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libralita · 4 years ago

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Title: Rhythm of War

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Summary: After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage.

Now, as new technological discoveries begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. 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.

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.

Rating: ★★★★★

Review:

In my Dawnshard review I predicted the back would say mother of machines and it diddddd.

Oh nooooooooooo it’s Taravangian that will have the story oh nooooo

Odium trapes them? Revolt. Let’s gooooo!

NONONONONONONON don’t go to Mraize.

Sja reminds me of vapor from Skyward.

Wait a minute wait a minute Radiant HQ is called the tower and there’s death rattles about the tower. Gotta reread those.

The sibling is the child of Honor and Cultivation.

Noooooooooooooo Jasnah, Dalinar don’t go

Also this reminds me of Sadeas’ betrayal.

SAZEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ahhhh so Radiant is where Shallan’s brain went. Got it.

THE STUMP IS COMING ALONG

IT’S ONE OF THE THINGS FROM ERA 2!!!!!!!!!

Pattern keep away from Wit

Gallant is gonna talk back someday.

I see Shad’s contribution is paying off.

FELT

I’m sure that the woman who sees Shallan’s agents as tools is totally the woman who wants to end slavery for the lols.

ADOLINNNNNNNNNN

SAZED YOU SPOKE TO OTHER SHARDS?! Wholesome bean.

Some kind of shade?

Brandon Brandon Brandon are you…giving us the shard names/ NOW?

Whimsy. Mercy. Valor.

Kal can you go talk to Taln and maybe Ash?

This…this is what Kaladin should be doing.

I just realized that Elhokar might have been in the unseen court. Now I’m sad.

Formless probably represents her father.

Wait nooooooooooooo SZETH STAY THE FUCK HERE!!! SZETHHHHHHHHHH Kal, it’s up to you to swear the fourth ideal.

GAV NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SEBARIAL. Finally this book can reach its true potential.

God this makes Misborn Era 2 so much more stressful.

Is it one of the spren Venli has?

Ummmmmmmm ummmmmmmm ummmmmmm are you talking about Wax??????

Did Adolin just figure out Mraize’s plan?

She’s…held a cube?

Poor Honor Spren Tsundere.

Hello Venli. Nice to see you here in your own damn book.

The team must surprise the Honor Spren. Something they have never seen before. Something that will right the wrongs of the past. You know what you must do Adolin.

Kal take your own advice and talk to your parents.

Not all spren…were imagined…by men. Oh…oh god. No no no I am not about to think about these implications.

Okay clearly lift would be a good pick to go on this mission because all she would need is food to become awesome.

TSUNDERE SPRENNNN SAVE HIMMMMMMMM

Pattern….

UGH ADOLIN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO. C’MON!!!

Nooooooooooooooooo Adolinnnnnnnnnnnn just…just…ughhhhhhhhh

Navani don’t go zip.

Brandon I swear to god if you kill someone off screen I’m going to yeet you into a chasm.

Wait a minute is the sibling speaking to Navani? Did I already guess this?

NAVANNNNNNNNIIIII I TOLD YOU NOT TO LET GO OF THE SPHEREEEEEEEEEEEEE

Flame spren at edgy looking.

We’re doing this nowwwww?

Dabbid??

“Storm off with the lectures for once, Father!”—Page 494

Satisfying.

Also Brandon we’re half way through and there’s another climax.

Moash is hereeeeee.

Navani, my love, now is not the time.

…Hire Navani? Excuse me? Navani….

“Regardless, please make yourself known to me when you travel my lands. It is distressting that you think you need to move in the shadows.”—Page 535

Wholesome bean. I love him.

Oh Lirin….

“Poor Kaladin. There was freedom available for his old friend. Two freedoms, in fact. But he doubted Kaladin would ever accept the same freedom as Vyre, so he offered him the other one. The sweet peace of nonexistence.”—Page 551

Ahhh so he is a bastard. Got it.

“He knew it, sure as he knew the sun was hot, and that it circled Roshar forever.”

Um….

You…he…MOASH THAT MOTHER FUCKER. Redemption is a theme.

“PERHAPS. YOU COULD INFLUENCE HIM IN SMALL WAYS ONLY. PERHAPS EACH NIGHT, WHEN HE SLUMBERS…HE THINKS OF YOU STILL, AND THERE IS MORE. A CONNECTION BECAUSE OF YOUR PAST, YOUR SHARED DREAMS. ANY BOND SUCH AS THAT CAN BE MANIPULATED.

WILL THIS BE ENOUGH? IF WE SHOW HIM VISIONS, WILL THAT BREAK HIM?

‘It will be a start. I can bring him to the brink. Get him to step up to the ledge.’

THEN WHAT?

‘Then we find a way to make him jump,’ Moash said softly.”—Page 554

You know I have been told that redemption is a theme in Stormlight Archive.

So I have a theory that the Radiant Spren are some way connected to different main cultures on Roshar. So Althei are Honor Spren. Azish are High Spren and now Shallan’s notes say that Cultivation Spren are merchants so now that slots well Thaylen. Peak spren are…probably Horneaters but who knows.

Ooooooo do I smell romance for Lift?

Wyndle is so cute.

“An old flute that Wyndle said looked strange.”

*Covers face* oh my god she has Wit’s flute. Go give that to Kaladin.

Brandon you’re just going to drop Nightwatcher lore? Now? “Why…if Mother is involved…perhaps this isn’t Stormlight you use at all.” ???? Then what is it???

Hmmmmmmm lets not talk about the Sleepless.

OH NOOOOOOO MRAIZE. OH NO HE WANTS TO HUNT LIFT.

Come on dumb Taravangian.

For some reason, Taravangian reminds me of Dr. Marcoh from Fullmetal Alchemist.

I feel like Navani is going to sass the shit out of Raboniel.

“Awespren burst around her in a ring of blue smoke. Soulcasters didn’t hold spren because they were spren. Manifesting in the Physical Realm like Shardblades. Spren became metal on this side. Somehow the ancient spren had been coaxed into manifesting as Soulcasters instead of blades?”—Page 593

I…you…WHAT?

Ralkalest? Interesting name.

“By showing everyone that our lives will all be improved by working together.”

A) I don’t trust you and B) not if Odium yeets Roshar into the sun.

Noooooooooooo Dalinar it’s worseeeeee.

NALE???

Where’s Taln and Ash in all of this?

So many people wearing a lot of rings. Wait, is that Navani?

“Why hadn’t the Sibling mentioned this immediately?”—Page 622

Navani finally understanding Dalinar’s pain.

I love Navani and Kaladin interacting.

*nervous about Mink*

“‘What is a cow?’

‘Big, juicy, delicious. Wish I could still eat them. You don’t seem to have them around here, which I find amazing, as I’m sure there was one somewhere in Sadeas’s lingage. Paternal grandfather perhaps. Watch the highprinces. There’s almost certainly going to be a show.’”—Page 638

1) RIP you can’t eat meat because you were a Dawnshard 2) True 3) Uh oh.

She did that to pocket another Highprince.

Excuse me, who’s Axindweth?! Wait the rings on her fingers. Is she a feruchemist? Did she do something to Venli’s mother?

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

“‘Grampa,’ Litte Gavinor asked. ‘Was my daddy brave when he died?’”—Page 664

Suffering. Endless suffering. Leave me alone.

Okay, this is good information.

Rlain and Venli reunion!!!

Eshonai and Dalinar interaction!

BRANDON I WAS NOT PROMISED YOUNG BLACKTHORN FEELINGS. LEAVE ME ALONEEEEEE.

Wait is the person writing Rhythm of War Navani? But that doesn’t make sense because Michael Kramer is reading it, usually that means it’s a man reading it. Is it Gavilar?

El? I mean the only El I know is…Elend.

Is Kaladin going to say the Fourth Ideal when he realizes that he can’t save Moash?

I’m glad that El is unknown and there are more than one person talking. Perhaps with every new page a different person is talking. I’ll just leave it to the 17th Shard to crack.

A VOIDSPREN IN A CREMLING? Arclo?

Hesina? Why does Rlain want to meet with Hesina?

Mraize and Rabionel are talking. Also I just realized that Mraize reminds me of Vandal Savage.

LIFTTTTTT!!!

Lifelight? Excuse me? I fucking…hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I see that Navani has now adopted Kaladin. Good shit. Also I am living for the Navani/Kaladin interaction.

OW WHY MUST I SUFFER?

“Navani turned toward Raboniel, steeling herself against the memories brought forth by the sight of the sword. She could cry for her child again tonight, as she had done many nights in the past. For now, she would not show these creatures her pain.”—Page 732

Hell yeah.

When did Eshonai become British?

“‘That’s annoying,’ Kaladin said.

Yes, it is mildly inconvenient that we have to wind a crank to experience the wonder of making a human being safely levitate hundreds of feet in the air.

‘Pardon, Brightness, but I can usually do it with far less trouble.’

Which is meaningless right now, isn’t it?

‘I suppose it is.’”—Page 743

Look at these two sass each other.

Ivory’s my new favorite.

So, like how gods have metals, do all gods have lights?

Is Venli the one that Navani thinks is insane? I don’t think so?

Navani, you are going to bond with the Sibling. I know it.

I love Navani and the Sibling’s interaction.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

“You are not merely a storm! Dalinar bellowed, his voice changing to rumbles of thunder. You are capable of choice! You hide from that, and in so doing, you are a COWARD!”—Page 821

God I love Dalinar scolding the Stormfather, it’s so funny.

FINALLY DALINAR KNOWS! Also…that’s some interesting font you got there…

“But I have another task. I need to find a way to speak to the god-priest, then convince him to help me rescue Urithiru.”—Page 825

Good luck, kid.

Szeth-son-Honor. Oh my heart. It almost makes up for the fact that I’m so sad for Navani.

Excuse me, Chiri-Chiri is getting a pov. Brandon, stop writing while drunk.

“Szeth froze as the little boy, Gavinor, stepped up to him. He raised a wooden sword hilt-first toward Szeth. The boy should fear him, yet instead he smiled and waggled the sword.

Szeth took it, hesitant.”—Pages 834-835

MY HEART! OH MY GOD THAT’S SO CUTE I COULD DIE. BRANDONNNNNN.

Rysn! You weren’t supposed to tell him!

Poor Rysn. She doesn’t get a break.

Koravari. Did we just get Cultivation’s name?

The Deadeyes are probably sensing something…else.

“The target called himself ‘Sixteen.’”—Page 864

Yep that’s him. (Nope.)

How is that that Shallan shutting out her two other personalities is worse for her?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hi Nale.

Oh, Shallan must have bonded a different spren and killed it.

Restares is Kalak. Shooketh. But did Gavilar know that? Because wasn’t he speaking with Kalak with Nale. So…I’m confused.

Restares is the one writing this then.

I think I pointed out how Rlain was named Shen like Pashendi.

Remember everyone, redemption is a theme.

WIT!

“You can’t know any of this, because you live on a giant ball of rock full of slime where everything is wet and cold all the time.”—Page 913

Agreed.

“This is a dog, Kaladin. They’re fluffy and loyal and wonderful.”—Pages 913-915

At least we agree, Hoid.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S A DRAGON ON ROSHAR?! AND SHE PREFERS TO HIDE. HOID! BRANDON!

It has been decided that Wit getting a spren was a massively bad idea. (Not that anyone should have been under the delusion that it was a good idea from the start.)

This is very late in my notes but: I don’t know Brandon, why does Azure look Althei while other Nalthians don’t?

Is the dog…Lassie?

I’m going to take notes on Design so I can write a fanfic where Elhokar lived, became a Radiant and then joined the Unseen Court like the nerd he is.

What? Trusting Mraize is stupid? No shit.

So, I was wrong about Shallan pretending to be Ialai…but she might consider being Kalak.

Kalak is more of an asshole than Wit.

I feel like not only the FuckGavilar subreddit will arise out of the this book but also the FuckLirin subreddit. Seriously? Are there any good fathers on Roshar? Dalinar barely just became one.

So the metal is Raysium.

Fuck Dabbid just became my new favorite character. Who the heck would have seen that coming?

LIFT YOU CAN WAKE THEM UP!? Alright plan: either get Lift to Lirin so she can heal a few Radiants for backpack or head straight for that storming pillar and heal the Sibling. LET’S GO GO GO GO! TIME FOR THE THIRD CLIMAX!

Please Tsundere—YOU DID IT!!!

“They could be purchased from a group of strange traveling merchants called the Eyree.”—Page 976

Ire.

So the Rhythm of War is Navani and Rabionel talking?

Did they have sexy time?

Oh no Shallan killed that cryptic

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT! THUDE IS ALIVE. FUCK YEAH!

Radiant killed Ialai

SOBSSSSS FOR SHALLAN

OKAY MAYA SPOKE WAS ALSO CRY WORTHY

I supposed that night scarred Jasnah just as much as Shallan.

Also Witnah confirmed.

No…Teft…no no no no no no no. I sobbed so much. I hate you Brandon so much.

Aww man I feel so fucking bad for Moash that he can’t see. I’m so sorry. I will weep for you endlessly. Bastard. No man or woman has ever been sexier than when Navani Kholin said “Journey before Destination, you bastard.”

Nononononononono

“Final terms are these: A contest of champions to the death. On the tenth day of the month Palah, tenth hour. We each send a willing champion, allowed to meet at the top of Urithiru, otherwise unharmed by either side’s forces. If I win that contest, you will remain bound to the system—but you will return Altehkar and Herdaz to me, with all of their occupants intact. You will vow to cease hostilities and maintain the peace, not working against my allies or our kigndoms in any way.

Agreed. But if I win, I keep everything I’ve won—including your homeland. I still remain bound to this system, and will still cease hostilities as you said above. But I will have your soul. To serve me, immortal. Will you do this? Because I agree to these terms.”—Pages 1178-1179

Fuck.

Cultivation you absolute fool.

“The Lord of Scars, Wit calls him. Well, when you next meet this Lord of Scars, give him a message from me…Tell him we’re done with his meddling. His influence over my people is finished. Also, Wit says to tell him, ‘Deal with your own stupid planet, you idiot. Don’t make me come over there and slap you around again.’”—Page 1197

I was joking before but…no. It’s him.

I guess Kal and Szeth are going to Shinovar. That’ll be some interesting character interaction.

You, sir, do not deserve the name El.

Also we are so fucked. Beyond fucked. Unbelievably fucked. It may be set up that Wit figured out this set up was too perfect however he might. So WE. ARE. SO. FUCKED.

#rhythm of war #Brandon Sanderson #stormlight archive #cosmere #reviewsdaytuesday

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tanoraqui · 6 years ago

Text

In my defense, I was left unsupervised. Music (I suggest listening at 1/2 or 3/4 speed, so you have time to read)

For those days we felt like a mistake

Teenage Kaladin lays on his parents’ cremmed roof during the Weeping, staring despondently up into the rain

Those times when loves what you hate

Young Shallan kneels on the floor, face in her hands, held by her father, who has placed himself between her and the pooling blood beside them. The shining knife is discarded on the floor, light fading

Somehow We keep marching on

Kaladin and Shallan in the crevasses, Shallan a couple steps ahead with a messy map. She’s turning back to him, and “Storms...she smiled anyway.”

For those nights that I couldn't be there

Dalinar the Blackthorn, racing into battle on Gallant, grinning feral and sharp and eyes just slightly shining red. Shardplate polished and Shardblade gleaming, reflecting the flames around and ahead of him.

I've made it harder to know that you know

Image pans/expands sideways to see Adolin racing after him, on Sureblood with his own Plate and Blade, expression excited but mostly determined to catch up. The flames don’t quite reach back to him

That somehow

Expands again--Renarin is running after them on foot, Bridge Four coat flung over his finer clothes, grimacing with the effort of holding a Blade far too big for his Plateless hands

We'll keep movin' on

Dalinar’s hand opening The Way of Kings; the song lyric is on the page

There's so many wars we fought

Kaladin fighting in Amaram’s army

There's so many things we're not

The Knights Radiant of old, arrayed and shining and glorious, fighting voidbringers (Dalinar watching from the side, a dream?)

But with what we have

Lift and the others on the wall overlooking the palace

I promise you that

Eshonai on the edge of a chasm, looking grim as she leaps with Blade and Plate for the opposite side and the gemheart there

We're marchin' on

Kaladin strung up in the storm, Syl on his chest trying to push back the worst of the wind

We're marchin' on (we’re marchin’ on)

Shallan bent over books in the library while Jasnah reads nearby, far more elegant (fabrial visible; another peeks out of Shallan’s bag)

For all of the plans we made

Overhead shot: Sadeas’ army leaving

There isn't a flag I'd wave

Dalinar watching them go, surrounded by fighting, jaw set

Don't care where we've been

Kaladin leaps across the chasms ahead of the bridge crew, alight with spear and shield, Syl at his back

I'd sink us to swim

Three-point landing and sweep the legs out from under a Parshendi

We're marchin' on

Kaladin, glowing faintly, spears a Parshendi with one hand and offers Dalinar a hand up with the other

We're marchin' on

Shallan walks on the beach, barefoot, bedraggled, and freezing, grimly determined

We're marchin' on

Dalinar purchases Bridge Four for a gemheart

For those doubts that swirl all around us

Eshonai stands on a cliff with her people behind her, all warforms or, some (including Venli), stormform (red light in eyes). They are ready to fight; she is uncertain, maybe wistful

For those lives that tear at the seams

Szeth the Assassin in White on the verge of falling to his knees, staring at his hands--they are clean, as is the blade he grips so tightly that his knuckles are white.All around him are bloody corpses in a feast hall, some in Shardplate, or with half-Shard shields

We know We're not what we've seen

Venli crouches by Eshonai’s stripped corpse in the chasm, still in stormform, looking up at the voidspren that’s urging her to catch up with the others (Parshendi in warform and workform, carrying Eshonai’s Plate and Blade and other things they’ve looted down here). A small bob of light creeps from Eshonai toward her hand

Oh for this dance we move with each other

Lift baseball-slides through half a dozen guards and officials and between Nale’s own legs, as he reaches furiously to catch her. Windle racing to keep up; she is holding a pancake and going to help her friend who is bleeding out on the floor

There ain't no other step than one foot

Jasnah gets to her feet, perhaps with a hand from a full-size Ivory, on the solid ground of Shadesmar in the sea where she was to have drowned. A few beads of the remains of the ship scatter around her; she is drawing Stormlight to heal her bloody and burnt wounds and she looks directly at the viewer with nothing but determination

Right in front of the other

From behind, wide shot: Jasnah stands straight with Ivory, the two of them looking at the expanse of Shadesmar, somewhat silhouetted by that stylized sun that appears over it in Shallan’s chapter images.

There's so many wars we fought

younger Jasnah, helpless on what remains of the balcony, watches the Assassin in White stab her father through the chest

There's so many things we're not

Kaladin, exhausted, bruised/bloody, and stubborn, leans on his spear, Elhokar bleeding behind him (same pose as Galivar; similar hallway). He faces Moash with Plate and Blade, other fighters behind him, sword slightly lowered but still determined, angry

But with what we have

Baxil’s mistress destroys a painting

I promise you that

Rysn jumps off a fucking giant turtle head

We're marchin' on

Taravangian, advisors at his back, flips through the book that holds the notes on the Design

We're marchin' on (We’re marchin’ on)

“The Knights Radiant have returned” - Kaladin, resplendent

For all of the plans we made

The Parshendi calling the Everstorm

There isn't a flag I'd wave

Szeth flies over the plains to the battle, to Dalinar; intent, weeping, and utterly mad

Don't care where we've been

Eshonai locking blades with Adolin at the edge of the cliff, both unseen within their armor

I'd sink us to swim

With a couple scholars (+Renarin) nearby, Shallan slams her Patternblade into the Oathgate’s keyhole

We're marchin' on

Everyone in the same position as above, but the glorious Urithiru Gate room

We're marchin' on

Zoom out to see the full room: frescos, gems, gates to 9 other major cities (labeled). Renarin notably staring in awe.

We're marchin' on

The whole mountain of Urithiru, above the clouds

Right, right, / right, / right, left

Bridge Four practicing surgebinding / Queen Fen of Thaylenah / women (and Renarin) studying gem-saved notes

Right, right, / right, / right, left

Venli speaking to assorted freed Parsh, telling her “story” / those two nerds ardents excitedly studying the quantum nature of flamespren / Shallan weeping in Wit’s arms

Right, right, right, / we’re marchin' on

Elhokar falls (Kaladin watches; Shallan and Adolin are busy) / Dalinar-Navani wedding kiss

We'll have the days we break

Talenel-at sitting in some hospital room, ragged, face in his hands, mad

And we'll have the scars to prove it

Knife slash through a portrait with a halo. Hammer smashing the bust of a beautiful woman. Shalash attacks a painting with compulsive fury

We'll have the bombs that we saved

Ash kneels in front of Taln in that hospital room, clutching his hands, head bowed lower than his, crying because she can’t ask for forgiveness

But we'll have the heart Not to lose it

A moment later: Taln’s head raised to see her; he cups her chin and lifts her face. Ash is still crying, as is he, just a touch. He is also smiling. She is bewildered. “A thousand years...amazing. They will be prepared.”

For all of the times we've stopped

Dalinar at Odium’s feet, on one knee, bowed. Book burning beside him. Odium’s smile is kind, and does not reach his eyes; Dalinar is shaking, and outlined in red

For all of the things I'm not

Jasnah with her Shardblade raised over Renarin with his Bridge Four coat. On the floor before them splay the images--the left, the Thaylen soldiers fighting Voidbringers, Parshendi, and Amaram’s fighters alike; the right, Dalinar (clearly outlined in red) before Odium [above]. The center, Jasnah with her sword plunged into Renarin’s kneeling back

[music pauses as Dalinar’s dream of Nohadon reaches out of the light--gold at the edges, fading to white at the center. Voiceover: “The most important step...is the next one.”]

You put one foot in front of the other

Dalinar stands, shedding the Thrill. It pools at their feet

We've move like we ain't got no other

Jasnah pulls Renarin across the rooftops

We go where we go we're marchin' on Marchin' on

Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin, and Syl and Pattern and Mayalaran, fighting the Fused before the Oathgate in Shadesmar

There's so many wars we fought

Dalinar unarmed and unarmored, and behind him the flames of the Rift fade into the battle of Thaylen City

There's so many things we're not

Imagined: the first humans, bedraggled and tired, meeting the Dawnsingers, curious and welcoming, in what could only have been Shinovar

But with what we have

Ash and Taln creep through the battle-filled streets, holding hands

I promise you that

Szeth leaves Nale in the sky, choosing Dalinar as his guide to what is right

We're marchin' on

“I am Unity.” (material realm)

We're marchin' on

(cognitive plane [Shadesmar])

We're marchin' on

(spiritual realm)

(We’re marching-- oh) Right, right, right, right, left Right, right, right, right, left Right, right, right (right)

On each “right”, we show a different one of the new(ish) ten(ish), each outlines in stormlight and standing in whatever pose they have as they join Dalinar’s line (or not). The background battle fades instantly to a towering, stylized silhouette of their order’s Herald, who is surrounded (stained glass-esque?) by symbols of that order...and facing away. Kaladin with his Syl-spear for the Windrunners. Elsecaller Jasnah with sword in one hand and flame in the other. Szeth of the Skybreakers in white with a black blade. For the Willshapers, the half-transparent shade of Eshonai has her hands on Venli’s shoulders. Renarin, Truthwatchers, ready to throw a punch and eyes gone pale gold. Edgedancer Lift with her Windle-spoon. Shallan of the Lightweavers with echoes of Radiant and Veil on either side. For the Dustbringers, there is nobody--Ash is to one side, ducking away, and Malata is to the other, arms folded, not participating. The only Herald silhouette facing forward and holding a sword is Taln of the Stonewards, as Taln of the present day cringes. (Ash and Taln visibly similar to their former selves--same hair outline, maybe?) Dalinar, Bondsmith, flattens out Ishar’s shadow with the light of the Perpendicularity he still holds open.

Marchin' on (we're marchin' on)

All of them together, facing Odium

We're marchin' on

Odium and his army - Parsh, Fused, Amaram’s soldiers, thunderclasts...

Right, right, / right, / right, left

Szeth and Lift try to hold Nightblood / Kaladin clashes with corrupted!Amaram / Jasnah reaches up and turns an attacking Fused to crystal without missing a beat in her conversation with Navani

Right, right, / right, / right, left

Lopen looks, dismayed, at his glowing hands, half a second after offering reassurance and accidentally swearing an Oath / Renarin shyly introduces Glys to Jasnah / Shallan’s brothers at her door

Right, right, right, right

Pan across the length of Roshar, pull out to the solar system to glimpse Ashyn and Braize

Marchin' on (oh oh oh)

Taravangian in his Diagram that Odium has turned every which way and set ablaze with golden light. Zoom in: hidden in the corner, written in darkness: Renarin Kholin

#oathbringer #the way of kings #words of radiance #stormlight archive #siri how much would it cost to commission an entire lyricstuck #my fic

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preservationandruin · 7 years ago

Text

Oathbringer Spoilers, Part Five: Chapters 121-End

Alright, one last push to finishing the book!

Moash is given a few tasks. Dalinar asks Navani to teach him something. Adolin has doubts for a moment and then gets lectured out of them by Shallan, and also he tells his dad something important. Kaladin runs into some old friends. Taravangian makes a bad deal. Always trust Adolin’s gut instincts about people. Alethkar gets a new monarch. And Wit makes a friend.

For some godforsaken reason, we’ve switched to MOASH. He’s not feeling particularly great about killing Elhokar--gee, wonder why--and we get that there are only nine, not ten, orders of Fused.

Practically speaking, I doubt they can accurately emulate the Bondsmiths. Thematically speaking, there’s that number again.

Lady Leshwi keeps visiting Moash. She says that he has taken Moash’s pain, and will return it when he needs it. Moash just wants to forget the look of betrayal in Kaladin’s eyes.

Good luck with that. It’s like Kaladin told Amaram. You join Odium looking for peace, but you never find it there.

Odium has a command for him. Fuck. Hnanan--one of the higher-ups--pulls out a strange knife--bright gold metal, a sapphire in the sheath. And asks him to kill a god.

With that ominous note, we switch to Navani. She runs out to Dalinar, basically tackling him into a hug. She sends Lopen and Kaladin off. Dalinar says he thinks he knows why the memories came back--Odium would have made him remember one way or another, but this let him prepare. He asks her to study the King’s Drop. And then he asks her something else.

Dalinar met her eyes. “I want you to teach me how to read.”

THIS LINE. I GOT THROUGH ALL THE REST. BUT THIS LINE MADE ME CRY.

Shallan/Radiant/Veil is resting, or trying to. She keeps slipping between Radiant and Veil, which must make her very strange to interact with for everyone else. Jasnah and Navani both don’t make a huge difference to her state.

Someone get Adolin, he’s good at dealing with this. Oh, good, he came.

Adolin is the one who can tell when it’s the real one. He’s the only one who manages to pick it out.

Adolin points out that he could carry her, but then, she’s a Radiant, and he’s tired, so maybe she could carry him. Meanwhile, Kaladin has shown up.

Veil instantly takes over--and also, fucking hell, Kaladin has lost his boots again.

Both Radiant and Veil like Kaladin.

Shallan shoves both of them to the utter back of her mind, because Adolin knows her.

Venli can now switch between old and new rhythms at will, and if she doesn’t have Stormlight, she can make her eyes red. For the moment, then, she can hide her nature.

A Parshendi Knight Radiant. Timbre bound her because so many of their number died, and she didn’t trust the humans.

And she walks over to the singers, and starts telling them about the listeners.

Nale notes that “only Ishar” escaped Braize with his mind intact--but clearly, he didn’t. Szeth swears, and the highspren--which he still doesnt’ see often--approves.

Shallan is looking for Adolin. She also notes that Kaladin has made a habit of just perching dramatically in high places. What a dweeb.

I mean, if I could, I’d do that.

Oh, god, Adolin has decided to “step back” in favor of Kaladin. He says that he’s going to “let [kaladin] have you” which...that phrasing is going to go great. Also, Adolin. Adolin.

I think Shallan can make her own call, here. Adolin points out that Kaladin can fly.

“Oh? And is that what women are supposed to seek in a mate? Is it in the Polite Lady’s Handbook to Courtship and Family? The Bekenah edition, maybe? ‘Ladies, you can’t possibly marry a man if he can’t fly.’ Never mind if the other option is as handsome as sin, kind to everyone he meets regardless of their station, passionate about his art, and genuinely humble in the weirdest, most confident way. Never mind if he actually seems to get you, and remarkably listens to your problems, encouraging you to be you--not to hide yourself away. Never mind if being near him makes you want to rip his shirt off and push him into the nearest alleyway, then kiss him until he can’t breathe anymore. If he can’t fly, then well, you just have to call it off!” She paused for breath, gasping. “And...” Adolin said. “That guy is...me?” “You are such a fool,” She grabbed his ripped coat and pulled him into a kiss, passionspren crystallizing in the air around them.

I LOVE ADOLIN AND SHALLAN

She also notes that she thinks she’s kept it to three personas--and while Shallan’s the hardest, she can probably keep it up with some help. Adolin grins, pointing out that she said she’d kiss him until he couldn’t breathe, but he’s not even winded.

Adolin, I wouldn’t make that bet. She doesn’t have to breathe if she has Stormlight.

Kaladin is also happy for them. He notes that he doesn’t think he’s in love with Shallan--but being around her did make him happy. She reminds him of Tien. He’s picked up a rock, like the kind that Tien always used to give him.

OK, SIBLING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KALADIN AND SHALLAN IS SO, SO GOOD.

Rock is still recovering--he sees what he did, shooting Amaram, as a broken oath.

Taravangian admits--he pushed Dalinar aside and wanted to seize control of the coalition. Dalinar realizes--Taravangian didn’t become king of Jah Keved by accident. And Taravangian...tells Dalinar what he’s doing.

Moash is going down into the gardens in Khoilnar. His target is a madman, with an eye color nobody can see.

Jezrien. The Herald Szeth saw in the first prologue. The one Dalinar got drunk with. Why does Odium want to kill a Herald?

What is this death, Jezrien asks as he dies. The Fused didn’t want to murder him themselves. Why not? Why use Moash?

SO UH THAT HAPPENED. MOASH FUCKING OFFED A HERALD.

Anyway, Lopen has his spren! His name is Rua, and he looks like a little boy, but Lopen calls him Naco. LOPEN IS TEACHING RUA HOW TO FLIP PEOPLE OFF LOPEN IS THE WORST INFLUENCE ON SPREN AND I LOVE HIM

OH NO, DRU REALIZED THAT, SINCE KALADIN RETURNED ALONE...OH NO DREHY WAS ON THAT TRIP FUCK

BRANDON YOU BRING DREHY BACK THIS INSTANT AND STOP HIS BOYFRIEND FROM BEING SAD

Anyway, Lopen is managing to cheer up soldiers, mentioning that if one who has lost his arm needs some jokes, he has some. Rua keeps hiding from Lopen, so Lopen has to find him.

LOPEN ACCIDENTALLY SWORE THE SECOND IDEAL FUCK AND HE PUT OUT ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE SURGEON’S TENT

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

HE WAS SAVING IT FOR A DRAMATIC MOMENT AND THEN STORMFATHER ACCEPTED IT AND LOPEN FLIPPED HIM OFF TWICE. AND RUA DID IT WITH HIM.

I LOVE BRIDGE FOUR SO MUCH.

Kaladin immediately runs off, though, and Rua flips him off too. Lopen tells him not to wear it out.

Ash is trying to take Taln to go see Ishar. And then she feels something rip inside her. Taln collapses. That’s...that’s Jezrien’s death, isn’t it.

Oh, god, Jezrien is Ash’s father. She just felt her father die.

She falls unconscious as the sensation stops, and I can’t blame her.

Kaladin’s flying across the ocean, for some reason. And he finds a group of refugees from Kholinar.

A group flying the bridge four flag.

DREHY AND SKAR! They’re okay!!! They’re alive!!

AND THEY SMUGGLED OUT GAVINOR THEY PROTECT THOSE WHO CANNOT PROTECT THEMSELVES

Okay we don’t get that scene but DREHY BETTER HAVE HAD A GREAT REUNION WITH DRU OKAY DREHY WAS GONE FOR A MONTH WITH NO NOTICE AND DRU THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD

Taravangian is stupid today. He reads letters from his grandchildren. He’s crying. None of his granddaughters know anything of the Diagram, and he’s determined that it will stay that way.

He opens the window during the everstorm, and Odium speaks to him. He says he chose this time on purpose--because he doesn’t want Taravangian to ever, ever think he has power.

Odium says that, if Taravangian serves him--he’ll spare Kharbranth, and anyone born in it, and their spouses. And he’ll be a spy, for Odium. Fuck.

Adolin and Shallan are being adorable always. Have I mentioned how much I like the fact that Adolin loves hugs? I love it. Anyway, some of the older people are rolling their eyes at Adolin and Shallan for being stupidly sappy, which is hilarious.

Awwwh, they’ve set the wedding date! For a week from then--they’re going fast, but hey. They road tripped shadesmar and faced down multiple unmade. She’s realizing, though, that she needs to explain some things--in particular, the Ghostbloods thing--to Adolin.

Apparently Veil and Adolin are, now drinking buddies. I love this so much. Watch out, Adolin, she can absolutely out-drink you. Anyway, Shallan has trouble actually paying attention to the meetings because Adolin. I love how, no matter how cutesy they’re being, nobody can really tell them to stop because one of them is a Radiant and the other is Adolin Kholin.

“You think,” Adolin said. “Taravangian might have done it?” “No,” Dalinar said.

I AM GETTING DECIDED FLASHBACKS TO BOOK ONE WHERE ADOLIN WAS LIKE “HEY WAS IT SADEAS” AND DALINAR WAS LIKE “NO OF COURSE NOT”

ALWAYS. LISTEN. TO. ADOLIN’S. IMPRESSIONS. OF. PEOPLE.

At least he notes that he doesn’t want to trust Taravangian very much. At least he’s learned a little.

Dalinar says that Alethkar needs a king--and Adolin might be it. Adolin admits that he killed Sadeas. Adolin says he can’t be king of Alethkar. Dalinar points out that he can’t, either.

...i think i see where this is going.

Gavinor is too young. Adolin can’t. Renarin would be worse than Adolin. Dalinar can’t.

Shallan blinks, thinking. They need someone diplomatic, but also not someone who can be walked over.

It’s gonna be Jasnah, isn’t it.

Palona is collecting gossip while Sebarial pretends to sleep. I still love them.

OH MY GOD I WAS RIGHT:

The doors to the room slammed open, the noise of it sending a shock through the room, complaints falling silent. Even Turi stood up to note Jasnah Kholin standing in the doorway. She wore a small but unmistakeable crown on her head. The Kholin family, it seemed, had chosen their new monarch.

Anyway, Moash is at work again, and I don’t give a shit about him anymore. Kill Jezrien and Elhokar? Yeah, I don’t give a shit about Moash. But Lady Leshwi offers him an honorblade, and a place with them. Not as Moash, as someone else.

Moash takes the Honorblade, and is given a new name. Vyre.

He Who Quiets.

Fuck.

And then, because this loves jerking us back and forward, we cut to Shallan’s wedding day. BRIDGE FOUR GAVE HER BOOTS AS A WEDDING GIFT. Shallan notes that Adolin is probably just getting....lots of swords. None of which will be as good as Maya.

She pulls up Radiant and Veil to give their opinions--Radiant says it’s worthy, Veil says at least he has good taste in wine.

She realizes--it’s alright to enjoy this. It’s alright to be happy.

And then her door opens--and there are three young men. Balat. Wikim. Jushu.

Her brothers.

Mraize sent a note. He’s asking her to capture Sja-anat, or convince her to work with the Ghostbloods. Shallan notes that it is one of Sja-anat’s spren that Renarin bonded.

We don’t get the wedding itself, but we do get Dalinar heading back happy and full from the feast. Szeth just kinda...chills outside the door. And Dalinar starts writing, carefully. When Navani comes back, he offers it to her to read, as nervous as though it were his first day with the swordmasters.

“You said pronouns have a gender in the women’s formal script, and I realized that the one you taught me says ‘I, being female.’” Navani hesitated, pen in her fingers. “Oh. Right. I guess...I mean...huh. I don’t think there is a masculine ‘I.’ You can use the neuter, like an ardent. Or...no, here. I’m an idiot.” she wrote a few letters. “This is what you use when writing a quote by a man in the first person.”

I’m just pulling this out because, as a nonbinary person dealing with a language that isn’t really designed to accomodate that, i appreciate that Brandon realized this would be a problem. And English isn’t even as bad as Italian. I don’t even know how to refer to myself with some of the past-tense verbs, there.

And we get that Oathbringer, the book, was written by Dalinar. And he’s so happy, so proud of being able to read. He can read the Way of Kings, himself. He can read Jasnah’s biography of Gavilar. He can write notes, and he can write his own life.

Oathbringer, My Glory and My Shame

written by Dalinar Kholin.

I like it. A good title.

Wit is, as he tends to be, talking to himself, in a line of shuffling people. All great art, he says, is hated. He’s in the group of people being shuffled out of Kholinar, to work the farms.

WIT STARTS DUSTING OFF HIS CLOTHING AND STOPS BECAUSE “HE’D WORKED HARD TO PLACE THAT DUST”

I love him. He notes that if Rayse figures out he’s here, the entire city will be levelled, so he’s got to move it. He makes a small doll for a girl, and he...oh, he Breathes into the doll, giving it to the girl to protect her. He gives the girl the doll, and then gets a family whose child died to take care of her.

Wit knows some of the old Parshmen. Vatwha is the current sentinel; they once danced together. He wonders if anyone wonders why the Fused are spending so much time clearing this section of the palace. He’s talking to the wall, as though it’s a person.

He promises it truths.

A small, scared Cryptic.

Wit starts saying the First Ideal.

Oh, no, I know where it came from. That was the section Moash was clearing--the section near where Elhokar died. That Cryptic...it wanted to bond Elhokar. But Elhokar died, in the middle of saying the Ideal, so...Wit had to be there for it.

And with that, we end.

#oathbringer spoilers #stormlight archive liveblog #FUCK YEAH BRIDGE FOUR #dalinar voice: unite them #fuck vyre honestly

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preservationandruin · 7 years ago

Text

Oathbringer Liveblog, Part Five: Chapters 119-120

I know these are only covering a few chapters at a time, but listen. Its the end of a Sanderson book. Literally everything is happening all the time.

Dalinar tells god to fuck off, Ultimate Unity Is Achieved (Temporarily), Radiants Do Cool Shit Constantly, Adolin learns the name of an old friend, Amaram Vored A Rock And You Can Guess How That Went For Him, and--as always--FUCK YEAH, BRIDGE FOUR.

The epigraphs change, to the postscript of The Way of Kings. The chapter is called Unity.

“Dalinar? What is this?” “You cannot have my pain.” “Dalinar--” Dalinar forced himself to his feet. “You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain.” “Be sensible.” “I killed those children,” Dalinar said. “No, it--” “I burned the people of Rathalas.” “I was there, influencing you--” “YOU CANNOT HAVE MY PAIN!” Dalinar bellowed, stepping toward Odium. The god frowned.

Dalinar is LITERALLY GIVING OFF GLORYSPREN. Amaram has to shield his SHITTY RED EYES from it.

“I did kill the people of Rathalas,” Dalinar shouted. “You might have been there, but I made the choice. I decided!” He stilled. “I killed her. It hurts so much, but I did it. I accept that. You cannot have her. You cannot take her from me again.”

YEAH! SHUT THE FUCK UP, RAYSE. YOU DIDN’T KNOW DALINAR KHOLIN LIKE YOU THOUGHT YOU DID.

“Journey before destination,” Dalinar said. “it cannot be a journey if it doesn’t have a beginning.” A thunderclap sounded in his mind. Suddenly, awareness poured back into him. The Stormfather, distant, feeling frightened--but also surprised. Dalinar? “I will take responsibility for what I’ve done,” Dalinar whispered. “If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man.”

I LOVE DALINAR SO MUCH.

Renarin and Jasnah are sprinting through the ward, Renarin struggling to keep up. An entire stream of gloryspren flows by them.

“I know what you are,” Jasnah said. “You’re my cousin. Family, Renarin. Hold my hand. Run with me.”

And they head down, down to the glowing light.

And with all the gloryspren glowing around him, Dalinar notices--Odium looks small.

Syl looks over to the sea of beads. She pulls Kaladin tight.

“Maybe you don’t have to save anyone, Kaladin. Maybe it’s time for someone to save you.”

Dalinar reaches through the worlds. He reaches into the spiritual realm. And he hears Evi’s voice, forgiving him. Venli asks what he is.

He says he’s Unity.

And he fucking combines all three realms into one holy FUCK, Dalinar.

OH MY GOD, HE OPENED HONOR’S PERPENDICULARITY. THAT’S WHAT IT IS. THAT--IT ALL MAKES SENSE. ONLY DALINAR HAS THE REMNANTS OF HONOR’S POWER. ONLY HE COULD DO THIS.

UNITE THEM. PEOPLE, YES, BUT ALSO THE REALMS. FUCK!

Taln grips onto Ash’s hand. And he says her name.

“How long?” He asked. “Taln,” She gripped his hand in both of hers. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

He goes outside, and sees Thaylen City. The wall, the soldiers in breastplates and chain.

And he thanks Ash. Because , in leaving him, they gave humanity four thousand years of progress. She begs him to hate her. He doesn’t.

Teft gasps. His spren asks him--can he feel the words? He says he’s broken. And...he swears the second ideal, in the most heartwrenching form:

“I will protect those I hate. Even...even if the one I hate most...is...myself.”

Renarin and Jasnah reach the last level of the city. Renarin warns Jasnah about Amaram’s soldiers--and she runs straight towards them and wrecks them, soulcasting people and swiping with a Shardblade. Fuck yeah, Jasnah!

And then he looks up, and sees a column of light piercing the sky.

Navani leans into the light, laughing like a fool, gloryspren flying around her, brushing her hair.

“No!” Odium screamed. He stepped forward. “No, we killed you. WE KILLED YOU.”

And Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin split out of the pillar of light, just as Amaram was about to fight Dalinar. The explosion of Stormlight from Dalinar also sated Nightblood, meaning Lift and Szeth are alright, although their skin is stained-grey from Nightblood’s hunger.

Dalinar realizes--Elhokar is not coming through the column of light. He grieves, for a moment. He accepts that grief. And he stands up. And he does better.

Kaladin Stormblessed stepped up beside Dalinar before the rubble of the wall, and Shallan Davar stood on the other side. Jasnah emerged from the city and surveyed the scene with a critical air, while Renarin popped out behind her, then cried out and ran for Adolin. He grabbed his older brother in an embrace, then gasped. Adolin was wounded? Good lad, Dalinar thought as Renarin immediately set to healing his brother. Two more people crossed the battlefield. Lift he had anticipated. But the assassin? Szeth scooped the silvery sheath off the sword and slammed his black shardblade into it, before stepping up to join Dalinar. Skybreaker, Dalinar thought, counting them off. Edgedancer. That was seven. He would have expected three more. There, the Stormfather said. Behind your niece. Two more people appeared in the shadow of the wall. A large, powerful man with an impressive physique, and a woman with long, dark hair. Their dark skin marked them as Makabaki, perhaps Azish, but their eyes were wrong.

The heralds, the Radiants--Dalinar did unite them. Odium is gone, fled into nothing. Dalinar is thinking--you know, there should be one more--but oh well. Stormy notes that the last might not have been found yet.

Oh no, Dalinar’s watch got broken! He starts sending out orders. Renarin, to the Oathgate--and to stop the thunderclast from destroying it, and opening the portal so reinforcements can come.

Shallan needs to lightweave an army--the Thrill will make the men easier to distract. Jasnah is holding the giant fucking hold in the wall--THAT’S THE COVER OF THE BOOK--Kaladin is guarding Dalinar. And settling a score with Amaram. Lift and Szeth are getting that FUCKING RUBY--although Lift needs food.

Dalinar heads toward the water, to try to deal with the Thrill.

Kaladin, of course, shoots into the sky immediately. Of course, he can’t stop being down on himself, because he’s Kaladin. Still. he does get to fight Amaram.

...who immediately falls to his knees. And just when I think this will be a very, very boring fight--Kaladin notices that Amaram is coughing. Like he’d just...swallowed...something....

Over to Adolin, who is completely healed. His first complaint, when Shallan asks how he’s doing, is that he really liked this jacket!

...Oh. She made an illusory version of him that was a windrunner. Given his self-esteem issues and feeling inadequate compared to Kaladin, that...can’t be great.

He summons his shardblade--braces for a scream, although there is none--says he’s sorry, thanks her, and goes into battle.

Lift and Szeth head off to try to get that GODDAMN ruby, Nightblood humming all the way. And Amaram gets up and INSTANTLY makes me furious again:

Those red eyes cast a crimson glow through the helm’s slit. “You should thank me, boy,”

SOMEHOW Amaram has decided that he is the SOLE EVENT that FORGED KALADIN, that MADE HIM INTO THE MAN HE IS NOW. Bull fucking shit. That same self-important assholery that makes Amaram so hateable is coming through again.

And he’s dual-wielding Shardblades, of course. because why not. Syl is just like “don’t worry, he’s only human!” and that’s when Yelig-nar’s smoke starts to envelop him.

Dalinar is heading towards the Thrill. He says “hello, old friend,” and then he walks into it.

Shallan pours out stormlight, creating every person she’s ever sketched. Pattern is humming, louder and louder. All of her drawings--everyone she’s Connected to, because that’s what her drawing is. Her father and mother step from the illusion, and Shallan freezes and starts to fail--

--and then Veil takes her left hand, and Radiant in garnet Shardplate takes her right. Others try to crawl up--but no. That’s enough. They retreat into Stormlight, and hundreds and hundreds more soldiers surge up from the light.

Adolin sees Jasnah basically toss men around like toys and is like, alright, Jasnah doesn’t need help. He runs off to help Queen Fen and her husband.

Jasnah, meanwhile, is abusing the closeness of the three realms to make her Soulcasting much, much easier.

Lift swears as the Fused with the ruby takes it into the sky, and Nightblood wants her to teach him swear words.

LET! NIGHTBLOOD! SAY! FUCK!

Szeth takes to the air and takes her down, grabbing the ruby--and then three more Fused head toward him. Whoops.

Back over to Adolin, who’s met up with Navani! She asks about Elhokar--Adolin says he’s sorry, and holds her while she cries.

Jasnah mends the entire breach in the wall with her Soulcasting. And then just dusts her hands off. Adolin starts working on putting a stable defense together. And Adolin heads off to help the soldiers fighting one of the thunderclasts.

Back to the Kaladin vs Amaram duel! Amaram is fighting, dual-wielding swords--the one bought with the blood of Kaladin’s men, the other given as payment for Bridgeman lives. A crystal just fucking SPROUTED FROM HIS ELBOW. Kal’s also running interference for Dalinar from the other Fused, too.

It’s actually really handy for the Radiants that the thunderclast tore the Gem Reserve asunder--because now there are all these infused Gemstones all over the battlefield. Nice.

Oh, shit, Amaram has pulled out one of those Shardbows.

Amaram stood near his horse, where he’d unhooked a massive Shardbow that used arrows as thick as a spear’s haft. Amaram raised it to loose again, and a line of crystals jutted out along his arm, cracking his Shardplate. Storms, what was happening to that man?

He sold his soul for power, and now it’s taken his body, too. Kal dives Amaram, summoning Syl as a short spear--how appropriate--and charges Amaram.

Dalinar is in the thrill, and it’s happy to see him. I guess Nergaoul, despite being “mindless,” apparently, can still recognize people.

He had imagined it as some evil force, malignant and insidious, like Odium or Sadeas.

ODIUM OR SADEAS. I love how those two are put on the same level here.

Nergaoul remembers the times that the Thrill receded from Dalinar as times it was abandoned. Oh, Nergaoul. What was it, I wonder, before Odium grabbed it and twisted it?

Jasnah, meanwhile, cuts through a Fused’s head without even turning to look at it. She says she’s gonna do her best to stop Shallan from getting herself killed, given the rate at which Shallan is eating through Stormlight.

Lift and Szeth (and Nightblood) are just a great comic dynamic, especially now Lift can hear Nightblood. Lift has an idea for how to steal the ruby.

Shallan is still holding onto Veil and Radiant, and she’s burning herself out. Somehow, she’s managed to make her illusions actually fight, a little. She thinks she might be using Soulcasting as well as Lightweaving. She’s getting drawn more and more into it--

And then someone--probably Lift--asks if she could, uh, stop hugging herself for a minute to help.

Back to Kal v Amaram! Amaram is still talking like himself--this weird hybrid-monster kept the most monstrous part of Amaram, his mind.

FUCK, whatever Amaram is now can change stone into liquid. He traps Kaladin’s feet and snaps both of his ankles--fuck. And then he starts gliding across the ground.

is that...abrasion and friction? Does Yelig-nar mimic dustbringer powers? I don’t know. Kaladin chucks a rock at a Fused getting too close to Dalinar, and throws another rock at Amaram’s horse to get the Shardbow away, too.

Well, he’s fought people in Shardplate before. Syl suggests he try stabbing Amaram in the face as well.

And then Kal is up against a Fused and Amaram. Fuck.

Back over to Adolin! He is looking up at the thunderclast, summoning his Blade.

He felt something. A stirring on the wind. “You want to fight it, don’t you?” Adolin asked. “It reminds you of when you were alive.” Something tickled his mind, very faint, like a sigh. A single word: Mayalaran. A...name? “Right, Maya,” Adolin said. “Let’s bring that thing down.”

SHE TOLD HIM HER NAME. AHHHHHHHHHH IM SO GLAD THAT THIS IS HAPPENING IM SO GLAD THAT ADOLIN’S KINDNESS HAS RESULTS IM SO GLAD THAT, EVEN IN A SMALL WAY, MAYALARAN GETS TO DO THINGS THAT SHE WANTS AND CONVEY HER EMOTIONS, I’M SO HAPPY

Adolin finds a small boy huddled in the house, and gets him out of there, trying to distract the thunderclast, jumping through windows and running.

A hand in Shardplate reached out of a building nearby, grabbed Adolin, and pulled him inside.

WHAT

Back to Dalinar. He talks to the thrill, accepting what he was. Thanking it for giving him strength, sometimes--and it makes a happy sound, it crowds closer to him. Nergaoul almost reminds me of an animal of some sort, reacting to someone being nice to it. Dalinar admits--he understands Nergaoul.

Venli is creeping away, feeling sick, the rhythms going crazy in her, fighting. She manages to grab onto one. The Rhythm of the Lost. The only one of the old rhythms she heard. Timbre thrums to the same rhythm, vibrating through Venli.

Lost. What had Venli lost? Venli missed being someone who cared about something other than power. Knowledge, favoritism, forms, wealth--it was all the same to her. Where had she gone wrong? Timbre pulsed. Venli dropped to her knees. Cold stone reflected lightning from above, red and garish.

Her eyes aren’t red at all. And she starts. She starts swearing the words. She gets almost through them--to Journey--and then a Fused crashes into her. But Timbre isn’t in her pouch.

Instead, she’s in her gemheart. She’s keeping the Voidspren in there captive. Venli storms into the cabin of the ship, grabs a sphere. Ruby, glowing.

She finishes swearing the first Ideal. Odium, you thought you killed the problem sister. But by doing that, you made the other one a problem too.

Fortunately, the dude who grabbed Adolin was one of the Thaylen Shardbearers. They are teaming up, now--Adolin can hit, while the man--Hrdalm--has Plate and can take hits. Unfortunately, the Fused pounce for Hrdalm.

And Adolin throws his Shardblade to kill one of the fused. “Alright, Maya. We’ve practiced this.”

Unfortunately, he’s cornered now with the thunderclast. He summons Maya back, hits again--but it flicks him against a wall, and he definitely broke a rib. He starts counting again.

AND MAYA COMES ON SEVEN, BECAUSE HE NEEDS HER. AHHHH.

Maya’s also started bugging him in his mind--he gets knocked through a roof and is picking himself up, and she’s brushing against his mind to do it faster.

Fortunately, before Adolin does anything else stupid, Renarin runs up. He reminds Adolin that, uh, he can’t heal and HAS NO ARMOR and then charges the thunderclast. Renarin’s healing is so fast that, apparently, being crushed can’t slow him down for very long.

Adolin gives Maya to Hrdalm so that he can use her, and Hrdalm’s response is great in respect to their various religions:

“Great Honor in you, Prince Adolin,” he said. “Great Passion in me at this aid.”

Szeth notes that the Fused don’t expect him to have trained, when learning to use the Honorblade, with all of the Surges. And he and Lift pull a switch--one pouch with a fake gemstone, the other with the real one. With the help of Shallan and an illusory rock, of course.

I can’t believe the Fused thought they could out-steal Lift.

Szeth notes that the closer he gets to Nergaoul/the mist, the louder the whispers in his head become. And Lift goes into the mist to help Dalinar.

Amaram is screaming in pain. Kaladin’s fighting the other Fused and doing his level best not to let it distract him.

Well, there are amethysts growing out of his face, I think that might be part of why he’s screaming. He’s leaving flaming tracks--that seems to support my claim about Yelig-nar imitating Dustbringers’ powers. Dalinar is in trouble--meanwhile, Amaram is hiking off to get his fucking bow.

There’s something weirdly funny about this human-parshman hybrid screaming in pain, and then his opponent flies off and he’s just like. welp. gotta go get my bow. Oh well.

Oh, shit, Amaram can superjump. Not sure what’s letting him do that, but I think a good bet would be “Yelig-nar, obviously.”

Shit, he can do Lashings too. Clearly, paying attention to which surges he’s using isn’t going to do me much good.

Also, for fuck’s sake, Amaram still is going on about honor:

Amaram grinned. “Odium promised me something grand, and that promise has been kept. With honor.” “You still pretend to speak of honor?” “Everything I do is for honor.” Amaram swept with a single Blade, making Kaladin dodge. “It was honor that drove me to seek the return of the Heralds, of powers, and our god.” “So you could join the other side?”

Amaram admits that he hurt, after he killed Kaladin’s men--but then he realized, it wasn’t his fault, was it? Nothing was his fault.

Same as Moash. Same as he tried to do to Dalinar. Nothing’s your fault, give me your pain. And give me your responsibility, your morals too.

“I made you, Kaladin!” Amaram’s red eyes lit the crystals that rimmed his face. “I gave you that granite will, that warrior’s poise. This, the person you’ve become, was my gift!” “A gift at the expense of everyone I loved?” “What do you care? It made you strong! Your men died in the name of battle, so that the strongest man would have the weapon. Anyone would have done what I did, even Dalinar himself.” “Didn’t you tell me that you’d given up that grief?” “Yes! I’m beyond guilt!” “Then why do you still hurt?” Amaram flinched.

Eat shit, Amaram.

Nice try, manipulating Kaladin, but you protested too much. You spent so much time spouting justifications. How long have you rehearsed those? Could you even convince yourself?

Kaladin points it out--Odium will never, never give Amaram peace. There is no absolution to be found there. Just the illusion.

The highprince’s entire chest had collapsed inward. There was no sign of ribs or internal organs. Instead, a large violet crystal pulsed inside his chest cavity, overgrown with dark veins. If he’d been wearing a uniform of padding beneath the armor, it had been consumed. He turned toward Kaladin, heart and lungs replaced by a gemstone that glowed with Odium’s dark light.

How does that power feel, Amaram? Kaladin keeps pointing it out--if you’re truly guiltless, if you truly believe the sanctimony you spit, why do you still hurt?

And Amaram is furious.

And he makes a mistake--he jumps into the air. And if you’re fighting Kaladin? You never go into the air. He manages--he slams Syl, a spear, against the gemstone at the heart of whatever Amaram turned himself into. And it cracks.

Kaladin floated downward toward him. “Ten spears go to battle,” he whispered, “and nine shatter. Did that war forge the one that remained? No, Amaram. All the war did was identify the spear that would not break.”

Amaram is howling, clutching his gemheart--which goes out. And the area goes down into darkness.

Unfortunately, the Fused are still coming.

Meanwhile, the thunderclast is collapsing. Renarin and the Thaylen Shardbearer have cut off its legs and one arm--that’s good. Glys is trying to give Renarin advice--- Light. You will make it go with light.

He summons stormlight, and the thunderclast’s eyes fade and it settles, dying back down. Renarin’s still worried--he saw himself dying on this day. But he’s alive.

Shallan, Veil, and Radiant are losing their army. But one figure doesn’t vanish like the others. Long black hair blown free of braids, she steps in between the trio of Shallans and the enemy.

Jasnah Kholin has arrived.

Also, at that moment, Shallan--the one who looked like Shallan-Shallan--was a fake, and Radiant was the real one, which alarms Jasnah for a moment. We’re cycling through names for Shallan with incredible speed. They finally, finally reach the top of the wall.

Renarin is heading for the Oathgate. He notes that while his fits seem to have stopped, he still sees the world differently--in our terms, Stormlight doesn’t heal autism because why the fuck would it? It’s not an illness.

Twelve Fused are hovering over the Oathgate. Renarin heads into the spanreed room, and reports that Urithiru has also been attacked. Strangely, the Kharbranth faction has fallen completely silent. Unsurprising.

So he turns to go open it himself--and is startled and surprised when nobody tells him not to. Renarin gets new fits, now--ones where it looks like stained glass spreads around him, forming panels of images. What he sees...it makes him smile.

“You’re wondering why I’m smiling,” Renarin said. They didn’t respond. “Don’t worry,” Renarin said. “You didn’t miss something funny. I...well, I doubt you’ll find it amusing.” Light exploded from the Oathgate platform in a wave.

I’m gonna take a wild shot in the dark, here, and say: FUCK YEAH, BRIDGE FOUR.

YEP Bridge Four has come through, let by a Knight Radiant with a Shardspear.

Teft.

Shallan is still lost in all three of her, but she says that after she rests, she thinks she can settle down to being one. Rock starts nagging Renarin about getting his uniform ruined, Lyn rats out the fact that Rock got hurt when he tries to pretend it’s nothing. Fortunately, they’re near Kal--they’re getting stormlight again.

“Kaladin is close,” Rock agreed. “Ha! I feed him. But here, today, he fed me. With light!” Lyn eyed Rock. “Storming Horneater weighs as much as a chull...” She shook her head. “Kara will fight with the others--don’t tell anyone, but she’s been practicing with a spear since childhood, the little cheater.”

I love all the little ways people--Renarin, Kara, Lyn herself, everyone really--violates gender norms.

Rock hugs Renarin--Ren is a little uncomfortable, as this was not a time he was okay with just being...randomly grabbed for a hug (big mood, Renarin), but he’s so, so glad Bridge Four has arrived.

Dalinar is drifting in the Thrill. And Lift comes in, pressing the ruby into his hand. Dalinar remembers what Taravangian said about luring in spren, trapping them.

And, for the last time in his life, he embraces the Thrill. He embraces Nergaoul. He thanks it, and it is so, so happy to be praised.

“Now, old friend, it is time to rest.”

Kal is fighting like eight-on-one. He doesn’t have to win, though--he just has to survive.

Meanwhile, whatever Dalinar is doing, it’s making Nergaoul thrash and writhe, and the Fused are running. And then it implodes, and the Everstom grows still.

AND GUESS WHO FUCKING ISN’T DEAD:

A scraping sound came from nearby, and then a violet light flickered in the darkness. A shadow stumbled to its feet, dark purple light pulsing alive in its chest cavity, which was empty save for that gemstone. Amaram’s glowing red eyes illuminated a distorted face: his jaw had broken as he’d fallen, and gemstones had pushed out of the sides of his face at awkward angles, making the jaw hang limp from his mouth, drool leaking out the side. He stumbled toward Kaladin, gemstone heart pulsing with light. A Shardblade formed in his hand. The one that had killed Kaladin’s friends so long ago.

AND HE’S ABOUT TO STRIKE AMARAM DOWN, AND KALADIN SAYS “BRIDGE FOUR.” AND AN ARROW SLAMS INTO AMARAM FROM BEHIND.

AND ANOTHER SHOOTS HIM RIGHT THROUGH THE GEMHEART, AND ROCK IS GLOWING ON THE RUBBLE, WITH AMARAM’S SHARDBOW.

Sometimes, Kaladin doesn’t have to save everyone. Sometimes, it’s time for them to save Kaladin.

Dalinar is crying as he cradles the gemstone containing Nergaoul. It’s over. It’s over.

#oathbringer spoilers #stormlight archive liveblog #dalinar voice: unite them #shut the fuck up rayse #radiants being radiant #herald sighting #god do i hate meridas amaram #adolin kholin is a ray of sunshine #FUCK YEAH BRIDGE FOUR

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