change. It was in her bearing, the way she stopped resting lightly on one foot, and stood solidly on two feet instead. The way her posture shifted.

And the way that she seemed to melt upon seeing Kaladin, lips rising to a grin.

A: Poor Adolin. :(

L: Well, I mean… who can blame him? From a monogamous stand-point, this sort of behavior has got to be pretty devastating. (You know… I was about to comment about how this is pretty close to toxic monogamy culture but honestly? Adolin’s got a pretty decent reaction to this. He’s not lashing out in anger, he’s taking the time to self-analyze and eventually he just offers to step aside, rather than letting jealousy control him. Boy’s got his head on straight. I would also like to take a moment to mention that it has been asked if Sanderson would consider having them in a polyamorous relationship and he’s said no. More’s the pity.)

A: I really, really feel awful for Adolin here. He just gave Shallan the perfect blend of support and vulnerability, and she seemed to return his love and trust… and then she does this thing. In the scene, he thinks about the drawings he’s seen in her sketchbook, too, and it all reinforces the idea that she’s not as committed to him as he is to her. She had given him some clues, in the way she talked about her different personalities, that some of her behavior wasn’t entirely her. But… but. It will be a long time yet before he can entirely accept that his “real Shallan” does love him and only him, and as long as Veil is such a strong piece of her I’m not sure I’m convinced, though I want to be. (For what it’s worth, I’m personally quite happy with Sanderson’s decision not to go with polyamory. Aside from thinking it’s a really bad idea IRL, I don’t think it would be a great look for an LDS author. I’m not sure that’s a big factor for him; he writes more based on what he wants to write than on how it will look, but… still. History is not irrelevant.)

L: We’ll have to agree to disagree about the IRL bad idea part, but I concede on the point of it not being a great look for an LDS author. While it would be nice to see more representation and normalization of these relationship dynamics outside of a very select few Fantasy/Sci-Fi novels (like Kushiel’s Dart), it needs to be handled with care and understanding, and while Sanderson is usually very good at researching such social topics, he’s stated that he doesn’t feel as if he could do this particular one justice.

Bruised & Broken

A: After several weeks of “just Shallan,” this chapter starts showing much more sign of Veil peeking through again, and even taking over. Have we seen this unintentional and sudden change before, though? Like this bit, where she’s totally Shallan, listening to Kaladin’s plan to get to Thaylen City and worrying about whether she can make the Oathgate work even if they get there. She’s been pondering on how passionate he is about getting there, but she was still thinking like Shallan. Then this happens.

She couldn’t help feeling that too much of this plan depended on her.

Yet those eyes …

“We could try a mutiny,” Veil said.

A: Just like that, Veil is speaking, without any apparent intention on Shallan’s part to change.

L: Seems like Kaladin’s a bit of a trigger for her, providing the eyes in question are his.

A: She continues to suggest things like “pinching” the Stormlight/gems that had been confiscated from them, admiring his rough look, etc., and then:

Wait.

Wait, had that been Veil?

Shallan shook free of the momentary drifting of personality. Kaladin didn’t seem to notice.

A: It seems to worry her, which is a little bit comforting, I guess…

L: Small comfort.

She wore the skirt that Adolin had purchased for her, hoping it would make her feel more like Shallan. Veil kept poking through, which could be useful—but the way it just kind of happened was frightening to her. This was the opposite of what Wit had told her to do, wasn’t it?

A: So… I’m glad she’s worried about it, but why is it happening? Is it Shallan simply falling apart? An effect of being in the Cognitive Realm? A result of her interaction with Sja-anat? She asks a most fascinating question later, as she practices gathering impressions from the beads:

What would someone see when looking at her soul? Would it give a single, unified impression? Many different ideas of what it was to be her?

A: I’d like to know!

L: I wonder if Pattern could tell her.

“They need to let [Syl] out,” he said. “Prisons are terrible for me—they’ll be worse for her.”

L: Because she’s an honorspren and used to being free to flit about on the winds? Or is Kaladin just projecting, here?

“I’ve seen a lot of young hotheads in my time, and young Stormblessed feels like another color altogether. I wish I knew what he was so desperate to prove.”

L: That’s actually a really good question. Kaladin’s got his own swath of issues he’s working through, true… but what’s he trying to prove, exactly, and to whom? My spheres are on “that I’m a good person” to “the world.” He joined the army against his father’s wishes, and now he’s trying to prove to everyone around him—but most importantly to himself—that he’s not just a murderer, like his father said soldiers were. This is just speculation on my part, obviously. But it feels right to me.

Why… why hadn’t she tried to Soulcast since then? She’d made excuses, avoided thinking about it. Had focused all her attention on Lightweaving.

She’d ignored Soulcasting. Because she’d failed.

Because she was afraid.

L: Well… good on her, for figuring out what was going on in her own head, for this instance at least!

A: She has good reason to be afraid, given her experience; it was dangerous. But if she’d been honest with herself earlier, she could have taken advantage of Jasnah’s return to learn about it, instead of continuing to avoid it.

“The honorable Adolin Kholin, the consummate duelist. A murderer. And Shallan, I… I don’t think I’m sorry.”

L: There’s a lot of debate about this in fan circles, and honestly? Yeah, what he did may not have been strictly ethically correct. But he was protecting his family from someone who would certainly have tried to kill them. I don’t blame him for not feeling bad about it. But the very fact that he’s worried about the fact that he doesn’t feel bad speaks volumes about his character. He’s not simply justifying it to himself and moving on with his life. He’s still beating himself up over it—not because he killed someone (who deserved it), but because he’s afraid that not feeling repentant makes him a bad person. And he doesn’t want to be a bad person.

A: Once again, I love this guy. I think you’re right, too: in one sense he knows he simply did what had to be done, but he also thinks he ought to feel bad about it.

He’d failed so many people in his life…

…The Second Ideal made more direct sense. I will protect those who cannot protect themselves. Straightforward, yes… but overwhelming. The world was a place of suffering. Was he really supposed to try to prevent it all?

…The Third Ideal means standing up for anyone, if needed. But who decided what was “right?” Which side was he supposed to protect?

L: I’d just like to take a moment to interject here and note that the Third Ideal has been different for each Windrunner who’s sworn it. Interesting…. Anyway. The reason I’m putting this here is obviously because Kal’s really, really struggling. We’ve seen him struggling with this concept ever since Elhokar’s death, but this is the closest he’s come to really sitting down and trying to come up with an answer, as is evident by the windspren. I’m so very curious to find out what that Fourth Ideal is going to wind up being.

Places & Peoples

Notum had confirmed that the Voidspren were creating their own empire in Shadesmar. And they controlled Cultivation’s Perpendicularity, the easiest way to get between realms.

L: Whoa whoa whoa. Does this mean that Cultivation’s left? I can’t imagine that she would have let them use it without a fight! Or… is she maybe captured? That’s a scary thought!

A: I’ve always been really baffled by this. Her Perpendicularity is in the Horneater Peaks, but the only place anyone has physically seen her is in the Valley, near Urithiru. So… how much proximity does a Shard need to their Shardpool? Some? None? Lots? From what little we know, a Shard can probably take physical form anywhere on the planet, so maybe the question is moot.

Tight Butts and Coconuts

He walked across the deck, passing by Pattern—who stood with hands clasped behind his back, thinking number-filled thoughts.

L: I just really love the idea of “number-filled thoughts.” It made me chuckle.

“I would prefer,” Captain Notum said, “if you would refrain from upsetting my crew.”

“I would prefer that you let Syl go,” Kaladin snapped.

L: Yeah. You tell him, Kal!

“We certainly are an odd bunch.”

“Yes. Seven people. Odd.”

L: Classic Pattern.

Weighty Words

“But your bond is dangerous, without Honor. There will not be enough checks upon your power—you risk disaster.”

L: TIN FOIL HAT THEORY TIME! I wonder if all the power that normally would have been kept within Honor is now spread out amongst the Windrunners, and this is why they’re so powerful in terms of this story? They do seem to be a bit overpowered compared to the other orders, except for the Bondsmiths…

A: Hey, that’s a cool theory! We know that the Stormfather is the single biggest Splinter of Honor (don’t we?), but he certainly doesn’t hold all of Honor’s power. What if it is spread among the honorspren, so that when they form bonds, the Radiant is overpowered by comparison? That would be pretty cool.

It’s interesting that the Honorspren in this chapter are so opposed to Kaladin’s bond with Syl. They really do seem to think the bond is a bad idea.

Cosmere Connections

Nearby, the ship’s first mate … left the hold. Curiously, she was carrying Azure’s Shardblade. …

“Draw her carefully,” Azure said to Borea … “Don’t pull her out all the way—she doesn’t know you.”

… [Borea] undid a small latch on the Shardblade, eased it from its sheath a half inch, then drew in a sharp breath. “It … tingles.”

“She’s investigating you,” Azure said.

“It really is as you say,” Borea said. “A Shardblade that requires no spren—no enslavement. This is something else. How did you do it?”

A: And of course, we don’t get an answer to that! Still, what we do learn is pretty interesting. This is definitely an Awakened sword, with intelligence and personality. We don’t know yet what her Command is, but she clearly has some moral guideline by which she “investigates” people who touch her. I really do hope we learn more about her soon.

“But,” Azure continued, “even if his mission is critical, it doesn’t mean mine isn’t as well.”

L: What’s so critical about getting Nightblood back? Is she just concerned that it’s going to cause havoc here on Roshar unless it’s contained, or is there something more going on? Is there some time-sensitive reason that she needs it back home? So many questions.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

A: Who, or what, are the “mistspren”??

She glanced toward a passing sailor, a mistspren who had gaseous limbs that ended in gloved hands. Her feminine face was the shape of a porcelain mask, and she—like the others of her kind—wore a vest and trousers that seemed to float on a body made of swirling, indistinct fog.

A: From what Our Heroes say elsewhere, the mistspren seem to work for the honorspren, doing most of the labor of the ship while the honorspren command. My initial assumption was that they, being described this way and appearing to be sapient spren, were probably the spren of one of the Knight Radiant orders, but I’m not so sure now. Which order would have spren who work for the spren of another order? They certainly understand the humans, and yet they seem to take no initiative; when Shallan asks one for some beads to study, she simply goes and gets the captain to make a decision. And yet they clearly aren’t the “cousin” spren we’ve talked about before; those are the windspren, and we see them in this chapter as something very different:

Something crystallized in the air beside him, a line of light like a pinprick in the air that trailed a long, soft luminescence. … A second pinprick of light appeared near him, spinning, coordinated with the other. They made spiral trails in the air. He’d have called them spren, but they weren’t any he’d seen before.

A: Much to his shock, Kaladin can suddenly hear Syl in his mind, even though she’s still imprisoned. And the rest of the spren are far more shocked:

The strange pinpricks of light continued to whirl around him. Sailors gathered behind, making a ruckus until the captain pushed through and gaped.

…

“They’re not common on this side,” the captain said. “They live on your side, almost completely. I … I’ve never seen them before. They’re beautiful.”

A: So that’s cool: something we thought was incredibly common, if pretty, turns out to be a beautiful wonder to the spren in the Cognitive Realm. The following discussion is pretty funny, as Kaladin discovers that there are other things that will surprise the spren:

“Captain,” Kaladin said. “I have taken an oath, as a Windrunner, to protect. And the Bondsmith who leads us is in danger.”

“Bondsmith?” the captain asked. “Which one?”

“Dalinar Kholin.”

“No. Which Bondsmith, of the three?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Kaladin said. “But his spren is the Stormfather. I told you I’d spoken to him.”

It seemed, from the captain’s aghast expression, that perhaps Kaladin should have mentioned this fact earlier.

A: I don’t know about you, but this cracks me up every time I read it. The fact that the Stormfather has bonded to a human again is a shock to Captain Notum; that, combined with the windspren spinning around Kaladin in Shadesmar, is what it takes to convince him that, just maybe, they should consider the requests (okay, demands) these humans are making.

“Besides, the Ancient Daughter is too young.”

“Young?” Kaladin said. “Didn’t you just call her ancient?”

…“The honorspren were created by Honor himself, many thousands of years ago. You call him the Almighty.”

…“Well, sometime before his death, Honor stopped creating honorspren. We don’t know why, but he asked the Stormfather to do it instead.”

…“The Stormfather created only a handful of children. All of these, save Sylphrena, were destroyed in the Recreance, becoming deadeyes. This loss stung the Stormfather, who didn’t create again for centuries. When he was finally moved to remake the honorspren, he created only ten more. My great-grandmother was among them; she created my grandfather, who created my father, who eventually created me.”

L: Wow, lots of cool information in here. So Stormdaddy only made twenty spren, and the honorspren can reproduce asexually, apparently. I’m also curious about why Syl wasn’t made into a deadeye… she told Kal that she had a Knight Radiant before, didn’t she? I’m not misremembering that?

A: She had a Knight Radiant, but he died in battle rather than destroying their bond in the Recreance. So, while his death was hard on her and she “slept” for a long time, it didn’t damage her in the way that a broken bond does.

L: So it was only spren that were abandoned that went eyeless, not those whose Radiants died? That seems odd to me. I almost wonder if her Radiant hadn’t sworn the Final Ideal yet.

A: I love reading this section today; there was just a discussion on Facebook when someone asked who Timbre’s mother was, assuming her father was Ico. My best conclusion is that, as you say, it’s an asexual reproduction; I can’t recall a single time when a single spren has referred to both a mother and a father. It’s always one or the other.

Arresting and Ambivalent Artwork

A: Well, that’s a mix! Most of it is typical of Shallan’s natural history sketches—and then there’s the thing in the upper right. Veil’s handiwork? Gloryspren at the top, anticipationspren in the middle & right, and … awespren, maybe? I’m not sure about those. I’m also not sure about the branchy thing in the lower right, but I love the little doodle sketches in the corners, like she’s thinking on paper.

L: I’m certain that this is Veil’s handiwork in the top right, especially given the little “Drawing is easy!” “Clearly it isn’t.” dialogue that goes back and forth near it. I’d wager she was trying to draw the Captain, if only because I’m certain that this isn’t representative of either Kal or Adolin! There’s also a little Ghostblood symbol drawn under there.

A: I think you’re right on all counts, though I can’t prove it.

L: I don’t know what the tenacious ones on the bottom left are, but I kinda love how creepy they are. Lookit their little vertical mouths! So horrifyingly charming!

A: The little note in the corner: “Why 2 mouths at all?” (or at least that’s what I think it says). It must be so fun coming up with these drawings.

L: It’s “Why a mouth at all?”, actually. Which makes sense… as spren they wouldn’t really need them, now would they?

Next week we’ll be delving into chapter 109, in which Dalinar pulls Venli into one of his visions. Stay tuned at the same storm-time and the same storm-channel, and as always feel free to join in the conversation in the comment section below!

Looking ahead, there will be a break in posting over the Christmas holidays. Stay tuned for details.

Alice is now deep into the various celebrations and busyness that accompanies Christmas-tide around her home and family. Next up: school Christmas concert, in which her daughter tries to do just about everything, including flute, saxophone, and singing an octave above the staff. Hopefully all the pieces come together!

Lyndsey is heading into Boston on Saturday for a cosplay ice skating meetup, then to Providence on Sunday for even more ice skating fun! If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

All the best of the season to you and yours, as we head into the last reread episode of 2019! This week we’re back with (a sober) Dalinar, as he ventures back into the visions. This time, the Stormfather is bringing in someone hinted at in Chapter 107: Odium’s very own Envoy. Or at least the one who holds that title, though she doesn’t seem quite as committed to Odium as one might expect.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread – if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done. We really don’t address any wider Cosmere issues other than a passing reference to Odium’s interactions with other Shards, so you should be safe on that front.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Venli, Dalinar
WHERE: Urithiru, Past!Kholinar
WHEN: 1174.2.7.4, nine days after our last Dalinar chapter

Dalinar and Navani briefly discuss the form and function of Urithiru as they wait for the arrival of the highstorm. Once it hits, Dalinar enters the Nohadon vision with Venli. Dalinar attempts to reason with Venli, but before they can get beyond the first round, the vision is disrupted by Odium pounding on it like a piñata. The whole place comes to pieces, but Venli sees Dalinar holding Stormlight and keeping the area around him stable. In awe, she recognizes him as a true Knight Radiant. As Odium punches another hole in the shell, she sees Timbre trying vainly to reach her, and risks Odium’s pull to rescue the little spren. With the third hole, Venli herself is falling when Dalinar risks himself to reach her and dismiss her from the vision. As pain diminishes, he finds himself next to Odium, who says a number of disturbing things before the whole thing ends.

Beginnings

Title: Neshua Kadal

Dalinar stood on the balcony. And he was glowing.

Neshua Kadal. Radiant Knight.

A: And at long last, we get the unambiguous (if heavily implied) direct translation! It makes me happy. Also, I think it’s fun that the first time we heard this term, it was for Kaladin; now it’s for Dalinar. (Don’t ask me why I think it’s fun; it’s too complicated. I just like it.)

Heralds: Kalak, aka Kelek. Resolute/Builder. Willshapers. Role: Maker

Ishi (Ishar). Pious/Guiding. Bondsmiths. Herald of Luck.

A: On a guess, I’d say this is a straightforward shout-out to the Knight Radiant orders to which the two POV characters belong – or will eventually, anyway. (I’m assuming what is almost-proven-but-not-confirmed about Timbre, that she is a Reacher and her bond forms a Willshaper.)

Icon: Singer (denoting a chapter focused on Venli)

Epigraph:

Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, is another Unmade who appears to have been destroyed at Aharietiam.

—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 250

A: Correct me if I’m overreaching here, but to me this sounds like the ancient Lightweaver who trapped Re-Shephir must have done so very soon after (or during) the last Desolation 4500 years ago. If all indications of her presence vanished at about that time, it seems the logical assumption. With no further hints until Dalinar & Co. moved into Urithiru, she must have been imprisoned until sometime after the Knights Radiant vacated the place, somewhere around 1200 to 1500 years ago. Three thousand years is a long time to be trapped; I’m not sure whether I’m more impressed with the Radiant who created the trap, or more sorry for any sentient being who is trapped that long. (I guess it’s less time than Taln spent trapped alone on Braize with all the Fused torturing him, so there’s that…. Okay, I don’t feel very sorry for her.)

L: Well, she wasn’t the one torturing Taln. I do feel bad for her still. If she was sapient/sane before going in, it’s not much of a surprise that she wouldn’t be now. (Side-note: It sort of reminds me of a genie in a bottle scenario. “Phenomenal cosmic power… iiiiiitty bitty living space.”)

Stories & Songs

Odium sees that the vision has begun, the Stormfather warned Dalinar. The enemy is focusing on us. He comes.

“Can you hold him back?”

I am but a shadow of a god. His power vastly outstrips my own.

… “Can you hold him back? I need time to talk to her.”

I will… try.

L: It always freaks me out when we’re reminded of how much stronger Odium is. When you think of how powerful the Highstorms are to begin with….

A: …and the Stormfather himself has always seemed so incredibly powerful. To see him shrink in fear is bizarre.

She was using the old rhythms. She’d never been able to do that when Odium’s attention was on her.

L: I’d noticed this (Curiosity, Irritation, Reprimand, Resolve, Anxiety), so I really like that it’s called out that she notices it.

A: I like the way it tells her that this isn’t coming from Odium, even though he’ll interfere all too soon and confirm it. I also like that she finally seems to see a connection with the “old rhythms” as a good sign rather than a weakness.

“Why must you live there? To you, Alethkar is a place to conquer. But it’s my homeland.”

She attuned Reprimand. “Don’t you understand? The people who live there—the singers, my cousins—are from Alethkar. That is their homeland too. The only difference between them and you is that they were born as slaves, and you as their master!”

A: That pretty much sums up the current conflict, all across Roshar (at least if you leave out the vengeful Fused). Both races can claim “homeland” with full justification. One can claim ownership, the other can claim reparation, and both are valid claims. Unfortunately, it means that unless both sides are willing to give up some of their perceived rights, the only way to resolve it is genocide. (Pretty sure they’ll find a reason for compromise before it gets that far, but still.)

L: It’s such a difficult situation, because the generations of Alethi living there weren’t responsible for the current situation and view this place as just as much their home as the Parshendi do, not to mention the poor dullform slaves who were born there….

His words were dead, like those of all humans, but he wore his feelings on his face. So much passion and emotion.

Is this why the spren betrayed us for them?

L: Really good question…

A: It certainly fits with the possibilities we noted back in Words of Radiance, in one of those Listener Songs epigraphs. I suspect that from the spren perspective, the story might sound different, but we don’t know enough yet. All we have is that the Singers, and later the Listeners, believed that they were betrayed by the spren.

A sudden thump resounded in the vision. … The air was breaking. The clouds and sky seemed to be a mural painted on an enormous dome ceiling, and … a web of cracks appeared overhead.

Beyond them shone a vivid yellow light.

A: This was terrifying if you were too much in the moment. The “vivid yellow light” confirms that this is an attack from Odium, and it’s pretty much awful. The way this all plays out was, IMO, brilliant – with Odium pounding away at the structure of the vision from one angle, breaking in and vacuuming out the pieces, then attacking from another angle, and then another.

Dalinar stood on the balcony. And he was glowing.

Neshua Kadal. Radiant Knight.

Without meaning to, she attuned the Rhythm of Awe. … Long ago, these humans had resisted her gods. Yes, the enslavement of her cousins—the singers—was impossible to ignore. Still, the humans had fought. And had won.

The listeners remembered this as a song sung to the Rhythm of Awe, Neshua Kadal.

L: I find it very interesting that they have a song sung in awe of their conquerors. Usually such events are demonized by the people being conquered, and we do see a lot of that in their oral traditions. But there is this one instance of respect, which is fascinating. I would better understand it if they were Alethi, who value war so highly.

Buy it Now

A: Another possibility is that the Listeners who wrote this song didn’t see the humans as their conquerors, or even as enemies. Certainly there had been enmity between the “Singer Ancestors” (or whatever you want to call the beings who become the Fused), but the Listeners gave up most of their heritage in order to simply be free of those beings. I can see where they (the Listeners, not necessarily the Singers) would revere the Knights Radiant who stood up to the Fused and defeated them in battle. They themselves couldn’t fight the Fused, because all the war-appropriate Forms were too easily controlled by Odium. Their only way of escaping the “gods” they had come to fear and hate was to become the next thing to mindless. If I’m right about this, how they must have longed to have the kinds of spren bonds that would have let them fight Odium’s control, like the Knights Radiant did!

[Dalinar] felt himself being ripped apart, flayed, shredded. Each piece of him removed and allowed to hurt in isolation. A punishment, a retribution, a personalized torment.

…Dalinar squeezed his eyes shut. What a fool he had been. If there had ever been a hope of peace, he’d probably destroyed it by pulling that Parshendi woman into a vision and subjecting her to Odium’s horrors.

A: Little does he know. She’s already quite aware of Odium’s horrors and the pain he can inflict. And little does he know that his ability (however limited) to stand against Odium, and his willingness to risk himself to send her away from the vision, will be a turning point for her.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? Yes. I know pain. I am the only god who does. The only one who cares.”

L: When Odium says “only god,” I wonder if he’s thinking in terms of the entire Cosmere or only Roshar…

A: Good question. I’ve always assumed he meant the whole Cosmere, because Odium seems to believe that he’s superior to the rest of the Shards and has a perfect right to destroy them all. In context, though, he mostly seems to assume that Dalinar is only aware of the Roshar system gods. (What’s funny is that despite Odium’s assumption, Dalinar doesn’t even know that Cultivation is a Shard at the same level as Honor and Odium. Not yet, anyway.)

“Be strong, Dalinar. I have faith in you, even when you don’t have it in yourself. Though it will hurt for a time, there is an end. Peace is in your future. Push through the agony. Then you will be victorious, my son.”

L: Man… I just don’t know what to think about him. I still have this feeling that Odium’s gonna wind up being one of the good guys eventually, when some Bigger Bad Guy is revealed…

A: I don’t think so – or maybe it’s just that I hope not. He’s done enough damage (destroying Dominion, Devotion, Ambition, and Honor) that I’d really hate to seem him become one of the good guys. It’s a little like my feeling about Moash: #noredemption.

Bruised & Broken

And what of the grand purpose? What of the power he offers? Did she still want those things? Or was that merely something to grasp onto, now that she had brought about the end of her people?

L: A good question, and one that I’m glad to see her bringing up to herself.

A: YES. I love that after all we’ve seen her go through in her Interlude scenes so far, she’s come to the realization (when she dares) that Odium is not a benevolent god. She seems to have recognized that her actions brought about the destruction of the Listeners, rather than any return to glory or power. It’s almost like she’s finally seeing a truth that her long-ago ancestors knew: Odium doesn’t really care about her or her people (either Listener or Singer), he’s just using them as tools.

Self-awareness can be painful. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens with her (and her people) in the next book. (I’m hoping for a reunion with the rest of the Listeners, followed by a mass revolt of both Singers and Listeners against the Fused and the Voidspren-bonded, enabled by a bunch of Knights Radiant of their own.)

Places & Peoples

It’s like the other strata lines ripple out from this one, getting wider as they move away from it.

L: I feel as if, when Sanderson eventually explains what’s going on with all this, we’re all gonna feel really silly for not seeing it sooner.

A: I know, right? And far too likely, it’ll be something beyond whatever I imagined. I do love these little moments when someone comments on the physical details of Urithiru, because every tiny bit of lore adds to the puzzle.

Emeralds for grain… and heliodors for flesh. … He was pretty sure diamonds made quartz … Topaz made stone.

A: Okay, call me a geek, but these glimpses are dear to my heart. He mentions a few other tidbits, like raising animals for the important gemhearts, and why they needed certain substances.

“Garnets make blood,” Navani said. “We don’t have any Soulcasters that use them.”

A: I had to laugh at this; as stated, comes across as a bit of a shocker. Uh… why would you need to Soulcast blood…? (Yes, of course, if you have the medical technology to do transfusions, it’d be awesome, but aside from that, I’ve got nothing.) She clarifies that it’s probably any water-soluble liquid, not just blood; which makes me immediately guess that the garnet veins have to do with plumbing. ALL the plumbing, like sanitation and water reclamation and stuff. And… you know what, I don’t think I need to go further down that path.

“…The records below,” Navani said, “speak of this tower like a living thing. With a heart of emerald and ruby, and now these veins of garnet.”

“If this tower was alive,” Dalinar said, “then it’s dead now.”

“Or sleeping. But if that’s the case, I have no idea how to wake it. We’ve tried infusing the heart like a fabrial, even had Renarin try to push Stormlight into it. Nothing’s worked.”

L: My tin-foil theory with absolutely nothing to back it up is that it needs at least one of each of the orders of Knights Radiant to be present in order to wake it up.

A: That’s actually a pretty fun theory. Hopefully we’ll see the rest of the Orders represented soon! I’m glad to see a reference to them trying various approaches to getting things running; it would be awfully out of character for Navani not to be poking at that in every free moment.

As for what it will take to make the city work again, or “be a city” as Renarin said… Personally, I’m still more inclined to the Sibling-bonded Radiant, but somehow the Sibling still has to be brought back from its “sleep,” whatever that means. I wonder if Stormfather and Nightwatcher could do something about that, or if it has to be voluntary, or if the humans have to find it in Shadesmar, or what. I do hope we see it happen in book four, though.

L: Well, if the Amazon blurb for Stormlight 4 is any indication, we’ll definitely be seeing more of Urithiru… (This text is whited-out in case you’re trying to avoid ALL possible spoilers. Highlight to read. “The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.”)

“A merchant ship vanished in the Southern Depths this morning, just off Marat. They went ashore at what they hoped was a safe distance—to use the spanreed—and reported a large number of ships at dock along the coast. Glowing figures rose from a nearby city and descended upon them, and the communication cut off.”

A: Ugh. Shades of Kholinar, when they made sure no communication could get out. Apparently the distance allowed for a little time, but… that ship is certainly lost. Clearly their “safe distance” wasn’t far enough, or the Fused are spread out along the coast farther than the ships are.

Weighty Words

Above, the man in the blue uniform leaped into the chasm.

He fell beside the hole’s perimeter, and stretched one hand toward Venli. His other ground against the rock wall, hand scraping the stone. Something flashed around his arm. Lines of light, a framework that covered his body. His fingers didn’t bleed as they scraped the stone.

Around her, the rocks—the air itself—seemed to grow more substantial. In defiance of the heat below, Venli slowed just enough that her fingers met those of Kholin.

Go.

L: This is so powerful! I love that Dalinar was willing to put himself at risk (even within the visions, he’s clearly not entirely safe from Odium) and the fact that Shardplate was gathering around him makes it even cooler. Do we have verification on the type of non-sapient spren that are associated with Bondsmiths, yet? I have a vague memory that they’re gloryspren but I forget if this has been verified anywhere later in this book of by WoB…

A: This scene was amazing, and as I noted earlier, I think Dalinar’s actions (as well as his appearance) have a strong impact on Venli and her future decisions. Taking that risk to send her out of the vision was huge, and I’m fascinated by the parallel between her rescue of Timbre (see below) and Dalinar’s subsequent rescue of her.
And the proto-Shardplate!!! I can’t help thinking that, no matter what the “usual” process for acquiring your armor, the spren themselves can take a certain initiative to protect you if they want. As for which spren would be doing this, we don’t seem to have any confirmation yet – at least, not that I can find. Gloryspren do seem to be a strong candidate, since they so often seem to appear in Dalinar’s presence, and they show up en masse when he does his Unification thing near the end. It’s still just a guess, and even if it’s correct, it may only apply to the Stormfather-Bondsmith. The Nightwatcher and the Sibling Bondsmiths might have different connections.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

The arm device had a painrial in it too; a kind of fabrial with a spren that feasted upon pain. He’d never yet remembered to use the thing.

L: This is absolutely fascinating. There are so many amazing things that could be done with something like this in the real world. Imagine people with chronic pain being able to use one of these! Literally life-changing. It’s a symbiotic relationship in the very best way.

A: I really love the idea, and if it’s true that the spren actually feasts on pain, it is a perfect symbiosis.

L: The fact that Dalinar hasn’t “remembered” to use it implies to me that he’s not experienced any dramatic physical pain since he got it.

A: I can’t think of anything that he hasn’t just numbed with alcohol, anyway.

L: Also, this type of fabrial seems a lot more “humane” to me than how most are described. At least this trapped spren is getting something out of the arrangement!

A: Right? If this is true, it’s great. I keep worrying about the fabrials, though, because of the implication that the spren is “trapped.” I’m mostly sure that this sort of spren is sufficiently non-sapient that it’s roughly the equivalent of saying that your houseplant is “trapped” in its pot—it sits there in a very hospitable environment and flourishes. But I’m still worried; if you can trap a painspren, what else can you trap? We know you can trap an Unmade (which are spren of a sort); can you trap an honorspren or a Cryptic? (Taravangian seemed to think they could, but with him you never know whether he’s speaking from knowledge, from ignorance, or from mendacity.) Also: given the whole concept, what about the Sibling? Are they trapped and need to be released?

L: Not to mention the fact that the highspren might not look too kindly upon their lesser-sapient siblings being enslaved like this. I wonder if they’ve even realized that it’s happening yet… it seems as though this type of fabrial is pretty “new” in terms of world history, and with the spren being as long-lived as they are…

She opened her eyes, and saw Timbre fighting against the wind in an attempt to reach her. Bursts of light exploded from the little spren in frantic rings. … The little spren changed to the Rhythm of the Lost and began to slide backward. … With her other hand, she twisted and snatched Timbre from the air.

Touching Timbre felt like touching silk being blown by a wind. As Venli folded her left hand around the spren, she felt a pulsing warmth. Timbre pulsed to Praise as Venli pulled her close to her breast.

L: You know, for something that’s never spoken a single word, I love this little spren so much. Timbre is the sweetest little cinnamon roll and needs to be protected at all costs.

A: Right? She only communicates by way of the rhythms, and yet she’s so clear and precious.

Through his bond, Dalinar sensed weeping. The Stormfather had kept Odium back, but storms, he had paid a price. The most powerful spren on Roshar—embodiment of the tempest that shaped all life—was crying like a child, whispering that Odium was too strong.

L: Poor Stormfather. For all his somewhat condescending nature, he’s genuinely trying to help Dalinar to achieve his goals, even at great personal cost. I have to respect that.

A: I seem to mostly be nodding along this week, but this is so true. For a long time I liked the idea of Stormfather more than his personality, because he always seemed so supercilious, not to say occasionally vindictive. The more I see his side, and especially the more we get these reactions to Odium, the more sympathetic he becomes! And the bit at the end (which we’ll get to in a few months) redeems all these moments.

Sheer Speculation

A: I thought I might have a looney theory for this week, but it turned out to be something we’ve talked about before, if from a slightly different angle. It was that whole bit about the Listener survivors understanding their own history, and making the choice to join the humans against the Fused. We’ve long been speculating, though, that between Rlain and Venli, maybe they’ll find some survivors. The only thing that’s new (to me, anyway) is the possibility that the Listeners had awe, respect, and possibly a sort of envy for the humans who were able to stand against the gods they themselves had come to hate. I love the way that could fit in with the first-ever Parsh Knights Radiant.

For what it’s worth, speculation on the reread will likely come to an end in the near future. Since Lyndsey and I are both beta readers, as are all of our usual co-conspirators (Paige, Ross, and Aubree), once the beta read for Rhythm of War starts, the reread has to change tone a little. We’ll be limiting ourselves to what’s actually in THIS book (or existing Words of Brandon, of course), and avoiding guesses at what comes later. Obviously, we don’t want to risk spoilers, so we won’t mention anything that’s in the next book. Less obviously, we don’t want to tell you what’s not in the book. We won’t be saying, “Subject A doesn’t get dealt with, so we can still speculate about it!!” because that would be a different kind of spoiler. The beta read is currently slated to begin toward the end of January, though of course it depends on a lot of varying factors.

L: Being a beta reader is an amazing experience, but it also can be a difficult one, as we have to be very careful about what we do and don’t say once it begins!

Next week we’ll be off for Christmas Break. Alice and I wish you all a happy holiday season filled with joy and time spent with the people you love. When we return on January 2, we’ll be back with the Shadesmar Exploration Society, in a relatively short chapter. The one following it is a longer one, so we’re sticking with a shorter week following the holidays.

Alice is feeling pretty crunched by all the seasonal events, but she’s still enjoying them. Crunching on peanut brittle always helps, right?

Lyndsey is looking forward to this winter being over – bring on the warm weather and the return of Renaissance Faire season! If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

As Brandon Sanderson predicted in 2018’s State of the Sanderson update, the author dedicated most of 2019 to working on book 4 in The Stormlight Archive.

And it paid off: as Tor Books announced last week, The Stormlight Archive’s fourth volume will be released on November 17, 2020. That’s the big news from 2019’s “State of the Sanderson” update, where the author gives his readers an update on all the various projects he’s undertaken, but there’s also some news about the Mistborn series, along with a giant status update on the future of the Cosmere itself.

Read on for key tidbits!

Stormlight Archive Book 5 For 2023

With Stormlight Four nearing its wrap-up point wrapped up, Sanderson notes that “we’ll have only one more book in the first Stormlight sequence.” But it’s going to be a while before readers get Book Five in their hands. The author said he plans to begin writing Stormlight volume 5 in 2022 for a 2023 release, noting that “a three-year gap is best for my writing psychology.”

And a Stormlight Archive Picture Book For 2020?

Sanderson mentions that there are currently efforts for a picture book adaptation of “the girl who looked up” story that Shallan and Wit tell in Oathbringer. If this works out, the author says it could be released around the same time as Stormlight Book Four, in late 2020.

Mistborn: Wax and Wayne Book 4 is “Imperative” to Stormlight Book 5

The concluding volume to the “Wax and Wayne” Mistborn series has to come before Stormlight Archive Book 5. In this year’s update, Sanderson described this book as “imperative to finish before I start Stormlight Five.” This could imply that there’s a plot point in Wax and Wayne Book Four that will enrich Stormlight Five. Or Sanderson could simply not want Mistborn to law dormant for another few years. Either way, the update mentions that this will be his next project after Stormlight Archive Book Four, with a hoped-for 2021 release.

The Mistborn Film Is Getting A New Draft

In regards to film and TV adaptations for his books, Sanderson had this to say:

[I’m] Considering maybe writing the screenplay on this myself. After speaking with [producer] Dan Mintz, we decided he would focus on spearheading Stormlight, and I would focus on spearheading Mistborn. So we’ll see what I decide to do.

The Original is Coming Soon

Sanderson and co-writer Mary Robinette Kowal have finished writing this novella, which will be released “very soon” (think: 2020) as an audio original. The author described the plot thusly:

I’m a little annoyed as the Will Smith movie [Ed: Gemini Man] that came out earlier this year has a similar premise. But that movie bombed and apparently wasn’t very good. So maybe people will appreciate a similar idea done right? We’ll see. I had hoped to get this out before Mr. Smith’s movie came out, but Mary Robinette was busy winning all of the awards for her excellent Lady Astronaut series, and I was busy getting rained on in Roshar.

White Sand is Getting a Sequel

The good news is that we really enjoy doing these, and so we are planning to do another graphic novel series set on Taldain, visiting darkside and dealing with Khriss and her adventures there. So if you are one of those people who read the prose version years ago, and have been waiting for some resolution, Isaac and I are outlining a sequel series right now.

Plus, a collection of all three volumes in the first trilogy is likely.

The Updated Writing and Release Schedule for 2020 and Beyond

As always, Sanderson included a projected release schedule for the next couple of years:

• The Original audio novella: 2020
• Stormlight Four: Fall 2020
• Skyward Three: Summer(?) 2021
• Wax and Wayne Four: Fall(?) 2021
• Alcatraz 6: 2021–2022
• Dark One Graphic Novel: 2021–2022
• Skyward Four (final book): 2022
• Stormlight Five: Fall 2023

Sanderson Reveals An In-Depth Plan For The Entire Cosmere

For 2019’s update, instead of concluding with the projected release dates, Sanderson devoted the final section to looking at the past, present, and future of the Cosmere. It’s quite in-depth, so you should head over to the post itself for the author’s take, but essentially the order is:

• Stormlight Part 1
• The Next Mistborn Trilogy
• Stormlight Part 2
• The Dragonsteel Trilogy
• Aether of Night Trilogy
• The Final Mistborn Trilogy

So the journey…has really only just begun!

“I’ve begun to realize that I need to keep more of my focus on the Cosmere,” the author wrote, adding:

One of the reasons I divided it all up into separate sequences, even within the same series, is so that we’ll have endings and be able to “complete” series, rather than leaving you hanging forever, feeling like these things are going on too long. At the same time, the Cosmere is my life’s work—and from the get-go, I wanted it to be epic in every sense of the word.

I hope you are enjoying the journey, because I don’t intend to stop anytime soon.

For the current Cosmere sequence, film/TV updates, info on Alcatraz 6, Songs of the Dead (née Death for Pizza), Dark One, and lots of new original art, head on over to the complete State of the Sanderson 2019!

Happy new year, O Rereaders of the Stormlight Archive! Welcome back! Did you see the news about Sanderson finishing Book 4 just before the end of the year? We’re so excited, but we also hope you’re all well rested, because this chapter sets up the beginning of the ending of Oathbringer. We’re back in Shadesmar, where Our Heroes once again strike out on their own, minus one member.

Heh. I couldn’t resist the cut text. (If you came here without going to the Tor homepage first, it was, “All right. Jump!”) It’s Shallan leading the team off the ship, but it’s SO appropriate for this stage of the book. It’s going to be pretty much non-stop tension and action from here on out.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done. In this week’s reread we also discuss some things from Warbreaker in the Cosmere Connections section, so if you haven’t read it, best to give that section a pass.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Shallan & the Shadesmar Exploration Society

WHERE: Shadesmar, at the edge of Longbrow’s Straits (east of Kharbranth, north of Thaylen City, on the south coast of the mainland)

WHEN: 1174.2.7.4—The numbers in the timeline are a little fruity, since a minimum of several days passed during the course of Chapter 108, and we don’t know how many. We don’t quite know if this is a matter of several days, or only several hours, since the end of that chapter; either one could be argued. Either way, we know the date for this chapter solidly; the highstorm they see is the same as the one in Chapter 109, when Dalinar and Venli met in the ancient-Kholinar vision.

Beginnings

Title: A Million Stars

They crowded into the opening into the cargo hold, looking at the glass beads below. Churning, catching the light of a distant sun, sparkling like a million stars …

Heralds: Jezrien, Herald of Kings, patron of Windrunners, is the sole Herald on this chapter. His associated divine attributes are Protecting and Leading, and his role is King. I’m not entirely sure why he’s here, except that the honorspren are front and center here. I guess Shallan even does more protecting and leading than her usual, so there’s that?

Icon: Pattern, for a Shallan POV

Epigraph:

The Midnight Mother created monsters of shadow and oil, dark imitations of creatures she saw or consumed. Their description matches no spren I can find in modern literature.
—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 252

A: She’s come a long way, has our little Midnight Mother… ::shudder:: The creatures Dalinar saw in that vision fit this statement, but what Shallan & Co. saw in the Urithiru basements were recognizable humans. It does make me wonder what she was imitating before, though. Creatures from Braize? (Did the Unmade return to Braize between Desolations too? Do we know?)

Stories & Songs

Honor’s Path had made a heroic effort these last few hours, pushing its mandras to exhaustion—and it hadn’t been nearly enough. The Fused were slower than Kaladin could go, but they were still far faster than the ship.

A: So… why are the Fused slower than a Windrunner? Are they not using the same Surges? Perhaps they can only use one Surge, or one at a time? I don’t know (obviously), but this seems like an important thing to notice! I suppose it makes sense that the mandras can’t pull a ship as fast as an unencumbered Fused can fly, though I’m curious as to how fast they can go by themselves.

L: Yeah, this seems like a strange distinction to make. When Kal is flying (or falling with style), he’s only using one of the surges, right? Maybe he can just use them more effectively and Lash himself more times than they can.

A: Hmm, yeah, the number of Lashings makes a big difference. Maybe they can’t do that.

Also, this bit is why I suspect that Chapter 110 picks up only a few hours after Chapter 108 ends, since that’s when they first spotted the Fused on the horizon. Did they start the push immediately? I would guess so.

Flora & Fauna

These trees! The trunks were translucent; the leaves looked like they were blown from glass in a multitude of colors. Moss drooped from one branch, like melted green glass, strands hanging down in silky lines. When she touched them, they broke off.

A: I’d really love to see some artwork for this…

Shadesmar Shenanigans

They hit the bottom, which was shallow, here near the shore. Then Shallan finally let herself draw in Stormlight. One precious gemstone’s worth. It sustained her, calmed her. She fished in her pocket for the bead she’d picked from the bucket earlier.
When she fed the bead Stormlight, the other beads around her trembled, then pulled back, forming the walls and ceiling of a small room.

A: I keep feeling like we shouldn’t need the description again, but I’m always glad it’s there to answer the question. When Stormlight is fed into one bead, the other beads around the area join to create the shape of the original bead’s physical form. Also, very clever of Shallan to have found a room-bead in that bucket she was sifting through! Do you suppose she picked out a variety of beads that seemed like they might be useful in different situations, then settled on this one to meet the specific need?

“Damnation,” Adolin said, wheezing. “Drowning with no water. It shouldn’t be so hard, should it? All we had to do was hold our breath….”

A: Okay, here’s something I should have realized in the beta. When you need to breathe but want to filter out something nasty, such as smoke or fumes, you tie a handkerchief or something over your mouth and nose. Why did it not occur to them to try this? Just wrap a scarf across your nose and mouth, and you don’t have to hold your breath or choke on beads.

(Also, we discovered on the beta that we had quite a variety of impressions of these beads. Everyone was thinking “round,” but the sizes we visualized ranged from ⅛” seed-bead size all the way up to tennis-ball size!)

They each carried a change of clothing, three water jugs, and some of the food Adolin had purchased. Hopefully it would be enough to reach Thaylen City.

Buy it Now

A: This reminds me of the epilogue from Words of Radiance, where Jasnah came out of Shadesmar much better equipped than she went in. Our Heroes certainly have a much better shot at survival now than they did when leaving Kholinar.

They started up the slope, against the tide of beads. … They soon reached a place were the ground was too steep to walk on easily. Shallan let go of the men’s hands and scrambled up the incline.

A: Well, I guess they got the hang of walking without breathing? This bit always feels vaguely wrong to me, like they have to have walked farther than they should be able to hold their breath, but… I guess? Shallan has it easy, with the Stormlight she’s holding, but Adolin doesn’t have that, and Kaladin chooses not to use it.

“I saw the enemy fly past,” Syl said. “I was hiding by the trees here.”

A: So at least that part of the plan worked… Note also that Syl didn’t bother to join them in Shallan’s “waiting room”—she just headed for the land and hid in the trees so she could see what was happening.

Kaladin dug out two gemstones. “All right,” he said, “we fly.”
They’d decided to use two gemstones’ worth of Stormlight to fly inward, a gamble to get a head start on their hike—and to get away from the coast. Hopefully the Fused wouldn’t treat the honorspren too harshly. Shallan worried for them, but equally for what would happen if the Fused doubled back to search for her group.

A: Sounds like a reasonable plan, given what they know now….

Kaladin Lashed them one at a time—and fortunately, his arts worked on the spren as they did humans.

A: Argh. This gets so meta, when a character starts thinking about how lucky they are that things work out conveniently. The reader gets torn between relief that it works, and the knowledge that it works because the author decided that the story would be better served by not giving them another annoying difficulty to overcome just now. Heh.

L: We call this “hanging a lampshade,” or just “lampshading.” Basically, “yes, reader, I realize this is odd or super convenient but I promise you I’ve thought of it and it’s not a mistake.”

Cosmere Connections

“I simply have a different thread to chase, and besides, I left my men to fight these monsters in Kholinar. Doesn’t feel right to do the same again.” She smiled. “Don’t fear for me, Stormblessed. You will have a much better chance if I stay here—as will these sailors.”

A: As with everything about Vivenna/Azure, I wonder… In this case, I wonder how much Breath she’s got. Nalthians seem to have the ability to hold an awful lot of Investiture, whether it’s their own world’s Breath or Roshar’s Stormlight. She certainly doesn’t seem worried about being injured or killed, so I have to assume she’s holding a LOT. Plus, she’s clearly planning to awaken a whole boatload of objects to fight with them, which is also going to take a lot of Breath/Investiture-of-some-kind.

It occurs to me that she and Zahel have a tremendous advantage here on Roshar, where every highstorm provides tons of Investiture; since everyone expects it to get used up, it’s not that surprising (if they’re clever) that they can get away with just storing it up internally to a mind-numbing level. All they have to do is make sure they stay below God-King level, where the colors go all swirly around you, and no one else will notice a thing. And since they can retrieve it all when they’re done with their Awakened objects, they don’t have to keep renewing it. (Well, okay, Zahel/Vasher does to some extent, being a Returned, but Vivenna doesn’t. Unless she died and Returned since the end of Warbreaker.)

L: I wonder how they get rid of the extra, so they don’t get all god-King-color-swirly.

A: Stuff it in a convenient cloak (Vivenna) or rope belt (Vasher)?

“When you boys next meet the swordsman who taught you that morning kata, warn him that I’m looking for him.”
“Zahel?” Adolin said. “You know Zahel?”
“We’re old friends,” she said.

A: Yes, indeed. Old friends… though he’s much older than she is. I love Adolin’s shock, though. He (like everyone else) has no clue about Zahel’s background. I would really love to see the moment when Adolin & Kaladin deliver her message!

“Notum, have your sailors been cutting those bales of cloth into the shapes I requested?”
“Yes,” the captain said. “But I don’t understand—”
“You soon will.”

A: Oh, I wish we could have seen this battle! Hopefully we’ll hear something about it later. The spren are about to get the shock of their lives when the see Awakened objects fighting alongside them. I wonder what shapes she chose. I’m guessing vaguely human-shaped, because Vasher said those are easier to Awaken, but… who knows?

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

Syl’s color seemed muted, and she clung to Kaladin’s arm, unsteady. Was she going to be able to make it to shore with them?

A: Poor Syl; it hasn’t been good for her to be locked up for almost three weeks. I don’t exactly understand why it affected her like this, but apparently it did. And the captain should, so I find it baffling that he would treat the “ancient daughter” that way. Weird.

“Go, then,” the captain said. “And be swift. I cannot promise that my crew, once captured, will be able to keep this secret for long.” Apparently it was difficult to kill spren, but hurting them was quite easy.

A: Well, that sucks.

Overhead, the clouds rippled with the mother-of-pearl iridescence that marked another highstorm in the real world. … the effect on Pattern and Syl was immediate. They stood up straighter, and Syl’s wan color brightened to a healthy blue-white. Pattern’s head shifted more quickly, spinning through a dozen different cycles in a matter of minutes.

A: We’ll just call this another cool thing I don’t understand; somehow, the spren “feed” off of the storm in Shadesmar, even though it doesn’t seem to deposit any stormlight there.

Nearby, Syl looked to the southwest with a kind of wistful, far-off expression. “Syl?” Shallan asked.
“There’s a storm that way too…” she whispered, then shook herself and seemed embarrassed.

A: WHAT? What. Is. That. About?

I mean… Southwest of their location in Shadesmar, there’s Thaylen City with its Oathgate, and beyond that is the “Nexus of Imagination,” whatever that is. In the physical realm, it’s just Thaylen City and the “Southern Depths” part of the ocean. What storm is she sensing? Is the Everstorm thataway right now? But why would that make Syl wistful? I’m so confused.

L: I’m really confused by this one, too.

Quality Quotations

She’d chosen to wear Veil’s outfit today, in part for the pockets.

A: Every woman I know can relate to this.

Well, that concludes this weeks presentation. Comment on what we left out! Also, come back next week to deal with Chapter 111, in which we will all grind our teeth to nubs. Our smarmy “friend” Amaram is in full form, Teft & Lyn get great lines, and two storms—one literal, one figurative—come at the same time, as the results of Dalinar’s visions return to stab him in the back. Eila Stele next week.

Alice is still groggy from getting back to a normal schedule, after having the most relaxing Christmas break in years; she’s hoping to recover her brain in time for the upcoming beta read of SA4, which is expected to start sometime in the next three weeks or so. Happy New Year, everyone!

Lyndsey is recovering from getting five piercings on one day right before New Years, and wishes the Force to be with you. Always. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Hold onto your spheres, rereaders, because we’re heading into climax territory! In this week’s chapter, Dalinar thinks he’s got everything under control—so of course, it all starts going south on him. We finally learn the translation of the Dawnchant, and our characters learn that everything they thought they knew was a lie. They are the Voidbringers, the invaders. Humans stole Roshar from the Dawnsingers. Which puts them… on the wrong side of this war, from a certain point of view.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

No broader Cosmere spoilers this week, so you’re totally safe to read on.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Dalinar, with Navani, Jasnah, Taravangian and others
WHERE: Thaylen City
WHEN: 1174.2.7.5, the day after Dalinar’s vision with Venli & Odium

(I just have to point out here that, despite all that’s still to come, this is one day before the big battle. One. Day.)

Dalinar arrives in Thaylen City and has a brief meeting with Amaram, in which Amaram expresses his displeasure at not being used to his full potential. He has a discussion with the Stormfather about the third Sibling. They begin the grand meeting in which they lay out guidelines for their new coalition, but in the middle, news arrives that a new Everstorm is on that way—early, and far stronger and faster than usual. Jasnah and Navani, meanwhile, have finally received a translation of the Dawnchant… and it is not what they expected. Everything begins to unravel as news spills in from several sources, all seeking to discredit Dalinar and his aims.

Beginnings

Title: Eila Stele

“The piece that historians have been most eager to translate is called the Eila Stele. Other sources claim it is old, perhaps the oldest document in written memory, said to be scribed by the Heralds themselves.”

A: For reference, Eila is a city in southern Iri, near the mountains and the border with Rira (see purple circle on the map above). Also for reference, a “stele” is an archaeological term for a stone or slab with an inscription carved into it. This piece, then, is presumably from a carving in the far west of Roshar—and probably preserved for this translation process at least partially from rubbings and drawings, since the stone itself would be about 6000 to 10000 years old, iirc.

Heralds: Battah (Battar), the Counsellor, patron of the Elsecallers, divine attributes Wise & Careful.

A: Okay, what do we do with her? She could be there to represent Jasnah and the scholars who translated the Eila Stele. Or for Dalinar, trying hard to be wise and careful as he maneuvers the political waters. Or for Taravangian, in a twisted way, who very carefully, with the wisdom of a true snake, prepared this day to destroy Dalinar’s leadership. Anything else?

Icon: Kholin Glyphpair, for Dalinar’s POV

Epigraph:

It will not take a careful reader to ascertain I have listed only eight of the Unmade here. Lore is confident there were nine, an unholy number, asymmetrical and often associated with the enemy.

—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 266

A: I really don’t have much to say about this epigraph, other than … yes, well then.

Oh, and this is one of the times when “lore” is correct.

Stories & Songs

“They came from another world,” Navani said, reading from her sheet. “Using powers that we have been forbidden to touch. Dangerous powers, of spren and surges. They destroyed their lands and have come to us begging.”

L: Forbidden to touch? Forbidden by whom?

A: Hmm. Forbidden by Adonalsium when they were created? Or by Honor & Cultivation, who thought it would be best avoided?

“We took them in, as commanded by the gods.”

L: So if this is the Listeners writing this, are their ancient gods still their ancestors? Or back then, did they have different gods?

A: I’d always assumed that they meant Honor and Cultivation, except that the next bit seems to contradict it.

“What else could we do? They were a people forlorn, without home. Our pity destroyed us. For their betrayal extended even to our gods: to spren, stone, and wind.”

L: Note that that’s three gods, they mentioned there. Wind, for Honor. Spren, for Cultivation. And Stone… for the Sibling?

A: I suspect that the three gods might be the ones we think of as the greater spren: Stormfather (wind), Nightwatcher (spren), and the Sibling (stone). The fact that Honor & Cultivation “adopted” the first two is part of what creates the confusion for the reader. Perhaps, when they came to Roshar, they deliberately chose to simply step into existing roles in a sort of partnership with those who already held those positions, granting them greater power in their own sphere rather than competing with them or putting them down. It’s kind of a cool thought.

L: It is. And it lends more credence to the idea that the Shin have some sort of close relationship with the Sibling, what with their reverence of stone and all.

“Beware the otherworlders. The traitors. Those with tongues of sweetness, but with minds that lust for blood. Do not take them in. Do not give them succor. Well were they named Voidbringers, for they brought the void. The empty pit that sucks in emotion. A new god. Their god.”

L: Odium? So when did he switch sides, here?

A: One area in which we need to be wary, I think, is accepting this limited viewpoint as pure fact. We know that the humans came from Ashyn, and we know that (at some point) Odium was trapped on Braize. Was Odium ever really their god, or did he just claim to be, once he was able to bring some influence to bear on Roshar? Either answer is possible, from what we know at this point.

“These Voidbringers know no songs. They cannot hear Roshar, and where they go, they bring silence. They look soft, with no shell, but they are hard. They have but one heart, and it cannot ever live.”

L: And so the shoe drops, and realization strikes home for our heroes.

A: It would appear so. My questions still revolve on A) Did the scholars translate the entire thing, or did they just send the first part once they had it? B) What other documentation exists that gives other angles on this event? I just… don’t quite believe that this is the whole story. There’s always another secret.

“The first Desolation was the invasion of humankind onto Roshar. We came here and we seized this land from the parshmen—after we accidentally used Surgebinding to destroy our previous world. That is the truth that destroyed the Radiants.”

L: And now we come to it, the turning point. Though, I still believe that there had to be something else going on to make the Knights give up their oaths. Learning that you were the bad guys, THIS many generations removed, is a sucker punch for sure—but I just can’t believe that it would be bad enough to make people kill their closest friends (their bonded spren) and give up defending their homes and families.

A: I agree. There’s got to be more to the story.

“What of this ancient record?” Taravangian said. “It claims that the Radiants already destroyed one world. Is that not what caused them to disband? They worried that their powers could not be controlled?”

L: I still don’t quite buy this.

A: Well, Taravangian has reasons to sow discomfort right now, and he really doesn’t want people to trust Dalinar. Factually, we know it’s not correct; the Radiants didn’t even exist until somewhere after the Desolations got started, the Heralds had formed the Oathpact, and the spren decided to copy it. I’m reasonably confident that Taravangian is sufficiently well-educated in all the lore to know that, and is deliberately conflating the Ashyn Surgebinders with the Rosharan Knights Radiant. Even if he doesn’t know it and is making a reasonable assumption, I’m not likely to give him the benefit of the doubt; he has strong incentive to defame the Radiants and reduce their heroic appearance.

Relationships & Romances

A: Navani and Dalinar are priceless. That is all.

Bruised & Broken

Sometime near the end of this discussion, Dalinar noticed Renarin shifting uncomfortably in his seat. As the Azish scribes began explaining their code of rules and guidelines for the coalition, Renarin excused himself in a hoarse voice, and left.

L: Just his introversion coming through, or is there more to this? Does he sense the same storm that the Stormfather mentions later, only earlier?

A: My bet is that he saw a vision of what was coming and either wanted to go find a way to stop it, or just couldn’t bear to watch. Depending on what the Stormfather was sensing, maybe Renarin does sense it earlier. Glys, however corrupted, is still a Truthwatcher spren; it could even be that Sja-anat’s meddling gives him a greater sensitivity to Odium activity.

Diagrams & Dastardly Designs

A: This chapter kicks my anti-Taravangian sentiments into overdrive.

The Oathgates were under almost perpetual use these days—Malata was running the device today, as was becoming her duty more often.

A: She probably complains about it being boring, even as she uses the opportunity to set up future plans. (I don’t like Malata, for the record.) This so perfectly plays into Taravangian’s Diagram, getting everyone used to trusting his pet Radiant and thinking of her as “one of the heroes.”

L: Yeah, I absolutely do not trust her and am waiting for the inevitable betrayal.

“You could call me Vargo, if you wish,” Taravangian said, pacing without looking at Dalinar. “It is what they called me as a youth….”

A: Trying so hard to be human, is that what’s happening here? I think this is one of his smart-but-not-compassionate days, but with just enough balance for him to understand that it’s not really a good way to be:

“It is nothing, Dalinar. Nothing. Silliness. I am … I am well today.” He stopped and squeezed his pale grey eyes shut.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But it is not a day to be heartless. So I worry.”

L: Yikes. So today is a Smart day, is it?

A: Unfortunately, it appears so. This hint of a small part of Taravangian that is both intelligent and compassionate is the only saving grace for the man, IMO. I feel bad for the part of him that understands how awful he’s going to be in the rest of this chapter. But the part of him that says, “I will be better once we’ve started” — that’s the part I want to kick into orbit.

Jasnah leaped to her feet. “This is obviously a concentrated attempt to destroy our reputation. Someone deliberately released all this information at the same time.”

A: That someone is sitting right there, pretending to be shocked, worried, uncomfortable, and sad about it all. Taravangian planned all of this, right up to making sure that Jasnah’s correspondents would send her the translation at the exact time of this meeting, that he’d get his copies at the same time, and that just coincidentally Fen would receive news of the “highking business” and Noura would learn about the visions at the same time. Planned chaos, not allowing people time to deal with any one thing before they’re hit by the next. We know that the report Fen received was twisted just enough from the truth to make it seem like the highking idea was Dalinar’s plan for the coalition. The reports Noura received made it sound like Dalinar was choosing to meet with Odium to plan things, rather than that he invaded the visions against the will of both Dalinar and the Stormfather. (Also, why did Lift gasp? Just shocked that anyone knew about it, or fearing that she had let something damaging slip to the wrong person?) It’s possible my suspicions about the Eila Stele translation stem from the proximity of two known distortions of truth. Or it’s possible that I just don’t believe Sanderson would give us the whole story right away!

Back to Taravangian. This is what I meant about most hating the villain I’m reading currently. At the beginning of the chapter, I was itching to pummel Amaram, but now he seems like small potatoes compared to Taravangian’s vicious attack. I’m assuming that a lot of this was dictated by the Diagram, and I’d still like to know exactly where that information all came from. I also wonder whether he knew the Everstorm would come faster this time, and the timing?

Squires & Sidekicks

In addition to the five scout women in uniform, two women in havahs had joined Bridge Four. They carried notepads and pencils, and had sewn Bridge Four patches to the upper sleeves of their dresses—the place where scribes commonly wore their platoon insignia.

A: I smell a new cosplay coming on!

Seriously, though, I love this. Remember back when Lyn was disappointed with Kaladin’s “offer” that she could join Bridge Four as a scribe, and she turned him down? We were pleased when he realized that a scout might actually want to be a squire (and maybe a Radiant some day); after that, he opened up the opportunity for the scouts to “try out” for Bridge Four. (I don’t know about y’all, but I think I might have screamed a little bit when Lyn first drew in Stormlight.)

What we ignored at the time was that this solution, great as it was for Lyn and the other scouts, didn’t do a thing to solve Sigzil’s problem of being the default scribe for Bridge Four. He, too, wanted to be a Windrunner, but he was stuck managing logistics and doing paperwork half the time. I’m so happy to see this fixed in a way that benefits everyone; women who wish to do thing things they know how to do are part of the team.

L: Yes, I really love this (and not just because I’m, ::ahem:: partial to Lyn). I love seeing the scouts who are becoming full squires, but it’s nice to know that there’s still space for more traditionally feminine roles within the ranks as well. There’s no “right way” to be feminine, not even in Roshar.

Flora & Fauna

A: I’m being deliberately obtuse with this; I know Amaram doesn’t really belong in flora & fauna, but he doesn’t deserve to be called a sidekick, and he’s such a cremling. He turns into a rock-creature later… does that count?

L: Works for me. Amaram the cremling.

Dalinar stepped out of the Oathgate control building into Thaylen City and was met by the man he most wanted to punch in all Roshar.

A: As villains go, I don’t think Amaram is the worst, even in the Stormlight Archive. But he’s still a smarmy git and needs to be punched. His sense of self-importance is just stunning.

L: I think he’s worse than most, mostly because he truly does think that he’s doing the right thing for the right reasons. The worst villains in history are driven by what they view as moral imperatives, after all. His actions are self-serving, but he also does see them as right. And that makes him so much more dangerous, in my opinion, than a villain who exists solely to be Evil.

A: In this section, he’s salty over being sent to do cleanup duty, while others get the more “important” task of attempting to liberate Alethkar. His blatant attempt to glamorize his assignment as “the tactical importance of knowing the enemy fortifications” is just revolting… and in retrospect, all of this is foreshadowing. His troops will be the ones on the line to defend humanity, and they—with their knowledge of the fortifications—will be the ones who betray humanity and do Odium’s bidding. Especially Amaram.

L: F*** Amaram. Honestly, Moash gets a lot of hate, and rightfully so, but I hate Amaram just as much.

A: It reminds me of Robert Jordan’s response to “who’s your favorite character?” “Whichever one I’m writing.” I’m that way with villains: “Who do you hate most?” “Whichever one I’m reading right now.”

It’s also fun to notice that, despite Amaram’s pride in his reputation for running a well-disciplined army, his soldiers have been making a nuisance of themselves with their carousing. Clearly, they’re still the Sadeas army, despite the change in command…

L: …and Amaram’s not as great of a commander as he thinks, if he can’t get them under control. Kaladin is a great leader because he inspires greatness by leading by example. I don’t think Amaram could figure out how to do this if he were given a thousand page textbook detailing every exact thing to do.

Places & Peoples

“More bankers,” Fen’s son said. “The quiet economic collapse of Roshar continues.”

A: And then Jasnah and Kdralk have to explain to Dalinar (and the reader) just what effect the Everstorm and the new Desolation are having on the planetary economy. At least they’re all coming to a place that’s part of the coalition, I guess?

Also…

“Any larger gemstones?” Renarin asked. He turned toward them. “Anywhere in the city?”

“Sure, lots of them,” Fen’s son said. “Some really nice pieces, lie in every city. Um … why, Brightlord?”

“Because,” Renarin said. He didn’t say anything more.

A: Anyone placing bets? I’m betting that he’s thinking about the records in Urithiru’s gemstone archive, with its references to the perfect gemstones and trapping spren… Also, foreshadowing, especially combined with Jasnah pointing out the Thaylen Gemstone Reserve.

L: Yeah, that’s my bet, too.

Tight Butts and Coconuts

“Permission to stab him a little, sir,” said Teft, the bridgeman leader.

“How do you stab someone ‘a little,’ soldier?”

“I could do it,” Lyn said. “I’ve only started training with a spear. We could claim it was an accident.”

A: Please? Just a little bit? It would be so awesome… (Hi, Lyn!) (Also, this is totally something RL!Lyn would say, except that she’s been training with a spear a bit longer than book!Lyn.)

L: Mmhmm. I would stab Amaram in a heartbeat. More than a little stab, though. And since I primarily use stage combat weapons, it would hurt more.

A: Also, Lopen with short jokes for his cousin Huio, who throws them right back. I rather like Herdazians, you know? The humor is a little obvious, but it’s also delightfully pervasive. I like cheerful people.

L: Yeah, they don’t let anything get them down. I love that about them! I’m left wondering if this is a cultural thing, or just a familial trait…

A: Heh. Since they all seem to consider each other cousins, you could say they’re the same thing.

Weighty Words

“I’ve done it,” Dalinar said. “I’ve united them, Stormfather. I’ve kept my oath, and have brought men together, instead of dividing them. Perhaps this can be penance in some small way, for the pain I’ve caused.”

A: Well, it’s a start, but you have no idea how much farther you have to go! Poor man. The sad thing is, he’s worked hard and gone way outside his skill set to accomplish this much, and I’m pretty sure it feels like the most difficult thing he’s ever done. It might be… until the next 30 hours or so.

L: There’s always another step forward.

Unite them. A voice whispered the words in Dalinar’s mind, echoing with the same resonant sound from months ago, when Dalinar had first started seeing the visions.

“I’m doing so,” Dalinar whispered back.

Unite them.

“Stormfather, is that you? Why do you keep saying this to me?”

I said nothing.

L: This gives me the chills, honestly. Who or what is he really hearing, here? Is it just a memory, as he posits in the next sentence? Or is there something more going on here?

A: I’m convinced there’s something more. I just don’t have any valid guesses as to what.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

“Feeling any better?”

I do not feel like men. I do not sicken like men. I am. The Stormfather rumbled. I could have been destroyed, though. Splintered into a thousand pieces. I live only because the enemy fears exposing himself to a strike from Cultivation.

A: Fascinating. Even though the Stormfather thinks Cultivation is being cowardly, he still reckons her to be immensely powerful, and knows that Odium is aware of the danger he poses. I think there’s more to this than we’ve been told; my pet theory is that Honor’s Splintering was an accepted risk in the plan he and Cultivation put together to contain Odium, and the plan worked, also making Cultivation stronger than anyone else realizes. But that might just be wishful thinking.

There is … a third sibling. They are not with us.

“In hiding?”

No. Slumbering.

“Tell me more.”

No.

“But—”

No! Leave them alone. You hurt them enough.

A: I can’t even begin to express how very much I want to know this backstory. What was it that hurt the Sibling? This implies something done by humans/Radiants; did their bonded Radiant damage them? What happened to the Sibling??

L: This one really has me scratching my head, too. If we’re going with the theory that the Sibling is Urithiru, the slumbering part makes sense… but how did humanity hurt it? By abandoning it and leaving it alone? If it’s primary purpose is to serve and protect, to harbor, then I can see being left alone and empty being particularly hurtful to it.

A: I’d agree, except for that thing in the gem archive about there being something wrong with the Sibling before they even left. I’ve had so many different theories, and every one of them gets contradicted by some other small comment. ::sigh::

L: I’m willing to bet that when we do find out what’s going on, we’re going to feel awful silly for not seeing it sooner.

“Honor, the Almighty? Did he truly care about men’s pain?”

He did. Then, I didn’t understand why, but now I do. Odium lies when he claims to have sole ownership of passion. The Stormfather paused. I remember … at the end … Honor was more obsessed with oaths. There were times when the oath itself was more important than the meaning behind it. But he was not a passionless monster. He loved humankind. He died defending you.

A: This brings up several issues as it harks back to Odium’s conversation with Dalinar in Chapter 57. There, Odium claimed to be “emotion incarnate” and said that the result of Honor’s influence would be to separate emotion from men. He said, then, that “Honor cared only for bonds. Not the meaning of bonds and oaths, merely that they were kept. Cultivation only wants to see transformation. Growth. It can be good or bad, for all she cares.” He claimed that only he understood human pain, and only he cared about it. The Stormfather’s clarification here addresses a bunch of interesting things.

One, Odium was kind of right in that the Skybreakers are what you get if you try to completely separate emotion from judgement. He was also wrong in that Honor’s influence did not solely result in the Skybreakers. The Heralds and all Orders of the Knights Radiant show Honor’s influence as well as Cultivation’s.

Two, it’s easier to see now why the Skybreakers were the only Order that stayed together; as Honor was dying/being Splintered, he became more tightly focused on the letter than the intent of an oath. That’s pretty much exactly where the Skybreakers went, right?

Three, I can’t help wondering if Honor’s “obsession” with oaths had something to do with the means of imprisoning Odium in the Rosharan system. If keeping his oath even to death was what it took to keep Odium tied down, his dying focus on keeping that oath no matter what would be pretty reasonable. Brandon has said that the process of killing a Shard is a “slow burn;” it takes a long time. It seems likely (to me) that during the years (decades? centuries?) that Honor was being Splintered, he became more and more focused on keeping the oath that gave meaning to his death.

L: Or perhaps clinging futilely to the one thing that he hoped might save him.

A: Very true. It could well be that he was trying to hang on to some vestige of his Shard’s Intent, hoping it would be enough to hold him together.

Four, and this may contradict Three, the Stormfather says that Honor died defending humankind. Was he protecting the Rosharan humans from Odium’s direct intervention, by binding Odium to Braize? Or was he protecting humanity as a whole, by binding Odium to the Rosharan system?

Five, the Stormfather has several times indicated that his bond with Dalinar is helping him understand both humans and Honor better, in a way that his previous Radiant bonds apparently didn’t. Is this because he’s forgotten what he knew before? Is it that he’s got so much more of Honor’s Investiture now, that the bond is significantly deeper? I’d really like to understand this better.

One more thing about the Stormfather:

Something … something is coming. A storm.

A: At this point, the spanreeds start blinking with news of the too-soon Everstorm, which is confirmed from multiple sources. The meeting takes a break, once they convince themselves that their ships can be protected from the storm, and Dalinar breathes a sigh of relief, thinking it wasn’t too bad.

That wasn’t it, the Stormfather said. He rumbled, his concerned voice growing very soft as he continued, There’s more.

A: I’m seriously trying to figure out how the Stormfather could sense the mess of information that was heading their way. He didn’t seem to know what it was, only that there was trouble coming. Ah, well. I suspect I’ll never know as much about the Stormfather and his abilities as I’d like.

How will our heroes deal with the knowledge that they’re the Voidbringers? Will Dalinar manage to hold onto the reins of this and ride through to true Unity? Stay tuned to the reread from here on out, and as always, chime in in the comments section! Next week we’ll be covering both chapters 112 and 113 and the first of the interludes, about Venli, as these are all short chapters. After that we’ll dive into Rysn’s interlude paired with Teft’s. Our schedule for the rest of the book is as follows:

• 1/23 – chapters 112, 113, and Venli Interlude
• 1/30 – Rysn and Teft interludes
• 2/6 – chapter 114
• 2/13 – chapter 115
• 2/20 – chapter 116
• 2/27 – chapter 117
• 3/5 – chapter 118
• 3/12 – chapter 119
• 3/19 – chapter 120, part 1
• 3/26 – chapter 120, part 2
• 4/2 – chapter 121
• 4/9 – chapter 122
• 4/16 – Epilogue, Ars Arcanum, and wrap-up

Alice is cheerfully snowed in. Yes, it’s only a few inches, but the way weather works around the Seattle area, there’s black ice under the snow, and it re-forms every night until the weather breaks. Having made sure there’s gas for the generator and plenty of foodstuffs in the house, she’s content… as long as the internet doesn’t go out.

Lyndsey is hard at work preparing a variety act for this season’s New England Renaissance Faire season, as well as being on cast for two (maybe three) others. Oh yeah, and Anime Boston is coming up too… If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Hey, y’all! Welcome back to the Avalanche! We’re moving fast this week, with three (short) chapters, finishing off Part Four and starting the last set of Interludes! Just in case you missed the note last week, this is the big day—the Battle of Thaylen Field will commence later on this same day.

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done. This week’s reread contains no larger Cosmere spoilers, so at least you’re safe on that ground.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Kaladin; Dalinar; Venli

WHERE: Shadesmar, approaching Thaylen City (Kaladin’s memory takes place in northern Alethkar); Thaylen City; A cave outside of Marat

WHEN: 1174.2.8.1, two days after leaving Honor’s Path (Kaladin’s memory takes place sometime between 1169 and 1172). Venli’s Interlude takes place on the same day. Dalinar’s chapter takes place the day before (1174.2.7.5, the same day as the disastrous Ch. 111 meeting).

We begin with chapter 112, in which Kaladin reminisces about his relationship with Tarah when he was in Amaram’s army. She left him with an admonition to stop living for the dead. They approach Thaylen City and finally see the Oathgate in the distance—but it’s surrounded by an army of Voidspren.

In Chapter 113, we stand with Dalinar and watch as his coalition shatters around him. Everyone leaves except for the other Alethi and Queen Fen, who has no choice. The Stormfather reveals that the Recreance happened because the old Knights Radiant became convinced that their powers would destroy the world.

Venli’s Interlude begins with Venli preaching to the newly freed Listeners. A Fused arrives and takes her to a ship, part of a vast fleet which is sailing towards Thaylen City. The Everstorm is approaching to push them there faster.

Beginnings

Chapter 112: For the Living

“Oh, Kal,” she whispered, then squeezed his arm. “Maybe someday you’ll learn how to be there for the living, not just for the dead.”

Chapter 113: The Thing Men Do Best

I tried my best to hide this, the Stormfather said.

“So we could continue living a lie?”

It is, in my experience, the thing men do best.

Venli Interlude: Rhythm of Withdrawal

Rine changed to a new rhythm, one she rarely heard. The Rhythm of Withdrawal—one of the only new rhythms that had a calm tone.

Heralds:

Chapter 112: Chach, aka Chanarach (Chana), Brave/Obedient, Dustbringers, Role: Guard; and Shalash (Ash), Creative/Honest, Herald of Beauty, Lightweavers, Role: Artist.

L: I can see Kaladin being represented as Chach, the Guard—he’s guarding his brother’s memory and the young soldiers he’s taking under his wing. If that’s the case, then Tarah’s Shalash, in her honesty.

A: Kaladin is also sort of serving as guard for the Expedition, but he’s doing a lousy job of it because he wants to get back to the Physical realm to guard Dalinar.

Chapter 113: Talenelat (Talenel, Taln.) Herald of War. Dependable / Resourceful. Stonewards. Role: Soldier.

L: War is coming, and Dalinar is the last man standing, as it were. Much like Taln was the last Herald remaining to break.

A: Well, that made me choke up, Lyndsey. Thanks. Though now that you mention it, I do think the comparison is apt. Perhaps Taln here also reflects the way that everything else Dalinar has tried to be, to become, has fallen apart on him, and all he has left is Soldier.

L: Well…

Venli Interlude: Battah (Battar), Wise/Careful. Elsecallers. Role: Counsellor.

A: I keep expecting to see Kalak on Venli’s chapters, but right now Venli is definitely trying hard to be both wise and careful. She’s starting to know too much, and is very careful to keep it from the Fused, all while trying to learn more.

Icons: Banner & Spears (Kaladin POV), Kholin glyphpair (Dalinar POV), Singer (Venli POV)

Epigraphs:

I am certain there are nine Unmade. There are many legends and names that I could have misinterpreted, conflating two Unmade into one. In the next section, I will discuss my theories on this.
—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 266

A: I feel like I ought to go back and review all the epigraphs now, to see if she did conflate two of them… except that at least half of what we know about them comes directly from these epigraphs. Circular logic is circular? And maybe she didn’t conflate them, given the next epigraph.

If I’m correct and my research true, then the question remains. Who is the ninth Unmade? Is it truly Dai-Gonarthis? If so, could their actions have actually caused the complete destruction of Aimia?

—From Hessi’s Mythica, page 307

L: Man, whenever the destruction of Aimia gets brought up it just makes me insanely curious as to what that’s all about. I can’t wait until we get that story!

A: Having just reread the chapter with this epigraph fresh in my head, I can’t help wonder if her question is answered by something the Stormfather says:

[Honor] raved, speaking of the Dawnshards, ancient weapons used to destroy the Tranquiline Halls.

Did one of the Unmade somehow have access to a Dawnshard, or a part of one, or one that wasn’t fully functional any more? Is it possible that Dai-Gonarthis used a Dawnshard to try to destroy Aimia?

Thematic Thoughts

[Venli] was growing dirty, rough. That was what the Fused seemed to want: a hermit living in the wilds.

L: The archetype is a good one, and it’s wise of the Fused to be playing up to it—the martyr, last of her people, having lost everything in the Good Fight.

Buy it Now

A: It’s clever of them, indeed. I’m glad that she is starting to feel the pain of the lie, as she wonders whether any of them may have survived. In this chapter, she doesn’t really acknowledge her own role in their destruction, but… she knows it.

“You must sail to battle. For the future, for your children! And for us. Those who died that you might exist.”

L: It’s a VERY powerful narrative she’s spinning, and it’s not entirely untrue. Except for the fact that they didn’t have to die, that the Fused orchestrated all of that… but… didn’t they? If the Fused hadn’t taken over, would any of this gone as far as it has? Would they have come this far in reclaiming what rightfully should be theirs?

A: Well, the slave-parshmen certainly wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for the Listeners who summoned the Everstorm, so there’s that. And those who died in that battle, whether protecting the singers or unable to fight because they were too busy singing, they certainly “died that you might exist.” Those who survived the battle, though, seem to have died for the sole purpose of giving bodies to the Fused, and I’m less sympathetic to that aspect. (It of course leaves out the question of what happened to the Listeners who escaped… but I expect we’ll learn about them in the next book.)

L: I really do love this dilemma, because there is no wrong and right side here. We’ve spoken about this at length before in chapters in which Kaladin is struggling with this very question, but it’s very brave of Sanderson, I think, to be tackling such a huge philosophical dilemma. If the Native American people were to one day rise up and decide to take back lands which once had been theirs, what would be the outcome? Who’s right, and who’s wrong? It’s horrifying to think about, for both sides.

A: The logical thing seems to be to find a way to coexist, except for one major catch, which… well, we’ll talk about it below.

Stories & Songs

It’s been a long time since we had to add to our running tally of Singer Rhythms, but this week we’ve got a new one: Rhythm of the Terrors, Craving, Command, Fury, Satisfaction, Derision, Spite, Abashment, Destruction, Agony, Conceit, Ridicule, Subservience, Withdrawal.

Amid the sea of lights were two towering spren, much like the ones they’d seen in Kholinar. One sparkled a multitude of colors while the other shimmered an oily black. Both stood tall, holding spears as long as a building. The sentries of the Oathgate, and they didn’t look corrupted.

L: Every time I see these things, all I can think of is the Oracle from The Neverending Story. I find the colors interesting… the inky black makes me think of Jasnah’s spren. Are the Oathgates associated with different orders, do you think?

A: I’ve always assumed so. It seems reasonable that they would be associated with the two Orders who can use Transportation—i.e. the Elsecallers and the Willshapers. Seems like maybe the sparkly one ought to look more like the Reachers in that case, though their other name of Lightspren seems appropo to this appearance.

That bridge was guarded by an entire army of enemy spren, hundreds—perhaps thousands—strong.

A: Let me just say… Yikes‽

“I thought… maybe we came from Shinovar originally.”

That is the land you were given, the Stormfather said. A place where the plants and animals you brought here could grow.

“We weren’t able to confine ourselves to what we were given.”

When has any man ever been content with what he has?

L: Wow. Ouch, Stormfather.

A: It’s almost hard to remember back before we knew this, but this was a wonderful theory-confirmed moment: that Shinovar was indeed the place where humans were first settled when they came to Roshar. I look forward to learning more details.

“The Almighty kept this from his Radiants,” Dalinar said. “When they discovered it, they abandoned their vows.”

It is more than that.

L: CALLED IT.

A: Yes, it never felt like “our ancestors ten thousand years ago were the invaders” was enough to make all the Radiants abandon their oaths and destroy their spren. This is one of the times when I get confused between the beta version and the final version, because I never read the final with as much intensity as the beta. :( I forgot that there was more explanation to follow.

L: Same, actually.

My memory of all this is… strange. First, I was not fully awake, I was but the spren of a storm. Then I was like a child. Changed and shaped during the frantic last days of a dying god.

But I do remember. It was not only the truth of humankind’s origin that caused the Recreance. It was the distinct, powerful fear that they would destroy this world, as men like them had destroyed the one before. The Radiants abandoned their vows for that reason, as will you.

L: Ah, there we are. This definitely makes more sense.

A: Does that also explain their willingness to kill their spren along with their bonds? If they just abandoned the spren but left them alive, the spren might bond with others and still destroy the world?

In the past, Honor was able to guard against this. … But in the days leading to the Recreance, Honor was dying. When that generation of knights learned the truth, Honor did not support them. He raved, speaking of the Dawnshards, ancient weapons used to destroy the Tranquiline Halls. Honor… promised that surgebinders would do the same to Roshar.

“Odium claimed the same thing.”

He can see the future, though only cloudily.

L: Yikes. So is this going to be one of those “we have to destroy the world in order to save it,” things? Are we looking at an Avengers: Endgame scenario in the future?

The ancient Radiants didn’t abandon their oaths out of pettiness. They tried to protect the world. I blame them for their weakness, their broken oaths. But I also understand. You have cursed me, human, with this capacity.

L: Yeah, this makes way more sense. I would never be able to see people killing their best friends because of a long-past transgression by their ancestors. But to save the world? Yeah. Yeah, I can see that.

A: ::sniffle:: Yes, I can see it, and while it seems pretty harsh, I can even believe that maybe the spren were in on the plan and sacrificed themselves for it. You know, this makes me want Maya revived even more; if she can remember the decision, she could tell us about it! (And if all this is correct, I wonder how much the unbonded spren were told. Were they just told never to bond humans again, or not to trust them, or something? So that there would be a massive distrust among the spren to avoid future bonds? And then the Skybreakers stayed to make sure it didn’t happen?)

“The strongest and most skilled of our number have yet to awaken—”

L: Well, that certainly doesn’t bode well for our heroes.

A: Yikes?

“—but even if we were all awake, we would not fight this war alone. This world will not be ours; we fight to give it to you, our descendants. When it is won, our vengeance taken and our homeland secured at long last, we will sleep. Finally.”

L: Oof. Just driving home that knife to us, the reader, that they’re not wholly the bad guys here. They’re not killing just to kill. This isn’t Sauron the Deceiver we’re dealing with. They just want to get back what was unjustly stolen from them, and to add insult to injury, their entire people was enslaved, their autonomy removed… what the ancestors of our heroes did really was a terrible, terrible crime.

A: To be fair, the enslavement came after thousands of years of war, and at that it seems likely to have been an unintended side effect. That doesn’t make it less terrible, of course. But here’s the catch I mentioned. For the Fused, this is still personal. (At least, for those who still have some semblance of a mind…) These ancestors, some or all of them, were actually alive at the time the humans came to Roshar. For all we know, one of the Fused carved the Eila Stele. What’s really bizarre is that, in all probability, some of the Fused knew some of the Heralds before any of the warring started.

Which reminds me… There may yet be more to the story. It may be that some of the Singers welcomed and encouraged the humans to spread out, while others resented the human presence and viewed it as an invasion. (More similarities to the Native Americans and the original European settlers of the Americas.) Given that some of them intermarried, I’d like to see more records from those early days before we take the Eila Stele as the sole authority. I wonder if the Horneaters have some historical information that they haven’t shared yet. Maybe Ellista & Co. from that monastery up in the Horneater mountains will find something.

Relationships & Romances

Kaladin remembered a woman’s kiss.

A: At long last, we get to learn more about Tarah! Two books with hints, and now we “see” her in Kaladin’s memory. This is the third and last of the “Kaladin remembered” sections in Oathbringer, which fill out some of the things we didn’t get to see from his past during his flashback sequence in The Way of Kings.

Back to Tarah. She was the quartermaster’s daughter when Kaladin was in Amaram’s army, and they were most definitely romantically involved.

L: I like her. She’s very grounded and stable, which—let’s be honest—Kaladin sorely needs, from a romantic partner or even his friends. He’s so emotionally volatile that he needs a rock to stabilize him, until he learns how to do it himself.

A: And in this scene, he’s literally using a rock. A white, brown, and black one. Unfortunately, I’m not sure it’s stabilizing him—not the way Tarah could, if he’d let her.

He never sent responses. Because he was stupid, because he didn’t understand. Because men make mistakes when they’re young and angry.

Because she had been right.

L: Oh, Kal. At least in retrospect he sees his mistakes, though. More than we can say for some.

A: I’d like to smack him on her behalf, but as you say…

L: I really do hope that we see her again someday, though I’m not convinced I’d want to see them get back together. I hope she found someone else and hasn’t been pining after him, she seems way too sensible to do that. But she did seem to be a good match for him, so I wouldn’t be opposed if she found her way back into his life!

A: Yeah, that’s a dilemma. We don’t know for sure how long ago this was; before his slavery, but after Tien’s death, so it could be anywhere from two to five years ago. If the latter, I really hope she’s moved on! If this was shortly before the fight with Helaran (though long enough for her to write a couple of letters), I could see her still being single.

Bruised & Broken

[He couldn’t leave.] Not while he carried that stone in his pocket, not while the memory of his brother dying was fresh in his mind. Not while lighteyed highlords got boys killed in petty fights.

L: Poor Kaladin. I like to think that he did learn from Tarah and make strides in this during the course of The Way of Kings. He took care of Bridge Four, he led them away from the edge and gave them something to live for. But he does still cling way too much to the dead, to his responsibilities and perceived failures to protect them.

A: He does. I’m not big on the “shrug and move on” motif, but he takes every mistake as a vast personal failure, and wallows in guilt over things that weren’t even necessarily his fault.

I tried my best to hide this, the Stormfather said.

“So we could continue living a lie?”

It is, in my experience, the thing men do best.

“Don’t insult us.”

What? Is this not what you’ve been doing, these last six years? Pretending that you aren’t a monster? Pretending you didn’t kill her, Dalinar?

L: Yes, hello, police? I’d like to report a murder.

A: That’s really unfair, though. Dalinar hasn’t been pretending he didn’t kill her; those memories were completely gone. And even then, while he certainly intended to kill a lot of people that day and the term “monster” is applicable in that sense, Evi wasn’t supposed to have been one of them. For all Dalinar knows at this point, he could be guilty of pretense if he asked Nightwatcher to take away his memory, but we know that’s not what he asked. It’s just what Cultivation chose to give him. On the other hand, Stormfather probably doesn’t know what Dalinar asked for either, so they’re likely both making the same assumptions.

L: I’d argue that Blackthorn!Dalinar was a monster regardless of whether or not he meant to kill Evi, but you’ve got a point in that it wasn’t a conscious choice on his part to forget (or as the Stormfather put it, pretend) that it didn’t happen.

Diagrams & Dastardly Designs

“I’m sorry, Dalinar,” Taravangian said softly from behind. “I assumed everyone had the same information, and that it would be best to air it. I didn’t expect all of this…”

L: You SNAKE. You absolutely did, you lying, conniving… ::deep breath:: Ugh. I get that he thinks he’s doing the right thing, to save the world, and all. But UGH.

A: UGH. Everything he says in this conversation is a lie. Every last word. The whole thing was intended to destroy Dalinar, and he pretends to be sad. Foul wretch. And Dalinar still believes he’s a kindly if somewhat helpless old sweetie.

Squires & Sidekicks

Dalinar’s attention was drawn to a solemn group of men leaving the temple below. Bridge Four, spears held on slumped shoulders, heads bowed as they quietly marched down the steps.

L: Oh no. Not Bridge Four! DON’T LOSE HOPE!

A: This hurt so much to read. I’m still not 100% sure I believe that (without Honor ranting about destroying the world) the modern Radiants & Squires would take it this way. On the other hand, they’ve lost their leader, and for all their confidence that he’ll return, it’s got to be wearing thin. For now, they’re led by someone who hates himself at least as much as he loves Bridge Four, and that’s not an inspiring leader.

“Sir,” Teft said. “We thought we’d head back to Urithiru. We left some of the men behind, and they deserve to know about this business with the ancient Radiants.”

“What we’ve discovered doesn’t change the fact that we are being invaded,” Dalinar said.

“Invaded by people trying to reclaim their homeland,” Sigzil said. “Storms. I’d be mad too.”

“We’re supposed to be the good guys, you know?” Leyten said. “Fighting for a good cause, for once in our storming lives.”

L: Hoo boy. Yeah, that’s got to be one hell of a blow.

A: Hmm. ::hums to Skepticism::

“We’ll see what Kal says,” Teft replied. “Sir. All respect, sir. But we’ll see what he says. He knows the right of things, even when the rest of us don’t.”

L: Yikes. Poor Teft has no idea just how bad of a place Kal’s in, right now. I love their loyalty to him, and how they all look up to him. It speaks volumes to his talent at leadership. But… boy. Seeing inside of his head like we do sure gives us, the reader, a different perspective on him than the one he shows the world.

A: True. They don’t see the depth of Teft’s weakness, but they all know about it. Kaladin’s weakness, though… they don’t even believe he has any weakness. Kal knows everything. Kal will be able to tell us what’s right. And meanwhile Kal is coming apart at the seams over in Shadesmar.

L: I’m going to put Fen here, for the moment:

“Best I can tell, you’ve become a good man right in time to bravely sink with this ship. That’s commendable, until I remember that the Blackthorn would have long since murdered everyone trying to sink him.”

L: I love her so much. She’s honest to a fault, and even though this hurts Dalinar to hear, she’s right.

A: I know. I’m not sure this is what you were thinking, but… I was looking back at the beta comments, and someone was like “No, do NOT summon the Blackthorn!” In the end, no, we will need the “new” Dalinar, but I can certainly see her point. When you’ve got an army bearing down on you and your fortifications are still only barely in place, having the Blackthorn at your side would feel a lot better than a defeated would-be politician. Even if you did have to worry that he might decide he owned your country when it was all done, at least your people would likely survive.

Flora & Fauna

The jungle-style trees had given way to taller, more statuesque ones with deep crimson trunks and limbs like burnt-red crystals that, at the ends, burst into small collections of minerals.

L: This is so cool and reminds me so much of Final Fantasy, with all it’s crystal areas.

A: It would be awesome special effects on screen. In reality, it’s a bit much to imagine!

L: I’ve always said that I would much rather see Stormlight Archive done in animation, and things like this are a big reason why. The budget a live-action film or TV series would have to have to pull it off would be ENORMOUS. It would make the dragons and the direwolves in Game of Thrones look like child’s play.

Weighty Words

Be there, Tarah had told him. For the living.

… Worry pulled him forward. Step after relentless step.

He had to get to the Oathgate. He would not fail like he had in Kholinar.

A: He’s pushing hard to get back to Dalinar, which is commendable, but what about the living who are with him? Adolin can keep up, and the spren don’t get tired, but he’s pushing Shallan way too hard.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

Exhaustionspren circled above, like large chickens.

L: We know that “chicken” to the Alethi means any kind of bird, so it’s not quite so silly as it sounds to us. But… it’s still kinda funny to think about chickens flying around them.

A: Heh. It’s truly a snicker-worthy mental image! I just kept thinking about how that would give away their position, like buzzards circling a dying creature in the desert. They make a great signal if you want someone to find you and help you; if you’re hoping to hide from the “someones” who are searching, not so much. Stupid chickens.

Quality Quotations

It had been four weeks. How long could he keep pretending that Adolin and Elhokar were alive out there somewhere? That pain hid behind the rest, taunting him.

Ouch.

Next week, we’ll be tackling the other two interludes—Rysn’s, and Teft’s. As always, please join in the conversation in the comments, if you feel so inclined!

Alice is done with the yearly Snowmageddon and has settled back into The Long Dark Wet of the Pacific Northwest. At least it’s not spider season anymore.

Lyndsey is so ready for winter to be over. Bring on the 70 degree days and the sunshine, please! If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Buckle up, folks, it’s moving faster all the time! I know, I’ve been pointing out for the last few weeks that we’re in the beginnings of the Avalanche, but these two chapters, along with the last four chapters and the next seven (excluding the one remaining Dalinar flashback) all take place in a two-day period. The Interludes are now directly tied to the main action, and things are exploding everywhere. Come on in!

Reminder: we’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.

No Cosmere spoilers this week, friends. You’re safe to read on!

Chapter Recap

WHO: Rysn; Teft
WHERE: Thaylen City; Urithiru
WHEN: 1174.2.7.5 (Immediately following Chapter 113)

After having been paralyzed from the waist down after her last interlude, Rysn is now working as one of Queen Fen’s stewards, keeping ledgers. Her old babsk arrives and gifts her her own ship, then the two of them head down to the queen’s gemstone reserve. When they open the vault containing the King’s Drop, a perfect gemstone which holds Stormlight indefinitely, they’re attacked by a Voidbringer using Lightweaving. Rysn manages to defeat him with the help of her pet larkin, and saves the King’s Drop.

Meanwhile, Teft and the rest of Bridge 4 have been attacked by someone wearing Teft’s old jacket that he sold to fund his firemoss addiction, and the Honorblade has been stolen.

Beginnings

Titles: Rysn, Teft

Being Interludes outside the Venli novella, these are just titled with their viewpoint characters. 

Heralds

For Rysn, Paliah (the Scholar, attributes Learned and Giving, patron of Truthwatchers) and Chana (the Guard, attributes Brave and Obedient, patron of Dustbringers).

A: I have no real idea why we get Paliah here, other than Rysn’s current assignment involving books, if ledgers count as “books.” I’m not getting any Truthwatcher vibes, so I can’t figure out anything else. Oh, unless it’s the stories? There are several of those referenced. As for Chana, I’d say Rysn’s actions in stopping the intruder justify that—and on top of that, there’s the King’s Drop, which is an enormous ruby, which is the gemstone associated with Chana and the Dustbringers order.

L: What if Paliah is representing Vstim, here? He’s certainly learned and giving.

A: Well, okay, if you want to be that way about it… you’re most probably right! Vstim is the best mentor ever.

For Teft, Nalan (the Judge, Herald of Justice, attributes Just and Confident, patron and member of Skybreakers) and Jezrien (the King, Herald of Kings, attributes Protecting and Leading, patron of Windrunners)

A: It’s a little bit of a stretch, but I think Teft is judging himself like mad here, and he’s convinced that the rest of Bridge Four is judging him too. (And they might be. It is, after all, his poor choices that granted such easy access to the Honorblade.) It’s also possible that Nalan is here to represent the opposite of his attributes: Teft is anything but confident (or just, really) in his refusal to speak the next Ideal. Jezrien, pretty clearly, represents the Windrunners, as well as Teft’s role in leading (and failing to lead) them.

Icons: Double Eye, which is standard for most Interludes; Bridge Four, for another chapter in the Bridge Four novella sequence

Thematic Thoughts

Rysn could balance while sitting, though she couldn’t feel her legs and embarrassingly couldn’t control certain body functions. She had to rely upon her porters to move her.
Career, over. Freedom, over.

L: This is heartbreaking for her, and I really have to commend Sanderson for his continuing dedication to showcase characters who are differently abled (although he does have a tendency to continuously follow the “and then I got better” trope, which my friends in the disability rights movement have informed me is prevalent and frustrating). Progress is progress, though, and while most of our physically disabled characters have healed after gaining their Knights Radiant healing abilities, we do see characters continuing to struggle with emotional disabilities. I’d love to see a character coming to terms with their disability (physical or otherwise) and accepting it as a part of themselves rather than a flaw, but maybe that’s still on the horizon.

A: I have very mixed feelings about this. There’s an eternal conflict between accepting a disability and striving to overcome its limitations. While it would be a little… cheesy, I guess, to have every single character with a physical disability just get fixed by the magic super easily, I never want to see someone settle for “this is all life is now.” I can’t help feeling that, at the beginning of this chapter, Rysn is in the “resentfully and hopelessly resigned” category, and that’s not a good place to be. (Meh. I’m not saying this well.)

L: It’s difficult, because we are both abled individuals and coming from a place of privilege on the matter. The best I can do is listen to my friends in the disability rights activism community and attempt, as best I can, to amplify their voices on the matter.

A: I’m coming at it from a slightly different angle: I have a child with a major disability. As a parent, everything about your life is affected by your child’s disability; not quite the same as becoming unexpectedly disabled yourself, but shockingly comparable in many ways. What I’m trying to get at is that “resentful and hopelessly resigned” is not a healthy place to be, mentally. You may or may not eventually be able, or even want, to change your physical condition—but a sort of permanent resentment at life, the universe, and everything is not going to help.

As a side note, I think everyone who is remotely interested in “how to deal with being different” should go read The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. It’s fascinating in the way it deals with exactly this question. If you could “fix” your disability, would you? What would you have to give up?

The walls of her office were blank. She’d originally hung souvenirs from her years traveling, but those had reminded her of a life she could no longer have. A life full of promise. A life that had ended when she’d stupidly fallen from the head of a greatshell, and landed here, in this cripple’s chair.

L: I can’t even imagine how difficult a transition this has to be for her. My friends who have similar disabilities have told me that some people come to accept and even appreciate their disability, as it’s a part of themselves. Suggestions of being “healed” are met with disdain or anger, because healing indicates a problem, and that’s not how they view it anymore. Others never get to this stage and continuously search for solutions. Regardless, the loss of your bodily autonomy (at least in the beginning) is a difficult blow to take. I got only the smallest taste of this when I was put on bed rest for the months before and after my child’s delivery due to complications. I well remember how frustrated I was that I had to rely on other people to do even the simplest of tasks… and that was only a temporary situation. The concept of that being my life from then on… It’s difficult to imagine how I would have dealt with that, long-term. Rysn is continuing to work, at least, but she finds no joy in it and doesn’t seem to have any friends (except for Chiri-Chiri).

Buy it Now

A: Given her current bitterness about the situation, I’m not sure we can take her lack of friends as a real thing, but this chapter doesn’t address her life outside the Reserve. She seems to be in that stage where she’s accepted that it won’t change… but I wonder if her current attitude is partially due to dashed hopes when Renarin was unable to help her.

L: That had to have been heartbreaking… to have that brief hope, then have it taken away.

“Chiri-Chiri likes [the grass],” Rysn said. “Maybe because it can’t move. Kind of like me…”

L: Poor thing. She still has a long way to go before she comes to terms with this… provided she doesn’t become a Knight Radiant and heal herself first. I have to admit, part of me really wants to see that happen. But another part does long for better representation of the differently abled in genre fiction, as well.

“This is my consequence—payment for a contract I entered into willingly the moment I climbed down the side of that greatshell.”

“You don’t have to lock yourself away, Rysn.”

L: On the one hand… it’s good that she realizes that her actions have consequences. I remember thinking in her previous interludes that she was a bit of a spoiled brat. However… the level of “payment” in this case far exceeds the “contract” she entered into. I can understand her fatalistic attitude—depression is a cruel mistress, especially so when you’re dealing with medical issues on top of it.

A: As a reminder, the “contract” she entered into was a result of desperation to get the trade she wanted; it appeared that the local king was going to deny her the trade, so she took a chance and went to a “higher authority.” She climbed down a rope to try to talk to the greatshell that was the island they were on, but the critter, being a critter, carelessly broke the rope she was hanging from, dumping her into the ocean from a non-survivable height. As it turns out, if the spren of the greatshell hadn’t been so impressed with her audacity, she’d be dead for pulling that stunt. Instead, she’s alive but paraplegic, and she has the most magical creature on the planet as a pet. Oh, and she got the deal she was after.

I’ll give her this: She’s taking responsibility for the decision she made, even though the difficulty of the trade was totally artificial and set up by Vstim and Talik. I personally feel like that’s the worst part of it: They were trying to help her by setting up a “difficult” trade deal which she would eventually win, giving her confidence in her ability to do the job. It shouldn’t have been dangerous at all, but her solution was way outside of what they’d planned for.

Being carried was the most humiliating part.

L: In a fantasy world in which there are no accommodations made for those who are differently abled, I can see this being terribly dehumanizing. Where’s Roshar’s equivalent of the ADA?

A: Heh. Non-existent, I’m sure. If you’re wealthy enough, you can have accommodations made for you; if not, you’d better have wealthy or influential friends who can help out. But I’m just guessing. Maybe some of the cultures have a better way to deal with this. (If the Azish do, I’m betting there’s a pile of paperwork to go with it!)

Stories & Songs

“Wandersail,” Rysn said, reading the ship’s name. “Babsk, you are a romantic. Don’t tell me you believe that old story?”

“One can believe in a story without believing it happened.”

L: Reminder that this is the story that Hoid tells Kaladin in Chapter 57 of The Way of Kings.

A: Right, the ship that sails around the world looking for the Origin and discovers that people will do anything, if they have someone else to blame for their behavior.

Vstim unlocked and swung open the smaller vault-within-the-vault, which was roughly the size of a closet.

Light poured from it. …

But the most stunning item in the collection was obviously the large ruby on the center shelf. The size of a child’s head, it glowed brightly.

The King’s Drop. Gemstones of its size weren’t unheard of—most greatshells had gemhearts as big. What made the King’s Drop unique was that it was still glowing—over two hundred years after being locked into the vault.

L: Quoting for emphasis, as this is going to be Very Important soon. Also, this reminds me a little of the flames that have been burning continuously for thousands of years. (The one I am thinking of specifically is this one in Japan, but there are many others.) Imagine something as transient as Stormlight to this society… then having this artifact which is holding Stormlight from two hundred years ago. Pretty cool.

“As far as scholars can tell,” Rysn said, “the King’s Drop never loses its Stormlight. A stone this large should have run out after a month. It’s something about the crystal lattice, the lack of flaws and imperfections.

A: And now we finally get to see one of the perfect gemstones, referenced in the Elsecaller epigraph of Chapter 83, and again by Captain Ico in Chapter 99. As Lyndsey says, this is about to become Very Important Indeed. (I do love the way Sanderson sets these things up. A mention here, a comment there, and then BOOM.)

It’s also worth noting that Vstim references “another story” which is probably going to be important later, when he says that “They say it’s a chunk off the Stone of Ten Dawns.” Kaladin refers to the same legend back in that same conversation with Captain Ico, so… hopefully we’ll learn about that too! I wonder if it’s one of the Dawnshards.

That ruby, the King’s Drop. The Voidbringers had been trying to steal it. Why?

L: To keep it from being used to imprison the Unmade, or do they have some other goal?

A: To trap a Herald? To trap one of the Big Spren, like Nightwatcher or the Sibling? If it really is one of (or a piece of one of) the Dawnshards, it may have some power of its own, I guess. I wish we knew for sure.

Relationships & Romances

“Staying in one city will wilt you—you’ll spend your days doing paperwork and being bored.”

“Rysn,” he said, taking her hand. “Child.”

She looked away.

L: ARGH, my heart. I love the relationship these two have. Vstim treats her very much like a daughter, and his love for her is so clear.

A: Daughter or granddaughter, I agree—the relationship is so much more precious than your typical master/apprentice.

“A deed of ownership?” she whispered. “To a ship?”

“Brand new,” Vstim said. … “Whose rules are you following, Rysn? Who is forcing you to stay here? Take the ship. Go! I wish to fund your initial trade run, as an investment. After that, you’ll have to do well to maintain a vessel of this size!”

Rysn recognized the white rope now. It was a captain’s cord some twenty feet long, used as a traditional Thaylen mark of ownership. She’d wrap it in her colors and string it in the rigging of her ship.

L: This guy is the absolute best and I adore him.

Bruised & Broken

“You’ve always been so quick to make assumptions. About yourself, now, more than others.”

L: I wish I could say that this is forward motion on her part, but it’s not, really. It’s just redirecting her judgmentalness back on herself rather than outwards.

If five guards couldn’t handle the thief, what could one crippled woman do?

My babsk is locked in the queen’s vault. Bleeding.

L: I LOVE this. The thing that breaks her out of her depressive funk and helps her to take action is her love for her father-figure, followed swiftly by her realization that life still holds meaning for her:

Live or die. Did she care?

I…

Yes. Yes, I care! I want to sail my own ship!

L: Oh man.

A: And she comes back to life! She needed something big to care about, and she discovered that she has two: her babsk, and a goal. Amazing how much difference that can make.

Teft could function.

You learned how to do that. How to cling to the normal parts of your life so that people wouldn’t be too worried. So that you wouldn’t be too unpredictable.

L: Hoo boy, have I ever related to this in my past. I’m betting almost anyone who is neurologically atypical or suffers from an invisible illness or disability can relate.

A: Way too true.

Diagrams & Dastardly Designs

“Let’s start with the smaller gemstones and work our way up, shall we?”

Rysn nodded.

The queen’s guard killed Tlik.

L: I love how this is written. It’s so sudden and jarring.

A: Right? You actually have to go back and reread it to make sure it said what you thought it said.

Behind her, the thief took a second crossbow bolt, but didn’t seem to notice. … The two struggled, and Rysn watched the cut on the thief’s face reknit.

He was healing? Could… could this man be a Knight Radiant?

A: Is this the first time we’ve seen one of the parsh people healing? I might just be forgetting, but I don’t think we’d seen it. So then the next question… is this a Fused, or are some of the forms akin to Radiants?

The larkin was feeding off the thief. A line of light streamed from him, but it was a strange dark violet light. Chiri-Chiri flew about, drawing it from the man, whose face melted away, revealing marbled skin underneath.

L: Oh ho! A Singer Lightweaver (or rather, one using the Surge of Lightweaving, as we don’t know for sure yet whether they can also use Soulcasting like a human Lightweaver could)? Neat!

A: Yes, clearly a Lightweaving, and using Voidlight rather than Stormlight. My first thought was that someone, a Fused, had placed it on him, but maybe he is the Fused. Or… maybe something else? Now I really want to know if any of the Singers other than Fused can use Voidbinding. Also, Chiri-Chiri, you’re the bestest little larkin ever!

The crossbow bolt hit him right in the chin.

He dropped and, blessedly, fell still. Whatever power had been healing him was gone, consumed by Chiri-Chiri.

A: Question 1: Is he really dead? We know Radiants are extremely hard to kill, but the past has given us some indications that said Radiant has to be holding at least a little bit of Stormlight. So Question 2: If he is really dead, is it because Voidbinding doesn’t give quite the same protection as Surgebinding, or because Chiri-Chiri had sucked him dry of Investiture? Which leads to Question 3: If he really is dead, will he be back with the coming Everstorm in another body, or is he dead dead?

L: I definitely read this as Chiri-Chiri having drained him of Investiture.

Squires & Sidekicks

The murderer reached into the vault to deal with her babsk, and she heard a grunt.

L: NO! DON’T YOU DARE HURT VSTIM YOU JERK!

A: Heh. I’m debating with myself whether or not to look ahead and find out! All in all, I think Vstim must have survived, or I’d have been really mad at Brandon about it.

Teft shouted, rushing through the room to find three corpses near the back. He dropped his spear and fell to his knees beside Rock, Bisig, and Eth.

A: Gotta say, “corpses” really had me worried. I thought all three were dead the first time I read this. Bad enough, as it is; Eth, the day’s Honorblade carrier, is dead; the other two are badly wounded.

L: Yeah, the wording on this had me super worried, too. And as it turns out, we’re right to be worried in Eth’s case. :( Another member of Bridge 4, lost.

“Thought … thought it was one of us,” Bisign muttered. … “Nobody I recognize. A short man, Alethi. Bridge Four coat, lieutenant’s knots on the shoulder…”

Lopen, nearby, frowned, then glanced toward Teft.

A Bridge Four officer’s coat, worn as a disguise. Teft’s coat, which he’d sold weeks ago in the market. To get a few spheres.

He stumbled back as they hovered around Rock and Bisig, then fled through a falling patch of shamespren into the hallway outside.

A: Oh, Teft. I’m torn between anger and pity—as I’m sure I was intended to be. Selling his coat really was inexcusable, but the way it came back around is just excruciatingly painful. As near as I can tell, he’s actually spoken the first and second Ideals at this point, but we know all too well that the bond doesn’t fix everything. It hasn’t fixed his addiction, and there’s no way it can fix the mistakes he made under the influence of the moss. Oh, Teft.

L: All things considered, who could have imagined that selling something as seemingly inconsequential as a coat could come back to bite you so badly? It’s just a coat. It’s not like he sold a Shardblade. And yet… here we are.

Flora & Fauna

Chiri-Chiri herself was a small winged beast a little longer than Rysn’s outstretched palm. The Reshi had named her a larkin, and though she was the size of a small cremling, she had the snout, carapace, and build of a creature far more grand. An axehound, perhaps, with wings. A little flying predator—though, for all her dangerous appearance, she sure did like to nap.

L: I see her as a little wyvern and it makes my dragon-loving soul really happy.

A: Tiny Dragon!

L: Anyway. Reminder here that larkin can eat Investiture (as we see in the next lines):

She climbed down onto the desk and eyed the diamond mark Rysn was using for light.

“No,” Rysn said, double-checking numbers in her ledger.

Chiri-Chiri clicked again, slinking towards the gem.

“You just ate,” Rysn said, then used her palm to shoo the larkin back.

A: Does this imply that larkin feed solely on Investiture rather than organic food? I keep trying to figure out if/how this relates to Lift turning food into Stormlight.

L: Oh, that’s a good correlation. I hadn’t even thought of it being similar to Lift’s unique properties.

Her embarrassment was exacerbated as Chiri-Chiri—who wasn’t allowed in the vault for practical reasons—flitted by in a buzz of wings.

L: What practical reasons are those? At first I had assumed it would be so she doesn’t drain every single sphere of its light, but since they’re all dark… (except the Drop, which they were going to see, so maybe Rysn just wanted to keep Chiri-Chiri away from that).

A: Yeah, that’s a good question. Is the Drop the only perfect gem? Are there others brought in recently? Or is it just that you really don’t want your Stormlight sucked dry when you’re in the Vault, because you’ll never be able to get out?

Chiri-Chiri rode behind on the ruby, and its light dimmed. Everyone else was struggling for their lives, but the little larkin was feasting.

L: What neat little critters. Reminds me of the old Star Wars extended universe, there were creatures called Ysalamir that could nullify the Force in bubbles around them. Having some sort of creature that can place additional limitations on your magic system is a great concept.

A: Honestly, Chiri-Chiri is the biggest reason I don’t think Rysn will ever become a Radiant… unless we find out that she can give Stormlight away at will, too. If that’s the case, the possibilities are awesome to consider!

“Thank you,” Rysn whispered, sweat streaming down the sides of her face. “Thank you, thank you.” She hesitated. “Are you… bigger?”

Chiri-Chiri clicked happily.

L: This makes me wonder if they have an upper limit on size, or if they can just keep getting bigger and bigger as they consume investiture.

A: Oh, that reminds me… I seem to recall speculating that if she can get really big, and then Rysn can ride her like something out of Pern.

L: I AM 110% HERE FOR THIS.

Places & Peoples

Possession of these gems changed frequently, but it was all done with numbers in a ledger. It was a quirk of the Thaylen system of underwriting trades; as long as everyone was confident that these gemstones were here, large sums could change hands without risk of anything being stolen.

L: This is pretty much how it works in modern (American) society too, if my understanding of the financial system is correct. Dollars and cents are just representations of the gold in the gold reserve at Fort Knox.

A: Well, it used to be. Now no one cares about an actual standard represented by the numbers; it’s all just numbers shifting back and forth. It makes me feel a bit precarious at times, honestly.

Tight Butts and Coconuts

Her duties included annotating the queen’s pending mercantile contracts with references to previous ones, keeping the queen’s personal vault in the Gemstone Reserve, preparing weekly expenditure reports, and accounting the queen’s salary as a portion of taxable income from various Thaylen interests at home and abroad.

Wheeeeeeee.

L: Anyone who’s had to do any accounting work (oh heck, even their own taxes) can relate to this, I’m sure. I absolutely can.

Weighty Words

“Have you tried that Radiant who—”

“Yes. He can’t heal my legs. It’s been too long since my accident, which is appropriate.”

L: It may be too late for Renarin to do anything, but if Lopen can regrow an entire arm after Honor-only-knows how many years, then there’s still the chance that if she gains her own powers, Rysn can heal herself. Interesting limitation on the powers, here… old injuries can be healed if the power is coming from within, but not from without.

A: I’ve always wondered if one of the old Edgedancers, or maybe even Lift, could do anything about it. Renarin isn’t all that practiced, and he lacks so much in self-confidence, that I’m not quite willing to accept that just because he can’t do it, nobody can.

A Scrupulous Study of Spren

As they walked, a woman appeared in the hallway beside Teft, roughly his height, glowing with soft blue-white light.

A: I just think it’s fascinating that she appears life-size. Syl rarely if ever does that.

L: Yeah, that’s really cool. Just a personal preference thing rather than a limitation on the spren’s powers, then, you think?

A: … I think so? It might have something to do with the honorspren finally accepting the return of the Radiants, but I’m going with personal preference.

She turned away from him suddenly, becoming alert, looking down the corridor toward the Bridge Four barracks. …

Something is very wrong. Run quickly, Teft!

A: How did she know? Were there unbonded spren in the room ahead? I’m probably overthinking this, because why wouldn’t spren know things the humans can’t see, but… it seemed odd.

Next week we’ll be tackling Chapter 114 all on its lonesome. As always, please feel free to join in on the discussion in the comments below!

Alice is madly trying to finish All The Other Things so that she is completely free to dive into the Rhythm of War beta read, coming soon. All speculation shall henceforth cease until… um… November. Or December. Something like that.

Lyndsey is heading to a stage combat seminar this Saturday, then up to Vermont to attend the Vermont Winter Renaissance Faire. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

Welcome to Part Five! The Oathbringer Reread has reached the final part, and things are getting crazy. This week, though, we take a step back for Dalinar’s final flashback chapter, wherein he visits the Nightwatcher and gets more than he bargained for. Come on in!

Reminder: We’ll potentially be discussing spoilers for the ENTIRE NOVEL in each reread—if you haven’t read ALL of Oathbringer, best to wait to join us until you’re done.
In this week’s reread we also discuss some things from the original Mistborn trilogy in the Cosmere Connections section, so if you haven’t read it, best to give that section a pass.

Chapter Recap

WHO: Dalinar
WHERE: The Valley
WHEN: 1168, approximately five and a half years ago.

In this week’s chapter, Dalinar flashes back to his visit to the Nightwatcher. He goes in and requests for his boon: forgiveness. Cultivation arrives, as this boon is beyond her daughter, and gives Dalinar what she calls a “pruning.” She removes all memory of Evi from his mind, thereby allowing him to move past the guilt and the sorrow and grow. However, she does warn him that these memories will grow back in time.

United Front

Title:  The Cost

ALL MEMORIES OF HER. THIS IS THE COST.

A: This is one of the five places “the cost” is mentioned in this chapter. The first three look forward to an unknown cost; the last one is Dalinar vaguely registering what the cost was. This one spells it out.

Also, ouch.

Heralds:

Vedel: Healer, Edgedancers, Loving & Healing

Paliah: Scholar, Truthwatchers, Learned & Giving

Shalash: Artist, Lightweavers, Creative & Honest

Battar: Counsellor, Elsecallers, Wise & Careful

A: Wow. Four Heralds on this chapter! Vedel, Paliah, Shalash, and Battar, all at once. Is that because of the five women, these four are most tied to Cultivation? Or maybe just because all the women are more of Cultivation than of Honor, and Chana as the Guard has the least to do with this chapter? On second thought, I can see all eight of these divine attributes in Cultivation’s behavior this week, so… I’ll go with that! (Makes sense, if they all reflect her attributes, doesn’t it?)

Icon: Inverse Kholin Glyphpair, so you know it’s a Dalinar flashback chapter (as if the “Five and a half years ago” all in bold capitals didn’t tell you…).

Stories & Songs

What in the Almighty’s tenth name had that been? One moment, he’d been lying in his bunk. The next, he had been… Well, he didn’t rightly remember. What was the drink doing to him now?

L: I find it interesting that the visions were coming to him even before his redemptive arc has begun. Did the remnants of Honor see the potential in him even before his visit to Cultivation? That’s very interesting, as it seems to indicate a bit of “seeing the future” to me…

A: Well, in the last vision, Honor says that Cultivation is better at it than he is, not that he can’t do it at all. I suspect all the Shards have some ability in that regard, Vorin prohibitions notwithstanding.

He had hoped for the Thrill to aid him here. This was a challenge, was it not? He felt nothing, not even a hint.

A: My first thought was that the Unmade wouldn’t want to be anywhere near Cultivation, but in actuality, it’s probably just that Nergaoul has been hanging out in Alethkar, and is moving along with the armies toward the Shattered Plains—both of which are far to the east of his current location.

L: Yeah, my money’s on location/distance.

He trudged through the darkness, and suddenly felt stupid. What was he doing here? Chasing a pagan superstition while the rest of the highprinces gathered to punish Gaviar’s killers?

…

Wait. What was that? … Weeping. …

He heard a boy weeping, pleading for his life. It sounded like Adolin. …

Suddenly he saw himself in the Unclaimed Hills, fighting those traitorous parshmen. … He saw himself strangling Elhokar, who had never possessed his father’s poise or charm. Dalinar took the throne. It should have been his anyway. …

… Dalinar forged a unified Vorin empire that covered half of Roshar. An unparalleled feat!

And he saw them burn. …

… Yes, he had escaped the drink. He had become something grand and terrible.

This was his future.

A: So… what is all this? Clearly, something is messing with his mind, but I’m not sure what. Is it one of the other Unmade trying to turn him back? Or is it something of Cultivation, intended to make people think twice before bargaining with the Nightwatcher? It certainly seems intentional, whatever it is.

L: Definitely reads as Cultivation trying to scare people off to me. Testing their resolve, as it were. It also reminded me a lot of that scene in Lord of the Rings…

Hello, human. You smell of desperation. The feminine voice was like a hundred overlapping whispers. The elongated figure moved among the trees ringing the clearing, stalking him like a predator.

A: So that’s not creepy or anything…

L: I love it.

Indistinct and vaporous, she flowed like a river or an eel, and the only part of her with any specific detail was her smooth, feminine face. She glided toward him until her nose was mere inches from his own, her silken black eyes meeting his. Tiny hands sprouted from the misty sides of her head.

A: Let me just say… EEEeeeeee…

L: Eeeeeee. :D

A: If anyone hadn’t figured it out by now, Lyndsey likes the horror genre much more than I do!

We’ve been hearing bits and pieces of Nightwatcher stories since the third Interlude of the first book. Cultivation, not so much; the first mention of her is in the very last chapter of that same book, and there are very few others. Finally, now, we get to meet both of them, and learn more of their relationship—and there’s a lot here.

The Nightwatcher is so very definitely a spren! All visual imagery and mist, and apparently an itch to figure out what makes humans tick.

What is it you wish of me? What boon drives you, Son of Honor? Son of Odium?

A: Well, that’s certainly an interesting form of address.

L: Yeah. The fact that she calls him both a son of Honor and of Odium… very interesting. I wonder if this is referring to emotional characteristics, or if humans (or just Dalinar/the Alethi) are actually descended from Honor/Odium by blood…?

A: Hmm. I was assuming she was referring to the human relationships with the Shards, but I don’t know why she’d associate them just with Honor and Odium. From what we know, Cultivation adopted the humans every bit as much as Honor did. Readers? What are we missing here?

So the Nightwatcher proceeds to offer all the standard things a human might want: wealth, power, beauty, skill, glory. When his answer is unexpected, she even offers him what has to be Nightblood: A Blade that bleeds darkness and cannot be defeated. And just how did she come to be in possession of that, one might ask.

L: Well, she might not have had it personally? It seems like her powers are pretty strong, maybe she could just… poof it out of the hands of whoever’s got it now, and give it to him.

A: Fair point. We don’t know what she’s capable of, so I certainly wouldn’t put it past her!

L: This is pretty good verification that Nightblood was on Roshar at this point though, for anyone who’s trying to work out the details of timeline… (I doubt that the Nightwatcher’s powers are so strong that she can access other Cosmere worlds. I could be wrong, but…)

A: Another good point. So… Nightblood has been on Roshar for quite a while. I guess that makes sense; Adolin had mentioned being trained by Zahel at some point.

Back to Nightwatcher… “forgiveness” isn’t something she knows how to give, so Cultivation steps in.

THAT IS ENOUGH, CHILD.

A: And… that tells us a whole lot about the relationship! Throughout the next section, the two address each other as “Mother” and “CHILD.” This is, I think, the first time we’ve seen a living Shard, healthy and active in the Physical Realm. (Isn’t it?) Her description is pretty amazing:

If the Nightwatcher’s voice was like a whispering wind, this one was like tumbling stones. … a woman with brown skin—the color of darkwood bark—standing at the edge of the clearing. She had a matronly build and wore a sweeping brown dress. … This woman … she was more than he could see. Vines from her dress curled into the earth, permeating everything. In that moment he knew that he was not seeing her, but instead a fragment with which he could interact.

This woman extended into eternity.

A: I can’t help but wonder how long, with his recovered memories, it will take Dalinar to realize that she is, for all intents and purposes, a goddess—the sort of being that his “Almighty” had once been.

L: Well, he sort of does, here:

Buy it Now

This woman… she was more than he could see. Vines from her dress curled into the earth, permeating everything. In that moment he knew that he was not seeing her, but instead a fragment with which he could interact.

This woman extended into eternity.

L: If that’s not a realization of divinity, I don’t know what is.

A: Yeah, but that was before she took his memories, and she apparently took the memory of herself as well. So I’m thinking that when he has time to breathe again, he ought to remember this moment and go “Oh, hey! Eternity woman… maybe she Knows Things. Maybe she knows about Odium and how to fight him!” (Also, I’d give anything to be a fly on the wall for a conversation between Cultivation and Jasnah!)

But back to Nightwatcher and Cultivation…

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN CENTURIES I’VE COME PERSONALLY TO SPEAK WITH ONE OF YOU. … I LET HER HOLD COURT HERE. IT HELPS HER UNDERSTAND YOU.

A: There is so much to this whole conversation, I can’t possibly deal with it all. I just had to note here, though, a major difference between Stormfather and Nightwatcher. The Stormfather has indicated that despite many earlier Bondsmith connections, his bond with Dalinar has led him to understand things about humans that were never clear before. Here, Cultivation indicates that the Nightwatcher still has a long way to go in understanding humans. Does this imply that, with Cultivation alive and well, the Nahel bond isn’t enough to enable the Nightwatcher to really understand? (Also, this puts an outside limit on when Taravangian visited her; it had to be less than five and a half years ago.)

So then Cultivation tells Dalinar that she’s not going to just give him any big magic fixes; no special abilities or sudden perfection. Instead, she will “prune” him so that he can become what he needs to be. And we’ll talk about that part in Weighty Words.

Relationships & Romances

“You’ll take…” He spoke with difficulty. “You’ll take Evi from me?”

ALL MEMORIES OF HER. THIS IS THE COST. SHOULD I FORBEAR?

Dalinar squeezed his eyes shut. Evi …

He had never deserved her.

“Do it,” he whispered.

The vines and branches surged forward and began to rip away pieces of him from the inside.

A: This makes me want to weep for both of them. In a sense, it’s true; most of the time, he didn’t deserve her. But there were those moments when he realized how much her good opinion meant to him (see also, Hero), when there really was hope for their marriage. For one reason and another, those seeds never quite managed to mature into actual change in Dalinar. Gavilar’s needs, the Thrill, the demands of the culture, and Dalinar’s own unwillingness to admit that he should change, all contributed. Which is not to say that Evi is completely free of fault, though I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head what she should have done differently.

Still, I have mixed feelings about the removal of his memories. He’s spent the past five years hiding in a bottle, and even he couldn’t say whether he was hiding from grief or guilt. For the part of him that was honestly grieving, this is deeply painful, and I think that part of him was greater than he would admit. For the part of him that was just feeling guilty about her life and her death, this feels like too much the easy way out.

Bruised & Broken

He had enjoyed his recent sense of purpose. Simultaneously, his decision had given him excuses. If he was going to the Nightwatcher anyway, then why fight the drink?

He’d spent much of the trip intoxicated. Now, with the alcohol running out, the voices of the dead seemed to chase him.

A: Dude really was messed up, you know? But I can understand the (admittedly twisted) logic.

“I asked the ardents [for forgiveness],” Dalinar said. “I didn’t get what I wanted.”

YOU GOT WHAT YOU DESERVED.

L: Ouch. (Also sorry but I have to.)

A: I can’t quite tell if she was referring to Dalinar personally, or the Vorin religion in general. Or both. Being a Shard, probably both.

Dalinar shook his head, memory fuzzy. What … what had happened? Had he really asked for forgiveness?

He couldn’t fathom why. Had he felt that bad for failing … He stretched for the word. For failing …

Storms. His wife. Had he felt so bad for failing her by letting assassins claim her life?

A: It’s worth noting that for the past five and a half years, Dalinar really didn’t know that he was responsible for Evi’s death. Until his memories returned, five weeks ago in book time, he believed the same thing as everyone except a few of his elites, Sadeas, and a handful of scribes: that she was killed by assassins, and he destroyed Rathalas in revenge.

Now I’m wondering. We’ve talked a lot about the need for “cracks in the spirit-web” to form a Nahel bond, and we’ve never questioned that Dalinar is broken enough for that. But… are the cracks that allowed the Stormfather to send him the visions a result of his guilt over Evi, or are they the result of Cultivation’s “pruning?” It just occurred to me that the stuff she ripped out of him almost certainly left an opening. Maybe it’s the combination; as Lyndsey noted earlier, there’s a fair indication that he received at least one vision before he ever got to the Valley.

He still wanted a bottle to numb the grief of losing his brother.

He would break that habit. When men abused drink under his command, he’d found that the solution was to work them hard, and not let them taste strong wines. He could do the same to himself.

It wouldn’t be easy, but he could manage it.

L: Atta boy, Dalinar. I do love that Cultivation doesn’t just magically erase his addiction. He still has to work to overcome it.

A: I’m just wondering why he didn’t do this any time in the past five years. Was he not strong enough before? Also, what a hypocrite: He wouldn’t let his men abuse the drink, but he was rarely sober enough to see straight.

Dalinar relaxed, but felt like something else was missing inside of him. … Beyond that, he heard rustling leaves. And beyond that, nothing. Shouldn’t he have heard …

A: The voices?

Places & Peoples

A: There’s an interesting description of the Hexi flatlands, which I won’t quote because it’s long. The vegetation seems odd for Roshar, with trees and grasses that show the effects of the prevailing wind, but apparently don’t pull back into rockbuds or holes in the ground. Apparently, small black chickens flock in the area too.

L: The part that I found most interesting was this:

The ground was covered in wrinkles, like frozen ripples in a pond, perhaps two or three inches deep.

L: So… this could be volcanic, I suppose, but my first thought was some sort of shock wave ripples, as if some huge energy blast happened here and rippled the ground outwards away from it. Because we’ve also got this:

It was like one of the Heralds had strolled through this place and bent everything sideways.

A: There’s so much about this place… and no way to know how much of the description is a hint of Something which caused the formations. The one I really don’t understand, though, is the Valley.

Vines, ferns, flowers, and grasses grew together in a wall of underbrush. …

It all piled atop itself, reeds and branches sticking out in all directions, ferns so overgrown with vines that they drooped beneath the weight. …

“How does one enter?” Dalinar asked. “How do you pass through that?”

“There are some trails,” Felt said. “If you look hard enough. …”

A: So… why don’t the plants all pull back when they’re touched? And why doesn’t Dalinar think it’s odd that they don’t? Or am I mistaken about the behavior of larger plants in general?

Weighty Words

IN DOING THIS, I PROVIDE FOR HIM A WEAPON. DANGEROUS, VERY DANGEROUS.

L: I can only assume that she means Odium, but… why does this pruning make Dalinar a weapon? If she didn’t prune him, would he not have been suitable? Why not? You’d think it would be the opposite… that Dalinar the Blackthorn would be a much more pliable tool for Odium than Dalinar as we know him.

A: Right? We’ve had hints of Dalinar as Odium’s champion, so I’m assuming that Cultivation can see that possibility, and that it is a risk to her. I can only guess that she’s referring to the effect of having his memories returned. It’s possible that she meant that by taking away the memories, she would give Odium a weapon to use against Dalinar, in the upcoming effort to break him. Odium thought to bludgeon him with forgotten things and batter him into giving himself up, and if he hadn’t already recovered those memories, it probably would have worked. What happened instead was that he grew into a wiser man, then got his memories back in a way that he could deal with them one by one; in the end, Odium’s bludgeoning wasn’t anything Dalinar hadn’t already accepted as part of himself.

IT WILL DO ME WELL TO HAVE A PART OF YOU, EVEN IF YOU ULTIMATELY BECOME HIS.

L: To… have a part of him? So she prunes him and… keeps the trimmings? But how does that work, if they grow back? Can she grow a new Dalinar from the trimmings, like you do with spider plants?! (I’m taking this metaphor a little far in an effort to be facetious, but… I am a little weirded out by the fact that she seems to be implying that this deal means that he now has some sort of connection with her.)

A: Oh, I do wish I knew what Cultivation’s strategy is in this conflict, and what this means. I can’t help thinking that Connection with a living Shard is a good thing for Dalinar, but I sure don’t know how this benefits her.

YOU WERE ALWAYS BOUND TO COME TO ME. I CONTROL ALL THINGS THAT CAN BE GROWN, NURTURED.

THAT INCLUDES THE THORNS.

L: This is unbelievably beautiful.

“I once heard of a man who visited here, and from then on, every person he touched fell upward instead of down.”

L: Unintentional/uncontrollable lashing, you think, Alice?

A: Brilliant! It certainly makes the most sense of anything I can think of. I just hope they didn’t fall very far, because that would be… kind of awful. As long as it was just a matter of a few inches, like it often is if you trip, it would be funny.

He’d failed to follow the Codes, and that had cost Gavilar his life.

Never again.

L: I love that losing Gavilar becomes his primary motivation now.

Cosmere Connections

“Any idea why [the Nightwatcher] didn’t visit you?”

“Well, best I could figure, she doesn’t like foreigners.”

“I might have trouble too.”

“You’re a little less foreign, sir.”

A: Heh. “A little less” indeed, since Felt is from Scadrial. I keep wondering why he’s here. We know there are three others of Scadrian background on Roshar: Demoux, with the Seventeenth Shard; Iyatil, with the Ghostbloods; and the mysterious kandra we haven’t spotted yet. The first two have obvious reasons to be here; though we don’t know their personal reasons for joining those organizations, we at least know some of what they’re doing. The kandra we can’t even guess at, since we don’t know where she is, much less who. Felt, though… why is Felt here? He’s been part of Dalinar’s entourage for quite a while; five and a half years ago, Dalinar already trusted him enough to bring him along on this venture, and he was still in Dalinar’s employ as recently as the Battle of Narak. What’s kept him on Roshar for six years or more, working as a scout for Dalinar Kholin? Is he working for some Larger Organization too, or is he just adventuring?

L: Do we know for sure what’s going on in Scadrial right now, history-wise? Did he maybe escape when things were really starting to fall apart towards the end of book 3 of the original trilogy? I sure wouldn’t have wanted to go back if that’s how things had been when I left!

Quality Quotations

He clapped his hands, then breathed on them. It had been winter, lately.

A: I’ve missed these weird-season references; after the first book, it became less of a Thing. But there are a few of these comments scattered through the book, and I always enjoy them.

Next week we’re taking on Chapter 115 all on its lonesome. As always, join in in the comment section below!

Alice is thoroughly enjoying the beginning of the Rhythm of War (working title) beta read, and fully expects to be short on sleep for the next three months. Sleep is overrated anyway, right?

Lyndsey is excited to begin working on the beta read for Book 4. No, she won’t tell you anything about it. If you’re an aspiring author, a cosplayer, or just like geeky content, follow her work on Facebook or Instagram.

It’s official! With the first draft of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive Book 4 now completed, the epic fantasy author has announced that the definitive title for the volume will be Rhythm of War.

Readers who hang about on the various forums where the epic world(s) of Roshar and the Cosmere are discussed have known “Rhythm of War” as a placeholder title up until now. So what prompted its official adoption?

Author Brandon Sanderson explains:

The time has come! Though I’ve had an instinct for many months that the title of Book Four would be Rhythm of War, I had to make certain it fit into the last chapters of the book as I wrote them.

Indeed it does, and I feel comfortable announcing this at long last as the official title of the book. Like previous titles in this series (The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, and Oathbringer) this one is taken from the title of an in-world volume of text. To tell you more would, of course, be a spoiler. Let’s just say that this is the first of one of these in-world books that has involved the writings of someone who is not human.

I’m hard at work on revisions, and am excited for the end of the year—when I can finally share Rhythm of War with you all!

Debuting in 2010 with The Way of Kings, the Stormlight Archive has been the central epic upon which Brandon Sanderson’s larger literary universe currently revolves. Known formally as the Cosmere, this universe includes the Mistborn book series, Elantris, Warbreaker, White Sand, and a multitude of short tales and ephemera. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, certain peoples and aspects from one book series can unexpectedly appear in other series, even when other book series take place in entirely different solar systems.

The conclusion to Oathbringer, the third volume in the Stormlight Archive series, brought massive upheaval to Roshar, and series readers are understandably eager to see what comes next.

There’s a title now. Is there a cover?

Not yet! Artist Michael Whelan is hard at work on the cover to Rhythm of War, but in the meantime…

…a Herald approaches!

Taln art © Donato Giancola

Stormlight Archive mapmaker and artist Isaac Stewart explains:

It’s been a dream of ours here at Dragonsteel to get to work with Donato on a piece of epic fantasy art depicting a scene or character from one of Brandon’s books. We were admirers of Donato’s work even before he created the illustration for “Firstborn” on Tor.com, and wow, did he create something beautiful there. So when Brandon came to me with the idea of paintings of all ten Heralds from the Stormlight Archive, the first person that came to both of our minds was Donato.

And again, Donato has knocked this one out of the park. His rendition of Taln (Talenelat’Elin) is gorgeous. It strikes the right balance between realism and symbolism, and gives us a heroic, yet tormented, version of this beloved Herald. We love what Donato has done!

We have several paintings of the Heralds in the works, so this one is likely to appear on the end pages of this book or the next, depending on which Heralds we feel look good together and best represent the themes of the books.

More about Rhythm of War:

“It has been almost twenty years since I first outlined The Stormlight Archive,” Sanderson spoke back in December. “Back then, I didn’t think anyone would be interested in this crazy epic I’d devised–and it’s been so thrilling to see enthusiasm for it grow to such heights over the years.  Book four finally gets to one of the foundational scenes I conceived from the beginning. In fact, it might be the very first big scene I imagined, and my favorite in the entire series.  A part of me can’t believe people are finally going to be able to read it. Less than one year now! Life before death, Radiants.”

Rhythm of War, Book 4 of The Stormlight Archive, is available for pre-order now from your preferred retailer.