#so everyone gets two powers depending on the spren

[wheelwheelwheel]

Oh I get it, so there’s certain kinds of spren associated with certain kinds of powers (surgebinding, soulcasting, etc) and they’re picking certain people to give them to

[warrioreowynofrohan]

The Untamed Characters in Knight Radiant orders

More fandom crossovers!

Wei Wuxian: Lightweaver. Not only does the use of illusion and the focus on truth-lies complexities fit the translations of his necromantic methods as deceptive path or illusory path, his character’s whole style of communication is based around truth-lies complexities: hiding his vulnerabilities under humour or deflection, only being able to express his genuine emotional needs through playacting, using silliness to cover seriousness. And he’s definitely creative, in a whole host of ways.

Lan Wangji: Windrunner. During the past arc one could say Skybreaker, but I feel like his dedication to the rules was always because he regarded them as the best way to protect and show respect for others and maintain honourable conduct, not just for rules in and of himself. Hence his relief/happiness at the lantern scene when he realizes that he and Wei Wuxian do share principles despite having very different ways of expressing them. The ‘leadership’ role of Windrunners is less expressed in his youth due to extreme standoffishness, but by the future arc it’s clear that the students all have great respect for and trust in Hanguang-jun.

Lan Xichen: Edgedancer. His interactions with Meng Yao in the early episodes make this especially clear, with the immediate instinct to stand up for and show regard for the marginalized and disrespected. Along with his constant efforts to look out for Wei Wuxian when he keeps causing/getting in trouble. And I will listen to those who are ignored also fits well with his scrupulous fairness in listening to and meticulously researching the theories of a reviled undead necromancer, even when they concern someone Lan Xichen knows well and trusts.

Lan Sizhui: Edgedancer, so very much. He goes out of his way to be respectful and kind and compassionate to everyone, regardless of social status. And this fits beautifully with his past as being one of the forgotten and ignored. (Which I think is also a big part of the point of Lift in The Stormlight Archive, irritating as I sometimes find her. Edgedancers of the past are mentioned as being very refined, giving the impression of their compassion being people of higher position purposefully reaching out to those of lower position; whereas with the choice of Lift, their spren seem to be wanting to refound the order on people who are compassionate to the lost/ignored/broken because they are/have been among them. Could tie in with my earlier post commenting on brokenness.)

Lan Qiren: Skybreaker, definitely.

Jiang Yanli: Edgedancer. My general read in The Stormlight Archive is that Windrunners look after people physically and Edgedancers look after people enotionally.

Jiang Cheng: Dustbringer, I think. There’s something about Zidian that goes well with the surge of division, and the traits of ‘brave and obedient’ seems to fit him well (including his struggle to live up to a clan ethos that appears, on some level, to value selective disobedience).

Jiang Fengmian: Based on his treatment of Wei Wuxian, I lean towards Edgedancer. But my (possibly incorrect) read on the character is that he loves his two sons equally - he just feels that Wei Wuxian, the abandoned orphan, needs to hear it more than Jiang Cheng, the clan heir. Wuxian needs to hear that he’s at home, valued, a part of the family, especially given how Madame Yu treats him! Jiang Cheng surely already knows he’s loved and valued...right?

Nie Mingjue: Stoneward. “Resolve, strength, dependability, stubbornness” seems to fit him.

Nie Huaisang: Not a Knight Radiant. This fits with his generally weak cultivation, and the way that he achieves so much despite (no, because of) being continually underestimated and less powerful than those around him. Though if you wanted to pick an order, his love of the arts and skill at misdirection make the Lightweavers a good pick.

Wen Qing: Either Truthwatcher (learned/giving) or Elsecaller (wise/careful) would fit with her personality. She’s very, very good at walking extremely fine lines to protect people and defuse conflicts while still working for the Wens, and at convincing Wen Ruohan that her subtler methods are better than Wen Chao’s abrasive ones. She’s very learned, and very generous and kind. Ultimately I would pick Truthwatcher because, of these two options, Truthwatchers are the order with healing abilities, and healing is her great skill.

[preservationandruin]

Oathbringer Spoilers, Part Three: Chapters 58-62

The name of this section is “Defying Truth, Love Truth” and the spread is Dalinar, Shallan, Kaladin, and Adolin. 

Dalinar travels and engages in Diplomacy, we see another Surge in use, Kaladin gets a makeover, Adolin finds a safehouse, and Shallan half-tells a secret. 

We get a beautiful spread of Thaylen fashions, and a new source of epigraphs--the messages contained in the drawers Renarin found. 

As a Stoneward, I spent my entire life looking to sacrifice myself. I secretly worry that is the cowardly way. The easy way out. 

Apparently Stormy’s ego has made a full recovery from Odium’s visit, which is fortunate. Dalinar’s decided not to use the visions so carelessly, not wanting other people to get dragged into conversations with Odium. Not that not using the visions would probably stop Odium, but it’s a good precaution. 

Rial saluted him. Again.  “You don’t need to salute me each time I look at you, Sergeant,” Dalinar said dryly.  “Just trying ta be extra careful, sir,” The leathery, dark-skinned man saluted one more time. “Wouldn’t want ta be reported for being disrespectful.”  “I didn’t mention you by name, Rial.”  “Everyone knew anyway, Brightlord.” 

I’m so glad Dalinar has people around him who can ground him by giving him a little shit now and then. Kaladin and Shallan have been in Thaylenah, and the queen is now ready to meet with Dalinar; Dalinar takes a moment to tell Kaladin that he trusts him and Adolin to stop Elhokar from being a fucking idiot. 

I mean, he doesn’t use those words, but they’re what he means. Also, Dalinar awarded Kaladin some land! I mean, it’s taken over by Parshmen, but hey, it’s there. 

Oh my god please let Kaladin put his dad in charge of one of the villages LIRIN WOULD BE SO GOOD AT LEADING A TOWN and if anyone complained about him being darkeyed Kal could just look at them and go “i literally saved the world” until they shut up. 

Thaylen City has been ravaged by the highstorms. Whole sections of the city have fallen in, and their famous docks are gone. 

One of the other radiants decided to leave a record of the names of her husband and children, instead of anything about herself. That’s...really sweet. 

Fen shows them the areas of the city that are still standing, and I’m thinking about the Heralds, again, since they go to Shalash’s temple. 

You know what I really want? For the Heralds. I want them all to have some house in a nice area of Roshar where they can live and not have to fight ever again. I want them to get therapy. I want them to be safe and happy and live out their lives in calm. Because while some of them have pulled some seriously awful shit, the context of them having been tortured in hell for thousands of years really puts it into some perspective. 

Notedly, some of the statues in Shalash’s temple have the face broken off. She’s been here too, gang. Navani gets on Dalinar’s case for scowling, he denies it. 

“What?” He asked softly. “Stop scowling.”  “I’m not scowling.”  “You’re bored.”  “I’m not...scowling.”  She raised an eyebrow. 

I LOVE MY FANTASY PARENTS. 

Dalinar claims he is a diplomat and Navani’s reaction is basically “doubt.png.” For some reason, they’re not going to visit Ishi’s temple--it hasn’t been damaged, but Fen doesn’t seem to want for them to go there. Given Edgedancer’s mention of Ishar, I’m...suspicious. 

But then, if you’re reading this, you know I’m paranoid in these books and trust nothing. Taravangian, weeping, offers to bring through his surgeons; Fen agrees. 

But here’s the question--is that genuine compassion, or him wanting access to the slowly dying so that he can get their death rattles? 

This is why I’m paranoid. 

Fen notes that Taravangian acts as though the city is a burial ground. Well, in his mind, it is--it’s another necessary sacrifice in his Diagram. Fen isn’t going to take it that easily. They’ll rebuild from stone this time, making it more secure. 

Dalinar has noticed that Queen Fen can’t accede to his requests on her own--she’s dependant on the support in her throne. As long as parts of the city think Dalinar is out for military conquest, they’re not going to let her agree. 

So Dalinar has an idea. 

“Does it involve punching someone?”  He nodded, to which she sighed. 

Why is it now you’re thinking of punching someone and not when Odium was right in front of you. Anyway I’m looking forward to wherever the hell this goes. 

He says that he just has to give them a display, a lesson, and that brings up a strange memory--something about the rift and Sadeas, something his subconscious doesn’t want him to remember. That’s...not good. 

Something happened where Dalinar went back to the Rift and something very bad happened. Bad enough for Kadash to quit altogether, become an ardent. Bad enough that Dalinar has repressed it. Something having to do with Sadeas, maybe having to do with Evi. 

Notably, the temple of Taln has been hit hardest, lightning striking the building. 

None of the other temples had fared this poorly. It was as if Odium had a grudge against this one in particular. 

God, specifically trashing Taln’s temple just because he didn’t submit to your torture is so outrageously petty, Rayse. 

Anyway Dalinar is going to try to pick a fight with her son. Because...i don’t know? He’s Dalinar? I really hope this doesn’t backfire on him. She’s gone to do something else. Dalinar, why are you like this? 

Okay, correction. He’s trying to get Fen’s son to pick a fight with him. While trying to assume that he doesn’t know it’s her son. 

Kholin Diplomacy, Everyone. 

Well, it works, Dalinar throws down a line in the sand and the kid fucking crosses it, so I guess this is happening. Good thing the son says no Shards, because Dalinar can’t fucking hold them without Stormy throwing a godawful fit, and this city has been through enough at the moment. Navani’s like “don’t hurt the kid but...don’t lose” which is a careful line to walk. 

Let’s hope that Dalinar not feeling the Thrill remains true. The Radiants can’t feel it, we think, but...I don’t want this to be the moment we learn we were wrong. 

Dalinar just...lets the dude (armed) go at him (unarmed) for the first bout?? What the hell, Dalinar. I mean, if it works, it works, but dude, you better have a lot of Stormlight. 

And at the very end, Dalinar lets the dude hit him with the sword, and literally pushes it further into him. Again--you better have a fuckton of Stormlight, Dal. So he just fucking pulls a sword impaling him out of his chest, compliments the kid’s form, and heals it up, sharing a sly smile with his wife. 

Fucking power couple right here. The kid points out that, technically, it’s Dalinar’s turn with the sword. Dalinar just asks for a clean shirt. But then he realizes--his actions were a display of force, and he didn’t want to win that way. He didn’t want to win them over by saying that he could crush them. 

He leans against Taln’s broken temple--and hears something else. Unite us. Please. The stones themselves. The spren of the temple want to be fixed. 

Storms. Does everything I do have to be about destruction? About dying, broken bodies, smoke in the air and blood on the stones? 

The warmth inside of him said that it did not.  He stood and turned, full of Stormlight, and seized the fallen stone that blocked the doorway. Straining, he shifted the block until he could slip in--squatting--and press his shoulders against it.

He pushes it in place, and power flows through him, coursing through the building; the lintel raises and is fixed in place, the stones are knit together, the place is restored. 

Of course. When the Bondsmiths use that surge, they use it to fix. 

And he realizes the other thing he can do--provide aid, with the Radiants. He sends for Renarin, who can heal the dying. They’re gonna save this goddamn city. 

“I did not expect to find the Blackthorn shirtless,” Queen Fen said, “And...playing sculptor?”  “I can only fix inanimate things,” Dalinar said, wiping his hands on a rag tied at his waist, exhausted. Using this much Stormlight was a new experience for him, and quite draining. “My son does the more important work.” 

Dalinar also realizes that for a second it feels like he can almost understand the people speaking Thaylen, as though a bond is trying to form. That’s interesting. Bondsmiths might be polyglots, then, through their powers. 

Renarin, apparently, is telling everyone to thank Dalinar for the healings. Dalinar just told Fen that what he did was unimportant compared to what Renarin does. These two...

“Strength and Passion, the Vorin way.” Well, that’s an alarming line given what Odium has said. 

Another gem: I worry about my fellow Truthwatchers. 

We’re over to Kaladin. The storm doesn’t belong to him like the skies do; they’re flying before it, to Kholinar. Shit’s going to get real here, I think. From what we know, there’s a Voidbringer army converging there. Skar and Drehy are there, and then there’s Elhokar, Adolin, two of Shallan’s men, and  a maidservant, and then Shallan herself. Kaladin’s wondering how she keeps smiling, again. 

Five thousand unhealthy coping mechanisms, Kal. 

Adolin is not taking the flight wonderfully. I mean, it’s gotta be pretty terrifying if you are just a normal person. 

Further Syl attempting to set up Shallan and Kaladin. Syl, no. 

Shallan is talking about how beautiful the storm is and meanwhile Adolin has like a deathgrip on Kaladin’s arm. 

Kholinar is still held by the Alethi, although all the surrounding towns are Parshendi. Additionally, Kal gives himself a moment just to stare at how huge and amazing the city is--he’s never really seen it, before. 

Unfortunately, Kaladin feels a cloudlike wrongness around the palace,  and it’s strongest around where the Oathgate platform would be. Take your bets, gang--mine are going on “Unmade is there.” 

So bringing Shallan for illusions turns out to be a good idea. 

Anyway, this next chapter--still Kal--is called “Nightmare made manifest,” so clearly everything is just going to go great in Kholinar. 

Refugees are being let into Kholinar--it seems stupid for the Voidbringers to do this, but it isn’t. They’re overburdening the city. Shallan tries to draw the palace, but it ends up twisted--one of the unmade is there. I was right!

Shallan assumes most of them won’t need disguises, and I really hope so, because if Moash gets into the city he will instantly recognize anyone from Bridge Four. And Kal hasn’t told the others why Moash left. 

That could get nasty, very quickly. Shallan does give Kal one, making both him and Adolin look like old men. 

Someone is having too much fun with her ability to give appearances. Kal ends up looking wretched, Adolin ends up a handsome old man. Shallan. 

Also please note how much fuckin detail Kaladin goes into about this disguise: 

Shallan wrapped Adolin in Light. He resolved into a sturdy, handsome man in his sixties, with dark brown skin, white hair, and a lean figure. His clothing was no longer ornate, but in good repair. He looked like the kind of old rogue you’d find in a pub, with hardy tales about the brilliant things he’d done in his youth. The kind of man that made women think they preferred older men, when in reality, they just preferred him. 

That’s...okay, Kal. That’s pretty gay. 

Elhokar is surprisingly willing to be turned into a woman for this--he needs to help his people and his city, and he’s willing to do what it takes to do that. 

Even Syl is a bit revolted by how Kaladin looks. What did Shallan do? 

None of the other Bridgemen have gotten to the Second Ideal, unfortunately. 

“[Re-Shephir] was...wrong.” Adolin finally said. “Haunting. A nightmare made manifest.”  “Kind of like my face?” Kaladin asked. Adolin glanced at him, then grinned. “Fortunately, Shallan covered it up for you with that illusion.”  Kaladin found himself smiling. The way Adolin said things like that made it clear he was joking--and not only at your expense. Adolin made you want to laugh with him. 

This is quality good content. I know given my comment earlier you might think I mean in a shippy way, and sure, you can take it like that and it’s great, but this is also just good friendship content.

Anyway, the gates have stopped letting people in, and they go over to check it out. Apparently, they’re only letting people in if they can provide the defense, and the wall is being held by a “Highmarshal Azure,” who Elhokar hasn’t--or, at least, says he hasn’t--heard of. 

The ongoing saga of what the hell did Shallan make Kal look like continues, as they guard say they don’t want him because he looks sick. But a Parshendi raid lets them get in. Apparently Highmarshal Azure doesn’t have a superior--no word of what happened to Queen Aesudan or Elhokar’s son. 

There are strange performers on the street, dressed all in white with perhaps augmented clothes with red, blue, or green fabric, calling out nonsense phrases. Shallan notes that they’re imitating spren. The exhaustionspren people produce are of Odium. 

God,  something is fucked in the city. 

Anyway, they get to Adolin’s safehouse. Which is...

“What is this place?” Kaladin asked.  “Well, I figured we’d want somewhere safe,” Adolin said. “We’d need to stay with someone I trust with my life, or more.” He looked at Kaladin, then gestured towards the woman. “So I brought us to my tailor.” 

OH MY GOD, ADOLIN. 

Anyway, we flit over to Shallan punching herself in the face. She’s trying to actively attract painspren, to see if they are normal, I think. 

So Aesudan executed Pai the radiant, and then the riots started. During them, Aesudan vanished, and her proclamations, when they came, didn’t make much sense. 

Elhokar says that, of course, it was the unmade who ordered Pai’s death, not Aesudan. I think someone might not have great judgement regarding his own wife here. Shallan stabs herself in the leg with scissors, which Pattern notes as self-destructive even for her, but it does get painspren. 

They, too,  are strange. 

Anyway, the everstorm brought the darkness to the Palace. The Palace Guard retreated into the palace, and the city watch barricaded into the barracks, then vanished into the palace. Hungerspren didn’t look different, though, back with Shallan’s investigations. 

A group of prominent lighteyes went to meet with Aesudan, and never came back from the palace. This just gets better and better. Again, when the unmade are in a place it starts looking like a horror story. 

Shallan manages to nearly expose her safehand in front of Adolin, Kaladin, and the literal king, which is enough to summon shamespren. They, too, are strange. It’s all the emotions--hunger is a condition, not an emotion. 

Anyway, nobody knows where this Highmarshal, Highmarshal Azure, is from, and most haven’t seen him. The real power in the city is the “Cult of Moments”--people are saying that between the new forms of spren showing up and the queen and the everstorm, a new world ruled by Spren is coming. Fabrials draw screaming yellow spren who signal the voidbringers, who come and either take the fabrial or kill you or both. 

Shallan is starting to notice that Elhokar does have the makings of a king in him. They’re awkward, but they’re there--she takes a Memory to draw later. Kal and Shallan are going to go to the palace, Shallan as Veil--that’s interesting, the first time another main character interacts with her Veil persona--and they’ll be trying to investigate. Kal refuses to let her wipe off the brands on his forehead with an illusion. 

Shallan tells the guys--her guys, her squad of trainee spies--about Veil by just saying “privacy, men, Veil needs to get dressed.” Some are surprised, some aren’t. Ishnah said she thought Brightness Shallan was the fake and Veil was real; Shallan answers that both are fakes. Then she heads out to scout. 

I’ll cut it here--my phone is dying, and that’s how I read. Moreover, I have to change observing targets at work. 

[nightblink]

Blink Reads Oathbringer - Chapters 55-57, Interludes 4-6

Chapter Fifty-Five – Alone Together

I'm calling it, it's Sazed. Balancing Preservation and Ruin ain't easy. SAAAAAAZE~

RLAIN. RLAIN RLAIN RLAIN OH FUCKYEAH WE'RE GETTING A RLAIN CHAPTER BLESS U BRANDOSANDO

It'd be really cool if that became a thing, if humans (Rosharan- variant 'humans' at the very least) could somehow learn to hear the Rhythms and get a better understanding of the Listeners/Singers/Parshendi. A step towards peace.

[winces] Yeaaaah, I noted back in Rock's chapter how watching the humans 'invade' and build in Narak must be really, really difficult for him.

The last. Oh, Rlain.

He still feels heavily ostracized. Even with him being Bridge Four, he's still set apart from them in ways they'll never be able to truly understand.

(okay, but an archer squire Windrunner. that could be really cool and useful.)

Please take Rock's advice. Bounce some stones off of their skulls when they deserve it.

Sando please let Rlain fly with the others.

Yeah. They were so afraid of becoming those things once again that they assassinated Gavilar and brought the wrath of warlike Alethkar down upon their heads.

Can we get more Renarin+Rlain scenes and friendship can we please-

Okay but with Rlain attuning to Rhythms and now with Rock's family around (we at least know that Rock can pick up on them ever so faintly) I'll bet one of them starts humming along with him, even if they don't realize what they're doing.

!!!! Skin patterns have/had an importance or maybe even function among the Parshendi? Can they change, with or without changing forms, or are they genetic?

Oh come on, guys, you're getting worked up over Renarin maybe learning to read? Kaladin, please talk some sense into them.

EXTRA MANLY. LOPEN I'M WH E E ZI NG

(though tbh that's actually a great way to put it)

Thank you Kaladin for putting things into words that they can all understand and mull over on their own. Hopefully they'll even start internalizing it.

Rock is the unofficial psychiatrist of Bridge Four, apparently. Ahhh, but they're all a big support group for eac other in the end (yes, Teft, this is a feelings-sharing party, now join the club). Alone together indeed.

[winces] Save for the one even more alone. You can't blame Rlain for his frustration.

At least Kaladin's willing to admit that he doesn't know, but it willing to try anyway.

Chapter Fifty-Six – Always With You

Ooo, this is the first time Hoid's chatted with Harmony? No interaction before this letter. Not that Hoid would have reason to do so, but you never know…

“How do you know so much about Adonalsium” HE WAS KINDA THERE, SAZE

oh shit oh shit oh shit Dalinar's going back to the Feverstone Keep vision, Jasnah and Navani with him. We're gonna find out something important, this chapter, this is a Recreance vision-!

He's getting a lot better at the vision-transfer, but I don't think it's technically part of his Surges? That's a complete unknown, though, since it was Honor himself that left the visions.

Timeline note for the Recreance – maybe 2,000 years ago.

(side note, but listening to the Journey OST during this part is jiving really well. it's shiver-inducing.)

False Desolation. What. Jasnah, plz continue your elaboration.

Mmm, that makes sense, especially with what we know of the Parshendi so far and their efforts to fight off the Voidspren. Of course Vorin teachings would deny there were any survivors. But how the Recreance, then….

Oh, hey! Gawx! You've gotten a lot snarkier over time in these visions, at least from that fist quip.

I wonder if Honor included the dying screams of the spren into this vision, and he's feeling it at the very edge of his senses.

Speaking of which, this must mean that Honor was Shattered at some point after the Recreance.

Gawx honestly does have it hard, and now he's pulled at in different directions by the people who want to see their homeland safe and the Blackthorn who wants to save Roshar. It's not an easy place he's in.

Shivers there, Dalinar. Good speech.

Technically, Gawx, Dalinar owns up to what he's done – or at least what he can remember? He doesn't deny the Blackthorn, but he is trying to be a different man than he once was.

….what's happening. The vision's not ending. And this man in white and gold….?

ODIUM

FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUCK

AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'VE “ALWAYS BEEN WITH [DALINAR]”

ARE YOU SPECIFICALLY THE REASON THE BLACKTHORN IS AS HE WAS. NOT ONE OF THE UNMADE, BUT YOU YOURSELF

FUCKING HELL

Chapter Fifty-Seven – Passion

Oh good it's another Dalinar chapter, because if it had changed POVs I would have rioted

Oooo, calling Hoid back to Scadrial, Sazed? To speak with the kandra?

YEP BACK THE FUCK AWAY DALINAR, HE IS BEYOND YOU RIGHT NOW

g o d the Stormfather is whimpering and if that doesn't tell you how much you need to fear…

Dalinar looks like he's gonna drop on the spot of a panic attack and tbh I already would be

Don't you dare call Dalinar 'son'.

And there's Odium himself confirming that this Stormfather-bonding is different than all the others before it; I was right.

What shackles you, Odium. What is it specifically.

SHIT, DALINAR, WATCH YOUR WORDS

'Intent' is capitalized and obviously means just that but does it also mean that it has something to do with the broader spectrum of power

Consequences aka probably ridding himself of Roshar a la Alderaan

Oooo, not only are you bound by the Shards themselves, but even the Splinters here somehow have power wrapped up with you.

Now see, here's where we come to Odium Blatantly Fucking Lying, because if the embodiment of Honor cared only for bonds and oaths themselves, then you wouldn't see any difference between Honorspren and Highspren. Not to mention the Passion thing (likely subtly sliding in a tie to the Thaylen Passions there as well). You, care? Love? HAH.

[squints @ Odium] While I can believe you had something to do with the Recreance, it's definitely not as you're explaining it.

Ohhhh, is that confirmation that the Nightwatcher is Cultivation – or at least an avatar of hers?

Oh shit, oh shit, a vision of sorts, touching the power of the Odium-shard itself-

...what's there. Something Not Of The Vision. Oh man is it Lift. Please let it be Lift. Let her flip off Odium himself.

It IS.

But. Odium couldn't sense her? Not entirely? Cultivation DID give her something special

“What was that thing, tight-butt?” Lift you are the pride of Roshar and the gem of all worlds

oh my god please make the first thing you do in Urithiru stealing Dalinar's lunch

That's… definitely a way to end Part Two with a bang.

Interlude Four – Kaza

Oooo, we're back out on the ocean!

!!!! Someone else with visions? I don't think this is another Bondsmith, but maybe another Truthwatcher…?

'hirelings out of Steen' Steen, Steen, where's that map… ah! South of Shinovar, east of Aimia, and probably the closest country to Aimia, save that island chain stretching out from Tukar

Ahhh, she's an older lady, too! Good, we need all the older ladies we can get.

Soulcaster? But does she have one or is he calling her that as a title?

So, they were braving the slower Everstorm winds, huh – or… not the Everstorm, but a strange, strong storm that has nothing to do with either? Either way, they're aiming for Aimia. Now there's a land that we need to know more of.

Ahhh, so she's a Soulcaster (but probably not an ardent because Not Vorin) and looking to reverse the whole turning-to-stone bit. ….understandable, but you think Aimia holds the answers? Maybe? Why? Is it because it's the last place you have to look, or do they have some sort of rumoured super-medicine there?

Well, there's a rumour of some kind, at least.

…..not stone, smoke.

Oh that is interesting. The transformation with Soulcaster use must be dependent on certain variables – what kind of transfigurations they most commonly do, perhaps – considering that all of those we saw at the Shattered Plains were turning to stone, not smoke, and most of their job would be to make buildings and food.

Ooof, a prisoner of her own family, kept for their use. Even without the whole 'dying' issue, it's no wonder she fled. (Assuming she wasn't just making up the story to scare off the sailor.)

Huh. I wonder if extended soulcasting starts to connect one to Shadesmar each time they use it, or if it's only when the person starts getting closer and closer to death-by-soulcasting.

“Each would have required several Soulcasters in concert.” Or maybe just one Elsecaller or Lightweaver with a fuckton of Stormlight.

Again with 'something larger' that's attached(?) to spren that normal people can't see.

That is a powerful call that she's almost losing herself to, and quite possibly a spren that's interested in her backing the Soulcasting. Hmmm.

So, the Soulcaster devices came out of Aimia and Akinah in particular. Huuuuh. Were the Soulcasters an attempt to mimic Radiant powers, if so, and were there any Aimian Radiants? Or were they an attempt at balancing power?

Wait, what. Everyone's starting to go unconscious? And Kaza feels like she's being pulled to Shadesmar? Is there an overlap here of the Physical/Cognitive realms…? Also the shadow stretching in the wrong direction like all the Aimians have – does that mean that whole people have/had some kind of presence in Shadesmar that can be seen in the Physical realm?

The sailors are all dead? ...well, shit.

Wait, and the sailors were right about greatshells coming here to die? That wasn't just a pirate-treasure sort of legend? (not that it matters, as none of them are left to even see it)

The cook? (Always, the cooks are so important in these books…) Ahhhhh, another cremling-person, fffffftttt- We need more information on these people, stat.

“The cost would be the ends of worlds.” Plural. Something exists in Aimia that could affect the greater Cosmere. Well then.

Interlude Five – Taravangian

FUCK OFF YOU OLD MURDER-MAN

“Today, Taravangian was a storming genius.” I can't help but laugh at the phrasing, even as a corner of my mind just goes fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-

He is not wasting time here on pleasantries of any sort, but just powering ahead and being a complete ass as he does.

Well, that answers my question of 'does Malata know bout Taravangian and his plans' though I did not expect that she'd already been a member of the Diagram before she'd become a Radiant. I am somewhat pleased at knowing 'the Dustbringers would be the Radiants most likely to accept their cause', not because it gives me any pleasure to know that goddamn storming Taravangian is getting any Radiants on his side, but because it's another step closer to confirming my suspicion that the Dustbringers are the I Will Do What Must Be Done order, closest of the Radiants to the-ends-justify-the-means.

GIVE US MORE DUSTBRINGER INFO, SANDERSON, I DEMAND IT

H e r alds but smart!Taravangian is an insufferable ass, both to other people and in his own head

“That day, he'd been God. Today, he could be God's prophet.” I'd start to wonder if you were Odium-influenced too, but this seems different – too detached even in your moments of grandest self-glorying – to be Odium's touch

And here we have the complete opposite of Jasnah, who's a beautiful example of atheism done right; this is the kind of atheism that glorifies ~~science~~ and spits on others' beliefs while holding itself above all else – its' own manner of extremist fundamentalism

'the Dalinar paradigm' sounds foreboding

Wildcard Renarin! Oooo, is he a blindspot in more than just Taravangian's Diagram, I wonder?

Well, that's just unnecessary. Storming hell, Taravangian.

Reference note – Vargo. Probably Taravangian's given name.

Okay but indoor farming would indeed explain a good part of Urithiru's self-sufficiency – which it had to be – and is probably related to the existence of the uber-fabrial that extends through the whole city.

“the part of the world that mattered” aaahahahahahahah fuck you Taravangian

“Then we force him to step down, so that I can take his place at the head of the monarchs.” AAAAHAHAHAHAHAH WELL GUESS WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET HIGHKING KHOLIN SOONER OR LATER SO EVEN IF YOU DO IT'S NOT GONNA FUCKIN' MATTER

To be fair, pushing Dalinar until he collapses isn't a bad plan, considering the pressure the world is exerting and the weight he places on himself, but he's still the Tank, come on.

[rolls over laughing at the thought of Taravangian thinking he has any bargaining power against Odium]

Fuck off, you senile psychopath.

Interlude Six – This One Is Mine

Another Venli chapter, and thins time she's going to open herself for a Form of Power. And yet, with that title as well as the spren that followed you last time… I don't think this will you the way you think it will. Just a hunch.

….do the Parshendi actually have gemhearts. I mean, I would make sense considering their change of forms, but… still.

No rainwater from this storm. Just ash. (But didn't the Everstorm bring rain when we saw it in Edgedancer?)

[hums] Have we seen Demid's new Fused-form yet? The ridges under the carapace sounds like a form we might have seen in one of Kaladin or Moash's chapters, but perhaps it's different.

Mmm. Though Venli's form changed, indicating a new kind of bonded spren, she retained her mind. Not a Voidspren, then. Handful of sapphires says that the little comet-spren had something to do with it.

“grand of the Fused”? Ooooo, you're important, you have a title

...or maybe you just have a tendency to crush anything that doesn't pay obeisance. That works too.

[winces] What an awakening for Venli, and what a truly horrible way for it to happen.

Well, even if you didn't bond with the little spren, it's there. Not 'one of the same' spren you saw near Eshonai, but the very one, there's no way it isn't.

And you protected it.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Stormlight Archive Epigraphs (6) - The Diagram

These epigraphs are from Part 5 of Words of Radiance.  Text below includes spoilers for the pre-released chapters of Rhythm of War.

Objective

Q: For what essential must we strive? A: The essential of preservation, to shelter a seed of humanity through the coming storm. Q: What cost must we bear? A: The cost is irrelevant. Mankind must survive. Our burden is that of the species, and all other considerations are but dust by comparison.

Catechism of the Back of the Flowered Painting: paragraph 1

You must become King. Of Everything.

Tenets of Instruction, Back of the Footboard: paragraph 1

We now know that Taravangian’s goal was to become king of all Roshar and then make a deal/bet with Odium to spare Taravangian’s people (i.e. everyone) if Taravangian won. As of Oathbringer, he has failed at this.

Chaos in Alethkar is, of course, inevitable. Watch carefully, and do not let power in the kingdom solidify. The Blackthorn could become an ally or our greatest foe, depending on whether he takes the path of the warlord or not. If he seems likely to sue for peace, assassinate him expeditiously. The risk of competition is too great.

Writings upon the Bedstand Lamp: paragraph 4 (Adrotagia’s 3rd translation from the original hieroglyphics)

Therehastobeananswer Whatistheanswer StopTheParshendi Oneofthem Yestheyarethemissingpiece PushfortheAlethitodestroythemoutrightbeforethisoneobtainstheirpower Itwillformabridge

Floorboard 17: paragraph 2, every letter starting with the second

Taravangian has figured out that the Parshendi will call the Everstorm, and that the Everstorm will bring Odium and the Fused.

Radiants

They will come you cannot stop their oaths look for those who survive when they should not that pattern will be your clue.

Coda of the Northwest Bottom Corner: paragraph 3

Reference to the new Radiants

One danger in deploying such a potent weapon will be the potential encouragement of those exploring the Nahel bond. Care must be taken to avoid placing these subjects in situations of powerful stress unless you accept the consequences of their potential Investiture.

Floorboard 27: paragraph 6

Taravangian wants to avoid causing Radiants

Ahbuttheywereleftbehind Itisobviousfromthenatureofthebond Butwherewherewherewhere SetoffObviousRealizationlikeapricity TheyarewiththeShin Wemustfindone CanwemaketouseaTruthless Canwecraftaweapon

Floorboard 17: paragraph 2, every second letter starting with the first

This seems to be Taravangian trying to find Honorblades. If the swords of the Heralds, like those of the Radiants, were made from bonds with spren (were they?), breaking the Oathpact would inherently entail leaving the blades behind. Taravangian appears to have orchestrated Szeth’s exile in order to get access to an Honorblade and a person with the Surge of Gravitation.

The Unmade

The Unmade are a deviation, a flair, a conundrum that may not be worth your time. You cannot help but think of them. They are fascinating. Many are mindless. Like the spren of human emotions, only much more nasty. I do believe a few can think, however.

Book of the 2nd Desk Drawer: paragraph 14.

There is one you will watch. Though all of them have some relevance to precognition, Moelach is one of the most powerful in this regard. His touch seeps into a soul as it breaks apart from the body, creatung manifestations powered by the spark of death itself. But no, this is a distraction. Deviation. Kingship. We must discuss the nature of kingship.

Book of the 2nd desk drawer: paragraph 15

One is almost certainly a traitor to the others.

Book of the 2nd Desk Drawer: paragraph 27

The fandom has largely concluded that the last statement is referring to an Unmade, due to it being from the same location as the other two.  And as of WOR, we know that Sja-anat has made contact with Shallan.  I don’t trust this, personally.  Sja-anat may have divergent interests from the other Unmade, but I don’t believe she has the best interests of humanity (or Singers, for that matter) at heart.

Obviously they are fools The Desolation needs no usher It can and will sit where it wishes and the signs are obvious that the spren anticipate it doing so soon The Ancient of Stones must finally begin to crack It is a wonder that upon his will rested the prosperity and peace of a world for over four millennia

Book of the 2nd Ceiling Rotation: pattern 1

“They are fools” refers to the people (Sons of Honor, I think?) who were deliberately trying to bring back the Desolations so that the Radiants would return.  Gavilar may have been among them (?).  The Ancient of Stones is Talenel (which means that Taravangian figured out what had really happened with the Heralds, which is very impressive).

Other

But who is the wanderer, the wild piece, the one who makes no sense? I glimpse at his implications, and the world opens to me. I shy back. Impossible. Is it?

West Wall Psalm of Wonders: paragraph 8. (Note by Adrotagia: Could this refer to Mraize?)

I’m pretty sure this refers to Wit.

[Series of numbers]

Book of the 2nd Ceiling Rotation: pattern 15

[Series of 10 10-digit numbers, each beginning with 1173 and appearing to be dates]

North Wall Coda, Windowsill region: paragraph 2. (This appears to be a sequence of dates, but their relevance is as yet unknown.]

No idea about these number series.  I’m an analyst, not a cryptographer.

[preservationandruin]

Part Four: Storm’s Illumination

Update! I downloaded the nook app, killed my phone’s storage, and have accepted that reading too much on this will fry my already-bad eyes. 

But, on the plus side, I can read more WoK. 

Point of views back out to be Dalinar, Kaladin, Adolin, and Navani for this section. Featuring Dalinar deciding not to do a stupid thing but to keep trusting Sadeas, the fact that Dalinar isn’t hallucinating, Kaladin learning about his powers, and Dalinar and Navani finally smooching. Also, this is really fucking long, my apologies. 

We start seeing the epigraphs be death rattles again. Meanwhile, Adolin has realized that trying to get his father to see that he’s going mad has resulted in Dalinar deciding to abdicate in favor of Adolin--which is not what Adolin wanted at all. You done fucked up, Adolin. 

Dalinar has another vision, where he sees the Recreance--the Shardbearers giving up their swords. Interestingly, he also feels the hurt and betrayal of the spren: “A terrible feeling struck him. A sense of immense tragedy, of pain and betrayal. [...] What was happening? What was that dreadful feeling, that screaming he swore he could almost hear?” Also, the blades were glowing, but they dimmed and dimmed over time--the spren dying. Yikes. 

So there’s a big hint as to what the Shards actually are. And one of the Radiants--probably Tanavast taking their shape, although it’s hard to tell and it could be a former Bondsmith or something--tells Dalinar that the Night of Sorrows, True Desolation, and Everstorm are coming, and to read the book and “unite them.” 

Ren’s also having either a panic attack or an epileptic moment--all Dalinar classes it as is “an episode of weakness” but he’s pale, his legs are shaking, and he immediately sits down and rests his head in his hands. 

...I wonder when Renarin started awakening his powers, as a note. Also Renarin accepts the Old Magic as existing easily, while Adolin claims it’s a myth (Dalinar shuts that down). 

Adolin and Dalinar start fighting about whether or not Dalinar should step down and Renarin interrupts with “uh...guys...we could, like test to see if the visions are legitimate or not??” and both of them are like “?????” 

So they decide to have Navani write down the visions as Dalinar sees them, because they know they can trust her and their first choice--Jasnah--isn’t there. 

“The visions had told him to trust Sadeas” DALINAR NO

Navani is going out of her way to help Adolin with his flirting attempts she’s such a good aunt I love her. Also it gets him out of the room so Navani and Dalinar can talk privately. 

Navani tries yet again to convince Dalinar they can be together but Dalinar is a bit too tired and confused and uncertain to be able to do this right now, which she recognizes and does leave.

Back to Bridge Four!!! They’re on another bridge run, and Dunny dies--hit by two arrows and trampled by horses. Moash has to pin Kaladin down to stop him from running out after the kid which, thank god Kaladin has some people who are willing to act as his self-preservation. And so instead of helping Dunny, he goes around and tries to heal Bridgemen from other crews. 

Kaladin is too good and pure. He’s just furious that nobody cares about the dead Bridgemen. 

Kaladin runs off of righteous anger and like, coffee, probably. 

Anyway he fucking tears the Bridge Four gang a new one when they refuse to help someone from another bridge because people from other bridges were mean to them--and in the process states that his father was the only man with honor that he ever knew. 

Listen, this is why Kaladin is dangerous--he cares about everyone, that makes them surprised and grateful, especially on the bridge teams where nobody gives a shit about anybody, and then they become slightly more loyal to him. And then suddenly he has like, an army of loyal people. 

He’s such a hufflepuff. 

Also Teft is dropping the world’s least subtle clues here like “wooow its so weird we keep not getting hit....funny that that happens when you run point...just keep carrying lit spheres with you......they’re good luck....oh they went dun again wow that’s so strange kaladin” 

Meanwhile, Kaladin’s own grazed arrow wound is completely gone, and he’s getting a little freaked out. 

Another death rattle: “the burdens of nine become mine. Why must I carry the madness of them all? Oh, Almighty, release me.” This is absolutely Taln (or, uh, whichever of them is the one who was left behind). 

Dalinar’s at a feast again, and Wit isn’t there--Dalinar notes it’s probably because he doesn’t want to become predictable. Also Dalinar notes that noblewomen competing to draw the same person has the same social function as duels between noblemen, although they don’t use the same word. Wit does show up, just casually sitting next to Dalinar--and Dalinar notes that Adolin’s judgement of Wit was more accurate than his was. 

I gotta say, Adolin is hella perceptive. I’ve said it before, I know, but he’s a smart kid. 

Wit quietly--and accurately--depicts the relation between Dalinar and Sadeas:  “The foolishness of men who care, Dalinar, and the brilliance of those who do not. The second depend on the first--but also exploit the first--while the first misunderstand the second, hoping that the second are more like the first.” 

Also Wit ponders if you can pull a person apart and put him back together into something else “Like a Dysian Aimian” (but also, unsaid, like a Radiant.) This whole conversation is Wit trying to gauge exactly how much Dalinar knows--possibly because Wit doesn’t know exactly what Tanavast is telling Dalinar. Interesting. 

Sadeas is going to pull Some Bullshit (as always) and Elhokar is getting more and more paranoid, so all of that is interesting. 

Dalinar voice: Sadeas is going to cause Bullshit re: the investigation so I’m just going to go up and ask him about it. 

I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad idea but regardless it’s going to possibly throw Sadeas off. Unfortunately, Sadeas’ plan is to lull Dalinar into a false sense of security--claiming the most likely suspect is someone who dislikes Dalinar. 

Adolin cannot fucking believe that Sadeas is exonerating Dalinar (which, again, Adolin should stick to his intuition that Sadeas is a sneaky bastard). So Dalinar and Sadeas start plans to ally, which of course GOES HORRIBLY WRONG DALINAR DON’T TRUST SADEAS. 

Skar, about Amaram: Were you with him when he won his shards? Kaladin, quietly, but with great internal salt: No. Nobody was. 

BECAUSE AMARAM DIDN’T FUCKING WIN ANY SHARDS HE STOLE THEM LIKE A FUCKING ASSHOLE I HATE AMARAM SO MUCH

Rock: You can’t fucking swallow a broam Moash: I bet I can Kaladin: Don’t do that, because if you do that, you will die

Kaladin as Bridge Four’s tired Team Mom is very real

Also Moash is still showing signs of wanting to go too far--a la “we could just take everything” until Kaladin shuts that down for being stupid and likely to get them caught. Moash isn’t a tactical thinker. 

Also Kal baits Rock into revealing that he can use a bow and arrow. 

Rock: that shot is nearly impossible

Rock: effortlessly makes the shot

Dalinar is trying to figure out Parshendi gender. “The clean-shaven ones didn’t have much in the way of breasts” weLL IM PRETTY SURE THEYRE NOT MAMMALS so THANK GOD. But Dalinar has noticed that the fighting pairs are usually a man and a woman, and also wonders why in six years of fighting nobody thought to investigate what gender their opponents were. 

I mean, honestly, given how much we depersonalize our enemies, I can believe that. 

And Dalinar’s having problems with the Thrill again. Notably, it doesn’t make him a less effective fighter--it just cuts off the bloodlust and glee. 

Dalinar literally saves Sadeas’ fucking life and later in the book Sadeas repays him by leaving him and Adolin to die. 

To quote a D&D show I watch, SOME PEOPLE HAVE NO SENSE OF FUCKING HONOR. 

Descriptions of the thrill remain disturbingly...sexual, almost. At least in the sense that the vocabulary we have to describe a visceral glee and desire tends to be reminiscent of sexual language. (”He nearly choked on it, the joy, the pleasure, the desire. The danger.”)

Sadeas: tonight, all of my soldiers will feast as if they were lighteyes Me, full of salt: BET THAT DOESN’T INCLUDE THE BRIDGEMEN YOU COLOSSAL ASSHOLE

Another bridgeman has died and Kaladin is not taking it well. Gaz didn’t come to the bridge run--he might have deserted by this point. Kaladin also notices that the Parshendi revere their dead. Kal also still doesn’t believe that Dalinar is as good as people say he is. 

And Teft just got Kaladin to inhale stormlight and use it instinctively, leading to him glowing. Kaladin is lowkey freaking out about having the powers of the Radiants. 

Kaladin and Hoid are interacting for the first time and it’s great. We also get the story of a group of people who would kill any who did something wrong because the emperor wouldn’t tolerate it, and then discovered the emperor was dead all along and had to live with the guilt of knowing that those murders were on their hands, not the emperor’s. 

...which could be a metaphor for all of Vorinism learning that Honor is dead. Or not. As with most things with Hoid, it’s very ambiguous. Also, Syl doesn’t like Hoid, which is understandable. I can see an Honorspren thinking he was strange and wrong. 

Kaladin, thinking, also realizes that his “Emperor” is the apathy--the belief that he can’t change anything. He holds onto that instead of looking for other reasons things could be happening, or acknowledging that he can change things. 

And so he decides to actually start working with and using his powers. 

Honestly from the point of anyone else this story is lowkey ridiculous like “yeah a slave turned out to be a new radiant and so his team of bridgerunners helped him train in the chasms and literally nobody noticed, really” in-universe it makes sense because nobody pays attention to the bridgemen but still you have someone who CAN FLY

A death rattle mentions “Re-Shephir, the Midnight Mother, giving birth to abominations with her essence, so dark, so terrible, so consuming.” Another of the unmade? Hard to tell. 

Adolin is talking to Jakamav, who I unfortunately can only ever see as a fratbro. On the other hand, that’s not an inaccurate interpretation. Adolin is also casually Judging other people’s fashion choices someone let this boy dress in the pretty clothes he wants to dress in instead of his uniform

Also Adolin is grumbling about how other people always want dark hair, which he thinks is stupid. He also claims he forgot that Humility existed, which is probably true. 

Also Jakamav’s girlfriend insulted Dalinar and Adolin is just. ready to FIGHT. 

“Adolin liked to be familiar with a large number of people, but not terribly close with any of them.” That’s just interesting. He’s only really close with his family, especially Renarin, at this point. 

Also, Adolin starts to see the purpose behind the Codes--he starts to see that it’s not just about pure practicality, but also about treating war and the death that comes with it with a measure of seriousness, and also giving people commanders they can trust. It’s about the importance of symbols. 

Dalinar is reciting the Way of Kings to Sadeas and Elhokar, who don’t really get it. We also get “all save the Heralds themselves must dine with the Nightwatcher,” implying that she’s seen as some sort of death entity. 

Also, Dalinar is me:  “And you have this entire passage memorized?”  “I likely got a few of the words wrong”  “Knowing you, that means you might have forgotten a singled “an’ or ‘the.”  Also Sadeas does give Dalinar the honest advice that literally nobody else naturally talks like him, so other people assume he’s putting it on as a self-righteous act (...again, Dalinar, I feel you on that one.) 

Dalinar is staring at Navani again. And Sadeas is judging people’s fashion sense now. 

Time for Adolin to crush it in the duelling ring. Also the line “And so Adolin--in a moderately subtle move” is killing me like. Welp. It was moderately subtle which is the best we can expect from him. Anyway, Adolin obviously just annihilates his opponent, because Adolin is incredible. 

“They’re trying to kill me,” Elhokar said softly, huddling down in his armor. “They’ll see me dead, like my father.”   Highprinces: Look we made a strong king Me: Look at what you did to him! he has anxiety!!!

I retain a soft spot for Elhokar. And he mentions seeing “Symbols, twisted, inhuman” in mirrors--sounds a lot like Cryptics. I almost wrote Cryptids. Wonderful. And Elhokar and Sadeas bully Dalinar into using Sadeas’ fast and costly bridges--which Kaladin later takes as a sign of Dalinar not having as much honor as people say, if I remember right. 

Also, Dalinar’s opinion on fights: “When you won, it was always better to win quickly and with extreme advantage.” Amen to that. 

Kal’s trying to intentionally inhale stormlight now. And we get Teft’s explanation of the Words, which i like, although one of them is pretty much word-for-word “Dying is easy, young man, living is harder” from Hamilton. 

And now, Bridge Four is being put on Bridge duty every single day, which is just the brightlords flat-up wanting them killed. “Consider it an...honor” they say, and Kaladin has to stop himself from swearing. He also learns that he has to inhale the Stormlight in, he can’t just...will it inside of him. 

And Kaladin forms the “parshendi carapace” idea to protect them. We also get some examination of Kaladin’s agnosticism. 

Also he tried to walk on a wall and fell on his ass, nice going Kaladin. 

But he’s getting the hang of having a lot of power and exploiting that to smuggle things out of the chasms. Including surviving a 40-foot fall. 

Back to Dalinar and Adolin, Dalinar has decided not to abdicate. Navani is also the one most aware of Elhokar’s weakness, while Dalinar still denies it. Also, Renarin is fascinated by Navani’s fabrials. So am I--fabrials are really cool. 

And Dalinar is talking with Nohadon in his vision. Also, Navani realizes he’s speaking, instead of gibberish, an ancient dialect of the Dawnchant. Which Dalinar doesn’t know, and thus can’t have hallucinated--the visions are genuine. 

Navani is realizing she might have just figured out how to translate the Dawnchant, which is also incredible. 

Navani and Dalinar are, yet again, alone, and Dalinar is even like “Navani you’re doing it again” and Navani is just like. yep. you caught me. Also she explains that being the old queen basically means she’s placeless in the world and everyone only sees her as the wife of a dead man, and she’s furious seeing it from Dalinar as well, who knew her even before Gavilar did. 

And so Dalinar kisses her because of course he does. There are even passionspren. And then she starts talking business and important things but Dal is also like, distracted because holy shit she’s so pretty aaaaa which, is, relateable, i too cannot function around pretty people. 

Also, multiple notes that the marriage between Gavilar and Navani might not have been the best--Navani notes she had reason to be unfaithful even though she wasn’t, and starts saying something that Dalinar cuts off. 

Also Navani is very smug about the fact that Dalinar kissed her first. Dalinar tries to claim that he was seduced. “What? Seduced?” She glanced back at him. “ Dalinar, I’ve never been more open and honest in my life.”  “I know,” Dalinar said, smiling. “That was the seductive part.” 

This is such a Good Ship

Anyway back with the bridgemen Moash just wants to flat-up attack Sadeas’ army and Kaladin is like. Nope. No. If we do that we will die. 

Yep, Dal is using the bridges again. I can’t remember if this is the time with the Tower or not. I’m on around the 900th page, so maybe? 

“a one-armed herdazian is still twice as useful as a nobrained Alethi. Plus, so long as I’ve got one hand, I can still do this” and then Lopen just flips off the army i love him. 

Also a soldier tries to take their water and Kal is ready to fight them. The soldier is like I don’t want to wait for our water crews and Kaladins like wow that’s too bad for you, and the soldier looks like he’s going to hit him and the entire fucking Bridge 4 gang forms up like buddy, if you punch Kaladin we’re going to have a Problem. 

The soldiers who aren’t assholes are even like, nice. 

Kaladin voice: oh god i hope they don’t notice that was a spear fighting formation WHOOPS And its time for operation Parshendi Armor. 

So everyone targets Kaladin, who can fucking dodge shit and surgebind, and not the bridges. Booyeah. All of bridge four is now yelling at him because of course they are. Matal, who is in charge of the bridges, threatens to have Kaladin strung up and Kaladin’s like yeah bc that worked so well for you guys last time. 

And Dalinar noticed that Parshendi archers were targeting Kaladin’s group and went in to save them. Dalinar is Good. And he even raised his Blade to salute Kaladin. So this time wasn’t the Tower, but that’s got to be the next full Bridge run we get. We’re close, now. 

Although Shen took this badly. Of course--these are the bodies of his people. But at the same time, Kaladin literally needs to do this to keep them all alive. All the choices here are bad, but this was the least bad. Kaladin also is trying to work out the logistics of leaving, realizing that staying is untenable, but leaving is impossible. Somehow they discount the possibility “Dalinar Kholin recruits you as a personal guard after you save his life.” 

Anyway Dalinar and Navani are now a thing. Their guards and clerks are starting to get a bit confused at how much time they spend together. And more discussion of Shshsh, who I hope we get the story of next book. God, I hope she’s not just one more fridged woman for male pain. 

Dalinar: how will we explain this to Elhokar??? Dalinar at the end of the book: yes i am fucking your mother goodbye 

...I still blame/thank Jazz for making me incapable of taking that scene seriously. 

Oh man, horns just sounded for a chasmfiend on the Tower HERE IT IS.  Kaladin, Dalinar, and Adolin are all getting ready for it, and the rate of my habitual leg-jiggle stim has like, doubled. Wonderful. 

And we also see Sadeas planning--trying to get Dalinar to commit most of his forces and leave behind his bridge crews. That sneaky bastard. Also Sadeas claims credit for the armored bridgemen idea. That dick. 

I’m gonna cut it here. I have a feeling I’ll scream a hell of a lot about the Tower.